His Cherished Spark of Sunlight

by IDespiseTragedy

It never struck Hinata that the grumpy King of the Court would turn out to be a pampering type, but then Kageyama had never thought he would find anything more important than volleyball before they met either: how KageHina's relationship came to be.

Disclaimer: Haikyuu is Furudate Haruichi's property

Credit: Immeasurable thanks to my beta readers, WobblyJelly & tawnyport; also thanking Charly Mae for her wonderful insights

Warnings: yaoi lemon + fluff so sweet that you'd need a dental appointment

Author's Note: Happy birthday, madamada-chan!

---

His Cherished Spark of Sunlight

'How many more times is he going to kick the blanket until he's satisfied?'

Kageyama's brows knitted upon seeing Hinata's exposed navel. The sheep-patterned pajama top Hinata was wearing was heaving up and down in time with Hinata's rhythmic breathing, but its lower buttons were no longer fastened. Picking up the cast-aside quilt, Kageyama covered the figure next to him from chest downward. Hinata smiled in his sleep without a care in the world, a thin trail of drool streaking from the corner of his mouth.

'Tch! Why did I have to fall for this airhead?'

No sunray came through the curtained window in that small hour of November morning, and Kageyama had trouble making out the ancient alarm clock above Hinata's pillow. Who even had an analog clock anymore?

'Damn, it's not even five AM yet, but I can't sleep anymore! Is a sleepover supposed to be this hard?'

Hinata's single bed was too cramped for the two of them, but this had not deterred Kageyama from spending the night there.

###

Three days prior, during break time, Hinata had skittered to his classroom and approached his desk with his cheeks lit up bright red. After glancing around to make sure that no eavesdropper was within earshot, he invited Kageyama to his house. "My dad's going on a business trip this weekend. And Natsu is going to represent Miyagi Prefecture through a children's calligraphy contest in Sendai on Saturday. If she wins, she'll be going to Morioka for all-Tohoku Region competition the next day and, if she wins again, she'll go on to nationals at the end of the month. Anyway, mom will be accompanying my little sister for all those journeys. So, uh …" The blush on Hinata's cheeks crept up his ears and his eyes squeezed shut. "You can stay over—i-if you'd like to."

To Hinata's credit, Kageyama dropped his boxed drink, milk carton, little drops of milk splattered on his desk with the straw still clamped between his teeth. Given that kissing had become their daily ritual and they had mutually given each other hand job before, not to mention Hinata's current fluster, it wasn't hard to predict where this was leading.

Hinata didn't reopen his eyes until Kageyama's half-dazed-half-mumbling response reached his ears. "Sure, I'll be there at seven on Saturday night."

###

Having absent-mindedly stared at the lamp hanging from the ceiling at the center of the room for the last quarter an hour, Kageyama now watched Hinata stir but then return to snoring.

Until four months ago, the concept of bedding a male partner would make Kageyama's skin crawl. Although Kageyama lacked interest in girls because … well, they were waaaaay less interesting than volleyball, he hadn't been gay from the beginning. At kindergarten, he thought his teacher was pretty and kind; it'd be nice to marry someone like her when he grew up. During the final year of elementary school, girls started to crowd around him, especially during his volleyball practice—not unlike buzzing insects who disrupted his concentration with their ooh-and-ahs.

At junior high school, the swarm grew larger, with several of the former Kitagawa Daīchi's Setter Oikawa's fan girls transferring their attention to him after the upperclassman had graduated, which left Kageyama with the resort to glare a lot to make them to go away. Even when one of them confessed her love to him, Kageyama brusquely dismissed her with no soothing word. No one had bothered him ever since; "ruthless" and "unfeeling" were the mildest insinuations thrown at him. It was better be that way—he would be able to practice to his heart's content … or so he had assumed. Up until his disappointment at the prefecture semifinals—not only was his impossibly fast toss rejected by his teammates, but he was benched because of it.

'Why don't any of them have the same passion for volleyball as that shorty?'

On the first day of the preliminary during his third year of junior high school, that boy appeared in a green uniform of some no-name school. Short and jittery, the boy affirmed that he aimed to win. On the other hand, Kageyama's own teammates merely enjoyed riding the coattails of Kitagawa Daīchi Junior High's reputation. From then on, the name of Yukigaoka Junior High embedded itself into Kageyama's mind.

A nuisance had just waltzed into his world—one that he couldn't get rid of.

Yet, the first match turned out to be a mixed bag of astonishment and disappointment. Wide range of physical agility and reflexes, high sense of optimal body control, and tenacity to win … the Yukigaoka captain possessed them all. Nobody in the Kitagawa Daīchi team would chase the ball to the extent of injuring himself by bumping onto the wall or refuse to give up a toss miss, running across the net in a flash, mindless of crashing against the tables as its impact. And yet, why hadn't that boy put any of those into a good use? What had he been doing during the three years of junior high school despite his sure-as-fuck enviable potentials?

Following Yukigaoka's defeat after a mere total of thirty-one minute span of game time, the obnoxious shrimp had ran after Kageyama. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he declared, "If you're the king that rules the court, I'll defeat that king and be the last one standing!"

'Ridiculous!' was the only conclusion Kageyama could come to at that time, silently scoffing the boy in the middle of the stairs. How could the Yukigaoka's number 1 hope to defeat him with those unpolished skills? For this reason, Kageyama had never expected he would be on the same team as his challenger; he simply hoped that his future high school team would hold more passion for volleyball.

And yet, he heard that the renowned coach Ukai of the Karasuno High School would be officially out of retirement. Coupled with the fact that he wasn't admitted into Shiratorizawa—the strongest high school in the prefecture—the wheels of fate took a sharp turn to the second encounter with the shorty on a new stage at the start of their high school year.

Kageyama used to think that he'd rather receive, spike, and toss the ball all by himself. Amplified by his standoffishness in contrast to Oikawa's sociability, the Kita-ichi volleyball team kept comparing them day after day until Kageyama grew sick of those comments. From there, he developed a sterner attitude, disciplining his teammates to the extent of dictatorship. Before he knew it, he had treated his teammates as inefficient minions and they alienated him with the barbed title: King of the Court.

When he strived to move faster and jump higher to counter the opposing team's tall Blockers, all that had been laid before his eyes was an empty corner on the Kita-ichi's court side. That ball had been his teammates' wordless statement: "We're fed up with you, ego-centric king." No one would be there to receive his tosses. No one…

…until he arrived at the crows' nest.

###

Time and time again, Kageyama was reminded that the phrase "giving up" never existed in Hinata Shōyō's dictionary. Even after he had made it clear that he refused tossing to anyone he regarded as non-essential to victory, Hinata shouted, "I haven't dropped the ball yet!" and persisted in chasing the ball. His forearms red with bruises and his body heavy with exhaustion, Hinata spiked Kageyama's first toss with unadulterated bliss in his grin and pure excitement in his eyes.

In spite of Kageyama's doubt during practices, Hinata was there, dashing across the court to the corner where none of Kageyama's former teammates had ever bothered to go. By words and action, Hinata proved that he'd gratefully take any toss he could, jump anywhere, and hit any ball. Eyes closed, Hinata had performed a quick hit before he even knew what it was.

Kageyama clenched his jaw to prevent himself from shaking. Despite his prodigious athletic skills, his most fatal flaw was to interpret that Oikawa's command of the game derived from tosses, serves, blocks, and spikes; he failed to see that what mattered most was the older Setter's mental fortitude. Never had Kageyama absorbed the concept that a brilliant setup could exist only because of a reception in the first place, and only when one brought out the maximum strength of each and every Spiker could one be a true Setter. All those days of perfecting the tosses that no one had cared to spike, since his junior high school's volleyball team had grown so weary of Kageyama's endless demands for improvements that nobody followed his lead anymore. But now, just as a beacon of hope, a new comrade wiped away the fear in his heart by placing 100% trust on him.

All at once, the lock for Kageyama's buried skills as a top-flight Setter was unbolted. As an opponent, Hinata's persistence made him a pain in the ass, but as an ally, Kageyama couldn't have asked for a more reliable one. No matter how much he loved volleyball, the court had become a thorny path since his former team's lack of cooperation. But now, Hinata had cleared up those brambles from Kageyama's mind. With undeterred resolve, he asserted, "Clearing the wall in front of a Spiker is what a Setter for."

Sure, it was taxing to watch over the entire court—the positions of the opponent's Blockers and Spikers, the trajectory of the ball, where Hinata would move next and how high he could jump—as well as matching the angle and timing for his imminent toss. Still, when Kageyama saw Hinata's sparkly eyes and heartfelt smile after the ball touched his hand, a new thrill spiked through him.

###

Now, Hinata's hand was swatting the side of Kageyama's neck, jolting the taller boy out of his reverie. Kageyama immediately turned sideways, ready to strike his bedmate back, but half his anger ebbed out as soon as he discovered the sleeper's peaceful expression. And when he heard his name slipping out of Hinata's mouth, the syllables messy and remotely comprehensible, he lost his remaining energy to fume.

Seven months had passed since the day Kageyama had first learned Hinata's name at Karasuno's gym, yet the imp had never lost the nerve to race against him every goddamn time they were about to enter that gym. Even after the Karasuno team had acknowledged Hinata as their ultimate decoy, he still barfed and suffered from pre-match diarrheas.

Kageyama adjusted the blanket. Again. With any other soul, he'd be sure to kick their sorry asses, no question asked, but this … this was Hinata.

His Hinata.

Kageyama was certain that Hinata must have been straight, given the way he blushed when Manager Shimizu spoke to him and nearly swooned when Tanaka and Nishinoya showed him gravures. But then, thanks to the trigger of a certain incident, the two of them had started to see each other from a different angle.

###

One day, after the Karasuno volleyball team's usual practice, Hinata received a phone call while changing in the club room.

