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Kourai has always been a late bloomer. He knows that. Everything he does needs time and care to get right. His volleyball needs precision. It takes a while to figure out how to level but when he gets it right, he’s unstoppable. So, it’s not surprising to him that he’s late getting his soulmark. It’s weird to be starting high school without it - most people get theirs when they’re in grade school, middle school at the latest - but he’s not bothered. Things that they have to wait and work for are worth the most in the end.
It’s early in his first year at Kamomedai, with his first Inter-High coming up and Kourai has to fight for his spot on the starting line up, when it happens.
Because of course it happens all at once without warning.
Sachirou has just gone up to block and time slows as Kourai tries to figure out the right spot to aim. His blocks are always frustratingly solid that hitting the wrong angle seeing them smacked right down.
And then there's the disorientating feeling of being yanked to the ground. He jumped - he is jumping - but his feet are glued to the floor and he’s staring up at the net. A redhead in green is flying. It’s amazing. He’s so short but he’s jumping so high.
“I might be short, but I can jump.”
The words echo in his head from nowhere. His mind is spinning.
Then the wall goes up and the kid’s spike is slammed down. Damn. That’s gotta hurt. The kid’s got a good jump. He just needs more practice. Kourai remembers that feeling all too well.
And then he’s back.
Lying on the hardwood floor of the gym and everything hurts. Especially his ankle. He groans and tips his head back. Everyone’s standing over him.
“Kourai-kun?” Sachirou says, sitting beside him. “Kourai?”
“He was flying,” Kourai whispers.
The skin on his back burns.
Kourai jerks up with a gasp. His back is on fire. Something writhes beneath the skin, pulling and tearing and burning. His own scream bounces off of the gym’s walls. There are hands on him, cold against his burning skin. There’s so much noise. Why now? He’s supposed to be on the starting team. He can’t take time off now!
“Kourai-kun,” Sachirou’s voice reaches him as ice burns his back. “Kourai-kun, it’s your soulmark.”
“Y-yeah,” Kourai pants, hands spasming against Sachirou’s arms. “I know. It hurts.”
“What did you see?” he says. “Quickly, before it fades.”
“It was a match,” he says, gasping for breath. Right. Gotta verbalize it while he can still remember it. Before the flash fades. “It was noisy and he was watching the other team. It was a mess of a set, he must have been a beginner. He didn’t like the set, he thought it was ugly too. Must be a setter or an all round perfectionist. And then the kid on the other side flew.”
“Flew?”
“He jumped and he flew. It was amazing.” Another burst of agony ripples down his back and Kourai grips Sachirou’s arm tighter. “It hurts.”
“Yeah, your soulmark is coming through,” he says. “Your back is turning black.”
“It’s like wings trying to rip through,” he says.
“It’ll pass,” Sachirou says. “I’m going to take you back to the dorm once you can move without pain.”
“This is the worst time,” Kourai groans, slumping against him “I’m never gonna make the team if I can’t play.”
“There’s plenty of time.” He hums, letting Kourai rest his head in Sachirou’s lap as he pets Kourai’s hair. “Don’t rush things, Kourai. Things take time to perfect. Better to be a slow burning star that grows bright and burns longer, than to burn bright and burn out just as quickly.”
“Don’t talk in metaphors, Sachirou, I’m not thinking clearly enough for that.”
It’s too long before the wings in his back settle and Kourai sighs. He has to listen to the yells of the team and the smack of volleyballs. And even worse, Sachirou sits with him, drapes his track jacket over him and lets him lie with his head in his lap. He should be practicing with the team but instead he remains with Kourai.
Water splashes onto his face and Kourai lifts his head. “Sachirou?”
Sachirou blinks at him and Kourai reaches up, cupping his cheeks and stroking his tears away. Tears Sachirou doesn’t seem to even know are falling if the surprise on his face is anything to go by.
“You ok, buddy?”
“Hinata’s not really,” Sachirou laughs weakly, scrubbing his face. “It’s… heartbreaking. Humiliation and self-criticism.”
“He lost?” Kourai says.
“Yeah.”
That feeling never goes away. No matter how high you climb, losses always hurt. There’s always that humiliation, if anything that gets worse the higher you climb, and the sting of knowing you could have done better. It’s the sort of pain that lead Sachirou to hurting himself. Dealing with it is never easy.
