Chapter 1: What are you doing here?!
Chapter Text
Kageyama stared up at Karasuno High School, wondering what on earth he was doing here. He’d only arrived back in Miyagi the night before, and after a sleepless night in his old bedroom, his body had fallen back into habits it hadn’t seen in over a decade. He got up, put on his volleyball gear, and made his way to the high school. Morning practice started at 7 a.m., but he had to be there earlier. He’d been on autopilot since the news of his mother’s death reached him, but this was an entirely new level.
The sun was up, but it was weak in the spring morning. It broke through the rooftops, scattering rays across the ground in familiar patterns. No one else was around, the air filled with soft morning bird calls and little else. Kageyama was about to turn around and go home when he heard the shush of footsteps on the gravel behind him. Throwing his head over his shoulder, he was met with a shock of red hair that put the sun to shame. Instinct lit in his body like flash paper, and he took off at a sprint.
He didn’t look back. A second set of footfalls echoed in his ears, drums of war calling him back home. Digging deep, he shifted gears, pulling for a speed he hadn’t needed in a long time. But just as he rounded the corner and saw the gym pull into view, the unmistakable sound of a wipeout washed over him, causing him to pull up short.
Hinata was sprawled out on the ground, clutching his left knee. Kageyama noticed the black brace that encircled Hinata’s thigh, caged in his knee and half of his calf. Dust covered his jacket and hair, and his cheek sported a fresh scrape. A memory resurfaced, Kageyama’s phone lighting up with a video from Tsukishima, of all people. Hinata jumping for a spike and coming down only to collapse into a pile on the court. Kageyama had meant to reach out. Instead he just watched the video over and over again. He’d never been good with words, but he didn’t think the words for this situation existed in the first place.
They still didn’t, so he just walked over to Hinata and offered him his hand. At first, Hinata stared at it like it might bite, but when Kageyama didn’t move, he finally took it. Kageyama pulled him up with ease. He didn’t let go as Hinata dusted himself off and gingerly tried to put weight on his leg. An offer to help died deep in Kageyama’s throat, unable to push past years of emotion and muscle memory.
Hinata was the one to pull away, and he set off at a much more stunted pace toward the volleyball gym. Now that Kageyama wasn’t focused on his speed, he could hear the sound of volleyballs echoing from the building. He trotted to catch up to Hinata, making sure not to pull ahead of him as they made their way to the door.
Kageyama watched as volleyballs soared back and forth over the net, a sea of unfamiliar faces latched on with determination. The gym was twice as full as it had been even in their third year, with the lines for serves wrapping around the side of the wall. His eyes followed each ball, easily predicting their trajectory and landing spot.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” a voice said. “Specs, am I hallucinating? You’re seeing this too, right?” Kageyama turned to see Coach Ukai, arms crossed over his chest like always. His hair was black now, the blonde spikes replaced by shocks of grey at his temples.
“Kageyama! Hinata!” Takeda Sensei trotted over from the end of the court. He looked the same as always, round glasses perched on his nose and a smile splitting his face.
Body reacting before his brain, Kageyama was in a full 90 degree bow before he realized. Hinata was right behind him, saying, “Coach! Sensei!” Kageyama felt Hinata wobble and reached out to steady him. A small hand slapped him away.
The commotion must have gotten the attention of the rest of the team, because the sound of balls died off suddenly, the room filling with silence, then murmurs of “Kageyama? Hinata?” Feet pounded toward him, and as Kageyama straightened, he was met with a wall of eager faces, eyes darting between him and Hinata. They were all eerily quiet as they waited, and Kageyama felt the icy chill of panic race up his back. He’d never been good with crowds of people, at least not ones that weren’t in the stands. Being an international volleyball player had forced him to open up more, but he still wasn’t great at it. He briefly wondered how Coach Ukai managed to keep them all silent; Hinata would have been shouting questions already if they were on the other side.
Apparently Coach wasn’t that successful, as several people spoke up at once. “What are you doing back in Miyagi?” “Kageyama Senpai, can you teach me your jump serve?!” “Wow, you’re even shorter in real life, Hinata-san!”
The last comment made Kageyama look over at Hinata, but he still managed to have a soft smile on his face. “Guys, back off. You’re going to scare them away. We don’t even know if they want to answer questions. Now get back to your serve practice.” Coach waved them all away, putting himself between Kageyama and Hinata. The boys popped off with groans and complaints, but they did as they were told.
Takeda Sensei walked up between them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” Kageyama looked down at his old coach, then flicked his eyes to Hinata on the other side. He still hadn’t said anything besides their names, and he hadn’t said anything to Kageyama at all.
Age hadn’t changed Hinata, at least from what Kageyama had seen. Every time they’d met at tournaments, the olympics, wherever, he’d still been an unstoppable ball of energy, his mouth moving as fast as his feet. This silence was unnerving, but Kageyama didn’t have the skill to address it head on. Not when the source was so obvious and terrifying. Takeda Sensei didn’t bother waiting for an answer. He walked out the door. Hinata turned to follow, and Kageyama brought up the rear.
They didn’t walk far, finding a group of benches out in the sun. Takeda Sensei sat first, and Kageyama sat down beside him. Hinata stayed standing, though he kept his distance from Kageyama.
Takeda Sensei broke the silence. “Kageyama-kun, I heard the news about your mother. I’m sorry for your loss.” Pinned under those kind eyes, Kageyama had to look away. He was never prepared for the sincerity that Takeda Sensei doled out as easily as breathing.
“Uh, thanks.” It had been several weeks since his mother had passed, but Kageyama still didn’t know how to respond to that sentiment.
“Is that what brings you back to Miyagi?” Takeda Sensei asked. Kageyama just nodded. He needed to decide what he was going to do with his parents’ house. He didn’t really have a plan, and his sister wouldn’t be able to come for another week. They’d both decided that since he had more free time, it made more sense for him to do the actual work. She would come down later, and they could sort through what she wanted to keep. He didn’t have much interest in keeping the house, but he would need to go through the rest of their belongings, sell what he could, and donate the rest.
Takeda Sensei didn’t push him. “If you need anything while you’re here, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My number hasn’t changed, but if you lost it, just call the school.” Kageyama just nodded again. He picked at a loose thread on the hem of his shorts. He was a 35 year old man. How did Takeda Sensei manage to make him feel like an awkward teenager again?
“Hinata-kun.” Kageyama couldn’t help himself. He looked up at Takeda Sensei, then over at Hinata. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you. If you want to stick around for practice, we’d love to have you. Same goes for you, Kageyama-kun. I’m not sure what Coach Ukai has planned for the boys, but I’m certain he feels the same.”
Kageyama had expected Takeda Sensei to address the elephant in the room with Hinata, but now that he hadn’t, Kageyama supposed that made more sense. Takeda Sensei always let them come to him first, and only pressed for positive things. That didn’t help Kageyama, though.
“Thank you, Takeda Sensei. I’ll, uh, I’ll join you in a bit. Kageyama and I should make a plan first.” Hinata said. He still hadn’t made eye contact with Kageyama, but Kageyama’s heart stopped anyway. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Hinata’s face. He had a slight blush on his cheeks, which were much more tan than they had been in high school. His freckles had almost doubled as well, providing extra contrast to the rosy flush of his skin.
Takeda Sensei nodded and left without a word. Kageyama tried to think of something to say, but Hinata got there first. “My mom told me about your mom. I’m sorry, too.”
“Thanks,” Kageyama said. He wasn’t sure how many times he had heard that now, some form of apology. He didn’t have the words to say he was fine, really. That they hadn’t been that kind of family. It was easier to say ‘Thank you.’ “When did you get back to Miyagi?” he asked.
He didn’t care how long Hinata had been here. Not really. But the weeks since his mother had died, and the years since his father had, taught him the relative safety of small talk. You could have a whole conversation about nothing, traded back and forth like a volleyball match. Though maybe tennis was a more accurate example. And you never had to say what you were really thinking. What you wanted to scream at the top of your lungs, but held back so no one would judge you.
What he cared about, what he wanted to ask more than anything in the world, was how Hinata’s leg was. But he didn’t ask his own teammates about their injuries, let alone someone he hadn’t had a close relationship with in a decade. That went double if that person was Hinata. Because the follow up question to “How is your leg?” was “Are you done playing volleyball?” And the idea of Hinata without volleyball wasn’t something Kageyama knew how to process, so he was putting it off as long as possible.
“A couple days ago, though I’ve been back in Japan for over a month.” Motion drew Kageyama’s eyes from Hinata’s face finally, watching as he rubbed his thigh above the brace. “I went to Tokyo for the surgery, then inpatient therapy. I’m not supposed to run on it, but,” he let out a weak laugh, “obviously I’m not that good at listening to directions.”
“You never were,” Kageyama mumbled under his breath. He waited a beat before saying, “Tsukishima sent me the video.”
Hinata was staring back at the volleyball gym, where the faint sound of balls hitting still floated through the open door. “Fucking jerk,” Hinata muttered.
Without warning, Kageyama barked out a laugh. He’d thought the same thing, even though Tsukishima had probably meant nothing other than to let Kageyama know. “He’s such an asshole,” Kageyama said through his laughter.
For the first time all morning, Hinata looked at Kageyama out of the corner of his eyes. Then he fell over, laughing. “Four-eyed beanpole. I should have blocked his number.”
They both laughed until they had tears streaming down their faces, and Hinata started hiccuping. He had to sit down, or else he would have lost his balance. When Kageyama got control of himself, the tension wasn’t completely gone, but Kageyama felt like the weight on his chest was only 2kg instead of 10.
“Have you come back before?” Kageyama asked. “I thought about it, but I learned pretty quickly that I’m not really cut out for coaching.”
Hinata snorted. “I could have told you that. There’s a reason we didn’t make you a captain.”
Kageyama felt the familiar heat building on his cheeks, something he hadn’t dealt with since leaving Karasuno. “Oh fuck you. You were just a vice captain. We only voted for you so you would shut up.” Hinata popped up, a finger ready to point in Kageyama’s face, when his knee buckled under his weight, and he started to fall.
This time, Kageyama didn’t hesitate. He stood up and caught Hinata, hands under Hinata’s armpits. He weighed significantly more than he had in high school, but Kageyama didn’t have a problem catching him. “Aren’t you supposed to have crutches or something, you dumbass?” Kageyama said, though almost all the heat was gone from his voice. He waited for Hinata to catch his balance before he let go.
Hinata was bright red, but Kageyama realized he didn’t care. It was one thing when he hadn’t known any better, but now Hinata had fallen once and almost gone down twice. Kageyama had thought the fever from their first year had changed Hinata’s tendency to push himself past his limits, but apparently anyone could fall back into bad habits. “I left them back where we started racing,” Hinata said. “I dropped them before I took off.”
