Finally Ushijima comes along and Hinata is stunned by him, and then a little curious, and then very quickly furious at his arrogance.
Looking directly into his gaze, Hinata is almost too furious to realize he can't see a soul gem and that his eyes are half lidded even while Hinata made his speech about sprouting from concrete. Was he hiding his gem? Did he just not give a damn? These questions rolled over in his head, slowly growing more curious than angry. Because if he was hiding it, it would make sense for it to be in a similar position to Hinata's. And maybe...
As he leaves with Kageyama (who still wears a shit-eating grin because of Hinata's little outburst) he misses when Ushijima's eyes widen in excitement as he stares after Hinata, something orange and black glinting in the light of his eyes and smirk like a razorblade.
Ushijima was not one to look for soul gems. He believed (as many people did nowadays) that fate could not determine who would matter to him, and thus, never bothered looking for his match. He hardly knew what it looked like anymore.
But then Hinata came in and he just knew that somehow, this little man would be important someday. His eyes were wide and his soul gem was displayed in full glory despite it's inconvenient position- and it was so beautiful. Ushijima couldn't stop staring.
Ushijima made it a point to watch recordings of Karasuno's matches on his own time. He wasn't any good at metaphors, but Hinata looked like sunshine and what every Ace strived to be- and he narrowed his eyes when he heard Hinata called "The Perfect Decoy" because... He wasn't quite sure he agreed. Hinata was more than a decoy somehow, maybe because he scored the most points on average, or the fact he never gave up, but it felt wrong to call him anything less than a little Ace.
Ushijima didn't look at his gem after meeting Hinata. Maybe he was a little afraid they wouldn't match. (Maybe he was more afraid they would.)
You wouldn't expect Hinata and Ushijima to meet at the supermarket while shopping for their mothers, but, well. Sometimes these things happen.
"Ah!" Hinata yelps when he sees Ushijima, because of course he sees him first. "Ushiwaka-chan!" And then proceeds to try and hide behind a pile of produce- avocadoes, this time. And Natsu, sweet, vicious little Natsu, decides now is the time to meet Ushijima. So she deliberately lets go of Hinata's shirt and starts towards the tall, menacing, slightly ruffled figure that is Ushijima on a day off. Hinata will have no choice but to follow once he realizes she's wandered off.
Natsu stares straight up into Ushijima's face, neck tilted all the way back as she tries to look in his eyes. "Ushiwaka-chan!" She chirps, tugging his shirt to get his attention. He looks down, and frowns.
"...Have you shrunk?" Natsu was not pleased.
"I have not! I'm Natsu, not Shou-nii! How rude!"
"Ah." Ushijima seems to consider her before kneeling to her level. "I apologize. Does your brother play volleyball?"
"Yeah! Do you?" It's at this point Hinata finally realizes Natsu is not with him and realizes exactly where she went.
"Yes. Your brother is Hinata Shouyou?" At her cheerful nod, he tilted his head. "I have not played against him yet. He must advance to the finals for us to meet," He said gravely.
"Well, you will, because Shou-nii is amazing! He's like 'Gyah!' And 'Gwaaaah!' and 'Shwam!' when he plays!" And Hinata turns the corner, eyes locking onto Natsu.
"Natsu! You can't just wander off like that!"
"But look, it's Ushiwaka-chan!"
"Natsu..." Turning to Ushijima, he fidgeted nervously as the boy rose off the ground to tower over both of them. "Was she bothering you?"
"No." His eyes narrowed at Hinata. "You are different, somehow."
"It's 'cause he's hungry," Natsu muttered, sticking her tongue out where Hinata eyed her sharply. "And we still haven't gotten everything for the hotpot!"
"Ahh, yes, excuse me Ushijima," Hinata muttered, bowing his head briefly before herding Natsu in the right direction. "I'll see you on the court." Those parting words were iron clad in contrast to his earlier demeanor, and Ushijima watched them go with a growing smirk. Yes, Hinata Shouyou for all that he had come from nothing was far more interesting than he'd ever expected. Even slightly flustered and outside the court.
