Chapter Text
After Hinata had thrown Kageyama’s empty milk carton at him and run off, Kageyama was kind of at a loss of what to do. He’d been wandering the school grounds for almost fifteen minutes, attempting to figure out where the other had run to and what he’d done wrong. He’d yet to work out either.
They’d been having a perfectly nice time (a perfectly nice time for them anyway – which meant it only consisted of about five headlocks) when Kageyama had mentioned being excited to see Natsu again.
And Hinata had flipped.
The other boy stormed off, face puffed up in anger, and left Kageyama sat alone, mind clouded with confusion.
He thought Hinata liked it when he mentioned Natsu. The Hinata family were the epitome of close-knit, and talk of his younger sister always left the red head brimming with pride. Kageyama was certain he’d have to prove his ‘familial nature’ to Hinata if he ever wanted them to – well, yeah.
He kicked a stray pebble and deepened his frown, hardly noticing when a gaggle of girls close by scattered away in fright. Hinata and he had a tendency to eat in the maple alcove when the weather was better, maybe he’d be sat there. Huffing, Kageyama made his way to the alcove, keeping an eye out for a fright of orange hair.
And there he was, rambling on next to a slightly-uncomfortable looking Yamaguchi. Kageyama sighed in relief, now all he had to do was go ask the idiot why he ran off like that and everything would be back on track.
He stepped forwards, and that’s when Hinata put both hand on Yamaguchi’s face. He tilted his head, and Hinata leaned in.
They were kissing. Right there. In his and Hinata’s place.
Hinata and Yamaguchi. Kissing.
Kageyama felt sick, this wasn’t how it was meant to be. That was their spot. Kageyama and Hinata’s, not Hinata and Yamaguchi.
That should have been his kiss.
The pair broke apart and Yamaguchi turned and looked over at Kageyama. He smiled over to the setter, and Kageyama spun and ran.
He ran across the school until he was as far from the scene as possible, rounding the side of the gym. He needed to be alone, to collect his thoughts.
Of course this was where Tsukishima was sat. The lanky teen was slouched against the side of the gym, headphones on, staring at the crowd of girls near to him in a silent dare to even try to speak to him. His eyes flickered, and all of a sudden Kageyama was hyper aware of the set of eyes locked on him.
He began to turn, wanting to get out of Tsukishima’s line of fire.
“Why’re you all alone, King?”
Too late.
“Another fight with the Little Queen?”
Kageyama felt the anger bubbling inside of him, his breath caught in his throat, his eyes locking with Tsukishima’s. He spoke slowly, gently, never once breaking eye contact with the other boy.
“No. Hinata’s just a bit busy making out with your boyfriend.”
“What.”
Kageyama smirked; he could see the shock written all over Tsukishima’s face. His own pain reflected in the other’s eyes.
“In the maple trees. I saw them kissing.”
Tsukishima gave one final remark before Kageyama spun, glaring at the teen and storming off to where he was pretty sure Yachi would be sitting. The kiss ran through his mind for the hundredth time and he quickened his step.
Hinata glanced over to Kageyama as they trudged up the hill and gulped silently. The other looked furious. Hinata could practically see the black rage seething from him. He looked forwards and gulped again.
He opened his mouth, ready to broach Kageyama’s rage.
“Are you done having a hissy fit, then?”
Hinata’s mouth slammed shut. Kageyama’s words were laced with bitterness, a frown deeper than his usual foul look imprinted on his face.
Shoulders hunching up, Hinata turned to Kageyama, “What do you mean my ‘hissy fit’?” he spat out.
“You know exactly what I mean! I’m sure you were just pissed off I wasn’t-” he cut himself off, flinching suddenly at his words.
Hinata tilted his head slightly, “That you weren’t what, dumbass?”
Kageyama didn’t reply, he just began to walk onwards, ignoring Hinata’s questions.
“Kageyama? Kageyama?” Hinata dropped his bike and ran to the setter, grabbing his sleeve to turn him around. “Kageyama will you just talk to me!” Hinata strengthened his stance, making himself look as large as possible. He refused to back down.
“I know that you don’t think I’m cute like- like Natsu! But you could at least try to be a good friend!”
Hinata huffed and looked up into Kageyama’s wide eyes. They were close, much closer than Hinata had thought they were, and he could feel every breath the dark haired boy took on the tip of his nose.
Hinata watched as Kageyama’s eyes flickered to his lips, his breaths quickly becoming shallow. He found himself rising onto his tiptoes, moving closer to Kageyama until he felt the other’s lips flush against his own. He was vaguely aware of a startled noise, before the other was kissing back, Kageyama’s hands moving to rest on Hinata’s hips, pulling him closer before the kiss was suddenly broken and Hinata fell back to the floor.
