It had been raining. The day was a dark grey, the showers on pause  after their first burst early morning. Now, impending clouds quietly  festered in the background. It was barely drizzling but the weather  predictions said it would pour again later and might even thunder.

Finally. The day had come.

Here Hinata was, with his whole team, at Aoba Johsai’s gym, everyone  in uniform, with Seijoh on one side of the net and Karasuno on the  other. And there, at the back, in plain sight –

Hinata had tried. When the team had got off the bus, and the coaches  had greeted each other, he tried so hard not to make it obvious, not to  search high and low for that Seijoh star. But it was like he was a  computer and some default programming in his system made his brain  automatically scan every nook and cranny for a 6 foot, 18 year old,  brown-haired, brown-eyed disgustingly good-looking setter in white and  turquoise. Hinata had felt his presence before he saw him. The redhead forced himself not to look.

But now.

Hinata could not fight how he’d been coded. He looked, and saw, only Oikawa at the back row, on the other side of the net, holding the ball with those invaluable, healing hands. Oikawa’s gaze shifted onto Hinata. Two lines became one.

And there it was.

FUCK. Kageyama thought.

Am I imagining it? Daichi, posed in position, watched. Oikawa is… looking at Hinata… and only Hinata…

Tsukishima pretended not to notice… that from the moment they had  assembled in the front row the shrimp seemed transfixed with something  on the other side of the net. And now… all eyes were on that arrogant  third-year setter who seemed just as transfixed… on this side of the  net…

One look. That was all it took. One look between them and Kageyama knew instantly.

The orange-haired spiker felt the blood boom to the right of his chest, the ache in the bite seemed to pulse in response to its creator’s gaze. Oikawa glanced down, at Hinata’s leg, and smirked. His eyes went  back up to the middle blocker –

So you’re wearing my knee brace. I still won’t go easy on you.

Hinata half-grinned back: I wasn’t expecting you to. And we’re still going to beat you.

‘Oikawa,’ Iwaizumi said. ‘You ready?’

‘Oh I’m always ready,’ Oikawa replied, still looking at number 10.

The whistle sounded.

Oikawa breathed and threw the ball up – if felt like it hung in the air –

I –

And slowly descended –

Was made –

He ran forward –

For this.

And jumped –

BAM!

The ball was like a bullet – it ricocheted off Asahi’s arms and off court.

Service ace.

‘Give them another one Oikawa!’

Hinata turned to the setter. So powerful, so fast, so strong…

Impressed, Oikawa grinned, aren’t you?

But now was not the time to be daunted or turned on by Oikawa’s serves.

‘Bring it!’ Hinata yelled.

BAM. Another one straight at Asahi that he couldn’t save. 

Oikawa knew what would come next. Their good old captain would step in for his ace. Well. He had a strategy for that –

WHOOSH. The ball hit the floor between Daichi and Nishinoya, both thinking the other would get it, and bounced off court.

Third service ace.

And if Oikawa could silence their libero, well then –

But on Oikawa’s fourth serve Nishinoya got the ball up in the air to the cheers of Karasuno.

‘Kageyama!’

Oikawa had barely blinked –

A flash of orange –

A perfect set –

It was like magic. The ball flew straight by Matsukawa.

First point to Karasuno.

Oikawa stared as his opponents fed his little bird praise. 

Kageyama had been at B. Hinata had been at A. It was an impossible setup. There was no way they could’ve planned it or had known. It was like –  telepathy. No. Even faster than that. Such a marvel in volleyball was a  beauty to behold and Oikawa felt the privilege of witnessing it. He  would never get tired of seeing that crazy quick attack. Not now. Not  ever. Although, there was another side to the coin –

Kageyama turned, his expression villainous, triumphant, with eyes that said to Oikawa –

You will never have this.

Oikawa clenched his jaw. He felt it. The stab of that look. More than Kageyama rubbing his genius talent in Oikawa’s face, effortlessly setting the ball with pinpoint precision – that wasn’t intentional, that was just who Kageyama was – but with Hinata in the mix he was now boasting, daring to make jabs at Seijoh’s captain at a raw spot. Because Oikawa knew it all too well: he hated the super quick attack not just  because of its insane speed and attack power but now because of this  added layer of truth –

He would never share it with Hinata.

