Work Text:
Kenma hated when Kuroo was right.
It hadn’t been much of a problem proving him wrong, at first. Hinata was a good friend, surprisingly easy to get along with, competitive enough to keep him on his toes. That’s all they were: friends.
Friends who texted absolutely every day, made plans to meet at least once a month and spent hours playing games online during the weekend. Hinata was terrible at most of them, but that only made it better—hearing his whining over losing again was oddly endearing. He never gave up, Hinata didn’t care if the odds were in his favor or not, and that’s what Kenma liked the most about him. Platonically. It was just some friendly competition. It had nothing to do with the energy Hinata exuded on the court, how he smiled after scoring a point, the look on his face when he asked for one more. Friends, bonding over volleyball. Just like him and Kuroo.
But then again, Kenma had never found himself spacing out in class thinking about Kuroo’s brightest smiles—those were reserved for Yaku. Never did he lie in bed late at night trying to recall the exact sound of Kuroo’s laugh—dying hyenas aren’t cute. Kuroo’s teasing was annoying. Hinata’s fired him up like nothing else did. What was so different with Hinata, then, that he just couldn’t stop thinking about him? Why was it that his thoughts kept drifting towards him, wondering what he would come up with next?
His heart did something weird every time his phone pinged with a new text from him. He kept sending pictures of the most random things that reminded him of Kenma. ‘It you,’ read his last message, over a photo of a calico cat sleeping curled up on a store window, followed by a string of caps lock key smashing and ‘cant wait for camp!!!’.
Summer camp was around the corner and, for the first time since he had been dragged to one, he was counting the days. He felt nervous about seeing Hinata in person with all these new feelings confusing him, but something about it was exciting. Maybe meeting face to face would help him understand what it was, what Hinata really meant to him.
As nosy as ever, Kuroo had made it his personal mission to get him to admit his feelings had evolved into so much more than friendship. Even if Kenma hadn’t moved past the denial phase yet, there was no fooling his childhood friend. Kuroo had always been capable of seeing right through him. While he had to admit he missed having him closer, Kenma was relieved about Kuroo leaving for college—it meant he wouldn’t have to listen to his constant teasing during camp.
He should have seen it coming. Kuroo had been mentioning it too often, asking too many questions. His showing up at school during practice the day before should have made it obvious. Maybe Kenma just didn’t want to accept the truth: nothing would keep Kuroo away from summer camp. Not even graduating from high school. With the excuse of helping out their old teammates, both he and Bokuto had sneaked their way in. If anyone asked Kenma, though, they had been doing more nagging than helping.
Trying to get away from their ruckus while everyone settled in, Kenma left the dorms and ventured out, a game ready on his Switch. He ended up sitting under a tree, next to the pathway that led from the main entrance to the gyms. The fact that he had a perfect view of the parking lot was nothing more than a coincidence. And if his character kept dying, it was just because of a really hard boss fight. It wasn’t related at all to the buses coming in, distracting him as he scanned their windows.
“Waiting for Chibi-chan?”
His fingers twitched over the console buttons. Would he ever be able to escape Kuroo’s teasing? “Everywhere else was too noisy to concentrate.”
“Oh, okay.” He didn’t need to look at Kuroo to see his trademark smirk. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the bus parking over there.”
Kenma tried to resist the temptation to immediately look up. He almost won, until he heard a familiar voice shouting in excitement as a certain ginger got off Karasuno’s vehicle, just a few meters away from them. “I wasn’t waiting for Shouyou,” he mumbled, hiding his face behind his hair.
“Right, you’re out here because you love nature and bugs crawling all over your legs,” Kuroo pointed out as Kenma swatted a fly away, “not because you missed your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” he said, getting up to his feet, but making no other move to leave.
“Yet,” Kuroo insisted. Not getting a reply, he huffed. “We’ve been over this, I’ve seen the look on your face when—”
“We’re just friends,” he cut him off, not wanting to listen to his speech one more time. He felt a buzz coming from his pocket and his fingers itched to check his messages. Seeing how Hinata seemed to be typing on his phone while Kenma’s didn’t stop vibrating, he figured someone was announcing their arrival. He opted to ignore it, though—Kuroo wouldn’t let him live it down if he got a hand on his phone right after Kenma said he was not waiting for him.
“Kenma,” Kuroo waited until he shot him an exasperated look before continuing, “you invited him to your place the same weekend Fire Emblem came out.”
“Your point being?”
“You don’t let me into your room when a new game comes out.”
“That’s because you keep nagging me to go outside.”
“And he doesn’t?” A shrug was Kenma’s only response. “You can’t tell me Hinata, of all people, just stays put watching you play an entire weekend.”
