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Kageyama lost count.
"Again!"
He sighed, bracing himself for the impending tantrum.
"No, Hinata."
The orange-haired boy turned around, his nose scrunching up in an amusing way.
"Why?!"
He pointed out the window. "Look! It's already dark! We have to lock up the gym, and tomorrow—"
He pressed his hands together, leaning toward him. "Just one."
He pursed his lips. "No, idiot."
The silly runt tried to pry the ball out of his hands. "Just one more, please!"
They began to scuffle.
"I told you that's enou—!"
He fell backward from the struggle.
His brain chemistry short-circuited (along with his breathing). The ball was pinned against his chest, with Hinata’s head tucked just behind it—which meant the guy's entire torso and legs were sprawled right on top of the setter.
He mistook his racing heart for fury. He gritted his teeth. "Idiot, I told you n—!"
Hinata looked so soft. Big eyes, reflecting a warm, earthy depth, stared back at him with a pleading glimmer. His voice was quiet as he held the volleyball against his setter's chest.
"Just one more, please," he repeated, soft and sweet.
Kageyama flushed red. He didn't know why, but his heart was hammering against his ribs.
«What the hell is happening to me?»
Without thinking, he blurted out, "F-fine."
Hinata laughed melodiously and scrambled to his feet, bounding toward the "T" on the court.
"But it's the last one," Kageyama clarified, trying to brush off his sudden reaction.
Hinata’s grin seemed to quiet all the internal noise inside his head. "Of course, Bakayama!"
And no, it wasn't the last set.
He didn't know why, but soon, teasingly grabbing Hinata by the hair whenever he got annoyed turned into... a habit.
In his defense, it was just so soft, and the other guy was such a runt that it was practically impossible not to! Besides, Hinata didn't seem to mind, so...
The rest of the team tried their best to ignore it. Though Suga and Daichi always shared knowing smiles while the coach gave instructions, watching Kageyama trace circles almost affectionately against Hinata's head.
Tobio didn't seem to notice, but the little middle blocker was dying inside. He suppressed multiple shivers whenever the setter did it; it was just so relaxing. That was why he never complained... in fact, he sort of loved it. Sometimes he wasn't even consciously aware of it, and it drove him crazy.
It was the same during sleepovers at Hinata's house. They would watch volleyball matches late into the night, both of them sprawled across Hinata's bed staring at the TV, and Kageyama would always pass out first. Hinata would try not to hyper-fixate on the boy dozing off right against his side. He was stupidly whipped, and he knew it.
But Kageyama always felt so out of reach. That is, until Miwa showed up.
The first thing he noticed was Kageyama’s reaction. The setter froze completely right in the middle of discussing plays. Hinata turned around.
"Bakayama?"
He had never seen his partner's face light up so much in his life. Wide, glassy eyes, like an expectant puppy, stared fixedly at the stands. When Hinata looked over, he saw, simply put, a female version of Kageyama.
He might be easily distracted, but Shoyo remembered every single word that ever came out of Kageyama's mouth, especially the rare times he mentioned his family (which was practically never).
He recalled the first time Tobio had come over to his house right after practice, both of them drenched in sweat. A little girl had lunged forward to hug Hinata’s legs without warning. The middle blocker had looked at Kageyama, thoroughly confused.
"Onisan! You're finally home!"
Hinata smiled, crouching down to ruffle Natsu’s hair. "Hey there, kiddo."
The setter was still utterly bewildered. Shoyo looked up. "Oh! Kageyama-kun! This is Natsu, my little sister."
The little girl whispered in his ear, "Who is that handsome boy, Big Brother?!"
He chuckled softly, blushing a little. Luckily, Kageyama took a few steps forward just as Hinata's mother peeked out from the kitchen, bowing politely. He wouldn't hear him if he replied... He whispered back, "Yeah, he is handsome. His name is Kageyama, he's my teammate... and a really great friend, actually."
Natsu giggled the way only a child could, bright and unbothered, hopping up and down. "I love meeting Big Brother's friends!"
He smiled as he stood up and walked over to greet his mother.
