Level Pair; Day Ten 1/1
In a life where waking hours are draped in the costume of horrid nightmare, where reality has become questionable, it's easy to be scared by dreams. ~Scott Sigler
Kageyama is convinced that perhaps the last ten days were all a nightmare as he sifts through the last hazy dregs of sleep. He hears Hinata call for 'One more!' like he always does when they are practicing for an upcoming Volley game.
They could stay out by torchlight for hours past dusk practicing their hits. Kageyama could be bone tired after a hard day of training and drills and he'd still drag himself out to a Volley pitch if Hinata asked. There were plenty of times Kageyama would rather have ditched it and just gone and slept off their latest punishment, but he loves the game, too… and he can't tell the redhead no in any case. The brilliant smile that blooms on his face and the shout he releases when they get it down just perfect will always win him over, his own mouth itching to return the grin. And Kageyama knows he'll always toss for that little shrimp if only to see that smile.
His eyes drift open to see the rocks above him illuminated by the morning light filtering into the cats' cave, and the world crashes back down. He draws in a long breath, his own thoughts dampening his mood. Hinata may never play Volley again… the thought of never seeing that exuberant beaming smile after a perfectly executed attack makes his chest tighten.
"One more!"
Kageyama jars slightly, his eyes blowing wide. He can still see the cave ceiling; he knows he's not asleep this time. And he'd know Hinata's voice anywhere.
He hears the light tap of a ball against the stone floor and then the quiet tick off of fingers and he recognizes the sound of a set. He sucks in a breath. Footsteps and then a pause… and then the ball taps the ground again and Hinata grunts in frustration.
"One more!"
Kageyama flinches and bolts upright, his gaze spinning toward where Hinata tosses a ball over the golden cat's head. Kenma lines up and brings his hands up to set and Hinata takes a few quick steps and leaps. He swings with his hand because he no longer has wings. His fingers just barely tip the ball and it drops again. Seeing him trying so hard only to fail to connect is a soul shattering image for Kageyama. He knows what he used to be able to do— how awesome he really was at Volley— and seeing him struggle now makes his throat close up.
"Hinata…" He says weakly and the redhead whips around.
"Kageyama! You're awake!" He flashes an excited smile and bounds over toward him, leaving Kageyama off balance. Kenma catches up the ball and follows much more subdued.
"Kageyama, guess what! Cats play Volley, too!" He says animatedly. Kageyama stares at him.
"Do they?" He manages, still trying to swallow his bout of emotion before Kenma walks up behind the smaller boy.
"If you want to take that skin and go get some water for him, Shouyou, I'll grab some breakfast." He says quietly. Hinata pauses for a moment and the smile disappears.
"Ah, I completely forgot. Hold on!" He says before grabbing the skin and disappearing out the mouth of the cave in a flash of speed before Kageyama can protest. He turns back to Kenma accusingly.
"Are you sure it's fine for him to be outside? What about the sentries?"
Kenma pulls open a sack and fishes around inside it without looking up.
"I checked a half hour ago. There's no one within two leagues of us… though there's a cloud of crows to the north where you guys came down."
He finally pulls out a leaf-wrapped bundle and hands it to him. Kageyama takes it reflexively, and belatedly frowns at the action. He just took something from a cat without a second thought. He really must be running on nerves… that or he's just stupid.
"If you're sure… and where do you get off calling him Shouyou?" He grouches, not realizing it had even registered with irritation a moment earlier. Kenma pauses and glances at him uncertainly.
"It makes him happy."
Kageyama blinks before glancing down at the bundle in his hands, trying not to sulk and positive that he's failing. He frowns and carefully unwraps it to find cooked rabbit meat inside. He stares at it a long moment before gingerly taking a bite, his mind recalling the tension he'd woken with once more.
"Are you sure it's the best idea to dangle a Volley ball in front of him? He may never play again." He says quietly, more pain bleeding into the words than he'd have ever imagined. Kenma drops across from him but doesn't meet his gaze.
"One of the best ways to work out 'normal' after something life-changing is to start with something familiar." He says softly. "He is still off balance and has to figure out how to move properly without the counter of his wings, but I'm sure he can still play. I mean, we play without wings so there's no reason he can't. He's still hitting way too far ahead of himself because he's used to the weight behind him but I'm sure he'll learn fast. He'll play again… it just might not be twenty feet in the air."
Kageyama has no idea how to take that. Honestly it makes him feel inadequate and completely incompetent at taking care of the shrimp.
It feels like he's been the root of all the redhead's hardship right down to the white-winged bastard's attack. Kageyama had been the initial target; Shouyou had ended up collateral damage. Then Kageyama brought him back to a place that was just as hostile even if he had initially believed it could be otherwise, and it had been difficult for him to stomach on top of that. Then their flight and hell, Kageyama had dropped him last night. And that argument… he carefully avoids thinking about it because it makes him tense with a burning sensation in his lungs.
