Archive of Our Own

Hinata was a nice kid.
He was nice to everybody, got along with everyone and was polite to any person that crossed his path. When a new kid joined his kindergarten group he obviously had to introduce himself and make friends with the boy.

He was more shy and kept mostly to himself, but he and Hinata would sit next to each other at lunch, would walk hand in hand on trips and when it was time to nap the two of them were inseparable. Hinata wouldn’t go to sleep unless he laid right next to his friend.

They didn’t really live close to each other and yet Hinata would take his bike and drive to his house every day. They’d play in his garden or drive somewhere together.

___

“Kageyama! Look at this cool bug I just catched!”, Hinata yelled as he ran across the backyard, hands closed around each other to hold the insect in place, running towards Kageyama, who was busy playing with his new volleyball that he got from his sister. His face scrunched up.

“I don’t wanna see it, Hinata!”, he said and flinched as Hinata opened his hands to show him, but as soon as the bug saw the light, it flew away. Hinata pouted.

“It looked so cool Kageyama! His wings had the coolest colour.”, he tried to explain, his finger grazing over his open palm. Kageyama gave him a deadpan expression before sighing.

“You’ll catch another one, Hinata, don’t be too sad about it. How about we play some volleyball? My sister gave me her old one.”, he asked and smiled. Hinata looked up and nodded quickly.

“Can we do an attack like we saw on TV last weekend?! The one that went gwuaaah! and then boom!”, he explained while demonstrating exactly what he meant, running around the backyard to jump up and throw his arm around. Kageyama ran after him.

“Idiot! We don’t have a net for that!”

___

They spend every second together, if you looked for one of them, the other was always close by. By the time they went to school they were a known duo amongst the teachers. Once they were together it meant trouble.

“Hinata, just get out of here and let me clean up! You’re annoying!”, Kageyama yelled and collected the trash around the classroom. Hinata huffed and grabbed his stuff.

“If I’m annoying you can look for another volleyball partner then!”, he yelled back and marched out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him. Kageyama couldn’t let him have the last word, they always had a competition over everything. He let the trash fall on the ground and opened the door.

“You suck anyway! Idiot!”, he yelled after him and slammed the door a second time. Now the doors weren’t that strong, they were not made to be slammed so it was no surprise, that when a teacher walked up to see what all that noise was about, the door fell right down in front of their feet.

Both of them spend their next two weeks in detention.

___

The summer before middle school Hinata moved away across the mountain, that didn’t stop him from meeting Kageyama though. He would grab his bike and drive all the way back to his house so they could play volleyball together or just walk around the town to their favourite shops.

“We’re moving across the country.”, Kageyama said, eating his meatbun, looking down on the town. This was the spot they usually went to to hang out on. Hinata turned his head so quickly he thought his head may fall off.

“You.. what?!”, he asked confused. Kageyama didn’t say anything for a while, munching on his food, looking down on his feet. Hinata watched him with wide eyes, fiddling with the packaging in his hands.

“My father got a new job… so we’re moving.”, he explained. Now Hinata knows Kageyama wasn’t an expressive person, his face was usually very stoic or awkward, but not to him. He could read him like an open book.

“But your grandfather is still... in the hospital. What about him? Won’t he come with you?”, Hinata asked. He was right, because as soon as he mentioned his grandfather Kageyama’s brows furrowed and his lips formed into a tight line.

“They say he won’t make it… They are all saying he will die.”, he said quietly, and Hinata almost started crying by the broken expression on his best friend’s face.

“Do you want a hug?”, he asked quietly, and Kageyama just nodded, lowering his arms to let his hands rest on his thighs and Hinata moved closer to wrap his arms around him and squeezed him against his torso. Kageyama laid his head on his shoulder, it was an awkward angle and probably not comfortable at all, but in that moment this was all he needed to let his tears fall down.

“I don’t want him to die, Shoyo.”, he stuttered, his free hand clenching around the fabric of his pants. Hinata let his hand rub over his back. He was sad that his friend would leave him, but this moment wasn’t about him, and he knew that.

“Then you should spend all the time you have left with him.”, Hinata said softly, patting the back of his head. “I can come with you, if you’d like, Tobio.”, he offered. Kageyama quietly sobbed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands and nodded.