“He does.” Kenma sighed at Kuroo’s skeptical look. “He said he doesn’t mind.” Hinata’s exact words had been ‘I like watching you play’, but something told Kenma that detail wouldn’t help his case against Kuroo.
Kuroo snorted, proving him right. “He’s as far gone as you are, then.”
Ignoring him in a failed attempt to control the blush creeping up his cheeks, Kenma looked in Karasuno’s direction instead of Kuroo’s ugly smirk. Hinata was searching for something—or someone, if the way his face lit up when their eyes met across the field was anything to go by. Kenma’s lips quirked into a smile when Hinata beamed at him and darted towards them. Feeling something stupid was about to come out of Kuroo’s mouth, he turned to scold him in advance—only to find he was nowhere to be seen. When did he leave?
“Kenma!” He didn’t have much time to think about Kuroo’s opportune disappearance, Hinata’s weight almost throwing him off balance as he jumped at him.
It never failed to surprise him how easy physical contact was for Hinata. Kenma was used to it with Kuroo, and with his teammates on certain occasions, but not like this. He didn’t hug hello. He didn’t just jump on someone. It didn’t bother him that much when Hinata did. He wasn’t sure how or when friendly waves had shifted into arms wrapping around his neck, but he didn’t complain. He only wished Hinata could tone it down while in public, but what if asking for that made him stop altogether?
By the time his brain realized he should hug him back, Hinata was already pulling away. His fingers lingered more than necessary over Kenma’s shoulders, unfazed by his unresponsiveness. His smile was as blinding as ever, and that’s when he knew for a fact that Kuroo was right. Why else would his knees feel so weak as he took in the sight of the boy in front of him? This wasn’t just friendship for Kenma, not anymore.
“Oi, dumbass!” A voice called before he could get too deep into his thoughts. Frowning at Hinata, Kageyama pointed at their teammates, still unloading equipment from their bus. “We could use some help!”
“Gah! Sorry, catch up later?” Hinata lifted a hand to the side of his face as he turned to leave, but he didn’t get far before stopping to add over his shoulder, “It’s really good to see you again!”
Kenma replied with a lazy smile, hoping his blush would be gone by the time he joined the rest of his team. It didn’t.
The first day of joint practice was as frantic as one could expect. Everyone was eager to show off their new moves, first years trying to impress their senpais, old friends catching up between matches. There wasn’t a single moment of silence, making him wonder how he could have been looking forward to this chaos. But then he’d glimpse a mop of orange hair jumping around, and it all made sense again.
No one could blame him if his gaze kept following Hinata. He briefly wondered, not for the first time, how it would be to play on the same team, to score points together instead of against each other. Would Kenma even be able to keep up with him? He wasn’t the only one amazed by how much Hinata had improved since any of them faced Karasuno. If Kenma had any other reason to be riled up by him once it was Nekoma’s turn to play against them, no one needed to know. Kuroo did, though. Without Yaku around to shut him up, Kenma didn’t have another choice but to pretend to be deaf.
Even after getting Teshiro to take his place as a setter during the last few matches, Kenma was exhausted by the end of the day. Being vice-captain didn’t leave him many opportunities to slack off, but he didn’t hate it as much as he first thought he would. He had discovered the fun in volleyball. Still, he was more than ready to collapse until next morning.
His plan to look for Hinata after dinner failed when Kuroo managed to drag him along for extra practice. Not that Kenma actually joined them—all he did was play on his Switch while Kuroo and Bokuto tested the limits of Tsukishima’s patience. Akaashi had long stopped trying to keep them in line, opting instead to sit with Kenma on the floor, his back resting against a wall.
At some point Bokuto realized his boyfriend wasn’t paying attention to him anymore, and as he rushed to follow him, Tsukishima took the chance to escape. Left with no one else to bother, Kuroo promptly joined them, patting his thighs as he sat next to them. Without giving it a second thought, Kenma repositioned himself to use Kuroo’s lap as a pillow, much more comfortable than his folded jacket.
It had been a while since the four of them had been together like this, and Kenma realized maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing Kuroo and Bokuto had invited themselves to camp. He enjoyed having them around, distractedly listening to their chatter without the pressure of having to take part in the conversation. But then the gym’s door opened and someone peeked inside, drifting his attention away from his game.
“Hey guys! Have you seen—?” Hinata’s smile fell when his eyes found Kenma’s. A weird expression took over his face for a second, and then his smile returned. It didn’t seem as warm this time. He cleared his throat and looked around before speaking again. “Have you seen—uhm—Tsukki?”
