Kageyama waited for Hinata to leave before approaching Daichi. As beneficial as it was to practice with the energetic redhead, his patience could only be pushed so much for one day. Even if only for an hour longer, he wanted to take a shot at practicing alone.

"Wait," mumbled Kageyama just as Daichi was about to lock the gym doors.

Everyone else had already called it a night after an intense four-hour practice, yet he was still ready to keep on practicing if it meant improving and honing his skills as a setter.

"Is something wrong?" Daichi asked, slightly surprised that Kageyama wasn't walking home with the others like he usually did.

"I, uh, wanted to know if maybe I could practice for a couple more hours myself."

Perhaps it was rather late in the afternoon, but Daichi was never one to discourage his teammates when they were motivated to keep on practicing. Plus, he was slowly becoming more accustomed to working as a whole with a team; the least Daichi could do was accept his request.

"Alright," he agreed, handing him over the keys. "Just be sure to lock up once you're done."

Kageyama's eyes grew wide, slightly surprised that he even agreed. "Right."

Daichi bid his teammate a goodbye and started heading off before remembering something important.

"By the way," he said quickly before Kageyama entered the gym, "there's supposed to be a bad thunderstorm heading this way. Make sure you don't stay too long."

Kageyama nodded in acknowledgment and entered the gym, not realizing just how much time would slip by him.

* * *

Practice flew by quickly for him. What seemed like ten minutes was actually over an hour and before he knew it, he had been there for over two hours. It wasn't until then that the inevitable wave of exhaustion finally hit him and he collapsed onto the cool gym floor panting heavily.

There he laid after chugging his water for quite a few minutes in an attempt to cool down before a bolt lightning visible through the windows snapped him out of his daze. Kageyama got himself too caught up in volleyball to remember what Daichi had said about the storm and now it was finally upon him.

Grabbing his bag, he bolted out of the gymnasium, making sure to lock the doors behind him. Outside, rain was coming down in small trickles but was sure to grow worse in just mere minutes. There was no way he could make it back home before the storm hit even if he ran the whole way.

A bolt of lightning struck down, so bright that it lit up the sky, closely followed by a deafening roar of thunder. Despite how loud it was, he could've sworn he heard something else aside from the thunder. It sounded like a... scream.

Scanning his surroundings, his eyes didn't stop until they fell upon you, hands covering your ears as you cowered in front of the entrance to the school. Now was his chance to run home before the storm got too bad, but he couldn't bring himself to just ignore you when you looked so terrified. Cursing himself, he jogged over to where you stood.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hoping more than anything that it was nothing serious; that he could leave without a guilty conscious.

"I-I just don't like thunder," you mumbled, squeezing your eyes shut.

"Do you live nearby?"

You shook your head and he sighed. "Come on, we can run to the convenience store and-"

But it was too late. The storm had finally hit. Rain poured down onto the ground and lightning flashed in the sky. Another roar of thunder was heard and you jumped, getting so close to Kageyama that you were nearly hugging him. He reached over to the door behind you and tried pulling it open, but it was sealed shut.

"I already tried that," you said softly.

Kageyama quickly racked his mind for another solution. There was no way you and he could run to the convenience store in this weather, not with the heavy rain that didn't look like it was going to cease anytime soon and the lightning that struck dangerously close to the school. There must be someplace nearby he could go to...

"Follow me," he told you.

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed your hand and dragged you along behind him into the rain. You struggled to keep up with his pace, but thankfully it wasn't a far run. In less than a minute, the two of you stood outside the gymnasium. Kageyama took a moment to unlock the door and once the both of you were inside, you each were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," you said to him as you took a seat on the floor, your clothes sopping wet.

He nodded and continuing to stare out the window, looking out at the storm. "I hope it'll be over soon."

You gulped. "I heard it was supposed to go on for a few hours..."

Both you and Kageyama remained silent in realization that the two of you might be forced to stay in the gym far longer than expected, if not the whole night. It definitely wasn't what either of you were looking for, but the storm really limited your options. You sighed, knowing that the time spent there would pass much slower without any conversation.

"Why did you stay late?" you inquired, shooting him a curious look.

"Volleyball practice," he replied bluntly.

"Doesn't that usually end a lot sooner, though?"

"Yeah."

His lack of elaboration was truly making conversation with him a difficult feat, but you were determined not to sit there for however hours it may be in dead silence. Even if you had to force him to talk, you would.

"Well, I was here because-"

A roar of thunder echoed throughout the building and you quickly slapped your hands over your ears, but not before letting out a loud cry. Kageyama's head whipped your way and his face softened when he noticed how scared you were. He opened his mouth to say something (what it was, he wasn't quite sure of), but he never got the chance. More thunder was heard and he could've sworn he saw you crying.

He wasn't quite sure how to help you, but even he knew how horrible it would be just to leave you there alone and frightened. Working up the nerve, he slowly approached you and sat down beside you, hoping that would calm you down but it did very little to ease your fears.

Another round of thunder rang throughout the night followed by a wicked bolt of lightning. Without even meaning to, you jumped and wrapped your arms around Kageyama, causing his whole body to grow rigid. The moment you realized what you had done, you quickly pulled away and revealed the blush that covered your face, albeit not as dark as Kageyama's.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I just got scared-"

"It... It's okay," he said, regaining his composure. "If it makes you feel better, you can hug me."

You nodded slowly, feeling slightly embarrassed as you kept both of your arms tightly wrapped around only one of Kageyama's arms. Every time the thunder grew especially loud, you would bury your face into his shoulder until the worst of it was over with. Nearly an hour passed of this, yet the storm hadn't dissipated yet. After a long day, you were exhausted so it was no surprise when you fell asleep on the gym floor, followed shortly by Kageyama.

* * *

Daichi and the rest of the team's reactions were priceless the next morning when they entered the gym to find Kageyama and you passed out on the floor.

"I... I can't believe this," Daichi stammered, dumbfounded by the sight before him.

"It's probably not what it looks like," Sugawara reasoned, though he seemed to be trying to convince himself that more so than the team.

"That lucky bastard!" Tanaka exclaimed.

The reactions from the boys were enough to stir you and Kageyama out of slumber. When the black-haired boy sat up and saw his team standing before him, realization hit him that he accidentally stayed the night in the gym and with a girl, no less.

Before he could even begin to explain what truly happened, Daichi marched right over to him, looking furious at Kageyama. He began screaming at his teammate for his apparent irresponsible actions. The younger male felt his rage beginning to bubble up upon realizing he was being accused of something he didn't do, but he never got the chance to explain.

Tsukishima soon entered the gym with Yamaguchi closed behind. It didn't take the bespeckled male long to put the pieces together from the scene before him and his lips quirked up into a mocking smirk.

"Looks like our king dominates the court in more ways than one."