Yknow. This is the third time ive struggled with 's html... I hope this one wont mess up again-

Donning the leopard-print pants with a matching jacket over his black shirt, Yurio walked closer to the gym. The building was small, but it had a rather impressive outside field of different courts for multiple sports. Yurio hummed in a small tune from his new program, and slowly walked forward. He didn't have to go far as he heard Hinata first rather than seeing him. He smirked to himself.

Exiting the men's locker room, Hinata bubbly talked with his teammates and his friends from Nekoma, buzzing about from his practice earlier. Everyone could only give a small, pleasant smile at the energetic crow.

"And then!? We served and the ball went ba-dam! across the net and even when we-" He paused, his eyes trailing up and meeting Yurio's eyes. He felt all his blood drain from his face as the few teammates watched with abit of confusion.

"Shouyo..."

"Y-Yurio-senpai? What... What are you...?!" Hinata steps back quickly, the tall blond marching forward with a ferocious glare. His back hits Kageyama's chest, who was about to retort but his eyes were instead trained on Yurio.

"You want to explain to me why the HELL youQUIT- "

Hinata immediately panics, his hands shooting upwards to cover Yurio's mouth, "Y-Yurio! I can explain but first calm down!"

Coach Ukai approaches the steaming blond, looking concerned at how this tiny volleyball player was basically on his toes to keep the other's mouth shut. It was almost comical if the Karasuno's team wasn't already sending a dark glare toward Yurio.

"I'm sorry, are you-" Takeda immediately squeals next to him, interrupting the coach.

" The Plisetsky Yuri?!" Yurio steps back a little, his hands tightly clasping Hinata's own to remove it from his mouth.

"Yeah? What about it?" Hinata squinted at Yurio for that rude tone. Takeda doesn't mind, his eyes glinting in the late evening.

"God, I can't believe I'm meeting the Plisetsky YurI! Oh my god- wait. Are you here with Viktor-san and Yuri-san?" Hinata frowns at his teacher, feeling more nervous. He was tempted to bite his nails again but his hands were in Yurio's tight grip. The blond blinked at the teacher, before shrugging.

"Sort... of? I'm guessing you're the Takeda guy we're supposed to meet for drinks later tonight, right?" Yurio stated, releasing his hold on Hinata's hand. The redhead mumbled, clutching his hands back with a soft pout. Kageyama next to him made a face at the blond, moving himself in front of Hinata that caused the little middle-blocker to clutch onto him, his cheeks turning a dark red. Tsukishima next to them merely huffed in annoyance as Daichi and Suga sighed.

"Noya, are you seeing this?" Tanaka whispered, leaning between Noya and Asahi. Noya nods, his eyes glowing at how Kageyama's hands twitched in irritation. He gripped onto Asahi in excitement, as the man next to him simply hummed. Him, as well as the third-years, could already tell what was going on.

Behind them, Kenma's eyes sharpen at the blond when he grabbed onto Hinata. Although he normally isn't good at confronting people, Hinata was a friend he worries most about. Oblivious, overly-friendly, and kind; traits that make him an easy target. His eyes drift to Kageyama, who held a more fierce look towards Yurio. He questions it, before it clicked into his head. He can already hear his childhood friend, Kuroo, chuckling next to him as he connected the over-protectiveness from Kageyama to Hinata's bright blush.

Takeda continue to smile brightly, ignoring the inquisitive look the teams gave him. "Yes! I'm looking forward to sharing a drink with you all!"

"Yeah, sounds great," Yurio then grabbed onto Hinata's hand, his frown more evident as he looked down at his junior. "In the meantime, me and this punk is gonna have a nice chat."

Immediately, Kageyama's hand flew to Yurio's shoulder, a harsh glare meeting the blonde's. Hinata nearly crumbled underneath their seething.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kageyama hissed. Yurio replied with an even harsher glare.

"I should be asking you that. Shouldn't you be busy with something else, brat?"

