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Hinata Shouyou was not known for his ability to keep secrets. In fact, if you knew Shouyou at all you would know that one of the number 1 rules is to not tell him anything, unless you’re okay with everyone else knowing it within 24 hours. It’s not like he does it on purpose, Shouyou is just a born yapper and often forgets what things he’s not allowed to tell people, if things come up naturally in conversation then he’s going to say it. Unfortunately for him, this little habit has caught up to him.
“Okay so that’s the plan,” Yachi says, clapping her hands together and looking down at the three people sitting on her couch. Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Shouyou sat facing her, each holding a small booklet with surprise birthday plans for Kageyama Tobio.
“Sounds good!” Yamaguchi said, closing it and keeping it neatly in his lap, “There’s just one problem I can think of.”
“Really? What?” Yachi asked, cocking her head slightly to the side, like a confused little puppy.
“Him,” Tsukishima said, pointing towards Shouyou, who was still carefully reading through the little booklet. Yamaguchi nodded his head slowly. Shouyou, after not hearing talking for a little while, looked up to see everyone looking at him. Yachi had paled slightly, looking panicked, Yamaguchi looked back at him with a tight smile and Tsukishima was looking at him blankly, an accusing finger pointed towards him
“What?” Shouyou asks, looking between the three people looking at him.
“I forgot about that,” Yachi sighed, placing the booklet onto the table and rubbing her temples, pacing back and forth in the small area.
“This will never work” Tsukishima sighed, putting his booklet down, taking his glasses off to rub at his eyes. Yamaguchi sighed, standing up, placing his booklet on top of Tsukishima’s one and ruffling his blond hair.
“Hey! Why won’t it work? What's going on?” Shouyou said, standing up, clutching at his booklet
“Shouyou, you know you can’t keep a secret,” Yachi said sternly, stopping to point at Shouyou, who flinched slightly. He looked to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi who were nodding in agreement.
“No way!” Shouyou shouted, standing up and crumpling the booklet slightly, “I can so keep this a secret!”
“How?” Tsukishima questioned, putting his glasses back on and staring blankly at Shouyou, “It’s three days until his birthday and MSBY has a small practice session with the Adlers this week, you’ll be spending more time with him in person than you usually do and that’s not taking into account the way you two constantly talk anyway.”
“Huh,” Shouyou said thinking for a moment, they were right, they talk constantly, texting and phone calls whenever they can and when they’re together there’s no way of separating them without using force and even then it’s a struggle, one time it had taken both Atsumu and Bokuto to pry Shouyou off of Tobio when they had to leave. That doesn’t take into account the time they make to meet up with each other and the fact that they tell each other everything… Shouyou nod’s slowly, “Yeah, you might be onto something.”
“Okay,” Yachi said, clapping her hands, the attention of all three men were on her once again, “Shut up and listen up,”
Yamaguchi and Shouyou sat back down, their attention fully on Yachi. She opened up her booklet, flipping through the pages once again. She placed it down, taking a long breath, in for four, hold for four, and out for four. Yachi steeled herself, a determined look on her face as she faced the three sitting on her couch.
“Here’s the new plan,” Yachi pointed to Shouyou, he flinched, covering his face with his slightly crumpled booklet. She cleared her throat, Shouyou peaked over at her, slowly lowering the party plans and placing them down on the table, sitting up straighter, “ You will spend as little time with Tobio as possible.”
Shouyou frowned, not spending time with his boyfriend when he finally got the time to doesn’t sit well with him. They’re practically inseparable even when they’re not together, not only would it feel bad but wouldn’t Tobio get suspicious? He’s pretty observant, especially when it concerns Shouyou, there’s a huge possibility that he would figure it out. On the other hand his friends have created an entire surprise plan for Tobio’s party, if there was a way to keep it a surprise for him shouldn’t they try? When Shouyou first found out that Tobio doesn’t really celebrate his birthday in second year he vowed to change that. Every year he gathered their friends together so Tobio could have a good birthday, even when he was away in Brazil he planned things with everyone and even sent some birthday presents down, making sure to time it just right so it shows up to him on his birthday.
They’ve never thrown a surprise party, partly because of Shouyou’s inability to keep a secret, his excitedness to be throwing Tobio a party always comes in the form of him overexplaining the details to him, and partly because Shouyou wanted Tobio’s opinion when it came to planning the parties. This circumstance is different, which is also why Yachi is involved this time. Both Tobio and Shouyou have been busy with their volleyball careers, a few months ago Shouyou realised that he had been so caught up in everything that he may not have as much time as he would like. Yachi graciously offered to take over and plan something, occasionally managing to roping Tsukishima and Yamaguchi in. Although it looks like she forgot about Shouyou’s little quirk when it comes to secrets.
“I know it’ll be hard,” Yachi sighed, rubbing her face, she switched her gaze over to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, “Which is why you two will help him.” Yamaguchi nodded enthusiastically while Tsukishima sighed dramatically, visibly deflating.
