Chapter Text
Kiyoko and Tanaka stood in front of the two citrus-coloured first years. To them, Hinata and Yachi were definitely suspicious.
Especially Yachi.
As her friend, Kiyoko could see how giddy she really looked despite also looking like she would explode from the humiliation.
She could tell what was going on, even if the pair didn't know it yet themselves. Tanaka kept up the interrogation.
"Oh, come on you guys," He whined "Just admit you're datinggg - we can even have a double date !!"
"WE ARE NOTTT" Hinata screamed back. Yachi was in her own world. Oh how she wished this was a real date... but Hinata clearly did not like her like that,
not with how firmly he kept denying it. Her chest hurt, and her throat burned. She felt like crying, or dying, or both simultaneously. sigh...
"...I wish"
Silence...
The entire table froze.
Tanaka blinked.
Kiyoko's eyes widened slightly.
Hinata stared at her with his mouth slightly open - a very confused look on his face.
Yachi's brain finally caught up with her mouth.
She had said it out loud.
Very, very out loud.
"I-I..." Yachi looked red, but this time she had tears in her eyes. Why did she have to say that? And Hinata looked so shocked, oh lord!
She quickly grabbed her bag and rushed out, almost pushing Kiyoko in the process. She needed to get fresh air.
"Yachi San-!!" Hinata called out to her, but he was too late, she had already gone out of the cafe. Hinata sat staring at the exit-
Yachi San wished they were dating... Yachi San liked him?... Yachi San liked...him?
"Shit...what do I do...?"
Kiyoko and Tanaka gave each other a look that meant- we have to fix this...
Tanaka put his hand on Hinata's shoulder, "Hey man...listen, you've got to talk to her..."
Hinata looked up at him with a distraught look on his - still very red - face - like a puppy in a box on the side of the road. He looked so lost.
"But what do I even say?"
Tanaka stared at him waving his arms helplessly. "I don't know! You're the one she likes!"
Hinata's face somehow became even redder.
"B-but I..."
Kiyoko finally spoke. "Hinata...she's just embarrassed."
Hinata looked toward the cafe doors again, the image of Yachi with tears in her eyes replayed in his head over and over. This was his fault... He thought to himself
was this...because he kept saying that this wasn't a date? His chest tightened as he turned to look at Kiyoko.
"But what if she hates me now?"
Tanaka blinked at the tangerine's obliviousness. How could he not see how much Yachi liked him?
"Hinata."
"W-what?"
"She literally just confessed."
"...Oh."
"And then she ran away cuz she thought you rejected her."
"...OHH...shit"
Kiyoko nodded solemnly.
"I really think you should go after her."
Hinata looked down at the table.
Yachi Hitoka liked him.
The girl who stayed late to watch them practice.
The girl who smiled at him just a few minutes ago.
His heart began pounding again. This was the same feeling he'd had when he saw her outside the cafe, when she said he looked good.
The same feeling he'd been trying not to think about all afternoon.
"Oh lord... I really messed up big time..."
Tanaka shook his head and pointed toward the exit.
"Go get your girl, Shoyou."
"W-WHAT?!"
"JUST GO!"
Before Hinata even realized what he was doing, he had stood up, chair scraping loudly against the floor. Yachi San was now out somewhere crying because of him.
"Watch our food!" he shouted before sprinting out of the cafe.
Tanaka grinned.
"That's our idiot."
Kiyoko smiled softly.
"He'll catch up to her."
------------------------------------------ ꯱ׁׅ֒ᨵׁׅ ꩇׁׅ݊ꫀׁׅܻ tׁׅꪱׁׅ ꩇׁׅ݊ꫀׁׅܻ ᥣׁׅ֪ɑׁׅ֮tׁׅꫀׁׅܻꭈׁׅ ------------------------------------------
Hinata finally spotted Yachi sitting outside on a bench near the mall entrance. The evening had gotten much cooler and the crowds were beginning to thin out.
