Author's Note: We're nearing the beginning of the end, and I appreciate y'all reading this far! Also, please note that this chapter bumped the rating up from K+ to T due to of-age alcohol consumption and mildly suggestive themes. Still a very PG story, not gonna lie.

"New, on the Bachelorette…"

To his surprise, Kageyama survived the second rose ceremony of the week and successfully remained on the show for at least another seven days. Tanaka-san had been safe already, having won a rose after the mud wrestling group date, along with Yamamoto and another man with a kind face but a too-long name for Kageyama to remember; the contestant had apparently had a pleasant conversation with the leading lady after destroying a horde of the undead, surrounded by paintball splatters and a whistling wind.

A few men — including one that hadn't gotten a rose, a man with glasses and small eyes — gave him a distrustful look, eyeing his dark scowl and shadowed expression with a pointed glance. He honestly didn't understand it either: he was left standing with a rose pinned neatly to his lapel with men like Noya, Oikawa, and Hinata standing next to him, bright and glowing. All of them were so charismatic and charming, and then here Kageyama was with an intimidating face and terrible social skills. He was the blot of bleeding black ink on a white piece of paper.

Despite his abysmal performance on the zombie shootout date, Kageyama did manage to have a nice, if still slightly awkward, chat with Kiyoko during the cocktail party before the ceremony. Their conversation, while not romantic in the slightest, felt like taking a long, slow sip of hot chocolate after an hour of trudging through a foot of snow on a cold, blistering day. He genuinely liked Kiyoko, a lot. She deserved to have a happy ending.

By the end of the night, four men went home, leaving nineteen men left in the house to compete over Kiyoko's love.

This time, Kageyama didn't immediately head straight for his bunk bed once it was deemed safe. The rose ceremony only took half as long as it did the first night (due to less people and Kiyoko's better understanding of the group) and as Noya-san invited him to play a round of Most Likely, a drinking game where someone asked the group a question (i.e. "who is the most likely to become a nun?"), Kageyama found himself settled next to Hinata as Oikawa, Tanaka, Terushima, and two others joined him in a circle on the floor.

They had pushed the couches flush against the wall to give themselves more space and an assorted mix of cocktails, shot glasses, and beer bottles rested nearby, ready and waiting.

The game was a hot mess.

After ten rounds in, Oikawa-san asked, "Who is most likely to get it on with a vampire?" and six fingers were suddenly pointing at a pouting Hinata (who in turn had pointed at Terushima; Kageyama had pointed at Oikawa). Kageyama wondered if maybe this wasn't the best use of his time as he watched them take their chosen number of shots. Because Hinata, his clothes askew, his eyes bright even with the sleepy droop of his eyelids, looked…

"It's your turn, Bakageyama!" Hinata shouted cheerfully, leaning so far forward he was practically in the taller man's lap. Luckily, his blush was covered by the flush already on his face from the Kamikaze bombs Oikawa had whipped up for them: a sinfully tasty cocktail of vodka, triple sec, and lime juice.

Pushing the dancer off of him with what he hoped was a deep scowl and an angry glare (but was actually just a mopey, sulky look), Kageyama hissed, "I know that!" With seven expectant eyes on him, he mumbled out, losing confidence, "Who is the most likely… to get away with murder?"

"Looks like it's just you and me, Tobio-chan!" Oikawa exclaimed, smiling with all his teeth.

Kageyama raised his head to see Tanaka, Noya, and Hinata pointing unerringly at the actor, with Terushima, Oikawa, and the other two pointing at himself. Not one to lose to Oikawa of all people, Kageyama pointed back at the other man, glaring hotly, stupidly proud of the fact that now they both had to drink four shots together.

Hinata pushed the four shot glasses on the coffee table towards him, grinning, and Kageyama smiled back on reflex, but then almost immediately realizing he'd forgotten to cover his mouth. No one cowered away in petrified fear, though, so maybe they were too drunk to really care.