Kageyama rolled his eyes. “Speaking of, how did you manage to run even as far as you did?” Kageyama knew the answer, but that didn’t stop him from asking.
Hinata shrugged. “I don’t know. I just saw you and instinct kicked in.” He didn’t look nearly as sheepish as he should have in Kageyama’s opinion.
“I’ll go get your crutches.”
Chapter 2: Don’t worry about the ball. I’ll bring it to you.
Summary:
Hinata and Kageyama help with volleyball practice.
Chapter Text
They never actually discussed a plan for helping out with volleyball practice, so when Hinata loudly announced that Kageyama would set for everyone, Kageyama barely stopped himself from punting Hinata into next week. Seeing him lean on his crutches was the only thing that pulled him up short. He hadn’t watched a single one of these players spike, and Hinata blindly signed him up to set for forty-odd kids. If he messed up and the spiker whiffed, it would make them feel terrible and him feel even worse.
But when he looked over at Hinata, a protest ready to go, he was met with those same shining eyes, the ones that held nothing but trust and belief. The fact that Kageyama couldn’t do it, couldn’t pinpoint the best set for every single player in this cramped gym, hadn’t crossed his mind once. Kageyama had forgotten what it was like, that blind faith, and it lit through his body like dried leaves on a campfire.
He looked over the gym, mind churning for the best way to do this without making a fool of himself. He raised his voice and said, “We’ll do it in waves. Third years, line up shortest to tallest.” He jerked a thumb over to Hinata. “Everyone else go with the runt. We’ll switch to second years after that, then first years.”
The boys started bickering instantly, arguing about millimeters and squashing down each other’s hair to compare heights. Hinata made a strangled noise, and Kageyama looked over at him. “You said you’d helped with practice before. Surely you have something you can teach them in the meantime.”
Narrowing his eyes in a glare, Hinata didn’t say anything before he set off toward the other end of the gym. “First and second years, follow me. Let’s talk about how you jump.”
Adjusting to the third years was easier than Kageyama wanted to admit. Every single one of them hit his sets with unbridled joy, something Kageyama hadn’t seen in a long time. His current teammates were passionate; you didn’t play professional volleyball if you weren’t. But it was a job, at the end of the day, even if it was the best job Kageyama could imagine. He had to admit he was a bit jealous.
After the third years were done, and succeeded in guilting Kageyama into tossing up another round, Coach Ukai came over with a water bottle. Kageyama downed half of it in one go. Hinata was still going, not stopping as the second years bolted away to line up for Kageyama and the third years walked up, still catching their breath. As Hinata explained the different mechanics of jumping, how to focus on the feel of the ground under your feet, Kageyama realized he was using words. Not a bam or a woosh to be found.
“I’m still not used to it,” Coach Ukai said. Kageyama turned back to look at him, and his question must have been obvious on his face. “Hinata. Three years that kid was a boundless ball of energy, letting it off like an off gassing pressure cooker at random intervals. But after those two years in Brazil, all the sudden he was this.” He waved his hand half dismissively.
Kageyama had noticed that too, though whenever they were together before they’d still fallen into familiar habits. Their run at the 2021 Olympics had resulted in enough shouting matches that Tsumu-kun had to put them in time out. Coming from him, of all people, that had hurt. He kept staring at Hinata as he drank down the rest of the water, watching as he demonstrated jumping with two fingers on the palm of his hand. How was that supposed to be helpful? “You haven’t changed a bit, though.”
The comment caught Kageyama off guard, and he sucked water down the wrong pipe. He bent over double, hands on his knees as he coughed and wondered briefly if this was how he died. Coach slapped his back as he cleared his throat, tears streaming down his face. Once he caught his breath again and stood up, Coach said, “Geeze, Kageyama. I didn’t realize giving you a compliment would affect you that much.”
Kageyama wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, shaking his head. “No, sorry, I just spaced out. What do you mean I haven’t changed?” A young girl who must have been the manager ran over and handed him a towel before offering to take his water bottle. He traded and thanked her with a bow. She let out a high pitched noise and ran off.
Coach’s eyes followed her as she ran back to the sidelines before he said, “You’re still just as much of a genius as always. I saw the look you gave Hinata when he signed you up to set for everyone, but damned if you didn’t do it without a hiccup.”
Heat built under Kageyama’s collar, and he tugged the fabric to help it escape. “I’m not done yet. I’m beginning to wonder if I should have done it backwards. I’m going to be pretty tired by the time the first years get here, and they’re what I’m worried about most.” Kageyama surveyed the second years lined up, all of them eagerly watching him from the back line.
“I’ve got faith in you. Haven’t let me down yet,” Coach Ukai said before strolling off the court.
Well shit, Kageyama thought. He stood taller, stretching his arms and shaking out his hands. “All right, who’s up next?”
Kageyama didn’t fumble a single set. As the line of first years dwindled, the rest of the players gathered around, obviously waiting for cool down stretches to start. Kageyama could feel the number of eyes on him as he watched the balls Takeda Sensei tossed for him, but he was in the home stretch. He was getting tired, but each yell of excitement when the spiker smashed down his set bolstered him, gave him the energy to prepare for the next one.
He’d set for far longer stretches of time before, but the added mental load of calculating the best set for a spiker he’d never played with was really taking its toll. Watching them prepare their jump, calculating their rate of approach, putting up the exact amount of arc as they jumped in the air. He was just trying to get through the last three players, and then he needed to eat. Or maybe take a nap. Thank god he didn’t have to go to school after this.
The second to last player stepped up, and he popped the ball up in a high arc. They were a first year, but Kageyama was pretty sure they were taller than Tsukishima had been at the same age. They leapt about half a meter above the top of the net and slammed the ball down in an easy cross shot. Finally, the last player. The toss from Takeda Sensei, the weight of the ball against his fingers, and then the echoing crash of the ball on the floor.
The gym erupted in cheers. Kageyama didn’t know if he’d be able to hear afterwards. Boys leapt in the air, and Kageyama was swarmed by a hoard of sweaty bodies as they tackled him to the ground. The last thing he saw before he succumbed to the swell was Hinata’s face. He wasn’t cheering like everyone else. He simply smiled, small and knowing, and Kageyama could practically hear him saying ‘I told you so.’ Kageyama regretted not kicking him earlier.
Coach Ukai and Takeda Sensei managed to pull Kageyama out from underneath the pile of teenagers, though Kageyama was pretty sure his clothes would never smell the same. The boys disentangled themselves and started their stretches. Kageyama walked over to Hinata and said, “God, I’m exhausted. How did we do this and then go to school afterwards?”
Hinata laughed. “I’m pretty sure we slept through most of our classes. At least, that’s the only thing that could explain my grades.”
Kageyama checked him with his shoulder, but not hard enough to push him off balance. “No, your grades were bad because you’re a dumbass. My grades were bad because I fell asleep in class.” Kageyama stifled a yawn. “But I definitely need something to eat. What are you doing after this?” The invitation fell out of Kageyama’s mouth easily, easier than anything but volleyball had been in a long time.
He regretted it immediately, though, as he saw Hinata stiffen. “I, uh, I’ve got physical therapy that I need to get to.” Hinata was back to not looking him in the eye. “But I’m gonna come back for afternoon practice, and we can go out after that.” The sting of rejection was soothed as Kageyama realized he hadn’t meant ‘no,’ just ‘not now.’
“Oh, uh, yeah. I’ve got some stuff at the house I should do anyway.” He looked out over the boys, taking up almost every inch of the hard wooden floor as they stretched out their legs. “There’s so many of them. I can’t imagine the captain still buys buns for them after practice.
This time, Hinata turned to look him dead in the eyes. “Good thing we’re paid well.”
Chapter 3: I’ll set it for anybody who I think is going to score points.
Summary:
Kageyama and Hinata get dinner after practice.
Notes:
Yes, it's another chapter about Karasuno volleyball practice, but I promise it's fun. I'd love to hear what you think so far, so don't be afraid to drop a comment!
Chapter Text
Kageyama pulled out his phone. He’d texted his sister to ask if she wanted anything in particular from the house. She hadn’t gotten back to him, which meant he had no direction for where to start. He’d eaten and showered, but now he needed a plan.
From what he could tell, his mother hadn’t gotten rid of any of his father’s belongings. She’d given Kageyama his watch, which Kageyama didn’t wear but kept on his dresser anyway. Whenever he actually wore a watch, he always wore Kazuyo-san’s.
His sister hadn’t been much help at the funeral, either. “We don’t live here. It makes sense for you to take care of everything.” They had been standing in the corner at the wake. Kageyama was hiding; he’d talked to more people in one day than he had in his whole life combined, and he was exhausted.
“I have volleyball,” he said. Yes, technically he was on a break, and at 35 everyone was using every interview opportunity to ask him if he was retiring soon or not. But that was still his main priority.
“You always have volleyball,” Miwa said. “You’re the oldest son, this is your responsibility.”
He ground his teeth. Wasn’t he doing his part? He’d organized the wake, the funeral, and everything else. “And you’re the oldest child. I can’t do everything all by myself. It was one thing with this; I’d done dad’s already. But now we have the house, and all their shit—“
He was trying his best not to scream, not to let his real feelings out like a boiling kettle. Why did he need to do this? They hadn’t even liked him. He could see the disappointment on their faces any time they talked. His volleyball success had never been enough for them. It had always been a hobby he’d allowed to take over his life. Never a career worthy of praise. No matter how well he’d done. No matter how many trophies he brought home, medals he won, or sponsorships he got.
It was apparent in the way his parents’ friends talked to him. Always “Tobio-chan, it’s been so long since you visited.” “Your parents wanted the best for you, you should make them proud.” “Tobio, tell us what you’re doing these days.” As if they didn’t know.
“I’ll help with the house,” his sister said. “But you need to take charge. We won’t be able to come down for several weeks because of the kids’ school. Just keep whatever you want.”
Whatever he wanted? He didn’t want any of it. He’d built his own life without them. Why did he need to remember the years of indifference and false praise?
Growing frustrated, he grabbed for the TV remote and flopped down on the floor like he had as a kid. Cleaning the house could wait.
Kageyama realized he’d drifted off to sleep and frantically checked his watch. He hadn’t slept too long, just enough that he could make afternoon practice without having to rush.
As he walked to Karasuno, he tried to think of something he could help with that wasn’t setting for everyone all over again. Of course, he hadn’t wanted to do that in the first place, but Hinata had ruined that.
Speak of the red-headed devil, he was making his way up to the gym when Kageyama turned the corner. Still on his crutches, thank god. When they stepped inside, the boys didn’t act as starstruck, though they still stared enough that Coach beaned one of them with a volleyball in retaliation. “That’s what you get for not paying attention!” Everyone’s head snapped back to focus on what they were doing. Kageyama snorted. Coach really was turning into Old Coach Ukai.
