Today was an important day for the Karasuno volleyball club. Their longtime rivals Nekoma would be coming all the way from Tokyo to play a practice match against them, and these matches were always taken very seriously. It was Saturday, and the match wasn't supposed to begin until 11, so why exactly was Kageyama already walking to school at 6:30? The answer was simple, a certain energetic ball of sunshine had asked him the day before to toss to him before the match. Kageyama wasn't sure why, but he never could say no to the older boy. So here he was, walking to school bright and early on a weekend.
The weather was pretty normal for a spring morning; dew drops on the grass, a bright blue sky above, a slight chill in the air. Kageyama pulled his jacket closer to his body as a small gust of wind hit him. Despite what most of his teammates thought, Kageyama was actually a morning person. He loved getting up and watching the sunrise, walking around enjoying the peace and quiet of another day. It was a bit cheesy, but he didn't mind. As Kageyama turned the corner, he saw a ball of bright orange hair at their normal meeting place.
"G'morning Kageyama." Hinata greeted sleepily. Kageyama laughed, earning a surprised look from Hinata.
"You were pushing so hard to practice this morning, I figured you'd be full of energy." Kageyama explained as they began climbing the hill to school.
"I was too excited for the match today so I didn't get very much sleep." Hinata admitted, glancing sheepishly away from Kageyama.
"Dumbass, you know how important it is to get sleep before a match. You sure you don't want to go home and sleep for a while longer?" He asked, stopping to look at the shorter boy. Hinata's eyes widened as he looked up at Kageyama, pleading to practice.
"NO! I really want you to toss to me. It will wake me up, I promise! I won't let it affect my game!" Hinata rushed, causing Kageyama to chuckle. He wasn't sure why, but Hinata just had that effect on him.
"Okay, okay. Let's go." He said, leading the other up the hill. The rest of the walk was rather silent, the only noise coming from the birds and the slight rustle of the leaves. When they reached the school, the pair went straight to the gym, already dressed for the day ahead. Somehow Kageyama was able to persuade the captain to give them the key, claiming that the extra practice would help them calm down before the match. They unlocked the door and got to work setting up.
"Hey Kageyama." Hinata said as they put the net up.
"What?" Kageyama asked, looking over at him. When Hinata caught his eye, he looked away, his face becoming red.
"Thanks." He replied.
"For what? Coming early to practice with you? I would probably be practicing on my own right now anyway. Plus it's more fun with you." Kageyama said, the last part a bit quieter than the rest.
"What was that last part?" Hinata asked, looking up to meet Kageyama's eyes. They were both quiet for a moment before he answered.
"I said volleyball is more fun when I play it with you." He repeated, heat rising to his face. Kageyama looked away, busing himself with the net.
"I think so too." Hinata smiled. Kageyama couldn't help smiling in return, Hinata's smile was contagious after all. Following their little moment, the two began practicing.
"Try aiming at different points on the court each time." Kageyama instructed.
"Yeah!" Hinata replied happily. Kageyama shook his head, Hinata really did love volleyball.
"Remember, Nekoma has a few tall players, and Kuroo is a great blocker. Be ready to use a few feints and tips." Kageyama said, earning an eager nod from Hinata.
"You'll toss to me lots, right Kageyama?" Hinata asked, a huge smile on his face. Once again, Kageyama wasn't able to say no.
"Yeah. As long as we can score, I'll keep tossing to you." Kageyama replied, almost instantly regretting it. Hinata's face fell and Kageyama could tell he was getting extremely nervous. What had he said wrong?
"But what if I keep getting blocked and can't score?" He asked in a small voice. Kageyama internally sighed, glad that was all the Hinata was worried about.
"You're our star decoy. Your job is to distract the other team from our wing spikers and ace, and vice versa. In a game, there are periods of time where the other teams gets used to me setting to you, so they block you. At that point I switch and set to the others, causing the blockers to switch their focus. When this happens it makes it easier to set to you. There's no doubt that I set to you more than I set to anyone else." Kageyama explained, smiling down at Hinata. After hearing his explanation, Hinata's face immediately lit up.
"I'll be the best decoy anyone's ever seen!" He cheered, setting up for another spike. Kageyama shook his head and got into position.
After a few hours of sets and spikes, they decided to take a break and prepare the gym for the upcoming practice match. They were both tired; they had worked hard a majority of the time they were there. While Hinata was physically tired from all the running and jumping, Kageyama was mentally tired; being a setter who perfectly matched his toss with a spiker's hand was no easy task. They had just finished preparing the gym when their teammates started to trickle in.
