Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu or the story of Canon of Lies (or any of the words used in it), which was written by Bubun Hanten, and illustrated by Kazuki Rai. Canon of Lies part 1 can be found here post/110530449061/canon-of-lies-part-1

And Canon of Lies part 2 can be found here post/111071242076/canon-of-lies-part-2

Kageyama's POV

Canon of Lies

Lie 4

We were both walking home and I was mindlessly listening to Hinata gab on and on and on. But I didn't really care.

"And then, Natsu just started bawling.." Hinata explained to me as he munched some ice cream, and pushed his bike alongside him at the same time. "She hid under the covers and wouldn't come out! If I tried to drag her, she'd just pout- but when I left her alone, she'd throw a tantrum! It was..." Hinata stopped talking and looked back at me with his ice cream stick in his mouth. "Are you listening, Kageyama?" He asked.

Hearing my name jolted me out of my thoughts. "Eh? Oh. Sorry..."

"...You've been spacing out a lot lately. Heat stroke? Lame-O!" Hinata said mocking me.

"No, that's not it! Dumbass!" I smacked the back of his head. He rubbed it with one hand and continued walking. "...Hey, Hinata..." I called out.

With an ice cream stick in his mouth he tried to talk. "'Ow gan I helb you...?"

I looked to the ground. "Wh... What's it like... Being in love with someone?" I asked quietly.

Hinata's eyes went wide for a moment, just staring at me, then he looked really nervous. "Wh-why would you ask me...?" He answered with a question.

'Looking back on it... I was incredibly stupid to ask that of the person himself.' I thought.

"What, so you've developed an interest in that sort of thing?" He asked.

"Kind of. It's always bugged me..." I began.

'Three week since that day...' The day I found out that Hinata really does love me. 'When i'm with him, I feel on-edge and can't settle down. So I wanted to know the reason I feel that way.'

"If I just leave it at 'I don't understand', I feel like I could fall into feeling scared or frustrated." I explained. 'I'm just through, with so many things.'

Hinata stared on with wide eyes for a moment before answering with a smile. "O-oh, okay! I totally agree! That's for the best!" I was a little confused by that last part, but let him continue. He closed his eyes in thought. "Now then... hmm... how can I describe it...? You feel all gwaah when you're together, and your heart is all guooooh!"

"Oi, put it in words I can understand." I raised my voice a little.

He look away and his face got a little red. "Well, it's hard to explain... you just wind up thinking about that person all the time... wondering what they're doing, wanting to see them... a-and suddenly wanting to touch them, and having your heart pound when you do..." I stared on wide eyed and speechless.

"And also... umm... out of the blue, you just want to burst into tears." He said while looking down at the ground.

It was silent for a few seconds, and then I got a weird idea in my head that I felt I had to try. "...Oi, gimme your hand." I said holding out my own hand while approaching him.

"Eh?! Why?" Hinata exclaimed, but didn't move away.

"Just do it!" I yelled at him. He was quiet, but slowly lifted his hand, and I grabbed it quickly.

We stood there for a moment holding hands, they wind blew a little, rustling the trees above as I stared at his hand. 'Is my heart pounding...?' We stood there a second more. 'I can't tell...' Frustrated, I looked up at Hinata and saw that he was blushing madly and staring at the floor, I could see him start to get nervous, but I couldn't look away.

'Hey... he made that face the last time he touched me... Oh... I get it now... this... is the face he makes when I touch him.' Without thinking my hand lat go of his and found its way to gently caressing his face. He looked me in the eyes genuinely surprised, his hand still lingering where we had held then.

"Wh... what is it...?" He asked.

I kept my hand on his face. "Just... your reactions are really interesting."

Hinata's blush deepened and he avoided eye contact again by looking at the floor. 'I wanna see more. More of these kinds of faces...' Again without thinking my other hand reached up to touch the other side of his face.

"St-sto-" He began to say, before my other hand reached his cheek, and when it did, he stopped and stared at me again, wide eyed. I began lowering my face closer to his. Hinata's face grew so red, and suddenly he fell backwards onto the ground.

I was startled as he suddenly flung away from me my eyes wide. Hinata stood up quickly. "D-do-don-don't you dare touch me." He said fiercely with an angry expression before he quickly grabbed his bike and rode off.

"Oi!" I yelled after him with my hand sticking out. The shock of it suddenly hit me. 'Wh...what the heck...? I was just harshly rejected. Isn't he supposed to be in love with me...? I don't get it... I don't get it... but...' I looked down at my hand. 'I kind of... get what he meant. I think i'm probably... in love with Hinata. But... I still...' I thought about what I had thought about love three years ago again.