“Don’t be like that,” Yachi said, crossing her arms staring sternly at Tsukishima, “ especially since you’ll be the main one keeping them apart.”
“Me? Why?” Tsukishima said, sitting up straight, looking between Yachi and Yamaguchi, both wearing an extremely serious expression, daring him to argue back with them.
“I don't need to be babysat,” Shouyou huffed, pouting and sinking back into the couch.
“Oh yes you do,” Yamaguchi said, standing up, walking next to Yachi and mirroring her pose. He wore a stern expression, the same one that he would put on when he was captain in their third year. Tsukishima and Shouyou instinctively sat up straighter, fear creeping down their spines.“There’s a high risk of you blabbing to Tobio and ruining the surprise, Yachi has worked too hard on this for you to ruin it. And you.”
Yamaguchi turned his intense gaze to Tsukishima who tensed up, eyes flashing with both fear and amazement, he’s always been proud of Yamaguchi’s improvement, Shouyou finds it endearing and disgusting.
“The practice between MSBY and the Adlers is going to be based in Sendai, so it only makes sense that you look after him,” Yamaguchi stated, Yachi nodded. Both of them left no room for argument.
“So it’s settled!” Yachi cheered, clapping her hands together, “I’ll gather the old Karasuno gang to help out the next few days. I've invited a few people from both your teams to join in as well, I will let them know to keep you two from being alone when Tsukki can’t be there. Any questions?”
Shouyou had a lot of questions, a lot of objections. He didn’t want to spend time away from Tobio, he wanted to be next to him, to talk to him, to be alone with him, but he also wanted this plan to work. A surprise party for Tobio would be fun and the last thing he wanted was to ruin all of Yachi’s hard work, he especially didn’t want to face her wrath.
At the end of the day this was for Tobio, it would work out and he would be surprised and maybe Shouyou will earn a win in his tally, since when has Tobio ever thrown a surprise birthday for him, huh?
Besides, how hard could it possibly be?
When the Adlers walked into the gym, Shouyou’s first instinct was to run up and jump on Tobio, wrapping his arms and legs around him, to the surprise of literally no one on either of the teams, the Adlers walked right by them, greeting Shouyou as they walked by the two. Everyone began their warm ups while Shouyou clinged to Tobio like his life depended on it and Tobio held him back tightly, like if he let him go Shouyou would disappear.
“Okay you two” Meian called out, clapping his hands to get their attention, “Let's get this training session started.”
Shouyou reluctantly unwrapped his arms and legs from Tobio, being gently placed down.
“Good to see you,” Tobio whispered as they both walked up to their teams, his hand gently brushing against Shouyous’.
“Good to see you too,” Shouyou replied, brushing his hand back, linking their pinkies. They both grouped up with their respective teams, listening as their captains went over the warm up drills.
During the practice they were consumed with volleyball, so there wasn’t much of a concern that he would tell the secret. They played against each other, quickly tallying the wins and losses and even getting to play together when Atsumu made a remark about the highschool freak duo which sparked an impromptu mixed team match. Shouyou was more than happy to spike a few sets from his favourite setter, a sentiment that was not appreciated by his current setter.
“I’m your favourite setter, right Omi-Omi?” Atsumu asked, flashing the spiker his puppy dog eyes, Shouyou snickered, knowing how weak Sakusa truly was to that look.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sakusa sighed dramatically, reluctantly reaching out and rubbing Atsumu’s shoulders. Atsumu leaned into it, smiling at the compliment.
“Keiji’s my favourite setter!” Bokuto announced without being asked. He walked over to them throwing his arms over both their shoulders, Sakusa managed to dodge just in time while Atsumu got caught, being squeezed by Bokuto as he struggled to free himself.
Shouyou watched them for a bit, amused at his friend's actions. He turned around to see Tobio looking back at him. Shouyou smiled, instantly starting to walk towards him. Before he could take a step, a firm hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.
“Huh?” Shouyou questions, stumbling backwards, looking at who had grabbed him. He came face to face with Atsumu, who was staring down at him with a stern expression.
“Where do ya think yer going, Shouyou-kun?” Atsumu asked, putting his hands on his hips.
“Yeah, sorry Shouyou!” Bokuto said, walking over and putting his arm around Shouyou’s shoulders, giving him a crushing side hug, “We have strict orders to keep you away from Kageyama while Tsukki isn’t around!”
Shouyou frowned, he turned around to look, craning his neck awkwardly to look at Tobio, who was being dragged away by Hoshiumi and Ushijima, looking back with a cute little confused pout. Shouyou smiled at him in what he assumed was a reassuring way. When Tobio left he wiggled his way out of Bakuto’s strong grasp, breathing in and out deeply to get his bearings back.
“So I'm really not allowed to spend time with him?” Shouyou pouted, he felt awful about this, he wanted to spend time with his boyfriend, he felt like it had been ages since they were last able to meet up, they had lots of contact between each other everyday but being able to actually be with each other is so different, and being so close to him while not being able to go near is some special kind of torture.
