Many years have passed and Shouyou and Tobio's brood of four are no longer the small kids they used to be.
Their fraternal twin girls, Aiko and Katsumi are already adults and have moved out of the family house. They are both close to finishing university and starting to work.
Their third child, Miko. A boy who makes everyone's heart melt with his warm and loving spirit just finished highschool.
And the last one, another boy with the name Leo, an alpha, is fourteen and got all the enthusiasm for volleyball from his parents. He is in his first year of Highschool.
Shouyou and Tobio have reached fifty years in age but are still not planning on retreating back from their turbulent and adventurous life.
As their family tradition demands it - every two years they spend their two weeks of New Years vacation in Brazil (the other year is spent with grandparents at home)
Shouyou has never let go of his love for the country, after having spend two years living there to improve in volleyball. The culture, the people, the city & landscape. It's all so beautiful to him.
It's like his second home and he wants to share this love with his family.
They have to rent a big apartment for the occasion.
The days where they could stay at Hinata's friends house, Nice and Heiter are long gone.
Many years ago, with only their two little twin girls, it wasn't too much of a inconvenience. But now, their pack of four is a handful and everyone demands their own space.
But it's fine, as they are well off, with Kageyama and Hinata both having been successful volleyball player until the very end of their careers. Kageyama is doing some high-level coaching these days and Hinata does work as a volleyball journalist in the business since he's basically a know-it-all and remains a well-known figure with his mate in the sports media.
Sometimes they get to moderate volleyball games together and everyone loves it as their duo dynamic is still as powerful as thirty years ago.
They can tease each other, make jokes and rile the other one up just with the prospect of a challenge. Also the two know many players by heart and can easily comment on a team's strategy.
(...)
It's point seven o'clock and the alarm clock sitting on a single high shelf over their heads starts happily ringing a loud tune.
Both men are suddenly shaken awake and reach their arms upwards to stop the loud noise.
Hinata is faster by a second and successfully hits it shut.
The light falling through the half-closed curtains highlights the alpha's silhouette besides him.
The alpha lets out a yawn, his shoulders low and back bent in a sign of fatigue. His eyes are half-closed and his hair a little messy. He's rubbing at his eyes.
Shouyou marvels at his mate for just a moment before smiling mischievously.
"I was faster. It's my win!" he giggles into his neck after pushing him back down into the soft bedding.
"What are you talking about? Stupid. The clock stood much closer to your side" Tobio retorts in a grumpy voice.
"Liesss" Shouyou hums back with an over-exaggerated eye roll. "Eleventhousand and fortyfive wins for me. You better hurry up Slow-Yama".
The alpha makes a displeased grunt.
"Why do we even have to wake up this early?" The taller one complains, in more of a rhetorical question and stems himself up with his underarms.
Shouyou answers anyway, with steel hard confidence.
"I told you, We have to get up early so the heat isn't as strong and there aren't as many other tourists around".
"Well, have fun waking up the kids" Tobio answers sarcastically and pushes his face back into a pillow to his side.
Their airplane landed yesterday morning local time which meant evening time for Tokyo.
To quickly get used to the time difference, Shouyou made everyone stay awake for much of the day. It was as if they pulled an all-nighter with their usual sleeping rhythm still in place.
Therefore exhaustion overtook them completely as they finally got to hit the bed.
Instead of feeling rebalanced after a night of sleep, Tobio feels moody and tired now.
Shouyou however is very much awake as he feels excitement run through his veins at the thought of all the plans he made for him and his family today.
Today will be a great day, he can feel it.
So he lets go off his mate and hops off the bed, leaving the room (but not before having thrown some shirt from the ground against Tobio to make him also get up)
His steps take him to the next room in the apartment.
There are two beds and in each of them one of the girls.
"Aiko! Katsumi! Get up" he says loudly and pulls the curtains open.
"Ugh, stop it!" Katsumi groans and tries to hide under her blanket as she gets rudely woken up.
"We have lots of things to do today" Shouyou announces happily and also softly shakes his other daughter.
"Aiko, wake up" he sing-songs.
