Losing is Winning

Chapter 17

Hinata refused to talk to him about what happened after the match for the entirety of the following week and practices turned into a pure source of frustration. Hinata was watching Tobio's movements as much as no one else, and yet, he missed more spikes than anyone, too.

"Alright," Tobio said, finally running out of patience. The door of the locker room falling shut behind him underlined the scene fittingly.

It had been a week since the match against Ohashi—two weeks since they went to the amusement park. At this point, he didn't feel a single ounce of remorse; in fact, Hinata should be glad that he didn't snap earlier.

"Tell me what's going on, dumbass."

Hinata looked back at him and nearly tripped over a step of the stairs to the locker room. Quickly, Tobio grabbed his hand to keep him from falling. His heart made a small jump when his fingers curled around Hinata's wrist, but he refused to let the frown drop from his face.

"You said you'd get it under control, but so far, not much has changed." He glared at him. "Nationals will start in three weeks already, and for one of those weeks, I won't even be here to practice with you," he reminded him. As much as he looked forward to his departure tomorrow morning, with Hinata's distractedness practicing with him would probably be more helpful for Nationals than learning new things in the camp.

Hesitation shimmered in Hinata's eyes as they flickered from Tobio over the stairs to his hand, still wrapped in Tobio's own, and back up. Then, resignation clouded his gaze and a sigh escaped his lips. "I'm sorry," he said, and Tobio wasn't sure how often he had heard this phrase throughout the last weeks—definitely too often.

Hinata turned around to climb down the last few steps, his wrist falling out of Tobio's fingers. Quickly, Tobio hurried after him.

The first few steps, they walked in silence. Tobio was just about to speak up once more when Hinata breathed in. "There will be lots of great players in the camp, right?" he asked. His voice was so silent that Tobio had to strain his ears to understand him.

A crease built on his forehead. "I guess so, otherwise they wouldn't be invited."

Hinata's gaze dropped to the ground. "You'll enjoy playing with them, won't you?"

"Well, yes," Tobio shrugged. What was Hinata trying to get at? "There will be lots of amazing players. I'm sure it's an amazing opportunity to improve techniques." He was tempted to mention the possibility of being discovered by recruiters, but the words died on his tongue as he noticed Hinata fiddling with the hem of his sleeve. "I thought it wasn't about the camp?" he said instead.

"It's not!" Hinata exclaimed, hands thrown in the air. "It's- argh, screw it! You're distracting me! You and thinking about how you will meet all those amazing players that are way better than I could ever be."

Tobio stopped in the middle of the street, his brain screeching to a halt. A few steps later, Hinata stopped as well, without turning around. His shoulders were raising and falling with each heavy breath.

He was worried about the same thing Tobio had feared a few months ago; the fear of being replaced by a better option. But that wasn't the only thing that stopped Tobio in his tracks. "How am I supposed to distract you if you are supposed to pay attention to me in the first place?" he asked, scowling.

"Stupid idiot," Hinata said but Tobio couldn't be sure if he hadn't misunderstood him with the way he mumbled into his scarf. "Arrogant, stupid idiot." This time, Tobio was sure he heard him right. Indignation rose inside his chest. "I'm not supposed to pay attention to you, I'm supposed to pay attention to the ball and everything that happens around it. But that isn't so easy when you're distracting me all the time!"