Chapter Text
Tobio is spent.
He has reached his breaking point.
His body has officially given up on him.
Today’s practice match against Nekoma had been particularly exhausting and he knew when he started running up that stupid mountain next to stupid Hinata and his stupid bike again, that this was - in fact - not a good idea.
He’d like to blame his decision to ignore logic and common sense purely on his determination, or maybe his pride. But when Hinata had asked Tobio to join him on his way home and he’d hesitated for only a moment, Hinata’s eyes had turned so sad that he just couldn’t say no. So maybe that had played a part in it as well.
No matter the reason, he should have known his limits.
To make matters even worse, halfway through their track it starts raining and Tobio’s clothes and hair are soaked in mere minutes.
So when they finally arrive at Hinata’s house, both of them red-faced and out of breath, he hesitates only for a moment before gritting his teeth and swallowing down his pride. “Can I-” he starts, but his voice breaks before he can finish the question. He struggles to hide it with a cough, takes a deep breath and tries again.
“Can I sleep over tonight?” He asks way too quickly, looking anywhere but Hinata’s eyes.
He probably shouldn't have worried, because immediately Hinata starts grinning from ear to ear and shouts out an enthusiastic “Yes, of course!”
He follows Hinata inside the house, slips off his wet shoes and calls his mom, telling her that he’s staying the night.
Tobio’s relieved that he won’t be needing to rush to the bus stop now or struggling to stay awake until he’s back at his own home, of course.
But if he’s being honest to himself, he’s also looking forward to spending a little more time with Hinata without school work or workouts on their minds - Tsukishima’s annoying comments from a few weeks ago be damned - and he’s so very glad that they’re not back to awkwardly staring at each other and not saying anything, just like last time.
Even though he’s just as drenched as Tobio, Hinata is delighted and bounces on his feet the whole time Tobio is on his phone.
Why he isn’t as exhausted as Tobio himself, he can’t explain. Hinata’s always been a ball of energy, a whirlwind that just couldn’t seem to stop moving, but this is a whole new level.
“Aren’t you even a little bit tired? What do they feed you?” he asks him and yawns.
“Lots and lots of green beans! It’s good for your muscles, my mom always says.” He stops and thinks for a bit, “Or was that lentils?” he finishes, rubbing his chin. Tobio just sighs, walks past Hinata and ruffles his hair, somehow way gentler than he had initially intended. “It’s probably both.”
He knows which one of the rooms is Hinata’s, so he walks straight into it and drops his school bag to the floor. Hinata follows him on his heels. Tobio isn’t sure, but he thinks he can hear a little bounce in his step. “Can I take a shower first?” Tobio asks, turning around, and pushes his damp bangs up his forehead.
“Of course! Just go down to the end of the corridor and take the door on the left. Hang your wet clothes over the heater, if you want.” Hinata replies, while shedding his own wet hoodie and joggers, dropping them carelessly to the floor. “Oh, and you can use any one of the towels on the rack, they’re all clean,” he adds, already turning away from him.
“Thanks.” Tobio yawns again, shuffles drowsily to the bathroom and locks the door behind him.
After stripping down, he takes a quick shower and is just about to finish drying his hair, when he realises that he didn’t bring any more clean clothes in his school bag. He scowls, then wraps another one of the big, fluffy towels around his hips and walks back to Hinata’s room.
Hinata’s crouching on the floor, already changed into his pyjamas, his still-wet hair dripping onto the shoulders of his white shirt. He’s shuffling around in the drawers under his bed, looking for something.
When he hears Tobio enter, he turns around and says, “Kageyama, I think we have a -” he stops suddenly.
“What?” Tobio asks, confused.
“Why are you naked?”
“Not naked, dumbass, I’m wearing a towel. I just realised that I don’t have any clean clothes to sleep in. Could I borrow some of yours?”
“They are probably way too small for you.” Hinata mutters, looking down.
Tobio isn’t sure where the blush on Hinata’s cheeks is coming from, it isn’t even that warm in his room.
