#kyoutani's dog from the manga

[phant0m-ch3rry]

Scooby dooby doo where are you?

[hansooyung]

stop sleeping on iwaizumi hajime

why is everyone sleeping on power couple iwaoi. if u do believe in power couple iwaoi then it’s bc u say oikawa is a rlly talented setter and iwaizumi is his ace. like no. have u SEEN iwaizumi hajime (27).

forget about iwaizumi hajime (27). let’s talk about iwaizumi hajime (17).

let’s get this straight off the bat he’s the love of my life. but he’s ALSO seijoh’s ace. seijoh. aoba johsai. a fucking powerhouse, and not just because of oikawa. 

yes, oikawa is crazy good and he worked hard to achieve it!!! he deserves ALL of the talent he has, and then some. mans was determined, and we love him for it. 

the main thing about his playstyle isn’t that he’s pinpoint focused on one player, kind of like hinata and kageyama’s quick, but he tries his best to bring ALL of his teammates styles into play. like with kunimi’s “laziness”. that’s why the whole “you should’ve come to shiratorizawa” thing is an insult to him, because shiratorizawa is a school that focuses on one star player (ushijima). this is also why tendou says he loves it when the players forget about him and focus on ushijima, so he can shut them down with his blocks.

so, yeah, oikawa’s playstyle is centered around his teammates. you know who’s a teammate of oikawa’s? iwaizumi.

iwaizumi, the ace of seijoh. he shown as a steady, stable player, with hella powerful spikes. in the second seijoh v. karasuno match (no spoilers here except the introduction of a player) it’s shown that mad dog is a spiker with raw, intense power. yet he still messes up a lot in the beginning, and so oikawa can’t always set to him. but iwaizumi is always there, always goes up for oikawa’s sets, and will always get it over.

let’s talk physical attributes.

everyone thinks ushijima wakatoshi is the best ace, the strongest, the most powerful. which, yeah, i get that. it’s mentioned several times that he is. let’s look at stats.

[Image ID: Ushijima Wakatoshi’s stats from the manga, listing his school, class, ranking, position, height, weight, brithday, favorite food, and current concern. His ability parameters are as follows: Power: 5/5 Speed: 3/5 Jumping: 4/5 Stamina: 5/5 Intelligence: 3/5 Technique: 3/5]

he’s a well rounded player, as you can clearly see.

now let’s look at iwaizumi:

[Image ID: Iwaizumi Hajime’s stats from the manga, listing his school, class, ranking, position, height, weight, brithday, favorite food, and current concern. His ability parameters are as follows: Power: 5/5 Speed: 4/5 Jumping: 4/5 Stamina: 4/5 Intelligence: 3/5 Technique: 3/5]

for easier reading, let’s make a table.

area // ushijima // iwaizumi

power // 5 // 5

jump // 4 // 4

stamina // 5 // 4

intelligence // 3 // 3

technique // 3 // 3

speed // 3 // 4

as you can see, iwaizumi and ushijima, who is considered to be the most powerful ace in japan, are more or less equal. 

they’re equal in 4 out 6 categories. four out of six. and in one of those two categories in which they aren’t equal? iwaizumi has more of it. iwaizumi has more speed than ushijima. iwaizumi. ushijima has more stamina, iwaizumi has more speed, and in everything except that they are EQUAL. 

the fact that iwaizumi hajime, ace of seijoh, is stronger that ushijima wakatoshi in one category and equal in almost all the rest is simply astounding. 

and i definitely don’t need to talk about iwaizumi hajime (27). just look at him.

yeah. iwaizumi hajime. beautiful strong powerful love of my life athletic trainer of the japan national team, holy shit, oh my god.

it’s also shown in the second season how mad dog only listens to iwaizumi and not oikawa because iwaizumi beat him in arm wrestling and every other competition. several times. iwaizumi. beat kyoutani kentarou. makki’s current concern is how he can never beat iwaizumi at arm wrestling. i also saw somewhere on twitter, although i’m not sure about the reliability of the source, but furudate themselves said that iwaizumi hajime (35) could beat anyone including the members of the monster generation in a fight.

iwaizumi hajime (any age). that’s it send tweet.

[rinyagi]

what it's like studying with haikyuu teams

part 2: inarizaki, itachiyama, and kamomedai

karasuno would study seriously yet at the same time they're goofing around. tsukishima is too strict on kageyama and hinata and will not miss an oppurtunity to rile them up, meanwhile yachi is trying to not let the freak duo (especially kageyama) lose their cool. tanaka and nishinoya are being tamed by ennoshita while the third years are peacefully studying, although asahi is sort of overthinking what could possibly be his results. needs comfort and reassurance from daichi and sugawara, and kiyoko gave a thumbs up.

aoba johsai is pretty smart. but oikawa keeps on annoying iwaizumi like pointing out his mistakes in math (i feel like iwaizumi's least favorite subject is math), resulting being threatened by iwaizumi that he'll hit oikawa if he doesn't stops. in the end oikawa did helped iwaizumi. yahaba is helping kyoutani in some subjects kyoutani is struggling at, which mad dog accepted in sincerity. kunimi is trying not to get sleepy while kindaichi lends him some energy drinks. matsukawa and hanamaki are making jokes in some questions that are found in the book.

nekoma is doing their work seriously. yaku and kai found out in a study session with the team that kuroo sometimes tutor kenma when kenma is struggling in a specific subject. shibayama and teshiro are helping lev and inuoka by guiding them on how to find the answer for the problem they're given. taketora is doing his best to focus while fukunaga is pointing his mistakes at the same time unintentionally provoking taketora, receiving a reply like "i know that!" with furrowed brows. funny, fukunaga thought.

fukuroudani is the type to goof around to the point where they completely forget to study and someone needs to remind them of what they're all here in the first place. bokuto likes to ask akaashi some study tips since he's close friends with his juniors and bonus that akaashi is smart because he's in class 6. bokuto would use these tips and get good grades. konoha and komi are always tapping their pen which leads to suzumeda getting annoyed. yukie is... eating. while studying, of course. it's her comfort. akaashi is helpful enough to help the first years in how to find the answer in what subject they're currently studying. the first years loves akaashi as their tutor and akaashi often helps them, he has fun too.

since shiratorizawa has vigorous teachings, they have study hangouts often. all of them are really smart, so they don't need much help. tendou reads manga during sessions, which he gets scolded by semi. ironically, he passes all of his exams because he studies while reading manga. goshiki likes to study on his own so he can at least beat ushijima in grades, which gets retorted by shirabu who coldly says that before he studies he should get rid of his worthless pride first. shirabu and kawanishi like do testing with each other, like asking each other questions to test their knowledge. semi doesn't like math, but reon helps him out. ushijima is average smart but he's very diligent.

[bringingglory]

002 for Oikawa

How I feel about this character: I LOVE HIM!!! bruh okay, i think one of my first thoughts about him was that i was in love with his slightly unhinged asshole vibes. i think super smug slightly mean characters are a LOT of fun. i mean, especially with his character introduction in haikyuu, i was very eyeseyes but like i also love that he his frightening and threatening bc "im counting on you team" etc etc and ALSO acts like a goddamn child sticking his tongue out and shit, he’s just so much fun. also, i have latched onto the detail of that one time when u see his camera roll and he just!!! has so many pictures!!! of takeru!!! oikawa just loves his nephew and i think thats cute, even when takeru’s acting like a punk

All the people I ship romantically with this character: iwaoi!!! more on that down below. i also think middle school oikage is really Neat, especially after i saw that one ceejurs fanart of them. and i have not read the manga, but i have chanced upon some spoilers aksdjfhlakjs and i think oihina is cute too bc of their brazil fling. uhhh tl;dr, iwaizumi, kageyama, and hinata

My non-romantic OTP for this character: uhhhh, i have no idea. i like kyoutani and oikawa's relationship (at least what i remember of it, it's been a few months since i saw the anime). something something mad dog listening to oikawa, fun stuff

My unpopular opinion about this character: HHHHHH i watched haikyuu in like december so i feel like im generally unfamiliar with a lot of the fandom's opinions on stuff so idk what an unpopular opinion would be.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: AKJSHAKLJD again ive only seen the anime (and im only a few episodes into season 4) so like, idk much about what happens in canon otherwise. i think??? maybe??? bc iwaoi brainrot i would like to see more of him and iwa's childhood

my OTP: IWAOI!!!!!!! bruh Iwaoi grabbed my by the fucking throat lmao. like i was like "haha oikawa and iwaizumi funny" but then oikawa just kept calling him "iwa-chan" and iwaizumi just kept lowkey bullying him but like also iwa yells at oikawa to take care of himself and gave him that revelation of "there are six people on a team" and like they know each other so well bc they're fucking!!! childhood!!! best friends!!! how can i not ship them?

my cross over ship: aljdhfakljsdf i have no idea??? im so sorry

a headcanon fact: headcanon fact as in like a headcanon i believe very strongly in? im gonna assume yes. so like, not to fixate once again on oikawa and takeru, but i like to think that oikawa's actually a really good uncle. like he acts childish sometimes and very flighty ig, but he takes very good care of takeru and they bicker and stuff but also oikawa probably knows all of takeru's favorite foods and games and hobbies and shit and oikawa goes absolutely feral when takeru accomplishes, he is a supportive uncle who takes dozens of pictures of takeru just like eating food??? adorable, im going to Melt

anyway, sorry that that is super incoherent. i only know how to type in stream of consciousness, but thank u for the ask!!!

from this post

[riesea]

you'll find love, you'll find home

a kyouhaba mermaid au

where kyoutani just moved in to settle near the beach, away from the city and its noises. there he meets shigeru, a mermaid.

