Chapter Text
Kageyama honestly thought Yachi was a nice girl, a bit too nervous all the time and quick to jumping to conclusions, but nice. So why had she gone off and stabbed him in the back? Maybe he was being a bit too dramatic, but the girl standing in front of him with a trembling bottom lip and shaking fingers was all Yachi’s fault and he had to make her pay.
It was a perfect spring afternoon, the cherry blossoms swaying slightly in the warm breeze, and birds chirping in the awnings of their school. Perfect for a love confession, and possibly a murder of Yachi Hitoka.
“So, um,” The girl started, and she twisted a lock of bleached tips in her delicate fingers. Too delicate to toss a volleyball with. And her makeup would run off with all that sweat after playing a few games. “How do you feel about me?”
Kageyama gulped nervously, looking desperately for an outing or and an excuse to run to his bedroom and hide. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the girl, she was pretty and they had talked before, but it was kind of the fact that he didn’t like girls, period. But Yachi just had to go and spread the rumour that he liked Sachiko after they studied in the library for twenty minutes while Kageyama counted down the seconds till volleyball practise started.
The look on the girl’s face was clear that he was to be totally honest with her, but the searching in her eyes made that difficult. What was he supposed to say, oops I’m gay for volleyball and possibly a certain orange-haired with too much energy and an annoying and loud personality?
“Honestly, I think you’re very pretty. And I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to come talk to me,” Kageyama started slowly, unsure of how to word no without coming off as an angry creep. The girl’s brown eyes were staring a bit too intensely for Kageyama’s liking. “But the thing is—”
“Is that a no?” Sachiko interjected, lips quivering and brown eyes pooling with tears. “Am I not good enough for you?”
Sure, he could handle Hinata crying and his mother after he told her he failed basic English, but girls crying over him was a completely different story. Well, okay, this was the first girl to do so, but the point still stood.
“No, no, no,” Kageyama said quickly, his skin starting to feel sticky under the heat of the sun and the girl’s eyes. “You’re extremely pretty Sachiko, and really fun to be around, but the thing is—“
“Who is she?” She demanded, wiping at her eyes quickly and flecks of mascara trailed after her fingers. Kageyama fought the urge to point it out.
“Who is who?” Kageyama was confused.
Sachiko sighed as if Kageyama was just a bug that landed on her arm and was too lazy to swat away but the bug was kind of annoying and itchy, but she looked ready to burst into tears. “Obviously, there’s someone else, right?”
He thought back to the volleyball sitting in his room, under the pile of blankets that Kageyama chucked over it because it looked cold. He sweated nervously. Then his thoughts drifted to the vending machine that sold the really nice kind of milk that Kageyama’s mother didn’t buy for him when he was 6 because it was too “expensive” and Kageyama had cried, running out of the grocery store whilst still carrying the shopping basket and the security doors beeped angrily, making him cry harder. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple. Finally, the image of orange hair and a bright smile came to mind, and his heart did a little dance and he swallowed thickly.
“There is someone else.” He managed to say, and he could hear the blood rush through his ears. Had it always been this hot? Surely the temperature must’ve risen a couple degrees because boy was he sweating.
“I see.” Sachiko murmured and Kageyama wondered if she actually could, what with all that eyeliner and mascara that Kageyama only knew the names of because his mother liked taking him shopping, yeah, that’s it.
“Well then,” She slipped a lopsided smile onto her face and gave him a bow. “I should go then. Thanks for your time.”
Sachiko rearranged the strap on her blue bag and gave him a small wave, “See ya, Kageyama. Let’s study again, okay?”
He barely managed to nod before his knees began quivering and he made a beeline for the nearest seat. He watched the small figure of Sachiko as she turned out of the school and his stomach did a small flip flop. His teammates couldn’t find out about this, they’d tease him relentlessly, wanting to figure out why he had turned down a pretty and smart girl with bleached tips and a glossy smile.
His next plan of attack: find Yachi and then discard the murder weapon.
-
“Kageyama!” A shrill voice cried out as soon as he stepped into the gym. He looked up warily, expecting to see a Hinata bounce towards him with the volleyball in his hands but it was Yachi, looking incredibly upset.
Her eyes were brimmed with red and Kageyama fought the urge to sigh loudly to drown out her cries. “Looks like Kageyama has done it.” Tsukishima snickered from behind her and Yamaguchi half smiled, but he looked more worried about Yachi to join in with Tsukishima.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating someone?” She stopped in front of Kageyama, her brown eyes surveying Kageyama’s as she punched him lightly in the arm.
