Chapter Text
Hinata focused on volleyball to take his mind off of things.
He was on a roll that morning, playing fiercely and zipping across the court, the stares of his teammates and his opponents alike wide-eyed as they watched him. It was all too easy to sink into the normalcy that was volleyball, letting his mind drift from the electrifying events of the past night, and so he put his all into every single practice match, barely pausing to take any breaks at all. Even during lunch, he’d shoveled his food into his mouth at a rapid pace, and then slipped away from the table to go practice some more.
Throughout the entire day, Kageyama would shoot him sideways glances, and Hinata would feel his skin crawl just the slightest, but it didn’t affect either of their playing. Kageyama’s love for volleyball, he figured, transcended all things, even the weight of a hidden magical world being exposed to a human.
In truth, Hinata didn’t know how to deal with everything from the previous day, and so he drowned it all with volleyball. It distracted him, and it made him feel good, the familiar adrenaline pumping through his veins a comfort in the crazy world that was now his life. The entire day, he ignored the hidden questions in Kageyama’s eyes, instead concentrating all of his energy into smacking the ball with his palm, the palm that was decorated with the intricate marking of the rune.
In particular, this last fact was detrimental to him sometimes. For example, in their last practice match of the day, Hinata propelled his arm forward, aiming to hit the ball spot-on, but then he caught a glimpse of a curve of the rune on his hand, and realization dawned on him. His arm fell limply to his side. The ball dropped onto the floor, bouncing a few times on their side of the court, as Hinata watched it roll away. The other team had erupted into triumphant smiles, while all of Karasuno stared at Hinata, dumbfounded.
Hinata didn’t hear their criticisms or their concerns, didn’t think about them as they completed their punishment exercises, mind suddenly switched away from volleyball as practice drew to a close. Instead, he replayed the events of last night in his head over and over, stomach twisting with no less than five different emotions, unsure which was the most appropriate one to feel.
As soon as they finished their exercises, Hinata collapsed on the ground, feeling rather exhausted. He closed his eyes, the image of Kenma shouting a spell at the shadow man painting the back of his eyelids. This thought was interrupted when Kageyama pulled roughly on the back of Hinata’s collar, who squawked loudly as he was yanked out of his daydream.
“Kageyama, stupid, that hurts!”
Kageyama rolled his eyes and tapped his foot impatiently, not bothering to hide the sense of urgency he clearly felt. “Let’s go.”
Hinata scrambled to his feet as Kageyama released his grip on him.
“Go where?” He asked, although he figured he had a pretty good idea of what was going on already.
“Somewhere to... Talk. About this morning.”
“You could have just told me that instead of trying to choke me with my shirt, you know.” Hinata sighed, mind starting to churn with the all of the plausible directions that this evening could go. (Honestly, after last night, anything seemed possible. Even the scenario in which Kageyama cursed Hinata and left him to die on the volleyball court in the gym, far away from Miyagi and his family.)
“Well, shouldn’t you have already known that’s what I meant? Are you stupid?”
Hinata huffed, trailing behind Kageyama as the taller boy began to stalk off somewhere.
The sun was beginning to dip behind the horizon, the moon glowing faintly amongst the red and orange patches of sky. Following Kageyama to a secret place while the sunset streaked the sky emitted a strange energy, one tinted with vague feelings of magic and fantasy. Hinata shivered slightly with excitement and nerves, bouncing on the balls of his feet lightly.
They approached a secluded area at the edge of the camp, where Kageyama scanned the space around them, determined that no one was around, and promptly sat down on the grass. Hinata followed suit, plopping down next to him and twisting a few strands of grass in his fingers absentmindedly.
Kageyama fidgeted a bit, a frown on his face, and Hinata leaned back against a tree trunk, content to let him think for a while. Hinata needed some time for himself to ponder everything, too, considering he had only really decided to acknowledge the previous night’s events a mere twenty minutes ago.
Kageyama cleared his throat rather awkwardly, opened his mouth, and prepared to speak, when —
“Shouyou?”
Hinata snapped his head up, turning away from a startled Kageyama, and his eyes widened when he saw Kenma standing directly in front of him, Kuroo in tow. Kenma was eyeing him curiously, slouching slightly, one of Kuroo’s hands resting on his arm almost protectively.
