After his classes, he, Yachi, and Yamaguchi met up to do some schoolwork in one of the on-campus libraries. Hinata was yet again taken aback by the sheer size of the building, taking a solid five minutes to just wander through the shelves and look at all of the books.
There has to be thousands of them… He thought to himself as he ran his hands along the old wooden shelves.
Yachi just laughed at him, grabbing the open arm of his backpack as he left it slung across one shoulder and dragging him towards a table that Yamaguchi had grabbed for them. The old wood looked like it needed some care, its varnish peeling around the dozens of carvings and doodles other students had scratched into it over the years.
"Soo, things seem to be going a lot better between you and Kageyama now!" She commented quietly as they sat down, wiggling her eyebrows at him as Hinata let out a laugh.
"In all the time we've been here, I think that's the most I've ever heard him talk." Yamaguchi interjected, smiling as Hinata turned to look at him.
"Yeah, thank you so much for the advice, Yachi! I finally confronted him and we ended up going on a run together this morning!" Hinata commented as he pulled out his books, pens and stationary supplies spilling out of his backpack as he did so. "I think you were right, he's just really bad at making friends. He was pretty open with me, for the most part…" He finished afterwards, sighing as he looked down at his books before his eyes widened as he noticed the mess he made. He bent sideways to pick up all of his things with a flush of embarrassment.
While it was great that they seemed to have finally broken the ice, Hinata knew that in reality they were still pretty far off from being good friends. But- it was progress, and that was really all he could ask for.
"Roommates can be complicated, especially if you don't really know each other at first. Tsukki and I went to highschool together, so it was easier for us." Yamaguchi commented offhandedly, tapping his pen against his notebook.
"No offense..." Hinata started, before Yamaguchi interrupted him.
"But why is he always so rude?" Yamaguchi finished for him as Hinata immediately blanched in embarrassment, face twisting as he thought about all of the snide remarks and offhand comments Tsukishima had sent his way.
Yamaguchi just laughed out loud, rolling his eyes as he reached over and gave Hinata a gentle pat on the shoulder.
"He's really not that bad, he just has like… zero patience for anyone. Once you get past that he actually has a really soft heart." Yamaguchi said with a chuckle. Hinata just raised his hands in defeat, Yachi giving a small laugh beside him.
"I'll take your word for it." Hinata commented, rubbing the back of his neck. "Speaking of roommates, who are you rooming with?" He added afterwards, turning to look at Yachi curiously. He had yet to see another student from the female corridor other than Yachi, and he'd started to wonder if maybe she was there alone.
"Oh! My roommate is actually a third-year student, her name is Kiyoko." Yachi answered, a gentle smile working its way onto her lips. She shook her head before continuing, "She's really kind, and insanely smart! She's pretty good friends with our RA's which is why I think she's able to room here without being one herself…" She finished, flipping through her textbook to find the page she needed.
"I guess the rules are pretty relaxed though anyway, since Noya and Tanaka are also with us." Yamaguchi commented, eyes scanning the textbook in front of him.
"Yeah, but honestly I really like that there are so many different people with us! I feel like it makes it more exciting." Hinata added, listening to the murmurs of agreement from Yachi and Yamaguchi as they hunkered down, beginning to work on their assignments.
Hinata returned to the dorms later that afternoon, soaking wet.
It had started raining as he was walking back from the library, and he had a running habit of never checking the weather forecast, so of course he forgot to bring an umbrella, or a rain jacket, or literally anything that might give him cover from the offending droplets.
He had pulled the hood of his sweater up and drew the strings as tight as they could go while he still had room to see, but the water easily dampened the fabric and started seeping into his hair.
By the time he got back to the dorms, his sweater was soaked all the way through. Suga had tried his best to hide his chuckle, palm over his mouth as he avoided looking at Hinata, while Tanaka had simply pointed at him and cackled at his state. Hinata just rolled his eyes and walked to his room, laughing to himself at the same time.
When he opened the door he was greeted by the sight of Kageyama sitting at his desk as usual, but this time, instead of ignoring him completely, his roommate piped up at the sound of Hinata entering.
Kageyama turned to look at him before he snorted, raising his eyebrows and laughing under his breath as he pointed towards Hinata.
"Pff, what the hell happened to you?" Kageyama asked openly, chuckling harder as Hinata sent him an angry pout from the doorway, feeling the water droplets as they slid down his cheek at the motion.