“I’d like that.”, he mumbled before sitting up again. He was still shivering a little, and looked at Hinata before looking away. “I got your shirt wet, I’m sorry.”, he said. Hinata waved him off, already looking for tissues in his backpack.

“Don’t worry about something like that. Let’s head back, yeah?”, he said and gave him the tissues, which Kageyama gladly took and blew his nose. Hinata was always the one who got everything with him, he was always prepared for every situation.

“Thank you.”, Kageyama said softly as they made their way down the hill back to the town, bikes in their hands next to them. Hinata smiled.

“What are you thanking me for?”, he asked. Kageyama blushed and shrugged his shoulders.

“Well for being my friend… my best friend for the last years I guess.”, he said shyly. Hinata smiled sheepishly.

“I’m your best friend, Tobio?”, he asked teasingly, he just has to push him a little further. Kageyama blushed more, turning his head away.

“Idiot! Of course you are!”, he yelled. Hinata laughed.

“Well then I’m glad! It’d be pretty awkward if I considered you mine, if I wasn’t yours.”, he explained and got on his bike. “I’ll race you to the grocery store!”, he said before drifting off. Kageyama huffed outraged before racing right after him.

“That was a foul start, even for you, Shoyo!”, he yelled after him, but there was a smile on his face as he raced him through the streets that the two of them growed up in. He will miss him.

At the end of the summer the family Kageyama held the funeral for Kazuyo Kageyama before moving away. Hinata and him held a little bit of contact through letters or over the phone, but as the years went on they slowly lost contact, their friendship slipping right through their fingers as they both growed up.

___

Hinata was 18 years old as his volleyball club made it to nationals for the first time in years. Standing along the most strongest players of the country thrilled Hinata. He wanted to play against as many as possible.

His team was warming up and stretching. Their coaches got their uniforms ready as Hinata saw a face that was just a little too familiar. He didn’t even think about it before standing up and walking towards him.

“Kageyama!”, he said loudly enough for the other guy to hear, and he was right. His breath hitched as he saw the other on turn around. The closer he got, the taller the other one became. Kageyama’s eyes grew wide.

“Hinata?”, he asked, the conversation he just held forgotten as he walked up to his old friend. “What are you doing here?”. He couldn’t believe it. Hinata huffed but there was a smile on his face.

“Playing volleyball obviously. Look at you! This is the third time your team made it, isn’t it? You sure got into a fancy school there.”, Hinata said, his stance was open, legs spread, hands on his hips. Hinata was confidence in person and Kageyama couldn’t keep his eyes off him.

“So you finally practiced those shitty receives of yours?”, he asked, but what he really wanted to know was why Hinata knew all that about him, why he kept up with his life while Kageyama let him go, let him be a memory of his past. He felt like throwing up. Hinata laughed out loud.

“You’ll see how crappy my receives are, Kageyama-kun.”, he said teasingly, leaning closer to the other. It almost felt like they were never apart, but it still has been 6 years since they last saw each other, 4 since they lost contact. Kageyama blushed a little, but he couldn’t give up now.

“Well if you made it to nationals, I guess you’re pretty good.”, he shrugged his shoulders, tilting his head up to look down at the other. He was always taller than Hinata, but now they must have an at least 15cm difference. Hinata huffed.

“My team is great. We worked hard to get here and we’re gonna kick everybody’s asses, yours included, Mr. National Setter.”, he said with a smirk on his lips. “Can’t believe I’ve been friends with someone who will end up in the V-League right after highschool.”, he sighed dreamily. “That’s cool, even for you.” Kageyama blushed even more.

“You kept up with all my achievements, huh?”, he asked sheepishly. Hinata smiled. “Of course, how could I not when you’re doing this amazing?”, he said as if it was just a matter of fact. Kageyama didn’t know what to say. He had so much in his head right now, meeting Hinata again after all these years really threw him off.

“I’m sorry I didn’t try hard enough.”, he decided would be the right thing to say. Hinata looked at him confused.

“Huh? What are you talking about now?”, he asked.

“Well back then… we just kind of lost each other. I should have tried harder.”

