Work Text:
“Kageyama-senpai!”
“Good luck, Kageyama-senpai!”
Kageyama hears the squeals echoing through the gymnasium as Karasuno makes their way onto the court. He turns toward the noise, scanning the crowd, and quickly locates the group of girls just beyond the banister jumping up and down as they yell his name. He flashes a genuine smile and offers a quick wave. The squealing intensifies. It’s not like he has any interest in the girls, really, but the unconditional support does get the third-year hyped up. It’s nice to have finally moved beyond the scary, King-of-the-Court reputation and onto something different, even if it makes him feel more like Oikawa’s kouhai than he’d like to admit.
“Oi. Kageyama-senpai.” Hinata’s voice, dripping with annoyance, interrupts his thoughts. “Get ready for warm ups.”
Kageyama blinks, looking over to see the captain watching him, his arms folded and an eyebrow raised. Kageyama smirks and takes a step toward the redhead.
“Are you maybe feeling a little...jealous?” He punctuates the last word by playfully grabbing Hinata’s jaw between his thumb and forefinger and wiggling it gently, causing Hinata’s head to shake back and forth slightly.
Hinata smacks his hand away. “Of who? You?!”
“Maybe you want to be called “senpai” by the squealing girls.” He tries to hold Hinata’s intense gaze, but a smile forces its way to his lips.
Hinata snorts and rolls his eyes.
“No. Not even in the slightest. I don’t give a fuck.”
There’s a beat of silence as Kageyama tilts his head and studies Hinata for a moment.
“Of them then?”
“What?” Hinata asks, confused.
“You don’t want me to pay more attention to the squealing girls than to you.” Kageyama says without faltering.
A twinge of red creeps onto Hinata’s cheeks as he looks away.
“That’s...no. That’s not...”
He blinks and shifts his gaze back to Kageyama’s. As quickly as his embarrassment arose, it’s gone again, replaced by something much more serious—his game face. Kageyama’s heart skips a beat at the electricity that flows between them through his intense gaze. He holds his breath as he waits for Hinata to speak.
“I don’t care about that either.” Kageyama raises an eyebrow. “‘Cause I know as soon as the game starts, you won’t give two shits about them.”
Hinata takes a step closer to Kageyama, tilting his chin upward to accommodate the steeper angle.
“But…” His voice is softer now. “When the game starts…”
He reaches up to grab Kageyama’s chin between his fingers, mimicking Kageyama’s actions from just moments ago. He pulls the setter’s face a few inches forward toward his own, focusing all of Kageyama’s attention on himself.
“I know you won’t be able to take your eyes off me.”
Kageyama stares wide-eyed at the spiker, feeling physically unable to respond. Hinata raises his eyebrows and smirks teasingly, as if to say he knows full well that Kageyama can’t refute this statement.
Now seemingly satisfied that he’s gained the upper hand, Hinata releases his chin and smacks Kageyama gently on the forehead with the back of his hand, spinning around on his heel to walk out onto the court. He claps his hands together and calls for the team to assemble for warm ups.
Kageyama just blinks, still pleading with his brain to catch up and his heart to slow down. He stares at the spot the spiker once stood willing the blood he can feel creeping up his neck to just go back down.
The voice of the spiker in question pulls him out of his reverie.
“Oi, Kageyama! Spiking practice!”
He blinks and lets out a breath.
“Osu!”