-01-

[mermaid appearance]

yahaba's tail color is aquamarine, same with everyone from aoba johsai, his merfolk clan. his hair becomes light brown when he's not underwater or his hair isn't wet -see sheet 2 with kyouhaba scene- (because manga yahaba and anime yahaba are both pretty for me) both are his natural hair colors but it depends on the environment he's in.

[predator mode]

yahaba is actually in kyoutani's bathtub here and he wanted more rubber ducky to play with *uses this mode to threaten*

-02-

[kyoutani from the city]

kyoutani is unpacking his stuff and would later renovate and clean the beach house to settle for good with his dog.

most of the times during the renovation he's just thinking what to do during lunchtime: eating fried chicken with his dog beside him (a shiba inu, i haven't decided what name to give her yet) it is kyoutani's ideal way of living.

[kyouhaba's not-really-first meeting]

at first, yahaba is quiet and very observant about the new and unfamiliar things he see but he would go "woah" at the sight of some few things like when he sees kyou's dog up-close. kyoutani is only there because he's being cautious and can't leave his dog with a mermaid.

(there are more stuff i have in mind with this au. maybe in the future i will add more. and since it's 31st of May.... i tried to catch up to do a mermaid fanart for MerMay with my otp)

[tsukishima-tadashi]

Always nice to see a fellow Semi Eita stan. The rest of the Pretty Setters get all the love but our boi is so underappreciated. Do you have any headcanons for him?

I sure do!

Some slight manga spoilers.

- Young kids are afraid of him at first, but he doesn't let it get to him anymore. He just does his do, and soon they adore him and know they can rely on him if they have a problem. Teaches em manners.

- Similar vein, he's a good senpai. He's not that different from Suga... just down the mischief and up the seriousness. Is concerned with his kouhai and keeps an eye out for 'em. Were he on a smaller team, he'd probably go out of his way to make sure his kouhai are doing alright.

- That said, he's very concerned about respect and manners, like how he scolds Tendou for being too invasive with Ushijima, or gets pissed at Shirabu. He's kind, but strict. Take no shit, but make beds, not graves.

- He'd be an excellent senpai to Yamaguchi. Both pinch servers, trying their damnedest to hold on to a place on the court. Be proud of Yama and encourage him.

- In fact, I've just now decided they went to the same university.

- Drummer. They didn't say what he played, right? Yeah, drummer.

- Concerned with his appearance. Dyed tips, his current concern being about Tendou calling his fashion sense lame... you can bet he does make up, especially before a concert. Killer eyeliner.

- Surprisingly, despite his caring about respect, he'd like Kyoutani... in a "I'm going to hover around you and argue with you when you're a brat" kind of way? If that makes sense. Like, he wouldn't just ragequit him. He'd be a nag.

- Related, he likes dogs.

- Also related, he'd complain about disrespectful people with Yahaba and Iwaizumi.

- Not the most academic, but I wouldn't say he's... dumb, per se. He gets good grades! Average in most cases. He just has to study harder than most. Best grades are in Japanese and English classes. And PE, obviously. Worst class is math, with history being a little better.

- Is secretly into romance novels.

[astreetcarnamedwynn]

For the afanfic Asks 2, 6, 7?

Thank you so much for asking! :D :D :D

2. What’s next on your ‘to-read’ list? (Fan fiction or otherwise)

I actually don’t have anything upcoming on my fanfic to-read list. Mostly because I can’t settle on a fandom to explore. I blazed through Haikyuu fics on AO3 and then did a much smaller dive into Persona 5 fics. I still have a lot of Haikyuu and Persona 5 fics on my Marked for Later list, as well as a number of Bungou Stray Dogs fic, but I can’t really settle on fic right now.

I am reading the heck out of the Fruits Basket manga right now. Over the last few months, I’ve read volumes 3-8 of the collector’s edition, and I’m nearly finished with volume 9. There’s only 3 more, so I’ll probably finish those within the next couple of weeks. After that, I might start reading Ouran High School Host Club. I started watching the anime last week and have been entertained.

6. What’s the last thing you read that made you laugh?

“Like Herding Cats�� by flyby, Bungou Stray Dogs, Dazai x Chuuya

The first two tags are “Crack” and “Chuuya is plagued by Dazai cats,” and this is all you need to know for this gloriously absurd experience. All of flyby’s Bungou fics are fabulous.

“yahaba vs. the miyagi captains” by blessings, Haikyuu, Yahaba x Kyoutani

As the summary says, “Three times Kyoutani had to hold Yahaba back, and one time he didn’t.” Featuring gloriously bitchy Yahaba who learned how to smack talk from the best (Oikawa). Kyoutani is exasperated and entertained and turned on.

7. What’s the last thing you read that made you cry?

It takes a lot for a fic to make me cry, probably because I avoid tragic fics like the plague. Give me my happy ending, please. However, fics often give me FEELINGS, even if these don’t quite produce tears. Here are a few of the most recent:

“Start Again at Your Beginnings” by joisbishmyoga, Persona 5, Akira x Akechi, Sojiro POV

The last time I read Persona 5 fic I did not read Akira x Akechi. I read mostly Akira x Ryuji or Akira x Yusuke. I gave a few Akira x Akechi fics a shot this time around, and this one got me right in the feels. The premise of this fic is Sojiro being a Damn Good Parent and dealing with Shido in order to protect the kids, including Akechi. I have a real weakness for helpful, caring parents/mentors/guardians.

“Regardless of Destiny” by ok4, Demon Slayer, Giyuu x Sabito

A Sabito-lives soulmate AU in which Sabito says Giyuu is his soulmate, though Giyuu does not have the same signs. So Sabito says ‘screw fate’ and he paints beautiful marks onto Giyuu as a sign of his love. As the summary states, ““This is Sabito’s work, isn't it? I don’t mean to pry, it’s just that…” Her voice wavers slightly, a bright smile stretching over her face. “Well, to be born without a soulmark, and to have someone treasure you so much that they deny fate and paint one on you anyways- that’s the truest type of love, isn’t it? I’m a bit awestruck.”” SO MANY FEELS.

“twist into your shape” by kakkoweeb, Haikyuu, Kageyama x Oikawa

In the midst of my Haikyuu fic reading mania, I tried damn near EVERY ship. I think this was the first Kageyama x Oikawa fic I read, and it is fantastic. In the fic, Kageyama and Oikawa switch bodies Freaky Friday style, and kakkoweeb uses this as a means for both Kageyama and Oikawa (especially Oikawa) to learn who the other person really is (and learn what it means to truly love). Oikawa finally understanding the truth of Kageyama and what he does in response to it got me in the feels.

[cannot-decide-on-a-fandom]

Because I can't keep only making Haikyuu videos, I'll just do this here

(Part 1) I'm gonna go ahead and rate every match in the series

Rules:

1) We need to see a significant portion of the game, so simply glimpses of practice or official matches or just really short games don't count (so let's say more than 2 chapters long in the manga (with one exception as it's kind of a crucial one), I know this will miss out a few great moments, and basically the entirety of the training camp, but this list would be like 1000 pages long otherwise)

2) I'll go in chronological order as opposed to preference order because I'm too lazy for that

3) This first post is gonna be all the matches already in the anime, and I'll make a second about the manga (I'll post a link to each other on both) so this is spoiler free. Here's part 2 with the manga matches-

Alright

Yukigaoka Junior High Vs Kitagawa Daiichi

Okay, obviously this was more like a prologue than anything else. It holds a place in my heart for introducing us to these characters, and later on for not dropping Kouji and Izumi, and I liked the little details like how being in the football club meant he was able to make a good save or 2 with his foot. But of course this was hardly a match necessarily. Still fun and I enjoyed a lot of it, though.

