Chapter Text
The first time Kageyama said “I love you “ to Hinata was when he realised his feelings for him. It was a cloudy day, with strong and chilly gusts of wind blowing every now and then. Kageyama had felt uneasy that day.
That day, Hinata had not shown up to school, had not raced Kageyama to the club room, and had not shown up to practice. Everyone had tried to contact him but no one got a response. They were quite worried. They knew that Kageyama knew where Hinata lived, so Suga and Daichi had asked him to check up on him, with worry lacing their every word. And the boy did what he was asked of.
After practice, as soon as he was done changing, Kageyama grabbed his stuff and raced out of the club room to Hinata’s house. And in no time, he had reached Hinata’s house. He rang the doorbell. No one answered. He rang it again. This time, the door opened slightly, revealing a rather pale and tired Hinata. Never in his life had Kageyama seen him like this. The Hinata Shoyo he had always seen was always lively and bright, overflowing with stamina. Not like a zombie that had been stuck underground for a century.
“Kageyama, what are you doing here?” Hinata asked in a raspy and low voice. He barely had the energy to do anything, much less talk.
“I’m here because Suga-san and Daichi-san asked me to check up on you, so don’t think that I came here cuz I wanted to,” Kageyama huffed, glaring at the small boy. He was about to ask Hinata if he was going to let him in because it was getting colder by the second, when suddenly, Hinata collapsed.
Kageyama rushed inside and held Hinata in his arms. He pressed his hand to Hinata’s forehead.
“Shit, you’re hot. Too hot,” he mumbled as he carried Hinata bridal style. After setting Hinata down on the bed in what he assumed was Hinata’s room (based on the open door and various volleyball posters he saw), he went back downstairs to find a thermometer and medicine. It was a good thing Hianta’s mom always left necessities in sight or else Kageyama would probably have spent an eternity trying to find those items.
All this time, Kageyama couldn’t understand why he felt so worried. It was as if he feared the small tangerine would die, even though it was just a fever and sore throat. He feared the thought of not being able to set to him or see his contagious smile. It hurt Kageyama to see Hinata so weak and vulnerable, it was as if the sun within his heart was clouded over.
When the blue-eyed boy went back up to Hinata’s room, he saw him curled up in a little ball under the covers. He harshly pulled the covers off the small tangerine’s head, calling him a boke.
Hinata opened his mouth, ready to retort when Kageyama stuck the thermometer into his mouth, catching Hinata by surprise.
Hinata took out the thermometer and grumbled, “What the hell, I could’ve choked, stupid.” The orange haired boy then proceeded to stick the thermometer back into his mouth, under his tongue.
After about a minute, Kageyama took the thermometer out of Hinata’s mouth and looked at the temperature. 39.1 C.
“Shit,” Kageyama grumbled as he set the thermometer down on the nightstand and handed Hinata some medicine. At this point, Hinata found no point in protesting because Kageyama would probably shove the medicine down his throat if he protested. So he quietly took the medicine, wrapped himself into a cocoon with his blankets, and drifted off to dreamland.
After Kageyama had cleaned the thermometer and put everything back where he found it, he went straight back to Hinata. It seemed that no matter what he tried to think of or how hard he tried to push Hinata out of his mind, the little ball of sunshine always made his way back into his mind. And it frustrated him. ‘Why?’ he thought, ‘Why am I feeling this way? Is this what it feels like to like someone? Love someone? To have them run through your mind 25/8?’ His hand subconsciously found its way to Hinata’s orange hair, his hand softly raking through.
‘Soft,’ the black haired boy thought, face turning a bit pink. Just as he was about to take his hand away in fear of waking up the peacefully sleeping Hinata, Hinata’s hand came out from under the covers and lightly grabbed his wrist. He mumbles something about not going and Kageyama understands. He understands that Hinata doesn’t want to be left alone.
As Kageyama sits beside the bed, fatigue suddenly washes over him, as if his body was packed with wet sand. So he decides to just get into bed with Hinata. It did take a while to pry the covers off the tangerine, but as he got under the covers and spooned Hinata, he felt at calm and happy. It was like snuggling with their lover after a long and tiring day. Except, they weren’t lovers (yet).
“I love you,” he mumbles, as he drifts off to dreamland.