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"When I said, 'Whatever helps you sleep at night'," said Kageyama as he glowered at his teammate, "I didn't mean this."
Hinata only grinned back at him as he bounced onto Kageyama's bed, abandoning the futon his mother had set out for him. "Oh, come on! Don't be stingy! You said 'whatever' so you have to do it!"
"No I don't."
That made Hinata pout, huffing. "Urgh! Come on, Baaaaaakaaaaageeeeeyaaaaa-"
"All right, fine! Just shut up already!" Kageyama snapped.
"Yay!" Hinata exclaimed.
"Shush! My parents are sleeping, dumbass."
Grimacing, Hinata actually lowered his voice. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Let's get this over with, then," Kageyama grumbled. "Long, long ago-"
"Wait!" cried Hinata. "We have to do this properly!"
"What are you-?" Kageyama demanded, scowling at the smaller boy. But Hinata didn't pause to listen to him and crawled from his spot halfway down the bed towards Kageyama. Since Kageyama was sitting propped against his pillows in the centre of the bed, Hinata had to scramble over him, his hands and knees and calves brushing against Kageyama's legs. Kageyama stopped speaking, his breath caught in his throat as he watched Hinata coming closer. Then Hinata spun himself around and, in one smooth movement, wriggled himself between Kageyama and his bedside table. He leaned into Kageyama, his weight making Kageyama wobble.
"Move over," Hinata grumbled, shoving at Kageyama.
Sighing to make his displeasure known, Kageyama turned his head away from Hinata to shuffle across the bed. It also hid his blush as he took a deep breath and told himself to stop being stupid. Once they were both situated and Kageyama's heart rate had gone down, Kageyama turned a stern stare on Hinata. "Happy now?"
"Yup!" declared Hinata. He looked at Kageyama with a bright smile and waited patiently, though Kageyama could feel him vibrating with excitement through his arm which was pressed against him.
"As I was saying," Kageyama said, pointedly, "long, long ago, in a far off land, there lived a young man."
"What was his name?" Hinata asked.
Thrown, Kageyama blinked at him, confused. "What?"
"His name," said Hinata, slowly. "What was it?"
"Uh, I don't know. Suga-san."
"'Suga-san'?" Hinata sounded incredulous.
"Are you going to let me tell the story?"
"Fine," Hinata whined.
"Anyway, the young man-"
"Suga-san."
"Suga-san," Kageyama continued, shooting his best glare at Hinata who flinched away slightly. But the redhead brightened again as Kageyama went on. "Suga-san was working on his farm-"
"I don't think Suga-san works on a far-"
"This . One . Does."
Hinata pouted. "Okay..."
Taking a breath to stop himself from yelling at the idiot, Kageyama forged ahead. "While he was working, a brilliant white crane came swooping down and crashed at his feet. The man – Suga-san – noticed that there was an arrow piercing one of its-"
"Ah! I know this one!" Hinata said, sitting up straighter and looking delighted. "He helps the crane and it comes back as his wife with rice and then she goes into a room he's not supposed to go into and makes this really pretty cloth which he sells off for a lot of money. Right?"
"What's the point of me telling a story if you're just going to do that?!" Kageyama exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his parents.
"Well, you have to tell me a new one," said Hinata as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Kageyama sighed and tried to resist the urge to strangle him. "Fine. Once upon a time, there was a princess who had a golden ball-"
"A golden volleyball?" Hinata asked, eyes alight.
He paused, thinking. Kageyama couldn't remember the kind of ball it was. But it was fitting, so why not? He nodded. "Yeah. A golden volleyball. Anyway, she was playing near a well or pond or something-"
"Well, which is it? A well or a pond?"
"Uh, a well. A big well. Large enough for the ball to fall down it."
"Did she spike it?"
Shrugging a shoulder – and jostling Hinata in the process – Kageyama said, "She might've been practising her setting."
"I think she spiked it," said Hinata, firmly.
Sighing again, Kageyama shook his head. "Whatever, dumbass. Let me tell the story!"
"Oh, yeah, sorry."
"So she dropped it down the well and had no way to get it back-"
"Couldn't she have pulled it back up with the bucket?"
Kageyama paused once again, unsure. "Uh, it didn't work. Besides, she's a princess – she wasn't strong enough to pull it up."
"Ah."
"So, this frog appears and says, 'Princess, I will-'"
"Oh, wait, is this the Princess and the Frog? I saw the Disney film. He turns into a prince when she kisses him, right?"
