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Thursday, June 18th
“I wonder what you're so nervous about, Yama-yama.”
Tobio’s gaze snaps down to Shouyou, who’s shifting himself amidst the packed train car in order to get comfortable. The wing spiker’s tone is teasing, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he angles his head up at the setter.
“Huh?”
The train starts slowing down for the next stop. On impulse, Shouyou grabs the back of his boyfriend’s shirt to brace himself, disdainful of the fact that the handrails are still a little too high for him. It’s whatever though, because Tobio is still a good substitute, and Shouyou thinks that it’s a win in his book if he always gets to have him this close. Once the train comes to a halt, Shouyou loosens his grip and instead spreads out his hand on Tobio’s lower back, rubbing soothing circles into the thin material of his shirt. Tobio settles the hand that’s not gripping the rail over Shouyou’s shoulders so that he can pull him flush against his side and rests his chin on the crown of Shouyou’s head, humming indistinctly.
Shouyou huffs, a little miffed that he’s not able to look up at his boyfriend. He really likes it when Tobio sets his head on top of his own—it feels grounding. “You haven’t stopped fidgeting since we left the apartment.”
He can feel the setter stiffen ever so slightly, and it seems that he’s about to break away from their embrace before Shouyou raises his other arm and traps him. “Noooooo, Tobio,” he buries his face in the setter’s chest, muffling his voice. “Come back.”
His boyfriend sighs and Shouyou can feel him try to relax a little. There’s no heat to his voice, only fondness, when he says, “I wasn’t going anywhere, dumbass.”
“Hmp.” It doesn’t escape Shouyou that he still hasn’t answered the question. He tries again. “What’s been bothering you?”
It’s a long while before Tobio responds. He’s still fidgety, and he can feel the shift of his feet every now and then, heart hammering where Shouyou’s ear rests against his chest. Shouyou lets him take his time to get his thoughts together. He figures that he has an inkling of what’s bothering his boyfriend, but he’ll let him answer him when he’s ready. He can feel the setter’s lower jaw dig a little into the top of his head to open his mouth, but the pressure comes and goes. Again, Shouyou waits, but he squeezes Tobio’s middle for reassurance.
He squeezes Shouyou’s shoulders in turn. “I don’t know. I just—I guess I’m just worried.”
“Hmm? About what?” When he doesn’t answer, Shouyou slightly shakes his torso where he’s still got him trapped, trying to get the worried thoughts to go away. “Miwa-neesan’s gonna be fine. She’s super duper strong.”
“I know, I know, but I meant”—Tobio raises his chin to look down at him, countenance expressing such worry and fear that Shouyou gets taken aback—“what if the baby doesn’t like me?”
Shouyou’s brows furrow. Tobio must’ve taken that as confusion from him, because he steamrolls on.
“Do—do you remember in our first year of high school? Whenever I’d try to feed the squirrels, or try to pet the stray cats around school? They wouldn’t come near me at all.” Tobio frowns at this memory, but Shouyou knows that this is not the case now—he and Tobio own a very affectionate black cat named Vabo-Chan, and he knows that Vabo-Chan snuggles up to Tobio more because he is very warm and is a walking, talking space heater. Shouyou is almost jealous of it, but one of the times Tobio looks very much at peace is whenever he’s playing with or snuggled next to the cat, and Shouyou finds that he doesn’t mind it all that much at all.
“I know it’s different now,” Tobio continues, “but what if the baby cries as soon as it’s in my arms?”
He looks genuinely worried that his own sister’s baby might not like him, and the sight pulls at Shouyou’s heart.
“Oh, Tobio. Hey, look at me.”
His boyfriend complies, a small frown tugging at a corner of his mouth.
“Babies cry as soon as they’re born. They also cry all the time because they’re hungry, or they need to poop, or they’re warm, or cold, or for no reason at all. That’s what Heitor told me since his and Nice’s baby was born.” Tobio’s brow furrows even deeper than he thought it would, but Shouyou keeps talking. “I think it’s natural for babies to cry whenever. The baby might cry when I hold it. It doesn’t mean that it won’t like you, though, because it’s part-Miwa-neesan, and Miwa-neesan loves you a lot.”
