Author's Note: This is the final chapter of Karasuno Boarding School! I know that I abandoned this fic for several years, but it never sat right with me that I didn't wrap up at least some of the loose ends. This story is really important to me, not because I think it's good, or the best example of my writing, but because it made me realize a lot about the writing process and myself as a writer. What started off as an unbaked season one rewrite turned into some indulgent fluff, and again turned into something I didn't really know how to end. I'm glad I came back to finish this, because it's the longest story I've ever committed to, and I want to be able to say that I finished it! Thank you to everyone who read, commented, and supported this fic. Fanfiction is not nearly as fun without responses from the audience, and I am deeply grateful for the fans who supported this story in all of its ups and downs. Hope you're all looking forward to the upcoming season as much as I am! Haikyuu rocks!

"Do you really have to go back to school?"

Natsu was whining as Kageyama carried his bag to the entryway. Hinata followed shortly after, though it was uncertain if he'd really packed. Kageyama had witnessed him just throwing unfolded things into his bag for an extended length of time.

There were parts of Hinata that exhausted him, and then other parts that could keep him alive on sheer willpower alone.

"Do we have to go back to school?" Hinata joked to his mother. Kageyama rolled his eyes.

"Yes," she and Kageyama answered at the same time.

Nanami and Kageyama shared a startled stare. She melted into that knowing smile of hers.

Kageyama would really miss this place.

"Killjoy." Hinata elbowed his secret boyfriend, and the thrill of the touch, just a bone in the ribs, nothing more, elated Kageyama.

They packed up the Subaru and all sandwiched into the car. Natsu was with them this time, her car seat set up in the back.

"Shotgun!" Hinata yelled, leaping into the passenger seat and slamming the door shut.

"Fine, I get my prince to myself!" Natsu spat.

Kageyama considered the poignancy of the situation. Relationship undefined, they had headed to Hinata's home with no intentions, only feelings in their raw form, and Hinata had curled against his rival unknowingly.

Now, relationship defined, they were separated on their way back to uncertainty, living together without knowledge to navigate this undefined space.

How had so much changed?

Kageyama felt a swarm butterflies, warm and unpredictable, when it came to Hinata. But ever so often, one would sour in his stomach to nerves.

"Any music suggestions?" Nanami asked as she turned the key in the ignition. "Kageyama," she considered, "why don't you pick?"

Kageyama was caught off guard, already gazing out the window with his palm warm over his mouth.

"Someone else should choose," he muttered quietly. He could feel, to some irritation, Hinata watching his every move.

"These guys pick all the time," Nanami argued, dismissive.

"I don't really listen to music."

"Really?" she mused.

"Uh, but the band you were playing on our way here, with the guitar…" Kageyama tried to remember some lyrics.

"Oh, the Indigo Girls?" she supplied quickly. She exchanged CDs and before long, the languid guitar and sweet harmonies were pouring over them.

Kageyama settled back against the crook of the window, his eyes fluttering closed.

When he opened them again, they were back on campus.

"Want me to help you bring everything up?" Nanami asked.

"Nah, we've got it," Hinata said. He set down his two enormous bags of now clean laundry and went to his mom.

"Do some laundry this time around, will ya?" she said as they hugged goodbye. Hinata rolled his eyes.

"Kageyama, make sure he does his laundry."

"You're his mom, not me," Kageyama grumbled. Without warning, Nanami gave him a quick peck on his temple.

This was the second time.

Kageyama went rigid.

"My boy is in your care," Nanami whispered for his ears alone, squeezing his shoulder before letting go. Kageyama couldn't help but dissolve in red. Her eyes might as well have been a crystal ball, all of his thoughts and feelings reflected back at him.

"My turn!" Natsu interrupted. She jumped up and down, signaling to Kageyama that she wanted a hug. He knelt down to oblige, the blush still fresh in his cheeks.

"I'll visit again," he said softly.

Natsu nodded into the crook of his neck.

She then dashed to her brother, giving him his own brand of hug by leaping into his arms and yanking on his ears.

Nanami gave a wave and a smile before settling Natsu into her car seat.

Kageyama and Hinata faced the dorm.

It was onward with school, volleyball, and each other.

