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It was to be their first international game.
The Karasuno team were waiting in the airport for their flight, some dashing around while others simply sat and waited. Daichi had long since given up on trying to calm Nishinoya and Tanaka down; they were full of energy, running up and down the lengths of seats, diving for imaginary balls and playfighting with each other. Hinata had soon ended up getting involved of course; spurred on by his senpais’ energy levels, he leapt into action with them.
“How much longer will we have to wait?” Sugawara asked Takeda, who had taken to reading his book instead of paying attention to the excited boys.
He looked down at his watch for a moment before answering. “It should be about half an hour before boarding time. Coach Ukai has gone to make sure, but Im pretty sure that’s the time we have to wait.” Suga looked unimpressed, his gaze moving back to the three boys who were wrestling each other to the ground. “Don’t worry, once they’re all strapped in on the plane they’ll probably all go out like a light. At least, I hope so.” He murmured.
Suga seemed to relax at that comment and went back to talking to Daichi.
It was five minutes later when coach Ukai finally reappeared. He carried two coffees with him, but he looked absolutely furious. The other teammates went quiet as they saw him approaching. “I can’t believe this,” Ukai said, muttering angrily as he went over to Takeda. He handed him one of the coffee cups before taking the empty seat beside him. He took a long drink of the scalding hot coffee, unaffected.
“What’s wrong, coach?” Daichi asked, looking over in concern.
Ukai sighed, running a hand through his hair. “The plane has been delayed,” he answered. A series of upset noises sounded from around the team, complaints arising. “Yeah, yeah, I know. There’s nothing I can do about it, okay?”
“How long is it delayed for?” Takeda asked.
Ukai hesitated. “Five hours.”
“Five hours?!” Kageyama yelled, the first to respond. He glanced at his watch; it had only just turned midnight.
“Are you serious?”
“Five whole hours?”
“We’re stuck here for that long?”
“Quiet!” Ukai ordered. “As I said, there’s nothing I can do about it. So either take a nap, or find a way to amuse yourselves for five hours. If you’re going to walk around the airport, I want you back here to report every hour, okay? I’m not losing one of you. Everyone is back here at four A.M., you hear?” Once he heard a chorus of “yes coach”, he waved them away.
“So, where should we go?” Hinata asked the group, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He had never visited an airport before, let alone gone on a plane. Part of him was glad they had extra time to explore the airport.
“I’m feeling kinda hungry. Anyone up for McDonalds?” Tanaka asked. There was a chorus of agreement, the majority of them all heading off to find a McDonalds or other fast food joint. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi broke off from the group, deciding to go somewhere else.
It wasn’t long before they found a place to eat. They ate as much as they could before drifting off around the airport. Hinata found himself dozing off as he ate, forcing Kageyama to slap him around the backside of the head before he could fall asleep face-down in his food.
“Kageyama,” Hinata murmured as they walked around the airport, trailing after the others. He rubbed his eyes sleepily.
“What?”
“Can we go lie down? I’m gonna fall asleep if we keep walking like this.”
“Tch. Who says I feel like sleeping? You’ll just end up sleeping on me, anyway. I don’t want you breathing on me.”
“Then carry me as we walk around.”
“What? No! That’d be so embarrassing.”
“Come on, stop being such a meanie!”
“No! Go back yourself if you want to sleep so bad.”
Hinata looked up at the boy and glared. Well, glared as well as he could for a sleepy-looking fifteen year old short boy. Kageyama found it more endearing that threatening. Suddenly, Hinata dropped down to the floor, curling up at Kageyama’s feet. “I’ll just sleep here then.”
Kageyama stared at him. The other passengers that surrounded them were staring at him. “What the fuck are you doing? Get up! You can’t just sleep on the floor!”
“Then carry me.” Hinata mumbled, closing his eyes. He was blissfully unaware to the hateful expressions Kageyama was giving him.
