Chapter Text
Hitoshi Aoi was stressed.
In his fifteen years of working for a renowned sports magazine, he had conducted hundreds upon hundreds of interviews. From record-breaking achievements to career-ending scandals – he really thought he had seen it all.
Cue Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio.
Hitoshi remembered his first interview with the pair; he had walked out of it a changed man – and not in a good way. He had never had an interview get derailed so many times in the span of fifteen minutes. If that wasn’t enough, the two of them had broken the set . The podium for the athletes was so large, he didn’t think the two newbies could cause so much damage.
It had been a couple years since then, but Kageyama and Hinata were still his most feared interviewees.
Thankfully, that could all finally come to an end today.
Because today, Kageyama and Hinata were retiring.
Don’t get him wrong, Hitoshi was proud of the two men. They had won multiple medals for Japan – including the silver medal from their last match together in the 2028 Olympics. They took the volleyball world by storm, one victory at a time.
No, Hitoshi’s problem was never with them as athletes – it was with them as interviewees. He swore he almost lost his job five different times because of the pair. It was fine when it was a prerecorded interview, but no one wanted to take them on for a live interview. So, they sent Hitoshi out.
Of course Kageyama and Hinata’s last interview as professional athletes had to be live – because of course it did.
It was fine. This is the last time Hitoshi was going to have to interview them. It was okay .
“Uh… Hitoshi-san?”
It was fine.
“Yes, Hinata-senshu?”
He loved his job.
“Are you okay?”
Even if it meant he had to experience a few set-backs .
“Yes, I am quite comfortable on the floor. Thank you for your concern, Hinata-senshu.”
Kageyama apologised as he bent down to help Hitoshi stand back up after Hinata had crashed into him. Hitoshi smiled – polite and professional as he always was – and let Kageyama pull him up. The interviewer decided to completely ignore the pain in his tailbone and the weird way his glasses were bent in favour of turning the attention back to the two athletes.
He’d deal with his coworkers making fun of him from behind the cameras later.
“My, my, Hinata-senshu.” Hitoshi laughed it off as he adjusted his broken glasses on his face. “Seems like that back injury you sustained did not slow you down in the slightest!”
“Oh! Well, it isn’t that bad most days! It only really flares up when I’m doing strenuous training – which is all Iwaizumi-san gives us.” Hinata joked along. Though, he couldn’t really ignore the crooked glasses and made a mental note to pay for them later.
“It’s good to hear that!”
Hitoshi and Hinata continued to talk about Hinata’s back injury – how it resulted in reoccurring pain but is manageable with exercise. According to Hinata, he should have retired a year or two ago but really wanted to keep going a little longer. He set his sights on the 2028 Olympics and prepared himself to step down after the games.
“It’s a good thing you had time to prepare yourself, Hinata-senshu.” Hitoshi took the chance to steer the conversation towards Kageyama instead. “How about you, Kageyama-senshu? I can’t imagine what it was like during the game against Brazil.”
“For starters, I got a lot of shit from Iwaizumi-san because of it– Oof! ” Kageyama gasped as Hinata slammed him hard in the stomach. Hitoshi could tell that the setter got the wind knocked out of him, Hinata wasn’t exactly a lean person with no muscle mass.
“You can’t swear, dumbass! We’re live!”
“You just swore, you fucking moron!”
“Oh shit–”
Hitoshi was going to lose his job.
“Hahaha!” Hitoshi laughed – professional and controlled, unlike the two dumbasses in front of him – and quickly took over the conversation. “Your rivalry is going strong, I see!”
“Oh, always! Kageyama and I even have a bet on who’s going to be the better interviewee today!” Hinata chirped up. “Tell us, Hitoshi-san, which one of us has been giving you better answers so far?”
‘The two of you make me want to go for therapy,’ Hitoshi thought to himself while maintaining his smile for the camera. “Well… I’d say you’ve been speaking the most, Hinata-senshu. It’d be unfair to judge the two of you based on skewed data.”
“You’re right!” Hinata slapped Kageyama on the back, causing the setter to let out another huff and glare down at the other man. “Your turn, Bakeyama!”
“As I was saying before a certain dumba – person interrupted me…” Kageyama frowned before turning his attention back to Hitoshi. “I got in a lot of trouble with our trainer and the rest of the team when they found out I continued to play the game with a broken ankle – but how could I not? We were two points away from a win and Miya-san had dislocated his finger in our game against Argentina.”
“Personally,” Hinata butted in, “I think that Tobio choosing one injury over another was dumb.”
“I have to agree it was quite reckless,” Hitoshi responded before Kageyama could turn his attention back to Hinata. “Especially since it was the reason you’re stepping down from volleyball.”
“That is true.” Kageyama nodded. “As much as I wish I could keep playing professionally til I’m old, I always knew I was going to retire in my 30s – I just hoped it was going to be in my late 30s and not my early 30s. I’m still going to continue playing volleyball, but on a non-professional level.”
“It’s great to hear that you’re still going to continue playing! We wouldn’t expect anything else from you – or from Hinata-senshu. Your passions for volleyball are very clear to anyone that’s seen you play. I’m sure the VLeagues are sad to see two tremendous players step away from the limelight.”
