Level Pair; Recognition 3/3
We rise by lifting others. ~Robert Ingersoll
Asahi Azumane moves closer to the once more bickering pair, the tension in his shoulders getting worse.
He doesn't like this plan. Not at all. Kageyama is going to be cross with him.
But Kageyama has been carefully eluding their senior level pair with remarkable adeptness ever since that strained conversation earlier, so cornering him once more has fallen to him. And maybe… if he's lucky, he can ask him a question or two of his own. He's been anxiously watching for an opportunity the whole afternoon and already missed several because he couldn't bring himself to act, and here the evening meal is already drawing to a close and the sun is dropping in the sky and he's holding back again.
He'd grasped that Kageyama had yet to tell Hinata about being levelers, but he doesn't see the same 'disconnect' the golden cat had spoken of that Daichi and Suga seem keyed in to. The two seem to get along like they always have… even if maybe a little more mellow. They acquiesce to each other far more easily than they ever have, their verbal sparring not as sharp as normal. They seem… almost subdued. And Asahi supposes that that feels strange...like Kageyama is actually more moody than normal and Hinata isn't quite as bright, maybe?
Crap. Daichi is eyeing him with a frown again. He takes a deep breath.
"Kageyama… can you…" He murmurs and it fails to even catch the attention of the arguing pair. His mouth dry, he tries once more with a little more volume.
"Eh… Hinata, can I borrow Kageyama for a couple minutes?" He says tentatively.
They both look at him, and he doesn't mean to but he takes a half step backward under their dual focus. It's unnerving, he thinks, how they can both pin someone with the same expectant look.
"What for, Asahi? Can I help?" Hinata is quick to ask and Kageyama's gaze flickers to the redhead before back up at him. For a brief second, Asahi thinks he might see it… that there might be a tension that he's missing.
"Ano… I was going to um… ask him about what a spiker could do to help someone improve sets." He hedges, feeling totally obvious that that was definitely not what he wants to know. But Hinata's head tilts.
"Why would anyone else need to set? We have Kageyama."
Asahi blinks and his shoulders hunch slightly.
"Well…we didn't have him. Noya did his best to try and learn so he could help Suga. He's got it down well enough where he can come up from the back and set if he has to, but I wondered if Kageyama had any advice." Asahi mumbles and glances at the dark-haired boy who watches him with an unreadable expression.
Yeah, he definitely saw through it. But...
Hinata spins around to look at where Noya sits beside Tanaka with shock.
"Noya, you are setting now?" He asks with amazement, his face splitting into an awed grin. To Asahi's relief, Kageyama also glances at him with veiled curiosity, subconsciously following the redhead's lead.
Noya pauses mid-chew as if he's been caught by their drill instructor snitching Momma Yu's sweets between sets. His gaze flickers between the two before jumping to him with a mild questioning glance. Asahi's mouth quirks sheepishly.
Sorry… help.
Noya blinks at him… and then swallows his food and grins back at the setter and redhead with a cocky glint in his eyes.
Thank god Noya was better at picking up hints than he was, he mentally sighs with relief.
He hadn't had a chance to talk to their shortest member after Daichi and Suga had cornered Kageyama earlier. Noya wouldn't know what was all going on— wouldn't know about Hinata's regenerating wings or the 'distance' he couldn't seem to see between their younger level pair. He would probably expect an explanation later, but Noya fell into the role of distracting the redhead now with no effort.
"Yeah, you've had Kageyama all summer so we had to figure something out. Suga's been helping me and I've got it down pretty good now." He says and Shouyou bounces over to him completely starry eyed and babbling.
"Wow, that is so cool! I want to see! Can you toss for me, too? Was it hard? How long did it take you to get it right?"
The redhead chatters away and Noya glances back at him briefly. Asahi can't help but smile crookedly. Frankly, he's dumbfounded the excuse he pulled out of thin air worked that freaking well to distract the brilliant ball of energy.
"I'm going to hazard a guess that you aren't actually looking for pointers." Kageyama murmurs at his shoulder, his eyes fixed on the redhead where he talks animatedly with the other crow. Asahi starts. Yeah… definitely sharper than the redhead.
"Eh… we agreed to try to keep everything under wraps if you hadn't told him. But, I'm okay if you have any tips, too." He mumbles, feeling like he's about to get a punishment drill. Kageyama cocks a brow at him skeptically.
