Family dinners were always awkward. In books, movies, and real life. Dinners were a thing Kageyama had always had with his family, but that didn't mean there were many fond memories of them.

Kageyama had memories of lively dinners, awkward dinners, tense dinners, and more. Sometimes there was yelling, sometimes he didn't even want to speak for fear of upsetting the careful balance they all had. In all those memories, the house still wasn't as tense as it was right now.

He didn't want to judge too quickly, but as of now he couldn't see a way this dinner would go other than badly. He just hoped things didn't get as bad as they could, and everything would remain fairly civil.

When he returned home with his grandparents and mother, Kageyama immediately went upstairs to shower and get dressed, which he took longer doing than he really needed to. He just didn't want to go downstairs and have to face the horrible night he was sure would come.

The thought of going downstairs before what was strictly necessary made his gut twist uncomfortably. At least if he waited until Iwaizumi and Oikawa got there, there was a small chance his family would be more civil with the two of them around.

Still, he envied them. At least they could leave whenever they wanted to. Kageyama was stuck here, entertaining his grandparents for as long as his parents would allow.

As Kageyama got ready, he remembered his grandmother had told him to look presentable, but the problem was he had no idea what that meant.

He settled on a sweater and jeans because he knew that definitely wasn't what she meant, and he didn't really want to do as she said.

Indeed, when he reluctantly came downstairs, she turned up her nose and looked away. At least she didn't make a snide comment to accompany her look so Kageyama could mostly ignore her.

His mother seemed like she was almost done with dinner, but Kageyama could tell she'd been rushing around even more than usual. What with having to make it in half the time and for two more people than she thought she was going to.

"Tobio, set the table now!" she paused. "Please." She added as an after-thought. "And pull out some other chairs."

"Okay." Kageyama went to work putting dishes on the table and pulling out some other chairs from the closet. The clock was nearing six so Kageyama tried to hurry because he knew his mom wouldn't be happy if they weren't nearly ready by the time Oikawa and Iwaizumi got there.

After he was finished doing what his mother told him he sat with his grandparents, waiting for his soulmates to arrive. Not ideal, but at least they weren't saying anything.

Kageyama didn't say anything either and pulled out his phone, pretending he was doing something to hopefully waste time until Oikawa and Iwaizumi arrived.

The later it got past six, the more Kageyama started to think they just weren't coming at all. Maybe that was better anyway, even if his grandparents were likely to complain about it for the rest of the night as if he could do anything about it.

Just as Kageyama was about to accept they weren't coming tonight, the sound of the doorbell startled him into moving.

Kageyama claimed he would get it and slowly went to answer the door. He didn't know why he was so hesitant but he supposed he just didn't want any of this to be happening in the first place.

Finally, he reached the door and opened it.

"-So we should just go-ah!" Oikawa rubbed his arm and glared at Iwaizumi.

"Hey, Tobio." He said.

"Hi." Kageyama didn't know what they were just talking about but he could guess Oikawa had been trying to get them to leave. He couldn't blame him. Kageyama wanted to leave too. "Um, come in." Kageyama stepped aside, allowing Oikawa and Iwaizumi to enter the house. "I'm so sorry about this." Kageyama felt the need to apologize because right now they could be training or resting or even studying. But instead they were here, about to be caught up in all his family drama.

"Hey, you met our families a long time ago. It's only fitting we finally meet yours." Iwaizumi said.

That might've made Kageyama feel better except he knew that the circumstances were completely different. Kageyama had met two people in total, it was of his own volition, and they were friendly. Right now, Oikawa and Iwaizumi were about to witness the ugly side of his family. Not the nice, perfect part.

"I guess so." Was what he said instead.

"Well, at least you're here Tobio-chan. Spending time together makes all the other shit worth it, right?"

Kageyama couldn't help the blood rushing to his face. "You… you think so?"

An evil smile spread across Oikawa's face. "Don't you?"

"Stop teasing him." Iwaizumi said. "Can't you tell he's nervous as it is?"

"Oh, no, Iwa-chan, I had no idea."

Iwaizumi glared at him before Kageyama's grandmother called them into the living room.