"This is the first time Shoyo has brought a friend home since middle school, so he must really trust y—"
He turned bright red. "MOM!"
She blinked. "Baby, he—!"
He grabbed Tobio by the arm. "COME ON, BAKAYAMA! I'LL SHOW YOU THE BATHROOM AND HOW THE HOT WATER WORKS!"
His mother laughed quietly, thinking about the shy, handsome, soft-spoken boy who seemed so close to her son. She liked him already.
Natsu tiptoed over and tugged at her shirt. The woman smiled before leaning down. Then, her daughter whispered in her ear, "Kageyama is really cute, Mom!"
She smiled sweetly. "Yes, he is."
"That's what Big Brother said!"
"Oh, really?"
Minutes later, when Tobio entered the bedroom in fresh clothes, Hinata was finishing setting up his futon. He didn't even turn around; Shoyo didn't need to see him to know who it was. His mother and Natsu always knocked before entering.
"Bakayama, I was thinking..." His voice sounded like a resigned sigh.
"What?"
This time he did turn around. "Do you have any siblings?"
He didn't expect to see him look so shocked. To Tobio, the question was a bombshell. He quickly cleared his throat.
"I... yeah..." He avoided his gaze. "Just one. She's... older than me. Her name is Miwa. She works as a hair stylist in Tokyo."
"Gwaaaaa, that's so cool! Can I meet her?!"
This time he actually looked at him, scowling like always. "No, idiot!"
"Why?!"
They bickered foolishly, and at some point, they started throwing pillows at each other. They growled and snapped until they completely forgot why they had started fighting in the first place. That was just the dynamic of their relationship, and they both loved it.
Kageyama had refused to show him a picture of her, but now that he was seeing her, he could recognize her instantly.
So that's Miwa, huh?
He turned around, his voice as soft as his smile. "Someone came to see you, Kageyama-kun!"
Tobio blinked, as if remembering where he was. He narrowed his eyes. To Hinata's surprise, his response wasn't that of a rabid dog; instead, he simply nodded.
"Yeah..."
Just then, the whistle blew. He didn't wait any longer. Hinata grabbed him by the arm and pulled him onto the court, yelling out that they were ready.
From the stands, Miwa smiled faintly, watching her brother in such a nice team. That redhead seemed way closer to him than that stupid brat Kindaichi ever was.
They won, two sets to zero. When they walked out together, freshly showered, because of Hinata's stupid insistence on accompanying Tobio to the parking lot, the setter's sister hugged him without a shred of hesitation.
Kageyama didn't look self-conscious at all; on the contrary, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Hinata watched them with a fond smile.
"Hey there, Tobi" she elongated the last syllable. This time, Kageyama actually blushed a bit.
"Hey, Miwa." They pulled apart. Kageyama blinked. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"I wanted to surprise you!"
He scowled, almost innocently. "How did you know the date and time?!"
"That was easy! The school website..."
Hinata was leaning forward a bit, blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation. He had never heard Kageyama speak so fluidly. He liked seeing him at peace. He even... he even wished Kageyama could be that uninhibited around him.
He didn't expect his sister to notice. Her face lit up, and Tobio snapped his head around to see what she was looking at. His expression instantly shifted to irritation when he spotted Hinata behind him. Miwa grabbed his arm:
"Ototo, introduce me to this teammate you do those amazing attacks with!"
Now, Tobio truly wanted the earth to swallow him whole. That stupid Hinata looked overjoyed. He flashed one of those smiles that could brighten up an entire room. Idiot, he really knew how to win people over... sly runt.
He bowed deeply as he introduced himself. "Hinata Shoyo! It's a pleasure to meet you, Miwa!"
When he stood back up, she extended a hand, giving his a firm squeeze. "Aw, ototo talked you about me!"
Hinata grinned.
"Yeah! He's usually pretty tight-lipped, but I managed to pry some info out of him."
"Right? I haven't been able to get a single word out of him about his new school ever since he moved out here on his own."
Tobio’s face went pale. Hinata blinked in surprise, looking over at him.
"Kageyama-kun, you live alone?"
