Authors Note: I don't own Haikyu though I really wish I did
First, THANK YOU ALL for the reviews. It's awesome to get encouragement! This chapter finally brings most of the team into the picture and gets things set up for visiting Tokyo. I apologize that this chapter took so long, I'm was bogged down with 18 credit hours worth of homework and going nuts over the required amount of writing for the semester. I had like four 5 page essays due in the last week of school so this story got put on the back burner. With that said I don't know how long the next chapter will take after this. I'm in my last semester of school so it's kind of hectic. This chapter is choppy so sorry if it's hard to follow. Also, Tsuki was sooo hard to get right. I'm not good with witty teasing comments in real life so ignore if it's not teasing or mean enough. Please enjoy.
Takeda-sensei sighed as he hung up the phone. This was just one more problem to add to the pile really. He wanted to be mad, honestly really he wanted to, but he knew that it wasn't really Kageyama and Hinata's fault. Being fate mates wasn't exactly something you can control. He wouldn't have believed it to be true at all if it hadn't been for Dr. Ryugazaki calling ahead of them by half an hour and explaining. Takeda-sensei groaned in frustration letting his head fall forward and bang against his desk. How were they supposed to deal with this on top of passing their exams to go to Tokyo? Hell, how were they even supposed to keep something like this a secret? Everyone was going to know they are mates just by smelling them. And without knowing the exact trigger there was no telling how long it would be before something happened to set them off at school.
Which brought him to another problem, how exactly was he supposed to find them a place to take care of such "accidents" without any students or faculty being the wiser? Someone was bound to ask questions at the scent of sex and heat hanging around an area all the time. Takeda-sensei groaned again when he thought about being the only one who knew currently. He agreed with the doc that it would be best to keep things in house for as long as possible. They didn't need media swarming around the idiot couple as they dealt with the ins and outs of high school, volleyball, and being newly mated. One thing was for sure though, Ukai-Kun was definitely going to need to be filled in on all of this before the rest of the team found out. They were going to need to gage reactions and see just how much this would affect the team.
Giving up on just sitting around and doing nothing Takeda-sensei stood and walked out of the teachers offices. He was going to need to scout out areas and do the best he could to make things work as easy as possible for the boys. May as well use what time he had before club activities. Though things would be a hassle for a while he was actually kind of happy for Hinata. Going through heat without a mate was… difficult. It was painful and you always had to be aware of who and what was around you when the time for your heat drew near. It was even more painful when the person you loved stood next to you every single day and had no idea. That was one pain he was glad Hinata would never have to experience.
Ukai pinched the bridge of his nose squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. He could feel the beginnings of a head ache. No … he could feel the beginning of what was sure to be a migraine. He never imagined he'd hear such a thing in the back room of his family shop. But there Kageyama and Hinata stood. This wasn't a practical joke, he only hoped it was a dream. He pinched his own face again in an effort to wake up. No such luck. Kageyama and Hinata were still standing in front of him with fate marks very clear on their necks. "Well… shit." Ukai said still quite unable to react.
Hinata fidgeted nervously as they waited for some sort of reaction from their coach. He just hoped that he had proven himself important enough on the team that the coach wouldn't just kick him off for this. Granted it wasn't really his fault that he and Kageyama were fate mates, but he already knew how much trouble this was really going to cause the team.
Well, freaking out about this wasn't going to help the situations, so may as well get all the information possible. Ukai sighed and began asking the boys some of the things he was going to need to know before they came back to practice on Monday. "I don't know much about fate mates to be honest, probably slept through the whole class back in high school. So what's this mean for you two at practice?" He asked as he lit up another cigarette. He was probably going to need a second one right after this. "This doctor of yours say anything about restrictions or problems we might have to deal with?"
Both Kageyama and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. The coach was taking this much better than they thought he would. "Hopefully it shouldn't affect things too much." Kageyama stated matter of factly. "The hardest part is trying to find out what triggers heat and rut for us. Other than that nothings really changed."
Hinata almost rolled his eyes at Kageyama's statement. EVERYTHING had changed for them. He was an omega now, they were mated, they could speak to each other in their heads and even share feelings over their bond. But, Kageyama was right about it in a way. They were still idiots who were obsessed with volley ball and would train just as hard as they did before. Their determination to win at the Spring Tornament had not lessened any.
