Authors Note: I love you KageHina!
This will be one of the last chapters while I wait for more cannon story to guide my plot. So this is officially on hiatus. (Not finished, just a break) While we wait though I will be writing on Fate Revealed. So enjoy that! Also i didn't grammar or spell check this. Please forgive me. You all waited so long and I just wanted to get this posted.
Nationals were about ready to start but things were not going very smoothly at all. In fact, things were probably worse than they ever had been before. Ukai pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve some of the pressure building up as he sat his sake down on the table in front of him. Why did shit always have to blow up all at the same time? It was like every power in the universe hated him right now. Instead of Kageyama and Hinata returning to practice like they should have right away, they ended up missing 4 days of practice. Though he didn't get all the details he knew enough and understood it, but he still wasn't happy about it. It was one thing to be short a player because of heat or rut, but missing two at the same time because of it was hard. And when Hinata and Kageyama got back he had expected vast improvements in their skills. That wasn't the case at all as far as he could tell. Actually they couldn't even play together at all.
Kageyama couldn't play while Hinata played and vice versa. The ball would get received and go up and Kageyama would move to set but so would Hinata. He had never set a ball before so no one understood why he would have moved to do so in the first place. At first no one knew what the hell was going on or what had happened, not even Kageyama or Hinata. Hinata apologized and they started the next volley but it happened again, Hinata colliding with Kageyama, and Kageyama was pissed. But it wasn't just Hinata. Kageyama would move to receive when the ball was clearly coming right towards Hinata. A few more horrid mix ups and quite a few fights later and it was clear that there was definitely a problem. It was pretty clear as to why as well.
They were hearing each other's thoughts and it was interfering with their game. During a game players tended to rely on instinct, experience, and skill, but Hinata tended to rely in instinct more than most others. During a game his body would move on its own following what his brain told him to do even if he didn't fully understand or process it all. Kageyama was also the same but in his case his skill and experience allowed him to process things at an amazing speed so when his brain went through the calculations it was fast and he followed it, no analyzing it because there was no need. But with their brains both moving and working in such ways it was interfering with their ability to play at the same time. And it was affecting the whole team. Everyone could tell that something was wrong and different because the boys were also fighting a lot more and a lot worse than they ever had before.
Eventually though, Hinata just had to sit out. His head hurt and each passing play just made it hurt worse. Hinata was sure Kageyama had no idea just how many calculations he ran in his head or that he actually ran any at all. Hinata couldn't keep up, his brain just couldn't process it all and even though he really tried to ignore it he couldn't play with his concentration split like that. So much to everyone's surprise he asked to be allowed to sit out of the game for a bit. Kageyama was a bit annoyed. He didn't want Hinata to sit out, he knew they'd get the hang of it all eventually, but he could feel his mate's headache like it was his own and said nothing. Hinata needed to rest and the headache would go away. Or it should go away. So both of them sitting out would do nothing. He vaguely wondered if they both took some Tylenol if that would help with the headache. Lord knows that if only one of them took it, some strange workings of being fate mates would prevent the medicine from working for some unknown reason.
But Kageyama really couldn't do anything about it. It was just how his brain worked. He'd never really thought about what goes through his head during a match or a volley but apparently it was a lot, too much for Hinata to process. This stupid new connection couldn't have happened at a worse time for them or for the team. How the hell were they going to win at nationals if the two of them couldn't play together at the same time? The coach tried not to think about it. They'd figure out. They only had a small window of time but somehow those two would pull off some miracle to make it work right? They always managed to do the unexpected. But that wasn't the only thing that happened.
That same day, during afternoon practice the coach got a visit from the High School Volleyball Association. It was unexpected to say the least but it really made things much more horrible than Ukai was ready to deal with. Turns out one of the coaches at All Japan Youth had initiated an investigation on the suspicion that Ukai was either letting or forcing his players to mate. Ukai knew exactly why they had said something. It wasn't hard to smell Hinata's scent mingled so intensely with Kageyama's. The coaches were old enough and experienced enough to know the difference between the scent of a mated alpha verse the scent of one just sleeping around. Honestly he had been expecting someone to say something at some point to the Association, he had just hoped it wouldn't be till after Nationals were over.
