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Part 1 of Professional Volleyball Enthusiasts vs. The Internet
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On Great Rivalries and General Dumbassery

Summary:

It's not exactly that they were hiding the fact that they had been married for about seven years now. In fact they weren't. At all. It's just that no one seemed to have caught on yet.

Or: Kageyama and Hinata may have forgotten to mention one very important part of their rivalry.

Edit: Now with a Vietnamese translation by BurnedGrass! https://archiveofourown.to/works/43498308

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes and other works inspired by this one.)

Work Text:

Their rivalry was the stuff of legend. Never before, in the history of the sport of volleyball, had two players had such a distaste for one another, a passion to destroy the other utterly on the court, than Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio.

Or so the media and the followers of Japanese professional volleyball believed. In all actuality, only one of those things held any grain of truth.

-----

"And he's done it! Thanks to setter Kageyama Tobio's spectacular spike, the Schweiden Adlers have snatched victory right from the jaws of the Black Jackals!"

"Wing spiker Hinata Shouyou of the Black Jackals has crumpled in defeat to the floor of the court, devastated at this defeat at the hands of his longtime rival."

The camera cut to Hinata, who was in fact squatting on the floor, face in his hands. Not, as the greater part of the stadium believed, because of the loss, although he was certainly sad about that too, but due to the fact that Kageyama was going to be so fucking annoying about it when they got home. Seriously, he was gonna be so smug and his stupid face would get all smirky.

-----

See, it's not exactly that they were hiding the fact that they had been married for about seven years now. In fact they weren't. At all. They just weren't aware it wasn't common knowledge.

-----

Several years ago, a reporter had caught him after a particularly rough match that had set up the Black Jackals to play the Schweiden Adlers in the next round of the tournament. The reporter had asked how he felt about going up against Kageyama in the next game.

"Kageyama?" Hinata had repeated. He figured this was about how it felt going up against his husband, blah blah blah mushy stuff, emotional tension, the usual. Oikawa had spent a good half of their usual meetups in Brazil bitching about a similar thing with Iwaizumi. Honestly, some people seemed to think that it mattered more than volleyball. 

Kageyama didn't though. Kageyama knew that volleyball was obviously more important than all this. God, he hadn't seen Kageyama in a week because of their promise to reunite on the court, he missed him. This was the first Jackals-Adlers game since Hinata had joined, so he was really excited to play against him again. Not too excited that he would let him win, though. 

Kageyama and Hinata had built their relationship on one mutually understood ineffable truth: volleyball always came first.

"Yes, do you think that your team can beat him?"

"What?" The question threw him a bit, because seriously? Why was the reporter asking a question where the answer was so obvious? Sure, Kageyama was strong, but were they really going to doubt him like this? He could totally beat him, married or not, so there.

"Of course I can beat him." He said slowly, as if the reporter was a bit dense. "He's my rival."

It was as if someone had flipped a switch in his brain. His eyes had suddenly shone with a determined light, and neither the reporter nor the several million people who later viewed the moment missed the use of "I" and "He" instead of "We" and "Them" from one of the most outspoken proponents of teamwork on the court. 

"I told him a long time ago that I would defeat him one day, and I'm going to keep that promise." Hinata vowed.

The reporter stopped, dumbfounded, before thanking him for his time. The weird steel that showed inside him at that moment disappeared, leaving behind only his signature blinding smile as he said goodbye to the camera.

------

When confronted about the viral moment, Kageyama had simply stared.

"Well of course he said that." He said slowly, as if the reporter asking was a bit dense. "He's my rival."

------

The Black Jackals had gone on to win the match, and Kageyama's frustrated look at his loss and baleful glare across the net to a laughing Hinata sparked the beginning of the feud of the century in the minds of the public.

------

Kageyama brought it up that night, after the gloating and subsequent pillow fight, as they were laying in bed.

"They're saying that I'm your rival."

Hinata blinked, looking up from his phone. "But you are."

"Obviously." Kageyama snorted, before gesturing to the article open on his tablet. "But they're saying it like- mean rivals."

"But Kageyama, you are mean."

"OI!"

"Relax, it's cute. In a weird, grumpy, kinda way."

"Dumbass." Kageyama said fondly, before kissing his forehead and turning off the lights. "Get some sleep. You've got a match tomorrow and you're gonna need all the experience you can get if you wanna beat me next time."

"Yeah, you're right. About the match tomorrow, not the not beating you thing. That part was a dirty lie. Are you gonna come watch tomorrow?"

"If we don't have practice, yeah."

"Good." Hinata yawned. "Your stupid face is really motivating."

And that was the last time they ever discussed it.

