I'm sorry this part has taken so long to come out, I just couldn't get it right (I still don't think its perfect haha). Anyway, there is some parts that I wish I did a little different but everyone learns and grows as they go, right? So expect a lot of improvement in each chapter I post!
Kageyama was never one for sentiment, but there was one framed photograph of his twin and himself that he had kept for as long as he could remember. It was oddly comforting to him, to be able to lose himself in the memories that it brought, to forget how much had changed in those few years just by looking at the only happy photo he had of the two of them.
It had been taken after the Kitagawa boys volleyball team came in second place at the qualifier tournament, losing only to the Shiratorizawa Junior team.
Although he hadn't played for much of the game, it was still a big moment for the two of them, and as soon as the setter was off of the court, his silver medal around his neck, Kaede had tackled him into a hug. Tobio's eyes blew wide at the sudden contact, but he grinned proudly, hugging his sister back.
They had both been unaware of a photo being taken, so it came as a surprise when one of the third years handed a printed copy of it to him at their next practice, mumbling something about how he thought it was a valuable moment and he should cherish it.
The setter had made sure to show the image to his sister, who quickly dug out a photo frame and placed it into it, standing it up on the setters desk. "See, now you'll never forget the time you placed second against Shiratorizawa at qualifiers."
Even now, that was the only photo that he had framed in his room and it sat proudly on his desk, the only decoration he had anywhere.
Tobio liked to look at the image and reminisce over the times where him and Kaede would practice until they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces, but he was completely unaware that Kaede would do exactly the same.
When her brother was off at practice, training with the team as they aimed for nationals, she would sneak into his room to get her own good look at the one good photo they had together. Kaede did this enough that eventually she had her own printed and framed to put in her own sparsely decorated room.
Every day without fail, she would come home from school, go to her room, look and smile at the photo before she did her homework as she waited for her twin to get home so the two of them could make dinner together.
Kaede, unlike her brother, had decided to go to Aoba Johsai High after middle school.
She wanted a fresh break, and their school had a better academic program than Karasuno, but now, only a month or so into the school year, she was having second thoughts.
Her and her brother could never be separated, so when she announced to him where she planned to go, he wasn't happy, but supported her nonetheless and she was ever grateful for that.
Tobio was nothing like he made himself out to be.
Yes, to strangers and people he has yet to get to know, he can seem a little intimidating and rude, but really, or to Kaede at least, he's an extremely caring and supportive person. He was the one who pushed her to try new things and never give up even when she was in the middle of a break down.
Despite wanting a completely new start with a new group of people, high school was just too different for her liking, and with recent events, Kaede had taken it upon herself to talk to the principle and discuss a school transfer.
The third years on the boys volleyball team weren't too happy to hear what she had to say when the news hit them, but Iwaizumi, the savior as always, had spoken some sense into their brains and, after a surprisingly teary goodbye, they threatened to beat whichever team the school that she joined had.
Today had been her last day at Seijoh, starting next week she would officially be a student at Karasuno high along with her twin.
Yet she wasn't sure if she was excited or dreading it.
As she dumped her bag down on the floor beside her desk, Kaede picked up the photo frame, a gentle thumb running over the image as she smiled weakly.
No, she had to be supportive of her twin, even if he could do something she couldn't. He had to have her support, always.
Quickly, she placed the frame back where it was before and pulled her books out, deciding to focus her frustration into studying. Kaede had yet to know which class she would be introduced into and so needed to make sure that her knowledge and capability were up to standard.
English was by far her best subject, she always had enjoyed learning a new language, much to Tobio's frustration. This meant she took the time to speak in another language around him in hopes to improve his own academic learning.
She was always the more willing to study than her brother as the need to obtain good grades was much stronger for her, yet she always made time to practice with him and attempt to help him complete his own homework and study for whatever tests he had.
It was amusing really, how much smarter she was than him, not to say that Tobio was dumb exactly, he just never seemed to apply himself in any aspects other than sports and even then it was only volleyball that he really excelled in.
"Hey."
Kaede glanced at her watch, seven already? Time just seemed to escape her when she got into the zone, the rest of the world just seemed to fade away.
"Hello." She spoke in English, grinning a little when Tobio rolled his eyes, already knowing that she was going to continue to speak in the foreign language. "What would you like for dinner?"