He remembers the smaller crow's excitement a moment ago and his frown deepens. They haven't even been with the cat twenty-four hours and Hinata's smiled— really smiled— more than he has in the last ten days. There's probably some merit to his words.
"Ano… it's just a thought, but you might want to learn our Ground Volley, too. Once he gets it down, you're the first person he's going to want to play with." Kenma murmurs before looking up as the ball of orange energy comes bouncing loudly back into the cave.
"Oi, Kageyama, catch!" He calls and slings the skin towards him.
The taller crow has a moment to tense with trepidation as the skin lands in his hands and half of the water sloshes out on top of him. His eye twitches slightly with instant annoyance as his shirt ends up soaked.
"Ah, sorry! I thought I had it capped." He says with a cheeky grin as he comes up beside him and sits briskly. When he throws a devious glance at him, Kageyama almost feels like they are kids again, rapidly winding up for a bickering match of the year.
"Obviously." Kageyama drawls. This he can do. This old antagonistic familiarity, this is easy.
"Aw, don't be cranky. You looked tired this morning so I even let you sleep in." He says before his face lights up and Kageyama knows he's just remembered something.
"Oh, I also saw Kuroo. He was up one of the tall trees right outside."
Kageyama isn't awake enough yet and can barely keep up with everything that keeps flying at him, but Kenma just nods.
"He's been keeping watch most of the morning so far. He hasn't had any sleep for probably a day already."
"Whoa, really?"
"Man, the broken crow sure is easily impressed." A deeper voice cuts in and Kageyama goes rigid at the appearance of another person he doesn't know.
The guy is quite a bit larger than Kenma, and with black ears that peek out of his hair, he's taller than himself and more broad in the shoulders. Kageyama is willing to bet this cat has him beat in both weight and strength. His shaggy black hair drops across golden eyes that settle on him with narrowed calculation.
"Oi. I don't remember anything about bringing the one with wings back, too." He growls at the smaller cat. Kenma stands calmly and meets his gaze in an oddly commanding way.
"They are… kind of a single item. It was neither or both, no other option." He says bluntly and Kageyama can tell that he is being careful not to let it slip. A quick glance at Hinata and Kageyama is sure he's still oblivious and he mentally sighs in relief.
Kuroo's gaze is sharper, however, and it flashes before leaping between himself and the redhead. The black cat brings a hand up to his neck and rolls his eyes, a long-suffering sigh escaping him.
"Whatever. But I will kick them out if they piss me off." He mutters before walking over toward them.
"Kenma, want to toss for me some more?" Hinata says brightly and the cat glances at him with a touch of distaste before giving in with a nod. They move off to the open area they'd been in when Kageyama woke and he cocks a brow slightly.
"He's going to get tired of Hinata before the morning's out." He remarks more to himself than the larger cat beside him, so he's surprised when Kuroo responds.
"Nope." He says before settling next to him and unwrapping another leaf covered rabbit bundle. "Kenma just doesn't like being active." He says dismissively.
Kageyama watches the golden cat and grounded bird for a while as he eats his own side of hare, hyper aware of the imposing cat beside him. He's not sure if the blasted feline is intentionally trying to intimidate him, but he has to grudgingly admit that it's kind of working… a little.
"The stories are true, you know." He says lowly and Kageyama jolts just a touch before glancing at the black cat.
"Beg your pardon?" He says around the bite of rabbit in his mouth.
"Kenma didn't come right out and say it, but he can't lie. Mind explaining why he phrased it like that? It better not have involved some threat or other. Level pairs are rare but you wouldn't be the first we've met."
Kageyama almost chokes. He had threatened that cat last night...
"H... Hinata doesn't know yet." He murmurs.
"Then I won't ask why you're keeping that bit of knowledge from your leveler of all people, but I will caution you. If one of you dies, so will the other."
Kageyama freezes, his breath catching in his lungs. His gaze snaps to Hinata and then he jumps when Kuroo scoffs under his breath at him.
"Don't be so obvious, idiot. Your shrimp is more sharp eyed than he seems and the blood just fled your face." He grumbles. Kageyama quickly looks back down to his rabbit at the rebuke; he's definitely not hungry at the moment.
"It's been over a decade." Kuroo says quietly and Kageyama peeks up at him. The black cat's gaze is distant and dispassionate, his eyes resting on his hands but not seeing them. "I don't know how different they are, but it's not just birds. We had a level pair in our clan and we were out on a deer hunt. She broke off to push the herd toward the rest of us like she always did. She was maybe a half mile away when we heard her shriek. He leveler took off so fast in his blind rush to get to her that we could barely keep up. But it didn't matter. We made it maybe halfway before he dropped with a heavy breath."