This wonder, this superpower, it belonged to Kageyama and Hinata. And only to them. It was something Oikawa could never have.

Oikawa gritted his teeth as he felt the searing reality of the moment like a burning branding iron on his heart. He sneered at the insolent first year.

Well…

To Kageyama’s horror, Oikawa smirked knowingly back at him, as if Oikawa knew some dark disgusting secret. Kageyama felt the ground  tremble beneath his feet.

‘Hey. Trashykawa. It’s a practice match. Stop picking a fight with the first year.’

‘Well he started it!’ Oikawa whined, turning to his best friend and so he never caught sight of those tiny hands that balled into fists,  along with the flash of a glare that burned in Iwaizumi’s direction.

Trashykawa.

Hinata plunged his nails into his palm so hard he felt the blood choke and throb under his skin.

Asahi served. After a brief rally, the super quick attack again – 

Kunimi almost got to it but Karasuno took another point.

‘We need to put a blocker on him,’ Iwaizumi said.

‘I agree.’

Tsukishima blocked a spike from Kindaichi. But then Iwaizumi scored the next point. And so the game continued. Karasuno overtook Seijoh then Seijoh overtook Karasuno again.

Then, Hinata was in the back row and it was his turn to serve. He  couldn’t help it – he looked at Oikawa. The setter wasn’t outright smiling but Hinata could sense in that look, all the encouragement, support and teaching Oikawa had given him these past weeks. Oikawa wanted him to serve well. He took a deep breath. Gripped the ball. There was the whistle. He threw the ball, forward and up, he ran, then jumped  –

‘Uhhh!’

And hit it with as much force as he could muster –

‘Watari!’

The libero dug it up – to Oikawa – then Iwaizumi –

And straight back near Hinata –

It bounced and flew off court.

Seijoh took the point.

‘That was a pretty good serve for a first year,’ Maki muttered to Watari. ‘Not as good as Kageyama’s but still -’

‘He couldn’t serve at all in our first practice match,’ Watari replied.

Iwaizumi was about to turn –

But then stopped. Oikawa was staring across the net. Smiling at someone. Not smirking, not sneering or sniggering but… genuinely smiling. And –

Number 10.

He was smiling back at Oikawa.

What the –

In the Karasuno sidelines, after all the pats on the back on Hinata, Suga had caught it too just as Iwaizumi had –

Did Hinata and Oikawa just… smile at each other?

Suga wasn’t sure if he was imagining things. He thought he saw the two of them stare at each other before the game but he attributed it to his conscious bias after Asahi had reportedly seen them together yesterday at the fair. But Suga had just now seen Hinata search beyond the net, until he found Oikawa. And Oikawa had smiled at him as if he  was… proud of Hinata…?

Across the ponds of looks and observations, Tsukishima was the only one who noticed Kageyama gripping his hands at his sides, his face full of hatred, looking like he wanted to claw at something. Tsukishima wasn’t sure what but he could sense that beneath the surface, there was  something else entirely going on inside this match…

So his serve hadn’t won Karasuno the point but still – Hinata felt like a million dollars having performed his first ever jump serve in a match against another team. Oikawa looked happy too. It was the turbo  boost Hinata needed that made him run even faster, jump even higher, go for the ball even more than he’d ever done before –

Karasuno took the first set. 25-23.

Tsukishima gawped at Hinata. How does anyone have that much energy?

‘Great stuff, you two. Hinata, you good?’ Daichi checked little red guy who was panting; he nodded, covered in sweat.

By habit, by the reward centre in his brain which made him feel amazing, by the neurons, endorphins and every other self-creating drug  his own body made, through the bodies of his teammates, Hinata’s eyes looked beyond, at the huddled team in turquoise and white, until he found what he was looking for. His brain did not disappoint him. And by some coincidence or connection, Oikawa’s head turned in Hinata’s direction, and his eyes moved and met the spiker’s.

Was it the adrenaline rush? In that moment, Hinata felt more for Oikawa than he had done in the past five weeks combined.