On the other side, the actor chuckled low in his throat, and Kageyama's eyes shot to him. Oikawa's smile eased into something that didn't resemble glittering shards of glass so much as a polished river rock, smoother and softer. But when he blinked, trying to force his brain to understand what was happening, the look was gone.

"Bottoms up!" the man simpered, and knocked back four gulps. Kageyama, not to be outdone, took four and then one more in quick succession, just to show him.

Hinata giggled by his side, pushing up against his shoulder, a warm and comforting presence. Kageyama was too tired to push him away, not even sure if he really wanted to; his brain felt light and numb inside his head, like he was floating.

"Whoa, look at you, Shouyou," someone that might have been Tanaka-san shouted, clapping his hands together. "Good idea, man! Let's play Attached at the Hip!"

This new game consisted of three very simple directions: one, write down a body part on a slip of paper and place it in a pile; two, break into pairs and blindly pick one of the pieces of paper; three, stay attached to your partner by the chosen body part for as long as possible. Anytime someone separates, both partners drink.

Kageyama blinked dumbly as people around him paired up, picking up their papers and complaining (or laughing way too loudly).

"Wanna be my partner, Bakageyama?" the little dancer asked him, pushing into his personal bubble.

The world felt fuzzy around the edges, and things were moving too fast for him to fully grasp. "Okay," he grumbled into his lap, shyly avoiding Hinata's eyes.

"Cute," he thought he heard someone whisper, sounding slightly offended, but when he raised his head, he was alone. Hinata had gone over to grab their paper, Noya and Tanaka were curled next to each other, their knees locked together, and Oikawa had his arms linked with Terushima, their hips touching. Even the other two men were off in the corner, holding hands.

"We got… butts!" Hinata shouted proudly, stumbling back, and Kageyama felt his blush come back in full force as some of the classier men not involved in their drinking game looked over. His cheeks felt on fire.

"Gimme that!" he shouted, swiping the paper from Hinata's hands. It did indeed say, in curly, cutesy handwriting, "butts." It looked vaguely familiar, too.

"Have fun!" Oikawa chirped from his corner.

Tomorrow he was going to have trouble looking anyone in the eye. But right now, as Oikawa smirked and Hinata stared up at him, a competitive glint in his eyes, Kageyama refused to lose.

Tomorrow was tomorrow. And tonight was tonight.

"Let's do this," he consented, and then they were pressed against each other, their backs touching. It took them a while to get comfortable, though, due to the height difference.

"Ahhh, this isn't working!" Hinata whined, shimmying uncomfortably.

"Stop that!" Kageyama shouted, slamming an elbow backwards and missing Hinata's head by a couple inches. But it was the thought that counted, and the dancer stopped moving around like he was trying to shake off a colony of ants.

Noya-san opened his mouth, but Kageyama shot him the worst, scariest glare he could muster. Even tipsy, he still had it. The race car driver shut his mouth with a click, huffing and looking away, instead bumping his knees with his friend and raising a suggestive eyebrow.

In the end, the Kageyama-Hinata duo won, even if it was by default because everyone else gave up and left to get at least a couple hours of sleep.

"That was fun!" Hinata told him sleepily as they walked back to their rooms together, rubbing at his eye and yawning. "We make a good team."

"Yeah," was all Kageyama said, his head feeling lightheaded for reasons other than the alcohol. He tried not to think about that too much.

...o0o…

The newest Bachelorette episode was thankfully free of Kageyama-centric drama. It was a fun, cute episode where Hinata, Tanaka, Oikawa, and a few others went on a k-pop dancing competition with Kiyoko for their group date.

Kageyama honestly couldn't stop smiling into his ramen, trying to hide his face whenever Suga-san looked over at him, his hazel-brown eyes wide.

With a strong bass and upbeat pop music, the editing made the guys look focused, if a bit clumsy, but Kageyama knew that was far from the truth. No one had known what they were doing, even Hinata, though the dancer was the best prepared out of all of them.

