Unsurprisingly, it had been Suga that had started it.

From the very first week of volleyball practice up until the present, Hinata had always had this particular...charm about him. It wasn't a secret to anyone, obviously, considering about half the population of Japan at this point had fallen head over heels for the adorable little ginger with a smile that could rival the sun.

Partly what made Hinata so irresistible to anyone and everyone was the fact that his face was just about as sweet and endearing as his endless ramblings and waterfall of compliments. Whereas his charisma certainly did wonders and practically made people flock to him from all sides, his big, brown eyes and curly orange hair definitely helped him stand out in a crowd full of white school uniforms and bland oak wood structures.

And that was another thing.

No one made any effort to hide the fact that Hinata was the baby of the team, let alone the entire volleyball league. He wasn't even the youngest in Karasuno, very far from it, actually. He was the oldest of the first-years on the team, much to the dismay of Tsukishima when he found out, but despite that, they all treated him like a kid brother. It was kind of hard not to, to be completely honest. Even Kiyoko, who had suddenly grown much closer with their resident sunshine over the past few months, could be seen bringing simple things such as energy bars or Gatorade specifically for him whenever there was a weekend practice or when she knew he'd skipped lunch.

Hinata just had a feeling about him. He was rambunctious, always energetic, borderline hyperactive, and, to be frank, pretty fucking adorable. Of course, his size didn't help anything either, especially when there were people like Asahi on the team who'd immediately fallen in love with this small, kitten-like boy the second he'd laid eyes on him and was insistent on treating him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

And all Hinata had to do was flash one of those pretty smiles and jump around like a kid on caffeine to get them to do practically anything.

He never did, though, of course. For all his awareness on the court, he was still completely and utterly oblivious to how much everyone in his general vicinity adored him to bits and pieces, which was as charming as it was annoying. On the one hand, it was kind of amazing Hinata thought the way he had the entire volleyball community wrapped around his pinky finger was normal. If anything, it was just a testament to how ridiculously nice he was in real life because he treated everyone he met like everyone else treated him too.

On the other hand, Tsukishima was convinced he was faking it because, in his words, 'There's no way someone like him can be real. He's too perfect,' which basically meant he begrudgingly adored Hinata as much as the rest of them but was too much of a hard-ass to admit it.

Taking all of those things into account, as well as throwing someone as nurturing and empathetic as Sugawara Koushi into the mix, it wasn't much of a surprise when the nickname 'baby' made its way onto Suga's lips and had never left it since.

It hadn't even been anything monumental. The team had been taking their regularly scheduled five-minute break after two hours of volleyball practice. Suga had been sitting on the sidelines, quietly chatting with Daichi, and Hinata had been a few feet away by the bleachers where they'd put all of their stuff. Suga had taken one look at his position, put a finger up to single to the captain that he needed a second, and called, "Hey, baby, could you hand me my water bottle?"

And Hinata, in all his oblivious glory, hadn't even hesitated in nodding and picking up the setter's stuff, walking over to hand it to him.

Whereas the pet name had garnered more than a few confused looks from everyone else in earshot, Hinata hadn't even so much as blinked.

Suga, on the other hand, had gone stiff the moment he'd registered what had come out of his mouth, cheeks red from embarrassment and mouth pinched into a painful, painful expression. He merely nodded and smiled when Hinata had bounded over to hand him his water, tips of his ears scarlet and looking about ready to climb up into the rafters and jump off the highest one.

"Baby?" Daichi had whispered once Hinata was out of earshot and the shocked silence had dissipated into its usual chatter. "Really?"

"What?" Suga hissed, aggressively squirting what little water he had left into his waiting mouth. "It was an accident, okay? And are you gonna tell me I'm wrong?"

Daichi opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again before pursing his lips together and moving to stare at the floor. At the captain's silence, Suga just huffed and stuck his nose in the air.

"Yeah. That's what I thought." He cocked his head at the ginger, who was currently engaged in what looked like a rather stimulating conversation with Kageyama, who wasn't matching his energy at all and just mindlessly nodding every once in a while to keep Hinata entertained so he didn't go off and nag him more. "We've all been thinking it. I'm just the first one to actually say it. I bridged the gap. You're welcome."