“Not alone, sorry!” Bokuto said, shaking his head, he looked up and watched the rest of their teams walk out to the changing room, “We should get going, I think Tsukki will be waiting for you outside.”
When they walked in, Shouyou took note of the lack of Tobio in the room, which made him slightly relieved but mostly it created a deep sinking feeling that pooled in the pit of his stomach. He quietly got changed, earning worried glances from some of his teammates.
Shouyou left quickly, sulking a little as he walked down the quiet hallway. He was sure that Tobio would figure out that something was going on, he was just extremely unsure what conclusion he would jump to. Despite Tobio being very perceptive, outside of volleyball he can be a little bit of a lost cause. Though he has gotten better as he has gotten older, he has especially improved on reading Shouyou, both inside and outside of volleyball, to a scary degree.
Shouyou was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the quick footsteps of an approaching person behind him.
“There you are,” Tobio said, reaching out and grabbing Shouyou’s shoulder firmly. He reacted as well as you would expect someone to who wasn’t expecting someone to grab him and talk to him. That is to say he screamed loudly, the sound echoing throughout the building, most likely travelling to the changing room, he spun around with his fists up, ready to fight.
“Oh, Tobio,” Shouyou sighed with relief, putting his fists down, “You scared me.”
“Oh really,” Tobio quipped, smirking and he moved to walk next to Shouyou, “Does that count as a win?”
“What? No way!” Shouyou said, lightly smacking Tobio’s shoulder as he chuckled. Shouyou reached out, gently taking Tobio’s hand and intertwining their fingers. Shouyou looked up at Tobio, looking into his deep blue eyes he felt his entire being melt.
“Hi,” Shouyou said, his voice coming out soft and quiet, full of love,
“Hi,” Tobio replied, squeezing Shouyou’s hand. They stopped walking down the quiet hallway, staring at each other for a few seconds. Time seemed to slow down the longer Shouyou looked into Tobio’s eyes.
“So,” Tobio started, breaking Shouyou out of his trance, “Have you… planned anything?”
Realisation washed over Shouyou like a bucket of cold water, his face dropped and he felt himself break out into a cold sweat. The secret clawed it way up his throat, making it hard to breathe. Shouyou swallowed it back down, clearing his throat and letting go of Tobio’s hand.
‘W-wha-,” Shouyou stammered, watching as Tobio’s face morphs from his usual amused expression to something tinged with confusion.
“My birthday? In two days?” Tobio laughed, “Do you have plans like usual?”
“I-I don’t…” Shouyou tapered off. He averted his gaze, looking down the hallway, willing someone to come save him. Tobio’s confused, slightly sad pout was doing numbers on Shouyou, the secret threatening to spill out of him just to get that expression off his face. Shouyou was shaking. He had no idea what to do. His mouth was continuing to open and close, no sound coming out. He just knew that if he could talk he would say something he wasn’t supposed to.
Shouyou silently prayed for a way out of the situation.
“Oi, you two,” a voice yelled out at them, echoing down the hallway. They both looked towards the entrance to see Tsukishima walking towards them, eyes narrowing while looking between them, “What are you doing.”
“H-hey! Kei! How are you!” Shouyou exclaimed, jumping away from Tobio, quickly walking towards his friend, mouthing a quick ‘thank you’. He looked behind, seeing Tobio slowly following him, still looking confused. Tobio said something to Tsukishima quietly so Shouyou couldn’t hear. Tsukishima looked amused, looking back at Shouyou with a small smirk before turning back to Tobio.
Tsukishima stepped forward slightly, replying to Tobio too quietly for Shouyou to hear. Tobio’s gaze briefly flicks to Shouyou, before returning back to Tsukishima. He nods quickly, both of them turning and walking towards Shouyou.
“Let’s get out of here huh?” Tsukishima said, walking Tobio and Shouyou out of the gym, “We’re having dinner with Tadashi.”
“Sounds good!” Shouyou said with fake enthusiasm. He caught up to Tobio, matching his pace as they walked side by side, he leaned in close.
“Hey, what did Kei say to you?” Shouyou questioned, Tobio shrugged, continuing to walk forward at a steady pace.
“Not important,” He looked down and took Shouyou’s hand, intertwining their fingers, “You know him, he always says stupid shit.”
Shouyou laughed and dropped the subject, choosing to ignore the growing gnawing feeling in his stomach.
The next day went smoother. Usually he would spend the night with Tobio when they would meet up but the whole night was spent with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, Yachi to work on the party preparation so she made some sort of excuse when Tobio asked about her. The night was nice, being together with old friends was a rarity so they all enjoyed themselves, reminiscing and catching up. It was nice. What wasn’t nice was going home alone, going to bed alone, and waking up alone with the knowledge that his boyfriend was in the same city as him, so close but he can’t be near him.