Hinata and Kageyama walked from the locker room to an unusually close huddle of team members in the middle of the court. Practice had run late, so it was unusual to see a gathering of this magnitude. Noya, Asahi, Tanaka, and Yamaguchi were all gathered around Daichi. As Hinata and Kageyama got closer, they overheard bits of the conversation.

"Does it hurt?" Yamaguchi said in his nervous voice.

"It's fine." Daichi waved off his concern.

"What on earth did you tell her?" Noya asked.

Daichi saw Kageyama and Hinata in his line of sight and frowned.

"What's with the audience?" he grumbled. "This is personal."

Daichi had a very red handprint mark on his face. Someone had slapped him without any reservation.

"Just tell us what happened," Noya said, impatient.

"Or we'll find out anyway using other methods," Tanaka said. Or threatened?

Daichi raised his eyebrows. He cleared his throat. "Well… uh, I wanted to break up with Yui and let her down gently and everything…"

Noya nodded feverishly. Asahi just looked uncomfortable, like maybe he shouldn't be listening.

"But, um, she asked if there was anyone else…"

Everyone's attention narrowed like a point of lighting.

"And she kind of wheedled about it, so I said…"

Everyone leaned forward.

"I said I liked…"

Further still.

"…A guy…"

"EEEEHHHH?!"

The entire group squealed with surprise. Noya was jumping up and down with sheer delight.

"Shut UP," Daichi hissed. His expression silenced the group immediately.

"She hit you because you like a guy?" Kageyama interjected, sounding worried.

"Well, yes and no. I felt like I kind of owed it to her to be honest… I really liked hanging out with her and everything, but it wasn't romantic for me. I kind of was playing straight for my parents…" Daichi lowered his head, shame-faced. "She apologized right away and felt really bad about the reaction. I honestly deserved it."

"A little bit," Tanaka admitted, "but it wasn't going to do any good lying to her and yourself any longer."

"Damn, is anyone on this volleyball team fucking straight?" Noya chuckled.

Asahi turned to Tanaka.

"Don't look at me, bro. I'm bi."

"Really?" Asahi asked. He sighed.

"What with that fucking reaction?! You wanna fight?!"

Asahi looked physically ill. Noya cut in, "Nah, Tanaka, he just owes me money. We had a bet going on you."

The group erupted in laughter. At this point, Hinata and Kageyama had fully joined the circle.

"Yamaguchi, then? You straight?" Noya prodded. The long-haired boy blushed to his roots. He just shook his head.

"Noya, it's not polite… people might be uncomfortable…" Asahi's words just bounced off the excited receiver.

"Then Tsukishima…"

Yamaguchi blushed harder. "Probably not," he managed to squeak out with mangled words, turning away.

At this point, the whole group was howling with laughter.

"This is the gayest team I have ever laid eyes on!" Noya was doubled over. "And don't tell me you two—" he pointed then at Kageyama and Hinata, leaving his question hanging and unfinished, knowing full well the answer.

Hinata's lips felt dry, but he was already shaking his head quickly. The sight of Hinata's curls moving hurriedly from side to side, the sight of his constipated expression, only made Kageyama blush to the tips of his ears, his fair skin a deep, unforgiving red.

Noya was screaming. Asahi did not look surprised, but instead looked concerned for Noya and Tanaka's vocal chords. Yamaguchi did look surprised, but felt less embarrassed, looking at the faces the dynamic duo was making. Daichi was pleased that the attention had been drawn away from him.

"You owe me money," Noya slapped Tanaka on the back.

"The fuck I do," he retorted. "We all knew it was gonna happen."

"Gayest. Team. Ever," Noya repeated. "Maybe Enno…"

Tanaka shook his head. "Nope. Definitely not." There was a faint blush in his cheeks.

"EEEHHHHHH?!" Noya shrieked until Asahi clamped his hand down around his mouth. After being calmed by his boyfriend, Noya continued to ponder the team.

"And we know Suga isn't, that's for sure," he mused, mentally checking off boys in the roster. Daichi made a strangled noise.

"He—we do?" he hedged, not looking anyone in the eye.

Noya deadpanned. "Are you being serious right now."

Daichi licked his lips, nervous.

"Yes, we know that. He literally never shuts up about HGTV."

"That's stereotyping!" Daichi countered. "Men can be comfortable enough in their masculinity to like HGTV!"

Noya eyed the far side of the gym, a smile creeping into his face. The rest of the team looked on with interest.