6/10

Karasuno 3 Vs 3

Oh, Tsukki, to think you aren't as big of a douchebag as you seemed here.

I really do appreciate the entire situation, though. Tsukishima never disliked volleyball, it wasn't like he suddenly started getting serious after never doing so before when the Shiratorizawa match came, he was always one who could be riled up but he just didn't want to show it because it was irritating to him that people were so intense.

The match itself was really nice for what it was. The early matches really contained a lot of foreshadowing, like Yamaguchi messing up the serve we saw him do. And of course this was the start of the partnership between Kageyama and Hinata. Still warming up to proper matches, of course.

6/10

Karasuno Vs Aoba Johsai practice match

Okay, this is undoubtedly the funniest match of the show. Not necessarily the funnest (I won't forget Jozenji) but it was kind of hilarious. Poor Hinata freaking out, I love him, but it was so endearing. And of course there's the serve mistake he made. Baby crow grew up afterwards.

But then Oikawa's introduction was badass as hell. I love the entire Seijoh team, they're great, and I love every opposing team, but Oikawa is still the best rival in the series in my opinion. And people like Tanaka got some spotlight too which was nice.

7/10

Karasuno High Vs Neighborhood Association

Listen. I may be biased because I love the Neighborhood Association, but I absolutely loved this match. It was hype even though it was low stakes. We got Noya and Asahi playing for the first time, and Suga as well in fact. The introduction of the jump float serve. Some fantastic saves and spikes. I love it. And it was emotionally fulfilling.

7/10

Karasuno Vs Nekoma practice match

NEKOMA! Sorry, sorry. Just love them.

Anyway, I'm only talking about the match so I can't count how much I adored Kenma's introduction and the two of them meeting (Hinata, you're my cinnamon roll), nor can I count the ridiculous interactions before and after (Yamamoto and Tanaka, Kuroo and Daichi, and Yaku and Suga, are just too perfect) but other than that, I REALLY liked how Nekoma was the first team to show us how any spike can be countered. I loved Hinata and Inuoka's rivalry, and I so appreciated how they showed Kenma being a strategist. Also, in the manga, there's like 20 panels of him like this

Which is a) a freaking mood, and b) one stupidly endearing quality about him.

Maybe this match is just about how much I love every character?

But it was so fun. Oikawa is the best individual rival, but Nekoma is their best rival as a whole. It's just so great.

7.5/10

Karasuno Vs Tokonami

I loved how we got backstory for Daichi. I don't know why, but I didn't exactly expect it? Like I expected development, but I guess I'm used to the focus being purely the main characters in terms of backstory, at least this early on, in most series. But I really like Ikejiri and I find his dynamic with Daichi endearing.

Not the best "match" but I appreciated the sentiment

6/10

Karasuno Vs Dateko

Oh, now we're talking. Gonna be honest, Dateko is one of my least favourite teams (I still love them! I love every single team. They're just on the lower end of a really highly appreciative scale) but this match was fantastic.

Again, I may be judging this based on one aspect, but I mean to this day Noya's save is one of my favourite scenes in anything. It was so well done, both anime and manga, and I just fell even more in love with Noya. And the symbolism of smashing through the iron wall was so great.

8/10

Karasuno Vs Aoba Johsai (1st official match)

And we come to the only team which Karasuno faced more than once in an official game (that we see) and that means I can't help but judge it harsher because their second game was awesome

HOWEVER! I still 100% love this game. It's such an important game to everyone and though I won't count the after effect, in the restaurant and all, I will count the immediate aftermath. It was so sad but also understandable and the entire match itself was intense. I could go into it, but it just paid off. The build up and the animosity between some of the players, the background we got for the characters during this game, the freaking soundtrack which is incredible in any of the matches.

Fantastic.

8.5/10

Karasuno Vs Oghiminami

...Meh

4/10

Karasuno Vs Kakugawa

...Meh again

With a side of interest in the idea of facing a 2m tall player, but...yeah, meh (neither game was bad, I just hardly cared about the actual matches. I enjoyed the surrounding discussions and all way more)

5/10

Karasuno Vs Jozenji

Most certainly NOT meh!

I love Jozenji so much. I want to see them more! They're so, so fun, and this shows you don't have to stick within a specific type of play. Be able to have fun while also being serious, it's important!

And, like, they're good! They're not bad or anything, even though they're messing around. They're entertaining as hell but also try hard.

I love them

And we got to see Suga playing too. I love him so I need to point this out.

8/10

Karasuno Vs Wakutani

Firstly, rip Daichi.

Alright, but seriously, I'm so glad we got to see someone like Takeru. His playing style is completely different to Hinata's at this point, yet they admire the same player, but neither of them are actually cruel or rude to the other team. This was such a respectful match while also being intense.

And we got to see an injury of a key player who couldn't go back on the court unlike Kags in the previous game, which, while unfortunate, is actually really, really good to see. It happens and can throw a spanner in the works, but it allowed us to also see 1) Ennoshita stepping up, 2) Tanaka's reaction to accidentally injuring Daichi (though it wasn't really his fault), and 3) an entirely different type of dynamic on the court.

Also, Yamaguchi! My baby! I felt like crying for the poor thing, but this was the start of his confidence and I love him so much.

I really, really, really liked this match.

8.5/10

Karasuno Vs Aoba Johsai (2nd official match)

YES!

Okay, firstly, the strategies in this game. Using a double edged sword like Mad Dog from Aoba Johsai, and Karasuno going with a more tactic savvy thinker when in a bind, like Suga, even though Kageyama is over all a better player, it was SO great to see. Suga may not be a genius or a prodigy, but his intelligence doesn't just lie in volleyball, so he can use general knowledge to his advantage so well, and teach Kageyama something too.

Kyoutani is such an interesting character and forms a brilliant dynamic for the team to play with, it's great.

Oikawa being shown to make genuine errors is such a fantastic thing. No matter how good you are, Oikawa, Kageyama, Ushijima, whoever, you will never be 100% perfect, and you will always have moments where you make mistakes. I really enjoyed seeing that. Especially his serves, which we were introduced to before his setting.

And, of course, the Hero of the match...

I WILL PROTECT YOU! BUT RIGHT NOW YOU DON'T NEED PROTECTING, YOU ARE SMASHING IT, YES BABY!

Sorry. Got over whelmed. But real talk, I also liked that they did eventually lose that set. Miraculous plays don't automatically win the game, but it also doesn't diminish their importance.

9/10

And finally for this list

Karasuno Vs Shiratorizawa

Well, do I really need to say it?

Yes, Tsukishima owned this match, this season of the show, but he wasn't the only great player

Nishinoya had some amazing moments, Hinata is such an idiot but he utilised that to his advantage by...not thinking. Like, he deliberately received the ball with his face. I mean, come on.

Yamaguchi played great too, Suga was such a key part even when on the bench (yelling at them from the side lines is absolutely brilliant), pretty much everyone was amazing here.

But while it was longer, I still preferred the Aoba Johsai game. Only slightly. Still-

9/10

Okay! So that was the anime, now...

I committed to do the manga too, didn't I?

Alright, it does contain my 2 favourite matches, so you know what? Yeah, let's go

[gabbaray]

i'll tell you 5 random haikyuu characters and you have to rate them in terms of how much you like them, ok? ok! so here we go: kageyama tobio, kyoutani kentarou, semi eita, asahi azumane aaaand futakuchi kenji.

oh this is fun, thank you!

Kageyama Tobio: 4/6. i was someone who gradually warmed up to kags. his development has been amazing. v proud of him. something i loved about this series has been the gradual expansion of the high school boy volleyball player world. we go from Kageyama being the best setter to seeing that he still has some ways to go but can still hold his own.

Kyoutani Kentarou: 4/6. mad dog-chan. i like Kyotani because of his relationship with Iwaizumi. i want to know more about his backstory. he’s my second favorite Seijou second year. next year’s games are gonna be so much fun.

Semi Eita: 5/6. semi semi. i watched haikyuu s1-3 and picked up the manga right where the anime drops off so i don’t have a lot of reference for semi semi. i can understand his frustrations especially as a foil to Suga. pretty setter for sure.

