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Though no one knows how or why, at midnight on a person’s 16th birthday, they get writing on their wrist, almost like a tattoo. This writing, whatever it says, has something to do with your soulmate. It’s usually something like the first thing they say to you after it appears, or an inside joke you two will have, maybe a phrase they say a lot. Simply a push in the right direction, fate’s little nudge-nudge wink-wink about what future you have in store.
Hinata had been restless all day. It was a Friday, he had practice after school, and it was his sixteenth birthday. Ever since he asked his mom about it, he had been endlessly intrigued by the idea of soulmates, that there might be someone perfect for him. He used to scrawl all over his skin, thinking about the day when he would get a permanent one on his wrist. Now, the day had finally arrived, and Hinata was practically counting the seconds.
“Can you stop vibrating?” Kageyama asked irritably as they walked home together. The team had a mini-celebration for the decoy right before they all parted ways, Daichi having treated them all to meat-buns and Hinata receiving a very enthusiastic, horrifically off-key rendition of Happy Birthday.
Even Tsukishima had sang, even if it was super quiet and a little behind and goddamnit he was just mouthing the words while staring directly at him with a blank expression. Fuck that guy.
Hinata refused to let that ruin his mood, though, so he made up for it with more and more volume.
“But I’m excited!” Hinata exclaimed, his smile exponentially growing.
“No shit.” Kageyama grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets as they leisurely strolled down the neighborhood.
“I can’t wait to know what he’ll be like! I kinda hope he’s tall, but that would also make me angry, so-” Hinata rambled, his mind conjuring up millions of different images of possible soulmates.
“Wait, he?” Kageyama interrupted, his eyebrows furrowing.
“Yeah?” Hinata replied, confusion now mutual. “Did you not know that?”
“Well, you didn’t tell me, dumbass!” Kageyama exclaimed.
“I thought it was obvious! I stare at your ass, like, all the time!” Hinata screeched back, and he couldn’t tell if the red on the setter’s face was from anger or embarrassment.
“You like me?” Kageyama roared, and then Hinata’s eyes widened in shock and horror, quickly shaking his head with a grossed-out look on his face.
“No! You’re my friend! It’s just- It looks nice!” Hinata corrected, wincing slightly at what he admitted. Instead of yelling more, Kageyama deflated, looking like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
“Thank god, I really didn’t want to fuck this up.” Kageyama breathed, and the orange-haired boy cocked his head to the side.
“What do you mean?” Hinata asked.
“Well, I haven’t had a lot of… friends… before, and you’re my first close friend.” Kageyama muttered, averting his eyes from his friend as they continued to walk. Hinata’s lips formed a round o of understanding, and then he smiled radiantly.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Kageyama!” Hinata grinned easily, and that was that. They parted ways with them promising to text until midnight since Kageyama’s parents, while very nice, were very strict about curfew.
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Hinata was a mess of tangled limbs as he laid on his bed. It was quickly approaching midnight, but his friend was a rather good distractor from both the time and his worries.
Kageyama: Your soulmate is literally supposed to be perfect for you
Hinata: !!!!! BUT
Kageyama: There’s no way he’d hate you
Hinata: S T I L L
Kageyama: What if it’s Tsukishima or someone
Hinata turned a deathly pale.
Hinata: NO FUCK YOU WHAT IF YOURS IS THE GRAND KING
Kageyama: Oikawa’s soulmate is Iwaizumi
Hinata: STOP THI S
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It was 12:01, and he had forced himself to not look at the ink (the invisible force was apparently taking its sweet time when it came to inking his skin) for a whole minute. Highly impressive, for his standards. Then, his face purple from stubbornly holding in his excitement (and also his breath), he opened his eyes to stare at it.
The tattoo was a pale yellow, almost cream color. The words were also metallic, which made it easier to discern from his actual skin tone. It was actually very pretty, if that’s what you focused on.
The words themselves, however, made Hinata want to yell and scream and throw things at the sky, because the universe was clearly against him and everything he stood for.