There had been nobody around only a few seconds ago, Hinata thought faintly. There hadn’t been any shadows on the ground or anything, either. He’d checked beforehand. He wasn’t the most fond of shadows anymore.
Then, his eyes drifted to the jacket draped over Kenma’s right arm. The jacket that had started it all. Kenma had remembered to return it. The thought made Hinata’s heart thump for several different reasons.
“Kenma...” Hinata said weakly, unsure of how to react in this situation. “You brought my jacket.”
Kenma furrowed his eyebrows, then followed the line of Hinata’s eyes to his arm. “Oh,” He said. “Yeah, here.”
And then he handed it to Hinata, who took it quickly, pushing his arms through the sleeves. Kageyama had gone still beside him, and when Hinata looked up, he saw him glaring intensely at Kenma and Kuroo. There was a defensiveness present in his stare, which Hinata didn’t really think was a good sign. Kageyama tended to get quite violent and mean whenever he looked like this. (At least when that expression was directed towards Hinata, anyways.)
Hinata swallowed. Kenma and Kageyama didn’t know that the other was a witch, and there seemed to be palpable tension hovering between them in the air. And Kuroo... Well, Hinata wasn’t really sure why Kuroo was here, or if he knew about Kenma. He hoped that there wouldn’t be any sort of fight.
“Well, well, well...” Kuroo spoke up, grinning almost devilishly. “Seems like we’ve got ourselves another one here, huh?”
Kageyama paled. Hinata anxiously tore a blade of grass out of the ground.
“What are you talking about?” Kageyama asked, eyes glittering dangerously.
“Kuro...” Kenma mumbled.
“What?” Kuroo said. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? I knew something felt different when we got here yesterday. I just thought it was the... you know.”
Hinata’s heart leapt in his chest at the implication of his words. Was Kuroo referencing the shadow man? Warily, Hinata scanned Kuroo’s expression, the upturned all-knowing smirk on his mouth, the relaxed stance... and then he caught Hinata’s eye and gave him a small wink. Hinata’s eyes widened. Kuroo knew, then. He must.
“A-Are you trying to accuse me of something?” Kageyama stammered defensively. Hinata noticed a bead of work its way down from his forehead to his temple.
Kageyama was staring down Kuroo suspiciously, probably trying to figure out what he was implying. Hinata, always prone to becoming annoyed around Kageyama, thought it was pretty stupid that he hadn’t figured it out yet. After all, even Hinata himself thought the situation was pretty clear.
“Calm down, Kageyama,” Hinata chimed in, unable to help himself. “They know, obviously.”
Feeling a bit smug at discovering something that Kageyama had yet to figure out, Hinata shot him a tiny grin. Then, the corner of Kageyama’s mouth twitched, and a dark look crossed his face, and then Hinata realized that maybe this wasn’t the best time to pick petty fights with Kageyama. He gulped, scooting a few centimeters away from the taller boy.
“What the hell?” Kageyama sneered, black clouds practically rolling off of his shoulders as he lunged at Hinata. “You told them?”
Hinata squeaked, because Kageyama’s steely gaze always seemed to somehow terrify him, and he jumped off of the ground as Kageyama grabbed for him. Kageyama quickly scrambled to his feet, and although Hinata tried to escape, he tripped over the roots of the tree, and before he knew it, Kageyama was leaning over him, having pinned down Hinata’s arms. Kageyama looked like he wanted to violently murder Hinata, then sell his organs on the black market for maximum profit. It was scarier than that one time Hinata had hit the back of his head with a volleyball.
“Um — Kageyama, was it?” Kuroo called.
Kageyama, who had just opened his mouth to speak, suddenly tensed.
Kuroo continued. “Shorty didn’t tell us anything, actually.”
Kageyama hesitated. The anger on his face seemed to melt away, as the words sunk into him. Hinata felt his body relax, trying to crane his neck over Kageyama’s shoulder to shoot Kuroo a thankful look. (It didn’t work.)
Kageyama did, however, withdraw, slowly releasing Hinata’s arms and sitting back up, looking slightly dazed.
“What... What do you mean, he didn’t tell you?” He bit out.
Hinata rubbed his sore arms a bit, then groaned as he sat back up. Practically crawling back to the tree trunk, in quite a dramatic way just to spite Kageyama, he sighed loudly.
