Level Pair; Day Six 3/3
Your soulmate is not someone who comes into your life peacefully. It is someone who comes to make you question things, who changes your reality, someone that marks a before and after in your life. It is not the human being everyone has idealized, but an ordinary person, who manages to revolutionize your world in a second. ~Anonymous
The last couple hours of light fall quickly and while the river seemed to stall their tail initially, Kageyama is sure it's back again as they stop. Hinata confirms it a little later but he seems a bit more unsettled.
"There's more than one now." He says softly. Kageyama can feel the feathers between his wings stand on end at his declaration, but nods just the same.
"We can't move at night. We'll sleep in shifts." The taller boy says, his tone rigid.
They settle in, but with an audience, Kageyama is unwilling to initiate the 'binding' connection. He doesn't know if the cats would know what it is, but he has no intention of anyone finding out they are a level pair if he can help it. Instead, he opts for the first watch and takes a seat beside Hinata. The redhead tentatively reaches out and places a hand on his knee anyway. Kageyama can't bring himself to rebuff the touch; he can understand the comfort the physical connection provides. Even so, if he notices Hinata's feathers begin to glow at all, he will not hesitate to break it to keep Hinata safe.
"I'm sorry, Kageyama." Hinata says apologetically, and the taller boy is jerked out of his calculating precautions.
"What for?"
"My stupid screech this morning is probably why they're around. You were right."
"You don't know that. Maybe they were actually there two days ago and we just finally noticed them." He says dismissively, but he's confident they weren't.
"I'm pretty sure the second one is a gold one." He says softly. "I didn't get a clear look."
Kageyama cocks a brow at him.
"You didn't see that one's eyes?"
"They're gold, too." He says and Kageyama scoffs.
"Great." He mutters, his unease manifesting as mild annoyance.
"Kageyama… you will wake me up when you are ready to switch, right?" Hinata asks and he huffs.
"No. See you in the morning."
"You moron, I'm serious."
"So am I, idiot."
"Kageyama."
"Dumbass."
"Seriously, you jerk, wake me up in a couple hours. I'd like to see the sun again." He mutters. Kageyama's mouth tips up just a bit and he can't stop himself from laying a hand on the redhead's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. We will and we'll be home by tomorrow night, Shouyou. Go to sleep." He says wryly and there's a pause. Then...
"Kageyama, do you feel alright?" Hinata asks and Kageyama glances at him with reproval because this is most definitely not going to sleep— and catches a hint of blush crossing the smaller boy's face.
He's embarrassed?
"Of course, why?" He asks and the flush deepens, drawing his curiosity.
"That's the second time you've called me Shouyou. It's just odd, I guess."
Kageyama blinks. He honestly hadn't even noticed. When had he gotten comfortable enough to do that? Moreover, does he care?
"Does it bother you?" He asks instead. Hinata shrugs.
"I guess not. I was just wondering what it meant. Noya calls me that but he's my brother." He murmurs into his arm where it's curled up under his head.
"Do you want me to stop?" Kageyama asks, a little put out at the idea for reasons he can't quite grasp.
"It's ok… I don't think I mind." The answer is slow in coming but it puts Kageyama at ease. Or as at ease as he can with two cats watching from the shadows.
Hinata falls silent, but it's still a long time before his breathing evens out. He glances down at the head of orange fuzz beside him, wondering exactly where they'd gone from antagonistic little kids to comfortable teammates to where they are now.
He knows it started when Hinata had sought him out with a myriad of foreign words, wanting him to teach him Volley. He knows the rise of his team was an indirect result of Hinata's joining their unit and he knew that had altered Kageyama's not quite five-hundred-year-old view of him from a nuisance to something that could, at the very least, be used as a tool to win games.
The kid had had a way of bringing them all to their feet, and when the redhead was playing, they all consistently performed at their best. Kageyama had reluctantly admitted that while he wasn't sure exactly what the other boy brought to the table since he wasn't the best at any position back then by any means, he was still somehow a critical component of the team. They'd gotten along in a decent working relationship because Kageyama had needed him to win.
Then, when they were not quite six hundred, Kageyama's mother had died in childbirth, taking his infant sibling with. The woman had been the greatest source of happiness he'd known since his father had always been aloof. Kageyama hadn't been able to deal with her suddenly not being there.
He'd withdrawn from his teammates, his father, everyone. He'd initially mourned, but it didn't take long for his pain to feed anger. Everyone on the team irritated him and he was getting into fights with them all. Their performance suffered, and he got angrier and more vocal. At one point, Tanaka had thrown up his hands and left the field mid game grumbling loudly about arrogant asshole princes. The others had all stopped to stare after him, leaving just Kageyama trying to defend their side.