“Thank you, Hitoshi-san.”
“Speaking of the limelight,” Hitoshi glanced over at the cues his coworkers were making behind the camera, urging him to move on to the next topic. “Now that the two of you are stepping down, what do you plan to do with all your free time?”
“Volley–”
“–Other than volleyball.” Hitoshi added on, more than accustomed to the way their lives revolved around volleyball. He had been interviewing them since Kageyama’s debut. He knew enough about them.
The two athletes took some time to think about their answer – which wasn’t great since they were live and on a schedule. Thankfully Kageyama came up with something or Hitoshi would have had to prompt them.
“I… I don’t know.”
Well. So much for depending on Kageyama to keep the conversation alive.
“Oh!” Hinata perked up. “I want to eat gelato! Like, a whole bucket of it! Iwaizumi-san would pick me up and fling me all the way back to Brazil if he even saw me touch an ice cream cone. Now that he has no power over me, I want to see how much ice cream I can eat!”
“That’s such a novel idea, Hinata-senshu.” Hitoshi chuckled. “I wish I was as young and as healthy as you are so that I could do that. I don’t think my body can handle anything more than a sundae anymore.”
“That sucks!”
“It really does.” Hitoshi nodded, taking another glance at the time and realised that they still had a few minutes left. “Well then. I won’t probe you two on your personal lives now that you’re out of the public’s eyes. You two must have some really exciting things planned out–”
“Oh, I don’t.” Hinata declared with those big, round and thoughtless eyes of his. “I mean, I want to do some volleyball coaching but… That’s pretty much it.”
“Me too,” Kageyama agreed. “I couldn’t think of anything else apart from volleyball. I mean, I want to spend a few weeks visiting family and friends but other than that, I don’t think there’s anything else I want to do…”
Hitoshi smiled – not his usual professional smile, but something more sincere. He had been interviewing these two since their debuts. He had seen their journey, their battles and their tenacity throughout all of it.
Out of everyone Hitoshi had the pleasure of interviewing, Kageyama and Hinata were the most dedicated to their sport. No one else lived and breathed volleyball more than them. In some ways, it was like watching a baby chick go out and explore the world.
“I’m sure you two will be able to come up with something.” Hitoshi reassured them. “You must have a list of things you have always wanted to do but never got the chance to because of your commitments. Even if you can’t remember them right now, they will definitely come back to you since you both have more time to think about a future that’s bigger than just volleyball.”
Kageyama and Hinata looked at him like he had said something scandalous – which was probably what it felt like in their heads when Hitoshi had asked them to look beyond volleyball. Still, they nodded their heads in agreement.
“We’ll think about it. Maybe we’ll make an actual list.”
“Maybe you guys can do it together,” Hitoshi added on. There wasn’t much time left for the interview but there was an audience he planned to cater to in the last few moments before they cut the cameras. “You two have been best friends since you were in high school. You climbed your way to the top and met each other on the grand stage. If you have that much in common, maybe your future plans might align too.”
“I don’t want to eat a bucket of gelato.” Kageyama immediately declared with the most serious expression he had that whole interview.
“You don’t need to do everything together, Kageyama-senshu.” Hitoshi reassured him. “I’m recommending that you guys can brainstorm your lists together. You could even start it tonight after the interview!”
The two athletes perked up at that idea. Despite their public rivalry, Hitoshi knew that nothing got Kageyama and Hinata more excited than the suggestion for them to do something together.
“We could! Oh, but we’re going to be a little busy moving…”
“Oh? Are you guys moving out of the team dorms already?” Hitoshi tilted his head, as though he didn’t already know the answer.
“No, not that.” Hinata shook his head. “We haven’t been living there for a while. We have a shared apartment in between both our training gyms! Now that we have no need to live near the training gyms, we’re finally moving out!”
“I see!” Hitoshi had a feeling a certain percentage of their audience was not going to be happy hearing about that. “I guess Hinata-senshu’s famous ‘Watch me scare my roommate’ TikToks are finally coming to an end.”
“God, I fucking wish.” Kageyama sighed out. “We’re still going to live together.”
“Oh?” Hitoshi could hear the pleased squeals of some audience members in his head. “My condolences, Kageyama-senshu.”
Kageyama nodded and Hinata looked offended at his best friend for even implying that living with him was anything less than a joyful experience. Before the two could start a fight and break another one of Hitoshi’s body parts, Hitoshi’s coworker gave them the sign that their segment was ending soon. He quickly and efficiently wrapped up the conversation in less than a minute.
“I wish both of you good luck in your future endeavours,” Hitoshi thanked them, adjusting the glasses on his face and ignored it when they crumbled and fell apart. “Thank you so much for your time!”
“Th–Thank you, Hitoshi-san…” Kageyama and Hinata said in sync as they stared at the charred remains that were once Hitoshi’s glasses as they laid beside the broken pieces of wood that used to be Hitoshi’s chair before Hinata barged into the scene.
As the cameras turned off and Hitoshi exchanged farewells with the two athletes (and accepted Hinata’s offer to pay for his new glasses), Hitoshi realised that despite all the chaos the two had caused him, he was going to miss them.
It wasn’t like he was going to see them back on the news anytime soon.