To Kageyama’s relief, Coach and Takeda Sensei had made a plan this time. He worked with the setters, watching their technique and doing his best to provide support. Coaching was still difficult for him; translating what he knew needed to change into words someone would understand seemed impossible. Maybe it was because the boys were smart, and maybe it was because they’d all been taught by Coach, or maybe it was because more time had passed since Kageyama had attempted this, but all three setters seemed to improve over the short amount of time Kageyama worked with them.
He was so focused on the setters, he almost managed to forget Hinata was there. Almost. But that was always Hinata’s greatest weapon. He made everyone in the room look at him, made them acknowledge his presence, for better or worse. This time he was helping with receiving.
Hinata Shoyo, helping with receiving. 15 year old Kageyama Tobio never would have believed it.
But practice was winding down, and that made Kageyama remember something Hinata had said that morning. “Coach,” he said, walking over to Coach Ukai as the boys started their cooldown stretches. “How many kids are on the team, anyway? It seems like more than we ever had.”
Coach laughed. “You have no idea. It’s tough, knowing most of these kids won’t get any real playing time, but what can you do? Tell them to go to a different team?” He shrugged. “It’s not like we’re the only team that deals with that problem, and none of the other coaches had any advice. So we take them all, and just make a few extra calls to the alumni.” Coach gave him a side eye glance, and Kageyama made a mental note to up his donation next time.
“Yeah, Hinata said something about meat buns after practice, but I don’t even know where you’d get enough to feed this many of them.”
This time when Coach laughed, Kageyama was worried he was going to choke. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t have enough to feed you all in your third year, let alone this team. I’d have to buy a meat bun factory.”
Kageyama rolled his eyes. Of course the runt hadn’t planned this out. He supposed it didn’t matter, as long as he hadn’t made any promises he couldn’t keep. He turned to look for Hinata, only to find him standing right behind him, two massive paper bags in each hand.
“Meat buns!” He held them up, and Kageyama had to grab him before he toppled over backwards. He bit the insult off as the boys crowded around him. He’d berate Hinata for being reckless when they couldn’t hear.
Kageyama took one of the bags, and he and Hinata handed buns out as all the boys filed through the door. They were full of awkward gratitude and hurried bows while they barely contained their excitement. As the last of them grabbed their buns, Coach leaned out the door to yell at their retreating backs. “Don’t forget to go home and…”
“Eat a real meal” the boys, Hinata, and Kageyama all finished, with varying levels of enthusiasm.
Kageyama laughed, and when he turned to ask Hinata where he’d gotten the buns, he saw Hinata with a bun stuffed into his mouth already. Reflexively, he whacked Hinata in the back of the head, almost causing him to drop the bun. “You are a grown man,” he said. “Act like it, dumbass.”
Hinata rolled his eyes without removing the bun from his mouth and handed another one to Kageyama. Coach looked over at them, pointing. “That applies to you two, too.” Kageyama nodded, handing Coach the bag with the leftover meat buns.
“There’s enough for the girls and Takeda Sensei in there, too,” he said. He took a bite of his after his stomach made an uncomfortable roll. These were better than the ones from Coach’s store, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud.
“We’re gonna go get dinner after this if you want to join,” Hinata said now that he’d finally swallowed his meat bun. Kageyama was half shocked he hadn’t stuffed a second one in his mouth.
Takeda Sensei walked up and took the bag from Coach. “No, no, we’ve still got some planning to do, so you go on ahead. Are you going to be back tomorrow?” Both Kageyama and Hinata nodded. “Good. We’ll see you then.” Kageyama knew a dismissal when he heard one, and bowed before he turned to walk away.
Hinata had gotten a head start somehow, and Kageyama walked up beside him and said, “How are you even getting around? In high school, you rode a bike.”
Hinata threw a dirty look back at Kageyama. “I drove, moron. You only need your right leg to work the pedals.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward a white car parked on the street.
“I didn’t know you knew how to drive,” Kageyama said.
That made Hinata stop walking. “Why wouldn’t I know how to drive?” He glared up at Kageyama, his brow furrowed and an annoyed look on his face.
Kageyama just shrugged. “I’ve never seen you drive before.” He didn’t mean it as an insult, but now that he thought about it, he hadn’t driven a car in years. Driving in Italy was terrifying, so he avoided it at all costs.
“Just because you’ve never seen me do something doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do it. There’s plenty of things I’ve never done around you.” Hinata’s face flashed redder than his hair for a moment before he set off again.
Kageyama didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but he just followed Hinata toward his car. “What do you want to eat?”
“There’s a ramen place I saw when I drove past earlier. I think it’s new since I was here last.”
Kageyama nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
The drive was quiet, though Kageyama guessed they were both tired and hungry. The ramen shop wasn’t far away, and it was only half full so they got seats at the counter. Kageyama didn’t know whether Hinata could sit on the floor for very long with his knee, but he didn’t want to bring it up, either.
When they put in their orders, Kageyama was surprised Hinata asked for a beer. He’d ordered sake, which he didn’t usually drink but sounded good after dealing with high schoolers all day. He understood why all the coaches went out for drinks during all the training camps now.
Hinata must have noticed the look on his face when they dropped off his beer. “What? I like beer?”
Kageyama held his hands up. “I didn’t say anything.” He took a sip of his sake.
“I picked it up in Brazil,” Hinata said. “The second time. The first time I was so focused on volleyball I barely drank at all. But they drink so much rum and cachaça over there, and it’s all so strong. So I opted for the beer. Obviously not that much during the season, but now…” Hinata just shrugged and took a sip.
The server dropped off their ramen. Desperate to steer the conversation away from Hinata’s injury, Kageyama said, “Yeah, Italy is obsessed with wine. I swear they throw a nipple on a bottle and give it to babies.” Hinata snorted, sending some of his beer spewing onto the countertop. It earned them a glare from the old man sitting next to them, but Kageyama didn’t care. “Even worse, they all make their own? You have no idea how many times I had to turn down bottles of homemade wine. ‘But my Nonno, he made it himself! Crushed the grapes with his own feet!’” Kageyama shuddered. “Why would I want to drink foot wine?”
That made Hinata laugh out loud, which caused the old man to glare again and pick up his bowl to move to a different seat. “That’s not the worst thing I’ve heard,” Hinata said. “I played with a couple of guys from Mexico, and they used to bring stuff back from home. One of them brought back a bottle with a scorpion in it!” Hinata made little pincers with his hands for emphasis.
Kageyama hadn’t ever seen a scorpion in real life, just in movies. “Wait, what? Those huge black things with the tails?”
Hinata nodded, “Yeah, but they were small, and brown.” He held up his fingers, about 3 or 4 centimeters apart. Kageyama still shuddered. Hinata leaned forward and said, “They ate them.”
Kageyama reared back. “What?!”
“Yeah, that was the rule. Whoever drank the last shot had to eat the scorpion.” Hinata was still nodding.
Part of Kageyama wished they weren’t having this discussion while eating, but nothing in his bowl looked like a scorpion, so he was mostly fine. He still shuddered, though. A horrible thought popped in his head. “Did you eat one?” he whispered to Hinata.
Hinata shook his head. “No way in hell. I only did shots from the beginning of the bottle. They did chase me around with one and threaten to hold me down once, though. They were all too drunk and couldn’t catch me.”
Without thinking, Kageyama said, “Do you think shrimps are related to scorpions? Would that make it cannibalism?” Hinata kicked him.
For the first time since Kageyama had gotten back to Miyagi, he wasn’t thinking about his parents’ house, or his career, or any of the other things he was supposed to be doing. He was just enjoying himself, eating ramen with his friend and having a drink. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed and carefree. He hadn’t even had that much to drink, but he was laughing like he was several bottles in.
Too soon, their bowls were empty and their glasses, too. Hinata made to pull out his wallet, but Kageyama stopped him. “No, this is on me.”
Hinata glared at him. “I’m a professional volleyball player too, Kageyama. I have money.”
Kageyama just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but you bought all those meat buns. Where did you get those anyway?” He slapped down some cash, and Hinata didn’t protest a second time.
“My mother dropped them off. I put in an order after we left in the morning. The lady was shocked at the number, but I think it was a good kind of shocked.” Hinata shrugged. “They weren’t that expensive, really. I think Coach Ukai used to price gouge us.”
Honestly, Kageyama wouldn’t put it past him. “Well his weren’t as good, either, so we got double screwed.”
“Dare you to say that to his face.”
Kageyama just stared at Hinata. “Are you kidding me? He’s even scarier than he used to be, somehow.”
“I think once the old man died, his spirit sort of melded with Coach Ukai’s to make him even more intimidating,” Hinata said, his voice somewhere between awe and terror. Kageyama wasn’t sure if he believed in that kind of thing, but after seeing Coach today, he had to admit it made some amount of sense.
“How long are you going to keep going to practice?” Kageyama said. He didn’t know what made him ask just then, but once he did, he couldn’t take the words back. It was the closest to talking about the future he’d gotten with Hinata. It seemed like an innocent question, but all the unspoken things between them seemed to stand sentinel behind it, waiting for their turn.
Hinata paused, thinking. “As long as I’m useful, I guess,” he said, which was about the most useless answer he could have given. He looked over at Kageyama. “How long are you going to keep going?”
Kageyama hadn’t thought about it. “As long as I’m here, might as well. It’s not like I have a whole lot else going on.” He should be sorting through the house, obviously, but the idea of doing that all day every day made him want to scream.
Hinata was picking at the edge of the label on his beer bottle. “What are you supposed to be doing while you’re here, anyway?”
“Cleaning out the house. Getting it ready to sell. My sister told me to keep whatever I wanted, but…” Kageyama didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t need to. Hinata had been there. He’d spent a lot of his nights at Hinata’s house anyway, after their first year. Kageyama’s parents had barely noticed, and by their third year, Kageyama was spending more time at Hinata’s than he had been at his own house. Despite the 30 minute ride over the mountain. The bike ride had been hell, but it did wonders for his stamina. Sometimes they would stay at Kageyama’s, mostly when his parents were out.
“I can help, if you want,” Hinata said, his voice quiet. “I can’t, you know, lift anything or stuff like that. We could probably get the team to help, though, if you need to move boxes or furniture.”
The thought hadn’t crossed Kageyama’s mind, but the idea of the team helping both soothed and terrified him. “I’m not even close to that point yet. We’ll see what’s going on when I get there.”
The night had taken an unexpected turn, though truly, Kageyama should have expected it. Ever since he came back, the house had followed him around like a noose around his neck, threatening to choke him. Practicing with the Karasuno team was nothing more than an avoidance tactic, but knowing that didn’t mean Kageyama was going to stop.
