Chapter Text
It probably made more sense for him to notice his family first, or at least his crying mom, but Hinata – holding one of his purple backpack straps in one hand and the handle of his small, black carry-on suitcase in the other – could only see Kageyama in that moment. Kageyama. Their eyes locked, and Hinata felt something warm flood inside him.
It probably made more sense to make calm, collected movements in an airport, especially with all the security, but Hinata – not being able to see anything but Kageyama – ran, and jumped.
It probably made more sense to greet his friends calmly, but—
“Kageyama!”
“GET OFF OF ME!”
They crashed to the ground. Kageyama took the brunt of the impact as he fell on his back, scowling with the rage of a thousand storms. Hinata just laughed and sat on his chest, leaning down to squeeze him into the biggest hug ever hugged.
They weren’t friends who touched. They weren’t friends who hugged, or knew gentleness with each other.
That moment made Kageyama seize; and, shakily, he brought his arms around to hug Hinata back, unsure of what to make of it.
Hinata, still laughing, nuzzled Kageyama’s cheek. “I missed you!”
“I…” Kageyama’s scowl intensified. “Missed. You… too.”
“Hinata,” came Tsukishima’s voice as he pointed past them. “Isn’t that your luggage on the conveyer belt?”
“Ho!” Hinata jumped off Kageyama and turned around.
“I’ll go get it!” offered Yachi.
“Ah, it’s okay.” Yamaguchi laughed. “It’ll come around again.”
Kageyama took the time to get up, glaring at the back of Hinata’s head with enough force to burn a hole right through it.
“Shouyou!” came a small, squeaky voice.
“Natsu!” Hinata turned around and dropped down so she could run into his arms. He squeezed her tight and smiled. “I missed you!” He backed away a bit. “Did you miss your big brother? Did you get taller? Are you doing well in school?”
“I’m getting straight A’s!”
Tsukishima cracked a smile. “High grades must run in the family. For most of the family.”
“Gah!” Hinata held back tears as he looked at Tsukki. “You know I almost always fail everything!”
Yamaguchi snickered, which made Tsukki crack an actually warm smile, and Yachi did her best to hide a laugh too.
Natsu grinned. “He’s calling you dumb!”
Hinata grabbed his stomach, as if punched, and whined.
“Dumbass!” Kageyama yelled, “You wouldn’t fail if you studied!”
“Ah, Tobio,” came the quiet voice of Hinata’s mother, “I think your grades are worse than his.”
Kageyama stared at her, shocked.
Hinata laughed, loud. “I love you, mom!”
They embraced and Hinata squeezed her as tight as possible.
Chapter 1: Spring
The car ride was short, but it consisted mainly of bantering between Tsukki and Hinata (with Tsukishima easily winning every argument). Hinata’s mom, who was driving the van, laughed while mostly focusing on the road. When they got to Hinata’s home, they decided to split ways for the time being, and agreed to meet up for lunch in a couple hours at Hinata’s favourite noodle place.
“Kageyama,” Hinata said while grabbing his arm. “You stay.”
Kageyama stared at him then stared where Hinata was grabbing him, then back at him. “Okay.”
“Thanks for offering to helping me unpack.”
“Tch,” Kageyama scoffed. “Dumbass!”
They moved to his room and Hinata made a loud (unnecessary) noise as he spun in the middle of it.
“My room is so much smaller than I remember,” Hinata cooed. “That means I must have grown!”
“No! You didn’t even grow a millimetre!”
“How do you know!?”
“You probably got shorter, dumbass!”
Hinata laughed and spun once again before falling back on his bed, arms stretched out. He smiled, sinking against his mattress. “Everything’s just as I left it. Except, cleaner, but it feels like nothing’s changed.”
Kageyama glanced around the room, thinking of the hours he’d spent here as a kid. He walked over to the bed and sat next to Hinata. He didn’t say anything, just went quiet, lost in thought.
Hinata stared at him, from his diagonal angle, and laughed.
Kageyama glanced over his shoulder.