"Be early on your hits. It doesn't matter if you feel like you've wound up too soon; you won't be as early as you feel and if he can see you, he can get it to you more accurately. Use your off hand as a guide to let him know exactly where you want it when you hit. Always stay out of his way and always be ready so he has your option. He needs freedom of movement to be able to assess your side, the other side, and determine who to send it to, all while lining up to take the hit." Kageyama rattles off at him and he blinks.
"Oh… I will have to try that." He murmurs, positive he won't remember most of it.
"So what is it you really want to talk about?" Kageyama asks tersely and turns to put a bit more distance between himself and the redhead. Even if the brisk demeanor isn't unusual, it still gives the larger crow the distinct impression that his patience hasn't recovered much from earlier this afternoon. Asahi shadows him and glances at the setter's dispassionate expression. Well, since he has the other crow's attention, he might as well use it.
"Eh… I have a question— about levelers." He mumbles. Kageyama glances back at him sharply, his eyes pausing on him with critical assessment.
"What about them?" He says as he leans back against the porch railing with arms crossed, his gaze fixing on where Noya and Hinata chatter back and forth excitedly, a few wild gestures thrown in for emphasis. Asahi mimics the action self-consciously.
"Um, did you, you know… did you have any idea that you and Hinata were levelers before you had confirmation on it?" Kageyama's eyes flick over to him and back to where Tanaka has joined Noya and the redhead.
"Not really. The only thing that would have given it away was the agony and 'freaky fried feathers' thing when we argue, but neither of us realized that was because we were a level pair." He says, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Eh… fried feathers?" He asks dubiously. Kageyama's gaze never leaves the redhead.
"You molt feathers that look like they were crisped from the inside out. I… kept one from the last time it happened for us—one of my flight feathers. It's to remind me what can happen when we completely fail at connecting and how badly it sucks. I'll have to find it and show you sometime." He says, his eyes growing amaurotic with a certain inwardly resentful recollection.
It's an expression that whispers of pain and uncertainty. Moreover, it's a look that doesn't fit the Kageyama that he knows and contrasts sharply with the rigid confidence and unyielding personality that was present in all aspects of life back at the rookery. A slow feeling ignites in the back of Asahi's head— that this might be a part of what the cat spoke of.
"Oh… there wasn't anything besides that?" He asks tentatively, unable to keep from pushing because he really wants to know. Kageyama's cobalt orbs clear in an instant and meet his own mocha ones with a cynical crease at their corners as he releases a mild huff.
"We didn't exactly cuddle much in the barracks so we weren't close enough to initiate something like the binding effect." Kageyama drawls. Asahi blinks before bringing his hands up in front of him placatingly.
"I meant—like anything else. Any gut feeling?" He says weakly and the other crow frowns and looks back toward Hinata and Noya.
Asahi's honestly shocked that Kageyama is being so forthcoming, and he keeps wondering when the setter will get tired and brush him off in annoyance. He was generally always pretty reserved back home— like he was muzzled with everyone except Hinata, really— so the fact that he's talking freely has Asahi's skin tingling just a bit in both anticipation and trepidation. It means he's going to get answers, but it also gives him the feeling that Kageyama might kill him once they're finished.
"I don't know. Maybe? He's always been able to get me to do things that no one else would when he gets it in his head, I guess… and I can't stay pissed at him no matter what he does. But there's nothing really that stands out. Why are you asking?" The other boy says in a flat voice.
Ah. Patience limit reached. Kageyama turning a question back on him is a pretty good indicator that he's done volunteering information on himself. But the question he asks makes Asahi freeze.
"Ah— No reason… just curious." He says, his brain just spitting the words out with no tact or structure and his voice anything but relaxed, and he wants to facepalm. Kageyama tosses a mocking glance his way.
"Right." He says, the sarcasm beneath the single word telling him exactly how much he believes him. The setter sizes him up before looking away again and Asahi wants to breathe a sigh of relief. He can see why Kageyama wouldn't want to talk much about this; he's not very comfortable with it either.
"I'm probably not the best person to ask. I don't really… notice those kinds of things. Suga and Daichi would probably be a better source on this." He says dismissively.
Suga and Daichi. Ah, right. The reason he was supposed to talk to Kageyama in the first place.