‘Is this the part where I say Happy Late Birthday, Shrimpy?’ was written in an elegant script, mocking him the longer he stared at it. He grabbed his phone and typed out a quick message.
Hinata: I AM ANGRY AND ALSO COMING OVER TELL YOUR DAD IM SORRY IN ADVANCE
Kageyama’s parents were divorced, but both lived in the general vicinity of Karasuno. The setter lived with his mother, but on some weekends, he spent them with his dad at his fancy apartment complex, which happened to be close to Hinata’s house. Grumbling vague curses about his stupid soulmate calling him ‘shrimpy’, the decoy began to speed-walk to his friend’s location. He was practically steaming as he heard the faint buzz in his pocket
Kageyama: You’re lucky he’s gone tonight
Kageyama: Are you okay?
More grumbling erupted as Hianta ignored the message, figuring that he could tell his friend when he arrived. A quick glance around told him that he was close, and soon he had entered the small lobby to see the a figure in the elevator, who caught sight of the boy and promptly pressed the ‘close door’ button. Red tinged his vision as Hinata then broke out into a sprint and managed to catch the elevator, panting. He looked to the side.
He saw a lanky boy with fashionable frames, pale skin, blond hair and a look of absolute annoyance as they made eye contact. Hinata’s face scrunched up in dislike.
Of fucking course it was Tsukishima.
Seeing as it was past midnight, he would get kicked out for yelling, and Hinata Shouyou was pissed beyond belief, he did the first thing that came to his mind.
He lunged to the elevator buttons and pressed every single button - the one that was already lit was the one leading to the eleventh floor. He turned to the taller, who looked very tired and very unamused.
“You started it.” Hinata taunted, sticking his tongue out childishly at his teammate. Tsukishima looked like he was about to say something, but it came out like a strangled yelp. What the fuck?
“Is this the part where I say Happy Late Birthday, Shrimpy?” Tsukishima retorted weakly, his long fingers moving down to his right wrist and-
Oh.
Oh.
OH FUCK.
“Um?” Was all Hinata could squeak out, his face a dark red.
The blond pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers and closed his eyes, looking up at the sky before taking a deep breath. “I’m dog-sitting tonight, you might as well come with.” He grumbled, muttering little things under his breath - Hinata couldn’t hear it all, but some snippets included ‘Why’, ‘Thought it would be the king’, and ‘Humanized version of an exclamation point’.
“Yeah.” Hinata breathed a sigh of relief - at least it wasn’t going to be something they ignored, assuming they were going to talk about it. Despite this, awkward silence consumed them until they got off of the elevator and into the apartment. The blond was expressionless, which made this even more frustrating for the orange-haired boy, whose face was scrunching up more and more by the minute as he thought.
Hinata was absolutely, positively sure that Tsukishima hated him up until this point, and visa versa. Did Hinata hate Tsukishima? His eyebrows furrowed delicately. No, he just hated how lightly the blond took everything, calling what he poured his heart and soul into ‘just a club’. Also, it didn’t help that basically all he did was send passive-aggressive insults to him and Kageyama. Hinata grew angrier as he stared at Tsukishima, because damnit, now that he was kind of paying attention, Tsukishima was really, really attractive.
Another thought came to him - did Tsukishima himself hate Hinata? It sure as hell seemed like it, what with all of the insults and lazy glares and slight little smirks that were thrown his way. They were off the elevator now, and heading to some unknown apartment and- oh. Hinata went pale. This was the perfect opportunity for Tsukishima to kill him! A new place, late at night, no witnesses, no one to hear him scream-
“We’re here.” Tsukishima announced, breaking up the shorter’s thoughts abruptly when he unlocked a certain apartment door. Hinata jumped slightly, fear in his eyes.
“Please don’t murder me!” He exclaimed loudly, quivering as he took a defensive pose.
Tsukishima looked him up and down, straight into his eyes, and exhaled through his nose. “I- You know what? I don’t want to know. Just get inside, I’m not murdering you, I’m feeding Lily.” Right on cue, a bark came from the inside. Hesitantly, Hinata stepped inside, and was relieved to find a relatively normal-looking apartment, with comfy-looking furniture and a spacious layout.
