Disclaimer: Haikyuu! and its characters do not belong to me - unfortunately - they belong to their respective creators/owners.
Author Note: Kageyama's chapter was going to be something more hands-on, so this chapter turned out surprisingly for me. Hope everyone likes it, though. We'll slowly build up to Natsu going to see the other teams, don't worry! Enjoy and leave feedback!


She gazed out to the front of the elementary school gates. Parents and older siblings had just arrived to take their child home, many bodies arriving and leaving in a flow similar to waves at the beach. The more independent children whose homes were close to the school left on their own. Natsu watched the front of the school intently. Her teacher always wanted her to wait for her mother or brother inside the school, for safety, instead of outside like she preferred; she enjoyed running to them, and, if it was Shouyo, she would tackle him in a reciprocating hug.

She sighed as she placed her arms on the windowsill and lowered her chin to rest on them. This was the worst part of the day – the waiting. Because, she knew, people never showed up while you were watching the front gate. Then, as soon as you turn around to start playing with a toy in the classroom, they arrive and spoil the fun you had barely started. It was best to wait. She groaned lowly.

But waiting was so boring.

She had to admit that she was slightly more impatient today because of where they go after-school now. Her brother's high school was pretty plain, nothing special, but it was always exciting to be in a place that wasn't normally supposed to be visited. And also her brother's volleyball team – they were turning out to be lots of fun. She hadn't had a chance to talk to everyone yet. It was Tuesday of the next week, and she had been going to the Karasuno gym for only a few days. And some days they practiced for hours straight and were very tired afterward, so she and Shouyo sometimes left for home quickly.

Sometimes they both left beside teammates. Sometimes her brother would leave with just her while the other players stayed a while more. When these times happened, her brother would be quieter at first on the way home. He was disappointed, she could tell, that he couldn't stay just as long and practice. He never once blamed her, and he would perk up after they had walked a few feet, pushing the disappointment out of his mind with a ray of smiles and good cheer for her.

Still. She felt like she was the cause of the disappointment. Hopefully, today everyone would leave when her big brother did so he wouldn't be sad.

"Natsu, sweetie?"

Natsu turned to look at her teacher, who waved her to come closer. She did, and her teacher bent down to get eye-level with her.

"I just talked to your mother. Your brother got called in at the last second by a teacher to do a make-up test, so he can't come get you."

"Oh," she said as her head drooped.

Her teacher held her hand comfortingly. "But he asked a good friend to come pick you up and take you to him. Your mother told me you can leave with him when he gets here. Have you met Kageyama Tobio-kun before?"

Natsu thought back to the group of players. Sometimes when they practiced in their alike uniforms, their names blended together in her memory. A shock of black hair and sometimes-mean-but-always-teasing words directed toward her brother entered her mind.

She nodded. "I think so, sensei."

Her teacher patted her hand proudly. "Want to wait with me outside for him?"

She nodded more excitedly. "Okay!" With that, she grasped her teacher's hand more firmly, leading the way like a big girl. Her teacher chuckled from behind.

They watched four more pairs of children-and-guardians leave before the high school boy rounded the gates. Now that she had seen his face, she definitely recognized him. He looked uncertain, like he might have the wrong school, so Natsu waved to him to get his attention. He didn't see her, but, when her teacher walked towards him while holding her hand, he noticed them.

"Hi, Kage-onii-chan!"

He sent a nod her way before looking at her teacher. "Um, Hinata-san was supposed to call...?"

Her teacher smiled. "Yes, she did. You two are fine to go." She let go of Natsu's hand. "Natsu-chan, be good on the walk there." Natsu nodded, trying not to think of how often she got scolded for leaving adults behind or running too far ahead of them. "Hold hands."

"Yes, ma'am."

Her teacher gave her head a pat before saying bye and going back inside the school to finish up school dismissal. Natsu felt a hand brush hers, and she tilted her head to look at the high school boy.

"Ready to go?" he asked, somehow looking more out of place than anyone else there.

"Uh-huh," she replied and held onto his dangling hand as they turned to begin the trek to the Karasuno high school. Three minutes into the walk, she was swinging their joined hands back and forth with a song in her thoughts. People she knew stared after her, probably wondering where her brother was, but let them go unhindered. It was cloudy outside.

"Uh," Kageyama began beside her. He cleared his throat. "How was your day, Natsu-chan?"

"It was fine," she replied customarily.

He waited her to clarify. "...Did anything cool happen?"

"Not really." She kept swinging their hands happily.

"Oh..." he trailed off uncertainly.

