It was a somewhat normal afternoon for Kageyama. Sundays were the volleyball team's off days and Kageyama was sprawled out on the couch, staring at the ceiling boredly. Since they had Sundays off, it was unusual for Hinata to show up at Kageyama's door. Unusual, but not unheard of.
Kageyama's boredom was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. He groaned, standing and stretching ever so slowly. The person on the other side of the door knocked again, even more frantic than before. He mumbled an "I'm coming" and opened the door. The frantic knock had a frantic Hinata to match, and Kageyama could barely keep track of the boy as he dashed into the home.
When Kageyama finally focused his eyes on his partner, he noticed a gash on his cheek with dried blood and a bruise already forming around it. His eyes widened and he froze. Silent tears fell down Hinata's cheeks. "Oh god, Hina," Kageyama whispered. His voice sounded far away to both of them. Neither of them moved, both rooted to their spots. Kageyama's eyes followed the cut to the bruise to the tears falling down Hinata's face to the snot running down his face as well. Around the third time he followed this path of sight, he realized he should do something.
"H-here," Kageyama said, jolting in an abnormal way to reach out for Hinata. Hinata flinched and took a step back, and Kageyama stopped. "S-s-sit down, Hinata, I'm going to go get a rag and some tissues, okay?"
Hinata nodded pitifully and slumped himself on Kageyama's couch.
Kageyama ran to the bathroom, fumbling through each and every item in the cabinet before he found a rag and some butterfly bandages. He slipped and fell (twice) before managing to escape the horrid bathroom. He found Hinata right where he left him. There was a dazed look on his partner's face that certainly didn't suit him. He was gentler this time when approaching him, unsure of what exactly had happened but understanding enough to know when Hinata wasn't in a position to talk.
Kageyama sat across the couch from Hinata. The shift in the cushion made Hinata look up. His tears had somewhat stopped but the bruising had gotten worse, even in the short time that it took Kageyama to grab what he needed. Kageyama felt the strong urge to wipe his semi-dried tears and cup is cheeks and just simply hold him.
"S-sorry," Hinata whispered, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
"Don't be," Kageyama murmured gently. He leaned forward slowly, watching for any negative reaction from Hinata while he did so. The boy just stared at him blankly. He was inches away from his face. Don't fuck this up, Kageyama thought to himself. The poor guy looks like he just got mugged.
Kageyama gently cupped Hinata's cheek. Hinata tilted his head to show Kageyama the wound on his cheek instinctively. Kageyama frowned and gently brought the wet rag to his partner's face. He tried to be as careful as possible while he cleaned the wound, but Hinata would still wince every now and then. He felt awful for inflicting even more pain on his teammate.
Suddenly a sickening idea of where the wound came from entered Kageyama's head. He felt his throat threaten to close up at the mere thought of it. He recalled his mother saying Hinata was having family problems, Hinata telling Kageyama it was all okay and that he shouldn't worry, his mother and his talk later that day about what Hinata could possibly be feeling...
Kageyama tried to push the thoughts out of his head. He had to focus on Hinata. The boy was barely registering anything Kageyama said, and it was only then that Kageyama realized he was babbling nonsense while he cleaned and bandaged the wound. He blushed in embarrassment and let his hand linger on Hinata's face just a bit longer.
"Kags?" Hinata whispered softly. He hadn't spoken all while Kageyama was working except to grunt in pain, so it took Kageyama slightly by surprise. What surprised him more was the ever increasing use of the nickname.
"Yes, Hinata?" Kageyama replied, moving his hand away from Hinata's cheek in favor for mindlessly playing with the boy's hair. Hinata stared at Kageyama's chest, subconsciously leaning into his partner's touch.
"You won't...tell anyone about this...will you?" It was then that Hinata made eye contact with Kageyama, full eye contact unlike earlier when he had still been dazed.
"Of course not," Kageyama agreed hastily. His mind told him to ask questions, to figure out what happened, to mentally note whose ass he would have to kick, when the thought he'd had earlier reentered his mind. He shivered in displeasure and coldness-before Hinata had shown up, he'd been covered with a blanket in the slightly chilly house and now that he wasn't he was beginning to feel the cold again.
Hinata shivered too, and Kageyama rose to his feet. Hinata watched him with wide eyes. Kageyama sensed a sort of panic and ruffled his hair reassuringly. "I'm going to grab some blankets and make some hot chocolate. Do you want something to ice your face?"
Hinata nodded weakly. "Please," he whispered.
Kageyama disappeared into the kitchen. His lungs felt like they'd collapse. Hinata was so drained, so empty, so not Hinata. Kageyama hated it. He hated whoever did this to Hinata. He hated himself for not being able to help Hinata sooner. Most of all, he hated not knowing what exactly happened to his partner.
He put two mugs in the microwave filled with milk.
Kageyama had been touching Hinata a lot. He was sure he hadn't touched Hinata that much ever. He wondered if Hinata was just too dazed to say anything about it.
