"Asahi! Carry me, I'm tired!"

Nishinoya jumped onto Asahi's back, grasping like a spider monkey and nearly bowling over his upperclassman in his haste. Asahi held his hands out to balance himself as Nishinoya buried his face in his hair. Hinata laughed at both the way Asahi started to panic about the short boy wrapped around him and Nishinoya's subtle wink in his direction. He glanced up at the black haired boy next to him who was blinking slowly. They were on their way to a match against a high school they had never played before and while they were all excited, it was also a three hour drive and the sun was barely rising.

"Hey, Kageyama," Hinata said nudging the setter slightly with a mischievous grin, "Will you carry me too?"

A few days ago they had had a sort of heart to heart, well more like a fist to fist, about what Kageyama's crush on Hinata was doing to their teamwork. Ok, so Hinata hadn't actually called him out for that specifically but they had both agreed to just swallow down the tension that had been threatening to dismantle what felt like their entire ecosystem.

Of course, Hinata had been talking completely out of his ass.

Sure he said he wanted to just ignore it, but how was he supposed to ignore the fact that one of the few people he could be one hundred percent himself with was attracted to him? Kageyama had been so grateful for Hinata's idea, to the point that their quick attacks had mostly come back in full force, and it just seemed extra cruel if Hinata suddenly had to tell him, "Actually no wait, never mind, I'm not over it."

Kageyama yawned. "Touch me and I'm ending you."

That was like practically begging for Hinata to do exactly that. And Hinata was always willing to bother Kageyama for a laugh. He jumped up curling his arms around Kageyama's neck following in Nishinoya's example. Except unlike Asahi, Kageyama was always ready to throw Hinata into next week.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Kageyama yelled as he pulled at the arms around his throat, "You trying to kill me or something?"

"How embarrassing would that be for you?" Hinata replied as casually as he could with one of Kageyama's hands smushed against his face.

"Why are you like this?" Kageyama tried to pry Hinata's arms off from around his neck. It was technically his own fault that Hinata had to tighten his hold around his windpipe.

At the sound of someone sucking at their teeth the two of them froze. Tsukishima had a disgusted look on his face, Yamaguchi beside him was snickering behind his hand. Hinata could feel Kageyama tense under his fingertips already gearing up to get into a verbal smack down with the taller blonde boy. Hinata could enrage Kageyama more than most but he was sure that Kageyama at least liked him sometimes, unlike Tsukishima who he could never get along with unless it was on the court.

"Will you two stop flirting with each other and just get on the bus?" Tsukishima sneered before climbing the steps and disappearing into the bus, Yamaguchi hot on his heels.

Kageyama's hands dropped from Hinata's and it was almost as though Hinata could physically feel him deflating beneath him like a popped balloon.

"Get down," Kageyama mumbled.

The tone in his voice, or rather the lack of one, made Hinata release him immediately. He watched Kageyama adjust the duffel bag strap across his chest and climb onto the bus, his expression stormy. Hinata quickly looked to Nishinoya who only sucked in air through his teeth and shrugged.

Great, just great.

They had barely started getting back to normal and Tsukishima had to open his big annoying mouth. Hinata wanted to give the salty blocker a piece of his mind, but he didn't know how to do that without accidentally outing Kageyama. Even more so, he wanted to tell Kageyama not to listen to him, and ignore his jabs, except he knew in Kageyama's case, those jabs were hitting somewhere far too close to home. Ugh, friendship was hard.

Hinata hurried onto the bus and before he could talk himself out of it, sat in the seat beside Kageyama. It really shouldn't have been a big deal, they had sat together on buses and in stadium bleachers all the time. But these days, Hinata had learned the habit of second guessing his instincts. He wasn't going to let that stop him from trying to do better though.

Kageyama looked at him out of the corner of his eye before turning to the window and crossing his arms. Hinata thought bemusedly that he looked like a pouting child. He opened his bag at his feet. He found the milk carton his mom had insisted he bring with him since he had skipped breakfast in an effort to avoid needing to empty his stomach before the match. He silently held it out to the angry boy beside him. It was like trying to entice a street cat and his patience paid off when slowly Kageyama took the drink mumbling a quiet "thanks".

Ok, so maybe friendship wasn't that hard.

0o0

His stomach was committing mutiny!

Hinata tried to find his way around the unfamiliar sports complex searching for a bathroom to go hurl or die in, whichever happened first. It was Kageyama's fault, as most things were. Once he had found out Hinata had left home without eating he pulled out several granola bars from his bag and demanded Hinata eat one, calling him stupid for attempting to go into battle without having taken care of himself properly. As annoying as Kageyama's mothering was, it left a warm feeling in Hinata's chest. Of course that feeling was gone now that his body was staging a coup. Where the hell was the bathroom?

"Lost small fry?"

Hinata stiffened and turned around to find two taller (weren't they always) boys in the school's deep blue volleyball team uniform. They could probably help.

"Actually ye –

"Woah, hold on!" said the taller one with blonde hair falling over his forehead and into his eyes blocking them from view, "You're one of the Karasuno guys we're playing against today."

Hinata beamed with pride. "Yes, I am."

The second boy with narrow gray eyes and black hair spiked towards the front of his head which reminded Hinata of a duck's bill crossed his arms. "Are you sure? There's no way they let someone as short as you on the team. You look like a kid."

"Hey!" Hinata shouted, forgetting about his intestinal problems for a moment, "I'm going to be the ace of the team in the future!"

The three boys all looked at each other in silence before the blonde let out a small, "pfft," and he and his friend doubled over in laughter. Hinata frowned. He was used to being underestimated; it only made showing off the hard work he and his team put in all the more gratifying. Still, it didn't stop it from sucking when someone made fun of him. The duck boy elbowed the blonde.

