サンセットゴースト

Sunset Ghost

第1章

初日の出

"Great job, Kageyama! But you're still throwing them a little too high. Let's toss a few more before the sun sets."

Kageyama nodded at his team captain, going complacently to retrieve a volleyball from the pile they'd set up by a tall oak tree. He picked one up and paused a moment to stare out at the horizon, where the sun was hanging low in the sky. It would probably set completely in about twenty minutes.

"Kageyama, come on. We're wasting daylight!"

"Sorry." He turned and jogged over to his captain, tossing him the ball. The taller boy took a few steps back and threw it in the air, sprinting forward as Kageyama lowered into setting position and tossed it to him. His hand made contact, sending it flying. It struck the ground with so much force, it bounced and rolled away down the hill.

The captain cursed. "Sorry!"

"I'll go get it," Kageyama offered quickly, straightening and jogging after the stray ball to save his senpai the trouble. It was nearing April, and rain from the previous night still lingered on the ground, the grass shining with dew and little streams running in curved rivulets down the sides of the street. This didn't help stop the ball's momentum at all; in fact, it began to pick up speed, and Kageyama struggled to keep up with it.

The sun was finally beginning to set now, and its bright golden rays were blinding him, making it even harder to track the spirited ball. He didn't think he would be able to catch it. Oh well: It didn't really matter. It was just one volleyball. It wasn't like it was irreplaceable.

But then he heard something.

Out of nowhere, the sound of running feet; a flash of bright orange. Kageyama's eyes widened. Brighter than the sunset. A blur shot past him, so quick he could barely blink before it was in front of him. There was the sound of feet skidding through water, and in a flash, Kageyama found himself staring at someone; a boy whose hand had just shot down and grabbed the volleyball. How the hell did he...

Grabbing the ball securely with both hands, the boy straightened, and Kageyama stared at him in incomprehension. Everything stilled to slow motion; the sun was setting, and from a distance, there was the faint sound of a bird's call. Sakura blossoms floated down from above, landing in the dirty puddles that littered the road; a short boy stood in front of him; orange hair; amber eyes; wide smile. Who was this kid?

"Hey, is this yours?" The boy held out the volleyball nonchalantly, nearly knocking Kageyama in the chest with it.

He blinked slowly, feeling as if he had just woken up or had pulled his head out of cold water. "Oh, um... yeah." He took the ball from him and tucked it safely under his arm, studying him warily. "How... did you do that?"

The mystery boy blinked at him in confusion, wearing a naïve smile. "Do what?"

Kageyama scoffed in annoyance. "Catch the ball like that. Duh."

"Oh. I guess I just..." The boy made a slicing movement with his arm. "I just went like voom! and then jumped and fwahh! grabbed the ball before it could roll away!" He held out his arms with a giggle. "It was pretty fun!" As Kageyama nailed him with a look of utter confusion, the boy frowned in thought, placing his hands on his slender hips. "Hey, wait a second, how come you can see me, huh?"

"What?" Kageyama glared at him and crossed his arms, unintentionally mirroring the shorter boy. This kid utterly perplexed him. "Of course I can see you, dumbass. You're standing right in front of me." This was all very confusing. This whirlwind of a boy just ran by, saved his volleyball, and was now asking weird questions. What the hell was going on?

The ginger pouted and stuck his tongue out at Kageyama petulantly. "Don't call me a dumbass, stupid! Most people can't see me, so I was just wondering why you can." He huffed and turned his back on him. "Geez, you didn't even thank me for saving your volleyball. It took a lot of effort to grab it, y'know!"

"Are you a dumbass and lazy?" Kageyama asked with a deadpan expression.

The boy spun on him with an angry, scrunched-up facial expression that Kageyama would've found utterly hilarious if he wasn't so perplexed. "Shut up! I'm not lazy! It just takes a lot of energy to manifest enough to catch a volleyball, okay?"

Kageyama snickered: so much for 'perplexed.' "Manifest? What are you, some kind of occultist?"

"You are so... BWAH!" The boy let out a frustrated breath and threw his arms down. He crossed them restlessly a second later and glared up at Kageyama, amber eyes scrunched up in annoyance. "Why can such a stupid jerk like you see me? Why not Kenma or Natsu?" He let out a depressed breath and visibly deflated. "How unfair..."

