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Kageyama has always loved small things. He was always fascinated with how something as simple as size could make anything cute. His fascination quickly turned into an obsession, like all things Kageyama takes an interest in. He made it his life duty to find and study small things, to find a small creature that he can cherish and hold. He spent his time finding tiny animals, tiny children, and doing his best to befriend them and make them like him.
Unfortunately, all tiny creatures and people are terrified of him. Animals take one look at him and either sprint away or try to attack him. Kids scream at the top of their lungs for their mommies the moment he even tries to talk to them. Every rejection stabbed Kageyama's heart, but he refused to give up on befriending a small creature, because Kageyama never figured out how to give up on anything.
Then, as Kageyama grew older and grew taller, his obsession expanded and twisted to the point that it kind of became his sexuality. It didn't matter if the person was a boy or a girl or whatever, if they were shorter than him, he was attracted to them.
Unfortunately, every person he's ever had a crush on also rejected him. His mom said that it was because he was too intense and had such a scary face all the time. He tried smiling at his crushes but that scared them even more than his resting face. All of his crushes refused to even speak to him, so he just settled for staring at them from afar, even though his stare also startled the hell out of them.
This was how it always was for Kageyama, and it was exactly the same when he met Hinata. Well, aside from the whole 'enemies-to-teammates-but-still-kind-of-enemies' thing.
He met Hinata, was overwhelmed by how small he was, and Hinata responded with fear and anger and didn't want anything to do with Kageyama.
Kageyama tried to force himself to forget Hinata after that match. He told himself that he knew nothing about him and he would most likely never see Hinata again.
He couldn't tell if the universe was trying to hurt him or help him when he and Hinata ended up at Karasuno together.
On the one hand, they both get to know each other better. They learn more about each other, both personally and on the court. They're learning how to better one another in games. They're gaining more and more respect for each other every day. Kageyama is starting to adore Hinata more and more, and his crush on him grows exponentially every day.
Kageyama's rapidly growing crush, however, is becoming a huge problem.
It's not a matter of having the guts to confess his feelings. Kageyama has never found the point in beating around the bush, and has confessed to every single person he's had a crush on. They've all rejected him and made it a point to avoid him all the time, but, even though each rejection and avoidance hurt, none of them ever really got in the way of something else he loves.
No, what Kageyama fears is that him confessing will get in the way of volleyball. Hinata would never quit the team, but Kageyama is afraid that his confession will put the dynamic of the team into total disarray.
He's afraid that Hinata won't want to practice with him, won't want to be a duo with Kageyama anymore, and that the tension between them will destroy the team's chemistry. He and Hinata are one of the greatest strengths to the team, and messing with their dynamic will only hurt the team.
He vows to himself that he will not confess to Hinata, but when Hinata pulls him aside after practice, blushing bright and looking down and stuttering, Kageyama almost loses his resolve right then and there.
He's so focused on Hinata, looking at his face twisted into a pout and burning red, and focused on trying to keep his own face impassive, that he misses what Hinata says entirely.
“What?” Kageyama asks.
Hinata whips his head up and stares at Kageyama with wide and wild eyes. Kageyama flinches and his eyes widen. He barely stops himself from taking a step back.
“Will-” Kageyama heard Hinata's teeth click together when Hinata slammed his mouth shut. His face was heating up even more and he was starting to shake a little and Kageyama was getting more and more worried and terrified by the minute.
“Hinata, are you-?”
“I CAN DO THIS, JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE.”
Kageyama jumped back when Hinata shrieked at him. He had half a mind to yell back at him, but when he saw Hinata staring hard at the ground again, brow furrowed, bottom lip bitten, and feet shuffling back and forth, Kageyama's anger washed away. It was impossible for him to stay angry at Hinata. He got angry at him often, but he never held grudges against him.
“Kageyama,” he muttered, still not looking up from the grass.
“Yeah?”
“I… want to say stuff. Really personal stuff, but I won't say anything until you promise me to not tell anyone, okay? Please, just… no matter the outcome, please don't tell anyone what I'm gonna say...”
Kageyama stared hard at Hinata and squinted his eyes. “Are… are you dying...?”
“I'm not dying!” Hinata snapped, whipping his gaze from the ground to glare heatedly at Kageyama. “And you still haven't promised me to not tell anyone.”
“I promise,” Kageyama responded, focusing all of his attention on conveying just how serious and genuine he was. His effort must have worked because Hinata nods approvingly before taking in a deep breath.
“IReallyLikeYouAndIWantToGoOnADateWithYou."
Huh?
Hinata rushed everything out in one breath, so fast that Kageyama could barely catch more than the words 'date' and 'you', but he was certain that it was just his brain being stupidly hopeful and filling in the holes with what he so desperately wants to hear.
“I couldn't make out a single word, speak slower.”
Hinata made a choking noise and his face, despite all odds, burned even hotter. He bit his lip and narrowed his eyes at Kageyama.
If he didn't stop biting his lip soon, Kageyama was going to fucking melt.
They stood in silence, contemplating one another, and Kageyama wondered-
“I like you.”
Kageyama's eyes widened and his chest started to ache. It was becoming hard to breathe and he couldn't think even if he wanted to try.
No.
No fucking way.
“I like you, and I want to go on a date with you.”
Kageyama just stayed there, standing like an idiot, unable to blink or move or breathe or think.
Hinata liked him. Hinata wanted to date him. One of the cutest people Kageyama has ever met wanted to date him.
After a few moments of stuttering word after word, Kageyama's useless brain finally allowed his mouth to choke out, “Why?”
Hinata blinked in surprise at the question, but recovered and asked, “Why not?”
Because you're cute as hell and I'm never this damn lucky, Kageyama thought bitterly, but forced himself to remain silent, staring intensely at Hinata. Hinata started shuffling his feet, avoiding eye contact once again.
“Look, you don't have-”
“Yes!” Kageyama declared, his face undoubtedly burning.
Hinata looked back at Kageyama, his cheeks flushing again, so damn cute, and Kageyama almost had a heart attack when Hinata grinned at him. He was so happy, so happy to date someone like Kageyama, and Kageyama was going to die before they even went on a date.
“That's… great, that's awesome. Um, there's, uh, a movie coming out in a few days. It's about a guy looking for revenge after this gang killed his family, and it looks super cool and I really want to-”
“Yes, we'll see that,” Kageyama interrupted. Hinata was cute when he rambled but he needed to go wash his face with freezing water soon before he died.
Hinata started fucking hopping in his excitement God help him and bounded back to the door towards the gym. He opened the door and spun around to shout, “I'll pick you up, I'll text you when the movie is. I gotta ask my mom to pick you up and stuff too.”
Kageyama could feel his mouth stretching wide, wider than he usually allows himself. It was probably the stupidest grin in the world, judging by his teammates' laughter.
Kageyama couldn't care less.