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"What do you think they're talking about?" Matsuoka whispers to Naruko, gesturing with a nod of his head at Imaizumi and Nanase sitting at a nearby table, discussing something intently, while Kageyama seems to be taking notes on the conversation.
"The health benefits of eatin' whole lemons?" Naruko suggests wryly, causing Matsuoka to break into snickers.
"...I've gotta go meet up with some pals, but I'll catch ya later at the interview, Hinata!" says a voice from the lounge doorway, and the two men look up to see Hinata waving goodbye to Hino Akane, one of the starters on the women's volleyball team.
"See you then!" Hinata calls after her. Out of the corner of his eye he notices Matsuoka and Naruko hissing his name and frantically waving him over to their couch.
"What is it?" he asks quietly, walking over to stand behind them.
"Look at those three," Naruko gestures discreetly at their companions. "Whaddya think they're goin' on about?"
Hinata scrunches his face up in thought, eyes flicking between the three men.
"Well Kageyama sometimes asks other athletes for tips he can apply to volleyball..." he hazards a guess, "So maybe its something that cycling and swimming have in common?" he looks back at Naruko and Matsuoka, who glance at each other and shrug.
"If you guys don't know, then it's anyone's guess!" Hinata laughs, rounding the end of the couch to sit down beside them. "Kageyama's a smart guy when it comes to volleyball, but outside of that, it's a complete mystery to me what goes on in that head of his."
"I know what you mean," Matsuoka laughs, "I seriously think whenever Haru's not already in the pool, all he's thinking about is finding the nearest body of water and jumping in."
"Imaizumi's a one-track-mind like that too," Naruko nods. "Has been ever since high school."
"And anyway, if cycling really did do anything significant for volleyball performance, Kageyama would've already tried it," Hinata rolls his eyes, "I biked over a mountain every day on my way to school, and all he ever said about it was that I better not be late for practice, even though I never was!" he adds, sounding still bitter about it years later.
"Wait, you what?" Matsuoka balks. "Why?"
"Well, I had my heart set on attending Karasuno, and that was the only way to get there!" Hinata laughs, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Damn, I feel kinda bad for ya school's bike club now!" Naruko laughs along, "Me an' Imaizumi knew a guy like that; he used ta take his granny bike all the way to Akiba just ta buy idol merch, and with a handicap ta boot! Kid was a serious boon ta the team, an' a good friend..." he gazes into the middle distance, looking misty-eyed with reminiscence.
"Did they ever even try to recruit you?" Matsuoka asks.
"Not that I can remember, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway, 'cause I've got a one-track-mind too!" Hinata says proudly.
Just then, Hinata's phone buzzes. Fishing it from the pocket of his jacket, his face lights up.
"Ah, it's Momo-san!"
"Who?"
"Momo-san - my friends' cat," Hinata explains, suddenly seeming a bit embarrassed. He turns his phone to show Matsuoka and Naruko a tweet of an orange tabby in a hilariously undignified pose, captioned in Japanese and English. "They made an account for him and I have notifications on so that I can share whenever he posts. I'm more of a dog person but, I like to support my friends, y'know?"
"You're a good friend too, Hinata," Naruko says with several nods of approval, while Matsuoka struggles with a sudden intense bout of deja vu upon seeing the photo of Momo the cat lying belly-up, paws curled playfully on his chest, with the caption "Today I've become an otter."
"Um... can I see?" A quiet voice asked from nearby. Hinata looks around for the source, eyes landing on a dark-haired boy clutching a handheld game, his small stature dwarfed by the plush sofa chair he sat in. A spark of recognition blooms in Hinata's mind - the boy was Chinen Miya, a star skateboarder and the youngest athlete on Japan's Olympic team. He'd seemed rather standoffish and even a little boastful whenever press and fans were around, which, if nothing else, Hinata supposed he had earned the right to be. But now, surrounded only by other Olympians, all of whom were older than him, he seemed to have become more withdrawn and quiet. The sight of a quiet boy amongst loud and rowdy athletes, absorbed in a video game, rang familiar to Hinata.
"Yeah, sure! Come over!" Hinata beacons with a smile. Chinen gets up out of the chair and comes to stand at Hinata's side, peering almost skittishly at his phone.
"Aw..." Chinen cooes quietly at the photo of Momo-san, and Hinata has to hold back the urge to pat the boy's head as if he were one of his high school kouhai.
"You should follow him!" Hinata prompts, and Chinen nods enthusiastically, fishing his phone out of his hoodie pocket and flipping to Twitter to search for the account.
"Pass it over here, Hinata! I wanna follow too!" Naruko adds, and Hinata reaches over Matsuoka to hand Naruko his phone.
"Wait 'til Kenma finds out I got three more Olympians to follow Momo-san!" Hinata boasts with a grin.
"Hey, I never said anything about-" Matsuoka begins to object, but Naruko cuts him off.
"But ya will, right? Be a good friend!"
"Fine, give it here," Matsuoka grouches, snatching Hinata's phone from Naruko, and the other two men laugh.
Chinen returns to his seat, now absorbed in scrolling through Momo-san's account.
"Ah, Hinata, you got a text," Matsuoka says, handing the phone back, "from an Iwaizumi-san?"
"Ah, yeah, he's our trainer - Hey, Kageyama!" Hinata shouts, and the three men at the table all look over. "Iwaizumi says we should head over in ten,"
"Ah." Kageyama acknowledges, standing and closing his notebook, with a polite bow to Nanase and Imaizumi.
"We gotta go, more team training," Hinata explains, standing up as well. "But let's catch up again later!"
"For sure!" Naruko exclaims, "Next time we meet, I'm challengin' you to a bike race!"
"That... doesn't seem-" Matsuoka begins, but then as Kageyama joins Hinata at his side, he says:
"We were talking about shaving our legs."
"...Huh!?" Hinata gapes.
"You were wondering what we were talking about, right? Swimmers and cyclists sometimes shave their legs to reduce drag. I wanted to ask them about it." Kageyama explains matter-of-factly.
"W-We weren't-" Hinata beings to deny the accusation, until Nanase adds:
"You're not very quiet when you whisper, Rin."
Matsuoka flushes, scowling silently, while Naruko has forgotten his own embarrassment and is instead laughing at Matsuoka's. Chinen, having spectated the whole exchange, also snickers quietly.
"So... are you going to shave your legs?" Hinata asks, looking up at Kageyama with an inquisitive tilt of the head.
"Maybe." Kageyama replies, as mildly as though he's remarking on the weather, "I don't think we move fast enough for long enough that it would give us a noticeable advantage but-"
"Maybe you could ask Iwaizumi about it?" Hinata offers as they start to leave.
"Dumbass, why would I ask him? He's not gonna know something like that!" Kageyama snaps.
"I don't know! He's a trainer, he probably knows about stuff like drag and body hair!" Hinata retorts.
As the argument continues down the hallway and out of earshot, the rest of the athletes share quizzical looks.
"Those two are weird."