Warning: This chapter contains major spoilers for the anime Haikyu!

Also, for those who aren't familiar with Haikyu! and don't mind spoilers:

Hinata and Kageyama are two of the main protagonists of Haikyu! and Karasuno is the name of their high school volleyball team.

Oikawa is sort of the main antagonist in season 1 and he plays for the rival high school team Aoba Johsai.

That's all I think. Happy Reading!

Failure to Execute

He's doodling in the study center instead of studying, his mind rewinding, pressing play, pausing, pressing play again, and then rewinding once more, rinse, repeat. He stops when he catches himself doing it and tries to concentrate on preparing for the quiz he has next hour.

"Stop it." He taps his own forehead admonishingly and sits up straighter, puffing out a breath. "Ok, focus. The…" He fixes his eyes on the page in front of him and tries to understand the question. The characters transform and he's back in the room with Kai, his calloused fingers running down his waist, his hard cock teasing against his entrance.

Oh Jesus. He's going to fail.

He's been thinking about their encounters while at uni, at least one lecture a day. He pushes the thoughts away whenever he catches himself forgetting where he is and whom he is wasting his time on. He berates himself for it afterward because hooking up with Kai is one thing but mooning over him? That's just shameful.

Well, he doesn't exactly moon over him, but rather go over the time they spent together in explicit detail, heat stirring in his gut, but that's still a big no-no. He can get it better elsewhere, like with Trent because he likes him and then he can think about the amazing sex they have in explicit detail.

He really needs to make his move on Trent. This slow moving thing is just not for him. He's an impatient guy. Once he's decided he wants something then he needs to have it as quickly as possible. Last Wednesday, Trent and Tyson had gone to a club (they were talking about mundane things like clubbing the night before and Trent had gone 'hey, why don't we go clubbing together?' and Tyson had almost bit his own tongue off in the hurry to say yes) and Tyson had turned on his charm all the way to a thousand percent, teasing, subtly flirting hoping the guy would flirt back or at least pick up on the signals he was sending but Trent didn't do much flirting back, he just got really shy and fidgeted with his drink whenever Tyson said something flattering or suggestive. He also noticed the hickey on Tyson's neck. All those things still has to mean something right? It's not a lot, yes, but it's still something. Right?

Tyson's planning to drop a major hint the next time they meet up. He's not going to try to kiss him or anything but he'll make a comment that heavily implies that he likes him. He won't say it straight up but it'd be something impossible for Trent to miss. He can just ignore the comment if he doesn't feel the same. He's not homophobic. Tyson's figured that out. He said he watched 'Call Me By Your Name' the other night. It's a wildly popular movie but it's also a gay movie and no homophobe is watching that and saying he likes it.

Trent is a pretty chill guy. He and Tyson get along so well. He's not going to stop being friends with Tyson because he got a massive crush on him that he doesn't return. Tyson's also praying. Praying that Trent doesn't end their friendship and that whatever stupid feeling he gets right after Kai fucks him to an orgasm goes away.

The feeling he's bothered by isn't anything positive towards Kai so there's no reason to panic. Tyson can still respect himself. But it's like a sense of connection. Everything gets hazy and intense and surreal and Kai's there in that moment with him and it's…weird. But it dissipates after a few moments, right after Kai opens his mouth so it's fine.

"Hey, Em, are you busy?" Tyson asks, reaching out to Emily to help him study for the quiz.

"Nope, just hanging out with Michael," she says. "You know he's unimportant." There's a muffle of protest from the offended boyfriend in the background.

"I need your help," says Tyson. "I have a statistics quiz next hour and I need to study for it but my head is in the clouds."

"Isn't it always like that with you?" teases Emily.

Tyson laughs. "I'm desperate."

"Where are you?" she asks, getting serious. "I'll be right there."

"Study center," he says with great relief. "Thank you so much." He is so grateful.

He needs to find out more about the black eye. Kai's been walking around everywhere with it and Tyson gets more and more curious and agitated each time he lays eyes on the purpled skin.

Who had done it and why isn't Kai going after them? Has he already gone after them? Is he going after them right now? Tyson's staring with no attempts to hide it as Kai hangs out with his friends in the courtyard. Kristina's next to him fussing over the very same injury Tyson's obsessing over.

She brings her hand to his face to touch him and he slightly leans away from her, his gaze gliding up to meet Tyson's across the courtyard.

He tries not to react but his pulse spikes anyway, skin heating when he doesn't look away immediately, stare resting on him for a minute. May be Tyson could just ask him straight up.

'Hey man, where'd you get the black eye from?'

Kai would probably ignore him or rudely dismiss him, based on his mood. He doesn't seem to be in the greatest mood right now. But may be he could still try and get something out of him. Also he has an itch that only Kai can scratch for him at the moment. Tyson determinedly pulls his phone out of his pocket and texts Kai.

"Want to meet up later?"

Kristina's attention has drifted away from Kai, laughing at something Julia is saying. Kai takes his phone out and glances at it for a moment before swiping his hand over the screen.

"Sure" comes the reply.

Tyson immediately texts back. "Time?"