“Are you ok to move?” Sachirou says.
“Yeah, let’s give it a go,” Kourai replies.
Sachirou helps him sit up and Kourai breathes deeply. It’s still pretty sore. He aches. His back is going to ache for days. He’s not going to be allowed out of bed for days. He knew it was a risk, the later his soulmark appeared, the more likely it was that he’d miss something important when it came through. It sucks that it’s now, that he might miss his chance to even get on the team, but he supposes it’s better than mid-match. He remembers a few years ago, Miya Osamu went down mid-match at Nationals and his brother had barely been held together by his team.
It’s when he tries to stand the other problem appears though. Pain shoots up his leg and his ankle gives way, forcing Sachirou to support him.
“Shit,” he hisses.
“It’s alright,” Sachirou says. “You landed a little badly. It’s probably just a little twist. We’ll get the nurse to come up and look at you in the dorm.”
Kourai nods. He takes a deep breath and pulls on his track jacket. Suwa promises to bring their bags up to them from the club room once and Sachirou helps him limp out to the dorms and into their room.
The nurse comes up soon after and confirms he’s not wrecked his ankle and should be back to volleyball as soon as his back heals. She washes his back gently and wraps him in bandages and gauze, along with strapping up his ankle, and making him promise to rest before giving his painkillers.
Stupid soulmark. He can’t do anything until the black ink washes off and reveals his soulmark. Doing anything to disturb the mark coming through could damage the forming soulbound.
“So,” Kourai says, folding his arms under his pillow. “What’s up with Hinata Shouyou?”
Sachirou’s lucky. His soulmark came through while he was with Fukurou, watching Shouko play at the Spring Tournament. Simply muttering about Karasuno in his presence had seen him directed to the opposite court where Karasuno High School from Miyagi was playing - losing to Inarizaki. From there, he had a name, Hinata Shouyou on his soulmark, and a pretty solid idea that he’s somewhere in Miyagi and likely somehow involved in, or at least a fan of, volleyball.
“Miyagi’s Inter-Middle first rounds were today,” Sachirou says. “Along with others.”
He’s still pretty reluctant to commit to the idea that Hinata Shouyou is in Miyagi, no matter how likely.
“He lost his first round then,” he says.
“There are other sports playing too. And across other age groups.”
Sachirou refuses to commit to anything about his soulmate.
Kourai hums. “I said I saw a match, right? Maybe they were playing each other. Or teammates. Wouldn’t that be cool? They’d be teammates and we’d be teammates. Mmm, Inter-Middle means they’re babies though. Either a year or even three.”
“Three years isn’t actually that much of an age difference, Kourai-kun,” Sachirou says.
“You really live up to your immovable name sometimes, Sachirou. One day you’ll gossip with me.”
“That’s what you have Hakuba-kun for.”
It takes forever for his back to heal. It drives Kourai insane. Nine days! It takes nine days before Sachirou says the ink is starting to come away with the bandages and the pair of them head to the dorm bathroom. Sachirou’s mark is always proud across the back of his shoulders.
I’m Hinata Shouyou from the concrete.
A seagull, clearly supposed to be Sachirou, sheltering an injured crow from the rain with its wing as the poor crow tries to get up and fly.
Kourai can only hope his has such an obvious message. Sachirou sits with him in the empty bathroom, washing the black ink from his back with the shower head and slowly revealing the mark below with a sponge. The wait is killing him. He needs to know. He needs to know what happened to cause him to take nine days off of volleyball!
This had better be worth it!
“Wow,” Sachirou breathes, laying a hand against his back. “...Kourai…”
“Is it that bad?” Kourai says, trying to turn to him.
“It’s beautiful,” he replies.
Then he grimaces and Kourai scowls. “What?”
“That’s… not that the most helpful first words,” he says with a sheepish smile. Kourai tries to turn but there’s no way he can read it. Sachiou just keeps him still and hands him the showerhead to wash himself off. “‘Yeah, since I got here’. That’s what it says.”
“What?” Kourai doesn’t get it. “That’s- But- What?!”
Kourai gets to see his mark after they’ve taken advantage of the empty bath. It is nice to look at. And it matches Sachirou’s. A crow and seagull flying through a sky full of ribbons and feathers tipped with gold.
