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“Hey Atsumu-san” Hinata had a lopsided grin on his face “I’m going to set for you one day” And with a wink he spun on his heel and rejoined the other potential recruits on day two of the Black Jackal tryouts.
Atsumu watched him go, feeling a little bit like the slightly embarrassing and maybe incredibly intense crush he’d developed when he was seventeen had just come up to drop kick him in the chest once again. Shit.
Atsumu had never found watching tryouts particularly interesting. For one thing, the Black Jackals had always been a top three team in the league, so they never hurt for new recruits, people fresh out of school or from other teams making tryouts pretty tedious. For another, watching players struggle to put their best foot forward to scrabble their way into the coaches attention, while still maintaining the veneer of sportsmanship and respect for their peers was barely entertaining. For the first time since he’d gone pro he actually had a reason to be invested in the outcome.
Hinata Shouyou had strolled into tryouts, grin as bright as it had been in high school, fully intending to blow everyone out of the water. And boy did he. There wasn’t a single dimension of play where Hinata hadn’t become wickedly amazing. He might be almost 30% faster than he’d been when Atsumu had seen him last. He was jumping a solid foot or more higher than he used to. He still wore those ferocious grins while he played, drawing the eye from spectators and opponents alike. Atsumu was also delighted to see Hinata had turned into a calculating little shit too, with his decoy baiting on defense, always aware of how people were watching him on the court.
Also maybe, just maybe, Atsumu was secretly a little bit obsessed with how tanned his skin was now.
Hinata had been a monster on the court long before anyone had ever bothered calling their generation of players ‘Monsters’. And now he was really really good. Absurdly good. Finger twitching - gotta set for that asshole - good.
Tryouts had always been kind of boring for Atsumu. Now they seemed egregiously pointless. Atsumu didn’t know why they had to do another week of this rigamarole. The answer was standing right there on the court, with his bronzed skin and his vibrant orange hair, probably had his tongue peaking out invitingly or something too. Atsumu had a very good and respectful relationship with Coach Foster but this is the one time in his life where he kind of wanted to go up to the man and shake him shouting “Shouyou-kun is right there, why haven’t you given him a number yet?”
See, when he’d first met Hinata he’d maybe, perhaps, maybe, developed a bit of a fixation on the guy. Only a little bit. Osamu would probably lie outrageously and imply that Atsumu had a big dramatic crush and couldn’t stop talking about the guy until they next played Karasuno a full year later. But that simply wasn’t true. He’d just thought Hinata was an interesting player is all.
Maybe Atsumu had once or twice thought back in the day that Hinata was the exact type of player he’d always wanted to set for. So he’d made a promise to the guy on a bit of a slightly over dramatic whim after their first game. That one day Atsumu was going to set for him.
And then Hinata had the gall to walk into tryouts and Atsumu had nearly lost it, desperately wanting to text Osamu that he was a fucking prophet. Instead he’d played it cool because he was a grownup and social media and sports magazines painted Atsumu as the “cool setter” of Japan, so he had an image to maintain. Hinata probably didn’t even remember that slightly lame, but apparently absolutely true prediction Atsumu had made six years ago.
Until Hinata proved him wrong by approaching him and Bokuto during a water break to say hi. Atsumu will never forget the way the air had squeezed from his lungs as Hinata’s grin turned lazy and he’d tossed seventeen year old Atsumu’s words back at him. So he did remember! Great. Perfect. Maybe Hinata would like to stick around after tryouts and Atsumu could throw him a toss or two million. It’d be cool. No big deal. It’s not like he’d fantasized about this moment at all in the last six years.
Only a little bit naively Atsumu had assumed that Hinata saying his (in his own head) iconic words as a callback to Atsumu’s promise, Hinata acknowledging Atsumu’s utter brilliance and clairvoyance from back then. Atsumu sure as fuck was going to set for Hinata one day, hopefully they’d both be paid to do it. The thought that Hinata had found that moment as significant as he had, made Atsumu want to crack every joint in his body and maybe wiggle around a bit too. It certainly made him call Osamu to brag that night and every other night of tryouts.
Standing atop the practice gyms viewing deck with the rest of the team, each of them supposedly taking notes to share with the coaches and trainers later, Atsumu couldn’t help the way Hinata drew his eyes. Atsumu was leaning forward, draped over the railing watching the rally below him, vividly fantasizing about giving Hinata better tosses than the middling setter he was working with right now.