He sighed and turned, wandering off down the hallway, Kaede hot on his heels, the familiar burning sensation in her thighs not slowing her down in any way.
"You choose." Tobio mumbled - in Japanese - finally, closing the fridge when he found nothing of interest within it.
"If you say it in English, sure." Her grin only grew as she continued to speak almost fluently.
The setter shook his head and took a seat at the kitchen island. He frowned as she stared down at him, waiting for him to speak in the desired language.
You choose...?" He said eventually, his pronunciation slightly wrong and his voice was curious, as if he was asking if he had gotten the right words.
His sister smiled and nodded, turning back to the fridge to dig out something suitable for them to cook for dinner. Kaede spoke as she did so, placing the items on the island in front of him.
"Today was my last day at Aoba Johsai." Kaede said, still in English. Tobio frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, the only words he had understood was the name of the school, but he waited patiently for her to continue or repeat in a language he actually knew. "I'm transferring to Karasuno starting next week."
Again, his frown only increased and she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach at the sight. Tobio really could have a rather expressive face at times.
She flicked her hair over her shoulder and took a seat next to him at the island table, kicking her legs about slightly. "I said," She started, grinning when her twin visibly relaxed after hearing the familiar language. "Today was my last day at Aoba Johsai."
"You're transferring?" An eyebrow raised slightly on his face as he looked at her. Sure, she had always made it clear that if she didn't get on at Seijoh then she would move somewhere else, but he never thought it would happen. Where was she going to go then? How long ago had she made the decision?
"Yeah." Kaede nodded, swallowing her nerves. Yeah, she knew he would be ecstatic to have her by his side again, but there was always that doubt that he was enjoying not having her around all of the time and she was just about to rain on his parade. "To Karasuno."
She relaxed massively as a small grin made its way onto his face, suddenly becoming a little bit happier than he had been before. "Really? How come?"
"I just didn't really make many friends and I wanted to be closer to home, you know? I start next week, though I don't know which class i'll be in yet." Kaede stood back up and wandered around to the other side of the island table to start preparing their food. "Is there anyone I should know to avoid? Anyone you've pissed off that will come after me?" She laughed, her twins people skills hadn't gotten any better over the years.
"No." Tobio grumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket as his face slipped into a frown. "I don't think you'll like Hinata very much, he's literally a constant ball of energy. Then Tsukishima," He glared at the table and the older of the two - only by a few minutes - had to suppress her giggle, waiting for him to continue. "He's just an asshole. Ignoring everything he says is the best way to deal with him."
"Are they both on the team?" She asked hesitantly.
A slow nod confirmed that. "Kiyoko is a third year and she's looking for someone to train in her place, you could become our manager!" He exclaimed suddenly, looking up at his twin hopefully.
Kaede sighed and shook her head slowly. It wasn't like she wanted to say no, but being back around a team and watching her brother play like she had always wanted to would drive her insane. "You know I can't do that."
Tobio frowned again and started typing into his phone, gaining her interest.
"Who are you texting?"
"Daichi."
"Why?" She stopped chopping the vegetables, raising an eyebrow as he slowly looked up to meet her eyes.
"You're transferring. I'll skip practice Monday and Tuesday to help you learn your way around." The glare she sent his way didn't faze him in the slightest, but prompted him to add, "please." In an almost fluent attempt of English.
Kaede rolled her eyes. "No.
"Why?! You're going to need to learn your way around and-"
"I said no. You need to go to practice. I'll be fine." She began chopping the vegetables again, tearing her gaze away from her brother.
She understood why he was so protective of her, but she didn't want to be treated like glass. Sure, Tobio was just trying to look out for her and make sure that she got around alright on her first day, but it wasn't like she was some useless kid that was going to get lost at every spare moment.
"Too late, I already sent it." He said, ducking quickly when a slice of chopped carrot came hurtling towards face.
She tried desperately to get him to go to practice on Monday, but his stubborn ass refused, instead he walked with her to school and led her to the reception where she picked up her class schedule.
Then, he led her to her classroom, 1-4, only finally - reluctantly - leaving when the bell rang and the beginning of classes started. He had promised to come and pick her up from her class at the beginning of lunch so he could show her some places to eat.
