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Day VII: Summit
He should’ve guessed it. Dammit, he should have known!
Throwing a bomb like that on Hinata was bound to make the guy run away. Hell, even Kageyama would have made some type of excuse to leave!
Would he?
He shook his head, hoping this technique would somehow lessen the fuzzy feeling that had settled in his stomach and throat. Not a fuzzy feeling of the good kind, of the nervousness he would get when Hinata got too close to him. No, it was the bad kind, the kind that wanted to make him ram his face into a wall multiple times.
Cursing himself would probably be the only thing he would take part of on this beautiful Saturday.
Kageyama kept his blinds closed, the morning sky far too beautiful to be witnessed by his depressed eyes.
It was like the damn day was mocking him all on its own.
Moments like these made him hate summer.
Somehow he made himself roll out of bed to clean himself up, have some breakfast and take his meds. Today he would let the side effect take him over. Sleeping all day felt like a better idea than moping in his room, staring at his phone and hoping it would magically have the ability to convince Hinata Shouyou of calling or texting him.
So after a swallowing down two pills with a glass of water, he made his way back to his room. He noticed the folder with the things he had missed from school and decided to give it a shot. Maybe until the pills kicked in he could distract himself with some Japanese History, English and whatever other subject was in there.
There wasn’t much to do, he noticed. A few readings, some questions to answer, more readings, and a paper with some subjects that would come in an upcoming test Kageyama had already been aware off.
He sighed in relief. Well, at least one part of his life was partly organized.
Hinata probably was fuzzing over all this, not aware of even when the tests were due.
He chuckled.
Then lowered his head in depression.
Dammit!
Why did Hinata keep clouding his damn mind?!
He attempted to drown his concentration on the readings, but it was impossible. Hinata was on every page, every character was the damn redhead, every name was written with the kanjis to his name, and every picture was him.
Kageyama fell forward on his bed, grunting into his pillow.
This was a never-ending nightmare and he had definitely brought it upon himself.
…
Beep Beep
Hm?
Kageyama’s eyes slowly opened to the sound of his phone.
He rubbed at his eyes for them to focus, only to notice he had fallen asleep on all the work papers he had been going over.
Shit.
As he sat on his bed with his legs underneath him, he noticed how crumpled up the papers had become. He tried fixing most of them, but the damage was already done.
He blamed his medicine for making him fall asleep at the most inconvenient times.
After organizing the papers and placing them back on the folder they’d come in, he turned to his phone, which had been resting besides him.
[ NEW MESSAGE ]
From: The Idiot
To: Bakayama
Kageyama’s eyes widened, now wide awake.
Good morning, Kageyama-kun. I hope you feel better. I’m sorry for running off yesterday I was really shocked and I didn’t know what to do so I’m really sorry. I don’t know if you’ll ever forgive me and all that but if you do can you please come to the park we were at yesterday? At 2:30PM? If you can’t come or don’t want to forgive me then I understand. （◞‸◟）
11:58AM
What a freaking loser.
Kageyama swore he had not been more embarrassed by a text message until he read that paragraph of pathetic words. Seriously, how did he even muster up such courage to even write that?
That…that imbecile…
Kageyama was angry. He was fuming. He would go through the phone and punch Hinata in the face if he could, that little piece of shit.
But all in all he was blushing beet red.
And of course he was ready to go.
The true question was, when he got there, what the hell was he even gonna say? What would Hinata say? Without a single idea of how the event would go down, he shot up from his bed and began to put together an outfit to wear out. Simple blue jeans, a black graph tee and sneakers, nothing too special, but nothing too bad either. He splashed some water onto his face, looked hard at his reflection in the mirror and nodded. He was ready to go.
Whatever the outcome of the situation he would take it like a man.
Noticing the clock it was 12:30PM, but he didn’t care. He grabbed his phone and sent Hinata a message.
To: The Idiot
From: Bakayama
Let’s meet now. I’m already on my way.
