To make up for not uploading last week, this chapter is slightly longer than the last two chapters. The Kagehina question from last chapter is still up in the air, so please give your thoughts on whether or not you want this fic to have Kagehina in it.

At the moment I'm keeping the story platonic, though it's safe to say that Kageyama is slightly obessesed with Hinata, but how far from canon is that really?

I will be back to posting every Friday, so the wait will not be as long as this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu!

~Smiles & Sunshine~

Kageyama woke up with a smile on his face. He couldn't remember his dream, just that it had been pleasant and he'd felt like flying. His body was well rested and, apart from the fact that he was hungry, he felt the best he'd had in a while. And he had no school and a match today! It really couldn't get any better. His mother also seemed to notice his good mood, when he came for breakfast and asked for the occasion. Kageyama just brushed it off as a nice day, since he couldn't really explain it. He was in such good mood that he even found himself humming whilst packing his bag and going to the gym. It was a nice day with only a few clouds floating about and the still rising sun was painting the sky a slight orange. Even though it was still April, it was quite a warm day and Kageyama was glad that he'd left early, so he could take his time walking to the gym.

He'd almost reached the school grounds, when he heard a yell behind him and he didn't even get to look behind him, when Hinata's figure flew past him. Even more than enjoying the nice weather and atmosphere, he loved competing and he loved competing against Hinata, because in those competitions, Kageyama had realized, he enjoyed both winning and losing, however weird that may sound. Kageyama enjoyed winning a lot, he was a very competitive being after all, but he found that losing to Hinata wasn't all that bad. Because Hinata would always smile so brightly and his eyes would beam with happiness and Kageyama enjoyed seeing Hinata like that. It even felt like he hadn't lost at all, because seeing Hinata so happy was a win in and of itself. He briefly wondered if Hinata always smiled so brightly when he won or if it was just because he beat Kageyama, whom he'd seen as rival. Kageyama concluded that it didn't really matter, since, either way, he'd always be the one to enjoy Hinata's happiness.

Kageyama's good mood completely erased the question of why he was so attached to Hinata, when he'd only known him, really known him, for a few days.

They were racing to the gym and Kageyama could feel his energy being drained, but Hinata had good lead and if Hinata was to win, Kageyama wasn't about to let it be a big one. So he ran to his hearts content and managed to catch up at just the right moment, which ended the race in a draw and both of them panting on the ground. Though Kageyama was no longer visibly smiling, like he'd been earlier, he was still extremely happy. Tanaka, who had been about to enter the gym quickly told them off for spending energy just before the match, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

"Damn it. It was a draw," Hinata puffed from his place at the ground. He was lying face down in the dirt, so Kageyama couldn't see his face, but he could hear the annoyance in his voice. Had he been more like Hinata, he would have giggled, maybe even laughed, but he wasn't so he just continued to annoy Hinata... for his own amusement.

"I won't ever lose to the likes of you," he said between pants and eyed Hinata, wanting to see he'd respond, since you could never really know with him. He was unpredictable after all.

"But!" Hinata exclaimed as he pushed himself off of the ground, taking another few deep breaths and then looked Kageyama directly in the eyes, "Today, you and I are gonna win!"

Kageyama was not at all taken aback at Hinata's little declaration, because first of all, it was true. They were going to win and secondly, Hinata was the most victory hungry person Kageyama had ever encountered and he'd been at the same school as Oikawa Tooru, which said a lot. Kageyama stood up, in synch with Hinata, if he might add.

"Let's get ready" to win.

Kageyama, Hinata and Tanaka were beginning their warm-up, when Tsukishima and Yamaguchi entered the gym and Kageyama chose to ignore them completely. The damn four-eyes was not going to ruin his good mood. Almost twenty minutes went by as the two teams did their warm-up and the other club members slowly showed up. At some point the Captain declared that he'd be on Tsukishima's team which Hinata questioned very loudly. At this point Tsukishima decided to start verbally looking down on his opponent, but this time Kageyama saw it more as a tactic to psych out his opponent, which Kageyama had learnt to ignore. He faintly caught the words crush, short and king, but he didn't really care. Tanaka, on the other hand, was very aware of Tsukishima's shameless bashing and responded with a declaration of war.