"I didn't check the weather. Forgot my umbrella; hilarious, I know." He responded with a roll of his eyes, smiling as he finally loosened the strings on his sweater, sliding his hood down and peeling the wet fabric from his skin. His t-shirt underneath was damp but not nearly as soaked as the sweater.
At least it had protected him a little bit.
He took a peek into the bathroom to get a better look at himself, and he let out a loud laugh as he pointed at himself in the mirror.
"Hey, I look like you!" He stated through his giggles. His hair was wet and matted down, save for a few shorter pieces of hair that still rebelled and stuck up at odd places. He smoothed them down further with his hands and turned to Kageyama, who was now looking at him with a frown on his face.
"Do not, idiot. I at least brush my hair every day." Kageyama responded snidely, leaning back in his seat and smirking at Hinata as the orange haired male offered him another offended pout.
"Hey! I brush my hair too, you know." Hinata responded, pursing his lips at Kageyama. The latter only raised an eyebrow in question, as if he didn't believe him. "Whatever, I'm going to shower now." He finished, shutting the door before he quickly opened it again, a flush on his face as he rushed to grab the towel he forgot, pointedly ignoring Kageyama snickering from his desk.
He shut the door again behind him, sighing as he peeled his dampened t-shirt off, staring at himself in the mirror. He poked at his arms, watching as the muscles tensed underneath his touch. He had always been in good physical shape- living in a small town in the mountains would do that to you, when you had to bike or run to get anywhere in decent time unless you had a car.
Volleyball had also kept him in top shape, but it had been a few months since he'd played, and how exhausted he was after his run with Kageyama that morning had only served to remind him of just how important it was to keep active.
It amazed Hinata that Kageyama ran every single morning, especially on top of all of the work he did for school. Obviously, he was in good physical shape.
He thought about their run that morning, how the hard lines of Kageyama's muscles had stood out against his shorts as he stretched, wondering idly what his body might look like standing next to Hinata's own in the mirror- before his eyes widened in horror and he slapped his face with both hands, pushing his cheeks together as he glared at himself in the mirror.
Why are you even thinking about his stupid body, you idiot! He thought afterwards before he groaned and turned towards the ceiling, crushing his eyes shut.
As he stepped into the shower and felt the warm drops pelting his skin, he sighed and closed his eyes, letting his thoughts be taken away by the warm water.
He was just curious- purely for athletic reasons. That was all.
The next morning, Hinata was rudely dragged from the depths of sleep as his alarm blared. The last remnants of his dream faded from his mind as he cracked his eyes open in dismay, flinching at the bright ceiling light above him, grabbing a pillow and covering his face with it to stop the offending light.
He groaned, slapping at the general direction of his phone to shut the noise off, but instead it fell to the floor with the alarm still ringing loudly.
"Aghhh, shut UP!" He yelled into the pillow he had pulled over his face, before using all the energy he could muster to sit up, reaching to the floor to grab his phone and shut the damn thing off.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes, opening them only to be greeted by the sight of Kageyama staring at him from his own bed as he sat against the wall, looking up from his phone. He was looking at Hinata like he was some sort of weird zoo creature- face a mixture of disgust and amusement as he stared.
"Ah- oh," Hinata started, before an embarrassed flush rose on his cheeks. Kageyama only raised an eyebrow at him, still staring. "G-good morning. You're not running today?" He added, before realizing he was sitting there, groggy and shirtless. He reached to grab a shirt, pulling it over his head as his flush grew- he could feel it reaching his ears.
Kageyama was normally never there in the mornings, so he never saw a reason to actually start wearing a shirt to sleep. He had never actually considered a day where the black-haired male wouldn't be out by the time he woke up.
"Morning. Are you… always this much of a mess in the mornings?" Kageyama questioned lightly, snorting at Hinata's responding squeak.
"What? I- Wait-" Hinata started, groaning as his sleep fogged brain tried to form a proper sentence. "Whatever, I'm sure you're not perfect in the mornings either." He finished, chuckling as he watched Kageyama's brows pinch in irritation at the comment.
"I'm always perfect." He responded casually before continuing, "And I'm not running today because it's still raining. You'd be stupid to run in that unless you wanted to catch a cold." He finished, pointing towards their window, which sure enough, was being pelted relentlessly by raindrops.
Hinata rolled his eyes and got up from his bed unwillingly, begrudgingly getting ready for the day.
"Hey, dumbass," Kageyama's voice stopped him, though, just as he was about to leave. "Don't forget your umbrella."
Hinata just stared, following Kageyama's pointed finger to the forgotten object on the bed, before he grabbed it and sent a half-hearted glare Kageyama's way, muttering a soft "thanks" as yet another embarrassed flush rose to his ears.
