Work Text:
Kageyama Tobio was of the opinion that if true bliss, true happiness was a person, it would take the form of a certain orange-haired volleyball player.
He finds it difficult to describe exactly how Hinata Shouyou makes him feel. Just hearing his voice, or seeing his smile or feeling his presence causes his entire body to practically bubble and fizz with an inhumane level of euphoria.
Kageyama is regarded as cold, calculating, callous and controlling.
That is until you put him in the bewitching presence of Hinata Shouyou. Despite his efforts to hide it, colour tiptoes across his face. The light in his eyes awakens, it gleams and glitters in desire. His features soften; the threads of that tightly-knit frown unravel every so carefully to expose a very un-Kageyama-like expression.
Love.
Although he doesn’t vocalise it much, Kageyama loves Hinata with his whole entire soul.
This boy, this loud, overbearing, cacophonous boy with his chaotic curls and lopsided grin erupted into his dull, tedious, muted life and gave it colour. Vivid, radiant, vivacious colour: blues, yellows, pinks, purples, oranges. Hinata offered happiness to Kageyama’s pitiful life when it needed it the most. He rescued him from the suffocating, smothering isolation Kageyama had crashed into. He gave him a friend, a partner, a soulmate.
They had been dating since their second year at Karasuno. The amount they had experienced in the many years of being together, the lessons they had learned, the boundaries they had overcome. They had suffered through a long distance relationship for a while and, although it included a lot of sleepless nights, distant phone calls and relentless pining, Tobio would do it all over again in a heartbeat, just to end up where they are now. Reunited, living together, even more in love and playing volleyball as teammates on the world stage, just like they had promised.
All these memories. Kageyama likes to reflect back on it all, especially when a sleepy Hinata is tucked into his arms, quietly snoring into his chest, with his soft fingers absently tracing circles around Kagayama’s bigger palms.
Take their first kiss, for example. They were outside Hinata’s house; it was late in the evening, and they had been walking home after a very late practice. Hinata had stood on his tiptoes and had shyly pressed their lips together. It was so soft, so gentle, so beautiful. God, the very thought of it makes his lips tingle and his heart beat painfully in his chest. He likes soft kisses.
He also likes passionate kisses. Like when Kageyama presses Hinata against a wall, letting the smaller boy warp his legs around his waist. Their tongues meet in a passionate fury, a clash of teeth, lips and salvia. It’s a frenzy of hands, snaking up spines or cupping jaws. Muffled moans, biting lips, breathless confessions.
It works. They work.
Kageyama, for the first time in his life, can confidently say he feels loved and appreciated. And there is no greater feeling than knowing there’s someone who will care for you and trust you and be there for you unconditionally.
||
It’s dark outside, and the clock on the bedside table tells Kageyama it’s 10 minutes to 2 am.
After his long day at practice, Hinata had come staggering into their shared apartment, found their bed in a daze and had crashed out almost instantly still with, Kageyama had noticed lovingly, his training shirt on. Tobio, however, had stayed up later, which seemed to be becoming more of a habit recently, to watch his next opponent’s previous match. Finally, with his whole body screaming for some rest, he had begrudgingly trundled off to bed, his mind still processing every subtle movement and crafty signals he had managed to pick out from the match.
Hinata slept like a starfish. Everytime Kageyama came to sleep, he was forced to gingerly relocate limbs to free up his side of the bed. Not that it would make much difference, Hinata would end up intertwining a leg or an arm around his boyfriend anyway. In the morning, Kageyama would complain about the drool on his chest or the lack of space he gets, but both men know he wouldn't want to wake up any other way.
Kageyama lies in bed for a while, patiently waiting to be lulled into a comforting sleep. The slow, consistent breaths that came from the figure lying next to him feels like a lullaby, they sooth him, they offer him solace, they relax his overworked body and his racing mind. Kageyama feels his breath deepen, as he falls into a slumber.
‘Tobio.’
A sharp whisper jolts Kageyama from his doze. Still half-asleep, he blindly fumbles for a light, his fingers press on the switch and suddenly the whole room is illuminated. And there is Hinata Shouyou, staring down at him, pouting.
Tobio squints up at him, his vision still blurry with weariness. He peers from his strangely-determined looking boyfriend to the clock. It reads 4:34 am.
‘What the hell, Shouyou.’ he sits up, pushing his fringe away and rubbing his eyes. ‘It’s 4 fucking am in the morning.’