"Ano… it's not my place to say anything on how you approach the leveler thing with Hinata, but..." He says apologetically, unable to finish the thought. He really doesn't want to talk about this anymore. Kageyama is just going to get irritated.
"But you have an opinion." Kageyama states placidly, a frown creasing his forehead. Asahi bites his lip.
No. Suga and Daichi do. He takes a deep breath, finding a half-buried bit of driftwood in the sand beside them to focus on.
"You, um… you've been around Hinata all summer, so maybe it's not so strange for you now, but…" He falters slightly before he meets the piercing cobalt gaze of their setter. "We only saw him for like two days, so it's still really jarring to see him without wings. It's a harsh reminder so he will draw our attention all the more."
Kageyama''s frown deepens and he looks back to the two as they are joined by a lively Bokuto. The appearance of the owl so close to Noya momentarily distracts Asahi and he blinks to recover his attention when Kageyama answers.
"Hinata without wings will never be normal. Where are you going with this?" He asks, a tendril of irritation infiltrating the question. Asahi fidgets uncomfortably.
Where was he going with this again?
"Ah. Right. Hinata is comfortable around all of us— enough to remove his shirt with wingless shoulders and a scarred back like that in front of us without a second thought. Even if they knew ahead of time, do you really think Tanaka and Noya will keep quiet once they see it?"
Asahi feels foolish because he hasn't see Hinata's back either, doesn't really know what the deal is. He just knows from what Kuroo said earlier that somehow the redhead will get his wings back, and if one saw his back, one would know. But if whatever is on Hinata's back is that important, he's sure Tanaka and Noya would make a fuss even if they'd been told not to. That's just the way they are— excitable and occasionally unpredictable. They'd probably be losing their minds before they remembered they were supposed to keep them.
"I'm aware." Kageyama says evenly, a frown marring his face.
The lanky gray cat joins the owl and three crows with particular interest in Noya's setting capabilities, and Asahi is abruptly having a hard time focusing on the conversation. Noya is right next to a cat and an owl, both things that they'd been told were dangerous since they were infants. Asahi doesn't know any of the beach group beyond the last few hours and despite Kageyama's and the redhead's ease and assurances, Noya's only backup at that range would be Tanaka and a grounded Hinata if he needed it.
He mentally muscles his attention back to the conversation at hand, but his gaze never wavers from its critical focus on where Noya is talking with the others with vibrant animation. He'd really feel better if he were closer to them. Asahi releases a weighted breath; he can do this.
"I think you should tell him. If you all… we all sleep in one room, them seeing his back... that's going to happen sooner than you probably want. That's something Hinata probably shouldn't find out any other way than from you." He says, his own voice sounding far more confident than he feels.
Kageyama's shoulders tighten just a bit. They both jump as Kuroo's face drops between them, the cat bracing himself on his elbows on the railing.
"That's nothing he hasn't heard before," He says nonchalantly before fixing the setter with an intrigued glance, "but I have to say, Feathers; that was more of a reaction than we got for it."
Asahi can't help the way his hair and wings stand on end.
Where did this guy even come from?
"Piss off, Kuroo." Kageyama grouches with a strange weariness that holds far too little caution to Asahi.
The large cat is an inch from his shoulder and when he meets Kuroo's golden gaze, he freezes as he catches the unsettling cloudiness in the one eye for the first time, an anomaly in what he subconsciously expects.
"You know, for as big as you are, you remind me of our bunting, Yachi." He says with a grin. Asahi blinks while Kageyama rolls his eyes beside him.
"Seriously, Cat. Get lost."
Asahi doesn't want to take his eyes off Kuroo, who is far too close for comfort, but he can't keep from glancing warily toward Noya and the others. There are so many people he doesn't know and it's making him nervous… and weren't there supposed to be two owls? Where's the other one? And the other small cat...
"Your concern is showing, Goatee."
Asahi jumps and spins back toward the cat who watches him with both his clear and blind eyes laughing.
"Sorry?" He murmurs, shrinking back when the black cat leans toward him with an amused smirk.
"Kenma says you've been watching the other dinky one like a hawk the whole day so far. If you want my advice, you're worrying about the wrong people. Bokuto and Lev are harmless. The people you should worry about are the ibis and Kyoko."
Kageyama snorts beside him.
"Hardly. The person you should be concerned about is this bastard." He says, jerking a thumb toward the black cat.
