DIFFERENT TEAM

(a / n) soulmate au because fuck the system

kyoutani thought that the tally mark system was bull shit. how the fuck was it supposed to work anyways? what force knew when you were in love and gave you a damn tally mark on your wrist? how did that happen? he had no idea, and quite frankly, he didn't care. in his 17 years of life he hadn't gotten a single tally mark on his wrist, and he doubted he'd ever get the legendary 'golden tally', a tally mark that was golden instead of red. the golden tally was supposed to signify a true soulmate, someone who you had been created for. it was the only tally mark that person would ever get printed on their wrist if they ever received it. kyoutani was an independent person, so he knew his golden tally mark would never come, much less any tally mark at all. he didn't understand how some people had tally marks littering their arms. the thing he understood even less was how people wore their black tally marks with pride. black tally marks were made on the skin when the person you loved didn't love you back. it must be the worst feeling in the world, gaining a black mark. kentarou hoped not to find out.

there was a small bit of him, however, that wished he would fall in love. he wished to finally get one of those tally marks, even if the only mark he ever got turned black. something in him itched when other people would run their hands on their own or their partner's tally marks. he felt inhuman in a way, not having any. even his parents had more than one tally mark each.

he was reminded off all of this when one of his teammates, hinata yelped, "my arm!" the team looked at him in concern. "it's burning!" their captain, akaashi, hurried over to the first year and inspected his arm. their captain was a man of few words, so he only chuckled and pointed to the boy's wrist. there, clear as day, was a bright red tally mark. hinata gasped and more than half of the team rushed to create a circle around him. they poked fun at him, winking and asking who the lucky person was. kyoutani watched from a safe distance.

"kyoutani, you're the only one on the team without a tally mark, right?" watari, another third year, inquired. kyoutani knew watari well enough to know he wasn't teasing him, he was just curious. he nodded slowly, eyes still trained on the circle of players around hinata. "maybe you're a golden heart," watari suggested hopefully. golden heart was what they called people who had only the golden tally mark on their wrist.

kyoutani shrugged. "maybe," he mumbled doubtfully. watari patted his back and smiled supportively before walking over to congratulate hinata. kyoutani wondered why it hurt your wrist to get a tally mark. maybe it was to signify that love will also cause you pain? but, hell, what did he know? he had a barren wrist.

ϟ

about a week after hinata's tally mark incident, the team headed to bandai high for a training camp. the first day there was a day off with no practice matches. kyoutani felt something pulling him into the gym to play volleyball, even though this was their day off. he figured it would be safe to practice his serves alone. he doubted anyone would be in the gym when they had the entire week to play volleyball.

his thoughts were proved wrong when he opened the doors to the second gym. inside was a boy he recognized as the setter from bandai. the setter eyed him cautiously as he crossed the gym, going as far away as possible from the searing eyes of the other player. kyoutani could still feel the boy's eyes on him as he practiced his jump serves. after the sixth serve, he heard footsteps behind him. he turned around, knowing fully who was going to be behind him. "what do you want," he grunted.

the boy frowned. "i'm yahaba, nice to meet you," he deadpanned. "i already know you're kyoutani, yes?" he looked to kyoutani for confirmation. his stunned silence was enough to let yahaba know he was right. he continued. "your form is awful. which foot is your dominant?"

kyoutani blinked. "what?"

yahaba sighed, clearly annoyed. "you hit with your right hand, so i'd assume that's your dominant. am i right?" kyoutani nodded, fascinated with but also sort of afraid of the boy in front of him. "alright, so that means you should step with your left foot first while running up for the serve. let me see it." kyoutani looked at him blankly again. "i want to see you take a step with your left foot first when going up to hit the serve. get to it."

"what are you, my coach or something?" kyoutani seethed, but complied none the less. yahaba had him practice a few serves focused on his stepping before moving on to throwing height.

"you should throw it at the height you like to spike. you're a wing spiker, right?" yahaba asked. kyoutani nodded. "alright, so you know how you like your spikes. throw at a similar height." kyoutani did as he was told, much to the pleasure of yahaba. "good, good. you're improving already."

kyoutani snorted. "what made you the king of jump serves?" he said sarcastically.

yahaba chuckled dryly. "i may not be the king of jump serves, but i did learn from the grand king."

kyoutani's eyes widened. "you mean-"

"yep. oikawa was captain of my team before me," yahaba explained smugly. damn, how had he forgotten? oikawa's jump serve was a force to be reckoned with, even watari barely being able to receive it. "now, your hitting form is pretty good. just follow through." yahaba's face lost any smugness it previously showed and he smiled softly at kyoutani. something in kyoutani snapped when yahaba's face lit up, and his mouth went dry.