“The only other options are my wet shirt and pants from before, my sweaty sports clothes from practice or my school uniform, literally anything’s better than that. I guess I’ll survive.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Hinata finally says. He walks to his wardrobe and pulls out some black shorts and a dark-blue T-Shirt with a picture of two cuddling peaches, of all things. ‘Just Peachy’ is printed in bold letters around them.
“I think these could fit you the best out of all of my clothes.”
Tobio arches an eyebrow and suppresses a grin, “You’re a peach-enthusiast, then?”
“Ugh, no. My grandma got that shirt for me. She lives in Yamanashi, so Natsu and I went peach-picking with her a lot when we were younger. The area is kinda known for that... I guess she’s also still expecting a major growth spurt on my part.” Hinata pouts and shakes the shirt out with way more force than necessary.
“Well, good luck with that.”
“Shut up.”
Tobio finally grins unabashedly, takes the clothes and walks slowly back to the bathroom.
Dropping the towel on the floor, he starts to get dressed.
Hinata was right, the clothes don’t fit properly. The pants are very short and also pretty tight around his hips and the shirt is way too big, even for him. But - as ridiculous as it looks - it smells faintly of some sort of flowery laundry detergent and feels soft and comfortable against his skin, probably from all the years it's been worn.
It'll do for one night.
He quickly brushes his teeth and washes his face. He wants to head back into Hinata’s room, but when he looks at himself and those damned hugging peaches in the mirror again, his thoughts go astray. He imagines Hinata wearing the ridiculously oversized shirt, its neckline way too wide for him and hanging off that one freckled shoulder, the hem almost down to his knees, his shorts covered by it.
Hinata’s smaller body would be completely drowning in this shirt, he’s absolutely sure of that, without ever having seen it for himself.
Cute , he thinks involuntarily as he swallows drily and notices himself blushing in the mirror.
Where is that coming from? he wonders, shaking his head.
Trying to push those unwanted thoughts aside, he tip-toes back to Hinata’s bedroom. Once there, he sees Hinata sitting on his bed, fidgeting with the blanket and smoothing down some nonexistent wrinkles.
He looks worried, somehow. “So, as I was about to say earlier.. We have a bit of a problem.”
“What?” Tobio asks, stepping in front of Hinata.
“My mom put the spare futon in the washer this afternoon and it’s not dry yet.”
“Oh.”
“So, I mean, if you don’t mind, you could, just maybe-”
“Should I leave?”
“No!” Hinata leaps forward, grabbing Tobio’s arm with both hands. Tobio looks down at Hinata's tanned hands on his own paler skin. I never noticed that difference , he thinks, before slowly looking back up again.
“No. Stay, please.” Hinata says, a bit more quietly this time, while not meeting Tobio’s eyes. “It’s way too late. The last bus is gone, your clothes are still wet and you shouldn’t walk all this way home tonight, you’re way too tired.” Hinata squeezes his arm.
“I’m not that-'' Tobio starts, but is cut off by Hinata, whose face is stern now.
“Of course you are, I can see it, so stop trying to tell me that you’re not! It’s okay! You’re allowed to be exhausted, you’re allowed to be tired! Just...” Hinata finally blinks up at him, “stay. Please.”
Tobio swallows down the lump in his throat. “Alright,” he says softly “I will.”
Hinata smiles a little at that, his hands letting go and brushing lightly down Tobio’s arm.
“Okay. I’ll sleep on the floor, then. You can get comfortable on my bed now, if you want. I’ll just hop into the bathroom real quick.”
Tobio sits down on the bed after Hinata has left the room, his head spinning a little.
****
“You’re still awake, aren’t you?” Tobio asks, after hearing Hinata turn around on the floor for what feels like the sixteenth time now.
“Yeah,” he answers in a small voice.
“Floor’s too uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“You’re lying.”
“No, I said it’s fine!”
Shuffling to the other side of the bed, pressing his back against the wall and pushing the heavy blanket aside, Tobio says, “Get in here, before I’ll drag you in by your feet.”
Hinata huffs a bit, but after a moment he climbs up and into the bed anyway. He settles down next to Tobio, facing him.
“Damn, you’re cold!” Tobio hisses, as Hinta’s feet brush his legs accidentally.
