Kageyama would probably look back on this moment later in life and laugh his face off, but right now, this was anything but funny. Everything he had planned to say to Hinata, everything he had rehearsed in his head during math class, everything. All of that had just gotten on the nearest train out of Miyagi.
"Um... Kageyama?" Hinata looked up at Kageyama with anticipation.
Kageyama shook his head. "Um..."
They both sighed. On an awkwardness scale of one to ten, this probably hit a 20.
Dammit.
Kageyama realized the only time the awkwardness scale had been past a seven was the time Takito was helping Hinata look for his water bottle, and Takito stormed into the second-year's classroom and yelled,
"Alright, listen up, idiots. If any of you have Hinata-kun's water bottle, hand it over before I shove it up your butt!"
Kageyama had bluntly muttered under his breath that,
He wouldn't mind that, actually.
And Takito had laughed her face off and bounded her way back down the hallway.
Right now, Hinata just stared up at Kageyama in a way that made him feel like running around and screaming.
Why are his eyes so shiny?
"Kageyama-kun! Whatcha gonna tell me?!"
He stiffened. "Um... I need my math homework back."
Hinata took no notice of this absolute lie and pulled it out of his bag, along with some other crinkled papers that had appeared to attach themselves through some form of food.
Kageyama took the lump from Hinata and peeled it apart, trying to dissect the papers as rip-free as possible. He held up the angel drawing with one raised eyebrow.
"Hinata, what the heck?"
Hinata blushed. "Sorry. I got bored in class. I was doodling."
"Great," Kageyama muttered, secretly pleased somehow. "Why an angel? I'm anything but an angel!"
"Um, well..." Hinata could object this point pretty easily. "Angels are cool! And you're cool?"
Why did he say like that a question?
"Oh. Thanks." Kageyama tried not to blush. It didn't work.
Hinata shrugged innocently. "Anyways, what do you actually have to tell me?"
Kageyama cursed under his breath.
The younger boy planted his hands on his hips. "Look here, Kageyama-kun. Whatever you have to tell me, I won't judge. I promise."
"You... you promise?" Kageyama shook out his wings anxiously.
Hinata grabbed Kageyama's wrists. "I promise."
Kageyama tensed up at Hinata's tight grip, but nodded.
"Wait!" Hinata stopped him. "I have a question."
I have a question.
Those four words freaked Kageyama out, for some reason. This question could be, well, anything. He hoped it was something worthwhile, or at least an interesting question. He also hoped it wasn't regarding schoolwork. Kageyama was the wrong person to talk to about that kind of stuff.
"Go ahead," Kageyama prompted, somewhat stiffly.
Hinata grinned, pleased. "Earlier, Takito-chan mentioned Oikawa-san. Who's that?"
Kageyama's brain withered at the thought of Oikawa.
"He's another Nationals competitor..." He explained.
Hinata snapped his fingers. "And you don't like him!"
"No! I mean, well, um..."
"You mean..."
Kageyama took a deep breath. "Oikawa was called the Great King. He ruled the junior and U20 categories. In fact, he still rules. His reign goes on."
"Woaaahhhh," Hinata was awestruck. "Oikawa does Dives?"
He nodded, before continuing. "Don't interrupt. This is a long story. Now, as I was saying, The Great King still rules the arena. His calm sense and crazy skill shut out my natural talent. He's not a prodigy like some call me. But his attitude towards the Nationals bring him high above me. I don't want to admit he's better than me, but my heart knows. You'll see him on Friday. He's the champion, right now."
"But then how are you connected to him?" Hinata inquired.
Kageyama sighed. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah!"
"We went to the same middle school. Oikawa was a third year when I was there. And he was amazing. But this was only the start. I saw him early one morning, practicing dives. And I was awestruck. The dive I saw him do wouldn't have placed him in the Nationals, or even the school team. But it was on that day I chose to pursue that forever, no matter how hard I had to train or what effort I had to put in. That day at home, I begged my parents to find me a coach, but they refused. I became bitter and cold. I mean, more bitter than I usually am. I went to Oikawa and pleaded with him to teach me. The thing you have to understand though, is that at this time, Oikawa wasn't the cool and collected person he is today. He was insane. He wanted to be the best. Just like I did. After six months, I proved myself full of natural talent. We trained together. Oikawa and I often would stay up past midnight at school, leaping off the one diving platform they had like there was no tomorrow. Eventually, my parents gave into my pleas and got me a coach. My first coach. Not Shen."
"You had another coach before Shen?" Hinata frowned. "Oh."
"Yeah, I had another coach. I don't really want to talk about that..."