"You'll need to attend your class reunion? But mom…"

When it came to volleyball, Kageyama had never heard Hinata whine before; neither had the rest of the team. Karasuno's Middle Blocker had always cheerful and upbeat, so it came as a surprise that he could actually be bothered by something his mother imposed.

"…the inter-high is coming; I can't afford ditching a practice just to babysit Natsu tomorrow."

"So, that's what we get when someone takes volleyball away from Hinata, huh?" Kageyama heard the chuckling Sugawara whisper to Sawamura, who was buttoning up his shirt by the window, far from Hinata.

Kageyama guessed that Hinata's mother cried out something along the lines of, "Are you saying you don't care about what happens to your sister as long as you can play volleyball?!" because Hinata's expression seemed like that of a convict penalized with a death row.

The moment Hinata hung up his cellphone, he apologized to the team, "Sorry everyone, it seems like I can't go to tomorrow's practice."

The first few minutes that followed were filled by the captain's attempt to cheer Hinata up with things like "it's important for an athlete to get rest once in a while" and "a little sister is irreplaceable."

Hinata sighed. "I often wish Natsu's age were closer to mine so that she wouldn't need babysitting. Or, better yet, if I had a cool, polite, and dependable elder brother who'd practice volleyball with me," was all he replied before exiting the club room, shoulders slumping dejectedly.

After Hinata was out of earshot, Ennoshita commented, "I guess even a guy like Hinata can act selfishly sometimes, huh?"

Sugawara replied, "The large age gap between him and his sister means he used to be the only child in his family, right? A child without siblings is usually selfish."

"Ho? In that case, I bet the king over here is the only child in his family." Tsukishima snickered at Kageyama.

Only Yamaguchi, who always supported Tsukishima no matter what that dickhead did, laughed openly. The rest tried their best to suppress their chortles.

Adjusting his glasses, Tsukishima continued, "Now that you've heard what the nitwit's after, that's a lot to work on, Your Majesty."

"Why'd I have anything to do with Hinata's wishful thinking?" Kageyama retorted. He no longer bothered to tell Tsukishima to stop calling him that nickname since the cocky glasses-wearing bastard had never listened.

But the rest of the team stared disconcertingly at the first-year Setter instead.

"What?" Kageyama defensively reproached them, his trademark frown surfacing.

Sawamura scratched his chin. "Well, once you take out Kageyama's conceit, grumpiness, and oppressive behavior, he'll indeed pass those conditions."

"As if!" Kageyama blurted; hot air came out of nowhere and settled on his cheeks. "I'd rather bite the dust than become that midget's brother. His mom didn't give birth to me before him in the first place."

"Brotherhood can be forged outside blood ties, you know?" Nishinoya crooned as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

Azumane gently pounded his palm with the balled fist of his other hand. "Oh, you mean something like the bonds in samurai movies?"

"That said," Tanaka slapped Kageyama on the back, a snigger tugging at his mouth as he drawled his syllables, "Do your worst, a-ni-ki."

#&#&#

While that incident alone wouldn't have sufficed to put Kageyama on his current standing, it had been his teammates' (possibly joking) words that constantly inspired him to pay more attention to Hinata. One afternoon, Hinata's receive was not only far worse than his usual lousy ones, but he could also have injured Azumane standing behind him, because of his rash move. While Azumane showed no resentment whatsoever, Kageyama had started berating Hinata faster than Coach Ukai could blink.

Kageyama seized Hinata's shirt, fist swung inches from Hinata's face, when he suddenly remembered that Hinata had been called to the counseling office because of his abysmal math grade earlier that morning. It wasn't Sawamura's voice as the captain scurried toward them, telling him off, "Kageyama, there's no need to go that far!" or Sugawara's frantic attempt to separate the two boys, gibbering, "Hinata knew his mistake; let him go already!" that made Kageyama changed his mind. That instant, Kageyama saw Hinata squeeze his eyes shut, head and shoulders hunched. As though woken up from a long dream, he was reminded of the long-known bitter truth: Hinata was terrified of him.

Kageyama's fist landed on Hinata's cheek the very next second, but it was a punch that had no power at all, lighter than the touch of a wind-blown sheet of paper.

Questions were forming in Hinata's brown eyes the moment they opened. The entire team watched them intently, all noises in the court dying out. Even the managers halted mid-step, towels in hands.

"What about your promise to defeat me, even if I were the best player in the whole world, as long as you're going to let something like a test result affect your play?" Kageyama spoke with the calmest voice he could gather.

Flame was back in Hinata's eyes as they looked at Kageyama. Slapping himself on both cheeks, Hinata remarked, "You're right." He then bowed and apologized to the whole team, and the practice went on.

Kageyama didn't miss Sugawara's chuckle nevertheless. "Well, well, well, when we made him Hinata's big brother, we honestly didn't think it'd go this well, did we?"

#&#&#

The strings of attention to Hinata, in turn, encumbered Kageyama with troublesome sentimentalities—fuzzy feelings that settled in his stomach when Hinata's fingers brushed his during clean-up after practice, a hitch of his breath when the wind ruffled Hinata's hair, useless initiatives to steal glances at Hinata's back while the twerp was walking…

By the time Kageyama realized that the wall between brotherhood and romance was paper-thin, he tried avoiding Hinata outside practices. He strived to convince himself that there'd be nothing but troubles ahead when a boy fell in love with another boy; therefore, volleyball alone should be enough for him. Moreover, of all people for the possibility to get involved in love, why must it be that rascal?

Apart from the embarrassingly brief endurance of his first foray into denial, Kageyama remained unable to be oblivious of Hinata's existence. In the end, no matter which direction he averted his gaze, his eyes always found a way to glance at the other side of the classroom, gymnasium, hallway, schoolyard, street … to wherever a certain lively volleyball-maniac was standing, illuminating others like the spark of sunlight.

It was too late; his feelings had already been inerasable.

From his limited, movie-based knowledge, Kageyama had wrongly assumed that love would always have something to do with the ba-thump sound of accelerated heartbeat when one's love interest came into view. Hinata's presence, on the contrary, was like a second nature to him; he didn't even realize how empty his world was without Hinata in it until Hinata's absent from school. It was actually a case of common flu, but Kageyama became edgy all day. It was not until he had passed Hinata in the school hallway the next day did the history lesson that Kageyama usually found boring became more … bearable.

Some two weeks later, Hinata didn't come to school until nearly halfway down the first lesson. Whatever the physic teacher's description about hydrostatic pressure couldn't get into Kageyama's head until he caught a glimpse out of the class window: an out-of-breath and flustered Hinata was pushing his bicycle across the schoolyard, its front tire flat.

In the mornings when Kageyama happened to arrive early and Hinata asked, "Why did you even bother to wait for me here just so that you can race me into the gym?" Kageyama could only glower with a pang of embarrassment in his gut because not a chance in hell he'd admit, 'Because I never thanked you properly even though you're the one who draws out my true abilities as a setter. What's wrong with a little gratitude every now and then?'

And no, this "gratitude" definitely had nothing to do with how the sunrays playfully shone themselves upon Hinata's features to highlight his annoyingly radiant smile.

That, at least, had been the belief Kageyama vainly tried to douse himself in for the first couple of weeks.

His first symptom of relenting to his ulterior motive was to ask Hinata for lunch. Scurrying to Hinata's classroom as soon as the bell rang, Kageyama said, "Oi, have lunch with me."

Something must be wrong with the expression he wore—again—because Hinata shivered at his looming figure, fingers gripping the edge of his desk, while replying "Why?"

"Just shut up and I'll let you spike ten times before we eat."

At once, Hinata's eyes sparkled with joy. "Twenty!"

"You retard, there won't be enough time to chow!"

"Then, what about fifteen?"

Kageyama had the grace to scowl before deciding in what-he-hoped-to-sound a reluctant tone, "Fifteen it is."

Their lunch break had never been free from volleyball tosses and spikes ever since.

#&#&#

To no degree did the Karasuno boys' volleyball team lack support, most especially Tanaka. Thanks to him, there had never been a day in which Kageyama did not sit side-by-side to Hinata on the bus since the summer inter-high. Once, Tanaka nearly sat next to Hinata because his best buddy, Nishinoya, had already occupied the seat on Asahi's left. Hinata became inclined to choose a window seat just in case he got sick onboard, as in when he had puked over Tanaka's trousers on the way to the practice match against Aoba Jōsai. The second-year Wing Spiker turned around, however, as soon as he heard Kageyama's tongue cluck. "On the second thought, Hinata, I'd better sit elsewhere. We don't want all milk in Tohoku curdle because of Kageyama's glare." Then he left the embarrassed Kageyama to sit with the clueless Hinata.

Unlike the captain and vice-captain—who acted more subtly by simply asking Kageyama to help Hinata practice, check if Hinata seemed troubled, and the like—Tsukishima still jeered at the other first-year duo, and Yamaguchi tagged along with his best friend, but Kageyama was not oblivious that the quantity of those mockeries had decreased compared to the first few months they knew one another. As much as Kageyama hated to admit it, it was Tsukishima who deserved the greatest thanks, as the lanky asshole was the one who opened Hinata's eyes about how Kageyama had seen Hinata as more than just a teammate.

Kageyama was untying one side of the volley net after practice when the passing Nishinoya, water bottle in hand, commented, "It isn't like you to undo a knot so slowly. Is something bothering your mind?"

Before Kageyama could answer, Tsukishima had already beaten him into it, sneering, "Nah, the king's dawdling in hope to spend a few more moments gawking at the shrimpy."

"Ooh, go for it, kōhai!" Nishinoya cast him a wide grin accompanied by a thumb up.

Hinata spoke nothing about it afterwards, rushing home instead. Was that the glimpse of feeling betrayed or repulsed that Kageyama caught before the shorter boy fled through the door? Either way, what happened the next day was whenever Kageyama came, Hinata went away.

If only this affected their sync for quick serves, Kageyama would have been able to corner Hinata and berate him—an excuse enough to talk to him. But no, it was Kageyama himself who failed to keep his performance. So many of Kageyama's tosses went awry that afternoon that the vice-captain pulled him to the side.

