Chapter Text
Hitoka thinks the lecture is almost done. She can’t tell for sure, only hearing the mumbling through the doors. It was the end of the school day, the start of the weekend, so she was in no rush to go home. Actually, if she was being honest, she wanted to be here. It has felt like ages since she saw Kageyama’s face. Between college classes, her part-time job, and his volleyball practices, there was been no time for them to be together as a couple. Hitoka pulls on the straps of her backpack and leans closer against the wall. The hallway was bare, with the occasional student passing her by. She figures it shouldn’t be long now.
The lecture doors suddenly swing open, giving Hitoka a slight scare. She waits patiently as students make their way through the hall.
It wasn’t until the professor exited the room that she thought that maybe she did get the wrong classroom (not possible, she tripled checked). There was no chance she missed him as he came out. She also knew Kageyama was never one for cutting classes. It was more likely that he fell asleep in class rather than miss it.
After another two minutes of waiting at the door, she decides to put her theory to the test and enter the classroom.
Sure enough, just as she predicted, Kageyama was asleep at his chair. He was sitting up, arms crossed around his chest. He had a pencil grasped in his hand and his notebook was opened in front him, she could tell an attempt was made to stay awake. By the strained look on his face, she didn’t think that was comfortable, and it was amazing that he managed not to slip and hit his head.
When she got closer to him, she sees a variety of sticky notes stuck on to his back and head. The giggles from earlier suddenly made sense. Resisting her own urge to laugh out loud, she set off to remove the notes one by one.
“Next time don’t snore.” This was one in a messy scribble.
“Ask me for the pictures LOL” She wonders if it would be weird if she asked for pictures too.
“You can copy my notes later,” That was nice of this person, she thinks.
“Don’t forget to read the material. Have a nice weekend.” She assumes this one was written by the professor.
“I’m free anytime for a date. Call me!” This one was neatly written, with hearts drawn on the corners and a phone number on the bottom.
Hitoka froze. Dating Kageyama since their third-year in high school, she was use to the attention he received from the opposite sex. It’s not like Kageyama receives love letters every day, but since he has been named one of the new players for Japan’s National Team, he has received more attention than she would have liked.
She felt like a hypocrite. She was caught in between wanting the whole world to know how undeniably cool her boyfriend was versus her wanting to keep all of his good parts to herself.
However, now, was not the time to think about it, and quickly pushed those thoughts away. There were only so few minutes she could have with Kageyama, and she did not want to waste any more of it thinking the most non-likely scenario.
“Tobio, it’s time to wake up,” she gently pushed the hair from his face. He groaned, but made no attempt to actually open his eyes. She sighs, getting Kageyama to wake up could be difficult. “You’re going to be late for volleyball practice. “
As if on cue, his eyes shoot open. He looks around the empty classroom until his gaze reaches her. Kageyama’s expression goes from happiness because she is there, to confusion because she is there. He isn’t sure if he is awake or not, so he slowly says, “I don’t remember having classes with you.”
“You fell asleep during lecture again,” she says, handing him the sticky notes. “These were on your back when I got here.”
Kageyama looks at the notes, but doesn’t read any of them. Annoyed, he stuffs them into his backpack. “Those bastards.”
“I’m sure they didn’t mean no harm, but maybe you shouldn’t fall asleep during class again,” she grins.
He frowns, and is about to reply when his stomach gave a loud growl.
Hitoka giggles, “Are you hungry? I lied before, we have a little time before you have to go. I have some leftovers from lunch, want some?”
He nods. Hitoka rummages through her backpack to take out a small pink bento box. Before she even had a chance to take the lid off, she could feel Kageyama intensely stare at the box. If she was being honest again, this was the second lie she told. The contents of this bento box was not leftovers. In fact, she had made extra on purpose because she had planned to catch him after classes.
With her spare chopsticks, she picks up one of the octopus-shaped wieners and tells him “Say ‘Ahhh’”
She does this as a joke, and expects Kageyama to merely roll his eyes a little, maybe even give a pout. What she did not expect was for Kageyama to nonchalantly eat the food from her hands. He gulps it in one bite.
“It’s delicious” he says after swallowing it. He closes his eyes and opens his mouth again.
It’s not often that he acts spoiled in front of her. She can’t tell if it because of his instincts to eat whatever food is in front of him or that he is still too sleepy to realize what he is doing. Hitoka decides to not question it too much.
After about three more bites, they realize that it might be faster for Kageyama to feed himself. It was disappointing, but she didn’t mind. He looked like he was enjoying the food anyways, and she felt pride that he ate every last drop.
“Thanks for the meal,” he hands back her bento. He stretches his arms, and puts his the rest of his school contents into his backpack. “Do you wanna head out?”
‘No’ she thinks, but nods instead, and gets her own stuff ready. He waits for her by the door and offers his hand, which she gladly accepts.
