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It was almost disappointing when it all came down to it. The months leading up to Hinata’s move were difficult for both of them. Kageyama noticed how he would sometimes be in the middle of doing something, like buying shampoo and just zone out, staring at nothing. It wasn’t too difficult to tell that he was thinking about Brazil, about how he’d miss these mundane things that they had only just gotten comfortable with.
Kageyama, for his part, spent those months in an odd haze, every thought taken up wholly by Hinata, which wasn’t too unusual but he got distracted during volleyball practice . That had been the last straw when he had realised just how much he was going to miss his boyfriend.
And they had been right; it was difficult. Their apartment, now just Kageyama’s apartment, was too empty. A lot of Hinata’s stuff was still in the rooms, just packed away neater, and that served as a solace for Kageyama. Hinata didn’t leave him completely, he was just gone for a bit. He would be back, and they would be living together again.
Brazil was difficult for a completely different reason. While Kageyama was haunted by the memories of everything they did together, for Hinata everything was too new. The tiny bit of Portuguese he’d learnt while preparing for the trip was very much not enough, that became clear when he couldn’t find the baggage check out. Thank god for the kind old ladies who were visiting their son and had a good grasp of both Portuguese and Japanese.
The first two months were filled with Hinata getting lost and calling, Kageyama sending frequent texts, both of them having multiple voice or face calls a day. At some point, the texts became few and far between and calls non-existent. There wasn’t an exact day, but it became clear enough that they were getting used to this distance. Kageyama sent a good morning text, to which Hinata had not replied by the time Kageyama had sent a good night text. They hadn’t seen each other’s faces all week.
It was when Kageyama’s teammate asked how Hinata was doing that the setter realised he had no idea. They hadn’t talked or texted in almost a month and the last thing Hinata had texted was, “mcdonals nuggets taste nutty here.”
There was no way Kageyama was going to let their relationship die, especially not like that .
So it was after his practice when he knew that Hinata was up, that Kageyama called his boyfriend, toeing the line between his regular insanity and a full-blown panic attack.
“Yama?” Hinata asked, voice slightly sleepy in a way that reminded Kageyama of lazy mornings lying in bed, curled up in each others’ arms.
“We can’t break up like this!” Kageyama blurted out, running a hand through his hair.
This seemed to wake Hinata up, at least slightly. “What?” He asked before some rustling noises came through the phone. “We’re breaking up?!”
Fuck. “No! I’m saying we can’t break up! And especially not like this, with you all the way over in Brazil!”
“Why would we be breaking up?! Neither of us wants to, right?”
Kageyama wanted to growl and most likely would have if it wasn’t for the panic still in his chest. “When was the last time we talked, Hinata?”
A moment of silence before, “Oh shit.”
A small chuckle escaped Kageyama. This was probably the first time he’d heard Hinata swear so casually. “Yeah,” he said. “Exactly. We can’t go on like this, we promised we’d stick together.”
Hinata sniffled and Kageyama wanted nothing more than to wrap his boyfriend up in a hug. “What do we do then,” he choked out.
“We make a schedule.” Kageyama waited for Hinata to stop laughing before continuing. “Yeah, I know, not very romantic but we’re both too busy to call each other spontaneously.”
His boyfriend laughed again. “It’s not about romance,” he explained, amusement at the edge of his voice. “It’s just—such a Kageyama thing to do! You and your schedules!”
The setter blushed brightly as he yelled into his phone, “Shut up, dumbass! You know it’s a good idea!”
“Of course.” Any semblance of anger left Kageyama at the obvious smile in Hinata’s voice and he relaxed into their—his— their couch. “I just miss you. I didn’t realise just how much until I heard your voice just now.”
“Which is why we’re doing a schedule. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about: video call once a week, phone calls every other day and daily texts.”
“No!” Kageyama winced as Hinata loudly whined into his phone. “Phone calls every day! I love your voice too much to give it up!”
They spent the next hour arguing and fine-tuning the schedule, which Kageyama quickly typed up and sent to Hinata in an email. By the end of it, his boyfriend had gotten all his demands met; they would face time every three days, call every day - even if to say “Hey, I’m busy today, I love you, talk tomorrow” - and text as often as the inspiration struck, with a minimum of two texts a day.
For the most part, they kept up this schedule, except for slight hiccups when the practice was too early or late, or when volleyball season started and they became busier than ever. But, even on those days when they wanted to desperately see or hear each other but couldn’t because fucking timezones , they texted. Serious stuff, like which league they were going to be signing on to, and stupid stuff, like how fucked up would it be if they were getting murdered and started serenading the killer with the English song Never Gonna Give You Up .
So, the separation was easier than they had expected. The distance hadn’t closed but they had gotten used to it, to not having the other constantly within reach, to having a specific time just for one another.
They got so used to it that, when Hinata came finally home, Kageyama had somehow expected things to stay the same. Thought that their casual conversations, calm and soothing at that point, would stay.
It didn’t take long for him to realise just how wrong he was.
Hinata had arrived in Japan while Kageyama was still at practice and the plan had been for Yamaguchi to pick him up and take Hinata home, getting into the house with the key Kageyama had left in Yamaguchi’s care.
But, regardless of what his careful compliance with their long distance schedule may have implied, Hinata was and always would be too chaotic to be constrained by plans. Which was why Kageyama’s practice was interrupted midway through a series of serves by the gym doors slamming open as a blur of orange and cream sprinted through.
“Kageyama!” Hinata screamed, giving the setter enough time to drop the volleyball in his hand and turn, with wide eyes and hard beating heart, towards the door just as his boyfriend jumped up into his arms. They both fell over letting out a mix of laughter, sobs, and swearing as they clutched each other equally close, showing no signs of moving off of the floor.
It was Kageyama’s coach who got them up and on their way home. When Kageyama complained about missing practice, his coach looked him dead in the eyes and said, “You’re always the first one in and the last out. Get some fucking rest for once, you demon.”
Appropriately chastised, Kageyama, dragging a giggling Hinata behind him, left quickly but not before Hinata somehow managed to wrangle a promise of practising together with Kageyama’s team out of the coach’s hands.
They didn’t talk much as they walked to Yamaguchi’s car, who apologized to Kageyama while he glared at Hinata from the corner of his eye.
“He was just so excited,” Yamaguchi told Kageyama tiredly. “And I know you weren’t happy not being able to pick him up. I swear, I thought he was going to just say hi, not drag you out of practice.”
Kageyama smiled sincerely as he brought Hinata’s hand to his mouth to kiss his knuckles gently. “It’s okay,” he told Yamaguchi, eyes not leaving his boyfriend for a second. “You’re right, I was disappointed. And I could probably stand to lose an hour or two of practice. Thank you, Tadashi.”
It was when the two were finally settled onto their bed, Hinata’s luggage strewn all around the living room, bare chests pressed together in a desperate embrace, that Kageyama finally felt the distance of the last two years.
Hinata was already asleep, exhausted from his twenty-hour flight, and it was to the gentle rise and fall of his chest that Kageyama felt safe enough to let a few tears slip out of his eyes. Now that they were finally together again, he knew he couldn’t let Hinata go again. They would survive any distance, but Kageyama just didn’t want to. And he knew Hinata felt the same.