Beside him, Hinata bumped his shoulder. “Come on, Mopey-yama. Let’s get out of here before they kick us out. I’ll come over tomorrow after PT and we can make a plan.”
Kageyama shot him a look out of the corner of his eye. One day, and Hinata already made it seem like no time had passed at all. “Like you’re gonna be all that much help, moron,” Kageyama said, but they both knew he didn’t mean it.
Chapter 4: Whenever you get the ball send it to me!
Summary:
Hinata helps Kageyama clean house.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Kageyama was working through the bathroom, throwing away all the empty bottles of shampoo, soap, and whatever else his parents had collected in their forty some odd years in this house.
“Don’t forget to separate out the medicine!” Hinata called from the other room. He was supposed to be going through the pantry and getting rid of anything that was expired, but he seemed far more intent on micromanaging whatever Kageyama was doing.
“I already did that, dumbass,” Kageyama yelled back. Something about throwing things away was turning out to be very cathartic, far more than he thought it would be. He’d had to deal with his father’s medicine after his passing. He’d been on some strong stuff at the end, and the thought of leaving his mother with it had made Kageyama’s blood run cold. As soon as he’d decided to clean out the bathroom, he’d collected all the rest of the medicine, expired or not, into a separate bag to take to the hospital.
He didn’t know what half of the stuff in his mother’s makeup cabinet was, so that all went straight in the trash. He’d brought his own toiletries, so he didn’t need to rely on anything they had. Being able to take an entire room apart in one fell swoop was almost like shedding 10 kg. He didn’t even leave the towels; he had a separate bathroom, and more than enough towels in that one. They all went straight into a donation box.
Kageyama hadn’t admitted it to his face, but Hinata was proving to be incredibly helpful. He wasn’t doing much, all told, but his presence seemed to give Kageyama energy he hadn’t had since stepping foot inside this house. The first thing he said when he came over after his physical therapy appointment was “Trash is easiest.” Kageyama didn’t know where he got that bit of insight, though he did suppose Hinata had moved more than he had, and much further distances at that.
He’d assigned himself to the kitchen. Kageyama suspected that was just so he could eat while he cleaned, but he kept his mouth shut this time. As Kageyama tied his second trash bag shut, he walked out of the bathroom. Sure enough, he found Hinata chowing down on some cookies he must have found. “You know we can order takeout, right?” Kageyama said. The house didn’t have any real food, since no one had lived in it for awhile, so Kageyama hadn’t been cooking. He was taking advantage of the break from nutritionist mandated meals while he could.
“M ungy now,” Hinata said, though Kageyama could not understand him through the mouthful of cookies.
Kageyama grabbed the box out of his hand. “Chew your food first, dumbass. How are you still like this?”
Hinata swallowed. “I’m healing, it takes a lot of calories.” It was one of the few times Hinata had directly mentioned his injury, so Kageyama didn’t make fun of him.
“These are buckwheat fiber cookies that old ladies eat,” Kageyama said. “Not exactly the highest calorie snack you could have chosen.” He checked the package. “And they’re expired!” He threw the box into the trash.
When he looked back up, Hinata was pouting. “Cleaning is making me hungry.” The sight of Hinata’s bottom lip sticking out made Kageyama’s chest tighten in a way he hadn’t felt for a very long time. His eyes were glued to it, shiny and plump, and he needed it to go away. He pinched it between his fingers, and Hinata yelped.
“I just said we could order food!” Kageyama yelled. They spent the next five minutes or so arguing before Kageyama pulled out his phone and placed an order for a pizza. He threw the bag Hinata had just filled into the corner with the others and went to sit on the sofa, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. He sat there for a bit, trying to calm down his breathing, as he heard Hinata’s crutches make their way towards him. The sofa sank a bit as Hinata sat down.
“Can I turn on the TV?” he asked. Kageyama just grunted and pointed in the vague direction he’d left the remote. The TV clicked on, and Kageyama heard various programs as Hinata must have flicked through the channels. “We can load the trash bags in my car before we go to afternoon practice,” Hinata said. Kageyama gave another noncommittal noise. He wasn’t sure why, but he suddenly didn’t have anymore words to give. He still felt accomplished after what they’d done that morning, but his drive to work had disappeared as soon as Hinata had made that face.
Stupid Hinata and his stupid, expressive face. Kageyama didn’t know if it was because he was so stoic or what, but he’d never been able to resist anything Hinata asked for when he made a face. Sure, Kageyama made a big show of denying him, but at the end of the day, Hinata almost always got what he wanted out of Kageyama. He wasn’t sure if Hinata was aware of that or not, since he didn’t usually abuse it to any extent. Of course, that didn’t explain why Kageyama had wanted to take that pouty lip in his mouth to make it go away.
Kageyama knew he was gay. You don’t spend twenty some odd years in men’s locker rooms and not realize you’re gay, but you also don’t survive twenty some odd years in men’s locker rooms by making a habit of kissing your teammates. Sure, he’d thought about it before. More than just Hinata, but definitely Hinata. And it wasn’t that he was in the closet by any stretch. At least, not on purpose. Some people knew, and some people didn’t.
And Hinata…didn’t.
Or, at least, Kageyama had never voiced it out loud. Confessions from girls in high school served one purpose, and one purpose only: to rub in Hinata’s face. He wasn’t interested in any of them, but he proudly retold the stories with gusto, watching Hinata turn redder and redder. It wasn’t like Hinata hadn’t gotten any, but Kageyama had certainly gotten more. And of course they were added to their running total of ‘wins’ over the other.
Once they’d gotten older, they sort of adopted a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy with their relationships. Neither of them were ever more serious about someone than volleyball, so it hadn’t made much difference. Kageyama didn’t mind, because talking about that sort of thing made him want to curl up and die, even at thirty five. He didn’t need anyone who wasn’t part of his sex life knowing about his sex life. His mostly lonely, one-night-stand-filled sex life.
What was he supposed to do? He was in a foreign country most of the time, and that included where he technically owned an apartment. When he came back to Japan, which became less and less frequent as he grew older, he was too busy for much else. Hinata was the longest relationship he’d ever had, and look at the state of them. He didn’t have the guts to ask him a simple question like, “What’s going on with your leg?”
Before Kageyama could completely spiral into despair, the doorbell rang. Hinata sprang up off the couch, but Kageyama got up and pushed him back down. “How the hell are you supposed to carry a pizza box on crutches?” he asked. He didn’t look back, but somehow he knew Hinata was sticking his tongue out at him.
He paid the guy and dropped the pizza box on the table in front of the couch. Hinata was on it like a starving man, half a piece stuffed into his mouth before Kageyama could even sit back down. They ate in relative silence, watching the episode of One Piece Hinata had managed to find on the TV. It was an older episode, so Kageyama had a vague sense of what was going on, but not enough to actually distract him.
After Hinata had put down two pieces in a row, he finally slowed down enough to talk. “Do you still have an apartment in Tokyo?”
Kageyama shot him a look. Where the hell was he going with this? “Yes, why?” he said.
Hinata shrugged, and the air in the room stilled. “I need to decide where I’m going to stay, now that I’m back in Japan. I can’t stay in my parents’ house forever.” Hinata was leaning forward, elbows on his knees. Kageyama could see that his hand was twitching, like he wanted to touch the brace on his knee but he was trying not to.
Taking a sip of water, Kageyama said, “Shouldn’t you decide what you’re going to do before you decide where you’re going to do it?” It was as close as he could get to saying, “Are you done with volleyball?” He half hated himself for it. High school Kageyama, hell, even 25 year old Kageyama wouldn’t have a problem asking straight out. But now that he was here, staring at a similar question to Hinata from a different vantage point, he couldn’t cross that line.
“Yeah,” Hinata said, his voice small. “But I don’t have an answer to that either.”
Tired of being a coward, Kageyama took a deep breath and said, “What exactly is wrong with your knee?” It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to find out. The trades had reported Hinata’s injury, but no one had specifics other than that he was “out for surgery.” It was one of the instances where no news was not good news, in Kageyama’s experience.
A small laugh escaped Hinata’s throat, and if Kageyama was better at reading people, he would have said it sounded like a sob. “A little bit of everything, pretty much. I guess years of jumping twice as much as everyone else really does a number on your joints. It’s officially a torn ACL, but once they got in there, they said I had almost no cartilage left in my knee. The other one’s not much better off, but it’s at least holding its own.”
Kageyama couldn’t help it, his mouth was wide open in shock. An ACL tear was one thing, especially at their age. But this sounded like Hinata needed a whole new knee. He was certainly never playing professional volleyball again, and it was a long shot if he ever even played recreational volleyball again. At least, not like he wanted to. Kageyama had known, somewhere deep in his chest, that this had been the case. It was why he hadn’t wanted to ask in the first place. But knowing and knowing, those were two different things.
Neither of them spoke, the only noise the TV in the background. Eventually Hinata grabbed another slice of pizza. Kageyama willed his brain to say something, anything, that might possibly make the situation better. The only words he could think of were the ones that everyone else offered when they’d heard his mother had died. The words Kageyama hated hearing and hated responding to even more. But they were all he had.
“I’m sorry.”
Hinata looked over at him, an air of sadness on his face that broke Kageyama’s heart. “I know. Honestly it’s kind of a miracle that it took this long. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself.” Hinata had a point, but it didn’t make Kageyama feel any better. They were both lucky to have played volleyball professionally at all, let alone as long as they had. But somehow it still wasn’t enough. Might not ever be enough.
What did you do with yourself when you could no longer do the one thing you’ve spent your entire life devoted to? Kageyama certainly didn’t know. It was why he was terrified of thinking about retirement. It was half the reason he’d agreed to come down to deal with this stupid house. No one bothered the grieving man about his life plans.
Kageyama stared at Hinata, who was still slowly eating his piece of pizza. He looked so small. It seemed like a stupid thing to think; of course Hinata was small. But his presence was never small. But now it seemed like he was almost shrinking before Kageyama’s eyes, curling in on himself and attempting to disappear. Shoulders slumped, head hung low, eyes downcast. Even his hair seemed flatter.
He didn’t ask his body to do it, but one long arm reached across the couch and pulled Hinata tight to his chest. Kageyama didn’t hug anyone, let alone Hinata, but words had failed him, and he refused to do nothing. Hinata let out a bit of a squawk when Kageyama grabbed him, but once Kageyama had both arms wrapped around him, Hinata seemed to relax.
Hinata’s head fit perfectly underneath Kageyama’s chin, and he rested it there as he stared out at the living room. How had he never noticed how well they complemented each other before? Years of sitting together on team busses, nodding off on each other’s shoulders, but none of it had prepared him for how right Hinata felt in his arms. Like someone had carved them from the same piece of wood, only to slot them back together after years apart.
