Work Text:
“Oh cute! Polaroids!” Yachi exclaimed, looking at the little pictures that were scattered around their living room. Tobio looked up from his spot in the kitchen where he was pouring water into three cups for their tea. Hinata beamed at the statement, standing up from their couch and bouncing over to Yachi.
“Yeah! I love taking them, Miwa gave me a polaroid camera for my birthday in third year,” He grabbed the polaroid Yachi was looking at, a candid picture of Tobio, with a big wobbly smile on his face, looking down at their little tortoiseshell kitten in his arms, snuggling into his chest. One of Hinata’s favourite ones.
“I like to take pictures of important moments,” Hinata said softly, placing the polaroid back on the shelf. Tobio smiled softly, picking up the drinks and walking over to where the two were, placing the hot drinks on the small coffee table.
“Thank you, Kageyama-kun!” Yachi said, picking up a mug and sitting on the couch, sipping her drink.
“He has so many of those,” Tobio commented, grabbing his mug and sitting on the couch next to Yachi.
“Of course I do!” Hinata beamed, looking at the two, “There are so many important moments in my life!” He leaned down to pick up his mug, blowing on it to cool it off and drinking. He placed it down and sprinted into their room, the sudden action causing both Yachi and Tobio to jump slightly.
“Dumbass!” Tobio yelled at him from his spot on the couch, thankful that he didn't spill anything.
“What is he doing?” Yachi asked, leaning forward slightly and taking another sip of her drink. Tobio gently puts down his mug, shrugging at her question and leaning back into the couch, looking over to the bedroom where he hears all sorts of loud shuffling.
The stomping and shuffling noises became louder and Hinata barrelled out of the room, holding onto small pieces of paper. He rushed over and kneeled in front of the coffee table, spreading them all out in front of him. Tobio and Yachi leaned forward on the couch to look.
Hinata had gathered up various polaroid pictures and laid them out. Tobio smiled into his mug, there were quite a few, some of them of scenery or times he went out with friends, however most of them were of or involved Tobio himself. He put his drink down, away from where the polaroids were sitting, Yachi did the same.
“These,” Hinata gestured towards all the polaroids he just laid out onto the small table, “Are all my favourite polaroids that i’ve taken!”
“Oh my gosh look at this one!” Yachi laughed, picking up a polaroid from the table and angling the polaroid towards Tobio, he leaned slightly towards Yachi to look at the photo and frowned. The picture she picked up showed an angry, bright red Tobio after he had visited Hinata in Brazil and gotten sunburnt from spending too much time at the beach.
Hinata moved over to where Yachi and Tobio are sitting and looked over at the picture, he couldn't contain his laughter as it spilled out of him. Yachi also joins in, playfully hitting Tobio’s arm while laughing.
“I love that picture so much,” Hinata giggled, reaching out and picking up another one, holding it up next to the picture that Yachi has. It’s a polaroid picture of both Hinata and sunburned Tobio inside Hinata’s house. Tobio was lying on the couch, arm covering his face as he flipped off the camera and Hinata pointing at him, laughing while facing the camera.
“Pedro took that one!” he says, handing the photo off to a still laughing Yachi, Hinata gestures to all the photos on the table.
Yachi smiled and reached out, picking one from the table and looking at it, she smiled even brighter, turning the picture so that the other two could see it.
The picture was of a third year Tobio with Natsu. They stood in Hinata’s old backyard with a small volleyball net set up and the sun setting in the background, Tobio was dressed in his practice clothes, showing Natsu how to set, Natsu’s attention was fully on him not even noticing that Hinata had pulled out his camera to take a picture of them.
“Imagine my surprise when Natsu wanted to become a setter,” Tobio commented, leaning back and looking smugly at Hinata who groaned loudly in response, slumping against Yachi as she sympathetically pat his shoulder, sending a barely contained smile towards Tobio.
“I know , can you believe it? I felt so betrayed but I loved seeing you two practice together. The feelings were so conflicting ,” Hinata whined. Tobio rolled his eyes playfully, chuckling at his boyfriends whining.
Leaning forward he picked up another one that he’s never seen. He sent a questioning look over to Hinata, who leaned forward to look at the polaroid, bringing Yachi who he was still still leaning on forward.
“I’ve never seen this one,” Tobio said, holding up the photo to the other two. It was a photo of Tobio during an Adlers game, it wasn’t taken from too far away, it was slightly zoomed in and was clearly taken from someone hidden in the crowd. He was standing off to the side with his team, talking to the coach during a time out. He was lifting his shirt to wipe sweat from his face, revealing a good amount of his stomach, abs on display. He couldn’t have been doing that for more than a few seconds at the time so he was sort of impressed at Hinata’s quick work in taking the photo.
Hinata at least had the decency to look a little a little embarrassed by having the photo, “I didn’t realise that one was in there,” He said as he quickly reached forward and plucked the photo from Tobio's hands before he could react, shielding the photo from the other two.
