Chapter Text
Oikawa had requested for a practice game with Karasuno just because of him, and he lost.
Of course Kageyama is mad, but what's worse is that that red haired boy actually made into Aoba Johsai and won against him.
Just before the end of the game, Oikawa and that runt had stepped into the court, snatching the victory under Karasuno’s nose. A loss is a loss no matter what, but it stings more since it’s been delivered from not one but two people he considers his rivals, one because of his excellent skills, the other for his lackings.
To top the already burning shame and frustration, he bumps into the red haired in the bathroom, flanked by Kunimi and Kindaichi, bad luck sticking to him, the little, pathetic middle blocker a bad omen.
Kageyama's former teammates ignore him, but the smile still fades away from their faces. The red haired boy, tho, extends his hand to him. "It was a good match."
Kageyama looks at it for a moment, but not wondering whether to actually shake it or not. He would never . He's trying to control the shout that's rumbling in his chest. The red haired has already stolen his old friends, the player he had looked up to since middle school, and the game, he won't let him have his pride too.
"Next time I'll win," it's all he says before going past them and locking the door of the stall behind his back.
***
A couple of days later, when Tanaka is thumbing through the magazine, he sees an interview with Oikawa and snatches the magazine from his senpai's hands.
The name he couldn’t recall from back then, it's Hinata Shouyou. The "skilled but still unrefined new star" that Oikawa is doing his best to polish.
Kageyama throws the mag back to Tanaka, having found what he was searching for: A name to curse paired with that stupid, beaming face.
***
The more the time passes, the more Kageyama finds himself thinking of Hinata. At first he believes it's because he's pissed off, but then he realises his focus is on Hinata’s jumping reach, how fast he is and the quick attack he pulls off with Oikawa's settings and, unexpectedly and horrifyingly, he finds himself wishing to set for Hinata.
He has the proof when he bumps into Oikawa and his nephew outside the Children's Volleyball Club. He's having troubles with his tyrannical traits resurfacing on the court and Oikawa could have just the answers he's searching for.
"At the end of the day, the one who's ultimately in control of the hit it’s not you, it's the spiker," Oikawa says, and it's almost like receiving a serving ball on the face. He knows, he just doesn't like someone to point out his flaws.
This reminds him of Hinata, and before he could think better, Kageyama asks, "That's what you do with Hinata-san?"
Oikawa grows suspicious. "Why do you ask about my middle blocker?"
"Just curious," Kageyama sputters. "Wonder how it is to set to a ru—err… to him."
Oikawa's eyes narrow as he points at Kageyama. "Listen, there's a thing I don't like about him."
After hearing this, Kageyama’s heart flips. He thinks it's because of the hope to find something awful that'd justify his hate for the boy, but when Oikawa speaks, he sends his beliefs and hopes flying out the window.
"You're both volleyball geniuses, and if there's a thing I really can't stand it's this. He's different from you, but he's a natural, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to do the crazy shit he does. I'm glad he came to Seijoh and not to Karasuno as he first considered, I couldn't have stood the both of you."
After that, he leaves with his nephew and what he doesn’t know is that he has cursed Kageyama with the terrible knowledge that, in a lost future, Hinata would've been his teammate, and with the unspeakable craving to set a ball for Hinata.
***
It's the Quarter Finals and their efforts weren't enough, again . They went through a lot of shit but still didn't manage to win against Seijoh. Kageyama isn't grieving only for himself, but because his senpais are battered down after their three years long dream has just been shattered before their eyes.
It's unfair. Nothing is how it should be. When he played against Hinata in middle school, he had thought he was just a runt who probably wouldn't win a single set. He instead was a skillful player, putting his everything into the sport. Now, though, the wheel has spinned, and the result is reversed.
Hinata jumps in happiness and he thinks, thief .
Hinata hugs and high fives Oikawa and Kunimi and Kindaichi, and he thinks, thief .
Hinata shakes his hand, facing him with only the net to separate them, and he thinks thief .
Everything feels wrong, as things often do in nightmares, and thus when he runs into Hinata in the hallway just as he's leaving with the losers, he's not in control of himself. He notices something in Hinata's eyes that's telling him he wants to congratulate him for the game and, what's worse, he sees Hinata’s words would be utterly sincere, something he's not ready to accept without barking back. So, when Hinata makes to stop him, he freezes him with the coldest look he can muster up, and grits out, "Move away."
For a moment, Kageyama believes he's scary enough to make Hinata recoil and avoid him for a good while, but he hasn't gone that far that a loud, angry voice bellows his name.
Everyone turns their heads around to look in their direction as Hinata stomps toward him and comes to a halt, face held high and a few inches away from him.
"That was a good game, Kageyama-san! I look forward to play more against you, you're such an amazing player and I know I'd learn much by watching you!"
