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University was supposed to be a new start, a new challenge. It’s also a way for Hinata to get over his stupid crush (no-one told him that, but he wanted to believe it could come true). He’d be meeting new people, and making new friends, he could forget about his crush and move on.
Or so he thought—until he met his roommate, the very source of the feelings that bubbled in his chest. Despite everything that they’d gone through, and having become (somewhat) friends through high-school, Hinata still felt nervous around Tsukishima.
It was due to Tsukishima’s help that Hinata got accepted into a Tokyo university, and his volleyball was enough to get him a sports scholarship. Even though his grades had improved since his first-year at Karasuno, they were nothing he’d show off, but they were decent enough and it got him accepted into the Childhood Education course.
Hinata didn’t want to rely on Tsukishima for everything, he hoped that just a second apart would chase away some of his feelings—he’d still see Tsukishima at volleyball practice, and when they returned to their room for the night.
The insults they used to throw at each other had long turned into snarky comments and jokes. Hinata quietly unpacks before turning to Tsukishima—he’s looking at Hinata (almost staring) and Hinata can feel a blush nipping at his neck. He quickly folds his arms and raises a brow, ready for what Tsukishima will say.
“Shrimpy.” Tsukishima smirks and Hinata bristles—if he was younger, he’d wonder why he liked Tsukishima. But he isn’t, and he’d spent three years at Karasuno with him.
He’s come to know every side of Tsukishima, when they’d end up studying at Hinata’s, because Hinata needed to look after Natsu. His sister would get restless and they’d sit and watch tv with her—she loved dinosaurs, some of the shows were inaccurate and one time, Tsukishima pointed it out.
Hinata expected Tsukishima to brush off Natsu’s questions and tell her to stop pestering him. Hinata did it more kindly, told her that Tsukishima needed to go soon and didn’t have time—he wasn’t sure if it was Tsukishima’s pride or stubbornness, but he sat there and happily answered every single one of Natsu’s questions—she fell asleep cuddled up to Hinata.
Hinata had quietly apologised, and to his surprise, Tsukishima smiled and told him he enjoyed himself. Hinata’s heart thumped loudly in his chest. They started studying more together, even as Hinata’s grades improved and there was always a reason to stay at Hinata’s. Tsukishima would sit with Natsu and answer her questions—even once played with her until she ran out of energy. Hinata found them with Natsu curled into Tsukishima’s side, his long fingers running through her hair—and Hinata found himself falling, he found himself being drawn in by everything Tsukishima did. Hinata laughed at his jokes, he prodded back with softer jibes and sat quietly when Tsukishima was explaining something. It fell into place easily.
Hinata hated that he didn’t hate it.
“I suppose you would have had to get into uni after my help.”
Hinata huffs. There it is, the attitude he loved. “My scholarship got me in! It’s nothing to do with you, Stingyshima.”
“Keep telling yourself that. But would you have gotten into the course you wanted?” Hinata fumes at Tsukishima’s smug look, because he’s right. He glares and turns to pack together his empty boxes. “I knew it.”
“Stingyshima.” Hinata mutters quietly, having nothing else to use against him.
“If I was Kageyama, you’d call me an idiot.”
“Well you’re not Kageyama. He’s at some fancy university and we’re here.”
Tsukishima scoffs and Hinata glances back at him. “There’s nothing wrong with being here, and he’s there for being a volleyball genius.”
“I like to call him a show off.”
Tsukishima chuckles (it’s a nice sound, Hinata thinks), it’s probably one of the few things they’d happily agree on out loud—Kageyama is still their friend, and they all get along pretty well, but they can still make some lighthearted insults about him while he wasn’t around. Hinata hasn’t changed in that aspect, but he doesn’t want to. It’s fun to be childish, and it makes Tsukishima laugh, which is rare and he’s happy to enjoy it while it lasts.
“Well, I have to spend the next four years trying not to kill a shrimp.”
“Hey!” Tsukishima grins at Hinata’s outburst, but says nothing else.
It’s surprisingly nice for Hinata to have Tsukishima as a roommate. When they’re not playing volleyball, they study together in their room and talk to the other people living on the floor of their dorm. They always keep one night free to join them in the common room and watch some tv, or watch a film.
