Kageyama ignored all of Oikawa's attempts to talk because Kageyama was finally starting to feel like himself again, and if he talked to Oikawa, he felt like something bad would happen, even if he didn't have a real reason to think that.
Now he had a few more days to mull it over, he realized that Oikawa's grand scheme was forcing them into a position where they had to interact. Ruining his chances with his team was just a bonus.
Either way, for all that he ignored Oikawa, the day of the practice match crept closer every hour and soon he would have no choice but to see his soulmates again.
He wondered what Iwaizumi would say.
Kageyama hadn't unblocked him yet.
He'd feel a whole lot worse ignoring Iwaizumi's texts since Iwaizumi had always been nice to him and he kept remembering that one time when Iwaizumi actually showed up at his school he got so worried.
"Hinata, I don't know what I'm going to do." Kageyama said at lunch that next day. On the court, Hinata was his rival, and they were both striving to be the greatest. Outside of that though, Hinata was still his best friend and Kageyama always went to him first for advice.
"About what?" He asked, his mouth full of rice.
"The practice match. I think Oikawa-san wants to corner me into talking." Kageyama gave Hinata his phone filled with messages asking to meet up and before all those only a few texts sent over the course of three years.
"Wow, he really wants to talk to you." Hinata said, taking another bite.
"I know! I don't want to talk to him though."
"Why?"
"The last time we talked didn't end well. I'm…"
"You're scared to hear an answer." Hinata finished for him. "Like you were scared to confess."
"Yes," Kageyama murmured, remembering how Hinata had called him a coward for not confessing. He couldn't help feeling afraid though, simply thinking of all the things Oikawa could possibly say to him in response to his confession.
If that was even what Oikawa really wanted to talk about. Maybe Oikawa just wanted to tell him to stay away from him and Iwaizumi because they didn't need him.
He probably wanted to see the look on Kageyama's face or something.
"Well, no matter what happens, I'm here for you. The whole team will be. Don't worry Yamayama." Hinata gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks." Kageyama said though the statement did little to calm his nerves.
The day of the practice match arrived far too soon, and everyone had to board the bus to Seijoh.
"Yamayama, I'm sitting with Tanaka-san and the other second years, you can come too if you want, but if not I can sit with you on the way back." Hinata whispered and then ran ahead on to the bus.
He wasn't sure whether or not this was a ploy to make Kageyama interact with other people but either way he did not appreciate it.
Everyone already seemed to have made their own little groups, and Kageyama felt awkward intruding on anybody. Suga and Daichi, the two third years sat together. Hinata along with the rest of the second years were piled on the back of the bus. And Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were sitting together, not that Kageyama would want to sit with either of them anyway.
If he really wanted to, he was pretty sure Daichi and Suga wouldn't mind if he sat on the other side of the aisle next to them, and the second years and Hinata wouldn't mind if he sat with them. Hinata even said he could.
But he didn't feel comfortable doing that. And despite himself Suga and Daichi intimidated him.
That only left one person he could sit with or sit entirely alone.
"Um, can I sit here?" He asked Kiyoko, feeling really awkward, but she didn't make him feel nervous like the other two third years, and she seemed nice. Kiyoko nodded in response but didn't say anything, which Kageyama was relieved about.
All he wanted was to appear like he belonged somewhere.
It didn't take too long for the bus to stop at its intended destination. Hinata had thrown up on Tanaka on the way over and was rushing to the bathroom while everyone else got off the bus. Suddenly, Kageyama was glad he hadn't been sitting next to Hinata on the way over.
Everyone congregated into more groups while walking and Kageyama somehow wiggled his way into walking with Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi.
Kageyama wasn't really listening to anything anyone was saying or paying attention to where they were going, but he gathered the fact Tsukishima and Tanaka were trying to intimidate some of the players from Seijoh. Tobio was too interested in hiding from his soulmates to pay much attention.
"Hey, King," one of the boys called out while Daichi was trying to drag Tanaka away. For once Kageyama wished it was Tsukishima's voice because if it was he could get bothered.
As it was, Kageyama tried to push down the upset and embarrassed feelings deep into his stomach and lifted his gaze to meet Kindaichi's head on.
He was able to pull it off because of the many times he had to look at Oikawa while not wanting to.