"Noo, leave me. I'm tired" he hears her complain in a low, whiny noise.
"But you all had a full night sleep?" the omega retorts and sits down on her bed, laying his hand on her shoulder.
"I know but I just feel like a truck drove over me. With the time and all; it fucks you up!". Shouyou raises his eyebrows for a second at his daughter's foul mouth. She might be in university but that never stopped her from using a variety of curse words whenever she felt like it.
If you would ask him, Shouyou would say it's his mate's fault, with all the insults he loves to throw at him or everything that goes wrong.
(Even if Shouyou does just the same, without ever admitting it)
"Once you are up, you'll feel plenty energized. I promise!" He tries to motivate her and tugs a strain of hair behind her ear.
He looks over to Katsumi who has taken her phone from the nightstand and seems to check her messages.
Well, as long as she has gotten up...
"Okay, I'll check on the boys now"
The red-haired boy stands back up and just as he wants to leave the room, there's Leo.
He's their youngest and as one might imagine, Shouyou decided on the name.
"Morning" Leo says with a smile.
"Oh, you're already up"
"Well yea, We're going to play beach volleyball today right?"
At least one, is excited for the day!
"Yep, that's the plan!" the orange-head smiles brightly at his son.
If he continues growing like this he'll look down on him very soon. He's already a little taller, but not by much until yet. If he has Tobio's genes he will probably just keep on growing and growing with no end.
A thought that makes him jealous and proud at the same time.
"What's for breakfast?"
"Ehh let's see... I thought it might be just something small so we can play first and eat afterwards. There are some apples on the kitchen table if you want something now".
"Ok, thanks" he says.
Shouyou takes a few more strides until he's standing in the last room, one bed was empty as Leo already left the room but the other one was still occupied, by their omega boy, Miko.
Many times, Shouyou could see himself in him. As they share the same first and second gender, they got to experience many similar experiences, the bad and the good.
However in terms of personality, their third child is a lot more calmer than him. He is more of a day-dreamer and deep thinker than he ever was.
And well that includes being an over-sleeper, so he nudges him and says his name out loud "Miko, honey. Come wake up"
After several attempts, there's some moving and he murmurs "yea, I am awake. Just one minute".
He's glad it didn't sound as annoyed. Two grumpy kids were enough too handle as it is. (Albeit admittedly, the couple has already survived the worst time: the mood-swinging teen years of their bunch. Leo might still be in that period, but he doesn't cause much trouble. He usually just spends all his time in the gym, playing volleyball. And that was something the duo greatly supported and appreciated)
Miko finally moved up and sits himself upwards.
"We're just going on a small walk and check out the volleyball areas. Nothing too big, if you want you can eat some of fruits I bought yesterday" Shouyou informs his son, and ruffles a little through his orange locks. They both have the same hair type and although he never appreciated his own much, he does make up for that now with his son's heap of hair.
Suddenly he hears a deep voice mutter "Morning, Miko" from behind him. He turns his head around and sees Tobio who encircles his arms around his neck and looks down at him with those deep blue eyes. He says "You have to show me how the get the coffee machine running".
"Yea, right. I'll come" he answers.
Usually they don't drink coffee. It's better to live on a healthy sleeping schedule and let your body wake up on it's own. But in situations like this, the little caffeine spike is greatly appreciated.
Tobio loves being a bit clingy in the morning, so he continues to search for body contact as Shouyou works at the brazilian coffee machine with quick fingers.
"Here for my pretty mate" the omega says finally after a good two minutes and gives him the cup. "Thanks" he answers and gives him a peck on the lips.
Shouyou smiles happily and returns a kiss on his cheek.
He puts another cup under the machine for himself.
They stare at each other for the moment, both enjoying the closeness and comforting pheromones of the other. All these years spent together made their mate bond even stronger. The other's scent signifies home and love.
There's a ping sound and the ginger brings the cup of coffee to his mouth, takes a sip and grins at his mate afterwards with a little cream mustache present over his lips.