"What's wrong Kageyama?" Sugawara asked as soon as he closed the door of the storage room behind them. "Are you hiding injuries or sprains?"

"No. I'm sorry for my incompetence, Suga-san."

The vice-captain's gaze enveloped him, genial instead of accusing. "Well, something is clearly burdening you. Since it isn't physical, it's gotta be mental stuff, right? Family problems?"

Kageyama shook his head, promising himself he'd tell his upperclassman as much as the plain walls told about the personality of the room. Nothing. "I was just a little off today. It won't happen again."

"Kageyama," Sugawara gazed at him concernedly, "How can I help if you cocoon yourself like this? We're teammates, aren't we?"

"Teammates…" Kageyama mimicked the word. "To you, am I just one of the players who stand on the same side of the net? Is it the same to him?" Kageyama's eyes widened in surprise; the words were ripped from his throat before he could overtake them, the sheer intensity of the pining inside him breaking through his defenses.

The Karasuno vice-captain's perceptiveness had frightened the team members in more than one occasion, and this instant was no exception. Sawamura's words alone were enough to wrench Kageyama's guts, "By 'him,' you mean Hinata, I presume?"

Kageyama's hands knotted into fists, but Sugawara could probe on his answer without further confirmation.

Placing a hand on the first year Setter's shoulder, the third year spoke with a gentler tone, "Look, you gotta bear in mind that Hinata spent most of his junior high school years without a single teammate. What others take for granted as 'just another court filler' Hinata treasures with all his heart."

Why was Kageyama allowing his upperclassman's advice to cut so deeply into his conscience? The reality was that his body and mind already knew this, but his pride wouldn't acknowledge such a thing without someone else spelling it out loud and clear.

"You want to make him see you as more than a teammate, don't you?"

Kageyama hesitated. He got the feeling that his vice-captain would be able to extract the answer out of him even though said word never left his windpipe.

Undeterred by Kageyama's noncommittalness, Sugawara continued, "It's never easy between two guys. Give him some time to sort out his feelings and figure out how to carry on with life."

Kageyama stiffened. "What—how did you…?"

"Oh, come on; nobody in this team is blind enough not to notice your obvious devotion for Hinata."

Kageyama instantly mouthed his protestation, "I'm not … I don't…"

Wonderful! Now he stammered.

Sugawara heaved a small sigh. "Then why do you never miss a chance to rebuke Hinata each time he messes up, even though you hardly criticize others in this team?"

Kageyama's breath stuck in his throat.

"Off the court, why do you even hurry up to catch up with him or slow down to wait for him? I saw you match your pace to his on the way to the staff room when a teacher asked the two of you to help her carry the charts. The other day, you also made a back-and-forth journey from one bike shed to another until Hinata arrived."

"It was…" A tint of pink painted Kageyama's cheeks. "Friends do that!"

Sugawara folded his arms across his chest. "I see. I take it that my eyes were deceiving me when you made sure to ruffle Hinata's hair to relish its softness after you clawed his head in anger. It was a trick of the light when your eyebrows knitted together—however briefly—each time a ball crashed onto Hinata's face. Not to mention—"

Unable to take the teasing any longer, Kageyama interrupted, "All right, all right! I care about Hinata more than anyone else in my life."

Kageyama turned pale the moment he saw the evident surprise in Sugawara's eyes. "Whoa, I didn't expect your feelings to be that deep."

Kageyama clenched his jaw, blaming himself for his own stupidity. He could have sworn that his vice-captain was trying his best to hide a smirk.

Sugawara scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well. You'd better talk to Hinata. Just explain that you won't force your feelings if he doesn't like you back. At worst, you two can still go back being friends."

The wrinkles between Kageyama's eyebrows etched themselves more conspicuously above the bridge of his nose. He had meant to ask Hinata out for a movie on the upcoming Sunday, after his success of dragging Hinata to a game arcade on the way home from school twice—keeping secret from Hinata that he had to go all the way back again, since their houses were located on the opposite directions—as well as to three different convenient stores, a music store, and a bookstore. Now his hope was dashed thanks to that busybody jerk cocksucker shithead dipstick motherfucker prick Tsukishima.

Still, reality had no intention of being easy for him. After the conversation with Sugawara, each time Kageyama called for Hinata, the shorter boy ran for his life.

Just when Kageyama thought he couldn't get out of the pit of desperation all his high school life, a first kiss claimed him.

#&#&#

At lunch break the following Monday, the sky was so overhung with dark clouds that there was no need for Kageyama to shelter in a tree shade on the quiet schoolyard; no one bothered to go outside except for a scanty number of students who needed the vending machine. It wouldn't be a problem to scamper inside once the rain started to pour, Kageyama thought. Loneliness invaded him as he stared at the patch of grass in front of him, where Hinata had been asking him to toss lately.

He was snacking dejectedly when Hinata popped up behind him and asked, "Can I have a taste?"

Relieved that Hinata was willing to speak to him again and praying that this wouldn't be their last conversation, Kageyama turned around and extended the bag of potato chips so that Hinata could poke his hand into it.

Hinata shook his head. Fists clenched, he stated, "I want you to feed me mouth-to-mouth."

Whether it was Hinata's syllables or his own quickening pulse that sounded like the strike of a beating drum, Kageyama did not know. His stomach tensed into tight knots of anxiety, dreading the answer he was about to inquire, even as he mouthed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"F-figure it out yourself, moron!" Hinata looked away, but not before Kageyama caught a glimpse of scarlet dusting Hinata's cheeks.

Kageyama swallowed. Hard. A piece of potato secured between his incisors, he stepped forward and aimed for Hinata's waiting mouth. Even though he managed to mask his voice with unperturbed calmness, his heart and lungs threatened to jump out of his ribcage.

Thankfully, Hinata wasn't put off despite Kageyama's awkward first kiss attempt. Although he successfully delivered the requested potato chip into Hinata's mouth with his tongue, his nose bumped into Hinata's and it took several more adjustments of head-tilting angle until both boys grew comfortable.

Kageyama's mind was too focused on these technical glitches to register any romantic sensation. As soon as the pork BBQ-flavored kiss ended, the blushing Hinata skittered back into the school building, shouting as he ran, "I'll reach the entrance first!"

Normally, Kageyama would waste no time to shout back and took the race provocation head on, but that day, his body refused his command to move and his mind began to doubt the existence of the solid ground beneath his feet. Still dazed, he stared at the snack bag in his hand; thanks to a certain goof, potato chips could never taste the same anymore from then on.

#&#&#

It took Kageyama another twenty-four hours to obtain the courage to ask Hinata about his change of heart. The night after Hinata's kiss was the longest night Kageyama remembered of experiencing in the last fifteen years. Each time he reached for his cellphone to call, text, or email Hinata, he called off his plan in the end.

Kageyama hardly slept and had to go to school red-eyed the next morning. At lunch break, he called Hinata to the same location as the previous day. There were more people in that yard since it was a sunny day, so he had to drag Hinata behind a fat tree trunk for privacy.

Cold sweat moistening his palms, Kageyama asked, "You avoided me for days and then suddenly asked for a kiss yesterday. Why?"

"What did you expect? No guy has ever confessed to me before—it sure was weird … dang it!" Hinata fiddled with his fingers and refused to meet Kageyama's gaze.

Hope began to edge into Kageyama's voice as he rasped, "That's all there is? You weren't … disgusted by me?"

"Since when has the definition of 'surprised' become identical with 'disgusted?'" To prove his point, Hinata jumped and snatched a second kiss from Kageyama.

Eyes growing wide, Kageyama immediately caught Hinata's waist to prevent the shorter boy from falling too soon. Only then did he relish the warm pressure of Hinata's mouth against his own. Hinata's arms wrapped themselves over his back, and then Kageyama's head died for a moment because the one person that mattered most was breathing the same air with him.

A sudden moisture pried his lips to open wider and slithered in past his teeth, infusing his mouth with foreign desire, and Kageyama discerned that Hinata was tongue-kissing him. His eyesight flickered and a choked sound of shock caught in his throat as his mouth was claimed in a more intense lip-lock. But Hinata's fingers were on Kageyama's shoulder, digging into his muscles to encourage Kageyama to delve in for a longer kiss.

Kageyama was too stunned to react at first, but when at last his jumbled mind began to coalesce into functional thought, instinct took over. He tipped Hinata's head to the best angle he had learned yesterday, devouring him without holding back. Something unfamiliarly lethal infiltrated through his veins—a heady intoxication that stripped him of decorum and self-reservation. A small voice at the back of his head tried to warn him not to scare Hinata with this newfound voracity, but another part of him refused to stop. Those soft lips, those hot puffs of breath, those fluttering eyes … how long had he craved Hinata?

Kageyama's hands moved to Hinata's hips. He drew his newly-acquired boyfriend closer, relishing how the boy's smaller frame crushed against him, while his speeding heart couldn't be slowed down. Hinata whimpered in Kageyama's mouth as their passion heightened, his hands roaming on Kageyama's back.

The moment Kageyama felt a twitch between his thighs, he abruptly pulled away and shoved Hinata in fear of his inability to control himself. Schoolyard was definitely not to be a place for making out, let alone for their first time. To hide his embarrassment, he muttered loudly, "Jeez! How reckless can you be?"

"As reckless as you need me to be." Hinata grinned, cheeks reddening but eyes glinting mischievously.

Kageyama couldn't argue with that.

#&#&#

The next week, Kageyama turned unbelievably paranoid. He overheard some other students' conversation by the school gate. He couldn't help eavesdropping the moment he heard the mention of his namesake.

The girl with braided hair on the left asked, "Hey, I heard Kageyama and you started dating. Is it true?"

Her ponytailed companion smoothed her skirt as she answered, "Don't you think he's pitiful, pining for me every day? Plus, it's more troublesome to ignore him, since he always helps me with homework."