Hinata shuffles forward, with surprising speed and energy for someone up at such a ridiculous hour. He drapes his legs over Kageyama’s lap and grins up at him, ignoring his angry scowl.
‘I’ve remembered something I wanna ask you’
Kageyama’s frown deepens. ‘And it couldn’t wait until morning?’
Shouyou giggles. ‘I want to say it now. I’m excited.’ He leans closer, placing an elbow on Kageyama’s chest so that he can prop himself up to look at his boyfriend in the eye.
Kageyama sighs.
Shouyou grins at him.
‘Let’s go away together. Like a holiday. A break. I have an aunt who lives really really far away near some beautiful coast..and well she wants to see us. Can we visit.’
A pause.
‘Fine.’ Kageyama finally grumbles. He then pushes Hinata off him and reaches over to turn the light off. The room is once again plunged into darkness.
‘Tobio.’ Hinata squeaks into the black room. ‘I’m really glad you said yes.’
Kageyama just sighs. ‘You could have waited until morning.’
‘I was too excited,’ Shouyou protests. ‘We’ve never really been on a trip together. It’ll be super romantic.’
In spite of himself, Tobio smiles. ‘Go to sleep, silly.’ he murmurs gently.
He can feel Hinata move towards him, so he extends his arm, locating his boyfriend’s shoulder, and pulls him closer towards him. Shouyou sighs happily, before burying his head into Kageyama’s chest. Kageyama falls asleep much quicker this time, surrounded by that familiar sweet smell of Hinata’s strawberry shampoo.
||
‘Have you got everything?’ Kageyama yells into the apartment. He’s beginning to get impatient. They have already attempted to drive off 4 times, and each time Hinata has screamed loudly that he’s left something behind, before dashing back into their building.
It’s been a couple of weeks since Hinata’s late night suggestion. Their trip had now descended on them, and Hinata, in his endless excitement, had been packing since yesterday morning.
The trip had surprisingly taken a while to arrange. They had to schedule it around volleyball, of course, but there are no important matches coming up for a few weeks, and everyone keeps constantly telling them they deserve this well-needed break. Kageyama, despite his complaints about this separation from the court, is excited.
Finally, Hinata emerges, triumphantly clutching a dozen new items in his arms. He staggers as he tries to balance them all.
It’s a mess. He has a neck pillow on, and four different hats balanced on his head. In his arms, he carries 2 pairs of shoes, a camera, a plushie, about 200 magazines and a volleyball. Four heavy looking backpacks swing off his shoulders, 2 on each side. He doesn’t look like he’s affected by the weight at all though. His shoulders, as he frequently likes to remind Kageyama, are extremely broad, multiplying in size when he was in Brazil. And although Tobio would never openly admit this in risk of bruising his own pride, he absolutely adored how broad they are: they act as a reminder of all the effort and hard work Hinata put into volleyball in Brazil. It makes Kageyama so proud.
‘Shou, you don’t even need all this stuff.’ Kageyama grumbles as he retrieves some of the looser items that look as if they are about to tumble from his arms. ‘We already have so much in the car, it will be a goddamn miracle if we fit in ourselves.’
‘Always so grumpy Bakageyama.’ Hinata smirks playfully. He leans away from Tobio as he tries to take the neck pillow away from him, and bounds down the steps towards the car, sending 6 magazines sliding their way to the floor.
‘I need to make sure we have everything. I just want this to be perfect.’ Shouyou's tone drops a little at the end, and he stares bashfully at the floor, where the magazines lie.
‘Stupid. It will be perfect, I promise. Even if we forget everything.’ Kageyama’s tone is still harsh, but his words carry a gentleness. He bends down to pick up Hinata’s collateral damage.
Together, they stuff every last bit of luggage into Kageyama’s small car, until every crack is pushed to the extreme with piles of socks or bags of food. They slide, with difficulty, into their seats. It is decided that Kageyama should drive (he was undoubtedly the better driver, though Hinata was adamant he was sometimes a little on the slow side).
Kageyama reverses the car out of its parking space, and Shouyou gives a loud whoop of joy, he watches their apartment building fade in the distance as the car makes its way down the street.
And so their stupid dumb little trip started.
||
The next few hours touched Kageyama in a way he will never be able to describe. Sitting there, listening to the sweet, innocent tones of Hinata’s voice accompanying the soft crackingly that admitted from the car radio left him with such an overwhelming feeling of warmth. Of safety. Of security.
