A/N

Hi there! Sorry for the day delay, I never got the chance to touch up the chapter and edit it yesterday, so I got to it now. Midterms are spread out from last week to a couple weeks from now so I've been pretty busy and probably will be later on. Bear with me.

I will probably do another couple chapters of setting and relationship building before I set into plot (trust me, there's going to be one!) so stick with me.

Thanks everyone for your favorites and follows! It's good encouragement. Leave a review if you can, that would be great help!

Any who, enjoy the show (ノ*゜▽゜*)

Chapter 3 - "I wish my horse had the speed of your tongue."

"So, I want you to teach me how to fight too! Idiot." Hinata felt his cheeks redden as he said the brazen words, but kept his level stare are on Kageyama. He watched the annoyance in his face morph into surprise.

"What?"

"I said I want you to teach me to fight." Hinata said again, but with less conviction as his cheeks grew warmer. Surely he must be red to his ears by this point.

"No way." Kageyama regained his composure and glared at the smaller boy. "Why would I do that?"

Hinata pouted as he thought of how to convince him, when it hit him. "Hmm… Well, if you don't I'll just ask over and over until you say yes!" Hinata grinned up at Kageyama, who looked incredulous at the thought.

"Whatever, do what you want – but I'll never say yes." And with that Kageyama turned and left, leaving Hinata to his excitement.

Hinata watched Kageyama walk away with renewed hope when he heard someone call his name. Turning his head, Hinata caught sight of Kenma jogging up to him.

"Kenma! Where'd you go?" Hinata met the blond part way as Kenma gasped for breath.

"You forgot – you forgot to ask where we're staying"

"Oh, that's right! So did you find out?"

"Yeah, it's the cabin farthest to the right." Kenma replied and took a look around – the cabins (if they can be called that) were lined up around the clearing and all similarly shaped. They were made of a mixture of hardened mud, stones and sticks and there were a total of ten. Honestly, it was quite impressive that they could make all this in the short time they were here, but there was much to be improved. The shelters weren't exactly safe from the weather.

"Let's go, then." And, with a nod from Kenma, the two made their way to the cabin to the far right. The cabin didn't look like much from the outside, but once they went in it was quite spacious and clean (at least for a building made of dirt) and there was a cot rolled up in the corner.

"This isn't half bad." Hinata said as he set his sac in the corner and began unrolling a cot.

"Yeah." Kenma murmured as he did the same, and began organizing his stuff. "I wonder who else is staying here."

Hinata gave him a questioning look, which Kenma returned with a furrowed brow. "I doubt they happened to have an extra cabin – it must have been made for someone. So we're probably sharing it with them." Kenma explained and realization hit Hinata and hope bloomed. Perhaps the person they're sharing a room with is Kageyama.

Some time later the curtain to their cabin opened and Hinata turned from the manga he was reading with anticipation.

"Hi, Hinata! Kenma!" Yachi's face appeared as she entered the room. Hinata couldn't help the disappointment he felt at the sight of her, but he was also excited to see his timid friend.

"Yachi! How's it going?" He stood up to greet her, as did Kenma with a small hello.

"Ah, I'm good. I just came to bring you your food and say hello." Yachi replied as stepped forward with two bowls of food. So she's not here as our roommate… Hinata thought with a mixture of excitement and guilt resulting from it. He took a bowl from Yachi and grinned up at her.

"You wanna stay for a while? I haven't seen you in so long." He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her over, but she stood steady and gave him an apologetic smile.

"I promised Kiyoko that I would help her after I brought you guys your food, sorry." She pulled her hand from him and smiled at him again before saying goodbye, avoiding the persistent Hinata. However, as she left Hinata stopped her and grabbed her hand again.

"Oh yeah. Hey, Yachi? Do you know who else is staying in this cabin?" Hinata asked hopefully as Yachi pulled her hand from his.

"Umm I think Ennoshita sleeps here." Yachi replied thoughtfully. "Well, Kiyoko's waiting for me. It was nice to see you guys again! Bye!"

"Right, bye." Hinata's face sunk with disappointment, which earned a concerned look from the other two. Yachi looked ready to ask what was wrong, so Hinata quickly gave her a grin. "I'll see you soon, right?"