After a few moments, Hinata pulled away with a soft, “thanks.” Kageyama just nodded and stood to put away the pizza box. If he noticed part of his shirt was wet, he didn’t say anything.
Notes:
Four chapters for Kageyama, of all people, to get the guts to ask what's wrong with Hinata's leg. Sometimes growing up makes things more difficult instead of easier.
Chapter 5: The setter is the one who gets to touch the ball the most.
Summary:
Kageyama talks to Miwa about the house; Kageyama and Hinata watch a practice match.
Notes:
Make sure to check the tags! They update with every chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Kageyama’s days took on a routine over the next week. He went to practice early; Hinata usually picked him up, though he’d never asked him to. He and Hinata did whatever Coach asked them to, whether it was coaching receives, serves, or in Kageyama’s case, sets. Because Hinata had physical therapy in the mornings, Kageyama went for a run after practice. He didn’t want to get completely out of shape while he was off, even if he didn’t know if he was going back to volleyball yet or not. Since coaching wasn’t near as much energy as a real volleyball practice, he needed to make it up somewhere.
Hinata came over after physical therapy. Sometimes he was on the later side and brought lunch. Other times they ordered out. Kageyama hadn’t bothered to buy anything for the fridge besides drinks. They’d packed up most of the dishes and kitchen anyway.
Hinata had brought his switch over, and they were working their way through every track on Mario Kart. To Kageyama’s annoyance, Hinata was kicking his ass. He said it was all the times he played with Kenma. They talked about everything except Hinata’s knee and Kageyama’s parents, and then they went to afternoon practice. Once, Takeda Sensei and Coach joined them for dinner. Kageyama almost missed practice the next day, he was so hungover.
Every night Hinata dropped him off, it was more difficult not to ask him to come in. And every night, much to his own embarrassment, Kageyama would lay in his childhood bed, take himself in his hand, and wonder what it would have been like if Hinata was there with him.
“I can’t believe Ushiwaka quit already,” Hinata was saying, not for the first time. They were driving back to Karasuno for afternoon practice.
Kageyama’s phone buzzed, and he opened it, saying, “He has a family now. That’s hard, with all the traveling you have to do when you play.” Kageyama skimmed the email from the real estate agent Takeda-san had recommended. Takeda-san had tried to get them to stop calling him ‘Takeda Sensei,’ since he insisted they were all adults now. He said just ‘Takeda’ was fine, but the closest Kageyama could get was ‘Takeda-san.' The real estate agent was asking when he could visit the house.
“Yeah, but he was always so good, and he barely lasted half as long in the international leagues as we did.” Hinata was in a nostalgic mood ever since some of their old teammates had agreed to come to one of Karasuno’s practice matches that weekend. Kageyama was pretending to be annoyed, but really he was annoyed with how endearing he found it.
“He only played volleyball because of his dad. It makes sense he would pick family over volleyball. I’m pretty sure he moved them all back to California to be closer to where his dad is.” Hinata had played on the national team with Ushijima, but they’d never really been friends. Kageyama liked him well enough from their time on the Adlers together, but Kageyama suspected Ushijima hadn’t forgiven Hinata for his last match of high school. Why Ushijima blamed Hinata more than Kageyama, he couldn’t say.
“At least Tohru-chan is still playing,” Hinata said, mostly to himself. Kageyama wrinkled his nose in disgust. Fucking Oikawa. Hinata had explained all about Oikawa playing beach volleyball with him once he’d gotten back to Japan, and since they were at least on the same continent as each other, he’d seen Oikawa the most out of anyone. But Kageyama still hated Oikawa, doubly so since he’d become an Argentinian national. He wasn’t afraid of him any longer, and hadn’t been for a long time. That didn’t make Hinata calling him ‘Tohru-chan’ any more palatable, though.
Kageyama looked over at Hinata. “Why is that good? You know he’s a traitor.” It was an argument they’d had before, but that didn’t mean Kageyama was going to stop.
“He’s not a traitor,” Hinata said as they pulled into the parking lot. Somehow Hinata had gotten a staff parking permit. Takeda-san had most likely groveled to someone. Though, then again, the volleyball team was the most successful of any sports team in Karasuno history.
Kageyama’s phone buzzed again, but this time it was his sister. She hadn’t called him back or answered the whole week, so he felt he had to take it, as reluctant as he was to actually talk to her. He motioned to his phone when Hinata looked at him, and shut the car door behind him.
“Hello?” he said.
“Hey,” Miwa said. “I only have a couple minutes between clients. How is it going?”
The frown he had from Hinata mentioning Oikawa deepened. “Fine, no thanks to you. How am I supposed to clean out the house when I don’t know what you want?” His voice was sharp, but he didn’t care. He’d called her every day for a week, and this was the first he’d actually spoken to her. Hinata had already had to talk him down from calling movers to deliver everything to her house without her permission.
“I’ve been busy! Not all of us get weeks off at a time.” Kageyama rolled his eyes. He’d heard this argument before. Everyone thought that because he only played so many games a year, he wasn’t working the rest of the time.
“Well if you don’t at least tell me what you want, I’m gonna have the kids pack up everything and donate it. I can’t just sit around waiting on you to make a decision.”
The line went silent for a beat. “The kids?” she asked.
“The Karasuno boy’s volleyball team. I’ve been helping with their practices. They all agreed to help with whatever I need, but that isn’t very useful when I don’t know what I need to move.”
She was silent again before saying, “That’s adorable.”
Kageyama ground his teeth together, but he could feel his cheeks flush. “You aren’t being very helpful.”
Miwa sighed. “I’ll try to put together some kind of list this weekend. You haven’t donated or thrown out anything yet, have you?”
That was the most Miwa had agreed to so far, so he felt at least partially successful. “Nothing worth keeping. We’ve packed things up, but the only things we threw out were toiletries and food.” He paused. “And mom’s medication.” Hinata had taken that to the hospital for him.
“Okay, good. I promise to get you something by Monday.” Kageyama just grunted. The practice game was Saturday, and he had no intention of doing anything that resembled working on the house on Sunday.
“And when are you coming down?” he asked. “The real estate agent wants to meet Tuesday.” She hemmed and hawed, but Kageyama got her to agree to come to Miyagi the following weekend. He’d also agreed to buy her train ticket.
He stuffed his phone in his pocket and walked around the car. He was surprised to find Hinata there, leaning against the driver’s side door. Kageyama had assumed he’d gone on to practice.
“Miwa?” he asked. Hinata had only met her a couple of times, but he got along with her well enough. Better than Kageyama did, at least.
He grunted in assent. “She finally agreed to send a list of stuff she wants,” Kageyama said. “And she’s coming down next weekend, after I bullied her into it.” Somehow Kageyama felt like he’d just played five full sets. This shit was exhausting.
Hinata looked at him, his head cocked to the side slightly. He had a blank expression on his face that Kageyama couldn’t read. “You still good to go to practice?” he asked.
Kageyama nodded. “Yeah, I really need to hit something now. Think Ukai will let me serve?”
Hinata blanched under his freckles. “As someone who actually had to receive your serves, you can’t launch them at the kids. It isn’t fair and won’t be good practice.”
Kageyama kicked a rock as they walked toward the volleyball gym. He knew that, but hearing it from Hinata was still annoying. “When did you get so reasonable? Where’s the Hinata that said he was gonna take on the Great King’s serves with almost no receiving skills?”
Hinata stopped and looked over at him. “That Hinata was a dumbass, and you’re a better server than Oikawa.” Kageyama was so shocked he didn’t even make fun of Hinata for calling himself a dumbass.
When they got into the gym, the kids had already set up for a practice match. Coach asked them to watch from up top to get a better view of what was going on. One of the managers handed Hinata a notebook, and they climbed up the ladder to the catwalk. Kageyama followed Hinata to make sure he didn’t fall in the process.
As the first set got rolling, Kageyama noticed this was quite a bit different than any practice game he’d seen. Every time the rotation moved, a new player substituted in, and instead of moving to the front, the player in the back stepped out. Not every player was in the rotation; some of them were still standing off to the side: keeping score, judging the line, or something else that was needed to keep the game running smoothly. But there still had to be fifteen odd kids on each side, rotating in as the set progressed.
Hinata leaned over. “Is he really substituting almost an entire lineup during a set?” he asked.
Kageyama nodded. “Yeah, I talked to him the other day and he said it was kind of difficult to deal with the amount of kids they have on the team. I mean, it’s still pretty early on, I bet he doesn’t have a real good idea of who should be on the roster yet. What better way than to watch everyone play?” Kageyama wasn’t certain how he kept track, but they did have two managers, Ukai, Takeda, and the captains standing on the sidelines. He and Hinata were icing on the cake.
The other thing Kageyama noticed was they didn’t seem to have any set attack or defense pattern. As each new set of kids came in, the system shifted. Some stuck to a read block, others were commit blocking to specific spikers on the other side. The hitting styles were all over the place as well. It was the most chaotic thing he’d ever seen in his life, but they didn’t seem to be making near the amount of mistakes he assumed they would.
Beside him, Hinata was scribbling down the occasional note, but he was quieter than Kageyama expected. He elbowed him in a silent question. Hinata barely flinched. “I was just thinking, if I’d come to Karasuno when they were like this, or if I’d gone to a different school that was bigger, I probably never would have ended up on the team at all.” His face was pensive, brows furrowed and mouth firm. “I wouldn’t have gotten to play nearly as much volleyball as I have.”
Kageyama looked out at the kids on the floor. A couple of them were as small as Hinata was now, maybe one or two were even shorter. Because of Ukai’s system, he couldn’t tell if anyone was supposed to be a libero or not. Kageyama had certainly played with people as short as Hinata, but as far as he knew, they all had more experience than Hinata had.
“As long as you went to Karasuno, you would have ended up in the same spot,” Kageyama said. Hinata shot him a look and opened his mouth like he was about to complain when Kageyama finished his thought. “As long as I was there, you were always going to make the team.”
Hinata shoved him, almost dropping his notebook over the side of the railing. “Wow, someone is full of himself. You know I proved that I don’t need you anymore, Your Majesty.” Hinata hadn’t called him that in a long time, and Kageyama could tell that he’d touched on a nerve.
He grabbed the notebook out of Hinata’s hands so he didn’t lose it. “That isn’t what I meant. No matter how big the team was, I still would have been pissed off when I saw your runt scrub face, and we both still would have gotten kicked off the same way. Which means we still would have had to work together to get back into Daichi’s good graces.” Kageyama shrugged. “The way I see it, there was no other way for everything to go down.”
