Suga half-expected Hinata to blow him off. Yet, after volleyball practice, he saw a ball of orange hair go sprinting across the courtyard, then again, then once more before it finally began traveling towards him. Hinata bent in front of him, heaving and gripping his knees. His face was nearly dripping with sweat.
"Let's not do this here," Suga mumbled. "I'll give you a minute to catch your breath, then we'll head out, alright?"
Hinata just nodded. His chest rose and fell quickly and he felt extremely nauseous. He really didn't want to talk about his feelings, but things had gotten that bad. Sometimes Hinata had dreams about Kageyama-ones that left him waking up with something he'd rather not talk about with his senpai.
Once Hinata had caught his breath, the two began walking towards the student parking lot. "Whoa, Suga, you drive?!" Hinata asked excitedly.
Suga smiled warmly at Hinata. "Nope, but Daichi does!"
"E-eh?!"
Suga just giggled behind his hand and continued to lead the way to Daichi's car. When they finally got there, they saw Daichi sitting on the hood, twirling his keys around his finger. "Hello, Hinata," Daichi said in a calm voice. "Go ahead and hop in the back."
"A-are you kidnapping me?!" Hinata squealed. He was obviously nervous. The captains just laughed, never fully answering Hinata's question, and got in the car.
Hinata got in after a few seconds of debate (after all they were his senpais, what would they do to him really).
Hinata learned something valuable that day: Daichi drove like a freaking maniac.
Hinata had closed his eyes during the ride and was gripping every square inch of seat he could. Meanwhile, the captains talked about what drills they should do in morning practice the next day as if Daichi hadn't almost hit four trees and rear-ended at least a dozen people.
When the car finally stopped, Hinata was reluctant to open his eyes. Suga reached in the back seat and shook the petrified boy. "Oi, Hinata, I know he's not that good of a driver but-"
"Hey!" Daichi huffed, taking offense.
"C'mon, you know you're bad," Suga rolled his eyes. He coaxed Hinata out of the car after a few minutes of arguing and led him inside to Daichi's apartment.
"I hope you don't mind," Suga called over his shoulder as he led the way, "but I told Daichi a bit about the situation."
"I just want to help," Daichi clarified from behind him. That's when Hinata realized that even if he attempted to run for it, he would be caught. He sighed in defeat and hung his head.
Daichi tossed Suga the key as they went up the stairs to his apartment. "Hinata, do you trust us?" Suga asked sweetly.
"Of course!" Hinata said quickly. "It's just..."
"Complicated," Daichi offered. Hinata nodded.
Suga stopped at the proper room and slid the key in. He pushed the door open and took off his shoes, then stepped aside to let the others in. Hinata took off his shoes as well.
"Nobody is here," Daichi assured as he slid his shoes off and walked over to the living room. Suga joined him and sat down next to Daichi on a loveseat. Hinata sat in a chair across the room.
"So, Hinata," Suga began, "how's it going?"
Hinata, taken aback by such a casual question, began to fidget. "I-I dunno, it was..."
"It isn't a trick question," Daichi assured. "Suga just wants to make sure you're doing okay. Have you been sleeping well?"
Hinata thought about all the dreams he had about Kageyama, especially in the past couple weeks. "Y-yes?"
"How about your appetite?" Suga asked. The two wore matching worried expressions.
"Look, I'm really fine...thank you for everything, but..." Hinata began to rise to his feet.
"It's Kageyama, isn't it?"
Suga and Hinata both wore matching confused expressions as they looked at Daichi.
Hinata was the first to recover. "You told him?"
"No, I just told him you were questioning your sexuality!"
"It would take an idiot to not figure it out," Daichi sighed. "I'm sorry if I took you by surprise. I'm your captain, I notice things," he chuckled.
"It's just so hard," Hinata half-whined. "I want to not like my rival-or, whatever he is to me."
"You two are pretty close," Suga observed. "You spend a lot of time at his house, right?"
"W-well, yeah..."
"Doesn't that make you two friends?"
