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It's been nine years since the end of high school, but Daichi still remembers the rush of excitement when he steps out onto a volleyball court, the shot of adrenaline when the volleyball comes careening to their side of the court, the feel of a solid receive.
Daichi had played volleyball for the first two years of university, but third year physiotherapy classes was too much work and, regrettably, volleyball had to go. It had also just been too different from high school, too strange without Sugawara and Asahi and everyone else. With Hinata and Kageyama as the core of their attack, Karasuno had three glorious years; once they graduated, it just wasn't the same team that Daichi had left.
It was a sobering reminder that he was no longer young, that the volleyball generation he had once captained was over. Any future volleyball success of Karasuno would be contingent on something new, something that had nothing to do with him at all.
It's been nine years and Daichi is a sport physiotherapist now, with a special bias towards treating volleyball players. Still relatively new to the field, he had resigned himself to smaller cases, often offering his services to local volleyball clubs for free.
It wasn't much, but he enjoyed his work, enjoyed being able to help others.
Sugawara dropped by his little apartment so much that there was an extra futon always ready for him, and other ex-teammates dropped by with enough regularity that Daichi always stocked more than enough food in the fridge, but otherwise Daichi was pretty alone most of the time. There was no-one sharing his life, not that he'd tried very hard to find someone.
Sugawara said he was still pining for Kuroo, and sometimes when Daichi was feeling extra-lonely he could acknowledge that he was probably was. He hadn't seen or talked to Kuroo since the end of high school; hadn't managed to progress anywhere past rivals and almost-friends. He had always thought there would be more time, but then one day he'd stopped and realised that their time was up and he hadn't even managed to get a contact method off Kuroo.
(He had realised later that he could have asked Hinata to ask Kenma for Kuroo's contact information, but by then he had realised it was too late to pursue that what if. Several times he had drafted a message to Hinata much to that end, but he had never been able to send it.)
His life would have continued much the same way, nice and un-hectic, if it weren't for the fact that he had once been captain of Karasuno and was still friends with Sugawara. He still can't figure out which of the two was more important.
This all changes one day when Sugawara turns up on one of his rare days off, dragging Daichi off to who-knows-where. Daichi knows better than to protest.
Sugawara is just as scary as ever, just as kind as ever, and just as good at getting his own way as ever. Part of this involved being unofficial mother to much too many professional volleyball players, namely Hinata, Kageyama, Nishinoya and (strangely enough) Oikawa.
Daichi wishes he had protested when Suga's mad kidnapping results in him being conscripted as a semi-unofficial (as of yet) sport physiotherapist for the National Team.
On the other hand, this meant he could watch Hinata and Kageyama play together again, something which he hadn't seen for far too long. Their quick was just as breathtaking as ever; even after so many years and so many evolutions, the basics remained the same. It was still the same relationship based on absolute trust which had made it work in the first place, and watching Hinata casually fight against the still-larger opponents made him nostalgic.
"How far we've come," Suga murmurs from Daichi's side.
Daichi smiles, a little bitterly. How far they've come indeed. Nine years since he lead his team to Nationals and nine years since he had last seen Kuroo. Nine years on, and here he is as a sport physiotherapist and Sugawara as a professional psychologist, both still drawn to the sport they love.
Suddenly there's Kageyama calling him over, asking if he still plays volleyball, if he can try receive his new serve, and Daichi realises he doesn't regret this at all.
(The only thing he regrets is losing contact with Kuroo.)
Daichi slots into the National Team as if he'd been there forever. He remembers many of the players from his Nationals campaign in his third year, and many of them seem to recognise and respect him for it too. Then there's his old underclassmen, and although they outrank him now they still listen when he speaks. This is especially good, as he has many things to say about them keeping their bodies in good working order.
It's hard work, especially as the Olympics are fast approaching, and many of the athletes are pushing their bodies to their limits. He's had to glare at Oikawa enough times that he knows the exact angle of eyebrows to make Oikawa cower faster. (One day Oikawa admits to Daichi that he gets Iwaizumi flashbacks when Daichi's eyebrows are like that.) He's watched Ushijima practice spiking almost endlessly and knows that confiscating his setter is the easiest way to stop him, before getting Sugawara to do the hard task of convincing him he's already practiced enough.
Life is more hectic than it has been for a long time, but he's happy.
Then Kuroo re-enters his life.
On the day that Kuroo is introduced as the new team doctor, Daichi is actually off doing his other professional work. It's nice to get back to patients who listen to him the first time, who treat him professionally.
Daichi gets a text from Sugawara, with more exclamation marks than actual words. Kuroo's here. Kuroo's the new doctor. Daichi, don't you dare mess this up, is the essence of Suga's message.
Daichi's heart beat speeds up, before settling back into it's old rhythm. Something settles in his heart, and he smiles.
He's not ready to confront Kuroo, not yet. But he's not letting Kuroo slip away again.
He's single :D, Suga sends him a few days later.
Daichi doesn't manage to meet Kuroo for a week; he has too many appointments, and so does Kuroo, to be with the National team at the same time. But he gets Kuroo's number off Suga, as well as the place Kuroo works, and then he plots.
Kuroo is tired. He wants to be with the National team, instead of at this practice. A week had gone by since he had joined, since he had found out that Sawamura Daichi was also assisting the National team.
A week since the old thoughts and wishes and desires from high school had come back to him in force, rather than the lingering they had been content to do for the past few years.
Kuroo's just waved goodbye to his last patient for the day when he gets a call from the receptionist. After the prerequisite greetings, she finally gets to the message she wanted to pass along. There's a little hesitation before she begins to speak.
"There's a man who's been here for a while, who came in and asked for you specifically. I know it's time for you to finish up for today, but he's been here for three hours already."
Kuroo sighs and regrets his sense of responsibility. "Just send him to my door," he says.
He pauses in his tidying up to prepare for the last patient of the day. Very soon there's a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Kuroo calls out.
His breathing stutters as Daichi walks into the room. Daichi is a little older, a little taller, but seems much the same as he had been in high school.
Daichi takes the seat in front of Kuroo's desk, and looks Kuroo directly in the eye. He's settled and solid, even more so than when he had been the captain of Karasuno. Daichi finally looks like a man sure of his place in the world, both on and off the court.
"So," Daichi begins, "so doc, I think I have a problem."
Kuroo leans forward, aware of the strange atmosphere in the room. He couldn't quite put a finger on what it meant, for him and for Daichi and for whatever there was, is and could be between them.
Daichi gives him a crooked smile. "I seem to have missed your company these last few years. I'm not a doctor, only a sports physiotherapist, but I think I might need some more time in your presence."
(Kuroo is torn between laughing at the attempt at flirting and crying because of the missed time between them. Finally, he thinks.)