Hinata notices how surprisingly close Tsukishima will sit near him—it persisted every week for a whole month before Hinata decided to sit in one of the beanbags on the floor.
It’s easier for him to forget that Tsukishima is there, and it makes it easier to control the way his heart reacts when he’s around Tsukishima.
Things change after that. Tsukishima is a little more distant than usual, quieter when they’re studying and only answers Hinata’s questions with short, blunt answers. Hinata wishes he had Yamaguchi to talk to about it, but it’s harder to explain over text, and he’d rather not have anyone find out about his crush—Yamaguchi is probably the only person who knows, Hinata would rather keep it that way.
Hinata seeks out Tendou instead—they’ve become good friends and Hinata was glad to see him at the same university. He doesn’t quite know where to start, but Tendou is patient, he doesn’t force Hinata to say anything and, instead, talks about the new Shonen Jump he’s just finished reading.
“I like Tsukishima.”
“Ah. So it’s that.”
Hinata can’t help but blush, he turns away from Tendou with a frown. “D-don’t say it like that!”
“Sorry shrimpy.” Tendou pats Hinata’s head, the way he always did before one of Hinata’s big games. It always manages to calm Hinata down. “It was obvious. Since you gatecrashed Shiratorizawa, I knew.”
“Y-you don’t have to bring that up either!”
Tendou chuckles—it relaxes Hinata and he sighs softly. “I don’t know what to do. Tsukishima isn’t easy to talk to, not for me, we always end up fighting. He’s started acting weird recently too, he’s quieter than normal and I think he’s avoiding me.”
“Well that’s a lot to unravel. So first, the bickering and little jibes, he’s flirting with you. I’m not sure about why he’s avoiding you.”
Hinata baulks and automatically steps back. He almost falls over and has to steady himself against a shelf. “No! He doesn’t like me!”
“He does.”
“Satori, stop messing with me!”
“I mean it Shouyou. I wouldn’t joke with you, not over something like this. I can tell you really like him, and I do think he likes you, he just doesn’t know how to say it. Typical brat.” Tendou’s brows furrow and Hinata giggles. “He riles me up too, and I don’t even play anymore! I can’t imagine how it must be for you. Now answer my other question!”
“Right, right.” Hinata takes a breath, calming himself down. “We usually watch movies together with everyone from my dorm. He kept sitting close to me, so I decided to sit somewhere he couldn’t and then he started acting weird.”
“It’s what he thinks you want, to him, you started it, so he’s following. He likes you.”
“But it’s me...And Tsukishima.”
“Hinata, listen to me.” Tendou pulls Hinata under his arm and smiles. “I’ll teach you how to win that brat over, but you need to tell me if he breaks your heart.”
Hinata nods in earnest—he just hopes Tendou will help him figure things out.
"You're back late."
Hinata turns to Tsukishima and stares for a moment—he sitting cross-legged on his bed, surrounded by books and pieces of paper. "Unlike you, Stingyshima, I study at the library. Like normal."
"It's probably the only thing you do that's normal." Tsukishima looks up from his books—Hinata feels his heart jump in his chest, he's utterly infatuated. It's only small, completely normal eye-contact but it's enough to send his brain into overdrive. "It seems like you're avoiding me."
"Sure I am." He is, he knows it and he hates that Tsukishima has picked up on it. Hinata chuckles and shrugs. "I'm not that petty and if I really was, I wouldn't still be your roommate." It's better to brush it off—he can't let Tsukishima know the truth. “I was talking with Tendou, after I finished studying.”
Tsukishima nods. “You’re spending a lot of time with him.”
“Not really. He has a natural talent for art, he doesn’t need to study, I just bumped into him.”
Tsukishima sounds a lot like he might be jealous, and Hinata sounds like he’s defending himself. It reminds him of what Tendou said about Tsukishima liking him and he feels himself going red; he’s glad that Tsukishima is deep in his books again. He quietly changed and crawls into bed.
“Ran out of energy? That’s not like you.” Hinata peeks out of his cover at Tsukishima, he’s glancing over at Hinata but his head is still dipped down, if anyone walked into the room, they’d probably assume Hinata was asleep and Tsukishima was studying quietly. Hinata feels a little breathless knowing that Tsukishima is staring at him. “What’s wrong Shrimpy?”