Before Daichi could say anything more, Suga got up, threw him the stink eye, and walked across the gym to join the rest of the team in getting back into practice mode.

The captain just groaned, begrudgingly leaving his space by the wall and standing up to follow him because, for one, this bunch of people was too rowdy to be left alone without him for more than a minute lest a fight broke out, and for two, the faster he got practice over with the faster he could go home and take a Tylenol because Suga was absolutely right, they all did (unconsciously, to be fair to them) baby Hinata into oblivion (it was hard not to), and that was a whole can of worms he didn't want to deal with until the morning.

xxx

The nickname only gained traction from there.

Although Hinata wasn't actually a baby and still treated with the same respect and seriousness as everyone else, he had an image.

To be frank with it, he was small, had fluffy curls, had big, starry eyes, freckles, had a personality that clashed beautifully with pretty much everyone, had a smile that could rival the sun, had the most infectious laugh to ever exist, was the most hyperactive and positive person most people had ever seen, and activated pretty much everyone's parental instincts within a mile radius.

Basically, he was adorable, caring, affectionate, and kind of the best thing to exist on this planet. Plus, one small grin from him could turn pretty much everyone into mush on the spot, so naturally, as one does with a human being so tenderhearted and good and pure, that made it pretty much everyone's goal to keep him as happy as possible if only for the chance to see him grin, if not for the fact that they all adored him to the ends of the earth.

To sum things up, that equated to a lot of needless babying.

Not babying in the sense that the team always sat him on the sidelines, discouraged him from going hard in practice, or wouldn't even let him ride home to 'dangerous' places on his own. That would just be weird, considering he was still a high school student and one of their best friends first and foremost.

No, they babied him in the sense that he got special privileges, Daichi could never get mad at him, and all of the upperclassmen would randomly buy him food and sweets from various convenience stores because it was Hinata for god's sakes, and they adored the kid to bits and pieces.

So, when the pet name 'baby' started making its way around the team, it wasn't really a surprise to...well, to be honest, it wasn't really a surprise to anybody.

After Suga had gotten over his initial teasing from the team and embarrassment about calling their wing spiker that out of nowhere, it became kind of an everyday thing. He had basically adopted Hinata the moment he'd stepped through the gym doors on the first day of school anyway, so it wasn't like the development came as a surprise to anybody. It was a well-known fact that Suga would sacrifice all of them in a heartbeat if it meant that Hinata would still be alive and smiling (he had declared it himself in the group chat), so everyone kind of just let it be.

And from there, it kind of just...expanded.

Slowly but surely, the pet name was slowly integrated into all of their vocabularies. And Hinata, ever the oblivious mess and with his eagerness to please, never once questioned it. Thinking back to it, Suga didn't even know how he'd known he was talking to him the first time he'd accidentally called him baby when asking for his water bottle, but the wing spiker had responded to it well enough that he supposed there was no reason to question it.

It came to the point where they had all used the nickname at least once, some more than others, and some only because they hadn't been thinking and just blurted it out loud.

For example, Suga, as expected, used it pretty much every chance he got. Whenever Hinata was feeling down, worn out, stressed, or had done something stupid (like, per se, get himself into a dangerous bike accident), the pet name tumbled out of the setter's lips like a waterfall.

Nishinoya, surprisingly, used it often as well, as did Tanaka. While they still stuck to their regular nicknames of 'number one shorty,' 'shrimpy,' and 'small fry,' there were occasions when Hinata endeared his two upperclassmen so much that the only way to keep from melting to a puddle of goop on the ground was to let all the giddiness out in the form of incoherent babbling that was supposed to be compliments and thrown around pet names. Plus, the two-second years often referred to the ginger as 'our baby' behind his back, so that canceled out their lack of direct usage.

The others, including Daichi, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Ennoshita, and most everyone else on the team, didn't use it as often, but it had been said at least once or twice.

Ennoshita, who was still unable to get Hinata's kitten sneeze out of his mind to this day (not that he really wanted to, per se), never used 'baby' in place of 'Hinata' or some other generic short pun, but behind closed door would often squeal to anyone who would listen about how fucking cute his teammate's sneeze was and how he'd always thought that the 'baby of the team' got more adorable day by day.