Miwa clapped a hand over her mouth.
"I shouldn't have said that."
Shoyo blinked.
"No, it's fine... It's just, you know," he almost died saying it, "Tobio is really private about his stuff."
A shiver ran down Kageyama's spine, though he wasn't quite sure why. He grumbled without realizing it, "Don't call me Tobio."
Hinata snapped back with pure exasperation, "It would be weird to call you Kageyama while talking to your sister, Kageyama!"
The number 9 flushed.
"You can just say 'setter' or whatever!"
"That's even weirder!"
Miwa’s laughter cut them off. They turned around.
"Your friend is just like you, o-Tobio!"
With a sigh, he addressed his sister, practically ignoring Hinata. "Aren't we supposed to grab food?"
She blinked.
"You're right!" His sister turned back to Hinata:
"Do you want a ride?"
The orange-haired boy blushed.
"Thank you! But that's okay, I live in—"
His great friend cut him off, much to Miwa's surprise.
"It's far, but let's take him. It saves him a bike ride over the mountain."
Hinata protested, "N-no...!"
Miwa had absolutely no problem with it—her brother actually wanted someone around after all!
I'm glad Kindaichi didn't break him...
"Of course! Come with us, Hinata."
Miwa was surprised not only by Tobio's open attitude toward keeping his friend close, but also by their interactions. They walked side by side as if it were a daily routine. Shoyo even mentioned that after staying late to practice extra with her brother, he would walk him to the bus stop. Another time, while talking to Miwa, Hinata made a joke and Tobio ruffled his hair, almost affectionately, calling him an idiot.
He protested, "But Miwa laughed!"
The older sister was stunned. Tobio—her Totobio who never wanted his friends around and absolutely never touched anyone—was this close to this boy...
In the car, she stayed quiet, studying their interactions. At one point, talking about the match, Shoyo told Kageyama he was incredible and seemed to have the hands of some Olympic god, and Tobio shut him up with a furious blush. Miwa almost asked him to stay over when she pulled the car up in front of Hinata's house. She really liked this new version of Tobi.
"Bye, Kageyama, see you Monday!" To her surprise, he leaned across his seat. His next question caught Miwa completely off guard: "Are you going to sleep over? So I can tell Mom, and she can cook something you like. Want to?"
Tobio? Tobio sleeping over at someone's house?
It was insane.
The setter took a moment to answer. "...Yeah."
"All right!" He turned back to Miwa, unnecessarily loud:
"Goodbye, Miwa! It was a pleasure meeting you! Thanks for the ride, you're awesome!"
She smiled fondly.
"You are too, Hinata-kun. Thank you for keeping my little brother company."
She saw the middle blocker blush a bit. Well... that confirmed it. He shut the car door after stammering, "Th-thanks, I think."
As they headed toward a restaurant, Tobio was unusually quiet. She decided to strike first.
"Where did you meet Hinata, ototo?"
He pressed his lips together, staring down at his feet. "At... a match in middle school."
Her eyes went wide as saucers. "You've been friends for that long and you never introduced him to me?!"
"No... we weren't friends until this year. We were... we are rivals," his sister heavily doubted that statement, "but it started when I beat him and the runt became obsessed with competing against me. We ended up as teammates at Karasuno. At first, we hated each other, but... I think... I think that changed."
She spoke softly, "You're close..."
Kageyama blinked at her. "We do good attacks..." He looked thoughtful. "Hinata... he's a great player. He has excellent reflexes, and his athletic speed and instincts make me jealous," he huffed, "Don't tell him I said that. He's a fool... but... he likes my sets... and... he likes that we practice so much, even before or after training. Though... he's an idiot, he's even more obsessive than me, imagine that."
Without realizing it, her brother had a faint blush and a small smile playing on his lips. Miwa was delighted. Did her brother have a crush? She didn't say it out loud.
