A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on august 4th, 2021 @ 11:02am

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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - TEMPO

HIDEAKI WAS CURRENTLY WITH OIKAWA and his nephew, Takeru. Oikawa was watching him as his older sister was busy with her work and his brother-in-law was also busy.

Hideaki and Oikawa just finished attending volleyball lessons for children that Takeru participated in. He enjoyed himself as Oikawa made sure to take tons of selfies with Takeru. Once they were done, the three started walking off, Takeru held Hideaki's hand.

"How come you don't want to hold my hand?" Oikawa complained.

Hideaki smirked. "Because I'm not a piece of trash like you, Shittykawa." He said with Takeru snickering in amusement.

"Rude, Aki-chan, rude!"

Hideaki could hear the sound of a child crying, but he paid no attention. "Tōru, Hideaki, teach me how to serve!" Takeru begged as Hideaki chuckled and Oikawa gave him a scolding look.

"Hey! How about showing some respect first?" Oikawa stated as Hideaki sighed.

"I'm dating a literal child." Hideaki mumbled as him and Oikawa walked over.

"O-Oikawa-san! Izuki-san!" Hideaki heard their names being called out, which made the couple raise an eyebrow in question and look up. Hideaki widened his eyes when he saw Kageyama standing in front of them.

Hideaki hasn't said a word to his junior ever since him and Hinata had fought in the gym and he lashed out at them, so it was a shock to see him. Hideaki glanced to see the child that was crying beside him, he didn't look like a relative of Kageyama's, which made him sweat drop.

"I really shouldn't be surprised at this point." Hideaki thinks to himself.

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Oikawa and Hideaki were quiet for a while. Hideaki could tell Oikawa wasn't happy on seeing Kageyama. Hideaki wasn't too happy about seeing him either, since he did lash out on him.

Oikawa lifted his chin up as he gave Kageyama a questionable look. "O-Oikawa-san, Izuki-san, what are you two doing here?" Kageyama stuttered, still surprised to see them.

"We're watching my nephew." Oikawa replied bluntly.

"Hey!" Takeru greeted, letting go of Hideaki's hand to wave at Kageyama.

"H-Hey..." Kageyama greeted back. "What about club?"

"We usually have Mondays off." Oikawa responded.

"Y-You guys get a break once a week? What a waste!" Kageyama jumped as Hideaki walked passed him with Oikawa following.

"Getting rest and ditching practice are two different things." Hideaki informed, remembering he didn't arrive at practice that day. It wasn't like he needed to anyhow, as Ukai had taken Hinata off somewhere, so Hideaki had a short day and hung out with his boyfriend and his nephew.

"See ya." Oikawa said, not looking at Kageyama.

"O-Oikawa-san, um..." Kageyama said as if he wanted to say something, but got interrupted as Oikawa just turned around and stuck his tongue out, while waving his hand and fingers at Kageyama.

"Nope! Stupid! You're stupid! You stupid face!" Oikawa insulted as Takeru and Hideaki stood by Oikawa's side with an unimpressed look as Kageyama just looked confused.

"I expected this immaturity from my younger brother, not my boyfriend... Then again, I did grow up with him, so I'm somewhat used to it." Hideaki thought, rolling his eyes.

"Oikawa-san—" Kageyama spoke once more but got cut off.

"Nope! Can't hear you! Can't hear a thing!" Oikawa replied as Hideaki looked down at Takeru.

"Don't let his stupidity rub off on you." Hideaki told him as Takeru just nodded in agreement.

Hideaki was suddenly taken aback when Kageyama bowed at Oikawa, which made Oikawa stop his childish acts. "Please listen to what I have to say." Kageyama begged as Oikawa huffed and straightened himself up.

"Why do I have to go out of my way to listen to what an enemy is going to say?" Oikawa responded as he turns away and walked down the steps.

Hideaki lingered his eyes on Kageyama's form for a bit longer before turning away as well and followed Oikawa and Takeru. "Please, Oikawa-san!" Kageyama begged but Oikawa doesn't reply nor stop to look back.

"I beg you! I beg you!"

Hideaki glanced at Kageyama's figure, he was still bowing, and Hideaki felt a little bad for leaving him like that. But he didn't really want to talk to him at the moment. "I beg you, please!" Kageyama exclaimed as he suddenly ran in front of them, which made Oikawa yell like a girl in shock. Hideaki jumped back and pulled Takeru closer to him, making sure Kageyama didn't accidently run into him.

Kageyama continued to bow as Oikawa narrowed his eyes, Hideaki then saw his eyes shine at something, and Hideaki could only guess what he was about to do. He watched as Oikawa took his phone out and looked between Hideaki and Takeru before walking over to Takeru.

"Takeru..." Oikawa began, which made his nephew look up at him.

"What?" He questioned.

"Take a picture." Oikawa replied, handing him his phone and Hideaki could only sigh at his boyfriend's actions.

"Hold it like this and press here." Oikawa instructed. Hideaki saw Kageyama glance up. "Don't move, Tobio." He ordered as he got into the frame and posed to the camera with a peace sign.