Kuroo turns his one clear eye on the other crow balefully, the dull one following just as well as if it weren't sightless. It's honestly disconcerting on several levels, he thinks.
"Oi. I saved your life, you little prat." He says with a scowl and Kageyama huffs.
"That was actually Kenma. Within ten minutes of meeting me, you promised to off me."
Kuroo scoffs.
"A little fear for one's life reminds one to live. And don't forget who told him where to find you." Kuroo's gaze swings towards Asahi before the setter has a chance to answer, and the large crow does his best not to flinch as the half-foggy golden focus fixes on him once again.
"You grew up with this guy right? Was he always this sullen? Or is he just that emotionally stunted and defensive?"
"Eh… yes?" He says uncertainly.
He's pretty sure Kageyama is all of those things… especially without Hinata. Kageyama's gaze flickers to him with a snapping irritation and a measure of betrayal, and he has a moment to regret his answer. But he doesn't have a chance to backtrack because the black cat lets out a deep rumbling laugh and vaults the railing over their heads.
"This is going to be way more entertaining than I thought." He says as he straightens up and turns toward Kageyama with a slightly predatory grin.
"By the way, Feathers, why are you avoiding your captain? Pretty sure Yamaguchi or even Yachi wouldn't hide like this." He says and Kageyama scowls.
"That's because both of them have volatile bodyguards." He grumbles. Kuroo laughs again and throws an arm over Asahi's shoulders, completely unfazed by his flinch.
"I'm going to tell Kiyoko you said that." He says with a grin and latches onto a quickly souring Kageyama's shirt with the other hand. He turns and steers them back toward the others… specifically Suga and Daichi. "Come on. You haven't seen them in six months. Take your verbal beating and be done with it."
Oh, boy. This can only end in flames. Asahi thinks as they come up to the others. But he's not prepared for the way Suga intercepts them.
"Kageyama, we never intended to upset you. We are just concerned." He says contritely. Daichi is behind him, his face a bit more reserved, but he nods as well.
"We do not know the whole situation, so we are in no position to make calls." He says a little uncomfortably and Asahi has to mask his surprise. Still, one of his brows cocks with minor indignation. It's basically all but an apology. Why did they send him after Kageyama if they were already intending to do this?
Kageyama's shoulders are stiff and he doesn't look at them when he takes a seat beside them.
"It's ok. You aren't wrong. He needs to know." He says evenly, if a little grudgingly.
The senior level pair and Kuroo follow his lead and sit, and Asahi notices the other owl, Akaashi, the golden cat, Kenma, and Yamaguchi materialize around them as well. Seriously. Where do these people come from?
"I don't know how to tell him. I'll only get one chance to get that right." The setter murmurs.
"Kageyama…" They all turn to look at Yamaguchi. "What's the first thing you see every morning?" He asks softly. Kageyama blinks.
"Hinata." He mumbles, the tips of his ears flushing.
"Why do you think that is?" Yamaguchi asks, the hint of a smile around his mouth.
Kageyama's face goes blank.
"Eh…" He completely stumbles and the smile blooms in earnest on Yamaguchi's face.
"It's the same reason he's the first one to your side during a nightmare or when you get angry. He wants to be there for you… just like you are for him."
"But your silence makes him nervous." Kenma cuts in. "Kageyama, he hangs on your every word, because he's waiting for you. Just like he waits for the chance to show you how much he cares whenever you wake in a cold sweat." The golden cat says quietly, perhaps with a touch of frustration.
"It won't matter how you tell him. He'll listen because it's you." Akaashi states.
"But the longer you wait, the more uncertain he'll become." Yamaguchi adds. Kageyama's gaze falls.
"He'll listen but will he hear what I say?" He asks with a dark inward frown.
"You aren't giving him enough credit, Feathers." Kuroo rebuffs with a half-hearted grin.
Asahi feels as if it's gone awfully quiet around them and with a jolt, he turns to where he no longer hears the redhead and the others. An eyebrow creeps up his forehead. They are all still there… except the owl. But Hinata, Noya, Tanaka, and Lev all have their heads together, murmuring conspiratorially. It makes Asahi's neck itch.
Oi. That's definitely the birth of a prank happening right there.
"Kageyama…" Daichi asks quietly, drawing Asahi's attention once more just as Bokuto comes back out of the house. The sentry leader seems uncomfortable, his gaze focused on the ground. "Have you ever wondered if everything might have been simpler if you'd just told your father?"