“Why didn’t you say something? You can’t just keep lying on the floor of your own room while freezing your ass off, you dumbass!” Despite his harsh words, he feels bad. His own body has heated up considerably in Hinata’s small bed, the thick blanket creating a wonderfully comfortable cocoon around him.
“It’s not that bad,” Hinata pouts, but presses his feet against Tobio’s shins anyway. “Is the rest of you that cold, too?”
Tobio scowls and reaches forward to lay his hand on Hinata’s upper arm. It’s not as cold as his feet, but still, he can feel him shiver under his fingertips.
“Turn around,” he mutters.
Hinata looks at him with wide eyes, “What? Why?” he asks.
“Just do it already, you’ll get sick if you don’t warm up soon,” Tobio grumbles and Hinata complies, even though he’s clearly still not sure what’s happening right now.
When Hinata has settled down again, he turns his head a bit to look over his shoulder at Tobio and he can see the confused expression on Hinata's face for a second.
Embarrassed, he screws his eyes shut, reaches around Hinata from under the blankets and pulls him closer to his own much warmer body.
He hears a small sound escaping from Hinata’s lips when his back lies flush against Tobio’s chest and stomach. After a second, he feels Hinata’s cold hands coming up to rest against his forearm.
Hinata’s back is not as cold as his arms and feet, but he can still feel the lower temperature seeping through him.
Even though this is all very embarrassing for him and he feels like his whole body is flushing right now, he’s glad that he’d told Hinata to come into the bed and warm up.
Tobio can feel Hinata squeeze his forearm before he shuffles back a little more to plaster his back even closer to his chest and stomach.
“Thanks, that’s.. that’s really nice,” he mumbles, before curling into him even more.
There are butterflies in Tobio’s stomach.
He doesn’t know what to say, so he just hums a little. The violent blush on his face still hasn’t gone away and he wants to blame it on the shared body heat, but he isn’t that good at lying to himself.
He’s lying stiffly next to Hinata. The arm that’s lying under his own body is slowly starting to feel numb and his neck starts to cramp a little.
Of course Hinata would choose this moment to become observant all of a sudden. “That’s not very comfortable for you, is it?” he asks.
“Just not used to it,” Tobio mumbles in response. “I usually sleep on my back.”
“Oh, okay,” Hinata says before letting go of Tobio’s forearm and turning around to face him.
He doesn’t comment on Tobio’s face, which is probably full of question marks right now. He just pushes down on Tobio’s left arm until he’s turned onto his back.
'Your bed's not big enough for us both to fit like this' he wants to say, but before the words can leave his mouth, Hinata has already settled down again, plastered to Tobio’s side. He manhandles his arm into position, so that his head is lying on Tobio’s chest now and his right arm is thrown over Tobio’s stomach.
“Is this okay?” Hinata asks.
Tobio can feel the heat on Hinata’s face through that damned peach-shirt of his and wants to scream.
The butterflies in his stomach seem to multiply and grow stronger by the second. “Yeah,” he answers dumbly, a few seconds later.
“You’re breathing very fast, are you sure you’re okay?” Hinata asks again, lifting his head a bit to look at him.
Tobio swallows involuntarily. Hinata looks so soft right now. Tobio doesn’t want him to see the blush on his face, so he sets his hand onto Hinata’s head and pushes him back onto his chest again.
“I’m fine, go to sleep,” he says, trying - and failing - not to let his voice crack.
“Alright,” Hinata sighs. Tobio thinks he’ll try to shake off his hand from his head, but he doesn’t. So Tobio just lets it lay there a bit longer. Ever so slightly, impossibly gently, he starts stroking his fingers through Hinata’s soft red hair, just because he really really wants to.
He doesn’t get to marvel in the feeling, though, because he hears Hinata exhale sharply in surprise when he notices.
Tobio stops moving, stops breathing. Shocked at the betrayal of his own treacherous fingers, he just freezes instantly.
Then, he hears Hinata’s voice, unusually quiet and almost as soft as his hair, and his heart leaps to his throat. “Don’t stop, it’s nice.”
Tobio exhales shakily, lungs finally working again.
