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Tsukishima and Hinata never thought they’d ever be close friends. They had thought, maybe awkward friends or acquaintances. Reluctant teammates at the least, both being middle blockers and all. In their second year, they had even pretended to be friends so they wouldn’t be hounded by Ennoshita for team work. Tsukishima had found Hinata took jokes much easier than their beloved King ever could, and the more they worked together, the less his insults (teasing?) affected Hinata. The two boys thought they would be rivals forever, always with underhanded insults and passive aggressive comments. That’s what they thought, and that’s what the norm was for them.
Until their third year.
To be fair, it wasn’t their fault they became friends at all. In fact, they didn’t really try to be friendly at all. It was all Puberty’s fault. (Yes, Puberty with a capital P. That’s how big of a deal it was.) Puberty hadn’t done much for Hinata, he had grown just a little over three centimeters by their last year in high school. Tsukishima had grown several centimeters more, but he had already been tall. He didn’t seem much different either, what with the same air about him. (Un?)fortunately, it wasn’t the same for the remaining third years.
Puberty had hit Kageyama and Yamaguchi like a truck.
Yamaguchi had filled out nicely, his long limbs had finally fit his body and he didn’t stumble around like a newborn fawn anymore. He had gotten several tattoos with some piercings and grew out his hair, pulling it back into a half ponytail. In short, Puberty had been good to him. Kageyama had too, been blessed by Puberty. He hadn’t grown much, but he left behind his baby fat and became ridiculously photogenic. His muscle definition of doing so many jump serves was ridiculous. Also, at the insistence of Yachi, he learned how to style his hair without just flattening it and being done with it.
Puberty was Tsukishima and Hinata’s mortal enemy. The two had fucking bonded over their friend’s unnecessarily attractive growth spurts. Who even does that?
They do, apparently.
The second years that had joined them during Ennoshita’s reign as captain didn’t seem as affected as everyone else. They had came in a transition period for the four young men, which meant they were there for the change and the final product. Hinata and Tsukishima had seen Kageyama and Yamaguchi before, during, and after. It was like a documentary, seeing how much their friends had changed before their own eyes. But, out of everyone, the first year’s were the ones who had it the worst. They had came in without any expectations, only to find the final and best version of Kageyama and Yamaguchi. The hottest version, too.
By the time the first year’s had joined, Ennoshita had named Yamaguchi as captain, with Kageyama as vice-captain. Yamaguchi had already grown his hair out and pierced his ears, and sometimes, if someone looked closely enough, they could see his tattoos from under his shirt. So when the first years came to introduce themselves, Yamaguchi came out with his tattoos and piercings, looking incredibly intimidating. Kageyama was behind him, looking bored and frowning unnecessarily.
The combination was frightening. All of the first years were gaping, surprised by how tough their captains looked. The rest of the team was unnaturally tall too, thanks to Tsukishima. But then, Yamaguchi spoke.
“Hi guys! My name is Yamaguchi Tadashi, and it’s nice to meet you all! Welcome to Karasuno Volleyball club, I hope we can all work together as a team,” Yamaguchi said, smiling brightly at the new recruits.
And, all at once, the first years (and some of the second years) thought to themselves, “Oh … I’m in love.”
Tsukishima had busted out laughing at the faces on their team mates. Hinata had looked really confused, wondering why no one was answering their captain, before it slowly dawned on him. He glanced at Tsukishima who raised an eyebrow and nodded, answering an unasked question. Hinata had laughed, too. All their teammates had simultaneously fallen in love with Yamaguchi, and it was all Puberty’s fault.
Kageyama had then stepped up to be in line with Yamaguchi, and began to talk about serious captain stuff. He spoke in hushed tones with Yamaguchi and then faced the rest of the team. With practice he had learned with Hinata and Yachi, he smiled. A smile that wasn’t scary, but welcoming and comforting. His hair swished a little bit, too, and he added his two cents.
“Welcome to the volleyball club. I’m Kageyama Tobio, the vice captain. We plan to go to Nationals this year, so we only want people that are serious in this club. Of course, as long as you work towards our goal, we won’t have a problem. Tadashi is a great captain, but we won’t hesitate to be strict captains. I will help in any way I can, so please don’t hesitate to ask.”
The team stared at the vice-captain and forgot to answer. They were all wide-eyed, surprised that such an angry, intimidating-looking third year could be so … welcoming. It was weird, his speech wasn’t exactly kind, but it was welcoming in its own way. Hinata had made eye contact with Tsukishima, and their faces were obviously surprised. Then, Hinata burst into loud, bright laughter that earned a glare from Kageyama.
All their teammates had simultaneously fallen in love with Kageyama as well, and it was all Puberty’s fault.
(Once, a couple days later, Hinata had joked around and called it a “Spiritual Awakening.” Tsukishima had surprised him and chuckled, before promptly going back to scowling. That’s how their friendship started, bonding over how attractive their friends had gotten. They exchanged glances and eyerolls every time a first year had tripped over their words to try to impress one of the captains. It happened more often than not.)
It was a few weeks later when they had found out. Hinata had been showing a first year how to do different tempos and he overheard another first year call Yamaguchi by a nickname. Hinata had waved Tsukishima over and ordered him to intimidate the first year to tell them what the nickname was. It all went downhill from there.
