Hinata shoved everything in his bag and ran down the school hallway, heart pounding. The other Karasuno students were on their way to the lunchroom. They looked at him curiously as he sprinted through the halls.

Word that he could fly had gotten out to everyone. Once Takito had announced that to Nodono Chiayi, the news spread like a wildfire. Kichimiri even avoided Hinata for a while.

He skidded around the corner into the second year's class. And slammed right into Kageyama, who was just coming out of his class.

"Hinata?" Kageyama stepped back.

Hinata blinked. "Hi, Kageyama-kun!"

The older boy narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing at the other end of the school?"

"Um, well," Hinata reached into his bag and pulled out a brown paper bag. "I made you food."

Kageyama took the bag from Hinata and glanced inside, black wings twitching with curiousity. "Oh. Meat buns..."

Hinata nodded politely. "Are we eating lunch together today?"

Kageyama sighed. His wings sagged. "No, I have to do something. Maybe you can eat with Takito today?"

"But..." His heart sank, and Hinata's wings drooped. "But you said..."

"Well, get over it." Kageyama snapped, making Hinata jump.

Kageyama glanced over at Hinata, who was staring at the ground. "Okay, I didn't mean it like that... sorry... I'm just really stressed right now. The Nationals are in a day."

Hinata sighed, bringing his gaze back up to Kageyama. "Yeah, okay. I'll just go find Takito. She's probably outside."

He turned his back on Kageyama and pushed through the door to the schoolyard, blinking in the bright sunlight. Most students would eat their lunch really fast, then rush to play outside.

There was one outdoor volleyball court. Hinata knew he would find Takito there. He jogged over to the court, watching the two teams face off against each other.

Daichi and Suga were on one team, with Tsukki and Yamaguchi on another. Some other students Hinata didn't know were playing, too. Hinata shook out his wings, watching for Takito. She would always conceal herself right against the net then pop out for a quick spike for an easy point.

Daichi passed the ball to Suga, and Suga set the ball high, swan's wings flaring open wide. Another student feinted a spike. Tsukki jumped high in the air, blocking. But the ball soared over the decoy's head, and Takito sprung out from her hiding place, leaping high into the air to slam the ball to the ground. Her wings cast an amazing shadow on the ground, a silhouette of feathers and flight.

Hinata squinted, analyzing Takito's form and technique. It seemed a bit off today...

Why'd she hit it with her left hand?

The ball sped past Yamaguchi's receive, and thudded to the ground. A straight attack. Her team cheered.

I guess she still scored.

Takito spotted Hinata and bounded over.

"Hey, Sho-chan!" She waved.

Hinata grinned. "Hey, Takito."

She nodded politely, singling to Daichi and Suga to give her a minute. "I have something to show you..." Takito held up her right wrist, and Hinata gasped.

Takito's wrist was encased in a cast, which was already signed by some classmates in her other classes.

"WHAT?" He looked again, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "How?"

Takito sighed. "Guess."

"Volleyball," Hinata responded. "You were playing libero."

She nodded. "You know me too well. I tripped, tried to break my fall with a roll, and next thing you know. Bam. Instant visit to the hospital. But, yeah, this sucks."

"Wait..." A realization struck Hinata. "You're Kageyama's technician! How are you gonna do his braces?"

A dark mask fell over Takito's face, and clouded her eyes with worry. That rarely happened, and seeing Takito like that made Hinata scared.

"Ah. I have no idea. But I'll have to manage, right?" The cloud vanished, and Takito seemed like she was back to her normal self. But Hinata knew better. She ran back over to the volleyball game, grabbing the ball to serve. Hinata sighed. He was worried for how the Nationals were going to go, with her injury.

The painful image of Takito struggling to tune braces while Kageyama had to forfeit because the equipment wasn't at legal standards crossed his mind and Hinata shook his head, trying to push it out of his head.

"I can't let this happen..." He muttered to no one in particular.

A voice sounded at his side. "Can't let what happen?" It was Nishinoya.

Noya fluttered his sparrow wings, staring straight at Hinata. Hinata didn't know Nishinoya very well, as they were in totally different classes. But Hinata saw Noya as a person to look up to. They shared a common passion for volleyball, and both loved to complain about being short and small.

"Oh, hey Noya-san." Hinata turned to face Karasuno's libero.

Nishinoya grinned. "Hey! Anyways, what can't you let happen?"

"Um, well," Hinata murmured. "Takito broke her wrist. But she has to do stuff for the Nationals, and I'm kind of scared she's not going to be able to..."

Noya frowned, thinking. "Well, breaking anything really sucks. I know that for a fact. I don't think you need to worry, though."

"Why?" Hinata shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, trying to keep them warm.

