Chapter Three
"Yes." Is Kenma's reply sometime during the night. Do people in Tokyo not have to sleep? Hinata is certain that Kenma could give him similar information that his team could give, but he didn't want to risk making Asahi cry, he had looked pretty close when he talked them before. Besides, he thought, what else would we talk about if not volleyball. He doesn't respond to Kenma's message, not right away, Kenma probably wouldn't read it right away, anyway.
Hinata grabbed his uniform from the floor and tugged on the wrinkled clothes. I should probably ask for another uniform. Brushing his teeth, he decides to wait to see if Kenma is going to offer information freely, if the other boy doesn't message him by lunch, then he'd pry for something. "Big brother! Time for breakfast!" Natsu squeaks as she rams her body into the half closed door, he dodges the swinging block of wood and stares down at the messy hair of his little sister.
"Is it?" He asks as always, sounding as warm and fond as he can through a mouth full of toothpaste and bristles. She nods, hopping from foot to foot like she's ready to race, "Eat your rice, Shouyou!" She chirps, mimicking the words that their caretaker does every morning. He doesn't really like rice, it's always crusty and it makes him tired, Sato doesn't believe that someone native to Japan could be allergic to rice. His stomach would beg to differ, he offers Natsu a foamy smile. "I'll be right there, Natsu." She nods, darting out of the doorway like she's on a mission.
Sato stares at his wrinkled uniform in distaste, he shrugs and offers her an awkward smile, if he knew how to de-wrinkle his clothes he would heavily consider it, but she refused to teach him, so it wasn't really his fault. "Eat your rice, Shouyou." Sato says with Natsu mimicking a word late. Hinata nods, not even trying to hide the malcontent expression that cross his face as he sits alone on one end of their table. Natsu and Sato stare at him until he picks up his spoon, then it's just Sato.
Eating Sato's rice is kind of like swallowing chalk and rocks, a similar taste too, she insists that they're all eating the same thing and that it's in his head. He's not sure how his head makes his tongue dry but she had stopped acknowledging his complaints for years. Hinata shoveled into his mouth, ignoring the scowl and giggle from Sato and Natsu respectively. He grimaced as he attempted to swallow the gravelly substance, then drained his glass of water. Sato didn't allow him to leave until he finished his eggs, and he nodded, counting all the missed moments he could be using for practice as he shoveled the last of his breakfast into his mouth.
The sleepiness set in as he was riding down the hill, his eyes attempting to shut as he raced down the slope. Hinata was pretty sure that Sato, or the rice god, was trying to make him crash one day. Kageyama arrived at the school gates at the same time he did, looking much more cleaned up than he had the day before. The other boy stared at him as he locked up his bike. Hinata stared back. They shared a long, tense look then nodded.
Hinata cursed Kageyama's stupid legs, longer than his, but he managed like he always did. By screaming and giving his all into his sprint. He won barely, tallied it up in his head as he taunted the taller boy. "You're losing your touch, Kageyama; that's two days in a row!" Kageyema took a swipe at his head, but his contented smile didn't falter despite the throbbing in his skull. Tanaka-senpai unlocked the club room, giving him a dirty look as they walked past him. "Good morning, Tanaka-senpai." He offered, stressing the honorific as much as possible.
The older boy's lips squirmed, like he was fighting a smile, but his glare hardened slightly. "Hinata-san." Was mumbled at him, and he snorted, not sure he could recall a moment where Tanaka had ever used an honorific with him. It looked like Tanaka was feeling just as awkward as he felt, but didn't say anything more as they changed into their practice clothes. Kageyama told him that that he should practice recovering, it kind of made sense, being able to stop a failed spike from hitting the ground would be useful against The Iron Wall; Tanaka-senpai offered to block for them, Hinata isn't sure that's a great idea, especially with the grudge his upperclassman is holding.
"Oh, but I insist, can't have my wonderful kouhai going unprepared, right, Kageyama?" Kagayama just looked confused, Hinata isn't sure why he's surprised when the other boy just nods slowly, then thanks him. He's not sure that he's going to survive morning practice, definitely not until the game this afternoon.
Everything moves much faster than he does, he can't help but notice this when all of Kageyama's tosses seem to blur in front of him. He blames it on the rice, he usually skips breakfast because of this issue, but he easily compensates by imagining where the ball will go before it comes in contact with Kageyama or Tanaka. It's straining, but he eventually manages to recover two blocks before the rest of the team shows up. Hinata shares greetings with most of them, except Tsukishima who just glares at him until he walks away. Stupid jerk.
