The setter clambered out of bed, walking over to the center of the room, pausing to stretch, and continuing his heavy footsteps to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, yawned, and sat on the sofa, waiting for Hinata to properly wake up so they could talk. He had decided, since last night, that today would be the day. Whether he confessed or not, or simply explained the ache he had in his heart, Kageyama would get the point across- somehow.

Hinata watched as Kageyama suddenly stood up to get ready, feeling a little bewildered. It was still pretty early, and yet Kageyama seemed really awake! This was unusual, Hinata was normally the early one, having flows of energy from the start of the day right till the end.

This could get out of hand..

That's what Kageyama's brain was telling him.

It could go really bad..

He knew that,

It could turn out okay, though

It's good to have a little bit of hope,

But it probably won't..

That seemed more likely.

Kageyama had no plan whatsoever, he now realised. His heart was beating quickly, the palms of his hands sweaty. He had to think of a way to say it, a way that was perfect and satisfactory. He had to make it faultless. And so Kageyama mubled little sentences outloud, the mumbles growing more confident sentence by sentence. "Hinata, I think I like you. No-wait, Hinata I love you. No I can't say that! It's not good enough yet. Uhm, Hinata I-I'm not even sure how I feel.. Dammit, I just think you're really cute,"

Little did our beloved setter know, Hinata had been listening in from the bathroom door behind for quite a while now, his entire was face was red. These things Kageyama was saying made his so indescribably, inexplicably, undeniably happy! But why? Did he like Kageyama that way too? But even so, hearing this words come out of Kageyama's mouth, as quiet as they were, didn't give him the time to even think about that!

"K-kageyama, did you just say you liked me?" Hinata had surprise written all over his face. The towel he had used to dry his face was now dropped on the floor in shock, a wet puddle forming on the tiled floor. Looking up at Kageyama expectantly, Hinata moved towards the sofa in a flash, and sat next to him. "Kageyama?" He repeated, but Kageyama was frozen, his emotions boiling up. Ah fuck, he had gotten caught redhanded. Hinata had come and sat with him now, which probably wasn't the best thing to do. "Because.. I kinda like you too, Kageyama," Hinata mumbled with a shy smile, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

But Kageyama wanted him to stop.

In the small space of a few seconds Kageyama had chosen to reconsider. He didn't know if he truly loved Hinata, hadn't this dumbass been listening? He only wanted to talk things through with Hinata. And even if they did end up in a relationship, Hinata would probably find out how useless of a guy he was and dump him anyways. But what if he hurt Hinata? Kageyama wouldn't be able to treat him right, he probably wouldn't be able to give him the love he deserved. There were so many things that could go wrong. And these doubts were crawling and creeping in matters of split-seconds. Minute-frames. And each adorable and quirky look and motion from Hinata made Kageyama even angrier. Why couldn't Hinata have just said "No, I don't like you that way! That's a silly thing to say, Kageyama!" And put these thoughts to a rest? But instead, he had gotten this. Plus, even if he did like Hinata, he wanted things to be perfect. This was not how he wanted to ask Hinata out.

And so Kageyama counteracted in the only way he knew how; he yelled. Angry, harsh insults. He had to make it seem like a misunderstanding.

"NO! You can't like me! Boys don't like boys! They're supposed to like girls!" Kageyama blurted out suddenly, making Hinata flinch back. Oh, shit. He'd gone and said it now. There was no going back from this one. "W-wha? K-Kageyama b-but," Hinata mumbled, his words scattered all over the place like a jigsaw puzzle. "Why would anyone like you?! You're annoying and you get overexcited and you're loud, sometimes even obnoxious!" But now Kageyama had gone too far, pointing out the little things that he noticed, but in truth, he admired. "You pretend you're sooooo great and that you're gonna become the new 'little giant', but as if that'll actually happen! It's only because of ME that you're somewhat decent at volleyball!" Kageyama's heart was pounding as he yelled lie after lie at Hinata, with each word he believed them more and more to be true. Hinata looked hurt, he stood up and stepped back a bit. "Kageyama, I was only asking because I heard-" He tried to get Kageyama to listen, but it was of no use. He was only getting interrupted again with the yelling. And oh, how horribly it hurt. "Well you heard wrong! As if I'd like someone like you! You're weird and once I'm out of this school I don't ever want to see you again! Just GO!" Hinata was on the verge of tears now, Kageyama's face was raging, and he had pointed a finger at him on the last line. Hinata couldn't take it anymore, Kageyama had been so soft and gentle and kind towards him lately. It was in his mind that they had finally taken another step closer to being into a relationship, which Hinata realized moments ago that that was what he wanted. But now.. After Kageyama had yelled at him in such a way, he felt his heart shatter. How could he play him like that? Was this his plan? Was Kageyama a total sadist? "Kageyama, what's gotten into you?" He asked, his eyes watering up and a few tears leaking out as he turned and darted out of their door, away from the room. His quick footsteps echoed, and Kageyama could momentarily see the glitter of tears trail behind him.

