"Well if you can't ignore him, you'll just have to learn not to get mad when he yells at you," said Yamaguchi.

"But he's so mean! I have to defend myself, I can't let Kageyama step on me like that. Someone has to remind him he's not a king," said Hinata.

"Maybe someone who's a little less of a hothead should remind him."

"Hmm…You're right. How about you do it, Yamaguchi?"

"Well, I'm not very good at keeping my feelings from getting hurt—"

"I know, he hurts my feelings too! I swear if I could just—kick him right in the butt once—or squeeze his head really hard—"

They were distracted by a stampede of noisy girls.

"We saw him out the window!"

"Of course it's him, who else could it be?"

"Come on hurry up, he's probably past the second tree already."

"Hurry, Kageyama's here!"

Hinata leapt to his feet. "Kageyama?"

He ran after the group, abandoning Yamaguchi on the bench.

"Huh? Hinata—"

He followed a few steps behind the girls, until they stopped at the corner of the building and bunched up to peek. Hinata felt a flash of triumph as he flew by them, sprinting straight at the dark-haired boy. He skidded across his path, turned around and came back to his side.

"Hey Kageyama. You're pretty late, was it a bad morning?"

"When is it ever a good morning?"

Hinata laughed.

"Do you have any food?" Kageyama said.

"Umm—" He dug around the bottom of his bag, and pulled out a protein bar. "Not sure how long it's been in there. And it's all smashed."

"Do I look like I care?" He grabbed it.

The bell rang. Hinata took off running.

"Hope you get sick. Bye Kageyama."

He smiled at the girls as he passed, but was going too fast to see any of their awed expressions. Unlike the girls, he was on speaking terms with the brooding heartthrob. Unlike the girls, he was in the same club as the tall-dark-handsome setter. Unlike the girls, he had lunch dates every week with 'the black-haired boy who always keeps his hands in his pockets and frowns all the time, yeah, the gorgeous one'.

In only one way was he like all those girls; Hinata Shoyo had a big crush on Kageyama.

Practices had become even more a thing of bliss. He could watch Kageyama up close: his smooth movements and his muscles at work, his pretty pout in calm moments, and his swishing hair as he started and stopped. If anything, it was the opposite of a distraction; he found himself at full-capacity motivation. Practice was a prolonged high point.

"I swear you're higher, Hinata, test it again," said Yamaguchi.

Hinata ran toward the wall, leapt up, and grazed his fingertips just above his previous mark.

"I knew it."

"Whoohoo, yeah!"

"I don't see how someone's vertical can improve by the day," said Tsukishima. "It's unnatural, like everything else about the Shrimp."

"Maybe you guys should try being more weird," Hinata said.

"Hmpf."

The single chuckle came from Kageyama, and made Hinata's heart speed up. He paused with his hands together in front of him, twisting them a little.

"Sho-chan, are you daydreaming?"

Nishinoya had hollered it from across the gym, and it caused everyone including Kageyama to look over at him.

"No. I forgot something, I was just trying to remember."

"It better not be the thing I just told you," said Kageyama.

"It's not."

"Then what did I just tell you?"

"Put a little bit more bounce in your last two steps, so that it slows you down just enough to make the block get ahead of you in timing, that way you'll be hitting while the block's already going down, with a few extra centimeters you'll be able to hit it overtop to the open spot behind the block."

Kageyama looked away before he nodded. Hinata smiled.

"Don't smirk at me, go and do what I said."

He might not be capable of perfect focus, but if he tried hard enough he could keep Kageyama from seeing his lapses. Lately he had been extra careful to be sharp around his setter, and he'd even forgotten the last time he was yelled at. For that reason.

Hinata, for once, was grateful for break time. He went into the clubroom, expecting to be alone so he could think. But Kinoshita was there, just changing into his practice clothes.

"Hi Kino-senpai, are you back from the doctor?"

"Hey Hinata. Yeah, everything's fine with me."