As humiliating as the morning had been, Hinata was ecstatic at how openly Kageyama teased him and communicated with him, surprise working its way onto his face as Hinata considered that Kageyama had actually been paying enough attention and had cared enough to even tell him to bring his umbrella.
It was such a stupid thing to be happy about, but he couldn't help himself. It had felt like they were actually friends.
When he returned later that evening, Kageyama was working away at his desk as usual, so Hinata decided he'd try to get some work done as well. If Kageyama's constant studying were to influence him to do anything, at least he should do something positive like work on his own grades.
They worked for a couple of hours like that, in silence, before Hinata tossed his pencil down and groaned loudly, stretching his arms out before letting his head fall backwards against the top of his chair.
His eyes were met with an upside-down Kageyama's curious ones, widened in surprise at the sudden noise Hinata had made. He lifted his head up and turned to straddle the chair backwards, arms resting on the top as he looked at Kageyama.
"How do you work for so long all the time? It's so boooooring." He said with an outward breath, resting his chin on his arms. Kageyama just rolled his eyes, his brows then pinching in annoyance.
"Nobody said it was fun." He responded quietly, before both of their phones buzzed and lit up with a notification.
Hinata turned back around to look at his phone, while Kageyama just continued to watch him.
"Have you eaten yet? Tanaka said he wants us all to go for dinner." Hinata questioned, still facing the desk. When there was no response, he turned around again to see Kageyama now staring dumbly at his phone, as if he were in deep thought. "Hellooo?" He asked, waving a hand towards Kageyama.
That seemed to get his attention, as he set his phone down and sighed.
"No, but I-" Kageyama started before Hinata shushed him loudly, smiling as he stood up and stared down at Kageyama with his arms on his hips. He wasn't sure where the sudden burst of confidence had come from, but he decided to roll with it.
"Great! Then I'll tell them we'll go." Hinata said happily, before Kageyama's piercing frown pulled him from his confident stance.
"What if I don't want to go? Don't just sign me up for things, dumbass." Kageyama responded curtly, scowling at Hinata.
"I-I'm sorry, I just-" He started, eyes wide as he realized just how forward he'd been, before he took a deep breath and looked at Kageyama pointedly. "Look, I'm sorry for assuming. You're just always so holed up in here working and you haven't spoken to anyone else on the floor and you deserve to have some time off with friends." He finished, eyes softening as he saw Kageyama's deep frown lessen a bit.
It took him a few seconds to respond, Hinata fidgeting nervously where he stood as he waited for Kageyama's reply.
"Fine." Kageyama responded with a huff before he stood up and grabbed his jacket, looking away from Hinata when the orange haired male flashed a blinding smile towards him.
The two left their room together, meeting Yachi and Yamaguchi in the living area as they waited. Both of them looked about as surprised to see Kageyama as Hinata felt to be walking with him, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously as they approached them.
"U-uhm!" Yachi stuttered, standing up from the couch she was sitting on and walking towards the two of them, determination in her eyes as she prepared to speak.
"Hello. Yachi, right?" Kageyama said towards her, and Yachi stopped in her tracks as a deep flush spread across her face and up to her ears. Even Hinata turned to look up at Kageyama with surprised, wide eyes.
So, he did pay attention to the people on the floor.
"Y-yes! It's a pleasure to meet you! Hinata's told me a lot about you but-" Yachi started, before the sound of Hinata choking on air beside them stopped her, his pleading eyes only making her chuckle. "But it's awesome to finally get to talk to you!" She finished with a smile, reaching out to shake Kageyama's hand.
Kageyama's eyes were raised in slight surprise at Yachi's words as he glanced sideways at Hinata, before he turned to Yachi, nodding and shaking her hand.
"Oh hey, look at that! He's finally come out to play!" Came Tanaka's booming voice as he entered the living area, closely followed by Noya and Tsukishima.
Kageyama's eyes narrowed as he saw the blond, the latter only rolling his eyes and smirking, which made Kageyama scowl unhappily.
Hinata grinned as Tanaka and Noya came up behind Kageyama, both of them slapping him on the back enthusiastically as he awkwardly gave his greetings to the rest of the group.
They reached the restaurant in quick time, taking some of the inner passageways on campus to stop them from having to go out into the rain. It was a quaint little restaurant with wooden walls and wooden floors, plants hanging from the ceiling and covering the multiple shelves.