Kenma and Kuroo exchanged a look. Hinata couldn’t quite tell what they seemed to be mentally discussing, but it was only a few seconds before Kuroo sat down on the grass. There was a sense of finality in that action, as if a decision had just been made on the fly, and Kenma shortly followed, settling beside Hinata.
Hinata inhaled sharply, as the sun decorated Kenma’s face with streaks of pink. Sitting so close to Kenma, even after all that’d happened...
And then he looked at Kuroo, and at Kageyama, who had a determined set to his mouth, and Hinata felt something inside of him twinge. It was time, he figured, to finally, properly discuss it all. Together.
*
Kenma was nervous, sitting there on the grass with the other three boys.
Shouyou hadn’t talked to him all day, and it wasn’t as if Kenma could blame him, because of course he’d be overwhelmed and confused, of course he’d need some time to think everything over. But it had still stung when Kenma had awoken, body sore all over from a combination of intensive practice and intensive magic use, only to find that Shouyou wouldn’t meet his eyes or go on a walk with him after dinner. He’d moped, stomach turning into goo on the inside, and Kuroo had given him a couple reassuring pats on the back that really didn’t do much at all.
It didn’t help the fact that Kenma was increasingly feeling weirder around Shouyou lately, even when he simply thought about him. It was weird in the sense that he probably knew exactly what the feeling was, but he refused to give it a name, because he was too afraid of what that might result in. The twisting of his gut when he thought about how Shouyou had brushed him off for the entire day, even though they had limited time to spend together before parting ways again, wasn’t confusing at all. Just unusual.
Not to mention that Kageyama was here with them as well, apparently a witch himself, judging by the alarming levels of magical stench rolling off of him. Kenma wrinkled his nose distastefully just thinking about it.
Kageyama, the smelly and stinky witch, was also someone that Kenma had very limited interaction with, and considering how poorly he did with most other people...
Kenma dug his nails into the palms of his hands anxiously, wind whistling past them as the four boys stared at each other, everybody wary and unsure of what to do next. Kenma didn’t really want to do this, not with Kageyama here. Not with someone who he didn’t really know, not with someone who would probably make him stutter and stammer because he didn’t know how to handle new people, not at all.
He flashed Kuroo a look on impulse, one that didn’t involve any change in his facial muscles, but Kuroo caught it and saw the nervous look in his eyes anyways. Kuroo gave Kenma a small smile.
“Okay, so. Just to get this straight...” Kuroo began, taking on a tone not unlike the one he used to address his volleyball team. “Me and this guy here,” He jerked his thumb towards Kenma. “are witches.”
He paused, giving Kageyama time to take this all in.
“And you are too, aren’t you?”
Kageyama’s facial muscles didn’t shift either, but something about him gave away his anxiousness anyways. He still looked like he was trying to be defensive, Kenma noted, considering his expression was stoic, but it seemed as if his body had tensed just the slightest. Kenma recognized that body language well, sometimes taking advantage of it himself.
A glance at Shouyou next to him, so close that their legs were nearly brushing, showed him worrying his lower lip between his teeth, fingers worriedly entwined with the blades of grass he was clutching. Kenma’s chest clenched. Maybe if he reached out and brushed his hand against Shouyou’s...
“Yes,” Kageyama replied. “I am.”
Kenma placed his hand slowly on the grass beside Shouyou’s. They weren’t touching, but it was a subtle invitation. Kenma needed the contact too, his mind whirling.
“But what I want to know is, is why the hell Hinata knows about everything.” Kageyama continued.
Kuroo hesitated, then looked at Kenma.
He felt the stares of three different people turn towards him, one of his best friend, one of the boy who he probably fucked up his relationship with, one of a near stranger. They were waiting for him, he knew, waiting for him to speak. But how could he speak like this?
“I... It’s...” The words felt like glue, stuck to the roof of Kenma’s mouth, refusing to flow out of him like they had with Shouyou last night.
Shouyou’s pinky brushed against Kenma’s in the grass. Kenma felt his heart do a silly kind of dance in his chest, torn between racing ahead and slowing down.
“I’ll tell it.” Shouyou cut him off. “I was there too, you know.”
Kenma, meanwhile, felt relief flood him, the weight of having to recite the story again lifted off of his shoulders. His pulse slowed, his breathing evened, his mind stopped spinning so violently. Grateful, he shot Shouyou a tiny smile, one that was reciprocated.