"Your heart's okay?"

"Yep. Are you guys on break?"

"Yeah."

Kinoshita caught the aimless look in his eyes.

"Is something up, Hinata?"

"Huh?"

"You seem a little off, am I right?"

"Uh—Um—Kinoshita-san. You have a girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah."

"For a long time, right?"

"A few years now."

"Could I—Could you maybe give me some advice?" Hinata said.

"Sure, I can try."

Hinata looked at his feet. "I have someone I really like."

"Kageyama. Right?"

Hinata leapt back and cried out.

"It's okay Hinata—"

"How do you know, does everyone know, does Kageyama know, did you tell him?"

"No no, I didn't tell him. Nobody knows but Ennoshita and I, I don't think. Your senpais are watching out for you, is all."

"Ah—Oh."

"And Kageyama is the last person who would notice, don't you think?"

Hinata almost laughed.

"So anyway, what's the issue?"

"Well, I—I don't know—what kind of—what kind of like it is. I don't know if I want to date him, or if I just really like being his friend, or maybe if it mostly has to do with us being teammates and him being my setter. I don't know what to do because—be—cause…"

"Because you don't know what you want to do."

He nodded vigorously.

"Okay, then let's figure out what's going on for you." Kinoshita went to his bag for paper and pencil. He sat next to a chair, using its seat as a desk. "Tell me some things you like about Kageyama."

"Ooooooh, okay! I like how his eyes look."

"Why is that?"

"Because they're so dark blue, almost like ink. And they shine really brightly when he's concentrating hard."

Kinoshita scribbled. "Okay, what's another thing you like?"

"His shoulders!" Hinata flexed his arms. "Because they can make him toss really fast and serve really hard."

"Kay…"

"And I like when he sounds confident when he talks. Especially when he says my name like that."

"I like how he looks out for us spikers when there's a tough block. Even though he tends to freak out and try too hard."

"I like his hair because it reminds me of a crow's feathers. Like the color, and sort of how it moves, you know?"

Hinata chuckled. "I like how he sleeps in class."

"You like that?"

"It's the only time he can be around a big group of people and not be worried about being embarrassed or trying to look tough."

"Ooo! And I really like how he wears all black and everything matches on the court, his hair, his uniform, and his shoes. It's super cool and intimidating."

"And and, I like all the cute faces he makes."

"Like?"

"Like when we're doing team spirit stuff and he thinks no one's looking at him and his face is all pink and his mouth gets sort of twisted up like he's almost smiling, 'cause he's happy."

"Mm hm, I see."

"Is that enough stuff? I have more!" Hinata said.

"This is enough. I can tell by this."

"Tell what? What is it, Kino-senpai?"

"I think you definitely like Kageyama in a romantic, date him type of way."

"Ohh, really?" He looked from Kinoshita to the list and back.

"Mm hm. You're noticing lots of little things about him, because you watch him so closely, and that means you have more than the average interest in him. And an important point is that you mentioned things from school too, not just volleyball."

"Oh, why is that important?"

"It means you don't just like the way he plays volleyball. So you, being the volleyball psycho you are, don't just admire his talent. And you know what else I think?"

"What, what?"

"You might even love him."

"L—Love him?" His face splattered into a grimace.

"You mentioned liking when he's happy and when he's confident, which means you like seeing him at his best. When you love someone you always want them to be like that."

"Hahaaaa, awesome! I didn't know I could love Kageyama. Thank you Kinoshita-san, that makes me really excited."

"Sure. So now that you know, you can figure out what to do."

"Hmmm…"

Tanaka threw open the door. "Hey! What are you two doing in here, Captain's starting without you."

They ran out after him. In their rush they swept the paper off the chair, and it settled onto the floor in the corner of the room.

The next morning Hinata got to school earlier than usual. He spent the extra time wandering up and down the hall, thinking.