Daichi and Yamaguchi were pretty much interchangeable. While both were still weak as shit for Hinata Shouyou, Daichi was more practical and serious since it was his job to be the captain of the team, and Yamaguchi was one of Hinata's best friends and, quite noticeably, younger than him, so the pet name didn't get used nearly as often as it did with someone such as the two second-years or Suga in all his adoring glory.

However, there were exceptions. Yamaguchi, ever the softie, especially for Hinata, would let the pet name slip once in a while when they were alone at each other's houses during a sleepover or doing homework or doing some other activity with just the two of them. Similarly, Daichi only called him it when they were alone or out of earshot of everyone else, typically reserving it for when Hinata felt really down about his performance during a game or a set, voice reassuring and motivating.

Even Tsukishima, to his horror, had slipped up once and accidentally referred to Hinata as 'the baby' when he had come up in a discussion between him, Suga, and Tanaka. Now, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal if it wasn't Tsukishima and if not for the fact that he'd said it unironically.

He'd realized his mistake almost immediately, but before he could take anything back, Tanaka had already whipped out his phone and texted Nishinoya, who, in turn, had texted the team group chat.

It was lucky for Tsukishima that Hinata was never active on those things (he was way too hyper to be sitting around on his phone all day and check every time he got a message, which, with as popular as he was with pretty much everyone, would be a very tasking job indeed), because for as admittedly dense as the ginger was, if he'd read that Tsukishima of all people had referred to him as 'the baby' unironically, he never would've let him live it down.

The lingo had even been adopted by other teams who had overheard Suga's incessant praises during matches or mutterings when Hinata had fainted at training camp or when visiting him in the hospital after his biking accident.

Oikawa, of course, had been quick to pick it up instantly. He practically used it more than the entirety of Karasuno combined. He used it pretty much every chance he could get, whether the circumstances be appropriate or otherwise. It occasionally made for some rather strange stares at times, but Oikawa didn't seem to mind, and neither did Hinata, so no one ever said anything.

Similar to Oikawa, Bokuto had also jumped on the agenda. His loud voice and overly boisterous personality made the name sound more like a battle cry than an endearing sobriquet. Akaashi, too, had taken to occasionally dropping Hinata's actual surname in favor of the affectionate nickname, but he was much softer with it and used it much more scarcely.

And it spread like that, from team to team.

Tendou had immediately taken a liking to the name, but he only used it privately when talking about Hinata to others. The word 'baby' had somehow become some kind of descriptive adjective when it came to telling others about the wing spiker. It was either 'he looks like a baby puppy, I swear to god' or 'he looks like a baby kitten, I'm not lying' or something along the lines of comparing the ginger to other fluffy animals.

Terushima didn't use the name in public when addressing Hinata, but others had been told he would use it behind closed doors when he would practically have a mental breakdown about one of the glorious hugs the wing spiker had given him on their first day of meeting.

Kuroo said it with a smirk and a grin.

Aone used it sparingly, but whenever he did, it made people stop and stare because how could somehow so serious use a pet name? (And then, of course, they would take one look at Hinata and understand completely)

Kenma, in all his introverted glory and as one of Hinata's best friends, had never really joined in on the craze, but if the way he would always cuddle up with Hinata and only Hinata every chance he got was any indication, he didn't have to.

And from there, it went on. As the Hinata Harem (trademark Tsukishima Kei, who had come up with it once when having a conversation about how many freaking friends Hinata had and the name had just stuck) grew, it got to the point where pretty much everyone in their tightknit volleyball community of teams had either said the nickname outright, called their precious wing spiker it directly, or insinuated it in some way with actions instead of words.

Everyone, that is, except for one emotionally constipated, stubborn as shit Kageyama Tobio.

xxx

"Bakayama!" Hinata threw the front door open and pulled him inside, barely letting him have enough time to get his shoes off before dragging him towards the kitchen. "About time. I've been waiting for you forever."

