I kinda followed the plot of Haikyuu, but not really. I'm currently writing the second (and probably final) chapter :)

...

Hinata didn't like volleyball. At least, he hadn't back when he'd first started throwing himself into the sport in middle school. The sport was only an excuse to stay at school, an excuse to return home as late as possible. It helped, too, that he was the only person on the team and, therefore, captain. "The captain has us practicing a lot," was a perfect excuse when he arrived home late at night.

His views began to change after the game against Kitagawa Daiichi. That was when the sport started gaining meaning, when all of his halfhearted practice almost paid off.

And though he'd intended to join the Karasuno volleyball club to escape his home and his father anyway, when Hinata entered the gym he knew he was right where he belonged.

As he finished the three-on-three game, having won alongside Kageyama and Tanaka-senpai, Hinata felt elated.

"We did it!" Tanaka crowed, pulling his t-shirt off in a flash and waving it above his head in triumph.

Hinata didn't think he could be any happier as he tried his new club jacket on. He winced slightly as the fabric rubbed against one of his many cuts, but he was used to it and shrugged it off.

"You know, it was almost scary how dedicated you were to learning how to receive," Sawamura Daichi remarked to Hinata, eyes glinting. "And you did it. You and Kageyama certainly could use practice, but that was amazing."

Hinata's happiness vanished instantly, and his grin became pained to keep on his face. The truth was, he couldn't have cared less about whether or not Kageyama set towards him. He just didn't want to go home. Luckily, Daichi didn't know about that. Hinata intended to keep it that way.

"Our next practice is Monday morning before school, so make sure to be there early. Congratulations on joining the club!" Daichi continued, this time speaking to all of the freshmen.

Hinata's heartbeat sped up. "Wait, we don't have practice today or anything Sunday?"

Tanaka laughed heartily and clapped Hinata on the shoulder, ignorant of his flinch. "You certainly are dedicated!" he exclaimed, leering as he always did. "As long as you don't forget this strategy by Monday, you're good!"

"I'd say you've certainly earned your break," Sugawara added with a warm smile. "See you on Monday."

"Let's go," Tsukishima muttered to Yamaguchi, and they followed the upperclassmen out the door.

Hinata was left with Kageyama. He cast a hopeful, almost desperate glance at the King.

Kageyama smirked. "As much as I know you need the practice, Sawamura-senpai is waiting to lock the doors."

Hinata turned, and seeing Daichi waiting at the door with the keys in hand, slouched out the door behind Kageyama.

He knew what would be waiting for him when he returned home. His father would be drunk and either brandishing a knife or his fists. He wouldn't aim for anywhere that would show in a t-shirt or shorts, a fact that relieved Hinata slightly.

At least he wouldn't have to be making any excuses up.

Although Hinata knew he should return home, and he was sure that his father would be angrier the longer he waited no matter what lies Hinata made about volleyball, he just couldn't bring himself to willingly enter that hell. Not yet.

Instead, he rode his bike over to the nearest park, missing Kageyama's curious glance as he sped off without a word.

…

When Hinata was kicked out of the Karasuno gym with Kageyama, his fear was overwhelming, leaving him hanging at the window looking in.

Without volleyball, he would have no excuses for staying out of his house and away from harm.

Unfortunately, Kageyama was no help, arguing and snapping at him.

Then they were given the chance to redeem themselves with teamwork. The word was new for Hinata. He'd always worked alone, played alone, got through hardship and pain alone.

In the days leading up to the game, Hinata worked hard and long for two reasons: so that he would get home as late as possible and so he could win the game and be admitted into the club.

Tsukishima's offer to throw the game was relieving to Hinata, but Kageyama's pride was too strong and he ended up making Tsukishima go harder on them.

It was only another reason to make Hinata hate Kageyama.

When Hinata reached the park, he dismounted his bike and set it up next to a tree, panting. He plopped down on the bench next to the tree and began to absentmindedly finger a bruise on his knee.

The bruise was not overly large or painful; just one of the many that littered his body. Hinata had become used to the small twinges of pain they sent across his body whenever he moved. It was an invaluable skill that led to him throwing himself completely into jumping, not worrying about the pain of landing.

The worst bruises were the ones on his back, up near his neck. Those had been the most painful to receive, kneeling facing the wall as his father stood above him.

Unconsciously, Hinata moved his hand up to feel one of the areas of raised skin on his back.

He didn't notice Kageyama approach.

