Hinata blinked the sleep from his eyes as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. It had been a busy day at Eita's veterinary clinic, including a major surgery. He had been working since three o'clock in the morning, and his watch now read four in the evening.

He was almost ready to go home, flop into bed next to his boyfriend, and then fall asleep. But then he was reminded of who he reunited with the day before, the very person coming to dinner in a few hours. Like a drain getting unplugged, his exhaustion flowed out and was replaced with nervous excitement.

Tadashi has been home for a few hours already, I hope I can help him finish getting things ready! Hinata thought, quickening his steps and hurrying up to their front door. He unlocked the door, and headed inside. "I'm home!"

Faster than his eyes could follow, his frazzled boyfriend practically flew in front of him. "Thank goodness! Quick, come here!" He called, grabbing Hinata by his lab coat and dragging the ginger into their apartment.

Instantly, the smell of burning food invaded Hinata's nostrils. A smell so hot and putrid that he was surprised his eyebrows didn't fall off his face.

When he looked towards their kitchen, a strangled cry escaped him at the sight of burning pots and pans, splattered food everywhere, and Mai licking up something that she definitely wasn't supposed to have.

"Aaah! What happened?!" Hinata exclaimed.

Yamaguchi chewed on his fingernails nervously for a quick second. "I-I don't know! I was getting things ready and then everything started going wrong! First the fish burned and then I knocked over the spices I had set out and then the vegetable caught on fire and then-" He trailed off in a nervous babble that his lover couldn't follow.

Hinata hurried toward the mess, he quickly opened up all the windows and then moved to the stove, pulling the smoking pots off of the burners and using his good leg to gently nudge Mai away from the mysterious mushy pile of burned food that she had been licking up.

Once the danger of a fire was significantly decreased, he turned toward his boyfriend. Yamaguchi was standing in the same place, his hair sticking out in random directions, andface tinted red with embarrassment and shame.

He reached out, taking the clammy hands into his own. "Tada, are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

Yamaguchi frowned, and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, Sho… T-this is such an important dinner for us, for you, and… And I just started to freak out and I've messed everything up! I just feel so nervous about all this..."

Hinata leaned forward, gathering the taller man into a hug, running a hand through the messy hair, and softly asking,"Why is it that you feel that way?"

"I-I don't know… I think maybe it's because the last thing I ever did to them was yell at them. I said some pretty awful things, I was just so angry…" He sighed, burying his face in Hinata's orange locks.

His shorter boyfriend let him do so. "That's true, but you weren't mad at them, you were mad at the others. They know that, I know they do. If the roles were reversed, I would completely understand why you yelled."

Yamaguchi scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Of course you would, Shoyo, that's because you're amazing," He casually declared, before he started to grow nervous and shake again. "But this is Daichi and Sugawara we're talking about! You remember how terrifying they are! What if they have been secretly holding a grudge against me for treating them so disrespectfully! What if when they get here revenge is their goal?! Wh-"

Before the volleyball player could continue his nervous ramblings, Hinata lifted his head and pressed their lips together. The kiss lasted a few seconds, but that was long enough to calm Yamaguchi down.

When they separated, Yamaguchi took several deep breaths to force the need to panic back down. Feeling significantly better, he cuddled against Hinata again. "Thank you, I needed that." He admitted with a grin.

Hinata chuckled, and gave his lover a second kiss on his cheek. "I have plenty to spare for my Tada-kun!"

Yamaguchi blushed the slightest bit, and turned to look into those brown eyes he cherished. "Hey Sho, can I ask you something?"

His lover nodded, so he continued,"Why don't you seem nervous?" He gasped as he realized that what he said sounded bad. "N-not that I want you to be! But… I don't know… This is the first time we've had this much interaction with anyone from Karasuno in ten years..."

"It's okay, Tadashi, I know what you're trying to say," Hinata assured him. "And I am a little nervous, but not as much as I would be if it were one of the others. I think it's because I talked with Koshi yesterday."

