Chapter Text
“Yuni.”
The first time it happened, Yuni thought he misheard. He lowered his water bottle and turned, looking around the school gym for anyone who could’ve called his name.
He only saw Haijima and Kanno standing in the middle of the court. The rest of the team was keeping busy on the other side of the net.
“Kuroba,” Kanno called. He pointed somewhere by Yuni’s feet. Their ball had rolled over.
Yuni picked it up, tossed it back, and wondered if maybe he was starting to hear things.
“Yuni could do it.”
“Huh?”
If he were being honest, Yuni hadn’t been paying attention to the others’ discussion over lunch. It was the start of the year, and they needed to figure out how to best recruit new members to the volleyball team. He’d go along with whatever the others came up with.
But then Yuni heard his name and looked up with a start.
Ookuma nodded. “Good idea.” He tapped the paper in front of Kanno. “Write Kuroba down.”
“Write down for what? Hey.” He leaned over his plate to read Kanno’s notes. “Why can’t Haijima do it?” Whatever it even was.
Kanno chuckled. “Too late. Should’ve volunteered him then.”
Haijima pretended not to notice Yuni’s attempt at turning the conversation on him, but couldn’t hide the self-satisfied smile on his lips.
“Yuni. Wake up.”
Someone shook his shoulder. Yuni wanted to tell them “five more minutes” before he realized he wasn’t in bed, and the person saying his name wasn’t his mother. He was sat upright with his head resting against the window of the bus. The night before he’d been too nervous to sleep much, but five minutes on the road and he’d been out like a light.
He rubbed his eyes to see Haijima walking toward the front of the bus.
Uchimura bumped Yuni’s shoulder. He grinned down at him. “Get up, Kuroba, or we’re playing without you.” Looking around, Yuni found he was the last one left.
Who’d woken him up, then? It couldn’t have been… No. He would have noticed. Yuni stood and slung his bag over his shoulder to follow his teammates off the bus.
He shook his head to rid it off improbable thoughts. Haijima wasn’t the one calling him by his first name.
He couldn’t be.
“I’ll ask Yuni when he gets here.”
Kanno nodded and headed inside the gym.
Yuni rounded the corner and stopped Haijima before he could follow.
“You!” He jabbed a finger at Haijima’s chest. “You’ve been calling me Yuni!”
Haijima stumbled back, eyes widening for a second before his gaze cut away. He bit his cheek. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”
Yuni dropped his hand. “Well. Yeah. But.” He gritted his teeth. Haijima hadn’t called him by his given name since they were six. It’d hurt when he’d returned after eight years and called him Kuroba instead. “Why all of a sudden?”
Haijima shrugged. He threw a glance over his shoulder, but the rest of the team was busy inside. “My grandma kept using it as we talked about you,” he said, “so it just kind of… slipped out. Has it really taken you this long to notice?”
Yuni pursed his lips. “I get distracted a lot.” He swallowed, and tried, “Chi-Chika.”
“Now you’re making it weird,” Chika complained.
“I’m—But you were—Argh.” Yuni ran his hands through his hair. He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. “Chika. There. It’s your name, isn’t it?” he imitated.
“Not really.”
“Don’t argue!”