She sighed to herself once in the room and took an empty seat near the back of the room, hoping that no one took any notice of her and crossed her fingers that no one, especially anyone from the volleyball team, recognized her in any way.
Of course it was inevitable that people put the two together. They were identical for gods sake, but she wanted to be her own person, not prejudiced against because her idiotic brother couldn't be kind to anyone other than his own team mates. Even then he still struggled.
The class eventually started, and just as she was beginning to think that the teacher wasn't going to mention anything about her being new, she took the register, stopping after calling her name. "Kageyama."
Kaede saw two people glance at each other before turning to eye her out of the corner's of their eyes. One of the two mouthed something to his friend who simply shrugged and turned back to face the teacher.
"You're new, yes?" The teacher finally continued.
She nodded, swallowing the ball of anxiety that was growing in her throat. "Yes, I transferred from Aoba Johsai High."
"Ah," The teacher smiled, she seemed nice and it relaxed Kageyama. "Well, I hope you get on here at Karasuno and everyone gives you a warm welcome."
She nodded and smiled weakly, wanting nothing more than for the register to continue to be taken and for everyone to go back to ignoring her.
Tuesday came about and once again Tobio refused to leave early for morning practice. He still wanted to walk her in to make sure she was getting around fine before he started leaving her to do it herself.
True, he usually wouldn't care, but she was his twin and he couldn't help but be protective. Students that joined late into the school year usually got walked over or pushed out of the way and he wanted to do anything he could to make sure that didn't happen.
"So, have you met anyone from your homeroom yet?" He asked as they walked to school together.
Kaede grumbled a little and shook her head. "A couple guys stared at me after registration yesterday where my teacher just had to introduce me as the new girl instead of just moving on. I don't know if they recognized me or the name though."
"What did they look like? Maybe they were on the team." Tobio continued and she just shrugged, she hadn't really bothered to look at them much, instead choosing to ignore everyone and just get on with her work, hoping that the day would move quicker than it had been.
"Speaking of the team," She started eventually as they walked through the school gates. "You should be at practice right now."
"I told you, I'll go back tomorrow." He replied, walking a little in front of her as people crowded the corridors.
"Just go to afternoon practice, please." Kaede sighed, stopping by her classroom. He stood next to her and smirked slightly. Apparently the only thing that ever came before practice and volleyball was her and as much as it frustrated her to unbelievable amounts, she secretly did appreciate his care.
"I'm walking home with you. I'll go tomorrow."
Another sigh and she reached up to ruffle his hair, only for her hand to be slapped away and he stepped back a little.
"I'll come get you at lunch, alright?"
That was probably as good as she was going to get for now, so she nodded. "See you later."
As she turned to the door, pain flared up her thigh, causing her to place her hand firmly on the wall, a grimace plastered over her face as she tried to regain her composure.
Tobio was by her side, a hand around her waist in seconds as he helped her stand up straight again. "You okay?" He asked quietly, looking around the corridor that was slowly emptying.
"I'm fine," Kaede nodded, stepping forwards and ignoring the pain that burst up her thigh, spreading to her hip. "It'll be fine. You're going to be late."
"Right, right." Her twin shrugged. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine." She hissed, glaring sternly at him, only getting a cheeky smirk in reply before he nodded and turned to go to his own class.
Slowly, she walked into the classroom and somehow locked eyes with someone. They smirked and raised an eyebrow so she glared harshly before turning away and taking her seat.
Kaede tried desperately to focus on the teacher, but she could see the two boys from before mouthing things to each other and just before she looked away again, the other one than before turned and caught her eye, blushing when he knew he had been caught. Her glare sent him back to facing his friend and she finally began to focus on the class.
Eventually lunch rolled about and Tobio, for the second day without fail, was there to get her from her class. The two of them walked in silence to the spot they had picked out the day before and sat down, opening the bento's Kaede had prepared in the morning.
They had found a small grass area behind one of the school buildings that had a tree with a bench underneath it. There was nearly no other students around due to it not being a large enough space for a big group of friends so it was perfect for the two of them.
"No more leg issues this morning?" He asked eventually after swallowing a mouthful of food.
His twin rolled her eyes and sighed. "I said i'm fine. I don't need you treating me like glass, Oikawa already does a perfectly good job of that."
"Alright." He smiled slightly, letting them fall back into a silence as they continued to eat.