When Kageyama sat next to him, Hinata startled; only just managing not to throw his hands up to protect his face.

"…Dumbass," the other boy snapped.

Hinata sulked, crossing his arms. "What do you want, anyway?" he asked after it became apparent that Kageyama was not going to say anything else.

Kageyama ignored the question. "I never would have you pegged as a park person," he remarked instead.

"I'm not a park person!" Hinata protested, throwing an offended glance at Kageyama.

"Why are you here, then?" Kageyama shot back.

Hinata blanched and looked down into his lap. "No reason," he mumbled.

Kageyama responded, but Hinata wasn't listening. Memories were throwing themselves into his line of vision. They reminded him of the exact reason as to why he was sitting alone on a park bench feeling bruises.

A finger snapped in front of his face, and the pictures of violence fled from Hinata's line of vision.

"Are you even listening?" Kageyama was obviously irritated.

"I'm sorry!" Hinata cried, an impulse brought on by the hundreds of times he said it at home every day as he was hurt.

The images returned with a vengeance, and this time, not even Kageyama's snap could get rid of them.

Apologizing furiously, still stuck in his head, Hinata jumped on his bike and rode off.

And once again, Kageyama found himself curiously staring after his rival as he retreated.

…

Hinata was surprised to find how he had improved as he passed back every one of Kageyama's hits.

He knew that the reason was from all of his intense practice, but it still unnerved him to see that they had been passing the ball back and forth for over fifteen minutes.

At some point, the other members showed up, but his focus remained purely on the ball. He began to get tired, but his dad often refused him food and rest, so Hinata easily ignored the burning in his legs.

There was one problem.

The night before, his dad had gotten more angry than normal. He'd shoved Hinata back into a wardrobe. Of course, Hinata was short from malnutrition, so his head smacked hard into the corner.

And now, Hinata's vision was blurry. His head was pounding, and he had to wonder if he had a concussion as he hit the ball once more.

Pushing aside pain was second nature, but this was almost more than he could stand.

So what kept him going? Fear of failure. If he didn't win the upcoming three-on-three game, he'd be out of the team. Out of the team meant out of excuses to stay away from home.

As he spiked the ball with all of his might, Hinata grinned despite the blinding pain. If Kageyama thought he was good enough at receives to toss him a spike, then he had a good chance of winning the game.

Unfortunately, his headache also spiked as he landed jerkily.

Hinata vomited all over the floor.

On Monday, Hinata tried hard to hide his limp. The lack of practices on both Saturday and Sunday made staying at home a must, and his dad had not been happy.

Hinata groaned. Now he wouldn't be able to wear shorts until the wounds on his legs healed. His father usually wouldn't cut or hit him there, but this wasn't the first time and Hinata knew how much of a pain it was to cover up.

Luckily, it was nearing winter, so no one would question him like they had when it happened in summer.

Quickly changing into sweats, Hinata hurried to the gym.

"We have a practice game tomorrow," Takeda-sensei was telling the members of the club.

"Your persistence is the best!" Tanaka remarked with an enthusiastic growl, and Takeda smiled.

"Come here, Hinata!" Kageyama barked. "We have to practice if we're going to win tomorrow! Aoba-Johsai marked fourth in the prefecture!"

So we have no chance of winning, Hinata thought as he slowly walked over to the setter. He wasn't unhappy at the fact, only neutral.

"Fine! Let's practice!" Hinata agreed, trying to sound passionate. He was relieved that Kageyama treated him no differently than before.

Hinata groaned. He still couldn't believe that he'd almost broken down on Saturday in front of Kageyama. It seemed that Kageyama had forgotten about it though.

Unknown to Hinata, Kageyama's piercing eyes were analyzing his every move as he walked over. Kageyama had been truly unnerved on Saturday.

Previously, Kageyama was jealous and angry at the shorter boy's obvious skill, but now it seemed that there was more to the story. Hinata had seemed terrified at the park, and his eyes were glazed over.

Now Kageyama was determined to find out what was going on.

Unaware, Hinata took his place beside Kageyama on the court. He hoped that practice wouldn't be too grueling, since his legs were now injured.

If walking hurt, jumping would be even worse.

Hinata didn't dare complain, though. He could survive with the pain. Playing poorly would result in him being kicked out.

Kageyama was ruthless, keeping him jumping over and over and over again. His sets were always accurate, and Hinata's hand began to feel like the rest of his body after a while: beat up.