"Yeah!" She returned his smile, all sign of concern gone as she waved and left. As soon as she was gone, Hinata let out a large sigh and dropped to the floor with the bowl of stew in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Kenma asked, giving Hinata a start. He'd almost forgotten Kenma was even there.

"N-nothing. I'm just tired." Hinata muttered as he shoved a spoonful of stew in his mouth – bad idea. Super hot. He coughed as he tried to keep the food in his mouth while simultaneously trying to blow on it to cool it down. Kenma chuckled at the sight.

"You were hoping it was Kageyama, weren't you?" Kenma's small knowing smile made Hinata's cheeks flush and he choked on the hot food as he involuntarily swallowed.

"How'd you know?!" Hinata exclaimed after choking for a minute.

"I saw you talking with him earlier. You seem to really like him." He replied as he took a bite of his own stew, making certain to blow on it first.

"I don't l-l-l-l-like him! I just think his fighting is super cool!" Hinata stuttered out, panic evident. Kenma gave him an inquisitive stare.

"I didn't mean that kind of like." Kenma replied with amusement and Hinata could have sworn steam came out of his ears, he was blushing so hard.

"N-n-nevermind." He stammered as he shoved another spoon of stew in his mouth, repeating the events of earlier. Kenma simply chuckled again and let the topic slide, afraid of accidentally killing poor Hinata.

Later on, Ennoshita arrived as well as Daichi and Suga, who came to talk to him like they promised. After having told them what happened over the last month at the capital and how Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stayed behind to take care of the estate for their eventual return, the two left. Hinata and the others spent the rest of the night catching up before they found two other cots and went to sleep in the, now-crowded, cabin.

The next day Hinata made it his mission to make Kageyama change his mind about being his teacher. From the moment he woke up, he chased down Kageyama at the breakfast table and eagerly asked the grumpy boy to teach him how to fight. He was quickly shot down – their conversation earning quite a few stares from others – and Hinata didn't see him again until he ran into him that night at the pool of water with a waterfall where they bathed.

Cornering him once again, Hinata requested Kageyama again to teach him. Kageyama, his face alight with a fiery blush as he tried to cover his body from where he was trying to get changed, exclaimed that he would never teach him.

And so continued their dance for days. Each day, Hinata found Kageyama more and more often as he got to know the place and Kageyama's habits. It got up to the point where Hinata sat in Kageyama's cabin for the fifth time that day and asked him the dreaded question.

"Kageyama – teach me how to fight!" Hinata whined for the billionth time. Kageyama sighed so heavily that Hinata feared he may blow the house down. The black haired teen rubbed his temples and glared weakly and the smaller boy.

"Just let me sleep." Kageyama groaned.

"Only if you promise to teach me how to fight." Hinata replied stubbornly. Kageyama sighed again – he'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Fine."

"I said only- wait what?" Hinata's eyes widened as he tried to make sense of what he heard – maybe he said swine or something.

"I said fine, idiot!" Kageyama barked and with a grimace went back to rubbing his temples. Hinata bubbled with excitement, scarcely believing his own ears.

"Really?" He inquired with both suspicion and anticipation.

"We'll start tomorrow morning after breakfast." Was all Kageyama replied before turning onto his side, facing his back to Hinata. Finally free of doubt, Hinata's face split in a giant smile.

"Thanks, Kageyama! Or should I say teacher? I look forward to it! Goodnight." Hinata could have sworn Kageyama's ears turned red at that, but with one last look at the resting figure of his now teacher before getting up and leaving the cabin. Night had long since fallen when he returned to his own cabin and he curled up next to the snoring Kenma and excitedly thought of what tomorrow was to bring.

- o - o - o -

"I said feet apart!" Kageyama snapped at Hinata as he flailed to get his position correct.

"I thought you said you would teach me how to fight. Where's my weapon?" Hinata complained as he tried to spread his legs right.

"And how are you going to fight if you don't know how to even stand right?" Kageyama replied as he slid a hand around Hinata's waist, pulling his upper body upright. "There, if you stand like that it's a lot easier to move to the side and dodge attacks without losing your balance – see?" He pushed on the smaller boy's shoulder to test his balance.

"Y-yeah" Hinata replied with a flushed face. H-he only touched my waist. Calm down.