Once again lost, Kageyama furrowed his brows, trying to keep up. "Wait... who are Natsu and Kenma?" His brow ticked in annoyance. "And what's with this 'see me' crap, dumbass?!"

"Stop calling me that!" The boy stomped his foot, face reddening with his growing anger, while Kageyama remained impassive but incredibly puzzled. "Haven't you figured it out yet?!" The boy reared back a hand, aiming for his chest, and Kageyama immediately held up a hand to block the blow. However, none came, and his eyes widened as he realized the redhead's hand had gone completely through his arm, leaving a cold sensation in its wake.

"What the hell..."

"I'm a ghost!" the boy exclaimed, standing back and pointing at the still-stunned Kageyama accusingly. "So ha, see! You're the dumbass, not me! So there!" He seemed proud of himself and crossed his arms again with a satisfied smile.

Kageyama didn't reply. He was still staring with wide eyes at his arm, which still tingled with cold. His fist went right through me... like I wasn't even there.

"Oi, did you hear me?" The boy leaned closer to him with a scowl. "I said I'm a ghost, stupid! Don't look so shocked!"

Kageyama snapped out of it and glared up at him, which seemed to rattle the boy as he stepped back with a nervous look. "Listen here, dumbass." He stalked up to the ginger and leaned down so they were eye-level with each other, squinting at him dubiously. "If you're really a ghost, then why can I see you?"

"THAT'S WHAT I WAS SAYING!" the boy howled in frustration, tearing his hands through his hair, messing up the spiked tangerine peaks even further. "There's only one person that's ever been able to see me before you!" He straightened suddenly and stared at Kageyama suspiciously. "You're not a ghost, too, are you?"

Kageyama snorted. "Do I look like a ghost to you, dumbass?"

"Urgghhh." The boy looked like he was going to strangle him, baring his teeth like some stray dog protecting its young. He seemed to calm himself down after a while of heavy breathing and angry huffing noises and turned to Kageyama again, who had been watching him in amused silence. "So you're not a ghost: That must mean you're a psychic, like Yachi-san."

"No," Kageyama said immediately, "I'm not a psychic."

"You must be!" the boy protested. "That's the only explanation for—"

"Kageyama!" a voice called out from the top of the hill, cutting him off. He turned to see the captain standing at the top of the hill, tapping his foot impatiently. "Kageyama, if you got the ball, come back up here! We're wasting time!" He turned back around and disappeared from sight before he could answer; short-tempered, as per the norm.

Kageyama sighed and turned back to the boy. "I've got to go, but this conversation isn't over."

He turned and started back up the hill, but the mysterious redhead called out to him once more. "Hey, wait for a second!"

"What is it, dumbass?" Kageyama turned around appeasingly with an irritated (although slightly amused) look.

The boy steamed at the insult but muttered, "What's your name?" anyway.

Kageyama rested a hand on his hip, holding the volleyball tightly with the other. He didn't have a reason to answer, but he did, anyway. "It's Kageyama. Kageyama Tobio."

"I'm Hinata Shōyō!" the boy said with a wide, abrupt smile; the kind that spread throughout your whole face and caused your eyes to close. Kageyama had only ever seen it in movies or in manga before. "I'll see you around, Kageyama!"

Before he could say anything in response, the boy was gone, leaving only a faint wind and a stirring of leaves behind. After a long moment of wavering in the silence, Kageyama turned and started walking up the hill, glowering at the ground. "Dumbass," he muttered, clutching the ball tighter. "I'm not a psychic, and I don't believe in ghosts."

The next morning, Kageyama rested his head on his desk, listening to the monotonous droning of his teacher, who was yammering on about some war that Kageyama could care less about. All that was on his mind was Hinata Shōyō. A cycle of words kept going through his mind as he feebly tried to make sense of them. Hinata; ghost; orange; sunset; Hinata; ghost; volleyball; psychic; dumbass; Hinata; ghost?

He let out an annoyed breath and closed his eyes. As if he didn't already have enough to think about between studying and volleyball; now there was this crazy mess, too. A ghost? Really? Kageyama was feeling like the butt of some bad joke. But... He remembered back to when Hinata's hand had gone right through his arm; the brush of ice cold against his skin, chilling him to his very core. That was real. And if that was real, then maybe...

"Kageyama! Psst, Kageyama!"