Shouyou pressed the side of his pinky firmly against Kenma’s, who felt a tug at his chest. It was a small point of contact, hardly anything to get worked up over, but Kenma felt something in that touch.
He felt Shouyou’s caring, the caring that had spurred him to take the spotlight off of Kenma. He felt Shouyou’s mild fear that honestly wasn’t much fear at all, more of pure adrenaline muddling his mind. He felt Shouyou’s excitement, in the form of the rough edges of his finger. Most of all, he felt the unspoken apology flowing into him, the apology for ignoring him all morning.
Kenma relaxed, his body slumping even further over, leaning against the trunk of the tree, close enough to Shouyou that a few strands of his orange hair brushed against Kenma’s nose when the wind blew.
Kuroo was looking at him quizzically, mouth pinched into the frown he usually reserved for taking particularly difficult exams. Kenma let him look, enjoying the relief he was feeling. He’d save the explanation for that later, once he’d admitted it to himself, most likely.
Shouyou began to tell the story of last night. He was a good storyteller, Kenma mused, getting enthusiastic at all the right parts, and raising his voice when appropriate. He even occasionally waved his arm around wildly, the one that wasn’t currently in the grass beside Kenma’s.
At a few points, he boasted about Kenma’s bravery, or his intelligence, and Kenma flushed under the stares that turned to fixate on him. He brushed them off with dismissing mumbles and dragged his eyes away from their gazes. Shouyou didn’t seem to notice that time, just grinning him and nudging him with his shoulders.
Frankly, he made everything seem just as dramatic as it had really been, and Kageyama’s reactions were, quite honestly, priceless. His anger towards Shouyou was amusing, and because it was directed at Shouyou, Kenma allowed himself a few chuckles. This Kageyama kid wasn’t that bad.
At some point, he wasn’t sure when, Shouyou had locked pinkies with Kenma. Or maybe it had been the other way around, he didn’t really know, but once Shouyou had finished recounting the entire tale, he’d felt a warmth on his pinky, and looked down.
When he looked back up, face warm, he saw Shouyou smiling shyly at him, as if offering to untangle them. Kenma responded by curling his pinky tighter around Shouyou’s.
Kageyama looked deep in thought after hearing the entire thing, chin resting in his palm.
“The... Shadow man,” He said. “You said he was sent by someone. Who was he sent by?” This was directed towards Kenma, he knew.
“Yeah!” Shouyou piped up. “You said you’d tell me more about it today, remember?”
Kenma cringed inwardly. He wished he hadn’t said that, really, he wished he’d just kept it to himself... He could feel Kuroo staring, could feel the concern radiating off of him like waves, and the hints of disappointment hidden within it as well. Fuck, he had barely told Kuroo anything about this...
His throat felt heavy for an anxiety that had little to do with the “stranger” in front of him. No, now he felt nervous, not because he was speaking to people who he didn’t know well, but because he was ashamed. Ashamed, and guilty, and afraid, not just for him, but for the others too.
God, where did someone start with a story like this? And how much was he really willing to share, anyways?
He swallowed.
“A few years ago... I... I met a... Spirit.” He began.
“Spirits exist too? Like, ghosts?!” Shouyou interrupted, eyes wide.
Kuroo let out a tiny chuckle. “They’re not exactly like ghosts, Shorty.”
“Er, yeah,” Kenma said, trying to ignore the way that Shouyou deflated. “I mean like, nature spirits, mostly. Wind spirits, water spirits, that kind of thing...”
Shouyou was back to being excited just like that, and jerked forward in his enthusiasm, accidentally unlocking pinkies with Kenma. He did, however, cover Kenma’s hand with his own, palm pressed against Kenma’s knuckles. Kenma blushed, trying frantically to steer his mind away from the rough texture of Shouyou’s hands.
“So, do wind spirits control the wind? Or is it like, they are the wind?”
“Uh, it’s a little bit of both...”
“Let’s save the questions for later.” Kuroo cut in, fixing Kenma with a look.
Kenma stared back, positive that Kuroo could see the reluctance in his eyes, but Kuroo only looked back with a sort of challenge in his. One that said, I dare you to try and get out of it this time, Kenma. And Kenma supposed he really couldn’t, could he? Even if Kuroo had nothing to do with this, Shouyou had been directly affected.