'Pitiful…' Kageyama bit his lip. If what Hinata felt for him had been based on mere team spirit…

'Just because some guy shares the same surname as yours, that doesn't mean you share his bad luck with love,' a voice chided inside Kageyama's head.

'But when did Hinata confess that he loved you?' another voice rejoined.

Kageyama hurried his steps. He didn't want to think about it—any of it.

He sat through math, history, biology, and economics with his mind running in circle. Each time he tried to clear off the unfounded accusation on Hinata, his anxiety returned. Finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived: lunch break.

That afternoon, Hinata cheerfully hopped toward their usual date spot in the school yard, volleyball in hand. He was about to hand it to the Setter for their usual spiking practice when Kageyama morosely queried, "Did you decide to go out with me out of pity?"

Hinata blinked. "Huh?"

"You heard the question. If you're worried in case your turndown will upset me, I won't let my play affect the team. We might as well end it here."

At once, Hinata grabbed Kageyama's collar, rage flaring in his eyes, the volleyball rolling away unattended. "All these times, why would I put up with your foul temper and scary scowls, you blockhead?"

"You need my tosses."

"You seriously think that's the only thing I like about you?" Hinata's grip tightened. "Then bathing, eating, cycling … wherever I am and whatever I do, why can't I push the thoughts about you the hell out of my head?!"

Kageyama's jaw hung open, but words failed him. There was no way this could be real; his feelings weren't one-sided as he had presumed to be!

In the moment Kageyama was astounded, Hinata seized the chance to push him down until his back lay flat against the ground. Tears brimming in his eyes, the shorter boy swung his fist, punching Kageyama into sense. "Don't you dare talk about breaking up!"

The words echoed in Kageyama's head, making the sting from the clout felt worlds away. If anything, the agonized look in Hinata's expression stabbed him deeper than Hinata's blow ever could.

Hinata hit Kageyama's cheek a second time, his blots of hot tears dripping over Kageyama's neck. "Don't you dare get my hopes high just to leave me devastated!"

Hinata struck again, but this time, Kageyama caught his fist before it had landed on his face. "Don't you dare—"

"I wouldn't have worried about all those nonsense if I didn't love you too much in the first place," Kageyama managed to find his voice at long last. He hooked his free hand behind Hinata's neck, ready to pull his boyfriend into a make-up kiss, when his ears caught the hurried steps of his homeroom teacher, followed by a couple of other students, who probably had witnessed their fight and reported it.

"Let's talk later, Hinata."

Fury had not yet abated from Hinata's eyes, but he nodded.

Only, that "talk later" never came.

They were both suspended from club activity for the rest of the week, and each went home without speaking, too upset to be robbed of volleyball.

Before lessons started the next morning, the puffy-eyed Hinata clung to Kageyama's shirt, wordlessly asking him to stay until the bell rang. The odor of chemical gallimaufry, mixed with the fresh dew on grass from the open window, invaded Kageyama's nostrils as he stood in the otherwise empty school laboratory.

Hinata began, "I shouldn't have punched you and caused us both to be suspended from club."

"It's only three days; stop blaming yourself, dummy." In reality, Kageyama knew that those three days devoid of volleyball would be equal to three long, torturous days of dreary life, but at least the second half of his statement was not untrue.

After school, they meant to practice volleyball under the bridge, but it turned into more of a chasing session, since the bluster kept sending the ball off its course. They spotted a grilled corn-on-the-cob stall nearby, and although Kageyama felt no particular urge to eat, he was content watching how such simple food uplifted Hinata's formerly drab mood. It was not until a stray crumb gave Kageyama the excuse to touch Hinata's chin did the taller boy became convinced that the temporary ban from extracurricular activity wasn't so bad after all.

"Hey, I want to bike you home."

Panic rushed through Kageyama's veins. "I'm fine walking on my own like any other day."

"But you took me home almost every day and I want to know where you live."

Although Kageyama had known that he wouldn't be able to keep the fact away from Hinata forever, why did it have to be so soon? "Look, it's windy today. Why don't you go there another time?"

"That's what you said last time, too. Why do you need to keep your home a secret from me? Are you the young master of a yakuza family?"

"Heck, no!"

"Then, did you kill someone and hide the corpse in your backyard?"

"Stop getting weird ideas!" Kageyama jabbed at Hinata, but the scamp dodged his attack with an all-too-familiar agility.

Hinata stuck his tongue out. "If you've got nothing to hide, you'd better let me come."

"You little…"

Again, Hinata eluded from him, and in his pursue, Kageyama had to circle Hinata's bike. Lying on the grass close to the riverbank slope, its back seat nearly tripped his left foot. That seat hadn't been installed to Hinata's bicycle until two days after they had started going out.

Kageyama ceased his chase. "Tch! Fine."

Despite the wind cooling their sweat, discomfort clung to Kageyama. Each second dragged by, and he lost count on how many times his stomach tumbled during their journey. He started to wonder if this was what Hinata felt before each match started.

The moment Hinata learned about Kageyama's detour whenever they had gone home together before, he yelled, "You could have told me the truth!"

The two boys parted ways by the fence of Kageyama's residence, but not before Hinata had kissed him senseless at the empty street corner.

#&#&#

Other than his accident of narrowly smashing the collection of bottled ship models in the living room, Hinata managed to build a good impression when he first visited Kageyama's house. Kageyama's mother liked him because he praised her cooking with such sincerity at Sunday lunch. Kageyama's father was taller than his son but talked less, so Hinata had dared not imagine that he'd acknowledge, "Tobio has grown more socially adept as of late. Now I see that you're the reason."

The two boys "played catch"—as Kageyama's mother phrased it—on the yard and would have gone on for a couple of hours more, had she not yelled," Get inside right now, or the rain will bring you down with a cold!"

"Can't be helped; she'll keep on nagging if we don't obey her. Come on, I'll show you my music collection. Just leave the ball here; mom doesn't like it when wet things drip on the floor."

As they passed her on the way to Kageyama's room, she shook her head. "See, even your friend is already feverish. A few more minutes outside, and both of you'd be out of school tomorrow. Make sure you both get changed immediately; Tobio, lend him your clothes. I'll bring you both some warm drink as soon as I'm done with the ironing."

At that time, Kageyama didn't think much about the pinkish shade on Hinata's cheeks. But once they were enclosed in the four walls of his bedroom, half-naked, and Hinata tried to finish changing as quickly as possible, Kageyama began to suspect that his boyfriend might be blushing.

When Mrs. Kageyama entered with a tray of hot milk and butter cookies, she found Hinata—garbed in an oversized T-shirt and shorts—resting his head against her son's shoulder and the taller boy leaning back at his companion's head, both snoring, dampened towels and CD cases scattered across the floor. She smiled and spread a blanket over them before closing the door.

#&#&#

A couple of days later, during practice, Nishinoya asked Kageyama, "Why do you get even stricter while chewing Shōyō out nowadays? Aren't you guys dating?"

'Dating.' The word rang incessantly inside Kageyama's mind, making him somewhat lightheaded. Although he was aware that the team had already known about his relationship with the Middle Blocker, this was the first time his teammate spoke it out loud. Even the other team members' eyes were now glued upon him and Hinata now, Azumane dropping the ball from his grasp.

Pulling himself together, Kageyama answered matter-of-factly, "How can he take on the world with me without improving his skills?"

While the rest seemed to be bowled over by his rhetorical question, Hinata didn't sound surprised in the slightest. He even asked, "Isn't it how it should be?"

Sugawara smiled and remarked, "There, there, Kageyama's words may sound harsh, but he cares for Hinata more than anyone does."

"Like how he bolted out to snag the first aid box when Hinata got a scratch the other day?" Tanaka quipped.

"Or how they always have synchronized breathing while cheering on the other team members or getting fired up at our opponents," Ennoshita added.

Kageyama wished he could teleport to Mars.

#&#&#

Going out with Hinata went hand-in-hand with developing the habit of decrypting codes. A weekend text message that read, "Toss me more balls, Bakageyama" roughly meant "I miss you, so let's meet up and play, Tobio" while a late night text saying "i'll kill u if u r still lousy at receiving even in dreams, stupid Hinata dumbass," more or less translated as "Sweet dreams, Shōyō dearest." Not that these sort of messages were incredibly hard to interpret, but it never failed to stun Kageyama how much he was looking forward to meet Hinata even though they had already spent so much of their time together on a daily basis.

The first time Kageyama voiced his boyfriend's given name out loud, though, the runt stiffened from head to toe. Kageyama cursed himself. He had been addressing Hinata with his first name all the time in his head, but didn't mean to call "Shōyō" on the surface anytime soon, let alone in public. Although the rest of the team tried their best to act naturally, Kageyama didn't miss Tsukishima's snicker, Tanaka clutching his stomach, and even Sugawara's covert grin. The damage had been done, and the nervous wreck Hinata missed all his tosses that day.

"Oi," Kageyama clawed Hinata's shoulder when they were about to exit the storage room after putting away the equipment. "I can live with just 'Hinata' if that makes things easier."

Hinata turned around, his face livid.

"Huh?" He morphed his face to imitate Tanaka's intimidating expression, albeit rousing a comical effect. "Picture this in your idiotic head! A kid counts the days excitedly because his parents promise him a toy he's been wanting as his birthday present, and when he gets it, he treasures it above all other toys in his room, but then his parents confiscate it the next day. Is that the treatment you'd like to get?"

Kageyama yelled just as hotly, "You're the dumb one here! First off, your reaction doesn't match with that kid's—you…" and then his tone dropped involuntarily, since his stomach lurched at the articulation of his own words "…you didn't like it when I called your name."

"I was happy…" Hinata's lips trembled at his own articulation. "…so frigging happy that I couldn't speak!" He stomped his foot and his breath came in short bursts.

Kageyama was pondering on how he should explain the misunderstanding when Hinata's half-angry, half-intimidated voice rebuked him, "And stop glaring at me, dammit!"

