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"Alright, team. Great job at practice today. If you keep up that good work when we play Nekoma next week, we'll win for sure!" Like always, third-year student Nishinoya, the new captain of the Karasuno volleyball club, gave his pep speech to his team. The tiny ex-libero was clearly cut out for the job since day 1, taking the position after Sawamura-san's graduation last year.
The team ace, his best friend Tanaka, jumped behind him and joined in the pep talks. "Yeah, great job if I say so myself! Let's kick some Nekoma tail next week!" He raised his fist in the air and the team hoorah'd before Noya let them go for the night. The gym was all cleaned and everyone was in good shape for the long-awaited rematch with their school rivals.
Once everyone left, except for Tanaka, Coach Ukai, and Takeda-sensei, Noya ran to the locker room and threw the rest of his stuff in his bag. He couldn't wait to get home and hop on Skype to talk to his college first-year boyfriend, Asahi. Like Daichi and Suga-san, Asahi graduated last year and left the leadership of the team in the second-year crew's hands. Granted, they were doing an excellent job; Karasuno made it to the Inter-High semi-finals and were the favorites to advance to Nationals. Asahi was always reminding his small boyfriend of how proud he was of him being the captain of Miyagi's emerging power house team.
"Oi, Noya! Wait up!" Tanaka called out before Noya walked out the door. "On the way to talk to your lover boy?"
Noya smiled and nodded. "Dude, I'm so ready to see him next week, you have no idea!" After graduation, Asahi started going to school in Tokyo, where they were going to play Nekoma in barely seven days. Of course, after not seeing his boyfriend in person for almost four months, they were planning on spending as much free time together as possible. "Although..."
"Hm?" Tanaka bit into one protein bar and offered Noya his other one, which he accepted.
"He's been acting really weird for the last three months now. We Skype every night, and ever since then he's been hiding something from me. Not like a 'he's cheating on me' kinda secret, but a 'dude, it's almost 90 degrees outside, why are you still wearing a sweatshirt' secret."
"What are you thinking?"
Noya shrugged. "I don't know. I hope he's okay and he's not trying to hide any bruises or cuts from me, but he said that when he sees it I might like it." He knew that Asahi was always busy, and that's why he hadn't been home in so long. During the summer, he hosted several volleyball summer camps for elementary school kids, and when he's not doing that or classes he's working at a cafe.
"Well, he's not cheating on you, we all know that! And if he is always hurt, he would probably hide it so you wouldn't freak out or anything. He wouldn't hurt himself on purpose, and if he thinks you'll like it then it can't be that bad, right?"
Noya smiled and nodded again. His best friend, closer to him than a brother, always knows what to say. "Right." The pair kept walking and talking until they hit Noya's road and went their separate ways for the night. Noya rushed inside, grabbed a quick dinner, and rushed upstairs to get on his laptop.
"Hey there, little captain!" Asahi greeted with a smile when he picked up his call.
"Hey, handsome." Noya blushed. "How was your day?"
Asahi rolled his eyes. "Let me tell you about this one guy that came in the shop today. Right after I started my shift too!" Noya sat in awe and listened to Asahi's stories from his classes and job. It always seems like he never has a dull day with all the stories he has to tell. Asahi finished talking about his day and reversed the question on Noya.
Two hours into the call, and Noya was finally done with his online homework. "Oh, Asahi, still not giving me any hints yet?"
Asahi shook his head. "So persistent. Been hanging out with Takeda-senpai too much again?"
Noya rolled his eyes. "Asahiiiii~" he whined. "What secret could you have that requires you to wear a sweatshirt in August?"
"You'll find out in another seven days, Noya." Noya had noticed a change in Asahi's confidence levels since he graduated from Karasuno. He was still the same lovable, soft-hearted giant that he fell in love with almost a year ago, but Asahi obviously developed a kind of swagger that he didn't have before. Maybe it was college that made him this way. Either way, Noya was liking it.