"You didn't overdo it I hope." Daichi said to the two first years as he entered the gym, followed by Suga and Ennoshita.
"Knowing the energy those two have, I'm sure they're fine." Suga laughed. Daichi shook his head as he walked over to where Coach Ukai had wandered. As more of their teammates entered, they all went to warm up on their own, leaving Hinata and Kageyama alone in the corner resting.
"Kageyama." Hinata said, gazing over at the court.
"Hm?" Kageyama asked, stretching his arms.
"I had fun." Hinata admitted, watching Yamaguchi serve.
"Hinata." Kageyama spoke suddenly. Hinata looked over at him curiously.
"Let's play volleyball together as long as we can." Kageyama blurted out, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. A huge smile appeared on the other boys face.
"I'm not going to lose against you Kageyama, I'm going to play volleyball forever!" He said standing up.
"I'm not going to lose either, so I guess we're both going to be playing forever." Kageyama said, standing up next to Hinata.
"If we always play together then I'll never get to beat you. I guess I'm okay with that though, nobody can toss to me like you can." Hinata admitted, making Kageyama's entire face turn red.
"We're going to discuss todays practice match, you guys coming?" Daichi hollered from across the gym. The two boys grinned at each other before joining their team.
Although this was a practice match, Coach Ukai and Daichi had both decided to keep the lineup as though it were a real game. Unless both Karasuno and Nekoma made it to Nationals, they would never play against each other in a real game, so they gave these practice matches all they had. Nekoma had shown up late, so there wasn't much time for greeting before the match.
"Okay guys, gather around." Daichi said, gathering his team before the match began. "We know how good Nekoma is, so we have to give this match our all from the start. We haven't beat them in a match yet, but I have a good feeling about today."
"What a guy." Suga mumbled, earning a side glance from Daichi. He chuckled and looked at the ground, allowing the captain to continue.
"Ready? Karasuno FIGHT!" Daichi shouted, the rest of the team joining in at the end. With that, everyone got into position, ready to play.
The first set went by pretty quickly, Nekoma winning it 25-18. Hinata had worked really hard during the set, and just as promised Kageyama tossed to him as much as possible. Kageyama needed a different strategy, he realized. Nekoma was too familiar with Hinata, and even though he had improved so much since the last time they player each other, Nekoma was quick to catch on. Kageyama was at a roadblock; should he keep tossing to Hinata like he promised and let Nekoma figure Hinata out completely, or should he stop tossing to Hinata? He wasn't really a fan of either option, but regardless he had to do something.
"Kageyama." Daichi said, bring Kageyama back to the present.
"What?" He asked, not sure what anyone was talking about.
"I just asked if you've noticed anything about the other team that may help us." He repeated, looking at the setter expectantly.
"Well, they're too aware of Hinata." He said, not daring to look at the small ginger.
"What do you mean?" Suga asked, looking at him curiously.
"We've played Nekoma enough for them to realize Hinata's a threat. Sure, he's improved significantly since we last played each other, but Nekoma knows to pay special attention to him. I'm honestly not sure if I should continue tossing to him or only toss to him when we absolutely need it." He admitted shyly. He refused to look at Hinata, afraid that he had hurt the smaller boy's feelings.
"Hm, I see your point. What do you think Hinata?" Daichi asked, focusing his attention to Hinata. Although he was afraid, Kageyama forced himself to glance over at the boy standing next to him. To Kageyama's surprise, Hinata didn't look disappointed, instead he looked deep in thought. Suddenly, a huge smile appeared on his face.
"Kageyama, you already came up with a strategy this morning." He said, his eyes twinkling.
"I what?" Kageyama asked, confused. Nothing he said stood out to him.
"You said that the relationship between the decoy and the wing spikers is a back and forth thing- the attention first on the decoy and then the spikers- switching off throughout the match." Hinata said, smiling up and Kageyama. Kageyama was surprised, he hadn't realized his words would stick in Hinata's mind.
"Okay, I remember saying that, but what does it have to do with the match?" He asked, still not following.
"What if we switched the order?" Hinata said simply. "Only if the others are okay with that though." He added.
"Using the spikers as the decoys, that just might work." Daichi muttered, deep in thought. "Tanaka, Asahi, think you can handle it?" He challenged.