He couldn't suppress a flinch after landing from yet another jump, and Daichi noticed from where he was acting as setter for Tanaka.

"Kageyama!" the captain called as he hit the volleyball. "That's enough sets for now! Hinata, take a break!"

Hinata shuddered with relief and began to limp to the bench, missing Kageyama's concerned glance.

When practice ended, Daichi walked over to Hinata on the bench. "You know, if you're getting too tired, just say something," he offered. "Try not to run yourself down too much."

Hinata's eyes widened. He'd assumed that strong Sawamura would be angry with him for not keeping up, and kick him off the team. "Right!"

He stood up, still staring in awe at Daichi as the captain left the gym. Hinata began to follow him, but an angry voice stopped him.

"Idiot!"

"Kageyama?"

The setter walked over to Hinata, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Have lunch with me. We can discuss strategies."

Once again, Hinata was left staring in awe at a receding figure.

….

When lunchtime came around, Kageyama found Hinata and sat stiffly next to him, milk box in hand.

"Where's your lunch?" he asked Hinata after a long pause filled only with his sips of milk.

Hinata's cheeks began to burn. "Where's yours?" he countered.

"I already had mine, dumbass." Kageyama looked Hinata right in the eye. "Did you forget it or something? You can't play on an empty stomach!"

Hinata looked down at his hands. "I always do," he mumbled.

Kageyama dropped his milk with a clatter. He stared at Hinata in shock, face completely wiped of any irritation or anger previously there.

"It's fine." Hinata didn't want to discuss the issue more than they already were.

"But you're so short! And you're practically skin and bones," Kageyama breathed. He'd assumed that Hinata was just naturally built that way. If Hinata really didn't eat, that put things into a different light. "Why don't you eat? Don't tell me you're trying to be thinner."

"Of course not!" Hinata shifted uncomfortably. "There's never really any food in my house." He wondered why he was telling Kageyama the truth, and decided that it was because they were still technically rivals, so Kageyama wouldn't be dewey-eyed and sympathetic.

It was true.

Kageyama cleared his throat and turned to look out the window. "If you want, I can bring you food," he all but whispered.

Hinata turned to him in surprise. No one had ever offered any sort of help to him before, and he had no idea why his enemy would be the first to. "I—I'm fine!" Hinata lied, not knowing how to accept the help.

The bell rang, and Kageyama picked up and threw away his empty milk carton. As he walked away, he called to Hinata, "Too bad, dumbass. I'm not letting your empty stomach mess up our freak quicks."

Hinata had no idea how to respond, but he didn't have to, since Kageyama was already out of the room.

They hadn't even discussed strategies.

…

When Hinata was young and he first watched the volleyball game on the TV, he was enraptured. The fluidity of the team, the way they all worked together to win, was something new to him.

Hinata didn't really have friends at his school, and he was never allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities. Therefore, he had never seen anything close to a game where people relied on each other and succeeded together.

"I've got to play," he whispered to himself, and it became his dream.

His dream was what got him through everything. And now he was here, and playing, and it was not quite as glorified, but it was amazing.

Hinata's stomach was killing him as he made his way to the bus headed for the practice game. Right after school, the team had gotten meat buns. Hinata, being starving as he always was, inhaled his.

Now his shrunken stomach was angrily protesting.

I ate way too much way too quickly, Hinata thought to himself, but immediately put it out of his mind as he greeted the rest of the team.

"We'll defeat Aoba-Johsai!" Tanaka growled as the team boarded their bus.

"Their captain can't play today," Suga informed the team. "So we actually have a good chance."

"Isn't their captain that snooty brown-haired guy?" Tanaka growled.

"Oikawa," Daichi supplied as the bus began moving.

"Oikawa," Tanaka agreed. "I would've loved to see that smug look of his disappear!"

Kageyama frowned. "I didn't know he was Aoba-Johsai's captain."

"You know him?" Hinata asked.

Kageyama only nodded.

Just then, the bus began to pick up speed as it entered the highway. Takeda was determined to get them to the match with time to spare.

Hinata's stomach could barely take the driving.

"Hey, Hinata!" Tanaka roared. "Want something to eat?"

He thrust a pocky stick in Hinata's face. The sight of food only made Hinata's stomach feel worse, and Tanaka seemed to realize it.

"What's wrong?" Tanaka asked.

Hinata knew he couldn't reveal that a single meat bun (which was the only food he ate anymore) was too much for his stomach to handle, so he choked out, "I didn't get too much sleep last night," which wasn't technically a lie anyway.