"Takito is a very... innovative person." He explained. "She can find a way around any obstacle, especially if it's her challenge to face herself."

Hinata nodded. "Okay... But if something goes wrong, Takito will blame herself, and she'll shoulder all the burdens on herself. I don't want that to happen."

Nishinoya sighed. "Well, that's gonna be a hard one. Maybe you could help out?"

"No," Hinata shook his head and wings. "She would want to do everything herself."

"Oh." Nishinoya smacked Hinata on the back. "Anyways, I think I see Kiyoko. I'll see you around, Shōyō." He strode off, marching towards the magpie-winged third-year.

Hinata ruffled his wings hopelessly and turned to walk back inside the school, but not before he felt a big hand rest on his shoulder.

"Is it true?"

He whipped around. Kichimiri. With a volleyball-sized print on his face. Hinata jumped in fear.

"What happened to your face...?" He said tentatively.

Kichimiri ignored the question. "Is it really true?"

"What?..." Hinata blinked. "Is what true?"

The eagle-winged boy slapped the back of Hinata's head.

"You know what I'm talking about."

But I don't...

"I really- Oh. Wait. Yeah, it's true." Hinata rubbed the back of his head, wincing. Fortunately for him, Kichimiri was being quite nice today. Maybe it was the weather.

Kichimiri stopped. And a cruel grin spread slowly across his face. "Alright. Can you show me, Hinata?"

"Ah. Um..." He tried to think of some smart excuse. Hinata gulped nervously, raising his wings out in a defensive position.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Kichimiri stepped forward, flaring his wings out wide. "Can you show me, Hinata?" There was a deadly edge to his voice.

Hinata brought his wings further around him, looking around. A small crowd had gathered. They watched with a look of concern, but no one really would stand up to Kichimiri. The volleyball game was forgotten and Takito rushed over, pushing her small frame between him and Kichimiri. Her wings were spread in anger. Or fear?

"Hey, hey, hey... What are we doing?" She shot a testing glare at Kichimiri.

Hinata pushed Takito to the side. "Takito, stay out of this. I'm gonna show him I can fly. It's my only chance."

But she stuck her chin out defiantly, standing between the two boys.

"No." She turned to Kichimiri. Her wings were flared out wide, putting a strong, feathered wall between Hinata and the bully.

"Oi, eagle-face. I don't know what you're doing to Hinata here, but quit it."

Kichimiri smiled, showing crooked teeth. "Oh, really. Why are you standing up for him?"

She ignored the question, pointing a slender finger at Kichimiri's face.

"Oh, really. If I can remember correctly, just seven minutes ago, you had one of my serves slammed into your face. Am I right?"

"Y-you... I-I-I..." He stammered. "That... well, you made a terrible mistake."

"You're a mistake." Takito shot back. She was a full head and a half shorter than Kichimiri, but her attitude and words made up for that in full. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and strutted off.

"Show him how you fly, Hinata."

And with that, she slipped into the crowd and vanished.

Hinata spread his wings out wide. A surge of confidence ran through him. "Watch me, Kichimiri."

He crouched low, tension building up in him. The crowd moved back. Hinata took three thundering steps, flared his wings, and leapt into the sky.

A gust of wind immediately caught his wings and brought him higher, and Hinata fluttered his wings at such as speed they probably looked like a blur from here. He wasn't too high above the ground, and could probably still reach down and touch the volleyball net.

Do I really want to go higher?

He really didn't have to answer that, as his wings inexplicably pushed out against the wind and boosted him well above the ground. From here, he could see the roof of the school.

Hinata heard some first-year students cheering from below, especially Yamaguchi and Takito. Kichimiri just stood there in shock. He tried to focus on flying in a straight line. It was amazing to be flying like this, proving a point against Kichimiri. His heart pounded with pure exhilaration.

Suddenly, a black streak soared by Hinata, causing him to veer sharply to the left. It was like that black streak was trying to knock him off balance.

Oh no... What if that's Kichimiri and he's gonna kick me out of the sky?

He felt a little sick to his stomach. Hinata glanced back down to the ground, searching for Kichimiri's large frame. His wings flapped nervously.

Oh no...

Something - someone - grabbed his arm.

"Hinata! What the heck are you doing?"

Hinata turned. It was Kageyama. His dark eyes were warm, but concerned.

"Kageyama!" He felt kind of relieved, but also strangely excited at the same time. "What are you doing...?"

He let go of Hinata's arm. Hinata was surprised at how dejected and empty he felt without Kageyama holding him. They both soared upwards, until the crowd below was nothing but a small dot on the view below them. Hinata was happier than ever, and he would fly like this forever. Next to Kageyama, proving the person that scared him wrong, and free in the sky.