"Does this have anything to do with your breakup?" he asked. Daichi's ears and scalp colored intensely.

"Suga is… probably into you." Asahi's voice rang low and quiet, surprisingly sure. "If you're worried about that."

"Let's get some answers, shall we?" Noya grinned mischievously.

"No!" Daichi hissed. "It's rude to ask!"

"Ask what?"

Sugawara had appeared behind him, freshly showered and changed from the locker room. Daichi looked at him with utter panic.

"Uhh, nothing!" But Suga's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, Suga, here's the thing." Noya took the stage. "All of us were talking about how gay this team is. Chibi-chan, Tobio-kun, me, obviously, and my beautiful boyfriend, Tanaka… even Yamaguchi and Tsukki."

Suga paused, nodding. If he was surprised by any of those declarations, he didn't show it. Then he slowly pointed to himself. "You forgot me."

Then he smiled in a way that put the gym's fluorescents to shame. The look on Daichi's face was priceless.

"Okay, that's all," Noya said, smirking.

"Wasn't there a point to all that?" Suga asked.

"You made the point yourself."

"Ah." He surveyed the room, lingering bit longer on Daichi's flushed complexion. "Well, it's nice to have my gay-dar validated, at least. We'll be the gayest team at nationals."

This made Noya woop.

"HEY!" Ukai yelled from the doorway. "GET YOUR ASSES OUT OF THIS GYM AND GO TO BED!"

They all scrambled for the door.

It had been a week since their vacation ended and life in the dorm had resumed. There had been no cuddles. No nightmares. No handholding.

Just volleyball, volleyball, volleyball, and snickers from Noya and Tanaka during practice.

Hinata, despite his endless stamina with volleyball and patience for Kageyama to make a move, began to feel insecure. Kageyama acted the same as he had that first week they lived together. Cold. Distant. Hinata pondered this behavior and his own insecurity at length one night in his top bunk while Kageyama was at his desk, studying.

"Was that week you were at my house all a dream?" Hinata spoke aloud.

Kageyama grunted. "Of course not, stupid."

Hinata sat up. "Then why does it feel like nothing's changed?"

Kageyama put down his pencil. The back of his neck was red. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I like you."

Kageyama grunted again.

"And I got the impression that you liked me."

Another grunt.

"And we share a room! Shouldn't we have kissed by now?!" Hinata was looking fiercely at Kageyama.

The boy stood up so fast he knocked his chair backward. "Who gets to decide when kissing happens?!" Kageyama yelled.

"Well if you decided, it would never happen!"

"It's not like I never want it to happen!"

This silenced Hinata. Kageyama was beet red.

"I know we're busy with practice," Hinata tried softly. "But you're my b-boyfriend. Right?"

Hinata's heart fluttered when Kageyama slowly nodded his head.

"So can't we at least… touch each other sometimes? Like cuddle?"

Kageyama clenched his fist. Released. Clenched again.

"Hinata." He said the name with such clarity and certainty. "It's going to be… hard for me. To be… a good boyfriend."

Hinata found himself smiling. He climbed down his side of the bunk and stood in front of Kageyama. He stretched out his arms, gesturing for a hug. "Come here."

Kageyama reluctantly received the small arm span around his torso and wrapped his own arms around Hinata's shoulders. Hinata—his boyfriend—was warm, and better yet, the hug relaxed something inside of Kageyama that he'd worried would fall apart of he'd allowed himself to touch Hinata since they'd been back. Like if they'd confirmed their feelings for one another in this small space by touching, Kageyama wouldn't be himself anymore. And he wouldn't be able to stop touching Hinata.

There was a squeeze around Kageyama's middle. "This is nice. It's not kissing, but it's nice."

Kageyama took advantage of the fact that Hinata's eyes were hidden in his own crewneck.

"I'm probably bad at it." The statement was barely audible.

Hinata pulled away for a moment to look into Kageyama's eyes.

"Well, yeah."

Kageyama scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you got all of the volleyball-serving juju from the universe and probably didn't get any kissing juju."

"What the fuck are you saying?" Kageyama hissed. "'Kissing juju?'"

"I probably have more jumping juju than kissing juju though…"

Kageyama dropped his arms and stomped to bed.

"Kageyama, I was kidding!"

"Whatever. 'Kissing juju' is the dumbest shit I've ever heard of."