Shouyou was sad about it, there’s no hiding that, but it shouldn’t be for too long, he’ll see him at training and he’ll get to spend time with him at the party, they ended up meeting at the front of the gym together, Bokuto seeing them from a distance and rushing up to them.
When they made it to the gym changing room, Tobio and Shouyou walked in with Bokuto between them, chatting loudly.
“I looked out the window after hearing the noise and I saw an owl that looked just like Keiji!” Bokuto said, pulling out his phone to show them both a photo as proof.
“Uh-huh,” Shouyou replied, looking over at Tobio who was earnestly listening, nodding along while looking at the phone. Shouyou chuckled to himself, watching Bokuto wrap up his story while Tobio walked to the Adlers side of the changing room.
While Shouyou was changing he saw Atsumu walk by over to the Adlers side of the changing room. Curiosity got the better of him and he turned his head to look at them. They were behind him so he had to move his neck awkwardly but he saw them exchange some hushed words. Tobio nodded a few times, bowing slightly before leaving. Atsumu turned to face Shouyou and gave him a thumbs up and a bright smile. Shouyou narrowed his eyes as he sat down to put on and tie his shoes.
“Don’t worry yer pretty lil’ head, Shouyou-kun!” Atsumu sang as he walked past towards the door where Sakusa was waiting for him, “We have it all under control.”
Sakusa rolled his eyes as he walked out with Atsumu. Shouyou watched as the door shut with an unusually loud thump. The locker room was silent making him realise that he was now the only one left. As he finished tying up his shoes he felt anxiety creeping throughout his body. He had no idea what was going on, and what people were talking to Tobio about. This whole secret thing was stressing him out, Tobio doesn’t seem like he’s catching on but something does seem… off about him. Undetectable to a regular person, but Shouyou is no regular person, he has mastered the art of reading Tobio’s subtleties, a skill he’s been honing since highschool. Tobio seems confused, it doesn’t seem like he’s catching on, which is a relief to Shouyou but, there was definitely some sort of understanding there. What it was that he was understanding, Shouyou has no idea. As he stood up and left the locker room, surrounded by his team doing warm up drills, he found that he couldn’t properly shake off his anxiety.
After the small joint training session, both teams said their goodbyes, Shouyou once again had to be pried off of Tobio when he refused to let go of him. He had seen him for two days and spent absolutely no time alone with him. No dinners alone, no walks alone after practice, no time waking up together in the morning, with sleepy morning banter being thrown back and forth. Barely any phone calls or texts between them and now, here Shouyou was, on a train back to Osaka.
Shouyou was taking a walk after getting home, taking his time so he could try his best to clear his head. The cool wind ruffled his soft hair. Shouyou sighed, watching his cloudy breath be carried away by the wind.
A piercing sound cut through the silence of the night, a ring tone. Shouyou fumbled with his phone, his shaky hands answering the phone. He held it up to his ear, the cool glass of his phone screen making him shiver slightly.
“Hey Yacchan, what’s going on? Is planning going okay?” Shouyou said as he answered the phone.
“Yeah everythings going great! We’re just gonna need you to distract Tobio tomorrow so we can set things up,” Yachi said, her voice crackling slightly over the phone's speaker.
“Huh?” Shouyou stopped, the cold wind picking up, nipping at his nose, he shivered slightly, unconsciously putting the gloved hand that wasn't holding the phone in his pocket for extra warmth, “but what about the secret, i don’t know if i can keep it!”
“It’ll be okay!” Yachi giggled, “We have it sorted so you can be as awkward as you want! Just make sure to bring him to your apartment at 6, okay?”
“Um, okay,” Shouyou agreed, starting to walk again after the initial shock wore off, “What do you mean you ‘have it sorted’?”
“Can’t tell you, otherwise you might try too hard!” Yachi sang, “He’ll be visiting you tomorrow!”
“Wait, how will you get into my apartment without him seeing you in there?” Shouyou says, unconsciously picking up his walking pace.
Just leave a spare set underneath your mat or something, okay, gotta go now, bye bye! See you tomorrow!” Yachi sang, Before Shouyou could get another word in, she hung up. He slowly lowered his phone down and put it in his pocket and continued to walk home, letting his thoughts run.
Tomorrow is Tobio’s birthday, Shouyou is excited to celebrate it and finally spend time with him. He thought it would be a lot harder to avoid being alone with Tobio but surprisingly with the help of teammates he hasn’t been alone with him, at least for an extended period of time. Tobio hadn’t put up much of a fight, which was the most surprising thing to Shouyou. Normally when they were finally together, they were glued to each other's side, this time however was different. Tobio seemed to let him go when he made some flimsy excuse to leave or have someone else around, always with a small knowing glint that Shouyou had tried but failed to figure out.
He doesn’t know how he’ll go tomorrow, he has no idea what was even happening, the weird way Tobio was acting outside of volleyball and the quiet words whispered to Tobio that Shouyou wasn’t privy to. It was all making him anxious, he wanted alone time with his boyfriend, he really missed him and he doesn’t have to avoid the question about his birthday anymore, Shouyou will take wins where he can get them.
