The lift door is about to close when someone rushes in with a high-pitched 'Ack, sorry!' thrown his way. Kageyama, annoyed, observes the girl from the corner of his eyes. She seems really nervous, fidgeting non-stop.

"Say, do you know Hinata Shouyou?" He asks her. She has a striking resemblance to said boy and he can't help but wonder, especially since she pressed the button to the tenth floor.

The girl jolts in surprise, startled. "Ah, um, yes! We're siblings! But not really!"

Kageyama stares at the girl, more confused than ever.

He opens his mouth to ask another question, but the elevator door opens with a ding before anything can come out of his mouth. Exiting after only a moment's hesitation, he decides to ask Hinata about this sibling-not-really of his later.

"Oh, you mean Yachi! She told me about you just now," Hinata says, sprawled on the recently vacuumed floor of his apartment, because he would only dare to do so when it's clean.

(Usually Kageyama has to push him to tidy up the place. It's so domestic, Hinata thinks.)

"Are you guys siblings?" Kageyama queries, cutting straight to the point. It's been bothering him the whole day. 'Siblings! But not really!' sounds awfully confusing.

Hinata looks up from his magazine, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, we aren't blood-related, though people always think otherwise. I guess it's the eyes. But we were raised together so we're really close."

Kageyama frowns, Didn't his parents pass away when he was really young?

As though reading his mind, Hinata adds on, "Remember that guy I told you about? The one who took me in? Yeah, he's Yachi's dad."

"Huh, so you guys do fit the description of 'siblings, but not really'."

"You're still going on about that?"

Rolling his eyes, Kageyama says, "You would too if you've been thinking about it the whole day."

"Mhmm, sure."

They stay quiet for some more time, the only sound being the music coming from the radio. A piece of classical, soothing, creates a calm atmosphere around the two, one of which is reading his magazine while the other surfs the Internet. Hinata sips his orange juice, enjoying the air of laziness that hangs in the air.

"Hinata."

"Mhmm?"

"Go out with me."

Hinata promptly chokes on his drink.

"You could've been more specific," Hinata grumbles, still recovering from his shock. And disappointment, his heart supplies helpfully.

Kageyama shrugged, "I do want you to go out with me tomorrow, so there's nothing wrong with saying that."

"Yeah, well, adding 'to watch the volleyball nationals' could've been really helpful."

"Doesn't matter. So, are you free?"

"I'm expensive."

"Shut up."

"Sorry to intrude," says Hinata, already stepping into Kageyama's apartment as though it is his own.

Kageyama greets him with a yawn, still clad in pyjamas and half-asleep. "Wait for me while I get ready," he mumbles incoherently, before shuffling back to his bedroom.

Hinata tails behind him with another 'sorry to intrude' hanging from his mouth, taking in the details of the bedroom with wonder.

"...Kageyama, did you actually take up my suggestion and sleep with a knife? I see one beside your bed."

"... Let us not talk about it."

Actually, once he overcomes the initial wonder of it's Kageyama's room, he realises that the room is rather bare. There's a desk to the side and a closet behind it. Even the bed in itself looks bland enough.

Surveying the place more thoroughly, Hinata identifies papers neatly shoved into a shelf beside the desk. Some are newspaper clippings while others, print-outs. There's a few articles from magazines as well. Intrigued, he takes them out to read.

Kageyama's really interested in Sire Noble, all these are about him...

"Our first conversation sparked the interest, in case you're wondering," Kageyama tells him as he reappears from the bathroom, looking much more awake than before.

The closet door opens with a slight creak and Hinata leans forward, interested. "Eh, Kageyama, what kind of clothes do you have?"

"Nothing much, really."

"Nothing much my ass, I see a suit."

"Oh, that?" Kageyama gestured, "It was a gift from my stepdad."

Hinata hummed, "Nice guy?"

"Rich bastard."

Oh. Oops.

"Anyways," Hinata changes the topic, "Can I see that coat there? Yeah, that one."

He receives the coat from Kageyama eagerly, stroking the leather material with interest. Somehow he has a faint memory of seeing it before. Where was it again? I can't remember, it's probably not important.

"Kageyama, lend me the coat, I wanna look like a badass."

"Why would you even want to look like that in the first place? This is the stadiums that we're going to, y'know."

Hinata, as usual, ignores the scorn thrown his way. The long coat doesn't fit him well, hanging loosely on his small frame. Nevertheless, it doesn't touch the ground, so Hinata suppose it's alright.

"Kageyama, how do I look?"

"Like a brat," said boy replied.