The alpha watches him with amusement. Then leans closer to lick over his partner's lips and remove the cream. Shouyou giggles dumbly. He's just so happy he's finally on holiday with his entire family again. All the stress and all the worries from the weeks prior seem to be forgotten in this moment.
"Eww, I don't need to see this in the morning" Leo complains. Shouyou's head turns to his side and then laughs as he sees is son's face. "Just you wait once you have found a mate". The boy just turns his head and says "yea right, not going to happen".
Tobio can't help but smile at that. It reminds him of his younger self who never even once wasted a thought on the thought of having a mate one day before meeting Shouyou.
"Ugh, mom and dad at it again" Aiko, the beta girl groans in a teasing tone. She is in her slippers and already dressed as she enters the kitchen area. The beta girl sits down at the kitchen table after snatching some fruits from the counter.
Katsumi joins the four a few minutes later and at last comes Miko.
"Alright, Who wants to go to the beach?" Shouyou announces with his loud voice and claps his hands together to get everyone's attention.
___
Half an hour later they managed to all get ready and leave.
The temperature is comparatively mild that morning. There's even a fresh breeze of wind.
"Optimal weather for volleyball" Tobio mumbles to himself but Shouyou picks up on it anyway "Yes it's perfect".
His smile is brighter than the sun as they approach the beach.
Shouyou missed the feeling of sand under his feet, the sun on his shoulders and the sound of waves hitting the shore.
"Let's gooo" Leo shouts and starts running towards the water.
Shouyou laughs and quickly follows him too.
Aiko puts the bag with drinks from her shoulder to the ground, her flipflops next to it and also walks with her brother Miko to the other ones, albeit not as fast as Leo.
The only two left are Tobio and Katsumi. They are the ones with the towels.
"Let's put them down here, there's a volleyball net close" Tobio remarks and starts laying them on the ground.
He isn't in a hurry to get into the ocean.
But of course his mate won't let him rest a moment so he's running back towards him just a minute later. "Did you finish? Come with me" he demands with a grin and spreads out his hand towards him.
"Katsumi, you too" he adds.
"Maybe later" she says. "Look, we're not even swimming, just let the water hit your feet." he tries again so the two retaliate.
The alpha hopes it won't turn into a water splashing competition again as they still have their clothes on. And getting them all wet would be annoying for their match later. Also kind of distracting if Shouyou plays without a shirt on.
Shouyou takes his hand in his and jogs back to his other kids.
The water is surprisingly warm and pleasant.
Shouyou lets out a sigh when a breeze blows through his hair. It's a little longer than in his younger years. Tobio has his still short but without a fringe.
"Two weeks together. I almost can't believe it. A big family vacation once again" Katsumi says to the other's.
They haven't been able to get together as often anymore as years ago. With the twins studying hard for university and Miko for his university entrance exam it was hard to find time for a trip together besides the period after New Year's Eve.
"Yep, I'm so happy to see you two again" Miko looks at his twin sisters with a grin.
Aiko puts her arm over his shoulder. "Let's see if you'll still say this after we beat you in beachvolleyball later"
"Not if we beat you first, right Leo?" he shouts to his brother, who's the only one to have ventured a bit into deeper parts of the water.
"You can bet on it!" he answers without a doubt in his tone.
"Don't forget about us" Tobio interrupts. "Yes, it's gonna be three on three again, right?" Shouyou asks in a more rhetorical way.
___
Not long after the family of six finds themselves at the empty beach volleyball net. In this area there are quite a few of those. It's Rio de Janeiro after all.
"Ok, Dad is on our side. We need a setter" Aiko and Katsumi say. Shouyou nods and joins Miko and Leo on the other side.
They start quickly. Aiko gives the starting serve and Shouyou easily gets it back into the air. Miko bounces it to Leo who then sets it to Shouyou.
The redhead jumps and slams the ball to the other side. Katsumi manages to pick it up but half her body lands in the sand as she does.
Then Tobio sets it to Aiko and she slams it back to the other side where Leo was already waiting for it.