He might not be very communicative, but she had also been at that famous middle school match when they benched him—where, led by his supposed best friend, they turned their backs on him in the sport he loved most. Right after Grandpa Zuzu's passing, too. Her brother might have been high-strung (with good reason!), but... he didn't deserve that, and they didn't deserve him. It had broken her heart. She had even overheard his final conversation with Kindaichi, who insulted him by calling him the "King" and saying he could never stand his obsession with volleyball, dragging him into all the extra practices he wanted to do after every regular training session.
She smiled mischievously before deciding to tease her brother just a little bit. "Sounds like he's your soulmate."
It took him a second to answer, but Tobio just huffed. Miwa pressed her lips together. They would continue this later.
When they arrived at the diner, they ordered fish at the older sister's insistence. She refused to let her brother leave without enjoying the delicious raw fish she had discovered in Tokyo.
Tobio asked specific questions: how her apartment was, her cat, work... When he ran out of things to ask, she decided to make an abrupt shift in the conversation.
"What's this about you sleeping over at your friend's house now? You never mentioned it. Zuzu always urged you to do that, but you refused."
Tobio scowled as he swallowed a shrimp. "That's because I didn't know if I'd feel comfortable, or if they'd expect me to talk a lot or whatever," her little brother, always honest, "but... the Hinatas are good people."
"Your old friends were good people too, and you never closed your eyes in their homes."
"...The dwarf is stubborn."
While her brother took a sip of water, Miwa decided to go in for the kill. "Are you dating him?"
Kageyama choked. He began to cough violently. She worried, feeling a tiny bit guilty. "Are you okay, ototo?"
"I..." he coughed, "yeah..."
Silence. Kageyama avoided looking at her; Miwa scrutinized his eyes intensely. Seeing that he had no choice, Tobio answered, "Why would you even ask that?"
"You and Hinata seem... special to each other. On the court..." She would have phrased it differently, like he has you wrapped around his little finger, but she knew her brother well enough to know that would hit a sensitive nerve. "You're connected, and—"
Tobio cut her off. "That doesn't mean we're dating. I mean... we train a lot and I know him... Sometimes, when we make eye contact, I just know he wants a set."
She blinked. "Do you know Grandpa used to say that only happens within the closest bonds?!"
The setter pressed his lips together. "Zuzu said a lot of things..."
"Tobio..." She reached her hand across to him. "What if Hinata is the "someone better" Zuzu told you about?"
It seemed to throw him completely off balance. He gasped, cleared his throat, and gasped again. "He still... has a long way to go to improve before he's better than me..."
She would have rolled her eyes, but instead, she just smiled. "But he has potential, doesn't he?"
Tobio squeezed his eyes shut.
"Nee-san! What the hell does any of this have to do with me and that idiot dating?!"
The shrimp Miwa was about to bite into stopped halfway to her mouth.
"It's just that I've never heard you talk about anyone like this."
"There's an explanation for that..."
"You ruffle his hair, Tobio."
"It's just because it's soft, and..."
He trailed off, slowly turning bright red. Miwa couldn't help but smile.
"What are you thinking about, kiddo?"
"Sometimes we sleep in the same bed..."
She tried her hardest not to choke on the fish she was swallowing. Tobio poured her more water.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, ototo, thanks."
"As I was saying... that's just because we watch a lot of volleyball and use each other as pillows. With him... everything is simpler, I won't deny it. He just... accepts me. But I don't think our bond is what you think it is, Miwa."
She analyzed him for a moment. He sounded genuinely confused. She tried to guide him a bit further.
"If you want my opinion... I think he likes you."
Kageyama blinked.
"What do you mean?"
She shrugged.
"He gets close to you, annoys you, always listens to you and smiles. He wants you around and cares about you. He gives you tons of compliments. He lets you play with his hair as much as you want... But who knows? Maybe it's just an assumption."
Kageyama fell silent. He picked up the last piece of sushi left and popped it into his mouth, lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about, ototo-bi?"
"I..." he cleared his throat, "I want him around."
"Yeah..."
"And I like... touching his hair."
"Uh-huh."
"And... it bugs me, the thought of him training so much with anyone else."
Miwa couldn't help but beam. "Did you never ask yourself why that is, little brother?" She watched him, lost in his own thoughts. "How would you feel if he got a boyfriend or a girlfriend?"
