28

"You can jump well, you're fast, but you're lousy overall." Kageyama faced his back to Hinata. "You'll never be an ace, the pillar of the team."

Hinata felt his heart sink.

He already knew that in his heart deep down, but nothing was going to stop him from trying. Not even dumb old Kageyama.

Tanaka tried to speak up and defend Hinata, but was quickly interrupted.

"But!" Kageyama stood taller. "As long as I'm here, you're invincible!"

And to that Hinata was speechless.

He was preparing a list of comebacks in his head, but there was something so genuine in the way the setter had said those words, that made it resonate in his head countless times until it slowly died away.

"Whenever I toss to you, do you ever get blocked?"

Kageyama might have meant that in a way where he was just someone who made Hinata a stronger player, but Hinata felt everything change after that.

He felt different about Kageyama but he wasn't sure how to describe it.

It was respect and admiration,  and a feeling he could only describe now as love.

And so, he tried to replicate the saying but he knew the words didn't convey as much emotion as he would have liked.

"Man the grand king really is amazing..." Hinata said, urging a reaction out of the setter. "But even so, as long as I'm here, you'll be invincible!"

"Why would you use that saying against me?" Kageyama groaned.

"Isn't it true though? I promised you that I would make you invincible and I didn't."

"Failure is upon both of us, I suppose. I too, made a promise to you, and therefore failed as well." Kageyama said in a strange accent and with dramatic gestures.

Hinata giggled and lightly punched his shoulder.

"What are you, Shakespeare?"

Kageyama cleared his throat and sat up straighter, his face mimicking a serious old English theater actor.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

Hinata practically fell over from laughing at Kageyama's ridiculous gestures. His hands were moving in such random motions.

Quickly, Kageyama grabbed Hinata's hands and looked him in the eyes. "Thou art more lovely and temperate."

Hinata flushed. "Stoooop."

Although he was pretty sure Kageyama was just teasing him and joking around, there was something about the way that he looked at Hinata that made him blush.

"I don't remember the rest anyways," Kageyama grinned, letting go of the middle blocker's hands. The loss of contact left Hinata regretting saying anything.

"You never pay attention in English anyways."

"English isn't going to make me invincible."

"I don't know, Kageyama-kun, words seem pretty powerful."

Kageyama's smile disappeared. "Actions are pretty powerful too."

Hinata shrugged, unsure of what he meant. He sighed and stood up. Their interactions were still a bit awkward.

"Guess we should head back in."

Kageyama tugged at his sleeve. "Can we stay out for a bit longer? My heart kinda hurts."

Hinata gulped. He knew the feeling exactly, and just hearing him say it made his heart ache a bit more.

"Let's take a walk."

They ended up racing each other because walking became too boring. By the time they circled back to the building they were panting and exhausted.

"How's your leg?" Kageyama said, catching his breath.

"Surprisingly fine." Hinata collapsed on the sidewalk.

The setter frowned. "You better not be lying to me."

Hinata shook his head. His leg was feeling good today, and he wasn't sure why either.

"Maybe it's the adrenaline that's overwhelming you and preventing you from feeling the pain." Kageyama suggested thoughtfully.

"I don't think that's how it works," Hinata chuckled.

"You never know." A small smile grew on his face. He continued to stretch, and they fell into silence again.

"Hey watch out for that car, don't stand too near the edge of the sidewalk. Do I have to be your mom all the time?"

Kageyama scoffed, and looked towards the sound of the motor.

A white van turned at the corner and to their direction. And as Kageyama tried to back away, his legs felt weak. He couldn't feel his body and it seemed to move on its own.

He felt his knees scrape the ground, and his ears ring. His head felt heavy, and his heart was racing. He was already sweating before from playing but now his palms were completely wet.

He heard the car screeching, coming closer to him.

He felt his limp body dragged away as the car screeched past him.

Dad.

Come back.

"Kageyama snap out of it!"

I miss you.

"What's going on what happened?"

Things have been shitty lately.

"Did he get hurt?"

It's not fair that your life was taken from you by a drunk driver with a car.

"Should we call an ambulance?"

I blame the weather too. Rain always makes days so dark and cold.

"I think he's okay. He doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere on his body."

Ever since that day, my life has gone downhill. We lost in volleyball... my relationship with Hinata is complicated... I keep getting these damn panic attacks...

"Huh, did you feel that? It's raining."

Kageyama snapped out of his daze, and noticed that he was surrounded by a crowd of people. The car that was driving at him was parked a few feet away, and the driver had come out to check if he was alright.

He was feeling overwhelmed and he crawled back.

"Hey, let's give him some space!" Hinata waved his arms around frantically trying to get the people to back up a bit.

