It was unlike anything he had imagined.

Hinata Shoyou submitted his application for college almost immediately after finals of his last two weeks of high school. Yachi helped him push far beyond the potential he normally thought he didn't have., and Hinata was grateful that she put aside some of her own free time to help aid him.

Hinata knew, and yet still hoped, that he would get into the college of his dreams. Kageyama told him that he also applied, and Hinata almost clocked him in the face when he jumped up and flung his arms wild.

"That's so amazing, Kageyama! What if we room together?" A slight gasp. "No, we are going to room together, and I am going to make sure we are!"

"Dumbass, you can't just tell them that we are rooming and expect them to comply. That's not how it works."

"You never know, stupid!"

Those two weeks sped by faster than Hinata thought, and by the time graduation happened and he was handed his diploma, everything was set in stone. Kageyama waited for him by the front gates, as per usual, and smacked Hinata upside the head for being too energetic, and Hinata jumped at him to try and push him off balance, which caused Hinata himself to topple headfirst into the grass, Kageyama cackling behind him.

Yachi cried so much when she helped Hinata start packing for his trip up north to his college. She babbled on and on about useless things that she would miss about her and Hinata hanging out, which ended up causing Hinata to dump his armload of clothes and sob with her uncontrollably. What a sight that was. Hinata's mother found them a few hours later, just sitting around a pile of clothes and hugging, and made no effort to bug them further.

". . .You fell out of the tree behind the gym after practice last year, do you remember? You had to go to the doctor to see if you broke it, but it was actually a sprain."

"And Kageyama made sure to never let me forget how 'stupid and dumb I was, dumbass!'" A high pitched giggle was heard and soon accompanied by even louder laughter, with a few snorts occasionally.

". . .All those times you got hit in the face with the ball during practice, I'm surprised you don't actually have brain damage yet."

"Hey!"

"It was painful to watch, honestly, Hinata, I'm worried how you will survive college. I heard college volleyball teams are way more brutal than high school ones!"

"If I survived this long with Kageyama, and even Tsukishima, then I'll have no worry being okay! Trust me, Yachi, I am and will be okay."

The train was taking forever and a day to get there, and Hinata was a bundle of nerves and excitement all in one. Kageyama gave up trying to calm him down in favor of sitting on a bench to wait with their belongings. Hinata bounced around the bench eagerly, his arms flailing as he spoke nonstop about the wonders they would witness when they get there. He finally sat down beside Kageyama and crossed his legs under him, going off on a long winded rant about what the campus looked like (long, intricate details that Kageyama wondered how in the seven hells had Hinata remembered such vivid details?), what they should be expecting with the dorms, what the volleyball team is like, everyone in general, how safe the campus is.

"And it's pretty safe, which is surprising, because a lot of the other colleges I looked at said the same thing but there were a lot of bad things that happened." Hinata said, slumping back against his seat. Kageyama quirked a brow.

"So you're contradicting yourself, then."

"No, I'm not! I just… I just think this is a good choice among the others I looked at. Stupid." Hinata stuck his tongue out at Kageyama, which in return got him a punch on the shoulder.

The train pulled up a little after 5, which is early since they were supposed to board at least by 7. Hinata fist pumped the air and hurriedly grabbed his suitcases, Kageyama begrudgingly following behind, and they entered the train.

Hinata dumped his suitcase next to his bed and threw himself on it, groaning loudly into the pillow that was now trying to suffocate him. Kageyama closed the door behind him and did the same, except he sat down. A sigh was heard coming from Kageyama's mouth and Hinata turned his head to look at the other, seeing his faltering expression.

"What's wrong?"

"..."

"Kageyama, the heck? Tell me what's wrong and stop looking at me with that scary face!"

"I wanted that bed."

"Uwah! You're so stupid, this is my bed." Hinata made his point by rightfully burrowing himself under the covers until only the top his head poked out. Kageyama scoffed and threw a pillow at him, which Hinata also claimed as his until Kageyama got up from his bed and tackled him.

"Get off, get off you gigantic tool!" Hinata shrieked, kicking his legs out to try and kick Kageyama off him, anything that would get him to move. The one in question just punched Hinata's thigh and moved off, lifting up his suitcase to get started on his half of the room. Hinata threw off the covers to follow suit.

"Do you think you'll make friends here?" A startled noise came from Kageyama and then a nasty look was shot at him. "What!? I'm just saying! I know we're the only ones to go here, that's for sure, unless some of our friends from Karasuno goes here and they never told us. But yeah, I hope we do. Or I do, maybe. Being stuck with you for another four years is going to suck alone. Kidding, I'm kidding!" Hinata yelped, getting shoved headfirst into the wall.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch. . . Yachi told me that." Kageyama admitted, flushing a light pink. Hinata laughed.

Several months passed and Hinata's college life was simply amazing. He did do his work, with help from Yachi calling him once every two nights to make sure he was. She even made a deal with him, if he finished his work at least by the end of the week, then he could go to one of those infamous college parties Hinata always heard about. He was ecstatic. He also made Kageyama tag along even though he claimed to be busy, which he never was and both he and Hinata knew that for a fact.

It was at such a party that Hinata didn't feel all like himself, but he couldn't place a finger on what it could be. Maybe he was sick from drinking too much, but he hardly had anything! The most he drank was water, Kageyama practically forcing him to drink it when he got drunk first thing when they arrived. Hinata was indeed a lightweight. Maybe it was all the flashing lights around him, combined with blurs of people surrounding him.

Ugh. This was hell.

And Hinata was all by himself, since Kageyama had to leave because he got an urgent call from his mom. Great, this was just great. Hinata made his way to the back of the apartment he was in, to get away from all the people, drinks, loud music and lights. He knew the bedrooms would probably be taken, but he tried for one anyway and successfully entered one without walking in one people having sex. He's done that before on accident and 10/10 would not do it again.

The cool bed sheets beneath him calmed him down and Hinata felt his eyelids droop, his brain turning off just before it could register the bedroom door opening again.