“Nothing.” Hinata mutters and rolls over so he doesn’t need to look at Tsukishima—for some reason, there’s an ache in his chest. He doesn’t like this.
The distance between them grows.
Tsukishima’s jibes come out more as bites and Hinata’s heart hurts more with every word. He tries to ignore it and he confides in Tendou whenever he’s not distracting himself with rigorous volleyball training, or studying.
Hinata’s also started hands-on training for his course at a nearby middle school and it’s fun, he doesn’t remember being so small—Tsukishima would probably comment that Hinata was still small, and wear that same stupid smirk.
Hinata can’t stop thinking about Tsukishima.
He’s tried everything. Nothing works. The second he sits down with Tendou, the first thing out of his mouth is something relating to Tsukishima—even volleyball, Hinata will end up mentioning something that Tsukishima did. All his attention is in one place and it only seems to be building.
They sit together at the same table, Tendou waits. Hinata huffs and puffs before raising his hands up in frustration. “Why are things like we’re back at Karasuno?”
“Maybe he wants attention. You have been busy, and you’re spending more time talking to me than talking to him.”
Hinata huffs again, he slouches into his seat and folds his arms, he knows he’s being childish, but he doesn’t care. Tsukishima won’t see him here anyway, he’s always in their room studying—the library is Hinata’s safe space. “I don’t know what to say to him. How do I just tell him? Like, oh hey, I’m sick of you insulting me.”
“It’s a start.”
“Tsukishima doesn’t understand me. If I say how he makes me feel.” Hinata sighs. He can never word the way he feels, it’s all noises and only Kageyama has understood. “I get gwaah! My heart goes waaa!”
Tendou laughs, leans forward and places a hand on Hinata’s shoulder. “Hinata, I think he understands you just fine. You’re the one who’s finding it hard to understand him.”
“Maybe.” Tendou raises a brow. Hinata’s cheeks puff out with an exhale of air. “Fine, fine. I’ll talk to him.” Tendou grins and he settles back into his chair. Hinata throws his head back into his with a groan—Tendou is right, he needs to face up to things, even if Tsukishima hates him. It’s better than dwelling on what could have been.
Hinata gets back late again. Tsukishima is still studying, there’s a furrow in his brow and Hinata dives across the room to press a finger against his head. “Stingyshima, you’ll get wrinkles like this.”
“Tch.” Tsukishima pushes away Hinata’s hand and raises his head to look at him. “And you’ll end up running yourself ragged, staying out so late.”
“I was—”
“Studying?” Hinata nods. He wasn’t, of course, he was—“With Tendou? In the library?”
Hinata baulks, blinking furiously at Tsukishima. He’d practically read his mind, he knew some of the truth. “We got chatting. I’d just finished. How did you know?”
Tsukishima held up one of his books. “I needed this, so I went to borrow it. I saw you.”
“Then you could have said hello!”
“Could I?” Hinata’s brows furrow and he nods. Tsukishima could always say hello, anytime he wanted, Tendou would have loved the extra company too. (he would have loved embarrassing Hinata.) “You looked pretty cosy.”
“You know Satori would love talking with you too, he was just discussing a new manga and talking about how great Ushiwaka is doing.”
“Really?” Why doesn’t Tsukishima sound like he believes Hinata? He sounds doubtful, like he might know the truth, like he might have overheard them. It scares Hinata, because what if Tsukishima hates him now? He stills, his hands falling limply to his sides and he chews his gum nervously. “What’s that face for, Shrimpy? I thought we were friends, and we could talk. You could have told me. I’d rather not have seen that.”
Hinata blinks slowly, the words are sinking in—they don’t make any sense. Tsukishima seems angry. He sounds hurt. Hinata’s brain is working overtime. “What?” Tsukishima chuckles. It’s dry. Hinata swallows. “Tsukki?”
“Don’t. If you can keep that a secret then we’re not friends.”
“I...I’m confused.”
“As if. You and Tendou, I saw you kissing!”
It hits him like a tonne of bricks and he takes a step back. “Satori...Me? What?”
