KageHina

KageHina is the slash ship between Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shōyō from the Haikyu!! fandom.

Canon
Hinata and Kageyama are both first years and members of the Karasuno High School volleyball team (their jersey numbers being 10 and 9, respectively). While the two initially don’t get along due to being on opposing teams during junior high, the two eventually learn to cooperate with one another, and form a very powerful weapon against other teams, performing their signature quick attack.

Hinata and Kageyama first meet during the first round of a junior high volleyball tournament. Due to Hinata being the only one on his team who actually has a passion for the sport, Kageyama's team wins. Though Kageyama recognizes Hinata's talents and his jumping ability, he asks Hinata after the tournament what he has been doing for the past three years, which pushes Hinata to say that he will eventually defeat him. From then on, Hinata begins training hard in order to be able to defeat Kageyama.

The two wind up attending the same high school, Karasuno, and begin to argue immediately out of sheer confusion. At this point, Kageyama still doesn't consider Hinata worthy of being passed to. Because of their poor relationship, the two are forced to play a match as a pair to prove that they can be on the Karasuno team, and they gradually learn how to work together. After their signature "quick" attack is discovered for the first time during their match against fellow first years Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, they become two of Karasuno's most famous players as word of their attack spreads.

However, some talented schools (such as Nekoma High and Aoba Johsai) are able to recognize their attack and counter it, leading to Karasuno's loss to Aoba Johsai at the end of season one. This frustrates Kageyama, who apologizes to Hinata; however, this only angers Hinata and the two fight. However, after Takeda talks to them, they stop fighting and decide to continue working hard. In season two, Kageyama and Hinata's relationship greatly develops. They have a huge fight in episode 5 due to neither of them being able to do a regular quick attack, as both realize that their special attack will not help them win every match - Kageyama throws Hinata to the ground and the two are quickly stopped by their seniors after Yachi runs to get them. Soon after the fight, Hinata starts walking home with Yachi and the two talk about Kageyama, with Hinata saying, "It wasn't that he was the first friend I'd made. He was a partner." Hinata gets on his bike not long after and rides the rest of the way home. It is noted that as he does this, he is crying.

They then start training separately, with Kageyama trying to knock down water bottles with his tosses to make them more exact. He has a lot of trouble doing this, and gets frustrated - however, he thinks of Hinata being there to hit the serve and ends up being able to knock down the bottles.

They first are forced to interact during summer training camp, each realizing that the other is different - gradually, the two reconcile and are able to do the attack. When they succeed for the first time, the two share a split second of excitement together with no bounds before Kageyama starts yelling at Hinata again.

Despite the fact that the two were previously enemies, they learn to get along and are much nicer and more comfortable with each other by the end of the third season.

Fanon
KageHina is the arguably most popular ship of Haikyuu!!, being loved by fans since the beginning of the manga. When the anime was released in 2014, the ship really started to take off with fans producing countless art and writing pieces for them. It's shipped by the majority of the fandom, however, some prefer them as friends over them being in a romantic relationship. It's regarded as a healthy ship and there hasn't been any controversy surrounding it.

In art and writing, they are both usually oblivious to each other's feelings. In many cases, they try to oppress these feelings as well, leading them to fight or distance themselves from the other one. Often other Karasuno members start to push them to make a move or have to give them very obvious hints that they are crushing on each other. There's generally a lot of angst in fanfictions with this ship, even though the ship itself is drawn and talked about as a very "soft" or "fluffy" ship.

KageHina is the second most popular Haikyu!! ship on AO3 with currently around 7500 pieces. It is also the most popular ship for both Kageyama and Hinata.

Fandom
FAN FICTION


 * Shoyo/Tobio on FanFiction.Net

Trivia

 * Their birthdays are a contrast to each other, Hinata's birthday being the 06/21, the longest day of the year and the summer solstice, and Kageyama's being the 12/22, the shortest day of the year and the winter solstice.
 * Hinata means “sunny place.”
 * Kageyama used to be called the “King Of The Court” in middle school.
 * Hinata admires the “Small Giant”, a celebrity for being a short volleyball player
 * When their first names are combined (Shōyō + Tobio) you’ll get “hishou” which means “to fly.”
 * Hinata says Kageyama's name about 89 times in the series.
 * Hinata is the oldest first year on the team, while Kageyama is the youngest.

KageHina