Kageyama hesitantly went over and sat down where she told him to, Iwaizumi and Oikawa following suit. He knew she probably wanted to ask them a lot of questions that Kageyama didn't really want to answer. The awkwardness was inevitable, he knew that, but knowing still didn't make sitting there and letting it happen any easier.

"So, you two are Tobio's soulmates. How long have you known each other?"

At least it was something that wasn't too uncomfortable to answer. Still, there was no way Kageyama was going to be the one to do it.

No one answered for a while until Iwaizumi cleared his throat to answer, "I suppose this would be the fourth year."

"You've been together for four years? Why Tobio would've been so young. Why didn't you tell us you had met your soulmates when we visited last time!"

"I didn't know." Kageyama lied weakly. He didn't want to explain to her of all people how scared and inadequate he felt within his own soulbond. He didn't need her to know all the insecurities and doubts he had surrounding soulmates.

Oikawa looked at him with a raised eyebrow as if to ask why he lied and all Kageyama could do was shrug in response with his grandmother right there, watching them.

"We actually only started dating a few months ago." Iwaizumi corrected. "None of us really knew we were soulmates before that."

"Yeah, well one of us knew." Oikawa grumbled causing Iwaizumi to scowl at him. "Well he did." Oikawa defended himself.

They all fell quiet, Tobio's grandmother looking at them critically. "So, you've been on dates, yes?"

"… Sort of." Kageyama answered quietly, shrinking back at her gaze. He didn't know why she wanted to know but he wished she would just stop asking them things.

"So, when are you thinking of being married then?"

"Excuse me?" Oikawa asked, his fairly neutral expression turning into a scowl immediately.

Kageyama felt his hands start to sweat a lot more than they were previously. He even choked on some of his own spit and started spluttering out cough after cough.

Iwaizumi just sat there with a blank expression on his face as though he didn't quite understand what she was asking them.

"When are you three going to be wed? It's standard for soulmates to get engaged soon after they find each other."

Maybe when you were our age, Kageyama thought to himself.

"Listen lady," Oikawa stood up, "I don't know what's going on inside that old, wither—"

Kageyama tackled him to keep him from saying the rest, even though he was pretty sure it was too late to keep this dinner a civil one.

"What did you just say!"

"That you're old, wi—"

"Can't we just stop talking." Kageyama interrupted, trying desperately to keep the peace.

"Well, I never!" his grandmother exclaimed. "Today's children are so disrespectful!"

"You know what's disrespectful—" Oikawa hopped up again with renewed vigor.

"Tooru!" Kageyama pleaded, practically begging him not to say anything else. If you just kept your mouth shut then everything always went a lot smoother for everyone involved.

"Don't you 'Tooru' me! Your grandmother is totally invasive!"

"I beg your pardon!"

"Please just let it go!" Kageyama was practically begging at this point. Iwaizumi still hadn't said anything and Oikawa looked like he was about to throw hands with his grandmother who almost looked ready to throw hands too.

"What's going on in here?" his mother interrupted. She had her hands on her hips and sweat hugging her brow. "You're as loud as animals out here."

"Well… we were just," Kageyama didn't really even know how to explain what was going on. Unluckily for him, it seemed his grandmother knew exactly how to explain.

"Your son and the people he associates himself with have no respect for their elders or themselves for that matter. They're out here insulting me and tackling each other like children. You're lucky they haven't broken your lamps yet!"

His mother rubbed her face with a sigh. "Tobio, why don't you show your soulmates to your room. Give them a tour upstairs, yes?"

"Oh, um… sure." Kageyama slowly stood up, waiting for Oikawa and Iwaizumi to do the same. When they did, Kageyama led them out of the room, up the stairs. He could already hear his grandmother turning the situation around and somehow blaming his mother for it.

"Sorry about that." Kageyama murmured, 'showing them upstairs' like his mother asked. Sort of anyway. He mostly just went straight to his room so he could get away from the shouting downstairs. He knew his father would be home soon and it would be better if they weren't able to hear what they said when he got there.

"It's fine." Iwaizumi said, finally saying something for the first time after his grandmother asked the big question.

"No it's not! Who the hell does that woman think she is! She's never met us before, she didn't know we were dating before today, she didn't even know our names before today! How dare she ask us anything like that!"

"I know, I'm sorry, she's so inappropriate sometimes. I've only talked to her once before now when she visited randomly. I wish they hadn't come now of all times," Kageyama rubbed his face with a sigh.

