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For one of the first times in his life, Kageyama Tobio was late. He was, by all means, a morning person. A go-getter, an early bird. It was perfectly normal for him to be awake at the crack of dawn, so this...unwarranted lateness was something that never should have happened in the first place.
Whatever. Kageyama didn’t have time to sulk. He wasn’t just late for one of his classes, or some family reunion—in exactly one hour and seven minutes, his flight home was scheduled to leave, and considering the rate he was moving at, it would probably be leaving without him.
Stupid hotel alarm clocks. They hardly ever worked; Kageyama had been foolish to place his trust in one that was half-broken and only had two functioning buttons.
He scowled, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor of the bus as he leaned back in his seat. Were buses always so slow? He could probably run faster than this. Kageyama glanced at his watch: 7:17 A.M. Exactly one hour left. The odds of him making it were still above 50%, but it was cutting it close.
After what seemed like an eternity of never-ending waiting, the bus finally pulled to a stop. Kageyama gathered up his luggage and speed-walked out, yanking open the doors to the airport’s front entrance.
He scanned the area with the dangerous intent of someone who was ready to unleash all hell in order to make his flight. First stop: security. Kageyama needed to get there as soon as possible before the line started crowding up, or else he’d probably be stuck there for hours. There was, however, only one slight, minor problem—he didn’t know where security was.
Airports were confusing! It wasn’t his fault that all the signs were really hard to read, and everything was unorganized, and it was too loud for him to concentrate.
Okay, maybe it was a little his fault, but that didn’t mean he needed to suffer just because of it.
Kageyama squinted, finally finding a sign that read SECURITY in bold, black kanji, and under it, a blue arrow pointing towards the right. He speed-walked yet again towards his destination, and quickly found himself in front of the security line. It was shorter than he expected, but he still needed to get in queue as soon as possible before anyone else swooped in to make the wait longer and longer.
Right as Kageyama stepped into the line, however, a bright orange blur darted in front of him. He jumped backwards, his foot very nearly tripping on his own luggage strap.
“Sorry!” the orange blur squeaked, but upon further inspection, Kageyama realized it was a person (he was expecting it to be a wild cat or something). They were quite a few inches shorter than him, and their hair was so bright and messy (possibly the worst bedhead he had ever seen) that it made Kageyama’s already hurting eyes hurt even more. Their eyes were big and brown, and he was suddenly reminded of a deer in headlights. They couldn’t have been any older than a college student. A high schooler, maybe?
Kageyama’s scowl deepened as he broke out of his thoughts. It didn’t matter what age this person was. They had still cut in front of him, and that was completely unacceptable.
“You just cut in front of the line, you know,” Kageyama glared. The stranger’s eyes widened.
“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered. He scratched at his jaw nervously. “But, uh, you know you’re the last person in line, so-”
“I would have been the second-to-last person in line until someone cut me,” Kageyama growled. “I have a flight to catch, kid.”
“Kid?! And everyone here has a flight to catch!”
“Wha—still! Just get behind me!”
“I refuse,” the stranger stuck out his chin.
“Excuse me?”
“I was here first anyway,” he argued. “Also, my little sister should get to go in front of you.” A girl who couldn’t have been older than twelve peeked out from behind him. “Right, Natsu?”
“I don’t really care,” Natsu shrugged. She had the same orange hair and brown eyes as her brother. “You’re both kind of being immature about it.”
"Natsu!" Hinata wailed.
“Hmmph,” Kageyama smirked. “Even she agrees that I was here first.”
“Were you even listening? She said you were immature, too!”
“That’s not the point!” Kageyama stuck out his index finger. “You still cut me!”
“Oh my gosh, I told you, I was here first!”
“Look, kid-”
“I’m not a kid!”
“-just stop annoying me and go find your parents or something.”
“I’M TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD!” the stranger yelled, as an announcement rang through the airport. A security guard turned and gave both of them a dirty look.
“That’s…” Kageyama sputtered. “That’s impossible!” No one that tiny could be the same age as him. “You’re lying.”
“I am not,” the stranger said hotly, taking what looked like a passport out of his pocket. “Look, see?” He held it in front of Kageyama’s face. Kageyama leaned in and scrutinized the information printed on the page.
