Kageyama raced into the gym, determined to leave Hinata in the dust and claim victory for their daily race. He skidded to a halt once he entered the doors, out of breath but ready to rub his victory in Hinata's face as soon as the shorter boy managed to catch up. He turned around, expecting to find his seniors setting up the net and balls for practice. Instead, he found them all crowded in a circle whispering quietly to themselves. Kageyama jogged up to his upperclassmen, peering curiously over their heads to catch a glimpse of whatever had managed to capture their undivided attention.

The first thing Kageyama noticed was a a familiar fluffy head of orange hair. That was strange, Kageyama was sure that he'd left a sizable gap with Hinata during their race. It was then that he noticed that the fluff of orange hair was significantly shorter than he remembered. Did Hinata shrink? And, is that - is that a skirt? No, it's a dress! But before he could put two and two together, the dress wearing, orange haired girl that definitely wasn't Hinata came charging at him. Kageyama place both of his arms in front of his face, bracing himself for an impact…that never came.

"Onii-chan!"

"Natsu?!"

The little orange fluff ran straight to Hinata, latching unto his torso for dear life. Kageyama stared back, dumbstruck.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?!"

But all Hinata got in reply were inaudible gurgles as his little sister continued to sob into his shirt. Hinata's face soon softened as he patted his sister's head gently.

"Did you have a fight with Mom?"

Natsu nodded, still glued to her brother's torso. Hinata sighed fondly as he continued to pat soothing circle's on his sister's sobbing back. He looked up at his upperclassmen, mouthing "I'm sorry" while raising his free hand in an apologetic gesture. Daichi smiled, mouthing back, "Don't worry about it."

"Heh, this sure is strange," Suga commented from Daichi's side. "We're usually the ones who have to calm Hinata down."

"I know what you mean", Daichi replied, "It's like we're finally seeing our little crow grow up."

"You two are talking like you're his parents again"; Asahi said, sighing exasperatedly.

But Kageyama had to agree, it was strange to see Hinata act so calm…so…mature. Wow, that's a word Kageyama thought he'd never attribute to the shorter boy.

"I'm so glad! Shouyo's a great big brother! We did go with him, huh Ryu?!"

"You said it, Noya!"

"Now you guys are acting like his parents too?!"

Before long, Natsu's sobs finally came to a halt. Hinata knelt in front of her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. "Now, do you think you could tell me why you're here?" Natsu sniffled a bit, wiping her tears away. "I had a fight with Mommy."

"You did, huh? Was it because you didn't want to eat your veggies again?"

"No! I ate all of my veggies!" Another sniffle. "We fought because Mommy was being mean when we we were doing my homework."

Hinata frowned slightly at that before nodding his hand in understanding.

"I see. So then, Mom doesn't know that you're here does she?"

Natsu hesitated a bit before reluctantly nodding her head.

Hinata sighed, his face turning as serious as Kageyama had ever seen outside of matches. "Natsu, I know you're upset with Mom, but you shouldn't just run off without telling her! Do you have any idea how far my school is from our home? What if something had happened to you?! What if you'd gotten lost?! Mom's probably worried sick right now!"

Kageyama noticed Nishinoya start to make his way toward the pair before Tanaka placed his hand on his shoulder; shaking his head and making gestures not to interfere with the siblings' conversation. Kageyama could understand Nishinoya's concern, it was strange seeing Hinata so serious, so upset, but it wasn't his place to meddle in his teammate's family affairs.

Tears began to form in Natsu's eyes again, and Kageyama was worried that he'd have to endure another bout of sobbings. To his surprise, however, Natsu muttered several apologies instead before finally quieting down in her brother's arms.

"Um, Yachi?"

"Yes!"

Yachi stood up abruptly from her seat, nearly knocking it down in the process. The two managers had just been quietly watching the scene, with Yachi quietly making "awwwww" noise every now and then. Shimizu helped steady her junior before she awkwardly made her way towards Hinata.

"I have to call my Mom and tell her where Natsu is. I'm sorry for troubling you, but could you look after Natsu for a while?"

"Of course! I don't mind at all!" Yachi lowered herself to meet Natsu eyes. "It's nice to meet you! My name's Yachi!"

Natsu made no move to let go of her brother's shirt and simply stared at the older girl blankly.