“Ah, nothing.” Hinata sat up and nudged Kageyama’s shoulder. “I missed you.”
Kageyama frowned. “Stop saying stupid things.”
“Wah? What’s stupid about missing my best friend?”
Kageyama glared, but it only lasted a moment before his glare melted away. He looked to the side, opposite of Hinata, as if the wall was the most fascinating thing in the world.
Hinata glanced at his profile and smiled. “Feels like nothing’s changed, ne?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know.” Kageyama turned back at him. “You still don’t make any sense, so maybe nothing has changed.”
Hinata figured he should’ve been upset by that, but the warm thud in his chest made him smile, smile bright.
Kageyama flinched, as if he was looking at the sun, but Kageyama wasn’t one to back down (not even in a staring contest with the sun). He kept glaring. “You acting dumber ever since you came back. You say a lot of stupid things.”
Hinata laughed and hummed. “Blame it on jet lag.”
“Hm.”
“Ah!” Hinata looked at the menu. It had a different design since he’d last been here, but the items were all the same. He read each one, carefully, and smiled. He looked up at the rest of them. “It’s so easy to order things when it’s all in your native language.”
Yamaguchi glanced to the menu. “I can’t even imagine going to a country where I can’t even speak the language.”
“Tadashi, that’s because you have self-preservation.”
“Tsukki! Don’t be mean!”
Tsukishima caught sight of Yamaguchi’s smile and the corner of his lips curved upwards.
When the waiter came around, he recognised Hinata instantly and wasn’t surprised at all when the smallest of the boys ordered the biggest beef bowl on the menu. Kageyama ordered a large bowl, while Tsukki, Yamaguchi, and Yachi ordered the regular.
“A large?” Hinata blinked as he turned to Kageyama. “That’s small for you.”
“It’s only lunch,” murmured Kageyama as he broke apart his chopsticks.
“He hasn’t been eating as much,” Yachi pointed out. Kageyama shot her a look, and Yachi squeaked. “I-I j-just meant! P-Probably because Hi-Hinata hasn’t been here to e-egg you on!”
Under the table, Hinata poked Kageyama’s stomach.
Kageyama elbowed his arm. “Stop that!”
“What the hell!” Hinata poked him again.
“Stop!”
“Why are you so skinny? It’s all hard now!”
“I have muscle now.”
“No way, really?”
“Yes, shut up.”
“Let me see!” Hinata grabbed his shirt and tugged up. “You have abs now!?”
Kageyama grabbed his shirt and pulled it down. “Shut up, dumbass! Don’t just grab my clothes! You’re going to stretch them!”
“Whoa!” Hinata looked with fascination. “Can I touch your abs?”
“No!”
“Aw c’mon, please?”
Kageyama opened his mouth to roar, but his eyes caught sight of the only thing that could calm him down.
Food.
The server put the bowls in front of everyone and Hinata made a happy noise as he began eating right away, not even waiting for it to cool down a little. Tsukishima just stared at him, while Yamaguchi hid a laugh behind his hand. Yachi smiled brightly, and even Kageyama seemed to enjoy the familiar sight. Kageyama picked up his chopsticks and began eating at a regular human pace, wondering how he even used to keep up.
Hinata munched away, slurping as loud as humanly possible for a minute straight. Finally, he looked up, cheeks puffed up, eating aggressively. He swallowed and smiled. “I missed this place so much!”
Tsukishima focused on his bowl as he murmured, “We can tell.”
Yachi tilted her head a bit, which swayed her ponytail a little. “Is it as good as you remember?”
“Yup! Nothing’s changed!” Hinata smiled brightly. “It’s like nothing’s changed at all.”
“Your hair looks different, though,” Yamaguchi pointed out. “It looks nicer? Er, I mean… You styled it differently?”
Hinata looked up, as if he could see the orange fwop on top of his head, and smiled. “Yeah, I got a free haircut overseas so I uh, decided to try something? I don’t know. My hair’s such a mess, but it gave it more shape, and structure. It looks a lot better now, right?” He nudged Kageyama. “Right?”