"Are you okay?" Kageyama asked as he noticed the red tint to Hinata's cheeks.

"I'm fine!" was his quick response as he met Kageyama's concerned eyes. "What now?"

"Now we're going to practice dodging. I'm going to swing a stick at you and you'll try to dodge while keeping your position. Remember, to avoid just pivot your feet or move one foot back if you have to regain your balance. We'll practice dodging while moving later. Are you ready?" Kageyama asked as he fell into position. Hinata nodded tentatively, slightly nervous.

Not a second passed after the nod did Kageyama's stick swing forward. It was a wide blow and Hinata desperately threw himself to the left while trying to keep his position, but lost his balance and fell. Kageyama chuckled at the sight and Hinata was about to tell him off when he noticed the small smile on Kageyama's face and the words died on his lips.

"You look really good. When you smile, I mean." The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to filter them, but Hinata didn't really care. It was worth it to see Kageyama get flustered and cough into his hand in embarrassment.

"Idiot. Hurry up and get up, we have a lot of work to do." Kageyama growled as he held out a hand and refused to look Hinata in the eye.

"Okay." Hinata replied with a smile and accepted the hand offered to him.

With small breaks in between, the two practiced until lunch came around and Nishinoya came to get them. Exhausted from the continuous exercise, Hinata collapsed on the bench table and chugged down a cup of water between gasps for breath.

"Man, that was hard." He muttered as Kiyoko set a plate of food in front of him. He flashed a smile at her (although he couldn't meet her eyes) before turning to Yachi.

"Hm?" She asked, dragging her eyes from Kiyoko to turn her inquisitive eyes to Hinata. "You mean practice?" Hinata nodded while taking another sip from his water. "Yeah, you guys worked for ages. You must be exhausted."

Kageyama sat at the other end of the table, dragged there by an enthusiastic Nishinoya and Tanaka who seemed to be pestering him with questions. His face remained in the usual sour expression but had a flustered look to it. As he tried to answer their questions his eyes locked with Hinata's. Hinata quickly turned back to Yachi, embarrassed for being caught staring and he realized he didn't reply to her when she gave him an odd look.

"Ah, yeah I'm pretty tired. But I'm learning so much! Kageyama's a great teacher – I mean, when he doesn't yell at me." Hinata pouted a bit and Yachi laughed.

"Well how about you come with me and Kiyoko today? We have to go gather herbs and maybe some berries if we're lucky." Yachi asked with a glance to Kiyoko on her left who gave her a small nod with a barely visible smile.

"Yeah, sure! But you're gathering herbs too Yachi? Are you just helping out Kiyoko?" Confusion creased Hinata's brow. Yachi had never helped Kiyoko out with medicine before, she generally did chores like laundry and dishes. At that, however, Yachi's cheeks lit up and she dropped her eyes.

"Kiyoko asked me to become her apprentice." She replied with a grin as she met Hinata's eyes again, the blush still there but pride in her eyes.

"That's great." Hinata returned her smile and then the two settled into idle chit chat on the upcoming weather while they finished their meal.

- o - o - o –

A short while later, Hinata had left to his cabin and was packing up his bag with stuff like water and snacks when a voice behind him made him jump in the air with a short yell.

"Where do you think you're going, idiot?" Kageyama said behind him.

"Hey! Don't go sneaking up on people." Hinata muttered as he turned around, blushing from his reaction. Kageyama was at the door of his small cabin and stood leaning on the door frame with a frown.

"You didn't answer my question. We have more training to do, where are you going?"

"Yachi asked me to go with her and Kiyoko to gather herbs." Was his reply as he pulled the sack over his shoulder.

"I just said – "

"Oh, I know! You come with us." Hinata beamed at Kageyama, who looked at him incredulously.

"You haven't even learned how to dodge properly and now you want to skip out on practice?" He snapped but the bright-eyed boy's smile didn't falter.

"Oh, come on. If we go, they said we might get some fruit."

"Idiot, so what?"

Hinata sighed deeply and closed his eyes. Reopening them, he locked them on Kageyama's with a seriousness unfamiliar to his happy face.

"W-what?" Kageyama stuttered and looked away, unnerved.

"If you come and let us practice this evening instead, I'll give you my serving of meat at supper."