Hinata smiled. "Okay. Well, what do you have to tell me?"
"Um... Oikawa... Well... I'm..." Kageyama stammered, not sure what to say.
Why is it so hard to say words? I've said at least ten thousand words in my life. And now, I can't even say a sentence!
"I'm... Um... Well... It's, um, well," He said, frantic, wings flailing.
Hinata watched patiently, not sure what to do. "Um, Kageyama-kun, does this have to do with Oikawa?"
"Yes- I mean, no!," Kageyama muttered. "Well, not really, but, um..."
Hinata snapped his fingers. "I got it! Don't worry, it's fine."
"What?" Kageyama blinked and shut his mouth.
"Aw, Kageyama, don't feel bad about it..." Hinata reassured.
How does he even know what I just said? I said... nothing...?
Kageyama frowned. "Do you even know what I'm talking about?"
"Yeah..." Hinata clasped his hands together nervously. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but... You're in love with Oikawa-san?"
Kageyama almost screamed. "I'm WHAT?"
"You're.. In love... With Oikawa...?" Hinata repeated, uncertain.
Kageyama grabbed Hinata's arm and tugged him out of the way. "I'm not in love with Oikawa! Where the heck did you get that idea!?"
Hinata stared up at Kageyama, who's cheeks were painted a bright red. "You sound like you are, though."
"I DON'T SOUND LIKE I'M IN LOVE!" Kageyama screamed. Hinata stepped back cautiously, wings raised around him protectively.
He sighed. "Sorry for yelling. But answer me on this one question. How does someone 'sound' like they're in love?"
"Well, first," Hinata put his hands on his hips. "You talk about someone, like, a lot. You launched into a full story about Oikawa-san. Second, you're blushing-"
"I'm not blushing!" Kageyama retorted, before realizing that this probably wasn't true.
Hinata raised an eyebrow. "Anyways, third, you can't even look at me properly."
He realized this was true. "Well, that is true, but, um, it's because your eyes are creepy! Like, they're shiny, and round, and golden."
"And why would you know that?," Hinata smiled. "Is it because you... stare into my eyes dramatically? You spend so much time thinking about my creepy golden eyes?"
Accurate, Kageyama thought. A little too accurate...
"What are you suggesting, Hinata?" Kageyama asked, but he already knew.
"I need to tell you something now, Kageyama-kun..." Hinata looked at his feet. His wings were drooped in shame.
Kageyama looked down, too. "Alright, then, tell me."
"But it's embarrassing!" Hinata protested.
He sighed. "More embarrassing than thinking I was in love with Oikawa?"
"Yeah."
"Oh man..." Kageyama frowned. "That's gotta be pretty embarrassing, then."
"I'll just tell you. Don't hate me!" Hinata pleaded.
Kageyama shrugged. "It really depends what you're gonna tell me."
"So if I say Coach Shen sucks, will you hate me?"
"Well, I won't hate you, but Coach Shen might. And that's not a very nice thing to say."
Hinata nodded. "Well, that's not what I was going to tell you. But what if I said Takito has a huge crush on you?"
"That's not true." Kageyama replied.
He smiled. "Correct. Totally not true. What if I told you I had a huge crush on you?"
"I-" The rest of the sentence got stuck somewhere between Kageyama's brain and mouth. "I... wouldn't hate you?"
"Good! Because that's exactly what I was going to tell you." Hinata plastered another forced grin onto his face, blushing.
Kageyama sighed. "Alright..."
Hinata gasped and buried his face into Kageyama's chest. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" His voice was muffled.
Kageyama didn't move. "Why would you be sorry?"
Hinata looked up from sobbing into Kageyama's shirt. "Because?" He answered, eyes wet from crying.
"Oh god, don't cry about it." Kageyama looked at the giant tear-stain on his volleyball shirt.
"But... I'm sorry!" Hinata sniffled.
Kageyama sighed. "I'm asking a question. Why the heck would you be sorry for something like that? There are probably at least fifty girls that would want to marry me in the prefecture. And even though that bothers me... It's not like-"
"But... but those are girls!" Hinata wailed.
Kageyama shrugged. "So? Whatever!" Then he realized this probably wasn't helping, and that more things were going to get wet with tears.
Hinata stomped his feet on the ground. "But don't you hate me?!"
There. The perfect opportunity.
"Ah... well... Hinata. Look at me. Listen."
Hinata looked up at Kageyama, twitching his wings nervously.
"What I was really going to tell you... was something like what you just told me... I-"
"You... you like me?" Hinata frowned.