His boyfriend blinks at him a few times then pulls him even closer than they already are. He squeezes Shouyou tightly, and Shouyou can feel the wobbly smile forming on Tobio’s face.
“Thank you,” Tobio murmurs, and Shouyou hugs him back. They stay like that until the train stops at their destination, and they walk out of the station with linked fingers, striding with purpose to the hospital.
When they finally see Miwa in the hospital room, she’s carrying a purple swaddle in her arms. She looks up and her wan face brightens at the sight of them. “Tobio! Shouyou-kun! Come in!”
Tobio approaches the bed carefully, eyes trained carefully on the swaddle. Shouyou shoves him forward a little.
“She’s not gonna bite,” Miwa clucks her tongue softly, and she urges Tobio to come around the other side of the bed. “She’s actually asleep right now.”
“‘She’?” Tobio comes to a stop by Miwa’s side, but doesn’t try to do much else except to give his sister a light peck on the forehead. Shouyou perches on the counter next to the sink, a bit farther away from the scene.
His sister hums. “Her name is Sora.”
Shouyou grins. “That’s very pretty, Miwa-neesan.”
“I think so too. Maeko picked it out.” Miwa gestures her head to the figure who just appeared in the doorway, carrying two cups of steaming coffee and a toothy grin at the scene in front of her.
“Hey guys!” Maeko sets the coffee on the overbed food table and goes to pull Shouyou in a tight embrace. “I didn’t think you’d be able to come today.”
“It’s a day off for the Jackals right now,” Shouyou returns the hug with fervor, and Maeko makes her way to Tobio, who’s still standing awkwardly beside the bed. Maeko throws her arms around him and he acquiesces with a hug, a small smile forming on his face. “It’s also a day off for the Adlers. Nice to see you, Maeko-neesan.”
“You too, Tobio-kun.” Maeko turns to her partner and their newly born child, still sound asleep. “Have you held her yet?”
“Erm, no…”
“Do you want to?”
Tobio fidgets in place, contemplating very hard, but he looks up at Shouyou, who’s been watching the exchange carefully. He nods encouragingly, a soft smile on his face, and Tobio slowly and carefully extends his large hands out to baby Sora.
Miwa doesn’t look apprehensive of him, though, and gently passes her daughter off to Tobio. She adjusts Sora’s head in the crook of his elbow, shifting his right one up higher for support. The baby doesn’t move the entire time her mother is fussing over her, and Tobio lets out a sigh of relief.
Shouyou laughs, but it’s a puff of air from his nose so that he doesn’t spook the setter. “Was that so hard now?”
“Shut up, dumbass,” the big lug says, pouting, but there’s no heat to it.
“Oi, don’t curse in front of her,” Miwa admonishes, albeit not too seriously.
“Neesan, she’s asleep. I don’t think she’d understand me if she was awake, either.”
Their exchange goes on for a bit, Maeko interjecting here and there; Shouyou lets it wash over him, watching his boyfriend carefully. His eyes are trained on Sora’s sleeping face. He adjusts his arms so that she’s fully supported in his right elbow, and he takes his large left hand and ever-so-slightly shakes Sora’s in it. At the same time, he bounces her very lightly, and she makes a noise in her sleep that immediately melts Shouyou’s heart. Tobio looks like he wants to cry with his wobbly smile.
Any trace of Tobio’s nervousness from before is gone. It’s been replaced with wonder and awe and Sora’s tiny figure does not shy or squirm away from Tobio at all—in fact, she’s still asleep throughout all the banter, which is something that greatly reminds Shouyou of his boyfriend, although he’s not sure if it’s because she’s a baby or it’s just something in her Kageyama genes making her sleep through the mild cacophony.
Nevertheless, Shouyou knows that Tobio has seen and interacted with babies before; parents have brought their children to their volleyball games, some as old as only a few months, so the sight is definitely not something new. The kids are always looking up at him with a bit of fear and awe and excitement at the fact that they’re meeting the Kageyama Tobio, and while he almost always looks uncomfortable, he’s always trying to be accommodating and approachable and agrees to a lot of autographs and photos.
This scene is different, though. Tobio looks like he’s rediscovered volleyball again with the excitement he’s radiating, the wobbly smile getting wider and wider. Shouyou’s heart is racing, and the sight of Tobio holding a baby, one that looks like theirs, permeates his mind.
