Work Text:
"Shooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouyouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu."
With a glomp, throwing his arm around his neck, Nishinoya jumped right to Hinata and laughed.
"We go and grab a bite together? Training was hard so we thought we might as well."
"Yesssss! Food! He, I can’t wait, I’m so hungry, whoa! Is everyone coming with us?"
"Ah, Suga, Daichi and Asahi said they have to study, so they’ll pass, like Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, they said they already have plans for today. But Ryuu said he’ll definitely come with us, and maybe Kageyama too? Will you come with us?"
"Huh? Yeah, sounds good, I’m starving."
"Great then! We’ll wait for you two outside, then!"
"What, aren’t you going to help us?" Hinata asked, somewhat shocked.
"Nope, today’s your turn, the first years clean up!"
"B-But Tsukishima and Yamaguchi left already…"
"Ahhh… then you’ll have to do it, too bad!" was the reply, as Nishinoya bounced on outside.
"Slackers…" Kageyama mumbled as he rolled up the net.
He had a different thing on his mind, though. Calling Hinata by his first name like that, it was barely something he could ever pull off. For what reason anyways? There was none, really, although he figured that Hinata probably wouldn’t mind it much. There were a lot of people that called him that, Nishinoya just being one of them. Kageyama was also pretty sure that he was known by Shouyou in their whole year.
Why was he even thinking about that, though? His mind sure took loops, he figured he was /really/ hungry and his brain didn’t process things correctly anymore.
Right when he wanted to turn around to heave the net back to its place, Hinata bumped against him in an attempt to get the scattered balls back into the baskets around.
"Oi, Shouyou, watch your step, goddammit!"
Oh /shit/, it slipped. He had been so absorbed that it absolutely slipped as his mind was still focused on the whole name issue.
"Ah, sorry, my bad," he said and rushed to the other side, a little too hasty as if trying to hide something but still as energetic as always, almost as if there hasn’t been anything off at all although Kageyama swore he spotted a pair of red ears.
He didn’t know what he expected but as that expectation wasn’t met, he felt somewhat disappointed.
-
It resulted in a night spent without sleep, worrying about what he had said so that the next morning turned out disasterous. He burned his toasts, he spilled his milk, he forgot his keys which he would only notice when returning back home again, and it started raining the minute he stepped out of the house.
As if that wasn’t enough, he heard a bike bell and an overly excited Hinata, the last person he wanted to see. It reminded him of how the last evening went. They did go out to eat together with Nishinoya and Tanaka after all, but Kageyama couldn’t think of anything to say, especially because it seemed like Hinata kept on blabbering as if nothing happened. It was unsettling, at least for Kageyama it was.
"Good morning!"
Ripped out of his thoughts, he looked up and nodded.
"Uh, yeah."
"Come on, we have to hurry, or we’ll get all wet! If I drive fast enough, I’m sure the rain isn’t going to hit us."
"…Are you just as stupid as you just sounded or are you just really optimistic? Ah, scratch that, you’re probably both," Kageyama said as he sat up on the bike behind Hinata.
"And here I was, thinking you’d be depressed. Ah well, let’s go, hold on well!"
Depressed? Why would he be depressed and why would Hinata worry? Having that utter idiot and bad excuse of a volleyball player worry about him was almost ridiculous enough to make him laugh in the morning.
He didn’t because they ended up slipping, falling off the bike and arriving at school with their uniforms ripped up and scratches everywhere.
-
"Yo, you guys came to school together again? Nice faces," Tanaka said, and he almost sounded a little proud. "Those are going to look really cool if they get scars, you’ll look really dangerous. Then again… Kageyama, you look pretty dangerous anyways, especially today."
"What?! N-No, that’s… I’m just a little upset about how my clothes are all ripped now, thanks to the driving style of a certain someone."
As he talked menaciously, Kageyama stretched his arms, almost a little too violently, as he noticed because they started hurting. Better not let it out on himself.
"You can call me Shouyou, I know you mean me," Hinata said casually.
"Who the hell would call you that!"
"You did?"
And almost as in unison, the rest of the team turned its head towards them and repeated.
"You… /did/?"
The crushing pressure of an awaited answer weighed almost too heavily on Kageyama’s shoulders. He was done for. The laughing stock of Tsukishima for the next years. The cause of ridicule by Tanaka, and worst of all, it meant everyone was going to assume they /got along/. The thought made Kageyama shudder.
"I slipped, okay? It’s not like I always call him that," he said, trying to sound reasonable and calm, as if it didn’t faze him even though it did. It bothered him enough to rob him of his sleep.
"But I don’t mind, you know? Although it’s a little weird coming from you, especially, but I’m a-okay with that."
"Who cares if you’re okay with that!"
And the composure was gone. But he couldn’t say he didn’t try. It wasn’t easy keeping a clear mind around Hinata, he was seriously pissing him off.
"Make sure to call out for him like that when you give him a toss," came from the side with a mischievous voice that could only belong to Tsukishima. It didn’t help Kageyama’s composure, it certainly didn’t. He felt more like punching the glasses off his face but he found his inner peace back quickly enough.
The rest of the practise felt for the first time more like torture than anything else as he was unfocused and tired from the thoughts spinning around in his mind.
-
Kageyama almost managed to forget about the whole incident although, as he predicted, Tsukishima kept bothering him but even that subdued eventually, or more Kageyama was sure, he managed to overhear that obnoxious glasses-wearing guy’s voice more and more.