They rotate around the net after that, each of them trying diving after blocked balls until the bell rings. His shoulder thanks him silently and it throbs all the way to class, Kageyama seems to be having a similar issue, but doesn't say anything until they take their seats. He wonders if Kageyama is nervous about today's games, he's only seen a few emotions out of the other boy, but he's certain that Kageyama is at least excited for this afternoon, even if his scowl says otherwise.
Kageyama shows up at his desk for lunch, something that's been happening more often as they've grown closer as teammates, he offers the taller boy half a smile as he digs his phone from his bag. He forgot to ask for lunch again, and now there was no Tanaka to trick. He briefly wondered if Noya-senpai would be as easy to mess with, but dismissed it since it was him that had been the first that Tanaka had complained to. Maybe he could just borrow money from Kageyama when he went to get more milk. He shuddered at the thought of milk briefly but brushes Natsu's face from his mind. He had a setter to text.
"What were they like" Hinata sends it before he can think of anything else to say, the phone is placed in the middle of his desk, between Kageyama's bento and his closed Modern Literature book, he's pretty sure that's the right book for this class. Kageyama stares at the device between them, openly curious but his mouth is full of seaweed and rice. Kageyama chews weird, he can't help but notice as he looks between his phone and his teammate. He tries not to sigh in relief when his screen lights up and he can look away from Kageyama's weird mouth.
"Wallish." He's pretty sure that's not a word, but Kenma looks pretty smart. "Is wallish a word, Kageyama?" He asks for little reason, because he's pretty sure that he knows more words than Kageyama does. The other boy shrugs, a grain of rice falls from his lips as he frowns in thought. Hinata is only mildly disgusted, almost used to Kageyama's gross nature.
"Is that a word" He wonders if Aone would describe himself as wallish, or more brutish, or maybe mountainish. That one is definitely not a word. His phone lights up from where it'd gone dark in his hand, Kageyama is staring at it.
"Probably not." Kenma isn't helpful at all. He tries not to pout about it, they'd find out when they played them that afternoon, but he'd like to know if there was a secret Nekoma strategy they used to beat them, or if they got beat at all. Probably. So it could be a word. He'd ask Noya on the bus, the older boy was pretty good with words too, mostly about their manager. Hinata isn't sure how to respond to the text, worried if he pries too much that Kenma will just ignore him, or get mad at him. Even if it would be interesting to make Kenma mad. He wasn't going to risk it, almost didn't notice his phone lighting up again, but it wasn't from Kenma. The unsaved number he recognized as Kuroo's.
"They're pretty strong, but as strong as us. Later, shrimpy!" He's not sure what to make of any of the text glowing before his eyes, angry at the nickname, grateful for the information, or paranoid because somehow Kuroo knew about what he was asking Kenma. His stomach lurches uncomfortably as it decides to feel all three at once.
"Sorry about him." Comes from Kenma, but he's pretty sure that Kenma isn't the apologizing type, half a formality on Kuroo's behalf. Hinata can't quite imagine either boy apologizing out loud, at least not while actually sounding sorry. Kenma's flat voice would make the sentiment almost sarcastic, and he wonders all over again if Tsukishima has any family in Tokyo.
Each of his replies are deleted, he has no idea how to talk to Kenma, or Kuroo for that matter. They're both new and strange, and somewhat inviting; they fulfill something that Kageyama can't offer because Kageyama barely knows how to talk, let alone text. He looks up at the setter in question, who's eating his final rice ball, and staring at him oddly. "You didn't eat." The taller boy says once their eyes catch. Hinata nods, he's aware of that but he's not particularly hungry anyway, eating rice usual ruins his appetite and watching Kageyama eat it is having the same affect.
"I'll get something later." He's not sure if he just lied, they'd probably get some meat buns to celebrate their upcoming victory, but Kageyama doesn't look that concerned and just leaves his desk without another word. He shrugs to nobody, and opens his Modern Literature book to at least pretend he's paying attention.
Mister Satomi glares at him over a thick pair of glasses, Hinata pretends not to notice. "Hinata!" The old man barks, sending disgusting amount of spittle into his unkempt chin hair. Hinata flinches while the rest of the class giggle and whisper behind their hands. "If you're going to text in my class, the least you could have hid it behind the right book." He ignores the way his face heats up in embarrassment and bows over his desk, mumbling a formal apology while he digs under his desk for the right textbook.