There's nothing but cold anger in Kageyama's eyes as they find the larger crow.
"Hinata would have ended up in a gilded cage. If you think that would have been in any way better than where we are now, you clearly don't know Shouyou." He bites out harshly.
"That's not…" Daichi breaks off before clasping his hands together and bringing them to his mouth as if he's trying to figure out how to say what's on his mind. "Kageyama… the Grand King is not the same person as he was when you left. He truly cares about you."
Kageyama shrugs and Asahi deduces annoyance.
"Not enough to listen." He mutters.
"He might now." Daichi says quietly. Kageyama instantly bristles and Asahi almost flinches as the tension around them shivers just a bit.
"We're not going back. He'll never threaten Hinata again." Kageyama vows, his voice glacial. Daichi closes his eyes.
"I didn't mean it like that...I just think you would find the shift interesting. As weeks went by and there was no trace of you guys— as if you'd vanished from existence, it wore on him. You disappeared without a backward glance, no note, no parting word, nothing… and I think it hit home. He's aged a lot in the last six months and I'm not sure you'd recognize him now. Sure he was irate at first— I mean, he turned the rookery upside down, ransacked the forests, and we all went through interrogations— but he's not the same."
"Then maybe he's learned some—" Kageyama breaks off with a sharp jerk backward and Daichi flinches violently as he's hit with a small object. Asahi blinks as he tries to process what just happened… because there is egg sliding down the side of their unit leader's face.
For a long moment, everyone stares. Daichi slowly raises a hand to his face, his expression curiously blank. As he pulls his hand away, smeared yellow with egg yolk and bits of shell, he blinks rather mechanically. And then Kageyama's head snaps sideways with a scowl.
"Oi! Again with the eggs!?" He barks. Asahi turns to see Noya and the others blinking owlishly at them.
"Eh… it was him." Hinata says in a small voice, pointing to Tanaka. The bald crow jolts and turns toward the redhead with an eyebrow twitching.
"It was not! Wait, again!? You totally just set us up, didn't you?" He roars.
"That was actually pretty easy." Lev tells the cross crow blithely before glancing toward the redhead. "You were right, Kageyama's reflexes are still sharp as ever."
"I told you he'd see it and dodge."
"What are you, a freaking urchin—"
"Seriously?" Daichi deadpans, his quiet voice undercutting Kageyama's insult. His gaze flickers between the crow setter beside him and the redhead over by the food, and silence drops once more.
Asahi's back tenses just a bit, his wings pulling together slightly. He can't help it. The air around them somehow tightens, lancing his thoughts with severe déja vu. The last time this happened, it was the Grand King staring at the slimy remnants of an egg on his hand with skeptical disbelief— and he's sure the Karasuno group all remember how that turned out. Between the Grand King and Daichi, he'd take the latter's reaction any day over the former's… but still, this is their unit leader. When he loses patience, Daichi can usually get even a bickering Kageyama and Hinata to mind with nothing more than one of his dark looks and a few terse words.
"Pfft!"
Everyone straightens just a bit and they all collectively turn to look at whoever apparently seeks Daichi's wrath. Suga shrinks backward and covers his mouth, but it does nothing to stem the snicker that bursts forth.
Asahi glances back at Daichi who's watching the thrush with a raised eyebrow. Suga's hand falls away from his face as a new wave bubbles up from his gut, and his arms come around his middle. The thrush almost overbalances and rolls backward as a clear ringing laugh erupts in its entirety, his eyes watering over in the grip of his mirth.
Wave after wave of hilarity spills forth from the thrush until he can barely breath, and the corner of Daichi's mouth twists slightly. Bringing his fingers still coated in raw egg together, he turns his hand and flicks them at the tittering gray haired boy. Suga gasps lightly as egg hits his cheek before he's laughing again and the tension breaks completely as Daichi releases an amused huff of his own.
"I obviouslyshould have ducked out of chores like everyone else. Here, Captain Karasuno." A voice says over their shoulders and they turn to find Tsukishima holding out a towel.
"Tsukki, why do you conveniently have that right when we need it?" Yamaguchi asks as Daichi takes it gratefully.
"Because Bokuto isn't as stealthy as he thinks he is." The ibis remarks blandly.