I bit you.

I marked you.

As mine.

There was not another person more beautiful in the entire world than Toru Oikawa.

‘Hinata? You’re still wearing your towel.’

‘Sorry what? Oh yeah -’

Second set. What had happened? Hinata’s eyes automatically roved to Oikawa. His slender arms and toned legs, his slim frame and that volleyball shirt that Hinata had cum on –

‘Hinata!’

Hinata gaped, as the ball flew right over his head, and he had made no attempt to block or receive it. Plunk. It landed just behind him.

‘Hinata you moron stop standing there staring into space! Get your head back in the game!’

‘I’m – I’m sorry!’

Seijoh were laughing at him too. Hinata blushed. 

Unconsciously he looked to Oikawa. Of course that setter was smirking as if he knew what Hinata had been thinking. Hinata blushed even more.

‘Oikawa. Your serve.’

Oikawa spun the ball in his hands. He glanced at Hinata, and in that glance, Hinata knew –

BOOF!

Hinata managed to get his arms in the right position but not the right angle even though this serve was a lot softer and slower almost like a feint –

The ball spun out of his control out of court.

‘Do it again Oikawa!’

He did. The second time, Hinata raised his arms to stop the ball hitting his face, and the ball dropped to the floor.

They were smiling at each other but now Oikawa is deliberately targeting Hinata? Suga watched, frowning.

Kageyama could feel it in his bones – Oikawa was going to do it again. That snake really was a beast on the court.

‘Hinata,’ Kageyama dropped his voice lower, ‘just move out the way. I’ll receive for you -’

‘No, I want to do it!’

‘Now isn’t the time to for you to be practising receives in the middle of a game!’

‘This is a practice match, isn’t it? So when else am I supposed to practice receives?’

‘You’re not a libero you’re not going to be able to receive an Oikawa serve after two attempts!’

‘But if I don’t try how will I ever learn?’

‘Listen dumbass!’ Kageyama grabbed Hinata by the collar. ‘You can barely receive let alone receive an Oikawa serve -’

Kageyama felt the blood drain out of him. Someone had punctured his heart with a thick needle. Beneath his hands, under Hinata’s shirt, just to the right of the spiker’s chest –

‘What,’ Kageyama breathed, staring at the pink-purplish hickey, like an open and closed bracket, dotted with marks, ‘what is that?’

‘Let go of me Kageyama!’ Hinata’s face was red, he tried to push the setter off but Kageyama’s grip tightened like a vice on Hinata’s shirt.

Kageyama shot over a look, as fast and lethal as an arrow, as he felt a rage thunder inside him –

But that despicable cobra merely swallowed Kageyama’s reaction as if it were a bloodied, tasty, raw piece of meat. Oikawa’s eyes sparkled, he smiled, baring his fangs and ran his tongue across the top row of his teeth. Kageyama was going to be sick. The setters weren’t aware but Iwaizumi, with growing suspicion, was watching the whole thing.

‘You let him do this to you?’ Kageyama’s wild eyes searched for an answer but the redhead was completely avoiding his gaze. ‘Why -?’

‘Kageyama calm down! Let go of Hinata!’

Kageyama’s head swirled, he felt nauseous and the blood gushed in his ears so loudly he couldn’t hear Daichi, who had approached the duo. The world swam. Sounds were muffled. Nothing made sense anymore. But –

They were in a middle of a game. Against Seijioh.

I just need to be beat him I need to beat him that’s all that matters that’s all I need to focus on right now don’t think about  anything else –

Keep it together –

‘Hinata, Kageyama’s right. Oikawa is targeting you, you should let someone else receive, OK?’

Hinata was about to protest but on the other side of the net he heard –

‘Oi. Crappykawa. What did I tell you?’

Hinata saw red. He felt like barbed wire was being dragged through every valve in his veins. He seethed, gnashing his teeth as he watched Oikawa justify himself to Iwaizumi. Hinata could taste bitter bloody venom in his mouth.

Who does he think he is? Why does he address Oikawa-san like that? And why does no one call him out on it?

The whistle. Hinata could barely concentrate he was so blinded by fury. And after all that, Oikawa aimed the serve at the back of the court and the ball was collected by Nishinoya.

