Birds Of A Feather

"Are you nearly ready?" Daichi spoke over the rowdiness of the changing rooms. "They're expecting us out on the court soon, chop-chop!"

Hinata flinched at the sudden call, licking his dry lips nervously. He fumbled twice with his laces and then managed to get his shoe nice and snug on his foot.

It wasn't unusual for him to be nervous for away matches – not since the first debacle he'd had when he'd joined the team halfway through the first year where he and Kageyama had spit and scratched like feral cats.

And then he'd promptly served a ball into the back of Kageyama's head.

But it was definitely unusual for him to be nervous at this point, when they were already getting ready, moments away from warmups and the match itself.

Hinata had sat eagerly with the rest in the gym as Takeda-sensei has promised them a practice match, keeping their skills sharp for the upcoming matches that would pave the way towards nationals.

The name he'd rattled from his clipboard had struck Hinata as firmly as any hand across his face. What had been eagerness turned to worry, quickly to something akin to despair.

And now here they were, at the rival school, getting ready for a friendly practice match. In scant days, they would be facing Shiratorizawa in a chance to snatch victory. Any and all practice they could squeeze in would be beneficial, crucial in fact.

Hinata swallowed a lump of dread and slapped his knees twice in quick succession, letting the sting burn his palms as he jumped to his feet.

Friendly match. He could do this. They could all do it.

Besides, it had been nearly a year since his experience. It could all be different.

It was not.

"That's Hina-chan," the words crossed the room, the voice calling it out pitched with amusement. Hinata couldn't contain the flinch that rolled down his shoulders as he stumbled to a stop.

"Surely not," someone else sounded equally as amused. "We're practicing with Karasuno. They beat Aobai Johsai."

"Hinata?" Sugawara's voice was soft as he closed a hand over Hinata's shoulder. "You okay?"

"This is, uh," Hinata licked his lips again, swallowing compulsively. "The school I transferred from."

"The one you didn't get along with?" Sugawara continued, but his eyes crossed the court and his fingers squeezed a little tighter.

"Yeah," Hinata's words dropped to nearly a whisper, his mouth twisting almost petulantly if it weren't for the slight quiver to his slight frame.

"What's the hold up?" Tanaka asked boisterously as he passed them by. He had to double take at the look on Hinata's face and surreptitiously backed up a step, wary of being projectile vomited at.

"This is Hinata's old school." Now Sugawara sounded sympathetic and it curdled something in Hinata's stomach.

"I just," Hinata couldn't find the words and thankfully didn't have to as they were called forward by Ukai to greet their opponents.

Hinata bowed in greeting, stiffly, along with the rest of his team, staring at his shoes where they lined up with the floorboards of the gymnasium.

"Man, you haven't grown an inch, have you, Hina-chan?" the person opposite asked him, mirthful, and Hinata bit his tongue hard enough to feel it sting and hurt. He'd barely stood before Kageyama was slapping a hand on his back.

The retort was in his mouth but when he looked up, Kageyama wasn't looking at him, but at the person across the net, his lips twisted in a natural looking sneer.

Hinata felt his face flush knowing that Kageyama had heard the ribbing. It might have been in jest once, but the hurt of being left to the side and harried and mocked for his height was still fierce in his chest. The ache of being secluded from what he wanted to dedicate his very being to, throbbed once, twice, hidden under the knowledge of what he and Kageyama and Karasuno had achieved.

"Hina-chan?" Kageyama asked, a bite to his tone as they crossed the court to huddle.

"Just a joke," Hinata echoed the words from all those months ago and remembered how he'd been ridiculed on the court, never seeming to be where he was needed or wanted.

"Are you fucking kidding me," Kageyama snarled it then, hands clenching into fists. He'd read between the lines. He was good at that.

Tsukishima glanced over, eyes passing between Hinata's trembling form, Kageyama's ramrod spine, and the collection of first years on the other side of the net snickering at some private joke, amused seniors standing just to the side.

He slung an arm tight around Hinata's shoulders, arm briefly criss-crossing over Kageyama's as the team huddled. The two of them shared a look over Hinata's mop of hair, before Tsukishima glanced across the huddle to meet Daichi's face.