They sat together at a large table in the centre of the restaurant, Hinata taking one seat beside Kageyama while Yachi took the other. Kageyama turned to pass him the menu, Hinata grinning brightly as he thanked him. The atmosphere between everyone was good, it felt almost normal to have Kageyama out and about with them as a part of the group, to be sitting beside him in comfortable silence.
None of them spoke much while they were looking at their menus, before Yachi's excited voice finally broke the silence.
"Look! They're playing volleyball on the TV! I actually really love watching volleyball, but if I'm being entirely honest, I really don't know much about it." She said earnestly, pointing towards a large TV that sat on one of the walls.
Hinata startled as he saw Kageyama's head snap up quickly, following her fingers as he watched the TV intently. He had never seen Kageyama that intent towards anything other than school. This piqued Hinata's interest as well- the volleyball that always sat alone on Kageyama's desk paired with his now sudden interest causing him to wonder.
He has to be a volleyball player. Hinata thought to himself as he turned to look at the screen as well.
"I don't know much about volleyball either, but it seems pretty cool. That one guy there-" Yamaguchi started, pointing towards the screen. "The one that passed the ball to the guy that hit it, what's his position?" He finished, turning to look at the rest of the group for a response.
The table was silent for a few moments, Hinata opening his mouth to start to explain it before Kageyama's voice spoke up and broke the silence.
"The setter." He started, brows pinching as everyone's eyes turned to look at him. Hinata just stared up at him dumbly as he watched Kageyama speak. "He's called a setter. It's a position that requires a lot of skill. It's not flashy, but the setter controls the team and the team's plays. They can completely change the course of a game." He finished; eyes almost sparkling as he turned to look at the TV again.
"So, the King can talk." Tsukishima said snidely from across the table, Kageyama's eyes narrowing immediately into a glare as he turned to stare at the blond male. Yamaguchi looked at Tsukishima with a pained look before replying.
"Thanks, I had no idea." He said calmly, offering Kageyama a small smile. Kageyama just nodded and turned to stare at the glass of water in front of him, glaring at it instead.
"Ohoho!" Noya butted in, leaning across the table to point at Kageyama. "Do you play volleyball?" He questioned.
"I used to." Kageyama replied curtly, grinding his teeth together as he kept his eyes downward, evidently not wanting to continue. Hinata watched Kageyama warily before piping up.
"I used to play in highschool! I was a middle blocker, I loved it. I practiced every single day." He said wistfully, sighing as he glanced up at the ceiling. He felt Kageyama's intense gaze as he glanced towards Hinata from the side, but before he could turn to meet it, Tsukishima spoke up.
"You were a middle blocker?" Tsukishima interrupted; eyebrows raised as he stared at Hinata questioningly.
"Wait, just how many of you know about volleyball?" Tanaka spoke up, cackling as he grabbed at his stomach. Hinata's tension at Tsukishima's comment eased as he chuckled along with Tanaka before responding.
"Yes, me. Don't underestimate me just because of my height. I can fly, you know!" Hinata finished confidently, pointing his thumb at himself with a proud grin before Tsukishima snorted and turned to look at his menu, obviously not believing him.
Kageyama was still watching him, though, so Hinata finally turned to meet his eyes.
Immediately a flush rose on his cheeks as his brown orbs met Kageyama's blue. He'd rarely seen Kageyama look so intently at something, and the thought that the other male was looking like that at him sent a shiver up his spine.
He coughed lightly and looked away, and that seemed to bring Kageyama out of his trance, too, as he just turned to stare at his drink again, clearly not interested in making conversation anymore despite his apparent interest in Hinata's words.
"So, Hinata, why don't you play anymore?" Tanaka questioned honestly. "I mean, if you loved it so much." He added as an afterthought.
"Oh, I'm from a small town, so our volleyball team was really small and honestly not that strong." He replied, snickering as he thought back to his team. They were all great guys and good friends, but none of them except for Hinata really had the skill to help them win any competitions.
Tanaka just nodded understandingly from across the table, sending him a sympathetic smile.
He'd actually briefly considered transferring schools to play on Kuroo and Kenma's team because he loved playing so much, but he wasn't nearly old enough or experienced enough to live on his own at that age. Kuroo and Kenma had gone to an inner-city school, which meant that Hinata would have to upheave his life early and leave his family. It wasn't until college that he felt prepared enough to finally move, and even now he still felt like he wasn't ready despite having actually done it.
The rest of the dinner passed quite quickly, most of the group devouring their food as soon as it hit the table. Among them eating and chatting amicably, Kageyama barely said another word.
