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“Ahh! This is the best yakitori ever!” Shouyou declares between two bites as he holds the skewer out for emphasis.
“Could you calm down for five minutes, please? You’ve been uohhing and waaing every ten seconds since we got off the train.” Tsukishima sighs. “I can’t believe I agreed to come when I knew you’d be here too. And stop waving that thing in–”
“Oh, come on, Tsukki. You’re just upset your crepe wasn’t syrupy enough for your sweet tooth,” Yamaguchi says with a teasing smile. “And don’t be silly – of course you agreed to come because I asked you nicely!”
His hand darts out to squeeze Tsukishima’s for a second, and Tsukishima’s eyes widen before something uncharacteristically shy and soft crosses his face, the tips of his ears turning pink. They’re all in their second year now, and Yamaguchi and Tsukishima are freshly together, Yamaguchi having finally confessed just before summer vacation at Shouyou’s encouragement. As much as Shouyou hates admitting this about anything concerning Tsukishima, they’re cute. Really cute. And also a little gross, but that’s only because it’s Tsukishima.
Sometimes, Shouyou wonders what that’s like – to have all those weird exclamation-point feelings for someone, as Yamaguchi described them, or to have someone brush his hair back affectionately, like Tsukishima does sometimes for Yamaguchi when he thinks no one’s looking, or to hold hands with them. Shouyou’s generally too focused on volleyball to worry about crushes and relationships and romance, but still, he wonders, especially when he sees Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. Especially when they’re holding hands.
Shouyou knows it’s a little weird that he’s been looking at the intertwined hands of his teammates so much lately, but he can’t help but be kind of fascinated. Yamaguchi is a tall guy, with larger than average hands, but they almost seem small when held by Tsukishima’s stupid big ones, damn him and his lanky middle blocker-y build. Shouyou wonders how his own hands will be held by someone in the future – if he’ll be linking fingers with someone whose hands are the same size as his, or if their hand will envelop his own. For some reason, his mind always gets stuck on the latter, his chest feeling all weird and melty at the thought of big, warm hands.
He snaps out of his thoughts at Yachi-san’s voice. “Hinata, are you all right? Did you eat too quickly?”
“He’s fine; he just zoned out like the idiot he is.”
“Tsukishima! You–”
Before they can start bickering, Yamaguchi cuts them off. “Didn’t Yachi-san say she wanted to see that dance thing at five? Maybe we should get going.”
Right. Yachi-san’s dance thing. It’s not really something Shouyou would have ever checked out at a summer festival in Sendai, but he doesn’t mind; he’s just had some great food, and he knows he’ll enjoy the company. As long as Yachi-san and Yamaguchi talk more than Tsukishima, at least. Shouyou is a little frustrated that he didn’t get to insult him back, especially because Tsukishima is so obviously enjoying the situation, giving Shouyou a horrible smirk.
He opens his mouth to call Tsukishima a turd, but is interrupted again, this time by someone calling his name.
“Hinata! Tsukki!”
They all turn around to see four Date Tech members: Koganegawa and their libero in the front, with Aone-san and their new captain behind them. Tsukishima groans quietly when Koganegawa starts towards them and the others follow, but Yamaguchi pinches his side. Shouyou throws him a smirk of his own, finally vindicated.
He’s excited to maybe hang out with more people; he doesn’t know how he feels about Date Tech’s captain yet, but even though they never talked, he knows their libero must be really kind and smart if all the things Koganegawa said about him during camp are true, and he’s definitely happy to see Koganegawa and Aone-san.
“Hey!” Koganegawa greets them when they get closer. “Are you guys here for the festival too?”
Tsukishima mutters, “Obviously,” but Koganegawa barrels on, still beaming.
“What are you doing until the fireworks? We’ve just been around the food stalls and we're not sure what to do next. Are you going anywhere?”
At the mention of the food stalls, Shouyou finally notices what’s in Aone-san’s hands: a half-finished skewer of yakitori in one, a small tray with a full skewer in the other. While Yachi-san talks to Koganegawa and the other Date Tech members about the performance they were about to go see, Shouyou bounces over to him.
“Aone-san! Did you get those from the stall over there? It’s so good, right?”
Aone-san nods.