Karasuno hadn't made it as far as they had without being able to connect the dots, to work as an efficient team, a well-oiled machine of a thousand, perfectly working parts. Crows were smart creatures, after all.

"It's just a practice match," Daichi began, "But like with all matches, we put in our all. Right?"

"Right!" Everyone echoed back.

"So, let's go out there and show we're a force to be reckoned with, no matter the opponent! Karasuno!"

"Karasuno!"

Hinata stepped away from the protective huddle of bodies, feeling like an exposed nerve. Something, someone, would poke and he would feel it.

The court usually brought him comfort, the ease of back and forth of movement, the burn of over-exerted muscles, the exhilaration of the leap and the glee of the spike. All of that was muted now. He felt as if every eye in the room was on him, waiting for him to stumble.

The yelp that threatened to escape his throat was ruthlessly chomped back when a hand closed on his shoulder.

"We're going to show them," Daichi said, voice mild, "that all of their past decisions were a mistake that will reflect in their performance today."

It took a few moments of rolling the words around his head to understand but when he did, Hinata felt the smile cross his face, the first that afternoon.

When Daichi smiled back, it wasn't a nice smile but warmed Hinata's heart anyway.

He missed the first spike that Kageyama set up for him, felt his heart nearly beat free from his chest when the opposing team laughed and heckled at him, but Kageyama had no biting words for him, simply stepped back into place.

"No big deal, Hinata!" Nishinoya told him boisterously. "Plenty of time to get the next one!"

"There's always a next one," Kageyama told him in turn, voice low and thrumming softly with anger that Hinata had heard only a few times before.

"Right." Hinata took in a deep breath, trying to ignore as someone he might have once tried to call a friend sniggered at him from the other side of the net.

The next two points were slammed down by Tanaka, both of them probably far too heavy and hard for an amateur team in comparison to Karasuno.

In no time at all, Karasuno was ahead by five points, none of which Hinata had scored. But the other team was no longer laughing or mocking. It was half a victory.

"Hey." Kageyama caught Hinata's eye as the opposition got ready to serve. "You ready now?"

He was. Getting into the rhythm had helped, managing to contact the ball and pass it on even if he hadn't yet scored. Hinata felt warmed up, the lead they had bolstering his confidence back to where it should be. Even against Aobai Johsai, the prospect of Shiratorizawa, neither of those had Hinata feel as small as he did that afternoon.

"We've got it." Kageyama's voice was nothing but confidence, and Tsukishima's voice drawled, softly, "If I have to block another one before you can score, I'll be more disappointed in you than I am already."

Hinata huffed. From Tsukishima it was a joke and not an attempt to pry out pain and weakness.

Hinata watched as the ball soared across the court, as Tanaka caught it on his arms, as Kageyama poised himself for the set. He nearly faltered when someone on the other side of the net flinched at his beginning run up.

But the feeling of victory as Kageyama threw the ball right in front of Hinata's hand, as he lifted his palm and slammed down and watched the ball hit the court before the opponent could react – it was better than any other win he'd achieved with the help of his team in the months before.

There was silence on the court, the ball rolling slowly away across the shiny floorboards.

Someone on the other side succinctly said, "What the fuck," and ignored the half-hearted reprimand from their coach, who was just as gobsmacked staring at Hinata.

Nishinoya and Tanaka roared their approval.

The main instigator – and Hinata felt gratified he couldn't even remember their names anymore – tried to apologise after the match, after Karasuno had beat them by a crushing nineteen points, twenty-five to their six squeezed out by sheer luck.

Kageyama had swooped in immediately before Hinata could relive the feeling of inadequacy crawling up his throat, hovering over Hinata menacingly before guiding him away with a hand low on his back.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kageyama hissed at him as he herded him away, crowding him as if trying to hide his body with his own.

Hinata swallowed a few times, feeling sweat dry to his skin, the words stick to the back of his tongue.

"I was afraid it would be the same again," he blurted before he could say anything. "Especially with – with you."