Idiot could have at least told me we were in math... He sends Kageyama a glare as he pulls out the right book, depositing his cell phone into his bag. Kenma could wait until break, Kuroo could wait forever. "Much better, isn't it?" Satomi cooed superciliously, more spittle flying through his leering lips. He rolled his eyes while suppressing a gag, but nodded with another apology, this one emitting out of grinding teeth and an unwilling tongue. Stupid jerk. He wondered if he'd get suspended or expelled for asking the mathematics teacher if he'd like to fight, but did he really want to risk getting spit on his fists if he managed to punch the teacher. Letting out a big sigh, he decided that it wasn't worth it, Daichi would probably murder him for getting kicked off the team right before a big game.
If Kageyama doesn't do it first.
Mister Satomi sends him a dark look, strokes his facial hair, spreading the spit around that has Hinata biting his hand to keep from laughing and then turns back to the blackboard behind him. He buries his head into his arms, he can feel his body shaking as he tries to stifle the undeniable urge giggle maniacally. It takes a while before he can safely remove his hand from his mouth, but the times comes eventually and he rests his head on the bruised appendage, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.
He spends the time between classes with his phone open, trying to decide how or if he should respond. Kenma had given him some information, even if was through Kuroo, and he should probably thank the older boy. Nekoma beat them, but- He's not sure what but could exist, Asahi had seemed really uncomfortable at the mention of it while Kuroo almost bragged about beating them. It was going to be a hard game. They did have another game before they had to face The Iron Wall, if the other team even made it to the second round, but something about the name was more interesting than the first team they were going to play against.
I promise we'll win. Daichi's words seemed oddly confident, he had never promised anything to them before. Odd. Maybe Daichi knows that team? But his captain hadn't given any indication other than an unwavering confidence that they'd achieve victory. He tried not to dwell on it.
"Thank you." He sends to Kenma as he's unbuttoning his school jacket, he doesn't expect Kenma to respond right away so the phone is pushed into his gym bag along with his discarded uniform. Kageyama climbs onto the bus before him, still silent, Hinata is starting to think that Kageyama's nervousness comes in the form of harder scowls and a set lip. He kind of likes it like that, Kageyama doesn't yell obscene words at Tsukishima when the blond teen taunts him.
Kageyama pushes him into a seat he hadn't planned on taking, but he goes along with it in case Kageyama wanted to actually speak. He somehow doubted that when the other boy remained silent as the bus pulled onto the road. The appearance of Noya-senpai's face from the seat in front of him pulls him out of his contemplation of Kageyama's silence, they share a smile before the older boy speaks. "Are you nervous, Shouyou?" He asks before wincing. "Don't ask him that." Comes a harsh whisper of Tanaka-senpai.
He suppresses a snort, at least he's not ignoring me, he pulls his smile back up for the older boy in front of him. "I'm feeling awesome! I think Kageyama is more nervous than me." He jeers, earning him a sharp bark from the boy in front of him and a sharp elbow from the one beside him. He glances over at Kageyama, offers him his mos encouraging expression because Kageyama was as bad at listening as he was speaking. Kageyama remains silent, but his glare softens minutely. It's something he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been on a team with Kageyama for as long as he has been. That makes his smile a little easier to handle.
"Daichi promised that we'll win, so you just gotta play your best." Kageyama jerks back like he was the one that had been stabbed in the chest, his face blanks up and Hinata is scared that he said the wrong thing for a moment. There's a weird quivering in Kageyama's lips, as they pull up into almost a smile, Noya gasps dramatically and starts tapping Tanaka on the head. "Kageyama is smiling!" The older boy squawks, drawing the attention of most of the bus.
The smile, falls almost immediately, as his attention is pulled away. "I think you're seeing things." Tsukishima taunts from across the bus, Kageyama scowl deepens, making ugly creases on his face. "You're not scared, are you, King?" The blond demands when his sarcasm is met with little scrutiny. Kageyama's scowl turns into a glare, like he could murder the boy across from them. "Don't call him that." Hinata insists quietly, not wanting to get between the two boys but also wanting to defend his setter.
"Tsukishima, don't start trouble." Daichi calls from in front of them, but the captain is nowhere to be seen. Tsukishima's cocky smile turns into a leering frown at that, but he turns away from them in silence. He gets pulled into a conversation with Noya and Tanaka, but he can't help but notice how Tanaka never directly speaks to him. He almost laughs at the childish behavior coming from the older boy, but he still feels kind of bad for tricking his upperclassman, even if it was really funny.