Because Asahi had to be up for an early morning shift the next day, the two cut their call short after almost three hours. Noya stared at the end call screen until it faded, then the chat where they shared cheesy pictures and links to their favorite Vines. Noya closed his laptop and got ready for bed, counting down the days, almost the hours, until he saw his favorite ace again. (Sorry, Tanaka.)
~~~
Noya stared out the window while listening to his boyfriend's favorite song, "Superheroes" by The Script. It was one of those songs that they always listened to together after games, win or lose. He smiled and nodded along, and started to nod off to sleep. He was so excited about seeing Asahi again after so long that he could barely sleep the night before. They were already halfway to Tokyo for the weekend and everyone on the team was pumped up.
He woke up with he saw a puff of orange hair plop down in the seat beside him. "Oh, hey Hinata!" he greeted with a smile.
"Heard you're gonna see Asahi this weekend, excited?"
Noya answered with a smile. "It's been four months since I last saw him and I miss him so much. He said he has a surprise too, and I can't wait to find out what it is."
"Uh huh. Hey, you don't mind if I hang out here for the rest of the trip, do you? Kageyama's asleep and he pretty much pushed me out of our seat."
Noya nodded. "No, I don't mind at all. I'm surprised you didn't want him to sleep on your shoulder."
"We've tried that before. He drools, remember?"
"Oh, oh yeah. Yeah, you can chill out here with your senpai." Noya and Hinata talked for the rest of the trip to make the time pass, and before they knew it, they had arrived at their hotel to check in for the evening. Noya jumped off the bus, knowing that Asahi wasn't too far away. Takeda-sensei gave everyone their room assignments and let everyone go so they could have their free evening before a long day at Nekoma High School.
Noya quickly ran up to his room to leave his bags and meet Asahi in the lobby. He practically jumped off the elevator and ran down the hall. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi weren't too far behind.
"Oi, captain, that's not gonna make your lover boy get here any faster, you know," Tsukki snickered. Noya just ignored him and rushed into the room, then right back out with his phone in his hand.
"Actually," he responded, holding up his phone. "My lover boy just sent me a message, telling me that he's in the lobby waiting for me now, so there." Noya stuck his tongue out at the dynamic duo as he ran back to the elevator. After what felt like forever, the doors opened and he climbed in, pressing the lobby button and going down.
He hurried out onto the floor as soon as the doors opened - any more running, and he'll be out of breath completely soon - and saw the familiar brown bun of his boyfriend's hair. He had his back turned talking to the coach and sensei, perfect. Noya ran up behind him and pinched his ticklish sides, making the giant squirm.
"ASAHI!" he screamed, burying his face in his back. "I missed you so much!"
Asahi turned around and scooped up the smaller boy in his arms. "My little Noya-san," he cooed as they planted kisses all over each other cheeks.
Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei smiled at the pair. "Well," the coach exhaled. "Don't let us get in the way of your young love. Enjoy your evening, fellas." The older pair waved and walked off while the younger couple refused to let each other go. Like Noya was expecting, Asahi had on his old black Karasuno jacket, covering his "secret".
"Oh yeah, first things first, before we go anywhere," Noya started with a smirk as the larger guy finally put him back down on the floor. "What's your big secret, huh? Ready to show me?"
Asahi smirked and stood back. "You know it." He zipped off his jacket and revealed that he was wearing a tank top underneath it. Okay, that was new for him, but why he was wearing it was the big surprise. He turned to his left side and showed Noya what he had been working on: a half-sleeve tattoo with a sun-like symbol on his shoulder. From there it went down to his elbow and branched off into a cherry blossom orchard with a dragon underneath all that. "What do you think, Noya?"
Noya's eyes grew huge as he admired the artwork. He ran his finger up and was at a loss for words. His big, teddy bear boyfriend finally decided to get a tattoo, and an amazing one at that. "H-how long were you working on this?"
"I started it in May and finished it two weeks ago. Do you like it?"
Noya stood on his tip toes and planted a kiss on Asahi's cheek. "It's on you, and I love you, so I'm gonna say yes."