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“Absolutely not,” Kageyama spits, much to Hinata’s dismay.
“But—” Hinata cuts himself off at Kageyama’s sharp glare. He crosses his arms and huffs as he watches the other boy get ready to practice his jump serves. He was only asking this one thing of him! And he totally owed Hinata after he had bought him his favorite milk when Kageyama forgot his lunch money last week. Besides, it’s not like Kageyama wouldn’t get anything out of it!
It was October 31st. Hinata had been jumpy all practice, missing the ball several times and nearly getting hit in the face. Suga had been shooting him concerned glances out of the corner of his eye, and Ukai had told him to calm down or get sent home early. But Hinata was just so nervous.
Halloween was one of Hinata’s favorite holidays. The dressing up, the candy, the scary movies that played on tv— they all concocted into the one day a year Hinata was allowed to stuff himself full of chocolate and wear whatever he wanted without getting judged for it. And this year, his mom finally trusted him enough to go out on his own. On two conditions. Hinata had to take Natsu with him, and he had to go with at least one other person. Which wasn’t something he really minded. He just wanted to get as much candy as possible… but he wanted to do it with his friends, not while babysitting his little sister.
So he came up with the absolutely ingenious plan of asking Kageyama to go with him. He had cornered the taller boy after practice, begging him to go trick-or-treating with him. To which he got a solid and forceful no.
Hinata pouted as he thought of what he’s going to have to tell Natsu. She was so excited to go this year, and their mom had spent so much time making his sister’s costume. Maybe he could ask someone else from the team… but Yamaguchi had told him that he and Tsukishima were going to binge the Saw movies. Suga had dragged Daichi and Asahi from the club room as soon as they changed to get ready for a Halloween party a fellow upperclassman was throwing, and wherever Asahi went, Nishinoya was sure to follow. Tanaka was staying home to hand out candy, and Yachi’s mom didn’t let her go trick-or-treating because it was 'just an excuse to rot your teeth’ or some other dumb reason. Ennoshita, Narita, and Kinoshita had left to get their own costumes ready, and Hinata had considered asking to join them, but he didn’t want to ruin their night by suddenly adding two hyper-active Hinata siblings if they already had their own plans.
Sighing, Hinata gloomily looks down at his shoes as he realizes that no, him and Natsu weren’t going to be able to go trick-or-treating this year. And his costume was so cool, too! He had even brought it with him so his mom could just drive over the mountain and drop Natsu off, instead of him having to bike home and back. Maybe he could ask their mom to go with him… but she had planned to relax at home… and she hadn’t gotten a night off of work in a while.
“Fine.”
Hinata snaps his head up. “Wha..?”
Kageyama was facing away from him, clutching a volleyball in his hands. “I said fine.” He started to put the volleyballs away as Hinata stared at him in shock. “But I’m not wearing a costume.”
“What! No, Kageyama, you have to wear a costume! You won’t get any candy if you don’t. And anyways, if you don’t cover that ugly mug of yours, you’ll scare all the other children away!” Hinata quickly shut himself up at the look Kageyama shot him, but not without a muffled snicker.
Kageyama couldn’t exactly say no to the prospect of candy. And if he was going to do this, he might as well exploit it as much as he could. It had been a while since he went trick-or-treating. None of his teammates in middle school had ever invited him, and his older sister had grown out of Halloween a long time ago.
“God, okay. Only if it gets you to shut up.” Hinata whooped with joy, rushing to help Kageyama clean up the gym. After they were done, Hinata sent his mom a quick text telling her where to drop Natsu off. The boys headed over to Kageyama’s house so Hinata could change, and so Kageyama could figure out what the hell he was supposed to wear.
As Kageyama turned the house upside down for costume ideas, Hinata changed into his own brilliant ensemble. He pulled the red cape out of his bag, grinning to himself about how cool he was going to look. After a lot of deliberation, Hinata had decided to go as a magician, as not only would it make him look sick as heck, but it matched Natsu’s costume as well. She had begged and begged their mom to let her dress up as a bunny. A magician and his trusty white rabbit...Hinata couldn’t wait to show Kageyama.
He stepped out of the bathroom, adjusting the sleek black tophat on his head. Kageyama looked up at the opening of the door, an old white sheet clutched in his hands. The two boys stared at each other for a moment before Kageyama burst into laughter.
“W-what are you wearing, dumbass?!” He choked out between his snorts.
Hinata blushed furiously, tugging at the black vest he wore under his cape. “I’m a magician, for your information. What are you supposed to be? Dirty laundry?” He shot a significant look at the sheet still wrapped around Kageyama’s hands, which may or may not have had a few faded stains on it.
It was Kageyama’s turn to blush. “I’m going to be a ghost! It’s not like you gave me a lot of time to prepare!" Hinata giggled and moved closer to observe the very uneven eyeholes that had been cut out of the cloth. He reached out to touch the sheet, fingers briefly brushing Kageyama’s. His grin widened as Kageyama’s blush turned a deeper red.