The ginger looked towards the open windows that displayed the setting sun. "He told me how sorry he was, all the things he regretted, and said that I'm the reason he and Daichi got together. He was so sincere, it reminded me of when he would encourage us before a game and how much I miss being able to be a part of that…"

"Oh…" Yamaguchi whispered, unable to say anything else.

Hinata nodded, and looked up at his lover. "But talking to him made me realize that now I have a chance to have those again. Not as teammates, but as friends. I'm not scared of them, because Koshi proved in that very short conversation that I don't have any reason to be afraid."

He reached out, wrapping his arms around Yamaguchi's neck. "And neither do you! Once they hear about what team you're on, they're going to be so proud!"

The volleyball player couldn't help himself, he let out sheepish giggles and scratched at his cheek with one finger. "I suppose that's true…"

"Exactly!" Hinata loudly replied, and then spun around to face the disaster in the kitchen. "But they won't have a chance if things stay like this!"

With a look of determination, Hinata yanked off his lab coat, tossing it onto the nearby couch and then he pulled up his sleeves. "I'll get started on cleaning up, you run to the market and grab what we need!"

Yamaguchi's mood quickly changed to match his boyfriend's, and he gave a mock salute. "Sir yes sir!" He declared. Then he spun around, grabbed his wallet, and hurried out of the apartment.

As he sped toward the market, he felt an emotion rising up inside of him. Uncaring about the people around him, he jumped up in the air and let out a triumphant noise. He landed firmly on his feet, and then continued to the market with only one thought in mind. I'm so proud of you, Shoyo!

"Do you think that they'll like the dessert that I made?" Sugawara wondered aloud as he stared at the bag of food that Daichi was carrying. "It didn't exactly come out like the recipe said it would…"

His lover rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Of course they will, Koshi. This is Yamaguchi and Hinata we're talking about! If they're anything like they were ten years ago, they'll eat anything!"

Memories of their after game dinners appeared in their minds. With everyone devouring bowls in seconds, and Ukai watching miserably as the bill he had offered to pay grew larger and larger.

Daichi and Sugawara chuckled at the memories as they climbed up to the third floor of the apartment building that their long-lost kouhais lived in.

The police officer whistled in appreciation. "This is a really nice apartment complex, and it's got a good location for being in Tokyo," He observed,"This has got to cost a fortune."

Sugawara nodded in agreement. "I bet! But a veterinarian and a division one volleyball player can probably afford it!" He reminded his lover.

"I know, I know," Daichi said, and then sighed with a shake of his head. "It's just hard for me to believe the kid who couldn't even get a double digit score on his tests from the Hinata you told me about… The last time I saw Hinata was during the game against Shiratorizawa and…" He trailed off, a pained look coming across his face.

Sugawara frowned, the same feeling of guilt rising up in himself. He quickly tried to shake it off, and reminded himself that they were here to reconnect with Hinata and Yamaguchi, not wallow in self pity.

So, he quickly flattened his hand out and raised it up. "Negativity… begone!" He exclaimed, jabbing Daichi in the side and making the man let out a rather undignified squeak. He then looked up at his lover, giving him a stern glare. "None of that! This is a happy dinner, the first one we've had with them in ten years!"

"Well, I know that!" Daichi replied quickly, and in a lower voice whispered,"I promise you, Koshi, I will make sure this dinner goes perfectly!"

At that moment, the front door to the apartment opened and their host appeared from behind it. "That was fast, Tada! I bet you ran all the way- Eep!" Hinata's brown eyes widened and he jolted into an erect stance. "Koshii! S-Sawamura-senpai! You're early!"

Sugawara turned to the younger man, giving him a happy grin. "We are!" He replied, and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind, but we were wanting to help with preparing dinner."

The ginger's eyes widened. "Oh no, I don't mind at all!" But then he bit his lip, and shuffled his feet. "It's just…"

Always one to be a little more forceful, Daichi leaned forward. "Just what?" He questioned the younger.

Hinata took a deep breath, and then all in one breath admitted,"It's just that Tadashi made a huge mess and I'm still cleaning it up and it smells really bad right now because he almost caught metal on fire and I don't even know how he did that so dinner might be late!"