Kageyama stopped pushing, leaving them in a hallway as the rest of the team slowly gathered, catching up. There was hurt in his expression, a weird twist to his face that Hinata hadn't really seen before.

"You thought – "

"Middle school," Hinata managed to spit out. "When, when you said those things and immediately going into high school it was the same I thought…I thought it would be like that everywhere."

Kageyama made an inarticulate noise of anger and paced in a brisk, tight circle before coming around to face Hinata again.

"And after that? You didn't say after?"

"No point then?" Hinata shrugged, eyes darting and bouncing down the hallway. Yamaguchi met his eyes and smiled warmly. Hinata felt himself smile back.

"We could have – "

Hinata sighed, tired.

"There was nothing you could have done," Hinata said quietly, feeling every small inch of his height. "Being in Karasuno, this team, this partnership – " and he punched Kageyama's shoulder gently, "- what we have now is better than what I had, might have had. No need to remember the bad."

Kageyama deflated, gently and slowly, before lowering his forehead to Hinata's shoulder. His breathing was tight and shallow.

"What they were saying," Kageyama bit out. "Made me want to wring them out."

"We sort of did," Hinata said, a hint of warmth to his voice. "I think that's better than anything else that might have happened to them."

Kageyama's hands lifted to grip Hinata's upper arms, squeezing gently. Hinata tipped his head gently to lean against Kageyama's and then reluctantly, because of the audience, Kageyama straightened again. Hinata kept his head tilted, letting his lips brush briefly to Kageyama's cheek as he pulled away, hidden by the angle of their bodies.

"They were mediocre anyway," Kageyama managed, though there was still a tilt to his upper lip that spoke of untold anger. Begrudgingly, he added, "And without you…Karasuno, me, none of us would have made it this far."

"How touching," Tsukishima drawled as he passed by, and wasn't quick enough to dodge the jab to his ribs that Kageyama gave him with an angry snap of, "Oh, shut up."

Kageyama's attention was taken away then as he bickered after Tsukishima. His fingers pressed fleetingly to Hinata's in a brief farewell before he was gone, stalking down the hallway to continue the argument.

"Hinata," Sugawara approached, soft and gentle as ever. "Are you okay now?"

"I've been better," Hinata admitted. "But getting to 'fwush' and 'guwoah!' made it a bit easier."

"When you said 'didn't get along with' I thought maybe the curriculum was unfit, not that you were being bullied."

Hinata shrugged weakly and was only slightly surprised when Sugawara pulled him into a gentle hug, voice warm as he added, "Regardless, I'm glad you made your way to Karasuno in the end."

"It was my first choice," Hinata's voice was muffled in Sugawara's shoulder. "But my mum wanted me to try somewhere closer to home first, because she didn't like the thought of me travelling to and from school such a distance everyday."

"Every parent worries."

Hinata's voice went quieter. "She blamed herself during the transfer."

All the repressed feelings, the months of forgetting, the months of holding onto sour, bitter words, meaner gestures, mocking actions seemed to culminate at once.

With the adrenaline on its way out, Hinata's body calming down from the rampant exercise, he was embarrassed to find the choke of tears in his voice.

"I can't speak for her," Sugawara leaned back, keeping his hands warm and secure on Hinata's shoulders. "But your resulting happiness at the transfer and how you must have changed was surely enough for her to feel better at the end of it all. I can't imagine a Hinata that is less boisterous than the one I get to see every afternoon."

Hinata laughed at that, still a little watery, but let Sugawara pull him back into a quick, brief squeeze before Tanaka and Nishinoya decided it was their time to intervene, scooping Hinata up by the arms on either side and dragging him down the hallway. Hinata's laughter this time was a little higher, a little brighter.

"They're lucky they met us in a volleyball match and not down a dark alleyway with us a little more knowledgeable of the facts," Daichi said cheerfully from Sugawara's shoulder, tone at contrast with the contents of his statement.