Kageyama tried to go back to watching the practice match. He could feel Hinata’s gaze on the side of his face, burning across his cheek. Or maybe that was a blush that he was trying to suppress. He hadn’t been trying to make Hinata feel better. Or, at least, he hadn’t made anything up to make Hinata feel better. That’s what he really believed. He also believed, but had never said aloud and wouldn’t because Hinata hadn’t asked, that he wouldn’t have ended up where he was without Hinata and the rest of Karasuno, either. It was something he’d come to terms with after a few frank discussions with his coaches after Ukai.
Thankfully, one of the things Hinata had learned as he grew up was when to take Kageyama’s words for what they were, and when not to press for him to repeat himself. So instead, they went back to what they were supposed to be doing. Hinata pointed down at one of the first years on the front line. “Number 8, do you think he’s taller than Tsukki was at that age?” Kageyama cracked a faint, wicked smile.
Notes:
I've always been fascinated with the idea that neither Kageyama nor Hinata would have succeeded if they hadn't met each other. So many coaches talk about wishing they'd scouted or recruited Kageyama, but I love when someone points out that without that 'little number 10,' Kageyama wouldn't be the kind of player he is now.
Chapter 6: The idea that no one will be there when I put the ball up scares me down to the bottom of my soul.
Summary:
Kageyama, Hinata, Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi check out a Karasuno practice match
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“He is not taller than I was!” Tsukishima said, leaning over the railing to peer down at the middle blocker wearing #8. He and Yamaguchi had met Hinata and Kageyama at Aoba Johsai for the Saturday practice match. Tanaka had also come, with his kids in tow. Kiyoko was supposed to be there, but they’d called her in for an inventory emergency. Tanaka delivered her apologies, and said she would try to meet up with them before Kageyama and Hinata left Miyagi.
The boys were on their 4th set, having lost the first match 2-1. The scores had been close, but they were up 5 points in this set and close to hitting 20. “They didn’t say he was a better blocker, Tsukki, just that he’s taller. What difference does it make? You’re taller now,” Yamaguchi said. Being captain had really done something for Yamaguchi’s confidence, and Kageyama, for one, liked the new Yamaguchi. Though maybe that was because he no longer just parroted Tsukki’s opinions.
“It’s only a couple centimeters,” Hinata said. He had Tanaka’s son on his back, effortlessly holding the kid despite his bad knee. He was still leaning on one crutch, though. Kageyama was doing his best not to pay attention. As soon as the Tanakas had gotten there, Hyoma had launched himself at Hinata. Tanaka had to hold him back to make sure he didn’t tackle Hinata to the ground. He’d never really seen Hinata around kids, at least not young kids, and Kageyama was slightly terrified by how good he was with them. He supposed Hinata wasn’t that far removed from being a kid himself, but that didn’t explain why Kageyama needed to swallow the lump in his throat every time he looked at Hinata.
Tsukishima scoffed. “That’s rich, coming from you. You used to demand our measurements in millimeters,” he said. Beside him, Jun tugged on Tsukishima’s pants, face serious and reserved like her mother’s. Tsukishima looked down at her and wordlessly picked her up, propping her on his hip so she could see over the railing. Kageyama looked at him, taking in the entire picture. His heart may as well have been dead in his chest. That was good to know, he supposed. It wasn’t ‘guys holding children’ that turned him on, just ‘Hinata holding children.’ Or, at least, it definitely wasn’t ‘Tsukishima holding children.’
Maybe that wasn’t the revelation he thought it was.
Tanaka laughed loud enough to echo over the court, “Tsukki dude, why are you beefing with a first year?”
Tsukishima shot him a look that could have peeled paint. Apparently being related by marriage hadn’t made Tsukishima less prone to Tanaka’s jabs. When Kageyama had found out that Seiko had married Tsukishima’s brother, Akiteru, he spent about five solid minutes laughing and then immediately texted Hinata. “I am not beefing with a first year,” Tsukishima said. His ears were starting to get red, and Kageyama was having difficulty keeping his laugh suppressed.
They probably would have kept ribbing Tsukishima until he stomped off somewhere, except Hyoma was twisting to get a better position on Hinata’s back and must have kicked him with his foot. Kageyama saw Hinata start to buckle, and he yanked Hyoma off his back with one hand and held Hinata up with the other.
“Dum—“ he stopped himself just in time before saying, “You good?” Kageyama waited for Hinata to regain his balance. He just nodded, and Kageyama could tell he was doing his best not to show the pain on his face. Hyoma had gone quiet, and it seemed like he could tell something was wrong. “Why don’t you sit on my shoulders instead?” Kageyama hoisted Hyoma up, making sure he had a firm grip on the kid’s thighs before he got closer to the railing. It seemed to push off any sort of impending meltdown.
He could practically hear everyone else staring at him, and when he turned around to look, Kageyama snapped, “I have two nephews, you know.”
“I did not know that,” Tanaka said. “Last time I saw you with a kid, you made him cry.” Kageyama glared, and Tanaka just pointed at his face. “Yeah, pretty sure that’s the look that did it, too.”
They all started bickering, but a loud “boom” echoed through the gym, and Hinata yelled, “No touch ace!” Kageyama looked down and saw one of the kids that he’d been working with get swarmed by his teammates. Karasuno was at set point.
“Damn, Kageyama. I didn’t expect you to make such a difference in just a week,” Tanaka said.
Kageyama looked over at him. “I didn’t make a big difference, he was already pretty good—”
Hinata interrupted him. “How do you know it wasn’t me that made a difference?” He’d managed to stick his small, stupid face in front of Kageyama to get Tanaka’s attention.
Tanaka shrugged. “Just looked more like Kageyama’s serve than yours,” he said. Hinata paused, but he seemed to accept that answer. That was the thing about Tanaka. He didn’t really have any reason to lie, so you always took him at his word.
“After the practice match yesterday, I’m surprised they’re playing as well as they are,” Hinata said. When everyone was confused, Hinata told them all about the practice match he and Kageyama had watched. Everyone had a fair amount of questions, and Hinata and Kageyama did their best to answer them.
Tsukishima was leaning over the railing, even more pensive than before. “I just don’t see the benefit of not committing to a blocking strategy ahead of time. Letting them run loose on their own sounds asinine.”
Kageyama was pretty sure the only “ass” around here was Tsukishima, but he kept his mouth shut. “One time, I heard Oikawa say that Karasuno didn’t have a ‘playing style,’ and we were all too willing to break everything down and start from scratch.” Everyone looked over at him, and he sighed. Now he was going to have to explain himself. “I think he meant it as an insult, at the time. Knowing Oikawa. But watching Coach this week, that might actually be his playing style.”
“How can ‘starting over from scratch’ be a playing style?” Yamaguchi asked.
Kageyama pointed down at the court. “Look how big the team is. When you’ve got that much variety, why would you just force everyone into a system? Your opponent is never going to know the extent of what you have in backup. Think about all the times he held stuff back until the second set.”
“It’s like the ultimate arsenal,” Hinata said beside him. “Coach doesn’t build the kids into the team he wants, he builds the team out of the kids he has. Means every year is different, and no one knows what to expect.”
Everyone was quiet for a bit, and then Tsukishima said, “That is the downside of high school. Every year you have a new batch of kids, so you sort of have to start from scratch. Sure, you might end up with an Ushiwaka you can ride for three years, but then what do you do after he leaves?” They seemed to ponder this for awhile, but then Karasuno scored the set point, and everyone dissolved into cheers.
They watched the rest of the sets. Karasuno won 5 sets to Aoba Johsai’s 4. Tanaka collected Jun from Tsukki. She’d fallen asleep somewhere around set number 8. He apologized for not being able to go to dinner with everyone, but they all waved him off. Seeing Tanaka in ‘dad mode’ was a bit of a shock for Kageyama, but he had to admit he liked it.
Hyoma waved to Kageyama before covering his own yawn. As the sets had worn on, Hyoma had started to ask a few questions, and Kageyama did his best to answer them, though Hinata had to step in a couple of times. Tanaka said Hyoma was signed up to start playing volleyball next year. He’d also told Hyoma that Kageyama and Hinata were professional volleyball players, but the kid hadn’t looked convinced. “You don’t think your old man is cool enough to know professional volleyball players?!” Hyoma had just shaken his head.
Now they were all at the restaurant, waiting on food and shooting the shit. Tsukishima downed the rest of his Kahlúa and milk. “I can’t believe you make Hinata drive you around, Your Majesty.”
Kageyama batted away the finger that Tsukishima pushed into his face. “I do not make him drive me around.”
“And I’m not an invalid!” Hinata said. “You only need one leg to work the pedals! Besides, I can’t believe you drink that still. You’re an adult, you know.” Hinata pointed to Tsukishima’s glass. Yamaguchi was laughing into his beer.
It was Kageyama’s turn to snort. “And that’s coming from him,” he said, pointing to Hinata. Hinata didn’t even get offended. He just stuck his fist out. Kageyama bumped it in response.
Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “How are you two just as bad as you were in high school? You went off to separate countries and play professional volleyball. How do you transfer your singular brain cell across the ocean?”
Their food arrived, and Kageyama picked up his chopsticks, pointing them at Tsukishima. “Hinata and I both speak a different language on top of Japanese. How many languages can you speak, Tsukishima?”
He just grunted and took a big bite of his curry. “Kageyama, aren’t you the one that said you, ‘don’t need to know no English’ when we had to tutor you first year?” Yamaguchi asked. He had that sneaky look on his face that made Kageyama suspicious.
Kageyama just shrugged. “Yeah, and I was technically right. I needed to learn Italian, not English.” Tsukishima pulled his glasses off his face and pinched his nose. Kageyama had forgotten how much fun annoying Tsukishima was.
“English sucks,” Hinata said. “Portuguese was way easier.” He snagged one of the pot stickers from the middle of the table.
“It’s sort of different when you have to learn the language or starve,” Yamaguchi said. “Plus didn’t you say you learned Portuguese watching One Piece with your roommate?”
Hinata shrugged. “Maybe they should have taught us English by watching One Piece. I would have paid a lot more attention.”
“Idiots,” Tsukishima said. “You are all idiots.”
“Sorry we didn’t all get our childhood dream job of dinosaur expert,” Yamaguchi said. Kageyama laughed again. Yamaguchi was so much more fun now. Though maybe that was the two rounds of sake that Hinata had made everyone get when they showed up talking.
Tsukishima whipped around to look at him. “I am not a ‘dinosaur expert,’ I work at a museum. There aren’t even dinosaurs at the museum, which you know for a fact.” Yamaguchi just hummed as he took a sip of his beer.
Kageyama sat back, watching the chaos unfold. Everyone kept arguing about random things, from whether One Piece was any good to why Hinata’s family car was stupid. Kageyama couldn’t say why he was enjoying himself so much. From the outside, it looked like they all hated each other. But as the night wore on, everyone’s face got redder and the insults got less pointed. To make everything even better, no one mentioned his mother.