Kenma barely registered Bokuto’s voice as he replied, failing to understand why Hinata was clearly avoiding his gaze, or why Kuroo kept nudging his shoulder. For someone so supposedly clever, Kenma sure was slow when it came to this. Whatever this was. Understanding came too late—Hinata was already waving good night without a second glance.
They all kept quiet until Akaashi broke the silence to ask Bokuto about his university team. He had already heard everything about it, but Bokuto was happy to comply. Kenma mentally thanked them for lifting the awkwardness that had settled over them and tried to refocus on his game. Tried, and failed. All he could think about was Hinata’s expression as he left.
Practice wasn’t as fun the next day. Facing Karasuno wasn’t as exciting. Hinata was as energetic as ever and, while he did seem normal at first, something was off. Maybe it was the way he wouldn’t hold his gaze for more than a few seconds, or how his smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes. Even without really understanding what was going on, Kenma somehow felt it was his fault.
Knowing he would probably regret it later, he waited until dinner and then went to Kuroo for advice. They were waiting for Akaashi and Bokuto, who were currently trying to convince Tsukishima to join them again. At this point, they all knew Tsukishima enjoyed their extra practices, but everyone pretended to be oblivious to that fact just in case that made him change his mind.
Why Kenma thought asking Kuroo was a good idea was beyond him, as he had to put up with ten minutes of non-stop teasing before Kuroo finally decided to be serious about it. Kenma was too tired to protest, and he really wanted to know what he thought, so he just let him get all his snarky comments out of his system first.
“You do realize he might have gotten the wrong impression last night at the gym, right?” Kuroo eventually said, and sighed when all he found in Kenma’s face was confusion. “How would you feel if you walked in on him resting his head on Kageyama’s lap?”
Kenma’s frown only grew deeper. “He’s touchy with everyone,” he argued.
“Well, yeah,” Kuroo conceded. “But you’re not.”
He bit the inside of his cheek, mulling over Kuroo’s words. Could it be that he actually had a point? Could it be possible that Hinata had been caught off guard by how close he was with Kuroo and thought there was something more between them? But it made no sense, even if that were the case, why would Hinata be so weird about it? He had always known they were close. Why would he avoid him for an entire day, when until then he had been constantly talking about how excited he was about meeting again? Could it be—
His heart skipped a beat and he had to force himself to focus on something else before his thoughts got ahead of himself. Kuroo’s smirk grounded him for a minute, but it soon turned annoying. “Shut up,” Kenma scoffed, not even giving him the opportunity to tease him as he got up to leave, just in time to avoid being trapped as Bokuto and Akaashi returned, Tsukishima and a curious Karasuno first-year behind them.
He didn’t have to search for long—he bumped into Hinata right outside the gym. Was he looking for him? He looked like a deer caught in headlights, unprepared to face him.
“Kenma!” He flinched back.
“Are you looking for Tsukishima?” Kenma asked, trying to keep the hurt from his reaction from showing on his face. He wasn’t sure he succeeded.
“Huh? Why would I—Ah! No, uhm,” Hinata looked to a side, fingers fidgeting. Why did he look so nervous? Hinata had never acted nervous around him before, not even when they first met. “I was looking for you.”
“Everything okay?” Kenma frowned.
“Yep!” his voice sounded too loud, even by Hinata’s standards. “Wanna go for a walk?”
“Sure.” He didn’t. He’d rather be playing games back home, preferably still with Hinata by his side. He was convinced Hinata would only run away again if he said so, though. If walking was what it took to get him to talk, Kenma was willing to walk for as long as necessary.
They wandered for a while, the silence feeling heavier by the minute. Usually Hinata would be talking his ear off, but he had been quiet for the past half hour. Kenma could feel him watching him from the corner of his eye, but every time he turned his head to face him, Hinata averted his gaze.
Whatever was between them was hanging by a thread, and Kenma refused to let it happen. But how was he supposed to fix this, if he didn’t know what was broken? Hinata refused to say anything. Kenma refused to push, afraid of scaring him away. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard, talking to him. This was Hinata, the ball of energy and sunshine that had crashed down his walls. He couldn’t let him build them up again.
Swallowing down a sigh, he was about to give up when an idea crossed his mind. “I’ll race you up there,” he pointed with a tilt of his head somewhere to their right. There was the hill the losing team had been forced to climb after every match. Kenma hated that hill. Luckily for him, Nekoma had only lost once that day.
“Why?” Hinata threw a confused look at him. Something was definitely wrong with him if he didn’t immediately jump at a challenge.
Kenma thought of coming up with an excuse, but he knew Hinata wouldn’t buy it. “If I win, you’ll tell me what’s wrong.”