Kenma cleared his throat, trying to erase the negative feelings clawing their way up it.
“I met this spirit. And... And I... I was young, so I accidentally upset it.”
The stares of Shouyou and Kageyama were curious ones, but Kuroo’s was analytical. Kuroo wanted to know the full story, Kenma knew that, but he didn’t want to tell anyone the full story, not even his best friend. It was painful, and he liked to think about it as little as possible.
Even now, he was struggling to hold back the memories that were threatening to flood his system, to take him back to many, many full moons ago. Memories that would probably make him cry again, though he hadn’t cried in quite some time, memories that still cropped up in his nightmares sometimes. Not to mention the fact that the rest of them would almost certainly be put in danger if they figured it out.
The other three boys were silent, simply sitting as Kenma attempted to put his experience into words.
“I accidentally upset it, but I managed to escape it that day. But it was a very vengeful spirit.” He mumbled. “I ran into it a few times after that, but... I still escaped it.”
He paused, taking in a deep breath. He shifted his fingers underneath Shouyou’s slightly, and Shouyou squeezed his hand comfortingly. Why was it that Shouyou could sense his worry, even though Kenma was sure that he was exhibiting barely any visible signs of it?
“And then, a few months ago, I ran into it again. It was still trying to get its... Revenge, or whatever. But this time, I angered it even more, by doing something that wasn’t just running away. And... And now, it’s been trying harder than ever to get back at me.” He finished lamely.
He knew it was vague, he knew by the stares on each boy’s face that it wasn’t exactly what they’d been hoping to hear, but... He couldn’t tell them. For multiple reasons, the biggest one being that he didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“What kind of spirit was it?” Kuroo asked.
They couldn’t know that, either.
“Don’t worry about it.” Kenma mumbled underneath his breath.
“What? Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“Don’t worry about it, Kuro.” He repeated louder.
The look in Kuroo’s eyes darkened.
“Um. Anyways!” Shouyou said nervously, eyes darting back and forth between Kenma and Kuroo, the tension between them obvious. “I don’t really have any other questions, so...”
“Wait,” Kageyama said. “What potion were you making yesterday?”
Kenma blinked. “The one that I drank?”
“Yeah.”
“Um... That was a strengthening potion. So I could get rid of the shadow man easier.”
“Oh,” Kageyama said. “I didn’t know that’s how you got rid of them.”
“There’s lots of ways to do it,” Kuroo spoke, sounding just the tiniest bit strained. Kenma felt guilt prickle in his stomach. “That’s only one example.”
“Sorry. I don’t really know a lot about this stuff...” Kageyama admitted quietly.
“Have you not been around other witches much?” Kuroo asked.
Kageyama fidgeted, much like Kenma wanted to right now, under the scrutiny of both Kuroo and Shouyou.
“Neither of my parents are witches, so I’ve only met a couple.” He mumbled, sounding a bit bashful.
“That’s fine, dude.” Kuroo replied. “Nothing to be ashamed of. Kenma and I both grew up in families that have been witches for centuries and shit, so we know a lot. We can introduce you to more sometime, if you want, or answer questions if you have them.”
Kuroo paused.
“Well, Kenma might not answer them, but I will.” The joke didn’t roll off his tongue very easily, a poor attempt to get rid of some of the heaviness hovering between Kenma and Kuroo. Kenma could tell that Kuroo was still upset.
Shouyou, bless him, let out an obviously forced chuckle that really only served to make things more awkward, and Kenma inwardly cringed. Kageyama just nodded seriously.
Shouyou’s phone vibrating was what broke up the uncomfortable air that had trapped the four boys. Kenma watched as Shouyou pulled his phone of his pocket with his free hand, and read the messages with his eyebrows pinched together. The cawing of the birds filled the silence, bugs chirping and scuttling across the grass.
“Kageyama!” Shouyou exclaimed, thrusting the phone in his face. “We have to go back to our rooms now, or else Coach will yell at us! They’re having a team meeting!”
Releasing Kenma’s hand, Shouyou scrambled up, tugging at Kageyama’s arm. Kenma tried not to feel disappointed at the lack of contact. It seemed as if not even a secret magical world could take away Shouyou’s love for volleyball and his team, Kenma noted thoughtfully.