"I can handle anything you throw at me!" Tanaka roared. He got his shirt halfway off before Ennoshita started hitting him.
"If that's the way for us to win this match, I have no complaints." Asahi said, looking brightly at Hinata. Hinata smiled in return.
"Alright, let's do this! Karasuno FIGHT!" Daichi cheered.
The next set was extremely close, ending in a victory for Karasuno, 31-29. Hinata's plan of using the spikers as decoys had worked wonderfully, but Kageyama was sure that wouldn't work a second time. They needed something completely unexpected if they wanted to win the final set, he just wasn't sure what.
"Nice job Shouyo! That plan was awesome!" Noya cheered, slapping Hinata on the back.
"Kageyama's the one who came up with it, he just didn't realize it." Hinata smiled. Kageyama just shook his head. He hadn't really put that much thought into what he had said, he just wanted to cheer Hinata up.
"It won't work a second time." Kageyama said, earning a few confused looks. "Nekoma catches on too quickly, we were able to win a set by catching them off guard, but they'll be expecting it this time. Even if we go back to Hinata being the decoy, they already know how to counter that. We need to do something completely unexpected if we want to win." He finished.
"What though?" Hinata asked, looking at Kageyama with nothing but hope. It made Kageyama freeze, the look Hinata was giving him was too adorable to handle.
"It needs to be something we've tried in practice if we want it to work." Daichi said, allowing Kageyama to move again. It was little moments like these that reminded Kageyama just how deep he had fallen for Hinata, but he couldn't allow himself to dwell on that right now.
"We can try to get more tosses from Noya, that would allow Kageyama to spike." Asahi piped up.
"We can't rely on Noya to toss to us against teams like Nekoma, we need him to focus on receiving." Daichi replied. Noya nodded in agreement.
"Should we try subbing someone in?" Tanaka asked. None of the regulars wanted to be swapped out, but if it was necessary to win nobody was going to argue.
"If this was a real match rather than a practice match we might, but I think you guys can win this." Ukai joined in. Silence surrounded Karasuno as they all tried to figure out some sort of winning strategy. Kageyama looked around at his teammates, each one deep in thought. His gaze stopped when he got to Hinata. The small boy was staring hard at the ground as if he was trying to get it to tell him the answer. The gentle crease between his eyebrows and the way he pushed his lips together made Kageyama's heart swell; he was just too cute. Just like that, Kageyama had an idea.
"I got it." He said, everyone's heads jerking up to look at him.
"What?" Hinata asked, his face full of wonder.
"We haven't tried it before, but it will definitely throw Nekoma for a loop. It might have the same effect on you guys though." Kageyama admitted.
"What is it?" Suga asked, prodding him.
"It will work better if you aren't expecting it. If we can use our other tactics to get to match point, I can use this to get the final point. Think you can do that?" He asked the team.
"You're sure it will work?" Daichi asked.
"As long as you guys can recover quickly, I'm sure it will work." Kageyama responded.
"Alright. We'll get you to match point, that last point will be all you." And with that, they were off.
This set somehow managed to be even closer than the previous. Kageyama didn't use anyone as a decoy, instead he tossed to whoever was open. This level of unpredictability helped some, but Nekoma was quick in getting points back. Tanaka and Asahi were quick to pick up on using feints and tips against the Nekoma blockers, but it seemed as soon as they'd figured it out so had Nekoma. All of their usual tricks had stopped working, and they were only 1 point away from match point.
Nekoma had been leading most of the set, the current score being 23-23. Being so close to match point, Kageyama began to get nervous. Just what was he planning on doing? Sure, it would definitely throw everyone off, but what would happen after that? He couldn't just play it off as his winning strategy, he would have to come clean once and for all, and that thought scared him.
"Kageyama!" Noya called, the ball bouncing from Noya's arms over to Kageyama. Time slowed as he looked around, watching as his teammates all began to run at the same time. A synchronized attack. Kageyama positioned himself so that Asahi was in front of him, Tanaka and Hinata running towards him, and Daichi behind him. The blockers were positioned on the other side of the net from Kageyama, waiting for a toss to Asahi or Hinata.
"Daichi!" He called, tossing the ball behind him. Before the Nekoma blockers had time to react, the ball smacked against the gym floor. Karasuno was now at match point.
