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Kageyama stares blankly out the window, thinking about volleyball. He has one hand over his mouth and the other is tapping a pencil impatiently on his notebook. A glance at the clock shows there are only a few minutes left until free period.
Sitting in front of him is a mop of orange hair, surprisingly, reading a book intently. This odd behavior almost makes Kageyama want to ask, but he knows better than to open that idiot’s floodgates. If he looks that interested in whatever it is, he probably already has a lot to say about it. Kageyama thinks quietly to himself, damn it that’s kind of cute .
He is still looking at the nape of Hinata’s neck when the boy spins around so quick that it causes Kageyama to jump slightly.
He didn’t see me staring, did he?
“Kageyama, when is your birthday?” Hinata asks with a sparkle in his eye. That sparkle is almost always there. Not that Kageyama has noticed.
“Why would I tell you?” Kageyama responds as he drifts back to his former daydreamy position.
“Just tell me!” Hinata slams down an astrology book on his desk in front of him. “I want to read your horoscope.”
A lot of reactions and emotions flood through Kageyama at this moment, his eye twitching with every mean thought that comes to his head.
“I knew you were stupid, but this is a whole new level…”
“Did you steal that book from your little sister or something?”
“Dumbass. I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
“December 22nd,” is what he says instead, he doesn’t have the energy to fight him today.
Hinata excitedly flips through the book, landing on the page for Capricorn.
“Okay, so you’re a Goat! I’m a Crab. So this says your strengths are that you’re responsible, have self-control, are disciplined, and you have good manners. Pfff that’s not true. Oh wait, that says you’re a good manager. Okay I can see that.”
Kageyama stares blankly at the orange headed boy as the word dribble pours over the edges of his mouth. Comprehension of what the boy is saying is barely sticking to his brain.
“Ha! And your weaknesses make a lotta sense. Know-it-all, unforgiving, condescending, and always expecting the worst. You really gotta stop that, Kageyama,” Hinata says with a snicker.
“Shut up, that dumb book doesn’t know anything about me.”
“Oh yeah? Well get this; Capricorn is a sign that resents-I mean, represents time and responsibility, and its representatives—damn that’s a hard word— are traditional and often very serious by nature. Yep that sounds like you. Blah blah, possess an inner state of independence that enables you to… Hold on, I lost my place…” Hinata scrambles over the paragraph in front of him, his excitement getting ahead of his ability to read aloud.
“Just give me that, idiot.” Kageyama turns the book around so it is right side up for him. From the book, he reads this excerpt—
“Capricorn is a sign that represents time and responsibility, and its representatives are traditional and often very serious by nature. These individuals possess an inner state of independence that enables significant progress both in their personal and professional lives. They are masters of self-control and have the ability to lead the way, make solid and realistic plans, and manage many people who work for them at any time. They will learn from their mistakes and get to the top based solely on their experience and expertise .”
There’s a slight pause as Kageyama reads this paragraph and a sense of pride fills his chest. Perhaps he really is a Capricorn and astrology is not as stupid as it seems. It’s almost as if someone took his exact ideals and put it on this page in front of him.
“Lemme see that again,” Hinata says, flipping it back in his direction. He is turned completely around now and straddling the chair in front of Kageyama’s desk. If Kageyama had not just learned of his self-control from this stupid book, he would be wondering how he could keep his face so calm. Hinata looks very cosy in this lighting. His bright orange fluffy hair in contrast to the soft hood shielding the back of his neck. His small fingers barely poking through the end of his hoodie’s sleeves as he skims the page until he finds what he was looking for.
“Aha! Thought so.” Hinata shuts the book with a forceful hand.
“Thought so what?” Kageyama can not fathom what other psychic bullshit this book could have just told him. He has to know. “What does it say?”
“Aw, nothin’. Wanna go practice sets during free period?”
“Yes,” he responds tentatively, still eyeing the book full of secrets in front of him.
Hinata leaps from his chair, forgetting that he is straddling it, and falls hard to the ground. Falling being something he is very acquainted with, the boy gracefully stands from the floor as if nothing happened and gathers his things. He stuffs the astrology book in his school bag.
“Race ya!” Hinata shouts as he springs forward and out the classroom.
“Hinata Shōyō! How many times— KAGEYAMA-SAN, STOP RUNNI—.” he can hear the desperation in his teachers voice as he sprints from the classroom in pursuit of Hinata, but he doesn’t care. Get there first, is the only thing on his mind.