"You're going to practice tonight." She said suddenly, looking up to catch his eye.
Tobio sighed and rested his chin on his hands, staring down at her. "I'm walking home with you."
"You are going, Tobes, you can't just skip for two days on a team that needs you there because you are their setter. You need to go!"
"I'll go if you come with me." He offered, a mischievous glint in his eye. She either agreed and got sucked back into the game, or she refused and the two went home together.
"Fuck you." She hissed, glaring at her now empty bento box.
Screw him for knowing her so well.
Tobio's smirk only grew, knowing that she would have to give in either way.
In all honesty, Kaede was dreading it.
She wanted to avoid going into a volleyball gym at all costs, it just brought back too much for her. The memories of playing almost brought tears to her eyes when she thought about them too much, so agreeing to go to the damn practice with her twin just to get him to go himself was probably the worst decision she ever made.
But it had been done now, and there she was, staring at the building like her glare could force it away and she would never have to go inside.
"You alright?" Tobio asked, turning to face her as she stood still, listening in to the all too familiar sound of shoes squeaking on the surface of the gym floor.
She shook her head in an attempt to snap any thought she had out of her brain and looked over to her brother. "Fine. Let's just go in."
"Oh, you're here!" Daichi exclaimed as he opened the door, the team fell quiet as they watched him enter. Clearly everyone had something on their mind. "I thought you said you weren't coming?"
He nodded and stepped inside, Kaede following soon behind, almost wincing at the silent gasps that erupted around the room. Of course the news of this mysterious Kageyama twin that arrived just one day before had gone around the team faster than anything, but no one had actually seen her themselves other than the two boys from her class.
"Kageyama!" Hinata yelled, Noya bounding along beside him as the two ran over to the twins.
"Holy shit there's two of you!" The libero yelled, his eyes darting between the two Kageyama's.
Tobio shrugged off their comments and looked over at Daichi. "I was supposed to be walking this piss head-"
"Fuck off asshole." She interjected quietly, glaring at him.
He continued without fault despite her interruption. "-Home, but she refused to let me miss practice again."
"You have a sister?" Suga spoke up, joining the rest of the team as they slowly walked towards the pair. It was no use denying everyone's curiosity.
"Twin, actually." Kaede corrected, finally speaking up as she looked at all of the faces in the gym.
"Do you play?" The captain asked.
Nobody noticed how her nostrils flared as she answered. "No."
"Really? I thought you would." Hinata looked up at her as if he was wondering why she would waste her height. She was only a couple of centimetres shorter than her twin.
Kaede shrugged, suddenly noticing how her twin had taken it upon himself to walk off and start stretching, probably just wanting to get on with practice.
Everyone was mildly shocked, the twin of Tobio Kageyama - a complete and utter volleyball fanatic - didn't play the game herself?
"C'mon." Noya yelled, waving his arms wildly, Asahi reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder to get him to calm down. "Surely you played before?! I mean you're his sister!" He jutted a thumb back at the setter who was currently stood behind the group, watching from afar as she attempted to deal with the questions that continued to fly at her.
Shouldn't these volleyball guys be a little more intimidated by her? She's a Kageyama after all. According to her brother, he didn't exactly have the best reputation between everyone on the team.
Her eyes flashed with anger as she clenched her fists at her sides. "I said I don't play, alright?" She snapped, sending the short boy a glare, along with Tobio - though nobody really noticed him as he was stood behind them all.
All of the boys seemed to shrink back as they were glared at. Sure, Tobio had one intense stare, but the two of them together? It was like a whole other force. Two sets of identical piercing blue eyes glaring daggers into anyone who dared piss them off, even if they could only see one set from the corner of their eyes.
"Looks like I was right, Tadashi." Someone from the back of the group mused, loud enough for everyone to hear. "The King has a Queen. She even has the same stupid temper as him."
Kaede's eyes shot towards him, a harsh glare already set in her features as sought him out. How dare he bring up Tobio's old nickname.
Just before she could say anything, her eyes locked firmly in his, a voice interrupted them all.
"As interesting as this whole meeting is, we have practice to get on with."
Everyone turned to face the coach, bowing slightly, even Tobio, as they called out their apologies.
