Chapter Text
Hinata wasn’t particularly looking forward to this. That night, the entire team was expected to attend their regional volleyball banquet; the same boring one that happened every year at the end of the season. His first year, Hinata was overjoyed by the idea of a new, exciting team event he had never been allowed to attend before, but when he got there his hopes were immediately proven to be set far too high. It’s just a volleyball dinner, what did you expect, dumbass? Kageyama had asked him when he noticed the tiny spiker’s disappointment.
The redhead thought about what Kageyama was like back then and smiled. In their years of high school, the two of them had evolved from enemies, to rivals, to teammates, to best friends. He wasn’t entirely sure when each of those transitions in their relationship occurred exactly; it seemed like it all flowed together in a smooth, natural progression. He and Kageyama were so in tune with each other by this point - on and off the court – that they spent most of their time together, they just worked well that way. There was one detail of their lives Hinata knew they weren’t in tune on, however, and that was romance.
Hinata was in love with Kageyama. He’d known since halfway through his second year. There were times when Kageyama would look at him a certain way or say a particularly nice thing to him and Hinata would see potential… Didn’t that hug after winning the match last night linger a bit longer than necessary? When we were talking earlier, did he look at my lips a little more than normal? But just when he gathered up the nerve to confess his feelings to his best friend, he’d chicken out and convince himself that he was being overly hopeful and seeing what he wanted to see.
And now here they were: team captain and vice-captain, about to graduate and leave for university. And Hinata was still just as confused and repressed as he was the moment he and Kageyama met in middle school.
Hinata huffed under his breath as he stepped into the club room after practice and began changing when the rest of the team started to filter in. The last member of the team to enter the warm, cramped room was their trusty captain, Kageyama.
“Alright, everyone, don’t forget about the banquet tonight…” Kageyama began, flicking some silky dark hair out of his eyes to read from his clipboard. Hinata quietly cursed himself for being weak enough to feel butterflies from that small movement, not that it took a lot to get him flustered around Kageyama these days, anyway.
Kageyama had grown and matured quite a bit since their first year of high school, and so have I, Hinata thought proudly to himself. Much to Hinata’s jealousy, Kageyama had managed to grow even taller, but also more muscular. He was no longer the lanky, awkward Kageyama from first year. He was constantly getting confessions from girls all over school and Hinata would never admit it out loud, but he hated it. The pair didn’t talk about relationship stuff at all, and the redhead was thankful because he wasn’t sure if he could handle hearing about who Kageyama was interested in if it wasn’t him.
“Everyone needs to meet at the hotel at 7pm, sharp,” Kageyama continued, glancing around the room and flashing a small smile in Hinata’s direction. “This year’s banquet is going to be a bit different since we’re being joined by a few extra schools. As you know, it’s being held in a hotel and it will be quite a bit fancier than we’re used to, so please dress appropriately.”
After many questions from the team about what that meant for the dress code exactly, it was decided that jeans were not allowed, and neither were jerseys or practice gear. A few people asked if wearing a suit was acceptable, but Kageyama insisted it wasn’t that formal of an event. Once everyone seemed to feel reassured in their clothing choices, the team said their goodbyes and headed home to change and prepare for the evening ahead.
“Wanna ride to the hotel together? Dad said I could borrow the car.” Kageyama offered during their walk home from practice.
“I can’t,” Hinata groaned, silently cursing his bad luck. Another thing he’d never admit out loud was that there weren’t many things hotter than Kageyama behind the wheel, and he didn’t ever like passing up the opportunity to witness it. There was something about his posture when he gripped the steering wheel, the way his hands powerfully adjusted the gear shift. It drove Hinata insane. “My mom is going to a wedding close-by and is dropping me off on the way.”
“Oh, alright then. I’ll see you later,” and with that, the pair parted ways at their usual fork in the road.
~
“Have fun, Shouyou!” Hinata’s mother called out the car window as she pulled away, making him blush. Hinata adjusted his tie for what must have been the hundredth time since he got dressed and made his way to the hotel’s entrance. He felt extremely awkward in this type of attire, considering he rarely wore anything nicer than a jersey or sweatpants.
Hinata stepped through the big double doors, into the hotel lobby, and immediately spotted Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and some of the first years. They were huddled next to a fancy, uncomfortable looking couch, not hiding the fact that they felt awkward and out of place. Hinata joined them and the rest of the team slowly began to trickle in.
“Hey, everyone,” Kageyama greeted from behind him and Hinata turned to greet him. He was expecting his best friend to come through the same entrance they all had, but realized that he drove himself and probably had to find parking elsewhere.
“Hey, Kageya-“ Hinata erupted into a coughing fit before he could finish his greeting. The spiker found himself standing face-to-face with something even hotter than Kageyama driving a car: Kageyama wearing dress clothes. It was going to be a long night.
~
The banquet went over basically how it always did in the years previous: dinner, followed by Coach Ukai giving a speech, but Hinata forgot that the captain was also supposed to speak, but not for nearly as long – to Kageyama’s great relief. Hinata watched as Kageyama walked up to the podium and unfolded a piece of paper he had pulled from his pocket. He smiled as he realized that everyone in the room was now looking at his dark haired best friend, so he was allowed to as well.
Kageyama’s attire for the evening consisted of a dark, red wine colored button-down shirt, a thin black tie, and black dress pants and shoes. As he began to speak, he rolled the sleeves of the dress shirt up so that they now rested just below his elbows and Hinata broke out into a sweat. This boy, I swear. He doesn’t even know.
Hinata shook his head slightly, forcing himself to come back into focus and pay attention to Kageyama’s speech.
“As yet another successful season comes to an end, I want to thank a few people in particular,” Kageyama began, placing a hand on the wooden podium before him. “Of course, we wouldn’t be here without Coach-“ he paused for applause, “and the entire Karasuno team,” another pause.
“But I personally would like to thank our vice-captain, Hinata Shouyou.”
Kageyama’s eyes tracked him down easily and sent a breathtaking smile in his direction. The room applauded and Hinata was instantly covered in a bright red blush. Kageyama waved his hand, signaling for Hinata to join him at the podium, so Hinata stood and made his way over to the setter.
“I could talk for far too long about this guy, right here,” Kageyama continued, casually placing an arm on Hinata’s shoulder and shaking him lightly. The crowd chuckled politely, only a handful of them aware of the duo’s history together and the struggles they’d faced. Hinata felt like his whole body was on fire.
“But for the sake of time, I’ll be quick. Hinata and I met in middle school and quickly became rivals, but after ending up at Karasuno together, we turned into teammates, friends, even a ‘freak combo.’” The audience laughed harder that time and Tsukishima gave a loud ‘woo’ from where he and Yamaguchi sat.
“Over these past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to call Hinata my best friend. And this year, my vice-captain.” Kageyama took his eyes away from the audience and met Hinata’s eyes again, suddenly looking like he had snapped back into focus from letting his thoughts run away from him. “So, Hinata, thank you.”
The crowd cheered and clapped enthusiastically and a few people – probably parents – took pictures. As he and Kageyama left the podium and walked to their seats, Hinata only had one thing on his mind; my vice-captain. My vice-captain. What did he mean ‘his’?