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Even before they started dating in their third year, Hinata knew that Kageyama’s love language was words of affirmation. Contrary to popular belief, Hinata can notice the little things. He saw Kageyama react badly to words of criticism and smile slightly at words of encouragement. He noticed that if Kageyama compliments someone, he really means it. He also noticed how Kageyama would get flustered whenever he complimented his sets. Hinata just didn’t realize that Kageyama did that because he had feelings for him.
He’s a little bit silly like that.
Hinata’s favourite pastime is complimenting Kageyama. He enjoys watching how his cheeks go a soft pink, how his eyebrows furrow, how his lips pout and he pretends not to be affected by the words.
These moments happen less now, since the two of them have their own careers; Kageyama is the starting setter of the Adlers and Hinata is one of the newer players on the MSBY Black Jackals. They’re still together of course, they wouldn’t let distance keep them apart (even though the years in Brazil were some of the most difficult ones in his life).
They’re oddly good at communicating with each other, despite sharing a single brain cell, according to Tsukishima. They were able to keep in touch during that time period, video calling almost every night. Sometimes they would tell each other about their day and their volleyball progress, while other times they wouldn’t even talk and go about their own nightly task. It was enough for the both of them just to know that they had each other there.
They still call quite often. Plus, whenever either of them have time off volleyball, whether it be a week or just a day, they try to visit each other. It’s not a frequent thing but they’re okay with that.
Because they love each other, and that’s enough.
“Tadashi, that’s not my point!” Hinata sighs, exasperated. He throws his volleyball bag to the side as he enters his apartment, still sweating slightly from practice. “I can’t skip tomorrow’s practice and make the trip just because I miss Tobio.”
“I mean, the season ends soon so you can see him then, but I wouldn’t put it past you to just go,” Yamaguchi admits, shifting on his couch and grinning on Hinata’s screen. The two of them are still really good friends, facetiming almost as often as Hinata facetimes Kageyama. Actually, Kageyama, Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima, still hang out as much as they can and the four of them irritate each other in their group chat daily.
Speaking of the devil, Tsukishima leans into view with a smirk. He should’ve known the two of them would be together. (They usually are together—they share an apartment.)
“Oh?” Tsukishima looks at him. Hinata braces himself for his next words, already knowing what’s coming. “So you can sneak into the Youth Camp because you want to get better at volleyball, but you can’t go see your boyfriend because you miss him? Damn. First-year Hinata would be disappointed.”
“Hey, you said you wouldn’t bring that up again!” Hinata complains, pretending to be upset even though he’s smiling. “That was a part of my dark past!”
“You don’t have a dark past,” Tsukishima snorts, and Yamaguchi snickers. “You just have a cringe-worthy one.”
“Bro, what the fuck,” Hinata sputters, walking into his kitchen to get a snack. “I wasn’t that bad!”
No one says anything for a full ten seconds.
“Okay, I was that bad. But I’m not like that now- Hey, don’t laugh at me! I’ll get Bo to suffocate you with his juicy, fat ass!!!” The other two laugh at him until Hinata’s laughing as well. Yamaguchi laughs so hard that he falls on the floor, wheezing. Even Tsukishima cracks a smile. Hinata grins. “I keep getting told to threaten people with that. But like, genuinely, how is he so volumptiuous—”
“I don’t want to hear about his ass, Shouyou,” Yamaguchi coughs, his laughter choking him. When he can breathe without laughing, Yamaguchi squints at the screen. “Hey, what time is it?”
“Uh, almost nine-thirty, if I can read clocks right.” Ignoring Tsukishima’s quiet ‘he can’t’, Hinata heads to his room to change.
“Ah, okay! We should go now, then,” Yamaguchi apologizes. “Things to do.”
Hinata shrugs. “That’s cool, we’ll talk later! Don’t break a lamp while making out-”
“HEY! That was one time—“
Hinata hangs up on them, snorting laughter. He throws his phone on his bed before going to take a shower. He doesn’t dry his hair when he’s done, pulling out his pyjamas and pulling them on. His sleep shirt is one of Kageyama’s old worn-out t-shirts, and Hinata almost gets upset when he realizes that it doesn’t smell like his boyfriend anymore. They haven’t seen each other in a while and Kageyama hasn’t answered any of his messages today. Hinata isn’t worried though, because Kageyama could’ve been practicing, doing a promotion, or doing something associated with team bonding.
