Work Text:
Days always seemed to fly by for Kageyama.
He would wake up, greeted by the blaring sound of his alarm echoing throughout his bland room as he got up and got himself ready for the day. He would get dressed in his regular clothing, eat his regular breakfast, and make his way out the house.
The sun would invite him out the door as he would be greeted with clouds, the birds exchanging conversations with one another as soft and gentle chimes would fill the air from the melodies wind chimes produced. Kageyama would walk himself to school, allowing the wind and air to guide him towards his destination as he met up with Hinata and the day would be the same as it normally was. At least, that’s what his day should look like.
Kageyama liked routine, it was essential in his life. If even the slightest change happened in his beloved routine his day was bound to take a turn for the worse.
Which is why when the raven figured out his regular outfit was dirty he knew today was going to be an off day. It wasn’t anything fancy, it wouldn’t be considered special to anybody else; after all, it was just sweatpants and a hoodie, swapping out the hoodie for a classic t-shirt when it was hot but to Kageyama it was one of his needs.
The day should go as planned other than the fact his hoodie was nowhere to be seen, right? Wrong. That was just one of the first things that could have gone wrong for Kageyama today.
The birds were louder than usual, piercing his ears as the loud loud wind chimes sung throughout the air. Normally, Kageyama would put his hood up, but he didn’t have his hood today, so he was all on his own. He covered his ears with his hands, soon after jerking them away from his face. He couldn’t look out of the ordinary, he was supposed to be normal and normal people weren’t irritated by noises.
Soon after Hinata approached the raven in front of the campus gates, not realizing the small uneasiness that laced Kageyama’s face as the ginger he sprinted off like usual. Kageyama liked the usual, so he followed soon after. The two raced like they did every morning; Hinata won, only because “Kageyama was slower today” though they both knew they were equally as fast.
Though it wasn’t a lie, Kageyama was a bit slower, not slow enough to cause any suspicion though.
The two entered the gym’s changing room, getting into their athletic uniform as Hinata busted through the door into the gym where some of the third and second years could be spotted. The fluorescent lights bothered the setter, though he tried not to pay much mind to it, pushing it behind.
Daichi looked at him for a second before averting his eyes and making a quick comment to Sugawara, who in response glanced over at the boy as well before shifting his attention back onto Daichi. Kageyama didn’t like being looked at very much, it slightly bothered him.. He never knew if the stares he received were positive or negative, I mean how was he supposed to tell that with just the look of someone's eyes? The thought that it was easy for normal people to read others made Kageyama feel dumb, it felt like a superpower to have that he couldn’t obtain.
Tanaka and Nishinoya came out yelling as Tanaka waved his shirt around, Kageyama just stared at the two before turning away, not trying to encourage them anymore as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked into the gym together.
Kageyama found their friendship strange, the two boys were almost complete opposites of each other yet their bond was so deep. Kageyama often wondered how Yamaguchi could ever stand being friends with someone like Tsukishima, but he would never directly ask, he didn’t care that much anyway.
Daichi announced that they were going to be participating in a practice match with Nekoma, excusing them for their classes of the day. Kageyama was thankful to not have to go through hours of boring lessons but that means he would have to exercise his body more than he might be able to handle, he was already slightly overwhelmed.
But did that stop him?
No.
—
Karasuno loaded themselves onto the bus as they were given the rules. Kageyama sat next to Hinata, like normal, as he ranted about the “trip” and being able to catch up with Kenma while they were there.
The raven didn’t pay much attention to the gingers exclaims as he talked on and on, only becoming background noise for Kageyama who leaned his head onto the window, peering outside and taking in the scenery. Hinata soon realized he wasn’t getting listened to and shut himself up only soon after starting talking to Nishinoya who sat in front of the two first years.
Once they arrived in Tokyo, they offloaded off of the bus, being greeted with the campus as a few members of Nekoma stood outside, waiting for the other team.
Hinata instantly headed over to Kenma as they started talking as Kageyama stood still. He glanced around the area, it was familiar and he liked that.
As they gathered around soon after and started the match everything went by smoothly, the ball felt nice in the setter's hand and they glided across his fingertips to exactly where he wanted to set them. Though, one mistouch of his nails on the ball and it was falling onto their side of the court. “ WHAM! ” the ball bounced off the court’s floors.
It was too loud, too much stimulation. His teammates smacked his back, giving him reassuring words as they went back to their spots but it was too much for him. The sudden contact, the lights, the ringing and all the noises that bounced off of the walls directly into his ers were too much.
Kageyama’s fingers dug into the palms of his hands as he stood still. Hinata looked at him strangely before he dismissed himself quickly, heading outside of the court he was once in as he slumped against the walls.
His grandpa taught him techniques for when he got too overwhelmed with the world around him but they didn’t seem to work, it only enhanced his current situation and state of mind, clutching his ears in pain as his eyes were shut closed.
He didn't want to be seen like this, he was supposed to be normal, not out of the ordinary. Normal people didn't have to run out of rooms and clutch their ears. It was pathetic, he was pathetic.
He didn’t even realize steps approached him until he felt eyes staring at him. It felt uncomfortable, Kageyama just wanted to hide, nobody was supposed to see him like this; it wasn’t him. Though it was him.
The figure didn’t say anything as it stood in front of the rocking raven until he felt something touch the sides of his fisted and clenched hands, something plastic.
Kageyama’s head sprang up as he looked up at the standing male and the object beside him; It was Tsukishima, handing him a pair of white headphones, his own headphones. Kageyama stared for a minute before Tsukishima spoke up, his voice sounding annoyed but if you were to inspect deeper it also laced with slight concern.
“Are you going to take them or not?” Tsukishima asked, still holding his hand and pair of headphones out for the slightly shorter male to grab.
Kageyama reached one of his hands out as he reached for the headphones, taking in the material and feel of them in his hands. Smooth plastic, it felt nice. He placed them over his ears as music welcomed his ears, it wasn’t too loud and it wasn’t too quiet, the headphones must be noise canceling too.
Kageyama’s shoulders eased as they slumped down into a resting position. Kageyama wondered if he should thank the blonde who had offered him the headphones in the first place, booking up to find Tsukishima staring down at him.
“Thank you..” Kageyama whispered in between the skin of his elbows.
Tsukishima smirked, though cocking his eyebrow up to seem as though he was stuck in confusion like he didn’t hear Kageyama.
“What? Speak up, King.” Tsukishima replied, his smirk still laced across his face as he kept his gaze on the raven.
“I said–” Kageyama said, cutting himself off as he slightly averted his eyebrows off to the side, not wanting to hold direct eye contact with the blonde. “Thank you.”
Tsukishima didn’t say anything in response, rolling his eyes as he walked off back into the gym, leaving Kageyama alone with his headphones.