Oikawa huffed and crossed his arms. "Well at least it's over for now."

"Yeah, I think my mom will call us when dinner is ready so hopefully we won't have to go back down until then." Kageyama paused and sighed. He was so tired of this dinner already and wished it could just be over.

Was there anything good that could possibly come from this?"

"Well, now it's just us, at least." Oikawa said finally, moving around Tobio and wrapping his arms around his waist from behind. Kageyama could feel himself start to sweat again from the nerves. He didn't really know what Oikawa was planning, but he never touched Tobio. Not like this anyway. He was always holding Iwaizumi and kissing Iwaizumi, but not him.

"And, while it's just us, I have a question for you, Tobio-chan."

"What is it?" Kageyama asked absent-mindedly, not knowing where to put his own hands. Should he put them on Oikawa's hands or should he let them hang limp, should he do anything?

"Why exactly did you wait so long to tell us?"

At Oikawa's question, Iwaizumi looked up from his phone to stare at the both of them and Kageyama stopped trying to figure out what to do with his hands.

"Have I… not already told you?"

"I think I can guess, but why don't you tell us anyway."

"Well," Kageyama said, starting to fidget with his fingers. He didn't know whether he really wanted to say anything but how could he not say anything? His insecurities weren't exactly a surprise to either of them, but he didn't think they knew how deeply those insecurities ran. "I just thought you would be fine without me. I didn't want to mess up what you two had, or what I already had with you."

He didn't know how else to put it unless he started getting too self-deprecating. He didn't want them thinking he was too needy or too insecure about their relationship.

"Oh," Oikawa's arms slipped off his waist and he led Kageyama over to sit next to Iwaizumi. "I didn't know that."

"Well, I wasn't trying to shove it in your face." Kageyama drew his knees up to his chest. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore, not right now, but he supposed not all was lost. He had something of his own he wanted to say.

"Now it's my turn to ask you guys a question." Kageyama said, furrowing his eyebrows. "What would you have done if I told you earlier? Like… in my second year of middle school."

They were quiet for a while, no one saying anything and for a moment Kageyama thought they wouldn't answer him.

"I honestly don't know." Iwaizumi responded first and Kageyama leaned forward so he could see his expression. "Mostly because I don't know how Oikawa would've reacted. It might've been harder I guess. Oikawa was even more immature two years ago."

Oikawa glared at him and huffed, "I wasn't that immature. I came a long way in my maturity journey that year! And anyway, I guess I don't really know what I would've done either. After we graduated, it became easier I guess, to like you, but I don't know what I would've done with the soulmate situation."

Kageyama frowned. "Wait, why was it easier to like me?"

"I can't say it," Oikawa cried and covered his face, "it would sound so bad out loud." He insisted.

"Pretty sure you've said worse out loud before." Iwaizumi sort of encouraged.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa whined and sighed defeatedly. "Okay, okay, it's just that… after we graduated, we went to a different school than you, right?"

"I mean, yeah." Kageyama said with a raised eyebrow, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"Okay, and so since we went to different schools, I didn't have to see your annoying little face all the time, so, it was easier to not hate you because you were out of the way."

Kageyama didn't really know what to say for a little while.

"Wow." Iwaizumi said.

"I told you it was bad!"

"It's not that bad." Iwaizumi paused. "Okay, it sounds pretty bad."

Oikawa groaned and Kageyama put a hand on his to reassure him. "It could be worse." Kageyama assured. "And don't worry, you were annoying too. In fact, you still are."

Oikawa bumped Kageyama's shoulder and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, you little brat." Oikawa sighed.

They were interrupted then by a loud knock on the door that had Kageyama rocketing away from Oikawa. Sure they were dating, and sure his parents knew that, but that didn't mean he wanted them to see him sitting so close to Oikawa he was practically in his lap.

The door opened a split second later and his mother poked her head in. "Dinners ready." She told them. "Oh, and your father is home now."

"Okay. Thanks." Kageyama said, ignoring Oikawa's smirks in his direction and Iwaizumi's amused looks too.

"Alright, come down soon though. We're waiting for you."

She closed the door after that and Kageyama relaxed a little.