Hinata nearly gasped at the setter's sudden grip onto his shoulder, his face already turning into a darker hue. Yurio clicked his tongue at the other boy, his grip on Hinata's hand tighter as he tries to pull the shorter boy closer to him. Being squished between these two pushy people started to piss Hinata off, so in a mix of embarrassment and anger, he shoves both of them away. A look of shock crosses both Kageyama's and Yurio's face.

A forced sigh escapes him, "Can you guys stop and listen for once?"

Yurio crossed his arms, "Well, I sure want to since it's been two years since you skated! What happened? What's the big deal? I swear to God if someone hurt you-"

"Yurio-senpai. Please ." Yurio drops his harsh tone, his eyes shifting away in embarrassment as his voice dropped to a whisper.

"...I was looking forward to meeting you at the Grand Prix finals."

Hinata looks at him in regret, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes. "Yurio-senpai... I don't figure skate anymore-"

"He can!" Takeda interrupts excitedly, causing all three boys to jump at his voice. His smile never left his face as he watches the interaction in amusement. How nice it is to be young again, he thought.

"What do you mean, Takeda-sensei?" Coach Ukai asks, glancing at trio.

"That's kind of what I'm gonna talk about with Viktor-san and Yuri-san," His glasses reflects the late evening street lights, facing towards Hinata, "And find a way to help Hinata-kun skate again."

The bitterness crawled out of Hinata's mouth before he could control it, " I told you I don't figure skate anymore."

"Then why do you always look at the ice rink during practices?" Hinata froze.

Takeda's face remained passive, as both Kageyama and Yurio stepped back, a heavy air starting to seep between Hinata and Takeda. Hinata made eye contact with his teacher, his own trembling hands clutched beside him. The night sky seemed to reflect the shadow of bitterness, shame, and regret in Hinata's eyes, but Takeda stood firm before him. He knows this was something that conflicted with the younger's own stubbornness, but he knows that if Hinata never acknowledges this, or even discussed what had happen, then Hinata might struggle more in the future when it comes to volleyball, ice skating, and even his own character.

"Takeda-sensei," Coach Ukai called, breaking the staring contest between the two, "It's late… let's call it a night."

A moment passed after a brief glance at Ukai, before he nods, "Sure. Yurio-san, why don't we talk more over dinner with the others? Hinata-kun and everyone here are tired from volleyball practice. You're welcome to join us tomorrow, if you'd like to see Karasuno play!"

Yurio nods, abit wary of the exchange between his junior and Takeda, but he was impressed nonetheless. Despite being used to seeing a bright and sunny Shouyo, there were times when Hinata guarded and protected himself from others so offensively that it makes it difficult to talk to him. Even now, Yurio saw a glimpse of it - but it was mixed and contorted with others emotions. He sighs as he leans back a little, tilting his head up at the night sky. This punk really reminded him of himself some days.

"Shouyo," He called, causing the redhead to turn his dark stare to him. It unnerved him to see that. "I'll… see you tomorrow."

He turns to walk away, his hands shoved into his pockets as he slouches. Takeda follows, making a small wave at Ukai and the kids, his gentle smile never moving from his features.

Hinata made a small hiss when he watched Takeda and Yurio walk away, before he felt a pat on his shoulder. Suga raised a brow at him, giving a reassuring squeeze at his underclassman.

"You okay there, Hinata?"

The redhead looks down, kicking the dirt softly. After a moment, he mutters, "I'll be fine. Sorry about that, senpai."

"Who was that even?" Kageyama asks, his tone surprisingly soft but held a bite to it. He moves abit closer to Hinata, careful in case he met those burning eyes again. He won't admit it to himself, but the sudden shift of emotions in Hinata's frame made him nervous.

"That was Yurio-senpai. He was…," He makes a small sigh, crossing his arms, "Someone who taught me how to figure skate… that's all."

"That's all?" The setter echoed in disbelief. What he saw sure looked like anything but 'that's it'. He could feel the bits of anger bite at the corners of his heart. Kageyama was about to call Hinata out, but was interrupted by Daichi, who only gave him a stern look.

