Level Pair; Recognition 1/3
The worst thing is watching someone drown and being unable to convince them that they can save themselves just by standing up. ~Anonymous
Koushi Sugawara watches as Kageyama stalks away without a word, the thrush's face a mask of covert astonishment. The redhead is lit up like a lantern as he bounces over to the taller crow's side, and Kageyama has his typical scowl firmly back in place when Suga catches sight of his face again, but it's not him he's focused on.
Hinata has that world ending smile, but his gaze is piercing and focused on the other boy with an unusual raptness for the redhead. It's a look that tells him that despite the happy creases at the corners of his eyes and the sparkle within them, the redhead is analyzing every detail of the taller crow, fierce calculation clicking in his head. It's a look that makes the thrush straighten, because he's seen it on Daichi. Whenever the larger crow was concerned that something was bugging him, that was the same covertly probing look he'd give Koushi.
Suga's ears have always been good; his attentiveness to others has always been tantamount to his ability to connect with everyone. Still, he barely catches the question the redhead utters under his breath with a level seriousness that jars with his joyful expression.
"You ok?"
Kageyama swats him off with a growl and an expletive and Hinata's smile brightens just a little more. Suga blinks as he processes what that exchange meant and turns to Daichi.
"That was a rescue." He says, a bit dumbfounded. Akaashi snorts and Kuroo looks up at him with a smirk.
"Happens a lot. For how often he plays the dense damsel part, the shrimp enjoys being a hero."
"He's a walking contradiction with how he can be both uncannily perceptive and negligently blind at the same time. He might not have been within earshot, but he was watching you guys put your little princeling on the spot almost from the get go." Tsukishima mutters and Asahi blinks with surprise.
"Seriously?"
"The moment the young king became markedly uncomfortable, that brat was looking for an opening. When you cornered him with a question he wouldn't answer, the damsel was done being in distress." Tsukishima says sullenly.
"He'll do it for any of us if we really start taking flak, but it's usually Kageyama. And it's usually sparing him the bean pole's snide comments. There was a good one just the other day… blondy was grilling him about his stunted personality and his hovering over Hinata, and the shrimp just flat out lost patience. How did he say it again, Cat?" Akaashi says with a bland look. The ibis scoffs, but Kuroo huffs with amusement.
"I believe the exact phrase was 'Shut the fuck up, Tsukishima.' Simple and blunt and perfect. Bokuto laughed himself stupid for five minutes and it put Kageyama into a stellar mood the rest of the night for an added bonus."
"Hinata said that?" Daichi asks incredulously and Suga can barely believe it either. Hinata has never been so confrontational.
"He gets bold sometimes. Particularly when his leveler is under fire." Akaashi says nonchalantly.
"It goes both ways, though." The soft voice of Kiyoko breaks in from behind them. "Kageyama is even quicker to rise on his behalf." Beside her, the little bunting, Yachi, smiles faintly.
"Hm. They really seem to connect, don't they." She murmurs softly.
And when Suga glances back to where the two have rejoined the others at the net, he catches a glimpse of what she means.
They have set up on one side with the two loud mouth twins while the lanky gray cat and the obnoxious owl team up on the other. Kageyama sets for the redhead and Noya and Tanaka while Bokuto ineptly sets for Lev. Despite the blatant disadvantage of Noya's and Tanaka's awkward movements and inexperience hitting with their arms, ball after ball drops on the other side. He can't help the way his face betrays his awe.
Hinata and Kageyama move fluidly across the sand, completely in tandem despite the two bound and clumsy crows that are more frequently in the way than they are helpful. They easily pick up any slack created by Nishinoya and Tanaka with the imbalance created by their new flightless state, filling the holes and flowing around them like water around a rock in a river. It is almost like an invisible tether connects them, controls them both at the same time. There is rarely a step out of place and it almost appears as if they move as a single unit.
It honestly gives Suga the uncanny impression that the setter and little spiker could secretly run laps around them all.
Suga can see a facet of what Yachi speaks of. Sitting around lunch or seeing just normal interactions, it was more subdued and less obvious… but watching them play 'Ground Volley' really illuminates how singularly conscious they are of the other at any given moment. They are so completely aware of the other that they almost seem to lose track of all else.
The blond ibis puffs out a light breath in disdain before getting to his feet.
"This is a slaughter. Come on Yamaguchi."