The windows are rolled down, the hot air of summer filters in, delicately blowing against Kageyama’s face, causing his bangs to flitter about his forehead. Hinata is in the middle of describing some overly-complex hypothetical situation that sounds like something along the lines of playing volleyball with superpowers. Kageyama listens patiently, not because he’s interested in learning about this weird alternate universe Shouyou has managed to create, but because he enjoys hearing the sound of his boyfriend’s voice when he’s telling a story. The way his pitch heightens when he gets to a thrilling moment, or the way he bits down on his lip when he’s trying to figure out what he wants to say next. Tobio just lets the boy talk, grateful he’s never pressured to give an equally lengthy response. Hinata mostly talks. Kageyama mostly listens. That’s the way it’s always been. It suits them both.
After a while, Hinata finishes his story and begins rummaging around the car. Kageyama watches him from the corner of his eye as his boyfriend pulls out his phone. He checks the time.
‘Hey Kageyama,’ Hinata lifts his head to look up at the taller boy. ‘How long do we have until we get there?’
They have decided to drive to the coast. Despite the promise of a long and exhausting drive, Kageyama, the cheap, parsimonious little shit, had vowed that a plane ticket would be far too expensive.
Shouyou’s aunt lives by a beach, said to be one of the most breathtaking ones out there. It’s been a while since Hinata last saw her, with her living so far away, and Kageyama hasn’t even met her yet. So she had requested that they both stay at her house for a few nights.
‘Dumbass, do you not read the signs? We have about an hour.’
Shouyou rests his head on the window, his eyes follow the fields and hills as they pass by them in a slow green haze. He yawns.
It takes 2 seconds for Shouyou to completely fall asleep.
And so Kageyama is left. No more dumb stories to fill up the silence, no more useless questions, or contagious giggles. There’s only the occasional bump of the car against the road, and the soft, quiet sighs that sometimes come from the sleeping boy in the passenger seat beside him.
The minutes merge into each other, and it isn’t long before the remaining hour is over. They arrive at Hinata’s aunt’s house early evening, and Kageyama reverses the car into her small gravel drive. Hinata, he sees, is still asleep. Kageyama switches the car off, and sits for a while, just admiring his sleepy boyfriend.
His curls are cascading around his face: some fall over his eyes, whilst some are cushioned up against the window of the car. They are messy, they are bright, they are wild, they are beautiful. Long eyelashes rest against his pink cheeks, and all his small features seem so relaxed. Kageyama’s gaze lingers slightly on his lips. It’s not often you see his lips closed; normally random words, and excitable sentences are spilling out of them. But here, Kageyama can truly appreciate how soft they look, how perfectly shaped they are. A delicate cupids bow, a rosy bottom lip stretched ever so slightly into that dreamy half-smile. Upon instinct, Tobio’s fingers reach out to ever so gently touch the resting boy’s mouth. They trace the shape, as if trying to memorise exactly how each line feels against his fingertips.
Hinata’s eyes flicker open.
Tobio draws his hand back quickly.
A smile creeps its way onto the smaller man’s face.
‘Tobio-kun.’ Hinata lifts his head from the window, and rubs his eyes, before shuffling forward and placing his chin on Kageyama’s shoulder. ‘If you like my lips so much, just kiss them,’ he teases, his warm eyes never leaving Kageyama’s own.
‘Stop.’ Kageyama warns. ‘We have arrived anyway. Let’s go.’ He makes to get out of the car, but strong hands grab his waist, pulling him back into his seat. Before words of complaint can leave him, soft lips make contact with his jaw.
‘Shouyou.’ Kageyama whispers, as Hinata presses soft, butterfly kisses across his jaw. In response, Shouyou’s fingers cup his chin, turning Tobio’s face around until their lips are inches away.
It’s a soft kiss this time. Lasts about 3 seconds. Their lips fit together perfectly, it’s warmth against warmth, smooth against smooth. It’s like falling into a freshly made bed, or curling up in fluffy blankets or drinking that first sip of hot, sweet tea. Time seems to fall apart, the threads of consistency or realism unravel until it’s just two people, loving each other as hard as they can.
Then the moment is over.
Their brains start functioning again, and they break apart. Hinata giggles, then pushes open his car door and leaps out of the vehicle. Before Kageyama has time to move, Shouyou is bounding up the driveway and knocking heavily on his aunt’s door.
