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The first time Tobio sees Oikawa he is in middle school, young and impressionable.
The first time Tobio sees Oikawa is across the net, in his first year of high school, as Hinata slams a quick down right past Bluecastle’s captain.
The first time Tobio sees Oikawa after the Olympics, however—after Argentina’s glorious win in men’s volleyball—is most of a year later, after a Schweiden Adlers official practice match. His hair is longer than Tobio remembers it, starting to curl around his ears instead of just swishing to the side, and instead of a soft bandage around his knee, he has a stiff brace holding his whole right leg in place, plus crutches.
Most notably, he’s wearing a Schweiden Adlers merch sweatshirt with Ushijima’s number on it. The eleven is right there in dark blue against the cream color of the fabric. Ushijima, exiting the locker room, pauses in his steps, and stands frozen, seemingly processing the sweatshirt and, specifically, the fact that Oikawa is wearing the sweatshirt.
Tobio steps forward. “Oikawa-san,” he says, polite but careful. “I didn’t expect to see you back in Japan so soon.” Why are you here would be too forward, but it’s absolutely what they’re both wondering—you get a sense of that, when you’re teammates, even with someone as stoic as Ushijima. (He’s not rude; he just genuinely doesn’t pick up on subtleties in a conversation. Not that Kageyama is very good at them either.)
Oikawa rolls his eyes, but instead of looking annoyed and put-upon like he did anytime Tobio asked him how to improve his jump serve, he just looks tired. “Well, I’m here, and I wanted to see my favorite people.”
Ushijima’s gaze snaps up from the number on the sweatshirt to Oikawa’s face. “What?” he asks, tripping over the short word in surprise.
Oikawa sticks his tongue out at him and replies, “That was sarcasm, stupid.”
There’s a moment of uncomfortable silence before Tobio speaks again. “Is your knee alright?”
“Honestly, Tobio-chan, if your eyesight is this bad I’m surprised you can still land a jump serve.” Oikawa sighs in a way that’s so exaggerated, Tobio wonders if he’s taken up acting as a career. “My knee is as immobilized as it can get without being in a cast, I’d say it’s pretty clear that it’s not okay.” He shifts his weight on his crutches. “If you’re asking,” he says finally, slowly, “I tore my ACL. I’m taking at least three months off, coach’s orders.”
“So you came back to Japan in your time off?” Tobio finishes hesitantly.
“Yeah.” Oikawa shrugs slightly. “Shoyo and Iwa-chan already know I’m here, so I thought I’d let my top rivals know—” He leans on his left crutch and lifts his right hand dramatically to point at Ushijima. “—even the greatest volleyball players can easily be brought down by simple things.” He seems to be at a normal level of competitiveness when he adds, “So be careful out on the court. I want my biggest rivals in top form when I return.” Then he spins around and leaves the gym, his crutches clicking on the polished floor of the hallway.
Tobio sees Ushijima powerwalk to catch up to Oikawa, and they exchange a few words before Oikawa whacks him in the leg with one crutch—possibly in the middle of a joke, judging from the lopsided grin on his face—and they exit the building together.
The second time Tobio sees Oikawa after the Olympics is a week later, and he looks up from a flurry of texts from Hinata to see Oikawa sitting in the entryway outside the gym, wearing a dark green sweater and a grey skirt that comes down to his ankles. Tobio just shrugs and waves to get Ushijima’s attention; maybe Oikawa was cold, or doesn’t want the brace to show.
He texts Hinata anyway; he was one of the first people Oikawa talked to upon returning to Japan, so maybe he knows something Tobio doesn’t.
sunshine idiot: silly kageyama!! oikawa-san doesn’t need to explain fashion to you and neither do i
kageyama: shut your tiny mouth i was just wondering
sunshine idiot: or u could just ask
sunshine idiot: politely!! don’t be a dumbass
Tobio just leaves that one on read. He pockets his phone and swings his bag onto his shoulder, carrying his street shoes out to the entrance. Ushijima is talking with Oikawa, and he catches some quiet snippets of their conversation.
“You look nice,” Ushijima says. It’s a bit stiff, but he probably doesn’t express compliments very often—at least, when the topic isn’t volleyball.
Oikawa huffs. “Of course, I always look stunning.” Then he laughs. “Thank you, Ushiwaka.”
“You are welcome,” Ushijima replies. “The sweater brings out your eyes.” Tobio would bet money that Tendou taught him how to talk to people; or tried to, at least.
“Oh, so observant of you,” Oikawa says sarcastically. Then he sighs. “I was a little nervous about the skirt, to be honest, but I guess no one here recognizes me on the street anymore.”
There’s a moment of silence, probably as Ushijima thinks of what to say. Tobio ties his left shoe very slowly. “The skirt looks good,” he finally says, softly.
Oikawa pauses. “It feels good. Oh, this is so weird. Who would’ve thought I’d be talking to you on my time off?” he whines, in a tone that’s probably joking. Ushijima just stares at him.
The answer is that no one expected that, of course, so Tobio just finishes tying his right shoe and heads out.