The bus sped forward, and Hinata's stomach lurched.

"Could I…open the window?" Hinata asked weakly, leaning over his senpai.

That happened to be a bad idea, as he prompty vomited the food all over Tanaka's lap.

Practically everyone in the bus screamed.

…

Luckily, Tanaka-senpai didn't stay angry at Hinata for vomiting on him, and Hinata's stomach was more or less settled, so after apologizing many times and helping him clean up, they were back on the bus.

The practice game was horrible.

Hinata started by vomiting the last of the meat bun (in the bathroom this time, thankfully) and after that, his starved body was so shaky that he even served into the back of Kageyama's head.

Even though Oikawa came in near the end of the game, he was only the pinch server, so Karasuno managed to win.

The next day at lunch, Kageyama once again found Hinata. Wordlessly, he handed Hinata a paper bag.

Peering inside, Hinata saw a sandwich, an apple, and a package of Pocky. "I can't take your food!" he protested even as his stomach rumbled at the sight.

"Dumbass," Kageyama answered. "I have my own lunch right here."

Hinata looked at his teammate's bento box and sighed. "Fine. Just—don't make me another lunch. I don't need pitying!"

Kageyama scoffed. "Do I seem like the type of person to pity anyone?"

Hinata looked at the scuffed wood of his desk and shook his head.

"Then drop it, dumbass."

Hinata knew he wouldn't be able to stomach any of the real food, so he ripped open the Pocky as he tried to think of a way to change the topic.

Luckily, Kageyama did it for him. "We'll need to up our game if we want to beat Aoba-Johsai during a real match."

Hinata grinned, noticing the we. "I'm sure we can do it!" he crowed, nibbling on a Pocky stick. "We'll take Karasuno to the nationals!"

"It won't be easy, so don't go getting all cocky," Kageyama warned.

The rest of lunch was spent in more volleyball talk as Kageyama ate and Hinata tried to.

When the bell rang, Hinata carefully stowed the lunch in his backpack for later, only having managed to eat two sticks.

Kageyama watched him but did not comment.

At practice, Hinata was feeling better than he had in a while. His dad had passed out in a drunken haze the night before while he was on the bus back from the practice match, so he had no new bruises and had been able to go to bed early.

Also, the Pocky sticks had given him some energy, so he was actually enjoying spiking, easily ignoring his old injuries as they protested.

The whole team seemed to have more spirit as well, partly from Hinata and partly from the recent win.

Everything was going so well that something bad was bound to happen.

It was when they were playing a game, first years and Tanaka against third and second years.

Tanaka's spike (brilliant though it had been) was received by Ennoshita, and it soared over the net.

"Chance ball!"

Yamaguchi received with some difficulty, but successfully sent the ball to Kageyama. Both Hinata and Tanaka ran up to spike.

Kageyama ended up sending the ball to Hinata, and right as the spiker raised his hand to spike it, the manager Kiyoko entered the gym. A gust of wind from outside swept through the room, lifting Hinata's shirt up a little.

Noticing immediately that lots of his bruises and cuts were on display, Hinata forgot the spike. His hand snapped down and pulled at his shirt, covering his torso as he fell to the ground, landing on his bottom.

He looked around as the ball fell beside him, hoping no one had noticed. Unfortunately, all eyes in the gym were on him and everyone was silent.

Hinata laughed nervously, rubbing his neck.

"What happened, Hinata?" Suga's voice was as gentle as always, but there was an underlying note of sadness that made Hinata want to bolt.

"Funny story, actually," Hinata slowly stood up, giving himself some time to think of a believable excuse. "So, the other day I was riding my bike down the hill like gwahhhh! And I started to build up speed and I started losing control and kyaaah! I tried to stop the bike, but ended flying over the handlebars and landing in the road! I rolled the rest of the way down!"

Judging by the way the stunned atmosphere was fading and the way his teammates had started to laugh, they had accepted the ruse.

"You fell off of your bike?" Tsukishima said, hiding a snicker. "Idiot."

"I was hoping you'd gotten into a fight!" Tanaka roared. "I would've had the chance to avenge my kouhai and get into a nice fight!"

"Don't go getting into fights," Daichi admonished, but he was smiling.

Hinata was glad for everyone's obliviousness. The room felt like it was shrinking, though, and it felt hard to breathe when he noticed Takeda was still looking concerned. "I should go now," he choked out.