The match started and Tanaka was very quick to score the first point, spiking right past Tsukishima's block. It was safe to say that Tanaka was very passionate on this particular day and Kageyama didn't quite know how to respond to it, so he just completely ignored it and let the other second-years handle their unruly team mate.

Kageyama decided to let Hinata spike the next ball and secure the second point, but Hinata, who had looked so happy when Kageyama had tossed the ball to him, was completely shut down by Tsukishima's block. And this was not the last time. Hinata continued to be blocked by Tsukishima and Kageyama could feel Hinata's frustration as he, time and time again, hit the tall wall standing between him and victory. The frustration was starting to take a grip on Kageyama as well and the good mood from the morning was almost completely gone now. He'd clearly been underestimating Tsukishima, thinking that he'd be nothing but height and sassy remarks, but of course not. Tsukishima was an extremely intelligent player and tactfully coordinated his blocks to match Hinata's jumps as well as Kageyama's tosses. How annoying.

"C'mon, I'm just gonna keep blocking it, y'know?" Tsukishima teased Kageyama, "You should go ahead and use the king's toss." 'King' again!

"Even if I can't attack with speed, " Kageyama replied picking up the fallen ball, "I'll still win."

The match then continued and not only did Tsukishima get the chance to prove himself in the match. The Captain made a perfect receive to Kageyama's jump serve, clearly showing his experience and devoted practice to the sport. After Kageyama's serve was stopped, Tsukishima, once again, took the opportunity to mock him.

"C'mon, your highness! Shouldn't you start getting serious soon?"

Kageyama didn't even get to process Tsukishima's words, because, for some reason, Hinata was even more agitated than Kageyama.

"What the heck's with you? You've been at this since yesterday! What the hell is the king's toss?"

Kageyama felt his heart drop. It wasn't like his Middle School habits were a secret, everyone in the room knew about it. Everyone except Hinata and Kageyama would have liked to keep it that way. The conversation continued without Kageyama even trying to stop it.

"Do you know why this guy is called 'the King'?"

"Isn't it because he's really good and guys from other schools are scared of him?"

"Haha... I think there are definitely guys who feel that way though." Tsukishima said, almost cheerfully, "Rumour says that the nickname 'King of the Court' was given to him by the guys of Kitagawa Daiichi. It means a selfish, egoistical king. A tyrannical dictator.

"That's just a rumour I heard once, but after watching that game, I was in full agreement. He took oppressiveness to such an extreme in that decisive match that he was forcefully benched." Tsukishima turned to Kageyama, "... And you can't use that quick strike anymore, because that decisive match left you scared, right?"

Kageyama found that he couldn't disagree with Tsukishima. He vaguely heard Tanaka yelling at Tsukishima, but Kageyama had, in the midst of this mess, found that he was strangely at peace. And Hinata was right there and he deserved to know the truth, so Kageyama decided to tell him.

"That's right. Tossing the ball up only for no one to be behind me frightens me down to my very soul."

Silence. More silence. And-

"But that's a story about Middle School, right?" Hinata was looking at him with his big eyes and an innocent look on his face, making Kageyama forget how to breathe and just stare back at him in awe, "Since you toss the ball to me properly and all, that stuff doesn't really matter to me."

Hinata turned to Tsukishima, "The only problem is how we're gonna knock you down!" And he was back to Kageyama, "We're gonna win against Tsukishima and start club activities for real, and you'll be Setter, fair and square! And then you can toss to me! Is there anything else to it?" Why do you make everything seem so simple, you dumbass. Kageyama was almost annoyed with him. But only almost.

"That sort of 'genuine, straight foreword' emotion truly irritates me," Tsukishima said quietly as he turned his back to them, "You can't fill the gap in height with fighting spirit. If you think you'll get by on effort alone, you're gravely mistaken." Kageyama was almost certain that that was not directed towards Hinata.