So how in the hell was he actually supposed to deal with this? It wasn't like he could just tell them, 'oh yea, their fate mates', without violating international law and being thrown in jail for the rest of his life. But he had a feeling that it was going to come out in the investigation anyways. He just hoped the idiot conducting the investigation would know to keep his mouth shut and find an excuse to put down on paper to end the investigation. Was that too much to hope for?
Ukai took a swig of his drink, shuttering at the burn of alcohol as it went down. Takeda-sensei sat across from him with his own drink, babbling on about something or other. He'd been too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pay much attention to what the omega was saying. A bit of guilt flashed through him. He really should pay more attention to what sensei had to say. He was an exceptionally bright man and he really cared about the volleyball team and each and every one of those boys. Ukai sighed and finished his drink. He wasn't drunk or even buzzed at this point, and damn it, he really wanted to be. Things were falling apart around him and to top it all off he was sitting across from the man he'd been wanting to ask out for quite a while now. He still hadn't worked up the courage to say anything to sensei.
At first Ukai had just been annoyed by the pushy omega. Sensei had called and come by so much at first to convince him to coach the volleyball team. Ukai had never seen such a persistent omega before and it kind of pissed him off. But after he'd started coaching the team he had learned there was so much more to the man. Takeda-sensei was intelligent. He picked up on things quickly and remembered them well, especially when it came to people. Takeda seemed to be able to read people very well and know exactly what to say and when. After all, that was how Ukai had ended up coaching the volleyball team, something he had originally had no intention to do. And when the team was down or having a hard time Takeda-sensei would always say something that did the trick. Truly the man was amazing. He was firm but kind, and it didn't help Ukai any that he found the man extremely attractive. Honestly who could blame him for being interested?
The only problem was Takeda didn't seem to be interested at all. Yeah they'd go out drinking together and hang out together but most of their conversations were about the volleyball team. Takeda-sensei hadn't shown any other interest and it made Ukai think twice about the situation. He knew very little about sensei outside of volleyball. He had no idea what kind of things the omega liked or what kind of things he was interested in and it made Ukai hesitate. Hell, he didn't even know if sensei was single. The man was extremely private and they never talked about any of that stuff. But it didn't change how he felt. Ukai poured one last drink and downed it. It was now or never.
"Come on Sensei, let's get out of here." Ukai said interrupting Takeda-sensei as he stood up and grabbed his wallet. He put some yen on the table to cover the bill and grabbed Takeda's wrist, pulling him out of the izakaya.
"Ukai-kun, what's wrong? Where are we going?" Takeda asked as he was dragged behind the man. He didn't even care that the alpha had been completely ignoring his earlier attempt at conversation. His mind was too preoccupied with the hand around his wrist and the flops in his stomach. He was ashamed at how a simple touch like this was enough to make his heart race, enough to make him lose his wits. He'd tried so hard to keep it hidden but that was difficult to do when Ukai touched him so casually.
Ukai didn't answer and continued to drag Takeda behind him. When they were far enough down the road and out of view from anyone he turned around abruptly. "I'm tired of waiting. If everything is all going to happen all at once, then there should be some good things to balance out the bad." Ukai said, hoping that he wouldn't get turned down. Ukai pulled Takeda forward into a kiss by his shoulders. He wasn't exactly sure how Takeda-sensei was going to react but he was done circling around the issue. If his whole life was going to fall apart anyways, he may as well give it a go and let things fall where they may. When Takeda-sensei didn't resist he pushed things a little further by deepening the kiss.
Completely surprised, Takeda froze as he tried to process what was happening. Was he dreaming? He had been dreaming a lot about this lately. But it felt way too real to be a dream. Perhaps he should pinch himself to be sure. Takeda surreptitiously pinched his own leg and it hurt. Okay so not a dream. Maybe he was completely drunk and hallucinating? But he'd only had one drink and as much of a light weight as he was that wasn't enough to get him that drunk. Then, was Ukai-kun drunk? He hadn't thought so. Ukai-kun had only had 4 cups and he'd seen that man drink a whole lot more before he even got tipsy. So was this really real? As Takeda's brain worked through what Ukai had said just moments before the kiss he couldn't help but be hopeful. Was Ukai really making a move on him?