NAME: HINATA SHOUYOU
NATIONALITY: JAPAN
DATE OF BIRTH: 21 JUN 1995
PLACE OF BIRTH: JAPAN
“Whatever,” Kageyama seethed. Sure enough, he was born in the same year as him. “It still doesn’t give you the right to cut in front of me.”
“I didn’t cut you! I never cut you!” Hinata insisted. He threw his hands up in the air. “Maybe if you just stopped being such a-”
“Excuse me, sir,” a security guard cut him off, a stormy expression on her face. “I’m going to have to ask the two of you to leave if you continue this behavior.”
Hinata winced, bowing his head. “I’m very sorry!” Kageyama apologized as well, before turning his attention back to Hinata. Half of him really wanted to continue arguing and prove how absolutely right he was, but the other half also knew that it would just waste time before his flight-
Oh, no. His flight. Stupid Hinata with his stupid orange hair had made Kageyama completely forget the most pressing issue at hand: he had a flight he needed to catch, aka a flight he probably wasn’t going to catch considering how long he’d been standing in line for security. He frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket, eyes widening in shock.
7:57 A.M. Twenty minutes left.
“Damn it,” he cursed. There was only one more person left in front of him, excluding Hinata, and his gate was on the other side of the airport. What had Kageyama done to deserve this? Was it because he accidentally made a little kid cry the other day? Or when he scared that stray kitten away?
“Oi, Tobio-”
“That’s not my name,” Kageyama snapped, looking up from his phone. “Don’t call me that.”
“It isn’t?” Hinata raised his eyebrows, pointing down at Kageyama’s bag. “Then why’s it on your luggage tag?”
“Th-that’s not what I meant,” Kageyama hissed. “Just—it’s Kageyama. Not...Tobio.”
“What’s wrong with Tobio? ” Hinata said curiously. “It sounds cool! Like, you can fly or something.”
Kageyama looked away, scowling. What was he supposed to say, that the only people who called him Tobio were his parents and all the people who used to bully him? That was just....weird. And not something you told a random stranger that you just happened to bump into.
“Doesn’t matter,” he said finally. “And you’re up next.”
“Oh,” Hinata turned his head and set his bag in the metal detector belt.
Thank god. After what was far too long, Kageyama walked through security feeling significantly more pressured.
He pulled his suitcase behind him. Second stop: luggage check-in. He lightly jogged towards a sign that pointed to the luggage check-in, unaware of how ridiculous he looked, until Hinata snickered behind him.
“Why are you laughing?” he demanded, slowing down as he went to check in his suitcase.
“Pfft,” Hinata hid his laughter behind his mouth. “You just look so funny when you walk like that! Are you trying to run? You look like a giraffe!”
“Shut up!” Kageyama roared. “At least I’m not a midget like you!”
Luggage: dropped off. Stress: still prominent. Time: 8:07 A.M. Last and final destination: Gate 4B.
Well. Too bad that Gate 4B is on the other side of the airport, Kageyama thought bitterly. He’d be able to make it if he started off by walking really fast, and if he wasn’t halfway there by 8:10, then he’d start running. It was a fail-proof plan.
He walked straight ahead, long strides hitting the airport floor as he made his way to the gate.
“Hey, Kageyama-kun,” a voice said behind him. Damn it. Not this guy again. “Where are you going?”
“To my flight, idiot,” Kageyama muttered.
“Okay, but, why are you walking this way? You sure your gate’s down here?”
“Where else would it be?”
“I dunno! It’s just that my gate’s down here too, but I think my flight’s leaving soon…” Hinata pulled out his phone. “Holy crap! It’s leaving in ten minutes!”
“I was trying to tell that to you for the past fifteen minutes,” Natsu complained.
“Dumbass,” Kageyama rolled his eyes as Hinata sped up, until he registered what Hinata had said. “Wait, you said...it’s leaving in ten minutes?”
“Yeah, I wish it wasn’t, though!”
Kageyama hesitated before pressing further. There were some things in life that he didn’t want an answer to, but he was too curious to hold it back. “What number is your gate?”