“Woah hold on. First of all, that is not your fault. Both of us just became busier with other stuff. It just happened naturally, you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it. And I kept up with you, because I was just interested in how you were doing since I saw you in a volleyball magazin in my first year of highschool. You were doing all these amazing things, I was amazed and felt proud, so I just kept looking every time there was a new one.”, he confessed.

“You… were proud?”, he asked slowly. He wished he knew about some things that Hinata accomplished through his years in highschool, but he knew nothing. Hinata grew up, as he did, but Hinata kept an eye on him, watched him. He didn’t know how to feel.

“That’s all you took from my speech? Of course I’m proud. You were volleyball obsessed before I even knew you.”, Hinata said with a big smile. “Kageyama I-”

“Hinata!”, his coach yelled and Hinata winced. “Shit I gotta head back. Play good and win a lot of matches Kageyama, I wanna play against you and kick your ass!”, he said before running back to his team, bowing down and excusing himself for just running off like that. Kageyama watched him. He wanted to know so much more, to talk more to Hinata.

___

At the end of the nationals Hinata’s team didn’t get far, they didn’t get to play against Kageyama’s team, while Kageyama made it to the top three. Hinata stood on the sidelines cheering him on. Kageyama would look up to him in between breaks, smiling shyly. His teammates were teasing him nonstop about it. So after he made it to the finale and won second place he looked for Hinata in the crowd, walking up to him.

“You were amazing Kageyama! I knew you were amazing but seeing it live is a whole other level! But don’t you worry, there is still the Spring InterHigh, so I’ll have another chance to kick your ass! Can’t believe you’ve gotten second place, that’s so awesome.”, Hinata rambled on, his eyes wide and full of wonder. Kageyama felt his heart stop for a second.

“How long will you stay in Tokyo?”, he asked instead, trying to sound steady and sure of himself, but on the inside he was anything but.

“Oh, hm. Well we’re leaving later tomorrow probably, we booked our rooms until the end of nationals but still wanted to do a little sightseeing and stuff I guess…”, Hinata started, drifting off as he explained their plan. Kageyama listened to him ramble on, trying to find the courage to do the thing his teammates pushed him to do.

“Hinata!”, that was too loud. Kageyama winced when he saw Hinata’s confused expression.

“I was wondering… if you’d like to spend tomorrow.. with me? We could catch up, walk around the city. I know my way around so we wouldn’t get lost. I just- it’s been really good to see you again, and I wanna know how you’ve been and I really missed you, but I didn’t notice that until now and I-”, he paused as he saw Hinata smiling widely at him, he gulped. “Sorry I talk too much sometimes.”, he mumbled, blushing and looking to the side. Hinata shook his head.

“Kageyama, if you’re asking me to go out with you, I gladly accept.”, Hinata said and laughed when Kageyama blushed even more. He couldn’t stop smiling.

“Well… I’ll pick you up tomorrow then… Can I have your number so we can decide on the time and place?”, he asked, already looking for his phone while Hinata watched him with an amused smile on his lips.

‘Knowing that he doesn’t even try to be smooth makes this even better.’, Hinata thought to himself as he watched Kageyama struggle to open the contact app and gave him the phone. Hinata smiled as he typed in his number, saving his name with a fun emoticon before giving it back.

____

“I’m very happy I saw you again, Kageyama.”, Hinata said softly, as they made their way outside where some of Hinata's teammates were already waiting for him. Kageyama nodded. “I’m happy too.”, he said, cringing to himself, because shit, he was being way too awkward. Hinata just smiled.

“See you tomorrow?”, he asked. Kageyama hums. “I’ll pick you up.”, he answered. Hinata smiled more and hugged him. Kageyama froze for a second, the wheels in his head working quickly to realize what situation he was in before he slowly hugged back, wrapping his arms around Hinata and pulling him closer. He really did miss him.

Hinata pulled back and smiled shyly for the first time that day, making his way back to his friends and waving to Kageyama. He just waved back, still in a sort of trance after hugging Hinata that tightly. He looked down on his hands, forming them into fists.

He would see Hinata again tomorrow. He would spend most of the day with him. They would have a date.

He stopped his thought process.

They were having a date.

A date.

He was having a date with his childhood friend, his childhood crush.

Shit.