"Let's go eat. I'm sure everyone had an interesting show, but we still need to wake up early tomorrow." Daichi looks back at the rest of the team, "C'mon guys. We're here to practice volleyball, not start a soap opera."

Noya perks at that, content with changing the dreary mood, "Yah! If we wanted a soap opera, Tanaka should be the cheating spouse that gets caught!"

"The hell you mean I'm the cheating spouse-!"

The group breaks apart, forced chuckles made as Noya and Tanaka joke about. Hinata turns away, his eyes never leaving the ground. He silently walks back to his dorm.

A few blocks away from the ramen bar, Yurio eyes the man suspiciously, "...you made Shouyo mad."

Takeda hums, his eyes following the few buzzing bugs of summer on the sidewalk, "Hinata-kun is mad because he's afraid."

Yurio merely huffed at that in amusement, and decided that he liked this teacher more than Yuri. He spots the silver gleam of hair in the bar, and lifts his leg to kick Viktor's side. It had no effect on the slightly drunk man.

"Yurio-kun! My, my, you've grown so much son!" He smiles. Yuri next to him sips the beer slowly, rolling his eyes at Yurio's harsh greeting.

"I'm not your son, you old man! Anyway," he grumbles, taking a seat opposite of Yuri. "I brought along Shouyo's teacher."

Takeda smiles brightly, knowingly at Viktor, who only raised an interested brow in return, before bowing.

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with me." He stands up straight as Yuri and Viktor stood up to repeat the exchange.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Takeda-sensei." Yuri says, "I'm thankful for you looking after Hina-chan for us."

"Not at all! He is doing great in volleyball practices, though his grades beg to differ." He jokes lightly, taking the seat next to Yurio. "Besides, after the Interhigh loss, I'm curious about how Hinata-kun will grow after these practices."

"But that's not the only reason why you've asked us to meet here, huh, sensei?" Viktor grins, leaning into his hand.

Takeda brightens, "He doesn't show it often, but Hinata-kun doesn't trust himself as much as he did back on the ice." He tilts his head, inquisitive but knowing, "He gives Kageyama-kun 100% of his trust though, so it helps when it comes to their games. But just like the Interhigh, there will be someone who will call them out on it and stop them from advancing. I worry about them."

Yuri sips at his beer slowly, before nodding, "Hina-chan does guard himself more than he should. When he's on the ice though…"

"...he's free." Viktor finishes, eyes dropping to the table with a soft frown, "He's free from his struggles and forgets… He's a good kid."

Yurio tsked beside Takeda, leaning heavily back into his chair, "Good kid, my ass. You should've seen the attitude he gave to the teacher earlier. You'd think Shouyo would rip him into two from his glare."

Yuri couldn't help but laugh lightly at that, bumping his shoulder at Viktor. "Ah, reminds me of someone a long time back, huh?" Yurio rolled his eyes at the two.

"Atleast I'm getting better at it." He mumbled, "Aren't we supposed to be talking about Shouyo? Why are we bringing up my own attitude?"

"Well, gee, I wonder why," Viktor teased, "It seems that Sho-chan picked up more than learning quads from you, Yurio-kun~!"

The blond sticks out his tongue in reply, causing the teacher to snicker beside him. "In any case, I have an idea on how to get Hinata-kun back on the ice." The trio perks at that.

"Oh? How so, sensei?" Viktor asks.

Takeda sends a brilliant smile to Yurio. The young figure skater felt his spine crawl.

"Plisetsky-san, how do you feel about having another competition?"

The next morning, Hinata resumed his sunny disposition as if nothing had happened last night, if not the sarcastic tone he now bore when he talks to Yurio. Despite the figure skater showing up at his practice, Hinata continues joking and laughing about, showing off his black uniform to his old friend.

"Doesn't it look great, Yurio-senpai?" He began, eyes bright. Yurio only groaned in reply as Hinata flips to show off the back of his jersey, "It's the same number as the Little Giant!"