Hinata reaches for his phone, wondering if he should call him. Before he can decide however, his phone rings and startles him. It’s Kageyama, and Hinata picks up on the first ring.
“Sho, why do you live on one of the highest floors in the Jackals apartment?” Kageyama says without greeting, panting slightly.
“Hi to you too, Tobio.” Hinata snorts, trying to hide how much he missed that voice. “Because no one else wanted to live high up, I guess! I don’t mind. Why are you out of breath, love?”
Kageyama chokes on his breath slightly at the nickname and Hinata smiles because he can almost see Kageyama’s flustered face without having him there in person.
“Shut up,” Kageyama manages, voice slightly tense and caught off-guard. “There are so many fucking stairs here.”
“Wha— where are you?”
“Put two and two together, idiot.”
“Holy shit.” Hinata hangs up on him, scrambling out of his room. He hurls himself at his door, pulling it open with such aggression that it probably should’ve fallen off its hinges. A hysterical laugh leaves his mouth. “Holy shit.”
Kageyama stands before him in all his glory, hair messed up and clothes wrinkled. He carries a backpack in his hand and smiles at Hinata, small and only for him.
Hinata breathes out, grinning so wide that his cheeks hurt.
“Hi,” Kageyama says, and Hinata’s restraint crumbles.
He reaches forwards and grabs the collar of Kageyama’s shirt, pulling him down to his height and kissing him hard. They stumble into Hinata’s apartment almost immediately and Kageyama drops his backpack by the door that Hinata closes without breaking the kiss. Kageyama pulls his hands through Hinata’s damp hair, who grasps at his sweater. Hinata hasn’t fully processed the fact that he’s really here.
“Is that my shirt?” Kageyama asks, pulling away to look down.
Hinata flushes and doesn’t say anything, pulling Kageyama back to his lips.
“Needy,” Kageyama observes, tone even. He pulls back again to see what happens. Hinata answers by making a soft, displeased noise and roughly pulling him back to kiss him harder.
Hinata knows that Kageyama’s provoking him but honestly he couldn’t care less. So he smiles against Kageyama’s lips and mutters, “Yeah? Are you gonna do something about it?”
They both know that that’s bolder than Hinata usually is. To be fair, Hinata is the bolder one between the two of them, but he also gets nervous. Very nervous. He’s running on pure adrenaline right now because of Kageyama’s arrival at the moment.
Kageyama doesn’t comment on it, kissing him back in a way that makes Hinata’s knees weak. Kageyama’s strong enough to hold him up. He pulls away after a minute or two to bury his face in Hinata’s hair. Hinata moves around in his arms, not to get away from him but to find a comfortable place to rest his head on Kageyama’s chest.
“I missed you so much,” Hinata mumbles into his chest. “Your shirt doesn’t smell like you anymore and we haven’t played volleyball together in so long.”
“I missed you more,” Kageyama grumbles.
“Not true.”
“Try me.”
“I guess we could’ve missed each other equally,” Hinata smiles against Kageyama. “Only if you stay for a while, though.”
“I’m here all of tomorrow. We can watch a movie tonight and play volleyball tomorrow,” Kageyama offers, knowing that Hinata just wants to hug now, to be as near him as possible. “I brought you my hoodie.”
Hinata looks up at him, eyes sparkling. “I love you so much.”
“Dumbass. I love you too.”
After that, they don’t see each other again until the season ends. Then, Kageyama all but moves into Hinata’s apartment, and none of his teammates even say anything. They spend almost all of their time together but because it’s off-season, they have to do media work. And for some reason, they have an interview together.
(They both know it’s because they have history and people are nosey.)
The thing is, no one besides their teammates and friends know that they’re together. They’re not exactly secretive about it, but they don’t call each other their boyfriend in public. If someone were to ask them upright about it though, they wouldn’t deny it. No one except the twitter stans seem to have shipped them yet, so there isn’t much of an issue.
Hinata and Kageyama sit beside each other on a couch, and in the chair beside them sits an interview lady. There’s a bottle of water there for each of them. It feels like a podcast, Kageyama whispers to Hinata, who snorts and tells him that it’s because of the uncomfortable couch.
