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As soon as Daichi takes his seat next to Sugawara, the other’s hands ever so gently brush over the side of his face. Daichi can’t help but wince slightly at the touch, even with the tenderness of it.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go lay down a little more?” Sugawara’s hand moves to rest on Daichi’s thigh instead, his thumb rubbing small circles on Daichi’s leg, a textbook example of Sugawara’s concern and worry.
“I’m sure. I want to watch these two play each other. It’ll be vital to our match against the victor.” Sugawara doesn’t look best pleased at Daichi’s word, leaning closer to the other to rest his head on Daichi’s shoulder, his scruffier than usual hair tickling Daichi’s skin. He curls an arm around Sugawara’s shoulders, tugging him closer into his side. “I’m okay, I promise you. I wouldn't force myself to play if I knew I wasn’t at my best.”
“You would.” Both Sugawara and Asahi speak up at that, Asahi leaning forward to meet Daichi’s eyes, his own expressive as ever in showing his concern and worry. Daichi goes to refute, but Sugawara turns his head slightly to catch Daichi’s lips and a quick and subtle kiss before resting his head back on Daichi’s shoulder.
“Shush and focus on resting. Let me do the watching.” Daichi chuckles at Sugawara’s little stunt, resting his cheek on top of Sugawara’s head, despite the pain that it causes him.
“I warned you about doing that around the others.” Daichi chuckles, resting his other hand on top of the one Sugawara rests on his leg.
“It’s not like they don’t already know. At least the smart ones.” Sugawara chuckles a little at his own words, which Daichi and Asahi share.
All of them have been close since they joined at the peak of Karasuno’s downfall. It seemed like the second and third years had lost faith in the potential of the team ever growing to half of Karasuno’s former glory. That trio seemed to be the only ones who had trust in each other’s abilities. Daichi remembers their late train sessions fondly. More often than not, Sugawara would set for Asahi while Daichi would hone his defensive prowess by bumping as many as Asahi’s spikes as he could, among a plethora of other exercises the three made the most of. Things really started to look up when they got a large crowd of first years while in their second year, most noticeably the feisty duo of Nishinoya and Tanaka, who did well in boosting the general power of their team, with Tanaka having one hell of a spike and Nishinoya being one of the best liberos Daichi’s had the pleasure of playing with.
It was also during their second year that Daichi got himself together and confessed his feelings for Sugawara. He had expected rejection, with some hope of a promise to stay friends. What he wasn’t expecting was for Sugawara to throw his arms around Daichi and cling to him like there was no tomorrow. According to Asahi, the change in their relationship was clear as day, and their favourite gentle giant seemed happy for his two close friends.
Both of which he was also painfully crushing on.
Meanwhile, both Daichi and Sugawara combatted their own feelings for their teammate, with Daichi assuming Asahi didn’t possess any romantic interest in men, and with Sugawara doubling down on the fact that Asahi was definitely gay, but his type didn’t even slightly align with the type of men he and Daichi are. The pair’s playful debate about whether or not they had a chance with their ace was put on pause after their loss against Date Tech destroyed their ace’s confidence. Both Sugawara and Daichi tried to keep in touch with him during his hiatus from the club, but Asahi is annoyingly stubborn when he wants to be, and would always find a way to avoid them, and when he couldn’t, he’d always keep the conversations short and brief.
It pained Daichi to see how the loss not only affected Asahi, but the team as a whole. Nishinoya was suspended from school for a period of time and from club activities for even longer. Without their libero, Karasuno gravely suffered in the defense department as well as morale boosts. Daichi and Sugawara tried their best to hold down the fort the best they could in the absence of two of their more prominent players, but with the hit Sugawara’s own conscience took due to Asahi’s hiatus, the pair had a rocky start going into their third and final year.
They were thankful to get the batch of first years that they did. Not only did they have amazing potential, but they really helped to liven the team up in the absence of some of their most treasured friends. When Asahi did finally gain his confidence back after the match with Karasuno Alumi, Sugawara basically pounced on the both of them, dragging them both back to his, thankfully empty at the time, house where one hell of a confession took place.
Now with the logistics of their relationship sorted out, Daichi is honoured to call both his fellow third years his boyfriends. He and Sugawara have always been affectionate towards each other, and their relationship only heightened that, but Daichi tries to keep Sugawara’s explicitly romantic affections behind closed doors. Ever the schemer though, Sugawara is constantly sneaking kisses from Daichi. While Asahi is as big as a cuddle bug as he looks, his social awkwardness causes any PDA from either of them to make him go pretty red within an instant. While extremely cute, it's not the subtle, on the down low relationship that had all agreed on. As the final set in the Aoba Johsai versus Date Tech comes to a close, with Aoba Johsai taking the win, Daichi and the other third years stand. Sugawara takes each of their hands in one of his own, squeezing tightly.
“This isn’t our final match. We’re winning this.” Daichi meets Asahi’s eyes, seeing nothing but pure determination in his eyes. That’s their ace. Both Daichi and Asahi give Sugawara’s hand a quick squeeze before letting go. They need to warm up and get ready for one hell of a battle against Blue Castle.
Thankfully, Sugawara’s words held true. Although it was a close three set match, Karasuno managed to steal the win from Aoba Johsai in an exhausting victory.
Daichi stirs awake when the bus comes to a stop. The comforting weight of Sugawara against his side keeps him lulled in a half and half state of waking. He gently nudges Sugawara with an elbow, finding the way his vice captain nuzzles into him further sickingly sweet.
