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Kageyama is good with his hands. He always has been. They’re big and slender and perfect and sometimes Hinata can’t help but get distracted by them. They handle volleyballs like they were made for them; they dig into Hinata’s scalp with fury when Kageyama gets irritated; and they touch Hinata with confidence in intimate moments that take Hinata’s breath away.
As far as Hinata is concerned, Kageyama is just ridiculously perfect. In Hinata’s mind, Kageyama is just good…at like…everything, aside from schoolwork, which doesn’t actually matter in Hinata’s opinion. He’s the world’s greatest setter (of this, Hinata is absolutely certain), he’s a hell of a spiker when he needs to be, and if Hinata is being honest, he’s the perfect boyfriend too. Just don’t tell Kageyama that last part or Hinata will never hear the end of it.
So Hinata can’t process the fact that Kageyama is not good at some things. Specifically, in this case, soccer.
It was a lazy, hot summer weekend and Kageyama had come over to Hinata’s house to hang out. Of course, they were outside playing volleyball. What else would they be doing? Well, aside from that.
Hinata was trying to balance the volleyball on his head while Kageyama was sucking down water because it was absurdly hot out and most normal people were inside enjoying the air-conditioner. Hinata almost had the ball perfectly balanced before Natsu came rushing outside slamming the door open. He could have pulled off a cool trick if Natsu hadn’t perfectly arced her new soccer ball into his face. Good thing he had long since gotten used to receiving using his cheeks.
Hinata collapsed with an indignant squawk but before he could yell at Kageyama for laughing or Natsu for kicking her ball into his face, Natsu does that thing. That thing where she scrunches up her adorable nose and stomps her foot and gets that look on her face.
“Natsu! Why are you kicking your new soccer ball into my face!?”
“Nii-chan! You promised to play soccer with me!” Kageyama, who had spit out his water while laughing at Hinata immediately stopped and stared at Natsu. He gets that dopey, lost, melty look on his face, like he doesn’t know what to do with the tiny creature before him that is, in his mind at least, an adorable mini version of Hinata.
Hinata can practically see Kageyama melt when Natsu turns to him and pouts, “Tobio-niichan, you play with us too!”
“Okay, okay Natsu we’ll play soccer with you. Just don’t kick your ball into my face again.” Hinata dusted off the dirt from his butt and rolled his volleyball onto the patio.
“How about I teach you how to dribble?” Hinata asks as he gently kicks the soccer ball around, playing it around his feet. Natsu erupts into a squeeeee of delight—her and Hinata have been known to have entire conversations with just noises so he’s quite accustomed to her squeals and guffaws.
“Come on Kageyama, you show her too.” As Hinata turns to talk to Kageyama he’s shocked by the look on his face. His eyes are wide and he’s blinking slowly in shock as he watches Hinata dribble the soccer ball.
Natsu rushes over and tries to imitate what Hinata is doing and Kageyama just keeps staring.
“What?” Hinata demands as Natsu starts kicking the ball.
“How…how are you doing that?” Kageyama asks, still staring at the soccer ball like it’s some sort of tiny alien that has descended on them.
“What? Dribbling? Ehhhhh, I guess I picked up a bit while helping Koji practice. He always made me help him with drills before he would toss to me.” Hinata shrugs and steals back the ball from Natsu in a flashy twisting move he’d seen Koji do.
“Nii-chan! Show me!” Natsu demands and Hinata laughs. He knows he should probably be annoyed; he’s always hearing how his friends get annoyed by their younger siblings, but Hinata likes hanging out with Natsu. She’s fun and they’re both pretty competitive so when they play, they get serious. She’s always keeping him company when he’s practicing volleyball and gets excited when he does a cool trick or shows off for her.
“Okay Natsu, hit it like this, with a soft pa and then a little bam and then when you’re in front of the net, you go WHAM!” Natsu squeals when Hinata kicks the ball into the small practice goal Hinata had asked their mom to get Natsu for her birthday. She races to the net to retrieve the ball and Hinata turns to look at Kageyama, who is now staring at Hinata like he is the tiny little alien who descended upon them.
“Why are you staring at me like that, Bakageyama?” Hinata cocks his head and stares back, confused as to why Kageyama looks confused.
“Don’t call me that, dumbass.” He scoffs and plants his big hands in Hinata’s hair, messing it up even more than it already is. Hinata howls and manages to escape as Natsu races back with the ball and kicks it to Kageyama.