“Right? I ate mine in like a minute!” Shouyou continues. “Maybe I should have gotten two skewers too…”
It’s a little strange, actually talking to Aone-san. Shouyou’s used to being the more talkative party in pretty much any conversation, but he doesn’t think he’s ever met anyone as quiet as him. He finds he doesn’t mind, though. It feels kind of grounding in a way.
Aone-san holds out the tray to him in a clear offer. Shouyou is surprised for a moment – he knows from their handful of encounters that Aone-san isn’t nearly as scary as he looks, and is in fact quite nice, but that’s– it’s really sweet of him.
“Ah, really? You’re sure?” Shouyou asks, just to be sure, and when Aone-san nods again, he takes the full skewer. “Okay, but we should share it! I’ll only eat half!”
He thinks he spots the tiniest of smiles on Aone-san’s face. It’s a new sight for Shouyou, and it’s really, really… warm. It feels warm. He beams back at Aone-san before eating the first piece of chicken off his skewer. It’s somehow even better than the one he bought.
Apparently, the rest of the Date Tech members have decided that they’ll be tagging along to the performance Yachi-san wants to see, so they all start walking towards the stage area of the park. Shouyou and Aone-san wind up in the back, walking by each other silently. Shouyou looks all around them, takes in all the stalls and decorations and colorful yukatas in a strange calm. He even forgets about his food after that first bite, as amazing as it is, and only realizes it once he notices that Aone-san’s done with his skewer.
Shouyou offers the one in his hand quietly, and Aone-san takes it. They trade it back once more and then a last time unhurriedly, looking out at the crowds between bites. Shouyou doesn’t know if he’s ever spent this long in someone’s company without talking, but it’s nice – especially when Aone-san smiles at him after taking the last bite.
Before Shouyou knows it, they’re already at the stage, all eight of them standing in one group in the middle of the gathering crowd. Yamaguchi is chatting with Koganegawa while Tsukishima and Date Tech’s libero listen, and weirdly, Yachi-san is talking to their captain. She doesn’t seem particularly frightened; maybe he’s all right too.
Shouyou joins in a little too, and finally learns the names of the libero and the captain – Sakunami-kun and Futakuchi-san –, but he’s kind of distracted, just looking around at the crowd. He can already tell there will be too many tall people around them for him to see properly, but he decides to wait it out instead of trying to find a better spot and making everyone move. Maybe he’ll get lucky and all the lanky people go elsewhere.
They stay.
Shouyou looks at the other two people in their group who aren’t a ridiculous height, but Sakunami-kun is apparently in a better spot for seeing, and Yachi-san is already getting on Yamaguchi’s shoulders. Her new height seems to embolden her, and she does something Shouyou never thought he would see: she ruffles Tsukishima’s hair. Tsukishima clearly didn’t expect that either because he seems to freeze for a moment before shooting Yachi-san the mildest of glares Shouyou’s ever seen from him. It’s still a glare, for sure, but he doesn’t do or say anything else, which is surprisingly docile, considering it’s him. Shouyou can’t help but burst out laughing, right along with Yamaguchi, but they settle down quickly once some music starts playing from the stage.
Shouyou still can’t see. Even though he wasn’t too interested in the dance, it’s still frustrating.
“Hey, Tsukishima! Tsukishima!”
“What.”
“What’s going on? I can’t see!” Shouyou complains.
“Aren’t you used to that by now? Maybe you should get in the habit of carrying around a stepstool.” He’s smirking terribly again, and Shouyou just knows that he’s decided to be extra rude because Shouyou laughed at him.
The guys from Date Tech are all pretending not to be listening, with the exception of Futakuchi-san, who stares at them openly with an amused expression, but Shouyou doesn’t care.
“You’re such a jerk, Stingyshima! I just want to know what’s going on!”
“It’s a dance. I’m not going to narrate it for you,” Tsukishima says, and all right, maybe he has a point. He’s still a jerk, though. “Why don’t you ask Koganegawa or Aone-san to let you sit on his shoulders? I sure as hell won’t.”