"What do you mean by trigger?" Ukai asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Well, the doc said that something specific will make us go into heat or rut or both. Problem is we don't know what the trigger is so it could happen at any time." Hinata explained. He told the coach everything the doc had said to them and also explained that they thought their trigger might be distance based and that they needed eye contact after separation for things to get sparked. The coach took it all in quite well. Ukai told them to keep him posted on everything and said he expected them to be at morning practice on Monday when they got back to school. He then proceeded to shove them out the door of his store with orders to go home and figure things out. After which he promptly called Takeda-sensei. He was really going to need a drink tonight.
It was Saturday already and Hinata was headed back home from Kageyama's house from another meeting with Ryugazaki-sensei. He sighed as he took his time pedaling his bike. So much had happened for the two of them in the span of just a few days and sometimes it was still a lot to take in. Today they had spent all day with the doctor trying to pin down that pesky trigger they were going to need to deal with. The doc had basically driven him to and fro trying to figure out just how much distance was needed between them before things got set off. They had even driven all the way to and from his house expecting things to go off, but the funny thing was, it didn't. In a car with no traffic the round trip took about half an hour and all three of them had been braced for things to get hot and heavy.
The doc hadn't been happy in the least. He proposed that the trigger could be much more complex than that. It could have something to do with the amount of time spent apart or even the amount of time spent apart at a certain distance. They had called it a day at that and said they would pick it up on Sunday. They needed to know as much about this damn trigger as they could before they went back to school on Monday. Granted they knew at least an evening apart at their house meant the next time they saw each other they'd need some private time to take care of things.
Hinata blushed. Private time in deed. He still couldn't believe sometimes that he and Kageyama were mates. It wasn't that he doubted their own feelings. He had seen enough in Kageyama's mind and heart to know they were meant to be together, but he had honestly never thought they would be together like this. They had barely been making things work as friends. But now everything was completely different for the two. He knew they would still fight on occasion and that when they returned to practice Kageyama would go back to being harsh and yelling at him and calling him a dumbass, but he wondered how Kageyama would handle being able to feel the emotions Hinata dealt with at practice and games.
Kageyama was so gentle towards him when they mated and there was a constant humming of concern over their bond coming from Kageyama. At first that made him happy and loved but now he was worried. He wasn't ready for things to change so drastically between them. This was perhaps the most important part of why he wanted to find out what that damned trigger was. Mating felt amazing with Kageyama, he had never felt anything so pleasurable in his life, but neither he nor Kageyama liked that their bodies were forcing them to do such things. They just weren't ready.
Hinata sighed again as he sped up towards home. He was determined to figure this out. He would take things as he always had. One step at a time. You can get through anything as long as you focus.
Sunday rolled around and it found Kageyama and Hinata in front of Ryugazaki-sensei to try figuring things out a little further. Unlike the previous day where nothing happened, things seemed to always be happening. When the two of them had reunited that morning they had expected the mating. But with the idea of time separated being a factor almost every time they were brought back together they would be heading into the bedroom.
They had started simple enough really, 10 km apart for an hour. Kageyama had spent the time reading volleyball magazines and tossing his ball around. Hinata spent it talking to the doc in the car about various volleyball players and friends from school. They hadn't actually expected it to trigger them. In fact Ryugazaki had purposefully started with a small distance and time so they could increase both as they went further a long. It had been meant to booste the morale of the fate mates that things wouldn't be too bad. But when Hinata and the doc returned the two collided together like two magnets having been pulled just a short distance away from each other.
So instead lengthening the distance or time the doc had been forced to cut the distance in half at 5 km for an hour. When this set them off all three of them had become a little troubled. Ryugazaki had seen many couples deal with time separated as their trigger but none had ever been such a short distance or time. It was then the doc had changed the time for each. To half an hour, they were relieved when nothing happened. That meant the time apart was between an hour and 30 minutes. Kageyama and Hinata were slightly troubled by the short amount of time but all in all it would be manageable. Ryugazaki was satisfied with their progress on time. Now they just needed to narrow down the distance.
Hinata and Kageyama were exhausted. After their first mating session that morning they had felt fine, rejuvenated almost. The second time had made them slightly tired but nothing they couldn't handle. It was no worse than doing a full days worth of training on the court. But the third time they emerged from the bedroom it was already evening and they felt like they had nothing left in them. They weren't sure they could go another round. Ryugazaki could tell that the two needed a break and needed something to help boost their spirits. To be sure there was a distance they needed to be concerned about the doc decided to have them in separate rooms for an hour. The time had passed slowly but there was a slight sense of relief at the day being over.