As he’s approaching his apartment, taking his keys out preparing to unlock the door, he thought about what will happen tomorrow.
I don't actually have any plans, he thinks as he unlocks the door and pushes it open, taking off his shoes. Should I plan something? Should it be spontaneous? Should we play volleyball?
Thoughts swarmed through Shouyou’s mind all night, after hiding the keys everything suddenly became too real, his need for sleep mixing with his anxieties for tomorrow to create a horrible cocktail in his head, he craved sleep yet simultaneously could not will his brain to shut down. At exactly 12 he sent Tobio a heartfelt happy birthday text and after laying awake for a further 3 hours, Shouyou got up and wrote all the ideas down just to get them out of his head. After doing that, he managed to fall asleep.
Shouyou woke up to a loud knock on the door. His eyes felt heavy and he was disoriented, not entirely sure why he was even awake, until a second round of knocking got him to get up and stumble towards the door.
He opened the door to Tobio staring down at him, he scanned his face quickly and frowned.
“Why do you look like shit?” he said, walking into the apartment and sitting on his couch.
“Good morning to you too,” Shouyou grumbled before remembering what day it was, he spun around, face instantly brightening, “Happy birthday Tobio!”
Shouyou walked over to Tobio, he held his hands out and Tobio gently grabbed them, bringing his left hand to his mouth and kissing it softly. Shouyou melted, eyes softening looking down at his beautiful boyfriend who he hasn’t been alone with in a while. Shouyou let go of Tobios hand and brought his hand up to his face, softly caressing him. Tobio looked up at him with a soft smile, he blinked slowly like a little cat, his gaze never falling from Shouyou’s face.
“I just woke up, I'll get dressed and we can go, I have a lot of ideas for today-” Shouyou started saying as he stepped back, turning to get changed but stopped when Tobio tugged on his arm and shook his head.
“It’s okay, you can just come with me. I've already planned the day,” Tobio said, standing up and spinning Shouyou around, gently pushing him towards his bedroom, “Get dressed quick, we're leaving in 10 minutes.”
Shouyou turned back to Tobio as he slowly walked towards the door, Tobio nodded towards the door and got up, walking into the kitchen. Shouyou opened the door and got dressed quickly, confused about the whole situation, his sleepy brain just catching up with him as they both left the house.
“Wait, you have plans?” Shouyou said, surprised, turning to look up at Tobio.
“Yeah?” Tobio answered, looking down at Shouyou with an amused smile, “I’m not allowed to plan for my own birthday?”
“What! Of course you are!” Shouyou yelled, stopping in his tracks for a second, then running to catch up. He reached out and grabbed Tobios hand, swinging them together, “I’m just surprised, that's all!”
Surprised was an understatement. Shouyou was shaking, disguising it with animated chatter. Why did he have his own plans? Did Yachi know about this? What if Tobios plans interfere with Yachi’s, how will he manage to direct Tobio without being suspicious, what if he manages to accidentally say something about the party, he still has 6 and a half hours in the day to ruin the surprise party, Shouyou wouldn’t be surprised if he just blurted it out at some point while walking, he was trying really hard to be conscious of it.
If he relaxed too much into the conversation he feared he would be distracted and forget, just to mention it casually because the idea is in his subconscious, however, another part of him has a new fear, what if, in his excited state of mind, he completely forgets about the party, he has a nice day and night with Tobio all while everyone waits at Shouyou’s apartment, forgotten and waiting for them. Yachi told him to relax and that everything was sorted, whatever that meant, and not once has Tobio mentioned how weird Shouyou was acting, so for now at least he had to trust the process.
Tobio eventually led Shouyou to a small coffee shop, it was down an alley, it has small plants decorating the exterior, a small sign outside displaying breakfast and lunch specials, and a black and white cat having a nap in the sunlight.
Tobio led them in and they sat in a booth at the corner of the cafe, soft jazz music played through the speakers giving it a relaxed atmosphere, and small subtle christmas decorations were put up to celebrate the upcoming holiday. There were two other groups there, one old couple who were sitting next to the window enjoying a coffee and cake together, the next was a group of three young friends, laughing quietly together.
“Gwahh, this is so cute!” Shouyou explained as they sat down together in their booth, “How did you find this place?”
“I was just wandering around and saw it…” Tobio said, words trailing off and his gaze drifted to the window briefly. Shouyou followed his gaze to the window, seeing the black and white cat stretching its paws out, rolling around on its back to greet people passing by, inviting them to pet its soft belly.
“Awwww did you follow the cat here,” Shouyou cooed, leaning forward on his elbows, eyes shining.
“N-no, shut up” Tobio stammered, he turned his face away, presumably to hide the rising blush, and stood up quickly, walking over to the counter to order for them. Shouyou laughed, watching him walk and get his order taken by the barista. He hasn’t had a good moment to just look at him the past few days, their volleyball practice consisted of volleyball, their relationship never got in the way of that, despite their teammates telling them that the way they looked at each other made them feel like they were intruding on something, that was just their rivalry! They wouldn’t get it.