He wasn't actually glaring, but oh well, he got that a lot. Perhaps one day, after he got to meet his Creator, he'd ask, "Why did you make my face this way?" But for now…

"Then you should call my first name, too."

Hinata's eyes rounded and glittered.

"What, it's only fair after I called you 'Shōyō,' right?"

"Tobio."

The moment that Hinata's voice reached his ears, Kageyama felt a jolt run through him; while the sound was expected, the sensation wasn't. It was supposed to be the same three syllables that his parents and relatives pronounced, yet today his name had a nicer ring in it.

"Tobio, Tobio, Tobio!"

"Once is enough, you idi…"

The rest of Kageyama's sentence died momentarily on his tongue as a pair of arms encircled his shoulders.

"…ot."

"See, you can smile without your usual creepiness, after all."

"Looks like you owe the team meat buns, Daichi," Sugawara chirped as soon as the Karasuno's first-year Setter and Middle Blocker returned to their midst. "Those lovebirds are holding hands, just as Nishinoya predicted."

#&#&#

"You weren't afraid?" Kageyama asked in a tone that he hoped didn't sound too disappointed as they came out of an amusement park's haunted house one Saturday afternoon. He had just lost a valid reason to hold Hinata's hand under the cover of darkness.

"Nope. Their stunts don't hold a candle to your spooky face when my serve accidentally hit your head at our first practice game against Seijō," Hinata confirmed, both hands shielding his head in anticipation of Kageyama clawing it at the reminding of that memory.

Honestly, Kageyama didn't know whether he should rejoice or lament the fact that Hinata was so horrified of him. It could have its own merit at times, but…

"Which one do you want to get on next?" he repressed his sigh and asked.

Hinata spared Kageyama a surprised look in the absence of his anger, before excitedly pointing at the Ferris wheel.

"You do love high places, don't you?"

Something in Hinata's exuberant smile as he nodded prompted Kageyama's initiative to hold his boyfriend's hand, but he was taken aback when Hinata exclaimed merrily, "Look, cotton candy!"

As Hinata dashed toward the food stall, Kageyama became aware of his surroundings: a group of junior high school students noisily taking selfies; two couples of different age group scurrying towards the roller coaster, one with the boy's hand wrapped around the girl's shoulder, the other seemed content with stealing glances; and a little girl asking the amusement park's mascot for a handshake, closely watched by her parents. Kageyama's nerves didn't permit him to display public affection, so he inserted his hands in his pockets, eyes downcast at the flagstone ground.

Hinata returned soon afterwards, looking as excitedly as a kid half his age when given sweet treats. "I tore too big," he piped, while innocuously shoving the remaining cloud-like piece between his fingers into Kageyama's mouth—needless to say, those fingers had just dipped into Hinata's mouth, and trickles of his saliva peppered the rainbow-colored cotton candy.

That instant, Kageyama converted to a true believer that indirect kisses were just as culpable as their direct counterparts in terms of turning people's faces red.

#&#&#

Even so, rainbows and sparkles weren't meant to last through eternity. Just as Kageyama thought that things were going well between them, Hinata started avoiding him again.

"Why? If I did something wrong, couldn't you just fucking tell me?" he demanded as soon as he managed to corner the shorter boy after the classroom cleaning duty. It wasn't even his turn that day, but he had lurked in wait for Hinata to dump the trash to the garbage collection point.

Carrying a bag full of waste, Hinata couldn't do much when Kageyama trapped him between his own taller figure and the wall, strong arms blocking his escape. He clearly avoided Kageyama's gaze even as he answered, "N-nothing. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why do you hate me now?" Kageyama's fists hit the wall loudly, but the pain from Hinata's avoidance hurt more than the collision against the cement.

Hinata squeezed his eyes shut, trembling with each syllable, "I don't hate you … I can never hate you … it's just that you…" he bit his lip and took a rather sharp breath before continuing, "…you appeared in my dream last night?"

"Huh? That's it? How dumb can you be? Even if I were to strangle you to death or to tie you up across the railway track right before the train's coming up, there's no way I'd do that for real!"

Hinata didn't answer, his gaze wandering miserably from one blade of grass to another.

"So, what did I do to you in that dream anyway?"

Hinata's eyes bulged in horror. "NO! Don't ask!"

"Why?"

"You'll think I'm gross. I mean, I won't blame you if you do 'coz I think I'm pretty gross myself and—"

"Your point is?"

"Tobio, it's bad enough I got a dream like that. Don't rub salt onto my wound, 'kay? Maybe I can forget this ridiculous dream tomorrow."

"And if you can't, will you flee from me forever?"

"No, I…" Hinata dropped the trash bag and clutched on Kageyama's collar. "…I don't want that."

Their faces were separated by mere inches, and Kageyama was painfully aware of Hinata's burning breath against his neck, and when he looked at those mesmerizing brown eyes…

His lips had connected themselves to Hinata's before he could restrain his own action. He hadn't imagined the blood in his body could all go to his head that fast. The adrenaline rush woke him from the trance.

His cheeks heating up, Kageyama abruptly backed away from Hinata, muttering, "My bad. I shouldn't do that when you—"

But Hinata pursued Kageyama's retreating face, chasing his lips persistently with his own. The second kiss lasted longer, with his boyfriend's hungry tongue tracing lightly along his lip, prompting the taller boy to allow it entry. He met it with his own tongue as he folded his arms around Hinata's accommodating shoulders. Hinata smelled like fresh air and sun-kissed grass mixed with his pork curry bread lunch. It was wonderfully warm—comfortable even though Kageyama didn't really know how this could be so, but that … that was all right.

"Promise you won't make fun of me even after I tell you what happened in that dream?"

Kageyama nodded.

"We were at an empty classroom. You told me to sit on a desk, and then…" Hinata paused, swallowing hard.

Since Hinata looked like he was going to discontinue the story, Kageyama said, "What's the big deal about sitting on a desk? Besides, you can always say no."

"The problem is what happened next." Hinata bit his lower lip.

"For fuck's sake, spit it out!"

Very rapidly, as though hoping Kageyama might not catch his words, Hinata uttered, "You were on your knees to pull down my pants and underpants. Then I feel your ears brushing against my thighs and your breath so hot on my… uh, anyway, down there."

Hinata's cheeks were lit up brightly by the time he finished speaking, and judging by the heat that had surreptitiously crept up his face, Kageyama suspected that he was probably blushing, too.

"I won't risk getting caught at school, you imbecile." Then Kageyama added as a joke in attempt to make Hinata yell at him and calm his nerves, "It's a different matter if we do that in private, though."

He ended up with a humiliatingly tongue-tied at Hinata's next question, "So, which one will it be—your room or mine?"

#&#&#

That Hinata's little sister ran and hid behind her brother the moment she saw Kageyama—gigantic Kageyama—coming through the front door was not completely unexpected. Hinata's remark, "He's the scariest guy in my school's volleyball team and he'll gobble you up if you don't do your homework," however, was quite a blow.

"Hey, couldn't you introduce me more normally?" Kageyama barked when they were alone in Hinata's room. The room, although arranged differently from his own, was nearly identical in size, and this gave him a homey feeling.

"Isn't that normal enough? Besides, if I didn't say that, Natsu'd nag us to play with her all day anyway."

'I don't want my future sister-in-law to have a weird impression of me, dammit!' Kageyama began to argue in his mind.

'Huh?'

'Crap! Did I just…?'

'Fuuuck!'

#&#&#

As it had always been before, their relationship was spiced up with fights. Following a particularly excellent one-hand toss during practice, Hinata remarked, "Kageyama, that was 'fshuu' and 'waaaaa'—probably even more awesome than the great king's toss!"

Kageyama cast him a deadly glare.

"What are you getting riled up for?"

"Shut it."

"But I was praising you."

"Go to hell!"

"Hmph!" Hinata pouted. "Tanaka-san is right; you suck at compliments."

Kageyama gripped Hinata's head tightly until the shorter boy squalled, "Ow, ow, ow! I'm gonna grow bald because of you!"

Kageyama knew from the sincerity in Hinata's eyes that the Middle Blocker had given him no empty flattery, but a comparison with that upperclassman was one of those things Kageyama found himself incapable of tolerating. When he entered Kitagawa Daīchi Junior High, the school's third-year Setter was not only peerless in talents, but also hard-working—a wall that Kageyama needed to break through in order to become the most supreme setter in the prefecture. In all those years Kageyama had spent there, Oikawa had been both his idol and his greatest obstacle. He was constantly compared to Oikawa in every way possible: Oikawa's charismatic nature, Oikawa's natural affinity for volleyball, Oikawa's blooming intelligence and analyzing talents…

Honestly, Kageyama had been meaning to avenge Karasuno's defeat before Oikawa graduated. However, since the Seijō's captain had teasingly addressed Hinata with "Sho-chan" when they bumped into each other on the street, the vow of volleyball vengeance had turned into something more personal entirely.

###

Kageyama currently shivered, the view of Hinata's bedroom swimming back into focus. He heard the wind whispering around the eaves. Living in the mountain range of Tohoku meant he had to deal with frosty air even before winter had reached its coldest. Last night, Hinata's warmth had made him forget through it all. But now, the sleeper's toss-and-turns practically divested him of the blanket.

'What if things get awkward between us after this? Maybe I should kick Shōyō's shin and shout next to his ear to get the fuck up so that neither of us will have the time to be shy? Or maybe I should toast some bread and pour some milk for us before that?' Kageyama weighed his options. They had been together through thick and thin for ten weeks, and the appointed Saturday—the previous evening—finally arrived.

###

Moonlight bathed Hinata's porch with its silvery splendor as he opened the door for Kageyama with bags under his eyes.

Brows furrowing reproachfully, Kageyama snarled, "Don't tell me you barely slept last night?"

Predictably, Hinata's expression aggravated. Instead of retorting nonchalantly as usual, he meekly nodded as he closed the door behind his guest. "Couldn't help it; I was too nervous."