"Serve drills, go!" He ordered, watching the group disperse, even more intrigued as the Kageyama twins mumbled things to each other before Tobio jogged to join the rest of the team with practice.
Ukai was quick to make his way towards her and introduce himself.
"Oh, hi." She smiled slightly and his nerves relaxed. At least this Kageyama seemed to be able to smile a little. "Kaede Kageyama, Tobio's said a lot about you." Although she was speaking to him, her eyes were strained to watch her brother.
The coach nodded and offered for her to take a seat over where the manager was sat. He kept the introductions between them brief before turning his attention back to her.
"Never seen you around before, you new here?" He asked, though her clear aggression was one similar to her brothers, she seemed to know when enough was enough and calmed down, or Tobio knew what to do to help her calm herself.
"I transferred from Seijoh. I only started yesterday." Kaede shrugged, her eyes dancing over each team member as they lined up and took their turn to serve. From what she could see, Tobio and one other were the only two that were able to pull off a jump serve.
"Wow." Coach mused, raising an eyebrow as he watched her mutter things under her breath. Occasionally he could catch some of what she was saying and raise an eyebrow. It was all just criticism of the team, mainly Tobio but still. "I'm sorry if this is pushy," He started, finally gaining her attention as she ripped her eyes off of the players. "How come you never played before? I just mean with your brothers enthusiasm for it, it would be obvious that you played too."
Kaede bit her lip and shifted to look back at the practice, only her eyes found themselves glaring holes into the ground instead. "I just didn't enjoy it as much as he does." She shrugged finally, biting down hard on her lip.
"Right." He nodded, turning to the team. "Three on three! Kageyama, Asahi and Tsukishima against Hinata, Noya and Sugawara." Ukai called, smiling at them as the group dispersed.
Everyone got to work getting the correct people onto the court and everyone else moved away, grabbing their bottles from wherever they had left them on the ground as they watched the six remaining people on the court get ready to play.
She watched the game, occasionally mumbling things to herself about each of the players and subtle giveaways or tells that they had about either their sets or the directions of their spikes. It wasn't unknown to Kaede that she had a good eye for things like this, but she had never sought out to put it to use. Being a manager of a team just seemed so frustrating. Watching that close from the sidelines but never truly playing would just be infuriating, so she kept her good eye to herself along with her thoughts and mental improvements.
"Kageyama has a twin, huh?" A boy said from next to her, causing her to jump out of her thoughts.
"What?" She mumbled, looking up at Daichi. "Oh, yeah. Kaede Kageyama. He never mentioned me before?"
The captain shrugged and studied her face. "Nope. He doesn't really say much about himself. Do you have any other siblings?"
"An older sister, but she lives in Tokyo and we don't really see her very often." Kaede shrugged, slowly turning back to the game.
"So where exactly did you transfer from? You've got to be new here, never heard of you until yesterday so."
"You heard about me yesterday?" Her eyebrows furrowed and she flicked her long hair over her shoulder, turning back to look at him.
The older boy smiled slightly, nodding towards a green haired boy somewhere over the other side of the gym. "Yamaguchi said he was in your class. He noticed you yesterday and thought something was similar about you, then apparently your teacher called your name and he guessed it was something like twins. So when Kageyama didn't show up for practice and I told them he had asked for a few days off to help with some family things, everyone kind of guessed there was something going on."
"Oh." Kaede nodded, running a hand through her hair as she glanced at everyone else in the room. "Fair enough. I transferred from Aoba Johsai, by the way."
"How come? Their school supposedly has one of the best academic programs in Miyagi."
She thought for a moment, what really had been the reason that she switched so randomly during the year? The younger girl didn't really think she could put it down to one specific reason, so she rust shrugged, her lips falling into a flat line as she answered. "Mix of things, I guess. I didn't really get on with the people there. I wanted to be closer to home too, having to travel to and from the school every day was tiring and besides, I needed to be closer to Tobio so I can drag him out of the gym before he works himself to death."
Daichi laughed, nodding as if he knew what she meant. Sure, there had been times until her brother hadn't gotten home until way past eight at night and she had blown up his phone with texts and calls to make sure he was okay, but it wasn't something she thought that the captain of the team would have stuck around to keep an eye on.
The two of them stayed quiet for some time, just watching the game play out before coach Ukai mentioned something about the other six people who weren't currently playing swapping onto the court to practice their own emergency sets and basic skills.
