Forever Souls (Kagehina)

End of Day Three: part 3

"Sensei! Coach!" Noya laughs, holding his stomach. "You scared the crap out of us!"

"Sorry boys," Takeda smiles, holding Ukai tightly around his back. "I didn't see you there."

"It's alright, we were just talking," Asahi smiles up at their teachers. "What brings you two out here?"

"Getting sober," Ukai laughs, his arm draping over Takeda's shoulder as his face nuzzles into the older mans neck, who turns a faint shade of red.

"How much did he drink?" Asahi asks their advisor, blushing from secondhand embarrassment.

"Two bottles of Sake," Takeda laughs, holding Ukai a little tighter. "We each had to drink one, but he couldn't back down when Nekomata Sensei started his second bottle, so we joined him for another. "

"Why are you fine then?" Noya asks, looking between the two men.

"Because..." Ukai pokes Takeda's face with his finger. "...he's adorable!"

"Ukai-kun..." Takeda sighs, letting the younger man poke his face repeatedly.

"......"

"......"

"What?" Ukai smiles. "You are..."

"I don't think I've ever seen the coach smile this much before," Noya giggles, leaning closer to Asahi.

"Me either," Ashai laughs.

"HEY! Man bun!"

"Eh?" Asahi turns red as he points to himself, stating at his drunken coach. Ukai leans closer to Takeda and whispers in his ear. Takeda smiles and steps back.

"Nishinoya? Could you help me for a second?" Takeda smiles.

"Sure!" Noya jumps up and smiles. "I'll be right back," he looks back at Asahi and waves as he walks away behind their teacher.

Ukai sits next to Asahi on the bench.

"So..." Ukai looks up into the sky. "When are you gonna make a move on him?"

"C-coach...what are you...that's not..." Asahi blushes, looking back at their coach, who obviously not as intoxicated as he appeared. "H-how did you know?"

"Call it intuition," Ukai smiles over his shoulder. "I was in a similar spot a few weeks ago."

"Really?" Asahi asks. "What happened?"

"Well," He laughs. "Long story short...Sensei is my soulmate."

Asahi's eyes widen. "You two are soulmates?"

"Yeah...we are," Ukai laughs. "I didn't given it much thought in the beginning. He was really persistent and wouldn't shut up about me becoming your coach and no matter how many times I said no, he kept coming back with those big round, beautiful eyes. It was so hard to say no to him when he threw the Nekoma wild card at me."

"I heard about that," Asahi smiles.

"He was so stubborn...I thought it was cute," Ukai laughs, leaning back on his hands on the bench. "And once I started thinking how cute he was, that's when everything got worse for me."

"What do you mean?" Asahi asks, taking a drink of his tea.

"I couldn't keep my eyes from following him," he laughs. "I couldn't focus during practice and it was even worse after the team went home and it was just the two of us." Ukai covered his mouth with both hands, trying to hide his embarrassment. "I wanted him to be my soulmate."

Asahi sat quietly still, waiting for inebriated coach to finish his story.

"Last week Sensei was helping me take down the net and of course he somehow managed to get tangled up it in," he laughs, bringing his hands back down to his lap. "I ran over to help him and slipped on the net...knocking him right over. When I opened my eyes, he was staring up at me and I panicked..."
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"He kissed you?!" Noya's eyes widen.

"Yeah," Takeda smiles, remembering the panic expression on Ukai's face before and after the kiss. "Apparently he panicked and didn't realize what he did until it was too late," he laughs. He picks up a small box of towels and hands it Nishinoya. "He started apologizing right away, didn't even realize his mark was reacting until I showed him my mark."

"Oh man!" Noya laughs. "That sounds like Asahi...hahaha!"

"Oh!" Takeda drops his right fist on top of his palm. "Is that how you and Asahi found out you were soulmates? Did he accidentally kiss you too?"

"Huh?" Noya's face heats up, he holds the box closer to his face, trying to hide his embarrassment. "He didn't...I didn't...I mean we're not..."

"I'm so sorry!" Takeda quickly bows down and then shoots back up. "The two of you have gotten closer since he came back to the team, I just thought something had happened."

"I wish..." Noya blushes at his own comment. Shit...I can't believe I said that? Do I...do I want Asahi to be my soulmate? "Ah...I mean...I don't know who my soulmate is, but um...I wouldn't hate it if it was Asahi...I'd probably really love it..."

I've been feeling uneasy ever since Tanaka mentioned Asahi's soulmate and now it kinda makes sense, Noya laughs at himself.

"Have you thought about telling Asahi that?"

"Um...I kinda just realized it a few seconds ago, so I haven't given it much thought," Noya nervously laughs."You're the only person who knows."

"Wow...I understand," Takeda smiles, starting to walk back towards the courtyard. "If you want someone to talk to about this, I'm always available."

"Thanks Sensei," Noya smiles, following along side his teacher. "I do feel a little better now that I've said it outloud..."

"Are you sure you wanna keep this from Nishinoya?"

Noya's eyes widen as he stops at the edge of the building, making Sensei bump into him. Coach was still sitting down on the bench as Asahi stood in front of the vending machine.

"I have to...I don't want him know..." Asahi's voice is quiet.

"But it's about your soulmate..."

"I know...that's why..."

Sensei gently squeezes Noya's shoulder as the small libero steps back.

Does Asahi know who his soulmate is?

"Noya?" Sensei's voice is very comforting.

"I...I'm gonna head back," Noya pushes the box into Takeda's arms. "Thanks for trying to help me..." He quickly turns around and walks back slowly to the team's room.

Takeda sighs as he watches the young man absentmindedly wander away. Maybe he should have kept his thoughts to himself, instead of giving the libero false hope.

"I am a horrible Sensei..."

"What are talking about?!" Ukai wraps his arms around his small boyfriend, startlingly him. "You are an amazing Sensei!"

"Ukai-kun..." Takeda blushes, trying to calm himself down. "I think I messed up."

"What do you mean?" Ukai spins Takeda by his shoulders, till they're facing eachother. "What happened?"

Takeda sighs as he tells his boyfriend what happened with Nishinoya, apologizing for overhearing a private conversation.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over this," Ukai smiles as he wipes away the tears from underneath Takeda's glasses. "You did nothing wrong."

"But..."

"It's going to be fine..." Ukai kisses Takeda's salt stained lips. "Trust me."

Takeda nods his head, smiling slightly.

"I've got a plan..."