The hinges swing open, and a short woman stands in the door frame. Like Shouyou, she has soft orange curls, but they lack the same wildness as his. Instead, they hang neatly over her shoulders in small, tame ringlets. With a delighted yelp, she pulls her nephew into an affectionate embrace. Their laughter rings out happily as they squeal their greetings.
Kageyama slowly gets out of the car, unsure of what to do. Not wishing to intrude on this family reunion, he fumbles awkwardly with his keys. That is until Hinata’s aunt spots him from over Shouyou’s shoulder and, with surprising agility, she skips down the path and pulls him into the same tight hug she had just gifted her nephew. Kageyama turns scarlet.
‘Kageyama-san!’ she exclaims. ‘So lovely to finally meet you.’
‘You t-too,’ he splutters, his cheek burning. He hears Hinata snigger.
She mustn't have noticed his initial discomfort, as she carries on unscathed, beaming up at him.
‘Gosh you are so tall and so very handsome,’ she gushes, throwing a knowing glance at Shouyou.
Without expecting a response, she leads him up her driveway before inviting him inside. Her front door leads into a bright, open room. There’s a huge window that occupies most of the left wall. Evening light lazily floats in, painting the entire room in a hazy, golden glow.
Kageyama steps into the space, and a small gasp of surprise leaves him. For, covering nearly every wall, stacked up against bookshelves and pushed into any small gap this room could offer are paintings. Kageyama doesn’t know much about art, but he can confidently say that these paintings are the most mesmerizing things he’s ever seen. Some of them are of people, others of objects, or landscapes. But every single one contains so much detail, each brushstroke seems so delicately placed. Colours are so masterfully intertwined, each one bringing a new, interesting dynamic to the painting. Love, passion, nostalgia, happiness or loneliness: each painting seems to ooze with a different emotion.
Tobio is speechless.
‘Don’t mind the mess.’ Hinata’s aunt’s voice snaps him out of his dissociated state. He can feel Hinata coming up behind him.
‘God, these are incredible!’ Shouyou squeals. He rushes over to the closest one, bending down to further appreciate each detail. It’s a painting of the sea. Every shade of blue imaginable seethes together to create soft waves and perfectly placed white highlights create the sensation of spray. It looks so real.
‘Thank you, Shou-chan. I’ve been painting a lot more recently, I've been feeling creative.’ she laughs.
‘W-wait. These are yours?’ Kageyama splutters incredulously.
This makes her laugh harder. She nods.
‘They are incredible.’ he offers simply.
‘Thank you.’ she says again.
||
They all sit at the dining table, tucking into the delicious curry rice Shouyou’s aunt had prepared. Hinata is in the middle of describing a particularly gripping volleyball match he had played with the Black Jackals. Kageyama smiles into his bowl. He could tell Hinata’s aunt didn’t have a clue what her nephew was talking about. It seemed the only person who could truly understand Hinata’s strange choice of language was Tobio.
‘And then the ball went WHOOSH- then I ran for it- and I jumped like AHH - then BAM.’ He finishes dramatically. He stares expectantly at his aunt, who only offers him the blankest of stares. Kageyama snorts.
‘Dumbass, no one can understand what you are saying,’ he gently reminds his boyfriend.
‘But you always can,’ Shouyou pouts.
His aunt laughs. ‘Well that’s different Shou-chan. You guys are soulmates.’ she says matter-of-factly. She pretends not to notice their sudden blazing cheeks, and instead opts to collect away all the bowls after the meal. She moves towards the kitchen, dumping the bowls by the sink.
‘Hey. I’ve made a list of all the things you should do whilst you are here. I’ve got a painting to finish, so you two can explore this place yourself,’ she says, as she slides back into her chair.
‘Thank you very much. That’s very kind of you,’ Kageyama says politely, bowing his head slightly.
‘Always so formal, Tobio,’ Shouyou giggles, elbowing his boyfriend in the ribs. Kageyama scowls at him.
It’s quite late now; the sky has turned dark, and flies hum lazily outside the open windows of the kitchen. The cool evening breeze filters in. Shouyou yawns loudly.
‘Time for bed huh?’ his aunt asks. ‘Come on, I’ll show you the spare room.’
They all stand, and she leads the two men through her house. She shows them into their room. Two of their bags are already in there, though most of their stuff is still packed tightly in the car. Shouyou’s aunt beckons them both a goodnight, smiles gratefully at their chorus of thanks and wanders off to her own room.
