The next morning started a little too early for Kageyama's tastes, and apparently Oikawa didn't like early rising either. "Alright you guys! Up, up, we have a busy day ahead." Iwaizumi's loud voice invaded Kageyama's ears, making him pull the covers up over his head.

"It's just school." Oikawa grumbled, flipping over on to his other side.

"Is that what lazy people tell themselves? It's also volleyball practice, so get up." Kageyama felt Iwaizumi's hands reach down under the blanket and grab him under the armpits, pulling him up, and setting him on his feet. Dazed and still half-asleep Tobio stumbled but managed to stay on his feet and rub his eyes tiredly.

Somehow Iwaizumi did the same to Oikawa, who actually did fall and then started to complain more. "It's early Iwa-chan! It's like five a.m. and now my hip hurts cus of your manhandling."

"Your hip hurts because you stumbled around like you were drunk. Kageyama stood up just fine."

"Yeah, who's the baby now." Kageyama grumbled.

Oikawa gasped, and righted himself instantly, his hip apparently not as hurt as he was trying to sell. "Tobio-chan is mean!"

Kageyama knew he was being mean, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Besides, Oikawa made it clear they weren't friends so why should he care if he was mean to Oikawa? Oikawa was mean to him all the time.

Oikawa huffed and crossed his arms.

"Don't call Tooru a baby." Iwaizumi scolded lightly.

"Sorry," Kageyama said. He wasn't all that sorry though.

After that, they all got ready for school, Kageyama going into the bathroom to change. He'd always been a private person, his parents drilled that he needed to cover up into his head from a very young age. He'd never realized just how private he was though until yesterday in the locker room. People had never made him feel so uncomfortable before.

He slid on the same uniform he had on yesterday, even the jacket though he could tell it was going to be a nice, warm day. Fall was just starting and it wouldn't grow cold for another week or two. Before pulling the jacket on all the way, he stared at his arms for a moment. Kageyama saw no new soulmarks, though he knew he shouldn't be looking for them in the first place. That was spying, and spying was wrong.

It hurt, however, knowing who his soulmates were and not telling them who he was. He very desperately wanted someone to be his soulmate, wanted someone to love him like a soulmate should. But Oikawa didn't even like him as a friend, much less as a soulmate. He and Iwaizumi were perfect together anyway, they didn't need him.

Tobio smoothed down his hair as a finishing touch before leaving the bathroom and going downstairs.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa were already sitting, and there was breakfast on the table. A third plate was in another seat, and Tobio thought it might be for him but it could also be for Oikawa's mother who had probably forgotten he was here.

"Are you going to stand there all day with a dumb look on your face or are you eating?"

"My face isn't dumb!" Kageyama glared and despite his tone, slinked over to his chair and sat down. "Um, where's your mother?"

"At work." Oikawa said.

His mother worked? "But what about your father?" for as long as Tobio could remember, his father had always gone to work and his mother always took care of the house. And for some reason something always needed to be done with the house. When had been the last time he saw his mother sit down for something that wasn't a meal?

"I don't have a dad." Oikawa said.

"Oh… sorry." He was pretty sure that was what he was supposed to say, even though Oikawa didn't seem very bothered by the fact he had no father.

"What about you Tobio-chan. What are your parents supposed to be doing right now?" Oikawa asked lithely.

"Papa's at work. And mama is probably cleaning. Or maybe cooking. She could also be washing dishes or doing laundry, and she might also be at the store," Tobio paused, "one of those things."

"Wow, your mom does a lot around the house." Iwaizumi said, with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, my mom doesn't have time to do all that stuff all the time." Oikawa said.

"I offer to help mama, but she never wants help."

"Maybe you should just do it." Iwaizumi suggested. "You know, instead of asking her if she needs help, just do it."

Kageyama thought about that. His mother didn't usually say anything if he started to help of his own accord, but she always said no when he asked. Maybe Iwaizumi was right. "I'll try that." And he continued eating.

They walked to school together and as Oikawa and Iwaizumi were talking and joking, Kageyama tried to get the conversation he'd heard last night out of his head. He didn't understand much of it, but he did understand, "there's something wrong with his fucking family". That was a little hard to misunderstand. By 'his' Oikawa could've only meant Tobio. What he didn't understand was everything else. He didn't understand why Oikawa would even think that at all, and he didn't understand what Iwaizumi meant about projecting your own experiences, and most of all he didn't understand why Oikawa started crying. All of those things were a complete mystery he couldn't even ask anyone about because he was pretty sure Oikawa and Iwaizumi would both be mad if they knew he was eavesdropping. And they had every right to be angry about that, because eavesdropping was wrong, but he was tired of dealing with anger.

He'd almost rather… almost rather lie about this too. What did one more lie matter. Besides it wasn't as if Oikawa and Iwaizumi were his parents, they weren't going to find out. And it wasn't as if he owed them the truth anyway. Sure they were his soulmates but it wasn't like they knew that.

