My Mate?!

Chapter 1

I'm gonna be 100% honest here, it's been a few months since I've watched Haikyuu, so I'm not entirely sure how the timeline for the practice matches and training camp works, so I'm just making up my own.

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The team was running through their everyday practice drills like normal when Takeda came running into the gym, panting like a mad man.

"Uh, are you okay there?" Ukai asked, patting the out of breath man on the back.

Takeda held up a finger, silently telling the team to give him a second to regain his breath. Eventually his breathing calmed down and he was able to verbalize what had him all worked up.

"We have a practice match!" He shouted.

The team was instantly all ears. They had only had one practice match so far that year and it was against Nekoma. They hadn't won and were itching for a chance to redeem themselves.

"Against who?" Daichi asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Takeda had to looked down at the forms he held in his hands before answering, "Aobajohsai."

"Are... are you serious?" Sugawara asked, nearly dropping the volleyball he held in his hands. "That's a joke, right?"

Takeda sent the vice captain a confused look. "No, why would it be?" He asked, not understanding the third year's disbelief.

"They're ranked fourth in the prefecture, why would they ever agree to a practice match with us?" Sugawara asked, inadvertently making most of the team cringe at the fact he just called them all out for how terrible they were. Well that's not what he did, but that's a few of them felt.

Kageyama awkwardly coughed next to Shouyou, startling most of the team. "Uh, I may have an answer for that." He said, somewhat bitterly.

"Well go on then, king." Tsukishima said with an eye roll.

The raven haired setter grumbled under his breath at the nickname before answering. "It's probably because of me."

"I know we joke about you being the king and everything, but I highly doubt Aobajosai cares about you at all." Tsukishima said with a small laugh, trying to hide it.

Yamaguchi sent him a small glare for being so rude to their teammate, but it went unnoticed by the tall blond alpha.

"Their captain was my mentor in middle school, we didn't exactly end things on the best terms." Kageyama explained a little bit better, but most of the team was still lost as to why that would mean they'd want to play them.

Kageyama groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "He tried to punch me in the face but another player held him back. He's got a grudge against me and probably just wants to play us so that he can rub it in my face that his team crushed mine."

"Oh." Takeda said awkwardly, regretting arranging the practice game now.

Suddenly Shouyou jumped up into the air. "Guess we just have to win then, right?" He said enthusiastically with a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah! We got this!" Nishinoya joined, just as enthusiastic.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes at the two boys. "You're idiots. We're not gonna win against them."

Yamaguchi nudged the blond once again. "Have a little faith in us, Tsuki." He said with a faint smile, successfully shutting the taller of the two up.

"Whatever." Was the last thing he mumbled.

"I actually agree with the beanstalk this time. We won't win." Kageyama said, frowning at Shouyou, who still looked way too excited.

The small omega shook his head and pointed at the black haired alpha. "You don't know that for sure! We've improved a lot since our match with Nekoma, we still stand a chance." Shouyou said, making Kageyama scowl at him.

"You're an idiot." He said, crossing his arms at the short boy.

Shouyou shrugged. "I'd rather be a hopeful idiot than a pessimistic genius."

"Hinata, how do you know what pessimistic means?" Daichi asked, completely confused on how the boy that was barely scraping by in classes somehow knew what the word meant.

The orange haired boy smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck. "Um, my mom actually signed me up for this online tutoring thing and I guess it's been helping me a lot."

"Maybe Kageyama should do that too." Ukia mumbled to himself, knowing that those two first years were the ones who tended to struggle in school the most. If something managed to help Shouyou of all people, it had to be a life saver.

Sugawara smiled like the proud mama crow he was before turning back to the matter at hand. "So when is the match?" He asked Takeda. 

The man pushed his glasses up and smiled while saying, "This Friday. You guys will get out of school about an hour early so we can get on the bus and get there in time for the match."

Tanaka and Nishinoya high fived at hearing that they are getting out of school early.

Ukia shot them a small glare. "Don't get too excited, if matches like this start to interfere with your grades, we won't be able to participate in them anymore." He warned gravely, making both second years gulp.

"Yes sir," they both said.

"Now let's get on with practice." The coach said, making all the teenagers run to get ready for their next drill.

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The week flew by for most of the Karasuno players. They were all excited or nervous for their second practice match of the year as they boarded the bus.

Shouyou on the other hand just felt... off. It wasn't pregame jitters or excitement like the others, he just didn't feel himself. It's almost like he was anticipating something, and it wasn't the game.

He was unusually quiet during the ride, causing more than one person to notice something was off with the middle blocker.

"Kageyama," Sugawara said, nudging the setter to get his attention.

The alpha turned to face him, raising a brow in question.

"Do you have any clue what's going on with Hinata today?" He asked. The setter was probably the closest to the other omega on the team. If anyone would know what's up with him, it'd be Kageyama.

The setter shrugged, not really knowing either. "He said earlier he was feeling 'off', whatever that means. I don't think he even knows what's wrong." He answered truthfully.

Sugawara sat back in his seat and tried to think over the answer he had gotten. What could possibly be making the spiker 'off'? Could it be the game in general? Could it be school work? The tutoring he had? Could he just be sick?

"You're overthinking again." Daichi whispered to his mate, rubbing soothing circles on the back of the omega's hand.

"I can't help it, Hinata has never acted like this before." Sugawara mumbled back, leaning into Daichi's side and resting his head on the other male's shoulder.

"Relax, I'm sure he's just nervous or something. It's gonna be okay, you'll see." The alpha tried to reassure his mate, but it didn't work super well. Instead, Sugawara just spent the entire bus ride keeping his eyes on Shouyou and his mind whirling over possibilities.