"I can see that you still are, dumbass." Kageyama's tone softened; if anything, his supposedly harsh words sounded affectionate. He couldn't think of any words of encouragement, so he settled to follow Hinata through the hallway, the fragrant aroma of soap and shampoo wafting from the boy walking in front.

"Had dinner yet?"

Hinata gasped. "My bad. I was supposed to grab something from the convenient store for our dinner, but I was kinda spacing out. Wanna order home delivery?"

"No need," Kageyama replied without a trace of vexation. He headed to the dining table and unloaded his backpack. The first item he took out turned out to be a plastic bag containing two disposable bowls of Gyūdon.

The rice was fluffy and steaming hot, the beef was succulent and tender, the pickled side dish was crunchy and seasoned just perfect, and even the miso soup had no flaw in it because Kageyama had ordered them from his favorite eatery rather than dropping by at a random shop on his way. And yet, with each gulp, more and more color was drained from Hinata's face. He then stopped eating after only a quarter of his meal, his now-ashen face reminding Kageyama on the bus ride for their first practice march against Aoba Jōsai.

"What's wrong? Stomachache?"

Hinata glimpsed at Kageyama, guilt in his eyes, before he transfixed his gaze onto the floor and mumbled glumly, "It's not that. I just … uh … I'm not hungry."

Kageyama pursed his lips. "Sex isn't volleyball."

Hinata tilted his head sideways, his eyes blank with incomprehension. "So?"

"So, there's no treat my stay over like an official match."

Hinata scrutinized at his clothes. "Huh? But I'm not even wearing Karasuno's uniform right now."

"You're too fidgety, dolt." Then Kageyama continued with the most patient tone he could muster, "Let's just watch a DVD or something. We can always try going all the way another day, when we're ready for real."

Hinata raised his head to look at Kageyama straight in the eye. "But I've been looking forward to it. I want to get closer to you."

Kageyama's eyes narrowed. How could this happen? How did he manage to say the very words he had kept in his head but in Hinata's voice?

During that brain freeze, Hinata closed the gap between Kageyama and himself. Speedy like his jumps on the court, his lips captured the taller boy's in a single movement.

As always, whenever their lips were connected, Kageyama couldn't prevent the jolt of electricity from coursing through his veins. The fact that his boyfriend's fingers shifted to caress the sensitive skin of his nape didn't help either; his hair stood up at the irresistible sensation. Hinata was closing on him, clinging at his shoulders, and breathing his air. Kageyama's hardening length, sparked by the friction of Hinata's skin, began to torment him beneath his underpants.

When at last Hinata dragged his mouth from Kageyama's, he panted raggedly, flush suffusing his cheeks and passion glittering in his eyes. "I want you, Tobio," he breathed. Hardly audible as his murmur might sound, there was no hesitation in him. All his pent-up emotion trembled through that voice. He even curled the tip of his tongue round the shell of Kageyama's ear and then teased it with darting strokes.

Even if the statement were to fail to make Kageyama's heart swell, it certainly did a great job in building fervor at the pit of his stomach. Cheesy responses were forming inside his head, cluttering at the tip of his tongue with an irrepressible itch to bludgeon out of his mouth; yet, affectionate trait never came naturally to him. In the end, all he managed to articulate was, "Are we going to race to your room?"

"Wha—o-of course!" Even little kids could tell that Hinata's grin was forced.

Kageyama's hand found its way into Hinata's, fingers lacing, before the latter could dash forward.

Hinata cocked his head sideways to demand an explanation, but Kageyama had already expected the question before it was voiced. "We can race anytime; why not try something different once in a while?"

"We hold hands every day, don't we?" Hinata ensured that his voice sounded like a complaint, but his fingers twined back just as possessively.

"But not to your room." Kageyama had to suppress his smirk; his lips curved more conspicuously upward as soon as his hand felt Hinata's speeding pulse.

Once they were inside, it took three seconds for Kageyama to remove his T-shirt and another five to wriggle out of his jeans and briefs. On the contrary, Hinata looked like he was about to faint and sputtered in a high-pitched voice, "I'd better prepare myself in the bathroom first."

"What's the point of being shy now, dork? Soon, we'll get down naked together anyway." Kageyama realized that he had just delivered the death blow as soon as he finished speaking. Hinata's body was positively shaking now.

'Should I turn back and call it a night or…?'

Kageyama grabbed his boyfriend on the wrist, tipping Hinata's balance and catching the staggering figure with his sturdier one. He made sure that the shorter boy's ear was aligned to his chest. "Can you hear how fast my heart is beating?"

Although preceded by a surprised squeak, Hinata nodded.

Kageyama continued, "You aren't the only one who's afraid; I've never done this sort of thing with anyone else either."

"What if we mess up?" Hinata queried, genuine worry in his voice.

'Great; that backfires!'

"Look at that." Kageyama pointed at the red-green-white volleyball nestling on top of Hinata's bookshelves. "Alone, you can't spike with your fabulous jumps and I can't toss optimally, but together, we're invincible at the court—that's what comrades are for."

Kageyama tilted Hinata's chin gently so that the shorter boy's gaze met his own. "Alone, you and I are just different individuals, but together, we can arrive at a new point of life where we couldn't go before."

'Ugh, zip it, mouth!' Kageyama mentally chastised himself. 'Who gave you the authority to say something this gooey?'

"You're right." Hinata exhaled. "A high wall of Blockers used to obstruct my jump until I couldn't create a course for the ball—it was a path I'd never be able to see on my own. But with your toss, all the Blockers vanished from sight and the view of the other side of the net opened up. Then, at the highest point, the ball hit my hand and I felt its heft snug in my palm. I really love that."

Hinata unbuttoned his pajama, revealing the smooth expanse of chest. "So, this time, take me to that new point of life you spoke about."

Kageyama felt his mouth dry. He had seen everyone's torso in the club room after each practice, but never had he succeeded to control his heartbeat from switching to the racing mode whenever Hinata's bare flesh came into view. Not. Even. Once.

Hinata's skinny build did not make him appear any less appetizing in Kageyama's eyes. Contrary to his volleyball-bruised arms, the skin of his torso remained unblemished. His thighs, taut with muscles from frequent jumps, looked nothing like the bikini-clad girls in sunblock commercials.

Hinata's clothes were pooling on the floor in disarray as their owner clambered onto the bed. He retrieved the bottle next to his pillow and said, "Come here and let me lube your hole up."

"What?!"

"Lube, Tobio. It's supposed to smooth the process so that your butt wouldn't be too painful later—that's what the internet says anyway."

Kageyama snapped. "I knew what a lube was for! But why the heck did you think I'd bottom?"

"It'll be unfair if you do me just because you're taller," Hinata barked.

"Hmph, if you're so confident you can beat me as long as it's not a matter of height, prove it!"

"Definitely!" Hinata's eyes squinted to challenge him. "Let's circle this house and see who's the fastest."

"You oaf, we're competing for sex' sake; of course, the contest has to be something to do with that theme! We jerk each other off, and the one who comes first will be the loser."

"Bring it on—wait, didn't you say you wanted to try something different tonight?"

Kageyama considered Hinata's reminder for a moment before deciding, "Then we won't use hands this time."

"How?"

"Ever come across the term 'frottage?'"

"Oh."

The two boys knelt face-to-face on the bed. Hinata was faster to take the initiative. He started to grind—fumbling, experimental thrusts of his hips against Kageyama's own. As Kageyama started to gyrate back, those motions grew more sensual and fluid. But Hinata halted and, ignoring Kageyama's questioning look, he hoisted his thighs to wrap around the taller boy's waist.

"It's easier this way." Hinata threw his arms around his boyfriend's neck before rolling his hips again and sliding his half-risen shaft along Kageyama's.

Kageyama settled to a sitting position, but he could barely tear his eyes away from Hinata's face even though he had seen his boyfriend's aroused expression before. Usually, after his semen-stained hand slid away from Hinata's length, the shorter boy would hug him, sighed contently, and said something along the line of, "That was much better than when I do that myself." Today, with cheeks completely flushed and mouth ajar with short bursts of breath, Hinata remained the most entrancing entity in his eyes.

Gradually synchronizing, Kageyama and Hinata swiveled their hips and rutted their groins together. Their erections explored each other in pleasurable frictions, though not for long. Their length reached full glory all too soon, trapped between their stomachs with fluid leaking from both tips and facilitating smooth slides. The feel of their hardness rubbing against each other too much, Kageyama drowned in the intensity of it all.

For what felt like endlessly frightening seconds, Kageyama thought he was going to lose for sure, but then he heard a long mewl, immediately followed by a sting on his upper back. Fingernails digging into Kageyama's bicep, Hinata came. At the sight of Hinata's arching torso and quivering legs, the room instantly felt like an erupting volcano, with the wintry November air doing nothing to ease the sweat gathering around the bridge of Kageyama's nose.

He wanted to claim Hinata, kiss him, hug him—it didn't matter as long as he could somehow get hold of his boyfriend again. But Hinata tore himself away, biting his lower lip and gloom lingering in his eyes. It was the look of the defeated.

'I will give you a night you won't regret.'

Yet, as soon as Kageyama made that vow to himself, problems started to arise. Which shoddy website was it that claimed an erection would slip into condom as naturally as a hand into glove would? He had just accidentally torn the first condom along with its wrapper. As for the second one, he didn't even know if he was putting it in correctly; it just felt … weird. In attempt to rectify the latex' position against his skin, he tugged and stroked, only to regret his action seconds later. Spurts of white jetted forth from his tip, filling the condom—he had been close to climax before he had stopped the frottage, and now he came without a warning.

Obscenities would have gushed out of Kageyama's insolent mouth had a pair of callused palms not cupped his cheeks and Hinata's gentle voice interrupted him, "Back to square one, huh?"

"Maybe you'll have a better luck with another brand. Here, try the one I bought," Hinata offered without waiting for Kageyama's answer.