Daichi and Sugawara stared at the ginger silently for several seconds as they tried to register what Hinata had said. When it finally sank in, Daichi couldn't help but lean his head back and let out a loud burst of laughter.

"E-eh?" Hinata squeaked out, his nervous brown eyes watching Daichi closely.

The police officer calmed himself a few seconds later, wiping tears from the sides of his eyes. "S-sorry!" He said as he caught his breath. "It's… It's just that this all reminds me so much of high school. This is exactly the type of antic I'd expect from you guys."

Sugawara's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter too. "It really is!" He said with a wide smile. "Kind of like when you guys would sneak into the gym after practice had ended, you little criminals!"

Hinata's cheeks had turned a bright pink color at the teasing, but the smile on his face let the two senpais know that their kouhai was enjoying it. "Hey, I'm the innocent one this time around!" He motioned to the outside of the apartment. "It was all Tadashi's fault, blame him!"

"Blame me for what?"

Sugawara and Daichi turned to see their other long-lost kouhai walking up to the door, holding two large bags of groceries. At the sight of his old teammates, Yamaguchi froze up almost exactly like Hinata did and dropped the groceries onto the ground.

The trio stared at each other for several silent seconds before Hinata's strangled cry broke them out of their trance.

"Tadashiii!" Hinata exclaimed,"The eggs! Did you just break them?!"

Yamaguchi gasped, and frantically grabbed the bags. "Ahh!" He frantically grabbed the bag and practically flew into the apartment. "I'll check right now!"

Hinata followed after him with a slight limp from his bad leg. "We can't cook with cracked eggs!"

"But we would crack them to cook them anyway!" Yamaguchi quickly argued back.

"Bakadashi! Do you want cardboard in your food?!" Hinata exclaimed back, leaning against the counter to help Yamaguchi furiously check the status of their precious, precious eggs.

Sugawara and Daichi followed after them, watching the exchange with similar nostalgic grins. Then, they looked at each other and those smiles grew wider. They knew right away that they were thinking the same thing.

It feels just like old times.

The eggs had not been cracked, much to the relief of their hosts. After that, all four of the dinner party members pitched in to make sure their bountiful dinner was cooked to perfection. Thanks to their combined efforts, the cleaning and cooking was done so fast that it was almost like there had never been a mess.

They sat down around the kotatsu, and admired the spread of delicious-looking food. With a clap of their hands, and a quick 'thank you for the meal!', they all grabbed some food and dug in.

The beginning of the meal was quiet, none of them knowing exactly what topic they should use to break through the blanket of tension that was still draped over all four of them.

Daichi stared at the plates around him as he tried to think of something to say, and then noticed an unfamiliar dish near the center of the kotatsu. He grabbed a spoonful of it, biting into it and felt a rush of flavors hit his tongue.

"Mmm! This is good!" He exclaimed, pointing at the dish with his spoon. "What is it? I've never seen this before!"

His innocent question seemed to break through the tension, as Hinata's brown eyes sparkled with excitement and he gave the police officer a wide grin. "It's Yassa!" He explained,"I learned how to make it while I was in Senegal!"

"Oh! Senegal?! What were you doing all the way over there?" Daichi asked curiously.

Hinata quickly launched into a tale of his travels as a wildlife vet, describing to his dinner guests all the places he went and the animals that he worked with during his several months abroad.

Sugawara noticed that while the ginger spoke, Yamaguchi propped his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand, watching his boyfriend with a devoted and loving gaze even though he had likely heard these stories several times already.

"...And now I'm working on weekends at the rescue center Koshi visited, and weekdays at Eita-sensei's veterinarian office until we go abroad again," Hinata eventually finished.

Daichi hummed in interest. "That sounds awesome! How long will you be abroad next time?" He asked curiously.

Their host shrugged. "Not sure yet, we don't even know where we'll be going, just that it might be even longer than last time." His grin widened even further. "But I don't mind waiting! I'll get more experience with running a vet office, and I get to spend time with Tadashi!"