He was really stretching his luck, but he didn’t care. It was now or never.
And besides, that park wasn’t exactly close to his house either, if anything Hinata would get there in no time.
…
It took Kageyama a fifteen-minute walk to get to the park. The summer air was hot and for the whole way he regretted wearing a black shirt, but it was too late to turn back.
When the park finally came into view he felt both relief and anxiety.
Hinata had texted him a few minutes ago that he’d already arrived so he began prepping himself, practicing what he’d say, fantasizing about a dozen different scenarios that would occur once he stepped onto that park.
The only scenario he did not picture was the one that appeared right before his eyes.
“Kageyama! So good of you to join us!”
That voice. Kageyama swore if the asshole had been closer he’d punch the living daylights out of him in a beat.
Yamato the bully kept butting in on his life, and Kageyama was beginning to plan on ways to actually kill the guy without being taken to prison.
Or maybe scare him for life that worked too.
Hinata was on his knees, held down by a foot to his back. When he looked up to see Kageyama he was both glad and frightened.
Kageyama’s aura was emitting pure hate and Hinata could feel it from a yard away.
“I have done it with your shit you asshole. Let him go before I make you!” Kageyama was yelling as he showed the bully his fist.
“I know you’re strong, Kageyama!” the bully announced as he pressed harder on Hinata’s back. The boy grunted, and Kageyama got closer, worried for the redhead’s sake. He stopped a few feet before them as Yamato put a hand up to order him to stop.
“Don’t get too close, or I’ll tell my friends here to take care of this shrimp,” he chuckled.
“What the hell is it that you want?!” Kageyama questioned.
“Hm? What I want?” the bully put a finger to his chin, feigning wonder, then looked back to Kageyama, far too euphoric for it to be normal. “Ah, that’s right! Revenge!”
“You’re still mad about that beating I gave you?! Are you an idiot?!” Kageyama stepped closer, ready to land a solid blow on his face.
“Hmph, is your memory that limited? Don’t be an idiot! I had to take the blame for you and got six months of probation after that. It was a pain in the ass,” Yamato grumbled, staring daggers at the setter.
“You—…What?” Kageyama’s eyes widened, shocked by the information.
“Yeah, don’t act so surprised! I saved your sorry ass and never even got a thanks. So causing you some mischief should be a fine price to pay for what I went through!”
Hinata felt out of place. The bully’s foot had loosened enough for him to look between Kageyama and Yamato, perplexed, looking for an answer to his question and hoping to find it mid air. “Kageyama-kun? What the hell is this bastard talking about?”
Kageyama was stuck. He parted his lips to find some type of excuse to dismiss his question, but nothing came out.
Yamato was quick tho, and he seemed to steal the breath from Kageyama’s lungs as he looked down at the redhead and laughed. “Oh? So your girlfriend here doesn’t know? What kind of person you really were before? Heh, this will be fun.” He stepped besides the fallen Hinata and grinned down at him with sadistic amusement. “So, you want me to tell you a little story, Chiby-chan?”
Hinata managed to get to his feet, moving away from the bully and ready to defend himself if it were necessary. Although they didn’t seem to want to cause him any more harm, he took his precautions.
They all seemed too enthusiastic upon Yamato’s words tho, which probably meant words were enough of a weapon this time.
Kageyama on the other hand was alarmed. He moved closer to the bully quickly until he was right besides him. Before he could throw a punch the other two got him by the arms, holding him back. “Shut the hell up! Don’t you—“
“Your little boyfriend here was pretty useful before. He didn’t mind getting his hands dirty,” the bully laughed, pointing his thumb at Kageyama who struggled against the two guy’s grasp.
“Shut up already! Hinata, don’t listen to this asshole! He doesn’t—“ He was shut up by strong hands clasping his mouth.
Yamato chuckled.
Hinata frowned. “What’s…. that supposed to mean?” He took another cautious step back, looking from Kageyama to the bully.