"If you wanted to wear black, Shouyo, then you can wear what the bastard wore during his Eros short. You can skate with it on after-"

" Funny , I don't recall saying I wanted to skate," Hinata voice cut through, a soft but warning smile plastered on his face. He turns away and walks towards the net, effectively ending the conversation. He huffs a bit as he frowns at Kageyama, who only furrowed his brows at the shorter boy. "What?"

"...nothing." Kageyama grinds his teeth together, feeling the edges of irritation getting at him. He turns away and heads back to his normal position as a setter, ignoring his provoking thoughts.

'Shouyo this, Shouyo that… whatever. I don't care.' He grips the volleyball tightly, clenching his jaw as he narrows his eyes at the opposing team. The Nekomas stiffen at the glare.

As he raises the ball into the air, he sees the cusp of sunlight touch it. In an instant, he thinks of Hinata and immediately, with an unnecessary heavy amount of force, strikes the ball across the net. It makes a loud, resounding smack against the floor beside Lev.

"W… what the hell…," Lev mutters softly, slightly shaking at the sound of the ball. He could've sworn he saw the floor bend underneath the pressure. Lev looks up and greets Hinata's gentle stare.

"В чем дело?" (What's the matter?) Hinata asks in Russian, causing the other boy to blink. He recognizes the language but he couldn't understand. Lev scratches the back of his head shyly.

"Oh! Uh, sorry… I don't actually speak Russian…"

'Hinata speaks Russian?!' His teammates thought, Karasuno also asking the same. Tsukishima next to him blinks in surprise, before bumping his shoulder to distract the small crow.

"Did you fry your brain learning that to impress him, shrimpy?"

"Shut up, Shittyshima!" Hinata bites back, looking up at him (because fuck his height, Hinata thinks bitterly). "Is it so surprising that I know Russian?"

Tanaka laughs loudly at that, clutching his stomach, "Dude, what else are you hiding? Can you do ballet, too?"

"W… what's wrong with learning ballet?!"

"No, wait… I was joking, Hinata…"

Diachi sighs behind them, raising his arm to slap them upside the head, but Asahi pulls his hand down.

When practiced ended, Yurio quickly grabbed onto Hinata to drag him outside. Hinata hisses at Yurio, brows furrowed and pouting. He tugs on his arm, but relents when the blonde tightens his grip. He eyes his teammates as he left, but by the time they made their way to the men's locker room, he was left alone with the blonde.

"Yurio-senpai, I said I'm not going to skate-"

"Shut up." Yurio states, letting go of Hinata finally. A moment of tense silence started to grow as the redhead shifts his weight.

"Yurio-"

Irritated, the older boy slammed his hand against the locker behind the shorter boy. Hinata jumps at the noise and frowns. A sharp tone flows through Yuri's voice. "You quit skating... because that bitch said something to you, huh?"

Hinata felt a wave of anger course through him, "Kiyo has nothing-"

" Bullshit and you know it, Shouyo." He rests his arm, stepping closer to Hinata. The redhead held his breath, staring up at him, studying the crystal blue in his eyes before he remembered where they were. He shoves Yurio away, but the skater doesn't budge.

"And…?" Hinata whispers, Yurio's intimidation causing him to crawl closer to the wall. "It doesn't matter. I still won't skate."

"I won't accept that, Shouyo. After everything? After the tournaments, the hard work… you're going to throw it all away because you messed up once? "

"I…" Hinata flinches when Yurio leans closer to Hinata's ear, causing his skin to prickle.

"You're gonna quit, because of one mistake?"

The redhead shut his eyes tightly, feeling the edges of anger prickling his heart, before it was smoothed out by shame. His fingers trembled as one hand clutched onto Yurio's shirt, his head hanging down as the burning shame and regret tore into his heart. He feels his chest squeeze as his eyes start to water.

"But I play volleyball...! I'm a volleyball player!" His voice wavered. Yurio grinds his teeth, before shoving Hinata away. The push caught Hinata's breath before making eye contact, ignoring the few tears starting to flow.