“4B. Why?”
Kageyama stared at him. Hinata stared back.
“It isn’t,” Kageyama said. “It can’t be.”
“What do you mean?”
Kageyama grit his teeth. “I’m...my flight…it’s…”
“Come on, just spit it out!”
“We’re on the same flight,” Kageyama spat out, almost choking on his own saliva. “You...you dumbass!”
“Whaaaaa?”
“Stop staring at me,” Kageyama said critically. He took inhaled deeply and checked his phone again, this time almost choking on his own breath.
“Shit,” he muttered. “There’s six minutes left.”
Without wasting another second, he shoved his carry-on bag under his arm and took off.
“Wait, Kageyamaaaa!” Hinata called out. Kageyama resolutely ignored him.
“This guy,” Hinata scowled. “Hey, Natsu, get on my back!”
“Huh? Why?”
“It’ll save time,” Hinata said. “Come on, hurry!”
“Fine. Whatever floats your boat, onii-san,” Natsu hopped onto her brother’s back, elbows digging into his shoulder blades. “Let’s go!”
In a matter of seconds, Hinata caught up to Kageyama. “Thanks for leaving me behind!”
“What are you-” Kageyama glanced to his left. “What the hell? Don’t give her a piggy-back now, you moron!”
“You’re one to talk!” Hinata yelled. “Whatever, I’ll see ya later, Kageyama-kun!” He sprinted and ran in front of Kageyama, Natsu still clinging to his back.
“That little…” Kageyama snarled. There was no way he could lose to someone who was carrying another person on their back, especially if that someone was Hinata.
The two of them raced down the airport, flying past the crowds of people that walked by. It was a close call; one moment, Hinata was in front, and then Kageyama, and then Hinata again, and then Kageyama. They ran and ran and ran, until, eventually, a GATE 4B sign hung in front of their path. Kageyama and Hinata looked at each other for a millisecond before immediately accelerating.
“Get out of my way!” Kageyama barked, shoving Hinata to the side.
“Never!” Hinata yelled, elbowing Kageyama in the gut. There were only a few feet left between them and the gate, where rows of seats were filled with other people who were staring conspicuously.
They came to a halt at the same time, panting and heaving as they caught their breath. Natsu hopped off Hinata’s back, yawning.
“What,” Hinata panted, “time is it?”
Kageyama checked, taking in a deep breath. “We...made it. There’s three minutes left.”
“Three minutes?” Hinata exhaled. “We need to get on board, right? You...got your ticket...Natsu?”
“Um, e-excuse me,” a voice piped up behind them. It was a man who around the same age as Kageyama, a splattering of freckles standing out on his cheeks. “Uh, are both of you on flight 6013?”
“Don’t tell them, Yamaguchi,” said a man who was sitting next to the freckled one. He looked at Kageyama and Hinata imperiously through his glasses. There was something Kageyama didn’t like about him.
“Yeah, we are,” Hinata answered. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, um, the flight was delayed,” Yamaguchi explained. “That’s why we’re still waiting here.” He gestured to all the people who were still sitting in the gate area, many of whom were giving Kageyama and Hinata dirty looks.
“...Really?”
“Yeah, really,” Yamaguchi laughed nervously. “They made an announcement fifteen minutes ago.”
Fifteen minutes ago. When was that? Fifteen minutes ago, Kageyama was still standing in security. Wait. That was when…
“I’M TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD!” Hinata yelled, as an announcement rang through the airport.
Kageyama turned to Hinata, who cowered a few feet away; they were both thinking the same thing.
“This is all your fault,” he hissed, taking a step closer and closer to Hinata, until their noses were almost touching. “If you hadn’t been yelling all over the place, you dumbass, moron, idiot, stupid, dummy-”
“I get it, I get it,” Hinata whined. “I’m sorry! But you shouldn’t be complaining when I had it worse!”
“How the hell did you ‘have it worse’?”
“Um, I had to carry Natsu all the way over here while sprinting!”
“YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE HAD TO DO THAT IF YOU HADN’T STARTED SCREAMING OVER THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE FLIGHT WAS DELAYED!” Kageyama exploded.