The interview starts out well. They introduce themselves, the interviewer pretends to be shocked by their high school past together, and they show a video example of their quick attack from their second year. Specifically, from the game against Dateko where they lost. That doesn’t escape Hinata’s notice, nor Kageyama’s.
“So, now that we know about your high school experience, I’m sure everyone’s dying to know something else,” their interviewer exclaims. “How did you two meet?”
The two of them look at each other for a moment as if communicating silently. Then Kageyama turns away and says, “Middle school.”
“We were rivals on the court!” Hinata exclaims enthusiastically. “Tobio was on a really good team and my team only had six players in total, but we fought really hard.” Hinata calling Kageyama ‘Tobio’ was a compilation in itself, and they were both confused why. It was just his name, after all.
“We kicked your ass,” Kageyama offers once Hinata stops talking. Hinata opens his mouth to argue and the interviewer senses that, jumping in.
“Very interesting!” They exclaim quickly. “So you two weren’t on the same team at all until high school?”
Kageyama nods. “Shouyou lacked every basic skill in volleyball back then. He’s pretty alright now.”
“Hey!” Hinata protests. “Karasuno was my first real team, you know! I’ve gotten a lot better since then—”
“I just said that, you dumbass—”
“Yeah, you called me 'pretty alright' with that stupid voice! Like, 'pretty alright,’” Hinata imitates Kageyama’s voice, pushing his messy hair down as if trying to copy his hairstyle. Kageyama looks like he’s about to throw Hinata across the room when he continues, “what happened to ‘greatest decoy!?’”
The interviewer sighs and lets the two of them bicker for the next minute. Eventually, none other than Miya Atsumu walks into frame. Viewers would then realize that he’s there for his own interview along with Sakusa, which is happening once this interview is done.
“Oi!” Atsumu flicks Hinata in the arm, startling both men on the couch. “Stop arguin’, or I’ll kick yer sorry asses. Omi’s tryin’ to sleep, yer gonna wake him up!”
“I’ve been awake,” comes Sakusa’s deadpan voice from offscreen. “And don’t act like you have the ability to stop them from arguing, you’re being an entitled bitch, Miya.”
Atsumu groans and walks off screen. “Stop callin’ me Miya, Omi-Omi, or I’ll think of ‘Samu and I fuckin’ hate him—”
Once the crew have regained order on the interview set, Hinata and Kageyama continue their interview. They sit close together now, courtesy of Hinata gradually scooching towards Kageyama throughout the interview. It seems to go unnoticed by their interviewer, who already seems exhausted by the duo while somehow still being interested in them.
“Alright, back to it…Kageyama, you’ve been on the national team before, sans Hinata. Both here and on the Alders, you’ve never done the quick attack, so our only example of it is from high school. The fans want to know—how did you create your quick attack? It’s unlike anything anyone’s ever seen!”
“Oh— we made it by accident at first!” Hinata somehow almost jumps off the couch while answering. Kageyama pushes him back onto the couch, muttering some sort of insult. “We were doing a three on three in high school and I didn’t know what a quick attack was so Kageyama told me to run and jump, and fast. So I did, and it worked and it was so awesome. I did have my eyes closed, though. That was an issue eventually, so then we argued about it and weren’t partners for a bit—”
“We fought for less than a month—” Kageyama cuts in.
“And then,” Hinata interrupts him right back and Kageyama just looks at him blankly as he continues, “I got better while we weren’t practicing together and then I could hit quicks with my eyes open! When we finally played with each other again, Kageyama had changed his sets to this super cool set— he added a gwaah ! Then we went to nationals, and—”
“You’re rambling and no one understands your sound effects,” Kageyama tells him. To anyone else, it might’ve seemed like he was telling Hinata off, but Hinata just shrugs.
“Right, sorry!” Hinata smiles sheepishly. “You get what I mean, though.”
Kageyama nods. “You’re a dumbass.”
Hinata’s smile then could’ve rivalled the sun. The interviewer is mesmerized for a second, as is everyone else in the studio. Hinata’s smile tends to have that effect. A few moments pass before the next question.
“Now, Hinata, what was it like to have Kageyama as a setter in high school? Did he live up to his title of ‘King of the Court?’” The interviewer asks. The question is innocent enough, but the mood of the room changes.