‘Tsukishima – cover!’

Kageyama was shaking. He fought to keep his eyes on the ball when really he wanted to duck under the net and punch the living daylights  out of that fucking bastard third year. Kageyama blinked but in his mind’s eye all he could see – that circular sucked on flesh –

‘Kageyama!’

He aimed –

But it was too high –

Hinata jumped, roaring with energy, he swung his palm forward, with the force of slapping someone across the face –

And missed –

The ball flew off the court.

‘You two need to cool it!’ Daichi called.

But they couldn’t.

‘Kageyama!’

The image of Oikawa biting down on Hinata’s perfect, untouched flesh…  Kageyama set the ball with the force of a spike, the trajectory was  wrong – Asahi hit it straight into the blockers.

Meanwhile Hinata had found a new target – his mind like a laser beam for an assassin’s gun – every time he glanced over the net he saw Iwaizumi and a violent indignation that Hinata had never felt before seemed to rise up and try to possess him.

Oikawa could understand, and enjoyed, the beating anger in Kageyama’s face but chibi-chan? He looked… murderous. Was it something Kageyama had said? Oikawa had never seen him like that before but he didn’t have time right now to speculate –

‘Maki!’

The perfect set and a well-angled spike.

Seijoh took the second set 25-21.

The coach and Daichi had firm but encouraging words for Kageyama and Hinata. Tsukishima noticed how after their on-court spat earlier, the two hadn’t looked each other in the eye since.

Kageyama choked silently on a tide of questions, each question more sickening than the last. What exactly did Hinata and Oikawa do together?  Were there more marks like that on Hinata’s body? And did Hinata… like it? Waves of disgust and anguish drowned Kageyama. This sea of emotion was too much for him to bear… each time he breathed it was like bitter sea-salt hitting the back of his throat. Remorse, regret, guilt… what were these emotions doing here? How could he concentrate on anything when he couldn’t unsee what he had just seen?

Hinata chugged down cold water to try and cool his boiling blood. Wrath like Hinata had never felt before juddered and quaked through him, spurring him to do something like a monster trying to free itself from its restraints.

Trashykawa… Bloodied hands with embedded glass. Fifteen  percent battery saved just for him. Dying candlelight. Currybuns and sushi. Band aids and bandages. Oikawa’s bed. Oikawa’s clothes. Oikawa kneeling, weeping into him. Oikawa searching for food and candles. Oikawa holding him… The comfort, the food, the care, the warmth –

Crappykawa.

Hinata’s pupils turned into vicious slits.

The third set.

Kageyama was up to serve. He already knew – if he didn’t get it together they’d sub Suga in. And this was his last opportunity… to win Hinata back…

‘Serve it up Kageyama!’

Kageyama threw the ball up –

He ran forward and jumped – but he pummeled it way too forcefully – it was out.

‘Don’t sweat it you’ll get the next one!’

Oikawa to serve. Hinata forced himself to not look at Iwaizumi. Involuntarily, his glance landed on Oikawa who was watching him.

Damn it.

In sync, both Kageyama and Hinata thought –

If we’re going to win this –

Oikawa took a deep breath.

I have to block out any feelings to do with Oikawa.

And tossed the ball up in the air.

Even though…

The ball came down.

… he’s standing right there.

And Oikawa ran forward –

He’s no one, Kageyama told himself.

And jumped.

He’s nothing, Hinata thought.

And smashed it over the net. It was out.

‘Sorry -’ Oikawa sang in a whine.

‘Don’t worry Shittykawa, you’ll get the next -’

‘STOP CALLING HIM THAT!’

The ball rolled across the floor.

A deafening, stunned silence resonated throughout the entire gym. All eyes were on one person and one person only –

Hinata stood defiant, up against the net, snarling at Iwaizumi like a wild beast about to break free from its cage.

‘What the -?’ Iwaizumi stared, confounded, at the hatred in number 10’s face.

Suga closed his eyes. The axe had finally come down. He exhaled with a heavy, heavy heart.

So there was something going on. Right here. Right under our noses.

And we had no idea.