He Feels Like Summer || Kagehina AU

5. Volleyball

"You should join the team officially!" Nishinoya suddenly yelled from Kageyama's right side, startling the taller boy, when had he got there? Kageyama just shook his head "why won't anyone listen to me?" He laughed hollowly, his reason for retiring from volleyball in the forefront of his mind "I can't play volleyball anymore, I can't be part of a team anymore. It's better if I just stay away from it completely"

***
It was his last year in junior high, his team abandoned him mid game, and they lost that match. He'd already lost most of his friends because everything had to be just so and when they weren't he would start arguments. He figured he would always have his team though, because his team was like a family, or, so he thought (he was right, except he wasn't part of that family anymore).

So when it came to the final few weeks of JH, Kageyama spent all the free time he had alone, away from most people. He vowed to change his ways in high school, he'd never play Volleyball, he'd focus on his studies and maybe find another club he could join, and if not, he'd figure out something to do for the three years he's in high school.

"Tobio, why don't you ever practice volleyball with your friends anymore? You always begged us to let you go to the park with them" Kageyama's parents would frequently say, to which he's just respond that he was tired and then lock himself away in his room, repeatedly watching videos of old volleyball games, analysing everything and picking apart the things the teams were doing wrong, being especially critical whenever he came across the last match he ever played.

***
"Kageyama? Are you okay?" The voice he'd grown to recognise as Asahi's came from his left side. "Yuu, you really have to stop bothering Kageyama if he doesn't want to join the team"

"But he'd be good on our team, Asahi! Do you not remember the game we played in practice last month? Hinata can match his crazy reckless tosses!"

"You can't force the boy to do something he doesn't want to, let's leave him alone"

Kageyama stayed silent for a minute, turning to look up at Asahi. "It's not that... No, I do want to play" he shrugged, trying to put what he was thinking into sentences that would make sense, "I just can't"

Noya frowned "As your senior I am ordering you to attend practices. Even if you don't become a regular"

The thought of being sat on the bench made Kageyama cringe, thinking back to that final match, but Nishinoya and Hinata's persistent pestering was becoming a pain, and if he joined the team it would mean he got to see Hinata more, but he then ran the risk of returning to his old ways and having the team turn their backs on him.

"Tanaka and Suga will kick your ass back to earth if you return to how you were before"

"Noya! Don't say that!"

Kageyama sighed, looking down at the Libero to his right, and then up at the Spiker to his left. "Fine, whatever, I'll join the team, on the condition that I can leave if I don't feel I should be there" he tried to reason.

"Condition accepted, except that won't be necessary"