Ever since, he, of course, didn’t call Hinata Shouyou anymore. Actually it was really just that one time, and although he didn’t want to admit it, not even in his thoughts, it felt sort of nice to say it. It went from his lips so much smoother than Hinata did. Perhaps that was one reason why he absolutely refrained from doing so anymore. It was weird to explain. Ever since that day, he had become more conscious of Hinata; to the point where he actually had days where he enjoyed having him around, even outside of practise as if it made him realize that Hinata wasn’t a bad guy at all.
What a joke. As if calling out someone’s name just changed things like that. Which probably meant he never thought of Hinata as a bad guy anyways.
"What are you spacing out like that for, Kageyama?" Suga said, smiling brightly, as he bumped his shoulder.
He jolted and needed some moments to focus back to where he was again.
"Ah… no… nothing, I apologize. What were you saying?"
"I’ll start worrying if you’re unconcentrated like that, that’s not like you at all. Then again, I guess you can take it a little easier every now and then, especially now that it seems that the quick strikes, even the normal ones, work with Hinata just fine. You’re improving, you two."
"Really… huh. I didn’t… really notice."
"You’re a little odd lately. Are you sure you’re okay?"
Kageyama nodded slowly. “Yes, I am. Sorry for troubling you.”
"Not at all. I’ve just been wondering, you know, because it seems like you have something bothering you? I’m not sure if that’s the case, just assuming."
"…I guess I kind of have things on my mind."
Suga chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Yes, that is pretty obvious. But don’t overthink things, you tend to do that a lot. Remember to also relax once in a while. Thinking wrinkles your face and you’ll end up looking old.”
"W-What, no! I mean, I’ll try not to. Thanks, Sugawara-san."
"No need for that. Now go and focus on playing instead, that helps me keeping trouble out of my mind, and I’m sure it’ll help you, too."
With another nod, Kageyama rushed back onto the court after the little break he took and managed to take his mind off anything that bothered him while playing.
The thoughts only came back at night to keep him awake.
-
"You look pretty tired, it makes you look even scarier," Hinata said as they arrived at the gym. For a Saturday morning, Kageyama certainly didn’t feel awake at all. He usually was but he had been haunted by thoughts concerning Hinata. Like, from the name incident, he ended up thinking about what Suga said, about how they improved, and about how right he was because he noticed that it was much easier to toss to Hinata now, it was much easier to pinpoint the exact location the ball needed to be for him, everything was much easier now than before. It was nothing Kageyama didn’t expect, after all they both worked hard for it, and he had to credit Hinata for it, but that guy knew how to pull at himself. There wasn’t a time Kageyama could recall where he would see Hinata slacking off and he felt pride bubbling in his stomach. He would manage to turn Hinata into such a great player, they would manage to be invincible by the time they both went all out.
In a way, Hinata was - as dumb and stupid as he was and as much of a bother he could be - still the best partner he could have asked for.
Remembering that made him flush and as he noticed, he turned his head away.
"Shut up, Shouyou," he said in a hurry. It really felt smooth as he said it, it really fit him too. Yet for the next few hours at practise, Kageyama was incapable of looking into Hinata’s eyes.
-
"Toss it to me, Tobio!"
A habit, really, it was much shorter, Hinata said a while ago, it was much easier to call out for him while they were playing. Oddly enough, Kageyama didn’t mind it at all, although he never believed he would say that. He didn’t like his name much, it sounded too cute and it reminded him bitterly of Oikawa who couldn’t stop calling out for him in order to tease him when he was still in middle school. Thinking about it, that guy still went around saying ‘Tobioooooo~’ in the worst possible tone Kageyama had ever heard.
But he didn’t mind Hinata saying it. The argument seemed valid, too. It was shorter after all. It caught him by surprise the first time the redhead did it, so much that he forgot to toss at all, and hearing the neverending scoffs out of Tsukishima’s mouth, still having his “What is it, your majesty, shocked about a peasant calling out so casually?” in mind, which aggravated him more than he wanted.
Yet by now it was a habit, it was normal and it was fine. It was only when they were playing anyways, almost like a codeword or something.
Kageyama couldn’t explain why he felt so dejected.
-
"Shooooooooooooooooyouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu."
Nishinoya once again at his best manner, almost jumping on Hinata’s back.
"Meat buns? What do you say? Ryuu lost a bet so he has to treat us!"
"Ahhhh, food! For… free! Not saying no to that."
"It’ll be just us this time too, lucky Ryuu, heh."
Just in a motion, Hinata turned his head to Kageyama.
"Tobio, you coming with us, right? I heard your stomach growl while playing, heeheee."
"Shouldn't you concentrate on playing instead of listening to the sounds of my stomach? ...Then again, I really am hungry. But let me guess, it’s our turn to clean things up here again?"
"Yuuuuup. Seems like Tsukishima and Yamaguchi left early again. You guys are reaaaaally out of luck. We’ll wait outside!"
Kageyama watched Nishinoya’s back as he left the gym and sighed.
He said it like that, that Hinata. His name. Tobio. Just like that. Not on court, not while playing, just like that. It sounded so nicely out of his mouth. A thought that he discarded right away before he felt the heat burning up his cheeks again.
"Ughhh, next time we’ll make Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stay, I’m so tired of always doing this for them. Ah, by the way, are you sleeping over my place tonight? I got my hands on this video game we talked about just a few days ago."
"Heh, I’m gonna wipe the floor with your sorry-ass character."
"As ifffff, you suck at games."
"And you suck at anything else."
Hinata tugged at Kageyama’s shirt, bumped his shoulder and grinned from one ear to another. It was so bright and so shining, his name really fit, he was like a little sun after all, and it resulted in a grin that covered Kageyama’s face too. Perhaps, so he thought but never said once, they were much closer friends than he ever expected.