"What are we doing?" They asked each other.

Kageyama smiled, shaking his head. He gave another powerful beat of his wings. "You proved him wrong, Hinata. You proved me wrong, to be honest."

"I proved them wrong..." Hinata echoed. The cold wind whipped at his face, and Hinata shivered. Kageyama really didn't seem to care that Hinata was freezing. The cold probably didn't bother him; he was used to flying like this.

Kageyama flew in a bit closer to Hinata.

"Yeah, you did. Now maybe we should come down and see that look on Kichimiri's face."

Hinata usually would never give in to gravity, but for once, it was deemed necessary to get a good photo of Kichimiri. Kageyama dipped down into a dive, and Hinata clumsily followed. Though he tried to practice flying as much as possible, he was afraid someone would comment on his blundering flight or messy technique.

Hinata had expressed his concerns to Kageyama in the form of a whiny phone call, but all Kageyama responded with was,

Why should you worry? It isn't the nationals.

Everything in Kageyama's life could be sorted into three things. Nationals, Volleyball, and Not Volleyball or the Nationals. Hinata wished his life could be that simple, or at least see things that simply.

A loud cheer broke him out of his thoughts. His feet touched the ground, and he saw Takito, Yamaguchi, and the other first years, along with Tanaka and Nishinoya, jumping up and down happily. Even Tsukki was excited. Barely.

Kageyama landed next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't doubt him, Kichimiri."

Kichimiri remained rooted to the spot, eyes wide in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, Hinata saw Yamaguchi take a photo. Tsukki was actually kind of smiling, too. And as usual, Takito was grinning so wide it seemed physically impossible.

Hinata stepped forwards, stretching his wings out to his maximum wingspan.

"Yeah, Kichimiri. Don't doubt me."

The class bell rang, and Hinata strode out of class feeling better than ever. Takito bounded out after him, wings bouncing up and down.

"Ahhh... Freedom... For a few minutes, at least." She skipped down the hall. Her wings were flapping energetically.

Hinata took a moment to shove all his homework into his bag. "Oh yeah... The Nationals..."

"Yup!" She ran back over to Hinata. "You're coming, right?"

He nodded. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Good. Because the whole world's gonna be there. Well, just the whole country. But that's gonna be a lot of people." Takito glanced at her broken wrist and sighed.

Hinata gulped. "Woah, woah, woah, Takito! Don't you worry about your cast! You're gonna get over it! Everything's going to be fine! You're going to be fine!" He expected Takito to lash back at him and say something snappy, but she just looked up and smiled.

"I know that," She said, voice quieter than ever. "I trust myself. Even with one hand."

Hinata grabbed Takito's wrist. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and signed it, as neatly as possible.

"For good luck." He murmured.

Kageyama stuck his head in between the duo. "What are we doing?"

"Hinata signed my cast," Takito explained. "Do you want to?" She shoved her arm into Kageyama's face, and Hinata handed him the pen.

The older boy stepped back. "Sure." He grasped the pen and wrote his name on the last inches of space on the cast.

"Tobio's giving out autographs, now?" A second year girl had come over to watch. Another of his fangirls.

Kageyama stiffened. There was probably only one word to describe how much he hated stuff like this, and that word wasn't a very polite thing to say at school.

Hinata saved him, though. "No, Kageyama-kun is not. He's signing Takito's cast."

The second-year, who Hinata thought was getting pretty annoying, narrowed her eyes. "Why does this lousy first year get an autograph from you, Kageyama?"

Kageyama clenched his jaw. "Like I said, it's not an autograph. And do you even know who Takito is to me?"

"Oh, Tobio-chan," The second-year giggled, which Hinata guessed was supposed to sound cute, but he thought it sounded weird.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend!"

Takito growled under her breath. "I'm not his girlfriend, stupid. I'm his brace technician. Kageyama doesn't have time for people to 'Kageyama-senpai!' him. Who do you think he is? Oikawa-san?"

Who's Oikawa-san? Another competitor?

Kageyama flicked his eyes briefly over to Hinata before speaking. "Look. If it'll make you go away, take this."

He pulled a piece of paper out of Hinata's notebook and scribbled something onto it, handing it to the second-year.

The second-year squealed happily and ran off. They all sighed collectively.

Takito frowned. "That's a first."

"What's a first?" Hinata asked.

"Well, Kageyama never really gives people his signature," She explained, rubbing her wrist. "That's the first time that's happened."

"Actually, I didn't give her my autograph." Kageyama added.

Hinata turned to him, twitching his wings. "What? What'd you do, then?"

"Well, I just did some random scribble," Kageyama smiled, which was a bit unnerving. "I'd never give anyone my signature. Besides Takito."