He sighed. "I wouldn't... I wouldn't like it..." He sounded so thoroughly resigned that Miwa wanted to coo at how adorable he was.
"So you think you like him?"
He ran a hand through his hair, defeated. "I think... I think I do."
Miwa smiled widely. "If you want my opinion, he'd be the ideal brother-in-law."
"Miwa!" he shrieked, thoroughly embarrassed.
"I'm just saying...!"
On Monday, Kageyama was acting weird. His sets were normal, their arguments were normal, but he kept avoiding his gaze and... HE WASN'T RUFFLING HIS HAIR! This was a full-blown emergency for Hinata.
He did come over to sleep at his house, thankfully. Tobio greeted his mother and Natsu, and took a shower first as always. Hinata set up his futon, they watched a para-volleyball match, and then they had dinner... He tried to be patient until Tobio refused to watch the live men's volleyball world cup finals:
"What is wrong with you?! You're acting weird, Bakayama."
He scowled, finally looking up.
"None of your business, idiot!"
"It's the world cup finals! You would never turn down watching it!"
He gritted his teeth. "If I don't want to, I don't want to, Hinata!"
Shoyo softened. "But... you're being weird."
Kageyama blinked, remembering the sweet, cheerful guy he usually talked to. He shifted his gaze again.
"But... why do you say that?"
His voice sounded so uncharacteristically small that Hinata genuinely grew worried. He leaned in closer. Well, he didn't want to lie, so... He flushed bright red.
"You didn't ruffle my hair once today."
It sounded exactly like a tantrum. Tobio normally would have scoffed, but instead, he looked up.
"Do you... do you really like it that much?"
Hinata spluttered.
"I... yeah."
Suddenly, their voices dropped to whispers. Tobio slid closer to the middle blocker on the bed.
"Do you want me to?"
Shoyo’s cheeks were flushed pink.
"Yes."
To both of their surprises, Kageyama buried his hand into the nape of Hinata's neck, mapping out soft, circular motions. Hinata shivered visibly.
"It's... relaxing," he murmured, closing his eyes.
Tobio watched him with tight lips, silently cursing his sister. It was... really nice to be this close to him. He slid his hand higher, moving along the sides and just behind his ear. Another shiver. Hinata laughed softly.
"I could... fall asleep like this."
Kageyama brought his hand back down to the nape of his neck. Hinata's eyes were still closed. He moved closer. Shoyo began to feel his breath nearby. His heart started racing. Was he imagining things, or...?
The setter's voice came as a barely audible whisper.
"Can I kiss you?"
Hinata’s eyes flew wide open. He gaped. Tobio panicked, pulling his hand away from Hinata's hair as a fierce blush overtook his face, snapping his eyes away.
"I-I'm sorry! I don't know why—"
He was cut off. Hinata, who was sitting on the mattress, lunged forward, grabbing him by the back of his neck and pulling Tobio's lips firmly against his own.
It was a soft, inexperienced, but lingering kiss. Kageyama’s hands found his waist; Hinata kept his hands on his shoulders. Both of them followed a slow rhythm, matching each other as if testing the waters.
When they broke apart, Hinata let out a sigh with a brilliant smile. Without hesitation, he blurted out, "I like you, Kageyama. Do you...?"
"Yeah," he answered immediately.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
They stared at one another, both completely flushed. Hinata looked away. "So... the volleyball match?"
"Yeah," Tobio replied.
Why had his vocabulary shrunk so drastically? Gathering his courage, Hinata leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"Good."
And he flopped backward onto his bed, telling him to turn on the television. Yeah, maybe nothing had really changed. Just... a couple of modifications.
He would tell Miwa what happened later. For now, he lay down right beside Hinata. They fought briefly over who got to hold the remote, and then they quieted down to watch the game, throwing out compliments at the good plays. Hinata, absentmindedly, rested his head against Tobio's chest, and it didn't take long for Tobio to start ruffling his hair again, just because...
Everything was fine, they were fine. It felt exactly how things always should have been.
Thank you, Miwa.