It's not that Hinata forgets to stay in touch. If anything, he remembers it all too well, longing and homesickness at times threatening to swallow him whole.

But: he came here with a goal and a promise, and Hinata is not one to give up and go back on his word.

Still, at night, when the quiet gives space for thoughts to creep in, washing over him like the tide on the shore, he hovers over Kageyama's contact details, heart pounding and head rushing with all the things he wants to say.

He never does of course, because he and Kageyama had always been better at doing rather than talking, communicating best through the ball on the court.

Any conversation now would be awkward at best, he tells himself, trying to speak over the other part of him that just longs to hear Kageyama's voice.

Sighing, he moves to put his phone away when he realizes he'd accidentally pressed 'Call'.

Heart in his throat, Hinata listens to the dial tone, ringing once, twice, before there's a pause and a low voice says "…Hinata?"

It's just as he remembers, low and a little bit rough, made slightly more so by the distortion in his phone speaker and the long distance.

"Kageyama, I—"

"What the hell are you still doing up? It's late there, isn't it? Go to sleep, dumbass."

Hinata can't help it. It's the first time they've spoken in months and of course the first think Kageyama does is insult him. So, he laughs. He laughs and laughs until Kageyama is yelling at him on the other end.

"Did you hit your head or something?! What's so funny?"

"No— It's—" Hinata tries, taking a few breaths to control himself. "It's nothing. I'm fine 'Yama."

Hinata can almost hear Kageyama rolling his eyes. "Then why did you call?"

Well, the truth is Hinata hadn't meant to, but he has a feeling saying 'It was an accident' wouldn't go over very well. "Just wanted to hear your voice," he says instead, and then immediately wishes a meteor would come and put him out of his misery. Why the fuck did he have to go and admit that?

"Oh," Kageyama says, uncharacteristically shy, and Hinata despairs the fact he can't see his face. "Well, I— I guess I wanted to hear yours too…"

The last few words are barely a whisper, but Hinata hears them all the same, his insides going all soft and fluttery.

"Still," Kageyama continues, back to his normal volume, "you really should go to sleep."

"I know," Hinata sighs. This had been what he was afraid of really. The thing with Kageyama was that it was always so easy to fall back into their routine. If he closed his eyes he could imagine that tomorrow they would race to school like usual, that Kageyama would be near enough to catch, to touch, making it all the more painful when reality comes crashing down.

Hinata shouldn't have called, should have hung up when he had the chance. Because now that he's heard Kageyama again he wants more, always more. But he can't, not when Kageyama is an ocean away and Hinata's barely accomplished half the things he set out to do.

But— "Kageyama" Just this once, he thinks. Just this once and then he'll get back to work tomorrow. "Could you… stay on until I fall asleep?"

"Oh, I… Yeah, sure. I mean, whatever will finally get you to rest. You do know I have other things to do."

"Mmhm," Hinata yawns, letting Kageyama's voice lull him to sleep. He wishes they could have talked more, still so many things he wants to say, but for now, it's enough.


And if he somehow finds himself calling again the next week, and the week after that, well, let it be known that Hinata Shouyou has always been a bit greedy, and Kageyama Tobio has always been one to indulge.