“I WAS ONLY SCREAMING BECAUSE YOU KEPT ON CALLING ME A KID, YOU JERK! I’M AVERAGE HEIGHT FOR AN ADULT!”
“AVERAGE HEIGHT, MY ASS!”
“Tsukki, do something,” Yamaguchi pleaded, nudging the man next to him. He sighed, in a long-suffering sort of way, before standing up and walking between Hinata and Kageyama.
“Can you give the rest of us some peace and save the arguing for the bedroom?” he jeered, peering down at both of them. “You know, you should consider marriage counseling if you keep fighting like this.”
“What? I...we’re not—i-it’s not like that!” Hinata said, panicked. “We just met today! And this guy is an asshole!”
“Says the dumbass,” Kageyama retorted. He narrowed his eyes at the tall, bespectacled man in front of him. “Who the hell are you?”
“Tsukishima Kei,” he said, amused. “You sure you two don’t have a thing going on? You’ve got quite a bit of chemistry.”
“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi tugged on his sleeve, choking back laughter.
“I am very, very sure!” Hinata squeaked. “So sure! The surest!”
“Whatever you say,” Tsukishima smirked. “Don’t break up with each other just because I said to, though. That would just make me so sad.”
"We're not-"
“Everyone, we apologize for the short delay and any inconveniences,” a woman stepped out of the boarding exit, her hair sleekly tied back in a bun, “You may now begin boarding Flight 6013.”
She turned to a man next to her who was checking the tickets.
“I thought they’d look happier now that they can start boarding,” she muttered. The faces of the passengers certainly looked more somber and depressed than they should have been.
“Yeah, I think it’s because they just realized they have the same flight as them, ” he nodded his head in the direction of Hinata and Kageyama, who were both bickering.
“Oh. That makes sense.”
Kageyama glanced down at his ticket as he entered the plane. His seat was 17C, which was somewhere around the middle. He walked down the aisle, clutching his carry-on bag in his hand. As Kageyama reached his row, he let out a sigh of relief, sinking back in his seat. It had been a long day. Well, it was only 8 in the morning, but still. A long, long day.
His first idea was to take a long nap, and then maybe file his nails if he had time left. Hopefully, the people sitting next to him were quiet enough that he could sleep in peace.
“Ooh, Kageyama-kun is sitting with us!”
“Natsu, what are you talking about?”
“Look!”
No. This couldn’t be happening. Did the universe hate Kageyama? Why was he being so brutally punished?
“K-Kageyama,” Hinata gingerly tapped him on the shoulder. His eyes snapped open.
“What?” he demanded.
“We’re...sitting next to you,” Hinata hung his head.
“Let me see your ticket,” Kageyama snapped.
“Huh? I’m not lying!”
“Let me see it!”
Hinata rolled his eyes and stuck his ticket in Kageyama’s face. It read, SEAT: 17B.
Kageyama groaned, tilting his head back.
Why, he wanted to scream, why do I have to live such a cursed life?
Every awkward silence that Kageyama had ever experienced before couldn’t possibly compare to what he felt now. Hinata was staring down at his laptop, his face scrunched up in concentration. Kageyama was staring at the aisle, just so he wouldn’t have to see Hinata’s face. Natsu was looking out the window, oohing and aahing as the plane took flight.
“Ooh, onii-chan,” she tugged on Hinata’s sleeve. “Are you watching a movie?”
“Yeah, it’s called ‘A Silent Voice’.”
“Can I watch it, too?”
“Sure! It’s supposed to be really sad, though,” Hinata said. “I haven’t seen it yet."
“Kageyama-kun, come watch with us!” Natsu beamed.
“No thanks,” he grunted in response.
“Are you too afraid you’re gonna cry, Kageyama-kun?” Hinata taunted.
“Of course not!”
“Why don’t you watch it, then, huh?”
“I. Just. Don’t. Want. To,” Kageyama hissed.
“Okay, then,” Hinata shrugged. There was still a devious grin on his face. “Some people are just braver than others, I guess.”
Kageyama grit his teeth, a vein popping out on his temple. “I’m watching it, you dumbass.”