They continued the game and it was, once again, time for Kageyama to toss the ball to one of the Spikers. They both called out for a toss, but Hinata had no chance against Tsukishima, so it had to be-

"Kageyama!" He held his breath and looked behind him. Hinata was already there, ready to spike, only waiting for Kageyama, "I'm here!"

In this moment, Kageyama was no king, the king was someone else. As if by command, he tossed the ball to Hinata, not knowing if it was his will or Hinata's. But it didn't matter, because Hinata was there. Hinata had given the order, which Kageyama could only obey and give a toss worthy of a king.

The almost magical moment was completely ruined when Hinata barely made a successful spike and seemed, out of all the people there, the most surprised that he'd spiked it, even though he was the one who initiated it.

"You can't just-" Kageyama started, wanting to scold Hinata for suddenly stealing the toss.

"But I was right there to receive the ball! I don't care about any of that stuff from Middle School! For me, no matter what kind of toss it is, it's one that that I really want to receive! I'll jump anywhere! I'll hit any kind of ball, so keep on tossing it my way!" Yes, your highness.

The next couple of minutes were extremely hectic. Hinata proved to be even more ignorant than he'd first thought. For someone who was really pinned on becoming the ace of a Volleyball team, he knew horrifyingly little about the sport. Tanaka suggested attacking with quicks, which Kageyama declined as he and Hinata were not in synch, yet, and it would therefore be impossible to time a quick strike. He then changed his mind after another argument between Tsukishima and Hinata, because he really wanted to prove Tsukishima wrong as he somehow thought that Hinata had no value. He then tried to explain how their quick was going to work, but it seemed that Hinata couldn't comprehend how quick it was going to be, as he continuously got the timing wrong.

Kageyama was constantly telling Hinata to move faster, because he knew he had the ability to do it, but it didn't seem to work.

"Kageyama. You're doing the same as in Middle School," Sugawara said almost sadly as he picked up the ball, which Hinata had failed to hit... again.

"Hinata excels in mobility, reflexes and speed... And in addition, he has jumping power... If he gets used to it, he could even pull off a quick attack..." Kageyama countered, this was not the same as Middle School.

"Hinata's weapon, that nimbleness of his... isn't it being diminished by your toss?" What do you mean, went unsaid, but Sugawara answered anyway, "Hinata doesn't have technique or experience," True, "The team you were barely able to bring together in Middle School had far from excellent players. But the raw material was top quality... With your skills... How do I put this? More of Hinata's character or ability or whatever you'd call it will... It'd be more like... erm.. It's like he'll be somehow be better at using it, wouldn't he?

"Your senses and ball control is better than anyone else! And above all... You calmly see through the opposing blockers' movements and make decisions accordingly. For you who have technique, probably more than enough willingness, and above all... 'excellent eyes which see everything around you', there is no way you can't see your comrades!"

If Kageyama were to be totally honest, he would admit that he did not understand a word that Sugawara had just said. At first it had something about reverting to how he acted in Middle School, but somewhere along the speech, yes it was a speech, it has turned into his and Hinata's talents and... something about using them right? Kageyama was thoroughly confused. Was he supposed to combine his and Hinata's abilities? Wasn't that what the quick did? Hinata used his speed and jumping power, while Kageyama tossed the ball to him... Wait! Kageyama was pretty sure he had observed Hinata well enough to know his full extent of his abilities, and taking fatigue and mental strength into consideration, he'd probably be able to predict exactly how fast he could run and how high he could jump. If Hinata just escaped the blockers without trying to synch with Kageyama, then Kageyama could toss to him and they'd get past the blockers...

It seemed impossible, Kageyama was pretty confident as a Setter, but pinpointing a toss to that extent, could he do it? Should he just go for it? He looked at Hinata, who looked as confused as he felt. I'm here.

"I am jealous of your physical ability!" Kageyama told Hinata, who just looked extremely shocked by the words. Kageyama could kind of understand why, as Hinata did see him as someone really good, but that didn't matter right now, "That's why I'll have you show me all of your ability!"

"...What?"

