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"And remember try not to smile if you can help it, but don't not smile. I told my mom to leave out the onions in the curry, but if she forgets don't be a jerk and just eat them. And try not to say, "Hah" so much.
"I don't say that," Kageyama frowns.
"Yesterday I saw Tsukishima spit into your water bottle," Hinata replies.
"Hah!?"
Hinata gives him a pointed look. Kageyama shoves his hands into his pockets and glares at the bushes.
As they reach Hinata's door, Kageyama can feel the same nervous adrenaline that hits him before games begin to creep into his body.
"It's gonna be fine," Hinata says, catching onto his nervous energy, as though he hadn't just rattled off a list of imperfections that Kageyama needs to hide.
"Oh, and before I forget, I told Natsu you would color Princess Midnight books with her before dinnertime, because she stills hates the thought of me having a boyfriend."
"What do you mean you promised her, you jackass. I'm not doing that."
"Then tell her yourself," Hinata says, opening the door.
"Fine. I-" The word's die on Kageyama's lips as Hinata opens the door.
Oh. My. God. Chibi Shouyou.
Is Kageyama's first thought, as he takes in the small form sitting cross legged in the entryway. Hinata sits there, in miniature form, wearing a pink star hoodie and tiny purple sweatpants. There is also a star clip in Chibi Shouyou's hair. Chibi Shouyou looks at Kageyama, slightly suspicious, before breaking out in a familiar looking smile.
"Let's color." The voice that comes out of Chibi Shouyou is high pitched and girly and cute. Chibi Shouyou gets up and walks forward, reaching out to grip onto Kagayama's hand.
I am so fucked, Kageyama thinks, as he lets himself be led into the living room.
Hinata stops them so he can introduce Kageyama to his mother in the kitchen.
"Hello. It's nice to meet you. Thank you so much for inviting me over," Kageyama says in what he hopes is a normal tone of voice. Nishinoya told him he speaks like a robot. Nishinoya is the best libero that Kageyama has ever seen at their age level, therefore Kageyama respects and believes his opinion, which isn’t entirely untrue.
"It's nice to meet you," Mrs. Hinata says, her smile widening when she sees Natsu's grip on his hand. "Make yourself at home, dinner is almost ready."
"Yes. Thank you," Kageyama says stiffly, bowing. Natsu starts dragging him to the coffee table before he can straighten. The surface has several books laid out in preparation and a plastic container of crayons sits in the middle. Kageyama sits in the spot Natsu tells him to. His internal voice gives the smallest of squees when Natsu plants herself next to him.
Hinata sits on the couch.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to color?" Kageyama asks, hating how ridiculous the question is.
"It's not me Natsu wants to color with," Hinata says, turning on the television.
"Yeah, I color with nii-chan all the time. I want to color with you today," Natsu agrees, as innocently as a knife to the heart.
"Which princess is your favorite?" Natsu asks him expectantly as Kageyama tries to recover from the blow.
"Princess Starfall," Kageyama tells her.
Hinata starts laughing uncontrollably.
"You watch Princess Midnight," Hinata howls, falling backward onto the couch. "I have to tell Kenma."
"I do not jackass. I-"
"You don't like Princess Midnight?" Natsu asks, eyes round as she looks up at him. Her huge eyes are terrifying.
“Terrifyingly cute,” an unwanted mental image of Tanaka finishes lamely. The unwanted mental image of Tanaka then reaches over and high-fives an unwanted mental image of Nishinoya.
This is my brain, Kageyama thinks, morose.
"I-I do," he gets out, finding it very difficult to lie to the large, wide eyes. Natsu's look changes to one of suspicion. He panics, and forgets Hinata's earlier instructions.
He smiles.
Hinata stops laughing.
"No, Kageyama!" He hisses, making Kageyama realize what he is doing.
Kageyama braces himself. There is a blank look on Natsu's face. She'll probably run away any second now. Or maybe even start screaming.
Please don’t cry.
Natsu smiles back at him.
Smiles. Back.
"Oh, good. I have lots of awesome Princess Starfall pictures," Natsu says, reaching for one of her books to shuffle through the pages.
"Nnghh," Kageyama replies, as Natsu hands him the ripped out pages.
Click.
"Just taking a picture to send to Kenma," Hinata states in casual amusement.
Kageyama reaches over, snatches the phone away, then hurls it into the hallway where they can all hear it shatter into tiny pieces of metal and plastic.
Or at least he wants to, but all he can manage to do is say,
"Ngghh."
"Kageyama, start coloring!" Natsu commands, and Kageyama snaps out of his daze to follow her orders.
------
"May I help with the dishes?" Kageyama asks after dinner.
"Don't worry about them. You boys just go have fun," Mrs. Hinata says, waving them away. "Natsu let the boys have some alone time. You can have some cookies."
"I can’t believe your mom would just let you bring me to your room," Kageyama says, once they are out of earshot.
"She trusts me," Hinata simply replies as they enter said room. He closes the door behind them.
Kageyama looks around. Hinata looks at him expectantly.