“Just what it sounds like. I wasn’t lying when I said he was strong, I’ll admit that he can take me up in a fight, although it wasn’t the main reason why I recruited him.”
“R—Recruited him? For what? What the hell are you talking about?” Hinata looked both pissed and confused as he questioned the bully, unsure if he should even believe him.
“To beat up anyone that got in our way, of course. Although we had to teach him most of the things he knows now. Heh, but it was pretty entertaining watching him go up against some of the worst people you can find around here. He also helped me steal some stuff on rare occasions, even did the stealing himself and got a part of the money. Good time, isn’t that so, Kageyama?”
Kageyama elbowed one of the bullies right in the rib, making him lose his grasp on him. The other he turned and forced his grasp off before pushing him to the floor. “You bastard!” he hissed and ran over to grab Yamato by the collar, his face threateningly close.
Instead of fright the guy was laughing like this was some type of game. It enraged Kageyama; it made him grab on harder.
“N—No way…” Hinata couldn’t believe what he had heard. Kageyama Tobio, a thief? Fighting people? He always knew Kageyama was scary but he never associated it with him actually hurting other people.
It couldn’t be true, could it?
“Hurt me all you want, but the damage is done, isn’t it? Now your little girlfriend knows about your true self, so why not show him, hm? He’ll just be more scared of you than before. Who would’ve thought ruining your life was so simple?” he was laughing like a mad man, not even worried about the fist that was directed to his chin.
It never came though, because Kageyama’s eyes had lost focus on the target. They’d wandered away; wandered to the one person he never wanted to be hated by.
Hinata Shouyou.
“Hinata…” Anger was replaced by weary. Weary of what Hinata would think of him now, that he’d actually be scared, that things would never be the same.
He could never deny the accusations the bully did on his part because they were all true, he couldn’t erase the damage done either. It wasn’t like he could make excuses, like he could say he did it for a special cause despite it being true as well. He’d done it and that was that, but even so, he didn’t want Hinata to run away from him again. “I…”
Just as he was loosening his grip on the bully’s collar Hinata stepped forth, his face determined, his fists at his side, and taking a deep breath to say what was on his mind. “I could never be scared of Kageyama-kun, you idiot! Yeah he may have scary faces, and when I spike a ball to his head I feel like he’s about to end my life, he may have some dark secret stuff I don’t understand right now, but I would never genuinely be so scared of him that I’d never talk to him again! Because I like Kageyama you asshole!”
Hinata was pissed. He felt like he could punch the stupid bully in the face if only he stepped closer, but Kageyama already had him by the collar and he thought he’d leave it up to him.
Kageyama was overwhelmed, with both embarrassment and relief, with anger and a deep sense of euphoria for Hinata’s words. It was a great intake of emotions, and he wasn’t sure how to out them all at once.
“Heeeh? You like him, you say? Pathetic! This los—“ Right then it was over; Kageyama’s fist tightened and he punched the guy across the face with as much strength as he could manage.
The bully fell to the floor, holding his face, his nose dripping with blood. “Don’t dare show your face to me again you piece of shit. I’ll never stoop that low ever again. Don’t think we’re anything alike because of what I did in the past, scum!”
Just as he turned around, ready to take his leave and done with dealing with this situation again and again he was grabbed from behind, his neck on hold by one of Yamato’s loyal dogs. He struggled to get off but the arm wouldn’t budge.
“O—Oi! Let him go!” Hinata yelled from where he stood only to receive a mocking laugh from the main bully.
“Oh? And what are you gonna do about it, damsel in distress? Just give us a few minutes to beat this guy to a pulp, we won’t take long.” Wiping some blood from his nose, Yamato rose to his feet and approached the struggling raven. “Did you think you’d win that easily? I came prepared to kick your ass, so just sit tight. This will only take a minute.”
The bully cracked his knuckles, smirking sadistically as he approached Kageyama.