This should have been just fine, however it had really shocked them all was when they spent an hour apart in separate rooms right next to each other and it still set them off.
They were too tired to fight against it after their eyes met but there was much less fire behind their passion than before. They went slow this time trying to savor and draw out as much pleasure as they could with the least amount of physical effort needed. At first they didn't know if they would get hard again. 4 times in one day would be impossible right? But their bodies craved another release. Hinata curled himself round his mates form as they headed for the bed, the door closing behind them. Ryugazaki sighed and went back to writing more notes on the couple as they took care of their needs. When things quieted down he knocked on the door to the room and told the two he was heading out and that was it for the day.
Both Hinata and Kageyama had sighed in relief at the news they were done for the day. Honestly they couldn't hand any more than this. Hinata lay on top of him breathing hard but steady. Kageyama's knot swelled in an aftershock of pleasure as he held his mate close. They both sighed again, this time in contentment as their connection established again. This was probably Hinata's favorite part about this whole mess. After all was done he would be connected with Kageyama for a little while.
This last mating session had been intense but much slower than the others. Instead of heat and fire behind their caresses driving their desire, there had only been an intense need to connect to each other. It was almost as if their bodies were trying to meld together as one. It was in this exact moment that they finally understood why fate mates had triggers to begin with. It wasn't a desire for pleasure or even the biological urge to reproduce that drove them into a frenzy. It was the need to be connected to each other that drove everything forward. They weren't two separate people forced together against their will. They were really just two halves of the same whole. One spirit split into two bodies.
This moment of clarity hit them both at the same time and they smiled. Kageyama squeezed Hinata tighter in his embrace and waited for his mate to dive head in to their memories but he never did. Usually at this point Hinata would go through all his favorite memories that Kageyama had but this time he just didn't have any desire to do so. He was tired and all he wanted to do was sleep. The last session had taken every ounce of energy he had left and drained it. An amazing feat when you considered just how much energy Hinata could muster at games and at practice. Wrapped in his mates embrace he drifted off to sleep. He knew he was going to need all the energy he could get for school the next day.
Kageyama smiled. Both he and Hinata had felt that moment of clarity down to their very core and it was that very thought of being part of a whole that made the entire situation worth it. Trigger or not he was content to be with his mate like this. Tomorrow they were going to go back to school and he knew things were going to be challenging. They weren't really ready for such a deep relationship or for things to change at school. But he knew that once they got back to volleyball, nothing else would matter to either of them. Kageyama yawned closing his eyes. He grabbed the blanket beside him and covered them both up. He wanted to preserve at least some modesty for when his parents would get home. And like that they fell asleep.
The next morning wasn't exactly ideal for the "happy couple" They had gotten up extra early only to have Hinata's parents had call and yell at both of them for not sending a text or calling to let them know Hinata was staying over. The boys knew neither set of parents were happy that Hinata had stayed over. Though both sets of parents had no choice about accepting the fact that they were fate mates it seemed they wanted to keep the boys as separated as possible. When the boys finally got the chance to explain everything that had happened the day before with Ryugazaki-sensei and how he had narrowed down their trigger to being separated for a certain amount of time everyone seemed shocked. It was the last time their parents complained about any of it. Turned out most of their parents objection came from the fact they were worried about Hinata getting pregnant. A thought that hadn't even occurred to the couple before that. They paled at the thought and had asked about how to avoid that situation at all costs. There was no way they were ready to be parents and they had just spent the previous day in bed together.
When they were informed that birth control didn't work for fate mates, they finally understood their parent's objections much better. Turned out that no one really understood how pregnancy worked for fate mates. Some couples went years without a pregnancy while others would get pregnant within days of mating despite any form of birth control used. As if they didn't have enough on their minds already. Even though it was 5:30 in the morning Kageyama and Hinata decided they should give Ryugazaki-sensei a call and they were glad they did. The doc explained to them that they really shouldn't worry at all. No birth control didn't work but fate mates never seemed to have children or get pregnant at an inopportune time. Though little was understood about how pregnancy worked for the omega of a fated couple, there was strong support for the idea that it wouldn't happen until much later for Hinata. Both of the boys were still developing physically and mentally and a fate couple never had kids unless both partners were fully stable in their lives. Though this did little to completely alleviate the fear of pregnancy for Hinata it did help calm both the couple and the parents a bit. There wasn't an omega in history that had become pregnant before they wanted a child and were ready for it. And now they knew more about the trigger for the couple so with a little effort they could nail it down by the end of next weekend and learn how to avoid setting it off.