"I'm literally ten minutes early, but okay." Kageyama allowed himself to be yanked over to the kitchen counter, sitting down when Hinata finally released the vice-like grip he had on his hand in favor of crossing the room to see what they had in the fridge. "Are you home alone?"

"Yup." Hinata popped the p and took out a leftover container of barbeque from the night before. He peered over his shoulder at the setter in question, closing the fridge when Kageyama nodded his approval for their dinner choice. "My mom's at some work event in New York or some other big city in the United States, and Natsu went with her because she's been watching way too many of those American movies and is convinced she's gonna meet the love of her life there or something."

Kageyama snorted and moved one of the ribs from the container to his plate Hinata had set out beforehand. "Isn't she like six?"

"Yeah, I know." Hinata popped a piece of cold pork in his mouth before grabbing Kageyama's dish and putting it in the microwave. "But at least I get the house to myself. I didn't really want to cook for two people for two weeks anyway."

"Damn," Kageyama muttered. He scratched his cheek. "Two weeks? Isn't that kinda long?"

"Eh." Hinata shrugged. "I guess. I've been left on my own for a month a few times before."

"I feel like that's child endangerment."

"Probably. But I like it, so not really."

"Fair enough."

The microwave beeped, sending a jarring end to their conversation. Kageyama flinched at the sudden noise, while Hinata just rose from where he'd been peering across the kitchen counter at Kageyama to pop open the door and retrieve the steaming pile of food, carefully placing it in front of his friend so he didn't spill anything before putting his own serving in and setting the timer again.

"So." He turned around once he was satisfied, smiling dopily at Kageyama. "Whaddaya want to do tonight?'

"I don't know." Kageyama stuffed a fork full of barbeque into his mouth and was delighted to find that it was actually a product of home cooking, not just from some cheap restaurant leftovers. He'd never say it out loud (for one, he couldn't let the shorty's ego get too big, and for two, he would be forced to add another point onto Hinata's point tally), but his wing spiker was a pretty damn good cook. Of course, it was probably a product of having to prepare meals for himself and his sister while his mother was out of town, which, in retrospect, actually sounded pretty fucking sad, but if that meant Kageyama got to eat barbeque decorated with spices and cooked to perfection instead of regular old pork slathered in barbeque sauce, he wasn't complaining. "You're the host here. This is your house. You decide."

"Okay. Let's play Mario Kart."

"Ew, no." Kageyama wrinkled his nose. "We always play Mario Kart."

"Dude, you asked me to choose."

"And I'm asking you to choose something else."

The two stared each other down from opposite sides of the counter.

"You just don't like it because I always beat you."

"Do not."

"Do too!" Hinata pranced around the table to flick Kageyama in the back of his heat, ducking away when he tried to hit him back. "I kick your butt every time we play!"

"Uh, are you crazy? I beat your ass like seventy-five percent of the time."

Hinata blinked. "Are you crazy? You raged so hard last time you were over because I was beating you so bad that you put a controller through the wall and we had to bribe Natsu to keep it a secret before we could fix it."

He poked Kageyama's cheek. Kageyama just scoffed.

"It was a fluke."

Hinata rolled his eyes. "Mmhm."

"Anyway." He stuffed another bite of barbeque into his mouth, subsequently reminding Hinata to take his out of the microwave so he could start eating as well. "Mario Kart's lame. Let's watch a movie or something."

"I'm down." Hinata grabbed his plate, bobbling it a little so as not to burn his hands, and set it down beside Kageyama's. He reached over to take a swig of the setter's water, dodging his half-hearted slap with a grin and an eyebrow raise. Kageyama, who was probably more used to it than he should be, just ignored him until he put his glass down so he could finish his water off for himself. "Anything in mind? Anything on Netflix and On-Demand is free game."

There was a moment of silence.

"Ohmygod." Kageyama slammed his hands down on the countertop, making Hinata jump. He turned towards his hitter, eyes flashing just a little more menacingly than before. "Let's watch that new horror movie that came out on Netflix last week. I heard it's packed full of jumpscares and all kinds of fucked up gore." He grinned maniacally, energy suddenly back at the prospect of a challenge. "First one to chicken out loses."