These guys were tough to get off of. Kageyama tried to push off the arm holding him on a leash, but the more he struggled the more the grip tightened, even when he used his hands to push off. Kicking wasn’t resulting too good either.
One fist came flying his way; luckily he’d mustered enough strength to dodge it, forcing the arm to go sideways with his. The one holding him huffed and held him tighter in place.
Yamato tried again, this time for sure he would land a good blow to the face. “Don’t think you can get out of this one you—“
“You asshole, I said leave him alone!” Hinata yelled and in an instant had jumped onto the bully’s back, locking his arms as tight as possible using his legs and hands. The bully fell forth from the impact, in the process trying to shake Hinata off to no avail.
“G—Get off of me you shrimp!” he yelled as Hinata held him down to the ground with all his strength.
“Kageyama! Hurry up and beat that guy up!” Hinata urged, unsure if he could hold the bully down for much longer.
“Idiot, do you think we’d be in this situation if I could?” he yelled back, struggling with greater force. “D—Dammit!”
By then the third bully had made his way towards Hinata to save his master. He grabbed onto the redhead’s shoulders, attempting to push him back but this time Hinata was prepared. He held onto Yamato’s shirt with all his strength, unwilling to be pulled away.
“I said get off!” This time Kageyama’s elbow did the trick. After many attempts he finally managed to land one right to his attacker’s stomach, one that would definitely leave a mark. The pain was enough to have him loosen his grip on the raven, which he took as an opportunity to push the arm away and give the man a kick on the stomach. With one of them finally down he rushed to Hinata’s aid.
Yamato was yelling. He pulled himself up from the ground with a grunt, throwing Hinata off and right onto the bully’s hold. The bully threw Hinata to the side and pushed him further into the dirt with his foot. Hinata didn’t think twice. He twisted around just enough to use both hands and take a hold of the bully’s foot and pull, causing him to tumble to the ground.
Meanwhile Kageyama took care of the boss, throwing him back to the floor with a good push and kicking him on his side.
Just as he’d done to him.
Only he did this once; one good kick was enough to have him vulnerable for a while. “You said it yourself, asshole. I can take you on in a fight. Just give it a rest already and forget about your stupid revenge! You only have yourself to blame, after all you could have told them I was guilty to begin with.”
That was it. Kageyama stepped back and turned to Hinata who had just thrown one of the bullies to the ground. As Hinata staggered to his feet Kageyama stood right besides him, giving the bully Hinata had just beaten a look, daring him to even as move a finger, before turning to the redhead. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Hinata didn’t even think of denying as his feet moved automatically to follow along.
…
Hinata was exhausted. When they finally found somewhere quiet enough to sit and take a rest (a bench by the shopping district) he felt like he’d just seen a miracle and plopped himself down on the wooden bench. Kageyama was right behind him, mimicking his actions and exhaling once he was comfortable enough.
They didn’t say a single thing to each other since they’d ran off and remained this way for a while longer, focusing on the people walking about broad daylight and making their purchases.
They must’ve thought Hinata and Kageyama looked like idiots, all sweaty, their clothing full of dirt.
Hinata especially. His cheeks were dirty upon Kageyama inspecting closely. He’d been wearing a white tee with a dark red star design on the side. Now parts of it were covered in dirt and sweat. On his part Kageyama was the one that had come out clean out of the mess (except for the abdominal pain that had began to act up again, but he could handle it).
It suddenly hit Kageyama. How long had Hinata been held down by those damn imbeciles before he arrived? At most it must have been five to six minutes, he guessed, remembering the text message the boy had sent him saying he’d arrived. Kageyama had been on his way when he’d received it.
It made him worry, knowing he had been powerless until Kageyama showed up.
Something caught his eye as he sat there thinking. Hinata’s left knee was bleeding. Blood was trailing from the cut down to his legs and onto his mosaic shoes and he probably hadn’t even noticed.
“Ne, Hinata, you’re bleeding,” Kageyama decided to point out, and got closer as well to inspect the wound.