I found a place to sit, some stairs over by a river. I decided to call Oikawa, I thought that he might have some sort of advice to give me. "Yeeees?" He answered the phone. "Oikawa speaking."

"Hey, it's Kageyama." I replied.

"Tobio?" He asked.

"Sorry for the sudden call..." I began but was interrupted.

"Wait, where did you get my number?" Oikawa asked.

"I asked Iwaizumi for it." I answered.

"And where did you get Iwa's?" He retorted with another question.

"I had it for club related matters." I replied.

"...So what do you want?" Oikawa asked sounding irritated.

"I had something I wanted to ask you..." I started again.

"I'm wearing purple underwear today." He said out of nowhere, but he was always like that in junior high so it didn't faze me so much.

"I see. Now then, it's about volleyball..." I said.

"No way, No way! Stupid poopoo head!" Oikawa yelled out over the phone.

"Excuse me! Is romance necessary in order to play volleyball?" I got out quickly before he could interrupt again.

It was quiet for a second. "...Huh?"

"I've always thought it was unnecessary, and watching you, it seemed to be bad for your health." More silence. "It's just... I don't really get it... but I feel like there's something important i'm missing." I explained.

Still silence... and then. "What's this? Does our Tobio have a crush on someone, then?" A loud and obnoxious Oikawa answered, and I suddenly got all flustered by his words.

"Th-that's not-no I-I don't" I answered awkwardly.

"...So? Are you saying if I say it's necessary, then you'll fall in love with them?" He asked.

"Eh...?"

"You know, i've always thought of you as really egotistical." Oikawa told him.

"Ego... tistical?" Kageyama questioned.

"It means your head is full of nothing but volleyball and you're an airhead who doesn't realize how he tramples on others' feelings." His words made me feel like a terrible person at first. "But, it's not a bad thing. Why not have a fling or two? Though i'd say it'll take a miracle to find anyone willing to do that with you."

I was quiet, because I wasn't sure how to respond. "But- i'm not as good at that kind of thing as you... and even if we both want it, that doesn't mean it'll go well." I tried to say.

"Such lovely excuses." My face scrunched up a little at that. "When it comes down to it, the one you love most is yourself, isn't it? You're scared of being affected by others. Scared of trusting others. Scared of loving others." I stared out wide eyed looking at nothing in particular, thinking and listening to his words. "You think by eliminating obstacles and putting on airs is actually strength? At the very least, it's totally inefficient as a setter. Either way, you'll only hurt the other person if you start a relationship as you are now. You should just focus on volleyball, I say. Bye now!"

(Oikawa's POV for this short scene)

Oikawa hung up the phone smiling, then dialed another number. "Ah, Iwa? Y'know Tobio's such a loser! He cracks me up! Oh, but about giving him my numbe-"

"The number you have dialed is..." And automated voice machine went off.

"GEH?! He blocked me?" Oikawa yelled at the phone.

(Back to original POV)

My phone beeped after Oikawa hung up on me, and I stared at it for a while before closing it.

The next day at school I was over by the gym, putting my shoes away when Hinata came over and greeted me. "Yo, Kageyama!" He said with a hug smile on his face.

I nearly dropped my shoes when I saw him. "H... Hi...?" I said weakly.

"Pfft, what's with that reaction? You just spooked me yesterday, so don't sweat it!" He as he put his shoes away and ran into the gym to greet everyone. "G'mornin'!"

I followed slowly as I was stuck in my own thoughts. 'I'm only just now beginning to realize... how difficult it is pretending everything is 'normal'... and he did this for all this time...?' I thought to myself. 'After a night of thinking, I finally managed to kind of figure out why he rejected me. What I did to him... was incredibly selfish and insensitive.'

'Ugh, dammit, this is no time to feel down! I know what I have to do now!' I took a step into the gym. 'I have to tell him. Tell him how I feel about him too.'

Hinata suddenly collapsed onto the gym floors. "Hinata?! Are you okay?" Tanaka said worriedly.

"Eh?! What happened?" Sugawara asked him as he knelt down by Hinata.

"He just collapsed! Is it your stomach? Does your stomach hurt?"

I was frozen, and all I could do was stare and watch. 'Oh... Why didn't I realize it sooner...?' I watched as Hinata slowly sat up holding his stomach.

"Hinata! Hang in there! Oi! Hey, Hinata!" Nishinoya yelled out.

'Just how much stress he's under... and how I feel about him?'