He looked at Hinata expectantly when he didn't automatically jump at the chance of competition with his best friend like he usually did.

Hinata, on the other hand, just made a face, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt under the table and out of Kageyama's peripherals. "Eh, I don't know. We're literally home alone, Kageyama. And isn't it a little too...highly rated for us to be watching it?"

Kageyama raised an eyebrow and snorted. "What, are you scared?"

"Scared?" And all at once, whatever previous hesitance Hinata had had was gone, replaced by a somewhat offended tone and prideful glare. If there was one way to egg Hinata on, it was to undermine him somehow, especially if the person undermining him was Kageyama. "Are you kidding? No, of course not. I'm just being logical."

Kageyama fixed him with a disbelieving stare. "Scaredy cat."

"Am not!"

"Chicken."

"Bro, aren't you scared of Oikawa or something?"

"And you're scared of super tall people, what's good."

They stared at each other for a moment before Kageyama finally spoke.

"So we're on?"

"Oh, we're on."

xxx

Hinata was beginning to regret every single decision he'd ever made, starting with becoming friends with stupid fucking Kageyama Tobio.

The movie (which was called 'Solace' or some other cryptic bullshit, Hinata was too petrified to remember), true to its multiple reviews and ratings on IMDb, was scary as shit, and that was putting things lightly.

Despite his rather fluffy and wholesome appearance and attitude, Hinata wasn't a wimp. Far from it, actually. He wouldn't say he was a horror movie fanatic, but the genre was definitely up there with his favorite types of film and media. Contrary to his usual naive behavior and popular opinion, Hinata could take a jumpscare like it was nobody's business. The only reason he'd hesitated a little on Kageyama's challenge was because, for one, he was home alone for another week and didn't wish to be haunted with delusions of mysterious shadow figures or whatever monster was in the movie he'd proposed, and for two, he'd seen enough critiques about the movie Kageyama had been talking about to know that it was intense intense. As in, not for high schoolers to watch.

But, of course, Hinata had let his pride get the best of him and allowed his best friend to egg him on into turning on the tv and putting on the movie while he turned off the lights and made their customary bowl of popcorn.

And that's how they got here, not even halfway through with Kageyama's eyes glued to the screen and squeezing a pillow between his arms like his life depended on it and Hinata flinching at every sudden sound and movement and cursing himself for getting himself in this situation in the first place while simultaneously trying to convince himself to keep going because he could not lose to Kageyama.

Another very real, much too authentic scream sounded throughout the house, making Hinata choke on the popcorn he'd been desperately stuffing in his mouth so he didn't make any noise.

On second thought, was losing really the worst thing in the world?

"Kageyama." Hinata tugged on his friend's sleeve, taking comfort in the way he flinched so he knew he wasn't the only one close to cracking. "I really don't like this."

Immediately, Kageyama's head snapped towards him. "Are you admitting defeat?"

His voice sounded much too hopeful.

Hinata just scowled. Leave it to him to chicken out of chickening out.

"No." He muttered, sinking back down into the cushions and trying to resist the urge to sprint upstairs to the comfort of his own bed instead of sitting here in a dark room with his evil fucking best friend and this scary-ass movie. "I'm just saying."

Kageyama eyed him suspiciously, though Hinata suspected the only reason he didn't let it drop was because he wanted an excuse to look somewhere else than the screen. "You sure?"

"Yes." Hinata pulled one of their many fluffy blankets up to his chin. "Positive."

"If you say so."

They lapsed into silence, their eyes slowly but surely making their way back to the screen decorated with blood, guts, and actors whose reactions looked a little too authentic to not be some degree of unsettling.

Both of them pretended not to see the other wince as yet another protagonist was sliced cleanly through with one singular, razor-sharp talon that looked a little too real for comfort.

As an hour went by, Hinata could barely process what was happening anymore. He'd been able to at least somewhat follow the storyline at the beginning when the film had been building up to the thriller bits, but the screaming and the demons and extremely talented horror actors that made the movie more terrifying than any amount of CGI ever could drowned out the logical part of his brain until all he could think about was not chickening out first and how long it would take for the movie to end so he could turn the tv the hell off.