“E—Eh?” Hinata seemed to suddenly awaken from some type of phase as Kageyama spoke up, and quickly inspected the injury to his knee. He wiped some of the blood off to see the cut’s depth, only to have it burn. He flinched and opted to not do that again.
“It looks deep. When did you get that?” Kageyama questioned as he inspected the cut.
“I have no idea. Maybe when those bastard were holding me down on the ground?” he said, flinching due to the burning sensation the cut was now causing him. It was hurting him, more than before.
“It hurts?”
Hinata nodded, sucking in his lips as a method to keep the pain at bay. Of course, it didn’t.
“Shit. We should get that checked. Come on, your house’s the closest so we should go there. “ Kageyama was already on his feet, holding out a hand for Hinata to take, but Hinata wouldn’t move. “Oi, hurry up. I don’t want you to bleed to death, idiot!”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Kageyama. It’s just a cut and of course it hurts,” Hinata huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and ignoring the burning sensation it was causing him.
“At least it should be treated properly, stupid. It could get infected.”
Hinata shook his head no, still, for some reason, unwilling to stand up from his spot. In that moment he seemed to remember something and shoved his hand into his short’s pocket, taking out a white piece of cloth and applying it to the cut. “There, that’ll take care of it for now,” he said and then turned back to Kageyama. “I wanna talk to you Kageyama, and I don’t want to be interrupted this time like all the other times!” he looked dead serious about this, or as serious as Hinata Shouyou could look. Kageyama was buying this face though, Hinata’s serious face, which was truly making him uneasy and rather nervous. So he stopped arguing with the guy that wouldn’t change his decision and sat back down besides him.
Hinata propped up his cut knee onto the bench, positioning himself in a much more comfortable way that allowed him to face Kageyama with all seriousness.
“Do you really think this is the best place to talk about something serious, Hinata,” Kageyama mumbled, noticing the many people walking around them on the side walks, the few cars passing by the street in front of them now and then and the broad daylight. He felt like they had no privacy whatsoever, but Hinata didn’t seem to care.
“Don’t make excuses, Kageyama-kun, this is important and it’s now or never,” Hinata crossed his arms over his chest again and huffed. “Now, I want you to tell me everything.”
Kageyama waited for him to continue, to explain what everything even meant, but Hinata was not doing such thing and he was confused.
He blinked.
“Everything…? W—What do you mean by everything?”
“Everything. “ Hinata confirmed, nodding his head.
“…” Kageyama had no idea where to start. There were many things that everything could mean, from what Yamato had been talking about to his feelings for him; those were the main things that came to mind, things which Hinata would be interested in knowing, he assumed. So he picked a topic and decided to go from there.
“Well, I suppose I should start with saying that everything that guy said about me back there is true,” he spoke firmly, looking from his linked hands in front of him to Hinata’s eyes.
Hinata didn’t look shocked as Kageyama had expected, instead concentrated on what Kageyama was saying, wanting to hear the whole thing before expressing anything.
So the raven continued. “When that guy was at my old school we never really talked, but he was infamous for causing trouble for teachers and stuff like that so I’d heard of him and seen him around a lot. I never really cared since I was so focused in volleyball, but when he graduated I saw him again with a group of people beating some guy up. I…tried to save the guy from them and he ran away but they beat me up instead,” he chuckled solemnly at the memory, turning away from Hinata’s gaze to his linked hands. “After that they made me swear I wouldn’t talk about what I’d seen or they’d find me again and all that stuff so I kept my mouth shut. But I witnessed another of their beatings about two more times after that, and in the end they gave me two choices, to either join them or get sent to the hospital, so of course I chose the most reasonable option. I was naïve, and I didn’t really know how to fight well, so I couldn’t even stand a chance against those guys. So yeah, I learned to fight from them and Yamato who was the leader of the group and I helped them out when they stole, but I never liked it. I was with them against my will, and I regretted the whole year I stuck with them. I managed to get them into probation, that’s what Yamato was trying to get revenge for. It was the only way I could get them off my backs for enough time for me to graduate and go into high school. And I guess it worked, until now.”