The sound of a volleyball hitting the gym floor with a smack sounded through the silence. “Um,” He started, feeling the scrutiny of multiple eyes. Even Tsukishima had looked shocked, an entirely different expression to his usual smirk or blank face.
“Does our friendship mean nothing to you?” She continued, not noticing the pleading look on Kageyama’s face saying stop talking, stop talking, stop talking. “Sachiko is so upset with me! Saying that I knew and wanted to embarrass her, it’s a mess! She’s my only friend in maths, you know, it’s going to be so awkward—” She stopped after finally noticing the burning glare on Kageyama’s face.
She let out a soft squeak and Daichi clapped his hands, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “What is this, a gossip group?” There was a whisper, how does Dachi-san know what a gossip group is? But the whisper stopped as Daichi glared at Nishinoya and Tanaka who were trying to suppress giggles. “If Kageyama wants to share who his girlfriend is then he can do that after practice. Now in the meantime, shut the hell up and start training! The training camp is only a few weeks away and I want to show Kuroo- I mean Nekoma, how much we’ve improved!”
There were less than enthusiastic cheers but the surprise of Kageyama ‘going out with someone’ ebbed away as they fell into the normal routine and Yachi gave him a glance before bouncing towards Kiyoko who smiled when she saw the girl. Tanaka and Nishinoya watched in envy. Kageyama sighed.
He wondered why it was quieter than their usual practice when he realises that Hinata wasn’t here yet, which was surprising because Hinata always showed up early. “Oi, Trashyshima, where’s Hinata?” He asked Tsukishima who’s eyes still flashed question mark signs.
“How am I supposed to know where your lover- friend is,” He muttered, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and turned around. Kageyama stared at his retreating back. Why was everyone acting so weirdly?
There was a bang of doors behind Kageyama and a loud “Sorry I’m late! Kageyama’s going out with someone! I’m dead inside!” The insides of Kageyama flopped around like a fish on land. Hinata.
“What the fuck?” He yelled back, storming over to Hinata who quivered under his glare. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Hinata gasped as Kageyama grasped his shoulder and pushed him outside the gym. “Look, I’m sorry I was late but- ow, ow, ow Kageyama you’re bruising me!”
He let go of Hinata’s shoulders who gingerly rubbed it.
“I’m uh, not actually dating anyone.” Kageyama sighed, leaning against the metal pole. He thought back to Sachiko and the way she said “Obviously there’s someone else, right?” and he cried a little inside.
“Huh?” Hinata asked quizzically, “But Yachi said so!”
She really was going to die.
He sighed again because this is why he didn’t get involved with anyone but volleyball. A volleyball didn’t talk and make up stupid rumours and make Kageyama have a big fat crush on it. “I told Sachiko Tanaka that there was someone else in my life when she told me she liked me.”
“…You turned down Sachiko? With the bleached tips?”
“Is that the only thing you got from that?! She’s not my type, alright?” Kageyama refrained from yelling.
Hinata pondered that for a moment before visibly brightening. “So you aren’t dating anyone?”
Kageyama stared at Hinata and the sweaty feeling was back again, in full blast. Maybe he had a fever? Kageyama shook his head because no, that meant missing out on volleyball practise and even if it was life or death he’d never miss training, not for the world.
“No I’m not dating anyone. But I can’t let Yachi know, or she’d think I lied to Sachiko.”
Hinata nodded his head jerkily, “Yachi is pretty scary when she’s upset. What are you gonna do then? You can’t exactly date someone that doesn’t exist.” Sweat.
“I uh, did not think of that?” Kageyama mumbled, and all of a sudden he felt tired.
“Idiot, this is why everyone thinks I’m smarter than you.”
“What? No, they don’t. What all everyone hears is dumbass, Hinata, and I’m pretty sure that’d give them ideas about who’s really the smartest.”
Hinata cocked his head to one side. “Okay, that just confused me. But I have an idea!”
“See? I’m smarter.” Kageyama said smugly and yelped when Hinata shoved him. “You basically admitted it!”
“Listen to my idea, idiot!”
“You’re the idiot, idiot!”
Hinata stomped his foot and pouted and Kageyama could see the resemblance between his sister and him, age wise. He acted like a little kid. Everyone knew Natsu was a little mini Hinata with the orange curls that stuck up no matter how much he tried to flatten them.