Within thirty seconds, a group of three first years, along with Tsukishima and Hinata had gathered in the corner of the gym. It was obvious the first years were scared, but at least one of them was brave enough to explain the nicknames.
“Well, um, there are several nicknames for the captain and vice captain…” he trailed off, nervous about telling his upperclassmen what the nicknames were. When Tsukishima looked down at him with a bored look, he hastily continued. “Uh, well, for captain Yamaguchi, the first years, uh, collectively nicknamed him Mamaguchi and … um … Yummyguchi.”
The two upperclassmen were silent for a split second before bursting into laughter. They looked at each other like, can you believe this? and kept laughing. (They would soon master the art of communicating by mere looks. That’s what happens when Puberty hits their best friends.)
“I think I know why, but, why Yummyguchi?” Hinata asked, purely for the sake of hearing their answers.
The shyest one of the three blushed, but blurted out, “Because he’s so attractive!”
Tsukishima and Hinata dissolved into laughter again. They were obviously making a scene, but since no one had come over to yell at them to get back to practice, they didn’t worry about it. In fact, they did the opposite. “What about Kageyama?”
“Oh, that’s easy. He’s Kagepapa and Kageyummy! Together, they’re the Yummy captains!”
Hinata doubled over in giggles, clutching at his side. He was almost dry heaving, he was laughing so hard. On the other hand, it seemed like Tsukishima had died and gone to heaven (or hell?). He had a hand over his mouth and was hiccuping.
After what seemed like ages, they had finally calmed down and let the first years go back to practice. The two young men took a break and caught their breath while they watched their fellow third years work. Yamaguchi was teaching a small mix of second and first years how to do the basics of a receive. Every time he bent down to receive a ball, his shorts hitched up just a bit and his thigh muscles were out for the world to see. On the other side of the gym, Kageyama was teaching an intense second year some setting skills, and every once in a while, showing off his jump serve. His shirt would ride up when he did his jump serve.
Tsukishima looked at Hinata and shrugged. He paused for a moment, thinking how to explain what his thoughts were. Coughing, he said, “I can, uh, see why they call them that. The Yummy captains, I mean. Objectively speaking. They are two attractive young men.”
“Shut up, Tsukishima. You’re so gay for Yamaguchi, you can’t even see straight. Don’t talk objectively here, we both know they’re incredibly hot. The rest of the team does.”
Tsukishima scoffed but didn’t reply. Hinata wasn’t wrong, not really. They went back to practice after that. Neither of them mentioned the Yummy captains again, but both secretly called them that in their mind.
Kageyama slung an arm over Yamaguchi, looking at the paper in his hands. Two new names were scrawled in terrible handwriting. “New members?”
“Yeah.”
“They already look like trouble, signing up late and all,” Kageyama hummed, thinking about how they could deal with such troublemakers.
Yamaguchi laughed and shrugged him off his shoulder. He turned to face his vice-captain with a teasing look on his face. “So were you and Shouyou in first year. Remember?”
Kageyama did remember. He didn’t reply.
A few months into the new season with the new additions to the volleyball team, Yamaguchi had deja vu. The troublemaker first years that had signed up late were miraculously alike to first year Kageyama and Hinata. They had gotten into a playful sock fight in the club room, but as always, the volleyball club had terrible timing. The vice-principal had walked into the club room, only to be hit in the face by a flying sock.
His wig had come off.
Yamaguchi had gathered his entire team after practice to give them a stern talking to. He even told them about the story of Kageyama and Hinata in the first year, and what had happened when they knocked the principal’s wig off. It hadn’t been pretty then, and it hadn’t been pretty the second time around. Hinata had been blushing the entire duration of the story, and Tsukishima was holding in the retorts, thanks to Yamaguchi’s glare.
For a solid five minutes, Yamaguchi had been in stern-captain-mode, droning on and on. The team didn’t dare tune him out, though. Not Yamaguchi, nor Kageyama.
“So no more fights in the club room. Got it?” Yamaguchi finished his speech, watching over the rest of his team. When they all nodded and shuffled in place, he sighed in exasperation and turned to face his vice-captain. When Kageyama didn’t say anything, Yamaguchi cleared his throat. “Come on, Tobio. You’re the vice-captain. You say something too.”
The team looked at Kageyama expectantly, obviously waiting for some wisdom or a beautiful speech like they had heard the very first day. He brought a hand to his chin and thought about what to say.
“Children, listen to your mother.”
Tsukishima had smacked a hand to his face, while Hinata snorted. The two had been expecting something akin to his response, but he hadn’t thought it’d be so … obvious. Yamaguchi had blushed, but it only highlighted his cheekbones and freckles. Tsukishima had wondered if Puberty would ever stop being such a tease. He doubted it.
“Tobio, dear, please shut up.”
“Tsukishima, that was why they called them Mamaguchi and Kagepapa! I get it now!”
“Yeah, I know, Hinata. Shut up. Oh my god. I can’t believe this is happening. We’re friends because Puberty was nice to them, and all the first years are in love. I can’t even believe we’re even friends. God help me.”
“If god was really going to help you, he would have made Puberty make you look more handsome. But you look the same, maybe even worse!”
“Hinata, shut the hell up!”