There's a dark frown that etches into the very foundations of his face, a very real pain that still surfaces at the memories.
"There was nothing wrong with him, no injury, no wound. He was in perfect condition… and he died where he fell. A crow sentry unit caught and skinned her; they never knew my brother died, too." He says, his voice rough.
Brother. No wonder this is hitting close to home.
"Your father's minions took out two cats that day and they never even had to touch one of them."
Kageyama sucks in a breath and Kuroo glances at him with a lethal gaze and he jars. He'd missed it before, but one of the black cat's orbs is cloudy.
"You think I wouldn't know who you are?"
There's a profound animosity in his golden eyes as they watch him unblinkingly, the blind one tracking him with unnerving accuracy. Kageyama feels himself holding his breath until the cat looks away. He silently lets it out with relief when Kuroo glances over toward the smaller two playing with the ball. But Kageyama can't help but ask.
"And that? Did my father do that, too?" He asks of the blind eye.
"Nah, this was a parting gift from a snake, but I shouldn't need to tell you that it isn't a hindrance. Honestly, you have Kenma's bleeding heart to thank. I intended to kill you that first night before he showed up. He developed an instant attachment to your shrimp and wouldn't let me. We know how your father deals with broken birds. He asked me to keep an eye out and let him know when that kid got barred from the rookery. Except… that's not what happened." He murmurs, glancing sidelong at Kageyama.
"That match was an excellent distraction; I've never had an easier time getting into that hellhole… but your race to leave it trapped me there until dark. I barely got a signal out to Kenma to tell him which way you were headed before I had to cram myself into a god-forsaken tiny box for a few hours." He says a bit annoyed, a hand straying to his neck again.
All Kageyama can process from that bit is that a cat managed to infiltrate the rookery… apparently more than once. But Kuroo continues absently.
"Your own actions confused both of us and I wasn't able to wrap my head around what was going on. But you guys being a level pair… it makes sense." Kuroo's gaze slides back to the golden cat and lively redhead.
"If you care about him, keep him close. But I will warn you once. Kenma's affinity for broken things is a hassle, but he is all I have left of a world long since destroyed by your father's little empire. If I find even the barest hint of ill will toward either of us, I don't care how much Kenma's taken to your shrimp, I'll kill you both; levelers or not."
Kageyama feels like the wind has been knocked out of him as the cat lays the threat between them. He's always heard stories about a cat's ruthlessness though he's never seen one alive himself. Kuroo's words are cold and forceful and he doesn't doubt a single one of them. It keeps making his heart rate skitter unsteadily.
"I will keep that in mind." He says with a brittleness that betrays his unease.
"Then we're good."
Kuroo's expression smooths into boredom and he resumes his breakfast as if promising death to someone he'd just met we completely normal. Kageyama looks down at his own unfinished rabbit with a frown. Maybe, since this guy knew another level pair...
"Hey..." He asks quietly. "Do you think his wings will grow back?"
The larger cat's head tilts.
"That's it isn't it? Why you haven't told him?" He says, his golden eyes sliding his way for a moment. He half shrugs before Kageyama can speak, though, and breaks eye contact as if his answer wouldn't be interesting anyway. "Not sure. I know levelers have the capacity to heal each other, but my knowledge is restricted to a feline level pair and neither my brother nor his leveler ever lost whole limbs."
Kageyama nods hollowly, his insides feeling like they might be his outsides after this whole interaction— or at the very least, had a wire brush taken to them. A feather drops from one of his wings and Kuroo catches it up with curiosity. He spins it between his fingers absently, studying it carefully before he glances over at Kageyama, setting his hair on end once more.
"You guys have some kind of fight?" He asks nonchalantly and Kageyama blanches.
"What makes you say that?" He asks and he means for it to come out condescending but the best he manages is defensive.
Kuroo hands the feather to him and he gets a good look at it. The shaft is half frazzled, the soft down near the base and fine vane fibers that run its length scraggled and curled as if hit by high heat. The shaft is crisped as if it had burned from the inside out. He blinks and then looks at the rest of the feathers on his wings. And he can't keep his shock off his face. It's not just the long flight feathers here and there that look like the one in his hand, the covert featherbeds also look scruffy and disheveled.
"My brother's fur used to curl a lot like that when they fought." He murmurs and looks away. "Relax. If your shrimp asks, you've just been unusually stressed from the last couple days and are going through a molt. It's one moment where him not having wings will work in your favor to keep him in the dark since they would likely be ragged right now, too." He says dismissively before his gaze grows slightly thoughtful.