At that thought Takeda-sensei melted into the kiss as Ukai-kun wound a hand into his hair and wrapped an arm around the his waist, bringing them flush together as he pushed his tongue inside of Takeda-sensei's mouth to deepen the kiss. Takeda moaned into the kiss as their bodies met and their tongues danced together. When they pulled apart they were both breathing hard, their hearts racing from the activity. Oh please let this be real, Takeda-sensei thought as he gazed at the man in front of him. He'd been completely in love with this man since they met and he'd give anything for this to actually be happening.
"Hey sensei, where's your apartment?"
Hinata sighed as he laid down on the gym floor off to the side of the court near the storage room. It was Friday already and he'd barely played volleyball all week long. It had been absolute hell for both Hinata and Kageyama, trying to live in each other's heads on a constant basis. But surprisingly that wasn't the most annoying thing at the moment. That had actually gotten better as the week went on. Whatever that strange connection was, it wasn't permanent. For whatever reason the connection was fading and neither of them were going to complain about it. It meant they didn't have to learn how to play volleyball like that and they didn't have to live with each other like that. It was a relief, and in a few more days the connection would be entirely gone. Dr. Ryuugazaki had postured that it could just be a reaction to their three day mating period but with no way to tell what had set that off he could only guess. But they were both excited for it to fade.
Next to hearing Kageyama's thoughts all the time and ending up with a headache anytime his mate played volleyball, the most annoying thing going on was that stupid inspector from the volleyball association that had been poking around the team since Monday. He'd been asking everyone on the team rather rude and pushy questions (at lease in his opinion) about coach Ukai since Tuesday morning when both Takeda-sensei and the coach had missed the morning practice for whatever reason.
But today was probably the worst of it all. They were all being interviewed by the awful man one by one. All of the alphas on the team had already gone except for Kageyama. Sugawara-sempai was in the storage room now with the inspector and the captain. It was supposed to be a private interview but Sugawara-sempai had refused to go into the room without the captain present. He had stated that it was plain stupidity for a beta to put himself in such a situation with an alpha he didn't know, and so the inspector had no choice but to allow it. It wasn't too long before Suga came out of the room smiling about something. The captain wasn't smiling however he did look mighty pleased about something that must have been said or done. But that look disappeared and was replaced with surprise when Noya-sempai grabbed the captain's shirt and pulled him back into the room for much the same reasons Suga had wanted Daiichi in the room.
About ten minutes later the entire practice stopped. Hinata sat up and stared at the door to the storage room. Everyone in the gym could hear Noya-sempai. "I don't care! Coach Ukai is a good coach and Hinata is my friend so I'm NOT telling you anything!" The door to the storage room slammed open and Nishinoya marched out in a huff, pissed. He knew he was overreacting, but he just didn't care. He was really proud of everything their team had accomplished this year, they were heading to nationals for god sakes. It felt like this inspector dude had just decided to wreck all of their hard work and sweat and destroy any hope they had at going to nationals. And it really wasn't any of that guys business what he and Hinata discussed on their own time. That had been the question that had tipped over the ice burg and opened the flood gates that is Nishinoya. Daiichi had told him to sit down and to cool off but there was no way he could just do that. That question had nothing to do with anything. The conversations he had with Hinata outside of practice were private and very omega centered. Everyone else just needed to but the hell out. Nishinoya headed for the door. He just wanted to get out of there
Hinata clambered to his feet ready to go after his upset friend but the inspector cleared his throat and spoke. "I'm not the enemy here. I'm just trying to help." The inspector said quite sincerely. Nishinoya paused and turned to look at the inspector, shock clearly written on his face that the inspector would say that and believe it after all the poking and snooping around he had done and all the extremely pointed and rude questions. Everyone in the gym held similar disbelieving looks on their faces.
"How can you actually say that?" Hinata asked, the first to recover as he blurted out his thoughts. "We're about to go to nationals, and instead of practicing we're forced to meet with you while you attempt to turn us against our coach and wreck our hard earned teamwork and trust." Hinata said, not holding back. After all, that was how he saw the situation and probably how everyone saw the situation.
The inspector sighed. "That's not the reason I'm here at all. I'm here to make sure all of you are safe and protected" the inspector tried to explain.
"Protected from who? Our coach?" Hinata questioned trying to wrap his head around what the inspector was trying to say. That just didn't make sense at all. He was their coach, why would they need protected from their coach?