“Okay,” he whispers back and starts moving his fingers into Hinata’s hair again. Hinata hums and fists his hand into Tobio’s shirt, right in the middle of his chest.
“I can hear your heartbeat,” he mumbles quietly, “thump, thump, thump.”
****
Tobio didn’t believe he could actually fall asleep after this, but the comfortable bed, Hinata’s soft breathing, the added warmth under the blankets and his exhaustion finally get the better of him.
He drifts off into a deep slumber.
When he wakes up, he’s surrounded by warmth.
At first, he isn’t even sure where he is or if he is actually awake, because everything’s so soft and comfortable.
He only realizes that he’s still lying in Hinata’s bed when he hears him snoring softly and feels him breathe against his neck. His skin prickling with goosebumps, he slowly opens his eyes and then shifts slightly to see Hinata lying with his whole body splayed across him and his face in the crook between Tobio’s shoulder and neck.
Tobio’s own arms are thrown around Hinata’s slim body as if to hold him in place. Their blanket has been cast aside in their sleep but they’re still burning up from their shared body heat. To Tobio’s horror their legs are entangled as well and Hinata’s crotch is pressing solidly against his hip.
His face starts to burn again.
Seemingly startled by his movements, Hinata starts stirring a little and mumbles something inaudible under his breath. Tobio doesn’t want to wake him up - or for him to notice the goosebumps on his skin and his burning face - so he makes a little soothing noise and starts moving his hands in small circles around Hinata’s back, until he relaxes again.
He’s never seen Hinata this peaceful before. His breathing is slow and deep, his face soft and relaxed in the morning light and every tension has left his body. Where he’s usually buzzing around, full of energy, driven by the need to move, he’s now dead to the world as if his body needs to restore and save all the energy he’ll need for the coming day.
The stark contrast fascinates him.
“You awake?” he hears Hinata mumble a moment later and feels his lips brush against his neck, which makes him shiver. His hands on Hinata’s back come to a sudden halt.
“No,” he breathes and feels rather than hears Hinata’s answering chuckle. The sensitive skin on his neck feels like it’s on fire when Hinata lightly rubs his nose against it. If by accident or on purpose he cannot tell.
“Stop it, that tickles,” Tobio says, trying to squirm away a little, even though he’s instantly missing the contact, when Hinata moves to push himself up on his forearms. He squints down at Tobio with sleepy eyes and a soft smile on his face. “Ticklish, huh?” he says and his smile turns smug. Lowering himself a bit, he starts dragging his nose over Tobios face, slowly. First up his right cheek, then across his forehead and down the left one. He laughs again when he feels Tobio’s shaky exhale on his skin.
“Relax,” he mumbles, while bumping Tobio’s nose with his own, “it’s just a dream.”
Tobio swallows. “It’s really not, though,” he croaks out.
Hinata stops, lifting his face up again, eyes suddenly wide open. “Wh- What?” he blinks at him, confused.
“Oh, god,” Hinata says, disentangles himself from Tobio and sits up completely this time. “Oh, my god.”
Tobio sees him push his hands against his eyes violently. His own hands twitch, wanting to stop him.
Instead, he just lies there, unable to move, just staring at Hinata, who’s rocking back and forth now, muttering “Idiot, idiot, idiot,” in a steady rhythm.
“Stop that,” Tobio says, finally pushing himself up on his elbows and reaching out to put a hand on one of Hinata’s arms. Hinata flinches violently but stops rocking, at least.
“What’s going on?” Tobio asks, still muddled from sleep and so, so confused. Hinata mumbles something that he can’t make out.
“What was that?” Tobio asks again, scooting a little closer to him.
“I thought I was still dreaming,” Hinata mutters, so quietly that Tobio still has to strain to hear it.
Tobio is at a loss of what to say. “Um, it’s- It’s okay? Don’t.. worry about it?” He isn’t sure he means it. He isn’t even sure what he should feel about all of this.
“You didn’t do anything bad, I mean,” He finishes, while staring at the hands in his lap, which feel strangely cold now that they stopped rubbing circles onto Hinata’s back.
Hinata’s answering laugh is completely empty of humor. “Ha. Didn’t I?” he asks. “As if you’re not completely weirded out right now.”