"I'm interested to see what kind of dictatorship you're running now."
Kageyama wanted to take his volleyball bag and smash it into Kindaichi's face but he held back and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Tanaka looked angry but Daichi held him back still and Kageyama forced his stiff legs to casually walk away.
It was even worse than he thought, seeing a member of his old team.
If he had that extreme reaction from seeing Kindaichi, what were Oikawa and Iwaizumi going to do to him?
The team arrived at the gym where Seijoh was already practicing. Kageyama nervously surveyed the court and his eyes zeroed in on Iwaizumi who was in the middle of spiking a volleyball.
Kageyama hoped everyone on the team would all be too busy warming up to have any talk that could psyche Kageyama out before the game.
Actually, if he was being honest, Kageyama was already psyched out so he didn't need anything else to work him up.
It was just his luck that in that moment Iwaizumi's gaze locked with Kageyama's and he gave a small smile that Kageyama had no idea how to interpret. He was still as handsome as Kageyama remembered him though.
Then Iwaizumi's gaze shifted downward to Hinata and a harsh glare came over his face. Hinata pretended he didn't notice but grinded his teeth together nervously.
Kageyama noticed the exchange and gave Hinata a glare of his own. "What the fuck did you do." He hissed.
"Well… uh," Hinata fumbled with his fingers looking sheepish, "I didn't want to block him because I'd feel bad, but considering how tense things were between you guys I didn't want to talk to him either, so I've been leaving him on read."
"Right, because that's just so much more considerate." Kageyama sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Hinata pouted, "I was nervous too! You guys put me in a very precarious position." He sniffed and walked off to Tanaka before running out of the gym again.
Kageyama tried to ignore Iwaizumi's blatant staring and just warm up but it was near impossible. Iwaizumi usually didn't stare at him, and the longer he did so the more self-conscious Kageyama became.
His thoughts and focus were interrupted when Hinata came in just in time to start.
Kageyama didn't like the way he was sending side glances at him.
Apparently Hinata was more nervous than he had thought because he kept messing up and making the whole team look like they were jokes. To say Kageyama was livid was an understatement but he also didn't like the way Kindaichi whispered how Kageyama would drop Hinata if he kept messing up spikes.
Hinata for his part looked extremely worried and a little annoyed.
"Hey, Hinata," Kageyama called out.
"Here it comes," Kindaichi whispered.
"My bad." Kageyama said, almost smirking at the shocked looks on Kindaichi and Kunimi's faces.
"Oh, don't worry, I forgive you!" Hinata said and Kageyama's fingers twitched with the urge to rip something apart because he was most certainly not asking for forgiveness!
"Whatever."
After Hinata's botched serve into the back of Kageyama's head and a pep talk from Tanaka, Hinata seemed to feel a lot better and Kageyama felt like maybe they could try their quick.
Hinata missed the first time during the second set, but that was also more Kageyama's fault. He hadn't adjusted properly so the set was off. "We'll get it next time." Hinata said confidently.
Kageyama sighed and risked another glance at Kunimi and Kindaichi who were staring at him critically. Kageyama couldn't help it and glared back at them.
They had no right to try and poison his new team against him and say all those negative things to Hinata and stare at him like he was a horrible person for not fixing all of his problems in a matter of three months.
Kageyama was trying to be a better person but it wasn't as if that had taken the place of volleyball which had been his number one priority since middle school.
Thankfully, the second quick succeeded and as the team had predicted, Seijoh seemed shocked by the display. Kageyama glanced at Iwaizumi who was staring at the ball with an awed, shocked expression on his face.
And when Iwaizumi looked back Kageyama looked away and hurried off to his teammates when Seijoh called a time out.
One thing Kageyama found odd, was that Oikawa wasn't anywhere that he could see. Oikawa had set all of this up in order to force Kageyama to talk so where the hell was he?
Kageyama was yanked from his thoughts when he heard Hinata address him. "Hey, uh, Yamayama, do you hear that?"
"Hear wha—" Kageyama was interrupted by the high pitched shrieking of several girls up in the stands. Tobio winced at the screeching and turned toward the Aoba Johsai team.
Unfortunately, he saw Oikawa talking to the Aoba Johsai coach and the sight had him wondering why he was ever upset that Oikawa hadn't made an appearance.