"This is the team with the King on it too right? Heard he got basically kicked from his old team. This is going to be the easiest win of the year!"

Oh, that kind of shit talking simply would not stand.

"Yes, we have him! That's why we're going to have the easiest win!" The words stampeded out of Hinata's mouth almost faster than he could say them. "He's a genius setter who's going to wipe the floor with you!"

The blonde stepped forward then, leaning down and getting into Hinata's personal space. "Is that so little man? Didn't realize we had a member of the King's Army over here." He poked one finger into Hinata's chest and shoved hard. "Forgive me if I don't believe in that shit."

Hinata stumbled two steps back. The two taller boys leered down at him, laughing at their own perceived superiority. His initial thoughts were to run and find his way back to his team. His pride demanded that he stay planted firm, to stand up for himself and not rely on anyone else. Common sense and self-preservation said he definitely wouldn't win if he kicked them both in the shins like he was considering, and he'd probably be the one in trouble even if they were the ones who started it.

"Do not touch my teammate again."

Three heads whipped to the side and stared down the hallway where a lone figure in black shorts and track jacket stood. Hinata's heart kickflipped.

"Or what?" Duck boy said smirking, "You gonna do something about it?"

Kageyama's head was tilted and he was staring at the group from beneath his bangs, his mouth drawn down in a severe line. It was a look Hinata recognized, one Kageyama used when he had personally been affronted. He had first witnessed it when he and Kageyama had met Tsukishima and they had nearly come to blows right there in the park. He must have overheard these guys use his old nickname and was rightfully pissed.

"The game officials wouldn't be too happy to know there's been pre-game intimidation by your team," Kageyama said as he walked towards them hands casually in his jacket pockets. He nodded towards Hinata. "He can say you were doing all sorts of things to him and I guarantee they'll believe a short defenseless first year over you two."

The blonde frowned but quickly hid it behind a carefree scoff. "As if anything actually happened." He smacked his duck friend who had suddenly gone a shade paler. "Let's go. We don't have time to deal with these kids." The duck nodded dumbly and waddled after the blonde as they hurried down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.

Kageyama let out a longsuffering sigh as he looked to Hinata.

"You ok? You hurt at all?"

"Just my pride," he said forlornly. Hinata's sternum was sore from where he got aggressively poked but other than that he was uninjured.

He was suddenly smacked on the back of the head.

"What the hell are you even doing over here, dumbass?"

"Ow, what the hell?" Hinata rubbed at his head while glaring at his 'savior'. "I was just looking for a bathroom and I got lost."

"Why didn't you just use the ones that are right at the gym entrance?"

Hinata blinked. "The what?"

Kageyama rolled his eyes heavily as he dragged his palms down his face. "Never mind." He grabbed Hinata's hand. It was colder than a normal person's. "The game's starting soon and Coach Ukai wants to go over some last minute plays."

"Wait a minute!" Hinata yelped as he was dragged behind the setter, "I can walk on my own, let go!"

"So you can run off and get lost again? I don't think so."

Hinata pouted at being treated like a rowdy child. Still, he kind of owed Kageyama one, so the least he could do was allow himself to be led back to civilization even if he was being really bossy about it. Oddly enough all the excitement had forced his stomach to settle back down.

"You're not going to actually tell the officials that those guys were doing a bunch of bad stuff right?"

Kageyama gave him an incredulous look. "And risk getting kicked off the team for filing a false report? Not for you I'm not!"

Hinata sighed in relief. He really hadn't wanted to wade any deeper into that mess. Kageyama led them down a set of stairs. Hinata tried to remember if he had actually climbed stairs at one point? He had been more lost than he thought.

"You shouldn't have entertained them."

Hinata nearly tripped on a step. "What do you mean?"

"I know you can hold your own most of the time even if you're stupid about it," Kageyama said. Hinata could feel the grip around his fingers tighten slightly but not to the point of discomfort. "You should ignore them when they try to rile you up. They just want to affect the way you play."

Hinata hung his head in shame. Yeah, that would have been a lot easier than standing there and trying to decide his odds in a two-on-one fight. He knew Kageyama must have a lot of experience in ignoring the remarks of those who didn't like him.

"I'm sor—

"Or you could have just kicked them and run," Kageyama said off-handedly, "You're pretty quick."

Hinata jogged to be able to walk next to him and look him in the eyes excitedly.

"I was thinking of doing that too!"

When they had finally arrived at the gym, Hinata had to apologize profusely for making his team worry as they all came up to the two boys asking several questions, except for Tsukishima who didn't really care to know where they had been. While Kageyama explained what had happened to Ukai and Takeda, Hinata felt a slight nudge against his shoulder. He looked up at Tanaka who had sidled up next to them and was failing miserably at appearing casual.

"So, it sounds like Kageyama was able to, you know, get a grip on things," Tanaka said trying to suppress a grin.

"Yeah, he did. Those guys were… they were… uhh…." Hinata's voice trailed off as he followed Tanaka's very pointed look down to where Kageyama's hand was still comfortably wrapped around his own and still chilling the spaces between each of Hinata's fingers.

He wasn't even really holding him properly anymore, in fact, Hinata could slip out right that instant if he wanted. Hinata looked back to his senpai who wiggled his eyebrows at him. He could feel his cheeks warm and his heart perform another kickflip. Would it be too noticeable to let go now with their teammates still around them? Or would waiting be more awkward? Hinata had no idea what to do and no clue what Kageyama could be thinking. In the meantime, he stayed exactly where he was, his own hand warming his setter's.

** Chapter 7 on 11/05/22**