"Hinata!" Kageyama growled. He twisted his body so he could use both hands to- Well, he wasn't sure what he was going to do but Hinata saw him coming and, with a yelp, he pressed a hand to Kageyama's face and pushed him away, shrinking against the bedside table. "Stop doing that!"
"I said a new story!" Hinata exclaimed, trying to push Kageyama back. Unfortunately for him, Kageyama had longer arms and he had also caught hold of Hinata's pyjama top, his grip firm.
"What new story?!"
"I dunno – make something up! Mum always does!"
Kageyama glowered down at Hinata. In response, Hinata pouted, pushing at Kageyama again. With an incoherent grumble, Kageyama straightened and dropped Hinata who barely caught himself before he whacked his head off the table. Hinata sat up quickly, whole body wary as he watched to see what Kageyama would do, clinging to the table. Kageyama resisted the urge to reach out and draw him closer.
"Fine," Kageyama growled. He opened his mouth to speak but paused. What was he going to make up a story about?
"Really?!" said Hinata sitting up straighter and bouncing beside him. He almost fell into Kageyama's lap but Kageyama effortlessly caught him by the arm and kept him upright. "Thanks, Kageyama."
A silence fell between them as Kageyama struggled to think of a story. All he could really think of was Hinata's broad smile and his shining eyes as he watched him with excited anticipation. His pale green pyjamas were slightly rumpled already and he'd only been wearing them for an hour or so. Probably because they kept getting into scuffles every few minutes. He wondered what he would be doing if they'd never met and suddenly realised that he had a story to tell.
"Once upon a time," he said quietly, quieter than normal, "there was a king. He was young and... silly, I suppose."
"What was his name?" asked Hinata with interest, blinking up at Kageyama.
"Tobio," said Kageyama without hesitation. He watched Hinata's eyes widen with surprised recognition but he continued quickly before Hinata could question him. "He ruled over a vast kingdom, conquering other kingdoms as his own gained in strength. But he was impatient and..."
"Mean?" Hinata suggested with an amused smile.
Kageyama crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, yes, whatever. Dumbass."
"Hey!"
"The king wanted his knights and subjects to work harder and harder. They began to resent him, forgetting how young he was and that he needed an advisor. Not that he listened to them when he did have them."
"Still doesn't," muttered Hinata.
Ignoring him, Kageyama continued, quickly trying to come up with something to make the story more interesting. "His most trusted knights got fed up with him so they went to a powerful witch."
"What was her name?"
"It was a him, actually," said Kageyama smugly, watching Hinata grimace at his presumption. "His name was..." Kageyama quickly tried to think of someone who would fit the role. Finally, he said, "Tooru. And he was willing to teach the king a lesson. He laid a curse on the king and, in return, the knights had to serve him. They accepted and he did as asked, turning the king into a statue upon his throne.
"The kingdom heard of his fate and celebrated. But now they had no leader. Without anyone to guide them, the witch suggested that he would lead them as he was also a prince from another kingdom. The two kingdoms merged and, when his parents died, the witch prince was made king."
"A Grand King," said Hinata with a grin.
Kageyama nodded. "After some time – and after marrying his favoured knight-"
"The Captain?"
"Mm. After that, the Grand King decided the first king-"
"Tobio," Hinata interjected.
His name being said by Hinata made Kageyama lose his breath, freezing to keep himself from shuddering. It took him a few moments to regain the thread of what he had been saying. Then he took a breath and nodded. "Mm. The Grand King announced that the king was able to be saved. But only by those that truly wanted to save him.
"Men and women came from all over the world in an attempt to save him. Many believed in the tales of 'true love' and tried kissing him. Others tried spells they had bought from witches on their journeys. Some even tried striking him with swords to remove the stone but it did little but hurt the frozen king. A few tried worshipping him, declaring to the statue that he was the greatest king to have ever lived. But none of that worked.
"People grew bored of trying and the king faded in their memories. The Grand King watched over it all and, after people forgot, he took his husband and the knights who had betrayed the king-"
"Only 'cause he was a jerk."
"Hey!" protested Kageyama, turning a glare on Hinata. But the smaller boy just smiled back, a twinkle in his eye. Kageyama swallowed and shook his head. "Fine. Whatever. He took them all and disappeared, leaving the kingdom to his nephew. Who, by the way, is loads nicer than Tooru."
"He probably took pity on you since- Gah! Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" Hinata cowered as Kageyama gripped his top again, growling at him. "Did the nephew save Tobio?" Hinata asked quickly and Kageyama dropped him as if he'd been burnt, leaning back to settle against his pillows again and trying not to blush.