Shouyou and Tobio's kids all played volleyball in Highschool. Aiko is still in a university team. Katsumi and Miko however stopped afterwards. And well Leo is a whole other story as he has a fiery passion for the sport. He's already the best one in his first year volleyball team. With parents like his it's never going to be difficult to access critique and lots of tips for improvement.
"Saw this? Aiko!" Leo shouts in euphoria. "Yea saw it" Aiko laughs. In terms of personality she also came after Shouyou but Leo even more, if not even more than the omega himself. He is a bag of bouncing energy.
This time it's Shouyou who picks up the ball and plays it to Miko. The orange haired omega jumps up and tries to aim at the end of the other side's corner
He aims a little too far and the ball is outside.
"Out!" Aiko shouts quickly.
Shouyou still pats his shoulder. "You almost had it" he comforts his omega son.
Therewhile takes his mate the volleyball in his hands and wipes the sand off of it.
"Shou, this one is for you" he warns his mate loudly who looks up. His face's expression turns from worried to grinning.
He goes into position, his body slightly crouched and hands closed, ready to receive his mate's serve.
"I'm ready" he shouts.
The kids all take a step away from their parents, knowing that the two like to exaggerate when it comes to volleyball.
Tobio spins the ball in his hands one last time before taking a run-up and making a jump serve. Shouyou's eyes follow the trajectory of the ball and analyze in a split second where he needs to be to receive.
He switches to the other side and receives the ball almost perfectly. "Yes!!" he celebrates but not for long because neither Leo nor Miko manage to get the ball next.
"Aww, don't worry" Shouyou still says.
"Try to be quicker next time" Tobio adds as he approaches the net between them.
"Are we switching sides?" Aiko asks.
"Yes, side switch!" Tobio announces.
They continue playing for half an hour before the first complains start coming, demanding a break.
A few of the kids get into the water for a swim.
The others are laying down on the towels, enjoying the warm sun
"You weren't that bad" Shouyou tells his husband and smiles. "You weren't half as bad either" Tobio answers.
"But I wish I could be on the same team as you" Shouyou whines, feeling a little disappointed. "Maybe we should try a 2 vs 4 match then" the alpha suggests. "Do you think they could beat us together?" Shouyou looks at him challenging.
"There's only one way to find out"
"Hehe, yes that's right" Shouyou lays his head on his mate's chest, hearing the beat of his heart.
"But first lets get breakfast at this place we were in last time. The one you could get these delicious fruit smoothies from" Tobio says while letting his fingers roam over Shouyou's soft heap of orange hair.
"Ahh I think i know which one you mean. Yea, let's go there ... but first-" Shouyou grind and suddenly tackles his mate to the ground. "Swimming!"
A minute later they find themselves in the water. The omega encircles his legs around the other's torso and his arms around his neck.
"Go deeper" he demands and Tobio is the nice husband he is and does as he was told.
Except at he certain depth point he lets go of his mate so that he drops into the water.
"Ey, you idiot"
And the war begins.
Shouyou jumps back on his mate, trying to disrupt his balance and make him fall backwards. Tobio pulls his legs away so he tumbles back down. Then Shouyou splashes water at him and starts laughing loudly.
In response he also gets a heap of water at his face.
Back at the beach, Katsumi watches her parents fight like little children.
"Remind me- how old are they again?" she asks, looking over her right to her brother Miko who is putting on a new layer of sun cream. (As a ginger he tends to get easily sunburned)
"Well, they definitely never lost their competitive spirit" he answers.
One hour later they are finally sitting at the cafe Tobio wanted to be in.
They had to return home for a moment to get changed.
Now everyone has a colorful smoothie in front of them and a loaf of milkbread or some healthyish cupcake version.
"Tell me dad, when was the first time you visited Rio" Leo asks curiously. Tobio halts for a second and then begins "I was nineteen, during my first olympics I was here".
"Wasn't mom here too at that time?" Aiko responds. "Yep, I was here too" Shouyou smiles warmly, happy to remember the old days when he was still much younger.
"So did you meet?" Miko joins.
