The Sun with A False Eternity

The Story of The Tree

   "Where is he?" Kageyama muttered as he checked his phone for the fifth time in the past minute. A quarter of an hour had passed since their arranged meeting time, and Hinata still hadn't arrived. Kageyama was trying not to stress out over it too much, but the first year was usually early to things, so it was concerning for him to be so late.

He was just about to head down the hill and over to Hinata's house when he heard panting coming from the other side of the tree. Kageyama rushed over to see his friend racing up the hill, a light grey hoodie shifting as he moved.

"H... Hey," he breathed, reaching the top of the hill.

"Where were you?!" Kageyama tried not to shout, but some of his concern must have leaked into his voice because the orange-haired teen looked up, slightly apologetically.

"Sorry Kageyama, my mom wanted me to help Natsu with something and then I was messing around with the volleyball in my yard and I just kinda lost track of time," Hinata fidgeted with his sleeves, looking sheepish. "Why, were you worried about me?"

"Of course not!" Kageyama turned away indignantly, heading back to the tree. He flopped down at the base, leaning against the trunk and picking up a few scattered leaves from the ground. He kept his gaze fixed on the brown and orange dying plants as he heard Hinata sit down beside him.

The tree on the hill was their usual hangout spot. When they first joined the volleyball club, they were enemies. It took Kageyama awhile to see that Hinata was on the same side of the court as him and that they weren't truly adversaries anymore. At least for the time being, they were allies. They began to hang out at school, sometimes meeting up to eat lunch, and often walking to practice together.

It wasn't until a few months later that Hinata invited Kageyama to hang out outside of school.

"Hey, I know this is sudden, but I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend." Kageyama looked up to see Hinata staring at him, fidgeting with the volleyball that he was supposed to put away.

"Uh... Why?" He asked bluntly, not thinking about how rude it may have come off.

"I don't know," Hinata looked more uncertain, staring down at the volleyball nervously. "I just figured since we're ya know... Kinda friends?" The small ginger paused as if he wasn't sure the term applied to the two of them. "I don't know, I thought we could work on some techniques or just talk or something. It was just an idea, you don't have to say yes."

Kageyama agreed without thinking about it further. Something drew him to the teen, and something in his gut told him that pursuing a friendship with this person in front of him was the right decision.

So a few days later, Kageyama found himself checking his phone once again to make sure he had the meeting place right. He looked up to the sound of a volleyball connecting with something, and he saw his teammate standing on top of a hill with a large tree, bouncing a volleyball off the trunk and attempting to receive it. Kageyama stood and watched for a few minutes before the ginger noticed him.

"Kageyama! Come up here!" Hinata shouted, tucking the volleyball under his arm and waving excitedly.

Since that day, Kageyama had made many trips to the tree on the hill with his teammate-turned-friend. There was no specific reason they would go there, just whenever they both felt like it. Whatever they did depended on the day too. Often one or both would bring a volleyball and they'd practice techniques, someone constantly running to retrieve balls that would roll down the hill. Other days they'd just sit under the tree and chat, about practice, about the team, about the school, whatever came to mind that day. There were even some days they did nothing at all, just sitting under the tree in comfortable silence until someone had to leave.

No matter what they were doing, the days they spent upon the hill with the tree were special to Kageyama. When they were on top of it, Kageyama felt like they could conquer anything.

Hinata interrupted Kageyama's reminiscing. "What do you think is gonna happen at the game?" He asked, looking over at the setter. Kageyama earnestly thought for a moment, trying to gauge his thoughts.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm pretty confident we'll win, and I know we can. But I guess it also depends on who we're up against, we should figure it out in about a week or so. So I can only really give you an answer when I know that. Whoever it is though, I know we can beat them. We just have to play our cards right." Hinata looked thoughtful, taking in the other first year's words.

"I guess that makes sense," he responded rationally. "I guess I'm just a little worked up. The third years seem so confident that we're going to win, and I want to believe them. After all, they've sacrificed so much for us, I feel like we owe it to them to do well. But still... After the Aoba Johsai game..." Hinata trailed off, and Kageyama wondered if his friend was remembering the same events as he was.

It wasn't easy to forget the frustration he felt after returning home from the game they lost a few months back, and after they were so close too. The victory was in reach, and yet they still ended up losing. Kageyama remembered replaying moments of the game over and over in his head that night, wondering what he could have done better, what he could have fixed, the areas where if he had just been a little better- but that was no way to go about things. They had lost, and eventually, Kageyama realized that no matter how many what-ifs he came up with, it wouldn't change the outcome of the match.

All they could do was work harder, practice more, and get better for their next game. Which they had been. Kageyama had never worked harder on something in his life, practicing constantly just for the upcoming games in the tournament. And he knew Hinata had been too, excepting the weeks he just had to sit out. So looking at it logically, they were more than ready.

Still, Kageyama understood why Hinata was stressing so much about the game. This was the last tournament they'd ever play with the third years. They had already won against two schools, but that meant it was just getting harder. They had to win these four upcoming games or their hopes of ever getting to Nationals would be destroyed quickly. They had to do it now, or it might not ever happen.

"There's no point in stressing about it before it happens," Kageyama attempted to comfort his friend. He knew the statement was hypocritical, as he was severely stressed about it himself. But it was the only thing he could think of to say, he had never been the best at words.

"I guess you're right," Hinata sighed. The setter watched as his friend tilted his head up, watching a leaf slowly fall to the ground. "We just have to bring our best, and then some more."

"Exactly."