He tried to focus on falling asleep, homework abandoned, but he noticed that Hinata had not climbed up to his top bunk yet.

"What." Kageyama growled the word into their room.

"I feel like now I'll never get kissed," Hinata whined.

"You'll get kissed when I fucking feel like it!" Kageyama yelled. "Now turn of the lights and go to sleep!"

Hinata padded to the switch, then headed into the bathroom. After he was changed into PJs, he started for his bed. Then he stopped.

"Scoot over."

"Excuse me?" Kageyama retorted.

"I said, scoot over."

Kageyama glared at the small outline in the dark. He waited a beat. And then he caved.

Because he could not resist that warmth that Hinata was always giving him. This whole week, he'd been waiting for the nightmare, the excuse, the words that would pull Hinata back into his blankets with him.

He moved over and allowed Hinata to climb into the crook of his limbs, allowed his nose to nudge the boy's golden hair.

"You're sweeter than you let on," Hinats giggled, snuggling closer and tucking a leg between Kageyama's knees.

"Don't fucking push it."

But in that dark space, with the strength of Hinata's warmth, Kageyama found himself pressing a kiss to the hairline of a boy who would most certainly ruin him, kissing juju and all.

"You alright?"

It was a clear, starry night, and Daichi had been feeling wistful after practice, so he'd walked to the green of the soccer field and plopped himself right in the middle of it, staring at the blinking lights above him and trying to sort out his heart.

Yet Suga said those words behind him, and he knew there was only one way to settle the mess in his chest and clear his head.

He didn't think he was brave enough to do it.

"Care to join me?" Daichi offered, his hands behind his head and his messenger bag at his side as he lay on the cool grass. Suga silently obliged.

"You broke up with Yui. "

It was a statement, not an accusation or question. Daichi let out a long sigh.

"Yeah, I finally did."

Suga wasn't looking at him, just at the stars. His silver hair had a soft glow from the dorm lights hovering just several meters away. His eyes looked as far away as the sky they were staring at.

"You say that like it's been a long time coming."

Daichi chewed his lip. "It has." He sighed again, then chuckled a little. "According to Noya, I was the last one to realize it was going to happen. Eventually, anyway."

Suga didn't say anything, just let his presence draw the words out of Daichi. It had been that way with them since middle school. In fact, it was probably in middle school when all these emotions started stirring up in Daichi. Emotions that made him scared, that made him worry about his family. Emotions that he thought he could lock away with volleyball and a good girlfriend and the responsibilities of being a captain and good student.

It was hard to lock something up. It was hard to forget about it when there was a constant reminder of what was hidden away in the face of your middle school friend. In his mole just beside his right eye, in his kindness that could turn to steel in a second, in the eyes that lingered in the locker room, just to be snapped away with embarrassment.

Daichi suddenly felt very at peace.

"Suga, I'm in love with you, you know."

A wind blew over them, gentle as a whisper.

"It will probably mess up the flow of the team to say anything, but I do. And it's really unfair of me to say this so soon after ending things with Yui. You don't need to respond, or reciprocate, I've just been trying to be more honest with myself—"

"Daichi."

Suga had leaned over and grabbed Daichi's face between his hands, looking down at him with an almost angry expression. Stars had nothing on his almond eyes.

"Suga…?"

"For once, Daichi. Just please shut up."

And then Suga was kissing him.

Epilogue

There was plenty of kissing. Hinata had to get the ball rolling, of course, by planting one on Kageyama one night while the boy was doing homework, grabbing his shirtfront and yelling "what's the big deal, anyway!? It's just a damn kiss!"

Kageyama told him that it wasn't their "first kiss" because it felt like a head-butt. But there had been plenty of kisses since then—pecks snuck to each other in the locker room, sleepy kisses in Kageyama's bed, and warmer kisses that made them both a little wild, and a little afraid. But they'd agreed to take it slow.

They took volleyball fast. And it was amazing what Kageyama and Hinata could accomplish when they weren't hating each other.

There were still insults. There was still anger.

But then there was making up, and that was sweeter than honey.

Daichi and Suga were getting along better than ever. A true mother/father duo. Noya seemed to know something about it, as always.

When they lost to Aobajohsai High, it was devastating.

But they had the team. They had each other. They had the knowledge that Karasuno wasn't a gathering of flightless crows anymore.

So they didn't break. They got better.