Oikawa turned towards him too and gave his signature, infuriating smile. "Yoohoo, Tobio-chan!" Oikawa waved, falsely cheerful.
Kageyama grimaced and ignored him, turning back to his team. "That's Seijoh's official setter, Oikawa-san. His playing style as a setter is aggressive, and his serve is even better than mine but he's also got an attitude that puts Tsukishima to shame."
Tsuskishima glared and huffed at the insult.
"He doesn't scare me!" Hinata cried.
"Yeah, he just annoys the fuck out of me." Tanaka growled, already seeming to have a dislike for Oikawa.
It was easy for them to say Oikawa didn't scare them, their skills weren't directly pitted against his. Like Kageyama wasn't scared of Iwaizumi's playing because he wasn't a spiker even though he knew Iwaizumi was a great player.
Oikawa's playing terrified him, and not just that but the way he got under Kageyama's skin with a horrifying level of accuracy just set him on edge. He could never quite relieve the tension he felt whenever Oikawa was on the other side of that net.
Which was the way it had always been, even in practice matches. Kageyama had never set foot on the same side of the court as Oikawa and while that was just the reality of the situation, it also felt like a metaphor for their relationship.
Would he ever be good enough to play on the same side as Oikawa?
Would he ever even be allowed?
And what would he choose if he was?
The game resumed and by the time Oikawa had set foot on his side of the court he'd already figured out that Hinata and Tsukishima were weak receivers and started serving powerful jump serves right towards Tsukishima.
They lost three points that way and almost lost the whole game but Tsukishima managed to get the ball up in the air.
Oikawa's face when Hinata landed a quick attack right passed his face was enough to make all the torment that would follow the match today worth it.
In fact, for a moment, Kageyama felt like he might even get away without having to talk or say anything to Oikawa.
Kageyama packed up his bag before making his way towards the bathroom to wash up a little before boarding the bus.
When he opened the bathroom door, Kindaichi was already inside washing his hands. The two of them just stared at each other for a while before Kageyama started to get uncomfortable. "So, um…"
"Don't apologize."
He hadn't been going to. Kageyama could recognize his own faults but the wounds Kindaichi had opened were far too fresh for him to even think of apologizing and meaning it.
"You're still a king, an oppressive, selfish king! But it doesn't matter anyway since we were never friends in the first place."
"No we weren't," Kageyama agreed, almost bitterly because how could Kindaichi have ever been his friend when they hardly spoke to each other.
"We won't lose next time."
"Karasuno will be the one to win." Kageyama disagreed bluntly, hearing Hinata's voice and footsteps skipping down the hall. "You can count on it." Kageyama said noticing that now Hinata hiding behind the wall entrance of the bathroom.
Kindaichi stared at him for a couple minutes later before turning around to dry his hands. Kageyama gave up on washing and just turned as well.
"You okay?" Hinata asked once Kageyama exited the bathroom. Kageyama nodded but didn't say anything, just tried to hurry out of the building and on to the bus before he ran into Oikawa.
The rest of the team was waiting at the door for them and once he and Hinata arrived they all moved out towards where the bus was.
"Our offense is doing pretty good so far, but we really need to work on our defense. If we played Seijoh in an official match then we would probably not be prepared to win." Daichi explained as they walked. He made good points, all of which Kageyama agreed with. Tsukishima and Hinata especially had to work on receives if they were going to be starting players.
"Why yes, I would think so too." An unwelcomed voice chimed in, making Kageyama cringe as he'd thought he'd escaped Oikawa this time. Apparently the older boy had just been waiting for the perfect time to strike. "I do hope you work on those receives of yours as I'm going to be perfecting my serve not to mention there are other serves similar to mine on my team. So work on your defenses, and don't lose at Inter-High. I want to beat my dear Tobio-chan in an official match setter to setter."
Kageyama gritted his teeth because he most definitely wasn't "Oikawa's dear" that was for sure.
"Now then, I'll also have to be stealing Tobio-chan for a minute if you don't mind. We need to talk about something."
Dread curled in Kageyama's stomach.
Tanaka held back a growl, "What do you want with one of our setters, huh? What's so important?"
If Kageyama really wanted to, he could allow Tanaka to stick up for him and leave without ever having to talk to Oikawa or Iwaizumi.
