Calm My World [Kagehina]

Chapter 4: Manga

That night, Kageyama, Suga and Daichi grabbed some pizza for dinner and then headed to the bookstore. They went regularly so that Kageyama could buy manga. He was a big fan of several series and spent what was probably too much money on them. He was low on reading material, so he was extra excited to go to the bookstore tonight and stock up.

They walked together but soon split up. Daichi wanted to look at thrillers and Suga went with him, while Kageyama made his way to the manga section. He was lost in thought, perusing the shelves. He had already picked up three volumes and was looking at a fourth when he saw someone come into the aisle. He looked up, ready to move out of the way, when he saw HIM. Hinata. Here in the manga aisle.

"Oh, hey! It's you. Kageyama, right?" Hinata said.

Kageyama began to panic. He knew he had to say something, anything really, but suddenly he was nervous that he would say something stupid. He swallowed hard and managed to say "Yes. And you're Hinata, right?" Okay, that sounded normal enough.

"Yeah, you like manga too, huh?"

"Yeah, I like it a lot." Again, normal sounding. Maybe he could do this.

"What are you buying?" Hinata looked at the selection in Kageyama's hands. "Oooh, I loved that one. Good choice. I've read that too. I love sports manga. This one I haven't read. Do you recommend it?"

Oh, no. Kageyama had to say something that wasn't a yes or no. I can do this, he promised himself.

"Well, the first three in the series were really good so I'm guessing this volume will be too." He swallowed hard again and wondered yet again how people like Hinata could do this interaction thing so effortlessly.

"Looks like we both love manga and Marvel," said Hinata. "But if you follow me into the Harry Potter section, I'm going to be a little worried." He meant it as a joke but all Kageyama could think was, "I love Harry Potter." Oops, did he say that out loud?

Hinata laughed. "I love Harry Potter too. Looks like we have a lot in common, Kageyama."

"And statistics," Kageyama managed to say. Where were all these words coming from all of a sudden? Why were so many words coming out of his mouth? It was frightening really. Was this an actual conversation? Was Kageyama having an actual conversation with Hinata, his crush? Who had such a beautiful smile and cute freckles and brown puppy dog eyes?

"Oh yeah," said Hinata as his smile faded from his face. Suddenly Kageyama was sorry he had brought it up because he much preferred a smiling Hinata. "I am not doing well in that class," Hinata continued.

"Me either. It's like the teacher is speaking a foreign language."

Hinata laughed. "I feel that way too. My friends seem to think it's easy, though." He was frowning slightly and a tiny crease appeared between his eyebrows.

"Do you mean the two guys you come to class with?" Look at all these words I am saying, thought Kageyama. It's like it's not even me!

"Yeah, Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi. They're both smart and are getting As in that class. They try to help me but it doesn't work very well."

"Maybe we could study together?" Kageyama could not believe the words had actually come from his mouth. Where was this courage coming from?

"Maybe. Here. I'll give you my number," Hinata said, holding his hand out for Kageyama's phone. For a few heartbeats, Kageyama couldn't move. Was this actually happening? Was Hinata giving him his number? Hinata looked up at him questioningly when he didn't hand over his phone right away. Luckily, he managed to kick his brain back into gear and handed over his phone. Hinata was talking while entering his number.