"Then skate. One more time. Against me." Yurio returns his hands to his pocket, a cold look making way as he gazes back at Hinata's warm honey-brown. "If you win, you can do whatever the hell you want. I won't complain."

Hinata didn't trust his voice, but Yurio understood his question.

"But if you lose, you're quitting volleyball, too." All the air seem to leave the redhead, but Yurio didn't care for the answer. The older boy stands there for a moment, before pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and throwing it to Hinata.

"...practice starts tomorrow after your volleyball thing." With a wave, Yurio leaves the locker room. He opens the door and meets the stinging grey of Kageyama. He huffs. "Get out of my way, brat."

The setter growls lowly at him, "If you hurt him, I swear…"

Yurio leans back, rolling his eyes. "For a boyfriend, you sure are protective."

"I'm not-"

"Whatever." Yurio pushes past Kageyama and leaves, ending the discussion. The raven-haired boy merely glares before he opens the door. He rushes over to Hinata, who had sank to the ground and was clutching the handkerchief.

"Hinata, are you okay…?" Kageyama asks, but his only reply was a soft sniffle and a sigh. Hinata tilted his head up, a mixture of relief and shame showing in his eyes. Kageyama felt his heart drop when he saw his tear-streaked cheeks.

The redhead blinks, using the handkerchief to wipe away the few tears that escaped him. "I'm fine, Kageyama-kun. I'm okay."

The other boy nearly snorts at that, "Sure, if seeing you sitting on the floor crying is considered okay."

"I'm not crying!" Hinata shouts, a pout forming. "But, I… I feel alittle better now."

Kageyama slightly calmed down, leaning back to let Hinata stand up. He waits a few seconds before standing up as well. He glances away, his body shifting awkwardly. "I heard. What happened with the… y'know. Ice skating. Thing."

'Flawless,' The setter thinks, but Hinata shakes his head, his shoulders shaking as he laughed, airy and light. '...cute.'

"Yeah, um… sorry about that, Kageyama-kun…"

He doesn't say a thing. In an attempt to comfort him, he slowly, hesitantly, gently places his hand on the small patch of skin behind Hinata's head. The other jumps at the feeling, but doesn't pull away. Instead, he looks up at the setter, his honey-glazed eyes full of confusion.

"Kageyama... kun...?"

His thumb graze the other's neck, softly so that Hinata can barely feel it. He had to hold in his shiver that crawled down his spine. The redhead blinks, his cheeks starting to flush in a glowing red. Kageyama continues the soft touch, and despite his straight face that held a stubborn frown, he was ecstatic. The heat radiating from Hinata's own body, the way he could almost feel the energy buzzing around him, makes his heart leap far and out-of-bounds. He glances at Hinata's lips, not caring if the shorter boy saw his interest. Something in the air was charged with an energy he can't break. Not yet. Not when he's so close to Hinata.

Time seemed to stand still as Hinata could only take what he was given- that light touch alone lit something deep inside his chest. And the little glance Kageyama made was so obvious that Hinata wanted nothing more than to lean up and mend his lips with the other, to curve his body against his. He felt another gentle touch behind his neck, making him release a small sound. The air between them got heavier when the redhead's eyes droop. Kageyama swallowed, his own cheeks starting to turn red at the growing darkness lying in Hinata's eyes.

'I… I don't want to quit volleyball...' Hinata thought, stepping closer to the tall setter till their chests touched. The redhead stared back with a lingering promise underneath his gaze. 'If I skate… will you watch me Kageyama-kun?' '

Kageyama blinked slowly. Hinata's breath got caught in his throat at the stare, the hand behind his neck slowly falling down onto his shoulders, and then onto his hands. His heart pulsed when he felt his own reach out to grasp it, gently at first, before tightening around Kageyama's.

"Okay." Kageyama stated, eyes glinting underneath the lowlights of the locker room.

"Show me and win this damn competition so we can play volleyball together."

I feel like everytime i try to update, the html messes everything up-