He decides to ask Kenma what team they're playing against, but Kuroo's unsaved number texts him back instead, he doesn't read it before he deletes it. Deciding he'd rather not know unless Kenma told him. I'm not cute. He doesn't pout all the way to the gym, and Noya-senpai won't convince him otherwise.
Ukai makes another terrible speech once the bus stops, Takeda-sensei covers that up quickly with his interjecting speech, and another promise of victory has most of the team in good spirits as they step off of their transport. He's still not sure what team they're playing against, the name of the school is one he's never heard of, Daichi said it's a small school not that far away from Karasuno, but he has a hard time believing that. He grabs onto his captain's jacket, pressing for more information about this unknown team, asking if they have a really cool nickname or a really scary setter.
Daichi has no idea about team specifics, but he smiles easily as he admits that he does have a friend that goes to that school. Hinata asks about the friend, but Daichi says they haven't been keeping in contact with him. He thinks that's kind of sad, but doesn't have time to dwell as Daichi's jacket leads him through the gym doors. He wonders if Daichi will drop all of them when he graduates, or if they'll all be friends forever, he still has some faith that Tsukishima will be less of a jerk by the time they're all third years.
The gym is loud with whispering volleyball players, and he's pretty sure that everyone's eyes are on them. It makes his spine tingle uncomfortable and he walks a little closer to his captain; Daichi just looks down at him and offers a small smile before pulling him in by his shoulders. Walking is a little awkward, but it helps him ignore all of the comments of fallen powerhouse and flightless crows. He's pretty sure he can hear Daichi's eyes roll, but refrains from commenting.
He notices that Tanaka-senpai doesn't let any of the comments slide, offering glares and challenging at least six people a fight. Hinata wonders if he'll ever have the confidence or strength to offer fights to random people without height and strength mattering. It's something he really admires about his upperclassman, but he can easily pick up on how it annoys their captain. The smell of the gym calms his racing heart, it allows him to ignore all the insults about their school. They're about to walk into the epicenter of the competition when their team ends up blocked by the tallest people he's ever seen in his entire life.
Hinata tries reading one of the shifting tracksuits from over Daichi's hip, Dakekou- Datekou... "The Iron Wall." He gasps quietly, and all the white tracksuits turn swiftly, facing them. He's pretty sure that a hallway should not be this intense, the silence rings uncomfortably in his ears as their teams stare at each other. He glances at each of them, wondering which one of them is Aone, none of them look especially Aone-ish, all of them are tall and broad and scary looking. That guy has white hair, what if he's an old man trying to kill volleyball players?
Paranoid theories start to take over his train of thought as he stares at the big, silent guy with white hair. Why is it white? Is he secretly sixty-five with a basement full of organs. He flicks his eyes away from the creepy guy as unsettling dark eyes land on him, they don't gleam like Kuroo's did, but that possibly makes them more creepy. He can't decide. Why doesn't he have eyebrows? Did someone rip them off when he was trying to kidnpa them? The smell of the gym is forgotten as he tries to analyze the taller man, he's pretty sure he's not breathing at all when the guy raises his big arm, pointing right at them. At Asahi, he realizes as he follows the thick appendage. Does he recognize Asahi from before?
Asahi doesn't whither under the attention like Hinata thought he would, the taller boy's face morphs into a scowl, he wonders if Kageyama offered the older boy lessons in looking mad. The moment lasts too long, everyone is still and quiet like statues, his hand starts shaking against Daichi's back and he has to remind himself to breathe. It's more difficult than he thought it would be, then he realizes that Daichi is squeezing his shoulders a little too tight.
"You got a problem?" Noya-senpai growls out in challenge, leaning forward like he might leap at one of the giants in front of them. It gets quiet after that, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear his gulp of nervousness. Daichi squeezes his shoulder, but doesn't offer more. A blob of white pulls away from the crowd in front of them, then another tall guy is tugging at the arm pointed towards them, "S-sorry sorry!" The guy offers, followed by an awkward laugh, like these tense situations are usual for him. Hinata watches the smaller guy tug at the arm uselessly, his brown hair flicking in his effort. "Help me!" He growls into the white blob, then another guy emerges from the pack and starts tugging at the outstretched arm.
It still doesn't budge. "Sorry!" The newcomer offers, giving them a more genuine smile, "This guy has a habit of pointing out aces." Hinata blinks at that, How did he know that Asahi is the ace. They must know each other for sure. He kind of feels like laughing, thankful that he wasn't the ace, he shuddered at the thought of beady eyes and an enormous arm pointed at him. A glance up at Asahi showed that he was still staring, not quite glaring because Asahi-san probably isn't even capable of glaring.
