Chapter Text
Kageyama doesn't understand how Hinata does it. The loud autism thing.
Well, he supposes that it is possible that maybe Hinata isn't autistic, but Kageyama is pretty good at knowing these things. He can see it when Hinata jumps randomly and yowls and flaps his hands and does his little dances when he does something right during practice, and he doesn't understand how he does it so easily.
In public Kageyama just flexes and unflexes his fingers in his palms. He taps his thumbs against his fingers, he practices serving 80 times in a row. And yeah maybe he yells sometimes, he doesn't yowl though. And he's noticed Hinata isn't great in social settings either. At least with social cues. But he thrives when meeting new people and everyone likes him anyway. He says weirdo things too. Like, people look at him strange when he declares he will play the position of best ball boy because, well, that’s not even a position or something you play or become the best at just objectively.
Kageyama knows what Hinata meant by it though. He understands a lot about the things Hinata says and so that's why he is fairly certain he is also autistic. No one really likes Kageyama. He doesn't know what he is doing wrong or differently or incorrectly. Everyone loves Hinata and no one particularly likes Kageyama.
One day he decided to ask.
“How do you do it?” He had approached Hinata sitting on the floor doing something stupid with his hands spinning his water bottle for no reason.
“Do what?” Hinata asked.
And it was a little bit clear that he was excited that Kageyama was implying Hinata was better at something than him. Winning at something. And that makes Kageyama frustrated.
And then he realized that it’s rude to imply or assume someone else is autistic for some reason. It wouldn't be insultingly. Just kind of objectively.
But anyway, Kageyama didn’t feel like asking anymore and his palms were sweating a little bit. He tapped his thumb against his index finger, his middle finger, his ring finger, then his pinky. Then his pinky, ring finger, middle, index.
“Be so stupid all of the time. What are you doing? You are going to spill water everywhere and then slip on it because you're too dumb to avoid it.”
He heard Tsukishima snort in the background and Hinata yowled, because of course he yowled. And he retorted something in defense but Kageyama had already walked away.