"It's a lot cleaner than I thought it would be," Kageyama chooses to say.
"Ah. Yeah. Well my mom cleans it still, even though I tell her I'm too old for that," Hinata explains, surprisingly not getting angry at the inadvertently insulting comment.
Hinata fidgets, then clasps his hands in front of him, bouncing slightly on his toes.
"Why are you so nervous?" Kageyama asks. Hinata's eyes bug out.
"No reason," he says, but his eyes inadvertently glance to his bed.
Ah.
Kageyama swallows thickly, his fingers flexing by this sides. Hinata sees this and turns a deep shade of red.
"I mean, we don't have to do anything, you know, since my mom and Natsu are here, but, uh, yeah," Hinata stutters, his hands gesturing uselessly in the air.
"But, we could, you know, maybe cuddle some. Or something."
Kageyama's cheeks burn.
"Uh, right. Ok," he agrees, but doesn't move.
"Here," Hinata climbs onto his bed. He falls onto his side and holds his arms out expectantly.
Kageyama's cheeks get redder. He stays rooted to his spot.
"What is it?" Hinata asks, arms still outstretched.
"You idiot, you can't be the big spoon, you're so much smaller than me," Kageyama grumbles, averting his eyes to look at Hinata's desk.
"Moron. Bigger spoon doesn't actually mean the bigger person. It's just the person on the outside."
Kageyama still refuses to look at him.
"Kageyama please," Hinata begs, Kageyama looks at him. Hinata makes his eyes extra wide. As wide as Natsu's were earlier.
"Fine," Kageyama huffs, falling into place. Hinata's arms immediately circle his waist. He pulls Kageyama back, snug against his front, and then buries his face into the back of Kageyama's neck.
"Relax," Hinata mumbles, breath tickling the back of his neck.
The door opens.
Kageyama tries to sit up, but Hinata's arms keep him locked in place.
Natsu stares at them, mouth open in a tiny, comical 'o' of surprise.
"We're not doing anything," Kageyama says, without thinking about the fact that he is addressing a five-year-old. Hinata kicks him in the back of his shin.
"Liar!"
Oh, shit.
"You were having a cuddle party without me!" Natsu screams, jumping into the room, flinging her tiny form onto the bed. She grabs Kageyama's arm, then heaves it upward. She settles into the space below, resting her head on his bicep. Her feet barely reach his hips.
"Natsu, go away," Hinata whines into Kageyama's back.
"No way nii-chan. That's mean. You can't not invite me to your cuddle party."
"Natsu, Kageyama and I want to be alone."
"Kageyama wants me here, don't you?" Nastu asks, as she grips onto the front of his shirt.
"Be strong," Hinata mutters into his ear.
"Um," Kageyama starts.
Natsu reaches up and pats his chin lovingly.
Be strong.
"I can stay, can't I…
Be strong.
Be strong.
Be strong.
...Kage-nii-chan?"
Kageyama implodes into a trans-dimensional vortex. Lion turtles roam the new celestial plain that he will now call his home.
He is newly enlightened. He understands the previously mysterious workings of the universe like the meaning of life and why Nishinoya has spasmodic euphoria whenever someone calls him senpai.
He cannot go back.
"Damn it," Hinata swears into Kageyama's shirt.
-----
Hinata wakes up to an empty room forty minutes later.
"Kageyama?" He asks, even though he is obviously not there.
He goes into the living room where his mother and father are watching TV.
Kageyama isn't there.
Neither is Natsu.
Hinata goes to Natsu's room.
There is a blanket fort in the middle of it.
He opens the front flap, but a tiny hand yanks it closed.
"Password?" Natsu asks.
"I don't know. What the hell, let me in."
"No, you can't come in without the password."
"Is Kageyama in there? Kageyama, are you in there?"
"Yeah," Kageyama replies.
"Can't get in without the password, nii-chan."
Hinata sighs.
"Kageyama, tell me the password."
Silence.
"Kageyama seriously."
"Kageyama-sama cannot be the one to give the password away. This is his castle after all, and he must be protected."
Kageyama-sama? Hinata thinks.
Kageyama-sama in his castle. Kageyama-sama. King.
The king in his castle.
The king who is not getting mad at being called king.
Hinata knows when he’s lost.
------
"I said I was sorry," Kageyama says twenty minutes later.
Hinata, doesn't respond, just lays on his bed with his head on his arms.
"You're the one who was worried I wouldn't get along with your family," Kageyama points out.
"Fine. Fine. Let's just cuddle," Hinata says.
Kageyama fidgets.
"What is it?" Hinata asks, frowning.
"Well-"
"Kage-nii. Hurry up!" Natsu shouts.
Kageyama fidgets more.
"Ugh, just go."
"I swear, it's only going to be like five minutes."
"Whatever," Hinata mutters, burying his face into his pillow.
He hears Kageyama shuffle around. Then Kageyama's lips are briefly pressed against the back of his head.
No fair.
Now he can't stay mad.
He hears Kageyama walk out of the room as Natsu yells for him again.
This is my life now, he laments to his pillow.
He smiles.