“As if I’d ever ask you! I bet your bony shoulders would pierce through my thighs!” Shouyou retorts, but then there’s a hard pressure at the crown of his head, and he has to try to wriggle out from under Tsukishima’s evil hand. Yamaguchi is snickering – Shouyou’s not sure at what: his comment or Tsukishima’s retaliation, but he thinks it might be the latter. Possibly both. He sometimes forgets that Yamaguchi has a bit of a mean streak too, not just his shitty boyfriend.
“You’re so mean! Both of you!”
He’s still fuming a little when there’s a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turns around to see Aone-san, who proceeds to bend lower in an invitation for Shouyou to climb on his shoulders.
Shouyou can physically feel his eyes going wide in surprise. He hesitates for a second; it’s a little embarrassing for a sixteen-year-old guy to sit on someone’s shoulders just to see the stage, isn’t it? But he does want to see, and he trusts Aone-san, who’s being so nice, and being over three meters tall is really tempting, so… He climbs on.
He’s hazily aware of Koganegawa saying, “Oh! Sakunami-kun! I didn’t realize! Do you want to get on my shoulders too?” in the background as he’s getting lifted, but he can’t really pay much attention to the rest of the world.
Shouyou wobbles slightly before Aone-san straightens to his full height, and a big, warm hand brushes against his own as Aone-san reaches up to balance him, and Shouyou’s chest just goes, !
He can see the dance now, technically, but the information of what’s actually happening on the stage doesn’t seem to reach his brain. He barely even feels the glee of being this tall. He just feels how broad and secure Aone-san’s shoulders are under him, how steadily he stands under Shouyou’s weight, the lingering tingle on the back of his hand, the ! ! ! ! in his chest.
He remembers that moment after their first match – when Aone-san silently reached out under the net, extended that same big hand to him. Shouyou was surprised at first, then glad. He remembers how he felt when he saw the determined look on Aone-san’s face and he remembers taking Aone-san’s hand in both of his. He doesn’t remember the feeling of that, exactly, but he realizes he really wants to. He can’t help but imagine how it’d feel to have Aone-san hold his hand instead.
Shouyou isn’t as stupid as Tsukishima likes to say, or at least not in every area of life. He can put two and two together when it comes to his own feelings. He doesn’t know if this can be called a crush yet, really, given his lack of experience with them, but he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t mind if it turned into one. The thought of having those kinds of feelings not just for someone, but for Aone-san, makes him stupidly excited. Aone-san is passionate about volleyball, and playing against him fires Shouyou up, and talking to him feels nice, and he’s so nice, and his smiles warm Shouyou, and…
The dance ends with Shouyou barely registering any of it. He looks around them; apparently, Sakunami-kun also accepted Koganegawa’s offer, even though Shouyou is almost certain he could see the stage from his spot. But Koganegawa is already lowering him back to the ground, just like Yamaguchi is carefully crouching with Yachi-san. The crowd has started to move slowly, probably to walk around a little more or grab some food before the fireworks, and their group looks ready to leave too.
Aone-san crouches with him last, holding up a hand for Shouyou to grab if he needs the extra balance – he doesn’t, but he takes the hand anyway. It immediately envelops Shouyou’s, Aone-san gripping back lightly but securely.
! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
The angle is awkward, not how people hold hands normally at all, but Aone-san’s hand is big and calloused and warm, and so, so, so nice, and Shouyou is sure he’d like more of this, maybe properly next time.
He feels weirdly giddy once he’s down on the ground, but that’s nice too, exciting, and yeah, he’s definitely hurtling towards a crush. It’s wonderful.
He decides he’ll stick close to Aone-san for the rest of the evening – maybe he can inconspicuously sidle up close to him during the fireworks, and maybe he can ask for his LINE info at the end of the night. He doesn’t know if Aone-san might be more talkative through text, but even if not, Shouyou doesn’t think he’ll mind – they can just send each other pictures too. He wonders if Aone-san would send pictures of animals he sees. Of his pets? Does he have pets? He seems like the kind of person who likes animals. Suddenly, Shouyou’s mind is buzzing with questions about all the little things he wants to find out about him: who’s his favorite player, what’s his favorite steamed bun filling, whether he likes games, whether he prefers movies to books.
But he’ll find out gradually, bit by bit, if Aone-san wants to let him. He hopes he’ll let him. He can’t wait.