"Very lucky indeed," Asahi continued, at odds with his easy-going demeanour, and both Sugawara and Daichi turned to look at him with something akin to concern.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" Hinata's voice broke into the silence, he and Kageyama sat on the grass underneath a tree. The sun was dipping beyond the horizon, casting the world in shades of pink and orange.

"Hah?" Kageyama ineloquently replied, pulling the straw from between his lips from where he'd been drinking milk.

Hinata shoved his phone screen into Kageyama's face. A conversation of what looked like ninety percent emojis was presented to him. At the end of it all, was the simple question of, 'would Kageyama-kun like to stay for the evening?'

"My mum's asking," Hinata added. It helped, considering the contact name was also made of emojis. "We've still got the rack on the car, so she can pick us up and my bike."

Kageyama grunted as he hunted for his own phone, lighting up the screen to tap out a message to his own mother.

"It might be the last time we can hang out like this until Shiratorizawa too," Hinata added, and a giggle was squeezed out of his as Kageyama's fingers sought out the ticklish spot in his side.

"Stop sounding like it's the end of the world, idiot."

"If we don't beat them then – "

"Then we get next time. And the next time. We get as many chances as we can take." Kageyama's voice was stubborn and he set his phone down, message sent, as he sucked at the last of his milk.

"It wouldn't be with everyone though," Hinata sounded melancholy, hands loosely clasped around his phone as he watched the horizon. The sun was barely visible.

Kageyama stayed quiet.

"It's important to me," Hinata added, sucking in a too quick breath. "Because this – this is what I thought being a team would be like and it's perfect and I don't want to lose it too quick."

Kageyama crumpled the milk packet, shoving it in the vicinity of his bag before he reached out. One of Hinata's faintly trembling hand was grasped in his, their fingers twining together.

"You won't. Even if we lose, we still get to play together." Kageyama's voice was as firm as his grip.

"I know," Hinata replied, stretching one of his legs out from where it had been crossed underneath him. At the shift of weight, Kageyama let him lean into his side and shoulder for support.

"They aren't worth it, either," Kageyama continued. "They weren't a team, don't know the meaning of the word."

"They told me I'd never play," Hinata's voice was far too mild and it made Kageyama want to punch something. "That 'dreams are to be dreamt'. That just because I wanted, didn't mean I could. They normally kept it to the court."

"Normally?" Kageyama was the pinnacle of self-restraint.

"Normally," Hinata repeated. "But…Hina-chan," his mouth twisted, shoulders hunching slightly. "Small means delicate. Delicate means feminine. I know it's not a very original insult but…"

Kageyama was going to find where each and every one of them lived and punch them all in the face.

"Its your strength," Kageyama's voice was fierce, and he shook his hand free of Hinata's to catch him around the shoulders, dragging him close to his side. "So, what if you're not tall. It's your strength."

"I know that now," Hinata protested. "And even if I'm not the ace yet, being the decoy is still fun! Volleyball is fun, playing with everyone is fun! It's all in the past but…still kind of fresh. Especially after today. I thought that was all it was going to be, even in Karasuno, the place of the Small Giant."

"You showed them today," Kageyama said viciously. "What they missed out on, what they messed up on."

"We showed them," Hinata corrected, leaning his cheek against Kageyama's and shuffling closer to steal the warmth he exuded.

Kageyama grumbled but accommodated Hinata's movements again, despite flinching when Hinata's cold hand squeezed under his shirt to rest against the skin of his lower back.

"They've never even made it to any tournaments," Kageyama muttered. "So they weren't all that great. Not like us, like Karasuno."

"Nope," Hinata agreed and just to be even more of a pest, pressed his cold nose to Kageyama's neck. The yelp and being shoved away was worth it.

Later that night, futons set up in the living room so they could camp out together, Hinata pressed his face to Kageyama's neck and tried his best to forget that it had hurt at all in the first place.

This was a prompt from Ciel-Scamander! They wanted something along the lines of, Hinata tried another high school first before Karasuno and it worked out as badly as it could have. Fast forward to the upcoming match with Shiratorizawa, Karasuno and Hinata face this old high school who get shown what exactly they missed out on. Hurt/Comfort and a bit of Kagehina included!