They make their way across campus, towards the gymnasiums locker rooms. It is nice, she thinks, walking hand-hand. They were not much of a PDA couple, but this much they could handle. She liked the feeling of her fingers interlaced with hers. There was something comforting about his hands that she can’t quite place. It has been so long since she felt it.
“Do you have practice tomorrow too?” she asks.
“Only in the afternoon,” he yawns. “It’s more of just an open-gym.”
“Oh, then do you want to come over later?” she shyly glances up at him. “I can make us something to eat. I’ve gotten pretty good at cooking, you know.”
“Ah, I can’t tonight,” he replies, putting his free hand against his neck. “One of the senpais in the dorm has a video of an international game. We were going to go over it.”
“Oh” she tries to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Next time then.”
“Yeah, let’s hang out when we are both off again,” he says. His tone is the usually Kageyama deadpan, and Hitoka knows that there is never any sarcasm behind his words. He probably doesn’t realize that this was as close to ‘hanging out’ as they have gotten in weeks.
There is an awkward silence that follows as they continue on walking. They are slowly approaching the courtyard near the locker rooms. Hitoka racks her mind trying to come up with something that could break the silence. What did they use to talk about before? Was it always this hard to keep a conversation going?
“Ah, there you are Sleepy-yama!”
They jumped in surprise, turning around to see a very smug Hinata grinning at them. Kageyama lets go of her hand. Hitoka is all too aware at how quickly the warmth from her hand disappeared.
“Oh, hey Yaacchan! I didn’t see you there,” he waved to her. With her now free hand, she returns his wave just as brightly. Hinata turn his attention back to Kageyama, “Heard you fell asleep in your lecture today. Practice is too much for you, huh?”
“Not at all, dumbass,” he frowns. “And we’re not even in the same class, how did you know?”
Hinata’s grin becomes even more mischievous as he whips out his phone to show the couple a picture. It was of Kageyama in the same position Hitoka found him earlier, this time, with a couple of other classmates. She looks at their smiling faces, even the professor is grinning. She finds it amusing until she catches a glimpse of a girl who is a little too close to the sleeping Kageyama. The girl is pretty, with long brown hair that fall gently in her face. She flashes back to the note with the phone on it, and wonders if this girl wrote it. Hitoka stops herself before she spirals. It is no use to worry about that now, she reminds herself.
“Those bastards,” Kageyama mumbled again, trying to snatch the phone from his hand, but Hinata is quicker and pulls it out of reach just in time.
“Don’t even try to delete it, “he smirks, and then turns his attention back to Hitoka. “I have about three different pictures, already backed up on my account. I’ll send them over to you later, Yacchan.”
“Really? I’d appreciate it” she beams.
Kageyama groans, “Not you too.”
“Why, your sleeping face is cute,” she says this cheerfully, forgetting the place and the company they had.
A second later, she realizes that she indeed said that out loud, and burying her face in her hands. It is enough that both Kageyama and Hinata blushed from her actions.
“Um thanks?” Kageyama says in an attempt to make her feel less awkward, but that did not stop the lull in conversation.
“Aaaaaand with that I’ll head over to the gym,” Hinata breaks the silence, headings towards the door. “Catch you later, Yaachan. Don’t take too long with your lovey-dovey time Kageyama!”
Hinata winks at them before turning the corner to the entrance. They stand there, blushing, in silence once more. This time Hitoka was the one who broke it.
“Don’t push yourself,” she hugged him. It caught him by surprise, but the gesture was not unwanted. Much to her delight, she felt his arms wrap around her. “Message me when you get home? That way I know you won’t stay super late to practice and tire yourself out.”
“Mhhm,” he mumbled, and in second pressed a soft kiss on to her forehead. He lingers for a bit before breaking their embrace. “I’ll see you later.”
She watched and waved until Kageyama was out of her sight. Seeing him leave made her feel anxious. It is not like they weren’t going to see each other again, and it wasn’t like Kageyama was mean to her or anything.
A ping from her phone interrupts her thoughts. It is one new message.
“Drinks tonight?”
…….
Kaori Suzumeda had a special gift of knowing exactly when Hitoka needed to get something off her chest without her even saying anything. It was like her sixth sense.
Drinking with Kaori was always an adventure. Despite her slender figure, Kaori was a heavyweight drinker. To this day, Hitoka has never seen anyone, man or woman, drink Kaori under the table. Hitoka had a theory that with her being the former Fukurodani Volleyball Club manager had made her use to these kind of rowdy things.
Their choice of venue was a local bar not too far from the campus, but not so crowded that they would be overheard by any cohorts. By the time Hitoka got there, Kaori was already done with half of the pitcher she had ordered. By the time Hitoka told her about the situation, they were a full two and half pitches in.
“So, you’re in a rut right now?” Kaori, now flushed from drinking.