It is beautiful.
Whoever’s on the other end had better be worth it.
“Karasuno…” Kourai hums, kicking his legs in the air where he’s lying on Sachirou’s bed. “Like crows? Do you think that means my crow is the same? Maybe they are teammates? Or will be.”
“Sorry, Kourai-kun, I just can’t get as excited about this as you,” Sachirou replies. “I hope he makes you happy, though.”
Kourai sighs and shrugs. Soulmates are like volleyball for Sachirou, he supposes, so he he gets it. It’s all to do with his messy relationship with his family. Kourai might have had a few issues with his brother sometimes, but it’s nothing like the strained relationship Sachirou has with his family and the distance between them. Every time he seems them together, Kourai sees how much they love each other, but they’re distant. Sachirou doesn’t phone home once a week like Kourai does - every day through his forced confinement to update his mum on his soulmark’s non-progress - instead only calling to give them results of their tournaments or tests. Sometimes his siblings call just to chat.
Sometimes Kourai wonders if Sachirou is lonely.
“I’ve found him!” Kourai declares.
He drags Sachirou into their room the moment he gets out of the shower. It’s been a long hard year and their second Inter-High is coming around. And Kourai has found their soulmates. Finally. Sachirou might only be half-heatedly interested in finding their soulmates, but Kourai cares. He wants to know. So he’s been searching. He wants to know why whoever his dumb soulmate is seems so angry and bitter and sad all the time. It’s a weird combination and he hates it. So there’s nothing to do but find him, track him down and demand he knocks it off.
“I’ve found Hinata Shouyou,” he says before Sachirou can argue.
He pushes Sachirou into the seat at his desk and presses play on the video. It’s not hard to find volleyball games if you know where to look on the internet. There’s always someone recording them. And this looks like the full version of a professional recording for TV.
Karasuno playing against some school called Aoba Johsai.
“That’s him,” Kourai says as a shot passes a short redhead. “Hinata Shouyou.”
Karasuno’s #10. And he’s a middle blocker! It’s insane. It must be a mistake. But it isn’t and he’s right there on the team.
Kourai finds his gaze drawn to Karasuno’s #9. Their setter, apparently. Kageyama Tobio. Tall and muscular, with sleek dark hair and big blue eyes. Kourai can’t keep his eyes off of him, actually. No matter how he tries to watch Karasuno in general, his eyes keep being drawn back to him. He can’t watch anything else.
“I think that’s him,” Kourai says quietly. Sachirou turns to him and Kourai presses his finger to Kageyama’s chest. “I think that’s my soulmate.”
“You think so?” Sachirou says, tilting his head.
“Yeah.”
“We’ll have to keep an eye on Karasuno then.”
Karasuno wins Miyagi’s Spring Tournament Qualifiers. Beating Shiratorizawa. It’s impressive. Kourai hadn’t expected to meet Karasuno at Nationals until Ushiwaka was gone. So they’re going to meet them. Sachirou doesn’t seem interested. That’s how Sachirou is though. Kourai’s not exactly surprised. He’s focused on exams and Nationals.
“Kourai,” Coach Murphy calls.
“Coach?” Kourai replies, hurrying over.
“We’ve just had some big news,” he says with a grin. He puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “You’ve been invited to the All-Japan Youth Camp in December.”
Kourai blinks a few times. All-Japan. That’s the pool for the U19 team. The gym has gone quiet and he glances back. Everyone is staring at them. That’s the camp Sachirou went to last year. Sachirou hadn’t said much about it, just that the coaches saw through his issues pretty quickly and knew he wasn’t sticking with it.
“You’ll go, right?” Coach Murphy says. “It’s in December, right before the Spring Tournament, so I understand if you’d rather not, but it’s a good opportunity.”
“Yeah,” Kourai says with a nod. “Yeah, of course.”
“Wonderful. I thought that would be the case.”
“People are finally starting to notice you, Kourai,” Sachirou says as Kourai joins him warming up. “You’re going to stop being surprising soon.”
That’s the problem. The more high level people notice him, the less people will be surprised and freak out when they see him play. They’ll stop underestimating him. That’s half the fun though.
“It pisses me off,” Kourai sighs.
“Let’s get to work,” Coach Murphy calls.