“Really? I thought you said-”
“Just play the movie!”
Kageyama was not crying in the first fifteen minutes. Nope, absolutely not. Those were not tears coming out of his eyes.
“Kageyama, are you okay?” Hinata said incredulously.
“I’m fine.” he sniffled, rubbing at his eyes. Natsu handed him a tissue. “Just—the bullying. I....know how it…” he trailed off, his eyes glued to the screen.
“Aw, yeah, Nishimiya, punch him, yes!” Hinata cheered, pumping his fist. “I hate you, Ishida!”
The tears started streaming down Kageyama’s face. He was going to need more tissues. “Damn it, sh-she was just doing the best she can...she can’t—it’s not her fault she’s different-”
“Take the whole box,” Natsu said helpfully, handing a wad of tissues to Kageyama.
“Ishida finally has a friend!” Hinata shook Kageyama’s shoulder. “Wow, I love Ishida. And Nagatsuka!”
“You said you hated him twenty minutes ago,” Kageyama pointed out. “And the X just fell off Nagatsuka’s face.”
“See, that means they’re friends now!”
“I know, that’s why I was pointing it out.”
“You didn’t have to, though, I have eyes-”
“Shut up, I can’t hear the movie if you’re talking over it.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Hinata said dubiously. “Why’d Nishimiya leave the festival like that? It was so sudden…”
“I know,” Kageyama nodded. His eyes widened. “Wait. Why is she...is she-?”
“Oh my god,” Hinata squeezed Kageyama’s arm so hard that it felt like he was trying to pull it off. “Oh. My. God. What’s Ishida doing?! He’s just standing there!”
“GO, ISHIDA!” Kageyama shouted. He could hear his heartbeat thumping in his chest. “YOU DUMBASS, SHE’S ABOUT TO-”
“RUN!” Hinata screamed, pounding on the back of the seat in front of him. “DON’T JUST TRIP ON A TABLE! HURRY!”
“Could you stop hitting the back of my seat?” someone scowled suddenly. Tsukishima was, unfortunately, sitting right in front of them. He turned around to further reprimand Hinata, only to be greeted with a sobbing, red mess. Hinata’s face was snotty and puffy, and Kageyama looked like some sort of mutant. This did not look like something he wanted to get into.
Tsukishima swiveled back around to face the front, turning the music playing from his headphones to full volume (it didn’t help block out the screaming).
“Excuse me,” a flight attendant walked over to Hinata and Kageyama. “You two are being very disruptive, could you please lower your-”
“Sorry, we’re watching A Silent Voice!” Natsu said, leaning into the screen of Hinata’s laptop..
“Oh,” the flight attendant nodded, as if that explained everything. “I see. Continue on.” She turned to walk away.
“OH MY GOSH, ISHIDA, PLEASE SAVE HER, SAVE HER, WAIT, DID HE-”
“HE’S BARELY HOLDING ON! WHAT IF BOTH OF THEM FALL?!”
“DON’T SAY THAT, KAGEYAMA! WAIT, LOOK, HE’S PULLING HER UP!”
“OKAY, NISHIMIYA’S SAFE, SHE—WHAT THE-”
“NOOOOOO!”
“H-HE CAN’T BE—HE’S...DID HE-”
“NO, NO, NO, HE HAS TO BE ALIVE, HE HAS TO BE! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!”
Tears poured down Kageyama’s cheeks.
“He has to be,” he sobbed. “Otherwise t-this movie is...is shit!”
“Hwey, d-djon’t sfay tghat,” Hinata blubbered, blowing his nose into a tissue. “I-Ishida i-is the main character, they wouldn’t kill him...right? Right? RIGHT?!”
“I DON’T KNOW, I’M NOT A MOVIE DIRECTOR!”
“WHY?” Hinata wailed. “SH-SHIMADA WAS THE ONE WHO PULLED ISHIDA OUT W-WHEN HE FELL!”
“WHERE ARE THE TISSUES?” Kageyama choked out, gripping the arm of his seat.
“Ow, Kageyama, that hurts!” Hinata yanked his arm away.
“Huh? That was you-?”