I think…if I have the guts…the best thing would be to just tell him. He'll only get it if I'm really clear and easy to understand. But if I tell him, and then he doesn't like me anymore and thinks I'm weird, I would wreck everything for us being good friends and teammates. What if he refused to toss to me anymore? What if the rest of the team hated me because I made him mad and ruined our duo? But then…if I did tell him, and he did like me, at least a little bit, I'd be happy. Or even if I told him and he didn't feel the same way, but he still wanted to be friends, I'd be happy then too, because at least he would know.

"Hinataaa, hi."

He stopped. "Hi Yachi-san. Who's this, your friend?"

"This is Akamine, from class three."

"Akamine? I've heard your name. That's Kageyama's class."

"Yeah." The girl giggled.

"She—actually—She likes Kageyama," said Yachi. "And she's planning on talking to him today."

"Oh—Ohhh. Ah—G-Good for you."

"This is Hinata Shoyo. He's Kageyama's best friend, they're in the volleyball club together."

"Nice to meet you," he said. "We're not really best friends, Kageyama's not the type to have a best friend."

"Oh, I see. It's nice to meet you, Hinata-kun."

"Um, when are you—going to talk to him?"

"At lunch. We were just saying that the back courtyard's probably best, because people rarely go there."

"Lots of people go there to confess," Hinata said.

"I guess it suits my purpose then," she replied with a shy smile.

"Uh huh. Bye now Yachi-san, I have to go. See you at practice."

"Bye Hinata."

He rushed to the bathroom. The girl's mention of Kageyama in that way had given him almost an immediate stomach ache. Hinata made sure that he was at the courtyard during lunch, seated behind a low stone wall. When Kageyama and the girl arrived, he was able to peek over and still keep his head hidden by some bushes. He had a clear view of Kageyama's face as he stood in front of the girl.

"You probably don't know me at all, but I'm in your class," she said.

"I know you sit two in front of me in Lit," said Kageyama.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I do. I'm Akamine."

Her name was poison to Hinata. He could see that Kageyama was watching with attentive but cold eyes. Rather than comfort him, however, Hinata started to get a little scared by it.

"Uh, well, you probably already know what's coming, huh, since you're a popular guy, and since I asked you to come out here when we've barely met."

Kageyama said nothing. In spite of himself, Hinata wished he would make his face a bit more inviting.

"So, I—I like you a lot. I think you're very good looking and—I think it's funny when you sleep in class, because you look really—cute."

Hinata almost gasped. Me too, I think that too!

"So, um, anyway, that's that. And I—would like your phone number, so we could talk more. If that would be all right."

She looked up, and Kageyama took his cue to speak.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "I don't know if you're cute or nice or anything, because I've never paid attention to you. Since I don't know you at all I'm not interested in dating you. And I don't have time right now to get to know you, with my club stuff going on. I'm sure you'll be interested in someone else soon enough."

Kageyama bowed and walked away.

Hinata for the moment could not spare a thought for himself. He felt he had just watched Kageyama slap the nice girl in the face. Hinata saw her shoulders starting to shake with tears, and the lump dropped from his throat to his stomach. He was about to go out to her, but the girl ran away.

Holy…Why does Kageyama keep having people confess to him, if this is what it's like?

During free period Hinata went to see Yachi, hoping that Akamine would be with her again. She was. Her eyes were red. When she saw Hinata, her cheeks flamed.

"You have—a jerk for a friend," she choked out, before burying her face in her sleeve.

"I'm really sorry," Hinata said. He glanced at Yachi, who looked at him with pity. "I—I was listening, I heard what he said. Sorry for that, too."

The girl didn't reply. Hinata pulled up a chair next to them.

"Um, Akamine, about Kageyama."

She straightened up, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I did the same thing to Yachi-kun, I shouldn't have yelled at you guys, it's not your fault."

"I know what he said sounded really bad," said Hinata. "But Kageyama—is—difficult. He can't really talk to people in any other way than being completely honest and straightforward. He can't read people's feelings at all."