Tobio in casual clothes was always a treat, he was usually in athletic wear or his uniform when Shouyou would see him so he always felt special when they went out like this, he had left his coat and scarf at the booth. The coat is a deep navy blue, almost black, Shouyou smiled wider when he realised that the green tattered scarf that was placed on top of the coat was his from highschool, kept from when they traded scarves in their third year, Shouyou himself still has Tobio’s light blue scarf, it’s a bit faded but he treasures it nonetheless. Right now he’s in warm winter clothes, a blue long sleeved shirt with thick material and some black pants, a simple outfit which made Shouyou smile, he’s always looked good in blue.
Shouyou watched him walk back to their booth, for the most part the blush had disappeared, although a light pink still clung to his cheeks. Tobio looked back at Shouyou, face automatically softening.
“He knows who we are,” He said, excitement shining in his eyes. Shouyou’s eyes widened and he gasped, reaching out to hold Tobio’s hand tightly.
“ Really? ” Shouyou asked, vibrating in his seat. He always loved being recognised by people, “What did he say?”
“He asked for a picture afterwards,” Tobio said, Shouyou cheered quietly, bouncing slightly and swinging his legs.
The barista brought over their drinks shortly afterwards, making some conversation with them about recent games, taking a photo with both of them and then leaving, talking excitedly to the other group of three people.
Shouyou sipped on his drink, coffee with a small amount of milk and sugar. He was never really much of a coffee drinker but being in Brazil made him appreciate a good cup of coffee to wake him up in the morning. He felt the caffeine wake him up slowly. He looked over at Tobio who was also enjoying his coffee with way too much milk and sugar.
“So,” Shouyou started, putting his coffee down looking at Tobio, “What do you have planned for us today?”
“Volleyball,” Tobio answered simply, Shouyou laughed. He knows that Tobio never jokes about volleyball but the serious face that he makes when talking about it leaves no room for questions, “I’ll set up a net at a park close to here.”
“Sounds good!” Shouyou said, taking a long sip and putting his drink down. Tobio eyed Shouyou, looking between him and his drink. He narrowed his eyes and drank from his coffee longer. Shouyou felt a competitive spark light in him and suddenly they were racing each other to see who could finish their drinks first.
After their competition, where both of them lost because they burned their tongues trying to drink their hot coffee as fast as possible, they left the little coffee shop, patting the little cat as they left.
For the most part, Shouyou was distracted enough to not think about the party, and volleyball was probably the best distraction for him, especially if it’s Tobio he’ll be practicing with, there are so many things just the two of them could work on, he was most excited to get to receive more of Tobio’s serves, in games they were always so tricky to get right, it was thrilling, and then there was their signature quick attack, despite the similarities the one he does with Tobio has such a different feel, both technically and emotionally. It’s safe to say that the major danger with volleyball is them getting too carried away.
The park wasn’t far from the coffee shop, it was about a three minute walk, there were a few people around, some couples taking walks with their partners and some families out with pets, children and dogs ran around the place yelling and playing. Tobio led Shouyou to the back of the park, away from where the rest of the people were, there was an outdoor court where some equipment and a net was set up, presumably left by Tobio there earlier.
“Gwah, Tobio, this is so fun, just like we used to do in highschool!” Shouyou yelled, running over to the small volleyball set up. After their first year of highschool, when they started growing closer, they would often go to a park near Shouyou’s house to play volleyball either on the weekend or when they would get kicked out of the gym. They would occasionally play with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima as well but for the most part it was just the two of them.
“Yeah, I thought it would be nice to play a bit together,” Tobio said, grabbing his bag and pulling out a volleyball and some other gear out of a sports bag, “and afterwards we can go to my hotel to shower and go out for dinner.”
Shouyou stopped what he was doing, panic shooting through him for a second. He had almost forgotten that he was supposed to go to his apartment for the party, he had about two hours until he had to show up with Tobio to the apartment that was currently being set up and no excuses immediately popped into mind, he just needed to say something before the silence alerted Tobio into thinking something was wrong.
“H-how about we go to my place instead?” he blurted out without thinking, realising that he didn’t have a good explanation as to why he would rather go to his own apartment, he just hoped that Tobio wouldn’t question him.
“Why?” Tobio asked, looking at Shouyou with a confused pout. He didn’t mean anything by it of course, he was just genuinely curious. Shouyou cursed his cute pout and scrambled to find an excuse.
“I-if we’re gonna go out i have an outfit i would wanna wear,” Shouyou stammered, “I mean especially since we’re playing volleyball i wouldn’t want to play in the same clothes right? And you have some clothes that you left in my apartment so you can change into!”
Tobio thought about it for a few seconds and nodded his approval, getting up and starting his stretches. Shouyou sighed in relief, happy that his excuse was passable. He jogged up to Tobio to start their volleyball session.