As soon as she’s gone, Shouyou grins up at his boyfriend.
‘What.’ Kageyama demands bluntly, frowning. When Hinata gives him that specific grin, it usually means he wants something.
‘We’re soulmates.’ Hinata beams. He takes a step closer, slipping his hand into Tobio’s bigger one. He stares up at the taller man, his eyes dart and dive with mischief.
Tobio’s frown deepens. Stupid Hinata, always so blunt, so straightforward. The word ‘soulmate’ has been hanging heavily in his mind since it was spoken at the dinner. It made him blush slightly, and Kageyama hated blushing.
‘I want to kiss you. Soulmate,’ Shouyou teases.
Kageyama clears his throat. ‘Kiss me then.’
Hinata doesn’t need asking again. He presses his lips against his. Hands come up to Kageyama’s jaw; he angles his boyfriend’s face so that they can deepen the kiss. Tobio sucks on Shouyou’s bottom lip, and his heart tucks and dives as their tongues meet. Kageyama lets his hands wander up to Shouyou’s waist. He grabs a hold of his body tightly, and carries him to the bed. Hinata falls onto it, and Kageyama climbs on top of him, pushing him slightly against the wall.
It’s a passionate kiss. Heat. Fury. Fire. An intensity surges between them; their limbs, their lips, their minds, every part of them is intertwined, interconnected. Desperation seizes Tobio. His hands stroke up and down Hinata’s back, clawing at his spine as if it were his life support. He bites at Hinata’s bottom lip, and smirks when the smaller man responds with a smothered moan.
The way Hinata’s tongue moves against his, the way his hands grasp as his jaw, the way he looks so deeply into him when they break apart to take a breath, and the way he surges forward, desperate for more contact. Everything about Hinata is perfect.
They fall asleep like that, with barely any distance between them, arms and legs interlocked in a tight hold, just all limbs and love.
||
The morning came and went. When they awoke, Hinata’s aunt was out, but had left a note on the kitchen table. Her elegant handwriting informed them of her departure to an art event. She had also left them a map of the coast, with one particular spot circled - no doubt her recommendation for the day.
After too many missed turns, too many misinterpretations of the map and too many awkward interactions with strangers to receive directions, Tobio and Shouyou finally found themselves on the beach his aunt had recommended.
It is a hidden beach, and has only one way of access. A thin, but horrendously long staircase, eroding slightly at the edges of each step, had been placed so inconspicuously between two high cliffs. It doesn’t look like the most auspicious thing to walk down. Weeds peak up at them from the dirty depths of each broken crack in the concrete, and the thin, weak-looking railing, covered in grim scratches and years and years of undisturbed muck, offers them little support in their dangerous descent to the beach that lay many feet below them.
‘Wow. This looks..um..’ Kageyama starts, viewing the pathetic excuse for a staircase with a wrinkled brow.
‘Exciting!’ Shouyou finishes.
‘Um, I was thinking more… risky.’
Shouyou leans over the small railing, and Kageyama instinctively reaches for his waist when the metal starts creaking and swaying threateningly. Shouyou lets out a giggle, completely unfazed by the clear hazards, and his laughter echoes in the strong breeze that whips around them.
‘I can’t see the beach yet.’ he smiles, leaning even further over the railing. Kageyama tightens his grip.
‘You idiot. The railing won’t hold your weight.’ he scowls.
Hinata whips around, the corner of his eyes easing into a fond smile.
‘Are you calling me fat?’ he cries in mock disbelief.
In spite of himself, Kageyama starts grinning.
‘Maybe I am,’ he reports as he grabs for Hinata’s curls, pulling him into that familiar hair grip.
‘Hey Tobio. Race you to the bottom.’
Despite his previous worries about the broken stairs and the weak railing and the high possibility of them both tumbling to their death, Kageyama can’t help but accept the challenge.
Scatters of loud laughter and ecstatic hollers of joy bounce off the cliffs’ walls, as the two idiots bound and trip and jump down the unsteady steps, their stupidly high stamina allowing them to bounce down in a speed so ridiculously fast it parallels that of the powerful wind.
‘I w-win.’ Kageyama pants heavily, collapsing on the hard rock of the last step. ‘You must be slacking Shou, that was an easy victor..’
‘Tobio.’ Shouyou cuts him off.