"Tsuki, I was going to start on dinner with the girls…"
"Forget that, they can handle it. We could use a setter, Akaashi." The ibis says cavalierly. The owl shrugs with a huff but climbs to his feet as well. Suga distractedly blinks at the nickname that somehow seems incomprehensible given the blond's personality.
"Tsuki?" He echoes, mystified.
"Don't let him hear you say that. Yamaguchi is the only one that gets away with it." Kuroo murmurs as the three birds head for the net before the girls also rise.
"We should probably also get things set up for tonight, too. I assume you will be staying with us?" Kiyoko asks politely and Daichi glances at her in surprise.
"If you have the space, we'd be grateful… but don't feel obligated to put us up. We can find our own way."
"Not at all. We might be a little short on blankets, but that usually doesn't matter anyway. Space shouldn't be a problem; I'm sure we can fit five more." She says and Asahi frowns in confusion.
"The nights have been getting awfully cold lately, though…" He says in a voice that lacks all confidence. Yachi smiles brightly.
"You get eleven people in one room, it has a tendency to heat up pretty quick!" She says with a happy grin. Daichi's and Asahi's expressions match his own when they look at her with shock.
"Eh… one room?" Asahi asks and Kiyoko shrugs.
"Safety isn't the only good thing to be found in numbers." She murmurs before heading inside, the bunting trailing along behind her. Daichi looks over to Kuroo.
"You seriously all sleep in the same room? This place is huge though."
The black cat raises one shoulder in a half assed gesture.
"There are plenty of rooms, true, but aside from the kitchen and main receiving room, most of them aren't really used except perhaps for the occasional afternoon nap. The comfort of touch is a powerful thing… and the extra warmth doesn't hurt either. The owls especially turn into freaking radiators at night." He says with a grin.
"You guys sleep with owls." Asahi sounds like he's about to have a minor mental breakdown. Kuroo laughs before looking toward the net with a certain fondness.
"Yeah, we are cats and we sleep with owls. We also sleep with a snarky ibis, a high-strung bunting, and a bunch of crows. Two of them are girls, one of them an emotionally erratic prince, and another is grounded. It's frankly unprecedented… but it makes Kenma happy. And it all happened because of that redhead and his leveler." He nods towards the figures at the net. "If we'd never met them… we'd never have come this far."
Suga follows his gaze...and there they all are.
Tsukishimi murmurs something to Kageyama across the net with a condescending grin, Yamaguchi chastising him lightly. Bokuto snaps a great shot past Tanaka where he's still bound and off balance and promptly declares that he's the best to which Akaashi flatly denies with a bored expression. Noya manages to pop up a ball served by Yamaguchi and Tanaka finally gets a solid connection and it slips by the imposing grey cat. All four former Karasuno unit members on the sand pitch let out a whoop before the ball is quickly coming back.
Lev leaps and for a moment, Suga thinks there's no way they will stop it. But then Hinata, as short as he is, snaps into place, his hands raised, and the ball comes off the block. Noya almost falters before remembering his feet and dashes for it, his wings straining against the ropes on them. It comes off wildly but Kageyama's already moving. He sets his feet, his own wings barely even shifting and all but virtually forgotten, his body relaxed into the familiarity of a motion practiced a million times. Hinata calls for a toss and Suga can see Kageyama's head tilt just a touch and then the ball leaves his fingers, flying towards the net.
Suga catches his breath. One moment, it seems like the setter made a mistake— and then Shouyou is there, his hand raised, his eyes focused on the ball sent just for him.
And for that instant, Suga can almost believe he never lost his wings. He hangs in the air his face a mask of concentration, but Suga can see shadows of excited euphoria at the edges, just like he always had when they'd played back at the rookery. Perhaps even more free if that were possible.
His hand connects effortlessly with the ball and it sails past both Lev and Bokuto and Akaashi dives but it ricochets. Hinata lets out a yell almost before he hits the ground and then pauses as if he's remembered something before spinning back to the net. A scowl on his face, he pins Akaashi with his almond eyes snapping even if bereft of any real malice.
"Hey! I saw that! We still have more rope, you know— "
"Oi! Don't drop your arm like that, idiot! You lose power and speed." Kageyama cuts him off with a stiff bark and the redhead jumps before rounding back on the setter.
"Hah? You should put it a little higher, moron!"