Asahi Azumane: 6/6 best boy. i love Asahi. he’s a giant teddy bear and i want to protect him. he is so relatable lol. i love that he needs the other third years as much as they need him. it would be so easy to make his character this drain on his friends and his worrying drag down everyone. but he can be a rock and someone that you can depend on.

Futakuchi Kenji: 5/6. this demon child. i find Futakuchi hilarious. he’s such a little instigator. Date Tech is my second favorite Miyagi team so he gets bonus points for that. he makes a great captain. i’m excited and hope sensei lets them get more development. 

[vikingpoteto]

So here’s my piece for the @haikyuusecretsanta! A gift for @sit-on-my-cactus​ based on this post. Happy holidays!!

Title: Fated Pairing: Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru Word count: 7,308 Rating: Teen Warnings/Tags: Rated T for Language, Soulmate AU, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Based on a Tumblr post Summary: Kentarou's soulmate mark is a grim one and he grows up afraid of meeting them. He decides he doesn't need a soulmate at all if someone named Dumbledore needs to die because of it.

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Kentarou had that mark on his wrist for as long as he could remember. He knew it wasn’t a regular birthmark, even though he couldn’t understand it. He didn’t bother asking his father about it, because his father was too much like Kentarou himself - barely used his words, never knew what anything was and grumbled all the time. Kentarou’s mother, on the other hand, was very informative. She would answer Kentarou’s questions without batting an eye. So one day, while his father prepared dinner and she washed the dishes, he asked her about the strange mark.

“That’s your soulmate mark,” she said.

“What is a soulmate?” Kentarou asked.

“A person that it’s destined to be with you forever.”

“Like mum?”

His mother’s lips curved upwards. She almost never smiled, but she would sometimes wear that soft look. Usually when she was around Kentarou and her husband.

“Not quite, kid.”

Kentarou looks horrified. “You’re not going to be with me forever?”

From the counter, Kentarou’s father chokes on his own spit. “Don’t say dumb stuff like that! Of course your ma and I are going to be there for you forever!”

And then he turned red like the beet he was cutting for dinner. Kentarou didn’t understand back then why his father would get red and sweaty so easily, but his mother looked somewhat amused at his reaction.

“They are going to be with you in a different way, Kentarou,” his mother continued as if she wasn’t interrupted. “Like your father is with me.”

“Oh,” Kentarou says and takes another look at his forearm. “What does it mean?”

“It represents the moment you’ll realize your soulmate is the one.”

“But mine is just a bunch of weird symbols!”

Kentarou’s father frowns. “Your soulmate mark are words?”

Kentarou nods and shows him his arm. “What does it say?”

“We can’t see it, kid,” his mother said. “Each person can see their mark only.”

“That’s not cool at all,” Kentarou said with a pout. “I want it gone.”

“It will be gone when you find your soulmate,” his father said. “Now come here and help me.”

Kentarou learns to read at school, but he still can’t tell what the symbols on his arm say. His teacher tells the class about kanji and Kentarou gets pissed at japanese for being so complicated. He has learned a lot about soulmates, mostly from television and manga. His friends at school talk about it often.

He learns that most soul marks are drawings or symbols - which kind of makes sense, since writing is a relatively new thing in human history and soulmate marks have existed since… well. Forever. His parents won’t tell him what their marks were, much to his annoyance. It’s common for people to keep their marks to themselves, since it’s a personal thing. As much as it is normal for people to put doodles of the mark as their profile picture in social media.

He also learns that everyone has a soul mark, even though not everyone marries their soulmate. Some people are just really good friends with theirs.

One night, Kentarou watches his father gasp as his mother walks into the room. “Your ma hasn’t been this happy in a while. I wonder if something good happened,” he says.

Kentarou’s mother looks the same to him, though. Serious face, dark clothes and tightly shut mouth. If you look closely, there is some sort of sparkle in her eyes, but Kentarou only sees it because he knows her since he was born. Later, she tells them she got a promotion at work and Kentarou’s father holds her hand in celebration. They are not like the couples on TV, all tight hugs and big smiles and love promises (for which Kentarou thanks God , he wouldn’t bear being the child of a disgusting couple like those) but they are perfect for each other in their own grumpy way.

That’s when Kentarou realizes that he wants his soulmate to be his spouse. He wouldn’t want to marry anyone that couldn’t understand him like that.

Soulmates were something to look forward to, something everyone seemed to want. Kentarou… thinks he understands. A soulmate is a person that is destined to be by your side. It doesn’t matter what. It’s someone that will understand you and be there for you. A best friend. A partner. Kentarou doesn’t admit it out loud, but he would like to have that, someday.

When Kentarou learns how to write “death”, his blood goes cold. Because it looks just like one of the kanji on his wrist. He still can’t read the entire sentence, but he doesn’t think having “death” related to the moment he’ll find out who his soulmate is can be a good omen.

He hides in his closet and tries to scratch the word out, as if making it disappear will change his fate. He’s been looking forward to meeting his soulmate for years. They can’t be dead, can they? He cries of anger and frustration until his parents find him. It takes a lot for them to get Kentarou to explain what was wrong.

When he finally admits it, his father takes him into his lap and squeezes him tightly, turning a pleading gaze to Kentarou’s mother. She tries to tell him not to take the message too seriously, it might have a different meaning. Soulmate marks are misinterpreted all the time and no one can be completely sure of the meaning, even after the soulmate is revealed and the mark disappears for good.

Kentarou wills himself to stop crying in front of them. They are clearly scared and worried. He doesn’t want to worry his parents anymore.

On that night, Kentarou thinks to himself he might have to live without a soulmate. It’s not unheard of. People that lose their partner way too soon. People that never meet their soulmate at all. Maybe Kentarou is one of these cases. If his mark represents the moment he finds out who his soulmate is, maybe he’ll figure out he’s in love in the worst possible moment. Kentarou imagines himself holding a stranger - he can’t quite see their features, but he imagines his soulmate must have soft hair and a pretty face - and the stranger is in great pain. They are bleeding out. Kentarou realizes they’re the one as their face turns pale and their eyes lose the sparkle.

(Kentarou watches way too much shonen anime, he can picture it perfectly.)

He bites back a new wave of tears and gets angry at the universe for getting his hopes up and then bringing him down so abruptly. He gets angry and he decides that he doesn’t want to meet his soulmate at all. He’ll never fall in love. He’ll never know who this soft haired stranger is and they will never break his heart.

Who needs a dumb soulmate anyway?

Not him.

Screw soulmates.

Kentarou is hellbent on not falling in love, ever. He knows that there are people who don’t. He tries not to get too close to people, because he doesn’t want to watch his best friend die either. How does that work, anyway? Can it be avoided? If Kentarou manages to not have friends or romantic interests, will his soulmate not die? Or they’ll die nonetheless, just without his knowledge?

Unfortunately, he’s not successful. He joins the volleyball team, because he loves the sport and volleyball can’t die in his arms. He makes sure to keep his distance, but it’s not as simple as it seems. A sweet boy named Watari keeps talking to him regardless of how many times Kentarou pushes him away. Their captain insists in including Kentarou in everything the team does, despite his protests. And a cute girl from the female volleyball team greets him with a smile everytime she sees him. She is pretty and has soft hair. Watari becomes Kentarou’s best friend. He falls for the girl without even trying.

He really has to work on his pariah skills.

Kentarou can’t help it when Watari becomes a part of his life, the two of them being in the same team and all that, but he avoids the girl often enough. His heart still races to the sight of her, but he keeps his distance. She doesn’t actively seek him. He graduates without a girlfriend and with a bitter heart.

“ Fuck ,” Kentarou barks

He manages to hit the ball in the last second, but not without losing his balance. Kentarou ends up falling on his ass after the effort to stop the ball from hitting him in the face. No one even thinks of laughing, however, because it’s Kentarou and everyone but the third years is afraid of him. Everyone but the third years and the motherfucker that served a ball right at Kentarou’s nose.

He is on his feet and marching toward the net even before Watari can ask him if he’s okay.

“You did that on purpose!” Kentarou accuses.

From the other side of the net, Yahaba Shigeru scowls at him. “We are in the middle of volleyball practice,” he says. “Are you accusing me of hitting the ball on purpose?”

“You threw the ball at my face and you know it, you little shit!”

“I am playing,” Yahaba says cooly. “It’s not my fault you can’t receive a ball properly.”