Yacchan <3
Everythings set up and ready shou◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜ !
You
Perfect!! We’re walking back now it shouldn’t be too much longer!!
Shouyou hummed as he enthusiastically texted Yachi as he walked back to the apartment with Tobio. The night was clear, the stars sparkled brilliantly against the dark sky, the moon hung high with the stars, watching down on the two walking home. A soft breeze made itself known, not enough to bother anyone but enough to send a small chill through both Tobio and Shouyou, unconsciously they moved closer together, seeking each other's warmth. Tobio slid his arm around Shouyou’s waist, bringing him closer, Shouyou happily leaned his head on Tobio’s shoulder in return, basking in the casual affection that Tobio was giving out.
“I also have a present for you, y’know,” Shouyou mumbled against Tobio’s shoulder as he saw his apartment building come into view. Tobio hums, sounding surprised. Confused by this, Shouyou pulls away to look at Tobio, “Why do you sound surprised?”
Tobio just shrugged, his face indicating nothing. Shouyou felt like something was wrong, he had to keep digging.
“What's up?” Shouyou asked, his voice shaking a little, he felt around in his pocket for his keys before realising he had forgotten to grab his keys in the morning, “Could you, um, use your spare?”
Tobio chuckled and nodded, opening his bag to grab his keys.
“It’s fine and look, Shou, I already know,” Tobio said, rummaging through his bag. Shouyou froze and looked at his boyfriend, his eyes widening, “I mean you didn’t hide it very well, did you?”
“I’m sorry?” Shouyou said, his voice shaking. There was absolutely no way that Tobio knew about the surprise party, he hadn’t even said anything! He had been so so so careful and he even had help! He felt hopeless and scared, awful that he ruined the surprise party for Tobio, he deserved something exciting to celebrate and he was terrified of Yachi’s reaction. Tobio is terrible at acting, the moment he walks in he’s not gonna act right and Shouyou knows it'll be all his fault.
“It’s fine, you’ve been busy with your volleyball career, as you should be, it’s only natural that you’d forget my birthday amongst everything else going on,” Tobio said, successfully fishing out Shouyou’s keys from his bag, and walking up to the door of the apartment.
“I- wait, I'm sorry?” Shouyou said, whipping around to look at Tobio, dumbfounded. Tobio scoffed, looking back at him, a small smile playing on his lips.
“You’re terrible at lying,” He laughed, putting the keys in and turning them, unlocking the door, “It’s fine, you’re always planning things for my birthday anyway. I liked today as well, just spending time with you is enough for me.”
“O-oh,” Shouyou stammered, eyes wide watching as Tobio opened the door, wordlessly following him into the suspiciously dark apartment.
Tobio opens his mouth to say something, before he can get any words out, he flicks on the light, everyone hiding jumps out, different shouts of surprise came from all the people in the apartment. All his Adlers team mates were scattered around the place, his old Karasuno team were huddled in pairs or groups, Sugawara stood at the front with Daichi, next to Yachi, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Asahi and Tanaka stood off to the side, Asahi held a phone showing Nishinoya on a facetime call, somewhere in europe. Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita stood out to the back. Bokuto stood draped over Akaashi at the back, but his shouts would make you think he was standing near the front, next to Ushijima closer to the front was Sakusa and Atsumu.
Tobio took a step back, jumping and dropping the keys in shock. Shouyou clutched onto his arm, laughing and leaning into his body.
“Surprise!” Shouyou giggled, finally feeling a weight lift off of his shoulders.
“Wha- how,” Tobio said scanning the room, Yachi stepped forward with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi as everyone else scattered laughing and wishing him a happy birthday. Shouyou turned around to shut the door and went back to join his friends. When he got back to the group, Tobio was pouting at Tsukishima.
“You told me he forgot,” Tobio said, Shouyou cocked his head as Yamaguchi, Yachi, and Tsukishima laughed at them both.
“Yeah, I did,” Tsukishima laughed, smirking at them, Yachi laughed lightheartedly, breaking the tension and pushing her way between Tsukishima and Tobio, Yamaguchi stood next to Tsukishima and wrapped his arms around Tsukishima, laughing and shaking him around.
“I’m sorry Tobio and Shouyou,” Yachi said, not looking or sounding sorry in the slightest, “It was just perfect, when Tsukishima told us his plan a few nights ago we had to keep up the lie”
“It ended up going very well,’ Yamaguchi interjected, leaning into the group and giggling, “We got everyone in on it to make it believable, well, except Shouyou.”
“Wha- why not me?” Shouyou whined, everyone, including Tobio, looked at him in disbelief.
“You can’t tell me you think you’re any good at keeping secrets,” Tsukishima said, starting to walk into the main area, everyone else trailed behind him, Shouyou’s brain started kicking in, putting pieces together.
“Is that what Tsukishima was telling you?” Shouyou asked, turning his head to look at Tobio who looked back at him, “and Atsumu-san?”