“We’re out of tissues,” Natsu sniffled, wiping her eyes. “You’ll h-have to use your shirt, Kageyama-kun.”
“THEIR SCHOOL FESTIVAL LOOKS SO NICE,” Hinata bawled. “MINE WAS NEVER THAT FUN!”
“NEITHER WAS MINE, YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL!”
“Wait, wait, why did he get sick after walking out?”
“It’s called anxiety, dumbass! Some people aren’t all bouncy and weird like you!”
“I was just wondering! LOOK, LOOK, THE Xs FELL OFF EVERYONE’S FACE! H-HE CAN SEE THEM ALL NOW!”
“G-GODDAMNIT! WHY ARE TISSUES SO THIN?!”
“ISHIDA IS OKAY NOW. EVERYTHING IS OKAY. OKAY!”
“What are you even saying?”
“Sghut the urp, Kdageyuamfa!”
“What?!”
The movie ended with the credits rolling down the screen. Kageyama didn’t know what to say. He was speechless, even.
“Wow, that was so good!” Natsu declared. “Wasn’t it, Kageyama-kun?”
Kageyama nodded. “Yeah.” That couldn’t even begin to describe how good it was, but he didn’t know how else to put it.
Natsu smiled brightly. “What about you, onii-chan?” Hinata didn’t respond. “Onii-chan?”
Kageyama frowned. “Hinata?” He flicked him in the forehead, but there was nothing. Hinata’s eyes were still open, but his skin looked paler, and his facial expression was deadpan.
“Is he...dead?”
“Don’t be stupid!” Natsu cried out. “He’s probably just, um, in shock?”
“Hinata?” Kageyama repeated. He shook him on the shoulder. “Wake up, dumbass. Dumbass!”
“Kageyama,” Hinata mumbled. “I feel like I’m dead inside.”
“...What?”
“And...” Hinata whispered, his eyes closing slowly. “Why...do I smell like salt?” He leaned suddenly, his body drooping until his head hit Kageyama’s shoulder.
“Wha—are you-?” Kageyama turned to Natsu, panicked. “What do I do? What is he doing?”
“I think he’s asleep!”
“But why is he sleeping on me? ”
“There’s only half an hour left ‘till we land,” Natsu grinned. “Just wait it out!”
“I-I don’t—I can’t wait it out!” Kageyama sputtered. “What if he wakes up?”
“Don’t mind, Kageyama-kun!” Natsu assured him.
“Besides, Shouyou won’t mind, he likes you a lot!”
“W-wha—what?!”
The plane landed. Hinata was awake. Kageyama reluctantly explained why he had woken up in such an odd position (cue another awkward silence). Everyone stood up, packing up their things as they left their seats.
“So, did you like the movie, Kageyama?” Hinata began, as they walked down the aisle.
“Yeah,” Kageyama cleared his throat. “It was...good.”
“That’s it?” Hinata said incredulously. “You were sobbing like a baby!”
“So were you!”
“Yeah, but I have feelings, so it makes sense.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing…”
As they exited the plane, the two of them made their way onto a walkway that lead somewhere near the baggage pick-up.
“Who was your favorite character?” Hinata piped up. “I liked Nishimiya.”
“Ishida,” Kageyama said immediately.
“Oh, why?”
Kageyama hesitated, before settling on, “he’s relatable.”
“Is he?” Hinata asked thoughtfully. “Nishimiya’s relatable, too. People used to make fun of my hair when I was a kid. And cause I was short.”
“You still are.”
“Well, I know that,” Hinata huffed. “Wait, who’s your least favorite character?”
“The one with the glasses.”
“Kawai?”
“Yeah. She was fake as fuck.”
Hinata let out a laugh. “Well, yeah, if you put it like that. I didn’t like her either.”
I’m still surprised you cried though!” he added, grinning. “Even though you said you wouldn’t.”
Kageyama felt the tips of his ears turn pink. “That was—I never-”
“Don’t try and deny it,” Hinata sang. “You cried like a big baby, you know!”
“Onii-chan, don’t be rude,” Natsu chimed. “Even though it was true.”