Kageyama's face flickered from surprise to that of someone with severe constipation as he stared at Hinata. Hinata quirked his eyebrow at the look of consternation.

"Fine." Kageyama breathed and his face fell slack in defeat. Hinata felt overjoyed at this small win and broke out into a grin. He grabbed Kageyama's wrist and, sliding past him through the door, started dragging him.

"Let's go then!" He giggled as Kageyama froze.

"But I haven't packed yet!" Kageyama replied with a look of panic as he tried to resist Hinata's insistent pull.

"That's okay, I packed plenty so I can share."

Kageyama hesitated, panic still imminent, another moment before conceding, and then the two made their way to Yachi and Kiyoko waiting at the entrance.

Arriving at their meeting spot, Kiyoko and Yachi gave them a look of surprise as Hinata pulled Kageyama with him. Kageyama avoided their eyes with a faint redness dusting his cheeks.

"Hiya, Yachi! Kiyoko!" Hinata called with an enthusiastic wave.

"Hi, Hinata." Kiyoko replied and Yachi simply waved at him with a smile.

"What's Kageyama doing here?" Yachi asked as the two stopped before him. Hinata finally let go of Kageyama's wrist and scratched his head with a bashful smile.

"Sorry I forgot to ask, but Kageyama wanted come." He replied, which earned a jab to the side from the grumpy taller boy.

"Hinata begged me to come." Kageyama muttered, his words having less bite as he found himself incapable of meeting the girls' eyes.

"Nuh-uh! I just bribed you with meat." Hinata replied with a pout. Yachi looked between the arguing two with frantic worry when Kiyoko's quiet laugh caught everyone's attention.

"Oh well, the more the merrier." She smiled at them all and the bad atmosphere melted.

"Yeah!" Yachi and Hinata yelled at the same time with matching grins. Kageyama simply gave a small nnh before they all set off into the forest.

The entrance of their camp wasn't really marked aside from the path that led to their clearing which Kiyoko led them down. The forest was dense with trees and the path was newly formed, making it hard to walk on. Yachi and Kiyoko walked next to each other in front of Kageyama and Hinata. They only walked down the path for a short while though, before they came off and entered the dense trees. Kiyoko appeared to be following a trail marked by small red ribbons tied on branches, and the others stumbled to try and follow her. Yachi was keeping pace easily though, as the other two lagged behind.

As they walked the trail, Kiyoko would gather herbs and describe what they did and how to use them. They even found some wild blueberries and strawberries in a field that they picked, which Yachi and Hinata munched on eagerly. Kageyama would occasionally steal a couple from Hinata, but mostly refrained from doing so.

As they were walking in a particularly dense part of the forest and Hinata was heatedly arguing with Kageyama about what famous fighter was cooler, Hinata tripped over a raised tree root. He yelled as he braced for the painful impact, his arms flailing and his eyes closed, only to feel an arm wrap around his waist and pulling him against Kageyama's chest. W-what the - … Hinata felt his face heat up as it was pressed against the rapidly beating heart of Kageyama. He pulled away a little bit and looked up at Kageyama, who glowered down at him.

"Th-thank – "

"Idiot, watch where you're going." Kageyama snapped and pushed Hinata away, although being careful so as not to make him fall again. "Jeez, you almost made me fall too." Hinata stared at him with a mixture of shock and hurt.

"Well, I didn't ask you to save me!" He huffed and dusted off his shirt.

"How about saying 'thank you' instead, ungrateful brat."

"'Brat'!" Hinata spat. "I'm probably older than you, kid!"

"Oh yeah, how old are you? Twelve?" Kageyama replied with a smirk, to which Hinata bristled.

"Sixteen! How old are you?" The smaller boy glared up at him.

"… Fifteen." Kageyama muttered and cast his eyes away, his glare remaining in place as Hinata's face broke out into a triumphant grin.

"Ha! I'm older than you. Who's the brat now?" Hinata laughed boastfully and Kageyama grimaced.

"Well, you should still watch where you're going."

"Whatever." Hinata scoffed then turned from him with a huff. "Let's catch up with the others." He glanced around the forest only to see Yachi and Kiyoko nowhere in sight. The trees loomed over them as Hinata felt panic seize him.

"Where'd they go?"