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It’s no secret that Shouyou’s ultimate passion is volleyball, but what most don’t know is that it’s not the only thing he’s passionate about.
Shouyou also likes clothes.
More often than not, Shouyou is dressed for the gym; training shorts, compression tights, t-shirts, and joggers take up the majority of his wardrobe. Then there are his uniforms, which he always wears proudly. When he isn’t focusing on volleyball, however, Shouyou likes to put thought into every outfit he wears, and he loves adding to his closet.
Clothes are costly, and Shouyou’s pockets aren’t the deepest considering his only source of income comes from his weekly allowance, and what he makes doing little odd and end jobs for his neighbors. Shouyou knows how to budget though—how to spend his money wisely. Wisely enough that he’s able to make a hobby out of fashion, and just like he drags his friends in to practice with him, Shouyou drags them along whenever he feels like dressing someone up, other than himself.
Kenma is one of the few Shouyou texts when he gets a hankering for his favorite hobby outside of volleyball—thrifting.
Similar to the feeling Shouyou has when he’s playing volleyball, when he’s thrifting, Shouyou feels free. He might not be soaring, but he’s still hyper-focused. He’s still passionate. He’s still fully invested in his task.
Kenma, as it turns out, loves thrifting with Shouyou. There are no expectations, no pressure—just an honest good time, with a friend whose brightness can rival the sun.
“Let’s go vintage today,” Shouyou says as he and Kenma enter one of his favorite thrift stores. There are five in total that he frequents regularly, and he isn’t opposed to taking the bus further out just to try his luck at other places. Whenever he’s lucky enough.
“Vintage, huh?” Kenma muses, thumbs flying over the screen of his phone as he sends off a text and then deposits the phone into the pocket of his windbreaker.
The far-left corner of the old shop is where the jackets are, so he heads there first, Kenma trailing behind him contentedly.
“Vintage goth,” Shouyou laughs, grabbing the first coat he sees. It’s all silken black, a long tailcoat with buttons that were a distorted swirl of black and silver. “I know, too formal for a walk in the park. But it would look great on you.”
Kenma believes him, but he doesn’t push either way, simply happy to have Shouyou do as he pleases.
“Don’t worry, we’re definitely going for more color,” Shouyou says with promise and a small smile graces Kenma’s lips.
They make a day of it, and not for the first time. The final fit consists of gold-yellow pants that Shouyou took the time to tight roll. When he found a button-down plaid top with that same gold-yellow and burgundy, Shouyou was ecstatic, but seeing it all come together was the best part. Kenma pulls the look off like it’s his exact brand. He poses in front of Shouyou like a paid model, slender hands in his pockets. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, but not too neatly, a navy-blue bowtie at his throat that matches the pinstripe blue on the shirt.
“You. Look. Awesome!”
After taking a few pictures together and updating their social media statuses, their day of thrifting ends in that walk through the park Shouyou intended for them. It’s the perfect place for a mock photoshoot—earning Shouyou plenty of new content to add to his scrapbooking.
Memories.
On Shouyou’s next trip, he’s accompanied by two friends.
Atsumu and Tobio. And what a pair they are.
There’s this unnecessary bitterness between the two of them that Shouyou has made one of his life goals to help them overcome. Deep down, he knows they just have a lot of respect for one another. At least as far as their skills go. They’re both amazing and so much fun for Shouyou to dress up, so a two-in-one isn’t something he’s willing to pass up, especially if it can be used as an opportunity to get the two of them to warm up to each other more.
Tobio is too easily irritated by Atsumu’s taunting, and Atsumu’s favorite thing to do is exactly that. They’re bickering from the moment they meet in the parking lot and it doesn’t end until Shouyou’s stealing their attention with clothes.
Faded blue jeans and a patchwork jean jacket for Tobio, a simple too-big white t-shirt scribbled in illegible ink to be tucked into the jeans.
Thin black cargo pants and two shirts for Atsumu, one white long-sleeved and a short-sleeved black one that was tattered and worn to wear over it.
They fight over the floor-length mirror outside of the dressing room when they both happen to finish changing at the same time. Shouyou can’t help but laugh, letting them duke it out while he takes a few pictures to post and tag them. His phone isn’t even in his pocket before it’s buzzing to life with notifications—everyone always so invested in his thrifting days and what they might find his friends dressed in.
“Now you guys look ready to eat. Let’s go show off these outfits—Kageyama’s buying!”
“I am not!” Tobio argues, but he ends up buying anyway, and he and Atsumu might still be going at it by the time they go their separate ways, but it’s lighter more playful banter that’s received without disdain.
Shouyou can’t wait to surprise them with another day of thrifting together sometime soon.
The following week, Shouyou is asked to meet Oikawa in the heart of Sedai. It’s a very long bike ride and too long on the bus for Shoyuou to keep still, but his excitement only increases with each passing moment. Until he’s there, stepping off the bus to meet Oikawa and his crooked grin.
“You made it,” Oikawa says in lieu of a greeting and Shouyou hums, nodding once.
“Now will you tell me what’s so important that we just had to do today?”
Oikawa laughs, slings an arm around his shoulder, and begins leading him down the sidewalk. “Thrifting with Shouyou. What else?”
And it’s with that, that Shouyou realizes he’s making his dreams a reality. He doesn’t have to limit himself. He wants to be limitless—and with the support of his amazing friends, there was nothing holding him back.
“Thrifting in Sendai?” Shouyou breathes in disbelief, heart pattering wildly in his chest as he looks around at all the tall buildings. He imagines finding a nifty thrift store in the heart of the city must be difficult.
“Came across this place the other day. It’s new and huge. Five floors to sift through.”
Shouyou thinks he might faint. Instead, he squeals, forcing Oikawa to walk faster, to get him there sooner.
Five floors is a lot to go through. He should’ve left home sooner.
The place blows his mind and makes for a new thrifting experience that’s far closer to shopping retail, except almost everything is designer and 90% off. Shouyou loves it, cherishes the experience, and has a great day dressing Oikawa up—he ends up with three new outfits to take home with him, but Shouyou’s favorite is a preppy, streetwear look. Sendai’s thrift shop offers him more options than the smaller shops closer to home, and he takes advantage to stock up on several things for his own closet as well.
For as much as he loves dressing up his friends, he loves getting himself dressed too. His closet could never be too full—though there are definitely some things he can donate. Maybe even some things that will make someone else as happy as he is when he finds a hidden gem.
After his eventful trip to the city, Shouyou settles in at home, printing out the day’s fashion photos of him and Oikawa to add to his scrapbook. Another one that only has a few pages remaining to be filled.
He’s eager to fill them—to need another book that he can fill to the brim with these memories, separate from those that document his other dreams and progress in achieving them.
As he debates which friend he’ll drag into his next fashion adventure, Shouyou walks to his closet and begins sorting through everything, packing away what he can donate to make room for new things to come. Thrifting began as a necessity for clothes shopping, but one day, even when Shouyou has the means to afford more, he knows he’ll keep thrifting.