Hinata has persevered after being unchosen and unutilized at the camp Tsukki was chosen for, but he’s been missing that feeling of being important to other people. After seeing all these much taller and well-rounded athletes, even Hinata will be less confident in his abilities. The scene starts after Kageyama and Hinata are reunited and for once sharing a peaceful moment just tossing the ball back and forth. They’re catching each other up on their experiences at camp and Kageyama starts by telling Hinata he couldn’t match up with another player there but encourages him with “You can fly higher”. Even though it was Kageyama’s chance to improve, Kageyama couldn’t help but think of things that would help his special friend! Even when alone, he can’t stop thinking about Hinata.

So much of volleyball tournaments is mental and no one is safe from nerves. For someone like Kageyama, that lives his life being as precise as possible, a simple setback for someone else can really shake him up. Knowing this, one of the Tsubakihara players taunts Kageyama by loudly saying not to bother worrying about any quicks from Kurasuno. This does get a rise out of Kageyama but Hinata steps up and says “Why? We’re planning on doing them.” This very simple, unantagonistic sentence brings a determined smirk to Kageyama’s face. Not only does Hinata have faith in Kageyama, he believes so strongly that he doesn’t even mind telling the other team their plan.

After the rocky start of their match with Tsubakihara, this scene is a welcome sight for both KageHina supporters and fans of Kurasuno at large. The double threat is back to strike fear into their opponents. After scoring the point, Kageyama looks at the rest of their team and says “Sorry to keep you waiting”. Hinata looks up happily and punches the air in victory. He’s got a super cute blush on his face, probably happy to be such an effective couple!

Kageyama gives Hinata a lot of crap, but that doesn’t mean he’s not willing to look after him as well. This scene is cute because you can tell Kageyama is trying to be helpful but his brutish attitude makes that hard. He even tries speaking to Hinata in onomatopoeias the way Hinata does, though Hinata thinks to himself Kageyama sucks at it. But Kageyama sees Hinata’s potential which is something Hinata really needed after being told by the camp coach that he didn’t seem special. It’s amazing that Kageyama was even able to tell Hinata wasn’t jumping to his full potential when no one else knew, but that just proves how closely Kageyama is looking at him!

After Hinata stands up for Kageyama’s natural standoffish attitude while encouraging the team to be themselves as well, Kurasuno works even better together in their match against Date. After fighting his natural inclinations to the point of deadening part of himself, Kageyama starts to find a balance between expressing himself and just being nasty. In this scene, Hinata imitates Kageyama’s arrogant speech about the setter being the coolest position and says they won’t forget his words. While his words seem teasing and mean, Hinata’s actually giving Kageyama permission to be himself even in his cockiness. Hinata assures him he doesn’t need to just do what people want, his strength is being his kingly self. Hinata plops a towel he fashioned into a crown on Kageyama’s head which, of course, he rips off and throws back in Hinata’s face. But for a moment, there’s a pained expression we’re not used to seeing on Kageyama. It’s then replaced with a smile, and you know Hinata’s words reached him.