"No," Kageyama told him. "Centuries passed and everyone moved on. Things changed around the palace and it became hidden by a forest and these thorn things. Nobody could reach the place so nobody tried. But the story lived on, passed down through bedtime stories.
"And then there was a boy. He was small and bright and- And his mother told him the story. He was fascinated by it, not least because he lived close to the forest and, if he climbed the hill behind his house, he could see the roof of the palace."
"What was his name?" Hinata asked, leaning forward so Kageyama could see his curious look.
"Shoyou," said Kageyama without hesitation.
Hinata smiled, a fond one instead of one of his big grins. Kageyama had to look away from him to try to keep his heart under control: it was beating far too fast for just sitting on his bed. "What did... Shoyou do?" asked Hinata, catching Kageyama's eye.
He saved him.
Clearing his throat, Kageyama leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. That calmed him down and he managed to continue his story. "He wanted to see if it was true so, since he was so tiny-"
"Hey!"
"-he managed to squeeze through the dense vegetation. When he reached the palace, he walked through the silent courtyard and through the empty entrance hall and into the throne room. And he found the king."
"And he lifted the curse?"
"No. He was just a kid. But he was fascinated that no-one thought it was real and began to visit the statue whenever he found a spare moment. He told the king about everything that had happened since he had been cursed. The stories of knights and kings and magic made him determined to become a knight himself. So, when he was old enough, he travelled to the capital of the combined kingdoms and begged to be let in.
"However, he hadn't grown much" – Hinata huffed at that – "and he was turned away. Upset, he attempted to follow knights much braver and larger than him. They humoured him and soon he had become a part of their group. But they never let him fight or help rescue the princesses and maidens as they had become rather protective of him. There was no way for him to prove he could be a knight.
"His thoughts turned to the king-"
"Oh!" cried Hinata excitedly, bouncing a little and leaning towards Kageyama again. "If he saved the king, he'd make him a knight, wouldn't he?"
"Stop doing that!" Kageyama grumbled. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Yeah... Anyway, he left his friends and travelled home and to the palace. There he went to the king and- Well, he didn't know how to save him. After all, everyone else had tried and nothing had worked. And he wasn't particularly clever. So he was ready to give up in despair."
"I would never-!"
"But!" Kageyama gave Hinata a pointed look as the smaller boy pouted. "But, before he could leave, he heard a noise. Startled, he hid behind the throne and watched some bandits or something come in. They laughed at the statue of the king – for they had also heard the story and they felt the king deserved their scorn."
"Were their names Kei and Tadashi?" Hinata asked with a grin.
Kageyama smirked back. "Yeah, sure, if you want. Shoyou was annoyed to hear them mocking the king and became angry when he saw them begin to strike the statue with their swords. He leapt from his hiding place and scared them off, defending his king without a weapon.
"Once the bandits had left, Shoyou declared to the king that he would save him. This time, he intended to save him so that the king would never be treated like that again. To save him purely for the sake of saving him instead of money or romance or glory. Because he was his... friend..."
Trailing off, Kageyama glanced at Hinata who was looking back at him, a smile still dancing on his lips. "Did the king wake up?" Hinata asked, clearly still intent on the story.
"Yeah. Uh. Let's see. Shoyou... I don't know... he gave him a peck on the cheek or something?" Kageyama could feel his own cheeks heating up and he kept his gaze trained on his fingers. "That was enough to wake the king. The magic that kept him like that broke and the forest disappeared, finally revealing the palace to the people. And the king made Shoyou his advisor or something. Everyone lived happily ever after, the end."
Hinata chuckled before he yawned, pressing a hand against his mouth. "Thanks, Kageyama," he said, sounding tired all of a sudden. "That was a pretty good story. But you gotta tell it better next time – that ending was pretty bad!"
"Why, you-!"
"Bedtime now!" Hinata declared, shuffling away from Kageyama. "Goodnight!" he added and, before he hopped off the bed, he leaned over and gave Kageyama a peck on the cheek. Kageyama froze at that, eyes wide. Hinata didn't give him much chance to respond as he skipped away to turn off the light and returned to his futon.
Kageyama blinked in the darkness and lifted his hand to his cheek. He stared in the direction of his light switch, the last image of Hinata imprinted on his eyes. And he realised something: the story may have made Hinata start snoring as soon as he lay down but Kageyama was fairly sure he wasn't going to be getting much sleep...