"Um." Yachi began to panic a bit, swaying a bit nervously from side to side.

"Natsu." Hinata smiled reasuredly at his sister, and that was enough to get her to let go of his shirt. Yachi breathed a sigh of relief as the smaller girl looked up at her expectantly. Yachi offered her hand, and the pair went back to where Shimizu was seated. Hinata grinned as he looked back, but then turned abruptly to their captain.

"I'm so sorry for the ruckus my sister and I have caused!" He bowed his head deeply, shutting his eyes tight.

Daichi walked forward and affectionately pat Hinata's head. "It's fine! It's fine! Now, you go on and call your Mom while the rest of us get started with practice!"

HInata smiled brightly at him before grabbing his phone and rushing out the doors.

"Alright!" Daichi yelled, "let's get started!"

"Ossu!"

Hinata came back a few minutes later, phone in hand and wearing a triumphant grin. All eyes suddenly turned to him, momentarily forgetting their training. Kageyama himself was curious as to how Hinata's mother had responded to this whole affair.

"Natsu." Natsu flinched, squirming nervously on Yachi's lap. "Natsu, it's alright. Mom was upset, of course, but she really wants to see you again. She feels bad for being mean to you, too. You don't have to go now, though. I told Mom I'd take you home with me after practice. Are you fine with that?"

Natsu nodded in agreement rapidly. "Onii-chan…Thank you!" And for the first time since barging into practice, Natsu flashed a huge, adorable grin. "You're the best onii-chan ever!" Hinata smiled and pat his sister's head affectionately, "And you're the best little sister ever!"

Practice continued without a hitch. Or so Kageyama would like to think. However, practicing with Hinata without yelling his usual slur of insults proved to be more difficult than he'd anticipated. Every time Hinata would mess up, before Kageyama could utter a single word, he could feel Natsu's eyes on him, daring him to say anything against her precious older brother.

"Sorry, sorry!" Hinata yelled after missing a spike. It was perfectly timed, too, but Kageyama wisely decided to bite back any cold reply that threatened to escape his lips. Tsukishima, however, didn't seem to be as wary of their little guest and approached the pair wearing his usual smug grin.

"Geez, King. Are you actually holding back today? You haven't said a single thing about that shrimp's poor spikes today and-"

The bespectacled blond was abruptly cut off by a charging blur of orange.

"Oof!"

"Tsukki!"

"Onii-chan isn't a shrimp!"

Yamaguchi ran towards the fallen blond and helped him up. Hinata jogged up from behind, concern etched on his face.

"Natsu, why did you do that?!"

Natsu looked up in surprise, but firmly planted both feet on the ground and placed her hands on her hips. "That mean glasses guy called onii-chan a shrimp! But onii-chan isn't a shrimp! Onii-chan is onii-chan!" Natsu turned to glare at Tsukishima then, "Apologize to onii-chan, you four-eyed bully!"

Kageyama heard a pair of snickers in the back, and he was one hundred percent sure that it came from Nishinoya and Tanaka. Tanaka wash't even trying to stifle his laughter. Thwack. Ah, that must have been Daichi. Their captain then turned his attention on Natsu and Tsukishima.

"Tsukishima, just apologize."

Tsukishima's eyes grew wide for the briefest seconds, but he knew he'd just be fighting a losing battle. Who knew what kind of punishment he'd have to endure if he made Natsu cry again. So Tsukishima let out a deep sigh, swallowed up his pride, and -

"I'm sorry for calling you a shrimp."

Hinata looked up in surprise as well, nodded hesitantly, and said, "It's fine."

Natsu smiled brightly then, turned around and dashed back to Yachi's side. From the corner of his eye, Kageyama could see the two managers giving Natsu high-fives.

"Kageyama!"

"Huh? Oh, right."

And practice continued with no more sudden outbursts, and while Kageyama still struggled to reign in his temper every time Hinata messed up, the earlier incident with Tsukishima and Natsu's constant eyes following him and Hinata's movements kept him from saying anything he was sure he'd regret.

After practice was over, the team dispersed. Kageyama breathed out a long sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Kageyama", the afore-mentioned setter turned around at the sound of his name to find Hinata sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck; "I'm sorry about today."