“Whatever. Sleep on the floor if you want. I’m leaving.” Kageyama muttered. Before he could even start to walk away, a hand reached out, grabbing his leg. Kageyama yelped, immediately flushing from the noise he’d just made. Hinata let out a muffled snort. “Get off of me! Stop being such a fucking toddler, you stupid-”
“Look Yamaguchi, the King is trying to stomp on a peasant. I guess that should be expected of someone as high class as he is.” Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked over, watching the display in front of them. Kageyama shook his trapped leg, but Hinata didn’t budge. “What are you doing to the little one? Already planning on homicide so soon before our first international match?”
Kageyama glared daggers at him. “Hinata’s being a baby. He’s tired and wants me to carry him.”
Tsukishima shared a glanced with Yamaguchi. “Then why don’t you just carry him?” Yamaguchi asked. “He doesn’t look very heavy.”
“Then why don’t you carry him?” Kageyama retaliated.
“He’s your boyfriend, King. Accept responsibility.” Tsukishima said with a smirk, before the two of them continued walking.
“He’s not my- Hinata, get off of me already!” Kageyama growled, glaring at the boy at his feet.
“Carry me.”
Kageyama swore at him. He watched Tsukishima and Yamaguchi as they walked off, waiting until they were out of sight. “Fine.”
Hinata’s head popped out from where he’d been pressing it against the floor. “Wah?”
“I said - I said I’ll carry you. Now get off the fucking floor. If you get dirt on me I swear-”
Before Kageyama could even finish, Hinata was out from beneath him, bounding to his feet. He rounded on his teammate, leaping onto his back as he wrapped his arms around the boys neck. Kageyama choked, before quickly grabbing ahold of Hinata’s legs. “Fucking idiot, you choked me!” He yelled, coughing. Hinata let his arms rest looser, leaning forward as he pressed his head into the back of Kageyama’s neck.
“Sorry,” he breathed, his eyes sliding shut. He felt comfortable, surrounded by Kageyama’s scent. He could hear the other boy breathing from here, even feel his heart beating under his hands as they lay loosely on the boy’s chest.
Kageyama tensed, the breathy words sending tingles down his spine. Now, with Hinata so close to him, he realised the reason why he was so against carrying Hinata. He huffed, jostled Hinata a bit more as payback before starting to walk back to where the group meet point was. With a quick glance at his watch, he realised that it was nearing 1 AM; they should be heading back there already anyway for the hourly registering.
The two of them were the last to arrive, Kageyama staring at the floor when the others noticed the orange ball of fluff that was on his back. “Aw, you two look so sweet.” Suga cooed, going over to ruffle Hinata’s hair. Hinata mumbled something unintelligable before snuggling back into Kageyama’s neck. Daichi had already taken a photo, snapchatting it to the team. Even coach Ukai took a picture.
After being signed off by the Takeda, most of the group went off on their way again. Takeda and Ukai headed off to get more coffee and a bite to eat, but Kageyama decided to deposit Hinata down in one of the seats to ease his back. Before he had even been released of the redhead’s hands, Hinata was pulling him back again. “Don’t leave,” Hinata mumbled sleepily, his eyes partly opening to look up at him.
Kageyama stared down at the small, sleepy, fucking adorable boy in front of him. While he wasn’t feeling tired just yet, he eased Hinata’s grabby hands off of him and instead took the seat beside him.
Hinata was grateful for the lack of armrest between them; it took less than 3 seconds for him to situate his head in Kageyama’s lap, his head facing Kageyama’s chest, one hand clutching at the other boy’s shirt for comfort. Kageyama stiffened; he honestly hadn’t expected Hinata to be so forward. Yet there he was, the small middle-blocker’s head resting in his lap. Kageyama sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling his phone and headphones out. He put one earphone in, leaving the other out so he could hear if someone else approached (In which case, he would promptly throw Hinata off of his lap and onto the hard cold floor where he’d been resting not long ago).
