some haikyuu! one shots i guess

winning and losing

kageyama and hinata mourn a loss.

kageyama and hinata walked home in a daze, staring straight ahead and not talking, both of them replaying those last couple minutes of the match in their minds over and over again. kageyama remembered last year, when karasuno had lost to seijoh for the first time and he had wondered: is it always gonna feel like this?

it did. losing to shiratorizawa this year was not only a crushing blow to his pride - his ego boost after having defeated them last year - it seemed to have hollowed out kageyama's heart. he felt numb, and a bit detached from reality as he was walking.

back in middle school, when kageyama would lose a match, he'd feel angry and misunderstood, like he alone knew what went wrong and he alone was reaping the consequences for it. now, walking side by side with hinata, kageyama didn't feel angry so much as regretful and frustrated, and somehow, hinata's heavy footsteps coinciding with his was like a melody to kageyama's ears. it wasn't because hinata was sad, but because it reminded kageyama he wasn't alone in how he was feeling. hinata, and all of his other teammates, were thinking the exact same thing as him right now, and though it was little comfort, it was everything for kageyama.

"kageyama," said hinata softly, in that quiet, sorrowful tone that tugged at kageyama's heart. "i don't feel like going home right now."

kageyama halted. "me neither," he agreed, thinking of having to go home and tell his mother he'd lost the game she'd been so excited for and so disappointed she'd have to miss.

the two boys didn't speak, but kageyama simply followed hinata as he trailed his bike alongside him into the park they were walking near. once they'd reached the shade of a large tree, hinata set his bike aside and promptly laid down into the grass. kageyama almost smiled endearingly at the sight of him, but his mouth muscles wouldn't move.

instead he laid next to hinata, staring up at the cloudless blue sky and reaching his hand up to stare at it against the light. kageyama's gaze then involuntarily flickered towards hinata, who was not watching him, but the birds soaring across the sky. kageyama knew hinata was thinking of flying just like those birds, and he resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, just feel him, feel closer to him than he ever had been.

they both laid there silently for a while, listening to the birds chirping, each thinking mostly the same thing, though kageyama suspected he was probably thinking about hinata much more than hinata was thinking about him.

"maybe we should go now," kageyama suggested, getting up with a sigh. "our parents will get worried if we're gone too long." he stretched out his legs and then stood up, waiting for hinata to do the same thing, but hinata didn't do anything, even when kageyama held out his hand.

"i can't move," said hinata dramatically, his hand resting on his forehead. "i'm sad, and i'm tired."

kageyama rolled his eyes and stood there for a moment before sitting back down again.

"you're not gonna carry me?" asked hinata, moving his hand and looking at kageyama from the corner of his eye.

"i'm tired, too," said kageyama, shrugging. hinata nodded, looking back up at the sky, that pained expression taking over his face again.

kageyama couldn't stand to look at it anymore; he held hinata by the shoulder and pulled him into a sitting position, right in front of kageyama.

"we'll just ease you into standing and walking for yourself," kageyama explained, but before he could say anything more, hinata leaned forward, resting his head on kageyama's chest. kageyama stiffened slightly at the contact, but once it became clear hinata wasn't moving, he decided to just get used to it, leaning back on his hands.