Kageyama had never told anyone any of this excluding his parents whom he’d had no other choice to tell back then, so he felt odd explaining the situation. He turned back to see Hinata’s reaction to the story, unsure of what to expect, as so it was usually occurring when it came to the distinctive redhead.
“I knew there was more to you just knowing that guy from school. I…just didn’t know how to ask,” Hinata admitted, lowering his gaze to the empty spot between them. “When I did ask you you fell asleep,” he chuckled rather solemnly.
There was a pause, in which Hinata debated his words and Kageyama had none at all, and then…
“I’m…sorry Kageyama, for causing you so much trouble. It’s the third time you had to rescue me…” The words came in the mumble of a conflicted Hinata whose gaze wouldn’t part from the bench. His hazel eyes hid beneath the red locks of his hair like the first time they’d face the bullies, but then and now seemed like ages ago, and this time Kageyama could find the right words to say.
“Hinata, don’t be an idiot,” the usual rough voice that would come with such a sentence wasn’t there, instead there was a soft voice, a concerned voice, and a hand reaching for his face, to this time turn his gaze to his own. “This time you did something, you saved me back there from getting punched in the face. If it weren’t for you I’d be bleeding out of my nose again. So thanks.”
“K—Kageyama…-kun…” Hinata was way too overwhelmed with the whole ordeal to keep himself together. His eyes flooded and soon a few tears were falling off his cheeks. He cursed under his breath, quick to wipe them off with the back of his hands before people could start approaching them and asking questions. Kageyama pulled his hand away and allowed Hinata to calm down, to brush all the tears away.
“I’m…also sorry for running off so suddenly yesterday…” Hinata mumbled through all his mess of tears and wiping them away. “I…I didn’t know what to do, I was really surprised.”
Kageyama felt touched by the apology. Something within him was making him nervous upon remembering the incident.
When Hinata had finally calmed down he looked right at him, into his eyes as he spoke next. “I wanted to talk to you about that before those bullies came and ruined everything,” he said averting his gaze for a moment, but quickly looked back. “I really—“
“That’s alright, Hinata,” Kageyama stopped him right then and stood up from the bench. “I think I already told you everything, so we should get going.” He held out his hand again, this time not taking no for an answer. He didn’t wait for Hinata to comply, instead took hold of the hand he’d been using to keep the cloth to his cut and pulled him to his feet, close to his own body. “We still have to treat that cut,” he smiled.
Hinata’s whole face turned into a deep shade of red from the closeness they’d gained. He stood right in front of the raven, his chest pressed against the other’s, having to look up if he was to look at his face.
He didn’t dare. It’d be too embarrassing.
Instead of saying anything he allowed himself to be lead away from the shopping district and towards the path that would eventually lead to his home.
For most of the walk neither said a word, little less did they bother to question their laced hands.
Neither minded because they fit perfectly together.
Kageyama felt like he was walking on the clouds and Hinata’s heartbeat had threatened to pop right out of his chest various times, but they continued like this.
That was, until Kageyama stopped a block away from Hinata’s house and Hinata was forced to do the same.
“Hey,” Kageyama mumbled without much strength, like he was somehow unsure of his own words. But Hinata responded quickly by turning to meet him, and there was no turning back then. “What…you said back there. Is it true? Do…you really feel the same way?”
“Y—Yeah…” Hinata rubbed the back of his neck nervously, giving the other a sheepish smile. “I…really do…”
That was all Kageyama needed to know.
That bubbling feeling returned, this time stronger, this time with the will to act upon it.
Kageyama stepped closer to Hinata, he reached closer, the closeness he hadn’t dared to approach before when he had been but inches away; this time he was but a breath away, a hand on his cheek to tip up his face and just try out what he’d been too afraid to do before. He kissed Hinata on the lips without a single regret.