“My idea! Where’s a drumroll when you need one?” Hinata muttered and Kageyama gave him a glare. “Okay, okay, I’m continuing. You find someone to fake date!”
He wasn’t sure he had heard properly. “What?” Maybe he really did have a fever and was affecting his brain. Had this whole day been some kind of weird hallucination?
“Fake date. As in go out with someone. But faking it.” Hinata rocked back and forth on his heels like he was nervous, but the smug look on his face said otherwise. “Okay, you should be thanking me right now because it’s a brilliant idea.”
“Um? Firstly, who would agree to fake date me as a starter, and secondly, I don’t want to fake date anyone?” Kageyama stared at Hinata’s face weirdly and Hinata blushed, pushing him away.
“Well, as for the first thing I can! Fake date you. I mean, we are already pretty close, we’d just have to like hug, right? And you made your bed, Kageyama, now you can lie in it.” Hinata said nervously, eyes flitting from Kageyama’s to the inside of the gym. When Kageyama didn’t respond for a few moments because, yep, definitely hallucinating, he raised his hands as if to say, please don’t hurt me, and continued on, “Uh, it was just a joke! You’d probably be a horrible fake boyfriend!”
Kageyama stared at him for a few more seconds before sighing, because this was only logical, right? To fake date Hinata. And it would only be for a few more weeks until Yachi and Sachiko got over it, right? “…I’ll do it.”
“Huh?”
“I said I’ll do it!” Kageyama yelled, “I’ll fake date you.”
Hinata gulped nervously but a smile slowly slid onto his face. “Does this mean you’ll buy me pork curry buns? You know, for the added effect?”
“No, it doesn’t, dumbass. And stop looking at me like that!”
Hinata smiled, before pulling Kageyama back into the gym. Kageyama only welcomed the uneasy feeling in his stomach. He was wholeheartedly fucked.
-
“OH MY GOD!”
“FUCKING KNEW IT!!!” Tanaka shouted amidst all the chaos of Kageyama telling the team him and Hinata were dating, and no this wasn’t some weird prank and nor were they actually aliens in disguise studying human reactions. Although that did sound legitimate and Kageyama had to think really hard to wonder if he was maybe an alien. Maybe that was why Oikawa hated him so much, he was jealous.
“BRO, I SO OWE YOU TEN DOLLARS!” Nishinoya shouted, grabbing Hinata’s shoulders and staring deep into his eyes. “How could you man?”
Daichi had long given up on trying to control the team. Suga patted his back in a comforting manner, whispering words into his ears. Asahi, somewhere after Tanaka had started screaming, was crying while Shimizu and Yachi did his best to comfort him. Yachi looked flushed and swore to herself she would avoid Kageyama for the rest of the day.
Yamaguchi whispered to a flustered Tsukishima, “See? They are open with their relationship.”
Practice for that afternoon had admittedly turned into pandemonium, and Kageyama and Hinata were the stars. Kageyama really wished that this morning when his alarm beeped angrily at him, he had yanked the cord out and rolled back over and slept.
-
Kageyama’s shoulders bumped into Hinata’s for the fifth time on the way home. He thanked God it was dark, so Hinata wouldn’t see the blush lingering on his cheeks. Walking next to Hinata felt right. Like this was where he could stay and wouldn’t get lost. He snorted to himself because it’s fucking 10.pm and he was already feeling sentimental.
“What are you laughing at, dumbass?” He heard Hinata whisper next to him.
“Your ugly face.” Kageyama retorted, sticking out his tongue. “And why are you whispering?”
Hinata was quiet for a few moments. Aside from their breathing, the only sounds that could be heard was the drone of crickets chirping in the nearby fields and the clicking of Hinata’s bicycle on the gravel road. “Don’t wanna wake up all the animals.”
“What animals?” Kageyama snorted again.
“The frogs and stuff. I hear them in the morning.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yeah but I’m your idiot.”
He tripped on a rock and nearly crashed to the ground. “D-dumbass, don’t say things like that.” If his blush before was embarrassing, the redness on his face now was equivalent to being naked on stage at an assembly.
“We are fake dating, not actual dating,” Kageyama said, almost stuttering. He kind of wished that they were dating, but this was enough. This was always enough, he told himself in the darkness when all he could see was the curve on Hinata’s back and the way his lips looked glistening with sweat and water droplets from his bottle.
Hinata hummed and Kageyama fell in love.