It was easy to see this movie was rated what it was for a good reason, and that the critics reviewing it hadn't been overexaggerating at all like Kageyama had claimed they were when setting up the television. It was a shame, honestly, because in addition to them saying it was 'the scariest horror movie they'd seen to date,' there had been quite a few professionals who had claimed that it had a 'very compelling storyline and plot.' If it hadn't been while he was home alone with his best friend on the top of a mountain with little to no one around to hear them scream, he might've actually enjoyed it.

Might've. The movie probably still would've scared him shitless even in the middle of a bustling city during the daytime.

"Hey. Dumbass."

Kageyama's voice, which sounded much more relieved than usual, snapped him out of his petrified daze. His head snapped up to the screen, fully prepared to defend himself and say that he had had his eyes on the movie the entire time and he wasn't cheating, but his protests died on his tongue when all he found was the credits rolling before him.

"Oh." His voice was breathy. Almost a whisper. "Is it over?"

"Yes, stupid." Kageyama rolled his eyes, clearly trying to act like a hard-ass, but the goosebumps still running up and down his arms gave him away instantly. He got up from his spot on the couch and flipped the light switch, bathing the room in the regular, warm yellow hue that had been turned off for what was probably the better part of two hours now. From there, he turned to look at Hinata. "I guess we tied."

"Yeah." Hinata smiled stiffly, unable to unlatch his fingers from his death grip on the blanket. If Kageyama noticed, he didn't say anything. "I guess so."

The room lapsed into a chilly silence.

"Should we get ready for bed?"

"Yes, please."

xxx

Fuck.

Hinata should've known better than to think the comfort of his bedroom would be enough to quell his overactive imagination and irrational nightmares. Logically, he knew what made that movie so scary had just been absolutely stellar acting and phenomenal production and that at the end of the day, it was just a movie.

Still, he couldn't stop the intrusive thoughts from slipping through the cracks in his defenses and poisoning his brain until that was all he could think about.

Kageyama, as the guest, had taken Hinata's bed.

Hinata, being the selfless angel he was, even when it came to his rival-slash-best friend, had opted to set up a cot on the floor. Kageyama had given him a doubtful look (one would have to be blind not to see how shaken up Hinata was after that movie, even if Kageyama wasn't much better), but had ultimately given in at the promise of a comfy mattress and fluffed up pillows as opposed to an uncomfortable ground that would undoubtedly hurt his back in the morning.

They'd gotten their pajamas on, brushed their teeth, Hinata had done his skincare routine, and after all was over and done with, there was nothing left to do than get into their respective sleeping places, turn off the lights, and try their hardest to get some shut-eye after watching one-hundred-twenty straight minutes of people screaming and being hunted down by imaginary, very real looking monsters.

They'd talked a little, of course, as all best friends do at sleepovers, but as Kageyama's voice had tapered off into soft snores, Hinata knew he was alone.

And that's what got the thoughts started.

Every time he closed his eyes, he got a prickle up his back accompanied by the tiny voice in his head screaming at him to 'wake the fuck up and check behind you or else something is gonna get you!' among other rather distressing phrases that sent him tossing and turning whenever he tried to escape to dreamland.

Him laying awake was even worse. He was usually a pretty heavy sleeper. With all the physical activity he did every day, he was usually out like a light once his head hit the pillow. He'd never actually taken the time to notice how...creepy his room was at night.

The cherry blossoms outside his window, which usually made for beautiful scenery and a home for the birds to sing him awake, cast ghastly, spiny shadows on the wall, every so once in a while scratching on the windows when there was a big gust of wind and making him jump.

His bed was basically a mattress on top of a block of wood, so thankfully, he didn't have to worry about any ghostly hands with sharp nails reaching out from under there and pulling him in, but his closet...holy fuck, he'd never realized how ominous that thing was.

For one, it was massive. It's sliding doors that could open from both the inside and out...its humongous interior that was mostly empty because Hinata wore pretty much the same thing every day could be holding anything. Something could be lurking in there, waiting for him to turn his back and close his eyes as he curled up before reaching out and slashing him to pieces like it had those people in the movies-

Hinata bolted upright. He couldn't do it. He didn't fucking care if Kageyama teased him for years after this; he couldn't sleep on the floor, all open and vulnerable where just about anything could get to him after the horrors and gore he'd witnessed on tv.