“Whatever,” Kageyama grumbled. He stopped as they reached the end of the walkway. “Are you picking your bags up here, too?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so,” Hinata smiled, almost a little sadly, looking at him with his eyes all big and brown and doey (Kageyama felt like the deer in the headlights this time).
Natsu glanced between the two of them curiously before whispering something into Hinata’s ear. His cheeks flushed.
“But I don’t-” he started.
“Oh, come on,” she insisted, cutting him off. She looked at Kageyama. “Hey, turn around, Kageyama-kun!”
“Why?”
"You’ll see.”
“...Okay.” As soon as he turned around, Natsu jumped up and slapped her hands over his eyes.
“What are you-?”
“It’s peek-a-boo!” she removed her hands. “See? Peek-a-boo!”
“I don’t think that’s how you do it,” Kageyama frowned.
Natsu flattened her hair so a strip hung down her forehead. She furrowed her eyebrows together. “Whatever,” she mimicked, scowling.
Kageyama tilted his head to the side before the realization hit him. “That’s not what I look like! You, you…”
“I’m twelve,” she chimed. “Don’t swear at little kids, Kageyama-kun!”
“I wasn’t going to!” he huffed.
“Sureee,” Natsu smiled slyly. She looked back at her brother. “You done, onii-chan?”
“Yep!” Hinata said brightly, handing Natsu her bag. He held Kageyama’s suitcase in front of him. “Here’s yours, Kageyama.”
“Oh,” he said, taking it. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Hinata replied. “Are you going left, too?”
“No, I’m turning right.”
“Oh,” Hinata said. “Well, I guess I’ll be going, then.”
“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded. “Uh. Bye.”
Hinata’s face split into a grin. “Bye! I wanna watch more movies with you, you know!”
Kageyama looked down at his shoes. “Don’t say that.”
Hinata tilted his head to the side. “Why not? It’s true.”
I’m never going to see you again, that’s why, Kageyama thought. I’ll never see you cry again. Or cry with you again. Or do anything with you ever again.
Instead, he said, “it just pisses me off.”
“Oh, of course it does,” Hinata snorted. He picked his bag off the floor and adjusted it so it hung off his shoulder.
“Seriously, though, I’ll see ya later, Kageyama-kun!” he waved. Kageyama, begrudgingly, waved back, until Hinata faded into a tiny, orange speck in the distance.
See ya later, Kageyama-kun! The words echoed in his head.
But I’ll never see you again, he thought. There isn’t always a later to see.
For one of the first times in his life, Kageyama felt regretful. It’s not that he had no soul or remorse or anything, it was just that most of the decisions he made were always best-fitted for the situation. This time, however, there were quite a few things he regretted not doing. He collected a list in his head as he waited for his stop on the bus ride home.
- Asking for Hinata’s phone number. Not that Kageyama could have actually done it, but still.
- Asking how tall Hinata was (it was probably only about 170 cm. Maybe 170.1, at the very most).
- Getting more into A Silent Voice. Kageyama was too distracted by the tears in his eyes.
- Saying a proper goodbye.
Kageyama fiddled with the luggage tag on his suitcase. Most people he met for the first time backed away in fear and continued on with their day, as if they’d never known him in the first place.
Hinata was different. He’d been scared, too, but he talked to Kageyama like he was a normal person, and not a vengeful spirit that had crawled from the pits of hell just to spite people.
Kageyama squinted, bringing his luggage tag closer to his face. There was something written on the front (in very, very poor handwriting).
22-632-9351
TEXT ME!!! FROM: HINATA!!!
He stared at it for an unnecessarily long time, before it finally registered in his mind what he’d just read.
Stupid Hinata. With his stupid orange hair and stupid brown eyes and stupid smile.
As soon as Kageyama got home, he texted the number on his luggage tag.
To: 22-632-9351
From: Kageyama
11:34 P.M.
This is Kageyama
To: Kageyama
From: Hinata
HI!!! Told you i’d see you later!!! Hahahaha
To: Hinata
From: Kageyama
Dumbass
To: Kageyama
From: Hinata
HEY WANNA HANG OUT THIS WEEK?? IN PERSON???!!
To: Hinata
From: Kageyama
11:36 P.M.
Ok.