"At your fastest speed, run to where there are no blockers and jump your highest jump! You don't have to watch the ball, I'll bring it to you!"

Hinata looked bewildered, "If I don't look at the ball, I might just spike thin air!"

"Probably!" Kageyama said, he wasn't going to lie. He really had no idea if this was going to work at all. "But I want to give it a try."

The match resumed and Kageyama was blocking out everything that wasn't Hinata and the ball. He didn't need to see anything else. The blockers where irrelevant. Tanaka was irrelevant. He was irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was getting the ball to Hinata.

The ball had been received and was coming towards him. Hinata had already started moving and Kageyama got ready to toss the ball just as Hinata jumped. He quickly calculated what speed and angle to use to successfully toss the ball right to where Hinata would swing his arm. And then he tossed and almost immediately after, the ball was slammed down onto the floor on the opposite side of the net. They'd done it.

Kageyama was impressed with both himself and Hinata. He'd never actually thought that it would work and this was their first attempt too. Hinata seemed just as impressed as he looked as his hand like it had superpowers! Then the Captain said something, which grabbed everyone's attention.

"Oi, just now, Hinata had his eyes closed..."

The synchronised 'What' from Tsukishima, Tanaka and Kageyama echoed through the gymnasium. Hinata who had been completely ignoring them suddenly turned to Kageyama and put his hand so close to his face that he could see where the ball hit his hand.

"Hey! What was that just now? I hit it though! With my hand! Just now! I hit it! Hey!"

"Oi! Why did you close your eyes!" Kageyama was so in shock that he no longer cared that the quick had worked.

"You said: 'Don't look at the ball' didn't you? If my eyes are open, I'll watch it no matter what, so"

"That might be true, but is it usually possible to trust someone 100% like that?"

"But right now I have no choice but to trust you!"

Kageyama was speechless. Everything Hinata did, everything Hinata stood for was so different from anything he'd ever experienced before. Someone like Hinata should annoy someone like Kageyama. They should be like oil and water, but somehow Kageyama was drawn to Hinata and he felt an overwhelming desire to follow Hinata's example and trust him 100%, but... He was still hesitating. Maybe one day?

The rest of the match was a blur. Kageyama concentrated on sending Hinata the perfect tosses, but it was a lot harder to do a second time... and a third time, but even when Hinata jumped into the net and Kageyama tossed the ball into his face, Hinata still closed his eyes. He could feel himself improving though and he was set on having it work at least one more time before the set ended, hopefully with their victory, and it did. Hinata was just as ecstatic about hitting the ball this time as he had been the first time and this time Kageyama joined him in celebration.

The second set was a whole lot more successful and the quick worked almost every time. The game was a close one, since the Captain's receives were well above average and Tsukishima was not only a good blocker, but also a clever player. In the end Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama managed to win two sets in a row, which was all they could have wished for.

At some point Hinata dragged Kageyama with him to shake hands with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, because 'You're supposed to do that before and after a match!'. Though Kageyama didn't really care, Hinata really did and Tsukishima seemed liked shaking hands was the last thing he wanted to do, so by principle, Kageyama was on Hinata's side just to piss off Tsukishima. Kageyama was proud to say that they succeeded.

Shortly after that little incident, Tanaka made a very loud and weird noise. The very beautiful manager had entered the gym and with her, she had brought the official Volleyball Club jackets for the first-years. It wasn't much later that someone else came into the gym, though much less graceful than Shimizu had entered. This person was small of stature, had messy hair and big glasses, which made his face seem smaller than it was. He was not wearing a school uniform and he also seemed a little too old to be a student, but then again he didn't seem like an adult either, but that didn't matter, because of the news he brought.

"We're competing! It's all set up! A practice match! The opponent is one of the prefecture's best four, Aoba Jousai!"

The reactions the message got were wildly different, but nobody seemed disheartened by that fact that they were going up against a powerhouse. What a relief that was to Kageyama.

"Ah!" The person looked directly at Hinata and Kageyama, "So you two are the problematic Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun! Starting this year I'm the Volleyball Club's advisor, Takeda Ittetsu!" So he is a teacher...