Kageyama jerks his head up quickly at the quiet tone of his usually loud boyfriend. Hinata is looking past him, his eyes shining in wonder. Tobio follows his gaze, and his mouth hangs open slightly at the view that presents itself to him.
It’s beautiful. The beach looks as if some god had come down and arranged every stone or every wave or every grain of sand in the most perfect way. The water is a breathtaking blue; it shimmered and sparkled in the light of the sun. It is refreshingly clear, like a turquoise tinted mirror. Waves roll gently over the pale sand, decorating the seafront with a frothy white.
But the best part is the pebbles. Each small single stone seems to be painted in a different colour. The brightest of pinks or yellows, the darkest of blacks or purples, it’s a mutiny of rainbows. The stacks and stacks of pebbles or sea glass or shells sunbathe under the brilliance of the deep blue sky, tantalisingly tempting anyone to come and view their astonishing range of shades. Kageyama has never seen anything like it. The beach looks as if a patchwork quilt has been thrown over it.
Tobio feels a smaller hand slip into his. Shouyou looks up at him, biting his lip in enthusiasm.
‘Let’s pick out a stone for each other.’ he beams earnestly.
Kageyama snorts. ‘How cliche.’
Still, he allows Hinata to pull him towards the gorgeous carpet of colour.
They spend at least half an hour rifling through the stones. Each time Kageyama reckons he’s found the prettiest one, the next one his gaze falls on seems to outmatch it.
That is until he finds the perfect one. Everything about it screams Shouyou, and he knows the stupidly giddy boy, who is currently about 10 meters away, kneeling between the rocks, biting his lip in concentration and muttering some random gibberish to himself, will utterly love it.
He sits back and waits for Shouyou to finish, sighing annoyingly loud, in order to communicate that he has, yet again, finished before Hinata.
Finally, the smaller man seems to cease the excessive searching and, with a triumphant yelp, bounds towards Kageyama. He knees just in front of him, and holds out his hand.
A perfectly round stone sits in his palm. It’s strangely smooth, and almost looks as if it would be soft to touch. It’s the colour, however, that sends waves of affection washing over Kageyama. Hinata has picked out the most perfect shade of dark blue. It’s deep and rich, like dark velvet, and reminds Kageyama of the sky when dusk begins to settle: when it's not yet black, but a beautiful navy blue. Along the surface of the stone, Kageyama realises with a jolt, are small specks of white, so pure and light. Against the dark blue, they look like stars.
Stars. Suddenly, Kageyama forgets how to breathe.
Hinata had picked out a stone that exactly reflected how the sky had looked on the night of their first ever kiss. Tobio remembers it so well: the dazzling constellations that had been scattered so delicately against the beauty of the intense sky.
His eyes find Shouyou’s. The boy is practically bubbling with sheer pride.
‘Our..’ Tobio tries to say, but the words struggle to get past the lump in his throat.
‘Our first kiss.’ Shouyou assists, with a huge grin plastered across his face. His delight, no doubt at reverting Kageyama into nothing but a puddle on the floor, radiates off him.
In response, Kageyama choses to use actions, seeing as words provide him no emotional backup. He surges forward, until their faces are inches away. But instead of kissing him, he rubs his nose against Hinata’s. Shouyou whimpers, overcome with instant joy. This particular display of affection is a rarity from Kageyama, as he often feels quite bashful whenever he does it. However, he appreciates how much power this simple gesture has. It’s so pure, so gentle, and Hinata adores it. So Kageyama only reverts to using it when he sees it as absolutely necessary. That way, he deducts, it will have a greater effect on Hinata, and will show to him that Kageyama wants to express a sudden burst of love, the sort of emotion his useless words can’t quite explain.
When he pulls away, Hinata pouts at the loss of contact. Kageyama ignores his boyfriend’s clear want for him to do it again, and instead waves his closed fist in front of him. This peaks Shouyou’s excitement, who catches Kageyama’s hand, and wastes no time in prying open his fingers.
A gasp leaves his mouth.
Kageyama’s fingers reveal a small but incredibly bright stone. It looks almost as if it’s glowing, projecting a beautiful haze of light around Kageyama’s hand. It’s a vivid and vibrant orange, of course the same shade as Hinata’s irresistible curls. But, Kageyama didn’t pick it out because it was of a similar shade. Rather, he selected it because it looked as if it was a tiny fragment from the sun itself. The dazzling shine of warm colours caused the pebble to look harrowingly similar to that of a sunbeam. And Kageyama could think of no other fitting pebble for Shouyou than a little piece of the sun. He was, after all, the perfect embodiment of it.
