Be My Halo

Swapping Dreams (Part 12)

"...Okay."

~•°•°--------------------°•°•~

Kageyama's POV

I swallow. Nervousness creeps through my veins like it does before a game - but I try to hide it well. Besides, I don't need to be nervous. It's just Shouyou. And he has nightmares, too.

"I'll go first, then?" I ask, somewhat reluctantly.

"Yes, please," Shouyou replies, slightly pink.

I take a deep, shuddering breath. He untangles a blanket and hands it to me, sheepishly. I blink and take it, wrapping it around my shoulders. Our knees bump as we shift, and his muscles jolt again. I pretend not to notice, while my heart is pounding like crazy.

I take another breath, and let it out in a whoosh, furrowing my eyebrows. Shouyou's hair flutters.

"Well... the first one I had was about you," I start. He looks up in surprise, but I continue. "We were playing volleyball at the Tokyo gym. And... you called out for me to toss to you, but when I turned, you were gone. Instead, there was this pillar made of moss and rock and branches lined with crows. I kept trying to see the top, and the place sort of... changed? It became a forest with huge trees.

"When I finally looked at the top, I saw a throne. Then it changed again, and I was kneeling in front of the throne in this really odd palace... It actually kind of reminds me of the mansion, now. But I looked up, and on the throne was... was Oikawa."

Shouyou gasps, leaning forward. "The Grand King?!"

"Don't call him that, dumbass!" I kick his foot.

"Yeah, yeah... Is that the whole dream?"

"Well, kind of. I got woken up, and you pulled me off the cot, so I basically got knocked out and started dreaming again."

"Ooh, what did you dream next?" he asks without apologizing for knocking me out.

"It was Oikawa again," I begin. "This time, he spoke. He said something like... 'Back so soon?' Like he'd remembered me from my earlier dream. Anyways, I couldn't see him anywhere, so he basically told me I'd gone blind. So obviously I was a bit freaked out when I woke up and could barely see anything."

"The Grand-- I mean, Oikawa - is a jerk! It sounds awful... Do you think it means something? Like, do you think he's why your vision's all blurry?" Shouyou asks, pulling his blankets closer to himself.

"Of course not, dumbass. It was just coincidence."

"Oh."

I squint at him for a moment, but that makes it even harder to see clearly, so I clear my throat and look away. "I have a couple more, but... you can tell yours first, if you want."

"Oh, uh--" Shouyou fidgets in embarrassment, as if he'd forgotten he's sharing his as well. "I have two, also, so... I'll tell you the one I had a couple days ago, first, then you can tell yours, and I can tell my last one... if that's okay?"

"Yeah."

He clears his throat and begins, sounding almost as if he were telling a ghost story. "The day before you came over, or something like that, I had the first bad dream I'd had in years.

'Natsu? Natsu, where are you?'

"I looked everywhere, first in town, then at home when I appeared there. I couldn't find Natsu.

'Natsu! Mom! Kageyama!!'

"I called out every name I could think of, including yours. It felt like walking through mud or water or something. Time felt like it'd nearly stopped.

'Hinata?'

"I heard you say my name. At least, I'm pretty sure it was you. I thought so in my dream, so... I don't know why you were the one who answered.

'Kageyama? Where are you!? It's so hard to see!'

'...Not worth it... Goodbye, Hinata.'

"You said I wasn't worth it to save, and you... you said goodbye. I woke up feeling like there was a boulder sitting on my chest. I couldn't move, or speak, or think, or hardly breath. All I felt was pure terror. Then, the weight slowly lifted, and I could finally move again.

"Uh, anyways..." Shouyou flushes. "That was... one of my dreams..."

I frown, clenching my fists. "I'm... sorry. I wouldn't say that. That sounds... terrifying. I've only had one anywhere near that awful."

He rubs the back of his neck at my first words, but quickly sits up straight as I speak. "Tell me!"

"No."

"Why not!?"

"That one's the second one, I'll tell you it last."

"Fine... What happened in this one, then?"

"Well... it's shorter than the others. It was me and Oikawa as kids. There wasn't anything to see, it was just us talking. He was trying to get me to do something, like prank a teacher... I told him I couldn't, because I was doing homework. He told me I'd need glasses, like him, so I made fun of him.

"Our conversation kind of just trailed away, and I heard your kitchen clock. Then I drifted into the other dream, but I'll tell you that in a second," I finish, awkwardly.

"Ooh, that sounds so weird! Was that after we'd said you should go to the eye doctor?" Shouyou asks.

"Yeah. Dunno why it was Oikawa again, though... That jackass."

Shouyou laughs quietly, a beautiful sound. My breath hitches and I swallow, looking away.

"Well, uh, I guess I'll tell you my last one, then you do the same," I say.

"Okay!" He smiles at me. He's so beautiful... I can't think straight.

"I heard you speaking, again. We were in your house. I looked around, and saw you in the hallway. You were begging me to help you, but you were just standing there.

"Your mouth wasn't moving, either, as if you were talking through a speaker or something. As if you could really call it a mouth, anyways... It was like a black blob, kinda spazzing out where your mouth should've been.

"I think it was because the night before, you'd been looking at me in the dark. The shadows had done even creepier things to your face than normal--"

"Shut up about that!"

"--so it must've appeared in my nightmare. Anyways, you wouldn't look at my eyes, only just over my shoulder. Then, you said I should wake up, and you really did look into my eyes. But... they were Oikawa's eyes, not yours. Then I woke up."

Shouyou fell silent for a minute, biting his lip. "That sounds... really scary. I hope you don't have another like that..!"

I look away, red. "It's fine... just tell me yours."