December comes around all too quickly and Sachirou sees him off at the station, promising not to slack off without him. Tokyo is a long way, but not unfamiliar to Kourai. He’s been to national tournaments so many times by now, even if he struggled to make the team before.
The training centre is amazing though. Sachirou said it was, but seeing it is something else. He’s shown to his room and finds himself sharing it with Miya. Because, of course he is. Well, at least he knows Miya, and Miya was at this camp last year so knows what he’s doing. He’s lounging around in his bunk when Kourai comes in and puts down his bags.
“Afternoon, Kourai-kun,” he drawls, not looking up from his phone.
“Miya,” he mutters.
“Aw, ya should be happier to see me, Kourai-kun,” Miya laughs, sitting up. “We’re roomies, ain’t it great?”
He swears Miya’s putting on his dialect even more than usual just to be annoying. His voice is sickly sweet and he pulls out his words in an obvious drawl. It’s going to be a long week if he’s already trying to be annoying. Where’s Kita when you need him?
Or even Sachirou, why isn’t he here with him? Miya and Sachirou actually get along pretty well and have known each other since they were kids.
“Know who else is here, Miya?” he says.
“Omi-Omi, of course,” Miya says. “And ‘Toya-kun too.”
“Do you have to butcher everyone’s names like that?” Kourai sighs.
“It’s part of my charm.”
“Sure it is.”
They head out into the gym together when called to find the other members of the camp. And Kourai’s footsteps falter. Kageyama Tobio is right there. Miya glances between them, then his eyes widen and he grins.
“Uh-oh, I remember that feeling,” he chuckles.
“Sure,” Kourai snorts and walks away.
It’s fine. It’s totally fine. He’ll just focus and pay attention to everything else. It’s a big opportunity. He’s got to focus and make sure he makes the most of being out here. All-Japan is a big deal. These are the best players in high school, he has to prove he can stand with them.
And he does. He focuses and plays to his best, until he finally gets to call Sachirou that night, to get his thoughts together before calling home.
“Kageyama’s here,” he says before Sachirou can say anything. Sachirou sighs. “He’s the most gorgeous guy ever, like ever. Those recordings didn’t do him justice.”
“Really?” Sachirou says with a hum.
“Other than you, obviously,” Kourai laughs. He can feel Sachirou rolling his eyes as he chuckles. “The most gorgeous guy since you grew your hair out.”
Sachirou snorts. “Go on then, tell me all about him.”
“He’s stunning,” Kourai says, and can hear the bed creak beneath Sachirou as he gets comfortable and ready for the rant. “Like, gorgeous. Dark hair, tall but not like tall tall, still kinda baby faced and with these big blue eyes. Like the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen. He’s like, stupid good, Miya said he’s supposed to be the genius protege of some mega-setter from out there in Miyagi. I dunno, setters, you know? They’re like aliens. They’re all territorial and obsessive over each other. And we were just playing a friendly game to get to know each other, he does this crazy set, like absolutely insane.”
“Insane?” Sachirou says.
“The guy barely touched it, like no way were even the guys coming in for a quick gonna get it. And it was so high, like not me high but high, and then it just stopped. Like stopped in the air and dropped. Absolutely ridiculous.”
“You mean the one for Hinata?”
“We talking ‘bout Tobio-kun?” Miya says, coming in.
“Insane, right?” Kourai laughs.
Miya hums. “He’s got a scary face, but he seems like a sweet kid.”
Kourai has known the Miya Twins for years. Not as long as Sachirou but a long time. He’s never sure if, when he says something like that, if he means it as an insult or not.
“Tell him not to bully Kageyama-kun,” Sachirou says.
“Sachirou says don’t bully him,” Kourai says. “And me too. Don’t bully him.”
“Why does everyone keep sayin’ that?” Miya huffs. “Even Mori warned me off of him. Apparently they’ve got somethin’ between their schools. He says Tobio-kun’s just a nice kid who sucks at communicating. I dunno why y’all seem to think I’m such an asshole.”
“You are,” he replies.
“I’m not gonna bully yer soulmate. Or even be an asshole. I’m just going to be usual, charming self.”
“So, an asshole,” Kourai snorts.
“Sometimes, I don’t think I like ya, Koura-kun,” Miya grumbles.