Hinata was itching to ask him more about volleyball, but he knew that Kageyama wasn't in the mood to be talking about it. He sucked it up, resigning himself to asking Kageyama about it later that evening in the hopes that he would be more open to talking about it when they were alone.
When they returned to the dorms, stomachs full and hearts happy, Hinata jumped straight for his bed, flopping down on it ungracefully. He sat up with a chuckle, wrapping his blanket around his shoulders as he watched Kageyama setting his stuff down.
"I saw your volleyball on the desk the day I moved in," Hinata said softly, wincing as he saw Kageyama visibly tense while he was unpacking his things.
Is it too early?
He didn't want to push his roommate, but he had seen the ferocious interest in Kageyama's eyes while they discussed the sport, and he found himself wanting to see more of it. Other than the few brief moments where Kageyama was open with his emotions enough for them to show on his face, he was often so expressionless that Hinata had trouble figuring out what he was thinking.
Plus, the thought of finding a friend other than Kenma and Kuroo at their school that played volleyball made his heart race, he'd been excited about it since the day he moved in.
"How long did you play for?" He added after, trying for a calmer tone.
Kageyama just stopped in the middle of putting his things away, setting his textbook on the desk as he sat silently for what felt like minutes.
Hinata watched his back, frowning as he worried that he'd pushed Kageyama too far. Soon enough, Kageyama sighed frustratedly before sitting down on his bed, back against the wall to face Hinata like he had been earlier that morning.
"Since the beginning of middle school." Kageyama said quietly, looking down and picking at his blanket as he thought to himself, face impassive. "I played all the way up until halfway through my last year of highschool." He finished, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his arms on them. Hinata just stared at him, dumbfounded.
He'd played for that long?
"Then… why did you stop?" Hinata found himself asking before he could think, and he flinched as he saw Kageyama's grimace. He felt the blanket sliding off of his shoulders as he sat forward to listen to his response, keeping quiet.
"I tore a ligament in my knee during nationals. I had to get surgery for it. I was out for a few months, and they told me if I went back to playing sports regularly, I'd likely reinjure my leg again, so I couldn't play on the volleyball team anymore. It hurt too much to even think about, so I haven't played volleyball since, not even for fun or on my own." Kageyama answered honestly, staring dejectedly at his knee.
Hinata inhaled sharply, eyes widening as he listened to Kageyama talk.
Nationals?
He played for a team that had made it to nationals? Hinata thought to himself incredulously, not able to hide the amazement from shining in his eyes as he watched Kageyama intently. His heart stuttered as he listened to Kageyama recount the injury, anxiety and heartfelt sadness permeating his veins as he imagined what that would have felt like.
Losing the ability to do what you loved, possibly forever.
"I'm… I'm so sorry," Hinata said quietly, staring at the ground, as he couldn't bear to meet Kageyama's eyes in that moment. He wanted to fix it for him, say something, anything that would take this feeling out of his chest, but he couldn't think of anything.
"Don't be. It can't be changed now." Kageyama said curtly, relaxing his legs and staring at Hinata openly.
"What position did you play?" Hinata questioned, head tilting as he tried to turn the conversation to a more positive note.
"Setter." Kageyama responded, and it immediately made sense to Hinata why the other had been so quick to openly talk during dinner about Yamaguchi's question.
He smiled as he thought back to the enthusiasm he saw in Kageyama's eyes and heard in his voice as he talked about his position. He wanted- no, needed Kageyama to feel more of that again.
He felt it, that this was another raw, vulnerable moment between them like when he had finally confronted Kageyama- only this time it was Kageyama offering his heart up on a platter, awaiting Hinata's reply.
"Hey, Kageyama…" Hinata started, biting his lip as he stared at the ground in front of him, unable to meet Kageyama's eyes yet again as he spoke for fear of not being able to get the words he really wanted to say, out.
The sound of the rain pelting their window was almost deafening in his ears as he prepared to ask his question, heart thumping in his chest. "Would… would you toss to me sometime?" He finished with an exhale, raising his head slowly and finally meeting Kageyama's eyes.
He was expecting anger, dejection, sadness- some sort of immediate response that would tell Hinata how stupid he was for even asking, for pushing. Instead, Kageyama was staring at him with wide eyes, mouth hanging open slightly, before the smallest of smiles appeared on his face.
Hinata was sure his heart stopped beating in that moment, and he had to use every ounce of self-control to focus on Kageyama's response, his eyes trained on Kageyama's smiling face.
"Okay."