Kageyama stood over him, a hand pressed firmly against his lips.
“What are you thinking?” Kageyama’s voice was sharp and hard. He stepped back slightly, still staring at the boy on the floor.
Hinata just looked up at him, barely registering the stinging of his hands where he’d hit the concrete.
“Ka-”
“You should be ashamed of yourself!” Kageyama’s voice was muffled, his hand still covering his mouth. His eyes were wide and Hinata could feel himself clenching his jaw, desperate not to cry. Not to break in front of him. “It’s disgusting!”
Kageyama turned, storming off down the street. As Hinata watched his setter’s robotic walk, he was vaguely aware of the faint sound of sobs. It took him a while to figure out the noise was coming from himself.
Kageyama locked his gaze forwards, forcing himself to not go back, not to fall down next to the teary eyed boy and wrap him up in his arms. There was someone else Hinata could go to now.
Bile rose in Kageyama’s throat at the thought.
The harsh scrape of Hinata’s lips was imprinted on Kageyama’s own, a tingling burn leaving a constant reminder. The feeling of the small, rosy lips pushed against his reverberated in his mind and it was all he could do to stop his breath catching in memory. They’d been nothing like he’d imagined, and boy had he imagined. Kageyama couldn’t count the number of times he’d thought of soft lips against his own, and the smell of honey and sunshine that came with the small middle blocker.
He should have known how Hinata’s mouth would feel after watching the middle blocker chewing on them so often. Should have known how fast Hinata would jump up, smacking their lips together.
Kageyama should have known, but he didn’t. And that’s what made it feel better than anything he could ever imagine.
Entering his house, slipping off his shoes and making his way to his room, Kageyama couldn’t get the taste of honey and pork buns out of his mouth.
“Oh. I died. Sorry Kenma.”
Hinata dropped his controller down to his side, watching the game as Kenma continued to play on to the next level. A quiet voice spoke in his ear, “It’s no problem Shouyou.” There was a pause, something Hinata had gotten used to in his conversations with Kenma, “Is everything okay?”
He considered spilling his heart to the setter. Tearing out all the pieces Kageyama had shattered, all the insecurities that may never heal, and asking, begging him for a way to fix it. Kenma knew heartache. He’d confided in Hinata, shared his knowledge of Kuroo’s longing glances and lingering touches. He’d shared his pseudo-ignorance. He’d know how it felt to be in Kageyama’s shoes.
Hinata picked up his controller and re-entered the game.
“I’m fine.”
Kageyama had spent the next day carefully avoiding any contact with Hinata or Yamaguchi. He’d tiptoed past their classrooms, ignoring the loud scoff Tsukishima had given him when he’d attempted to scuttle past without detection and make a break for the vending machines. In all Kageyama’s high school year, he’d never been happier that he didn’t have any friends outside of the team, it made sneaking off to be alone so much easier.
As he slumped by the vending machine, two cartons of milk in his hands he tried to ignore the silence accompanying him.
He’d manage to avoid Hinata all day through various tactics, but when he got to practise he realised all his ‘sneaking’ had been completely unnecessary. Hinata was careful not to acknowledge him throughout. The ginger boy continued to go on his merry way, acting exactly as he normally does but with one exception – no Kageyama.
And as much as he hated to admit it, it was wrecking Kageyama inside out. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the excitable teen, drinking in everything about him. The red rims of his eyes that everyone was careful not to mention, the slightly sluggish way that he went about hitting Sugawara’s serves. His misery was a black hole and Kageyama was being sucked way down with him.
He watched, as Hinata turned to ask Nishinoya something, and from two feet away Tsukishima flung a volleyball straight into the shorter middle blocker’s face causing Hinata to stumble and fall to the ground, his nose making a sickening crunch. Kageyama looked on in shock and more than a little anger as Hinata’s nose began to bleed heavily and Tsukishima stood on smirking from the sidelines. Before he could think, his feet were speeding towards the fallen first year.
He got about five steps before making eye contact with Yamaguchi and halting. Hinata wasn’t his problem anymore. His – Yamaguchi could take care of it now. He spun and stared at the windows, attempting to internalise his urge to rip Tsukishima’s hair out and ignoring the terrified glances Asahi was throwing his way.
“You did that on purpose!” Hinata’s furious voice struck a chord deep within Kageyama, the smaller boy’s rage only fuelling his own. “I saw you, you did it on purpose! Apologise!”
Kageyama pulled on the bottom of his shirt, urging himself to not get involved. He knew Hinata was right, that the taller teen had lashed out, purposefully throwing the ball at him. He also knew that Hinata could handle it. There was no need for Kageyama to get involved. It was just a nosebleed, Sugawara had it covered.
“Shouldn’t it be your boyfriend helping you?”