Stupid Kageyama and his stupid fucking ideas.

He sprung to his feet and sprinted over to the lamp he had on his desk, hurriedly turning it on before making a beeline for Kageyama, soles barely touching the floor in fear of some unknown presence grabbing onto his ankles and yanking him down like it had done to one of the characters during the beginning of the movie.

Oh, the screams of that girl, how she had begged to be let go by the demonic entity pulling her under-

Hinata could not keep sleeping on the floor.

"Kageyama!" He stopped at the edge of his bed, whisper shouting his friend's name and shaking his shoulders. "Wake up!"

Kageyama's eyes opened just a sliver before involuntarily sliding back shut as he flipped around so his back was now facing Hinata.

"Come on." Hinata just shook his shoulder harder, desperation-tinged voice slicing through the otherwise silent room. "Dude, that movie freaked me the hell out. I keep imagining things, and my brain keeps screaming at me that every time I close my eyes, something is going to get me, and I don't care if I get a loss for this, but please let me sleep in the bed. I really don't care if you're in it or not; I just cannot sleep on the floor anymore. I'm too paranoid; we were way too young for that movie, and watching it in the dark was a total mistake-"

"Hinata?"

A hushed whisper, rough and gravelly from disuse, cut him off, his frantic rantings interrupted by a finally conscious Kageyama.

"Yes, thank god." Hinata jumped into the bed, no longer giving a shit whether his best friend approved or not. He couldn't last another second with his back to that massive closet door and chills running up and down his spine. "I don't know how much of that you heard, but you're an idiot for making me watch that because I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks after this, and I'm literally gonna be here by myself home alone for the next few days, and I have no idea how I'm gonna cope because I'm already scared out of my mind right now and can't even sleep on a cot without freaking out and I don't care if you mark this as a loss or me chickening out, but I am terrified, and I need to sleep in the bed, and I kind of want you to stay with me because human contact calms me down but either way I am not sleeping on the floor."

He sucked in a deep breath and waited.

Kageyama just stared at him, eyes hazy with sleep and eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He probably didn't even pick up at least half of Hinata's nervous ramblings, but that was fine. He didn't need to. Hinata would've forced his way under the covers whether he liked it or not.

Finally, after about a solid minute of him regaining his bearings and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Kageyama lifted his head, gaze meeting Hinata's.

"What?"

"Basically, I'm scared, and I'm sleeping in this bed."

"You're scared?" Kageyama's reply was groggy at best, but he seemed mildly coherent. Considering how much of a pain it was to wake him up in the morning, Hinata considered that a win. "Because of...the movie?"

"Yes."

"And you can't sleep on the floor?"

"Exactly. Too exposed."

"Exposed?"

"Yeah. Something can reach out and grab me from all sides. I don't like it."

Kageyama sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, clearly still very out of it. "Baby..."

He froze, immediately registering what had just come out of his mouth the second it left his lips.

Unfortunately, so did Hinata.

His head snapped to attention because, of course, the one time the nickname would register in his stupid brain would be the one time Kageyama, of all people, accidentally said it. "Did you just call me baby?"

Well, Kageyama was wide fucking awake now. "Wha- no, I just-"

"You totally did." Hinata's previously pinched face morphed into a wide smile. "You just called me baby."

"I-" Kageyama sputtered. The tips of his ears were bright pink and darkening by the second. "Now wait-"

"Aren't you supposed to hate me or something?" Hinata crawled closer, eyes twinkling mischievously as he stopped and stared up at his best friend. "You're supposed to call me 'dumbass' or 'moron,' not 'baby.'"

"Look." God, Kageyama wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Of all the things he could've said while being half awake and half unconscious, that had to be one of them. "It was an accident, okay? It just slipped out."

"Sure. I accidentally call my rival-slash-best friend pet names all the time."

"Shut the fuck up." Kageyama shoved Hinata's chest, sending him sprawling and snickering into the pile of blankets that had accumulated there throughout the night. "It's like...ugh, why're you making a big deal out of it now? Everyone calls you it."