"The set was perfect; you hesitated." Kageyama says coldly.
It's like seeing a phantom memory that could belong to any one of their matches back at the rookery, Suga thinks.
"Well," Kuroo says getting up, "that's about my cue to join. If you guys stay, maybe one of you can take over parenting duties." He says wryly before heading over to join the Karasuno unit's side with a halfhearted rebuke at the bickering pair. Suga muses about how the cat sounds annoyed, but readily offers tips and pointers to Tanaka and Noya.
Protector, Suga realizes. This cat is so prominent in this group because he is determined to protect them all, will do whatever is best for each and every one of them. And somehow… since Noya and Tanaka are a part of Kageyama and Hinata's world, they are afforded the same vigil. It's as if the umbrella of Kuroo's shelter extends to them merely due to their association with those he considers under his care. The thrush can't help but feel a stab of quiet admiration, and he imagines the large black cat's presence might make learning this variation of Volley a little smoother.
But with the arrival of the unspoken head of the beach group in the game, the mood suddenly seems to shift. Within a couple plays, Tanaka and Noya are breathing hard and everyone seems to sharpen as the game's speed picks up drastically. Tsukishima's taunts dwindle until his face is set into a calculating scowl, Yamaguchi's going serious with tension. Lev starts grinning with a slightly manic light in his face and Bokuto gets louder and more boastful even as Akaashi goes silent with attention. Hinata brightens but his actions grow more controlled and precise while Kageyama slips into his pervasively competitive tunnel vision. It's five on five, but really, Noya and Tanaka are barely contributing with their half-hour's worth of practice without using their wings, so it's actually more like three on five.
And yet… despite the height and power on the owls' side, they are losing. Kageyama and Hinata, backed by Kuroo, set the tone, their liquid connection and quick movements beating out the lanky grey cat, the sullen ibis, and the loud owl over half the time. The level pair is totally in sync… and yet, Suga can tell there's a tension there.
"Pretty impressive, aren't they." A quiet voice says behind them, and the thrush is slightly gratified when Asahi jumps alongside him. The three of them turn to find the golden cat, Kenma, watching the scrimmage with an apathetic expression but focused attention all the same. Lev is pretty laid back with an almost childish demeanor, and Kuroo has a commanding presence to him, but this cat has been mostly withdrawn since they'd arrived so Suga hasn't been able to get much of a read on him yet. His silent appearance has his feathers pricking slightly.
"Ah… yeah. It's fast." Daichi says.
"That's because the field of play is much smaller." Kenma says before turning golden eyes on him.
"You can see it, can't you? The disconnect." He says softly and Suga blinks and looks back to the net.
And then he gets it. This cat is exceptional at detail and analysis. Kenma reads people the same way he does, maybe better… a thought that is mildly unsettling in itself, but he brushes that aside because he knows exactly what the feline speaks of.
Hinata and Kageyama are totally synchronized in their movements, each step, each jump, each swing harmonizing directly with the other. But there is a communicational chasm between them— like an invisible wall. Kageyama won't speak about their innate link as a level pair and Hinata choses to remain ignorant of it because he refuses to push him. Kageyama is far more brooding and careful of his words than he would normally be and Hinata can tell and is on eggshells because of it.
He doesn't know why the redhead holds back; it's quite unlike him. The only thing Suga can think of is that he's somehow afraid of that conversation. Which makes no sense, because it's Hinata. This is the kid who went up against Kageyama and more or less called him out for being an ass on account of his recently deceased mother— and came back completely unscathed. He's never been shy when asking about anything.
Do you know what happens when a level pair fight? I have no intention of ever going through something like that again.
Kageyama had implied they'd fought. Maybe that was why? He and Daichi had never been cross enough with one another to hit that point… but they had had a stretch right at the beginning where they hadn't spoken. He can see the distance between the two on the beach because he and Daichi had gone through something similar when they'd first discovered their own connection as levelers. He knows from experience the truth that rings in the cat's remark.
"Yeah." He says softly. "I can see it."
A/N: So. A chapter that isn't from Kageyama's or Hinata's point of view. I debated a lot on whether to do it, but kind of shrugged and went with it. I like Suga and I enjoyed writing this one just for the chance to get an outside view of the situation. The next chap is also from another 'side' character's POV. Props if you can guess who :) Haikyuu! Season 3 starts tomorrow, guys! Now go have an awesome night.