*~*~*
It is evening now, and the sun is setting outside of Kageyama’s window. He is lying back on his bed, his eyes moving with the volleyball he continuously tosses up and catches. This is how he spends most evenings when he is in his room alone and all of his training for the day is done. He likes to let his thoughts drift toward the future sometimes, thinking of how the ball in his hands will be there forever. That feeling of endlessness keeps him going every day.
Not out of the ordinary, his mind begins to linger on the idea of Hinata Shōyō. The way the light from the classroom window would glow against his soft hair and skin when he is snoozing on the desk in front of Kageyama. Or the way his whole face would crinkle when he smiles, especially after hitting a well-set ball on the court. Besides volleyball, these are the thoughts that never seem to make their way out of Kageyama’s brain. They just sit there, reminding him every day that Hinata Shōyō only exists to haunt him.
One particular thought comes tugging at the edges of Kageyama’s mind, nagging him to look further into it.
With a frustrated sigh, for no one to hear, Kageyama stands up from his bed and sets his volleyball down. He flips on his computer monitor as he sits down and waits for it to load. As soon as it comes on he pulls up a search engine and types in “astrology.”
A slew of vague articles and horoscopes fill the search results page, and he realizes quickly that he needs to be more specific. This time he types in “capricorn astrology,” and is a little more satisfied with the results.
Most of the article he found displays the same information from Hinata’s book, just worded slightly differently. At the bottom of the page there is a section titled “compatible signs” which included the list: Cancer, Virgo, and Taurus.
Kageyama’s brain flicks back to Hinata.
“You’re a goat! I’m a crab.” He remembers him saying.
A couple more taps on his keyboard reveals to him that Cancer is the sign of the crab. Cancer. He goes back to the original page for Capricorn that he was on. Still sitting there in bold letters, Compatible Signs: Cancer, Virgo, and Taurus.
Within minutes he is in a deep rabbit hole of articles explaining the compatibility between Capricorn and Cancer. He learns that Cancers are sensitive in nature, which makes a lot of sense. The further he reads the more everything clicks into place in his head.
“Capricorn tends to focus on building their professional and social image. They're very ambitious and attract partners who have that same drive.” Check.
From the same article, for Cancer it says “Finally there's your opposite sign, Capricorn. ‘Opposites can attract, especially when they work as a team in a balanced partnership,’ Lang says. Since you two are both very goal-oriented, this pairing can make for quite a powerful couple.” Also check. This is getting creepy.
An idea occurs to Kageyama as he is reading through these, and he pulls up his old teammate Oikawa Tooru’s social media page. The profile picture that comes up is of Oikawa flashing a peace sign to the camera and smiling as his boyfriend kisses his cheek.
Kageyama remembers the exact day, time, and where he was when he first saw their relationship status come up on his timeline.
Oikawa Tooru is in a relationship with Kuroo Tetsurō
The impact of seeing his idolic hero in a relationship with another boy was incredibly profound. He had spent a lot of time looking at their pictures. Where had they met, and how do they work together as a couple?
Using their profile information he gathers that Tooru is a Cancer (like Hinata) and Tetsurō is a Scorpio. Going back to the original article he had found, he reads that Cancers and Scorpios both have the need for emotional security. Based on the rest of the information, he wonders even more about how their relationship came to be. Scorpios have a tendency of knowing when they have an emotional connection, did Tetsurō make the first move?
After nearly an hour of looking for something to disprove all of this, he turns off his computer without any luck. Astrology seems to make sense to him almost in a similar fashion to how volleyball makes sense to him. It’s just like that, he thinks to himself.
With the clock striking his usual bed tone, Kageyama switches off his computer and starts to get ready for bed. His head is usually quieter at this hour, but currently a lot of information is processing at a fast rate through it. Staring at himself in the mirror as he brushes his
teeth, he considers the reason he was so excited by the articles he had read.
Toothpaste begins to foam over the corners of Kageyama’s mouth as his eyes start to dilate in wonderous thought. Maybe it is a crush. Crush? Crush. I am crushing on Hinata… Shoyo.
He comes to attention, realizing he is still drooling toothpaste onto his chin. He spits out the toothpaste and rinses his mouth with water, his cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk’s as he does so.
“Crush,” he tests the word on his lips, looking at himself in the mirror.