Just then, a burly gray pitbull bounded out when Tsukishima closed the door, jaws drooling and nubbed tail wagging. Her legs were splayed erratically as she ran towards the two, specifically at Hinata. The smaller whimpered, having been told by his mother to stay away from that breed, when a voice rang out.
“Lily!” The mass of fur and jaws stopped a foot away from Hinata, ears perking up as she turned to Tsukishima.
“Sit.” The dog, Lily, flopped onto the floor, panting.
“Stay.” Tsukishima commanded, and the dog indeed stayed. The blond sighed and went over to an empty bowl. Hinata looked between the two in amazement, his curious gaze eventually falling on the dog, who was staring at him intently, but seemed very content.
“Can I-”
“Lily couldn’t hurt a fly if she tried, knock yourself out.” Tsukishima interrupted, pouring kibbles into the bowl and getting fresh water.
Hesitantly, Hinata held out his hand in front of the dog. She sniffed him gently, amber eyes focused, then her body wiggled happily as she pressed her wet nose against his hand.
“Hello, puppy.” Giggling, the decoy scratched behind her ears, earning him a happy whine. With that, all boundaries flew out the window and Hinata gave Lily his full attention as he scratched her belly and lied down on the floor with her. However, a clank of a metal bowl on the ground was heard, and Lily scrambled to her food, giving Tsukishima a passing lick before she dove into her food. The tall blond watched with a fond smile before sitting down on a nearby couch.
“We’re soulmates, then.” Tsukishima started bluntly, staring directly at the orange-haired boy.
“Yep!” Hinata confirmed, popping the ‘p’ and pretending like he wasn’t internally freaking out. Tsukishima would tell him later that he was doing a terrible job.
“Okay,” Tsukishima continued, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he prompted Hinata to go on. “What are we going to do about that?”
“I dunno, I kinda thought you hated me so I don’t know what to do.” Hinata admitted. A thin blond eyebrow raised upwards.
“I could say the same.” Tsukishima replied, and Hinata huffed.
“I don’t hate you! It’s just that you always insult me and Kageyama-”
“Because you two are idiots.”
“-And always call me short-”
“Am I wrong?”
“And you have all of-” Hinata waved vaguely at Tsukishima. “-that, but you never give it your all!”
“All of what?” Tsukishima asked, now more alert than he was previously.
“Well, you already have the height to be a blocker and you’re really good at strategy and stuff, so you’re already a good fit for volleyball without much work, but you’re not actually invested!” Hinata clarified with a huff, and it slowly dawned on the tall middle blocker. Hinata had to work for years to even be able to have a team to work with, was very short (which wasn’t ideal), and was constantly underestimated by everyone he had met so far. Then he waltzed in, with the natural ability that Hinata wished he had, and Tsukishima didn’t even care. Tsukishima closed his eyes, drew in a breath, and hoped that he wouldn’t regret this later. (He wouldn’t.)
“I don’t hate you, either. It’s more that I don’t understand,” The blond started, and Hinata cocked his head in confusion. “You have so much energy and raw ability and absolutely no filter to anything. You wear your emotions on your sleeve, something I could never truly do, you have a relentless ambition for literally only volleyball, and you pour every ounce of yourself into it. Part of me admires that… Part of me finds it endlessly obnoxious. You’re… all-encompassing. It’s a lot - too much, sometimes - and I don’t know how to deal with that.”
“Well,” Hinata murmured slowly, and when Tsukishima raised his averted gaze to him, he found chocolate brown eyes locked on him with sparkles in them and a slowly growing smile. Tsukishima found himself mesmerized by the certainty and joy that was radiating off of the boy, unable to tear his eyes away even if he wanted to. “I guess you’re gonna have to learn to deal with it.”
A slow blink and the smallest of smiles stretched across the blond’s face.
“I guess so.”