They were startled apart by a sharp knock. Confused, Kageyama shot Hinata a quizzical look. Hinata just grinned and skipped over to throw the door open, only to catch an armful of squealing Natsu. His mom stood behind her daughter, giving Hinata a tired smile.
“Thank you for taking her, Shou.” Her eyes drifted to just over Hinata’s shoulder. “And thank you, Kageyama-kun, for watching over my Shou.” She laughed lightly at Hinata’s embarrassed ‘moooom!’
“Shou-chan! Shou-chan!” Natsu pulled on Hinata’s cape. “I wanna go! Look, I put my costume on all by myself!” She pulled back to show off her white skirt and bunny ears. Hinata’s mom ruffled Natsu’s hair and stepped forward to give her son a peck on the forehead, ignoring his indignant squawk of protest.
“Alright kiddos, don’t stay out too late. Call me when you need to be picked up,” she directed the last part at Hinata. Once she was gone, Hinata ushered Natsu into the house.
Kageyama stood glaring at the elder tangerine. “So,” he started. “When were you going to tell me you were bringing your sister?” He looked down at Natsu, gaze softening as she looked up at the tall setter in awe.
Hinata went to go look for the bags he brought to fill candy up with. “I really didn’t want you to say no,” he shrugged. Finally locating the bags, Hinata turns back to meet Kageyama’s stare. “You already have trouble handling me, so would you really agree to come with if you knew there’d be two of us?” He looked to where Natsu was shyly hiding behind him.
There was a beat of silence, in which Hinata didn't really expect an answer. “Yes,” Kageyama eventually mumbled under his breath. Hinata let out a questioning noise, having not caught what the setter said. “Yes,” he repeated, “I would’ve still agreed if I had known.” Kageyama looked to the side to try to hide the flush in his cheeks. Hinata found himself smiling at Kageyama’s bashfulness.
He felt a small tug on his cape. “Shou-chan,” Natsu whined, “can we please go trick-or-treating now?” Nodding, Hinata handed her her candy bag. Natsu giggled with glee and, in a daring act of bravery, grabbed Kageyama’s hand and started to pull him to the door. “Let’s go! Let’s go!” She squealed, a wide-eyed Kageyama obediently trailing behind her.
Grin growing ever-wider, Hinata quickly grabbed Kageyama’s sheet and followed his sister and her new friend out into the night.
Hinata had to wrangle the poorly-made costume onto Kageyama before they approached the first house. The eyeholes were incredibly lopsided, one mostly showing off Kageyama’s left eyebrow while the other just barely caught the corner of his right eye. Hinata had to stifle a laugh at the unamused look the other boy shot at him.
Assured that her brother was following behind her, Natsu wasted no time running up to the first house and ringing the doorbell.
“Trick or treat!” She said as the door opened to reveal a young woman in a very...revealing…nurse’s costume. The woman cooed at the adorable little rabbit on her doorstep, dropping a large handful of candy into Natsu’s bag, much to the girl’s delight. Hinata and Kageyama were one step behind her, offering their bags and a loud ‘trick or treat!’ from Hinata. The woman gave each of them a smile and generous amount of candy. Thanking her, the trio continued onto the next house.
“I didn’t know your neighbors were hot, Kageyama! You’ve been holding back on me!” Hinata said, making sure Natsu wasn’t paying attention to them.
Kageyama elbowed the tangerine harshly in the ribs. “Shut up, dumbass! She used to babysit me.” He scowled when Hinata waggled his eyebrows at him.
And so, the magician, the rabbit, and the slightly unwilling ghost trapezed through the neighborhood, hitting every house with a porch light on. Hinata pretended not to notice how Kageyama would stare after Natsu fondly as she bounded from door to door. Although, he couldn’t help but make one snide comment at the barely visible blush he’d spotted when Natsu called the tall setter ‘Kageyama nii-san.’ Kageyama had just scowled and made no comment.
When the setter would start to lag behind the energetic pair of siblings, Hinata would reach under the sheet and grab his hand to pull him along. Kageyama tried not to think too much on how the middle blocker’s fingers would tighten around his before letting go. Hinata would then bounce over to his sister, taking her hand, shooting a shy look back at the other boy. Kageyama couldn’t help but notice how...cute the two siblings were. Kageyama always had a soft spot for children, but they were usually scared by his natural R.B.F. He was a little more than surprised when Natsu had taken his hand several times that night, pulling him along just like her older brother did, not once deterred by his hesitance. And, yeah, she was pretty adorable. Maybe he just had a soft spot for redheads. Kageyama quickly stopped that train of thought.