“I- I am.. Pretty confused, I guess?” Tobio starts, lamely. “Why did you do that, when you-” the sentence hangs in the air for a few seconds, before he finishes softly, “when you thought you were dreaming?”
He hears Hinata’s stuttering inhale and lifts his head to look at him, curiously and maybe a little bit scared. “Because,” Hinata says, after a pause, “because I like you, you big idiot,” he finishes, sounding completely exasperated. “I actually did dream about something like this before, so..”
Tobio hums, staring at Hinata’s bare legs for a few seconds. He has goosebumps on his skin.
Tobio grabs the discarded blanket from the end of the bed and pulls it up again. “Come in here, you’ll just get cold out there again.”
Hinata turns around and blinks at him, startled. “Did you hear what I’ve just said?”
“Yeah,” he answers, nodding. He reaches out to pull Hinata closer to him and back under the blankets again and Hinata follows, still looking entirely confused.
“You’re not mad?” he asks.
“Nope,” Tobio answers, honestly, “I’m not.”
They’re both lying on their sides now, almost touching due to the small bed, facing each other. Hinata’s shaky breath puffs against Tobio’s mouth.
“I- I liked it.” Tobio says, quietly.
“You did?” Hinata asks. “How? Why?”
“Because I think I like you too, dumbass.” he says, embarrassed, but still needing to suppress a smile. Everything starts to make sense now. Every blush, every stare that was a bit too long, every weird feeling in his stomach.
It’s finally getting to him. He likes Hinata.
Hinata seems to be at a loss for words because he’s just staring at Tobio, eyes wide. He opens and clothes his mouth a few times, but no sounds come out.
Tobio finds it entirely endearing and his whole face softens.
“You’re... smiling, Kageyama.” Hinata finally says. Instead of trying to turn his face into a scowl again as he usually does, Tobio just smiles wider. He can’t help it.
Hinata seems to be completely mesmerised by this. He shifts and starts sitting up a little, but only to push Tobio onto his back again, like he did last night.
Confused, Tobio complies and lets Hinata climb halfway on top of him. “I’ve never seen you smile before!” Hinata continues, sounding amazed, “it’s kind of weird, to be honest, but a good kind of weird.” When Hinata starts poking his lips, Tobio grabs his hands to make him stop.
To that, Hinata’s eyes finally flicker back from Tobio’s mouth and to his eyes and he goes still for a moment.
“Can I kiss you?” Hinata breathes impossibly soft, his eyes still trained on Tobio’s.
Tobio’s smile wavers a bit, “I- I’ve never done this before, so it probably won’t be as amazing as you imagined,” he admits, sheepishly.
Hinata cups his hands around Tobio’s face and grins at him. Hinata’s hands feel incredibly warm on his skin.
“Shut up, as if you’ve ever backed down from a challenge,” he says.
Hinata is right, so that’s all the encouragement he needs. Tobio reaches forward and tugs Hinata gently down the last few centimeters towards his mouth.
When their lips touch for the first time, it’s clumsy and weird, but also warm and gentle and impossibly soft.
They stay like that for a bit, not moving, just feeling each other with their eyes closed, getting used to this new sensation.
One of Hinata’s hands slides into Tobio’s hair, tugging softly.
Emboldened by this, Tobio begins moving his lips a little, pressing tiny kisses onto Hinata’s still smiling mouth. It’s still a bit awkward, but gets better when Hinata exhales shakily and starts kissing back.
After a while, Hinata pulls back gently. “That was my first kiss, too,” he admits, smiling down at Tobio with a dopey look while stroking Tobio’s bangs out of his face with his fingertips. “Does that mean I win, because I started kissing you first?” Tobio replies smugly.
“I guess,” Hinata grumbles, “But I confessed first, so I won that round! You wouldn’t have figured it out on your own, so that means you’d never be able to win at kissing,” he finishes, pouting exaggeratedly and poking at Tobio’s cheeks with a bit more force than is strictly necessary.
“That’s probably true,” Tobio admits, grinning, “I guess it’s a tie then,” he finishes, before reaching up to kiss Hinata again.