Tobio smiled gently as he stood next to his sister, making her scrunch up her nose when he placed a sweaty arm over her shoulder, only to quickly be pushed away. He glared halfheartedly at her before plopping to the ground, flicking the cap off of his water bottle so he could take a drink.
"Your serves are getting better." She commented eventually, watching as he began to smirk, then she grinned evilly. "But as soon as you get tired, you lose the control you have over them. You don't jump as high either. It's literally like you just go dead and can't move, like seriously, I could jump higher than your pathetic attempt of a block at the end there. Don't even think that I didn't see that serve you hit completely out of bounds, how did you even hit it that far out? Seriously?!"
"C'mon, Kae, it wasn't that far out."
"It really was, Tobes, you think you're really going to become the best setter with an attitude like that? Learn your mistakes and fix them. Also, you're spikes are weak as hell, when was the last time you even practiced them?" She stared him down, watching as he rolled his eyes dramatically, taking another long sip of water before he answered.
"Last time you set for me." He shrugged eventually.
Kaede glared at him. "Seriously? That was three weeks ago! You might be a setter but making sure you can still spike is important."
"I can still spike." He argued, rolling his eyes. "Besides I almost never have to in a proper game so it's not a big deal."
She sighed heavily, slumping down in her seat. "You're unbelievable."
"Set for me later then, you can help me work on it."
As much as she wanted to jump at the offer and tell him yes, she would love to help him work on his spikes, there was always that stupid thought in the back of her mind.
Every time she practiced with him or helped out with volleyball in any way, she desperately wanted to play with a team and participate in tournaments but that was an impossible dream. Kaede knew that, yet she had never fully gotten used to that fact.
"Maybe." She shrugged, Tobio already knew what she was thinking and decided not to press the matter anymore, turning his own attention back to the court where the other team members were playing.
Suddenly a phone began blasting out a ringtone and the long haired girl took a few seconds before she realised it was her own. Then, she swiftly pulled the device out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID.
"Is that?" Tobio raised an eyebrow, glaring at the phone when the grin on his twins face grew.
She hummed and nodded, dodging as he lashed out to grab the phone from her hands. "Don't answer that. He can wait until later." He said, attempting again to pull the phone from her grasp, only to fail once more.
Kaede winked, turning to the door of the gym. "And just for that, Tobes, i'll invite him to dinner."
Complaints and mutters of disapproval were blocked out as she shut the gym door behind her, finally answering the call as she took a seat on the steps outside, breathing in the fresh air as the stress of being back so close to a volleyball court was almost immediately washed away.
"Kage-Chan!" Oikawa's voice erupted out of the speaker and into her ear, causing her to flinch but the smile on her face didn't falter. She may have only been at a different school for two days, but she missed his crazy energy and constant enthusiasm about everything. "How's Karasuno? Miss me already?"
The faint clattering in the background of the call indicated he wasn't alone, but she couldn't tell if she was on speaker or not.
She grinned. "Nah, missing Iwaizumi-Senpai more."
Laughter erupted from the phone, a clear indication that she had in fact been on speaker and she couldn't hold back her own giggle as Oikawa made some sort of an upset cry whilst some random mumbles from different people could be heard.
"Congratulations Kaede." Iwaizumi finally said, bursting into earshot. "You made Oikawa all pouty."
"I miss you." She breathed through her giggles, slowly regaining her composure. Not a lot of people could break down all of her boundaries and see her relaxed side but Oikawa and Iwaizumi had both wiggled their way into her life, forcing themselves into every moment of her life and leaving some sort of a mark no matter where she went or what happened. "How are you getting on without me?"
"Ah, you know, Oikawa misses you more than anyone and he's taken to annoying me about it. Seriously you need to make sure you give him his daily doses of you or he's going to drive me insane."
Kaede couldn't help the smile that she just wasn't able to wipe off of her face as she heard of her friends antics.
"And you? You don't miss me?"
She heard the boy sigh before he spoke. "Nope. Not at all. Haven't even noticed anything different." The sarcasm laced in each word was clear. Despite Iwaizumi never really being someone for sentimentality, he had a soft spot for certain people and somehow Kaede had managed to force her way onto the short list.
Some sudden shuffling and angry mutters sounded before she could reply and then a new voice appeared through the phone.