He could hear the steady breathing of Hinata as he slept; his face looking soft and peaceful instead of the usual excitement that graced his features day-in and day-out. Kageyama wasn’t even thinking when he let his hand run through the boy’s orange locks; they were rougher than he expected, due to how thick his hair was. He continued to stroke it, the texture a nice feeling on his fingers. He briefly glanced down at Hinata again, the boy undisturbed. Biting his lip as he did it, Kageyama gently brushed the hair out of Hinata’s face, pushing it back. Kageyama hated to admit how much he loved the sight.
“Have you told him yet?” A gentle voice sounded from beside him. Kageyama jolted in surprise, his hands flying out of Hinata’s hair, as he looked over at to the owner of the voice. Sugawara sat beside him, smiling softly. Kageyama felt his entire face heat up.
“U-uh,” he stammered. “Told him what exactly?”
Suga pulled out the earphone in Kageyama’s ear, putting it down between them. He glanced down at Hinata’s sleeping form. “I really think you should tell him, Kageyama.”
“I don’t know what you’re-”
“Kageyama.” Suga spoke, an authoritive edge to his voice. Kageyama glanced over at him. “Don’t play dumb with me.” Kageyama shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. He was aware of what Suga was implying, but that didn’t mean he would ever admit- “For a genius, you seem to be quite oblivious when it comes to these sort of things.” Suga murmured.
Kageyama glared at him. “I’m not oblivious,” he replied. Suga raised an eyebrow, glancing back between him and Hinata. “He’s my teammate, Suga-senpai, that doesn’t mean that he would ever-”
“Reciprocate?”
“Exactly.”
“Kageyama, the boy is fast asleep in your lap.”
“That doesn’t mean anything-”
“Doesn’t it?” Sugawara asked, making the boy beside him pause. “I think you’ve been missing all the signs, Kageyama.”
“What signs?” Kageyama frowned, glancing between his teammates. “I admit that sleeping in someone’s lap is a bit… Strange, but other than that he hasn’t-”
“Are you serious?” A familiar voice interjected, and the two of them looked up to see Nishinoya stood there, a drink in one hand. Asahi followed behind him, smiling at the sight of Kageyama and Hinata together. “Kageyama, are you seriously so blind to my poor kouhai’s efforts? I need to know you’re not doing this on purpose.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Nishinoya covered his face with his free hand. “Oh my god. He really hasn’t noticed. Poor Hinata.”
Kageyama blanched, staring at his three senpais. “S-so… What you’re saying is…”
Hinata stirred in his lap, making small tired noises as he shifted. His hand that had been clinging onto Kageyama’s shirt held tighter, his other arm moving from beneath his to stretch out over Kageyama’s legs. He nuzzled his thighs, letting out a content sigh.
Kageyama’s face went bright red as he heard the word “Kageyama,” slip dreamily through his teammates lips.
His three teammates stared at him, arms over their chests with an “I-told-you-so” expression on each of their faces. “I-I-” Kageyama started. He glanced down at the boy in his lap, only to see big brown eyes staring up at him. “Ah!” Kageyama startled, “You’re awake!” Hinata mumbled a trail of words before closing his eyes again. “Don’t go back to sleep!”
“Augh,” Hinata answered. Finally he sat up, resting his hands on Kageyama’s thighs as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He glanced around at the other four. “My mouth tastes horrible.”
“That’s what you get for napping,” Nishinoya told him, giving his messy hair an affectionate ruffle.
“What time is it?” Hinata asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Kageyama couldn’t help but think of it as cute.
“It’s about 1:45am, Hinata.” Suga told him. He smiled at him when Hinata set his dazed eyes in his direction. “Maybe you and Kageyama should go get some coffee to wake you up.” We’ve still got hours to wait.“
"Yeah, okay.” Finally, Hinata moved out of Kageyama’s personal space and got to his feet, stretching where he stood. He let out a big yawn before looking back at Kageyama and grinning. “Come on, what are you waiting for?”