Kageyama doesn’t react, having put the nickname behind him, but Hinata stiffens. He doesn’t like when people use that nickname for Kageyama, taking it upon himself to feel angry. He opens his mouth to say something that Kageyama knows will get him in trouble, so he elbows Hinata in the side lightly. Hinata looks over at him. When he sees the soft look on Kageyama’s face, he relaxes. He turns back to the interview lady.
“Tobio is the best setter I’ve ever had,” Hinata says, voice honest. From the background, a quiet ‘what the fuck, Sho’ can be heard from Atsumu. He doesn’t sound upset, as if this was a previously known fact by Atsumu that doesn’t bother him. As if only then realizing what he said, Hinata backtracks in a panicked way. “Not that my other setters aren’t good! Atsu is an amazing setter, one of my favourites, and he sets for me all season! His sets are really cool, don’t get me wrong! His sets are like woooosh and fwipah! It’s just, Kageyama was the first setter I’ve ever had, and I love hi—his sets so much! They’re like fwoosh and gwaa! I think that’s why—”
“Dumbass, no one understands what you mean by that,” Kageyama snorts, but his face is pink from the compliment. He noticed Hinata’s slip up, Hinata can tell. “And you’re rambling again.”
“Sorry! You’re just really incredible, Tobio!”
Kageyama hides his face in his hands. He attempts to mumble some insults that come out muffled from his hands. The words dumbass and stupid can be heard.
(They don’t know it yet, but that reaction from Kageyama will circulate the internet for quite a few weeks after that. No one has ever seen him act that way from a compliment. In fact, he’s received almost that exact same compliment from multiple interviewers and fans with little to no reaction.)
The interviewer laughs, clearly happy with their answers and Kageyama’s reaction. “You two really seem to have history! Do you still keep close contact throughout the year, being on different league teams?”
“We call,” Kageyama says, looking up from his hands. His face is neutral again, no sign of his flustered self.
“Every night,” Hinata adds, smiling widely and nodding. “Sometimes we just call each other and forget! Then Kageyama will say something and I get really scared—”
“That’s just ‘cuz you scare easily.”
“Hey! That’s not true.”
“It is.”
“Okay, so there might be some compilations of me getting scared, but you scare easier! I would win a scare-battle against you!”
Kageyama’s face contorts. “Don’t lie, it’ll make you lose more brain cells.”
They bicker back and forth until the interviewer clears her throat. “Alright!”
They snap back to attention, as if they had forgotten that she was there.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the interviewer says, not looking sorry at all. “But we have more questions! Will we ever see your special quick in a professional game?”
Seeing the two of them argue over each simple answer has everyone under the impression that Kageyama and Hinata would argue over this one as well. What no one expected is for the both to have a serious look on their face when they speak in unison,
“The Olympics.”
The stoic face only lasts for a second on Hinata, who almost immediately starts smiling again. “We’re very excited! When- if we qualify, all the players there are going to be really good, so I’m going to learn a lot, y’know? And if I get better, I’ll be able to beat Kageyama and—”
“Rambling again,” Kageyama says without looking at him. Once again, his tone nears sounding irritated, but Hinata knows that Kageyama just doesn’t want him to overshare that part of their life, their competition. Some of that story is for them, and them only.
“Right, sorry!” Hinata smiles awkwardly.
“No worries,” the interviewer waves him off. “Now, for the last question of the day! You two are quite popular among the fans, and they quite often admire your good looks. This leads them all to wonder—are you two single?”
The two of them exchange a glance. The message goes unsaid: Don’t tell her unless she asks directly. Let people figure it out in the stupidest way possible.
“I’m not!” Hinata grins wildly. “I’m madly in love!”
“Oh?” The interviewer leans forward. “Is that so?”
“Yep!”
“Who’s the lucky person?”
Hinata knows that the reason she says ‘person’ is because he’s very open about the fact that he is very much not heterosexual. However, he hasn’t specifically stated his sexuality. If people asked directly he would tell them that he’s pansexual without hesitation.
“Hm, I wonder who he is?” Hinata says, mock confusion on his face as he shrugs. “He’s so lovely. I could talk about him for hours, but for the sake of you and Tobio, I won’t!”