"I know, Yachi told me too. But—why didn't you guys warn me not to talk to him?"

"Well I didn't know if he liked you or not. If Kageyama did like you it'd be really cool, he's really loyal and thoughtful about things he likes—Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that, I'm really sorry. But, um—"

Hinata reached for her hand. The girl's hiccups stilled, and she looked him in the eyes.

"Kageyama didn't mean to make it sound like you're not cute or nice. He only meant what he literally said, that he doesn't know if you are because he doesn't know you. So—don't be sad about that, if you were." Hinata looked down. "You are actually really nice, and everyone says you're the cutest girl in Class 3. Kageyama just—doesn't notice much outside volleyball."

He let go of her hand. Now it was her turn to take his.

"I see, Hinata-kun. I really didn't mean to talk to you like I did. And I'm not mad at Kageyama now. I see."

Hinata smiled when she did. He stood up to leave.

"And I'm going to talk to Kageyama. I never knew he was that bad with this sort of thing, and I know if he realized it he would want to fix it. So I'll talk to him."

"Oh, Hinata, could you—Would you mind mentioning me, if you do talk? Um, just to let him know I'm still—open to it."

Hinata shook himself out of his stare.

"I'll—Sure I will."

After practice that night Hinata called Kageyama, waving him out of the clubroom.

"What?"

"I need to talk to you, please."

He came out and shut the door. Hinata took a few steps away, just in case.

"I—I was at the back courtyard today when you got confessed to."

Kageyama's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"I—just happened to be there during lunch. And, I don't know if you realize this but—what you said to that girl sounded really mean."

"Well I was just saying the—"

"I know I know." Hinata looked at him. "I know it was the truth, and that part's good, but the way you—worded it—was really really bad."

"Why the hell is it your business?"

"I'm just trying to tell you! It sounded like you were saying she wasn't cute and wasn't nice. Yachi-san talked to her after, she said that's what she took it as."

"I—Oh." He was looking Hinata directly in the face. The shorter looked away.

"I just thought you should know that. Because I don't think you meant to be mean, just honest."

"Well what should I say instead? What would you say?"

Hinata looked back up. "I—Well just leave that part out. Just say 'I don't know you very well, and I'm sorry, but I don't have time to get to know you right now, because I have club.'"

"Oh. Okay."

"And you should probably say something about how you appreciate that they're interested in you. Because you do appreciate it, right?" Hinata eyed him.

"Well I'd rather they not be interested, if it means I have to do this all the time."

"Well still, you should say you like being liked, or else they'll think you're proud."

"If they thought that would they not want to confess anymore?"

"Kageyama don't try to make yourself less likeable. Just say it with a little less brutal honesty. Honesty, but—um—kindness. If you have any of that."

Kageyama scowled.

"And definitely don't say the last part, about them liking someone else soon enough. Never say that."

"Okay."

Hinata grinned. "Okay, let's go get our meat buns. I'll still pay for yours, even though you're a heartbreaker."

"Shut up."

Kageyama's going to try. But it will take time for him to learn this. I can't confess to him, because the only thing it would do is make me feel terrible. I don't…ever…want to hear him say those things to me. So what should I do…

I guess I'll just have to make him interested in me first. Kageyama's never been asked out by someone he actually likes, apparently. So if I can get him to like me at least a little before I do it, then maybe…maybe it won't end so badly.

So what could I do to make him like me? I already have all the stuff I can flatter him with, about why I like him…What else do I need to lure him in? He likes volleyball, he likes curry…Does he like cute? He has to, everyone has someone they think is cute. I'll just have to try to find out what Kageyama's someone is like.

Hinata had no idea that Kageyama rehearsed his very own words over and over that night. He had no idea that Kageyama wrote them down, over and over, when he was supposed to be taking notes in class. He had no idea that Kageyama was making the effort to commit them to his poor memory.