Yeah, because you're lying to them about soulmates too.

Kageyama's scowl deepened and his hands tightened on his bag. That was different. He had to keep that secret. No one could ever know who his soulmates were but him. This all sounded oddly like justifying horrible things, but Kageyama just didn't want to get in trouble.

Tobio went through his day like clockwork, studying, working, participating. It was a pretty good day overall. He didn't get a single answer wrong when he raised his hand, and he understood the material pretty well. The study session with Oikawa definitely helped him with math. He was feeling confident he could pass the math exam.

If he survived long enough to take it anyway.

Then came practice, the same as usual. Oikawa teased him and Iwaizumi stopped him. Tobio and the other first years huddled together in a group Kageyama wasn't truly apart of, and they practiced. They played.

Kageyama tried not to think about how this might be the last time he ever touched a volleyball.

He stayed for a little longer after practice ended.

A lot longer, actually.

He didn't want to go home to where he knew the end of everything was.

He didn't want to go.

Kageyama felt something bubble up in his chest, an emotion that made him slam the volleyball on the floor as hard as he could, the ball striking with a satisfying bam that echoed through the gym.

And he threw it again.

And again. And again.

He threw it until there was none of the emotion left inside him, just an emptiness and resignation. He should've known this would happen. Nothing that made him happy ever lasted.

He put the volleyball away and cleaned up the gym as best he could before grabbing his bag and slowly making his way home before it got dark.

Before now he'd always had something to lean on, whether it be his mother's persuasion skills or Oikawa and Iwaizumi. But now there was no one to help him. He had to go home, and his mother already agreed to take him out of volleyball.

When he got home and opened the door, everything was eerily silent.

He shut the door hard behind him, but didn't call out for his parents.

Kageyama heard movement upstairs and then extremely loud footsteps pounding down the stairs. He recognized them as his father. When the man rounded the corner to see him, Kageyama honestly couldn't read his expression. It was something Tobio had never seen before, he didn't know what to expect.

"Kageyama Tobio!" his father's face twisted into an emotion Kageyama knew very well, anger, but there was still that strange one he didn't recognize. "How dare you!" from those first three words, Kageyama knew he was in for a long night.

He resigned himself and sat down on the couch, his mother nowhere in sight. There was no one to help him when his father started yelling.

"Selfish". "Ungrateful". "Stupid". "Childish".

Kageyama sat there and took the shouting and the anger because that was all he could do. He knew his father was right anyway. He was a moron, he'd stupidly acted on his own emotions and caused his parents unneeded stress. He'd been selfish. Running away wasn't okay. Running away was what a little kid would've done.

"You will never go to those volleyball practices, or volleyball games ever again! I see I'm going to have to be even harder on you. You will come home right after school, I will have your mother time you. When you get home you will go straight upstairs and do your homework and then you will eat dinner and go right to bed after!"

Kageyama closed his eyes, heart pounding inside his chest, and he fought desperately to keep his tears at bay. "Papa," Tobio knew he had no room to argue or negotiate but he still had to try, "would it be alright if… there's a study group and they meet after school. We just sit there and study and um… get smarter. But we're in school and that helps me focus better than at home."

"How long is it?"

"An hour. I'll be home right after, I promise."

His father had that contemplative look on his face he always wore when he tried to look like he was debating his decision even though he already knew what he was going to do.

At last, his father nodded, "I don't see why not." He then gave Tobio a sharp glare. "But you better be studying!"

Kageyama nodded quickly in agreement. "Now go upstairs and wash up." His father ordered.

Tobio hurried upstairs after that, not wanting his father to change his mind, heart pounding erratically inside his chest. When he got to the top he stood there shakily. He couldn't believe he had just lied to his father again. Actually lied to him. And no one knew he lied but him.

Kageyama had no intention of going to some study group he didn't care about. He would go to volleyball practice.

Parents aren't as smart as they like to pretend.

Kageyama hoped Oikawa was right.

He set his bag down in his room and when he came out again he saw his mother, folding laundry in the bedroom. She didn't even turn to look at him.

After Kageyama was showered and wearing another comfy hoodie and sweatpants he went downstairs to eat dinner. His father was sitting at the table, and his mother was making noise in the kitchen. He thought about taking Iwaizumi's advice and going to help her but he felt extremely tired for some reason, and wasn't sure he'd be much help anyway.

After his mother set the food on the table, they started eating. "Tobio," his father started, "now that your mother is here I would like to say that we were very worried about you."

"I'm sorry."

"Where did you go?"

"I um… there was this nice woman. She had two little kids and asked if I was okay. I stayed at her house and she was nice to me. I know you said not to talk to strangers but I was hungry!" Tobio's bottom lip trembled.

"It's okay, Tobio. It's okay." His father said.