"Mean!"

Hinata wears the coat out anyways, with the intention of buying a similar long coat soon. Who knew these things can make you look so cool?

The sun is bright that day, but Hinata Shouyou is brighter, metaphorically so to speak. Volleyball nationals! Real, live, volleyball matches! It's definitely been way too long.

Kageyama falls in line with the other's step, careful not to stride too wide. They may be (ex) athletes, but when they're not running, it's easier to let Hinata forget about the difference in their stride length.

(The last time he noticed it he was sulking for a whole half hour.)

"Hey, can we take a detour to the shop over there?" Hinata asks, pointing.

Kageyama squints his eyes in the direction of the gesture. A modest candy shop stares back at him from across the street.

"I guess so," he says, much to the delight of the shorter boy.

In the end, Kageyama bought a bag of milk candy just to shut the other up.

("Kageyama, candy. Buy me candy. I'll pay you back but please buy some candy for me. I'm dying of low blood sugar. Please please please please plea-")

Hinata takes a few from the bag before Kageyama keeps it away. Grinning, he tears open the plastic wrapper enclosing the sweet treat and pops it into his mouth. The rich flavour is just as he remembers and he rolls it around with his tongue, enjoying the smooth texture.

As for the few in his hands, Hinata stuffs them into his coat pocket to save for later.

"Come on, let's go!"

"You're the one holding us up, dumbass."

The rest of the walk was uneventful, save for mindless chatter on Hinata's part. They arrive at the stadium later than expected and hurriedly took up two of the remaining good seats.

Surveying the court, Hinata finds himself blown away by the intensity of their match. The spikes, the tosses, the blocks...

The welcoming smell of sweat and rubber invades his nose, he remembers how it used to be. The feeling of his hand when it connects with the ball, the solid sound of ball against floor, shouts and cheers of his teammates, everything is still so clear to him.

I miss this, he realises, and look at Kageyama's face only to see him making a similar stricken expression.

"Don't mind, don't mind!" A volleyball player- Hinata assumes he's the captain- shouts at the libero, jolting both Hinata and Kageyama back to reality.

The match ends soon after three sets with an 20-25 in favour of the team in purple and yellow.

Kageyama eyes the setter with interest, feeling nostalgia surfacing in his mind once more. If I were to have met Hinata when I still played volleyball, would we had been able to come to such a place as well?

He glances down towards the one beside him, still bouncing slightly and complaining about how 'I also wanna play, dammit!'.

"Come on, let's head back too," Kageyama says to him.

When they step out of the stadium, they are met once more with the magnificent sight of a sunset. Kageyama cringes inwardly, Is the sky itself trying to ingrain the presence of Hinata Shouyou into my mind?

As though on cue, Hinata pipes up, "Remember how you told me my hair is like the sunset? Now you'll always think of me when you see one!"

"Nah, I'll just get a headache."

Kageyama sighs. He is no longer sourcing for information anymore, all these time spent with Hinata have been used to get to know him better as a person, not a victim. It's terrifying.

I suppose I need another good homicide to clear my mind. It's been weeks since my last one, hadn't it?

This time, he decides to take that homeless man downtown. That one who hasn't eaten food for two days even though Kageyama specifically gave him money to buy food with. The man bought drugs instead.

I'll put him out of his misery, Kageyama decides on his way home.

"Hey, thanks for today, I had a really great time," Hinata says as they reach the ninth floor. Shaking off the oversized coat, he hands it back to Kageyama, who takes it with a nod.

"Me too, volleyball is still amazing after all these years," he sighs with wonder, thinking back to the match from earlier.

The elevator beeps in distress and Kageyama moves his leg from the path of the closing doors.

"Thanks again!" Hinata shouts from the other side before the door closes completely, leaving Kageyama alone with his thoughts.

You do need a murder, let's pay him a visit now that his guard is down, his mind commands.

Kageyama rejects the idea immediately. I want to take that homeless man first, he objects, besides, I haven't even planned Hinata's case yet.

He knows that it is but an empty excuse- he's been putting it off as much as he could since their initial meeting.

"Hinata is my best friend right now, friends don't kill friends."

Don't kid yourself.

(Sometimes he can't tell lies apart from truths.)

Thanks for the support so far, I have trouble using the reply system on FF so I'll just write it here. I also have an account on ao3, so if anyone has any pressing questions I'll be able to answer them there (until I figure out how the one here actually works).

I had trouble writing this chapter- no idea how outings are supposed to be like... Still, there's going to be more action in the upcoming chapters and I'm looking forward to writing them!