“Is that what you would call it?” Hitoka sighs, taking a gulp of her drink. “I just feel like our timing is always off, that we’re just missing each other, you know?”
“So you’re feeling a little lonely, that’s fair,” Kaori nods, topping off Hitoka’s glass. “Drink some more.”
“I mean, I know that we’re both busy,” she continues. “And I don’t want us be glued at all times, but maybe I just want a little more… intimacy?”
Karoi’s eyes lit up, and with a devilish grins says, “Oh, like sex then. When was the last time you two did it?”
“KAORI,” Hitoka squeaked. She looked around the bar, and sighed in relief when no one seemed to have heard them. She puffs her cheeks, “You don’t have to know that!”
“If you have to think about it, that means it’s been a while,” Kaori teased. “Do you want to do it, Hitoka-chan, is this what it all comes down too?”
“T-that’s not it!” she insists, making sure that no one around them was paying attention. “I just want to spend more time with him. That’s all.”
Kaori choses to ignore her, and in a voice that is just loud enough for Hitoka to hear says. “Maybe he has ED. Does he, you know, perform well in bed?”
“He does just fine, thank you very much,” Hitoka replies back, with a little more confidence. “He is very good at it.”
Again the words escape her before she has time to think about it. She instantly buries her face into her hands, trying to drown out the sound of her companion’s laughter at her expense.
Kaori takes another swing of her drink, “But seriously, have you tried talking to him about it? I’m sure he’ll listen.”
“I think you missed the whole not-getting-the-right-time of the story,” Hitoka whines, peaking her face through her hands. “Besides, I don’t want to come off as clingy.”
“Wanting your boyfriend to give you a kiss is not clingy,” Kaori points out.
Hitoka doesn’t respond at first, taking another sip of her drink. “I just don’t want to be the only one putting so much effort. It seems like I am the only one feeling lonely.” Her words come out slowly, as if she is figuring it out as she says them. It did seem that way to her. Kageyama never really visits her, it is always Hitoka that initiates the first contact. On the other hand, it is not that he never responds.
“What, do you think he is having an affair or something?” Kaori says.
Hitoka eyes went wide. A million thoughts went into her head at once. Was it possible for him to have an affair? She knew anything is possible, but would Kageyama never do that. Did he even have the time? He is so busy with volleyball where would he even have the time to meet someone else? The girl’s sticky note from earlier flashed through her mind. Kageyama certainly had plenty of options, if he should ever get bored of her it would be all too easy.
Maybe it is already too late. Maybe he is already bored with her. He was free tonight, but instead of going to her place, he chose to watch some video with other guys? The more she thinks about it the more that sounded like an excuse not to be with her. She has watched daytime dramas before, and this is the exact line someone having an affair would say.
“I mean, because that is not possible,” Kaori laughs, drinking another gulp of beer, but Hitoka didn’t seem to have heard her. “I’ve been around volleyball idiots for a while now, he probably is just caught up with practices- Hey don’t cry!”
The tears start before she could stop them. She had read somewhere that first loves do not last. It was amazing enough that they made it this far into their relationship. Statistically speaking, the fact that they were still together despite starting dating each other in high school is nothing more than a miracle. It still came as a shock to her that the feeling of love can disappear in an instant. That the person she loves the most could very easily not return her feelings. It was scary.
“I’m sorry Hitoka. I was only kidding,” Kaori panics, handing Hitoka a napkin. “There is no way Kageyama would cheat, you guys have been together for the longest.”
Hitoka blows her nose, as Kaori reaches over to give her a pat on the back. A waiter passes by, glancing at them curiously. Kaori gives him a polite nod to assure that they were fine.
“Yeah,” she mumbles, wiping her face with the back of her sleeve. Hitoka takes another chug at her drink.
“Boys are dumb,” Kaori continues. “And Kageyama, well, let’s say unless it is about volleyball he is completely dense. I’m sure he didn’t even notice the seasons changed yet. You guys just have to talk it out.”
“Yeah,” she says again. “You’re right”
Suddenly, a small tray of drinks comes in between the girls. They look to see the waiter from before, as he nonchalantly gives them two blue cocktails. This shade of blue is pretty, she thinks, remind her a little like Kageyama’s eyes.
“We didn’t order this,” Kaori says.
“On the house,” he replies, winking at them before leaving. “Cheer up!”
Hitoka felt like crying all over again. How mortifying it was to be cheered up by a waiter. It must have looked like she just got dumped.
“Ah stop that!” Kaori interrupted her thoughts. “I know what you’re thinking. Look, it’s not every day we get a free drink. Think of it this way, things are already looking up!”
Kaori raises her glass and clinks it with hers. She smiles at her as she drinks. Hitoka decides to follow her lead and take a sip of the blue cocktail. It is sweet, just the way she likes it. Kaori was right. While that anxious feeling in her stomach wasn’t going away, she could at least let it not try to ruin her evening.