His mother only stared at him for several minutes. Then, she broke down and said, "I missed you dear." After her admission she gave him a small, polite smile.

He knew that was all he would get from her.

After dinner, he went upstairs and did his homework. All his parents thought he was good for was studying and doing homework.

Tobio, for the longest time, felt like something was missing from his life, but he couldn't pinpoint it. Maybe it was his lack of soulmates, but he knew he couldn't have those, resigned himself to that fact.

So what was it?

His question wasn't answered that night, or the next morning.

Maybe he never would find what was missing.

"Tobio-chan~!" Oikawa ran at him, a much too happy look on his face. "Graduation is almost here! Are you going to miss me Tobio-chan. I wouldn't blame you if you did~."

"I'll miss you. But graduation still isn't for a while." Kageyama said bluntly, setting his school bag onto the ground.

Oikawa frowned and pouted as Iwaizumi asked, "How'd it go with your parents last night."

"They were fine. They said they were sorry and didn't realize how important volleyball was to me and let me come back." He lied.

"That's good."

Oikawa stared at him suspiciously before shrugging. "So you didn't have to beg or anything like that?"

"Oikawa-san, why would I beg?"

Iwaizumi gave Oikawa a pointed look that said 'I told you so'. Kageyama only knew that look because his parents often sent that look at him.

"Well you must've had to do something. I mean you basically threw a temper tantrum."

Kageyama wanted to say he hadn't, but he had. What else did you call running away and throwing volleyballs around. Kageyama didn't know how to handle his emotions besides to push it down. That's all he'd ever known, one of the only things his mother had ever taught him. "They understood." Kageyama grumbled, blushing at his own immature behavior.

"They did?"

"Yes, Oikawa-san. I don't want to talk about it."

"You didn't lie did you, Tobio-chan?"

"God would you just shut up!" He hadn't meant to sound so angry, or shout it in the first place, but his outrage echoed through the gym and everyone turned their heads to look at them.

"So I was right."

How dare he sound so smug. Kageyama finally lost it, "Fuck you! You're a confusing asshole! You're always trying to annoy me and make fun of me and then you do something nice and I don't understand! You're so mean to me Oikawa-san and you aren't ever mean to anyone else! You don't tease them like me, you help them with volleyball! I don't understand you!" he screamed.

"It's not my job to make sure you understand me." Oikawa sneered. "It isn't my job to make sure little Tobio-chan feels secure, okay!"

Kageyama fell silent and glanced around the room where everyone had already turned away. What the hell was their problem? They always turned a blind eye, even when something was blatantly, obviously not right. They didn't care enough about Kageyama to stand up to their captain.

Iwaizumi was the only one still looking at them, but he didn't say anything, only stared between the two of them. And maybe Iwaizumi didn't mean to, but he had the same look his mother always had when he and his father would argue. That look of disappointment.

Turning back to Oikawa who still had his lips curled back, Tobio knew he would have to be the bigger person. "Okay." He didn't know what else to say. How was he supposed to argue? It wasn't Oikawa's job, it was Tobio's job to regulate his own emotions. He didn't know how to tell Oikawa he was right and also wrong at the same time.

He'd never been good at articulating his thoughts, not like his mother was. He was more like her, but he was still too emotional and irrational at times to clearly think of what to say. And he knew if he let his emotions get the better of him, he might end up spouting things he regretted.

It was easier to submit.

It was easier to agree.

Just to keep the peace, to make sure everyone was okay.

Oikawa stared at him critically, "So nothing happened with your family."

Kageyama couldn't help but bite out bitterly, "It's not my job to make you understand my family." And he turned away to practice somewhere else.

He'd determined that Oikawa had been worried about him at the sleepover, maybe he'd been sad. Kageyama wanted to take that away. But he owed Oikawa nothing.

As the older boy said himself, he was only being a decent human being. Any decent person would've done what he did. He decided that Oikawa's rude behavior was more than enough reason not to repay him.

Oikawa and him weren't friends, just as the older boy said. That meant he didn't have to tell Oikawa anything, and it meant he didn't get to pry into Oikawa's life either.

That meant he vowed never to read the writing on his arms again.

He decided to ignore his soulmates.

He decided he didn't need them.

He wasn't living in a movie or some sappy romance story. He shouldn't have expected Oikawa and Iwaizumi to come into his life and fix how he was feeling. No one else could fix him. Especially people who didn't even know who he really was.

He knew he'd probably just messed up whatever sort of relationship he'd had with Oikawa these past few weeks by being so cold but at least he passed his math test the next day.

A/N And here we have Oikawa being an ass who disguises his caring with assholery (are we really surprised), Tobio being hurt (again, are we really surprised) and Iwaizumi not knowing how the fuck to help either of them (we aren't surprised). Basically they're all confused (I am too haha). Reviews appreciated. Love you guys and all your support!