That thought was very appealing, since he wasn't ready for the conversation but at the same time he didn't think he'd ever be ready, so he might as well get it over with.
"It's fine, I'll go." Kageyama said and watched Daichi pull Tanaka back towards the bus.
"You guys get five minutes." Hinata proclaimed. "Because after that I'm coming to get you!"
"Alright, Sho-chan, I get it, I get it."
Despite Oikawa's acknowledgement, Hinata kept glaring as Oikawa grabbed Tobio's hand and led him around to the back of the building.
Iwaizumi was waiting there for the both of them.
Kageyama started to feel the building pressure.
"So, um, Oikawa-san, what happened to your knee?" Kageyama asked hoping to steer clear from whatever Oikawa and Iwaizumi wanted to talk about.
"I see what you're doing, Tobio-chan, trying to deflect the conversation, but to answer the question, I over practiced."
Oikawa scratched his chin nervously.
"Oh, okay. That's terrible, I hope you feel better. So yeah, okay, if that's all you wanted to talk about, I should really—"
"Actually," Iwaizumi interrupted, narrowing his eyes, "I felt it was time to talk about what happened last year. You know, when we all figured out we were soulmates. So Tooru pulled some strings with the coach."
"So this was your idea." Tobio already felt his own eyes narrowing and the defenses start to go up.
"Not exactly. I just wanted to wait for you after school, but Tooru wanted to play a game against you, so he arranged this." Iwaizumi explained further. "But anyway, it's time we talk about it, we can't just go on ignoring something like this."
Tobio huffed, "There's nothing to talk about."
Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow.
"I already know what you're going to say."
"And what would that be, Tobio-chan?"
Kageyama didn't like the mocking tone Oikawa had in his voice but he kept going anyway. "You're going to tell me that you don't need me because you two are already perfect for each other, and you don't need a third complicating the relationship."
At this point, Kageyama was prepared for rejection from mostly anybody because he'd come to realize most people were unreliable, and selfish, and they liked to play pretend to 'spare his feelings'. Well Kageyama didn't need any of that. He didn't want things to be broken down gently, because no matter how it was said rejection always meant the same thing.
So Kageyama was okay with it. Over the last three months, he'd mostly come to accept that Iwaizumi and Oikawa didn't want him, even if he was still nervous speaking to them.
It would hurt, but he'd be okay.
The books he'd read all his life said that there was no greater bond than the bond shared between soulmates. But maybe that was a good thing. He would never have to feel like this again, if he just got it over with now.
"What? No, that wasn't what I was going to say at all."
What?
Kageyama was startled by that answer.
"I was going to say that Tooru and I talked it over. We want to try with you. If you're okay with that, that is."
"You want to try with me?" What did they want to try exactly?
"Yeah, we want to try being soulmates with you." Iwaizumi said.
"Mhm, but we're just trying, okay, this isn't like a guaranteed thing." Oikawa piped up awkwardly, causing Iwaizumi to glare at him.
"So like, do you want to like… date me?" Kageyama asked. He felt like that was where this was going and that was what they meant by 'trying to be soulmates', but Kageyama wanted to make sure.
"Yeah, if that's okay, we would like to."
Oikawa nodded in agreement, fiddling with his fingers nervously. It was almost amusing, if Kageyama was being honest. Out of all the situations he'd ever pictured, he'd never considered that one day Oikawa and Iwaizumi would be nervous for his answer.
"But…" Kageyama trailed off, a million things running through his head. Why would they want him? What would dating mean? "Why… I mean," Kageyama paused again.
"Yes?" Iwaizumi asked.
"If we weren't, you know, soulmates, would you ever consider a relationship with me? Would we even be talking right now?"
"Probably not." Oikawa said bluntly. "But just because a predetermined force initially pushes people together doesn't mean everything that follows isn't real."
Kageyama bit his lip. He'd never thought about it that way. It made sense, he supposed, and it made him feel a little better about accepting what was happening right now, even if he was still scared about what might follow.
"I need some time to think." Kageyama said eventually. Pressure started weighing on his shoulders from the looks they were giving him. He was scared, confused, and there were a lot of other things he wanted to talk about. They'd also have to meet his parents, which he wasn't too sure about.