The teacher then proceeded to talk to the Captain and then revealed to them that Seijoh had a condition for playing them.

"Kageyama-kun will act as setter for the entire game."

Kageyama felt kind of bad for stealing Sugawara's spot as Setter, when he'd hardly proved his worth … yet. Then again, it wasn't his fault that their shot at a practice match with Seijoh was if he played Setter and he had promised Sugawara that he would only play Setter, when he earned the spot.

The match was also perfectly timed, as it gave Kageyama and Hinata an opportunity to try out the quick strike on other opponents than their team mates, who had been there, when they had developed it. He was looking forward to it. But at the same time he was dreading it.

Seijoh was the school where most players from Kitagawa Daiichi went and this of course included Kindaichi and Kunimi, whom he couldn't exactly say that he had parted with on good terms. There had been shouting and, if Kunimi hadn't been there, Kageyama was sure that either he himself or Kindaichi would have started an all out fight. But now wasn't the time to be remembering bad memories, he had to focus on the upcoming match and... Oikawa.

It was common for players to feel nervous before a match, especially against a strong school, but Kageyama usually handled those kind of nerves pretty well. It was just that Oikawa was different. Not only was he a strong Setter and over-all player. He was also someone whom Kageyama deeply admired, which somehow made him very uneasy. There was also the fact that he'd never played against Oikawa. Sure he'd never played against Kindaichi or Kunimi either, but they did not have Oikawa's skills.

Kageyama wanted nothing more than to get all of the nerves out of his body and the best way to do that was sleep. Kageyama would later find that his nerves would not return as a certain oranged haired Middle Blocker would be taking up all of his time with his own nervousness.

About 3 Months Earlier

It was the official last day in the Volleyball Club for the current third-years of Kitagawa Daiichi. The third years were done thanking their coach and their Kohai for everything that they had done for them and were now giving back their uniforms. Kageyama had originally thought that giving back his uniform would be hard as he would now be forced to start all over and work his way up to a position of regular on a new team. It wasn't at all. Kageyama was embracing the change and wanted nothing more than a new uniform and a new team. Leaving everything behind was ideal, but it seemed that he wasn't allowed to do that, as he was literally pushed into a hallway by what he wanted to forget.

"Kunimi, myself and a few others have already decided that we are going to Aoba Jousai, what about you?" Kindaichi was looking at Kageyama like he would punch him if he moved. Kunimi, who stood behind Kindaichi, looked unusually alert, probably because he didn't want a fight to break out.

"I don't know yet, but definitely not Seijoh. My goal is to defeat Oikawa-san... and you."

"Don't you get all cocky! If anyone's going to be defeated it's you! Do you think that anyone will follow a first-year dictator? Any smart school will not let you play as a regular, unless they had no other choice!"

"If you had just used your abilities to the fullest it would never have turned out like it did!"

"What?! So suddenly it's our fault? You think that we never did our best!"

"I know you didn't! Nanaba-Senpai was the proof of that!" Kageyama had grabbed hold of Kindaichi's shirt and was now pushing him against the wall

"Guys don't fight..." Kunimi tried, but Kindaichi shouted at the same time, so he went unheard.

"Do not bring Nanaba-san into this! It was an accident!"

"An accident that could have been prevented if you had just paid better attention!"

"It was inevitable and you know it! The only reason you're blaming us is because you were Nanaba-san's favourite and you lost the only friend you've ever had on this team and you can't accept it!"

"What the hell kind of reason is that?"

"Guys! Stop!" Kunimi pushed Kageyama away from Kindaichi with as much strength as he could muster and stood between the two of them with his back to Kageyama, telling Kindaichi to calm down.

"Your highness," Kindaichi said mockingly, but the volume of his voice had considerably lowered, "Next time we meet will be in a match and we'll defeat you."

Kageyama was left alone in the hallway, silently promising that he would be the one to defeat them. No matter the cost.

Just to avoid any confusion that might occur. Nanaba is my own character, but fret not, he will not be a main character. I will say no more as that would go into spoiler territory.

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