Suppressing the urge to bang his head against the wall, Kageyama peeled off the used condom. Getting out of it was surprisingly easy, now that its content had wilted.

He had just thrown the condom into the bin when he noticed Hinata's butts sticking up; his boyfriend seemed to be trying to reach something from under the bed. He stood in silence, drinking in the sight of that pert, peach-like ass wiggling in invitation. Unbidden, his sac started to tighten and his dormant shaft sprang to life again.

Kageyama said nothing as he watched Hinata sit on the bed, pulling out a spate of foil-wrapped condoms from the opened box. Before Hinata tore one of them, however, he sensed something was wrong. "Hey, Tobio, what's up? Why are you going mute all of a sudden?"

But Hinata's eyes found the answer faster than Kageyama's reply could ever reach his ears. His eyes widened as their gaze went straight through Kageyama's groin.

Hinata closed his condom storage box and Kageyama couldn't help suspecting that his boyfriend had just changed his mind about the sex. If only I didn't show Shōyō my pathetic side!

"You know, Tobio…"

'Here it comes.'

"…maybe we can forget about condom tonight."

'He isn't going to have sex with me now, perhaps even in the future,' the thought thundered through Kageyama's head.

"Neither of us ever slept with anyone before, so the STD risk shouldn't be high and … and … I kinda want to know how it feels like … um … without any condom as a barrier. " Then Hinata continued so rapidly that Kageyama barely registered what he spoke of, "I mean, the bathroom's just a stone's throw, so we can clean up right away."

Kageyama's eyebrows unknitted themselves and his lips curled upwards. Couldn't his boyfriend be more honest about wanting to feel him inside?

Hinata seemed to be losing the courage to meet Kageyama's eyes at the moment, busying himself with fluffing the pillow instead. He still tried his best to pretend Kageyama had never existed as the taller boy climbed the bed and positioned himself next to Hinata.

Hinata shut his eyes tightly all the while Kageyama prepared him. The snap and squeeze of the lube bottle even made him clutch the pillow. When Kageyama's hand was poised at Hinata's rear entrance, his body stiffened severely enough to cast hesitation over Kageyama's conscience. Still the taller boy pressed on. One finger breached in, and Hinata squirmed—though whether from the cold lube or from his prying finger, Kageyama had no clue. Even after the second and third fingers joined in, Hinata showed no sign of enjoyment.

"Shōyō." Drawing back, Kageyama placed both hands on Hinata's shoulders. "I'm not gonna give you empty promises that there'll be no worse pain after this."

Hinata took a deep breath, and then answered with quivering lips, "It's OK." He took Kageyama's hand in his own and squeezed it gently. "I trust you as much as I trust your tosses."

"Hey, this and that are completely different matters!" Kageyama's tone rose, but he caught himself midway and immediately held his temper in check. In a gentler voice, he appended, "There's no turning back if we go on with this, so you'd better not force yourself if you aren't ready."

"How many times do I have to confirm that I'm looking forward to go all the way with you? Sheesh! I'm starting to think maybe you're the one who doesn't want it."

Kageyama opened his mouth to yell his denial, but an idea suddenly inspired him. When he spoke, his voice sounded husky. "Since words can't get through your thick skull, I'll make my point with action."

Before Hinata could react, Kageyama had already grabbed his ankles and spread his legs as far as they could go before pulling them up until Hinata's ass hovered several inches above the bed. As much as Hinata squirmed back onto the mattress, Kageyama tightened his grip to prevent him, holding Hinata's lower half in mid-air. From this position, he gained the full-frontal view of Hinata's groins, including how his boyfriend's length twitched in embarrassment.

"Whoa, stop! This position is too—"

"I told you there'd be no turning back," Kageyama interrupted, his gaze determined and his grip unrelenting. On his knees, he drove his hips forward and breached Hinata's tight opening with a powerful shove.

It felt incredibly good. Kageyama's thoughts derailed at the tight, heated sheath and he had already jostled inside before he could control his baser desire. There was nothing quite as arousing as this sense of superiority—him subjugating another boy, who usually stood at an equal footing with himself and challenged him at everything he did, now reduced to a squirming mess. He wanted more, more of Hinata's submission, more of Hinata's helplessness to Kageyama's touches.

But he saw his boyfriend's back arch sharply, his muscles contracting, and the rest of his body tightening up. Hinata neither squeaked nor whined, but produced a sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth when the tip Kageyama's erection intruded upon him.

Seeing his partner's agony, a pang of guilt gnawed on Kageyama's guts. This was his important volleyball comrade, his best (and only) friend, and more importantly, the one he loved most in the entire world; how could he treat Hinata like a mere object of lust? He halted and husked, "Breathe; it'll hurt less if you relax your body."

Only after Hinata had done so did Kageyama lick the crease behind the Hinata's knee. He could tell that he didn't take the wrong move; Hinata fisted the bed sheet, lips parting for a sharp intake of air but without any disapproving look in his eyes. He decided to tease the adorable creature even more, relishing the sight of Hinata biting his lip to prevent himself from moaning when Kageyama's breath showered his thigh.

Kageyama rested Hinata's ankles against his shoulders so that his hands could explore the shorter boy. Hinata's body trembled, thighs parting slightly wider in instinctive invitation. A smirk tugging at his mouth, the taller boy stroke his hand down over his partner's stomach and then teased the vulnerable inside of Hinata's thigh with the feathery stroke of his knuckles until they slid across the small hollow near Hinata's hip bone and under the lithe body to palm its backside.

A passionate mouth laved and clamped Hinata's nipples into small peaks in turn while Kageyama kneaded Hinata's bottom. Those rear cheeks were firm to his kneading, thanks to so many jumps Hinata made while spiking his tosses.

"Eek! What are you doing, pervert?!"

"You don't like it?" Kageyama let go immediately, anxiety upon his face.

Hinata looked away, his reply coming barely above a whisper that was nowhere near noticeable as the blush that accompanied it. "Just stop acting like some lewd old man and get over with it, Bakageyama."

Lowering Hinata's legs from his shoulders, Kageyama spread them wide apart again, holding them by each knee while positioning his hips between them. He proceeded slowly while thrusting forward, as careful and deliberate as the oddball tosses he aimed to reach Hinata's palm without the Spiker looking.

His length gradually disappeared into the crevice underneath him, imprinting its shape inside his beloved Hinata. With his weight against Hinata's bare flesh, he coaxed the boy underneath to accept his domination. He felt Hinata's muscles giving way, letting him in, every thick inch caressing him from the inside. Just as moon's gravity affected ocean tides, Hinata's figure held that kind of magnetic attraction over his own. In response, Kageyama pulled his lover even more intimately against him, while his mouth nipped the vulnerable flesh of Hinata's throat.

Hinata emitted a whispery mishmash of surprised squeak and aroused moan that made Kageyama's erection hardened all the more. He immediately bit his lip to forbid further vocalization, but there was nothing he could do to wipe out the red stain of blush from his cheeks.

'Mine. All mine.' Kageyama tightened his embrace.

Hinata was popeyed, pupils blown huge, as he gawked disbelievingly at the place where their bodies were connected, as though Kageyama had given him something he hadn't expected. The rest of him was completely compliant, with his skin made exclusively for the possession of Kageyama's deft fingers, his curvature tapering to follow the chasing movements of Kageyama's hips, and his insides pliant against Kageyama's masculine rigor.

Kageyama was rolling up against him in a sharp angle that sapped the breath from his lungs and pulled it through clenched teeth; Hinata's ring of muscles wrapped around his girth and greedily sucked his length all in.

As Kageyama reached a particular spot inside him, Hinata suddenly lost the ability to breathe properly, reduced to small, desperate gasps of air. Yet, the taller of them kept coming back for that special place. When it looked like Hinata was about to cry out against this teasing, Kageyama dipped forward and kissed his lover with an invasive lick, stealing the syllables of his name from Hinata's mouth.

Eventually, lungs burning with the need for air, Kageyama reluctantly withdrew, already missing the softness of Hinata's lips even before they were fully parted. The hooking of Hinata's leg around Kageyama's waist was proof enough that he was not the only one who yearned to prolong their kiss. So, Kageyama complied with Hinata's wish. Again. And again. And a—

"Ah!"

Kageyama's sudden jostle on his third kiss made Hinata's voice spill uncontrollably, his pained gasp rushing down Kageyama's throat. Although he was aware of the tightening grip on his shoulders, Kageyama was sure that his boyfriend wasn't against this decision. If anything, Hinata hoisted himself up to get better stability against Kageyama's thrusts, crossed ankles tight around Kageyama's hips.

Obligingly, Kageyama slid deeper into Hinata like they were meant to be joined hip to hip, pushing in until his sac slammed against his lover's entrance. Using every ounce of self-control against the tension that plagued him and the sinful wet noises that came out from the part where they were connected, he continued to move gently. He caressed Hinata's jawline all the while the shorter boy writhing beneath him, flushed and panting with need.

As little cries escaped from Hinata's mouth every time he thrust in, Kageyama could only hope that those groans weren't entirely of pain. Hinata sounded so enticing, so desperate; he sounded as though he belonged only to Kageyama. The raven-haired boy could no longer stop himself in any case, couldn't control his wild desire now that the entire muscles in his body screamed of the singular need for Hinata Shōyō.

'Shōyō, I want you—all of you!'

As his hips moved in counterpoint, Hinata tried to restrain his moans, but with no avail, as Kageyama's passion deluged his entire being. His voice grew needier the faster Kageyama went. His insides clenched so hotly around Kageyama's flesh, wordlessly confirming even if his body were to burn into ashes, he wouldn't let Kageyama go. "Ngh … haa … Tobi—aah!"

Never before had Kageyama heard his name sounding so sloppy yet so captivating at the same time. It caught him unprepared, breaking through his last vestige of self-preservation. His body couldn't stop trembling. With one final shuddering thrust, he spilled inside his lover.