Kageyama’s cheeks turn pink as he glares down and begins rinsing his sink and toothbrush. He trudges back to his bedroom in a bewildered stupor. There is no way in hell this is what is actually going on; but he is alone in his room, able to think whatever he wants without anyone judging him. He entertains the idea of a crush on Hinata for a good while, letting it cement into his cerebral cortex.
Hinata Shōyō is energetic, ambitious, always positive, and very cute. Very, very, very cute. Every particle swirling through Kageyama Tobio’s thoughts are revolving around his beloved middle blocker and decoy. He feels the corners of his mouth tug involuntarily upwards as he considers the fact that his undeniable crush is more compatible with him than he had realized. One could say it is written in the stars.
For the first time, Kageyama allows his thoughts of Hinata to run rampant as he drifts to sleep.
*~*~*
It’s the next morning and Kageyama is on his usual jog. His head is empty of everything except Hinata and his findings from the evening before. He knows he is letting his daydreams and curious notions go too far for too long, but it continues to nag at him.
Auto-pilot must have taken over his body, because he finds himself in an unusual place for his normal routine. It isn’t until he sees Oikawa that he realizes what he had subconsciously done; went to the place he had last seen his senpai.
Oikawa is jogging by, nonchalantly, when he notices Tobio and yanks out his ear buds.
“What, are ya stalkin’ me or somethin’?” Oikawa sneers at Kageyama, who replies in silence. “Oh, c’mon, say somethin’ Tobio-Chan, why the long face?”
“I was wondering if you could give me some… advice,” Kageyama concedes, clenching his fists and looking to the side.
“Your settin’ a little off or somethin’?” Oikawa scratches his ear, looking disinterested.
“My setting is perfectly fine.” Kageyama sounds offended.
A minute goes by in more silence.
“Okay…” Oikawa’s eyes slant in confusion. “So what’s the problem, then?”
He begins to wrap his headphones around his phone as he waits for Kageyama to say something. Still nothing.
“Look, there’s a vending machine a little ways that way, wanna get a drink or something?” He offers, his tone a little lighter than before.
Kageyama nods, eyes cast to the ground.
A canned coffee falls into the dispenser with a loud kachunk. Oikawa grabs it and tosses it to Kageyama.
“So what’s on your mind, Tobio-Chan?” He asks as he punches in the code for his own can of coffee.
He seems nicer than he used to be, Kageyama notices. “I was wondering how… You and Tetsurō-Kun met?”
Oikawa registers the question for just half a second before he burst out into laughter.
“Hahahaha, sorry, jus’ gimme a second. Haha! What, you think your school’s the only one that sets up practice matches? Geez. ‘Sides, we go to the same university now. Your facebook stalking not tell you that, crow brain?” He leans onto the wall next to Kageyama and takes a swig from his coffee. Kageyama takes back the thought about him being nicer. He stares blankly down at his unopened coffee can.
“Okay but…” Kageyama starts slowly, making sure his next words don’t come out sounding as foolish as the first. “How did you know he likes you?”
Oikawa considers this for a moment, fingering the tab on the can he is holding. As he does so, his shoulders relax and he fixates on the empty space in front of him.
“Well, I didn’t at first. We had played a few practice matches, shared the usual competitive banter between captains, then one day out of the blue he emailed me askin’ to hang out. I didn’t realize it was a date until much later,” Oikawa admits, amusement playing on his lips as he glances into the past. “He basically had to straight up tell me, even after our first kiss. For all I knew, it coulda just been a really tender peck between two bros, y’know? Seems really stupid looking back on it. I don’t know why the hell I’m tellin’ all this to you.”
Oikawa walks forward and turns around to face Kageyama, who finally meets his eyes.
“Is this about Shrimpy?” he deducts, looking Kageyama up and down.
“Tch… N-no…” Kageyama denies with a falter, breaking his eye contact with Oikawa once again.
“Oh man, it totally is! I can’t wait to tell Tetsu-Chan about this.” Oikawa is leaning over in laughter.
“I don’t know if he likes me too.” A shadow looms over Kageyama’s face as he admits to multiple things in such a simple sentence. “I’ve been mean to him so many times.”
Oikawa’s laughter falters when he sees the deep frown set on his protégé’s face. He straightens his posture, steps forward, and places a gentle hand on Kageyama’s shoulder.
“You kiddin’ me? That little shrimp follows you around like a puppy with heart eyes. I think everybody but you knows he likes ya.”
A satisfied smirk falls on Oikawa’s face as he withdraws his hand and places it on his waist.