"Ignore his idiocy, he misses you completely. We all do." Hanamaki appeared, clearly having snatched the phone from Iwaizumi.
"Hey Makki!" Kaede kicked her legs out in front of her, the sounds of shoes squeaking on the gym floor behind her along with calls to teammates making her feel awfully left out, so she focused on the call instead and talking with her friends. "Is Mattsun with you too?"
Quiet for a moment, then some yelling. "Matssun! Kageyama-Chan wants to talk to you!"
"Hey! I was the one who wanted to talk to her!" Oikawa complained from the background, only for everyone to tell him to shut up. She could almost imagine the pout he would have on his face.
"Hiya Kageyama! How's Karasuno been for you? Regretting transferring yet? Coming back?" He fired at her as soon as he was close enough to the phone and she laughed.
"No, not yet Matsu." The gym door opened behind her and a few of the second years wandered out carrying water bottles, obviously on their way to fill them up for the other members of the team. "You guys all seem to have forgotten that I've only been here two days. I haven't really had time to compare the schools."
"Have you met the volleyball team yet? Your brother dragged you along to a practice already?" Makki asked, clearly still with his friend. Kaede wasn't sure where Iwaizumi and Oikawa had ended up but it wasn't within earshot. "Are you giving away all of our team secrets?"
She laughed a little, shrugging to herself. "He was refusing to go to practice yesterday and today so the only way to get him to agree to go was to go with him, so here I am." She flicked her hair over her shoulder and sighed. "But no, of course i'm not giving away your team secrets and plays or anything like that. I wouldn't betray you all like that."
"Good. You were our teammate before you were theirs. Remember that." Matsukawa pointed out.
A moment later and Iwaizumi's voice returned through the phone. "Anyway, Oikawa is getting all stroppy because he wanted to talk to you. Come to practice one day and we can catch up, alright?"
"Sure." Kaede nodded, waiting for the phone to be passed back to the setter until she spoke again. "So why did you call me?" She asked eventually.
"You know, i'm hurt you miss Iwa-Chan more than you miss me. I thought I knew you better than that." He huffed, completely disregarding her question as he complained.
"You know I'm kidding Oiks. I miss you too." The second years from before walked back past, discussing something about upcoming games. She waited until the door was closed behind them to speak again. "Actually, Tobio wanted to invite you and Iwa to dinner tonight if you're up for it."
A chuckle rang out and into her ear through the phone speaker, making her smile. Oikawa's laugh always made her grin no matter the circumstances. "You mean something happened about me and he was rude so you're retaliating by using me to anger him? Though I'm sure he loves me really."
"Yeah, basically." Kaede stood up, taking a few step forwards as she thought. "So, my house later? I'll make your favorite."
"You don't have to bribe me. Iwa and I will be there."
She grinned again, turning her head to look up at the sky. "Great. See you later Oikawa."
"Bye now Kage-Chan."
Back inside the gym, Kaede took a seat back near Kiyoko, watching as the players practiced their sets and spikes.
Eventually, coach Ukai called them in to cool down and pack up, but as usual, Tobio and Hinata were adamant they should stay behind for some extra practice.
"You should really take a break sometimes you two." Daichi said slowly, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "As great as it is for you to want to practice more, taking time for yourselves too is important."
"Aw! Only for a little bit Captain! We won't stay long!" Hinata frowned, looking up to the captain hopefully.
"Only for a little while." Tobio started, wanting the extra practice too.
"Tobes." Kaede interrupted quietly, gaining her twins attention along with the spiker and captains. She looked at him with a glint in her eye that only he knew the true meaning behind as he nodded subtly to her.
"Oh." Tobio nodded, glancing back to the shorter boy before he walked towards his sister. "Never mind. Let's get you home."
"Sorry." She whispered, quickly grabbing her bags as he said his goodbyes to the team and the two headed up to the club room for him to get his belongings.
The two were just leaving as the rest of the team made their way into the room, so they said their goodbye's again.
"It was nice meeting you." Daichi smiled, Suga by his side. "You're welcome to watch practice whenever you want."
Kaede nodded stiffly, the aching in her thighs was starting to get more prominent than before and she just wanted to get home. "Thank you."