The group of men stood on stage, some noticeably more awkward than others, and tried to keep up with the shifting, fast-paced choreography. There was dramatic hair-flipping, and moves where the men had to lean down, touch their toes, and then pop back with a sinuous curl of their bodies.

On the screen, Hinata leaned his shoulders into it, moving like he didn't have any bones in his body, and Kageyama's quiet chuckle cut off before the show could shift to a scene with Kiyoko laughing, her cheeks pink and a beautiful smile lifting her lips.

What the hell.

As the others tried really hard to keep up, Hinata included, Kageyama couldn't keep his eyes off of the television. He looked good. Silly and dorky, but the way he put his entire body into following the flow of the music was entrancing. Hinata hadn't said anything about this when he'd asked how it went.

"Oh, Kageyama-kun," Suga said. He didn't need to say anything more.

Kageyama forced himself to pull his eyes from the television, blinking back at his friend. "It's fine," he lied.

Suga abandoned his spot on the couch to sit next to him at the table. He reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, squeezing.

"If you're sure," he said, bumping their shoulders together as they went back to watching the show.

The next part of the episode focused on Noya's one-on-one date. It looked exciting and was almost too perfect for the race car driver. They were the leads for an action movie, and got to learn from stunt doubles and a very knowledgeable film crew. Noya knew way too many cringey jokes, but Kiyoko looked so lively and at peace it didn't matter just how bad they were.

It was a good episode, Kageyama told himself. But if he was asked about what had happened, he'd only be able to remember Hinata dancing.

...o0o…

When the second group date card came around, Kageyama wasn't on it. Nine men had gone on the k-pop dancing date, and Noya had been the lucky man to snag the one-on-one. Now, six men headed off doing whatever "let's do what feels natural" meant. And he was left out: one of the three who were left to their own devices in the mansion without having been on a date this week.

"There's still the one-on-one," Hinata said consolingly without prompting, peering down at him, his face shadowed as he blocked the sun. "Don't stress, Bakageyama!"

"Shut up, dumbass!" he answered reflexively, shifting grouchily on his beach towel. "You're blocking my sunlight, go away."

"Stuuuuupid," Hinata drawled. He put his hands on his hips, his smile widening, "You're in the shade, dummy! Come out from under the umbrella and play with us!"

Kageyama looked distastefully around the other contestant. There was a volleyball net set up along the short length of the pool, but it was near the deep end. Was that why Hinata sucked so much that other time? Because he was too short to really be able to lift off from the bottom?

From inside the pool, the water a pretty crystal blue, Oikawa-san smiled encouragingly at him, but his eyes were so cold and calculating it was obviously one of his masks. He expertly spun the white volleyball between his hands, tauntingly. Kageyama shivered, but Hinata saw it, pushing into his personal space and breaking the eye contact between the two of them.

"See!" he yelled triumphantly. "You're cold in the shade! Come play volleyball with me in the sun! I need someone else on my team to be able to beat the Great King!"

No was already on his lips, but then he heard Oikawa say, too loudly to not be overheard by anyone sitting or sunbathing nearby, "Leave the King be. He already said he doesn't want to play, Chibi-chan."

King.

Hinata just looked confused, but Kageyama didn't care to stick around to hear his answer, getting to his feet and rummaging around for his shirt. He didn't have to take this.

A warm hand, dripping with water and smelling like chlorine, snapped out like lightning and held onto his wrist, keeping him from leaving in a loose but undeniably firm hold. Kageyama glared at the dancer, but Hinata was staring back at Oikawa, his brown eyes blazing as his expression stayed disturbingly blank. It was a little freaky, to be honest.

"If Kageyama's the King, then you can't be the Great King," Hinata said, following his own special brand of logic, "we can't have two kings." He smiled, gently set Kageyama's hand back down at his side, and clapped his hands together. "The loser will have to be called the Queen, then!"

"Hell no!" Kageyama shouted, slapping the back of Hinata's head. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring back at Oikawa's team: Terushima, Yahaba, Yamamoto. On the other side of the net, Noya and Tanaka were getting into a splashing fight, taking turns dunking each other into the water.