Kageyama isn't only bewildered, he's out of his mind. He grabs a fist of Hinata's jersey and pulls him impossibly close. Except, what he says it's not what he'd planned to.
"One day, I'll toss to you."
Kageyama is horrified. It sounded like a promise, which isn't much different than a threat.
He lets go of him and takes a step back, but what’s done is done and the effects of his words are visible in Hinata's eyes, getting wider and sparkling with what can only be described as hunger.
Shit. Did he really just say something like that to a spiker? He, a setter? Is he out of his fucking mind?
His internal cursing is interrupted by Hinata's eager voice, "I look forward to it."
And then he's gone, because of course he'd leave, robbing him of the chance of getting everything back or rebuking with something rude. Kageyama starts to think Hinata does it on purpose, he's trying to get on his nerves intentionally.
"There, there. Are you making new friends, Kageyama-kun?"
He whirls around and faces Sugawara-san who's watching him with a smile.
"No," he grunts in reply, wanting to say so many things, but thinking it's better to avoid whatever kind of chide could come from his teammates. He's already trying to pretend he's not hearing Tsukishima's mocking tone.
"Oh, is that so? To me, it seems the opposite," Sugawara-san presses on, and just when Kageyama is going to say something, he adds, "There's nothing wrong in bonding with rivals, you know? And please, don’t look at me as if you've murdered my cat. We all did our best, so please don't say sorry."
Kageyama thinks it doesn't matter the fact they did their best, because in the end it wasn't enough, but shuts his mouth and exits the Arena.
Next time , he thinks, I'll come out of this place as the winner .
***
As though being invited at Shirstorizawa's training camp with Tsukishima wasn't enough, he's now witnessing the unbelievably stupid Hinata Shouyou being appointed ball boy from the very Washijo sensei. One thing is for sure, Hinata is completely nuts.
He's distracted by him more than he likes to admit. He watches Hinata going back and forth, retrieving balls, washing jerseys, bringing water to the others or weirdly staring at them, copying their moves.
It doesn't take much time for him to figure out he's observing, learning by watching. Exactly what he had said to him once.
It should be pissing him off, but somehow it doesn't. He actually feels his chest swelling at the thought that he's crazy enough, stubborn enough, to bypass something mundane as invitations. Kageyama realizes Hinata does what he wants, goes where he wants, if there's a tiny little chance, a break in the wall, he'd try and reach the other side. To his dismay, what he feels for Hinata is pride.
It's when the others invite Hinata to play with them at the end of the day that Kageyama understands how much he envies him, and Kindaichi and Kunimi that get to play in his team. First of all, he wants to toss to Hinata and this could've been the perfect chance, dammit! Then there are the chats and laughter coming from Kindaichi and the little smiles Kunimi is giving Hinata. He shouldn’t feel this way, he has teammates who appreciate and take good care of him, so what's the need to miss what he could've had with his former teammates? Maybe it's all because of Hinata, the focal point of all his troubles.
So, it’s when everyone else feels too tired to keep going that only Kageyama and Hinata stay back, not really looking at each other, but acutely self conscious of one another, and before he can stop himself, Kageyama is asking, "Why didn’t you come to Karasuno?"
Hinata watches him, confused, so he feels the need to clarify, his face scrunching up in a pout to hide his embarrassment. "Oikawa-san told me that you wanted to go to Karasuno."
Hinata is taken aback, presumably by the fact that his captain and his rival had talked about him. It takes a moment to recover and answer. "I know this might be sort of cowardly of me, but… I've spent my middle school years unable to practice real volleyball. I wanted to be in a powerhouse just once in my life and play with amazing people." Hinata pauses and looks him dead in the eye, causing a shiver to go down Kageyama's spine. "So I could become better, play against you and defeat you."
No threats of taking the victory from him has ever sounded so thrilling, exciting. Kageyama feels a grin blossoming on his lips, even though he shouldn't, since Hinata defeated him for real not long ago.
"Why do you make that face? You trying to start something??" Hinata says, taking a step back and lifting his arms in a defensive stance.
This time, when the words leave Kageyama’s mouth, he says them with intention. "I want to toss to you. Will you let me?"
Kageyama sees Hinata’s eyes go round and wide, but it doesn’t take him much to eagerly nod and shout an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’.
I shouldn’t be so happy , he says to himself, but deep, deep inside he knows he does not care. It seems such a small thing—Hinata’s quick agreement, his smile, the feeling of his fingertips grazing the ball enough to push it towards the middle blocker—, but it’s not and both of them are aware of it.
After one or two misses, Kageyama adjusts his toss and finally the impact of Hinata’s hand on the ball feels right, satisfying. They fall in sync pretty fast, the other side of the net full of the blue and yellow of the balls they’ve sent flying, Hinata trying to attack from different points and at different tempos, so by the time there are no more balls in the chest, they’re both panting, bent on their knees, looking at each other.