“That’s alright,” he replies with a grin. “I never like you.”
Miya laughs, as he always does. Of course. If he thought Miya would actually take offense or get his feelings hurt, he’d tone it down. But Miya’s always been able to give as good as he gets, and Kourai has too.
Kourai wonders if he’s wrong about Kageyama though. He doesn’t seem interested in him. He just gazes at him curiously like he’s nothing. Just watching him. It pisses him off. It shouldn’t but it does. He can feel something bubbling down the soulbound but he doesn’t know what it is. He knows he should leave it alone. Does he really want his first words to be hostile?
Except, well, Miya’s a bad influence, telling him all about how his first words didn’t match with those on his soulmark, and neither were Komori and Suna’s apparently, so why not just go for it and talk to him?
And it kind of makes sense. Because even broken clocks are right twice a day and, somehow, Miya has a healthy relationship with his soulmate, so why not take his advice? And, well, it’s a little reassuring whe Sachirou says destiny is destiny, so whatever he says has already been accounted for. There’s nothing to lose either way.
So, Kourai waits until they’re stretching and approaches him.
“Hey,” he says and Kageyama turns. “Have you seen me before?”
Kageyama blinks at him. Maybe that was a little blunt. He didn’t mean to get a bad impression. Is that what’s been on Kageyama’s soulmark all this time? But, how does that lead into the words on his back? That doesn’t make any sense-
“Yeah, since I got here.”
Fuck.
“That’s not what I mean,” he says, as calmly as possible. “I’m asking if you’ve seen any of my matches before.”
“No,” Kageyama says.
“I see.”
Which is rude, because Kourai has seen his games. And even more rude how he’s just been staring at him!
“Then be more scared of me!” he snaps. “Be surprised! You’ve just been staring at me ‘huh…’ ever since you saw me! Usually people underestimate me because of my height and then they freak out when they see my skill! That’s how this is supposed to work!”
He’s his soulmate! He should be more surprised. In awe of him. Amazed. Isn’t he lucky. He should have underestimated him and then been totally blown away by Kourai being such an amazing player. He should be dreaming about setting to him. About what a great team they could be.
Like Kourai has since he first saw him set.
“You do freak me out,” Kageyama says.
Kourai turns to him. Ok. Ok, maybe he just has one of those faces. Maybe he is freaked out and just has a face like Osamu’s. That makes sense. He can handle that.
“But, you’re a great reference too.”
“What?!”
Reference?
A reference?!
“Wow, ya’ve sure got some guts, Tobio-kun.”
Miya’s laughter interrupts before he can wind himself up any further. Typical of Miya to just appear from thin air just because he’s not the center of attention. He smiles, getting Kageyama’s attention and Kourai slinks away to lick his wounds and maybe call Sachirou.
A reference? He’s a reference to Kageyama? His first words aren’t exactly common. He must know, right?
He slumps in the hallways, glaring at his phone. Sachirou’s probably still in practice right now. He won’t answer. And he doesn’t want to talk to his mum about it. That’ll brother her.
“Hoshiumi-san?” He lifts his head. Kageyama is staring down at him, no different to how he’s looked at him the entire time. “Are you alright?”
Kourai clenches his jaw and pushes up from the wall. He grabs Kageyama’s collar and shoves him against the wall. Kageyama stares down at him and Kourai glares back. What the hell is wrong with him?
“Hoshiumi-san?”
Kourai shoves him flat against the wall and their mouths crash together. Their noses bump awkwardly. Kageyama’s hands fumble for a moment before grabbing his shirt at his waist and pulling him closer. It’s messy and clumsy in a way neither of them are on the court. Kourai’s fingers tangle into Kageyama’s hair. He’s on his toes to reach Kageyama, who does little to support him, and eventually he has to stumble back onto his heels.
Kageyama stares down at him, breathing like he’s run a marathon and with flushed cheeks.
Kourai straightens up before Kageyama can say a word and smirks back. “Reference that.”
He turns on his heel and sweeps away down the hall like he totally meant to do all of that. It’s fine. Totally fine. Fantastic. Kageyama will definitely be thinking about that when he’s referencing him, won’t he?
“Smooth, Kourai-kun,” Miya chuckles as he rounds the corner.
“Shut up, Miya.”