“Just tell Shrimpy how you feel. The worst that can happen is your heart getting broken. There are lots of other middle blockers in the sea, but ya can’t have mine.” Oikawa points a thumb at his face as he says this, his smirk spreading into a grin. “Cheer up, Tobio-Chan.”
Kageyama gives a shot at a smile, the corners of his mouth stiffly strutting upward. He bows cordially to his senior. “Thank you.”
“Ha! Guess that’ll do,” Oikawa says as he unwraps his headphones and begins placing them in his ears. “I gotta get going. See you around?”
There’s a slight pause to process before Kageyama gives a nod, and waves him goodbye. As he watches Oikawa jog away, he takes in his surroundings. How do I get home from here?
*~*~*
The familiar sound of synthetic leather hitting hardwood fills the gym as Kageyama focuses on his setting, eyes flicking intently between the ball in his hands and the space in front of the approaching spiker. With a steady heft, the ball makes its aimed trajectory as Tanaka slams it over the net.
“Nice kill!” Kageyama yells out of habit.
“Aw yeah, buddy! That one felt good!” Tanaka’s boisterous laughter shakes Kageyama in the spot as he slaps a hard hand on his back.
“Alright, let’s focus on serving for a little bit,” Coach Ukai dictates from the sidelines, holding his notebook underneath his arm. “Nishinoya, get in position. Hinata, you’re up first.”
“Aw, but I wanted to hit one more set!” Hinata complains from where he was waiting to go after Tanaka.
“Start improving your serves and you can hit more sets.” Coach Ukai says in a careless mutter.
Kageyama watches as Hinata’s shoulders slump slightly, but perk back up just as instantly. He picks up a ball from the caddy beside him and tosses it to him.
“Thanks!” Hinata says with a grin. He backs up a little to get in position for his serve, sending it over the net in a nicely shaped arc. Nishinoya receives the serve with ease, relaying the ball back to Hinata’s side of the net.
“Hey, that wasn’t too bad, Hinata! Almost got me!” Nishinoya praises as he gets back into receiving position.
“Alright!” Hinata exclaims as he jumps up in a starfish position.
Still wasn’t good enough, Kageyama thinks to himself. He doesn’t speak it aloud, though, because he is trying to be less condescending. He hates this new self-awareness that his spiral into astrology has given him.
Hinata joins him at the back of the line for serving practice. “Didja see that, Kageyama? Totally got it over the net!”
Kageyama stares down at him for a moment, fighting every urge to call him a no-good scrub whose serves would never make it past even a novice libero.
“Nice serve,” he says with a slight grimace, trying to feign it as a smile. Hinata’s eyes seem to sparkle even brighter after he says that.
Without missing a beat, Tsukishima chimes in from in front of them.
“What’s that I hear? Did the King of the Court just compliment mediocrity?” He leers at them through his glasses, lip curled upwards on one side.
“Tsukki, don’t.” Yamaguchi jabs him gently in the side with his elbow.
“Why not? When pigs fly, people talk.”
Kageyama rears up with a comeback but is cut short when from the side of the court a yell of despair erupts from Coach Ukai. “Nishinoya, why did you just do a backflip?!”
“It was a tactical backflip, Coach!”
Looking away from Tsukishima, Kageyama sees Nishinoya scramble to his feet.
“Please, I am begging you, never try that in a game.” Coach Ukai has one hand massaging his temples.
With another day of practice complete, the team resorts to their cleaning routines. Hinata runs while pushing the mop, his energy never lacking. Kageyama is practicing serving against a wall as he watches this from the corner of his eye. Once finished with his task, Hinata skips over to Kageyama with an expectant smile.
“Wanna practice more?” He asks, already knowing the answer.
“You two aren’t staying late again, are you?” Yachi asks in a tired voice, walking over to them with several balls in her arm. She dumps them into the ball caddy sitting next to Kageyama.
Both of them look at her dumbfounded, of course they are staying. She sighs, exasperated.
“Okay, but you guys have to clean up by yourselves this time. I have so much studying to cram, I can’t stay.” Yachi pulls a strand of her hair and tucks it behind her ear. She hands the key to Hinata with a grin. “We’ve done this before, so I have no reason not to trust you.”
“Right! Thanks, Yachi-Chan.” Hinata places the gym key in his right pocket.
She gives them a quick wave as she walks out the door, leaving them alone in the gym.
Kageyama realizes instantaneously that this is the first time he has been alone with Hinata since admitting to himself that he has a crush on him. His grip around the ball he is holding tightens as he struggles to find words.