Kageyama wrinkled his nose apprehensively. "Um... yeah..."
There was an awkward silence. They stared at each other, unsure. Anything could snap the tight tension the air held right now. Something cracked inside Kageyama, and emotions he never knew existed took over him.
Hinata took off, running around the barren yard. He was screaming.
"Hinata-" Kageyama looked at the younger boy, who was now trying to climb up a tree. He had managed to get two hands on one of the higher branches and was kicking his legs around frantically, narrowly missing Kageyama's face.
Hinata continued screaming, scrambling higher into the barren branches.
"Why are you screaming?" Kageyama asked, even though he too, felt like screaming.
"I AM NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!" Hinata shrieked.
Kageyama crossed his arms. "Well, you won't have to."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hinata looked down on Kageyama from above, perching on a thick branch.
"No idea." Kageyama shrugged, heart still pounding at an alarmingly fast pace.
Hinata shook out his wings. "Alright. Care to join me?"
"In... the tree?" He frowned.
"Why not?," Hinata sat down on a thicker branch, swinging his legs back and forth. "Can you not climb trees, or something?"
Kageyama crossed his arms. "Of course I can climb trees!"
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Hinata gestured to the branches around him.
He sighed, tucked his wings in, and grabbed the nearest branch. Kageyama hoisted himself onto the same branch Hinata was on, and sat down as gracefully as possible.
"There. See? I can climb trees!"
Hinata looked at Kageyama, with his golden-brown eyes. "I didn't say you couldn't. I just wanted you to be sitting next to me..."
"If you say so." Kageyama ruffled his feathers out, settling in his seat.
Hinata smiled and tilted his head, maybe just leaning on Kageyama's shoulder. Just like the day at the tech shop. Kageyama remembered this too, and spread one of his wings, bringing it around Hinata.
"So..." Hinata murmured. "Are we like, a thing now?"
Kageyama sat up straighter, bringing his wing back. "What do you mean, 'a thing'?"
Hinata shrugged. "I don't really know. Am I pushing things for you?"
"No... not really. But can we not, like, be a thing?" He asked.
"Alright," Hinata confirmed. "Kageyama and Hinata are not a thing!"
Kageyama poked Hinata. "You don't need to make it sound so official..."
Hinata poked him back, and leapt out of the tree, landing on the ground softly.
"We should go home."
Kageyama slid off the branch and joined him on the ground. "Good idea. You feel like flying?"
Hinata squinted at the setting sun. "We'll have to fly towards the sun. What if I damage my eyes?"
Kageyama sighed. "You won't. But I do have sunglasses if you're that concerned..." He grabbed a pair of black glasses out of his bag, and handed them to the younger boy.
"Wow, Kageyama," Hinata slid them onto his face. "These are so like, prankster gangster. Can I call you Swageyama?"
"No." He shook his head. Kageyama spread his wings wide and leapt into the sky. Hinata tried his best to keep up with the second-year's powerful wingbeats.
"Kageyama, wait!" Hinata flapped his wings frantically, and Kageyama turned around, illuminated by the halo of light and setting sun behind him.
The younger boy finally caught up, and Kageyama took flight again. They soared together towards the sun. The fiery ball of light was slowly slipping below the horizon.
"I take it back." Kageyama said suddenly.
"What?" Hinata looked up from the racing ground beneath him. He had taken the Swageyama glasses off, and clutched them in his hand. "Take what back?"
"My words... Can we actually be 'a thing'?" He asked, cautiously.
Hinata blushed. "Sure. We're a thing, now."
They glided over the park, no doubt recalling the events that took place there. Those memories seemed so unimportant, so faded, right now. They were just another thing of the past.
Hinata dipped down towards his house. He was home in one piece. Kageyama followed. They touched down to the ground, inches apart. Hinata slipped the glasses back into Kageyama's bag.
Hinata stepped back, but not before hugging Kageyama. Kageyama had to look away, fluttering his wings.
"Tell me, Hinata..." Kageyama murmured. He placed a hand on top of Hinata's head.
Hinata looked up. "Yeah?"
"Tell me what you just did to me."
"It's called a hug." Hinata explained, holding back a laugh.
Kageyama nodded. "Alright. I should get home. See you later, Hinata."
Hinata smiled. "See you later, Kageyama." Kageyama soared into the sky, and he looked up until he couldn't see the older boy anymore. Then, Hinata stepped in through the door, welcoming the scent of laundry and meat buns.
"Hinata!" Natsu came running down the hallway, wings bouncing up and down. "Where were you?"
"At school...?" He answered, unsure. Hinata set his bag down on the floor.