Cue Hinata’s adamant refusal (“Kageyama isn’t my boyfriend! Shut up!”), followed by Tsukishima’s mocking laughter, and everything will diffuse.
Only Tsukishima didn’t laugh.
“I meant Yamaguchi.”
Kageyama could feel the air getting thicker, the linking of 'Yamaguchi' and 'Hinata’s boyfriend' made his head burn in a way that made him unsure if he wanted to cry or scream. So he stayed quiet, and watched Yamaguchi from across the court.
This all needed to be over. They needed to sort out this argument and just carry on with volleyball practise. Hinata and Yamaguchi still thought no one knew, Kageyama realised, if they just knew people knew then this could all just end.
“I saw you both kissing.”
The words were out before he could stop them. It was nothing more than a murmur, but in the silent room each word echoed loud and clear.
As Daichi silently dragged the rest of the team out of the gym Kageyama took in the scene around him. Tsukishima’s smug grin hiding layers and layers of misery, Hinata and Yamaguchi’s shock and worry, and the large empty room. Calling out had been a mistake and Kageyama could see this incident becoming a rift that broke the team apart. This rift could become middle school all over again.
He stared across the room at Hinata, who’d finally, finally looked at him. Hinata looked so sad, his lower lip quivering in the way it always does when he can’t get a sense of his own emotions. He needed to talk to him.
“I never – we never kissed.”
He needed to talk to him.
Before he could even think, Kageyama had grabbed the ginger boy and run.
“What the hell are you doing, Bakageyama!” Hinata’s wrist throbbed from the tight hold Kageyama had on it, and he was almost eighty percent sure that if the other kept tugging on it his arm would pop right out of the socket.
He didn’t know what Kageyama wanted; he had no idea what he even wanted the other to want right now. The emotion heavy day had left him drained in a way he’d never felt before and really, he just wanted to sleep and stop this dull ache that seemed to be wrapping tighter and tighter around his lungs.
When Kageyama stopped in front of the outdoor sinks and stripped Hinata of his shirt, Hinata didn’t even have the energy to stop him. Until he splashed a handful of water into Hinata’s face, that is.
“What the hell are you doing, Kageyama.” Hinata growled out, rubbing his hand across his dripping face.
“You need to clean the blood off of you.” Kageyama said casually, now beginning to soak the shorter boy’s t shirt under the tap. “I can’t focus on what I want to say if I’m still worrying about you.”
He began dabbing at Hinata’s face with the t shirt, wiping away the blood and carefully checking for any bruising. By the time he was done, Hinata was confused, wet, and more than just cold.
“W-what do you want, Ka-Kageyama?” his voice came out in chatters, the cold affecting his speech more than he would have wanted to admit.
It was about then that he was accosted by a huge cream jumper being yanked over his head.
“Kageyama, what the hell?!”
Hinata pulled the jumper over himself, shoving his arms into the too large holes and popping his head out at an attempt for freedom.
“What are yo-”
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
He finally looked at the other boy, his dark hair hanging over his eyes as he stared at the ground, his hands shaking at his sides.
“I just – uh – I just want to make it up to you.”
The words were mumbled, tumbling out of his mouth awkwardly. Kageyama’s mood had immediately switched, gone was the logical, easy manner in which he’d cleaned the blood from Hinata’s face, and in its place was complete and utter discomfort. But it still wasn’t the Kageyama Hinata was used to dealing with.
“Make what up to me?”
“You see I didn’t understa-”
“Make what up to me?”
A glare.
“Didn’t understan-”
“Make what up to me?”
“Will you just let me speak, dumbass?!”
There he was. Hinata immediately felt at ease, this was the boy he knew, the boy he spent all his time with, the boy he loved.
“I know Kageyama, you thought I was with Yamaguchi and I’m not! The kiss was just a big stupid joke! Let’s forget about it!” He turned around and began to make his way back to the gym.
Everything would be okay now. He can keep pretending and him and Kageyama can go back to how they always were.
It wasn’t what he wanted but it’s what he got and it was better than nothing.
“…a joke?”
Hinata turned around, unsure what Kageyama had said. That’s when there were two hands clamped either side of his face and Kageyama’s lips smacked awkwardly onto his own. Hinata’s eyes, wide open, stared in shock at the clamped concentration on Kageyama’s face. The kiss was awkward, uncomfortable, and absolutely amazing.
Breaking away, Kageyama glared down a confused Hinata.
“That wasn’t a joke.” He glanced around the courtyard, a dark blush slowly painting itself across his cheeks, “Dumbass.”
Grabbing the other boy’s hand, Hinata beamed brighter than he had in days and dragged his best friend, no, boyfriend back to the changing rooms, promising to have extra practise with him tonight.