It was a moment that had crystallized into his memory forever and it forced him to understand that he couldn't do this alone, both the game and his future position as heir. The team's reaction had been terrifying on several levels and he'd abruptly wanted to fix it. But he'd totally thrown them out of sync, and with no idea how to make it right, he'd simply regressed into himself.
He'd have assumed Daichi would have been the one who'd try to talk to him, or maybe Asahi, but he hadn't been prepared for Hinata tracking him down to one of the furthest observation branches in their rookery. He'd been with them for almost a century by that point and he'd grown sufficient in their language, but he still had accents and struggled sometimes with correct grammar. And he was ridiculously blunt.
"Why are you mad Kageyama?" He'd asked straight out with his strange lisp, his regular exuberance absent.
The offputting swing in personality unnerved Kageyama all the more, and he had barked back to leave him alone. The redhead had pressed him. And pressed and pressed and pressed. Kageyama had been on the verge of beating the crap out of him when Hinata had come right out and asked if it had to do with his mother. Kageyama had been at such a loss that he had no idea how to react. Which meant he reacted badly.
"What would you know about it? Nothing! Leave me alone!" He'd screeched at Hinata, but the other boy had frowned, his head tilting to the side in puzzlement.
"I know about it." He'd said, using Kageyama's words as a base to form what he'd wanted to say.
"No you don't! My mom's dead!"
Hinata's frown had only deepened.
"Mine, too." He'd said and Kageyama had been left mentally grasping at nothing. It had taken him several moments to remember that Shouyou wasn't Noya's biological brother.
"Your real mom." He'd said, still off-balance.
Hinata had come up beside him and sat down, his normally bright gaze heavy as he looked out across the trees from the observation point.
"She died. Momma Yu found me and brought me here."
Kageyama had looked at him as if he'd never seen him before, this revelation setting him on his heels.
"I had a sister, too… I think. I don't remember her much, though. I don't know about her life either."
Kageyama had stumbled through his words, repeating them to himself to decipher what the redhead meant until it clicked: Hinata also had a sister that he didn't know what happened to. Kageyama had studied the wistful expression he wore, noting how odd and off it felt on Hinata even back then.
"Do you miss her?" He'd asked after a long time and Hinata had nodded.
"Yes. Some days are bad. But I'm okay." He'd said, and Kageyama had frowned.
"You sound like you don't care that she died."
Hinata had turned a fierce glare on him and he'd actually recoiled slightly at the expression he'd never seen on the smaller boy before that point. He had spat something Kageyama didn't understand at him with a rare leaded tone before looking back out across the trees. He'd taken a deep breath and muttered something else before speaking their language again.
"Is still painful." He'd murmured, his eyes dropping. "It's hard to say… It gets, um… easier. Slowly." He'd spoken carefully, trying to find the right words, his frustration coming through his voice.
"But it still hurts. But I am okay." He'd said that twice and it had struck Kageyama as odd.
"Why are you okay?"
Hinata had glanced at him, searching his face briefly for what Kageyama assumed was mockery. He'd been quiet a long moment, his eyes sliding to the side and Kageyama had waited patiently while he put together a reply.
"Not alone. I have Momma Yu and Noya. I have you and Tanaka and Asahi and Daichi... and you have us. So you are not alone." He'd finished as if it were the simplest thing in the world. And for Kageyama's six hundred year old mind, it kind of was.
Hinata had confirmed that Kageyama losing his mom would definitely be hard, but he'd pointed out that he didn't have to suffer alone. Kageyama had never thanked Hinata for his words that day, but he doubted Hinata needed to hear it. The redhead had come for his sake, to make sure he was okay, and to let him know that he understood.
Kageyama could pinpoint that moment now as a major turning point in their relationship. His issues with the team had disappeared almost overnight when Hinata had come in the next day and acted like nothing ever happened and the others had followed his lead. He'd had good days and bad days and someone was always there to share them with, though Hinata had quickly become a constant.
The redhead made an effort to always include him, had even taken to inviting him over when Momma Yu was doing dinner so he could experience the affection of a mom once in awhile. It had grown from there to include their whole unit and most recently Suga as well. Kageyama would never admit it, but those chaotic nights surrounded by the Yu family and Hinata and the others were some of the best memories he'd had since. They'd spent increasing amounts of time together and before this mission-gone-awry, Hinata had probably been splitting his time about fifty-fifty between Noya and himself.
And yet, Kageyama doubts that he'd have ever realized Hinata were his leveler if they hadn't gotten into this mess. But given their losses, he's not sure it was worth it; only time will tell if the binding connection can fix Hinata's wings. As he glances down at his companion— his leveler— he muses at how bright the moon is tonight. He can almost see Hinata's outline clearly, the lacking wings still jarring in their absence, and a slight frown creases his face.
Kageyama is certain that he will never get used to seeing Hinata without them.