DISTANCE

(a / n) you've heard of iwaoi not going to the same university, now get ready for kyouhaba going to different universities! i couldn't bring myself to make it sad though, whoops! this is based off of a tumblr post that was originally iwaoi but i tweaked it just because.

"she's probably some fangirl of yours," hanshiro teased.

yahaba laughed. "ah, yes, because i was quite popular in high school," he said sarcastically. his team knew he was in a long distance relationship with his high school sweetheart, as they called it, and now that they had found out the person was due to visit, they wouldn't shut up about it.

watari smirked knowingly. the best friends had decided to go to the same university entirely by chance; they hadn't decided it together. when they showed each other almost-matching acceptance letters they were both surprised. "yahaba, in third year you were the oikawa fangirls' newest obsession," he reminded him.

yahaba grimanced. "you aren't wrong."

hanshiro laughed. "i knew it. wait until ogai hears about this!" their teammate ran off to gab to the rest of the team about yahaba's high school sweetheart.

yahaba and watari were the only two left in the locker room after that. watari snorted. "they're going to die when they see kyoutani," he said. yahaba laughed and nodded in agreement.

"i'm sure if he wasn't my boyfriend i'd be surprised as well." yahaba couldn't wait to see the look on his teammates' faces.

ϟ

the game kyoutani attended wasn't an entirely important match. they were playing an unofficial match against a weaker team but the crowd that showed up was still large and intense. their team brought in crowds from all over and the volleyball team was the university's pride and joy. yahaba looked into the stands and grinned. the team would never figure out who his high school sweetheart was.

after a not especially grueling match and a win for yahaba's team, the locker room was loud and bustling with activity. the win lifted the entire team's spirits. the captain had promised celebratory ramen to everyone.

"why don't you bring your lover to dinner, yahaba?" tetsuya said smugly, tugging his jersey over his head.

yahaba grinned. "oh i will," he said. his captain looked terrified to have to buy ramen for another person, so yahaba laughed. "no worries fukashi, i'll pay for him."

ogai popped out from around the corner. "him?"

yahaba nodded. "yeah, him."

"so that means it isn't a fangirl?" hanshiro peeked out from behind ogai. 

"he isn't a fangirl, but i'd say he's my biggest fan," yahaba mused.

watari looked genuinely offended. "i thought i was your biggest fan," he cried. "you wound me, shigeru." he clutched his chest and dramatically collapsed against his locker. 

yahaba chuckled. "maybe he's my second biggest fan." watari grinned and popped back to his normal self. 

"will this boyfriend of yours be waiting outside?" baku asked curiously. 

yahaba shrugged. "who knows with him," he said absently. "he might be."

"aw, i want to meet him now," tetsuya moaned, causing fukashi to glare at him. tetsuya shut right up, but when fukashi turned around, he childishly stuck his tongue out at his captain's back. ogai and hanshiro laughed loudly, giggles bubbling from them like a volcano. 

"you'd be able to meet him earlier if you shut your mouth and got dressed instead of fooling around," fukashi sing-songed. every boy straightened up and changed hurriedly, hoping to meet this mystery lover of yahaba's as soon as possible. yahaba and watari exchanged a knowing glance and walked out of the locker room, the rest of the team anxiously searching for yahaba's boyfriend in the passing crowds.

yahaba scanned the people wordlessly, not giving the team any clues. "oh!" baku exclaimed. "is that him, in the blue?" yahaba saw the person baku was referring to and almost spit out the water he was drinking. the person was nothing like kyoutani. he had neat red hair and was a lot taller than yahaba was. yahaba shook his head.

after that, his teammates made it a competition to see who could guess yahaba's boyfriend's appearance correctly. they decided that whoever got it correct received a free dessert, courtesy of yahaba. everyone was starving after the match and would take any free food they could get. all of the team's guess left yahaba and watari in hysterics because they were all so unlike kyoutani. they were always well-dressed guys with fancy hair and nice smiles upon their faces. the team is going to shit themselves when they see kyoutani, yahaba thought smugly. however, he was beginning to worry. he hadn't caught a glimpse of the bottle-blonde, though he was sure that he saw his signature scowl in the crowd. if they didn't meet up on the way out, yahaba would text him.

the team was walking past the vending machines on the way out when kyoutani came around the corner. "there you are!" yahaba said, beaming. 

"what, did you think i stood you up or somethin'?" kyoutani grunted, but his words only held a joking tone.

yahaba forgot the team was behind him until he heard tetsuya mutter, "holy fucking shit," and watari's laughter. 

"oh gosh, excuse me, i'm being rude," yahaba said apologetically. he turned from kyoutani to his team. "guys, this is kyoutani, my boyfriend." yahaba pointed to him and kyoutani held up a hand in greeting. "kyoutani, these are the guys."

the only one who wasn't awestruck was watari. "good to see you again kyoutani," he said, grinning.

kyoutani nodded. "same to you," he replied. kyoutani had grown a lot less awkward in past few years, which made yahaba proud, as stupid as that was. his growing social skills eased yahaba's worries while he was away.

"i thought you were gonna be a fangirl or something," ogai blurted, immediately clasping a hand over his mouth nervously.

kyoutani looked to yahaba, raising an eyebrow. "you told them i was a fangirl?" he asked, an amused smirk on his face.

"not exactly," yahaba said, dancing around the subject. "i just said you were my biggest fan."

"second biggest fan," watari argued.

yahaba laughed. "alright, second biggest fan."

"we didn't even know you were a guy until like ten minutes ago," hanshiro explained helpfully. kyoutani looked to yahaba expectantly.

"that bit wasn't my fault. how they didn't know i'm gay is beyond me," yahaba insisted.

"and no one has a problem with it, right?" kyoutani said, bite apparent in his voice. he scanned the team and saw that although they were definitely afraid of kyoutani, they didn't because they were intimidated by him. they all nodded easily and yahaba was happy his team supported him.

"well, enough chit chat, let's go eat some ramen," baku cheered, the rest of the team happily following him as he took the lead.

yahaba intertwined his fingers with kyoutani's. "i missed you," he said quietly.

"i missed you too," kyoutani grunted, his blush spreading across his neck.

"did i play alright?" yahab asked timidly, hoping he still impressed kyoutani.

kyoutani didn't answer for a moment. "i mean, if you had shoved me up against a wall like you did in that game so long ago, you might've done better, but you were pretty good." he smirked teasingly.

"shut up!" yahaba laughed. it was so nice for kyoutani to be back.