There's a little Easter Egg from one of my favourite DaiSuga fanfictions in this chapter. To find out which one, or for more extra notes & comments, please read on AO3.
Kageyama watched from a distant booth as Hinata retold their day's adventures to each new patron of the rusty bar stools. It had truly been a day to remember and the redhead was more excitable than usual, sitting at the bar with his hands flying through the air to help retell the story countless times.
It was a cheap little tavern, named something along the lines of 'The Black Feather.' Each table was littered with fruit flies and empty glasses, but Kageyama didn't mind. He barely noticed anymore. The duo had been frequenting the bar for nearly five years now, ever since Kageyama's 20th birthday when they'd needed somewhere inexpensive to celebrate.
From his place across the room, Kageyama could clearly make out Hinata's shouting. He laughed quietly to himself; with every retelling, the story changed ever-so-slightly until now Bokuto and Aone had engaged in a passionate kiss somewhere between winning the map in a duel and a riveting chase scene through a bull's pen. Hinata's imagination knew no bounds.
This was nothing new to Kageyama.
Yet he knew that they'd only gotten lucky. Had the dice landed on different numbers, perhaps two and three or six and four, they would have lost all of their winnings. Honestly, it wouldn't have been a large loss at all but they would have gone the evening without dinner or alcohol. Had the swords not been so easily accessible to them, Kageyama wasn't sure they would have managed to get away so easily. That would have been disastrous… Cheating at gambling was not new to the pair, they were wanted all around Spain because of it. A jail cell meant the loss of their free lives! The ultimate, most unbearable loss they could possibly land…
They'd gotten too close to the edge this time.
With a sigh, he shot back the last of his murky-coloured beer and stood up. "Hinata!" he shouted as he threw some cash onto the table. There was no reply, only continued shouting about gun shots that never really happened, so Kageyama turned on his heel to shoot a glare at his partner. "Dumbass!"
That got the redhead's attention. The shorter man looked up, falling silent before a scowl crossed his usually happy features. "Idiot, don't call me names!" With a huff, Hinata jumped off his stool and ran over to Kageyama. Once by the taller man's side, he turned to whomever he'd been talking to - a girl with blonde hair and a nervous smile - and waved enthusiastically. "See ya later, Yaichi! It's been fun!"
"Y-yes! Good-bye Shouyo!" She waved back, albeit more timidly.
It wasn't long before Hinata and Kageyama were walking down the streets. Even at this hour, it seemed the town of Cuervo couldn't go to sleep. People roamed the streets similarly to how rats plague the sewers. Children, teenagers, adults… It seemed people of every age and size had decided to wait until the moon reached its peak before they crawled into their comfy beds.
Kageyama often wished that he could have that luxury, but he and Hinata hadn't known beds since their orphanage days.
"So, where to tonight?" Hinata asked suddenly, stepping swiftly out of the way as a group of kids ran between them. "I don't think we have enough for the fancy place by the east end. Why don't we go back to the dusty place by the bakery? The people there are so nice!"
"No, they kicked us out last time," Kageyama stated, brows furrowed in annoyance at Hinata's inability to remember anything. "You kept jumping on the beds and banging on the walls…" He almost laughed, remembering the awkward conversation when the owners of the inn had knocked on their door, assuming that the two were having very loud sexual adventures. In reality, Hinata had only been having a particularly energy-filled night. It wasn't new for Hinata to start running around like a madman, hitting his hands - and sometimes his head - off of every surface imaginable. Kageyama had grown used to it by now.
Hinata huffed in annoyance. "Fine, what about the place with those huge windows? You liked that place."
Pushing a hand into his pants pocket, Kageyama pulled out the remainder of their day's winnings. They'd only gotten dinner and some drinks, but the fruity cocktails Hinata insisted on drinking had gone up in price dramatically recently… "Too expensive," he sighed, shoving the money away once more. "We could just go to Natsu's. She always has an open door for us."
"No!" Hinata's whining resembled that of a dog's, high pitched and slightly irritating - yet, also, adorable. "I hate asking my little sister for stuff. Besides, she probably has mom with her and I just…" He trailed off, his whining melting into a tone that suggested a genuine disliking of the idea.
A quiet understanding washed over the two of them as they walked, both in thought about where they could go for the night. It felt like their lives were an endless cycle. Gamble all day, buy dinner and drinks, then find an inn they could afford to stay at. Four hours of sleep and they'd be at it all again… They'd had brief changes before, like when they'd stumbled on enough money to hitchhike across Spain's coast, or the week Hinata had found it necessary to provide shelter each night for various consorts - the ladies appreciated that, sure, but Kageyama had been less than thrilled to sleep in trees for seven nights.
The longer they walked, the more apparent it became that they'd be returning to those same trees again. Without either of them mentioning it, they were already walking in the direction of the town's local park, unclear on who was leading who but naturally trusting each other all the same.
They got to their usual spot relatively quickly, passing by other homeless thieves and beggars sleeping on benches and in the grass. Tree's had always been Kageyama's preference, he assumed Hinata felt the same - he always did. Being within the winding branches, away from the hustle-and-bustle of the ground below, felt safer and calmer.
Together, they climbed the tree. That alone was a sport in itself! Hinata wasn't tall enough to reach most branches which prompted Kageyama to life, push, and pull the redhead up the tree. In the end, he was nearly exhausted - Hinata only laughed at the taller man's apparent misery. "Don't be such a baby, Kageyama!"
For a few hours, they sat comfortably in the two thickest branches of the strong tree's and talked about life and the future. Their evenings always ended this way, it was nothing new… Soon enough, their words reduced to mumbles and they both began to drift into the silent abyss of sleep.
"Night, Hinata…"
"G'night Kageyama…"