Hinata, too, came before Kageyama completed his climax. He reached his peak with a plaintive yell, white spurts jetted forth from his body onto their chests while his convulsions kept squeezing Kageyama's erection.

Still splayed underneath Kageyama, Hinata kept his ankles over the taller boy's backside as his breathing slowed, refusing to let Kageyama pull away. He reached up to cup Kageyama's face in his palms and beamed. "Yup, now it's confirmed that volleyball isn't the only thing we can be in sync."

It took a little while for Hinata's words to arrange themselves in Kageyama's head. As his wits slowly returned, he leaned forward onto Hinata, his bleary eyes watching the reflection of his lover's sweat-glistening body, with his flame-colored hair flat against his head. Kageyama kissed the crown of that head, and then buried his face in the bed next to Hinata's neck, his body still shaking. He snuggled close, enjoying the feel of his erection shrinking until it slid slickly out of his boyfriend's opening.

Hinata reproached him, "Don't stare at it, idiot!"

"Stare at wh—oh."

Now that Kageyama had seen the part Hinata frantically tried to hide, the vision of his semen dripping down his lover's groins would definitely be etched in his memory for as long as he lived.

"I said, don't stare!" Hinata insisted more indignantly.

Kageyama secretly loved it when his lover glowered at him, shove him away with crimson stains all over his cheeks, and even curse at him under his breath. He couldn't help it—what people thirsted for water he thirsted for Hinata Shōyō … though he'd rather bite his own tongue than acknowledge that openly.

To divert his attention, Kageyama pointed out at the blotches of seminal fluid on the bed sheet, "We'd better wipe those out, or else they'll leave stains."

"Yeah." Despite his agreement, Hinata didn't move, and Kageyama didn't blame him for that, considering how rigorous their sex had been.

After chucking the tissues down to the trashcan, Kageyama asked, "Are you … all right?"

Hinata nodded. "I just need a few more minutes before I can cleanse myself in the bathroom."

Kageyama lay down next to Hinata. There were gazillions of things he wanted to know, from when Hinata plan to sleep with him again to Hinata's requests on the movements that needed improving, but he remained unsure on what to say to his boyfriend. In the end, Kageyama kept his mouth shut.

Seconds passed by, and then Hinata suddenly propped himself up using one arm and looped the other around Kageyama's neck to lean in for a kiss. It wasn't particularly erotic, yet the moment Kageyama's brain registered that Hinata was kissing him, a new wave of emotion crested over him. It filled to the brim with something he had never realized to have been missing. How could it make him feel he was finally whole even though he had just emptied himself?

Their lips coming apart, Kageyama finally opened his eyes to look up at Hinata, only to find that his boyfriend was looking back straight at him. They stayed that way for quite a while, neither moving, neither wishing to break the silent truce between them.

At last, Hinata lunged to his feet. "Bathroom," he announced.

Hinata sauntered to the door and Kageyama drank in the sight of the petit boy's succulent little rear. Although there wasn't an ounce of unnecessary flesh on Karasuno's Middle Blocker's body, its contour fascinated him. He wanted Hinata back in bed.

'Get a grip, Tobio! He'll be traumatized by sex if you keep plowing him.'

Kageyama rummaged his backpack, snatched his toothbrush, and ran after Hinata. In the corridor, he caught up with his boyfriend, who was flailing in his walk. Without a further warning, he heaved the smaller boy over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

"What the heck? I can walk on my own!" Hinata struggled.

"You can," Kageyama affirmed, "but when else will we get a chance like this?"

Hinata stopped kicking. It wasn't like his parents often go out of town. "You…" he mumbled, rather too meekly for his usual standards, "…you never struck me to be a pampering type."

How glad Kageyama was to have carried Hinata in this position! With Hinata facing Kageyama's back, he couldn't see the shade of crimson that doused Kageyama's face.

Kageyama put Hinata gingerly down at the edge of the bathtub, and the shorter boy rewarded him with a peck on the forehead. But when he saw Hinata stretching his rear opening to wash the remaining semen away, the showerhead in his other hand, a familiar twitch stirred Kageyama's loins at the fantasy of taking that defenseless ass from behind.

Apparently, Hinata was aware of his debauched stare, because he rebuked Kageyama, "If you don't need anything, wait outside."

Kageyama stared at his boyfriend long and hard, considering defiance. Their bodily union—the first sex in their lives—had lasted for barely five minutes; what was wrong with having another go? But then he noticed, from the funny way Hinata walked, that the pain in his body spoke for itself.

In the end, Kageyama did as Hinata requested; like it or not, he couldn't trust his own body and all the teenage hormones it contained.

Hinata opened the bathroom door ten minutes later, fully clad in his pajama. "You need to use the bathroom, too, don't you? Come in, but no more sex tonight, OK?"

But then, to feel joy just by standing side-by-side with Hinata by the washbasin while brushing their teeth … perhaps this "love" thingy turned out to be more troublesome than Kageyama had envisioned.

###

At present, Hinata tossed and turned again. Kageyama intercepted the sleeper's swinging arm in the nick of time, right before it hit his diaphragm. A king-sized bed would definitely be on top the shopping list when he lived together with Hinata in the future.

'Is this the one I want to spend the remainder of my life with?'

Almost every evening after their club activity ended, he had to suppress the desire to hug Hinata and plead, "Don't go home. Stay with me." The realization that they would graduate one day pushed Kageyama into visualizing a day without bickering with Hinata. He shuddered at the thought.

He then gazed at Hinata again. On the court, it was one thing that his body instinctively reacted to this boy's broad cross and almost sent his toss to the team's ultimate decoy, even though the timing and court's condition pointed otherwise. Off the court, though, how many times had fascination overpowered him by just hearing Hinata's voice or inhaling Hinata's scent?

No matter how much Kageyama's pride denied it, the rest of him could not contradict how hopeless he was when it came to a dullard named Hinata Shōyō. Like a spark of sunlight that illuminated his shadowy being, Hinata had grown into a part of the person Kageyama was today. Sure, Hinata was lousy and irritating as hell, but he was also sincere, upbeat, and, most importantly he always refused to give up—that was what Kageyama loved most. Just as Sugawara once said during their third match in the summer Inter-high preliminaries, Hinata's face when he hit Suga's tosses wasn't the same as when he hit Kageyama's.

'We'll go pro together, but there's more to it than volleyball between us, Shōyō.'

Bending over Hinata, Kageyama traced the sleeping boy's jawline, the side of his neck, and the slope of his shoulder—that was where the hem of Hinata's pajama hampered his exploration. He couldn't go on any further without removing that darn garment.

Not wanting to wake Hinata, Kageyama pulled his hand away and resolved to stare only.

Dawn's first light sifted through the gap in the curtains that couldn't cover the edge of the vertically sliding window, and the vermilion sunray bathed Hinata's hair with its warmth. No irregularity interrupted the sleeper's breathing, eyelids still closed in deep slumber. The sunray's highlight gradually shifted to Hinata's chest, atop which his hand lay. The fingers emerging from the pajama sleeve were short-nailed and marred with constellations of calluses from all Hinata's hard work in spiking and receiving the ball. How much talent and enthusiasm resided in that small body?

If "desirable" didn't sum these up, no word ever could. Kageyama couldn't look at Hinata as freely as this moment without getting embarrassed about it, so he didn't let the chance slide, but renewed desire coursed through his body, making the situation worse. Mayday! Early morning boner alert.

'But that dope may not be awake from a light kiss.' Kageyama's fingertips danced on Hinata's closed lips. 'Just one. Then I won't disturb him anymore.'

Kageyama dipped his head and placed his own lips on Hinata's. Their softness, although familiar, never failed to spellbind him. While the fully awake Hinata could return his kiss just as earnestly, this sleeping Hinata wasn't bad at all—so close and within touching distance of him. It felt like Hinata was there at his disposal to touch, to coddle, to ravish…

The thought sent Kageyama's head throbbing; blood rushed through and swished his brain into mush. He yearned for another taste of Hinata's lips, not caring about his breathing heaving even harder than when he had just performed a jump serve. Self-control slipping away from him, he dived for another kiss, and another and another and—

Kageyama felt Hinata's lips starting to move slowly against his own. His eyelids snapped open in the shocking realization that he had gone too far. 'Shit!'

Before he could pull away like a thief being caught red-handed during his loot, a hand had snaked around his neck to deepen the kiss. All plans for excuses gone, Kageyama resumed kissing Hinata.

"Morning," Hinata slurred after their kiss ended, voice still think with sleep. "What time is it?"

How a languid greeting could sound so special Kageyama didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted that sound to reach no one else's ears. Hinata Shōyō's half-awake expression, disheveled bed-hair and other vulnerabilities should all exclusively belong to Kageyama Tobio.

'But what about Karasuno's next year training camp? And the year after that? Dammit! I don't want the rest of the team to witness this sleep-fuzz Shōyō.'

Without warning, Kageyama enfolded his arms around Hinata.

"Tobio, what's gotten into you?"

Kageyama merely hummed as he heard Hinata's heartbeat thrum against his touch.

"Seriously, you're freaking me out! What's with this sudden clinginess?"

Kageyama refused to let go, persistently pressing close as if wanting Hinata's scent, Hinata's voice, Hinata's warmth, and everything else pertaining to Hinata to be ingrained deep into his own pores.

"I said, don't just keep hugging me without an explanation, Bakageyama!"

But Kageyama tightened his embrace and nuzzled the slope of Hinata's shoulder instead.

'Before we met, I'd never thought I'd ever find anything more important than volleyball—not that you even know about it.'

OWARI

---

OMAKE

Hinata was not oblivious of the hard, blunt object poking his thigh. "Hey, Tobio, want to do it again?"

Kageyama couldn't believe his luck; he had expected Hinata to whine from the back pain after their intense sex last night. He nodded without a second thought.

Hinata licked his lips. "Good. I'm thinking it's high time for me to top you."

THE END