The inspector frowned. Looked like he was going to have to go into detail if he really wanted to get anywhere with this investigation. "Look, some decades ago a high school coach somehow thought it was an acceptable idea that his top players be mated. Mated alphas are typically much more mellow and stable, and they deal better with rut when they have a partner. But this coach didn't just encourage his idea. He would resort to tricking and even forcing his players into a mated relationship at such a young age and parents and the volleyball community didn't take kindly to it as you can imagine." Hinata and the rest of the team stared at the inspector in absolute horror of what he had just said. How could a coach do such a thing to his players? They were supposed to help and support the team and tell them what to do when they just didn't know how to go forward. Had this actually really happened?
The inspector continued. "I'm not saying that your coach would do that to you. But a little over a week and a half ago the committee got a call from one of the coaches at All Japan worried about one of the candidates that showed up." At this most eyes in the gym turned to Kageyama. There was only one person on the team who had gone. "They suspected that Kageyama-kun was mated and asked that it be looked into to make sure that none of the rest of the player on the team were mated and to make sure there was no use of trickery or force in play. I'm not here to tear your team apart. I'm just here to get to the truth. And the more you all close ranks and refuse to answer my questions the more aggressive I have to be."
Hinata was the one who sighed this time as he turned his attention away from the inspector and stared at Kageyama. So if all the inspector needed was to know that they coach had nothing to do with any of this there was a pretty simple solution to all of this. "Order me to tell the truth." Hinata told Kageyama. Kageyama simply frowned not pleased. Hinata knew he didn't like using his alpha to order Hinata about, whether the omega want it or not. But he supposed this was the best way to get this all over with as fast as possible. And Kageyama could hear Hinata's thoughts clear enough that he wanted Kageyama to be the one to order him, and no other alpha.
"Fine, Hinata tell the inspector the truth." Kageyama ordered firmly with his alpha but added a little extra over their bond. Try not to say anything about being fate mates though. We still aren't supposed to spread that around. But if it's the last resort there isn't really a choice. Hinata nodded at the order and turned towards the inspector.
"So what do you need to know?" Hinata asked. The rest of the team stared at Hinata in awe. It was extremely rare for an omega to willingly submit or even request such an order. But then again, Hinata wasn't really one to hold his thoughts in his head, so telling the truth probably didn't bother him at all. And since the coach really didn't have any involvement in Hinata and Kageyama mating, there was nothing to hide.
The inspector paused for a moment in surprise. This was definitely a first for him. He'd never seen someone willing to be so honest. It was really all the proof he needed to know the coach wasn't involved. But he would ask what he needed the answers to just to be sure. "Are you and Kageyama-kun mated?"
Hinata smiled, that was an easy one and one he really didn't mind declaring the truth loudly. "Yes we are."
"How long have you been mated?" The inspector fired off the questions quickly.
"Just over 6 months." Hinata answered again.
"Did the coach, your teacher, or anyone suggest or encourage you in any way to mate with Kageyama-kun."
Hinata scrunch his nose up. "Of course not."
"Did anyone order you to mate with Kageyama-kun?"
"No, no one could have ordered me to mate with him anyway." Hinata said and it was the truth. He hadn't presented as an omega yet and by the time he had gone into heat there was no one around except Kageyama.
The inspector narrowed his eyes at the answer. "What do you mean?"
"Well… I was natureless before I went into heat that night and no one was around except Kageyama after I went into heat. Orders don't work on the natureless."
The inspector looked on in surprise. He sure hadn't been expecting that. They had mated on the omega's first heat. It was pretty clear that no one had messed with the omega and with the way things sounded, it had been a surprise to everyone. All he had to do was make sure no one had messed with the alpha and there was nothing more he needed to just close the case and be done with it. The inspector looked at Kageyama. He couldn't order the alpha to tell the truth, his alpha wasn't strong enough to do that. "And what about you?" Kageyama simply shook his head no to indicate that his answers would be the same as Hinata's. One last question then. "So it was your own choice to mate?"