"He actually got past Kiyoko?" Akaashi asks with a raised eyebrow and the ibis shrugs.
"She wasn't inside, so I guess that makes him lucky."
Hinata, Lev, Bokuto and the loud twins have ceased paying attention, though, the fun of egging their unit leader over and Noya says something about the beach. The cat begs off in favor of not getting wet and Bokuto taunts him about getting his fur all messed up. Lev points out that it's fall and the water will be cold and the owl visibly deflates. Tanaka is pulling his shirt anyway saying how he doesn't care because they haven't seen the ocean all summer, and Kuroo laughs and reminds him that there have parts that really won't appreciate that shock. Tanaka brushes off the cat's wisdom and promptly advocates for Hinata, Noya, and Bokuto to join him in freezing his nerves through one good plunge. A grin finally breaks across Asahi's face, the banter sliding back and forth around him feeling normal in a weird sort of way.
"Kiyoko's punishments would probably be a breeze next to what we went through back at the rookery. You guys don't have any race pit around here." Kageyama murmurs as Daichi wipes the egg from his face.
"Actually... " Asahi breaks in tentatively, "they haven't run since you guys left." Kageyama's cobalt eyes lock onto him for a long second before jumping to Daichi.
"You're kidding." He says and Daichi glances his way as he hands the towel to Suga.
"Asahi's right. It was probably because all manpower was dedicated to the search for you guys at first, but he never ran them again even after he called it off a month ago."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Daichi, wasn't joking, Kageyama," The thrush breaks in with a small smile. "Your father isn't the same person."
Kageyama glances down at the sand underneath them and Asahi wants to think that there's a measure of hope somewhere in the skeptical frown on his face. The large crow can't imagine having had a father like the Grand King, and he's often wondered if Kageyama had actually always wanted something of a normal parent-child relationship instead of what he'd gotten.
"Shouyou! What the hell!" Noya's outburst gets everyone to jump and Kageyama is on his feet so fast, Asahi instinctively comes to his own as well.
"Fuck." The expletive that escapes under the black haired setter's breath is so sincere that it jars Asahi's nerves.
"Hinata! What is…" Tanaka is rendered speechless and when Asahi finally looks over, he pales. Tanaka and Noya both have their shirts off and Hinata's is halfway there.
Beach. Swimming. Aw, hell.
Why hadn't he been paying more attention? He could have tried distracting the loud twins or something. He could have suggested Volley or anything. Now the two are crowding around Hinata, freaking out and gesturing wildly. Bokuto looks bewildered, like he wants to do something, but doesn't know where to start. For his part, the redhead is overwhelmed; he hunches slightly under the sudden flood of boisterous attention and takes a step back. His face pinches and he pulls the shirt back down, his gaze dropping to the sand. Asahi doesn't even realize his feet have him following the princeling as Kageyama closes the distance to the redhead in moments.
"Woah, man, your back!"
"Shouyou, those are—"
"Hinata."
Kageyma's growl is probably the most commanding tone Asahi's ever heard from him. Noya and Tanaka freeze and Hinata goes rigid, his face jerking up to meet the oncoming crow. Kageyama's face must be set with a livid scowl, because the redhead goes white.
"K-Kageyama, I—"
Kageyama snags one of Hinata's arms and drags him two steps before turning back to where Noya and Tanaka stare at them in astonishment.
"I am borrowing him for a bit. There's something we need to discuss." He bites out sharply, his voice betraying every bit of the cold and controlling capability Kageyama inherited from his father— but has never once used outside a Volley match.
The setter turns and slides an arm around Hinata and the smaller boy flinches. Whatever is going through his head, the little spiker is terrified.
"Kageyama, what—"
"It's alright, Hinata. You've done nothing wrong." Kageyama cuts him off, his voice quieter, the edges of his words softer.
"Then—"
"Hang onto me, Shouyou." Kageyama says and takes off.
Asahi still finds it odd that Kageyama calls him by his first name, even though Daichi had said he did. He wonders if it's tweaking out Noya and Tanaka, too, because they remain rooted to the ground for a long moment, their gazes tracking the image of Kageyama and Hinata as they rapidly depart. The setter is definitely unsettled because the pace he's setting is relentless even with Hinata in his grasp.
