Team mom, team dad
The term had long since started, and he finally got into the daily routines that school and practice brought with it. Daichi had been awfully pleased with the new recruits this year, landing a prodigy was not expected, but more than welcome. With the new faces comes the greatest challenge with team sports.
"So I was planning a barbeque."
Suga and him were spending their lunch brainstorming plans for a group activity.
"Who'll bring the meat? Suga, we can't even afford that right now.."
"So! We'll just do it without meat, a veggie feast!"
"Promising our boys a barbeque and not showing up with meat will only lead to disappointment. It was a nice idea though."
Suga seemed to understand his reasoning this time around and continued clicking and scrolling on his phone. In his self wallowing, Asahi decided to show up, sitting down on the opposite bench. Glancing over at his assortment of sandwiches triggered a pool of drool to form in his mouth.
"..oh no, Daichi. Let me get that." Suga said between chuckles as he grabbed a napkin to wipe up the drool that apparently let slip in the corner of his mouth.
His reflexes turned his head towards him and eyes closed on instinct while Suga went to work on his face. He couldn't help but form a grimache before he was done.
"Think you missed a spot." Asahi teased.
"No I didn't!" Suga claimed back, licking his thumb to smudge away at whatever could be left on Daichi's face.
"Thank you, Suga, I'm sure it's fine now."
And he got that same warm smile that could speed up climate change if it wanted to. As a final 'thanks' Daichi reached up to ruffle his hair, finishing it off by running his fingers through it and styling it slightly, he didn't want to completely ruin Suga's image at school. On the other side of them Asahi sat and smiled contently at them.
"So, me and Daichi were thinking of taking everyone to do karaoke."
"Were we?"
"Shh Daichi, go along with it."
"...what Suga tried to say was, we were trying to put together a karaoke session at his place."
"What! I can't have that many people at my place!"
"And since we can't afford to pay for everyone, and also don't want to assume everyone has the means to pay for a club activity that doesn't even involve volleyball," Daichi took a breath, "I simply assumed the noble and selfless Suga would offer his place up."
Suga had that adorable pout again that never failed to put a smile on Daichi's face.
"Actually.." Asahi finally spoke up "maybe I can ask Noya if we could set it up at his place?"
The two others looked at each other in sync and grinned, both happy with the concluded outcome.
"Perfect! Ask him! We need to check which dates work for everyone as well."
Both Daichi and Asahi nodded in response. Suga and Sawamura started dividing responsibilities between them and coming up with, as well as shutting down, ideas together. Once they were at it, Asahi had no chance of butting in, but neither did he want to. Happily content with the situation, he continued to nibble on his sandwiches as he watched the love birds quarrel.
"I got the chips, tea's over there and… HINATA GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Suga's voice echoed in the small home, "Just wait until Daichi gets here!"
As if summoned, said person decided to knock before entering the hallway. Eyes darting to the red-head on the bookshelf, in the middle of reaching over to the ceiling fan. Daichi crossed his arms over his chest and gave a glare, non verbally giving the other a warning.
"Daichi!" Suga cracked a smile before turning back to his bothered expression, "Tell Hinata it's a bad idea to spin from the fan!"
"Hinata, last time we had a talk, what did we say about these things?"
Something seemed to fall into place in his mind, mouth forming a childish 'o'.
"Nothin' destroying stuff!"
"Do you think the fan could break?"
"No…"
Hinata looked away. Small beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he noticed he might be wrong.
"...maybe."
"Do we do things that could break others' things?"
"No, Daichi…"
"Because?"
"Because it would make me sad, so it might make them sad too."
He swore that sometimes handling Hinata was scarily close to handling his youngest siblings. But what worked, well, worked. No need to change a successful concept. Suga also seemed to be happy with the outcome, but there was a hint of trouble in his eyes as they went back to him.
"Daichi, do you have a minute?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure."
And he was dragged off to a separate room. The other man closed the door behind them and looked around to make sure no one was hiding anywhere noticeable.
"It's about Kageyama and Hinata."
Daichi was slightly confused and waited for Suga to carry on his talk.
"They have been fighting."
"Friends fight, we have to let them do that."
"No, not like that. You know, like, with their fists."
Now this shocked Daichi.
"What?"
"You need to talk to them. I tried, but.. I don't think they really listened."
Pride filled him as he heard his vice captain had tried to work things out for their team. Suga had his head down slightly and rubbed his arm, looking like he thought he failed at his task. That was something Daichi wanted to put a stop to as soon as possible, which he did by inviting him with arms wide open into a hug. Suga practically dove into his arms, burrowing his face into the other man's shoulder, breathing in his scent deep in his lungs.
"I'll talk to them. A captain has to do his job, right?" Daichi said against his soft hair.
"You're already doing a good job.. I just thought, I could take this burden from you."
From years of practice deciphering his friend's mumbles, Sawamura was able to figure out Suga's words and stroke his hair to calm him down further.
