(no subject)

[grandtrashking]

[Gold. His team really did it, they medaled, and Tooru could not be happier that they made it, it all felt like a dream. Even if he's now an Argentinian citizen, he's still also proud he got to do that in the country he was born in. The thrill of playing on an Olympic level and achieving his goals has him at his happiest he's ever been and the stupid smile on his face says it all as he looks at his phone.

His friends and family are proud of him, evidenced by his phone blowing up with congratulatory messages, even if some are teasing that he should have been with Japan to get them that far.

It's on a walk for fresh air that Tooru spots a familiar face, one he'd been insanely jealous of and felt inferior to back in high school. Though now he's got those feelings of inferiority under control, and the win against team Japan that had Kageyama and Ushijima had him in high spirits, so he swallows his petty pride to stride over with a smile.]

Tobio-chan! How's it going? How's the team taking the losses?

[Surprisingly, Tooru's not being antagonistic with his tone, or even smug. Two friends were on that team, and he did feel a little bad, but only a little.]

Comments

[calciums]

[ There are still times that Tobio forgets about how Oikawa and Hinata had struck up something like a friendship in Brazil. He's thankful for it, in a way, because it was nice to see people appreciating his friend and especially in the context of beach volleyball. It's a reminder of Oikawa's charisma, too, something he's always had more natural talent in than Tobio who really is a volleyball idiot who sucks at pretty much anything unrelated to the sport. ]

He doesn't like leaving the court, and this is the coolest one he's ever been on. [ It's as simple as that, surely, because Tobio and Hinata have always connected on that desire. Maybe there are feelings of inadequacy or reminders of times when Hinata had felt like he'd failed his team, but sometimes a group of players can come together perfectly and just not be as good as someone else.

Maybe Tobio will try to comfort him a little later, too.

His thoughts are dragged from his teammate and friend to the man in front of him, though, when his double-edged tongue comes to life. Tobio barely registers the beginnings of commiseration before they're quickly abandoned for the all too familiar cutting comments. He's not pissed at losing, though, so much as he is at not winning. ]

Your team was better this year. [ It's a fact, and it's easy enough to say without giving away the anger that he'd gotten better at controlling over the years. He's grown up a lot since high school, after all, even if some characteristics never get left behind in childhood. ] And we've beaten you in the past.

[ Tobio smirks a little at that despite knowing that beating Aoba Johsai was completely different than it would have been to beat Argentina. ]

sorry this took so long!

[grandtrashking]

I can't blame him, it's the best court I've played on too. And getting the chance to play on it in the country I grew up? Even better.

[And it finally gave him a chance to live his dreams, and succeed at them. It'd been his goal for so many years, and he finally got to taste victory and prove himself to the world. Or at least prove himself to those he was trying to prove himself to. Though the lack of expression on Ushijima's face still irritated him, just like when Shiratorizawa lost to Karasuno nearly ten years ago.]

Of course it was, with Blanco as coach and me setting? We'll win again next time too you know. We'll take Paris too, just you watch.

[Though his tone is less arrogant and more of a friendly challenge. If he lost to Tobio in Paris, he'd be less pissed because he's already gotten his gold, but he's still going to try and win regardless.

And then there's a snort, and a gesture of his hand to go elsewhere to chat. He could put rivalries aside for now, because in the spirit of the Olympics, they should show friendship, or something akin to it. Tooru's had plenty of years to get over his bitterness towards the younger setter, and if he had to say it, he's impressed how far Tobio's come since their Kitagawa Daiichi days.]

You eaten yet?

right back at you, work's been busy for me

[calciums]

The timing felt right. Everyone's first Olympics and they were in Japan.

[ Not that Tobio has the strongest sense of patriotism, nor a strong feeling of home in general. He's most at home on a court, no matter where in the world it may be located, and he attributes some of his success to that. Nothing to worry about when it comes to friends or family or romance because he doesn't have much of any of them; it helps that all of the people he calls friends are fellow volleyball players, too. ]

It was nice to see familiar faces, too.

[ Perhaps not Oikawa's, however, since said face continues to be so cocky. It's nothing like in high school when he always had a childish air to his personality when they were off the court. As annoying as he could be, at least Oikawa has always been able to back up his claims, and Tobio has no doubts that his team will be back in the finals four years from now. Then again, teams change, and Tobio may be playing for an even stronger team than the one Japan had this time.

The gesture is lost on him, but the question is a simple one. Still, it stuns him a bit. He'd talked to Hinata about running into Oikawa in Brazil, sharing a game and a meal, but Tobio didn't think that he'd ever have that kind of offer extended to him. Didn't he used to be Arch Nemesis #1 in his mind? ]

No, actually, I was going to go find something.