Her camera sat forgotten beside her and she stared down at her shoes, occasionally wiping at her eyes.
For a moment, Hinata just stood there.
She looked so tiny.
And she was crying.
"...Yachi San?"
Yachi looked up immediately, startled at the gingers voice. "H-Hinata?"
Suddenly, chasing after her seemed a lot easier than actually talking to her. Hinata awkwardly walked over and stopped in front of the bench, scratching the back of his neck. What was he even supposed to say?
"I...uh...wanted to apologize."
Yachi looked away. "You don't have to."
"But I do."
Another awkward silence. The universe really seemed to enjoy putting these two introverts in situations that required more communication than they could handle.
"When Tanaka-San insisted it was a date..." Hinata began, "I kept denying it."
"Yea..."
"But not because I didn't want to be here!" Hinata quickly added. "I just...got scared."
Yachi slowly looked up.
Scared?
"My brain kind of stopped working today." Hinata laughed nervously. "When I saw you earlier you looked so...beautiful and then you said I looked good too
and then I couldn't think properly anymore."
Yachi could physically feel her heart attempting to leave her body.
"Beautiful?! M-me?"
"Yeah..." Hinata looked away again. "I wanted to tell you before, but I got really nervous."
Yachi gripped her bag tighter. "I thought you were embarrassed to be seen with me."
Hinata looked genuinely horrified.
"What?!"
"Well...you kept saying it wasn't a date..."
"Ahh..." Shit he really messed up...
"And I know I'm not exactly..." Yachi looked down at her tights. "That good looking, or popular, or anything..."
"What are you talking about?" Hinata asked, genuinely looking confused, as he sat down on the bench next to her.
Yachi blinked. "Hinata-Kun, you're amazing. You're good at volleyball, everybody likes you, you make friends with everyone, you always know what to say and you're so confident and—"
sigh... "Yachi Hitoka."
She stopped in her tracks - stunned.
"Look....I wish I could be more like you."
Now it was Yachi's turn to stare.
"Me?"
"Mhm...You're smart. You help everybody. You're kind. You joined the volleyball club management even though you were scared."
"I was terrified." She retorted, looking down at her hands.
"But you still did it."
Yachi didn't know what to say.
Hinata stared at the ground for a bit, finding it hard to make eye contact.
"When Kageyama left for camp and everybody was improving, I felt really left behind. Sometimes I think I'm kind of useless outside volleyball."
"Hinata-Kun..."
"But then you and Kiyoko San helped me study and You stay after practice and cheer me on." He smiled a little. "What I mean to say is...you make me feel better."
The two sat quietly for a moment. Their hands on the bench. Hinata could feel the warmth from Yachi next to him. God how he wanted to hold her hand...
The mall entrance doors slid open and shut as people walked past them. Somewhere in the distance a child was crying and someone dropped a tray.
Yachi laughed quietly, looking down like she noticed as well.
"...Hinata-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"I really do like you."
This time Hinata's heart nearly stopped. Somehow hearing it directly felt even more unbelievable, but that moment filled him with more courage than he had ever felt on court.
He shifted his body to face her - taking her hands in his.
"I think...I really like you too."
Yachi looked up into his eyes. They were sincere and sparkling.
His face was completely red.
"Actually...I've probably liked you for a while now and only realized it today because I'm really stupid."
Yachi laughed through her tears.
"Well, that makes two of us, huh?..."
"I- Heh..." Hinata chuckled at her comment.
"Yachi Hitoka..."
He squeezed her hands, looking up at her again.
"...will you be....my girlfriend?"
"...o(≧▽≦)o.........yes...1000 TIMES YES!!"
Yachi couldn't be happier. Today was officially the best day of her life.
And there was no force the universe could send to change that.
((ง •̀_•́)ง YES WELL DONE HINATAAA!! - TANAKA BEST WINGMA AWARD -->🏅)