Too soon, the restaurant started to empty and they all had to make their goodbyes. Hinata wrangled a promise from Tsukishima to meet up again next week, though he tried to hedge with a ‘we’ll see.’ Yamaguchi turned back around and said, “We’ll be there,” before trotting to catch up with Tsukishima.
As Hinata drove to Kageyama’s house, Kageyama picked at the lint on his pants. By the end of dinner, Hinata had been leaning against him, almost hanging on his arm as he argued with Tsukishima across the table. Kageyama had done his best to ignore it, but the heat of Hinata’s body against his was far more comfortable than he wanted to admit. He’d kept throwing glances to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, waiting for a snide comment or a knowing look. Neither had come. Whether that was because they didn’t notice or didn’t care, Kageyama didn’t know.
So he’d let it happen. Let the accidental thigh brushes and carefree touches continue. What harm did they cause? Well, now that they were back in the car in their separate seats, he craved that closeness. Craved the warmth that seemed to radiate from Hinata like the sun and made Kageyama want to bask in it like the stray cats that lived on his street. And he’d had just enough to drink that he wasn’t sure he had the ability to tell himself no anymore.
They pulled up to Kageyama’s house, and Hinata threw the car in park. Kageyama grabbed for the handle and put together all the right words to tell Hinata good night in his head. And yet, when he opened his mouth, he said, “Do you want to come in?”
Hinata looked at the clock on the dash. “It’s sort of late, and I’ve still got to drive over the mountain.”
“Just stay the night,” Kageyama said, like it was the simplest solution. It was simple, really. They’d slept over with each other hundreds of times. What difference did it make now? Kageyama knew he was lying to himself, but he wanted it to be true, at the same time. He didn’t know what was different, but he didn’t want to sleep alone in his parents’ house anymore. Even if he and Hinata slept in separate bedrooms, it would be better than laying there by himself.
Without a fight, Hinata shrugged and said, “Why not? I don’t have physical therapy tomorrow, anyway. It’ll save me the trip back here in the morning.” He turned off the ignition and pulled his crutches out of the back of the car.
Kageyama stepped out of the car, surprised how easily Hinata had agreed. Then again, why wouldn’t he? To him, it was just his friend Kageyama offering him a place to crash. Nothing special, nothing ulterior. Kageyama’s relief at not having to be alone was almost drowned out by his guilt. But if he said anything now, he would look stupid. And he wasn’t selfless enough to do it, either.
They walked into the house, flicking on the lights to the living room. Hinata shed his shoes and made his way to the couch, flopping down. “God, Tsukki is still such a pain in the ass.”
Kageyama sat down beside him, taking up the small space Hinata hadn’t conquered with his body. “I don’t know why you think he’d change,” Kageyama said. He leaned down to grab the TV remote, and when he leaned back, Hinata threw his feet over Kageyama’s lap. Kageyama glared at him.
“My knee hurts,” is all Hinata said. Kageyama sighed and turned the TV on. “I didn’t think he’d change, really, but it’s still way different in person. When you’re not around him, it’s like, ‘surely I’m exaggerating, he has to act like he likes me sometimes,’ but then you hang out with him again. If I didn’t have two decades of evidence, I’d say he hated us.”
Kageyama flipped through, looking for a movie or something he could just leave on and ignore. Now that they were out of the busy restaurant, he was starting to get tired. He wanted to veg out for a bit on the couch, let Hinata talk himself to sleep, and then go to bed. He found an old Samurai movie and got up. “I’m gonna change, do you want a pair of shorts?” Hinata nodded.
He threw shorts to Hinata then went back to his room to change. When he got back, Hinata was changed, the brace now on his bare leg and half covered by Kageyama’s baggy shorts. “You know you could say the same thing about us,” he said.
Hinata seemed confused for a second, brows creased, before he shook his head. “No, that’s different. I know you call me names all the time, but we can have a normal conversation. Tsukki seems incapable of being genuine. It’s like he’ll go out of his way to say something the most difficult way possible.”
Kageyama sat back on the couch, but this time Hinata moved his legs so he didn’t have to sit so close to the arm. He still threw his legs back over Kageyama’s lap, though. “How do you notice this stuff?” Kageyama asked. Trying to pay attention to the conversation was almost painful. He pulled a blanket over them both so he didn’t have to look at Hinata’s calves. If he didn’t, he was going to be tempted to run his hands over the tanned muscles, to feel the soft red hair under his fingers. Instead he balled his hands into fists and tried to focus on the movie.
“Well, Tsukki makes it pretty obvious,” Hinata said. Kageyama wasn’t sure that was true, but considering the first thing Hinata had said was ‘Tsukki is a pain in the ass,’ Kageyama couldn’t argue. “He’s always working hard to make it seem like he doesn’t care. Like, yeah, his actions speak for themselves, he’ll always show up when you need him. But his words make it sound like the opposite.”
Kageyama looked over at him. “Again, I don’t see the difference.”
Hinata sighed. “You don’t pretend, okay? Tsukki is always pretending. Everything that comes out of your mouth is the truth. You say exactly what you mean, whether it’s nice or not. It just usually isn’t. Tsukki thinks nice things but purposely never says them.”
‘Don’t pretend?’ What was he doing right now? Hinata was practically sitting in his lap, oblivious to the fact that Kageyama wanted nothing except to pin him down to the couch and have his way with him. His chest tightened, and he suddenly needed to be anywhere but here.
“Right,” was all he said in response. “I, uh, I’m gonna go to bed.” He faked a yawn. Don’t pretend, my ass. “Do you need anything?” He thought about offering his parents’ bed to sleep in, but the idea turned his stomach a bit, so he didn’t.
Hinata just shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. Night, Kageyama.”
“Night.” Kageyama bolted to his room.
Notes:
I love getting the gang back together! Writing Tanaka and Kiyoko's kids was a lot of fun. Plus Seiko and Akiteru is a background ship I'm HEAVILY invested in. Tsukki has to hate family reunions XD
And Hinata sleeping over? Surely that won't end up causing Kageyama any trouble. Surely.
Chapter 7: I don’t know any other way to do it than to totally trust you!!
Summary:
Kageyama and Hinata have some donuts and a much needed talk.
Notes:
Peep the tags, everyone! We're finally earning our Explicit rating ;)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Kageyama slept like ass. He didn’t know when he actually did get to sleep, if at all. It felt like he was just quietly conscious all night as he panicked about Hinata. His exhausted brain flopped between bolting out to the living room to tell Hinata he was gay and apologizing, or just keeping his distance forever and making sure nothing like last night ever happened again.
Morning came far too soon, even though he slept in later than he usually did. When he stumbled out of bed, he heard noises out in the living room. When he went to investigate, he found Hinata unpacking a bag of food. “I got donuts!” he said excitedly.
When he opened the box, Kageyama was greeted with the most overdressed set of donuts he’d seen in his life. “Where the hell did you get those?”
“Natsu told me about them. I figured why not, I don’t really eat donuts most of the time.” Hinata was leaning against the kitchen counter, a donut in his hand. Kageyama couldn’t tell from a glance what flavor it was.
Kageyama looked over the donuts, grabbing a purple one. “Is this ube?” Hinata nodded. Kageyama took a bite. It was so damn sweet, but it was also insanely good. Hinata handed him a carton of milk, and Kageyama grunted his thanks. He moved over to the couch, sitting down. Even though Hinata hadn’t claimed any of the couch yet, he sat as far towards the arm as he could.
By the time Hinata came to sit beside him, he’d already housed the donut and was licking his fingers. “Hey!” Hinata said. “I wanted some of that!”
Kageyama glared at him. “You never said we were sharing. There’s still four more donuts.”
“Yeah but that one looked good!” Hinata said, pouting again. Kageyama closed his eyes, willing himself to be strong.
“Just buy another one later,” he said. Kageyama grabbed the remote, looking for yet another thing to distract him. He saw a volleyball game, but he quickly moved on. Hinata didn’t protest either, which was welcome. He settled on a soccer match and slouched into the couch cushions.
After a bit, Hinata said, “What were you planning on doing today?” He seemed to have gotten over the donut thing.
“Not a damn thing,” Kageyama said. “You okay with that?” He allowed himself a glance out of the corner of his eye at Hinata.
“Honestly, yeah,” Hinata yawned. “I wasn’t expecting to do this much when I came back here.”
They watched the game in silence, finishing off the rest of the donuts, and slowly but surely, Kageyama started to drift off. He had just enough coherence to wonder why the sugar didn’t keep him awake before he was dead to the world.
Finally, Kageyama was comfortable. His pillow was just the right amount of firm, his mind was blissfully blank, and his body was perfectly warm. Even in Italy, he always had the worst time staying warm when he went to sleep. He sighed, rubbing his cheek contentedly against the pillowcase. He felt something tickle his arm, and he flinched. That disrupted him just enough that he opened his eyes.
His face was plastered to Hinata’s chest.
He scrambled to sit up, causing Hinata to squawk in the process. “Kageyama, what the hell?!”
“Sorry! I just—sorry.” Kageyama launched himself toward the opposite end of the couch, trying to put as much distance between the two of them as possible.
Hinata looked annoyed, and Kageyama started to panic. Shit, he was going to freak out because Kageyama couldn’t control himself. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Hinata asked. Kageyama froze, mouth open, unable to speak. “I was comfortable. Why did you freak out like that?”
That was not what Kageyama had expected him to say. “I—we—I fell asleep on you.”
Hinata just stared at him. “No shit. What’s new. You’ve been falling asleep on me since we were fifteen.”
Kageyama could feel the blush creeping up his neck and over his face. This was not how he wanted any of this to go. “Yeah, but this is different. I—” he couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’m gay.”
Now Hinata’s look got even more dumbfounded. “Yeah, I know.”
“You know?!”
Hinata rolled his eyes, still seemingly annoyed, though apparently not annoyed about what Kageyama thought he would be annoyed about. “I know what a Grindr notification sounds like, Kageyama.” Kageyama thought he might die. His soul was leaving his body, and Miwa would finally have to deal with this damn house by herself. “Besides, you’re the only one on the team that never said anything about Kiyoko or Yachi being hot.”
Kageyama’s brain had stopped working. His whole life had been built upon a foundation that Hinata didn’t know. It was the bedrock of all the decisions he’d made up to this point. But if Hinata did know— No, it didn’t make any difference. Just because Hinata knew he was gay didn't mean he wanted Kageyama. He still was out of line.
But a tiny though popped into his head, and he clung to it for dear life. “Grindr?”
Hinata shrugged. Now there was a little bit of a blush on his face. “I’m bi,” was his response.