Kageyama fucked up.

After Hinata had had such high hopes, and had admitted his feelings, he couldn't bear the sight of Kageyama. It was far too embarrassing.

Kageyama collapsed back down on the sofa with his head in his hands- but he couldn't cry. Why couldn't he cry? He had totally messed everything up because of a couple last-minute doubts, and a few words that accidentally slipped. "You dumbass!" Kageyama yelled. It was early morning, his yelling had probably woken the neighbouring rooms up. "I shouldn't have said anything at all," Kageyama muttered, his heart heavy and only just slowing down from the fast pace it had been at. But deep down, it was full of regret. Of the things he had said, none of them Kageyama meant.

When Kageyama found himself downstairs with Karasuno again, it was like nothing had ever happened between him and Hinata. Only.. Hinata wouldn't look at him, wouldn't speak to him, wouldn't even interract with him. It was as though Kageyama were invisible for a day, like the games you would play as a child. And every time someone mentioned Kageyama's name, Hinata's face would drop immediately. Two can play at that game, idiot. Kageyama thought. He wondered where he had gotten the silly idea from that he was in love with someone so "annoying". Someone so full of themself and focused on volleyball that he didn't have time for anyone else. But of course, these were just reassuring lies Kageyama was feeding himself to keep from breaking down in the middle of the room.

Suga had called them in for one final group talk in this area of Tokyo. "Today is the last day we'll be spending in this area! Be sure to make the most of it! And be back here by lunch, please," Sugawara smiled, as Daichi whispered something in his ear quickly he looked surprised, but then added "And a few partners have changed, nothing major though. Kageyama's now with Daichi, Hinata you'll go with me okay?" Hinata smiled brightly at Sugawara, he was trying to distance himself fron Kageyama as much as he could, no matter what.

What Kageyama had said this morning felt like a million daggers stabbing the same places all at once, directed at his heart. Without realising, Hinata had fallen inlove with Kageyama. But after this morning, it would take Hinata a while to get back to normal. He wanted Kageyama to tell him it was a joke, to promise him his love and affection. But as if that would happen, after all, Hinata was apparently just imagining Kageyama to be much nicer than he first thought.

The same was with Kageyama. He had no clue what had caused him to yell in such a way. It was all kinds of things at once, but either way, he knew Hinata wouldn't ever give him a chance again. And it would take a long time for him to regain Hinata's trust, as a setter to spiker.

A few hours later, Kageyama was sitting on a bench with Daichi, biting into his sandwich. They were supposed to be back for a lunch break, but Daichi had said it was fine. Sugawara would be okay with it, apparently. "Things aren't going too well with Hinata, then?" Asked Daichi, breaking the silence that had formed while they both hungrily ate. Kageyama's face dropped, nodding. "....Could you tell?" He asked with a solemn expression.

"Well, apart from the fact that Hinata specifically asked to switch partners for 'No particular reason', it's a bit obvious. You two are usually a pair, and now suddenly you're switching partners, and you can't even sit next to each other or look at each other!" Daichi's voice had slightly raised in concern, whilst Kageyama took it all in. He admitted defeat, and said, "We had an argument this morning.. It was my fault, I shouldn't have said what I had,"

"What did you say?"

"I'd rather not talk about it.."

"Oh. Okay- But as your captain, if there's anything-"

"I just want him to look me in the eye again."