Natsu wondered if he had any brothers or sisters, because he didn't seem used to kids. She asked him.

"No, I don't have any siblings."

Natsu hummed in thought. "You have nii-chan," she pointed out, recalling how they not-seriously always bickered with each other.

He coughed pointedly beside her. "Hinata's my teammate – and a spaz – not my sibling."

"Teammates can be like brothers," she argued back.

Kageyama grew quiet, reflecting on her words. "If teammates are like siblings, I want to trade in some of them for new ones." He was clearly picturing a couple of specific people.

Natsu giggled. "You can't trade, silly! You're stuck with siblings no matter what." Her brother often declared this fact to her when he was being silly and doing something mischievous. Like hugging her to the floor and tickling her.

Kageyama frowned ahead. "Well, I guess I'll just have to deal with them, huh?"

"Uh-huh!" She resumed swinging their hands. They fell into silence, and passed the intersection going towards the school.

"So..." Kageyama trailed off awkwardly. "..."

"Hm?" she prompted.

"Uh...What- what are you learning in school right now?"

"How plants grow."

"Yeah? Er, is it interesting?"

"Sure! They have roots, and that's how they eat dirt to grow big and strong."

"..."

"Right?" she looked up at him when he stayed silent.

"Oh," he looked at her, "yeah. Um...not sure they eat dirt, but that sounds right to me."

"Uh-huh!" she argued back, tugging on his hand for added force to her words. "My teacher said flowers and plants eat dirt-stuff in the ground and grow big and strong!" She frowned up at him, ready to defend her intellectual point with all her soul. "They do! We watched a video."

Kageyama held his hands up in defense. "I believe you. I don't know or remember anything about plants, so I'll take your word for it. Honored Natsu-sensei."

She giggled at that, and Kageyama gave himself a proud smile. Natsu then skipped ahead of him, hands swinging freely, toward the street-crossing where cars zoomed back and forth, and he felt a spark of panic – oh-crap-jdhqodb# %! – and he had to run to catch up to her, snatching her hand up and tugging her back toward him so they could reach the street together instead of separately. He sighed to calm his sudden adrenaline rush, and she gave him a concerned look.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, fine. Listen, hold my hand the whole way there, okay? Like your teacher said."

"I was."

"Just- nevermind. We're here now," he let the conversation fade as they turned onto the Karasuno high school grounds. He steered them toward the school gym, Natsu swinging their hands again. The sounds of squeaking shoes and spiked volleyballs could be heard from outside. As they approached the doors, Natsu walked faster ahead of him.

"I wanna open the door. Please?"

Kageyama did not bother hiding his confusion. "Why?" There was nothing special about opening the gym doors.

She looked backwards at him. "Because. Pleeease?"

He shrugged, but gave her the okay to do so. He watched as she grinned at the permission and bounced ahead. Then had to stop himself from making a face when she grunted at trying to open the doors (now that he thought of it, they might be locked already, as they often were once late practice was underway).

"Unh! I can't-!" she squeaked despairingly at him.

He nodded. "You might need to-"

BANG! BANG!

Natsu rammed her small fists against the gym door. "Hello~! The door's stuck! Help?"

Kageyama thought he heard a chuckle from someone inside before the door was unlocked and opened. The elder sibling stuck his head out.

"Hey, there, little sister," Hinata grinned down at her, stepping back as they both entered the gym. "How was the trip?"

"You didn't come get me." There was no blame in Natsu's voice. It was an observation.

Hinata's face became guilty and pleading anyway. "I'm sorry, Natsu! Sensei grabbed me at the end of class and wouldn't let me leave until I took this make-up exam, and Kageyama was the only one with me! I called Mom, though, to see if that was okay!" He lost a little of his pleading look. "Didn't you have a nice walk with your best-buddy Kageyama?"

Natsu patted Kageyama's hand from beside him. "Kage-onii-chan doesn't know how plants grow or how to talk to kids," she stated, reciting information she'd learned recently in her world. Unfortunately for him, Kageyama was the most recent thing she'd learned about.

Kageyama glared at his laughing teammate. "Shut up, Hinata."

"Natsu, is Kageyama your best friend now~?"

"Sure!"

"Hinata, I- just- get on that court already!"

"Ha ha! Cheer on your best friends, Natsu, even if one of them doesn't know how to talk to you!"

She waved to them. "Okay!"

"I'll never send another volleyball your way again," Kageyama muttered to Hinata's back. "Ever."


TBC...

Post Script - Reviews help Kageyama speak to children.