The arm drops and so does some of the tension around them, he notices it's that much easier to breathe now, a little more so when the giant guy turns around and walks away. "You better be ready, ." One of the tracksuits calls before they're all turned around, disappearing behind a corner as one. He thinks it's a little weird how guys so big can be so quiet, but he keeps his thoughts to himself, for now at least. "That was a little scary." Suga-san calls from the other side of Daichi, followed by an awkward laugh. Daichi's hand on his arm loosens a little when the silver haired boy speaks, "Yeah." The captain snorts, like they hadn't just been sharing glares with The Iron Wall.
"I'm surprised you were able to keep gazes with that guy- Asahi?" Hinata turns back to their ace when Suga's voice takes on a different tone, he almost giggles when he finds the previously scowling man shaking and looking ready to cry. He's about to offer Asahi his place on Daichi's jacket when the ace speaks, "That... was horrifying." Most of them nod in sympathy, except for Noya, who punches the taller male in the side, "Why are you such a wimp off the court, Asahi?" He goads, but Asahi just shrugs, not attempting to deny the liberos words.
"Oy, Sawamura!" Somebody chirps from behind them, Daichi's breathing stops under his ear for a moment as his captain turns to face the voice. Sawamura? "Long time no see!" The voice says, offering them all a polite smile. The guy waves as he scoots closer, drawing notice to the worst colored tracksuit Hinata has ever seen in his entire life. Why would someone do this? To an entire team at that... Daichi releases his shoulders, Daichi's given name is Sawamura? He half grins in satisfaction, he had guessed almost right the other day. Daichi tugs his hands off his jacket, and walks up the guy in the ugly tracksuit easily. "I'll see you guys later." Daichi says, turning only his neck to face them, Hinata notices his captain smiling and his lack of furrowed brow.
The newcomer drags Daichi off, leaving them all alone without their captain's guidance. They settle against the wall near the entrance, all of them peering into the gym to look at the current games, he doesn't see jerseys he can recognize. He wonders where Grand King's team is, or if they had played already. His stomach makes a weird grumbling noise as he thinks about all the strong teams they're going to have to beat before they can face Nekoma again. That nameless team, The Iron Wall, Grand King's team, countless more... Don't look up, only straight ahead. He tries to take Ukai's words to heart without all of the insults and weird analogies. Don't look up just straight ahead... into The Iron Wall. The Iron Wall with a guy that looks like he murders puppies for fun. You can do this. He tries to ignore the way his lungs start to seize up, but it's hard when there's an elbow being rammed into his ribs. Hinata is pretty sure he can recognize Kageyama just by his elbow these days.
"Are you going to be sick again?" The setter asks quietly, uninterested blue eyes glancing over him as he turns to face his teammate. Bile tingles in his throat at the thought of throwing up, "You're not intimidated, are you, Shouyou?" Noya-senpai asks, now looming over him. You're not helping, he whines mentally but shakes his head defiantly, "O-of course not!" He squawks, almost offended at the accusation, but his teammate's teasing helps his nerves as much as they grate on them. He's pretty sure that it's like that with everyone when it comes to Noya.
"Asahi seems fine, and he's a total coward." Suga-san pitches, as if that would would him, the words don't as much as the friendly tone, he notices. Hinata glances over at the boy in ridicule, tilting his head curiously at the taller boy's almost calm expression. How could he be so calm after being stared at by that guy with no eyebrows? "I have a trick to calm my nerves." The ace admitted, while Suga started to pet his hair. Hinata resisted pushing his head into the calming touch, just barely. "I just remember the scariest moment of my life." Asahi says, as cheerfully and cryptically as possible. He starts to wonder what kind of things the older boy has seen to make being murder-glared at a calming experience. What if Asahi actually murdered a guy? What if HE's the one with jars of organs in his basement. The middle blocker makes a note to never be alone with Asahi again.