EPILOGUE:
“ANOTHER WIN FOR CHUO UNIVERSITY, ALL THANKS TO VOLLEYBALL’S GOLDEN COUPLE!” The announcer roared as the crowd cheered on their feet, the stadium bright as the ball bounced onto the opposite side of the court, 25 -19.
The Chuo team yelled their victories proudly, piling onto the two who had scored the winning point.
In between all of the cheering and their teammates calls for celebration, Tsukishima Kei made eye contact with his soulmate, Hinata Shouyou, who was smiling at him like an absolute idiot, and Tsukishima honestly couldn’t find a time when he had been happier.
The night they got together, Tsukishima walked him to Kageyama's apartment, and Hinata sheepishly explained why he was late. Kageyama then proceeded to flick Hinata on the back of his head, grumbling something unintelligible, and declared to Tsukishima that if he didn't take care of Hinata there would he hell to pay. Everthing was mostly smooth sailing after that, with the team being fully accepting and them spending the rest of their high school careers at Karasuno. After the two had graduated Karasuno, they had been scouted by Chuo University in Tokyo, and they had immediately accepted once they knew they would be going together. Hinata went on a volleyball scholarship, and Tsukishima went to study paleontology, though he was still a starter on Chuo’s lineup. Once their coach had learned that they were nicknamed the sun and moon, the undefeated light of Karasuno that lead them to national victory in their senior year, he put them to good use. With Nishinoya, Oikawa, Daichi, and Kuroo also on Chuo’s team, they were immediately destined for victory. So far, they haven’t lost a single game.
The media ate them up like hawks when they got their hands on the team. Nishinoya and Kuroo were endlessly funny, Daichi was one of those people who no one could ever hate, and Oikawa was an attractive enigma.
With all the media attention, Hinata and Tsukishima had decided to keep it a secret that they were soulmates. Surprisingly, no one leaked it for half a year, though the team gradually found out. Daichi and Nishinoya obviously had already known, as it wasn’t a secret when they were at Karasuno. Kuroo was next to find out, when he was designated driver for Hinata and the orange-haired boy had one too many drinks one night. He was rather smug about it, but he reassured Tsukishima that ‘it wasn’t his secret to tell’. Then, Oikawa just kind of… asked them both, and Tsukishima answered yes on reflex. After much cheering and hollering about he knew it all along, Oikawa promised to keep it a secret as well. Other people slowly learned it until the whole team knew, and one day, Hinata piped up to Tsukishima while they were in their shared apartment.
“Why are we keeping it a secret that we’re dating again?” Hinata asked, his head on the taller’s lap as they laid on their couch. Tsukishima went silent, thinking for a moment before shrugging.
“I didn’t want reporters nosing into our lives at first, but they do that anyways.” Tsukishima replied, frowning slightly - though he was way more open to others then in high school, it was still more difficult for him to share his life with others, especially strangers, so the thought of them being openly together to the world was a little daunting.
“Would you mind if we told everyone?” Hinata asked softly, and Tsukishima started to run his hands through his soulmate’s hair as he thought. He wasn’t ashamed of his soulmate in any way - Hinata, though it may have seemed strange and incompatible at first, was undoubtedly the person he wanted and was going to spend the rest of his life with. He wanted to flaunt him whenever he immediately trusted Tsukishima whenever they made a play without a single glance and when they. He wanted to kiss him whenever Hinata looked to him on reflex when he made an amazing spike or block and gave him the cutest smile. He wanted to go out on dates without having to look for reporters before showing any signs of physical affection.
“You know that not everyone will be supportive.” Tsukishima warned, but Hinata just shook his head and smiled lazily.
“Well, I love you,” Hinata said, determined and strong. “And if people don’t like it, then they’ll just have to deal with it.”
That was the night before they won nationals. Now, they were surrounded by cheering teammates and roaring crowds and thousands of cameras as Chuo University reigned victorious over all others. The couple looked at each other and smiled, proud and unabashed, as the cameras caught a perfect shot of their mouths slotted together.