Kageyama was protesting, trying to shove Shouyou off of him, and then the two of them were standing up, shouting petty insults at each other, and then they were taking off across the grounds, facing each other. Shouyou called a brief thanks over his shoulder, threw up one hand in a wave, and then the two of them vanished.
Pulling his eyes away from the spot where Shouyou had disappeared around the corner of the training camp building, Kenma’s gaze settled on Kuroo. Kuroo, who was staring at him with a very, very intense look.
The guilt that was churning inside of his stomach was intensifying with every second that Kuroo continued to give him that hesitant, disappointed look. It didn’t feel right to keep things from him, of course it didn’t, but the thought of telling him made his heart squeeze from both fear and pain.
“So.” Kuroo said evenly. “Now that they’re gone, are you finally going to tell me about what happened?”
Kenma didn’t know what to say. “I just told all of you...”
“Kenma...” Kuroo sighed, rubbing his forehead wearily.
The sun had set by now, Kenma thought, as silence settled over the two of them. They were sitting in the dark, a few lonely stars twinkling above, most of them drowned out by the harsh light pollution of the city. It would be a comforting environment, just soaking in the light from the glowing full moon, if the conversation of such a heavy topic wasn’t currently hanging in the air.
“Kenma,” Kuroo repeated. “I don’t understand. It’s been years since all of this happened to you. And you still haven’t told me anything.”
Kenma was starting to feel a bit queasy. He didn’t say anything in response, just stared at his shoes instead of meeting Kuroo’s eyes.
Kuroo gave another sigh.
“Seriously. I’m your best friend. Don’t you think I have the right to know?”
“Why should you have the right to know? It’s not like it affects you.” Kenma mumbled, as an attempt to get Kuroo to go easy on him. (These kinds of things never really worked.)
“What do you mean it doesn’t affect me?” Kuroo said incredulously. “You’re my best friend, Kenma! Don’t be stupid!”
He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes and running his hands through his hair. His voice had risen in volume towards the end, especially when he’d said the word “stupid”, and Kenma’s stomach lurched. The guilt was picking at his insides, nerves buzzing all throughout his body.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” Kuroo said, although his tone still sounded a bit strained. “But seriously, I just... I want to know, okay? I’m sure you can understand that.”
Not really. Kenma didn’t think he did understand that, because he certainly wouldn’t want to be dragged into a magical feud that had lasted for years, one that would certainly endanger him. Nope, no thanks, that would take way too much unnecessary energy out of him. Although, perhaps if their roles were reversed...
“I can’t tell you, Kuro.” Kenma said it so quietly, he was almost whispering, the words lodged uncomfortably in his throat.
Kuroo let out a frustrated groan. “Why? You always say that, but why?”
Kenma chewed on his lower lip, and he felt Kuroo’s eyes flick to the action, most likely taking note of how anxious and torn Kenma was.
“I just can’t.”
A flip switched in Kuroo.
“Bullshit!” He practically shouted, eyes flashing in the darkness. Kenma felt his skin crawl. “You can tell me anything, Kenma, you’re stupid if you think that you can’t!”
Why did it feel as if Kenma was going to throw up?
Kuroo continued. “I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but I want to know! Not just because I’m nosy, but because I’m your friend! I care about you! If something’s bothering you, and I know that this is bothering you, I want to know!”
He was shouting now, and Kenma clutched at his stomach, just in case. His yelling was making his head swim too, and his eyes prickle with tears, because it kind of sucked to be screamed at by your best friend. In the pit of his stomach, panic was swirling along with guilt and fear and... And anger.
Anger. Kenma was, no doubt about it, starting to get angry.
Kuroo didn’t understand the dilemma that Kenma was facing, couldn’t even begin to understand how much this subject ate away at him when he had too much time to think. Kuroo had never feared for his life in the same way that Kenma had, he had never felt the need to protect everyone around him by zipping his lips shut and pretending that everything was okay and safe. He just didn’t get it.
Gritting his teeth, Kenma snapped his head up and stared Kuroo dead on.
“I can’t tell you because you could get hurt, Kuro.” His voice was louder than normal, but he wasn’t yelling. He didn’t think that he had the energy for that. “If something happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”
Kenma, who rarely raised his voice, expected Kuroo to look shocked, or surprised, or at least pause for a few seconds to recollect his thoughts, but Kuroo only scowled.
