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𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵—𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘺𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪, 𝘔𝘚𝘉𝘠 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝-𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦’𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦-𝘰𝘧-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴.

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 “𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦”.

“What the fuck is this?” Kiyoomi says to himself after reading the headline of the article Motoya just sent him.

Atsumu gives a concerned side-eye to Bokuto, who just shrugs in response. “Ya alright there, Omi?” the blonde delicately asks.

Kiyoomi turns his phone around and shows the text to his teammates. “I thought you were smarter than to fall for click-bait, Omi-Omi,” Bokuto says.

“I am—that’s why I haven’t read the article.” Kiyoomi retorts. “Besides, I know my moles are genuine,” he says poking at the very real protruding dots above his right eye. “I just don’t understand why someone would spread such a blatant lie.”

“Maybe ya pissed off the wrong reporter?” Atsumu asks the statement as a question. “Ya don’t have the best track record after all.”

Kiyoomi’s well aware of the ‘vibe’ he gives off to reporters (and strangers in general). He wasn’t exactly born with a filter, so when asked a question his approach has always been ‘play stupid games, win stupid prizes’. If they don’t want him to be honest, why ask in the first place?

“I suppose you’re right.” Kiyoomi sighs as he concedes defeat. “But this is low, even for the media.”

“What‘s low, Omi-san?” Hinata interrupts, towel wrapped around his neck. “Ooo did they call you ‘pompous’ or ‘prickly’ again?”

Kiyoomi shoots a glare at the ginger. He doesn’t need to be reminded of the decorative adjectives that seem to always proceed his name when you google him. “No,” he answers shortly.

“Nah, Omi Omi’s just gettin’ canceled for drawing the moles on his face.” Atsumu teases and Hinata’s eyes widen. “Do you really—“

“—NO!” Kiyoomi huffs and stomps out of the locker room.

It really shouldn’t bother him this much; it’s just click-bait—but as he catches himself staring at the message instead of the latest episode of Game of Thrones, he begins to type out a reply.

To: Toya
>>>Have you read the article?
From: Toya
>>>yeah. it’s fucking hilarious. thought you’d get a kick out of it.
To: Toya
>>>No, you didn’t.
From: Toya
>>> okay fine, I knew you wouldn’t. but c’mon you gotta admit it’s at least a little funny.

Kiyoomi instantly regrets his decision to text his cousin about this. Frankly, he’d be better off talking to Atsumu. He laughs off the idea, making a subtle change before he continues.

To: asshole cousin
>>>Fuck off. Did you see the picture?
From: asshole cousin
>>>no. I couldn’t get it to load. send it to me?

Kiyoomi’s curiosity finally gets the better of him as he opens the article that’s been looming on the screen since he received it this morning.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵? 𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘭𝘭-𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 2009. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥-𝘵𝘰-𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘱𝘢𝘸, 𝘜𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘪.

𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘜𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘮𝘢’𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

“For fuck’s sake—“ Kiyoomi breathes to himself as he continues to peruse the article, eyes landing on the aforementioned photo of his adolescent self slicing a wicked cut-shot past Ushijima’s block. It really is a great picture—and Kiyoomi might’ve been happy about it if they were actually talking about his amazing spike and not the (real!) twin moles that adorn the top of his brow. There are several other photos of Kiyoomi’s career attached, ranging from his Itachiyama days up to his latest match with MSBY, and not a single one shows him without the birthmarks.

There's one last picture, albeit a little blurred, of a man that bears a striking resemblance to him. He’s wearing all black and looks to be standing next to a hurse.

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘪𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱. 𝘈 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘢, 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘨𝘪. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 (𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴?), 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱.

(𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦).

Kiyoomi knows the man is the photo isn’t actually him, but that still doesn’t stop him from opening his phone’s camera to ensure his right brow hasn’t somehow changed. A sigh of relief escapes when he sees the punctuation-shaped marks in their rightful place. He giggles at the ridiculousness of it all, supposing it is actually a bit humorous. In a fleeting moment of sympathy, he changes Motoya’s name back in his phone.

To: Toya
>>> *photo attached*
From: Toya
>>> holy shit, dude. are you sure you didn’t have mole-removal surgery?
To: Toya
>>> Shut up. I feel like I need to do damage control or something. Not that I care.
From: Toya
>>> don’t sweat it. it’ll blow over in no time.
To: Toya
>>> Yeah, ok.

He takes his cousin’s advice and returns to his television program.

Kiyoomi wakes up the following morning and opens his phone, which is riddled with notifications. It seems the article had picked up traction overnight and was making its social media rounds. Kiyoomi rolls his eyes, turns the device off and gets ready for practice.

The raven is instantly bombarded by a couple of wild jackals when he enters the gymnasium. “I saw the article and damn,” Bokuto’s already big eyes grow larger as he inspects Kiyoomi’s features. “Not gonna lie, the evidence is incriminating.”

“Yeah, if that ain’t you, ya musta been abducted ‘n cloned at some super-secret government facility,” Atsumu jokes.

“Or maybe I just have a twin I never told you about?” Kiyoomi deadpans, then bursting into laughter when he sees the horrified look on the actual twin’s face. “Look, I have not idea who the guy is, but it’s not me.”

“It says here the picture was taken in Miyagi—maybe Hinata knows him. Hey, Hinata!” Bokuto calls from across the court.

The ginger slowly walks over as he focuses on the ball he’s currently passing to himself. “What is it, Bokuto?” he asks.

“Have you ever seen this guy before?” Bokuto shows the photo to the shorter man as he places the ball in the crook of his arm.

“Isn’t that Omi-san?” he asks, squinting. “Wait, no! That’s Matsukawa-san! I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“Who is this Matsukawa?” Kiyoomi asks with a questioning look. He’s always been impressed with Hinata’s ability to both remember and make friends with all types of people.

“I’m not sure what he does now, but he used to be a middle blocker at Aoba Josai. Wow, I knew you always reminded me of someone, Omi-san, but I could never put my finger on it!”

Kiyoomi’s relieved to find out the name of his doppleganger. “Do you happen to have Matsukawa’s contact information?“ he asks the spritely wing-spiker, hopeful to finally sort this mess out.

“I don’t, but I bet Oikawa does. I’ll explain the situation to him.”

“Thank you, Hinata.”

The next morning, Kiyoomi awakens to the sound of his alarm. He reaches for his phone to silence it. More notifications are flowing in, and Kiyoomi reopens the article once again.

𝘜𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦: 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦!

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺-𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘺𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘔𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘨𝘪 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘸𝘢 𝘐𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘪.

𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘸𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘜𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.

“No shit, Sherlock.” Kiyoomi mumbles under his breath.

𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 6𝘱𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘚𝘉𝘠 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘑𝘗 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘯.

Kiyoomi closes the app, sighing heavily as he sets the phone on the beside table. He presses the pads of his middle and index finger against the twin moles—and smiles.