"Yay! I'll call this, "Tobio is No Match for Oikawa!" Oikawa announced, grinning. Hideaki felt like he needed to bang his head on something as Takeru took the picture.

"Tōru, you're actually happy about this picture? Lame." Takeru commented as Hideaki snorted and glanced at the picture before shaking his head.

Oikawa winced at his comment as his gaze turned onto Kageyama. "Well, what do you want?" He asked, allowing Kageyama to ask his question. "I'm busy, you know."

Hideaki scoffed. "You said you had plenty of free time since Hideaki was busy in Tokyo!" Takeru announced as Hideaki laughed at the bluntness of his boyfriend's nephew.

"Takeru, shut up! You've been hanging out with Aki-chan too much!"

"He isn't wrong though. How does it feel to have your nephew favorite your boyfriend?"

"Aki-chan! Not helping!"

Takeru blinked as he looked up at Oikawa. "What? But when you came, you were complaining about how Hideaki was far away from you." Takeru said as Hideaki smirked.

"I said, "Shut up!" Oikawa hissed as Hideaki sighed when he saw Kageyama giving them a questionable look.

"Go ahead and speak, Tobio." Hideaki informed as Kageyama seemed taken aback that he spoke to him. But he nodded and looked at Oikawa.

"So, uh, what if you were close to a tournament, and, uh... Iwaizumi-san said he was going to try some impossible attack..." Kageyama spoke as Hideaki narrowed his eyes at him.

"He is talking about his issue with Hinata." Hideaki thinks to himself.

"Hey... if you want to talk to me about something, quit with the lame "what if" story and just be up front with it." Oikawa scolded. Kageyama slightly glanced at Hideaki as he only nodded.

"Hinata has been hitting the fast attack balls without looking at them until now. Now, he says he wants to hit it of his own will."

Oikawa looked interested about this as he raised his brows. "Oh, really? That'd be pretty impressive if he could do it. Why not let him?" He questioned.

"Please don't make it sound so easy! Hinata has no concept of technique!" Kageyama hissed as Hideaki looked back at Oikawa to see him smirk.

"So you're saying, "Just do what I tell you to do" or something?" Oikawa questioned as Hideaki widened his eyes at his words.

"That's like a dictator, you know." Oikawa added as Hideaki couldn't help but nod in agreement. Kageyama tensed as he blinked at Oikawa. "Have you put any thought into it? About whether or not you're fully responding to shorty with a toss he wants? Have you tried to?"

Kageyama looked down at the ground, taking in the information of what Oikawa was telling him. Takeru blinks as he looked back and forth between the two and tugged at Hideaki's hand, he looked down at him as Takeru gestured for the male to get to his level. Hideaki did so and Takeru whispered in his ear.

"What's happening? I don't understand any of this." He whispered. Hideaki glanced back at Oikawa and Kageyama, then patted Takeru on the head.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about." Hideaki whispered back as Takeru blinked but nodded in understanding.

Hideaki watched as Oikawa raised his hand and pointed at Kageyama. "If you're thinking the situation is good as it can be and you're being defensive about it, you're basically a coward." Oikawa stated bluntly which made Kageyama tense at this. Hideaki slightly widened his eyes at Oikawa.

"Don't get the wrong idea. The one who had leadership in the attack isn't you... it's shorty." Oikawa added and Hideaki saw that Kageyama was letting his words sink in.

"Huh... Who knew Tōru could be smart." Hideaki thinks to himself.

Oikawa put his hand down. "If you can't understand that, you're just regressing back to playing the tyrant king." He stated as he walked passed Kageyama who stayed in his spot. "Let's go, Takeru, Aki-chan."

Takeru jogged up to catch up with Oikawa. Hideaki didn't follow as he continued to stare at Kageyama who looked at him as well, their eyes met but they said nothing.

He then started forward to catch up to his boyfriend and his nephew, but paused and stood a little behind Kageyama.

"Despite Tōru's immaturity, you should really take in what he said. He knows damn well what he's talking about." Hideaki spoke. Kageyama tensed a little as Hideaki walked off.

As Hideaki, Oikawa, and Takeru were walking, Oikawa was humming a tune. "Are you in a good mood, Tōru?" Takeru asked as he handed him his phone back.

"I'm happy that Tobio's more run down than I thought he was." Oikawa grinned as Hideaki rolled his eyes at him.

"I don't even know how I've dealt with you for so long at this point." Hideaki commented but Oikawa ignored him as Hideaki watched him stare at the photo that Takeru took, Hideaki started laughing when he saw that Oikawa in the picture was all blurry.

"I'm totally blurry!" Oikawa whined as Hideaki laughed.

"Stop laughing, damn it!"

"No way! What else did you expect? Takeru is 7 years old!"

"So? If I was 7 years old, I could still take good pictures!"

"Sure!"

"Still, I can't believe you lashed out on Tobio and shorty. I would've loved to see that." Oikawa commented.

