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Because of their run at Nationals, the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team had an impressive number of eight new first years. Most of them were decent, some good, and Noya had already singled out and chosen his successor as Libero. They were all taller than Hinata, even though the now second year had grown a couple centimeters.
Despite this (and because of it), Hinata and Kageyama liked most of their new kohai.
Except one.
Suzuki Hachiro was a first year from Kitagawa Daiichi and everyone had been surprised when they found out he was from Kageyama’s old school. Kitagawa Daiichi had a deep team and Suzuki hadn’t been a starter or even a back up so Kageyama didn’t have any idea who he was.
But of course Suzuki knew about him.
Even though Kageyama had gotten better about working with others and was trying very hard to be a patient senpai, he was still Kageyama. So occasionally, he yelled and griped at the first years before getting chastised by Hinata. Most of the first years quickly learned to stay very still until it was over and work hard on whatever had caused the outburst in the first place. Even though he scared them sometimes, they respected Kageyama’s ability and class level.
Suzuki was different. Anytime Kageyama tried to speak to him about anything, Suzuki came as close to flat out refusing his advice as he could. His retorts were harsh and biting in a way that Tsukishima’s never were, and the blond had taken to dropping the ‘king’ nickname because Suzuki would jump in and take it too far whenever he used it. In addition to all of this, Suzuki rarely treated Hinata with any sort of respect due an upperclassman once he realized how close he was with Kageyama.
This had gone on for about a week before Ennoshita had to sit down and give Suzuki a hard talk. He settled down a bit after that but would still have his difficult days.
A month into the school year, they were doing spiking drills, with Kageyama as the setter, of course. Suzuki had fumbled the ball the last two times he had gone through the line and this wasn’t unusual. The third time he messed up his spike, Kageyama had been watching him more closely and approached him once he had landed.
“Suzuki, you’re not holding your hand in the right position to hit the ball straight like you want.”
Leaning down, he grabbed the ball off the floor and held it up in one hand so the other boy could see it.
“You’re tilting your hand to the right a bit when you hit the ball, see?” Kageyama demonstrated what he meant with his other hand, placing it on the ball at a slight angle. “If you were aiming the ball somewhere, this may not be as big of an issue, but you’re still trying to hit it straight. Try shifting your hand like this and you should be better able to hit the ball where you want. Go back to the line and we’ll try it again before we move on to Yamaguchi.”
Crossing his arms, Suzuki sneered at the setter. “What makes you think it’s my spike that’s the problem? Maybe it’s your toss!”
Kageyama glared at him. “My tosses are fine! It’s not my fault you can’t spike for shit, but it makes sense. Kitagawa Daiichi wasn’t known for focusing on improving players that weren’t starters. But that’s not how we do things here, alright? That’s why I’m helping you fix the problem. Now get back in position.”
Sulking, the first year went back to the start of the line, grabbing the ball from Kageyama as he went.
When Kageyama called that he was ready, Suzuki tossed the ball towards him so he could set it, and did a starting run up towards the net. But as soon as the ball touched Kageyama’s hands, the first year skidded to a stop and crossed his arms.
There was a moment, like a punch to the gut, when everyone realized Suzuki wasn’t going to spike the ball. Before anyone else could even think of reacting, there was an orange blur as Hinata raced past the line of spikers and slammed the ball onto the other side, catching it in its downward arc and barely grazing the top of the net.
The gym was silent except for the bounce of the ball, everyone frozen in a state of shock. There were mixed emotions of horror and anger on the faces of the second and third years, confusion for the other first years. Kageyama was staring wide-eyed at his partner.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Suzuki unconsciously took a step back from the fury on Hinata’s face, despite him being so much taller.
“Hinata- “ Ennoshita started but was cut off by Tsukishima’s hand on his shoulder. The blond shook his head and gestured for Tanaka and Noya, who had begun rushing forward, to stay back.
Stalking forward, Hinata grabbed Suzuki by the front of his shirt and yanked him down until he was inches from his face.
“Hey-!”
“Shut up!” Hinata growled. “What was that, huh? What do you think you were trying to do?! Kageyama is your teammate and your senpai! You don’t ever, ever ignore a toss from him, got it?!”
Grunting, Suzuki grabbed Hinata’s hands and pushed him away. “I was just trying to-”
“I know what you were ‘just’!” Hinata interrupted. “You were trying to get back at him for telling you what a terrible spiker you are. But guess what? You’re not gonna get any better if no one tells you what you need to improve on! That’s what practice is for!”
Stepping back into Suzuki’s space, he stabbed his pointer finger into the younger boy’s chest. “Everyone on this side of the net is your ally! And if you can’t take criticism and work together then we can’t trust you, and you can leave.”
Kageyama was finally jolted into action and walked forward to tug on Hinata’s elbow. “Hinata, dumbass, calm down.”
“I am calm!” Hinata yelled and the setter rolled his eyes.
“Control you pet, King!” Suzuki snarled, ignoring Kageyama’s glare to shift his focus back on Hinata. “Those are awfully big words for such a shrimpy player. You don’t have the power to kick me off the team!”
“No, he doesn’t, but I do.” The three players and everyone who was watching the exchange twisted around to see Takeda-Sensei standing with a hard look on his face on the edge of the court.
“You attempted to use a teammates history to hurt him and purposefully disrupted practice in a cruel manner. Obviously, I am not going to remove you from the team today. But if you continue to act like you have been, I will have no problem doing so.”
This finally seemed to get through to Suzuki, who paled significantly.
“Now, as captain, I believe Ennoshita-kun is the one who will deal with any punishment,” he continued. Turning to Hinata and Kageyama, his face softened. “Hinata-kun, why don’t you take a break outside.”
“Yes, Sensei.” Hinata bowed and started towards the gym doors, while Kageyama gave a quick bow and followed after him.
They didn’t stop walking until they made it around the corner of the building where Hinata let out a big sigh.
“I can’t believe that guy,” He grumbled. “The next time we have a practice match, I’m spiking the ball at his face.”
“Hinata.”
“What?” Hinata spun around to face Kageyama. His face was twisted into some emotion that the older boy couldn’t identify. “Hey, I didn’t even ask, are you ok, Kageyama?”
“I-”
“Because it’s ok if you’re not, that was a really crappy thing for him to do!”
“Hinata-”
“I mean, if I were you, I would’ve punched him you know, like pow !”
Irritated, Kageyama grabbed the top of Hinata’s head and the ginger let out a yelp. “Oi, let me talk, dumbass!”
“Ow, ow! That hurts, bakayama! What? What?!”
Slowly, Kageyama’s grip loosened and Hinata was pulled into a tight, uncomfortable hug. Blinking, Hinata hesitantly brought his arms up around Kageyama’s back. It was awkward. Kageyama was stiff and he was gripping Hinata like he’d never hugged anyone before.
It struck Hinata that maybe he hadn’t.
He felt more than heard Kageyama say something, mumbling into his hair.
“What?” He asked.
“I said,” Kageyama growled low. “Th- thank you.” And then as an afterthought, “Idiot.”
Hinata tightened his grip on Kageyama’s shirt. “You’re welcome, stupid.”