Natsu sat down. "Were you playing with Kageyama-kun?"
"Kind of...?"
She grinned. "Oooh okay... you were nice to him, right? You didn't steal his toys? You took turns on the swings? Mommy always says to share!"
"We weren't at the park, Natsu... But I was nice..."
"Aw, Kageyama has such a good boyfriend!" Natsu giggled.
Hinata glared at his younger sister. "He's not my- um..."
Based on the recent turn of events, was it still within reason to say that?
Luckily, Natsu's short attention span saved him. She changed the topic.
"The Special is airing on TV right now. It's the pre-Nationals interviews. Do you think Yama-kun is gonna get interviewed?"
Hinata bounded over to the couch, turning the set on. It was already switched to the correct channel, probably because that was the only thing Hinata ever watched on TV.
The Nationals logo was displayed on the screen, two interlocking V shapes flanked by four impossibly large wings. The scene switched to the Arena, which was busy with preparations for the competition tomorrow. A reporter in a red dress was standing on the announcer's platform, interviewing a brown-haired boy who looked just a bit older than Hinata. He had beautiful hawk wings.
The name at the bottom of the screen read: Oikawa Toru. Hinata almost fell off the couch.
"Oikawa-san?"
Natsu glanced up at him, holding the brochure from last year's competition. "I have his stats. Wanna see?"
Hinata grabbed the papers from last year, turning to the page with the hawk-winged boy.
"He goes to Aoba Johsai..." He murmured. "Isn't that like, a really good school?"
Natsu nodded. "Yep."
"Holy crap! His wingspan is larger than Kageyama's! And he's won a lot of awards... he's tall, too."
"He kind looks trashy, in my opinion." Natsu stuck her tongue out at the screen.
Hinata laughed. "Don't say that!" He returned his gaze to the television.
Oikawa-san was getting interviewed by the lady in the red dress, who, in Hinata's opinion, looked quite thrilled to be interviewing the nationals competitor.
"So, Oikawa-san, what's your outlook on the Nationals this year?"
Oikawa smiled, and Natsu shrieked. "There it is! Trashy smile!"
"Honestly," Oikawa thought, and Hinata was drawn in. That boy had some type of gravity that brought everyone in. Kageyama was the opposite. "I think everyone is going to do really well. These days, there are a lot of prodigious younger competitors, so I'm excited for how that's going to go."
The lady nodded. "Who's someone prodigious that you have an eye on this year?"
"Oh, probably Tobio-chan. The guy from Karasuno?" Oikawa answered effortlessly.
Tobio-chan? Kageyama? And wow, he's so at ease with the interviewers!
The interviewer frowned. "And why might you say that?"
"Tobio-chan is what some call a prodigy. He has a lot of natural talent. But I don't think talent and prodigy will stand in my way."
At that moment, Hinata really felt like slapping TrashyKawa.
Red Dress lady nodded. "Any final remarks for your fans before we end this interview?"
"Ah, well, just one thing. If you're going to hit something, hit it until it breaks. I told Iwa-chan that yesterday."
Iwa-chan?
The television scene switched to the stands outside the stadium, showing off longs lines to buy tickets, but the overall demeanor of the show had changed for Hinata.
Natsu turned to Hinata. "Trashy-san seemed pretty excited about winning, right?"
Hinata remained silent, shaken by Oikawa's annoying confidence.
How is Kageyama supposed to win against someone like that? He's too calm! He's too confident! He's everything!
"You better be careful, Kageyama-kun..." Hinata murmured under his breath.
Natsu stretched her wings and turned back to the television, watching an animation about how the stadium was built.
"First, the outer layer of seats was constructed, leading to the second layer, which is made up of a special material designed to..."
It seemed pretty boring to Hinata. He flipped open the brochure again, looking at all the featured Nationals competitors. He recognized a lot of prestigious ones, like Kuroo Tetsurou, one of the best solo performers, or Bokuto Kotaru and Akaashi Keji, the leading Duo group in the country. They were famed for both having owl's wings, something pretty rare.
He turned to the page with Kageyama, which amazingly, was a two-page spread. Hinata gasped. A lengthy list of stats and facts ran down the right side, and a list of awards was printed on the left. There was even a blueprint diagram of his first pair of braces. Not the modded ones for this year. Those were a surprise.
Well, most things were a surprise this year. Kageyama was working on all these new moves, changing and evolving his tactics. No one knew for sure how this year's competition was going to go.
But Hinata knew one thing for sure, something Kageyama didn't know.
Hinata had a surprise for the Nationals, too.