Kageyama stared, eyes following the shape of Hinata’s hair, like feathers, like the sun, then he looked away. He shrugged.
“C’mon, Kageyama! You have to say it makes me look cute!”
“C-Cu-” Kageyama shot a glare.
Hinata laughed, loud. “Stop being so quiet all the time!” Under the table, he stepped on Kageyama’s foot.
Kageyama yelled and then launched his hand at Hinata’s face.
Hinata dodged, laughing. “Don’t be jealous, Kageyama.”
“I’m not jealous!”
“You look cute too.”
“Wh-Wh-” Kageyama scowled, a hint of a blush on his cheeks.
There was silence, except Yachi’s little giggle that broke their moment.
They went back to their beef bowls.
Stepping out of the restaurant, Hinata took in a breath of the air, salted by the ocean nearby. He looked up and felt the sun on his outstretched arms. He turned around, to them, and smiled. “So, what else are we going to do today?”
Kageyama stared at him.
Tsukishima rubbed his neck. “I’m going home.”
“Tsukki!”
Yachi laughed a bit. “I always want to lie down after eating a whole bowl.”
“Yeah,” agreed Tsukishima.
“I.” Kageyama twitched awkwardly. “I have to walk the dogs.”
Hinata blinked. “You have dogs!?”
“No, um. Oikawa’s boyfriend has a dog. Two. Two dogs.”
“Ushijima got dogs!?”
“No, it’s his… other boyfriend’s dogs.”
“Oikawa broke up with Ushijima!?”
“No! Oikawa just has. Two. Boyfriends.” Kageyama shrugged. “And the other one has dogs.”
“Gah!” Hinata blinked. “Two boyfriends? That’s so cool! I can’t even get one!”
Kageyama glared at him, feeling his cheeks heat up. “Shut up!”
“Ah,” Yachi peeped in with a raised hand, as if she was in class. “You know who else has a boyfriend now?”
Hinata turned to her and took a battle stance. “You have a boyfriend!”
“A-Ah no! N-Not me!”
“Then who!?”
Yamaguchi smiled wide, blush creeping on his cheeks.
“Hah!?” Hinata squatted down and looked left and right. “Who!?”
Yamaguchi said nothing, just grinned wide.
Tsukishima scoffed, glancing away, slight pink dusting his cheeks.
“No way! You two are dating!”
“Yup!” Yamaguchi bounced. “Next week it’ll be two months.”
Hinata looked at him and pouted. “You didn’t tell me!?”
“Ah, well… we’re still kinda new…” Yamaguchi poked his index fingers together, face getting redder. “And we figured… it’s nicer to say it in person, so…”
“That’s awesome! Congrats you two!”
Kageyama stood a few paces away, looking away. He was out of the conversation, not like the way Tsukishima usually was. Kageyama was off to the side, awkwardly to the side, distant. Hinata noticed it, but didn’t say anything. Hinata just forced a smile, and kept talking about Yamaguchi and Tsukishima – mostly because Tsukishima was actually getting embarrassed and Hinata wanted to get his revenge.
“Those are big dogs!”
“Where do you get all that energy,” murmured Kageyama, to himself.
But Hinata heard it.
Kageyama put the leashes on the dogs. They were big guys, fluffy and excited, running in circles and waiting for Kageyama to pet them. He did, of course. Kageyama glanced to Hinata and made a small noise. “Ready to go?”
“Yup!”
They walked at a moderate pace, stopping every once in a while for the dogs to sniff or explore something. They also had to stop for people to pet the dogs. The big black shaggy dog was named Matsukawa, and he always seemed to have a lazy smile on his face. Hinata pegged him for a trickster right away, but soon learned the other dog – Hanamaki, an almost pinkish coppery dog – was just as bad at pretending not to hear them when they tried to get the dogs back on the trail.
“So, why do you walk dogs?”
“Exercise.”
“Exercise?” Hinata stared at him. “You’re not getting those abs from walking dogs, are you?”