As he went to leave, a short kid with spiked hair dyed blond at the front came tearing in with an enormous grin on his face. "I'm not suspended anymore!" he shouted in triumph.

"First years, meet Noya, our libero," Suga introduced.

"Ooh! A game!" Noya cried in excitement, seeing the formation of his teammates. "Can I play?"

"A spot just opened up on Tanaka's team," Daichi said, noticing Hinata slip out of the gym.

As Tanaka enveloped the libero in a manly bro hug, Kageyama followed Daichi's gaze. "I should be going, too."

With that, he ran out after Hinata.

…

Hinata could faintly remember when his mom was alive, when there was food in the fridge and a smile on his dad's face.

That time had been short, and he often wished he had treasured it.

Everything ended when Hinata's mom died in childbirth. The baby—a little girl—had died only a few days later when Hinata's dad had neglected to feed her. From sadness or anger, Hinata had never found out.

Hinata had been too young to understand what was going on, and he only knew that he missed his mom.

It was around that time that his dad started drinking.

Everything had gone downhill from there.

Kageyama reached Hinata as he was taking his bike from the bike rack. "Why?" he asked.

Hinata only shot him a questioning look, even as his heatbeats once more felt like they could choke him.

"Why isn't your bike scratched at all?" Kageyama motioned to the spotless vehicle. "If you really fell off it."

"M-maybe I got it fixed," Hinata spat, trying to sound defensive but only sounding pathetic. "You wouldn't know, idiot."

"Why did you seem so unhappy at the park?" Kageyama countered.

Hinata's eyes widened. He had assumed Kageyama had forgotten about that. "I—uh—was nervous about joining the team!"

Kageyama wasn't done. "Why is there never food at your house?"

Hinata could barely find an excuse, with the panic almost taking over. "My dad is just busy!" he said, wincing when his voice cracked.

"I don't like you," Kageyama stated. "But I can't step away and pretend I can't see what's going on here!"

Hinata felt a tear slip out of his eye. In his whole life, nobody had ever noticed—or if they did, they didn't care enough to comment. But he couldn't find it in him to do anything but deny, deny, deny.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hinata said as more tears began to fall, blurring his vision. He tried to suppress a sob. "I'm fine. I'm always fine." His voice was thick with sadness.

Kageyama clearly didn't know how to respond.

Still trying to stop crying but failing miserably, Hinata climbed on his bike. Unfortunately, his stomach lurched and he clumsily fell off, vomiting his meager snack onto the grass as the bike dropped on its side.

A hand on his shoulder made Hinata flinch, but when he realized that it was only Kageyama, he found himself unconsciously leaning into the touch as he dry heaved.

"You're not fine," Kageyama said stiffly, obviously unused to comforting people. "Let me help you."

When his dry heaves at last slowed, Hinata turned to Kageyama, tears still falling freely from his eyes.

Helping the shaky Hinata stand, Kageyama led him to a tree and they sat against its wide trunk, neither speaking.

It was a while before Hinata's tears slowed.

He sniffled. "K-Kageyama, p-please don't t-tell anyone," Hinata said in a small voice, taking a shuddering breath.

Kageyama looked conflicted.

"I p-promise I'll tell someone if it gets too bad," Hinata pleaded as he wiped his eyes. "I'm okay right now."

Kageyama came to a quick decision. "Fine," he agreed. "I won't tell anyone. But if it gets worse, I won't let you stay like this."

…

In the following weeks, the Karasuno team noticed a definite change in Hinata and Kageyama's relationship.

While before they'd always been at each other's throats, it seemed that they were finally united.

Suga speculated that the practice game at Aoba Johsai had been the reason for the change, and the team agreed.

Nobody knew the truth of what happened, and Kageyama and Hinata intended to keep it that way.

Kageyama continued to bring Hinata lunch, which Hinata continued to struggle to eat. When he finally was able to stomach the whole Pocky box, Hinata cheered as Kageyama looked on approvingly.

Other aspects of their lives were also improved.

Practices became more fun once the pair of freshmen stopped snapping at each other, and Nishinoya's timid friend Asahi agreed to join the team once he was no longer intimidated.

There was little to be intimidated by. In fact, the team hardly had any arguments, besides Tsukishima winding Hinata up as Yamaguchi watched nervously and Kageyama glared.

All in all, Hinata's life started to look up.

That was when everything changed.

...

Cliffhanger! *dramatic gasp*

I was not planning to post this, so if you think it's trash, that's why.

On that happy note, Please review!