Oikawa Tooru was anything but unobservant.
He's seen Ushiwaka-chan's eyes long before he ever met Hinata Shouyou, and he knows that soul gem almost as well as his own. At first, it had been to avoid the person that would probably join Ushijima in annoying him until he joined their team (though he never would, he'd never join a team where Iwa-chan would be overlooked in favor of that cow Ushiwaka-chan).
And then he met Shouyou, who looked right in his eyes before slamming a volleyball past him with the confidence of players twice his age and none of the experience. He knew in that moment exactly who had a match- but he never said. Hinata was... He was good. He was far too good for a cow like Ushijima.
But soul gems only meant they would impact each other, which technically they already had. It didn't mean they would date or anything. And Oikawa was a little bit interested in getting to know the orange fluffball of energy...
And then Hinata snuck up next to him after Seijou's agonizing defeat by his own hands, with Yamaguchi Tadashi being dragged behind.
"You know Yamaguchi, right Oikawa-san?" Hinata plowed on, not allowing a second for refusal. "Well, I've been thinking, I think your soul gems match. Just-" And here Hinata pushed Yamaguchi next to Oikawa and tugged both their shirt collar down until he was forced to be at eye level. "Uh-huh. Oval shaped emerald on the border of the pupil and iris, right eye... Yeah! You should go get that checked out." And then promptly wandered off, satisfied with his matchup. Yamaguchi seemed to shrink into himself, side-eyeing Oikawa tentatively.
"Sorry about him," Yamaguchi murmured, and yes, there was the telltale green glint in his eye. "He's been doing that a lot lately."
"What, looking into people's eyes?" Ah, there was a small smirk from Yamaguchi. He was too cute for someone only a handful of centimeters away from being taller than Oikawa's massive height of six feet with his doe eyes and those stupid freckles and...
"Yes, actually. I think he's looking harder than the rest of us for his gem, and so he just... Anyway, I'm sorry to bother you, I'll just-" He stopped talking when Oikawa grabbed his hand, looking back with some confusion. Flashing a genuine smile, he snatched a pen from one of the managers (Who didn't even blink in their direction) before flipping Yamaguchi's palm over and scrawling something onto his palm.
"Don't be a stranger," Oikawa nearly purred as Yamaguchi's face turned pink. Folding Yamaguchi's fingers shut, he grinned even wider before turning and joining his team.
Iwaizumi would eye him the entire bus ride home, and when they finally got to their houses barged into Oikawa's and made a beeline for his room.
"Why, Iwa-chan, that's so forward of you!" Oikawa crooned even as he collapsed on the bed. He sighed as he felt Iwaizumi's weight settle beside him.
"Cut the crap Tooru. What were Karasuno's 10 and 12 talking to you about after the match?"
"Oh, you know. Shou-chan noticed that Yama-chan and I are matched." It's said blithely, even as he reached for his phone. The silence dragged on as he checked his phone, slowly checking text messages and email and snapchat.
"About time," Was all Iwaizumi said, grunting as he laid down. "I bet he's going to be taller than you."
"Iwa-chan, how rude!"
"Did you tell number 10?"
"Not yet. I figure if they don't figure it out by the end of their match I'll have to do it, even if Shou-chan is connected to that stupid cow." Their conversation is cut off when the low hum of a notification made Oikawa glance back at his phone. And then another one before he could get the lockscreen open?
'Who are you and why did you give Yamaguchi your phone number & email & snapchat' ...What?
'Sorry but Tsukki saw my hand! Could we still meet soon?' Ah! Yamaguchi! Iwaizumi groaned loudly, chucking a pillow at him even as he rolled away.
And for the night, even as he mourned their last high school match, he nursed the growing bond with the rival reserve setter happily.