Kenhina || Catch me

Chapter 24 // Hinata

Hinata felt like he had been able to overcome the initial shock of the onesided argument he and Kageyama had yesterday, but the redhead still felt nervous about today's practice matches. The teamwork between the two first-years was one of Karasuno's main strengths, Hinata was scared the team would once again depend on the two of them today.

"Kageyama, today you're starting on the bench," coach Ukai's voice echoed across the room, Karasuno's entire team had fallen quiet. The coach looked serious, it didn't look like the trainer was going to change his mind anytime soon.

Everyone had expected the moody first-year to protest, at first, it seemed like that was exactly what he was planning to do, but in the end, he swallowed his words and sat down on the bench quietly.

"B-but why? We need him if-", Yamaguchi started to stutter in defense of the setter. "No," Daichi cut him off. "This isn't going to work out if he refuses to work together with Hinata, this is the best we can do until everything is settled," the third-year captain added.

Hinata felt bad, it seemed like everyone else was punishing Kageyama and for some reason, the redhead held a feeling of guilt in his stomach. The first-year hoped the conflict would get resolved as soon as possible. Hinata needed to act on it today.

The practice matches went better than yesterday. Sugawara's sets may not have been as accurate as Kageyama's set usually were, but the setter seemed to really be able to bring the team together, it was even better than Hinata had experienced at any time this week. Sugawara was amazing! Still, the first-year felt slightly guilty for being happy with the switch of the setter.

During the morning, Karasuno didn't face Nekoma once, which slightly disappointed Hinata. Playing a game against Kenma was fun and the redhead would always feel slightly comfortable when he saw the second-year.

The morning went by pretty slowly and Karasuno's number 10 felt a pair of annoyed eyes glaring at him from the bench the entire time. Kageyama was probably judging the redhead, criticizing whatever move Hinata made. With that uneasy feeling, the redhead felt the time pass by even slower.

After a few hours of practice matches, lunch break finally had arrived. As soon as Karasuno's team had finished their match against Shinzen High, Kageyama approached the redhead, who was taken aback by the setter's sudden appearance. Hinata knew exactly what this was going to be about. Even though he knew, he wasn't ready at all.

Guahhh Hinata hadn't mentally prepared himself for this confrontation yet.

"Can we talk?" the setter asked, though it sounded more like a demand than an actual question.

Hinata gulped before he answered, "yes, sure. Let me drink some water and I'm good to go," the redhead nervously replied as he awkwardly sprinted off in the direction of his water bottle.

While taking his sweet time, the redhead prepared himself for the conversation he was about to have with Kageyama. Hinata gave himself a little motivational speech, telling himself that he would need to make up with Kageyama for his own sake, as well as the rest of his team. Everyone would be proud of him for being mature!

Hinata and Kageyama walked out of the gymnasium, there was an awkward silence between the two. First, they quickly grabbed some lunch to talk over. The duo decided to eat their food on the other side of the gymnasium building they had been practicing in, to make sure nobody would disturb them.

The weather outside was pleasant, the sun shone brightly, which was bearable thanks to a pleasant breeze. The air remained cool because of that. The weather was perfect for all the volleyball players, everyone went outside without a jacket or hoodie.