“Tobio-niichan! Pass it back to me!” The smile on Natsu’s face is radiant and Kageyama looks like he’s about to combust into flames at the sight of it but instead of kicking the ball back to her, he just stares down at it, a rosy blush creeping over his cheekbones and neck.
“I…I don’t know how to…” Kageyama replies, his voice so low and quiet that Hinata barely catches it and he refuses to look up and meet Hinata’s gaze.
“Huh? You don’t know how? But you’re good at everything.” Hinata deadpans like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, because to him, it kind of is.
Kageyama’s head whips up and he glares at Hinata until he sees Hinata’s completely serious expression.
“I’m not good at everything. Why would I know how to pass a soccer ball?”
“You are good at everything. Here, hit it like this.” Hinata toes the ball back and dribbles it around a bit, calling for Natsu to try and block him. She giggles and rushes to try and steal the ball, but Hinata twists around her and dribbles towards the goal.
“Come on Natsu, I’ll pass it to you, and you shoot it in!” She rushes to the goal like a demon released from hell, faster and more coordinated than she should be at her age.
Kageyama realizes in that moment that Hinata’s family is naturally ridiculously athletic, and when Natsu receives Hinata’s pass and sinks the ball perfectly into the goal’s right corner, Kageyama realizes that if Natsu ever fell in love with a sport like Hinata did, she’d be just as good as her big brother. Kageyama stares at the two redheaded siblings as she jumps to give Hinata a giant high-five and they start talking in noises again.
Kageyama isn’t surprised by the warmth that swamps his heart as he watches them. He’s been dating Hinata long enough to have gotten used to the feeling, but it’s especially strong as the two turn to give him nearly identical smiles that are all toothy and squishes their eyes into adorable little crescents.
“Alright, Kageyama you pass it to me, and I’ll pass it to Natsu!” Hinata yells as he gently passes the ball to Kageyama. Kageyama bites his lip in concentration and kicks the ball back towards Hinata…or at least, he tries to. He kicked it too hard and the ball flew in the completely wrong direction.
“Pffft! Kageyama, what kind of pass was that?” Hinata bursts into a fit of laughter.
“I told you I don’t know how!” Kageyama yells back, his face now blazing from both the summer heat and embarrassment.
Hinata is still laughing as he dutifully rushes off to go and get the ball and Natsu rushes over to Kageyama.
“Tobio-niichan, you got to hit it with a pa and a bam and then a wham!” She looks up at him like that’s the most obvious thing ever, somehow identical to Hinata telling Kageyama that he’s good at everything.
“Yeah! What she said!” Hinata chirps as he rushes back, as if he doesn’t realize that he and Natsu are the only ones who speak this noise-language that they’ve been conversing in. Crap, Kageyama thinks, he really doesn’t understand that that doesn’t even make any sense, and why is he so ridiculously cute!?
“Okay here, like this.” Hinata concedes and tries to slowly show Kageyama how he hits the ball with different parts of his foot. He can’t explain worth a shit, but he can at least demonstrate.
Kageyama tries to mimic the kicks and it works…kind of. The ball at least goes into the direction he meant for it to go. The three play like that for a long while, Kageyama getting slightly better than he had been at the beginning (at least, that’s what he tells himself), until Natsu gets too hot and wants ice cream. She rushes away to ask their mom for popsicles as Hinata and Kageyama sprawl out on the patio, trying to cool their burning flesh, leaving behind two gross puddles of sweat Hinata’s mom will probably fuss over later.
“That’s so weird.” Hinata muses as he turns to glance at Kageyama.
“What?”
“You’re really not good at soccer.”
“I already said I don’t know how to play. Why would I learn how to pass a soccer ball?” Kageyama growls, his embarrassment flaring up again as he turns to meet Hinata’s gaze.
“I guess there are some things you’re not good at after all, but I didn’t notice because you’re good at everything that matters to me.” Hinata’s voice is soft and his eyes are warm, like that warmth that engulfed Kageyama earlier is reflected in those gorgeous amber eyes that Kageyama loves to stare into. His embarrassment fades away into something much softer and tender as he stares at his tiny, talented boyfriend who seems to think Kageyama is some kind of perfect being who’s good at everything. Or at least, everything that matters. That’s okay, because Kageyama feels the same way. When it comes to the things that really matter, Hinata is perfect.
The popsicles that Natsu brings back are particularly sweet to Kageyama as is dissolves on his tongue, and that lazy ridiculously hot summer becomes a day that he knows he’ll cherish for a long time to come.