The fact that Hinata didn’t try to argue told him he was on the right path. He seemed to be thinking about it, his lips pressed into a tight line. “And if I win?”
“What makes you think you can win?” Kenma smirked, eyebrows raised. He knew he had no chance, he couldn’t possibly win a race against Hinata. But if he knew him as well as he thought he did—
There it was, the fire in his eyes lighting his entire self as if a switch had been flipped. That was the Hinata he knew and missed so much. Hinata was saying something, but Kenma couldn’t make out the words, barely registering the countdown and struggling to react in time and not be left behind.
He had always hated running. It made no sense for him to be running up a hill. Yet there he was, running up a hill in the middle of the night. It was worth it if it helped cheer up a friend. The way Hinata laughed and jumped in victory as he got there first told him maybe it had worked. It also reminded him he was a little bit in love with the sound of his laughter.
Out of breath, he plopped down on the grass, slightly leaning back in his arms. Hinata mimicked him, letting out a satisfied sigh as he got comfortable. Kenma had to bite down a sigh of his own, for entirely different reasons. He wanted to talk about what happened the day before, about them, but Hinata was finally looking like himself again. He didn’t want to be the one to ruin it.
Risking another glance at Hinata, Kenma was stunned by his relaxed smile as he looked up at the sky. The moonlight accentuated his features, drawing him in like nothing ever did before. He could feel the warmth coming from him, their hands so close between them he could brush their fingers and make it look like an accident. Before he did something stupid or got caught staring, he forced himself to look away, focusing on the stars above them instead of the sun next to him.
The silence wasn’t as awkward this time. It felt good, knowing Hinata well enough to find the way to bring him back from his uneasiness. Was this how Akaashi felt every time he did the same with Bokuto? He wished he didn’t feel so guilty, though. What was there to feel so proud about when it was his fault Hinata was down in the first place? He wanted to apologize, but how, when he wasn’t sure what it was that had bothered him so much?
“Can I ask you something?” Hinata’s voice brought him back from his thoughts.
Kenma nodded, both curious and concerned about what was coming.
“Are you…?” Hinata started, gulping when their eyes met. He seemed as nervous as Kenma felt. “Are you dating Kuroo?”
So Kuro was right again, Kenma thought. Was he right about everything, though? “No,” he said. “We’re just friends.” It was only then he realized how different that phrase sounded when he used it before, referring to Hinata instead of Kuroo. “We’ve been friends for most of our lives, but I’ve never seen him as anything more than that.”
“Oh,” was all Hinata replied, but his body said so much more. His shoulders visibly relaxed, and there was a shy smile on his face. He looked like he wanted to ask something else, and Kenma wished he would just do so. One of them had to break their overthinking cycle.
“Is that why you were avoiding me?” Kenma asked, hoping that would prompt him to say what really was on his mind.
Hinata looked more embarrassed than surprised by his question. “So you noticed,” he said, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck.
I notice everything about you, Kenma replied in his mind. “Why?” he asked instead.
Laughing through his nose, Hinata turned his whole body to face him. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“I don’t want to make assumptions,” he replied. It was too late, though. Kuroo had burned those assumptions into his brain and now all he could do was hope he was right about this too.
“Aren’t you always right, though?”
“I’d still rather hear it from you.”
“Kenma, I…” he tried, but immediately changed his mind, groaning and ruffling his own hair. “I just—” he had never seen Hinata this nervous for something other than volleyball, and it made him feel nervous in return. “I don’t want to make things weird.”
“You won’t.” Kenma shifted to sit cross-legged, hoping that talking face to face would somehow feel more reassuring. It only made his heart go faster when Hinata did the same, their knees touching.
“Promise?” Hinata asked, nervously playing with his fingers.
“Promise,” he whispered, his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. What if Kuroo was wrong after all? What if he had misunderstood everything? Maybe he should have just pretended not to notice anything, letting Hinata pretend everything was okay until they just forgot about the whole situation. But Hinata was already talking and there was nothing Kenma could do now but to brace himself and hope for the best.
“With you I’m…” he seemed to have trouble finding the words. Kenma was having trouble finding oxygen. “It’s like my heart goes all fwaaah,” he gestured extending his hands to follow his words. Kenma would have laughed at his phrasing if he hadn’t been so busy trying to calm his own heart down. “Like when I hit the ball just right and it goes all wooosh, you know?” Kenma didn’t know. He had never been compared to playing volleyball before, but it somehow didn’t surprise him coming from Hinata.