"Although… it would probably be best if you try to limit any confrontation if you really want it to stay that way. He's rather oblivious, but he's definitely not stupid. Oh, and you better clean up the feathers you shed, because if I have to, you will be sleeping outside."
Kageyama's face flushes with embarrassment, but a movement from his peripheral makes him flinch. Kuroo's reaction is more sound and the cat raises a hand to deflect the incoming ball.
"Ah, sorry!" Hinata yelps.
Before the redhead can protest, Kenma's collected the ball and dropping beside them once more. Hinata complains and wants to keep going but the gold cat doesn't budge.
"So, are ground rules down?" He asks Kuroo instead.
"He's got the gist."
"Eh? What rules?" Hinata asks.
"You can stay with us if you want, but you have to do things our way." Kenma says.
For the first time in the gold cat's presence, Hinata dims.
"Oh… we probably won't be staying."
Kenma and Kuroo both glance at him and for the life of him, Kageyama can't figure out why, and he blinks at the unexpected attention while trying not to be distracted by the disquieting half-cloudy gaze of the black cat.
"We already had a destination in mind… and you've already helped us more than we can repay. We will leave as soon as we can so we don't cause you more trouble." He mumbles.
Kenma's head tilts and Kuroo frowns.
"I wouldn't exactly recommend just waltzing out through the forests right now. The bulk of the commotion is still where you went down last night further north, but all your dad's sentries are out in force at the moment and the trees are honestly crawling with them. Where are you thinking?"
Kageyama's brow furrows, not really willing to give up that information.
"East… and then south." He says haltingly.
"Well at least it's away from the rookery and the origin of all evil." Kuroo mutters and looks up at the ceiling, a hand going back to his neck. He rolls his head against his palm and Kageyama can tell he's thinking.
"You are probably stuck here for a while unless you choose to travel at night."
"We can't see in the dark." Kageyama says, the memory of blindly fumbling along behind Hinata just hours ago still unsettling.
"We can." Kenma says, drawing everyone's attention and Kageyama feels his spine straighten. "We can go with them and lead them at night, Kuroo."
The black cat frowns and turns a skeptical glance on the gold one.
"Have you swallowed a hairball? We aren't going to be guide dogs, you moron." He says, unimpressed, but Kenma shakes his head.
"It might be a good idea anyway with how thick the crows are right now. They can't catch us if we aren't here either."
Kuroo levels him with an irritated look. "How do you always logically justify a horrible plan?"
"If I didn't, we'd be screwed." The gold cat says simply and Kuroo scoffs.
"Fine."
"Ah, really? Wow, that would be awesome! Can we Kageyama?" Hinata asks, all the exuberance back in his voice. Kageyama has to wonder if he literally just held his breath while the other two came to their conclusion.
The two cats turn to look at him expectantly and he wants to shrink back. He wants to tell them no, because somewhere in his head, he'd pictured this journey always being just the redhead and himself. He can't stand that they know Hinata is his leveler and feels like it's just inviting the chance that more people find out. And for feathers' sake, they're cats. Centuries of stories about their vicious brutality can't be brushed aside after one night of interacting with this pair that helped them. Besides, the larger one is definitely hostile. The idea of traveling with these two makes him ridiculously uncomfortable and his skin prickles. In truth, the thought is more than disconcerting.
But... Shouyou has that bright smile again. That smile that he saw every day before he'd lost his wings. That smile that embodied sunshine and happiness.
And Kageyama can't say no.
He lets out a groan and brings a hand to his head, his brow crinkling with dark annoyance.
"Alright."
Shouyou's joyful whoop as he leaps into the air eases Kageyama's nerves.
And in that moment he realizes that he's doomed. He's been caving to the redhead for years but for the first time, he's consciously aware that he'll do anything for Hinata if he only asks.
Even more surprising for the larger crow… is that the realization doesn't bother him at all.
A/N: OK! So this chapter pretty much rounds out the main story line; everything from here on out is basically epilogue. I sincerely enjoyed writing this chapter and the last one, and they were some of the first parts of Level Pair that I finished (contrast that to the two right before that which I finished almost last and hated). It's retained pretty much all of its original context with almost no rewrite. I really like the relationship dynamic between Kageyama and Hinata, but I love Kuroo and Kenma. They weren't going to escape this story, lol.
I've actually had questions about Natsu... I never really had plans for her beyond the footnote she got since the story was more about Kageyama and Hinata, and I don't have her appear in this piece, but after chatting with one of my wonderful readers, I have a blip in my head that might make it in as a post chapter eventually.
Hope everyone enjoyed... off to work on that stubborn chapter that I STILL haven't finished. I procrastinated yesterday and finally started working on it when I should have gone to bed, was falling asleep through it and it's hilarious to read now because it makes no sense. So. Off to fix that mess, lol.