"Well, I guess we better get going." Iwaizumi said, standing up.

"Why though?" Oikawa pouted, obviously not wanting to go downstairs again.

"The sooner we go down there the sooner we get this over with." Kageyama supplied and pulled Oikawa up with Iwaizumi helping him.

"I hate when you guys are right." Oikawa sighed.

With that, they all left Kageyama's room and went downstairs for dinner. There were some of the extra chairs Kageyama gathered around the table that were empty, with three in a row for the three of them.

It was awkward because everyone turned to stare at them when they came in but Kageyama tried to ignore them the best they could because the table was already silent when they were coming down and it was silent now too.

It was silent when they sat down and silent as they ate.

Silent for a while until his grandmother started speaking anyway.

"I hope you know the kinds of people your son is dating." His grandmother said, quietly but not subtly.

"Well we don't know yet. But I suppose thanks to this dinner, we're going to find out." His mother said. "So, you boys play volleyball."

"Yeah, we go to Aoba Johsai." Iwaizumi supplied. "We're playing tomorrow against… uh, well, your son."

"You go to Aoba Johsai? Tobio, that was the school you were going to go to before you changed your mind."

Kageyama nodded, taking a bite of food to keep from having to answer further.

"What a coincidence." Oikawa said somewhat dryly.

"We're graduating this year." Iwaizumi said, probably to distract the table from what Oikawa said.

"Oh, what are your plans for the future?"

"Well, we don't exactly know right now. I'm still just looking into colleges right now."

"I'm going to become a professional volleyball player."

"You want to be famous?" his grandmother asked.

"Uh, well, that's not—"

"I want to become a professional volleyball player too!" Kageyama exclaimed before wincing. He didn't really think his parents would like that.

He saw his parents glance at each other but his grandmother was the one who spoke, "So, you wish to become well known as a volleyball player." She looked as though she was considering something.

"Tobio-chan would be a good professional volleyball player. Your son's a genius you know."

"A genius? You mean at volleyball?" His father asked.

Well he obviously wasn't a genius at academics.

"Yup." Oikawa said, popping the 'p'. Kageyama sunk back in his chair, feeling flushed. He half listened to the rest of the conversation but didn't really feel like joining in again.

His grandmother almost started a few fights, which caused Kageyama to tense every time, but his mother was able to keep things calm for the most part, even when she was insulting her.

That was, until she brought the conversation back to his relationship with his soulmates. "So, how long have you known Kageyama's wanted to date these two."

Kageyama sunk further back into his seat, flushed with more embarrassment.

"Not long." His father answered shortly.

"I see." She said nothing else, but it was clear what she thought about that and she didn't approve.

"Why do you ask?"

Great, that was the one question Kageyama had hoped his father wouldn't ask.

"It's just that, shouldn't you have known when he was eight?"

"Tobio wasn't worried about dating when he was eight and no other kid should be worried at eight either."

"What are you talking about? Eight is just around the age all kids start thinking about soulmates and all the romance."

His father rolled his eyes "Maybe you did. I certainly wasn't thinking anything of that at that age. What about you?" His father asked his mom who shrugged.

"I suppose I had a few crushes. No one serious of course, though. I met my soulmate at fifteen and I suppose… that was it for a while."

"That should've been it for good." His grandmother said, looking disapprovingly at his mother again.

"How long do you guys usually have dinner?" Oikawa whispered.

"Not this long." Kageyama whispered back. Usually his parents didn't talk at all, much less this long. His grandmother was just chatty so the conversation was carrying on far longer than normal.

"Well, when I was eight I decided I was going to marry my dog. So I guess eight-year-olds cant make many life long decisions." Oikawa said, causing Kageyama to giggle.

"And Iwa-chan was going to marry his favorite stuffed animal."

"Hey, no one said you could expose me." Iwaizumi joked.

"Good thing I didn't ask then." Oikawa grinned back. "Anyway, speaking of… decisions. We should probably get going now."

Iwaizumi's shoulders sagged a bit in relief and Kageyama was relieved for a moment too, until he wasn't because he realized he would have to stay.

Thankfully, his grandparents used the opening to say they also should probably be getting back to the hotel soon.

That's when Kageyama really sighed in relief.