The next house they stopped at sported glowing orange lights and a large blow-up ghost in the front yard. An older gentleman came to answer the door when Hinata rang the doorbell. “Well!” The man exclaimed, “Look at this! A magician and his trusty sidekick! And their ghost assistant. I guess your last trick didn’t go too well for him, eh?” The man winked roguishly at Hinata before brandishing a plate of absolutely gigantic homemade cookies. “Say, magician, if you can impress me with a trick, I’ll give each of you two cookies. What do you say to that?” Eager at the prospect of food, Hinata did the only thing he knew how to do.
He jumped as high as he could.
The old man let out a low whistle. “You sure you aren’t the rabbit here, boy? Well, I’m a man of my word!” He handed the trio two cookies each. “Happy Halloween!” The gang thanked him profusely before heading on their way.
“Wow, Shou-chan! I didn’t know you could jump that high! You looked like a frog!” Natsu gazed up at her big brother in awe. Hinata flushed at her praise. Amazing people with his jumping skills never got old.
Hinata pulled a cookie out of his bag and admired it’s size. “Look, Kageyama! This cookie is bigger than my entire face!” He turned to show the other boy just how amazing this cookie was, and was startled to find Kageyama’s own face, free from the sheet, just inches away from his own.
“Yeah, Shou-chan,” he breathed lowly into the shorter boy’s ear. A harsh shiver raked its way up Hinata’s spine. “That was pretty amazing.” He pulled back to smirk at Hinata’s flustered face. “How come you never jump that high in a match?” He laughed at Hinata’s offended squawk, not at all minding the accompanying punch to the gut. Hinata stomped to the next house, muttering to himself about stupid Bakayamas and their stupid uneven eyeholes.
Watching curiously after her older brother, Natsu innocently asks the raven, “Kageyama nii-san, are you and Shou-chan boyfriends?”
Kageyama chokes on his breath.
He doesn’t deny it.
“Hah!” Hinata shouted gleefully. “Did you see the way she looked at you? She barely gave you any candy!”
The tangerine grinned down at his nearly overflowing candy bag, tophat slipping down his forehead. A cranky old woman had answered the door at the last house they visited, and while she cooed over Natsu and Hinata, she had almost completely skipped over Kageyama and his stained bedsheet. Hinata had thought the setter wouldn’t get any candy at all, until she offhandedly dropped a lemon drop and some licorice into the taller boy’s bag.
Kageyama scowled. “Shut up! I can’t help it that your magician-rabbit combo is cute, dumbass!” he spat, clearly not thinking before he spoke. He only realized his mistake from the sharp intake of breath from the boy beside him.
“Kageyama,” Hinata croons after a moment of surprised silence. “Did you just admit that you think I’m cute?” He smirked at the daggers Kageyama was shooting at him.
“No, I was just—it’s just that Natsu—ugh!” Kageyama gave up trying to speak and buried his face in his hands. Hinata howled in delight. The taller boy just stalked over to Natsu, who had been confusedly watching the whole exchange, and took her hand. “C’mon Natsu, let’s leave this loser behind.” Natsu grinned up at the raven and started pulling him to the next house.
Hinata, who was still bowled over in laughter, tried to catch his breath before running after a ghost in a tattered sheet and his little rabbit companion.
They spent the rest of the evening going from door to door, the two boys competing on who could get the most candy at each house—even though they both knew Natsu’s cuteness put her way in the lead. Hinata didn’t miss the way Kageyama’s eyes lingered on him. Kageyama didn’t ignore the way Hinata had started twining their fingers together, even if he wasn’t falling behind. They would share shy glances, not looking away if they caught the other’s gaze. Maybe it was the spirit of the night, or the sugar high they got from snacking on so many sweets—but for once, they weren’t pulling away, or pretending, and it just felt right.
The time came when people started turning their lights off. It was late, and Natsu had started dragging her feet six houses ago. Hinata handed his bag off to Kageyama so he could carry his sleepy sister to the street corner his mom had designated as their meeting spot. He had texted her when he noticed how tired Natsu had gotten, and she had quickly responded that she was on her way to pick them up.
Kageyama and Hinata stood at the corner silently. Natsu was snoozing on her brother’s shoulder, and Kageyama shifted three heavy bags of sweets in his large hands while they waited. Maybe it was because of how late it was, but Kageyama didn’t really think before he blurted:
“Stay with me.”
Hinata whipped his head around to stare at the other boy in shock. In all of the times he had visited the raven’s house, never once had Kageyama let him sleep over.
Kageyama seemed to realize how forward he sounded, as he suddenly looked down at the sidewalk as if he found the concrete incredibly interesting. “It’s just… it’s late and you left your school bag at my house…”
It was a lame excuse, and they both knew it. But that didn’t stop Hinata from breathing a soft, “Alright.” Kageyama’s eyes suddenly snapped to the tangerine’s. Hinata could have gasped at what he saw there: hope, and giddiness, and above all, adoration. Had Kageyama always looked at him like that? Is this the first time he’d noticed it? How had Hinata ever doubted himself when Kageyama looked at him like that?