"Please leave, I'm not hurt!" Kageyama shouted.

The people around were startled by the outburst but slowly parted away, although shooting concerned glances at him.

Drip

Drip

Drip

Rain.

Hinata's eyes widened in panic as he looked back at his friend.

Kageyama groaned. He was already feeling overwhelmed, and the day couldn't get worse.

"Look at me Kageyama!" Hinata grabbed his shirt and brought him closer to his face. "Don't take your eyes off of me."

"Hinata..." As he stared at him the flashbacks got worse. This time he saw Hinata getting hit by the car, identical to the time his dad got hit. The look of shock and sadness on his face was so clear that Kageyama couldn't unsee it.

"It's your imagination. We are sitting in front of the the stadium, and the weathers not too great right now, and that's all that's really happening."

"Ergh..." Kageyama's head dropped down and his head felt like it was on fire. The rain had made his clothes wet and gross.

"I told you not to look away." Hinata gently forced his head to face his again. "It was the car right? You see me, I'm fine."

Kageyama looked back at him. He was right. Hinata was kneeling in front of him, and holding him by his collar, and they were practically alone while it continued to rain.

His breathing steadied and he felt himself calm down. The rain started to lessen and the drops got smaller.

"Can you stand?"

Kageyama took the middle blocker's hand and stood back on his feet. His legs still felt weak and unsteady and he realized he was shaking, so he had to hold on to Hinata for support. He finally took in the situation before him and looked at Hinata's face.

It was unlike any kind of expression he had ever seen from him. To put it in simpler words, he was extremely worried and sad and the tears were filling up his eyes. Seeing him like that made Kageyama's heart break, and for a moment he forgot about the rain and the panic was at the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what's w-wrong with me." Kageyama slowly shifted towards the wall to lean on it for support instead of the shorter boy.

Hinata shook his head rapidly and Kageyama noticed that he was shaking as well. He rested against the wall, his hands not leaving Hinata's arms. He was at eye level with the shorter boy and they were both filled with tears.

He hated seeing him cry.

"Please d-don't say that you're sorry," Hinata said.

Kageyama opened his mouth to speak but Hinata interrupted him.

"I- I love you Kageyama."

Kageyama's mind blanked. He wasn't sure what to do at this point and no words were coming out.

He didn't realize how close Hinata was to him or how he was holding onto his collars again.

And then out of nowhere, he felt Hinata kiss him.

It was gentle and sweet, and Kageyama was just too shook to the core to respond.

"Aw I ship it."

The two of them jumped and separated in surprise, as a group of girls seemed to be walking by them.

"Shut up Karen, you're so embarrassing." One friend said to the other friend that seemed to have got their attention.

"Ew what the heck Karen, that's gay as f*ck." Two guys followed behind the group of girls and glared at the two volleyball players.

"Yeah y'all nasty," The Caucasian blond one of the two chided.

"What has the world become these days?" the other one replied.

"Matthew why are you so mean? And Nori, why do you even go along with it?" The girl who was apparently 'Karen' objected.

"Do you like this shit Karen? These gay pieces of crap?" The blond started to move towards Kageyama and Hinata.

They had been watching in fear for the past few moments hoping the group of people would leave.

"Look at these f***ots." Matthew snarled.

(A/N: I hate this word omygod, please never use this word unless you are a nasty person like Matthew and Nori.)

Hinata backed up slowly towards the wall and Kageyama took a small step forward in front of him in a protective manner.

"What are you guys athletes?" Nori said. "What are you guys out here doing kissing in the rain. That's f*cking messed up dude."

"Hey guys stop it, let's go." One of the other girls said nervously.

Matthew shook his head. "Nah I need to teach these guys a lesson, they're messed up in the head."

He raised a fist and the two flinched.

A hand suddenly appeared, grabbing the arm steadily.

"Wha-" Matthew whipped his hand around.

"How about you screw off huh?"

Iwaizumi's look was deathly and scary, his hand not letting go off Matthew's wrist. Oikawa appeared behind him.

"Or else you're going to taste a whole lot of your own blood."

A/N: A good ol' confession and a kiss ;) Not sure if it was a little too dark when the guys started picking on them, I'll try to keep it more light-hearted. Unless you guys are like me and love dark stuff??? Comment your opinion :)

50K+ reads???? YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING IM IN DISBELIEF AND I JUST CHECKED IN TODAY AND IM RANKing 84 in angST OR somEtHing???

This is really cool and mind my terrible tags but this isn't really awarded to my story but to my readers and thanks for sticking around !  ! :) love you guys

But I most likely won't update until exam season is over :( which is in a month