Kageyama mutters something that sounds like “thank god,” which catches the interviewer's attention. She turns to him, clearly more interested in Kageyama’s relationship status than Hinata’s, who feels a twinge of protectiveness and jealousy at the realization.
“And you, Kageyama?”
“I’m in a relationship,” he says slowly. The interviewer deflates a little, but then remembering her job, straightens up a little bit.
“So who’s the lucky girl?” The interviewer asks and Hinata takes a drink from his water to avoid cutting in. Kageyama looks at her blankly for a moment before he blinks.
“Girl? There’s no girl. I’m gay.” Kageyama doesn’t react when Hinata chokes on his water. Kageyama simply claps him on the back before continuing as if nothing happened. Atsumu’s laughter can be heard from across the studio. “I don’t like women.”
“Oh!” The interviewer says, blinking.
“Yeah, my boyfriend’s pretty alright.”
“Pretty alright?” Hinata scoffs. “He’s awesome!”
Kageyama shrugs, a small smile tugging on his lip. “Yeah, he is.”
That clip circulates the internet a fair amount in the next few weeks as well. Most people find that the most hilarious part of the video is Hinata and the interviewer’s reactions to Kageyama coming out, and almost everyone is congratulating him.
“Why are they congratulating me?” Kageyama asks Hinata as they crawl into bed one night.
“Because you came out, Tobio,” Hinata gives him a soft kiss on the cheek. “You’re gay.”
“I know.”
“That’s a good thing to know.”
“But why is it a big deal?”
“Well…people are homophobic, you know.”
“So? It doesn’t affect my volleyball and it doesn’t affect the fact that I love you. Fuck those people.”
“Okay, fair point,” Hinata lets out a fond laugh. “I love you a lot.”
“I love you more, dumbass.”
“Nope!”
“Yes.”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up,” Kageyama grumbles, pulling Hinata in for a kiss.
Hinata shuts up.
The second that Kageyama comes through the door, Hinata knows that something’s wrong. He’s off the couch and at Kageyama’s side within seconds. Kageyama stands still with his shoes off and bag discarded. He has an empty look on his face and the glassy look in his eyes.
“Come on,” Hinata says gently, offering his hand. Kageyama takes it slowly and lets Hinata bring him over to the couch. Hinata pulls Kageyama on top of him and into his arms and runs his hands through his hair gently. “What’s wrong, Tobio? What do you need?”
“Nothing, I’m fine. I don’t need anybody.”
“Where was this coming from?” Hinata says calmly, gently. His thoughts are racing, trying to figure out what happened that made Kageyama like this. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I don’t need anybody.”
“You said that already, love,” Hinata tells him quietly. “You can tell me what’s happening, alright? I’d fight anything for you.”
Kageyama shifts against Hinata’s chest. He struggles to get the words out but Hinata doesn’t interrupt him. He lets Kageyama form the words, who eventually speaks. “Am I emotionless?”
The words are quiet, but they ring loudly through Hinata’s ears. Where the fuck was this coming from?
“Oh god, no, Tobio, of course not,” Hinata’s replies immediately, his heart aching. “You’re not. Why would you think that?”
“Because everyone thinks that. Why do they think that? I know that I can’t get through interviews. I don’t smile. I don’t express anything. I’m not good at voicing my emotions and I'm bad with words, but it's my love language. I love you. Why don’t they know that?”
“It doesn’t matter if they know,” Hinata tells him gently. He feels Kageyama sniff and a tear soaks through his shirt. Kageyama doesn’t cry, why is this happening? “I do, okay? I know. You express so much. Tobio, you have so much emotion. You put so much love into your tosses. You smile with your eyes, not your mouth and I love that. I love the way you laugh at movies with me and I love the way you say that you love me. Those people, whoever thinks you don’t have any love, they don’t know you. They don’t—”
“I want them to know. I’m not ashamed of loving you, I want them to know. Why don’t they know? Why can’t I express that I love you like other people do?”
“Because you’re not other people,” Hinata reminds him. “It doesn’t matter that you don’t express yourself the way other people do. The people who matter, they know that.”
“I wish I was like other people,” Kageyama admits quietly, and Hinata’s heart hurts.
“I don’t,” Hinata whispers. “I’m glad you’re you. You make me invincible.”
