A/N: This is another story I've been updating over at AO3 and decided to post here as well. Hope you all enjoy!
Kageyama wasn't sure how he ended up in this situation.
He had thought things would be different when he went to University. He had grown a lot in high school, had learned how to be part of a team. Hell, they had been to Nationals multiple times! He had thought that now, even without them, he would still be Kageyama Tobio, setter from Karasuno. Not Kageyama Tobio, King of the Court.
Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima weren't here with him. Tsukishima had gone to a school in Tokyo with his "he isn't my boyfriend" boyfriend Kuroo. Hinata had stuck close to home, playing for a local school. Yamaguchi wasn't actually in Tokyo, but he was close to it. Yachi was attending school with him as the two had begun to date in their third year. At the moment, Hinata was the only other person playing but he was sure Tsukishima wouldn't be able to hold out for long. Especially with the fact that his school's team consisted of Kuroo, Bokuto, and Oikawa. He would be playing eventually. But that wasn't important. No, what was important was that his friends, yes friends, had split up and Kageyama found himself alone in a new school with a new team.
He had met many, many people over the years thanks to volleyball. From his own school, from opposing schools, from the national training camps. So how was it that out of all the schools possible he had chosen a school where he was stuck with a group of people who only saw him for the failure he was in middle school? Most of them didn't even deign to speak with him. Not that that stopped them from talking about him. He was getting tired of defending himself to them. It hadn't helped. And the constant digs at his non-existent social life weren't helping him make friends either.
"We all know Kageyama is just going to marry a volleyball," Mori, one of the second year setters muttered as he walked past. "No one else would put up with him."
"I wouldn't mind trying him out," his friend Goto commented, not even bothering to keep his voice down, "for a night, anyway. He looks like he'd be nice and –"
Kageyama moved away quickly. He had already heard a few comments from the third year and those comments were enough that he really didn't need, or want, to hear anymore. Kageyama glanced over at the captain, Ishii, hoping that the older boy would put a stop to it. There was no way Daichi, Ennoshita, or Yamaguchi would have put up with something like that from the team. But Ishii avoided his gaze and turned his back on Goto, pulling their libero into conversation instead.
Well, he wasn't going to get any help there.
He had thought that after a few weeks the comments would have stopped. Instead, they actually seemed to be getting worse. Goto and Mori had cornered him in the clubroom a week before and Goto had some…things to say about Kageyama's physical form.
He had been too nauseous to eat dinner that night.
"You really should be careful what you say," a quiet and stoic voice cut Goto off mid-sentence as he began to describe the various ways a certain person could 'please' him. "Kageyama's boyfriend isn't the nicest person. He really wouldn't be happy if he heard how this conversation is progressing."
Kageyama's what now?!
Kageyama toward the familiar voice, his eyes wide in disbelief. Kunimi, the one person he truly knew on the team though they hadn't talked since the school year started, was staring at Goto with hard eyes.
"His boyfriend?" Mori sputtered. His eyes flickered to Kageyama and then back toward Kunimi before disbelief flashed across his face. "Right. There's no way that that kid has a-"
"It isn't well known," Kunimi continued, cutting off the senior without any type of recognition that the other boy had been speaking. Mori protested loudly but Kunimi just stared at Goto, his eyes unblinking.
What the hell is he doing?!
"Neither of them are very open about it but they've been together for some time now," Has Kunimi finally lost his mind? "But I think he would be interested to know the things you've been saying. Even if Kageyama won't tell him, I will."
There was complete silence at the veiled threat in Kunimi's words. The threat of Kageyama's non-existent boyfriend. The entire team was staring at either Goto or Kunimi. Well, most of the team. Ishii was looking at neither. No, his eyes were focused on Kageyama. Kageyama swallowed hard and turned away from his captain. What was Kunimi doing? He should have just left it alone! Now what would the older boy do when he realized that nothing Kunimi said was true?
Would it get even worse?
"And if it is such a secret, how do you know about it?" Goto snapped, his dark eyes narrowed and his large arms crossed over his chest as he attempted to intimidate the younger boy. "I've never even seen the two of you talk to each other. Now I'm supposed to believe he told you about-"
"He didn't tell me," Kunimi agreed, earning himself a snarl when he cut Goto off. Looking as unfazed as he ever was, Kunimi just continued his very creative story. "The two of them tried to keep it a secret but it is hard to hide things from your team."
…huh?
"I believe the two of you went to different schools," Ishii commented, speaking for the first time since this entire thing started. Kageyama's hands clenched into fists at his sides as he spoke. If Ishii had just spoken up earlier, none of this would be happening!
"I'm not talking about Kageyama," Kunimi responded, tilting his head sideways as if the thought was completely incredible. In truth, it was. After their…history, it was insane to think that Kageyama would trust a secret like that to Kunimi. "Actually, I believe all of you would know his boyfriend as well. He's actually our senpai. You would have played against him on a few occasions."
Cold dread began to rush through Kageyama's body. He knew Kunimi didn't like him but the other boy wouldn't do this. Surely he didn't hate him that much. There was no possible way that he would –
"And who is that?" Goto snarled as he took a menacing step toward Kageyama's fellow first year.
But Kunimi didn't move. Instead he looked up and met Goto's flashing eyes with a smirk plastered on his usually stoic face. "Oikawa Toru."
He did hate him. He really did.
What the hell was Kageyama going to do now?