-----

(The next day, the headlines for all major sports news sites read "Kageyama Tobio scoping out rival? Schweiden Adlers setter spotted observing Black Jackals game with narrowed eyes at wing spiker Hinata Shouyou.")

-----

This continued for years, and at some point down the line they just- forgot to mention the other side of their relationship. 

Both didn't wear their wedding bands in-game due to mutual agreement that it messed with their play. Neither were particularly chatty about their private lives- Kageyama because every non-volleyball question was treated with a blank stare and not even deigned an answer, Hinata because he kept getting sidetracked as he tried to answer the question. 

The media just kept making assumptions and they simply never truly corrected them.

Countless fan theories floated the internet about the origins of their rivalry. Did they bump into each other at a grocery store and start arguing? Did they secretly use to date and were now bitter exes? No one knew. 

There were entire fan blogs dedicated to cataloging their every interaction or mention of the other.

 

("You're just bitter because you lost."

"Shut up, you only won by a few points. Next time, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Nuh uh, next time I'm gonna defeat you again and you'll eat your words, jerkface!"

"Just because you won one time-")

 

So when it was announced that they would both be representing Japan as members of the national men's volleyball team at the Olympics, naturally the internet lost its mind.

-----

"You heard it here first, that's right, both Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio, the most famous rivalry in sports, will be competing on the national team at the Olympics! Both are spectacular volleyball players who have rightfully earned their slot on this team, but long-time fans of the sport like myself are waiting with bated breath to see if this duo can rise past their bitter feud to become a dream team the likes of which Japan has never seen before, or if Japan is doomed before the torch is even lit."

"Kageyama and Hinata on the same team? This is a disaster waiting to happen."

"Who in their right minds put Kageyama and Hinata on the same team? They hate each other!"

"So proud of my boys <3 #kagehinaolympics"

"Kageyama-san is a brilliant setter, and Hinata-san's spiking skills are almost unparalleled. I have to wonder what it would look like to see their abilities combined."

"Damn, the Olympics just got way more interesting. Might actually watch Team Japan this year."

And one Twitter user had the memorable, intelligently crafted response all agreed essentially summed up their feelings on the situation.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #KAGEHINAOLYMPICS AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

--------

Hinata and Kageyama had called each other as roommates pretty much immediately upon arrival at the Village. 

The other members of the national team were well aware of the true nature of their relationship, and as such didn't blink at the sleeping arrangements.

(Well, Miya snickered, but Sakusa just rolled his eyes and dragged him by the shirt collar to their room before he could make any terrible jokes.)

(For the most part, the team as a whole was just taking too much pleasure in watching this play out to really mention doing something to clue the rest of the world in to Hinata and Kageyama.)

Once they had returned to their room after practice the night before their first match, Hinata was practically vibrating with energy.

"What?" Kageyama groaned from his bed across the room.

"Nothing, stupid, I just missed playing with you." Hinata admitted. "Your spikes are all gwahhh, and I just connect with you, and the ball is right there when I need it. We're just good at volleyball together, you know?"

Kageyama hid his progressively redder face with a pillow and groaned again.

"Aww, Bakageyama!" Hinata cooed, noticing it immediately. "You're getting embarrassed!"

Kageyama threw the pillow at him with the pinpoint accuracy he was known for, hitting Hinata's chest with a small 'oof'. 

"Shut up, dumbass." He grunted, but any intimidation factor he might have gained from his words was easily offset by his still flaming cheeks. Hinata's laughter drifted through the room.

"I missed playing with you too." Kageyama added, quieter, once it had faded a bit.

Hinata was quiet for a second too, before he sprung up determinedly and started pushing his bed towards Kageyama, who shot him a bewildered look. 

"It feels weird not sleeping next to you when we're in the same room." Hinata said easily, as if this were the most logical sentence in the world. And really, to Kageyama, that made complete sense.

Once the beds were pushed together and Hinata was tucked comfortably against his husband's side, it was quiet for a moment. Then:

"Do you think sleeping like this gives us volleyball knowledge from each other, like when you sleep with a book under your pillow and you learn stuff from it?"

Kageyama smacked Hinata's face with a pillow, but put his arm around him anyway. It couldn't hurt to test.

------

"JAPAN IS UNBEATABLE! AFTER ANOTHER BRILLIANT SET FROM KAGEYAMA TOBIO DIRECTLY TO WING SPIKER HINATA SHOUYOU, JAPAN HAS SNATCHED ITS FIFTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY AND IS HEADING TO THE FINALS FOR THE CHANCE AT A GOLD MEDAL AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN! WHAT A MATCH!"

------

It was their match point. If they could get this, the final set was won, and with it, a gold medal.