The setter nearly jumped out of his skin and whipped his head up so fast he heard his neck crack. He jerked backward, finding Hinata's nose inexplicably inches from his face, and nearly fell out of his chair, breathing heavily. "What the hell?!" he hissed, glancing around warily, terrified someone would see this and think he was nuts. "What are you doing here?! How did you find me?!"

Hinata smiled simplistically and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "Well, I was talking to Yachi-san and she said she knew what class you were in! What a crazy coincidence that you guys are both psychics and go to the same school and everything. How cool!"

"I told you already, I'm not a psychic!" Kageyama hissed at him. "Now go away, before someone notices!"

Hinata ignored him, flopping down on the ground with his legs spread out like a child, watching the teacher at the board intently. "Ooh, I haven't been to a classroom for so long! It's just like I remember!"

"Hinata," Kageyama growled through gritted teeth, trying not to lose his temper. "You need to go. Now."

"But Kageyamaaaa!" he whined in protest, pouting like a toddler who'd just been told he can't have another cookie. "I want to stay! This is fun. I never get to go anywhere and nobody can see me, so they don't talk to me..." He trailed off and drew lazy circles on the ground with his pinkie. "It gets boring all by myself..."

Kageyama sighed. He might've felt sorry for him... if he wasn't so annoying, and if he weren't acting like they were old friends. "Hinata, we just met yesterday. You can't just show up and hang around my class all day. Why don't you go hang out with this... Yachi-san, or whoever."

Hinata puffed out his cheeks and hugged his knees to his chest. "But... Yachi-san said I can't talk to her during school because it makes her look weird..."

"Well, imagine how I look," Kageyama muttered with an annoyed click of the tongue. He sighed despairingly as the ginger continued brooding, picking at minuscule molecules of dust on the floor. "Look, I'll tell you what; You can hang around till lunch, but then you have to go, okay?"

Hinata brightened visibly and nodded several times, so enthusiastically Kageyama was afraid his head would fly clean off his tiny shoulders. "Yes! Thank you, Kageyama! I'll be good, I swear." He straightened and crossed his legs, looking determined as he stared at the board. "I'll just sit here and be quiet!"

Kageyama sighed and turned his attention back to the front. He could already tell that this Hinata Shōyō was going to be a major nuisance...

"Yay, yay, yay, yay, yaaaay!" Hinata bounced around like an excited kangaroo, making Kageyama roll his eyes. He ran from place to place, arms rotating from being clenched at his sides, raised in the air, tangled in the front of his shirt, and pointing at random things, his amber eyes wide and a happy smile covering his face. "Ooh, this is so cool! School looks exactly like I remember!"

"Stop jumping around, dumbass," Kageyama ordered, stopping in front of a vending machine and frowning down at the drink selection. Hinata flopped to a rough stop beside him obediently and clasped his hands behind his back, leaning forward with a curious look, as if he'd never seen a drink machine before.

"What are you doing, Kageyama?"

"Buying milk," he responded shortly, pressing a button and swiping the box from the delivery slot. He popped the straw through the top and sipped it, turning back around and walking towards the large tree in the center of the courtyard as Hinata bounded after him, laughing cheerfully.

Kageyama dropped onto the ground in front of the tree, trying his best not to squeeze the box to the point of explosion, and Hinata flopped down beside him, grinning like an idiot, and frankly starting to piss Kageyama off. "Oi, dumbass, quit smiling so much. You're ticking me off."

Hinata stuck his tongue out at him in juvenile response. "Shut up, Bakageyama! Smiling is good for you!"

Kageyama nearly spit out his milk and turned to glare at the ginger-haired boy. "What did you just call me, dumbass?"

Conveniently ignoring him, Hinata's eyes scanned the courtyard until they landed on someone. His mouth formed a little O as he jumped to his feet and madly waved his arms. "Oh, Yachi-san! Helloooo, Yachi-san!" Kageyama followed the excited boy's eyes and found a petite blonde girl waving at Hinata with a small smile. As he ran over to her, Kageyama rolled his eyes and took another sip of milk.

He really is going to be a nuisance...

A/N: Wow, this is seriously my first Haikyuu fic. I should've probably written one before this... But oh well. I hope you guys like this. I love the idea of ghosts so I decided why not do something with them? Plus I thought it would be hilarious if Hinata was a ghost and Kags was psychic because honestly how funny XD Anyway, if you enjoyed the story and want more, remember to follow and favorite, and let me know what you think down in the review section!