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"Hey, Kageyama? Do you think I could control my magic without your help?" Hinata asked, his words slurring slightly because he was half asleep as he spoke. Kageyama tensed and looked over at the bed, where Hinata was already curled up, dozing off as he waited for his familiar.
"Why would you need to?" Kageyama replied, frowning. Hinata shrugged and stared up at the ceiling.
"Well, you can't be around all the time," the mage pointed out. "Like when I was stuck underground and you had to come save me."
"But I saved you. You didn't have to use your magic," Kageyama countered. "Even if I'm not beside you constantly, I'll always come to save you." Hinata pouted and yawned.
"I know. But what if you were the one who was in trouble? I wouldn't be able to help you," he pointed out. "I'd have to get someone else to save you." Kageyama's frown deepened, and he crossed the room to stare down at his mage.
"Go to sleep. You're worrying too much," the familiar informed him. Hinata pouted more, and Kageyama prepared himself for an argument.
"Can't sleep. Come here and be my pillow," Hinata ordered. Kageyama blinked, then smiled and obeyed. Hinata was asleep soon after, and Kageyama drifted off thinking that maybe when he woke up, Hinata would have forgotten all of this nonsense about wanting to control his magic without Kageyama.
He didn't forget. For the next week, every time Kageyama turned around, Hinata was talking to the other Karasuno mages, asking them to describe how they felt when they controlled their magic, asking if they would be willing to help him practice without Kageyama. At first, everyone was uncertain, but Hinata's enthusiasm and determination eventually wore them down, and Hinata started practicing his magic in the Guild Hall's yard, where Daichi and Suga could keep an eye on things, and Asahi was on hand to put out any fires Hinata accidentally started.
Kageyama watched the lessons from the Guild Hall's rooftop, torn between pride as Hinata slowly but steadily improved and a gnawing feeling he refused to name in the pit of his stomach. As busy as he was with trying to learn how to do what Kageyama had done for him ever since they bonded, Hinata noticed how withdrawn his familiar was becoming. It was hard not to notice, when Kageyama hardly spoke to him, even when the two were alone in their room in the evenings.
The day Hinata succeeded was the day Kageyama finally admitted what he was feeling in the pit of his stomach: dread and loneliness. After all, if Hinata could control his magic on his own, he didn't need Kageyama anymore. So when Hinata bounded up to his familiar, beaming so brightly it was a wonder he wasn't actually glowing, having successfully manipulated his fire magic and wind magic together for the first time, Kageyama just stared at him, unable to even conjure up the words to congratulate the mage. Hinata's expression dimmed immediately, confusion and worry replacing the flush of pride that had been there a moment before.
"Kageyama?" Hinata frowned, tilting his head and studying his familiar. "Are you okay?" Kageyama clenched his jaw and turned away, intending to go up to the roof and avoid Hinata, but the mage grabbed his wrist and kept him from leaving. "What's going on with you? You've been extra grumpy for a while now."
"Leave me alone," Kageyama growled, trying to tug his wrist out of Hinata's grip. Hinata let go, and for a second Kageyama was half afraid he'd hurt his feelings, half hoping that maybe Hinata would come to his senses and go back to needing Kageyama to control his magic. Then Hinata lunged forward, his arms wrapping around Kageyama's waist and his cheek pressing against his chest. Kageyama tensed; this wasn't what he had expected.
"I'm not letting go until you talk to me!" Hinata informed him firmly. "I don't know what you're mad about, but I'm tired of you avoiding me all the time!" Kageyama closed his eyes, feeling his mage's warmth as Hinata clung to him, and wondered briefly if maybe he just shouldn't talk, and see how long Hinata would stay holding onto him like this. But then, the inevitable separation would hurt even more, so Kageyama just said what he'd been thinking ever since Hinata had first mentioned wanting to control his power on his own.
"Now that you can work your magic yourself, what do you need me for?" Kageyama whispered, fists clenching. "Our bond is based on you needing my help, so if you don't need me anymore, then..."
"What are you talking about? Of course I need you!" Hinata protested. "I just want to do things on my own so I can protect you better, not because I want to get rid of you! When Moonlit Shadows attacked the first time, I almost killed some of them because you got knocked down and I couldn't control my magic without you. I got trapped underground because I'm useless on my own. If you got hurt, and I couldn't use my magic myself, I wouldn't be able to do anything to help you." Kageyama stared down at the short mage, wondering if it was safe to hope that Hinata's new skill wasn't him saying he didn't need Kagyama anymore, wasn't Hinata preparing to get rid of his familiar.
"But if you can do things without me, I'm useless," Kageyama replied stubbornly.
"That's stupid. Even if you were useless, you'd still be my useless grumpy crow," Hinata told him. "But you're not useless. It's not just controlling my magic you're good at. You can do all kinds of things. Your sensing is just as good as Suga's now, and you can manipulate other people's magic like Oikawa. You're way better at physical fighting than I am, and Suga said he thinks you might be able to learn how to suppress magic like he does." Kageyama frowned.
"You've been talking to Suga about me?" the familiar asked, not sure whether he was irritated or pleased. Hinata huffed.
"Of course I have. I've been really worried about you, so I asked him if he knew what was wrong. I didn't understand why he kept changing the subject to what you could do, but now I think I get it," Hinata answered. He tilted his head to meet Kageyama's gaze and added seriously, "I'm not letting go of you, Tobio. Not ever." Kageyama slid his arms around Hinata's shoulders and pulled him close, only partially to hide the fact that he was blushing.
"You better not, dumbass," he grumbled. Hinata laughed and stretched up to press a kiss to Kageyama's jaw.
"So can we practice stuff together again?" Hinata asked. Kageyama ruffled his mage's orange hair and nodded. Hinata beamed.