"Eh you see, he wasn't really much of a romantic back then. I for one suggested meeting at the beach for a sunset walk but he was really afraid of all the paparazzi that was after him and might even follow me back to where I lived"
Their eyes meet for a moment.
"So he got me to his room and that's where we stayed for a few hours. That's all" Shouyou finishes his story. Leo doesn't want to to imagine what his parents did there but judging by their smiles he knows.
Shouyou huffs, trying not to think too much about their day together.
"Anyway, a few years later we came back together and this time we wouldn't have to worry about paparazzi lurking in every corner as during the olympics"
"We played lots of beachvolleyball" Tobio remarks and Shouyou laughs "but you fell onto your butt almost every time"
Tobio blushes "not everytime" he defends himself. (Even though it's true that he unwillingly ate lots of sand back then)
"And we did lots of activities together with Nice and Heitor. We're gonna meet them tomorrow as well. Do you remember them Leo? We saw them four years ago"
Leo thought about it for a second. "With the Labrador, right?"
"Yep, that's them" Shouyou smiles.
After breakfast they go downtown to do a little shopping.
"Aiko, What do you think?" Shouyou asks his daughter as he comes out of the changing room wearing a white oversized shirt with a colorful parrot and something written in portuguese.
They are in a touristy shop with all kinds of different things to buy, all Brazil related.
"It's too big" Tobio answers immediately, while squinting his eyes and observing his mate carefully.
"Eh? but it feels so comfy this way"
"You're too old for that look" Tobio argues quickly.
"Rude Tobio! I'm not old at all"
"You are fifty!"
"So are you!"
"I'm not the one wearing the shirt"
"Well, maybe you should try on an oversized shirt as well, idiot!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Fashion doesn't have an age limit!"
Shouyou reaches his arm upwards, looking at the way his arm could fit twice in the short sleeve.
Tobio has a faint blush on his face, his mate really did look pretty cute in the big shirt. Even after all those years, he still manages to make him feel butterflies.
But he sure as hell won't admit this right now!
"Try one size smaller" he instead says.
"But what does it even say?!" Aiko interrupts them suddenly, annoyed at her parents' quarrels.
"Ah, it says - be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire." Shouyou explains while looking down at the writing.
"So why the parrot then?" Katsumi asks as she stops shuffling through the dress section for a second.
"They can fly, that's pretty freedom related to me" he grins, turning on his own axis for a spin.
"Anyway Tobio, we should totally get you a Hawaiian shirt" he says all while slipping out of the shirt and back into his regular one.
"I want one too!" Miko calls from the other side of the store.
"Understood" Shouyou laughs.
"Mom look, isn't this Nicollas Romero? The brazilian player that was on your team?" Leo comes with a magazine in his hand, showing a page with him on it.
"He was on my team" Tobio corrects him.
"What does it say?" Shouyou asks.
"He got some award for the volleyball academy he's been holding for ten years by now. I think it's a special training camp for new talents" he explains while looking at the few pictures from the volleyball magazine.
"Ohh let me see" Shouyou demands curiously.
And lo and behold, there he is. Nicolas Romero standing in front of a group of teens smiling brightly. He really took that volleyball teaching business and excelled in it with bravura.
On the one hand Shouyou is really proud of his achievements, they have talked lots in portuguese when they met every so often in the past. But on the other hand... he also feels his competitive spirit rising inside of him at the thought of all the new volleyball talents growing in Romero's hands that'll play against Japan in the future.
"We won't lose" he whispers to himself and then looks up at Tobio who has his face right over him, silently reading the article as well. It's a Japanese news paper as they are in the part of town that has a huge Japanese community. (Authors note: It actually exists)
Tobio is teaching volleyball too, but to much older players. He visited Shouyou when he was teaching a group of pre-schoolers once many years ago. Long story short - he might have traumatized a few of the kids that day with his rather blunt method of correcting mistakes.
Their children also had to go trough that, but Shouyou thinks Tobio has improved a lot over the years.
So who knows, maybe when he's old and wise one day, he will be courageous enough to teach a group of youngsters just like Coach Ukai and his father did.
After all, Volleyball won't get boring.
Not in this life