He sits up ramrod straight, blinking at his thoughts, when a sudden warmth spreads from his head to the tips of his toes.
One that looks like theirs, huh?
Shouyou hides his smile behind his hand. He thinks he’d like to see that, one day.
A silence falls over the room, the only noise being the steady hum of the machines in the background.
“She’s so small,” Tobio says.
Miwa chuckles at the sight. “That’s only because you’re so big.”
“I wonder if she’ll get super tall,” Maeko sits on the edge of the bed, pushing her partner’s feet a little, “like her Uncle Tobio.”
Tobio’s head whips up, mouth agape at the realization.
“Uncle Tobio, huh,” Shouyou tries it out, the words settling on his tongue. It doesn’t sound bad at all. With the scene in front of him, Shouyou figures that he can get used to hearing it pretty quickly. The way that Tobio’s eyes dance alight tells him that he thinks the same as well.
“Or maybe average height like her Uncle Shouyou,” Miwa nods at him, and Shouyou sticks his tongue out at her, not missing the smirk Tobio throws his way. He sticks his tongue out at him for good measure, too.
“Nothing wrong with being average height, nee-san,” Shouyou says, jumping off of his seat. He makes his way next to Tobio and peers down at baby Sora. She’s quite possibly the pinkest, wrinkliest, and cutest baby Shouyou’s ever seen (and he’s seen Heitor and Nice’s baby. He’s absolutely adorable). She’s even got the Kageyamas’ signature pout. He pokes her lightly in the belly, and she just lets out a small huff. He puts his index finger where one of her tiny hands can enclose around it (babies have such, such, tiny fingers uwaaaah ) and Shouyou can feel his heart melting once again. “Do you think we can babysit for you guys?”
He misses the knowing look that passes between Miwa and Maeko as they observe the sight in front of them: Tobio and Shouyou cooing over a newborn baby. Miwa shrugs when Shouyou looks up at them. “In the off-season, probably. I know you’re both pretty anal about your practices.”
Tobio visibly pouts. “Well, we’ll still find time to visit and stuff. I’ll get her a Vabo-Chan plush.”
Maeko laughs. “Starting her this early, huh?”
“I started early!” Tobio says indignantly. Miwa makes grabby hands for her daughter, and Tobio obliges to hand her over. “There’s nothing wrong with getting her a Vabo-Chan plush,” he grumbles, and Shouyou agrees. Sora doesn’t have to like volleyball, but if she does, then she’ll have two great coaches to help her out.
They stay and chat with Miwa and Maeko for a couple more hours, then they head out to a late lunch with a promise to visit as soon as they have another day off.
Tobio takes Shouyou’s hand as they exit the building, squeezing tightly. “That wasn’t so bad at all.”
“Mhm,” the wing spiker sways their hands in the warm breeze. “I’m surprised she didn’t cry once. Maybe she’s the kind of baby that doesn’t really cry a lot.”
Tobio hums again. “She’s really small. It felt like I was gonna drop her if I wasn’t careful enough.”
“She’s gonna grow later though, maybe as tall as either one of us. Or she’ll be the same height as Miwa-neesan.” The thought of Sora playing volleyball is exciting enough in its own right—maybe she’ll like being a middle blocker or an opposite hitter. He knows that Tobio will try to get her to learn how to set, too, and gauge her surroundings. Shouyou thinks that it won’t be so bad, and he can probably help her out. Of course, that’s if she decides to play volleyball. No one can force her, after all.
“Either way,” Tobio halts in front of a children’s shop, tugging on Shouyou, “we’re getting her a Vabo-Chan plush.”
Shouyou’s smile grows wider, though, and as he watches Tobio search the aisles for the familiar red mascot, he can’t help but think about what it would be like for them to have their own child and for Tobio to give them their own Vabo-Chan. He finds the interaction very endearing, but Shouyou files it away for later. They’re too young right now, but when they’re older, Shouyou thinks he wouldn’t mind giving it more thought. Observing Tobio gauge which plushies are softer than the others in his hands now take the forefront of his mind, and he approaches closer to help him choose the softest one.
Yeah, Shouyou thinks, as his boyfriend speeds up to the counter and purchases the small plush, a soft warmth encasing his heart, definitely for later.