CROWS - KAGEHINA MUSIC AU

ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ

KAGEYAMA

"Where did that guitar come from?"

Tsukishima points to the case in Hinata's hands.

I watch his expression. As he clutches his father's guitar tightly, I can see the tense look in his eyes.

"He found it at a thrift store," I say, taking a step towards Hinata. Relief visibly washes over him. He glances at me for a moment appreciatively, then nods. 

"Cool!" Nishinoya walks up to him. "What kind?"

Hinata shrugs. "Don't know."

He unzips the case. Inside it is--

Holy shit.

It's a Fender Stratocaster. At least a couple of decades old. But this is an American guitar--Pretty expensive-looking, too. 

"Holy crap!" Tanaka somehow voices my thoughts. "A Fender?"

I point at the guitar. "How did your-- y-you...find this? 

Hinata shrugs for the second time. 

I take a few more steps towards him, wanting to closer observe the instrument. I then bring my hands out, gesturing for him to hand it over. "Can I?"

He hesitates for a moment, then gives it to me.

I take a second to feel its weight. It's pretty light, leading me to assume it must have been pretty cutting-edge for its time.

And while the strings are rusty and the guitar itself is quite dirty, there's nothing visibly wrong with it that couldn't be fixed. I want to try playing it, but I know it should go to the shop first.

I bring my focus back to Hinata.

"You'd have to take it to get fixed...Actually, I can. I know a place."

"...Can I come?"

I grin at him and nod. "Sure. It's your guitar, after all."

He beams from ear to ear, giving off the look of an excited puppy dog. It's cute.

"So, when can we go?"

"After practice. Now here--put it back into the case. Be careful," I hand the guitar back to him.

As he gently takes the instrument and puts it away, the smile on his face never fades. While I watch him, blood starts to rush to my face.

Wait--Did I just think to myself that he was cute??

What the hell...

There's no time to think about that right now.

HINATA

Once practice is over, Kageyama and I leave the school and take the bus to the shop.

"This is it?" I say, pointing to the small building on the edge of the street corner. "That's the name, right?" 

Kageyama looks at where I'm pointing. "Yeah, that's it. Come on."

I follow behind Kageyama as he opens the front door to the building. When we've entered, he waves at a man behind the front counter who appears to be in his mid to late twenties, also appearing to recognize Kageyama.

The man smiles. "Hey, kid. How's the Yamaha? Still in good condition since I worked on it last, I would hope."

"It's great. Oh, but that's not what I'm here for. This is my, um--" I watch as Kageyama's face reddens. I laugh.