Hinata thought back to his conversation with Kageyama on the bus. "He told me we're not friends, we're rivals," he mumbled, finally sinking back into the chair. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his knees.
"Oh," Daichi frowned slightly. "You two are our freaky duo though," he muttered. "I figured you'd be pretty close if you'd be able to pull that off."
"We are, don't get me wrong," Hinata said half-heartedly. "We race all the time, and we spend a lot of time outside of school practicing volleyball. Kageyama's mom bought a net at a yard sale a month or so ago for us to practice with."
"How does Kageyama act around you?" Suga asked curiously.
"Hm?" Hinata glanced up. "Well, he gets really blushy whenever someone says something about us being friends." He recalled the time in the club room when Tsukki had mentioned they were spending a lot of time together.
"How peculiar," Daichi mumbled, nudging Suga discreetly. Suga gave a soft nod in return.
"How about you stay for dinner, Hinata?"
Hinata bent over a bowl of soup while Suga talked to his mother on the phone. Hinata's mother had called Kageyama's mother to chat and the topic of Hinata's absence came up, so naturally his mother became worried. Suga graciously offered to answer the phone and take Hinata's mother's heat.
"...oh, no, he's completely fine! Yeah, he just asked us to help him study. He's got a big test tomorrow!...no need, we can drop him off!...yes...yeah...okay, goodbye!" Suga hung up the phone and immediately lost his sweet tone. "Your mother asked if I was a thug holding you hostage," he said bluntly.
Hinata snorted. "Sounds like her."
"She wants you home soon," Suga explained. He was in the process of handing Hinata his cell phone when it rang.
Hinata took the phone and looked at the caller ID. "It's Kageyama!" he whisper-shouted.
"Answer it!" Suga encouraged.
When Hinata answered, he could barely muster a "hello" before he heard Kageyama yelling. "Dumbass, I was so worried! You can at least text me when you won't be coming over!"
"I'm sorry!" Hinata cried.
"And what was with you earlier? Why were you so mad?"
"Listen, Kageyama, Daichi is dropping me off at home in a bit, can we talk when-"
"Y-you're with Daichi?" Kageyama's tone changed immediately.
"Yeah...why?"
"...he scares me," Kageyama whispered. Hinata burst out laughing and received proper scolding from Kageyama as punishment.
"I'm so telling him you said that!"
"No please! Don't! He'll use it against me!"
"Oh Daichiii~" Hinata sang. Daichi peeked his head out of the kitchen, his face and clothes dirty from his attempt at cooking dinner.
"Hinata, tell him you've gotta go, we have to get you home," Daichi said, suddenly acting like a father figure. Hinata huffed and went to grab his bag.
"I'll talk to you in a bit, Kageyama. Okay?"
"Sure."
"I'll call you?"
"Fine."
"Okie dokie!" Hinata hung up the phone and gathered his things, waiting by the door for his senpais.
When Hinata got home, he threw an apology over his shoulder for neglecting to tell his mother about his plans to go to Daichi's. She waved it off, per usual, and he was able to get into his room and dial Kageyama's number in record time.
"Hey, I'm just about to get in the bath," Kageyama answered right away.
"Oh, should I call back?"
Hinata didn't hear an answer for a few moments and he began to wonder if Kageyama had dropped his phone in the bath. Kageyama came back on after some rustling. "Sorry, I was taking off my clothes."
Hinata blushed slightly at the thought. Kageyama stripping down...
What didn't help was Hinata's familiarity with Kageyama changing. He could see Kageyama, taking off sweaty white practice shirts, but this time in a bathroom and with more skin. "I-I-I should c-call back," Hinata tripped over his words.
"What's wrong? Are you nervous about that practice match this weekend?"
"N-no! I'll call you later, Kageyama!" Hinata squealed, then hung up. He climbed under his bed sheets and wriggled uncomfortably.
"I'm not gay I'm not gay I'm not gay I swear," Hinata whispered to himself. He buried his head under his pillow and tried to will the image of Kageyama bathing out of his head.
Of the little sleep he got that night, Kageyama was the star of his dreams.