Yachi teasingly pokes Hinata while laughing and trying to grab at the polaroid he was hiding. Tobio ignored them and picked up another one, his face softened as he looked at the old photo. Sitting around a small table, various textbooks, pens, and paper were scattered around on it. It was a photo of Tobio, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi sitting around a small table in Yachi's room where they regularly gathered to study. The picture captured their last study session of their third year.
Tobio sat closest to the camera, he had one hand on the table and the other waving a pen in the air, he was passionately arguing with Tsukishima, from the looks of it. Yamaguchi sat on his right, holding out both hands, seemingly doing his best to try and keep the peace, he’s the only one that seems aware of the picture being taken, looking into the camera with expressionless dark eyes his mouth pulled into a tight line. Tsukishima sat to Yamaguchi’s right, looking over at Tobio and taunting him, smirking while pointing at something unseen on the piece of paper in front of him. Yachi sits on the opposite side of everyone else, expertly ignoring the fighting happening right in front of her. Her face was buried in her textbook and her hair a disheveled mess, hand blurring as she vigorously writes down notes from her textbook.
“Oh no that's an awful picture of me! Shouyou, why do you still have that!” Yachi groaned, hiding her face in her hands, cheeks red out of embarrassment. Hinata laughed, taking the photo gently from Tobio’s hand, brushing slowly against his fingers causing Tobio’s face to flush a soft pink.
“I like it! It really shows off our high school group dynamic really well!” Hinata beamed, he looked over at Tobio with a gooey expression, a sweet smile playing at his lips, “Besides, i think Tobio looks really cute here, i like when he grows his hair out.”
Tobio’s hair had been longer there, they had finished with the volleyball season and as a result he grew his hair out a bit. Tobio turned away from Hinata’s loving stare as he felt his face heat up.
Yachi pushed Hinata off her as he laughed, pushing him into Tobio, making Hinata latch onto him, pushing them both into the couch. Hinata climbed on top of him, muffling Tobio’s shout of ‘dumbass’ with a kiss.
“You two are always so gross,” Yachi said, a teasing smile playing on her lips and she headed for the kitchen, “Are you two lovebirds hungry? I am let’s have some food”
“Oh yeah I'm starving!” Hinata said as he unlatched from Tobio’s lips, ignoring the loud wet smack that rang through the room and jumped off on Tobio, practically bouncing towards the kitchen where Yachi had started getting things ready, the sounds of plates clanking together being drowned out by Hinata's voice as he joins her.
Tobio laid still on the couch, red faced and staring up at the ceiling trying to catch his breath.
“Which ones are your favourite?” Hinata asked, as he washes the dishes in the sink, the soapy bubbles clinging to his forearm as he lifts the dish up and places it gently onto the bench. Tobio hummed softly, placing the dish that he was drying down, walking to their bedroom.
Hinata looks up at the movement, stalling his dishwashing for a moment, “Where are you going, Tobi?”
“I’m just getting them,” Tobio responded, stepping into their room. He walked up to their bedside table and opened the bottom draw, taking out four polaroids.
“Getting what?” Tobio hears Hinata ask over the clanking of plates and splashing over water.
“My favourite pictures, dumbass,” Tobio laughed. He stood up quickly, looked down at the four pictures in his hand and smiled softly. Hinata looks up at Tobio as he pads out of the room quietly. He dried off his hands quickly and turned around as Tobio approached their dining table.
Tobio placed the four photos on the table in front of him. He looked up to Hinata, gauging his reaction. Hinata stared at the pictures for a while, not moving or saying anything, his face slightly obscured by the hair that he was currently growing out.
“When did you take these?” Hinata asked quietly. Tobio looks down at the polaroids on the table.
The first picture was taken when they were in Brazil together. Hinata and Tobio had been apart for a little over a year at that point. They had taken a trip to the beach, Hinata had refused to show Tobio any beach volleyball, saying that he was waiting for their inevitable match to show Tobio what he’s learned and Tobio was more than happy to wait for that day. It was later in the day, the sun was just starting to set. Hinata’s back was facing towards the camera and he was looking at the ocean. Bright oranges and blues painted the sky, dusty purple clouds moving in the horizon. Hinata’s body language showed how content he was, his hands resting on his hips and his hair being slightly ruffled by the ocean breeze.
The picture was bringing back vivid memories just by looking at it, Tobio could almost taste the salt in the air. He loved that picture, how it reminded him of how hard he had worked to get to where he is today, of just how proud of him he is and how much he can accomplish.
The second picture was the next day of the trip. Tobio had a lot of trouble sleeping due to jet lag and how unbearable the heat was. He had barely gotten a few hours of sleep and accepted his sleepless fate for the day. Everything was so different from Japan, he was amazed at how well Hinata acclimated to the new environment from learning the language enough to be able to communicate with the residents easily, to being able to sleep soundly through the heat of the night.
The picture was a mid shot of Hinata fast asleep, a blanket thrown haphazardly around him and the bed, the morning light glowed as it ran over his face, highlighting the darkening freckles that had started to appear on his tanned skin. His hair also glowing as the golden light catches it, strands of golden orange going everywhere, Hinata’s mouth was slightly open, his entire body relaxed and in deep sleep.