If it wasn’t for the net between them, Kentarou would have punched Yahaba’s stupid nose. He starts to go beneath it to do just that, but before he can do anything, Oikawa is there. Of course he is. Oikawa is a fucking pain in the ass that magically appears everytime Kentarou is about to give Yahaba exactly what he deserves.

“Now, now, what’s the issue here?”

“Nothing,” Yahaba says at the same time Kyoutani barks, “he freaking served a ball at my face!”

Yahaba gives Kyoutani a stern look. “You must have been the worst middle schooler ever.”

“Now, now,” Oikawa repeats gesturing annoyingly at the two of them as if that means something. “Are you hurt, Mad Dog-chan?”

“Of course I’m not. I managed to receive it. Only because I’m a damn good player.”

“If you’re so good, then it shouldn’t be an issue,” Yahaba says. “If you were actually paying attention to practice…”

“Just because I’m good enough to get your half-assed serves doesn’t mean I should be pulling your weight,” Kentarou says.

That finally gets a reaction. Yahaba’s face grows red with anger, which makes Kentarou feel good and bad at the same time. Good, because Yahaba Shigeru is a walking piece of shit and he needs to get knocked down from his high horse every now and then. Bad, because… Well. Kentarou isn’t sure. He just feels conflicted every time he argues with Yahaba.

“Enough,” Oikawa says, his voice unusually serious. Kentarou hates that both him and Yahaba automatically obey him. “Mad Dog-chan, if you’re not hurt, there’s no need to be angry, is there? And Yahaba is right, you should be paying attention. Also ,” Oikawa raises his voice when Kentarou tries to protest, “Kyoutani is right, Yahaba, you have more control than that. You shouldn’t be serving in a way that will get you a foul. Apologize and be more careful, will you?”

Yahaba pouts, but he doesn’t dare go against their captain when he’s being this reasonable. Instead, he side-eyes Kentarou and spits an “I’m sorry” before turning around and running back to his position.

Kentarou backs off before Oikawa says anything else, annoyed. Sometimes, volley practice freaking sucks.

In a way, it’s easier than middle school. He hates half of the team, so chances are none of them is his dying soulmate. He interacts mostly with Yahaba, Oikawa, Iwaizumi and Watari and… Well. Oikawa is too flashy for Kentarou to get along with him, so he isn’t afraid of their idiotic captain. Iwaizumi is amazing and all, but Kentarou doesn’t think they’ll ever be close enough. He’s still afraid Watari will turn out to be his platonic soulmate, but part of him already knows that it isn’t like that. Watari is his friend, sure, but a regular friend. Not a fated-to-be-with-him-forever friend.

And then there is Yahaba Shigeru, the outlet to Kentarou’s every frustration. It was hate at the first sight and he and Yahaba have been fighting over stupid things since day one. It’s safe to be around Yahaba, because Yahaba isn’t afraid of him and, despite him being annoying as fuck, it’s almost fun to antagonize him. It’s safe for Kentarou to be around people like Yahaba, people that can’t stand him, because they’ll never fall in love with him or be his partner for life.

It’s been a couple of years since Kentarou learned what his soulmate mark says. Most people have drawings, abstract symbols and weird shapes or random words to be interpreted – Watari himself once told Kentarou that his looks a bit like a cat – but Kentarou? Kentarou has a whole sentence.

I can’t believe Dumbledore is dead , it reads perfectly on Kentarou’s wrist.

First of all, what the hell is a Dumbledore? Is Kentarou’s soulmate a foreigner? What the fuck does that sentence even mean?

Kentarou is tempted to look further into it, but he doesn’t want to. Whatever situation in which he realizes he’s in love while someone else talks about death can’t be good. He’s decided a long ago that he would put an end in this situation by never meeting his soulmate. Ever. He will pretend that stupid ominous sentence isn’t there and carry on with his life perfectly soulmateless.

The thing about feeling safe around someone is that you get reckless.

Kentarou has been extremely careful not to get attached to anyone, because that might lead someone named Dumbledore to their death. However, he is a regular boy and he doesn’t think he could completely isolate himself and not get crushingly lonely. So he seeks loopholes.

It’s safe to be with Watari, since Watari’s mark is some sort of cat drawing and Kentarou is the exact opposite of a cat person. It’s safe to look up to Iwaizumi-san, because it’s common knowledge that Iwaizumi-san has already found his soulmate on his first year of high school, though he keeps their identity a secret for some reason.

And it’s safe to go around messing with Yahaba Shigeru, because Yahaba Shigeru hates him.

Kentarou should know better. He should have known better and yet…

Kentarou and Yahaba Shigeru stand in the hallway, each holding a bucket full of water. Neither of them thought the teacher would actually do that to them – such an old school punishment Kentarou thought it was just an anime thing – but that’s what they get for getting into a shouting match right before the first class of the day.

God, Oikawa is going to be a pain in the ass about this if he finds out.

The two boys stand there, stiff, both refusing to complain about the weight of the buckets, because the first to do so is obviously the loser. (Kentarou himself isn’t sure about what he would be losing, since he can’t quite remember why he and Yahaba have been fighting in the first place, but he sure as hell isn’t giving up.) Aside from muffled noises from inside the classroom, there’s nothing to break the tense silence.

Then, unexpectedly, Yahaba says, “did you hear that?”

Kentarou glares at him as if he’s being insane. Since when do they talk like polite human beings?

“Hear what?” He asks back petulantly.

“Shh,” Yahaba makes.

Kentarou gets irrationally annoyed by that – how dare Yahaba ask him a question and then tell him to be quiet when he tries to answer it? – and he’s about to start yelling at him again when he does hear it. A faint whine.

Yahaba carelessly sets down his bucket and heads to the windows. He lets out a soft gasp. Kentarou ends up following him with a begrudging, “what?”

“There’s a dog,” Yahaba says, pointing at the bushes on the ground floor.

Kentarou scowls and leans in, searching. It isn’t long before he notices a dirty little ball of fur in the middle of the leaves. It’s so small it could be a cat, except it’s got long ears. And it does not look like a cat enjoying the sun. They hear another soft whimper.

He puts down the bucket immediately and heads to the stairs.

“What are you doing?” Yahaba hisses. “We’re going to get in trouble!”

“What do you mean what am I doing?” Kentarou glares. “It is probably hurt, I gotta help him!”

Instead of threatening to rat him out to the teacher, Yahaba follows him.

“Didn’t know you were a vet,” he says.

“You got a better suggestion?” Kentarou shoots right back.

“No, I don’t,” Yahaba concedes.

The boys head downstairs without running into anyone – since everyone is in class anyway – so they’re able to rush outside without resistance. Finding the little fur ball is easy enough. They were right. It is a dog. A small, light brown puppy, so skinny it’s painful to watch, so dirty and weak it can be barely seen. It whimpers weakly when Kentarou and Yahaba approach it, scared.

“We do have to help it,” Yahaba says.

He walks up to the dog carefully, but with resolution, taking off his jacket to wrap the puppy with it. Kentarou had never imagined proper and prim Yahaba doing such a thing.

The thing about feeling safe is that that’s when you’re most vulnerable. On that afternoon, Kentarou’s most hated teammate Yahaba Shigeru becomes just Yahaba: the guy that helped him pick up a stray puppy and snuck out of school to get it to safety.

Their absence is noted and they get in trouble. They get yelled at by the teacher, the guidance counselor and even Iwaizumi-san. Kentarou would be relieved if those were the only consequences.

Saving a puppy together kind of changes your relationship with someone. Neither of them can take the dog home, so they build a shelter for it at the park. Kentarou isn’t sure how they establish that, but they end up taking turns on who feeds it and visiting it after practice more often than they should. Because of that, they have more and more civilized conversations in which neither is yelling. It’s almost as though they’re friends.

Except they still argue inside court because of Yahaba’s annoying adoration of Oikawa and Kentarou’s refusal to be a team player.

Then Interhigh happens and Yahaba slams Kentarou against a wall, lecturing him on his ways, and forces Kentarou to see things under a light he hasn’t considered before. For the second time, Yahaba shows a side Kentarou didn’t know – a strong, passionate side, the proof that Yahaba isn’t just Oikawa’s pushover, but has a determination of his own – and Kentarou can’t help but respect that.

They lose. It’s frustrating and painful, but it only makes them more determined to get revenge next year. When Kentarou sits by Yahaba’s side on the bus, instead of taking his usual seat next to Watari, they make a promise.

(That is the first time Kentarou notices that Yahaba’s face is prettier than he initially thought.)