“Sets?” is the only thing he can muster. Hinata nods in excitement.
“Yeah! I love hitting your sets. Let’s go!”
Their solitary practice goes on in silence until Hinata gets too antsy and breaks it. “You doing okay today, Kageyama?”
“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine,” he answers while sending a ball up.
Hinata jumps and smacks it forcefully. He smiles and looks at his gripped fist, clenching and unclenching as he does so. He looks up at Kageyama, standing in front of him now.
“I read something else about Capricorns last night,” Hinata admits, putting a hand behind his neck. “It said something about how you guys are so full of self-control and tradition that it might scare you when things get… different.”
“Different?” Kageyama drops the ball he had just picked up, it bounces to the floor with an echo.
“Okay, I started that off wrong, can I get a re-do?” Hinata’s voice is dripping with nervousness, which is something Kageyama can’t remember ever hearing.
“Sure…” Kageyama is just standing still now, his limbs turning numb.
“Oh man, okay, uhm…” As Hinata flusters, his cheeks begin turning red. His fingers tentatively press together. “I realized this a long time ago, but I haven’t said anything because I was a little scared of how you’d react and also lots of other factors, but I think you feel scared like that too, at least that’s what that book told me, ohmygod why am I talking so much.”
Kageyama listens to the rambling, letting every word stick in this time. The gears in his brain are working at a much faster rate than he is used to. “Are you… telling me how you feel?”
“Didn’t I say ‘feel’ like three times?” Hinata crosses his arms and looks to the side, his cheeks bright red.
“No, you said it once and it was about me.”
“Oh. Well I know I said I was scared, because I am.” Hinata’s feet begin fidgeting, as if staying still for this long is going to kill him. Kageyama realizes that Hinata is done talking without prompts, and he remembers the advice he had recently received.
Just ask him how he feels.
“Why are you scared?” Kageyama asks, his shoulders tensing. The floodgates slam open.
“Because you’ve never actually said anything nice to me, you’ve never said yes to hanging out with me outside of practice, and you always have this dopey look on your face when I catch you staring at me so I can’t tell if you were just dazing into space in my direction or if you were actually looking at me, and also there’s so much at stake when you think about it because our team dynamic has a lot to do with how well we play together and I really don’t want to mess that up but when I think really hard about it, which I do a LOT all I can think of is how I want to like… hold your hand and stuff. And see you outside of this gym and like… oh man, it’s out now, I like… really like you, Kageyama.” Hinata’s eyes widen after this involuntary word vomit, and he quickly looks down at the ground.
“Wh-Why? Like you said, I’ve never been nice to you. So why do you like me?” There is almost a tinge of anger in Kageyama’s voice. He can feel his blood start to boil from deep down. A domino effect of thoughts collapse into Kegeyama’s conscience as he analyzes the scenario. Every rude thing he had ever said or done to Hinata is playing like an action montage in his head.
“Because you’re super cool, and really good at volleyball, and also you look really cute when you’re mean. I’ve always liked you.” Hinata tugs at the bottom of his white shirt, fingering the edges.
“I am… sorry for being…”
“You?” Hinata’s nervous expression breaks with a grin.
“Yeah. I like… you too.” Kageyama takes a small step forward, Hinata gulps.
Hinata takes a step forward too, leaving not much room between them. He looks up at Kageyama with an unexpected look of serenity on his face. Kageyama had already seen so many different sides of Hinata in these past moments. How many more sides are hidden?
“You’re supposed to kiss me now,” Hinata says with a slightly furrowed brow.
“Oh,” Kageyama responds, his cheeks flushing as his heart rate increases.
With just a little nudge of bravery tugging at Kageyama’s chest, he leans down and brushes Hinata’s lips with his. It is a sloppy, incredibly inexperienced kiss that grows with intensity as the two of them concede to their feelings. He can feel the anxiety flee from Hinata’s body as it melts into his shape. So much fear between the two, and all of it is lifted with a single kiss like this.
“Glad I stole that astrology book from my little sister,” Hinata giggles at the end of the kiss.
“I knew it! You loser.”
“Yeah? Well this loser just kissed Kageyama Tobio! Guess that makes him a loser too, huh?” Hinata laughs as he walks over to the ball caddy and retrieves a volleyball.
“Guess so,” Kageyama admits. He catches the ball that Hinata tosses to him.
“Toss me another set, loser!”
--End--