The twins turned to the door, Tobio opened it for his sister and waited for her to walk past. "Oikawa and Iwaizumi are coming for dinner." She nudged him with her elbow as she walked past, smirking as he frowned.
"You seriously invited them?" He complained, sending a harsh glare down at her.
The door to the club room closed behind them, today had been strange for them all. They all heard the rumor from Yamaguchi but no one had really believed it until she showed up at practice.
Kaede sighed. "He isn't as bad as you think. Just get to know him a little and i'm sure you will get along!"
Tobio said nothing, just silently glaring down at the ground as they walked home. In all honesty, he didn't hate Oikawa that much, he just felt a little left out between his sister and old upperclassman.
Both of them always had a hard time making friends and trusting people, but for some reason she got along with his senpai extremely well and it made him slightly jealous or out of place and a little awkward which eventually turned into something that seemed like hatred. Oikawa obviously picked up on it and declared the two of them rivals, using the younger setter as fuel for his improvement within the game.
Tobio glared at his sister from his seat at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. She grinned a little at him as she left to let the two older boys in and he rolled his eyes when he heard Oikawa's always loud voice echo down the hall.
"Kage-Chan!"
He pushed his chair back and turned to make his way upstairs but was shot down quickly
"No. Tobio," Kaede pointed a finger at him, motioning for him to come back into the room. Then she pointed at the stool he had just been sat on. "Sit."
He rolled his eyes again but did as she said, ignoring the snickers from Oikawa. A small smirk grew on his lips when a thump was heard and the older setter cried out. Iwaizumi had probably slapped him.
Silence descended over the room as the two older boys took their own seats around the island table, the three of them watched as Kaede prepared dinner for them.
"How's school without me?" She broke the awkwardness eventually, glancing up from the food on the table.
Iwaizumi simply shrugged, looking at his friend for an answer. Oikawa frowned. "It sucks Kage-Chan! Everything is so boring without you and Iwa-Chan is meaner without you there!" He exclaimed, avoiding the glare that was sent his way as he settled his wide eyes on Kaede, pushing his bottom lip out as far as he could.
She laughed, turning to dump a bowl in the sink before pushing something else into the oven and finally taking a seat opposite them.
"You aren't supposed to laugh!" Oikawa grumbled, Tobio almost smiled. As much as he said he didn't hate his senpai, watching him get upset about the most trivial things was rather amusing.
Kaede continued to giggle for a moment longer, swinging her legs out beneath her before she finally paused and caught her breath. "Sorry, sorry." The grin on her face said that she was anything but, but Oikawa took it and stopped pouting, waiting for her to continue. "Iwaizumi." She glared playfully at him and he raised his hands in surrender.
"In my defense all he's done since you left is complain about being lonely. Seriously. It's annoying."
She cackled a little more then, shaking her head a little as if that would stop her from laughing. "I didn't realize you missed me that much." Kaede pointed out slowly, wiping a fake tear from her eye. She really did enjoy hanging out with these boys.
"Of course I do, Kage-Chan! Anyway, Hanamaki said you went to practice today, how did it go?" He changed the subject effortlessly as always, but it wasn't something she wanted to discuss, especially with Tobio sat opposite her too.
Instead, she shrugged. "You know, being back near a court and all. You would've thought i'd be over it by now."
Tobio pushed his stool back and silently, ignoring the looks from the other three people, wandered around the kitchen getting himself a drink. He did feel guilty for making her go, he didn't think that it would upset her as much as it did and he knew she had been keeping up a positive facade throughout the entire thing. He saw the relieved look on her face when her phone rang and gave her an excuse to leave.
"Other than that, the practice looked great. Tobio's team is amazing really. I think you'll have some tough competition this year." Kaede continued, disregarding her twin for now, she could deal with him later.
Oikawa laughed, his shoulders shaking as he did so. Then, he wiped a fake tear from his eye, a wide smile gracing his lips. "We're still going to beat you, and Shiritorizawa too. We're going to nationals this year." He promised, smirking, his eyes set straight at her before they shifted to her twin, the rivalry adamant between them.
Both boys stared each other down. They knew that they both had the same goal, winning, coming out on top, going to nationals.
But it was a matter of team strength, commitment and dedication to see who would be the one who pulled ahead of the other in the end.
In the end, it was the strongest team of six that would hold the first place title.