“Wakey wakey. We’re back at school.” Daichi speaks into Sugawara’s hair, having to swallow a laugh as Sugawara grumbles into his shoulder before lifting his head. He runs a hand through his unruly hair before shaking it out. Sugawara turns to look across the aisle from them, where Asahi sleeps uncomfortably slouched in his seat. The curses of being tall.
All of Karasuno file out from the bus, albeit very drowsy, but still motivated for their highly important match tomorrow. This is the final barrier barring Daichi and his partners for the chance of going to Nationals, let alone winning. Daichi finds himself watching as his juniors sleepily start to drag themselves home one by one. Daichi turns his attention towards his partners, who patiently wait for him. Daichi soon joins them, taking a place between them as they begin the fairly short walk back home, having agreed beforehand to stay at each other’s places during the days of the tournaments. Tonight’s location is Sugawara’s place, with his parents being out for the night and his younger brother staying at a friend’s, giving the third years a peacefully quiet place to relax and wind out after the rather intense matches they played today.
“You feeling okay Suga? That spike looked like it would have hurt.” Asahi reaches around Daichi to brush Sugawara’s hair away from his forehead, where the faint red mark sits from where Sugawara took a spike to the head during their desperate final few rallies with Aoba Johsai.
“Dai’s the one you should be worried about. That spike was nothing compared to Tanaka’s shoulder. Are you in any pain?” Sugawara interlaces his fingers with Daichi, squeezing his hand tightly, his thumb brushing over his knuckles.
“No pain. I’m alright, Suga. I’ll be perfectly fine for tomorrow’s match.” Daichi leans down to press a quick kiss to Sugawara’s temple, hoping to soothe his nerves a little bit. “And I can practically hear your concern, Asahi. I promise you both that I’m okay.” Daichi brushes his finger over Asahi’s knuckles, biting back a smirk as the simplest touch causes their ace to blush. “If it makes you two feel any better, you two can pamper me when we get to Suga’s.” Daichi’s pretty sure he can hear the celebrations from the pair of them, Sugawara’s grip on his hand tightening. Daichi can’t help but chuckle slightly. He’s blessed with the best partners.
As soon as the door to Sugawara’s home closes behind them, Asahi presses himself to Daichi’s back, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Daichi leans back into his chest, reaching up to grab onto Asahi’s arms. Daichi tilts his head back to catch Asahi’s lips with his own. Daichi sighs into it, relaxing into the taller after a long day of diving around and playing.
“Are you two just gonna stand there or are you actually going to come in?” Sugawara calls them from further in the house, likely from his sofa. Daichi reluctantly lets Asahi go, following him into Sugawara’s living room, where he is in fact stretched across his sofa, his jacket discarded somewhere. “Cmere you big wuss!” Sugawara stretches his arms out towards Asahi, staring at the other expectantly until he cranes himself down and gives Sugawara the kiss he’s been wanting since they left for Karasuno this morning. When Sugawara pulls away, he doesn’t unwrap his arms from around Asahi’s shoulders, keeping him craned over Sugawara. “Dai you go shower first. I want to steal our ace’s attention.” Daichi merely shakes his head, but doesn’t complain too much about not having to wait any longer to wash the sweat off himself.
After the three of them take it in turn showering, sharing some cuddles and kissing between them while the other one showers, they all find themselves in Sugawara’s room. While his bed is definitely not decided for three people, they've figured out how to make it work. With a firm, but gentle push, Sugawara shoves Asahi onto his bed, where he situates himself against the headboard. With another shove, he pushes Daichi forward, silently instructing him to lay his back against Asahi’s chest. Daichi happily complies, leaning against the other, sinking into his arms as they snake around his waist. Finally, Sugawara settles himself in Daichi’s lap, one hand on his shoulder and the other gently cradling the battered side of his face.
“You scared us, you know? Going down like that.” Sugawara’s voice is soft, and not in his usual sweet spoken manner. Daichi can only imagine how much they must have panicked when Daichi didn’t get up immediately, let alone move. Asahi at least has a good view of him on the court, but from the sidelines, Sugawara must have been thinking of every possible outcome.
“I know. I'm so-” before the rest of the apology can come out his mouth, Sugawara presses a single finger to his lips.
“Don't apologise for getting injured. It can't be helped. We’re all been injured before. It happens. I just didn't want my captain, more importantly my partner, to get a concussion right before Nationals.” Sugawara cradles Daichi's face ever so gently in his hands leaning forward to press his forehead to Daichi’s own. “But I swear, please never do that again.” Sugawara sighs out, both Asahi and Daichi chuckling slightly before Daichi presses a kiss to Sugawara’s lips before tilting his head back to steal a somewhat awkward one from Asahi.
“I don't plan on it. Don't you two get injured either. We need you two as much as we need any other member of the team.” Daichi’s hands find a resting spot on Sugawara’s thighs, relaxing into the warmth that both of boyfriends emit. Asahi too relaxes, nuzzling his face into Daichi’s neck, his damp hair tickling Daichi ever so slightly. While it takes him a little longer, Sugawara soon relaxes into Daichi, curling himself into his chest. While not the most comfortable sleeping position, the trio all find themselves with heavy eyes and lacking the heart to ask the others to move. They accept it, drifting off in each other’s embrace with a promise to go to Nationals.