Hinata took the stone gingerly from Kageyama’s relaxed grip. Kageyama watches, with an air of satisfaction, as his incredibly easily pleased boyfriend yelps in excitement. His eyes shine at the radiating rock and he wastes no time in throwing his arms around Kageyama’s shoulders, pressing his head against the taller man’s chest.
‘It’s beautiful,’ he squeaks.
‘You’re beautiful,’ Kageyama thinks.
They spend the rest of the day doing more typical beach things. Of course they have brought a volleyball, so the first few hours belong to the constant passing of the ball, or the refining of certain skills. However, in the blazing heat of the midday sun, Hinata finally declares he wants to swim. The ocean, he claims, has been tempting him for a while now with its tantalizing blueness.
Kageyama begrudgingly agrees, but doesn’t realise how bad of a choice that is until it's too late. Because, as it turns out, Kageyama is horrifically bad at swimming. His limbs are too long and his patience too thin to glide graciously in the water. He doesn’t like getting his hair wet: his bangs stick weirdly to his forehead and he’s decided water is too strange of a texture to feel comfortable surrounded by it. He looks like some 6 foot tall, drowning rat, struggling pathetically against the gentle waves as if they were tsunamis. To make matters even worse, all he can hear are Hinata’s loud, gleeful fits of laughter.
‘Stop laughing!’ he splutters.
Hinata doesn’t. Instead, his giggling gets louder. Tobio wants nothing more than to reach out and grab Hinata aggressively, and shake him until all his taunting laughter falls out of him, but unfortunately he can’t find his balance in the water. Instead, much to his fear, he feels himself losing that slither of control that thus far had miraculously kept his face above the surface. To his horror, he is now pulled back into the water, so that his head is entirely submerged. He sputters and kicks, but his limbs just flail about him aimlessly, and he can’t regain any form of stability.
Strong hands make contact with his arms, and he feels Hinata pulling him up. He rises up above the surface with loud gasps for breath. Hinata, to Kageyama’s annoyance, is still giggling but doesn’t let go from where his fingers are wrapped around Kageyama’s arm. He guides him to a shallow part, closer to the beach. Kageyama’s feet make contact with the soft sand.
For a moment, he says nothing, but stares angrily at the water, as if it had personally tried to make his swimming experience a nightmare just to mock him. This look of wrath proves too much for Hinata, who bursts into a loud scream of laughter.
Kageyama scowls. ‘Don’t laugh, stupid,’ he growls, a faint hue of embarrassment settling on his cheeks. He turns away from his obnoxiously loud boyfriend and makes to wade back to the shore. However, Hinata grabs his wrist, and pulls him back to face him.
‘I’m sorry, ok?’ he says. He doesn’t sound very sorry, however, in fact his tone is laced with a glimmer of smugness, which Kageyama regards with a frown. He gives Shouyou the best bitter glare he can.
Hinata flinches at this truly horrifying look of pure annoyance, but he still doesn’t slacken the grip he has on Tobio’s wrists.
‘Ok. Ok. I swear there will be no more laughing.’
‘Better not be.’ Kageyama responded shortly.
‘Hey.’ Shouyou’s volume drops a little, and the word comes out soft, as he pulls Kageyama a little closer to him. ‘Let me help you swim.’
And he does. Despite his original distemper, Kageyama did learn to relax under Hinata’s hold, and it isn’t long before he’s able to comfortably float. He even attempts a few strokes, under the circumstances that Hinata doesn’t laugh at him and also doesn’t let go of his hand.
They stay at that beach until the sun begins to bleed into the horizon in a haze of vivid oranges and watery blues, colours that reminded Kageyama of one of Hinata’s aunt’s paintings.
He shifts his gaze towards his boyfriend. His face is turned towards the sky, and all the beautiful colours are projected across it.
Kageyama will never forget that sight. The sight of Hinata's face, a lingering smile teasing at his lips, with his eyes wide, drinking in the shades of the sky. All his features are at peace, there’s nothing but unfiltered content brimming out of him.
This is love. Love at its most strongest, at its most vulnerable. Just two people, each their greatest rival, their greatest teammate. Just two people under the shades of love that stretch across the sky above them.
Kageyama Tobio was of the opinion that if true bliss, true happiness was a person, it would take the form of a certain orange-haired volleyball player.