Their old volleyball captain smiled, proud of both of his old kouhais. He turned toward Yamaguchi, beginning a conversation about how division one volleyball compared to their high school games.

Sugawara watched the exchange for a few minutes before a mischievous idea climbed into his mind. With a wiry grin, he leaned forward against the kotatsu and asked,"So, who confessed to who first?"

Yamaguchi, who had been drinking his soda, promptly choked while Hinata let out a surprised squeak and turned bright pink with blush. Sugawara instantly burst out laughing, it was exactly the reaction he had been hoping for.

Daichi nudged him and gave him a stern look, but the smirk he was trying to hold back and his shoulders that shook with barely contained laughter showed Sugawara that he was having trouble being the sane one in the group.

"Why would you ask us that?!" Hinata exclaimed once he managed to get over his surprise, the blush still present on his face.

Sugawara accusingly pointed at the ginger with his chopsticks. "It's revenge for having to tell you about me and Daichi!"

"Eh?!" Hinata balked. "You told me that on your own!"

"Yeah but I still wanted revenge!" The elementary school firmly stated, crossing his arms and giving a stern look of his own. But it quickly softened, and turned into a happy smile. "And… Well, I missed messing with you guys."

Yamaguchi and Hinata exchanged a glance, and then smiled at one another in a way that Sugawara did not like. They're planning revenge?! So quickly? Oh shit, we gotta run! But it was too late.

Hinata leaned against the kotatsu and held his cheeks in his hands, giving Daichi an innocently cute look. "Is it true that Koshi was the one to ask you out because you were too much of a baby to confess?" He questioned.

Daichi's eyes widened, and a blush quickly overtook him. "What?!"

With a hand over his mouth to muffle his snickering, Yamaguchi added,"Wow, the scariest volleyball captain couldn't even ask out a guy?"

The police officer whipped around to face his lover, his blush worsened from Yamaguchi's teasing words. "Did you really call me a baby?" He demanded.

"Traitors!" Sugawara cried out instead of answering the question, standing up and throwing his hands up. "Daichi, arrest them! This is injustice!"

Daichi popped another spoonful of Yassa in his mouth. "Mmm… Nah," He declared," Apparently I'm a baby, not a police officer."

Yamaguchi and Hinata leaned against each other and snickered, which made their old senpai cry out in indignation.

"Insubordination! My students treat me with more respect!" Sugawara crossed his arms and glared at them. "Don't make me put you in time out! You're still my kouhais, I can do it!"

Daichi quickly butted into the conversation. "Alright boys, let's stop fighting!" He ordered in his best cop-voice.

"Oh no! Shoyo the baby is getting fussy, I think he needs a nap!" Yamaguchi exclaimed.

At the police officer's taken aback look, Hinata burst out into laughter and flopped onto his back. Instantly, his pet greyhound hurried over and started licking all over his face. With stuttered laughs and cries, he weakly tried to fight her off. "M-Mai! No!"

The sight of Hinata's smile, his laughter, something that Daichi and Sugawara hadn't seen in so long, was contagious. Soon all four of them were laughing so hard that they could barely breathe, and the smiles seemed to be permanently attached to their faces.

The rest of the dinner was similar. They ate, talked, and enjoyed each other's company. The guilt that Sugawara and Daichi had held for ten years was finally starting to be let go thanks to their long-lost kouhais.

After several hours the plates were in the sink to be cleaned, the desserts were eaten, and they were all stuffed and exhausted. Sugawara and Daichi helped with the dishes, realized the late time, and quickly hurried to leave.

"We need to catch the last train back to Miyagi, I wish we could stay longer!" Sugawara called to them as he grabbed his bag.

Daichi wasn't as frantic, because he had something more important to do. He headed over to the two younger men, and pulled them into a big bear hug. "I missed you guys so much." He pulled away after a few seconds and smiled. "Let's do this again soon, okay?"

"Of course!" Hinata and Yamguchi said at the same time.

