ʜɪs ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛs

Chapter 7

A few weeks after Hinata's first visit to Tokyo, after practice, Takeda rushed through the gym doors. He was doubled over and panting like he had just ran a mile, plus he was holding up a slip of paper. That's when he told them about a match with Aoba Johsai, where Kageyama had to play setter. The entire time.

Everyone agreed, though some more reluctantly than others. Hinata noticed that Sugawara had a slightly sad expression, and made sure to give him a hug before racing home with Kageyama.

The game itself was fun but Kageyama's old teammates kind of ruined the vibe. They were constantly glaring at his setter and he could hear them whispering about him.

The worst part? They all seemed genuinely surprised when Hinata and Kageyama got along.

Then, the Grand King came. He was...Amazing. Talented, in a way unlike Kageyama's innate abilities, his had been honed, rather than something he was born with. Oikawa had worked, and Oikawa had worked hard. 

You could see it in the way he brought his team together, in the way he had a brace on one knee, you could see it in the glare he sent Kageyama, so different from that of the first years, yet so similar.

Of course, that didn't change anything even when Karasuno beat them.

Didn't stop Aoba Johsai from insulting their lack of libero though, which the three third years seemed especially sensitive about.

Daichi had told him about Nishinoya, Karasuno's guardian deity, who could've gone to almost any school of his choice based on volleyball prowess alone. Yet he chose Karasuno.

After the practice match, Hinata called Kuroo. Normally, he would've gone to Kenma with questions but this was a socially related matter and well...yeah.

"-I mean, why would they hate him? My setter is the best! It just- it doesn't make sense!", Hinata cried.

"Chibi-chan, I think I know the problem. See, this Kageyama guy's teammates, they couldn't keep up with his tosses. He felt responsible and began seeing himself as the problem. Now, before this, he had been perfect at volleyball and he didn't know how to take a sudden shift in his world-view, that's when he started taking it out on his team, resulting in their dislike of him. Of course, his team should've never insulted him like that, and the nickname and abandoning him were things that were just plain mean. The issue is not one-sided though, Kageyama is partially at fault. He was the one who took it out on them and he was the one who chose not to address the problem when it first came up.", Kuroo told him, making Hinata nod his head.

He supposed it made sense, though it was a bit out there. "Course.", Kuroo continued, about to prove Hinara's last statement, "I'm pulling all this out of my ass. I'm probably dead wrong, who knows. All I have is the info you gave me, which in my opinion, is pretty sparse, Chibi-chan."

"I think what you're saying is that Kageyama and his teammates need to work out their issues if they ever wanna click?", Hinata asked.

Kuroo paused before a sound that was suspiciously similar to laughter rang out across the phone line. "Yeah, pretty much! Oh, Kenma's getting antsy waiting for his turn - I'm going to pass you to him now."

"M'kay! No more motivational speeches or whatever it was you just did though, it hurts my brain!"

This time, he could hear Kuroo and Kenma laugh. He counted the second as a personal victory.

***

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Word Count: 595