___

Hinata nervously tried to fix the mess of his hair on his head, with no success. His friends teased him the whole day already, making fun of him that he was making such a fuss over his little ‘celebrity’ crush.

“He’s not famous, stop that already.”, he winced, giving up on his hair and looking for a clean shirt in his bag. Tsukishima scoffed.

“You always gush about him whenever he would appear in a new magazine. It’s really pathetic how in love you are with that guy.”, he teased, watching Hinata freak out as he noticed all his shirts were dirty, already looking through their bags.

“Hey! Leave my stuff alone! It’s not my fault you eat like a five year old.”, Tsukishima sat up, stretching his arm to yank his bag back, but Hinata was faster, already pulling a shirt out.

“Aha!”, he said, sticking his tongue out while putting on the shirt. “And I don’t gush about him! He was my best friend growing up, I can be proud about his accomplishments.”, he said, fixing the shirt and his pants, taking another look in the bathroom mirror.

“You didn’t deny the being in love part.”, Yamaguchi said, grinning when Hinata just huffed and looked for his phone and purse.

“I hate you both, why am I friends with you anyway?”, he said, putting on his socks and some deodorant as a finishing touch. Yamaguchi laughed.

“You love us. And you love that Kageyama guy.”, Tsukishima said with a smirk and Yamaguchi chuckled. Hinata blushed and looked on his phone, almost dropping it when he saw a text from him, saying that he stood in front of the building.

“I’ll be back before we depart, I have my phone with me. Call me if there’s an emergency and an emergency only!”, he pointed a finger at the two of them. He made his way through their shared room and looked out of the window, seeing Kageyama standing there, looking around, hands in his pants. Hinata couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Hinata.”, Tsukishima said teasingly while Yamaguchi made kissing noises. Hinata flipped them off and walked out of there, running down the stairs. He catched his breath as he put on his shoes in the hallway.

“I’m fine, this is fine, I’ll be fine.”, he mumbled under his breath as he walked outside, right towards Kageyama, giving him a big smile.

“Hi there!”, he said, stopping in front of him, Kageyama gave him an awkward smile.

“Hi.”

Silence. Hinata looked at him with wide eyes, looking to the side, wondering what the plan here was. Kageyama bit down on his lower lip, nervously playing with the hem of his shirt.

“So-”

“Well-”

Both paused again, blushing and looking away. Hinata gulped before turning his head back to look at the other.

“You first.”, he said, playing with his fingers behind his back. Kageyama nodded, raising his hand to run his fingers over the back of his head.

“I was wondering if you were hungry? We could take a bus or walk and grab something to eat.”, he said, looking anywhere but at Hinata. He nodded.

“Yeah lunch sounds really good right now, I haven’t eaten anything today except for breakfast.”, he explained and kept looking at Kageyama, waiting for him to show him the direction. He was still a nervous mess, he thought he had it under control.

“So… where are we going? I don’t mind walking…”, Hinata said, clenching and unclenching his hands as he waited for a responde. Kageyama turned his head to look at the other again.

“Oh… right.”, he said, looking around. “We go that way.”, he moved his head to that direction and started walking, Hinata walking by his side. They walked in silence for a while, both of them wondering what they could talk about.

Hinata cursed in his thoughts. They talked so easily yesterday, it felt like they were never apart, why is it so awkward now?

“Uhm so…”, he started, Kageyama turned his head to look at him, glad that Hinata started the conversation.

“You know Tokyo pretty well, huh? You must have been at the nationals pretty often right?”, he asked and looked up at the other. He couldn’t help but think about how handsome Kageyama has become. He was always taller than Hinata, but he has filled out his long body with a lot of muscles since then.

“Yeah I-”, Kageyama thought about what exactly he wanted to say, he didn’t want to just start talking and then ramble on about volleyball, that would probably bore Hinata. A stupid thought if he thought about it, Hinata loved volleyball just as much as he did.

“I was here a few times during middle school and now during nationals. We would always spend one day walking around the city so I know some nice places.”, he explained and smiled a little. “I watched one of your games. You’re really good Hinata.”, he added and smiled more when the other one began to blush.

“Thank you… I trained really hard. It was a bit difficult in middle school, because I didn’t really have a team, but I worked even harder during highschool. I did promise you we would stand on the world stage together, didn’t I?”, he told him softly, looking up to the sky. Kageyama starred a little, mouth open.