"Mhm, don't stop."
"With your hair?"
"Mmm…"
Suga sounded to be on the brink of sleep, tired from planning this whole event and emotionally drained from the drama happening in their club. Daichi decided to be his rock for a minute longer as he stayed, running his fingers through the gray hair and humming slightly, another trick he picked up from being the oldest sibling. A few moments went by in silence before it broke.
"Thank you, Daichi."
"You never have to thank me, Su-..."
"No, really, you mean so much to me."
Daichi decided to respond with a soft smile.
"And you to me, Koushi."
He swore he saw some redness in those cheeks before they hid back in his hoodie again. Was Suga shy about speaking his feelings aloud this far in their friendship? Maybe Daichi didn't present himself as open enough to make him comfortable to talk feelings. It might be a bit of a stigma to talk about feelings amongst men, but he thought they were past that. He added a mental note to act more accepting towards that.
"We should probably head out, they might think that, you know.."
Although Daichi wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to, he had a wild guess he didn't want the others to think he was bawling his eyes out over something that might be seen as petty. So he simply took his hand and led them out, but first making sure Suga looked presentable enough for the crowd, tucking a few strands of hair back behind his ears.
"Roooolling… HUGGER!"
A wild Nishinoya appeared, as soon as the door opened up. A solid second passed before the other two men were covered by the younger libero, a supposed attempt at hugging.
"Noya, space." his dad-voice commanded.
"Sir, yes Sir!" sounded before they were free of whatever limbs ended up in their faces.
"Thank you though, Noya."
Wide smiles were exchanged and Daichi felt a certain fondness for how close they were in their team. He put an arm around Suga to show support as Noya guided them back to the living room. Tanaka had brought with him a speaker and microphone he borrowed from his sister, the set up seeming to finally be near completion.
"So these in the blue bowl are chili chips, in the ceramic bowl I put pepper chips and the spicy in the plastic one." Suga explained.
The entire team looked at him in panic before the second- and third years realized he was joking, first years still seeming unsure. Yamaguchi reached for one of the types, proceeding and pulling back like a cat walking around a suspicious object. When he finally got to taste the snack, he gave the rest of them a thumbs up. Chips were safe to eat, false alarm from Suga! Surprise to no one, he earned himself a few playful punches from the rest of them.
The rest of the snacks were set up as time went by as well, the rest of the team dropping in. Tanaka decided it was his job to tune the microphone by singing the first song, although slightly painful to watch, it brought forth a few laughs from the crowd. When everyone arrived, the majority of them were sitting in varying positions and on different surfaces around the table. Suga curled in beside Daichi, setting down a drink he got for him. He thanked him, adding a thankful smile which Suga countered, before sipping his soda.
After a few trials at the makeshift stage, Yamaguchi was pulling Tsukishima with him to sing a duet. Suga started a rhythmic clap to cheer them on, which Daichi followed to support his vice-captain. The two boys seemed to switch confidence in social situations compared to on the court, the ash-blonde found this hilarious as his giggles filled the room. At the end of their show, Yamaguchi struck a pose, poking the other until he did the same and high-fiving for a good song sung.
"Suga, did you see that!" the tall brunette exclaimed.
"Mhm! Did indeed!" said through a non-wavering smile.
"We did good right?"
"You were amazing, little crows!"
He did a little jump, turning a full circle before feet touched the ground again. Daichi's mind turned to the other duo in the room and found them sharing glares sharp enough to cut the air around them.
"I'll be right back, okay?" Daichi leaned close and whispered to Suga.
He got a nod in return and got up to stride towards the little tangerine and his ex-rival.
"Hinata, Kageyama, may I have a minute?"
The boys were quick on their feet and followed like the little ducklings they were.
Both of them were rubbing their hands nervously, knowing they were in for a lecture, preparing for the storm that would so likely take place after this calm. Trying to enjoy their final moments, Hinata decided to send a little prayer away while Kags ran through his possible replies in his head to whatever questions Sawamura could throw their way. He couldn't help but to feel a little sorry for them, knowing all the times he had been in their place, just before a proper scolding.
"Boys…"
Both heads turned towards him, but their eyes drifted away in all possible directions.
"Focus."
And he finally got the outcome he wanted. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, up to smooth down the tension forming in his eyebrows.
"I was hoping we would be done with this.." he left a pause for them to take in the information "..We're all a team now, we can't be fighting amongst ourselves when we've planned to work together as one unit."
"Sorry, Sawamura"
"So-.. We apologize."
But Daichi wasn't done. They seemed to have taken the presented information to heart, but he had one more worry on his chest.
"And look, that's all well and good. I know, and hope, you didn't mean what you did to each other. But I know Suga tried to talk to you as well."
They looked up at him a little confused.
"You need to take his talks seriously too." he started "He's your vice captain, and I feel like I should warn you he's no joke when he's pushed past his limit."