The middling setter ended up making a receive, the ball floating in a high arc towards the net. Hinata was already flying forwards, as usual, feral grin on his face as he shouted “Mine!” And then Atsumu’s eyebrows promptly disappeared into his hairline. Hinata shifted his stance midair, tossing a sharp quick behind his back to a waiting middle blocker.
“UWAH!” Atsumu shouted, leaning so far forward on the railing that he would have toppled over to the ground if it weren’t for Meian gripping the back of his hoodie. Apparently at some point in the last two years, Hinata had learned to set. And he was good at it. Far better than the back up setter the Black Jackals had now. Holy shit!
A small part of Atsumu kinda wanted to be a bit mad. Hinata was amazing at literally everything else on the court, having worked hard to get as good as he was. Couldn’t he have left setting to the people who pinned their identities on it? The much louder part of Atsumu was absolutely thrilled. Hinata’s promise of one day setting for HIM made Atsumu’s blood burn. He hadn’t had a reliable emergency setter since Osamu. And Hinata was miles better than Osamu. Atsumu promptly made sure to inform Osamu of this thought via text message.
Atsumu needed to play with him. He practically vibrated with the need for it. Suddenly all those fantasies he’d had about tossing to Hinata over the years shifted slightly, to all the tosses Hinata could give him. To the way they could mess with blockers, Hinata being a point getter and a setter? With Atsumu to guide him and help his growth? Oh boy.
If Atsumu was a little extra loud every time Hinata did anything cool on the court from then on, matching Bokuto’s enthusiasm, no one said anything. It’s not like anyone could be mad - that was Atsumu’s future wing spiker down there. His future favorite wing spiker of all time.
Atsumu was not much of a thinking man, so he hadn’t thought to update his mental model of this new and improved Hinata. Hinata was someone who’d grown up a bit in the time since Atsumu had last seen him. Gone was the too intense kid who’d snuffed himself out at his first nationals tournament. This was an evolved Hinata with a more thoughtful and confident way of doing things. Of course the feedback he’d give would be true and annoying as hell.
“Hey Atsumu-san” Hinata called, waving him over on the first day the Black Jackals could join in on scrimmages with their new potential recruits “I think you’re getting a little too excited with your tosses. I don’t have a problem hitting them but-” and then he blinked and took in Atsumu’s expression “Are you okay?”
Atsumu was baring his teeth somewhere between euphoric and pissed off. Hinata was right. Atsumu knew he was right. He’d been a bit over eager, not even really communicating what kind of toss he was throwing up before launching it up in the air for Hinata. He had total faith he’d be there. Upon reflecting, maybe Atsumu had been overusing Hinata just a teeny tiny bit too. Could anyone blame him? He’d been holding in this need to toss for Hinata for over half a decade. He was excited. So what?
“I’m fine, I’ll make sure to temper my tosses. Just make sure ya hit ‘em Shouyou-kun” If Atsumu’s smile was a bit tight, well, he was a competitive guy, whatever.
Hinata squinted at him before he chirped “Of course!” Grinning as he turned to line up for defense. Hinata’s confidence and self assurance was like a balm to Atsumu’s annoyance, allowing him to refocus.
It was a few rallies later that Atsumu finally got to hit one of Hinata’s tosses. He’d been targeted on the serve receive, so he’d made sure to bump the ball to somewhere Hinata could get it. With a manic grin on his face, Hinata leapt into the air calling “Atsumu-san” and rocketed the ball to exactly where Atsumu could get it. The point scored, his team jubilant.
Atsumu hit the ground staring at his palm, before he turned his skeptical look on Hinata, and then back at his hand. That had been a good toss. A great toss. An absolutely perfect toss at the right speed and height for what Atsumu could manage, it even factored in the angle of his approach. Hinata hadn’t given anything away when he’d been in the air, looking like he was going in for a spike, drawing blockers to him. Atsumu would have been proud to give that kind of toss.
A sobering thought hit Atsumu: He didn’t think he’d be able to send tosses like that because he didn’t attack in the same way Hinata did, where he was a constant threat anywhere on the court. His beloved Shouyou-kun had a toss Atsumu couldn’t do. His blood boiled and his jaw tightened.
“Nice toss” He bit out, only extremely resentful. Atsumu clenched his fist, scowling down at his spiking hand before turning to give Hinata a slightly sour look “Where the shit didja learn to do that?”
Hinata blinked “Brazil?”
Atsumu’s expression turned mulish. He spun towards the trainer overseeing the game “I wanna switch sides” pointing a finger at their back up setter on the other side of the net.