"I was fuming. I guess I picked up a few things from Hajime always being pissed at you." Hideaki hummed as Oikawa yelped. "Besides, them having pointless fights will throw off our team's balance. The way I see it, if they can't work as a team, nationals will be history for us."

"You better watch out, Aki-chan. Aoba Johsai will kick Karasuno's ass again."

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, Trashykawa." Hideaki sighed, waving his boyfriend's comment off. "By the way, what's this I hear about you missing me?"

"It was nothing!"

"Nothing, huh?"

"Mhm!"

"Then you don't mind if I do this, right?"

Hideaki connected his lips against Oikawa's, passionately kissing him. Oikawa was quick to react as he kissed back.

"Oi, Aki-chan! My nephew is still here!"

"And? It's not like he hasn't seen us kiss before."

"You're a lovesick fool, you know that?"

"Only for you, mi amor."

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The next day, they had practice, as the gym was reopened after the inspection was done and over with. Throughout the school day, all Hideaki did was go to class and take notes.

Hideaki was walking to the gymnasium when he heard someone clear their throat. "Oh, hey—" He began to greet him but was cut off by Kageyama bowing at him.

"Senpai! I'm sorry for how I acted the other day!" He apologized.

Hideaki sighed. "It's fine, Tobio. I don't hold anything against you." He said, waving him off.

"I still feel guilty."

"Don't be. If anything, I want you to be back on good terms with Hinata again."

Kageyama tensed a little. Hideaki sighed and pat his junior's shoulder. "I meant what I said. Your actions will cause the team to fall, and I don't want that." He said before he remembered something.

"Oh, and Tobio?"

"Hmm?"

"Not a word about you seeing me with Tōru the other day. The team doesn't know I'm dating him, and I would like to keep it that way until I can tell them."

"Right, Izuki-san. Your secret's safe with me. To be quite honest, I kinda suspected you and Oikawa-san were dating." Kageyama stated.

Hideaki sighed in relief and walked inside. He went to join his other teammates as they began their stretches. After they finished, Hideaki noticed a familiar orange haired male walk in. He looked around as Ukai called him over, Hideaki looked away.

"Sugawara, I'm counting on you." Ukai announced as Sugawara perked up at his name.

"Right." He replied. They were going to play a practice match as Sugawara was being the setter for one side with Kageyama being the setter for the other.

"All right! Let's get this started! Make sure to stay hydrated!"

"Right!"

Hideaki noticed Hinata and Kageyama walk by each other, Hideaki frowned a little, noticing how they didn't say a word to each other.

"Um, Hinata..." Hideaki heard Yachi call out as he listened in.

"U-Um, I was wondering if you were okay. You and Kageyama, um, uh..." Yachi asked as she started to get anxious on asking.

Hideaki looked at Hinata who smiled. "We're fine." He said, making Yachi smile. However, Hideaki narrowed his eyes.

"Are you really though?" Hideaki wondered, turning his attention back to the practice match. He was on the same team as Hinata.

TWEEEET!

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The next day, they were using the second gym since a lot of the guys were doing their own practices and they didn't have the space. Hinata and Kageyama weren't on speaking terms still, but Hideaki thought it was understandable since they needed time on their own.

Hideaki huddled around Ukai, who was showing Ennoshita, Sugawara, Tanaka, Daichi, and himself some clips on a volleyball match so they could see what kind of tricks they can do.

"This is a video of the Brazil national team's attack?" Sugawara commented as Hideaki watched the clip which showed a tempo. "They are started moving at once." Sugawara gasped.

Hideaki nodded. "Shinzen's attack was like this, too." He added.

"A synchronized attack." Daichi stated as Hideaki glanced over at Kageyama who was busy practicing his setting. Yachi threw up the ball towards him as Hideaki watched Kageyama set the ball as he turned to the water bottle he was trying to hit. He missed, making him annoyed as Yachi jumped.

Kageyama just breathed out to calm down before turning to Yachi. "Next, please." He spoke, making Yachi nod her head.

"Got it!" She said. Hideaki chuckled a little at this before turning his attention back on the video Ukai was showing them.

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Thoughout the days, everyone had been focusing on improving themselves. Nishinoya was training how to set in mid-air, just like Aoba Johsai's libero did. Asahi and Hideaki were practicing their jump serves, Kageyama was doing some setting as he tried to set the ball in accurate position to knock down some water bottles.

Hinata kept running off to who knows where.

Ukai was getting the team educated on tempo attacks. Summer vacation was coming closer, and before Hideaki knew it, they were going back to Tokyo for their away games.

It was finally summer vacation, Hideaki was at the gym with the others as they were crowding around Takeda.

"Now that it's summer vacation, we can practice from morning to night. And starting tomorrow, we'll resume the Tokyo away games. This time, we'll be there for a solid week! This will be the first and last long-term training camp before the Spring Nationals preliminaries. With the Spring National preliminaries in sight, to make sure we have no regrets, take this opportunity to devour everything!" Takeda informed.

Hideaki took a deep breath before smirking in determination. His team was going to get stronger, one step at a time.

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A/N: Another chapter is done! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2770 words.