“No.” Kageyama cracked the world’s smallest smile (but Hinata still saw it, still felt that small flutter). “I didn’t have anyone to race, since you were gone…” He glanced down as he kept walking. “When winter came, I mostly just… stayed indoors, so…”
“Ah…” Hinata scratched his cheek as they walked. “Me too.” He smiled. “I mean, um.” His smile disappeared as he frowned, trying to sort his thoughts. “I mean, I didn’t have you there, so it was tough.”
“Ah,” Kageyama said in a monotone voice, in a way that almost sounded like an ‘mhm’ or a noncommittal ‘yeah’.
“I really did miss you when I was there.”
“Ah.”
“I’m glad I’m back, Kageyama.”
“Ah.”
Hinata’s eyes softened and he whined. “You’re so annoying!”
“Hah!?”
Hinata ran ahead a bit and turned around. “Did you miss me, Kageyama?”
Kageyama grunted, avoiding eye contact and walking past him with the dogs. There was a small moment of silence and Kageyama sighed, hating it. “Yeah.”
Hinata turned around, “Huh?”
“I said yes!”
Hinata ran to catch up to him, a teasing smile on his face. “Yes to what?”
“It was…” Kageyama took a deep breath, glaring. “It was hard.” He stopped walking, and the dogs took the time to sniff at a bush. “Without you.”
Hinata smiled, an honest, small little smile. He looked up to Kageyama, who was staring straight ahead, and he couldn’t help but feel that warm thud once more. A thought crossed Hinata’s mind, I could kiss him right now. And he let that thought warm him. That was, of course, until Hinata’s face distorted into a frown and he squatted low, in attack mode.
Kageyama looked at him and blinked, “What!?”
“Why are you so tall!?”
“Hah!?”
“I won’t reach!”
“HAH!?”
They ended up going to a dog park, where Matsukawa and Hanamaki ran as much as they wanted. They were big dogs, which scared a few people, but what was scarier was how the boy with orange hair was able to keep up and run with them, laughing and tumbling with them, petting and hugging them tight. It was only when Hinata heard a snap that he let go of Hanamaki and turned to see Kageyama, with his phone out.
Another snap.
“Are you taking pics of me?”
“Of the dogs,” murmured Kageyama. “Iwaizumi wants updates on how they’re doing, so…”
Hinata stared at him, and opened his mouth—but was distracted by a dog licking his face. Hinata burst into laughter and moved his head back, petting Hanamaki with giggles. Though Hanamaki couldn’t reach his face, Matsukawa came from the other side and tried to lick his face too, which made him laugh even more as he tried to push away the two dogs that probably weighed more than him.
Kageyama took another pic, trying to convince himself he was doing this for Iwaizumi, and that he wouldn’t save these pics at all.
After refilling their food and water, Kageyama left the dogs at Iwaizumi’s house, explaining that another one of his friends would house sit them at night, and that Kageyama just took them for walks during the day. Kageyama stared at Hinata, as if expecting something, but he didn’t know what it was. Hinata stared back, and a moment passed between them.
Until Hinata’s stomach growled.
“I’m hungry!”
“We ate only a few hours ago!”
“I’m hungry!” Hinata bounced on his feet. “Is the burger place still open? Still where it used to be?”
“Yes.”
“Awesome! I’ll race you there! Loser has to buy the winner burgers!”
Kageyama stared at him, frowning a little bit. “No.”
“What?” Hinata paused. “Why not?”
“I… don’t want to.”
“You don’t want to race me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I just don’t want to.” Kageyama’s frown intensified before it melted away. “…Sorry.”
Hinata blinked, feeling his shoulders fall at his sides. He tilted his head a little and bit his lip. “Kageyama, are you, uh… you know, like? Um?”
Kageyama tilted his head, narrowing his eyes.
“Ah, you’re too poor to buy me a burger and you know you’re gonna lose since we haven’t raced in so long!”
Kageyama launched his hand and grabbed Hinata’s head.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!”
Kageyama glared.