When exams come, for the first time in his life Kentarou manages to forget about soulmates completely. Being a second year, the teachers are starting to pressure him into choosing an appropriate university and he isn’t so sure about what he wants. The volleyball club takes a break, which means Kentarou doesn’t have anything else to distract him.

(Except visiting the dog sometimes.)

Watari gets horrified when he sees Kentarou’s last grades and calls for an intervention. That’s how he finds himself sitting between Watari and Yahaba in a public library, cramming a week before the exams.

Much to Kentarou’s delight, Yahaba isn’t that better at studying than he is.

"This is bullshit," Yahaba says. "I'm never using literature in real life."

"Usually people say that about math," Watari says without raising his eyes from his work.

"Math is way more useful than this," Yahaba insists. "It keeps asking what the recurrent mention of Yoshiko's green eyes means. It means she had green eyes! Who cares!"

Kentarou presses his lips together tightly so he won't start laughing. He doesn't know why it is so funny to see Yahaba annoyed at something that isn't Kentarou, but it is.

"We should take a break," he suggests. "If I solve one more equation, I'll shove this book up Shimada-sensei's ass."

Now it's Yahaba's turn to hold back a snort, but he isn't as successful as Kentarou. For some reason, the fact that Yahaba finds his snarky comments funny is even more pleasant than the fact that now Kentarou isn't the primary source of irritation for Yahaba. Kentarou tries not to think too much about it and attributes any weird feelings he might be experiencing to the exhaustion of studying all afternoon long.

"Fine, we can take a break," Watari concedes.

Kentarou and Yahaba let out identical sighs of relief in unison as they close their books. The satisfaction in both of their faces is way too obvious and it makes Watari give them a judgemental look. Neither of them looks guilty enough, considering the fact that they should be very grateful. If it wasn't for Watari, they probably wouldn't have gotten any studying done.

"You know what would be fun?" Yahaba asks. "We could go to the park after this. Play something?"

"We are not supposed to be practicing," Watari reminds him. "If coach finds out we're playing right before the exams we're going to get in trouble."

"It doesn't need to be volleyball," Yahaba says. "It's just... to unwind a bit? We could play baseball or something."

Kentarou likes the idea more than he can say. They can even take the opportunity to visit the dog - that they wittingly have been calling Dog, under the excuse that they'll get too attached to it if they give it a name. However, he probably shouldn't stay out so late. His parents have been complaining that he doesn't spend any time at home recently - which might or might not have been caused by the amount of time he's wasting with Yahaba after class - and he promised he'd be home for dinner.

"I can't," he says, simply.

The betrayed look Yahaba gives him almost makes him change his mind - recently, he found out it's very hard to say no to whatever Yahaba asks - but, before he says anything stupid, Watari intervenes:

"Where will we get energy to play anything after this unholy amount of homework?"

Yahaba turns bashful. "Then we could do something else? Maybe go to the movies?"

Kentarou glares at him. Yahaba has been weird for a while now. It was him the one to suggest studying in the Public Library, claiming that it would be better for them to focus there, even though the school library would have been a more practical option. He's been jumpy and unfocused all afternoon. There's something up.

"What's the matter?" Kentarou asks.

"Nothing," Yahaba says, too quickly. "What's your matter?"

"Nothing my ass," Kentarou insists. "Why you don’t wanna go home?"

Watari gives Kentarou a confused look as if he hadn't noticed Yahaba's obvious weird behavior. Instead of explaining, Kentarou glares down at Yahaba until he sighs and admits:

"Fine. I just... My neighbor confessed to me."

Something inside Kentarou's stomach drops and he doesn't think he fully understands the words. A confession. A love confession.

Watari lets out an exaggerated gasp and leans over the table as if getting physically closer to Yahaba will help him absorb information faster.

"Your neighbor, you say? Is it someone I know? Do they go to Aoba Johsai?"

"Shhhh," Yahaba looks around to make sure no one is listening. "Yes, but you have to keep it a secret, okay? It's... You know Wei, from the basketball club?"

"That foreign student? I didn't know he was your neighbor."

"Well, he is and... He thinks... He said he thinks his soul mark might refer to me."

Watari makes a strangled noise and seconds later a librarian appears to give them a nasty look. Watari apologizes softly and fidgets on the same place until she goes away and he can press Yahaba for more details.

"And? You think he's your soulmate?"

"I don't know," Yahaba says. "He... He is kinda handsome and cool. I... He's obviously not in love with me or anything, but he said he had a crush on me for a while and he thinks... I don't know. He wants to try going out and see how it goes."

"What's your mark?" Watari asks eagerly.

"That's personal," Yahaba says, his hand flying to his own wrist - the same spot where Kentarou has his own mark. "But maybe..."

"What did you say to him?" Kentarou asks. His voice sounds weirdly tight.

Yahaba gives him a curious look and, when he speaks, he does it very carefully. "I don't know yet. Which is why I'm avoiding him."

"That's idiotic," Kentarou says. "You already told him you're not giving him an answer right away. What are you hiding for?"

"Kyoutani is right," Watari says. "He'll understand that you need to think about it."

"I don't know, all right?" Yahaba pouts. "I'm just freaked out. I mean, what would you do if you could meet your soulmate right now?"

"Touché," Watari says with a shrug.

Kentarou scowls, but decides not to say anything. What if he met his soulmate, indeed. There is no way of knowing who they are until some person named Dumbledore is dead and Kentarou doesn't like to think about it or what it implies. Instead of telling his friends about his worries, he moves his leg until his knee is touching Yahaba's.

He doesn't know why he does it. Something about the proximity between them makes him feel less uneasy. Yahaba doesn't say or do anything to acknowledge the small contact - perhaps he doesn't even notice it - but he doesn't move away. Maybe Kentarou is going crazy, but he can swear Yahaba's shoulders look less stiff after that.

Kentarou always feeds Dog on Saturdays, since the park is on his usual afternoon jog route. When he arrives to the park, however, he finds that Yahaba beat him to it.

And he looks absolutely miserable for someone playing with a dog in a beautiful afternoon.

"What's wrong with your face?" Kentarou asks.

Yahaba glares daggers at him. "What's wrong with your face ?"

Kentarou scowls back and crosses his arms.

"Fine," Yahaba sighs. "I went on a date with Wei today. And then dumped him."

Kentarou blinks. "Oh. What, your date sucked, so you came to Dog for comfort?"

"The date was fine," Yahaba turns his attention back to Dog, rubbing its belly. "But I didn't like it either way. I don't want Wei to be my soulmate."

Carefully, Kentarou crouches down next to Yahaba and watches Dog rolling around happily. It's none of his business, he thinks. Yahaba is his friend, sure, but he doesn't like thinking about soulmates and he isn't about to meddle into any of his friends' love life. He doesn't want to, shouldn't want to.

"Why not?" he hears himself asking despite everything.

Yahaba rubs Dog's belly five more times before he finally says, "he's not that fun to be around. I'd rather spend time with you than with him."

Kentarou's stomach does a weird flop. Only then Yahaba seems to notice what he just admitted and his face goes crimson.

"Th-that is, you're such a pain in the ass and I still prefer hanging out with you," he amends.

Whatever he says, Kentarou doesn't think his heart will stop racing anytime soon.

"Jerk," he says, elbowing Yahaba on the side.

" You're a jerk," Yahaba elbows him back.

Both boys turn their attention to the dog and decide not to talk about that anymore.

Kentarou's last year of high school feels different from the past years, for some reason. He has to study harder than he ever had and he throws himself at volleyball practice harder than he ever had. He's now the team's ace, so of course he does it. His new captain might be a pain in the ass, but Yahaba is much more tolerable than Oikawa ever was. Club activities are funner than ever.

His last year of high school passes on the blink of an eye and it isn't until the very end that Kentarou fully fathoms that it's over. He might get to join the volleyball team in University too, but it won't be the same. People at the university won't understand Kentarou's undying admiration for Iwaizumi-san. Watari won't be there. Dog won't be there.

Yahaba won't be there.

It isn't that he didn't see it coming. He did. He got tired of hearing teachers, classmates, underclassmen, his parents, the guidance counselor, everyone and their mom talking about how the end was near.

Still, Kentarou didn't fully realize what was happening until it did happen and it suddenly is graduation day.

Overwhelmed, he decides that no one really expects him to stay during the entire ceremony, so he looks for an empty classroom to take a breather. Months ago, he’d be able to hide for as long as he wanted, and no one would even notice.

Now, however, there is one person that is always paying attention to him.

“Why are you hiding here?” Yahaba asks.