"Alright Kageyama, we made it to match point. It's my serve, so you just focus on what you're going to do, okay?" Daichi assured. Kageyama nodded, too nervous to speak. Well, he had already promised his team he would do this, even if they didn't know exactly what it was. Kageyama got into position on the front line, Hinata on his left and Tanaka on his right. His heart was pounding and his hands were shaking. It really was now or never.
The whistle blew, and everything moved in slow motioned. Daichi served the ball, it arched perfectly over the net, straight at the libero. His chance would happen over the course of a split second, he couldn't act too soon or too late. There would be one moment, one single moment, when the libero would look up at him, and in that moment he would do it.
"Hinata." Kageyama called, running over to the orange haired spiker. Hinata looked away from the ball and straight into Kageyama's eyes, curiosity shining in them. The Nekoma libero would look over in
3…2…1…
He placed his hands on either side of the smaller boy's head and tilted it up. Hinata's eyes grew as Kageyama closed the gap between the two. He closed his own eyes as their lips met ever so gently. After what seemed like an eternity, he felt Hinata kiss back. At that moment he felt like his heart was going to explode. He had finally built up the courage to admit his feelings to Hinata, and it appeared as though Hinata returned those feelings. Everything around him disappeared, the only thing that mattered stood right in front of him. Kageyama was pulled out of his fantasy by a slight cough next to him. He slowly pulled back and opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. Hinata was beet red in front of him, his eyes opening slowly. The cough had come from Tanaka, who was standing a few steps beside him. Kageyama looked around the gym, seeing everyone's eyes on him and Hinata.
"I guess I can add that to the list of things I never thought I'd see during a game." Kuroo chuckled from the other side of the net. Everyone else seemed to be in too much shock to do anything.
"When you said you had an idea to throw the other team off, I was not expecting that." Daichi muttered, looking between the two first years. Hinata's eyes were open now, yet he seemed to be in a daze.
"Did it, um. Did it work?" Kageyama coughed, his cheeks heating up from embarrassment.
"It worked wonders." Suga said from the sidelines, a sly smile on his face.
"Well, I guess that's game." Ukai said, a weird look on his face.
It took everyone a few minutes to get back to normal, but soon enough the gym was clean and Nekoma was leaving.
"You never cease to surprise me." Kuroo said as he left, shaking his head with a slight smirk on his face.
"This just means that we'll have to step up our game next time." Daichi responded. Everyone chuckled as goodbyes were passed around. Kageyama honestly wished Nekoma would have stayed a bit longer, he wasn't ready for the walk home with Hinata. The two hadn't talked at all during clean up and it made Kageyama nervous. He was sure that Hinata had kissed him back, but was he wrong when he thought it meant Hinata liked him back?
"We played a good match today. Everyone go home and take tomorrow to rest, we will pick up practice again Monday morning." Ukai said, sending his team off. Kageyama and Hinata set off together, neither one saying anything.
They walked down the hill side by side, the same thing they had done hundreds of times before, but this time something was different. There was a heavy air between the two, and Kageyama didn't know what to do to break the silence.
"Hinata, I'm, uh, I'm sorry." He said quietly, looking down at his shoes. He stopped when he heard Hinata stop.
"Why are you sorry?" Hinata asked, looking into Kageyama's eyes.
"I forced you into an awkward position. I didn't ask before I kissed you and I did it in front of everyone. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but is it bad of me to say I really enjoyed kissing you?" Kageyama finished, looking away from Hinata and back at the ground.
"You're right, you did force me into an awkward position, and if I didn't like you back then I might be mad about that." Hinata answered, taking a step towards the taller boy. Kageyama looked up at Hinata, eyes wide. He liked him back?
"You like me back?" Kageyama asked, trying to make sure his ears weren't playing tricks on him.
"Is it that hard to believe?" He asked, now standing directly in front of Kageyama.
"A little bit, yeah." Kageyama muttered, looking deeper into Hinata's eyes.
"Maybe this will help." Hinata said, closing the gap. Their lips met and Kageyama melted. Sure, the first one was everything he wanted and more, but the fact that this time he knew Hinata liked him back made it that much better. They stayed like that as long as they could, until finally they had to pull apart to breathe.
"Now do you believe me?" Hinata asked, his arms around Kageyama's neck.
"Yeah." Kageyama breathed.
"Good. Now let's go, I'm hungry." Hinata said, grabbing Kageyama's hand and pulling him down the road.
Kageyama was so glad he took that leap of faith.