Chapter Text
Flying was special, it needed to be saved for those that were meant for it. Flying across the sky and reaching the highest peaks of humanity's capabilities, was the apex of the jump, what comes after; is the fall, that which one must get through no matter the difficulty. Once that has been achieved, only then can another jump and act of flight begin once again.
After the fall, the complete and utter loss, against Oikawa had finally settled in. It was a turning point in Kageyama's mind. Not one thing could change his mind that he had failed the entirety of the team. His hands seemed to be itching to try and fix that last set, the set he felt could have forced the very oceans of the earth to part ways for the intensity and sheer willpower of Hinata's hit. His teeth and arms clenched up as when thinking about the end of that match, the final moments before their soaring flight was halted.
A small ding resounded in the silence of the room, causing Kageyama to stretch the sore muscles of his arms over, over across the expanse of his bed to reach the glowing LED light of his phone light up in the darkness. It was nearly midnight now, Kageyama's pensive thoughts keeping him awake into this insane hour, not letting him fall prey to the fatigue that is coursing itself across his muscles. His hand finally makes it to his phone, grasping it lightly before lifting it to an angle which he could read the small text pop-up.
Idiot: Are you up?
Three words and a punctuation mark. Simple enough text, but coming from someone as rambunctious and odd-spoken as Hinata. Kageyama was impressed at how straight forward it is, not including any weird onomatopoeia's like "gwah" and "bam".
Kageyama: You should be asleep.
Idiot: Look who's talking.
A heartbeat passed as Kageyama had no witty remark to retort with, he was no match for the retorts Tsukishima could make quickly and effortlessly.
Idiot: I'm still thinking about the match, I can't believe we lost. Like I know we did lose and all but like it feels like we shouldn't have. u know?
Kageyama chuckled softly when he noticed Hinata was going back to being bad at using proper words and lack of most grammatical effort in his texts. Kageyama moved his body onto its side, letting his arms rest against the mattress as he continues to type his text.
Kageyama: I know. Oikawa is a turd. We definitely should have won. But it's how things go.
As Kageyama was typing that, the feeling of defeat settled over him again. It was a feeling that made his entire body feel as if it were lead. Heavy and difficult to move, even made breathing all the more difficult when his train of thoughts inevitably replayed the last set of the entire match. His eyes began to burn, a small tingle of a feeling that could in turn become something entirely different. His breathing hallowed and slowly escaped from the expanse of his throat like a harsh wind barely making it through a crack.
A small ding, and then the shaking of his phone. The phone's screen slowly lit up with a caller ID, and the options to receive or deny the call. Kageyama quickly pressed lightly over the accept, bringing the phone to his ear.
"Hinata, why are you-"
"Do you regret it? Tossing to me?" Hinata's voice rushed through the phone quickly, in a hushed whisper.
A small pang of guilt stabbed at his chest, making a small hole right in the place where his chest lay beating within his chest. The small stab at the trust he had somehow developed with Hinata becoming less than an overwhelming fact. The bond they had, it felt fragile as a string tying together two people, a red string that could unwrap or snap at the slightest tug.
"No..." Kageyama sighed.
"That isn't a proper answer" Hinata's voice against Kageyama's ear felt natural. The fact that Kageyama thought that was odd, but it made sense in the way that he always knew where Hinata was in the court. His heart and mind felt at ease and comfortable with Hinata's voice, even if at times his voice would be so rambunctiously loud he would desire to pummel him into the dirt.
"Look, Hinata. There wasn't any other thought going on in my mind other than wanting to win. I thought we would win with your quick. Obviously that wasn't the answer, I failed you as a setter. I should have realized that and thought of something that would have gotten us that point."
"You think it was you? Obviously it was my fault that we didn't get that point! I'm not doing anything, I am just hitting a spike that was tossed to me perfectly! I am not allowed on the court. You are the one who lets me stay on the court."
Hearing Hinata talk down about his game play, fury began to collect in his mouth. Hinata was not allowed to act this way towards himself. It was simply not right, nor fair for him to think it was entirely his fault they could not defeat Aoba Jousai. Kageyama fisted his free hand into his sheets, twisting the fabric tightly between his fingers. Kageyama's entire being had been torn apart over their loss, and hearing his partner, the one who was able to let him become a member of a true team. It hurt.
"Hinata…You know how I said I only toss to people who I think are valuable to win? That means you belong on the team. Even if you suck massive crap at receiving and serving." Kageyama kept his voice even, trying not to let all of the building rage within him spill forward.
"You know you suck at advice." Hinata's soft spoken whisper sent more chills down Kageyama's spine. The soft vowels and consonants sounding like a soft melody played on a piano. Thinking that, it didn't make sense, Hinata could never be as soft as a piano, maybe more like a guitar.
"I don't usually give others advice, dumb ass."
There was a pause on the other side of the line. A pause that felt as if mountains were moving across vast plains of land, screaming a soft yet subtle noise to show movement. Kageyama was laying as still as a board, unsure of whether or not he should be wanting to say anything to Hinata. Hinata was rarely this quiet in any normal conversation; however, this was not a normal conversation.
"You're such a meanie." Hinata's voice puffed, he was messing with him surely.
"Says the one who can't get above a double digit score on any sort of test" Kageyama retorted.
"Shut up! You're just a volleyball obsessed idiot!"
A small laugh escaped Kageyama's lips, a rare cacophony of notes. His heart fell out of stomach a little bit, a small nudge from where it had been wallowing in the loss of their match. The feeling was light, a small flicker of hope and something even nicer burned his heart above back to where it rests within his chest. Kageyama's face warmed up slightly, even as rare and odd as it was, he was fine with feeling this way. He was fine with feeling this way because Hinata was the one who let him feel like this, feeling like a person who deserved to feel this elated inside.
"You should laugh more often Kageyama" a twinge hit his chest, his face feeling the urge to contort into a smile.
"You should really shut up."
"I mean it." Hinata stated, rather sharply at that.
"You should go to bed."
"So do you."
A small exasperated sigh escaped Kageyama's lips. He could very well just hang up the phone on Hinata, they had an early day at school tomorrow. The last day of the Inter-High's was going to happen, and they'd have no practice. More of a better reason to go to bed early, but Kageyama didn't want to hang up just yet. Something inside him told him to not let Hinata end the conversation just yet.
"Well, maybe you're just going to fail literature again, just like Noya" Kageyama said, he meant to spur Hinata on.
It worked.
"I am not like Noya, alright!" Hinata began to vehemently rant on about the differences between himself and the libero. Kageyama shifted slightly in his bed, shifting to a more comfortable position so he could listen to Hinata more easily through the phone.
Kageyama wondered to himself slightly, why he didn't talk to Hinata on the phone a lot.