Kagehina short story

One

Hinata //

The tolling of the school bells, the chatter of the students, the ruffling of papers.
They all seem to die down when he sees Kageyama standing at the door.

Ah, there it is again. This feeling.

He had always imagined his first love to be with a pretty girl. They called them 美人 (bijin) over here, someone who was beautiful, caring and sweet. Someone whose laugh probably tinkled like bells.
He had not imagined a dark haired boy, who wore a permanent scowl on his face. And cursed at whatever he did. The contrast was so striking it humored him.

Hinata wonders when did all this start, when did he start noticing the small things, from the slight click of the tongue when the straw misses the foil covering the milk packet. To the way his eyes had that soft glow when he talked about volleyball, like it was his life. He wondered when did he let these thoughts slowly trickle into his mind, like a thin stream of water flowing into a jar. Slowly but surely, filling him up to the point of overflowing.

He must have been lost in thoughts, as strong yet slender hands landed on his table, slamming Hinata out of his trance. He looked up to see Kageyama glowering over him. His face wearing the usual irritated frown.

"Oi, didn't you see me standing at the door? Do I need to be your personal escort or something? Hurry up, or we're going to be late for volleyball practice."

"Yes yes my king, I'm almost done" Hinata stuck his tongue out playfully at him, blowing a raspberry. Earning a disgruntled huff from the blueberry head. Shoving his books into his bag, Hinata pushed these thoughts away, he can't have the best of both worlds. Getting to play volleyball was already big enough of a dream, and now he wants the world's biggest volleyball idiot. Not like the volleyball idiot would ever look his way though. His eyes were always fixed on the ball. 

Standing up, he winced at the slight pain that shot through his body. He forgot that he had sprained his ankle last night when he was practicing his jumps at home. Falling on his ankle, what a dumb move. Lifting his foot to test the pain, Hinata cursed silently upon realizing throbbing pain in his foot wasn't going away anytime soon. Even though he had massaged and bandaged it properly before heading to bed, it barely seemed to have helped at all.

He's worried. Worried that this sprained ankle will hinder his performance on the court later on. After all, an injured athlete is a useless athlete. He knows that he should be taking the practice off, at least just for today. But he can't.

If he stops, it's game over. If he doesn't improve, he won't hit the ball better. If he doesn't hit the ball better, he won't be useful.

If he isn't useful. Kageyama wouldn't set to him anymore.

Even though he had just managed to perfect their quick with his eyes open. Hinata doesn't feel like it's an improvement, hell, shouldn't a normal volleyball player be hitting quicks with their eyes open? The overwhelming joy that he felt when they had finally managed it. It was nice, but at the same time, short-lived.

"Are you alright?" Kageyama asks, at the exact same time Hinata recalled the setter's excited expression when the ball smacked the floor of the other side of the court that day.

Hinata looks at him. Meeting those piercing blue eyes, he wonders if Kageyama is asking if he was alright physically, or mentally.

Either way, Hinata smiles, locking his pain and thoughts up in his mind. He waves his hand dismissively.

"I'm alright, Kageyama."