“You… you remember that promise we made when we were like… 10?”, he asked, he couldn’t believe it. He almost forgot about that. Hinata turned his head back towards him.

“Well of course. I wanna go pro too. I probably have to train harder and show everybody what I’m capable of, since I’m not that famous as you are.”, he said teasingly and Kageyama huffed.

“I’m not famous.”

“You are. Definitely. A favourite along the new generation.”

“Oh my god, shut up!”, Kageyama hid his face behind his hands, embarrassed. Hinata chuckled.

“No, but really. You accomplished so much. I’m really proud of you Kageyama.”, he said softly, smiling at the other. Kageyama turned his head, smiling shyly.

__

After that talking wasn’t that awkward anymore. They fell into a rhythm with each other. They teased each other, joked with each other and stole glances at each other.

Hinata bought the both of them some ice cream, after they already had lunch and Kageyama showed him some sights, taking photos for his family.

Both of them sat down on a bench in a little park. They sat in a comfortable silence, eating the ice cream. Occasionally the tips of their pinkies would touch between them, but neither of them were brave enough to actually grab the others hand.

“You know, I’m really happy I met you again Hinata.”, Kageyama started softly, looking down at his almost finished ice cream cone. Hinata looked at him, a smile forming on his lips.

“Yeah? I’m glad I’m not the only one then.”, he said, looking down between them, he slowly wrapped his pinkie around Kageyama’s, blushing and looking away again, finishing his ice cream. Kageyama started blushing as well, he turned his hand to grab Hinata’s, holding it. He looked to the side, also finishing his ice cream, a deep blush on his face.

Hinata couldn’t stop smiling. Kageyama’s hand was bigger than his, a little cold, but very soft. He brushed the tips of his fingers gently across the back of his hand.

“Kageyama?”

“Hm?”

Hinata struggled to find the right words. Opening his mouth just to close it again, humming in defeat. Kageyama furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head, looking at the other in confusion.

“We’re both older, we will soon graduate from high school. You’ll join some V-League team and I…”, he stopped there again. He was embarrassed that he didn’t have a solid plan for his future yet, he had some options, but all of them sounded crazy and he was scared to actually say them out loud, just for someone to tell him that those were stupid ideas.

“We’re both adults and can travel more freely than when we parted… what I want to get to is… I wouldn’t mind rebuilding our friendship again. Maybe even more.”, he said shyly, looking down at his lap, holding Kageyama’s hand tightly.

Kageyama looked at him. When he first saw Hinata again he couldn’t believe how much he had grown. He isn’t really that tall, never was, but he still matured and it was embarrassing how shy he got around him.

He squeezed his hand softly, Hinata looking up from
his lap to meet his eyes. Kageyama smiled at him.

“I would like that a lot, Hinata.”, he said, moving a little closer so that their knees were touching. He swore he felt actual electricity running through them as their skin made contact. Hinata’s smile grew wider.

“Well you already got my number, Tobio.”, he said teasingly, slowly getting some confidence back. Kageyama’s eyes grew wide and he quickly turned his head away from him to hide his quickly growing blush.

It’s been so long since somebody called him by his first name, except for his family. It’s been so long since Hinata called him by his first name.

Hinata called him by his first name.

Shoyo.

His Shoyo.

“Idiot, don’t call me that.”, he mumbled embarrassed. Hinata laughed softly.

“But I already saved you like that in my phone, Tobio. Do you really hate your name that much?”, he teased, leaning in closer to nudge his shoulder with his own, grinning when he saw how red the tips of his ears were.

“No but I like you too much.”, he mumbled under his breath, but Hinata heard that and his own breath hitched. He already knew that. They wouldn’t be on this date if he didn't like him. But actually hearing it was something completely different.

“Idiot! Don’t say stuff like that! Oh my god.”, Hinata stuttered, also turning his head away to hide his blush.

Both of them were a mess.

They spend some time sitting on the bench like that, holding each other’s hand and blushing. Hinata found the courage to start another conversation again.

Kageyama loved how easy it was to talk to him. He was happy to have his friend back after all that time, his Shoyo.