“At first I thought it was ‘cause you’re a good setter and it was exciting and I wanted you to toss to me. But then we started talking more!” How Hinata managed to talk so much without stopping for air never failed to amaze him, it was like a dam had been broken and the words just wouldn’t stop flowing, not giving Kenma a chance to reply. He wouldn’t have known what to say, anyway.
“Remember that night when I couldn’t sleep because I felt guilty for getting sick during nationals? You video called me and just started rambling for like half an hour about some game?” Hinata asked. Kenma just nodded in response. “I have no idea what the game was all about, I couldn’t stop looking at you and my heart was—I don’t even know! I thought it was the fever but then it kept happening every time we met and I—” He seemed to realize something, stopping mid-phrase and looking at him for the first time since he started talking.
Kenma stared back at him, eyes wide open and mouth slightly open. This was a lot more than he expected to hear. Yet it was so Shouyou, rambling and gesturing wildly with his hands instead of giving him a straight answer. But at least he had given him some sort of answer, unlike Kenma who was stuck at a loss for words, just watching how the worry in Hinata’s face turned to panic.
“And now you’re not saying anything! Sorry, I’m—” Hinata ran a hand through his hair. Kenma almost worried he would rip it off. “Am I making this weird? I’m making this weird,” he babbled. “It’s okay if you don’t—”
“Shouyou,” he finally found his voice, barely above a whisper. Still mumbling apologies, Hinata tried to hide against his palms. Kenma licked his lips and tried again. “Shouyou,” he repeated, reaching to wrap Hinata’s hands between his and gently pulling them away from his face. “I feel the same,” he said, hoping he wasn’t expecting him to do a speech like his. He was definitely not prepared for that. And he most certainly was not going to say something along the lines of ‘my heart goes all fwaaah’. Not that it didn’t, but that was besides the point.
“You do?” Hinata looked like he was about to pass out, eyes fixated on their joined hands. At least he had stopped moving frantically. He had probably stopped breathing, too.
“I do,” Kenma replied.
It was only then that Hinata came back to his senses. “Okay,” he said, as if trying to reassure himself this was actually happening. “Wow,” he giggled. Kenma had never felt more confused yet captivated at the same time, seeing him go through at least half his range of expressions. “Okay,” he repeated, finally settling on Kenma’s favorite—his thousand-watt smile.
Their gazes locked in each other’s, both reflecting the same question: What now? He looked down at his lips and up again, his nerves charged with anticipation. He knew what he wanted, now that their feelings were out in the open. And he was confident their thoughts were in synch, now. There was no coming back if they crossed this line, but oh, how he wanted to. He was the one to lean first, but it was Hinata who closed the distance between them.
Hinata’s nose was cold when it bumped against his. So were his fingers when they cupped his cheek. It didn’t matter, though. Not with the warmth spreading from his chest through his entire self. Hinata sighed into the kiss, his other hand shyly resting over Kenma’s chest. His restraint didn’t last long—as soon as Kenma’s arms wrapped around his waist, Hinata crawled to his lap, fingers clutching the fabric of his jacket. Kenma felt his legs starting to cramp, folded in an awkward position under Hinata’s weight, but how could he care when everything else felt so right?
There was no rush in their kiss, even if they were too aware of how little time they had. An entire week of camp seemed too short, knowing they would have to wait an entire month to meet again. Kenma could already feel how much he would miss this. Hinata’s chapped lips sliding over his, fingertips trailing the back of his neck, his warm breath mixing with his own.
His lips were tingling when they parted for air and Kenma felt unable to open his eyes. A part of him was afraid that if he did so, he would find himself lying on his futon, surrounded by his teammates. But then he heard Hinata’s bubbly laugh, felt his sweet scent so close to him, and knew this wasn’t a dream. Hinata was right there, face red, a smile so big it almost didn’t fit on his face. All of his previous worries now gone, Kenma couldn’t help but reciprocate the gesture.
Hinata flopped down onto the grass, stretching his limbs as much as he could. Kenma didn’t have to miss his warmth for long—a tug on his sleeve was enough to get him to lie down as well, Hinata rolling on his side to rest his head on his shoulder.
“You never told me what you wanted for winning the race,” Kenma noted.
“I already got my reward,” Hinata grinned, lifting himself just enough to see the bemusement on his face. “I could use another one, though,” he added, leaning in to kiss him again as if it was the most natural thing to do.
It sort of felt like it was, kissing with the stars as their only witness, basking in each other’s warmth for who knew how long. It was easy feeling comfortable with Hinata between his arms, nose buried in his hair. How could he have ever denied this was exactly what he wanted? The distance wouldn’t make it easy, but Kenma was willing to overcome his dislike of packed trains if it would mean more of this. Of them.
He would never admit it to his face, but he was glad Kuroo had been right after all.