Tobio starts to wonder if this is a pattern when Oikawa visits for the third time. He’s wearing the Adlers sweatshirt again, and the ends of the sleeves look well worn. Ushijima is still in the locker room, and Tobio is about to leave when Oikawa waves him over with a bright Tobio-chan! and a grin on his face.
“Oikawa-san,” he greets. “Are you well?”
Oikawa waves a hand at his crutches, leaning against the wall. “As well as I can be. You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself too, huh?”
Kageyama nods, processing the general lack of spite in the question. “Thank you, Oikawa-san.”
“Pshh, huh, that wasn’t—” Oikawa rolls his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Fine. I’ll be gracious and let you take the compliment. Anyway, I wanted to ask you, before—” He makes some sort of complicated face.
“Hello, Oikawa,” Ushijima says, from behind Kageyama’s shoulder.
Oikawa laughs brightly. “Don’t worry about it Tobio-chan, I’ll figure it out.” Then he smiles at Ushijima. It’s not a sarcastic, fake smile, either, like he’s seen so many times on Oikawa’s face.
Kageyama draws back. He’s always known there’s something going on between Oikawa and Ushijima, what with their high school rivalry, but nowadays it feels more like something he should quietly step out of, so he doesn’t disturb the moment. He sees Oikawa pull something out of his bag and give it to Ushijima; maybe a card, or something like that.
Whatever. It’s not his business.
Apparently it’s Kageyama’s business now. Why else would he be sitting at a hole-in-the-wall cafe with Oikawa at 11 A.M. on a Monday?
“I want your help,” Oikawa says.
Kageyama blinks slowly. He pinches his arm. “What?”
Oikawa scowls. “You heard me the first time, brat,” he says, but there’s a fond undertone to the exasperation. “You’re Ushijima’s teammate. You know him pretty well, right?”
“You dropped the nickname,” Kageyama comments, surprised.
Oikawa traces circles on the lid of his to-go cup. “Yes, well. When you’re trying to get closer to someone, you generally don’t want to make fun of them.”
Kageyama takes a sip from his milk tea. “I don’t think Ushijima sees it as making fun of him,” he points out.
“Well, that’s what it was supposed to be,” Oikawa insists. “So I’d feel bad.” He clears his throat. “Anyway, I was thinking of, uh…” He trails off and grimaces. “Nevermind. God. Why am I even asking you.”
Kageyama nods innocently. “It’s alright, Oikawa-san. You can tell me.”
Oikawa folds himself around his drink like a cat with a cherished item. “Well… I wantedtoaskUshijimaoutforValentine’sbutI’mworriedhe’llsaynoorhatemeand—” He groans and faceplants on the table. “Why do I even bother,” he grumbles.
“Oikawa-san, do you like men?”
“Oh my god. Yes, fine, whatever, how did it take you this long to notice. It’s literally not like I was subtle about it.” Oikawa sticks out his tongue and scowls.
“But I thought you went out with a bunch of girls in high school,” Kageyama says. “Are you gay, then?”
Oikawa slumps in his chair. “I’m not going to explain bisexuality to you, Tobio-chan.” He waves a hand. “And that’s to say nothing of gender, but I think that’s enough about me for one conversation.”
Kageyama takes this in. Now he has something to look up afterwards. “Okay. So you want me to help you… ask out Ushijima-san?”
“Now that you say it like that, it sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not sure I’m the best person to help,” Kageyama agrees. “But I think he would appreciate it if you were straightforward and told him your intentions upfront.”
Oikawa sighs. “Thanks, Tobio-chan.” It’s not sarcastic, but it’s not overjoyed.
He feels a little bad that he couldn’t give Oikawa the perfect answer he was looking for, but romance has never been his thing anyway. He silently wishes Oikawa luck as they part ways.
They don’t have practice on Valentine’s Day, as a courtesy, or some such reason. Kageyama sort of wishes they did, but he recognizes that they need a day of rest anyway. He doesn’t particularly care about Valentine’s Day, and he doesn’t have any plans, so he lets himself sleep in for once.
He wakes up to… a series of missed texts.
[Yesterday, 22:17]
oikawa: here’s an article on bisexuality if you were curious.
oikawa: like if you wanted to get to know your cool awesome senpai better or something
[Today, 00:28]
oikawa: its late an i dont care anymire als here’s an article on genderquer too gn
oikawa: you bettr be askeep dnt learn from my bad hab;ts
[06:31]
oikawa: i cant believe i’m waking up early for this idiot. tobiochan youre my only ally
oikawa: img0632.png
Attached after that one is a selfie of Oikawa, pouting in a scarf and earmuffs, with Ushijima stretching in the background. Apparently they went for a run.
[7:23]
oikawa: nvm all is well he bought me hot cocoa
oikawa: is this true love?
oikawa: img0725.png
That image is a picture of Oikawa’s hot chocolate and a croissant, with Ushijima smiling softly on the other side of the table.
[8:47]
oikawa: oh and thanks for your advice i guess
oikawa: i suppose i can thank you. a little bit.
oikawa: anyway guess who has a boyfriend now :p
[9:06]
kageyama: is it you?
kageyama: congratulations oikawa-san
Congratulations sent, Kageyama puts his phone down and gets dressed. He might as well go out for a run himself.