“Are you stupid?” He practically roared. Kenma flinched, but stood his ground, vision tinted red. “You’re so smart on the court, but God forbid you use common sense off of it!”
“What the hell, Kuro?” Kenma spluttered.
“Don’t be so selfish, Kenma! I know that you’re worried about me, but I don’t care if I get hurt, if it means that you’ll feel even a little bit better! You’re my best friend, I’d do anything for you. Does it not matter that I care so much about you that I’m willing to risk my life? That all I want to do is just know what’s going on with you? Fuck, getting hurt doesn’t matter to me, Kenma! Whatever’s happening, I want to be there to help you, because quite frankly, I have no idea what I’d do without you, either!”
His words echoed in the night sky, across the area where they were sitting. Kenma, stunned, could do nothing but stare, wide-eyed and stiff, that last sentence replaying over and over in his mind. I have no idea what I’d do without you, either. Kuroo hadn’t elaborated on what that meant, but Kenma understood. After all, if Kenma continued to refrain from telling Kuroo about the spirit, then it just might finally get its revenge, once and for all.
How could I have been so stupid? Kenma thought numbly, the look on Kuroo’s face stuck in his mind. Kuroo had looked so desperate, face scrunched up in the most unpleasant way, sweat decorating his forehead and a vein bulging out on the side of his temple.
Kenma’s body relaxed, and he slumped against the tree trunk, practically collapsing onto it, as all of the fight in him seeped out almost immediately. Closing his eyes, feeling the rush of the wind on his skin, Kenma took a deep breath, his stomach finally settling.
“You’re right.” He breathed. “I’m sorry, Kuro.”
Kuroo, the only person who was ever able to read him accurately, seemed to have realized that his words had finally gotten to Kenma, and he scooted towards him. He threw his arm around Kenma’s shoulders, and gave them a gentle squeeze.
“It’s okay,” He said, and he said it softly, none of the aggression present in it. “Maybe I should’ve made myself clearer earlier, and then we wouldn’t have had to get all angry with each other just now.”
Kenma agreed, and hummed in acknowledgement. He let his head fall onto Kuroo’s shoulder, relishing in the comfort.
And then — Kenma curled his hands into the fabric of his pants.
“Kuro, I... I don’t think I can talk about it.” He whispered. “Not right now, anyways.”
“Why not?” Kuroo asked kindly.
Kenma squeezed his eyes shut. “It — It hurts, Kuro. And I need to... Think about it. How I’m going to say it.”
Kuroo rubbed Kenma’s shoulder.
“Alright,” He said, sounding a bit disappointed, but overall warm and friendly. “I’ll wait until you’re ready. But you’ll have to tell me sometime, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
With that, Kuroo seemed satisfied. Kenma didn’t make promises often, and when he did, he tended to take them seriously. He wasn’t the type of person to think that there was a point in saying you were going to do something that you had no intention of actually accomplishing.
They lapsed into one of their comfortable silences, and Kenma felt more relaxed than he had ever been during the past two days. This was nice, this was normal, this was Kuroo, who was comforting and sweet and easy to be around.
Kenma was beginning to feel tired again, body still weak from overusing his magic, and he felt himself begin to nod off on Kuroo’s shoulder. It was peaceful, falling asleep underneath the stars with his best friend, after such a mentally and physically taxing two days. Tomorrow would no doubt be pretty terrible too, considering they were still at training camp, but Kenma could probably handle it.
Of course, Kuroo had to ruin the perfect moment.
“Hey, don’t fall asleep yet!” He said, thrusting his shoulder upwards so that it dug into Kenma’s cheekbone roughly.
“Ow, Kuro, what the hell.”
Kenma lifted his head, the dull discomfort on his face having been enough to wake him up. When he looked up at Kuroo, he saw that he was wearing his shit-eating grin, and Kenma thought, Oh no.
He knew what was coming before Kuroo even said it.
“So what was up with you and Shrimpy tonight, huh?” He teased.
Kenma felt his cheeks began to warm, thinking about the way that Shouyou’s hand had felt so good pressed against Kenma’s.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said flatly.
“Yeah, you do. I know you do, you can’t hide that stuff from me.” Kuroo replied. “I’ll remind you, though, just in case you really don’t remember. You see, you and Shorty were holding hands earlier...”