"Seven"

When Tyson glances back up at him, he's putting his phone away, talking to Sergei. He's happy to be able to freely stare at him again. The black eye is most definitely connected to the other bruises and scrapes Kai shows up with sometimes and getting to the bottom of that mystery is probably the quickest way for Tyson to get his revenge.

He needs to start digging around again while also being on the lookout for Kai's retaliation for the snake Tyson planted in his garage. The next few weeks should be eventful.

Practice runs late into the evening and Tyson has to rush to the hotel to make it on time.

"Sorry I almost stood you up," he says, closing the door behind him, slightly winded. "Practice ran late."

Kai's sitting on the couch, he looks up from his phone with a distracted expression. He's not the most welcoming as he regards him. Closed off. But he gets like that after every time they hook up. It's a defense mechanism or something to keep people at an arm's length. As if Tyson isn't quite literally trying to escape from his clutches.

Tyson realizes that he's not feeling the most horny right now either so he says, "Do you want to like put something on? To set the mood?"

"Didn't need it the last time," says Kai, attention returning to the screen. Ok, so he is in the mood?

But Tyson still isn't.

"Well I'm coming straight from the ground," he says. "I still have Carr's voice ringing in my head so." He moves towards the TV and picks up the remote, looking back at Kai. He doesn't seem very enthusiastic about the idea. "Look, you don't have to watch it with me or anything. Just um…" He shifts to the bed and makes himself comfortable on it. "Sit next to me." He pats the blanket invitingly.

Kai glances at him and then at the TV, pulling in a breath, like he's not happy with that suggestion either. Tyson just turns back to the screen and switches it on, navigating to the anime 'Haikyu!'.

He's pulled up the sixteenth episode (picking up where he left off the night before), and is halfway through it, on the ten minute mark when Kai uncomfortably takes a seat next to him on the bed, arranging his long legs in a way that they stretch down the mattress and leans his back against the pillows stacked against the headboard, folding his arms. He's in all black and Tyson's briefly distracted by the lines of his body beside him.

"Haikyuu turns you on?" Kai asks after a beat.

"No, it's my comfort show," Tyson explains. "Helps me wind down."

They watch two episodes together and by the third Kai starts making quips about the anime. "That's an annoying character," he says as Hinata's on the screen, complaining about Kageyama.

"That's my favorite character," Tyson scoffs. "He's endlessly determined. He doesn't let his short height stop him from being a great volleyball player and he's-"

"Still annoying."

Tyson looks at him with his mouth open, offended. "You've watched the anime before?"

Kai shrugs. "Wyatt made me."

"Who do you think is the least annoying?" he asks, ready to tear into and judge Kai based on the character he gravitates towards.

"Kageyama"

He snorts a laugh. "Kageyama. You have to be kidding me," says Tyson. "He can be so fucking annoying sometimes. He understands no one around him."

Kai finally unfolds his arms and turns to face Tyson, the movement making him sit closer to him. He can smell his cologne on him. Tyson's lowkey starting to smell like him too with all the rubbing and fondling they do. "Kageyama's a genius setter. He understands the game better than anyone and he has what is needed to succeed but the people around him have trouble matching up to his level. That's no fault of his."

"He doesn't try to understand his teammates," argues Tyson. "He doesn't try to work with them and volleyball is a team sport. He has too much ego."

"With that level of talent it's okay to have some ego."

"You would say that," says Tyson leaning into Kai's space.

They get pretty into Haikyu, heatedly debating about the characters, and because he's watching the show with someone who views things in a totally different way from him most of the time he feels like he's watching it for the first time. They get overly invested in the matches, discussing strategies, critiquing each other's strategies, side eyeing each other stiffly when they realize they're both rooting for the same team - Karasuno against Aoba Johsai. Sex slips from his mind and before Tyson notices hours have passed and his stomach starts grumbling.

"I'm hungry," groans Tyson out loud. "Do you have room service?"

"Mhm" says Kai, eyes on the screen as he reaches for the landline and hands the receiver to Tyson.

"Hello, what's something light on your menu tonight?" Tyson asks as Oikawa prepares to serve on TV. Oh god, he's going to go for another service ace.

"Don't run up the bill," says Kai.

"I'm paying for it myself," says Tyson, cupping the microphone, sticking his tongue out. "As if I'd take your money." He orders some food and juice then hangs up.

Oikawa's ace gets blocked and they both cheer as Karasuno wins the second set.

"Yes!" Tyson celebrates, pumping his fists in the air. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Kageyama was clever to predict that," says Kai, settling down.

"Oh shut up, fan boy."

"You know this is how I feel when Tala overtakes you in a race," Kai says, meeting his eyes with amusement as he toes his boots off and pulls his feet up, making himself cosy.

Tyson's glaring at him over his shoulder. "I cheer for your downfall too whenever Robert scores higher than you on a paper."

"You like Robert?" Kai asks with an automatic grimace, like he can't fathom the idea of someone liking him.

"No, I think he's a loser sometimes," says Tyson, shifting around on the bed so he faces Kai more. He's closer to the headboard while Tyson had moved towards the TV in front as the match had gotten more intense.