Kageyama tried to ignore the chaos coming over the bond from his mate. Hinata was having a slight freak out session. Hell he was having a slight freak out session. They really should have been told about that before yesterday. But they didn't have time to worry, Kageyama's watch alarm sounded and he pulled Hinata along with him to finish getting ready. "Don't think about it." Kageyama said to Hinata privately. "This is the last thing we need to think about right now."
"Yeah, easy for you to say," Hinata snapped back. "you're not the one who'll end up fat or be stuck at home taking care of a crying brat." This was more news than he could handle. Mated, fine, fate mates, he could deal with, going into heat at a moment's notice, annoying but doable, but getting PREGNANT? NO WAY IN HELL!
Ok scratch that, Hinata wasn't having a slight freak out session, he was having a major one. Even though it was meant to be private, that last thought was so loud Kageyama had made an unconscious move to cover his ears in response. He could feel Hinata getting more anxious by the second. He had to do something about it or Hinata was just going to drive them both nuts before they even got to school.
"Focus you dumbass" Kageyama shouted out loud as he grabbed Hinata's stuff and tossed it at the idiot. In truth he was probably freaking out just as much as Hinata was but they really needed their heads in the game for morning practice. There wasn't anything they could do about this anyways so it was better to just forget about it. "We're going to be telling the rest of the team about all this." He said a little calmer. Hinata stared at him holding his bag, his feelings still in chaos. "We gotta deal with that this morning," he continued on, trying to distract Hinata enough to get to school. He knew that once they both held a volleyball in their hands it would be easier to sort through it all. "I don't want to stand around anymore thinking about ifs or whens. I want to practice. We've been away from it long enough."
There was longing in that thought, and Hinata could feel it. Kageyama wanted to play again and he did too. He bit his lip and responded out loud "Me too…" Hinata's feelings finally calmed enough. Kageyama grabbed his bag and then Hinata's hand. He led Hinata out of his room finally ready to get moving for the day.
With that the boys ready for morning practice and headed out. If the discussion with the parents and the doctor and the freak out from this morning was any indicator, this was going to be one hell of a long day. They walked hand and hand to school. It didn't take long for them to get to school, Kageyama lived much closer than Hinata did. In no time Hinata and Kageyama stood in front of the club changing room. It was Monday, their first day back to school and back at morning practice. Well this was it. It was now or never. Hinata put his hand on the door knob and turned it. He plastered his usual smile on his face and called out his normal enthusiastic greeting to the rest of the room. Kageyama entered behind him saying nothing as usual. Nishinoya was the first to return Hinata's morning greeting. But within seconds all eyes were turned on Hinata. There was no mistaking the new scent in the room or who it was coming from. Hinata blushed red to his roots fidgeting under the eyes of his fellow team mates. He waited nervously for the comments he knew were going to come. Nishinoya was the first. A huge smile appeared on his face.
"Well you certainly took your time didn't you?" Nishinoya said practically bouncing over and pulling Hinata into a half hug and patting his head. This seemed to break the tension in the room and everyone took a breath. They all congratulated him making comments that it was about time and even a few teasing ones about how the Coach was going to be pissed that he had missed practice over such a "trivial" thing. The sempais steered clear of mentioning anything about Hinata's new scent being mixed heavily with Kageyama's or that fact that it almost smelled like one scent. Hinata was relieved and that feeling coming to Kageyama over the bond was the only thing keeping him from losing it at the others swarming around and touching his new mate.
Sawamura though seemed to steer clear of touching Hinata as if he understood more than the others. He gave Kageyama a look basically stating he wanted an explanation as soon as the rest of the team was out of ear shot. The looked carried the promise of a whole lot of pain if his answers weren't up to snuff. As things quieted down a bit Tsukishima finally spoke up. Everyone tensed up at the sound of his voice, knowing to expect some pointed comment meant to needle at the two. The smirk on Tsukishima's face could be almost sinister at times.
"Whatever happened to becoming more of an alpha than me?" Tsukishima teased, repeating Sawamura's comment the other day, directing it at Hinata. Hinata bristled but Kageyama was the one who spoke.