“Yeah, they were basically telling me that you’ve been busy and forgot my birthday my birthday and that i spooked you by reminding you,” Tobio said, chuckling at his words, “Atsumu-san told me you were scrambling to find something to do so I planned stuff myself.”
“You thought I forgot your birthday and you didn’t even care? Your first reaction was to start planning on doing stuff with me ?” Shouyou asked, staring at Tobio with stars in his eyes.
“Well, you do a lot for me… so…” Tobio said, trailing off and turning his face away in embarrassment. Shouyou cried out, jumping on Tobio and almost knocking them both into Yachi and Yamaguchi.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Yamaguchi said, Shouyou jumped down from Tobio and they both stood facing their former captain, “You two go have a shower, quickly , and come back for the party.”
They both nodded and headed for the bedroom to grab a change of clothes, not daring to argue with Yamaguchi.
Shouyou bounced up to Tobio who had finished talking to Ushijima and Sakusa, he gently tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. Tobio looked down at him, cheeks slightly flushed from alcohol and a soft, sweet smile made its way onto his face.
“Happy birthday,” Shouyou said quietly, handing him a small blue bag with orange tissue paper sticking out of the top, “I really did have my present for you here.”
“You really don’t have to get me anything, you know,” Tobio said, taking the bag from Shouyou. He’s been telling him that since highschool but no matter what Shouyou will always get him something small, gift giving is one of the ways he likes to show he cares, so there was absolutely no stopping him when it comes to giving people little gifts and treats, especially Tobio.
“Yeah I know,” Shouyou said, he pulled insistently on Tobio’s sleeve, leaning into his space and bouncing up and down, “Open it, open it, open it!”
“I am, calm down, dumbass,” Tobio said, nudging Shouyou off him so he could use his arm. He gently took out the orange tissue paper that was covering the little gift, Shouyou took the paper to hold onto so Tobio could grab his gift.
Tobio reached into the bag as Shouyou vibrated excitedly by his side. He pulled out a keychain with two charms in the shape of volleyball jerseys. The first was a mini simplified version of his Schweiden Adlers jersey, the number 20 visible in a dark blue. There was a second jersey, a black and gold jersey, a mini simplified version of Shouyou’s own MSBY jersey with the number 21. Two small charms, the number 9 and 10, were hanging from either side.
“Well, what do you think?” Shouyou asked, looking up at Tobio and smiling brightly, “I asked Yacchan if any of her art friends could help me make this and she found someone! I also have a matching one,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a matching keychain. Shouyou looked up at Tobio to see him looking intensely at the keychain, his gaze soft and inviting as he shifted it over to Shouyou.
“It’s perfect,” Tobio said softly, Shouyou beamed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. Tobio hugs him back tightly, burying his face in Shouyou’s hair, he sighed, relaxing into the hug. Shouyou rubbed his back in small circles, pulling back slightly. Tobio looked down at him, about to ask why he pulled back when Shouyou leaned up, capturing his lips in a soft, chaste kiss. When Shouyou pulled back, Tobio followed, trying to kiss him again. Shouyou lightly placed his hand on Tobio’s chest to stop him.
“We shouldn’t get too carried away,” Shouyou giggled, “we always do and everyone complains.”
Tobio pouted, pulling him closer and leaving kisses on Shouyou’s neck. Shouyou sighed, instantly forgetting about getting carried away and getting lost in the feeling, leaning closer and snuggling into Tobio’s chest. Shouyou hummed, circling his arms around Tobio’s waist, hands teasing the hem of Tobio’s shirt. Tobio’s hands gently ran up Shouyou’s arms, leaning back he gently cupped Shouyou’s cheek and eagerly kissed him. Shouyou kissed back just as passionately, quickly deepening the kiss.
“Hey you two!” a voice shouted over the chatter.
Shouyou turned around, towards whoever called out to them. Sugawara stood a little bit away, looking at them and smirking, he was standing with a few other people from the old Karasuno team. Tobio continued kissing down his neck and Shouyou couldn’t find it in him to be embarrassed, he really missed him these past few days so he was soaking up every bit of attention that he could get out of him. Sugawara waved them over.
“Come over here, i wanna talk to my favourite kouhai!” Sugawara yelled, Shouyou laughed as he heard Tanaka respond in playful offense to Sugawara’s comments. Shouyou tapped on Tobio’s arm a couple times, finally gaining his attention. Shouyou reached out and squished Tobio’s cheeks with his hands.
“Cmon, Sugawara-san wants to talk to us,” Shouyou said, removing his hands from Tobio’s face and taking his hands, he looked up at Tobio with half lidded eyes, “You’re staying over tonight, right? We can continue this later…”
Tobio’s eyes briefly lit up, he smirked, squeezing Shouyou’s hands and started to walk towards Sugawara. Shouyou laughed, squeezing his hand back and following him to their old team mates, happy to finally be able to spend time with him without worrying.