"Then I think to myself: Whatever happens, it can't be as scary as that." He's pretty sure that Asahi has at least witnessed a murder and is scooting as closely to Suga as he can, please don't murder me, Asahi. He begs silently, offering the taller boy a smile in case frowning makes Asahi snap into a murderous rampage. Asahi smiles back and he lets out a little sigh of relief. Scariest thing that's happened to me. He remembers slipping on his bike and almost getting ran over, but his mother yelling at him afterwards was much scarier. Movies that gave him nightmares. Natsu with an empty milk carton and milk dripping from her lips like blood. His nightmare about Natsu growing taller than him. The time he hit Kageyama with-
His heart freezes in his chest. Smack. Smack. Smack. He glances at Kageyama, the other boy glances at him curiously. "Hinata?" The setter asks, but all the middle blocker can hear is smack, smack, smack. "I'm fine." He squeaks, turning away from the taller boy, cutting off the sound in his head. He can still see Kageyama's widened eyes and blank face whenever he blinks. "Are you sure?" Suga asks, the petting on his head stills until he can feel each of the older boy's fingers on his scalp.
He nods slowly, "I'm fine." He repeats and the petting starts up again. "Hey!" Daichi's voice calls out from in front of them, Hinata turns to face him along with the others. "Let's be the first ones on the court!" There's a different smile on his captain's face, smaller and more polite, he thinks. This gym is much larger than the one in Tokyo, built with multiple games at once, built for competition. Hinata's heart quickens at that. We're here to win. All of us. "Wow!" Comes from him before he can help it, it'd be really, really impossible to get a volleyball stuck in this ceiling.
"Don't get nervous again." Kageyama mumbles from behind him, he scoots forward, not looking at the setter because he doesn't want to remember Kageyama right now. Or ever. "I'm not!" He chirps back, quieting down the smack, smack, smack in his brain. A flash of black catches his attention, FLY. Their banner, their gift from their manager. For their team. He smiles when he sees it, offers Shimizu a smile and a wave, she nods back, face set seriously. She believes in us. Hinata believes in his team too.
"Let's get ready!" Ukai barks, dragging attention from the fluttering banner. He doesn't let Kageyama help him stretch, scared if he sees the other boy's face he's going to scream and beg for it to stop. Noya-senpai offers him, he smiles his acceptance, letting the older boy tug his muscles into looseness. He returns the favor just as roughly until the libero grabs him and flips him over, he retaliates, and then they're wrestling on the floor. "Oi! Cut it out!" Daichi's uproar forces them apart, but they share easy smiles even if his back hurts from sliding against the floor.
Ukai calls them into line deciding that he'd help them practice, Hinata's pretty sure that Ukai's lost trust in them instead of wanting to be a helpful coach, but he joins his team easily; any practice is good practice right before a game. They all take turns deflecting tosses, his receiving is still weak, but he manages to appear in the path of the ball, something he hadn't been able to do when he had joined the team. It's a nice feeling, even if he did get nailed in the face with Ukai's last toss. That ended the pre-game practice and started the pre-game worry, he assured Suga-san that he was completely fine to play.
The older boy stared at him as they walked to their court, "Yo! Tobio-chan, Chibi-chan!" Is called as they walk by, Tobio-chan, it's weird hearing Kageyama's first name used, especially by someone who hates him. He looks up, Grand King flashes him a perfect smile and a victory sign. "How's that freak duo working out?" Grand King is smiling but Hinata is pretty sure that his words are meant to tease. He's prepared to offer Grand King a fight but Kageyama interrupts him by shouting at his ex-senpai, telling him where he could shove it.
He doesn't rectify Kageyama's language this time. Grand King makes a scowl at the setter, but Hinata's too focused on Grand King's stupid face. Even his glare is perfect. It's annoying how much Grand King fits into his nickname, regal and proper looking, even with dried sweat shining in his forehead. He wonders what Grand King will be like in a few years, if he'll give up on volleyball and just be famous, with a bright red car and endless sunsets. He frowns at that, Grand King would never give up on volleyball. It's the truth and he knows it, Grand King was as obsessed as he and Kageyama were, maybe even more, he'd already injured his knee just from his endless practicing. That was the only thing that made Grand King human to him, instead of a god. A volleyball god. Like Little Giant. He smiled up at Grand King, watched his odd brown eyes flicker with something.
"Don't dilly dally!" Ukai shouts, pulling his thoughts away from their future game to their current one. "Nice face-receive, shrimpy!" Is the last thing Grand King says before his face disappears from the bleachers above them. He ignores the way his face starts to burn in shame, I can't believe Grand King saw that.
His humiliation is quickly forgotten when his eyes fall onto the ugliest jerseys he's ever seen in his entire life. Hinata doesn't know a lot about colors, but he's pretty sure that jerseys are supposed to be an encouraging color, like teal and orange and red, but the jerseys on the other side of the net were kind of like- he wasn't sure what they were like. The blue of their jerseys was dull and boring, he hoped that their game was better than jerseys.