Hinata chanced a look at Kageyama and nearly stopped in his tracks at the look on his face. That was his serious face. That was the face he made when his brain was going whoooosh a gazillion kilometres an hour. 

Hinata liked that face. That face meant a plan.

They made eye contact for one moment, one nth of a second, and Hinata understood exactly what Kageyama intended and what he needed him to do.

Changing directions quickly, Hinata sidestepped before jumping high, as high as his considerable training would allow him to go. And naturally, the ball appeared right beside his palm.

The Great Britain player that had been tailing him nearly tripped over himself in his haste to readjust, to block the ball's path, but it was too late.

 

The ball hit the ground on the other side of the net with a resounding 'thud'.

 

The whistle blew.

 

The ref called the point.

 

And the entire stadium erupted into chaos.

 

People in the stands were screaming, the coaches on the side were jumping up and down, the athletic trainer was calling his boyfriend to brag, the players were high fiving and yelling and congratulating (Sakusa even let Miya hug him, trying and failing to hide a small smile) and Kageyama-

Kageyama stood in the middle of it all.

Hinata didn't think, he just did what he did best and followed his instincts.

Apparently, what his instincts were telling him to do was this:

"TOBIOOOOOOO!!!" He cried, opening his arms out wide and running as fast as his exhausted body would allow to his husband. 

Kageyama, well versed in dealing with an excited Hinata and filled with his own victorious giddiness, held his arms open and met him halfway, soundly catching his body as he jumped and practically threw himself on top of him.

Hinata's eyes were alight with excitement, and he couldn't stop the blinding smile from entire overtaking his face as he babbled "we did it, we did it, we did it" breathlessly, over and over again.

"I know, dumbass." Kageyama grinned. And then he kissed him.

Hinata enthusiastically reciprocated, but neither could stop smiling the entire time.

-----

The Japanese announcer for the games had stopped in the middle of his sentence the second Hinata had jumped into Kageyama's arms, and made a choking noise when they started kissing.

-----

In Miyagi, a room full of young adults in their old black high school volleyball team jackets laughed, whooped and wolf whistled at their TV.

-----

In Tokyo, a man in an expensive suit with a rather spectacular case of bedhead smugly accepted his money from a smaller man in a hoodie, accompanied with a brief kiss to the forehead and a "better luck next time".

The man in the hoodie was grumbling words along the lines of 'really Shouyou? You couldn't have waited till the medal ceremony?' all the while, but coughed up the money and accepted the kiss.

-----

After the game, after the celebrations, after the barrage of congratulatory texts from old friends and mentors, a reporter caught them right after the medal ceremony. Brand-new gleaming gold hung from their necks as the woman made her polite introductions and the camera began rolling.

"Hinata-san, Kageyama-san, first of all, what a great match, congratulations." 

"Thank you!" Hinata beamed. The giddiness and disbelief still hadn't quite worn off yet. Kageyama gave an awkward nod and tried to not-so-subtly escape the conversation, but Hinata grabbed his wrist and dragged him back.

"Although, I think I speak for all of us when I say that that display after you won there shocked us all quite a bit."

'Display...' Hinata mouthed to himself, confused as to what she could possibly be referring to, before Kageyama elbowed him.

"She means when we kissed, dumbass."

"Ohhhh." Hinata nodded. That made sense. "Why was it surprising?"

The reporter seemed taken aback. "Well, you two are very well known for your rivalry, the idea that you would have that sort of relationship is unexpected. As far as I and so many of your fans back home are concerned, there's nothing wrong with a kiss between two men, but between you two? It was just unlikely."

Hinata and Kageyama stared at each other, then at the reporter.

"You know we're married, right?" Kageyama asked slowly, as if the reporter may have been a little bit dense.

The reporter blinked once. Blinked twice. Then promptly fainted onto the ground.

Kageyama looked at Hinata again, who shrugged. "I thought they knew."

-----

(The interview clip went viral, shutting Twitter down yet again after it had just been fixed from the online explosion following their post-victory kiss. The CEO sent a very strongly worded letter a week later expressing both his congratulations and begging them to please stop sabotaging his means of profit. It lasted all of two hours before Sakusa and Atsumu posted their photos from the day, with gold newly around each of their necks and newly on Sakusa's left ring finger. The CEO promptly gave up any hope of keeping his website up.)

Notes:

Olympic fever hath struck. I saw about 2 minutes of a beach volleyball match and my brain had the cartoon lightbulb moment. 3 hours later and entirely unedited, here we are.

(By the way, Hinata Natsu was the one who tweeted the "AHHHHH message. She was expressing her delight at her brother and brother-in-law both making the national team. This sentiment was misinterpreted by every major sports news outlet).

Works inspired by this one: