Hi, another late update, I know, but I have discovered that University + writing + life in general, is just a bit too much, so I have decided to cut back on the updates and only upload a new chapter on the first and the third friday of every month. I hope that's okay.

On another note, I am now going into manga territory, so if you are an anime only watcher, who does NOT want to be spoiled about the events of the manga, then DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. If you have not read past chapter 190, then turn around, go back, close the page, I don't care, please stop reading as I do not want to be the reason that you get spoiled.

So, one more time: THIS CHAPTER SPOILS THE MANGA UP UNTIL CHAPTER 190!

Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu!

~Hello to an Old Friend~

The Spring Tournament preliminaries are over and Karasuno has managed to fight themselves through it and come put victorious. There were a few injuries here and there, but nothing major that wouldn't heal within a week. Hinata knows that they've worked hard to get where they are, but somehow their victory doesn't seem like an impossible dream come true. He didn't know what it was, but it seemed that true battle was still yet to come and even though they had managed to beat both The Great King and Ushijima, something told Hinata that Karasuno hadn't fully spread their wings. It wasn't the feeling like they could still improve, it was the feeling that they hadn't actually used their full power yet. Again not meaning that their opponents hadn't been strong, just that they had carefully selected which of their weapons to use against them and which ones to keep hidden. And it wasn't that Hinata was extremely observant of people and knew exactly what they were thinking and all that and it wasn't like he was hiding a secret superpower that allowed him to know these things, but it was more a combination of a few things that would keep Hinata awake at night.

It was things like going up to the roof to eat with his classmates and catching a glimpse of Kageyama and Tsukishima talking to each other, which couldn't possibly be right. It was Tsukishima leaving practice early, only to join practice with adult players. It was the way Kageyama changed the way he spoke to the other first years, like he was slowly warming up to him and the way Tsukishima used the word 'King' less and less. It was the way Nishinoya would look at Yamaguchi, like he a challenge he could never get bored of. It was the sheer air of confidence suddenly surrounding the first years, something which usually only surrounded Tanaka and Nishinoya (and occasionally Kageyama, when he got really cocky). Hinata had noticed all these things, and he was sure that there were many more and that he wasn't the only one who taking note of the subtle change concerning his fellow first years.

It was about a week after the preliminaries that the topic was first brought up by someone else, and that someone else was Yachi. The two of them had bumped into each other during lunch break and decided to eat together, because why not, and they happened to walk by Tsukishima's class, where they not only saw Tsukishima without Yamaguchi, but Tsukishima with Kageyama.

"I thought that the two of them didn't get along..." Yachi said in a low voice, as they slowly walked away from the classroom.

"They don't... " Hinata mused, "I mean Tsukishima is all like fwoosh, with his brains and stuff, but then Kageyama is like BAM, and they don't like each other... I think."

"...I'm not sure I get it, but if they don't get along, then why are they talking?"

"I don't know, but maybe we should just ask," Hinata smiled, there was no harm in asking.

A few days after Hinata and Yachi had talked about what was going on between Kageyama and Tsukishima, Hinata got part of his answer to what the two of them had been talking about. The Captain had suggested a match between the more experienced part of the team against the less experienced ones, in order to see how they would cope with different situations on that basis. That meant that teams were basically split according to number, which in turn meant that all of the first years played on the same team, which usually wasn't ever the case when the team split up against each other. After the more experienced players had won two sets and were about to win their third, Kageyama whispered something to Tsukishima, who just nodded, which in itself was a weird sight, because when had Tsukishima ever done what Kageyama told him to, without some else, usually the Captain or Yamaguchi, interfering and then convincing him to do it? But the really weird thing was when it became Tsukishima's turn to serve and Hinata was in the front row, not actually looking at him, the ball suddenly hit the floor on the other side of the net with a force that undoubtedly came from a jump serve. The silence lasted for a good minute, while everyone, except Kageyama, just stared wide-eyed at Tsukishima, who slowly looked more and more likely to just walk away, because God Knows that he wasn't used to getting attention, when a sassy remark wasn't involved. Yamaguchi was the first one to speak up.

"Nice Tsukki," he cheered, as he always did with Tsukishima, but it was clear from his voice that he had not known about this prior to the actual serve. However, Yamaguchi's voice seemed to slowly bring life to the team, and the game resumed. Though Tsukishima managed to get the team three points with his serve, they still lost the set and the team once again split to polish their individual skills and, as always, Tsukishima left to practice with another team.

"Did anyone know about Tsukishima?" The Captain asked as soon as Tsukishima had left the gym.

"I did," Kageyama said, and all eyes went to him in an instant.

"Why do you know?" Tanaka asked, clearly just as confused by the whole Tsukishima-Kageyama situation as Hinata and Yachi.

"We've been practising together for some time," Kageyama said with a voice he could have used to say 'I brush my teeth in the morning'.

No one seemed to be able to say anything about it and in the end they just resumed their individual practice.

Fast forward another few days and the first years, excluding Yachi, where all sat on the roof. They were supposed to be studying, since they had a free period before practice began, but for some reason none of them really had any motivation to do so (not that Hinata and Kageyama usually had any, but grades were important... sometimes.). Tsukishima was lying on his stomach reading a book about something Hinata didn't remember and on top of that, it was in English, so Hinata kind of still considered it studying. Yamaguchi was sitting right next to Tsukishima, as usual, and was doodling on his math homework. Hinata sat opposite him, eating fruit very slowly as to have an excuse not to read about the ancient history of Japan, which was bound to be on next weeks test. Kageyama was lying besides him, tossing a ball up and down. All in all, they were all very chilled and demotivated.

"Does anybody want a cookie?" Yamaguchi suddenly asked and handed everyone a cookie, not letting anyone decline his offer.

"Mmm," Hinata exhaled as he took a bite, "This is really good, where did you get them?"

"Tsukki made them for me." Yamaguchi said, looking in Tsukishima's direction briefly, before turning his attention back to Hinata and Kageyama, who had almost choked on the cookie, when Yamaguchi had answered.

"Tsukishima made these? He can bake?" Kageyama said between coughs.

"I'm right here, Your Majesty," Tsukishima said softly, his voice not really supporting the remark, as he mostly just sounded mildly tired.

"Does Tsukishima bake a lot for you," Hinata asked curiously, because he found it rather odd, even though the two of them were close childhood friends and didn't really fit Tsukishima's character to bake cookies for people. Not even Yamaguchi.

"Haha, no, no, it's a 'Thank You' gift. And it's also because, when we first met, Tsukki saved me from some bullies and as a Thank You back then, I gave him some cookies," Yamaguchi laughed innocently as he rubbed the back of his head, realising how odd the situation seemed to outsiders.

"Wow, that's so cool," Hinata exclaimed and got a little closer to Yamaguchi, "He saved you? Tsukishima is so cool! He is tall, smart and cool! It's so unfair!"

"Like I said, I'm still right here," Tsukishima declared, though not for a second looking up from the book he was reading.

"Is that how you became friends?" Hinata asked, suddenly very interested in their past, since he'd always wondered how someone as hostile as Tsukishima had ever made a friend like Yamaguchi.

"Not really. It was a bit of a coincidence actually. A few days after the incident, I joined a Volleyball club and Tsukki was there too. It took me some time to talk to him though, which is why I gave him the cookies, so I would have an excuse to talk to him."

"And after that the two of you became friends! I wish I had childhood friends, I only have some from Middle School," Hinata thought out loud.

"Actually, back then there were three of us..." Yamaguchi said slowly, like he couldn't quite remember the details.

"Three...?" Hinata tilted his head, "What happened to the third one?"

"When I joined, Tsukki already had a friend on the team, but then the club grew too big, so they split it in two and we happened to get separated. Although, it's probably because of that person that Tsukki and I went to Karasuno, so even though we don't know him anymore, I'm really glad he was there, " Yamaguchi smiled widely, but Hinata was still curious.

"Why was he the reason you came to Karasuno?"

"When the club split up, the three of us made a promise to go to the same High School and at that time Karasuno was really strong, so we decided that it would either be here or Shiratorizawa."

Now, Hinata didn't even get to having a reaction, because the ball which Kageyama had been tossing suddenly hit his head and he turned to Tsukishima and asked:

"Do you have an older brother?" To which Tsukishima just looked weirdly at him, before answering that, yes, he did have an older brother and why was that suddenly relevant, which he never got an answer to, as Kageyama just kind of froze for a while. And while Hinata fully expected Kageyama to be the one to explain his weird behaviour, it was Tsukishima who spoke first.

"Are you telling me that...? No, it can't be, that's too freaky!" Tsukishima turned to Yamaguchi with big eyes and perhaps they were communicating through telepathic means, but whatever Tsukishima was thinking, Yamaguchi suddenly caught on too and now all three of them looked weirdly surprised and freaked out, while Hinata was just plainly confused.

"What? What?! What's going on?"

"You know the third person I was talking about..?" Yamaguchi said slowly, and Hinata nodded frantically, "I think it's Kageyama."

Hinata was lost for words… "What?"

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