Kageyama stared at him for a moment, before getting to his feet. He slid his phone back into his pocket as he stood. He glowered at his senpais, their smirking expressions as they acted like matchmakers. He followed Hinata around the airport until they found a coffee shop, both getting a drink before finding somewhere to sit down. While Kageyama reckoned they should go back to the meeting place, (It was nearing the hourly meet time, god Hinata did you not even listen to what coach Ukai told us?) Hinata was obviously unfazed, heading off until he found a more secluded spot with barely any people milling around them.
He plonked down onto the seat, sipping his drink happily as it warmed him up, filling him with energy. He felt much wider awake now he’d walked around a bit and had coffee. Kageyama was quiet beside, sipping his drink as he stared at his feet.
“Hey, you okay?” Hinata asked, glancing over at his setter. Did he say his setter? Haha, he meant his teammate. Of course.
“Why did you sleep on my lap?” Kageyama wondered aloud suddenly, looking over at the redhead. Hinata could feel his face warming up.
“I, uh,” Hinata stumbled, before chuckling nervously. He ran a hand through his hair, an action that Kageyama’s eyes were trained on. “I was tired, I guess. It um, made sense at the time?”
Kageyama frowned at him. “When you’re tired you immediately crawl into someone’s lap without their permission?”
“N-not with everyone!” Hinata replied, feeling the obvious blush on his face. “I- uh- I, I was comfortable on your back and I uh, I just wanted to stay… Comfortable…” Hinata trailed off, staring at his coffee. Kageyama stared at his red cheeks. He couldn’t help but wonder if what Suga-senpai and Noya-senpai said was true. They wouldn’t lie, would they?
“Not with everyone…” Kageyama repeated. “Just… Me?”
“Yes,” Hinata answered, before realising his own words. “I mean no, I mean- uh, just, people I’m close to, ya know? L-Like, I’m sure if Kenma were here, I would, uh, do the same.”
“Right.”
“Yup.”
The two sat in silence, avoiding looking at each other. Quietly, Hinata let out a stream of mumbled words. “Huh?” Kageyama asked, staring at him questioningly.
Hinata glared at him. “I’m not repeating myself!”
“I have no idea what you said! You mumbled the whole thing!”
“Oh… Did I?”
“Yes!”
“W-well, maybe you just need better hearing!”
“What the- Hinata, just tell me what you said.”
Hinata stared at his now-empty coffee cup, before placing it down beside him. Slowly, he let one of his hands travel down to touch Kageyama’s, resting between them. Kageyama glanced down at the touch, before looking back to see Hinata’s face practically aflame. “I like you,” he told him, loud enough for Kageyama to hear this time. Kageyama felt his heart swell in his chest. “In a… romantic kind of way.”
ohmygodtheywereright- “You do?”
Hinata’s hand tightened around Kageyama’s. “Yes.” He finally looked away from his lap, sparing a glance in the setter’s direction. “Do you… Like… me?”
“Yes,” Kageyama answered quickly, aware of his own blush that was spreading across his cheeks.
“Whoa,” Hinata replied, his gaze now set on the other boy. His wide eyes bore into Kageyama’s, a smile pulling at his mouth. “Uh, cool. I think.”
“You think?”
“Well, I mean- are we, are we dating now?” Hinata asked, licking his lips nervously.
Kageyama didn’t reply. He stared at Hinata, eyes dancing as he looked around Hinata’s face. His gaze settled on the boy’s mouth. Without a second thought to hold him back, Kageyama leaned forward. It was 2 A.M., he was exhausted, his mind was jumbled up with all these thoughts about Hinata and in that moment, all he could concentrate on was kissing him. Sure, later on when he was actually more clear-headed, he might have hit himself up the backside of his own head, told him how idiotic he was being, but…
It wasn’t so much a kiss as much as their faces colliding together uncomfortably.