And then both Noya and Tanaka move to follow, and Asahi almost doesn't react quick enough. He closes a large hand on their shortest member's wing and catches the bald one in a headlock. Noya almost falls over at the sharp motion and turns back to Asahi with surprise and irritation.
"What the hell! Let go, Asahi!"
"Let them be for a bit, Noya." Asahi rebuttals and the small crow turns to glare up at him.
"Those were wings, you moron!"
Tanaka taps the arm that's wrapped around his neck, but Asahi can hardly think beyond how much he hates it when Noya looks at him like that. But… Kageyama and Hinata need the chance to talk— without interruptions.
"I know." He says stupidly, because he can't think of anything else… and Noya blinks up at him.
"You know?" He echoes in disbelief. Asahi hunches just a bit.
"Ah, he changed his shirt at lunch while you guys went with Kiyoko and we realized it. You've been next to him all day so I didn't get a chance to tell you."
"Asahi." Daichi calls sharply and the large crow jerks at his name and cranes his neck to see their unit leader. "Release Tanaka— gently."
Asahi and Noya both glance at the bald crow and their faces slack in horror. The other crow is out cold, completely lax against Asahi's arm. The larger man immediately loosens his hold, releasing Noya as he gently drops the other crow into the sand.
"Man. You actually put him out." Noya mumbles in a strangely distant awe as he comes up to hover over the bald crow.
He's right and Asahi feels awful. Tanaka had even silently requested to be let go. He'd been so distracted by Noya getting angry at him, he hadn't even realized Tanaka wasn't getting air.
"Heh. Maybe you can do that to Kageyama when he gets back. Freaking jerk, just hauling off with Shouyou like that." The small crow grouses irritably as he watches Tanaka begin to stir.
"Hinata doesn't know they are levelers." Asahi murmurs despondently.
He can't help feeling like everything that just happened was somehow his fault. Maybe he could have convinced Kageyama to act on his own sooner if he'd just not been such a chicken to talk to him. Maybe he could have prevented the asinine beach idea if he'd been paying attention. Maybe—
"So? He'll be stoked to realize he's going to fly again someday." Noya says sullenly. Asahi blows out a long sigh.
"That's not a conversation I think you want to be in the middle of, Yuu." He says softly and Noya glances at him. His hard mocha eyes soften just a bit and Asahi is glad he looks less annoyed.
"I guess. I just wish I felt more confident that Kageyama will understand him. He's really bad at reading people, sometimes."
The barest smile tips the corners of Asahi's mouth as Tanaka groans.
"You can be, too. Hinata thrives on human interaction, but he looked like he wanted to curl up into a ball when you guys saw his back. You forget that Kageyama has been with him all summer, abandoned everything to keep him safe. What he did just now… I think that was to spare him an awkward situation he might not have been ready for. I think he probably gets Hinata better than most anyone."
Noya huffs and finally shrugs as he helps Tanaka sit up.
"Eh, they aren't back in an hour, I'm going to go find them… and probably deck that black haired moron."
"Anger raises your blood pressure, Noya." Asahi says fretfully. The smaller crow tosses him a smirk filled with cocky impudence.
"I'm not angry. I'm just displeased."
Asahi knows that look. It means someone just became the focus of all the short crows pranks for the foreseeable future.
Oi. Kageyama is going to be peeved.
Asahi can't help the wry grin that tips his mouth though, and feels like everything might turn out just fine. It's been a hell of a day. They'd finally been reunited with Hinata and Kageyama… and met a whole slew of other interesting people. Cats, owls, avians, all together in this small corner of paradise, and the only one to end up knocked out was Tanaka because he'd put him in a sleeper hold and promptly forgotten about him. It's looking like Hinata is finally going to learn everything, and he's going to get his wings back. It's an ending that, while not exactly as they'd pictured it, was something the Karasuno unit probably all wished for, but never dared hope for.
And he has to muse with some small amount of chagrined humor that he never did get a good look and is somehow the only one who still has no idea what is so freaking important on Hinata's back.
A/N: Cripes, this chapter wast a bitch. It fought me almost the entire time and ended up being quite long relative to others, but I think I'm satisfied with it. I picked Asahi kind of at random for the POV, but also because his personality is fairly close to my own... so it should have been easier to write, yes? Ha. To sum up this chapter: FML.
Well, we are down to that point, guys. I hope you enjoyed it and are ready for tomorrow's chapter; stay awesome! :)