Kageyama doesn’t reply for a moment. Then he sniffs and says, “A reporter asked me about my romantic life.”
Hinata hums.
“They asked how my boyfriend loves me if I’m so robotic and only care for volleyball,” Kageyama says stiffly.
Hinata pauses. Then he leans forward to kiss Kageyama on the forehead before replying. “Reporters are shitheads sometimes. I know you love volleyball a lot. But I love volleyball too! And I don’t love you any less because I love volleyball, so it would be the same for you. See?”
“I love you more than volleyball,” Kageyama tells him quietly. “Even if you are a dumbass.”
“I love you too, Tobio, more than anything in this world!”
“Shut up, you’ll turn this into a competition and I’ll win.” Kageyama adjusts his position so that he’s looking at Hinata, who doesn’t comment on his red, puffy eyes or the tear stains on his face. “My tears wet your shirt.”
“That’s fine, I like my shirt soggy.”
That gets a small laugh out of Kageyama, and so Hinata knows it’ll be okay. He kisses him briefly before snuggling closer.
They cuddle until they fall asleep.
Kageyama has the best sleep he’s had in weeks.
It’s both surprising and expected that it’s Kageyama who accidentally lets slip that they’re dating. It’s right after they qualify for the Olympics actually, during Kageyama’s post game interview. Instead of going to the locker room, Hinata stays beside Kageyama and basically clings to him, beaming brightly. Kageyama has a genuine smile on his face too, even if it is barely noticeable.
“Kageyama Tobio!” The courtside interviewer exclaims. “Incredible setting today!”
“Thank you,” Kageyama replies curtly. “My teammates were the ones who hit the sets, though.”
“Oh, don’t be humble!” The interviewer laughs, saying what Hinata obviously wanted to say judging by the look on his face. “You had some sneaky setter dumps, and your form? Unreadable!”
Kageyama nods in thanks awkwardly.
“And now you and your team are going onto the Olympics! How does that feel?”
“Nice,” Kageyama says after a moment, adjusting the way he’s standing so that Hinata isn’t about to fall over if his legs give out. “Really nice. It’s the teams’ dream. My dream, too.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” the interviewer smiles, clearly surprised by the direct response. “How will you celebrate this win? With your team? Your partner? Family?”
“Probably my boyfriend,” Kageyama says slowly.
“Would a fancy dinner be in order?”
“Whatever he wants to do, really,” Kageyama shrugs. Then, he does what almost no one expected him to do and turns to Hinata, who’s basically hanging onto him like a koala. “Oi, idiot. Are we doing dinner after this?”
Hinata hums, his face smushed into Kageyama’s back. “Yeah. Meat buns?”
“See, you get it. This is why I’m in love with you,” Kageyama says without thinking. He then turns back to the interviewer, and in seeing their shocked face, pauses. He proceeds to turn red, realising what he just revealed. “Uh—”
“Oh, did you just out us?” Hinata peeks out from behind Kageyama, grinning. He looks up at his embarrassed face before speaking again. “Oh yes, finally. Yeah, we’re dating! Kageyama lovers, back off, he’s mine!”
“Shut up, it was an accident,” Kageyama grumbles, trying to look anywhere but the camera pointing at his face.
“Whatever, it was a long time coming!” Hinata says cheerfully. He turns to the camera and interviewer. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, we need to go get some meat buns!!”
The two of them walk off, ignoring the stuttering words of the reporter, Hinata dragging a still-flustered Kageyama by the hand.
Later, they’ll see and hear about the reaction to the news they dropped. Although their PR teams don’t seem too happy, Hinata doesn’t care for any of the commotion, and it seems as though Kageyama doesn’t either. Hinata knows that that’s not true. No one else knows that. He knows that Kageyama was able to express what he wanted to, even if it was an accident. He knows how much this means to Kageyama, to be able to tell the world about them in his own words when that's the way he wants to show his love.
See, no one needed to know that they were together, but it seems as though a weight has been lifted off their shoulders. No one needed to know, but Kageyama is pleased that they do. People are going to make assumptions about them, make up stuff about them, create stories about them, but it doesn’t matter if what they guess is right or wrong. It doesn’t matter if they pretend like they know how their dynamic works, or how Kageyama shows his love.
Because in the end, no one will know Kageyama better than Hinata.