There were a few problems that came from dinner, but nothing major at least. He didn't need any major problems coming up right now. Not with the tournament and the new relationship he had with Oikawa and Iwaizumi.

They all got up from the dinner to go say goodbyes at the front door after that announcement.

Kageyama had to hug his grandparents and say goodbye to them while they talked about how they were looking forward to his match tomorrow. At least they seemed excited about that.

Meanwhile Oikawa and Iwaizumi shook hands with his parents and were talking with them for a moment before the three of them were able to reconvene.

"Thanks for having us over, Tobio." Iwaizumi said.

"I'm kind of not the one who invited you though." Kageyama shrugged. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know she was going to pull this sort of thing, and I especially didn't know she was going to ask those questions. I just—"

"We know, Tobio." Iwaizumi laughed. "It's fine."

Kageyama wanted to believe that, but then Iwaizumi had barely said anything tonight. Iwaizumi always got quiet when he was uncomfortable and Oikawa got loud. They both had seemed uncomfortable tonight and while Kageyama knew that wasn't really his fault he also felt so guilty.

"Yeah, what he said." Oikawa smiled at him and Kageyama rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Oikawa hardly ever smiled at him like that. And it was the look he gave Iwaizumi all the time.

The two of them glanced at each other like they were asking silent questions that Tobio couldn't understand. Then Oikawa nodded and Iwaizumi smiled this time.

Oikawa leaned in slightly and Iwaizumi tilted his head up. When had he gotten taller than Iwaizumi?

They each kissed one of his cheeks lightly before pulling back. "See you tomorrow, Tobio." Iwaizumi said.

Kageyama could feel his entire face burning and didn't even dare to look either of them in the eye and nodded. "Tomorrow." He stuttered out feeling like he might pass out.

He glanced over at his parents to see if they saw, but they looked to just still be talking to his grandparents thankfully.

After all the goodbyes, the four guests waved and left the Kageyama residence for the night.

Tobio sighed in relief once they were gone because nothing quite as disastrous as he thought might happen, had happen. Maybe his family had decided to hold back because they had guests over, which Kageyama was indeed grateful for.

"Well, um, I'm going to bed." Kageyama told his parents right after. He had to get up early tomorrow and he needed to be as well rested as he could be for the tournament tomorrow.

"Oh, alright. Goodnight, Tobio." His mother said. "And good luck on your game tomorrow."

"Thanks. Goodnight mama. Goodnight." He said to his father.

"Goodnight, Tobio."

Kageyama went to his room and looked at his phone to see the teams group chat had texted a lot about the games tomorrow. Hinata sounded like he was so excited he was never going to be able to get to sleep tonight.

Tsukishima only responded once to tell Hinata to shut up and Daichi was telling them to calm down and try to get some sleep.

There were other texts from other team members but Kageyama didn't have the energy to read them all. He had to prepare for the games tomorrow, so he put his phone down and got started to get ready for bed.

Tomorrow they were going to play against Aoba Johsai and Kageyama was nervous not only to play against his soulmates but also to play against his former teammates.

He hadn't talked to them since the practice match with Aoba Johsai and even then he hadn't really talked to them. What would it be like to play in an official match against his own teammates?

Kageyama had a lot of worries stirring through his mind but there was nothing he could do except close his eyes and wait for tomorrow morning to come.

A/N Hey, it's been a while. I wanted to get this out for Christmas though. I'm sorry this took so long, I just had so much crap going on and no inspiration so I just didn't bother to update this for a while. I've created a new Instagram account. And this account is pretty much dedicated to everything I have an interest in. I will talk about this fanfic on the account and later, after this story is finished, I will likely post deleted scenes that never made it's way into the stories and drabbles. I might post fanart of this fic that I make, and just fanart in general. I will talk about anime on this account, art on this account, writing on this account, and possibly doing other things that I feel like. The posts will be random and whatever I feel like so it's not anything specific. If any of this sounds interesting, my account is everything_about_everything17. I've not posted anything yet as it's a very new account but I'm excited about this so hopefully I can be somewhat consistent.

Now, this is your sort of Christmas present from me to you so I hope you enjoyed. Next up is the match between Karasuno and Aoba Johsai! (But mostly the aftermath lol). Merry Christmas, thanks for reading, and thanks for being so patient with me!