"What? So I'm special, huh?" Takito grinned stupidly.

Hinata laughed. "Oooooooh, Kageyama!"

Kageyama shook his wings irritably. "Whatever. Remind me why I hang out with you first-years, again?"

"Because we're amazing?" He asked.

They broke down into another fit of laughter, which felt really weird for Kageyama.

The bell for next class rung, and they stood straight up.

"Ahh... Last class, and then we're free to go home and eat all the food we want..." Takito sighed blissfully.

"What class do you have, Kageyama?" Hinata asked, shouldering his bag and shaking out his wings.

Kageyama shrugged. "Math."

Takito gagged. "Ugh, math. Hinata, I think we have english. We have to turn in our essay."

"Great," Hinata sighed. "Did Yamaguchi edit it properly?"

"We can hope..." Takito strode off around the corner without even waiting for Hinata.

Kageyama picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the floor, and handed it to Hinata. "You dropped this."

"Thanks." He took it from Kageyama and shoved it into his bag, before running off to class.

"Wait for me, Takito!"

Takito was just opening the door to the classroom when Hinata came skidding in behind her.

"Hey, Hinata. What's the rush?"

Hinata slid into his seat and pulled out his bag, taking out a notebook and pencil. Yamaguchi sat next to him on his left, Takito on his right.

The other students were filing into class slowly, discussing their projects. Yamaguchi slid a stack of papers onto Hinata's desk. It was their essay, all typed neatly with all their names printed in blue ink at the top. The clean stack of papers even had a cover page.

"Why is your name first?" Hinata glared at Yamaguchi.

He shrugged, resting his wings on the side of the chair. "I dunno. Sorry. Go hand it in to the teacher."

Hinata stood up, grasping the papers firmly. Takito gave him a thumbs-up.

Good luck, she mouthed.

What? I'm just handing in an essay. It's not like I'm heading to my doom or anything.

The teacher stood up. "Alright, class. Hand in your essays, please."

There was a hustle to get papers straight, names down, and final touches made.

Hinata passed the essay package to the teacher, a little nervous. He always got this type of feeling when he handed in any assignment or exam. The teacher took the papers from Hinata and nodded in approval. He shuffled back to his seat feeling kind of sick.

"Oi, Hinata, what's with the face?" Takito glanced at him.

Hinata shrugged. "I don't know." He reached into his bag and pulled out the paper Kageyama had given him. And gasped.

This is Kageyama's math homework! Not my paper...

He turned the paper over, and on the back, a few words were scribbled in what was definitely the older boy's printing.

Meet me behind the outside of gym 1 after school.

What's that supposed to mean? He stuffed the paper into his bag before anyone could see.

The english teacher started talking and Hinata's brain switched off. He tried to pay attention, but paying attention was a completely unknown skill to his brain. His pencil dragged across the paper randomly, creating scratchy doodles, which turned into wings.

The wings took form of an angel. Hinata wanted to be an angel. It sounded kinda stupid, but honestly he would love to have huge, fluffy wings that were big and white. He sketched the angel's face, and just as a joke to show Kageyama later, he made the angel Kageyama, laughing to himself.

Hinata had been drawing wings ever since he could hold a pencil. From the day he drew his first shaky pair, that was all he wanted to draw. Once he found out his wings were too small, Hinata was always drawing himself with impossibly huge wings. It was somewhat of an escape from reality. Escapism.

Something hit him in the side of the head, and he sat up in his seat. Takito's eraser was lying on the desk below him.

"What was that for?"

She shrugged. "Class is over."

WHAT? That went by quick.

"Do we have any homework?" He asked, closing up his notebook and putting it in his bag.

Takito sighed. "Were you listening?"

"No..." He answered truthfully.

"We have homework," Yamaguchi confirmed. "We have to fill out the self-assessment form about our essay. I think we failed."

"Hey! Have some confidence in yourself, Yamaguchi-kun!" She smacked Yamaguchi on the shoulder.

"I'm confident we failed..." Yamaguchi sighed.

Takito glared at him. "You..."

Hinata left them to argue and hurried down the breezeway to the gym.

Why does Kageyama wanna meet me? Why? And for what?

He turned around the building and to the back of the school. Kageyama was already there, sitting against the wall with his brown bag beside him. Hinata reached into his blue bag and pulled out Kageyama's math homework.

"Kageyama!" He ran over, waving the paper around.

Kageyama stood up and took the paper from him. "Hinata."

"What are we doing?" Hinata asked, a little out of breath. "Why'd you tell me to come over here?"

They took a few steps closer to each other, closing the distance surprisingly fast. Now, inches apart, Kageyama looked up at the sky, folding his wings in.

"Hinata... There's something I have to tell you... About me... It's important."