Three funerals in such a short time would be a lot for Miwa to deal with, but she would manage. Kageyama looked at Hinata like he’d grown horns on his head. “What?! Since when?”
“Brazil, the first time,” Hinata said. He wasn’t looking at Kageyama anymore. “I mean, I always noticed that guys were attractive, but I didn’t think that much of it. But then I spent too much time on the beach to not realize I also like guys. You know Brazilian women exclusively wear thongs on the beach, right? It takes a lot to drag your eyes away from that.”
The answer was so simple, and so familiar, that it shocked Kageyama back into some semblance of normalcy. “Yeah, I said something similar about men’s locker rooms.”
Hinata shuddered, and Kageyama looked at him with a question in his eyes. He’d expected that to get a laugh. “I think you and I had very different locker room experiences,” Hinata said. “When you’re my height, locker rooms aren’t exactly friendly places. I did my best to keep my back turned at all times for my own sanity.”
The mental image of Hinata staring eye to crotch with a room full of dicks popped into Kageyama’s head, and he burst out laughing. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“I was awake when you fell asleep on me, dumbass. So I could have shoved you off if I wanted. Anyway, if I don’t care about you drooling on my shirt in your sleep, I’m not gonna care if you’re gay,” Hinata said. He was looking smug, now, and Kageyama wouldn’t stand for it.
“I don’t drool in my sleep!”
Hinata laughed. “You do to!” He grabbed the front of his shirt and leaned closer, trying to shove it in Kageyama’s face. “See? It’s right here.”
Kageyama put up his hands to push Hinata away, but he was frustratingly persistent. “I don’t see anything, you’re making it up,” he said. Hinata was half on top of him now, doing his best impression of a leech. Kageyama was close to throwing him off the couch entirely when Hinata must have landed on his knee wrong and let out a yelp of pain.
Without thinking, Kageyama grabbed Hinata’s hips so he didn’t fall. Wordlessly, he waited for the pain to pass and Hinata to get his balance. While he did, though, he noticed that Hinata’s shirt had ridden up in their scuffle, and Kageyama’s shorts were baggy enough that they rode pretty low on Hinata’s hips. All that to say Kageyama’s hand was now on Hinata’s bare skin. His fingers tingled with electricity as he did his best not to draw any attention to it.
Now Kageyama was breathing hard for an entirely different reason. Hinata let his forehead rest against Kageyama’s as they both stilled, frozen like bugs in amber. Kageyama could smell the sugar from the donuts on Hinata’s breath as it passed over his parted lips, and he had to close his eyes because he couldn’t look at Hinata’s out-of-focus face anymore. He needed to get control of himself before he drowned in Hinata Shoyo. Then, so quietly he almost missed it, Kageyama heard Hinata say, “Tobio.”
Hinata never used Kageyama’s given name. Once or twice, when Hinata did impressions of Oikawa, he would say ‘Tobio-chan,’ or he’d yell Kageyama’s full name to get his attention, but never like this. The way his mouth fit around Kageyama’s name was everything he’d every wanted and too much to handle, all at once.
Kageyama slid his hand around the back of Hinata’s neck slowly, like he’d approach an animal he didn’t want to scare away, and then used it to close the already too-small gap between their lips. He kept the kisses light, still afraid this was an accident, and marveled at how soft Hinata’s lips were. As Kageyama tugged at Hinata’s bottom lip, Hinata moaned into Kageyama’s mouth, and Kageyama was done for.
Before his brain could make anything resembling a decision, though, Hinata was upping the ante. His kisses were eager and hungry, and when he nipped at Kageyama’s lip, he took advantage of Kageyama’s gasp to slide his tongue against Kageyama’s. Something clicked in Kageyama’s chest, and a voice in his head said, “Are you really going to let Hinata be the one in charge?” It lit a fire in Kageyama and without a second thought, he dug his thumb into Hinata’s hip to pull their pelvises flush. Damnit, when had he gotten so hard? Again, Hinata made a sound that ripped through Kageyama’s control, a gasp he cut off with a growl of frustration.
Hinata’s hands made their way into Kageyama’s hair, tugging with purpose as he forced Kageyama’s head to the side. Kageyama felt Hinata’s teeth ghost over the skin of his jaw in between kisses, and he realized he should have known better. In what world would they ever be soft and hesitant? Kageyama reached for Hinata’s face, which he was trying to bury in the crook of Kageyama’s neck, and pulled him back for another kiss, hands holding on to Hinata’s chin with determination.
Hinata growled again before grinding down against Kageyama. It startled him enough that he let go of Hinata’s chin, and threw his head back to moan. Hinata grabbed his opportunity and pressed another kiss against the underside of Kageyama’s jaw. “It’s not fair,” Hinata murmured against Kageyama’s skin as he worked his lips and teeth over the sinews there. “You’ve got such a long, pretty neck. You can’t keep me from kissing it forever.”
Kageyama opened his mouth to say something, but Hinata chose that moment to suck gently at his pulse point, distracting him. Fuck, why was the runt so good at this? He swallowed and said, “Not fair? You don’t get to say ‘not fair’ when I have to look at this all day every day.” Now that he didn’t have to hold Hinata’s hips up any longer, both his hands were free, and he used them to grip the thick muscles of Hinata’s ass. When Hinata had come back from Brazil, Kageyama had wet dreams about his ass and thighs for a week straight.
Arching his back, Hinata managed to grind down into Kageyama and press his ass up into Kageyama’s hands at the same time. Hinata’s laugh brushed against the skin of Kageyama’s throat, wet from Hinata’s kisses. Kageyama’s brain short circuited as a shock of want traveled up his spine. Fucking ginger tease. He hooked his thumb over the waistband of his loaned shorts and tugged down, finding Hinata’s cock. The little shit wasn’t wearing any underwear.
As he wrapped his hands around Hinata, he flicked his thumb over the head and grinned when he felt the slick give of pre-cum. Two could play that game, and Kageyama had no intention of losing. Hinata’s cock was hot and heavy in his hand, and as he stroked, Hinata whimpered against Kageyama’s neck. How many times had Kageyama wondered what sort of noises Hinata would make? Hadn’t this become part of his routine? Imagining exactly this?
His control was breaking down, and he couldn’t keep track of everything he was trying to do. He wanted to kiss Hinata, anchor himself, and re-center. But he was out of hands, and his brain wasn’t functioning enough to use his words. Hinata was still working over his neck, and Kageyama couldn’t be on the sidelines anymore.
He moved his hand to Hinata’s hips, trying to lift them up to create some space. Hinata seemed to understand the wordless direction and settled higher on his knees. Kageyama abandoned his grip around Hinata, who whined his protest into Kageyama’s neck. Once Kageyama started to fumble with his own waistband, though, his hands were pushed away and replaced with smaller, but no less agile, hands. Hinata yanked his shorts and underwear down so his heated cock was freed. He gasped in relief, and lost no time in wrapping his hands back around the both of them.
The first slide of Hinata’s cock against his own almost sent him over the edge. Fuck, had it really been that long? He’d been jacking off more this week than he had probably since he last lived in this house, but that didn’t seem to make a difference. The drag of his fist was drier than he’d prefer, but the knowledge that he wasn’t alone, that Hinata was here, more than made up for it.
“Shoyo,” he breathed, and he savored the needy whine he got in response. Hinata reached for his chin, pulling their lips back together. Kageyama was close, closer than he wanted to be. As he was trying his best to forestall the inevitable, he unconsciously gripped Hinata’s hip tighter.
A faint ‘ah-ah’ was the only warning before Hinata spilled over his fist, hot and thick. Kageyama was too startled to change his rhythm, and the added glide combined with Hinata’s moans caused him to crash over the edge.
They stilled, both panting. Once Kageyama’s brain came back online, he leaned forward to tug his shirt over his head, doing his best not to dislodge Hinata. He cleaned them both off, wiped off his hand, and threw the shirt over the back of the couch.
“Really, Kageyama?” Hinata said, laughing. He didn’t sound very bothered, though Kageyama just grunted and pulled Hinata down beside him. He had no intention of letting Hinata go anytime soon, especially not to go throw the cum-covered shirt in the laundry basket, of all things.
“I’ll pick it up later. Someone interrupted my sleep.” Kageyama nuzzled against Hinata’s chest. Kageyama had somehow managed to avoid post-nut clarity, something that plagued him more than he liked to admit.
“That was you!” Hinata protested, but he didn’t move. Instead, he was combing his fingers through Kageyama’s hair, which Kageyama hadn’t known he enjoyed before now. Kageyama gave a noncommittal noise in response. His mind was blissfully blank, and his body was relaxed. Hinata was solid but comfortable, not hard, and Kageyama found himself floating off to sleep for the second time that morning.
Notes:
I love panicked, anxious Tobio, and it's even funnier when he's panicking and anxious about something that doesn't matter to other people. Of course Hinata knew he was gay. (Hinata hearing a Grindr notification from Kageyama's backpack when they're in the Olympic Village or something, having his suspicious confirmed but heartbroken that Kageyama won't say anything to him or doesn't seem interested in doing something with him. Ugh I don't need anymore ideas!)
brightyellowsun on Chapter 1 Mon 03 Nov 2025 01:01AM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 1 Mon 03 Nov 2025 02:40AM UTC
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kageyama's wife (Guest) on Chapter 1 Mon 10 Nov 2025 02:18AM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 1 Mon 10 Nov 2025 05:22PM UTC
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brightyellowsun on Chapter 3 Mon 17 Nov 2025 01:16AM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 3 Mon 17 Nov 2025 07:20AM UTC
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brightyellowsun on Chapter 4 Sun 23 Nov 2025 11:52PM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 4 Mon 24 Nov 2025 11:12PM UTC
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brightyellowsun on Chapter 5 Sun 30 Nov 2025 11:38PM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 5 Mon 01 Dec 2025 09:28PM UTC
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brightyellowsun on Chapter 6 Mon 08 Dec 2025 12:10AM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 6 Mon 08 Dec 2025 05:27PM UTC
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versteckt on Chapter 6 Thu 11 Dec 2025 10:39PM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 6 Fri 12 Dec 2025 08:13PM UTC
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Mujigaedays on Chapter 6 Fri 12 Dec 2025 05:54AM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 6 Fri 12 Dec 2025 08:13PM UTC
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Michisnegras on Chapter 7 Sun 14 Dec 2025 08:37PM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 7 Sun 14 Dec 2025 08:55PM UTC
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versteckt on Chapter 7 Sun 14 Dec 2025 10:31PM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 7 Mon 15 Dec 2025 12:42AM UTC
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brightyellowsun on Chapter 7 Mon 15 Dec 2025 12:20AM UTC
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TheCuriousSofa on Chapter 7 Mon 15 Dec 2025 12:44AM UTC
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