“I’m gonna go bald, Kageyama!”
When they got to the burger place, Kageyama ordered the biggest burger—same as Hinata—despite his earlier protests. They sat side by side on a table meant for four people. The restaurant didn’t mind since it wasn’t a busy time of the day, and all the tables were free.
Hinata loved the familiar taste, which was even better than he remembered it. His burger was loaded with too many toppings and half of them fell out, but that didn’t matter because he could just use a fork to eat them later.
Kageyama’s burger was no different, and he ate with equal vigor, but he was quiet as he ate.
No, not just quiet.
Hinata didn’t know how to describe it.
Kageyama stopped eating at one point, and made some strained noise through his nose, kind of like a huff. “I’ve just been…” He chewed his lip for a sec. “Low on energy lately. Tired. That’s all.”
Hinata straightened his back, realising he must’ve been obvious with his staring. He went back to eating. Kageyama didn’t say anything else, and Hinata didn’t push it.
You were hurting, but you didn’t tell me.
You were hurting.
You were hurting, but you didn’t tell me.
You didn’t tell me.
The sun had gone down, and Hinata shivered. He forgot that, despite the blazing warm days of the summer, nights could get frosty in his hometown. They walked home, walking to Kageyama’s house. They didn’t talk or discuss it, but their feet led the way, and when they noticed the direction they were going it was obvious where the destination was.
Hinata shivered again, in the night, wishing he had brought a sweater.
He looked up to the sky, so full of stars, and he paused. He made a soft noise, and smiled.
Kageyama paused as well, looking up. “What?”
“It’s just… so pretty.”
“What is?”
“The stars.”
Kageyama looked up, frowning. “Do they not have stars overseas?”
Hinata looked down, right at him.
Kageyama looked down as well. “What.”
“Kageyama, can I ask…? Are you stupid?”
“What!? How would I know!? I’ve never been overseas!”
Hinata snorted, hugging his sides as he erupted with laughter.
“SHUT UP, DUMBASS!”
Hinata, of course, kept laughing.
Kageyama spun and kicked at him.
Hinata jumped back, dodging, hands up, smiling. “There’s stars everywhere!”
“Then why are you so surprised to see the stars!”
“Because!” Hinata lowered his attack stance and looked up again. “Where I was, it was like a big city… lots of tall buildings, lots of light… Light pollution. The stars were there, but…” His eyes softened as he looked at the night sky, deep blues and purples dotted with crystalline little lights. “There were stars, but you can’t see them.”
“The buildings are tall enough to block stars.”
“The light, Kageyama! The light!”
“That doesn’t make any sense! You’re making this up!”
“No I’m not! It’s light pollution!”
“Light doesn’t make pollution! Plastic makes pollution! Fossil fuels! Stop making this up!”
“I’m not making this up!”
“Yes you are! You’re a dumbass! You almost failed science two years ago!”
“Yeah but you actually failed science two years ago!”
“SHUT UP, DUMBASS!”
Somehow, along their walk, Hinata reached out and grabbed Kageyama’s hand. Hinata was sure to keep his eyes down low, not wanting to see what kind of face Kageyama was making. He felt Kageyama’s hand seize up in his, and relax. They were holding hands. Hinata mentally heard Kenma’s voice whisper achievement unlocked and he smiled.
He was surprised Kageyama didn’t push him away.
They just kept walking, not saying a thing.
It felt good, warm.
Softly, Hinata squeezed Kageyama’s hand, and he felt Kageyama squeeze back.
He smiled, feeling his face get hot. He didn’t dare look, but he had a feeling Kageyama was blushing too.
“Ah, Shrimpy!” Oikawa instantly cupped his chin and pushed his jaw up, tilting his head to inspect. “Who cut your hair? You got it done while you were over there?”
Hinata beamed a smile and nodded. “Yup!”
Kageyama, ignoring them, took off his shoes as he stepped into the front entrance of their small home. He didn’t say anything, never really did when Oikawa and Hinata spoke. He mostly just stayed out of it and waited until it was over, so he could go to his room with Hinata.
