shoyo hinata, the center of the solar system

saturn - koushi sugawara

"Screw you, Kageyama!" Hinata barked at his teammate. Kageyama whipped his head around at him with a glare on his face.

"I'm the one that got hit with the ball, idiot!" he retorted.

The two first-years continued to bicker endlessly on the court as their teammates practiced their receives around them. They wavered back and forth towards each other and argued with furrowed brows.

Sugwara could hear the arguing behind him. Not only that, but he could see the veins starting to show themselves on Daichi's temples.

"You two-!" The captain started to yell in irritation past Suga, before his friend stopped him.

"Don't worry, they won't kill each other," Sugawara conveyed to him, "and practice is almost over anyways." He looked over his shoulder at the pair and couldn't help but smile.

"You're not being a very good vice-captain at the moment," Daichi muttered. The boy in question gave his friend a pained look but both cracked a smile.

"So receiving is funny all of a sudden?" They heard their coach yell from across the gym. Sugawara squeaked and held up the ball he was holding, preparing to continue peppering with Daichi.

-

The sun was sinking slowly in the sky, causing it to become a fiery orange, specked with pink clouds. Dark shadows fell over the gymnasium as the boys inside prepared to head home for the night. The gym looked empty without players on the court and without volleyballs flying everywhere.

Hinata and Kageyama had finished packing their duffel bags and changing into their after-practice clothes. Hinata decided to leave without Kageyama since he was taking a long time. The boy had a sister to attend to at home.

"You're so slow, Bakakeyama. Does this count as a win for me?" he asked mischievously over his shoulder.

"It sure as hell doesn't!" Kageyama snapped back. Hinata only smirked and waved him and everyone else goodbye before heading out the door.

He walked down the dark corridor with his bag slung over his shoulder, somewhat thankful that practice was over for the night. School had been more draining than usual with the excessive amount of work they were required to do. As he passed the doors to the gym, they slid open with a hollow sound, spilling light onto the dark ground. Hinata looked up curiously and met eyes with his silver-haired upperclassman.

"Oh, hey Hinata," Sugawara's silhouette said to him in a light tone. He shut the door behind him and hopped down the two steps.

"Hey Sugawara, did you just finish cleaning up?" Hinata asked, stepping back to allow room for Suga to stand.

"Sure did. Want me to walk you to your bike?" He gestured towards the direction of the front of the school. Hinata blinked and just looked at him for a moment, but nodded his head and happily accepted the offer.

They sparked friendly conversation with each other as they made their way through the darkened paths around the school. How was your day, any hard classes... and so on and so forth.

"You and Kageyama's dynamic is pretty interesting, isn't it?" Suga asked politely. He saw his kouhai look up at him with a curious brow.

"Is it?"

"Well yeah, you two bicker endlessly yet you still consider yourselves friends."

Hinata stared at him blankly. Suga's eyes flitted to the side from the stare a couple times, not really knowing where he was taking the conversation.

"You do consider him a friend, right?"

At this, Hinata thought for a moment, pursing his lips and squeezing his eyes shut. Then he said in a slightly disheartened voice, "I guess so."

Sugawara cocked his head

"Why? Does it bother you that you're friends?"

"No, no," Hinata waved his hands, "I like being his friend! It's just, I see him as more of a rival than anything. You know how we met in middle school and..." He made a circular motion with his hands since he didn't feel like explaining the whole thing.

"Ah, yes," the silver-haired boy replied. "You two had a rivalry since your first and last middle school volleyball game, right?" He tried to recall the words that Kageyama said to the younger boy. Hinata had told him once.

"'What have you been doing the past three years?' That took a toll on you, didn't it," he said more as a statement than a question. Hinata stared at him in disbelief, lips slightly apart. His gait slowed as well, causing the taller boy to take it slowly as well.

"Y-yeah that's exactly... how do you remember that?" Hinata asked. Sugawara surveyed his underclassman. There was a certain yearning in his voice that made the third-year wonder. Hinata was mystically eager for an answer.

He understood that Hinata had very few real friends. Sure, he got along with almost any person he'd ever met. Yet he didn't have many people he considered close, or knew who he really was, or got to hear him talk about his personal life. The only people Sugawara could think of that were close to Hinata were Kageyama and his middle school friends, although he highly doubted that the former considered Hinata a close friend.

This made Suga smile as sympathy slowly creeped into his heart. This boy didn't know what it was like to have a person outside of his family who was interested in him. Not his spikes, or his speed, but him.

"I remember you were pretty passionate about that day, and I'm sure you still are," Suga replied to Hinata's question. Hinata nodded his head in reply, looking forward again as the school's bike racks came into sight when they rounded a corner.

"I am," he stated. "And I'm kind of surprised you remembered that. We were practicing receives when I told you!"

Sugawara laughed at this. Unlike Hinata, he had a better memory. "I know. You were pretty focused on that, and less on the receives."

Hinata cocked his head. "You weren't interested in practice?"

Sugawara raised his eyebrow and replied, "I was, but I was also interested in what you had to say. I think it's cool that you have a rival that forces you to become better."

"Oh..."

The sun had fallen after a day of hard work, and Hinata thought he was ready to do the same. Believe it or not, as much as he liked people, he was hoping he could get home quietly before having to deal with a little sister at home. Yet something about this conversation lit a fire in his chest. Not a smoldering fire that one feels when he's ready to charge into something head on. No, this was more like a little flicker, as if his very soul was contemplating.

He'd always been so invested in his passions and other people. He didn't realize that people would also be interested in him and his interests and passions. He thought the rivalry sounded stupid.

"Well, I'm pretty interested in you too, Suga!" Hinata said suddenly, beaming a smile at his upperclassman.

"Eh?" Suga asked in surprise, stopping in front of Hinata's bike. "T-Thank you." A smile crept on his face as well.

"Yeah! I'd like to know more about you some time. Like what kind of udon you like!"

Sugawara stared at Hinata, who had just said a silly thing like that in a completely serious way. Classic Hinata. He let out a laugh that he didn't know he was holding in, and he patted Hinata on the shoulder as the boy started to climb onto his bike

"Sure, I'd love that."

Hinata smiled at him and kicked up the kickstand with his foot. "Okay, have a good night."

"You too, Hinata. Bike home safe and don't forget to eat dinner, kay?"

Hinata rolled his eyes sarcastically and set the bike into motion.

"Okay, mom," he called with a laugh.