"'cause it's you." He giggled. He reached up to poke Kageyama's cheek. Kageyama slapped it away with a scoff. "You're supposed to be, like, all mean and brooding and emo and stuff."

"Wha- I'm not mean, brooding, or emo!"

"You call me names and hit me across the head whenever I annoy you."

"Okay, yeah, but I only do that to you. I'm so nice to everyone else!"

"Yachi is still mildly terrified of you."

Kageyama blinked. "Really? But we literally hang out-"

"And you still called me baby!" Hinata howled, and yep, there it was. The punchline to his joke.

A shitty punchline, in Kageyama's opinion, but a punchline nonetheless.

"Okay, look." He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, fighting the urge to kick Hinata onto the floor again and make him sleep there for the rest of the night as he'd been before. "It's not my fault. Everyone else in the volleyball league thinks you're adorable and, like, wants to adopt you or something. They literally call you 'baby' or 'the baby of the team' or something along those lines literally all the time. It was an accident."

"So you accidentally called your best friend baby?" Hinata blinked up at him, fluttering his eyelashes and clearly enjoying turning Kageyama into a stuttering mess.

"Yes!" Kageyama groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. If the lamp had been any lighter, one would've been able to see the furious, embarrassed blush painting his cheeks. "And you know that, and I know you know that because you're sitting here and grinning at me with that stupid fucking grin you get whenever you're trying to goad me into something!"

Hinata just smiled up at him.

Kageyama, on the other hand, grabbed a pillow and smashed it into his face, once again sending the smaller sprawling onto the sheets.

"You're infuriating, and I hate you."

"No, I'm baby." Hinata fluttered his eyelashes and made an exaggerated pout before yelping and ducking out of the way before he could get another face full of fabric and cushion. "And no one even calls me it that much. I know Suga does on occasion, but he's like the only one."

"Are you for real right now?" Kageyama made a face and put the pillow down. "Do you seriously not notice the bazillion other people that fawn over your every move?"

"Nope!" Hinata popped the p. "I've got a few friends, but I wouldn't say any of them fawn over me. I feel like that's too strong of a word."

"Hinata, Aone hugs you."

The ginger wrinkled his nose. "And? He does that with everyone. Aone's a big hugger."

Kageyama gave him a look. "Dumbass, no, he's not."

"Uhm, he is? He's like a human furnace. I lay on his shoulder every time I go over there to watch movies."

"Yeah, that's another thing. He's on a rival team. Rival teams don't just invite people from other teams over for a casual sleepover."

"Really?" Hinata looked at him curiously, sounding genuinely shocked by the statement. "You've never been to someone's house from a rival team?"

"No, dumbass! Not when I'm not with you!"

"Oh." Hinata paused before turning back to face him again. "So, what's you're point?"

And even in that moment, in old, ratty pajamas, fluffy hair in tangles, and skin pale from the ghostly cast of the lamp, Hinata's eyes were still as bright and curious as ever and still look like about the most huggable thing in all of existence because when was he not? And, adding onto that, when was he not so oblivious that it made Kageyama want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him and tell him how fucking whipped everyone he came in contact with was for him but couldn't because if Hinata's charm and charisma were this strong untrained and unmotivated, he could probably take over the world if he knew how to utilize it?

Never to both questions, apparently, because Hinata was as lovable as he was clueless to everyone tripping over their feet to see him smile, and Kageyama couldn't even tell him.

"My point is that you're a fucking dumbass." He mumbled finally, sliding down and pulling the covers up to his chin in one smooth motion. "And I don't like you, and you make me angry."

"Oh." Hinata was quiet for a moment. "So, can I sleep here with you tonight?"

Kageyama rolled his eyes. "Yes, stupid."

A pause.

"And your mom gave the okay for me to sleepover tomorrow night, right?"

"Obviously, dumbass." Kageyama flipped over to face him. "I asked her last week. She's practically preparing a party for you to come over."

"Hm. I love your mom. She's so nice."

Once again, the bedroom lapsed into silence.

Then, a snicker.

"You called me baby."

"Ohmygod, fuck off."