The picture reminded Tobio of Hinata’s determination and incredible adaptability, not just in moving but in other aspects of life, adapting in their ever evolving relationship and, more importantly, adapting in volleyball to suit what team he’s on and adapting from match to match. No match played with or against Hinata ever feels the same, it’s never monotonous or predictable, it’s always so new and exciting. He loves experiencing volleyball with the man he loves.
One of the moments Tobio will never forget was the first match he had against Hinata. The two years of training paid off so well , Tobio has never enjoyed a match as much as he enjoyed that fateful one. It was exhilarating , it was exactly what he waited for all those years ago. His someone better was finally back. After their match they went out for dinner with some of their teammates from both the Adlers and MSBY joined them, but it was mainly a get together for some of the old Karasuno gang.
In the photo, Hinata was slightly tipsy, his face was flushed a lovely light pink, his eyes closed, mouth open in joyous laughter, he was leaning on Sugawara, who had his hand on Hinata’s shoulder, also laughing with him, Tsukishima on Hinata’s right was slightly cut off, probably talking to Yamaguchi. Although slightly blurry (Tobio had a few drinks that night as well), the focus of the picture was completely on Hinata.
Anything that reminded Tobio of that match was precious to him, not only were they finally fulfilling one of the promises made to each other five years prior, but it was finally the confirmation that Tobio needed. He knew deep down in the years that they played together that he could find his someone better in Hinata. He knew it in high school when he watched him continuously evolve and get better at the sport and knew it when he made the sacrifice to move across the world for the sake of evolving in the sport, that he was his someone better, someone that would keep up with him and allow him to play and enjoy volleyball even more, someone who he was fated to have in his life.
“Miwa took this one though,” Tobio said, pointing to the fourth polaroid on the table. It was taken when they were in their third year of highschool, the had just started dating at that point, Hinata had come over to Tobio’s house that day to pick him up for their first date, it was the third time he’d met Miwa but she knew all about him a year before ever meeting him.
All throughout Tobio's first year Miwa was able to see the impact that Hinata Shouyou had on him. Before going to Karasuno Tobio was dealing with the death of his grandfather, he was extremely closed off, confused and grieving. The lack of support from their parents having a sever impact on his life. After the three on three match in his first year, Miwa came down to visit and witnessed the start of Tobio's change. That was the first time he told her about Hinata Shouyou, the stupid, clueless, athletically gifted, passionate spiker that he'll be playing with for the next three years.
Tobio will never live that conversation down, whenever she could she would tease him about how he talked about Hinata for over an hour, with the first genuine smile that she had seen on him in almost a year.
In the photo Hinata was smiling brightly at the camera, his hair, longer than usual, was tied back. He had one arm out to the side and the other arm he had hooked into Tobio’s right arm. Tobio stood next to Hinata, kind of stiff, like he didn't know how to stand. The way he looked at Hinata made up for his awkward standing, however, he had stars in his eyes as he looked to the side at Hinata, like he hung the moon just for him to enjoy. A small, soft smile painted his features, one that, to this day, he still has reserved for his boyfriend.
This one was always Tobio’s favourite out of the four, it reminded him of where they began, as two awkward high schoolers who were trying to get through life together, trying to keep a promise together and trying to navigate their ever changing feelings and relationship. It reminded him that Hinata has always been with him and it gives him hope that he will always be by his side.
Hinata finally looked up to Tobio. His eyes misted over with unshed tears, a blush painted his cheeks beautifully and he wore a bright wobbly smile.
“I mean,” Tobio started, looking back at the photos on the table, a dark blush taking over his face, always the one to get embarrassed, especially when his boyfriend looks at him like that . Hinata giggled a little in response to his blush, causing Tobio to pout and blush even more.
“I take pictures of the most important things too,” he mumbled, reaching out, grabbing the fourth picture gently and looking at it.
“Gwaahhh Tobio!” Hinata sobbed, wrapping his arms around Tobio and burying his face in his chest, “I had no idea you had those.”
Tobio wrapped his arms around Hinata, leaning his cheek on the top of his head and carding his fingers through his soft, orange, curls.
“I love you,” Hinata said, his words coming out muffled against Tobio’s chest.
"I love you, too" Tobio mumbled back, burying his face into Hinata's hair. Hinata pulled back, looking at his boyfriend. He hummed, looking deep in thought as he scanned Tobio's face.
"Don't think too hard you'll hurt yourself," Tobio said, cupping Hinata's face gently in his hand. Hinata scoffed, batting his hand away, smiling at him before stepping back to continue washing the dishes, dipping his arms into the warm soapy water. He picks up a plate and a sponge, scrubbing it as he was before. Tobio stood next to him, grabbing the washed plate and drying it off.
"I was just thinking," Hinata started, glancing over to see if Tobio was listening, seeing Tobio's brilliant sparkling blue eyes gazing back at him, he continued, "When we get to the Olympics we need to take one."
"Sounds great," Tobio said, smiling back at him, grabbing the last plate and wiping it dry. He looked at Hinata as he wiped his hands dry, meeting his eyes and smirking, "If your receives are good enough"