Kentarou hides because he likes being alone. Sometimes, being around people gets just too tiring and he needs to get away from them for a while. Often he needs a break from his classmates and even most of his teammates.

The funny thing, though, is that he hardly ever needs a break from Yahaba. It's weird, because Yahaba is one of the most overbearing people Kentarou has ever met, but they somehow became inseparable. It's weird, because rationally Kentarou knows that he's only known Yahaba for three years and they've been friends for roughly one third of that time, but they just fit together inexplicably. If someone had told him that two years ago, he would have laughed at them, but Yahaba is his best friend. With all of their bickering and competitiveness and support and fun times and arguing and laughing and yelling, Kyoutani Kentarou and Yahaba Shigeru are friends.

So instead of telling him to piss off, Kentarou just makes a noncommittal sound. Yahaba smiles softly and walks closer.

"Don't you get lonely, Kyoutani?" He teases.

"You missed me that much?" Kentarou snarks back.

Rather than acting miffed as usual, Yahaba nudges at him lightly with his elbow. And then he doesn't move away. They stand side by side, their arms pressed together, both watching the wind gently blowing at the trees outside.

"We're graduating," Yahaba says.

"You don't say," Kentarou replies, which earns him a stern look.

It takes a couple of seconds before Yahaba tries again.

"Aren't you going to miss this?" he asks.

So apparently Yahaba needs to have a last cheesy conversation. Kentarou sighs. He decides to make a concession, just this time.

Not too much, though.

"No, I'm not gonna miss it. It was hell and I hate everyone here."

Yahaba doesn't say anything to that, so Kentarou starts feeling guilty for being a jerk. He huffs out an annoyed sigh.

"The club was fun, though."

Yahaba smiles softly. He looks unfairly beautiful wearing that melancholic expression.

"The club was the funnest," he says. "I wonder how it's going to be from now on."

"We're going to college," Kentarou says, "and we're going to play against each other and my team is going to wipe the floor with yours."

Yahaba snorts. "You wish! If you become their ace, then you got no chance."

Kentarou turns to him fully, his mouth opening in indignancy. Not even when their relationship consisted of arguing only had Yahaba said such a harsh insult. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Yahaba grins, satisfied with that reaction. "Your biggest strength is that you're a wild card, but I've been your setter for an entire year. I can read you like an open book."

"Fuck off," Kentarou says. "The hell you can."

"Yes, I do," Yahaba insists, now turning to him as well. "I know you, Kyoutani. Better than anyone else."

For some reason, Kentarou doesn't think they're talking about volleyball anymore.

And that's when he reaches for Yahaba's tie and pulls him down for a kiss.

When their lips touch, it’s overwhelming. It’s unsure and tentative still, but Kentarou feels it. Yahaba lets out a soft sigh and yes, more of that sound, please . He loops his arms around Yahaba’s slim waist, bringing him close and relishing on the feeling of their chest flushed together, the way Yahaba buries his fingers in the short hairs of his nape and kisses him back.

They break apart too soon, both boys too breathless considering how small and chaste the kiss was.

It felt so right that it takes a moment for Kentarou to remember that it isn’t supposed to be happening. Soulmates. Weird marks. Yahaba probably is fated to fall in love with someone else while Kentarou is destined to watch Dumbledore die, apparently.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” Kentarou hears himself whispering.

For a second, Yahaba looks hurt. First by Kentarou’s words and then by the memory of the mark he carries somewhere on his body. A mark that probably has nothing to do with Kentarou. The proof that whatever this is between them, it’s probably not forever.

“You wanna stop?” Yahaba asks.

What Yahaba wants is clear. The fact that he wants this as bad as Kentarou doesn’t make this any easier. Kentarou has always had a hard time telling Yahaba no, even back in their second year when their relationship consisted of sarcastic remarks and loud arguments inside the court.

“That’s the last thing I want, dumbass,” he hears himself saying.

Yahaba kisses him again and this time Kentarou doesn’t let him pull away. Their kiss, pretty much like everything else they do, is a competition. It’s rough and sweet, desperate and nice, forbidden and right .

University isn’t that different from high school, if you ask Kentarou. He is still part of the volleyball club. There are still annoying people in his classes. There are still people that fear him for no damn valid reason. Granted, classes are less boring, since now he gets to study something that actually interests him and is going to be of real use. Now he gets to live in the dorms instead of his parents' home, which is fun.

Kentarou is happy with the way his like has turned out, all things considered. If he had to complain about something, it'd be that he misses seeing his friends everyday.

(He won't, though, because he'll die before admitting something so embarrassing out loud.)

There's something fun about seeing Yahaba on the other side of the net, however. Having an actual excuse to trashtalk him without Watari telling him he's supposed to be nicer to his teammates. They don't get to play against each other, both being freshmen, but they get to exchange a few insults for old times sake.

And even better: after the game, while the others shower, they get to sneak out behind the gym to kiss and make up for the time they spent apart.

No, Kentarou will not complain about the way things are right now. He goes to sleep to Yahaba's good night text. They manage to find time in their busy schedules to meet at least once a week. Whenever they hold hands, whenever they lips touch, Kentarou melts in a little puddle of happiness, which is so disgusting it makes his skin crawl.

The thing is: he's happy. Yahaba looks incredibly happy, too. They never exactly talk about this thing between them. They're friends. They kiss, go on dates... But they avoid labels. Because dating someone is a huge risk. You're either that person's soulmate or you're not, and neither of them wants to burst their little bubble of bliss with that kind of pressure.  They don't want to think about the fact that they'll either be together forever or that one day someone else will appear and they'll realize their mark means they're meant to be with someone else.

At some point, Yahaba becomes just Shigeru. The name feels right on Kentarou's tongue. It's easy for Kentarou to think he wants this to last forever when Shigeru leans against him and smiles. It's easy to just say screw it and kiss their intertwined fingers tenderly, enjoying the moment. When they're apart, though, there's always a small part on the back of his mind that feels anxious.

Shigeru never brings up his soulmate mark and Kentarou doesn't ask. Is it because he doesn't want to pressure Kentarou? Is it because the mark doesn't have anything to do with Kentarou and this relationship is just something temporary to him? He doesn't dare ask.

He's glad that Shigeru doesn't ask about his either. Kentarou would have a hard time explaining the moment he falls in love with his soulmate is related to some foreign guy's death. Some things are better left unsaid.

Kentarou is still shorter, but Shigeru likes to sit between his legs when they play video games together anyway.

“You missed an enemy,” Kentarou points out, resting his chin on the top of Shigeru’s head.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Shigeru says, “I was too busy trying not to die while these motherfuckers from every possible side while you smothered me to death in real life.”

“I’m not smothering you to death,” Kentarou says as he wraps his arms more firmly around Yahaba’s waist.

“You are doing it again,” Shigeru complains.

“Want me to let go of you?”

Shigeru tilts his head back to glare at Kentarou. “You know I don’t. Jerk.”

Kentarou laughs and leans in for a kiss. It’s sloppy and awkward in that position and Shigeru lets out a weird noise in protest that makes him laugh harder. They both hear it when Shigeru’s character dies, but neither pays attention to it. Shigeru breaks the kiss only long enough so he can turn around and face Kentarou.

Kentarou lets him straddle his lap and pulls him closer, because he can never get tired of this, of them. Every time he buries his fingers in Shigeru’s soft hair, every time they laugh together, he is sure that he couldn’t be happier, and yet—

“Kentarou?” Shigeru murmurs, his forehead still pressed to his. “What’s wrong?”

Kentarou didn’t realize he got suddenly tense. Usually when he kisses Shigeru, he manages to forget about those troublesome things.

“Nothing,” he lies. “Let’s go back to making out.”

“Kentarou,” Shigeru says in his captain voice. The voice he used to force Kentarou to play nice to people from other schools back then.

He sighs. “It really is nothing. It’s just—I really like you,” he admits.

Shigeru runs his fingers across the line of his jaw. “I really like you too,” he murmurs. “I wouldn’t say that that’s nothing.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Kentarou says, frustrated.

“I know. I know what you mean.” Shigeru glances at his left wrist. “I… I think about that too.”

“It sucks that there’s nothing we can do about it,” Kentarou says. “That we have no choice.”

“I don’t see it like that,” Shigeru says. “I think… I think the marks are there because we make a choice. No one can tell me what to do.”

Kentarou gives him a crooked smile. “That last part is partially true. Oikawa used to tell you what to do all the time.”

“I agreed with Oikawa-san about what I had to do, that’s different. Anyway, Oikawa-san isn’t here now, though I find a bit concerning that you’re mentioning other attractive guy when I’m literally sitting on your lap.”