If not for the rabbit sleeping against his chest, Hinata would’ve pulled that stupid sheet off of Kageyama’s head and kissed him right then and there.
A pair of headlights rounded the corner, spooking the boys out of their trance. Hinata’s mom pulled up next to them, parking her compact little car and getting out to reach for her daughter.
“Exciting night, huh? She’s out like a light.” She smiled at her son. “How was the haul this year?”
“Great!” Hinata chirped. “There was this one house, they gave out these HUGE candy bars, Mom, you wouldn’t believe it, and this other house, they had so many decorations—”
Mrs. Hinata couldn't help but smile at her eldest's excitement. “Alright, alright, kiddo. You can tell me all about it when we get home. It’s late.”
Kageyama and Hinata shared a look. “Well… actually… could I stay the night at Kageyama’s? I left my bag there… and we have morning practice so it would save me the bike ride… and my bike’s here anyway…” Hinata trailed off and offered his mom a shy smile.
Mrs. Hinata’s eyes widened in sudden understanding. “Of course. As long as you’re not intruding on Kageyama-kun.” She looked questionly at the setter, quickly stifling a laugh as she noticed the, uh, interesting placement of the eyeholes on his very D.I.Y. ghost costume.
It was almost comical how quickly Kageyama shook his head. “No! No, it’s fine. My parents wouldn’t mind.” He didn’t add how they wouldn’t be home.
“Well, then. I don’t see any problem with it.” She went to gently place Natsu in her carseat. Once the little rabbit was safely secured, she turned back to her son. Under the guise of giving him a hug, she whispered in his ear, "Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, hmm?"
“Mom!” Hinata shrieked in mortification. She laughed lightly and patted him on the cheek.
“Have fun, you two! Don’t stay up too late.” She winked at the two boys and snorted at their obvious embarrassment. As she went to leave, she didn’t miss the soft look the volleyball duo shared. Mrs. Hinata smiled to herself as she drove away.
“So,” Hinata started after his mother had driven off, a sleepy Natsu in tow. “There’s one more place I’ve yet to visit.” He turned to see Kageyama, still in his sheet, look at him skeptically. Hinata sauntered over to the setter with a slowly widening grin. Because this time, Hinata was sure. He had noticed it before—the lingering looks, the hesitance to pull away—during practices, or when they walked home from school together, or when the team went to go get meat buns after practice. Hinata had just always assumed he was seeing things that weren’t there. Or that he was just projecting his own desires onto his best friend. But tonight, he knew he wasn’t imagining things. Tonight, he was going to get what he had so desperately wanted for so long.
He swiftly lifted the bottom of Kageyama’s sheet up—ducking under it to come face-to-face with a flushed Kageyama Tobio. Gently pressing down on the younger boy’s nose with his finger, Hinata whispered a soft ‘ding-dong.’
And carefully pushed his lips against Kageyama’s.
He pulled back before the other boy could react. “Trick-or-treat,” he murmured, hands coming up to cup Kageyama’s cheeks. He smiled at the shocked look on the raven’s face.
It took Kageyama a couple of moments to compose himself. “This had better not be a trick,” the taller boy huffed. Hinata giggled as Kageyama's flush spread to his ears.
The setter hesitantly wrapped his arms behind Hinata’s back, ducking down to kiss the shorter boy back. It was slower this time, completely inexperienced, sweetened with the candy they had been snacking on all evening. Hinata slipped his hands into Kageyama’s hair and tugged him closer. They pulled back from each other only when they needed air, panting slightly under the stifling heat of Kageyama's costume. Sighing softly, Hinata buried his face against the setter’s shoulder and grinned to himself.
The slamming of a car door in the distance startled the two boys back to reality. They suddenly remembered where they were, and what they were doing, and jumped back from each other. Hinata stumbled out from under Kageyama’s costume, blushing furiously.
“Let’s...let’s head back,” he said, awkwardly scratching his neck. Kageyama huffed again and reached out to take Hinata’s hand, avoiding the redhead’s gaze.
Hand-in-hand, the two boys made their way back to Kageyama’s house, whispering to each other about the candy they’ve gotten, and the movies that would be airing on tv, and how their stomachs were definitely going to hurt at practice tomorrow from all of the sweets they’d eaten.
The two boys stayed up for as long as they could. Stuffing their faces with chocolate, they pretended not to be spooked by the man-made ghosts and ghouls on the television screen.
It was long past midnight when Kageyama felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Hinata, fast asleep, still holding the setter's big hands in his own smaller one. Kageyama smiled gently to himself and pulled his fiery middle blocker closer.
Yeah, he wouldn’t mind spending every Halloween like this.