Oikawa hummed appreciatively. “It’s cute. I like it.”
“I got pictures!” Hinata said as he pulled out his phone. “Of what it looked like when he just cut it, so maybe you could try it too?”
“Lemme see.”
Hinata showed the pictures, from all angles, and Oikawa hummed thoughtfully. Hinata looked at him. “You think you can cut it like that?”
“Of course! I’m not the best hairdresser in town for nothing!” Oikawa winked. “And, speaking of pictures, apparently someone took a lot of pictures of Shrimpy over here.”
Kageyama blinked. “What.”
“Iwa-chan said your pics today were more mandarin than dog!”
“Oh. He was in the way.”
“You sure you didn’t just want to save them, Tobio?”
“I already deleted them,” he lied. Deciding not to wait, he walked towards his room.
Hinata watched him go and then looked between the two of them. “Are you two…?” He squinted. “Getting along?”
Oikawa laughed, louder than he should’ve. “I can’t get along with my dumb little baby brother?”
“Um, Tooru?”
“Yeah?”
“Um… Kageyama…” Hinata lowered his voice a bit as he spoke, “He’s been… different, lately… Kind of… low energy…”
“Ah, well… Shrimpy, I’m not really sure where to start. You left for a year, right? To study overseas? I’m sure you got along with everyone, made new friends, had a blast… Tobio, though…” Oikawa took small breath as he glanced away. “He… He had a rough time. Being without you, being alone… He didn’t really handle it well… at all.”
Hinata’s eyes softened, lips pursing into a tight pout. He glanced again, to where Kageyama went, and he felt that warm thud grow cold and heavy, weighing him down.
“He’s fine now,” Oikawa added, but Hinata wasn’t listening.
Hinata walked away, towards Kageyama’s room and peeked in.
Kageyama hadn’t…
Kageyama didn’t…
But then again, Hinata thought, he didn’t exactly have a blast either, but…
Kageyama was on his bed, on his back, holding his phone up and tapping it as if playing some game. He didn’t bother glancing at Hinata, just made an angry huff. “What took you so long?”
“Ah, uh, nothing!” Hinata joined him on the bed, on his back, looking up and watching him play a game he had never seen before. “I just, uh… You and Tooru, you used to hate each other. Like that could be considered nice compared to how you guys talked to each other before.”
“Ah.”
Hinata looked away. “I mean I guess I should be happy – I was the one that said you should be nice to your brother!”
“Ah.”
“Even if he’s just a step-brother.”
“Ah.”
“It’s not like he wanted you in his life either.”
“…Ah.”
“But it’s just…” Hinata nudged him. “It’s weird. Seeing that.”
“Mm.” Kageyama’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he made a subtle frown. “A lot happened in the last year.”
“Oh.”
“Not everything’s the same as before.”
“R-Right,” Hinata murmured.
“Things are different now.”
“That makes sense!”
Kageyama kept playing his game, and Hinata watched. From what Hinata could see, Kageyama was winning. When he won the match, he got an MVP Badge but didn’t seem phased by it. Hinata already wanted the MVP Badge and he didn’t even know what game it was – he just knew it meant Kageyama was the best player, out of what seemed like ten people, so that was kind of a big deal, right?
Kageyama started the next round, and played.
Hinata watched and rolled over a bit to lean on him a bit.
Kageyama froze for a second, glancing at him.
They weren’t friends who touched. They weren’t friends who hugged, or knew gentleness with each other.
Hinata pokerfaced, pretending he was doing it for a better view.
Kageyama relaxed and focused on his game (and Hinata would dare say Kageyama seemed to lean a bit into him as well).
“Kageyama…?”
“What?”
“A lot of things changed but… we’re still best friends, right?”
Kageyama just scowled. “Shut up, you dumbass.”
Hinata grinned. “That’s a yes isn’t it?”
Kageyama did his best to keep his scowl up, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
Hinata didn’t push it, just glanced back at the game, and smiled too.