Oh god, what was he doing? Hinata was just attacked and here Kageyama was taking the opportunity to get all touchy-feely. He remembered the face Hinata made when he'd gone to touch him the first time. He was afraid. Hinata was afraid, and Kageyama was making it worse.
But, he leaned into your hand a minute ago, the hopeful side of Kageyama's mind piped up. He seemed to enjoy it.
Did that mean it was okay?
The microwave beeped. Kageyama didn't hear it.
What was he doing in the kitchen?
"Kageyama?"
Kageyama launched himself into the living room. Hinata was holding his knees and shivering. "Blankets?" he asked softly.
"Right!" Kageyama replied. He rushed to grab some.
That's when he remembered the hot cocoa.
Kageyama dropped off a couple of blankets to Hinata that his mother had stolen for her room the previous night. They smelled like sleep and shampoo. Hinata buried himself in the scent.
Kageyama mixed the hot cocoa, which was not so hot anymore. He brought the two mugs to the living room, ready to give Hinata his mug, only to find his partner sprawled out on the couch, asleep. He wondered how exhausted his partner must have been to have fallen asleep so quickly. He quietly settled himself on the floor, sipping his warm cocoa.
When Hinata woke up, it was to the sound of dishes being washed and put away. He forgot where he was for a moment, until he sat up and saw Kageyama doing the dishes. He watched his partner for a bit; there was something about the way he moved ever so gracefully around the kitchen that reminded him of the way Kageyama was on the court.
It suddenly occurred to Hinata that he wasn't at his house. He sat up a little straighter. That was when Kageyama noticed him. "Oi," he called over his shoulder, putting the last of the dishes away then rushing to Hinata's side. "How are you?"
"I'm..." Hinata frowned. "Why do you look so worried?"
"You've been out for a while," Kageyama mumbled sheepishly, a tint of pink staining his cheeks. He rubbed his neck and looked away.
"I'm alright," Hinata smiled softly.
"That's uh, that's good," Kageyama nodded. He eyed the wound on Hinata's cheek with anger, sadness, and curiosity.
Hinata noticed him staring. "Is your mom home?" he asked in a really hushed tone.
"She just called and told me she'd be home tomorrow morning, there was some sort of weather advisory going on earlier," Kageyama replied. "Why? Is everything okay?"
"...hah. No," Hinata admitted with a sigh. He looked down to his hands in his lap. Kageyama didn't like the sound of that. He sat across from Hinata on the couch.
"What happened?" he implored gently. Hinata looked up at him through shaggy, sleep strewn hair. Kageyama fought the urge to brush it out of his face.
"You have to swear you won't tell anyone," Hinata began.
"I swear," Kageyama whispered.
Hinata sighed again. "My dad...h-he got a little...buzzed," he mumbled, looking anywhere but at Kageyama. "He and my mom started fighting about how she doesn't do enough and he's bringing in all the money. He...he went after her," Hinata gasped. His eyes were filled with tears. "But...I stepped between them right as my dad threw something. I think it was a porcelein figurine or something. It got me in the face. He started screaming at me so my mom scooped up Natsu and just...left," he whispered, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I ran upstairs, locked my door, and hopped out the window," he laughed a broken laugh that sent shivers down Kageyama's spine. "Then I hopped on my bike and came here using every back road I knew."
Kageyama's jaw had dropped somewhere in the midst of that story. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to relate. He didn't know how to even comfort his partner. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
Hinata wiped his tears hastily. "Don't be," he smiled. "Thank you for inviting me in without questions. He'll be okay by tomorrow, so I can go ho-"
"No," Kageyama said firmly. "You can stay here. At least for a little bit. I really don't think you should go back so soon."
"Okay," Hinata mumbled, unwilling to argue.
Kageyama opened his arms in a slightly awkward manner. He wanted to show some sort of empathy or comfort for the boy and this seemed like the best way to. Disregarding the stiffness of his partner, Hinata lunged into his arms, wrapping his arms around his partner's neck. He buried his face in the crook of Kageyama's neck, his breath staggering as he tried to avoid crying again. Kageyama rubbed circles on Hinata's back, and they sat like that for a while.
"H-hey Kags?" Hinata asked softly.
"Hm?" Kageyama replied, his eyes closing slowly.
"Could I get something to eat?"
"Mm, what do you want? I can cook macaroni and cheese," Kageyama slowly pulled away from the hug to look at Hinata while he spoke.
"Oh, whatever's easy," Hinata murmured. Kageyama frowned. The timidness of his partner was so out of the ordinary. He felt so much anger towards the man, Hinata's father, who made him feel that. He wanted him dead. Of course, that's too much to ask, but he at least wanted to see the man get in some sort of trouble for this.
"I think there are some leftover pork buns in the refrigerator," Kageyama mused, pretending he wasn't so upset for Hinata's sake.
"That sounds good!"
"Do you want to put in a movie?"
"Actually," Hinata smiled faintly, "I believe you have to get revenge on me from the last time we played Wii bowling."