"actually, i-i've got to go. i'm hungry.. and suff.." he murmured, placing the volleyball in the basket.

yahaba smiled again, making kyoutani's pulse quicken and his face heat up. what the fuck? didn't that only happen in shitty josei manga? there was no way in hell he was falling for the setter of bandai. no fucking way. besides, he'd get one of those shitty-ass tally marks if he was - which he wasn't. "i'll see you later then," yahaba replied. kyoutani nodded, scurrying to the door. he was one step away from freedom when yahaba's voice called him back. "oh, and kyoutani?" he turned around and yahaba smirked. "i like your eyeliner."

kyoutani ran out of the gym, praying yahaba didn't see his burning cheeks.

ϟ

the next morning, watari stood with kyoutani in the locker room after an early shower. they both had the genius idea of having an early shower, as they figured there would be three other teams trying to shower at the same time, not to mention their own team. kyoutani was carefully applying his eyeliner, something he didn't let many people see him do, when watari spoke his thoughts. "kyoutani.. i knew you were a golden heart."

kyoutani looked at the watari in the reflection of the mirror. "what the fuck are you talking about?"

"you don't know?" watari tipped his head to the side.

"know what?" kyoutani snapped.

"you have a golden tally mark on your wrist."

kyoutani held his arms out in front of him, and sure enough, on his left wrist, there was a golden tally mark. who the hell could be my soul mate? he thought bitterly. then he realized - fuck, could it be-?

the door of the locker rooms opened. in popped yahaba, humming cheerfully, wearing nothing but a towel. kyoutani immediately averted his eyes. "good morning boys!" he chirped. watari's and kyoutani's good mornings were overshadowed by the shower turning on. kyoutani's tried as hard as he could to focus on his eyeliner, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

watari glanced at him knowingly. "we'll see you at breakfast!" he called to yahaba, who's answer was lost in the sound of running water. he gave kyoutani a minute to finish his eyeliner before dragging him out of the locker room. they weren't even a foot from the door when watari looked at him, smirking lightly. "you're in love with yahaba."

"what makes you say that?" kyoutani mumbled, refusing to look at the libero.

watari rolled his eyes. "oh, i dunno, it isn't like you normally blush while looking at guys in towels. half our team walks around the locker room without any clothes on at all!"

"it was hot in there," kyoutani defended. "i wasn't blushing."

"the only thing hot in there was the sexual tension between you two," watari muttered.

"watari! what the hell?"

he shrugged. "just stating the obvious. your tally mark is gold, which means you were made for each other. besides, he's a setter and you're a spiker. practice together or something."

"i already did, yesterday; and don't you think akaashi would be a little upset if i hit anyone else's tosses?" kyoutani asked, but this statement had no truth behind it. akaashi could honestly care less. he wasn't the possessive type when it came to his spikers. when it came to bokuto, however, possessive didn't cover it.

"you need some excuse to talk to him," watari reasoned. "maybe i'll just.. invite him to sit with us at meals or something."

"you little shit," kyoutani mumbled murderously. "it won't work out. he's the setter for bandai and i'm the ace of igusa. we're rivals."

"you're also soul mates," watari chimed. kyoutani frowned. why was his friend such a pain in the ass?

ϟ

much to watari's pleasure and kyoutani's despair, yahaba had happily excepted watari's invitation to sit at their table. kyoutani was sat on one side of the table in between yahaba and watari, and sat on the other side of the table were hinata, ennoshita and kenma, a setter from nishiyamato high. the boys at the table were chatting happily, all except kyoutani, who was just listening and picking at his toast. watari noticed this right away and caught his eyes. he glanced from him to yahaba, his eyes saying, talk to him!, before going back to a heated conversation about the importance of volleyball color with hinata.

when kyoutani had noticed the golden tally mark on yahaba's wrist he sucked in a nervous breath. he figured it was possible that yahaba wasn't his soul mate, but he was the all too obvious pick. he scowled, still gingerly picking at the crust of his toast. yahaba poked his side, causing him to choke on crumbs. "don't frown so much," he whispered in kyoutani's ear. "you'll get wrinkles."

watari gave kyoutani a thumbs up under the table, causing his scowl to deepen. yahaba frowned. this time, when he leaned in to whisper, "you look better when you smile," in kyoutani's ear, he kissed his temple.

kyoutani froze, a blush creeping up his neck. "what the fuck was that?" he asked yahaba, subconsciously running a hand over his tally mark.

"i want you to be happy. you are my soul mate after all," yahaba said casually, lacing his fingers through kyoutani's under the table. kyoutani warmed to the touch, forgetting about how this tally mark business was bull shit.