Something seemed to click in Hinata's head, not regarding the explanation of Suga's anger patterns.
"We're sorry we hurt Suga! We didn't mean to! And we didn't know how much he meant to you… I know he's our team mate, we didn't think. We'll listen! We promise!"
He elbowed Kageyama.
"Yes!"
Daichi was satisfied with their little talk. He asked them to hug it out for a bit, and they put stiff arms around each other, grimaching before their punishment got to an end.
Training was starting in half an hour, but Daichi wanted to get in early to practice a few serves. Michimiya had insisted on following him there, talking wildly about new combos their team wanted to perfect. It was easy to nod along, smile and laugh at the enthusiasm she carried for her entire club, the talk calming him down and letting his shoulders relax.
"...we're doing some hardcorde upper-body work out this weekend! Mao reeeaally wanted to get some force into her spikes!"
"Maybe I'll ask if a few of the boys want to join in on that?" Daichi answered her.
"Mhm! Strengthen our school spirit and all that!" Michimiya's smile was blinding, and the pat on his back knocked him forward a good few steps.
He chuckled it off, she really didn't need any more strength in those arms if she was going to stay safe for society. The woman was soon to be a living weapon of destruction with those guns.
Reaching their destination, his eyes wandered to Tanaka and Azumane, already there practicing badly set spikes in turns. They both stopped and Asahi smiled as he noticed them. He was just about to shout the question of the team work-out this weekend, when he was cut off by Yui pulling his arm.
"Work hard today, Sawamura!" She encouraged him, pulling him down to a hard kiss with both her hands flat on his cheeks.
The kiss was quick, but left him with a grin as they parted, Yui already running away with springy steps towards her next adventure. He was having that fluffy feeling in his gut until he turned around, seeing Tanaka running straight towards him fuming with what seemed to be anger. What was going on?
"What…! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT?!"
Tanaka's hands balled around the neck of his hoodie. Daichi stuttered something in shock but his mind was left blank as he was pushed up against the wall next to the double-door.
"..Tanaka!" Asahi got out as he closed in on them.
Not really seeming to want to help Daichi get out of this situation, but still had that worried look on his face.
"You fucking.. Cheater!" There was a sense of disbelief under that anger. "How could you? And with her! Do you want to split the team apart?!"
"Now, now.." Asahi started, "Maybe Daichi didn't want that. Maybe Michimiya forced that kiss on him? Maybe it was a bet… Right Daichi?"
Azumane looked up at him with such hope in his eyes. It struck him that the expression on their faces weren't anything like what he was used to with his teammates. The reactions present were fierce, deciding this was no joking matter to them; he finally got some words to come out of his mouth.
"What?"
Okay, one word apparently.
"There is nothing going on between you and Michimiya right?"
Daichi raised an eyebrow. Were they mad at him for choosing a girl over the team? She was basically on the team! It wouldn't take any time away from volleyball.
"...I do have time for both, if that's what you're worried about?" Daichi reasoned.
Tanaka looked like he was ready to burst a blood vessel at any moment now.
"You fucking two-timer!"
Before he could brace himself, he was dealt a mean right-hook to his jaw.
"Tanaka!" Both him and Asahi screamed, but in very different tones, with very different meanings.
What was wrong with him! Tanaka was at last pulled away from him. Strong arms lifting him away from Daichi, legs still kicking trying to get their energy out.
"What's all this about? Explain yourselves." Daichi tried to use his captain-voice.
"We don't want to pick sides Daichi, but you're making it hard if you two break up because you were cheating on him."
"Cheating on who?"
The confusion seemed to have transferred from Daichi to Asahi, finally landing at Tanaka as well. He was glad anger wasn't the main emotion present anymore.
He heard Tanaka mutter 'speak of the devil' to Asahi, as Suga entered the hall, bending down to switch shoes before he noticed the tension in the air. With a small but warm smile, slightly puzzled expression, he asked his question.
"What's up?"
Daichi's eyes swam back and forth between everyone in the room, the others keeping theirs on the ground.
"Daichi, uhm…"
"Just tell him what you did." Tanaka snapped after Asahi's attempt.
"About Michimiya?" He tried to clarify.
"What's going on with her? Team doing okay?" Suga said, sounding somewhat concerned.
"We got together, the other day." He replied, a little bashful remembering the event.
The quiet lingered for a few seconds before Sugawara was brave enough to end it.
"As in… romantically?" Shock and hurt present on his face.
"Yeah, that's the plan. But I already promised these morons that it wouldn't affect…"
Daichi didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before the other boy stormed out. He was about to follow him, to comfort him and figure this out, but Asahi pushed him away from doing so before he went out himself instead. Daichi was now left alone with Tanaka, who already started putting his stuff away.
"Training's canceled today" Tanaka said with a heavy tongue as he passed the rest of the team on the way out, "and captain's in charge of clean up."