“Your tosses are amazing!”
Kageyama can feel his cheeks burning. Thankfully, the redness from the exertion will hide the inappropriate blushing. This is beyond awkward, he doesn’t need the praise of a runt like Hinata Shouyou, so why does his stomach ache in this strange way? Is it hunger? He pushes on, “Aren’t Oikawa-san’s too?”
Hinata scratches the back of his head, looking at the floor. “Yes, but—I dunno, yours feel… different.”
“How so?” Kageyama insists, the feeling in his stomach intense like a gut-punch.
Cornered by Kageyama’s questions, Hinata bursts, with his eyes closed and hands balled into fists at his side, “Like they’re customized for me!”
They both look at each other in shock, red faces as the circle on the Nippon flag, time frozen. Kageyama wants to avert his eyes from the golden wells of Hinata’s, but he finds it difficult for some reason, it’d be like admitting his embarrassment, so he keeps staring at them, while asking himself how they could break this deadlock. He tries to speak, his jaw moves but no sound comes out, making him feel more miserable. He’d like to say Hinata’s stamina and speed is more than amazing, but words fail him, now more than ever.
In the end, the one who speaks first is Hinata, rambling about the fact that it's late and they have to tidy up the gym or Washijo sensei will yell at them. Kageyama helps him to pick up the balls and sweep the floor, but careful to never lift his eyes on Hinata, and he’s almost sure Hinata is trying to do the same.
Embarrassed as he is, Kageyama feels warmth in the pit of his stomach, a comfortable bliss he hasn’t felt in a long while and, despite it coming from his rival and the fact that he doesn’t completely agree with it, he has to admit that it’s better than emptiness or his usual grumpiness and lets himself have this. The good thing is it’s not just for one day: For the rest of the training camp he keeps setting for Hinata after practice, when everyone else just rushes to the showers or to the cafeteria, only Kindaichi and Kunimi look behind them a couple of times before exiting the gym.
It’s during their extra practice sessions that he comes to know more about Hinata: They both love Vabo-chan; he has a younger sister who he hopes will be into volleyball as well; he has to bike for an hour every day to get to Aoba Josai High, going up and down a hill; his favourite manga is Fullmetal Alchemist and One Piece , one because of the siblings representation, the other because it makes him laugh, both teaching him how to pursue his goals; his head tilts on the left when he’s listening closely to someone; he unconsciously licks his lips when he watches the player serving the ball, as if he’s looking at steak—which he loves as much as Kageyama… He’s bewildered by the amount of things he could name of Hinata that he’s learned only by watching the boy, therefore he tries not to think about them.
Another thing he’s now aware of, it’s that his former teammates talk about him.
“I… I can imagine what they say,” Kageyama says to Hinata when he brings up the topic. He doesn’t want to hear what Hinata is trying to get him into, but the ginger head ignores his discomfort.
“I think you should stop. The three of you. And it seems like you’ve grown out of your tyranny, or that’s what—hey!! Stop pulling my hair, I meant it as a compliment!!”
But Kindaichi and Kunimi stare at him warily, like two wolves standing up their grounds against a well-known threat, and Kageyama is too self-aware of his past mistakes to feel comfortable enough to attempt a conversation.
So, it’s much to his dismay that he falls into Hinata’s trap.
When it comes the time to say goodbye, Hinata surprises him with a welcomed suggestion.
“Kageyama… I was thinking, I mean, what if—” Hinata tries pitifully. Then, he slaps his face to regain some composure and blurts out, “Doyouwanttocometowatchagamewithme?”
“What did you—”
“You don’t have to say yes, but I was thinking it’d be… cool to go together.”
Hinata looks at him expectantly, so Kageyama loses it a bit, a little annoyed and a little enthralled by Hinata’s blushing face.
“What are you even talking about? I said I didn’t understand a thing!”
“Oops,” Hinata’s blush deepens. “I… uh, I said if you wanna go watch a game with me.”
Suddenly Kageyama feels his own face on fire and sputters as fast as Hinata has done before. “Yes. Sure. Okay. Cool. That’s actually good. Yeah. Great. Can’t w—err.”
He has to bite his bottom lip to prevent himself from adding more embarrassment to the already exaggerated amount he’s accumulated in the past few days. He needs to look up on the internet if someone can die of it. He’s a clown.
“Yes!” Hinata shouts. “So, it’s okay if I ask Kindaichi and Kunimi too, right?”
“What?!” Kageyama chokes out, cold running down his spine.
“I mean, we’d already planned this, but I thought it could be fun to go with you too. Plus, I already said you have to put your head out of your butts. C’mon, it’ll be awesome!”
Kageyama is more than a clown because he doesn’t find in himself the strength to say no to the beaming face he’s looking at.
He gives up his pride, his will and his phone number all at once.