Losing is Winning

Epilogue

3 years later

"When were you gonna tell me you're coming to Rio?" Hinata's voice boomed through the speaker the second Tobio accepted the call. He had to squint at the brightness of his screen. The fact that it was afternoon for Hinata, and he was apparently out in the sun, didn't help, either.

"I..." Tobio said, a little taken aback. It's too early for this.

"Don't you think being on the Olympic team is something worth mentioning to your boyfriend?"

"If you say it like that..." Tobio mumbled into his pillow, muscles relaxing again. The truth was, he had wanted to mention it right after their trainer had announced that Tobio would be part of the team playing in this year's Olympics. But then it hadn't come up in conversation and once he would have gotten the chance to mention it, it just hadn't felt as big an information anymore. "Surprise?" he tried to save his predicament, but the deadpan expression that was staring at him through his phone was reaction enough to make Tobio deflate.

"Since when did you know?"

Tobio sighed and pushed himself up from his pillow to assume a proper position. A glance out of the window revealed that the sunrise couldn't be long. He doubted that he would get to sleep after this call. "A few weeks?"

"Of course," Hinata said, rolling his eyes as if he had already expected it. "Does anyone know?"

Tobio rubbed his face with one hand, looking at Hinata through his fingers.

Hinata sighed. "I take that as a no." For a second, Tobio's eyes flickered away, a feeling of guilt slowly taking residence in the depths of his chest. "Tobio..." he said, sitting down on something Tobio couldn't see through the phone. "You could have at least told your sister."

Tobio bit his lip, the guilt pressing down on his lungs. But there had been a reason why he hadn't told Miwa either, and it was actually more profound than the one he had for not telling Hinata. "She would just feel bad for not being able to come; you know that."

Hinata looked away, not having anything to say against that. "You should still tell her," he said after a moment of silence.

"I will." Tobio pushed his fingers in his hair in bottled-up frustration. "I'm just waiting for the tickets to be sold out. I'm not sure how well she's doing at the moment, but even if she has enough money, I don't want her to spend all her savings on this." Tobio swallowed in an attempt to get rid of the tightness in his throat.

Hinata bit his lip, but he nodded. "Don't wait too long, though. You know she's gonna be angry with you for keeping it a secret at all—and I don't want her wrath on me just because I knew before her," he added in a lighter tone, eyes regaining their sparkle.

Tobio huffed a laugh, but his voice carried an undeniable heaviness when he said, "Yes, trust me, I know."

They stayed silent for a moment. Judging by Hinata's expression, he was vividly imagining Miwa calling him in a strike of temperament after finding out about all this. Tobio watched him shake his head, unable to suppress the light tug of amusement on his lips. "Have you talked to your mother?"

Immediately, any humor vanished from his smile, leaving behind nothing but a mirthless grimace. "Not since she reminded me that I made my decision about playing and she made hers about supporting me back when I put the youth training camp before school work." The pain of the words had dulled over the past years, but he felt it prodding against his ribcage at the memory nonetheless.

"Maybe it's better that way," Hinata mused after a second. "Imagine her in the stands cheering after your victory. Scary image." He shook himself and a loud laugh erupted from within Tobio.