“Shut up.”
“Oh, c’mon, you can’t tell me that that meant nothing!”
Kenma scowled, despite the very obvious blush dusting his cheeks, hoping that it was too dark for Kuroo to notice.
“Well, it did.”
“You like him.” Kuroo sing-songed.
“He’s my friend, of course I do.”
“Not what I meant, and you know it.”
Kenma sighed. “Kuro, don’t be this way. I don’t even know if I like boys like that.”
“I know that you’re still thinking about that, but from tonight, I think it’s pretty obvious that you do. At the very least, you definitely like Shorty.”
“I don’t know...”
Kuroo was quick to respond. “I think that you do, but you just don’t want to admit it to yourself.”
Damn. Kuroo knew him too well.
Groaning, Kenma hit the back of his head against the tree with a thunk, a few strands of his hair falling in his face. If Kuroo had realized it, then that definitely made it true, considering Kuroo knew him better than anyone else.
“I have a fucking crush on Shouyou.” He admitted miserably.
Kuroo broke into his terrifying hyena laugh, and Kenma felt himself smile too, gazing up through the leaves and branches of the tree at the full moon shining down on him.
*
The team meeting had just finished, Hinata’s mind now chock-full of brand new volleyball strategies. He felt completely ready to crush all of the other teams tomorrow, reviewing them over and over in his mind.
Filled with determination, he marched down the hallway towards the vending machine, ignoring the snickers of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi as they called him a “ridiculous, energetic child”. Kageyama was walking beside him, the two of them chattering mindlessly about the new techniques.
Hinata had just inserted his coin into the machine when Kageyama nudged him with his elbow.
“Look,” He said, nodding towards the window.
Hinata peered out of it, squinting in the darkness and scanning the area, until he saw them. Kuroo and Kenma, still sitting in the same spot as before, only now they were side by side, Kuroo’s arm draped across Kenma’s shoulders and Kenma’s head resting on Kuroo.
“What do you think they’re still talking about? The spirit?” Kageyama mumbled.
Hinata just frowned, turning his attention back to the machine and jabbing violently at the button of the drink that he wanted. He shrugged, to answer Kageyama’s question, and grabbed his can out of the opening. Turning back towards the window, he felt his stomach coil unpleasantly when he saw Kenma sleeping on Kuroo’s shoulder. Hinata couldn’t help but wish that that was him, that they could touch so casually and comfortably like that...
And Kuroo was a lot closer to Kenma than Hinata was, and the way that were sitting could definitely be interpreted as how couples would sit, so what if...
“What do you look so sad for, dumbass?” Kageyama asked.
Hinata tugged his eyes away from the two boys on the grass.
“Nothing.” He muttered.
Think of something else, He told himself. If you get jealous, then you’re going to get upset again.
And so he turned his mind to what had happened earlier, before the team meeting.
It had been pretty fun, to retell the entire story and experience all of the emotions again. It comforted him a lot, actually, and made the whole thing seem a lot realer, but also a lot less terrifying. The more that he thought about it, the more that he grew determined, because that was just in his nature. Kenma had been incredibly brave the previous night, and it only made Hinata want to do the same, to be with him in whatever it was that he needed help with.
Kenma hadn’t gone into details of what had happened with the spirit, but Hinata had sensed his hesitation, and resolved himself to be ready for whenever Kenma would face it. Because Hinata would help then, no matter how scared he got. And Hinata could wait to hear the story in full, because he cared about Kenma, and had learned that some things took time with him.
He thought back to when he had almost, well, held hands with him, and felt a smile creep up on his face. Linking pinkies, holding hands (even if it was originally just because Kenma had been nervous), those were all things that couples did, too.
Take that, Kuroo! He thought childishly.
He looked down at his hand, the one curled around his can, the one that had touched Kenma’s a mere half hour ago. The healing rune was still imprinted on it, though it was fading. Hinata thought briefly that maybe it would be cool if it stayed there forever, like some sort of battle scar.
And then his eyes travelled further up his arm, past his wrist, and he saw the sleeve of the jacket Kenma had returned earlier. It seemed a bit silly that a simple, ordinary jacket had started this whole entire adventure.
Smiling softly to himself, Hinata thought that no matter what the outcome of the magical events that were sure to follow, he’d keep this jacket forever.