"You know it's not a choice Tsukishima." Kageyama glared at Tsukishima. "Leave it alone." He stated firmly, almost daring Tsukishima to say something else. He felt a hand land on each of his shoulders knowing that Sawamura and Sugawara were holding on to him just in case. The alpha in him was begging to take a bite out of the sarcastic piss poor excuse of an alpha standing in front of him. Though this feeling was nothing new to him, Kageyama knew he would snap quickly if Tsukishima didn't back off from teasing his mate.
"Tsukishima…" Sawamura warned but it was too late. The blond had already opened his mouth to speak again. Sugawara only tightened his grasp in anticipation.
"Well, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really, with you being so short and tiny." Tsukishima continued almost as if he were bored with the whole topic already. "You're even more of a coward than Asahi-senpai." Tsukishima finished putting on his jacket and turned around, a smirk firmly on his face. "You're just not man enough to be an alpha." He stated.
Within seconds Tsukishima had been knocked off balance and pushed harshly into the wall. Shocked and surprised Tsukishima could do nothing to break his fall as his head followed the momentum of his body and slammed against the wall. Tsukishima stared wide eyed at Nishinoya who currently fisted his hands into Tsukishima's jersey. Rage emanated from the omega's face and body. Everyone looked on in utter shock. They had been prepared for some kind of reaction from Kageyama and Hinata but it was Nishinoya who had reacted, and far more violently than anyone thought the omega capable of. Unable to get passed the shock quickly they all continued to stare.
"What exactly does being an omega have to do with being a man?" Nishinoya roared in anger. "Tell me, how exactly does being an omega make him any less of a man?!" Nishinoya tightened his grip on Tsukishima's shirt demanding an answer to his questions. When Tsukishima failed to answer Nishinoya repeated his previous action pulling on the blonds jersey and pushing him into the wall again. "Well?!" He repeated again. He was so angry he was on the verge of tears. "NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT!" Nishinoya continued on not waiting for a reply. "The fact that Hinata is already back at school less than a week after presenting as an omega makes him MORE of a man than any alpha I have ever known."
Nishinoya turned his gaze to Yamaguchi, the only other omega on the team and Tsukishima's best friend. He had thought that because the two were close Tsukishima would understand things a bit better, but it seemed he didn't. To prove a point Nishinoya knew Yamaguchi would understand. "How long did it take you Yamaguchi? To come back to school after you presented?"
Yamaguchi frowned, he didn't want to be dragged into this but he knew exactly what Nishinoya was trying to get the others to understand. "About a month" he said softly in reply. "It took me a whole month to come to terms with it and almost 3 to learn how to deal with the teasing and bullying that followed." Yamaguchi continued to explain. "It wasn't as bad for me as it was for the others. Everyone left me alone when Tsukishima was around, but it was bad enough that I didn't go to school if Tsukishima didn't." Yamaguchi looked down at the unhappy glance he received from Tsukishima. He hadn't actually told Tsukishima that before.
Nishinoya returned his gaze back to Tsukishima. "I came back after two weeks." He said as he bit his lips as he thought about what had happened. This was something he really didn't want to remember. But he'd be damned if he let Hinata experience even a hint of such cruelty. "It was so bad that first day at school that I left early and didn't go back for 4 months." Nishinoya bit the words out as his fists clenched even tighter at the memories that came flooding back. The humiliating orders the alphas had given him, the laughter at his expense, and the beating they gave him when he spoke back. Before that day he had been friends with almost every single one of those alphas. "The fact that he's here shows just how much of a man he is."
Tsukishima didn't say a word. No one did as they watched Nishinoya finally calm down a little and let Tsukishima up from the wall. He let go of Tsukishima's jersey and stepped back "We're all older now and it shouldn't be half as bad, but Hinata's still going to have to deal with a lot of crap today from the alphas in his class. He shouldn't have to deal with it from his teammates also. I'm not saying you need to protect him like you did for Yamaguchi," Nishinoya glanced at Kageyama and then back to Tsukishima. "I'm sure Kageyama will do just fine with that, but don't make it worse."
Kageyama stared in awe at Nishinoya overcome with the sudden urge to hug his senpai. He didn't know if this urge was his or Hinata's, it was probably Hinata's, but it didn't really matter. In that moment he was grateful to Nishinoya. All fear and uncertainty had disappeared from Hinata and for the first time Hinata felt truly at ease with his nature and everything else that had happened between them over the past week. Without another word everyone finished getting ready for practice and headed over to the gym. It was time to get things back on track for the Spring Tournament.