But if they figured out they needed to meet his parents then they would probably want to introduce him as their third to their parents, and Kageyama definitely wasn't ready for that. He was already too nervous as it was.
"Of course, we understand." Iwaizumi said. "When you have your answer just shoot us a text."
"Okay." Tobio said, appreciative of the fact that Iwaizumi was trying to make this easy on him, even though none of this was easy.
If Kageyama were being honest, he knew what answer he would end up choosing. It was fairly obvious to him. Really, he just needed time to process this completely unexpected turn of events, and muster up the courage to bring up the idea to his parents.
"Okay, see you later, Tobio-chan~. And don't forget to unblock Iwa-chan, okay?"
Kageyama flushed with guilt. He'd completely forgotten about that.
Tobio turned away from them before they could catch a glimpse of the expression on his face and hurried back towards the bus.
Thankfully, his team had waited for him, even though he was quite sure it had been more than five minutes and Hinata probably should've interrupted the conversation ten minutes ago if he were really going through with intervening.
Kageyama climbed on the bus and saw Hinata sitting across from Daichi and Suga with an open seat next to him. "You ready to go?" Kageyama startled and turned to look at Takeda-sensei before nodding and going to take a seat next to Hinata.
"I tried to go after you, but Sensei wouldn't let me off the bus." Hinata pouted, his arms crossed. He was slumped down in his seat so far his chin was tucked to his chest and he was glaring at the seat in front of them both.
"It's okay." Kageyama told him.
"What did you guys talk about?"
"Uh," Kageyama wasn't sure if Iwaizumi and Oikawa wanted people to know that they were trying to start a relationship with him. At the same time, it would be hard to keep it a secret… and Hinata was his best friend. "They wanted to talk about us being soulmates."
Hinata sat up in his seat more after that statement and turned to face Kageyama with a curious expression.
"They, they want to try being soulmates." Kageyama hid his smile behind his hand. He didn't want to show how excited he was because if something didn't work out, they changed their minds, or Kageyama's parents were too against the idea, it was better for him to be the only one disappointed.
Hinata shrieked like he was the one who just started a relationship and then he started shaking Kageyama.
"Is something wrong?" Kageyama heard a voice on the other side of him. He turned to see Daichi and Suga staring at them.
"Everything's okay." Kageyama said, feeling embarrassed at Hinata's display in front of their upperclassmen.
"Those two Seijoh players didn't say anything bothersome, did they?" Suga asked, leaning over Daichi.
"No, it's fine. And um," Kageyama paused, remember what Oikawa had said before dragging him off, "don't let what Oikawa-san says get to you either. Annoying people is kind of his thing."
Daichi only shrugged, "Well, he wasn't wrong in what he said. We do have a lot of holes in our defenses. But, it'll all work out. I believe he's going to be back soon as well."
Kageyama raised an eyebrow. Hinata stopped shaking Kageyama and also listened in.
"The Guardian of Karasuno." Daichi elaborated.
"That sounds so cool!" Hinata cried.
"Mhm, he is super cool. And when he gets back we'll be able to show the Seijoh players just what we're capable of." Sugawara said, his smile almost making Kageyama want to lean back a little bit to further the distance.
Daichi only chuckled. "Well, he will definitely help our defenses at least."
Their conversation came to an abrupt end when the bus stopped at the front of Karasuno and everyone climbed out. "You better text me later about what happened!" Hinata whispered after they all walked off the bus. "I want all of the juicy details!"
"Okay, I guess."
Hinata just grinned in response and ran off, waving behind him.
Kageyama watched him leave and after he was out of sight, turned to go back to his own house.
Tobio knew he couldn't keep his relationship to his two soulmates a secret from the rest of the team for very long either but he also wasn't sure how to bring it up.
It would probably be easier than telling his parents.
Maybe he could casually slip it into the conversation somewhere. He wasn't sure how yet, but he had some time to figure it out. Kageyama sighed and tilted his head up to feel the breeze on his face. He would figure everything out.
A/N Lol this is a mess. Ok, so ummm I'm rlly rushed rn, but I have a few announcements. Updates might not be as frequent because school is starting and I'm going to be doing a lot more and stuff so ya, just might be kinda busy for a while, we'll see how it goes. Hope you liked the chapter, thanks so much for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!