He snorts and grimaces on instinct again. "Wow, I can finally agree with you on something."

"Gross, but you know what they say, the enemy of your enemy is a friend. I dislike him much less than you. Far far less. The dislike isn't even incomparable. He's just a loser. You are evil."

"Thank you"

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I'm taking it as one."

Food arrives then and he brings it to the bed, happily digging in, before he remembers his manners and nudges reluctantly at Kai's arm. He looks at him. "Do you want some?" Tyson asks with a frown on his mouth.

Kai seems like he's going to turn down the offer before he takes the fork from Tyson's fingers and helps himself to some noodles. He tries not to stare at him as he eats. Who looks handsome even while eating?

He forces his eyes to the screen. The third set has started and he is swept up in it quickly. There's a shocking move as a player jumps from behind the midline and sets to Oikawa.

"Did you see that?" Tyson tugs insistently at Kai's sleeve. "That was crazy."

"They're such a good team," says Kai, passing the fork to Tyson.

"They are," he whines, tearing at his hair in stress. He already knows how the game ends but he's still stressed. He grabs a forkful and scarfs it down, wiping his mouth. "Formidable opponents."

"What do you think about Oikawa?" asks Kai thoughtfully.

"I think he's very hardworking but hella insecure."

"I like that he's hardworking," says Kai.

"Me too," agrees Tyson and then he bugs his eyes out for a second when he realizes what just happened, but he pushes on unbothered. "But the insecurity…" He turns to Kai wincing.

"Pushes him to strive harder," fills in Kai. "He's Kageyama's biggest rival." He's got his arms folded over his chest again but loosely, his shoulder pressing against Tyson's. Tyson's not sure who moved closer first but he doesn't care. It's getting chillier and Kai's warm. If anything he shifts a little closer as time passes.

"Kageyama's jealous of Oikawa too," says Tyson.

"Yeah"

"It goes both ways."

He finishes the noodles but not before offering Kai the last bite (with a grudge in his heart) because his grandpa hadn't brought him up to be a lesser man. Kai declines with a shake of his head and he eats it happily.

They watch the rest of the season and is heartbroken at the crushing defeat their side suffers at the hands of Aoba Johsai. "It doesn't get any easier with rewatches," Tyson whispers into the silence, a tear threatening the corner of his eye as he watches Hinata running down the hall crying.

"They deserved to win," murmurs Kai.

"They did." He sniffs and heaves a sigh when the last episode ends. "What's the time?" he asks Kai with a yawn.

"Three-twelve," says Kai, nudging Tyson's knee off his thigh.

"What?" He sits up straight. Shocked. "Three a.m.?"

"We watched the whole season," snarks Kai, drowsily rubbing his eye. "What were you expecting?"

"Oh my god." Tyson scrambles off the bed, grabbing his keys and wallet. "I need to get to the dorm. I have practice tomorrow morning. Fuck." He's putting his shoes on when it hits him. "Kai" he says, pausing.

Kai's snuggling into the bed when he calls him, but he looks over at him instantly growing alert at his tone.

"We didn't…" Tyson trails off realizing that he didn't do anything that he came here to do tonight. He didn't even ask him about the stitches on his face.

"Oh" Kai's eyes get soft and sleepy again. A tuft of hair falls over his forehead. "It's fine," he says, voice deepened with sleep, before burrowing under the covers. He looks so comfy. So does the bed. Tyson's tempted to crawl in next to him instead of taking Mike's bike back to the dorm in the cold night. But it's a stupid and lazy urge and he has only one option really so he quietly heads to the dorm.

He's sitting on a bench munching on a granola bar taking a break from training when Ming-Ming sits next to him.

"Oh brother" says Tyson when he sees the bespectacled girl wearing an outrageously flashy outfit. "Are those glasses real?"

"No, dummy, they're for style," she fixes them daintily, the beaded chain jingles. "Granger, do you remember a certain fight we witnessed together during a masquerade ball a few months ago?"

"Yeah" He looks at her warily. "Why?"

"Do you also happen to notice that our favourite Hiwatari has been walking around with a garishly nasty bruise on his face?" She widens her eyes at him.

He stays silent. Waiting for her to get to the point.

Ming-Ming smiles at him secretively. "I think these two things are connected. Granger, I will promise to stay out of your business and not try to find out the truth about why you're slaving for Hiwatari if you help me get to the bottom of this mystery."

Tyson shakes his head immediately. "You've written so many lies about me and worked with Kai before. I don't trust you."

Ming puts her hand over his, acrylic nails grazing his skin as she leans in. "Something tells me you're interested in uncovering the story behind Kai's injuries as well. I can see it in your eyes," her voice borders on a hiss at the end.

While that may be true and he'd very much like a partner, Ming-Ming is two faced and stabs people in the back without so much as a bat of a glittery eyelash. She absolutely cannot be trusted and certainly not with his schemes against Kai. He snatches his hand from her. "No," he says resolutely.

"My offer still stands." Ming gets up, unruffled, dusting her skirt. "If you change your mind you know where to find me," she says over her shoulder before walking away.