"Yes!" Sugawara chimed in as he hurried over to them, giving each of their kouhais a quick hug. "And next time, we'll invite Asahi!"

Hinata's eyes sparkled in excitement at the idea. "Yes! I'd love to see him again!" He turned and looked at Yamaguchi. "We should invite Kenma and Tetsuro too!"

"Maybe Kotaro would like to visit again?" His lover added with a smile. "He and Kotaro have mentioned it tons of times during our practices."

Daichi hummed thoughtfully. "That's a lot of people for a dinner party…"

An idea quickly popped into Sugawara's mind. "But not for a Hot Pot party! We could host one of those!" He suggested.

He knew that his idea was a hit, because instantly the other three men seemed to drool at the idea. Hinata nodded furiously, and gave his old senpai a thumbs up. "Definitely! Once we get in touch with everyone, we can choose a day!"

"Yes!" Yamaguchi and Daichi cried out at the same time, their mouths still watering at the thought of the delicious meal.

Sugawara grinned at their antics until his eyes caught sight of the clock on the wall, and he squealed. Grabbing Daichi's hand, he hurriedly shoved his shoes onto his feet and opened the door. "I had so much fun, it was so good seeing you guys! I'll text you both tomorrow, goodnight!" He said in one breath, and then hurried out as fast as he could.

To the teacher's relief, they managed to catch the train in time. As they began their long ride back to Miyagi, the two of them sat in silence. Once they were a half hour into the ride, Sugawara yawned tiredly and leaned onto Daichi's shoulder. "That was a lot of fun."

"It was." Daichi gave a small, sad smile. "I'm glad that Hinata and Yamaguchi both are happy… I just wish we could have helped them ten years ago."

Sugawara weakly jabbed at his lover's side with a finger. "We can't change the past, it's already happened," He reminded the man. "All we can do to make up for our mistakes is be there for both of them now."

Daichi smiled down at the fluffy gray hair that belonged to his lover, and let his own head lean against it. "You're right, that's what we have to do."

In the silence of the train, as they both started to fall asleep, both of them were once again thinking the same thing.

We won't fail them again.

...And joining the rangers here at this rescue center are veterinarians Eita and Hinata from Japan. These two are here to help in the efforts of rescuing and rehabilitating the wildlife injured by poachers.

"The ecosystem is a very delicate thing," Dr. Hinata told interviewers "It's up to us as human beings to realize that we also depend on them, and do our best to protect them in any way that we can."

Though they can't stay for long, the two hope to help as much as they can while they are abroad, and will leave at the same time two veterinarians from Denmark plan to fly out and join in the battle against poachers.

The Rescue center is grateful for their help, and says that anyone who would like to support their efforts to protect the wildlife population go to their website and donate to the cause-

The pale finger on the mouse quickly scrolled up, stopping on a picture that the article displayed of the picture of Dr. Hinata. He was sitting with a cheetah that had a cast wrapped around its left leg, one hand scratching behind his ears, and giving a shy smile towards the camera.

The caption underneath the photo read: Eita's young protege, and a natural with the big cats!

The dark eyes stared at the picture, and quickly filled with guilt and longing. "Oh, Hinata…" He whispered,"I wish I could tell you how sorry I am…"

The photo automatically switched to the next photo in the small slideshow, one of Eita handling an injured bird. Kageyama glared at the photo, frustrated that his gaze had been ripped away.

He moved the mouse to click back on the slideshow. But before his finger landed, his eyes trailed down to read the caption for that photo as well.

When not abroad, Dr. Eita runs the Paws and Claws animal clinic in Tokyo! Twenty five percent of the money his clinic makes is donated to a new charity each month! The article was proudly expositing.

Kageyama froze, and read the caption several times over. Then, he clicked back to the photo of Hinata, reading that as well. He switched back and forth between them, as a hopeful thought rose into his mind.

He opened a new tab on his laptop, his fingers stumbling over the keys that he couldn't see in the darkness as he typed out what he so desperately needed to find.

Paws and Claws Animal Clinic, Tokyo