"I'll be the setter," he told his new team matter of factly, and Hinata bounced on his toes, bursting into the air with a cheer. Kageyama could practically see dark wings extending out from behind him, black and beautiful.

He could use this. Oikawa didn't look concerned, though, even after that astounding display of raw ability, instead moving to talk to the other three contestants with a casual flap of his hands.

Kageyama hadn't played volleyball since his accident in college, but that didn't matter. Not right now. He was going to win. He had to.

"Let's win," Hinata unknowingly echoed.

"Right," he agreed.

The score was 12-7. They were losing, by a lot. Rocks pressed against his stomach, weighing him down, cutting him open with their jagged edges. He felt like he was drowning even though the lukewarm water only reached his lower abdomen and the air was warm and kind above the water.

"Don't mind, don't mind," Hinata said, trying to stay optimistic as he pushed sopping hair out of his eyes, blinking rapidly. Kageyama wanted to kill him or hug him, he couldn't decide. For the last rally, the dancer had practically flung himself at the ball, throwing it up only to fall fully into the water, completely sinking below the surface. Tanaka spiked it, but Terushima was there to block it, and the ball had smacked the water on their side with a bouncing pop.

Even with the weirdness of playing volleyball in a pool — the water made every slight movement that much more sluggish in a game where speed was key — it was still volleyball. He should be better. He should…

Water aggressively splashed against his face, getting into his mouth and nose as he gasped and choked, hacking into the pool as water dripped from his bangs. When he glared up, murder in his eyes, Hinata didn't look afraid. He looked challenging.

"I'm going to splash you again!" he threatened, a hand poised on the surface of the water, waiting.

The team on the other side stifled their laughter, but Kageyama didn't dare look away from the dancer, the water fully up to the other man's shoulders. Hinata didn't even seem to care.

But Hinata didn't say, "it's just a game, relax, have fun!" or anything along those lines. Instead, he promised, "Send the next one to me. I'll get it over."

And despite the absolute failure in both his previous game a week ago and this game right now, Kageyama felt something like a snap behind his eyelids, something clicking in place.

"Don't miss," he said and took the volleyball from Noya's hands, jumping when the small race car driver excitedly slapped his back. Tanaka gave him a double thumbs-up, grinning from ear to ear.

He'd lost his team in middle school.

Hinata stared at him, waiting, waiting, waiting.

They'd abandoned him.

Tanaka got it up, "nice receive!" he heard himself shout from somewhere far away, and then the ball was falling into his hands. There was the lightest of touches, less than half a second, as he held onto it.

Thud-thud-thud.

"KAGEYAMA! I'M HERE!"

He leaned his body back, the water rippling around him, and shot the ball behind him. There was a smack and a curse.

He was almost afraid to look, but…

Oikawa was staring at them from across the net, a look in his eyes Kageyama couldn't decipher.

"DO IT AGAIN!" Hinata yelled, his hair on fire as his eyes glowed like a rising sun. The ball floated on the other side, bobbing up and down on the light waves.

They'd scored a point.

The rocks in his stomach turned into butterflies, and Kageyama felt like he was flying right next to the dancer.

They were going to win. Together. He wasn't alone right now, not this time.

...o0o…

Kageyama was just getting off work, ready for the weekend as he strolled towards the train station, when his phone lit up. It turned off before he could fish it out of his bag, but then brightened up again almost immediately once it was in his hands. He let it darken into a missed call, his heart pounding in his ears.

This stranger knew his name. It was definitely no one from work, and he had all his friends' numbers.

His phone brightened again, not to be deterred.

Incoming call: Unknown Number.

With his heart in his throat, Kageyama swiped up and held it to his ear, waiting for the other person to speak first.

"BAKAGEYAMA!" the... Hinata yelled, and Kageyama frowned, pulling his phone away from his ear, the shout rattling around his head like a loose screw.

Wait.