Kageyama pulled back, confused. That… That wasn’t how you kissed. A small voice in his head told him that much, at least. Hinata looked more embarrassed than confused, but soon began to laugh. He kept laughing, ignoring Kageyama’s questions, ignoring how confused Kageyama looked. “We can’t… We can’t even kiss properly,” Hinata breathed between his giggles. Kageyama stared at him for a moment longer before frowning.
“I’m fucking tired okay, my coordination is all askew,” Kageyama informed him, but Hinata laughed harder.
“Right, it’s your coordination, not the fact that you’re a bad kisser.” Hinata grinned.
“I- Shut up!” Kageyama yelled, “Like you could do any better!”
“Anything you can do, I can do better,” Hinata sang, before leaning forward and pressing a small, soft kiss to Kageyama’s lips. Hinata giggled again. “I can do anything better than you.”
“No you can’t,” Kageyama grumbled.
“Yes I can.”
“No you can’t.”
“Yes I can.”
“No you can’t-”
“Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can!” Hinata burst into laughter again, pressing his face into Kageyama’s shoulder to surpress it.
“That was the lamest thing you’ve ever done.” Kageyama muttered, looking down at him.
“Shut up, you joined in.”
“…”
The two of them sat together for a while longer, talking together and leaning against one another. Kageyama’s had begun to droop, and Hinata kindly offered to let him sleep in his lap. Kageyama’s cheeks had gone bright red all over again. He glanced at his phone before giving a proper answer, only then realising it was past 3 A.M. “Shit,” he muttered. “We need to go back. It’s past 3 and we haven’t registered back with coach."
"Oh crap,” Hinata murmured, taking their empty coffee cups and throwing them in the bin. He let his hand slide into Kageyama’s as they walked back through the airport. Every time Hinata peaked over at the other boy, he could still see a light blush across his cheeks, noticed the way Kageyama kept glancing at their entwined hands. As they got nearer to the meeting point, Kageyama slipped his hand out of Hinata’s. Hinata frowned.
“Sorry,” Kageyama murmured. “I just… I don’t feel comfortable doing it in front of the others.”
“Oh,” Hinata replied. “Can we… Can we still tell them? Or, uh, would you rather-”
“Yeah, we can tell them. Not that we really need to, they all obviously know already.” Kageyama grumbled.
Hinata laughed. “Oh yeah, I guess I went to Noya-senpai for advice. Suga-senpai could already tell. I think even Tanaka-senpai worked it ou-”
“And where exactly have you two been?” The voice of their captain made them stop in their tracks as they rounded the corner. “You’ve been missing for two hours.”
Daichi loomed over the two of them, striking fear into their hearts.
“We’re sorry!” They answered simultaneously, bowing before their captain.
“It’s not me you need to be apologising to. Coach Ukai told you-”
“Ah, there you two are.” Coach Ukai came over, frowning at them. They bowed and apologised once again, but Ukai simply smirked. “Ah well. No harm done. You’re both here now.” He went back to sit by Takeda, who was looking at them fondly.
Kageyama and Hinata let out sighs of relief before moving over to some empty seats and slumping down in them. Kageyama rested his head on Hinata’s shoulder, too tired to care anymore. “My offer still stands,” Hinata mentioned. Without further prompting, Kageyama laid his head on the other boys lap, falling asleep instantly. Hinata ran a hand through the other boys hair, just like he remembered the feeling of Kageyama’s hands through his.
Maybe he should have mentioned to him that he was awake for that part.
Noya sat down beside him, letting out a wide yawn. “See? I told ya,” he spoke, leaning back in his seat. “If you’d just told him in the beginning like I said, you wouldn’t had to wait around so much.”
Hinata smiled. “I guess. It’s fine this way too. Either way, we’re together now.” He pressed a small kiss to Kageyama’s head, before dozing off against Nishinoya’s shoulder.