“Uhhh... Okay Miya, sure”
Hinata had turned himself into a really good setter in the last two years. That was great for him. Was gonna be great for the team when Hinata inevitably got his spot. But there was no universe where Atsumu who had dedicated his life to being the best setter he could be, was going to take this upstart little monster infringing on his territory. He was gonna crush Hinata and his fancy perfect emergency sets into the ground. No better place to do that than on the other side of the net.
For now. He’d still set for Hinata one or two million times, but there was time for that later. He had some tangerine rival setter ass to kick first.
--
“So ya made the team” Atsumu called as he exited the practice gym, seeing Hinata puttering outside the doors. He’d just been named the Black Jackals newest member, the whole team delighted.
Hinata gave him a grin “I guess so”
Atsumu smiled toothily back, stuffing his hands in his pockets “Knew it was gonna happen, no one was gonna stop me from setting to you one day”
Hinata’s cheeks flushed as his smile grew wider “I’m just glad I finally got to toss for you, show off some of my moves” He did an elaborate karate chop to emphasize ‘his moves’.
Atsumu laughed. He probably should have realized Hinata was kind of a goofy guy from the moment he’d been too excited about his jump and forgotten to spike the ball the first time they’d ever met. It definitely made Hinata seem even more charming. Now that he was on the team too, it meant Atsumu had full license to hangout with the guy, maybe for some extra practice, like maybe tomorrow?
“Shouyou-kun-”
“Atsumu-san, can I get your number?”
Atsumu stared down at Hinata blankly for a moment, watching him pull his phone out of his pocket hopefully. Tongue feeling a bit thick and like there was too much saliva in his mouth, he just nodded and grabbed Hinata’s phone, plugging his number in. The tap of his fingers on the screen recalibrated his brain enough that he even managed to smoothly take a pretty decent selfie for the contact info.
“There ya go” He said, handing back the phone.
Hinata grinned, tapping out a message. Atsumu’s phone buzzed in his pocket with a text from Hinata’s number “Great, now I can bother you for all the extra setting and spiking practice I want”
Atsumu would swear the smile Hinata flashed him was a bit impish “That’s mighty presumptuous Shouyou-kun” He narrowed his eyes, but couldn’t stop the corner of his lips from curling upwards.
“I mean, you seemed like you really really want to find something wrong with my sets Atsumu-san” Hinata’s grin was full on teasing “Besides, I’ll die if I don’t hit more tosses from you”
Atsumu curbed the urge to press a hand to his chest to confirm his heart hadn’t exploded out his chest, but it was a near thing. His face definitely felt hot. Hinata could definitely see how bad he was blushing. It’s not Atsumu’s fault! That was practically a verbatim line right out of his worst hodgepodge volleyball wet dreams starring Hinata. Atsumu tipped his head up and away, trying to play it off cool like he was thinking.
Hinata was eyeing him with interest now, his head tilting just a little bit. “Mmmaybe you’ll die too if I don’t hit your tosses Atsumu-san?” He asked it lightly, giving Atsumu plenty of room to back off and pretend this conversation never happened.
Atsumu pursed his lips, his cheeks still feeling hot. He’d been waiting six damn years, he wasn’t going to pussyfoot now. “Yeah, I just might”
“Well, we wouldn’t want either of us to die. Not when I just made the team.”
“No, I don’t think we would.”
“Maybe we should discuss it over dinner?”
“When th’fuck did you get so smooth?” Atsumu asked, feeling kind of annoyed. Maybe it was because when they’d first met, Hinata had kind of looked like a half feral middle schooler, but Atsumu had kind of always imagined he’d be the suave bastard in the imaginary relationship he’d built in his head.
“Brazil” Hinata hummed, smile going a bit teasing again.
“Well shit, yer gonna hafta tell me all about that aren’t you?” Atsumu was a smitten idiot and he didn’t give a shit.
“Over dinner right? How about now? I’m starving so let’s go” Hinata bumped their shoulders together and started walking without waiting for a response. Atsumu had no idea where they were going and he found he didn’t give a shit just so long as Hinata was there.
After a moment Hinata flicked a glance up at him through his eyelashes. Atsumu was transfixed “I can also give you some tips about the setting techniques I learned in Brazil too” And there was that impish grin again.
Atsumu pouted at him “Ya think yer real funny, huh, ya little shit?” Hinata just beamed, nodding his head emphatically.
Atsumu bit back a grin. He’d gained a new talented wing spiker today, unexpectedly earned himself a rival. If he pressed his luck he might even come out of today with a boyfriend. Sounded like a pretty fuckin’ sweet deal to him.