Kageyama tensed at the question and looked at Hinata who had opened his mouth to answer. "No it wasn't exactly a choice." Kageyama frowned. Damn, they had been so close to finishing this without mentioning that they were fate mates. But Hinata had been ordered to tell the truth and that was the honest truth. It hadn't been a choice for either of them. Fate had already decided that they would be mates and they couldn't have resisted that, even if they had tried. But that didn't mean they wouldn't have chosen it on their own either.
The inspector continued to look at Hinata, waiting for an explanation. Hinata squirmed under the stare and cleared his throat. How did he explain it truthfully without actually explaining it? "It was more… instinct than choice." Hinata said, happy with his explanation. It was the truth, it had been instinctual for the both of them even if fate had been the driving force behind it.
The inspector didn't seem convinced so Kageyama chimed in. "Instinct is the best way to describe it. It wasn't about the heat… or rut, and it still isn't. It's more about the connection and what felt… right." Kageyama tried to explain but he wasn't sure it was coming across right.
The inspector sighed. "Alright, I think I have enough." He looked over at coach Ukai. "I'd like one last word, the rest of you can go back to your training." He passed a glance over the rest of the gym. "Good luck at nationals boys." The coach headed out of the gym towards the school gates speaking with the inspector as Takeda-sensei huddled them all up.
Ukai walked quietly next to the inspector waiting for him to ask. It wasn't hard to see that he knew he wasn't being told everything. Problem was, even as the coach he couldn't say anything to the inspector. When they were finally out of earshot of the gym the inspector spoke. "I can tell from Hinata and the rest of the team's reactions to this whole ordeal that you had no hand in anything that happened between Hinata and Kageyama." Ukai nodded in understanding but didn't say anything. He could tell there a but on the end of the inspector's sentence. "But I know I'm not being told everything. Do you care to fill me in on the rest or should I make my own assumptions?"
"Look, I'm not able to say anything. This is something that is up to those two boys in there." Ukai said motioning back towards the gym they were walking away from. "They've been through enough already. I don't want to make things harder for them." Ukai said trying to get the inspector to leave it be. But he could see that wasn't going to happen. Perhaps he could find another way to work around this. "If you really need to know everything then you should probably talk to their psychiatrist."
"Psychiatrist?" The inspector returned in surprise. This was the first time anyone had mentioned the two boys had been to see a psychiatrist. Neither set of parents had mentioned it when he had visited with them. A million new questions zoomed through his head at this new information. Why and how long were at the top of list. He had been about to open his mouth to ask but Ukai continued on.
"Yeah, psychiatrist. Like I said, they've been through a lot." Ukai held out the doc's small business card. Honestly this was the best way to handle this. The doc would know what to say and what not to say and it would look better coming from a licensed professional. He was also hoping that the inspector would recognize the name. There weren't very many Rei Ryuugazakis out there and he'd been in the news a lot the past 6 months. "This is his personal number and if you can get ahold of him, he'll be able to tell you everything you need to know. His mate just gave birth to their first born about 2 days ago, so I can't guarantee he'll answer right away alright?"
The inspector took the card and as soon as he read the name his head popped up, shock and understanding clearly written on his face. "Are you serious?" The inspector asked.
"Yes." Ukai answered.
"Well shit." The inspector remarked looking down at the card in his and again. This was either 100% legit or one really good lie. He was inclined to believe it was the truth with everything he had seen and heard so far. It made everything click. Why they had mated in the first place on the omega's first heat, why the parents hadn't forcefully broken the bond, why no one had been expecting it, and the way everyone seemed to tip toe around it being a choice for the boys. It hadn't completely been their choice, it had been fate. Granted when they were older they probably would have chosen to mate anyways, given how he'd seen them interact with each other but still… holy shit! The inspector pocketed the card, he'd be calling that number later for sure. Just to make sure even though he probably didn't need to. He smiled at the coach. "Well coach, good luck at nationals."
"Thanks" Ukai said a bit relieved that the whole ordeal was over with. But he wasn't the one who needed luck, the boys on the team were the ones who needed it. He turned to walk back towards the gym but stopped and turned to look at the inspector when the man called out to him again.
"Oh and coach, good luck with Takeda-sensei as well." Ukai blushed. He may not need luck for nationals but he definitely needed a bit of luck in that situation. He was still amazed that they'd finally made a step in the direction he'd wanted to go.
"Thanks" Ukai mumbled again as he turned and jogged back towards the gym.