"What are you talking about? You mean Natsu? It's not your fault she suddenly started crying like that."

"No, not that! I mean, how you've been holding back because of her."

"Holding back?" Ah, he must have caught on to my sudden lack of insults. "It's fine, I shouldn't even be calling you those things in the first place."

Hinata gaped at him, mouth slightly ajar.

"W-what?!"

"So you're going to stop calling me names? Gotta say, Kageyama, that'd be kind of weird."

Kageyama's face grew red. Whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure. "Weird?! So you're saying you'd rather be called a dumba-"

"Onii-chan!"

Kageyama swiftly covered his mouth with both of his hands as Natsu raced across the court towards her brother.

"Oh, hey Natsu! Sorry for taking so long."

"It's fine! Hitoka-nee and Kiyoko-nee are both really nice! I want to visit again!"

"I'm fine with it as long as you ask for Mom's permission next time."

Natsu pouted a bit, but nodded her head. "Ok! I promise I'll ask next time!"

Natsu turned to Kageyama then, causing the older boy to stiffen a little. "Your moves were really cool!"

Kageyama blushed, and after hearing Hinata's snickering, the blush turned into a new shade of red. "Ah, um, th-th-th-thank…you…"

"You're welcome!"

"Ah, well, um, Hinata!" No reaction. The little twerp was still laughing his little butt off.

"Onii-chan! That's rude, Kage just called your name!"

"Kage?!"

"Oh, that's a cute nickname! And, what's this? Kageyama, are you blushing again? Ah, could it be that you've fallen for my cute little sister? Sorry, but I'm not handing her over just yet! You'll have to wait another thirty - no, forty years!"

"Onii-chan, I'll be a granny by then!"

"Th-that's not! Hinata, we stink of sweat! Let's just go change already!"

"Oh, right! We'll be right back Natsu!"

"Ok! I'll be waiting here!"

"Kage, you're coming home with us?!"

"He's just going back part of the way. But thanks for the company, Kage."

"Don't call me that!"

"Ah, so you really are after my sister's heart! It's like that, isn't it? That whole, 'only she can call me by that absurdly cute nickname' type of thing, huh?"

"Wh-what?! What are you even talking about?!"

Natsu's laughter echoed down the empty streets as she clapped her hands excitedly! "You and onii-chan make a great comedy duo!"

Things continued like that during the entire trip, with Natsu clinging to both boys' hand's between them as they walked down the road. However, as they got closer to Hinata's route home, Kageyama noticed Natsu becoming more and more nervous.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, Kage! I'm fine! I had a great day today!"

"…I see. That's good to hear."

"Natsu", Hinata suddenly said, surprising Kageyama at hearing his voice sound so serious, "you don't want to go home, do you?"

Natsu remained silent, but her grip on Kageyama's hand told him that Hinata had hit the mark.

"Mom's going to get mad and lecture you for a while when she sees you. She might even yell."

"Oi, Hina-"

"But do you know why?"

Natsu shook her head but tentatively answered; "Because she's a meanie?"

Hinata's face softened as a soft chuckle escaped his lips, "No, silly. It's because she loves you."

Natsu's eyes grew bigger as she turned to look at her brother. "R-really?"

"That's right!" Both siblings turned their attention to Kageyama. The setter himself was surprised at his sudden outburst but ignored the blush threatening to creep up his face again as he continued; "I don't know of any parent that would worry so much for their child if they didn't love them! So if you're Mom scolds you and lectures you, it means she loves you very much!"

"Kageyama…"

"Kage, thank you!"

The trio continued to walk in comfortable silence until they came to a fork in the road*. "Guess we should part ways here. Go on, say good-bye Natsu."

Natsu turned to Kageyama and gave him a big hug, wrapping her arms as tightly as she could. "Take good care of onii-chan for me, okay? You're his partner, and now that I've met you, I know that you and onii-chan are going to make the best team ever!" She let go and flashed him one last smile before dashing to her brother's side. "Bye—bye, Kage!"

Kageyama waved back, and as he walked towards his home, he found himself looking forwards to the next time Natsu would decide to pay a visit.

*I have no idea how far or close or whatever distance Kageyama's house is from Hinata's, so let's just assume that his route home is on the other side of some fork in the road.