What.

WHAT?!

"HINATA?" he shouted back, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. The unknown number, the person he thought might have been a stalker, was actually one of the fellow contestants who had been stuck on the same TV show with him months ago.

"How did you get my number?" he yelled, coming across all wrong as he shuffled absentmindedly to the side as a family gave him a dirty look for blocking the way. His brain felt like it was short-circuiting. All those times Hinata had texted him, asking to meet up? What did that mean? "What the hell?" he summed up lamely.

"No, no, no," Hinata shouted back at him, sounding really angry, "You don't get to be mad about this. I left like twenty messages and called you. How many times did you answer? Well let's see here, that'd be a zero, zero into zero—"

"—Wait a second here, hold on—"

"—Carry the zero—"

"—Okay, I get it," Kageyama interrupted sourly, pouting.

Hinata seemed to deflate on the other end. "Good."

Before the other man could respond, though, he rushed out, "But how was I supposed to know that was you? You never left your name in the texts! I thought you were some stalker or something, I don't know!"

There was a pause, like Hinata couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "I left my name in the voicemail!"

Oh. Kageyama never listened to his voicemails. They were usually just spam robocalls or scams to get money.

"Oh," he said out loud. Kageyama bowed his head, pushing the back of his hand against his eyes as his cheeks warmed uncomfortably.

"Oh?" Hinata asked, cranky.

He felt like laughing or crying, but he wasn't sure which. "I'm sorry," he muttered quietly, scuffing a foot on the ground. He felt like such an idiot, so what could Hinata possibly think of him right now? He confessed, barely above a whisper, "I didn't listen to the voicemail."

Hinata sighed loudly, but his voice was much quieter, almost sheepish, when he said, "I'm sorry too. I should have said 'oh BTW, this is Hinata' when you never answered me."

"It's fine," he heard himself saying, feeling oddly distant. What was happening? Now that he wasn't worried about some unnamed stalker, he was left with an even bigger question: what did Hinata want with him? The show had ended months ago, there was nothing tying them together, so...

"I'm going to be around in two weeks for a performance. What do you think of getting dinner together after? It'll be on me, since it was kinda my fault you thought you had a stalker?"

"Um, okay," he accepted, fidgeting with the end of his sleeves. "I'll be there?"

Hinata laughed, and it sounded so light and soft and maybe even a bit relieved. "You don't need to check your calendar? No wait, don't answer that, it's too late, you already said yes! No take backs!"

Kageyama nodded, even though the dancer couldn't see him. "I'm free," he confirmed, just to be safe. He didn't want any more stupid miscommunication problems between them.

"Good, that's great!"

"Cool," he added.

"Um, okay, bye then… See you in two weeks! I'll text you the place and time later!"

"Okay," Kageyama said, blinking down at the sidewalk and then cringing at himself: he was capable of talking in more than one-word sentences! Get it together, he told himself. Quickly, before Hinata could hang up, he rushed out, "Thank you!"

And then blushed to the tip of his ears. Thank you? "Um, bye!" and he hung up before Hinata could answer.

Oh god.

Immediately, the phone was back to his ear. It clicked on the other end and a soft voice asked cautiously, "Hello?"

"Suga-san, please help me!"

Later in the night, as he hugged a pillow to his chest, he remembered to change the Unknown Number to Hinata Shouyou on his phone. He almost wanted to add a heart, but that was way too much, even for him, so instead he plugged the device into its charger and groaned into his pillow, squeezing his eyes shut.

He wasn't ready to see Hinata again. But at the same time, he couldn't stop smiling.

.

tbc

.

Author's Note: Sorry this was kinda short-ish; it was harder to write than the other three chapters for some reason.

(Also, I just want to share that originally I was going to have "belly" be written on the paper for the drinking game because I thought it was going to be cute to have them fall asleep on top of each other or something, but then when I was writing it, Hinata yelled "butts" and I was like, okay, fine, you do you. So, yeah, that happened. For better or worse, I guess.)