Kenhina || Catch me

Prologue //Hinata (re)

Little note: All the chapters with (re) behind it were written in 2017/2018 and rewritten in 2020 when I decided to revive this book. I hope you enjoy it.

***

"Did I get lost?" Hinata asked himself as he realized that he probably ran too far while trying to beat Kageyama. The teen looked around once more but finally came to the conclusion that he didn't recognize this area.

As the redhead was deliberating how he would be able to get back to the rest of his team, his thoughts were interrupted with the sound of a cat, meowing. Hinata turned around, only to be met with the sight of another teenager who looked to be the same age as the middle blocker. The boy seemed to have bleached his hair, his roots showing. It didn't seem like the mysterious teen had noticed Hinata yet as his eyes were fixated on his phone, the cat that had caught the first-year's attention was sitting right beside the boy. 

It didn't seem like the teen was from around here, he wore a red jacket. Hinata couldn't think of any school nearby with red uniforms.

"What are you doing? Hinata asked the boy, bluntly approaching him. 

The redhead's voice seemed to have startled the teen, he made a soft "oh" sound before he turned around to face the first-year. "Uhm, I'm lost," he admitted to the teen as he averted eye contact.

Hinata took a step closer to the mysterious teen, scaring the cat. The redhead didn't even notice the cat running away. "You are from out of town?" the teen asked, displaying his usual enthusiasm.

The boy hesitantly nodded before looking back at his phone again. 

"Is that thing fun?" Hinata asked as he quickly walked up to the new character, kneeling beside him while looking at his phone. The middle blocker did this in an attempt to keep the conversation going. It didn't seem like the mysterious teen was very interested in keeping the conversation alive, but that didn't matter to the redhead. 

At first, the teen with the dyed hair seemed surprised that Shoyo was right next to him, shortly after though, he recovered and answered the first-year's question. "Not really," his voice made it sound like he was either tired or bored, maybe both. "I'm just passing time."

"Oh!" Hinata said, displaying his usual admiration and interest in other people. The redhead's eyes wandered off to the bag that was beside the teen, his eyes grew wide in shock as he saw what was sticking out. "Are you a volleyball player?!" the teen asked, jumping up.

"Huh?" The stranger asked.

"Those are volleyball shoes!" Hinata almost yelled as he pointed at the shoes that were sticking out of the boy's sports bag. 

The teen followed Shoyo's finger and looked over at his bag, "Oh, yeah."

"I'm in a volleyball club too! I'm Hinata Shoyo!" This was exciting! It was rare for the teen to encounter other volleyball players in the 'wild'.

"Kozume..." the teen started to talk.

"Kozume? That's your name?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Kozume..." the boy remained silent for a few more seconds, "...Kenma."

"So you're Kenma! Are you in high school?" The petite redhead asked, excited to have learned the other volleyball player's name. 

Kenma nodded once more, "Yeah," he didn't seem nowhere as exciting as the redhead, in that sense, they seemed to be opposite from one another.

"In what year are you? I'm a first-year!" Hinata added.

The teen didn't seem as invested in the conversation as the redhead was in the slightest, despite that, he still answered every question Hinata fired at him. "I'm a second-year," he answered, looking back at his phone.

Oh no! A second-year? That means that Kozume was older than the redhead, he needed to address him as such. "Crap, you're older than me! Pardon me!"

"Don't worry," Kenma said, glancing up from his phone. "I don't really like that kind of status stuff in athletics."

Hinata felt like he was able to relax again, "Oh, is that so?" he was afraid to have offended the second-year by not addressing him properly, but he didn't seem to mind at all. "Um, do you like volleyball?" the redhead asked both in an attempt to keep the conversation going, but he also displayed genuine interest.

"Not particularly," Kenma remained silent for a few seconds, Hinata decided not to speak up in case the second-year hadn't finished talking yet. "I just kind of do it," the teen continued to speak. "I don't dislike it, but I don't like getting tired," Hinata was really interested in the mysterious teen now, they seemed to be polar opposites. "But my friends play it, and they probably can't do it without me," it seemed like Kenma was arguing with himself now.  

"I think it'll be more fun if you get to like it," the redhead commented, smiling.

Kenma merely shrugged the first-year's words off, "I don't care, it's only while I'm in high school."

Hinata kept smiling, as he continued to make attempts at engaging Kenma into the conversation, "What position do you play?"

"Setter."

"Really? You're a little different from our setter, our setter is a little more... intense," the redhead explained using exaggerating hand gestures, Kenma looked up at the first-year as he did. "I'm a middle blocker!" Hinata announced proudly.

"Wow..." Kenma mumbled.

Hinata turned away from the second-year, "Do you think that's weird?" the first-year asked Kenma, who didn't seem to have the slightest reaction to anything the redhead was saying. "It's a position for tall guys." 

"I guess, but I don't think that," Kenma said, looking up from his phone once more. "I get told stuff a lot when I go to matches," it seemed like the middle blocker finally had found something to actually talk to Kenma about. "They say 'the setter position is for the most talented player, so why him?' because I'm not very athletic, to begin with."

"Oh," there was a brief silence in which the redhead didn't know what else to ask, "Is your team good?" 

"Well, I heard we were good a long time ago, but we fell into decline," the setter explained to the first-year. "Recently though, I think we're pretty good," Kenma continued to speak. This time, the second-year actually made eye contact with Hinata and a little smile appeared on his face. 

Shoyo was taken aback by the unexpected reaction, "What is your school?" the redhead asked, but he didn't receive an answer that day. 

"Kenma!" 

The two teens were approached by another, older-looking, taller teen with black hair that held an odd shape, making him look like a rooster. 

"Oh, Kuroo," Kenma replied as he put his phone away, it seemed like the two knew each other, maybe they were from the same school? "Bye," the setter turned around and was now speaking to the redhead, announcing his sudden departure. "See you soon, Shoyo," the second-year added as he displayed another soft smile. 

The two teens waved at each other. Shoyo just stood there, watching the duo walk off.

Hmm... Kenma, right?