“It makes sense. Only two freaks could get along that well.”
Hinata’s shock vanishes and is replaced with fury. He doesn’t care what Tsukishima says to him, but insulting Tendou is something Hinata won’t forgive him for—it’s low. “Idiot, Stingyshima! Satori is our friend.”
“You’re even defending him, like a prince in shining armour.” Tsukishima barks out a laugh, Hinata’s hands ball into fists.
“Idiot. I can’t believe I like you! You’re not worth it, I wish it was Satori.” Hinata storms from their room. He doesn’t stop until he gets outside and the cold air cuts against his cheeks. His words sink in. He quietly crouches down, his arms curl tightly around his knees and he takes a few slow breaths.
Hinata had said what he felt. To Tsukishima, who’s cold, dumb, direct—and the exact opposite, he’s warm in the way he’ll take Natsu under his wing, he’s smarter than anyone Hinata knows, he avoids something he doesn’t like.
He avoided Hinata for weeks.
Hinata loved Tsukishima—he loves him, he can’t take it back. He can’t make it go away. He can’t swallow his words. Hinata can’t love anyone else, he doesn’t wish he could—he doesn’t want to. Even with their soft jibes and playful insults, it felt easy with Tsukishima. Hinata felt safe.
A hand touches his shoulder, he sniffles, but he doesn’t move. “Hinata, I’m sorry.” The sound of Tsukishima’s voice makes everything hurt more and he buries a sob into his knee. “I shouldn’t have said that. I—” There’s a sigh. Tsukishima’s feet tap on the pavement, there’s a little rustle of clothing. Hinata wonders if he sat down, he almost looks. “I was jealous. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Tendou, I thought you liked him, and then I saw how close you two were. It looked like a kiss.”
“It wasn’t.” Hinata’s reply is muffled. He sniffles again, something drapes over him and he finally peeks up. Tsukishima is sat on the ground, he’s wrapped in his usual winter coat and Hinata notices that the material on his shoulder is familiar. His eyes glance over the black fabric—it’s their old Karasuno jacket. His is still at home, his mother is still begging him to let her frame it. This one is Tsukishima’s. It smells like him.
“I know that now. I guess you were right, I’m an idiot.” Tsukishima looks at him. Hinata wants to argue, it’s not true, it could never be true. But he’s lost his breath, he doesn’t know if speaking will help anyway. “I like you.”
The words aren’t a surprise, not the way Hinata had dreamed they would be. Tsukishima looks torn, like he’s ready for Hinata to push him away. But Hinata won’t. He lowers himself to sit on the ground and reaches out for Tsukishima. “Yeah, Satori told me. I didn’t want to believe him, I’m stupid too.”
“Only some of the time.” Tsukishima smiles. Their fingers thread together, it feels nice. “I really am sorry.”
“Me too. I wouldn’t want to like anyone else.” Hinata smiles too.
Tsukishima pulls him closer and exhales. It sounds like relief and Hinata grins. “Now can we get up and go back inside? This was definitely one of your dumbest ideas.”
“Sure. It’s cold.” They slowly get up. Tsukishima’s grip is strong on Hinata’s hand, it doesn’t hurt and it feels natural. They head inside, the warmth fills Hinata but he refuses to give up Tsukishima’s jacket. “You have to apologise to Satori.”
“Yeah.” Hinata is a little surprised that Tsukishima agreed. He’d expected a little fight. Tsukishima smiles at him again and his heart jumps, he squeezes Tsukishima’s hand. “I’m only doing it for you, since you heard me say it. Don’t get any stupid ideas.”
“Of course not!” Hinata grins—Tsukishima ruffles his hair and pushes him into their room. He sheds his winter-coat but doesn’t ask for his Karasuno jacket back. Hinata can’t help but notice the untidy state of Tsukishima’s bed, like he’d rushed out of the room. Rushed after him. Knowing that is a pleasant feeling. Tsukishima quietly cleans up his papers and Hinata watches from his bed. He pulls Tsukishima’s jacket around him and smiles.
The air is clear, they’ve found each other after the raging storm.
The settling of their relationship feels normal—it feels great. The happiness is unmatched.