“Jealous?”

“No, you dork,” Shigeru pinches him. “But hey, Kentarou?”

“What?”

“I am here right now because I choose to be. Okay?”

Kentarou is physically ill because of how disgustingly happy he is at the moment.

“Okay,” he says.

When Kentarou gets a text that from Shigeru that says “S.O.S.”, he doesn’t worry. He’s known Shigeru long enough to know he’s a huge drama queen. Not unexpectedly, the first text is soon followed by an overdramatic “come pick me up right now, Shinji is a monster.”

Kentarou doesn’t think any accusations of Watari doing anything wrong can be true, but he heads to his apartment to pick up his stupid boyfriend anyway. And by pick up he means just get there so they can walk together to Kentarou’s dorm and Shigeru can complain about whatever happened at Watari’s.

As soon as he arrives, Shigeru comes running towards him.

“You won’t believe what he put me through,” he says, adorably indignant.

Kentarou waves at Watari as he and Shigeru start walking side by side.

“I told him I had never watched a Harry Potter movie,” Shigeru tells him, “so he got all offended and we marathoned six of them. Six entire movies, Ken.”

Shigeru is rambling and Kentarou isn’t really listening. Instead, he intertwines their fingers – Shigeru barely notices it, so used he is with Kentarou touching him – and Kentarou watches as Shigeru’s expression changes during his rant. Shigeru, who is strong and beautiful and smart and determined. It’s stupid to get that riled up over a series of children movies, but there is Shigeru. Kentarou loves that passionate side of him.

Oh, he realizes.

Kentarou really loves it. Actually, he loves Shigeru. He is falling in love with him. Hard. That realization shocks him into going back to the present on time to hear Shigeru saying:

“…and the sixth one? That was bullshit. I can’t believe Dumbledore is dead.”

Kentarou gasps loudly. The words. Those are the words. A burning feeling comes from his wrist and he is sure this is the feeling of the words disappearing. Kentarou has finally fully realized he’s in love with his soulmate.

“What?” Shigeru asks, a hint of worry in his eyes. “I didn’t think you minded spoilers that much.”

“It’s you,” Kentarou says. “You’re the one.”

Shigeru blinks at him in confusion and then lets out a surprised gasp when he feels the burning on his wrist too. His own mark disappearing. He stares at his wrist in disbelief and then turns to Kentarou.

“That’s not how I imagined those words being said,” Shigeru says in awe. “Wait… This means you’re the one too. You’re- You’re my one! Like Harry Potter.”

“Shigeru, what the fuck.”

“Because he’s the chosen one, see?”

“God, I can’t believe you’re my soulmate.”

“Except that I am. Oh my God. Oh my God, Ken, you looove me.”

“Why are you teasing me about it, you fucking dork? You love me too.”

Shigeru smiles at him. “I really do.”

“You—” Kentarou’s stomach does a backflip. “You dumbass, you can’t just say it like that.”

“I might be a dumbass, but I’m your dumbass.”

“Shigeru. Just shut up and kiss me.”

“Yup.”

“Shigeru.”

Shigeru is laughing when he leans down to kiss his boyfriend.

Kentarou had that goddamn mark on his wrist for as long as he could remember. Probably even before J.K. Rowling decided to kill off that ridiculous guy in her books. It caused him a lot of anxiety and anguish in his entire life.

However, the mark is gone now. And it being gone means that there’s some mystic force out there saying that Kentarou and Shigeru can be happy together for the rest of their lives.

If he thinks about it like that, he doesn’t hate it anymore.

[visanimus]

Haikyuu: Aobajousai YouTubers

Mainly the 3rds years from Aobajousai.

~

| Oikawa Tooru

• Mainly girls watch him and he had dozens of comments ranging from how cute he is to what he is actually talking about (mostly to say something that disagrees with him or agrees with him or actually sparks another discussion).

• Oikawa’s channel covers a bunch of topics; volleyball, space/astronomy, tips on how to improve your serves (volleyball in general but doesn’t give out big secrets), answering fans’ questions, random 3 a.m. chats/personal blogs, and sometimes rants about every day life.

• Bugs Iwaizumi’s channel and somehow makes random appearances on other blogs from his volleyball team or former classmates. His appearance improves the other channels’ views and likes because Oikawa’s personality garners attention quite quickly in a comedic manner.

• Has a guest star of his nephew, Takeru, and small clips of them playing volleyball and how Oikawa is teaching Takeru and his teammates techniques (the comment section crashes the YouTube website.)

| Iwaizumi Hajime

• Was dragged into making a channel by Oikawa. At first he was totally against it until he could continue his training and help others with their own; making sure others know how to exercise correctly.

• Mostly covers fitness and exercise techniques that anyone can do and some tips so you don’t become sore or pull anything that could, in the future, cause unrepairable damage to your body. A few healthy eating tips and training regimens.

• Does alot of collabs with Kyoutani and how they often having competition videos with Oikawa creating the punishments for the loser (there is a Mad Dog corner video at the end of each of these videos). Safe to say, neither of them wish to lose.

• Very rarely will Hajime have videos talking about he feels or what bothers him. Though he will give advice if a viewer asks for some when they tell him his problem. His advice is something many viewers want, it gains popularity very quickly.

| Matsukawa Issei & Hanamaki Takahiro

• A joint channel for these two. Their channel is mainly them trash talking to eachother during their online gamings matches or through walkthroughs of their viewer’s requests. Viewers have to hold their sides as they watch these two’s poker face give out snarky comments.

• Their channel has been filled with pranks that work or fail in a hilarious way; they also inspire new kinds of pranks just to try them out. They try out new challenges that other YouTubers have done or the ones that have been requested. Usually these videos are filled with moments that are replayed a few times afterwards.

• They do feature animated versions of their game chats. During live streams they are really chatty with their viewers but the spamming of messages does trip them up and cause then to spit out hilarious phrase. Hanamaki tends to lose his poker face, while Matsukawa can keep his before a lazy grin breaks out on his face when they read the comments.

• Hanamaki plays more action and 1st person shooter that enjoys the free roam aspect, sometimes he enjoys playing good fantasy games that has good storyline. He has completed a few good thorough game plays with Matsukawa chiming in a few comments and jokes here and there. Hanamaki will explore every aspect of the game to find hidden items/bonus content for his viewers.

• Matsukawa plays horror games that usually scare people, but he hates jump scares since he thinks they’re a cheap trick to play on the gamer (you’ll see his brows furrow). Though he’ll crack a few jokes, talk about random topics to lessen the scariness for the more squeamish viewers. But he will talk about the back story of the game if it adds to the experience.

• At the influx of new subscribers, they decide to throw a few giveaways that use video game merchandise​, popular animes or mangas - basically anything that is buzzing amongst their viewers or in the media - to show their appreciation for all the support they’ve been given during the duration of their channel. Bonus: terrible selfies as extra content.

[junjunkii]

For the Haikyuu!! Asks! Goshiki, Kyoutani and Noya! (Also it seems like you're feeling pretty down, I'm sorry about that and I hope you feel better soon. You seem like an absolutely lovely person to me, and you deserve to be happy! I hope you have a restful night and a happy morning. Take care 💜💜)

Ack I’m so sorry this is so late but thank you for asking!! 🌸

Kyotani: Are you a dog person?

No… I’m a cat person…

Noya: Do you have any special moves?

Ahaha well I took dance classes for 10 years and fenced for almost 2 so I’m sure I still have something left from that

(sword ballet… boi can you imagine)

Goshiki: Tell me about your dream!

Ahhh well I want to move out of this country, always have. Somewhere with better healthcare and overall quality of life. And then I want to get a degree in art and become an artist. I guess my ultimate dream is to produce my own original comics for a living and especially focus on the LGBT+ community, that’s my big deal. As for littler dreams I’ve always wanted to go to Japan, I’ve always wanted to hold a table in an Artists’ Alley at a con, and (this ones probably surprising) I’ve always wanted to act in something. Well, star in something is more like it. Like a music video or a short film, that would be really cool.

Oh and I’ve always dreamed of having a TV show adapted from my work. I guess having an anime developed from my manga would be crazy amazing. That’s the true golden dream, I guess, just getting to draw manga all day, even though I know it’s backbreaking work it’s still… like… idk that’s just what I want to do y'know??

Essentially I want to inspire and give strength and representation to so many people. That’s my dream.

And you’re so sweet, I hope you have a wonderful day as well!! 🌸