Chapter Text
Kageyama was short on words, bad with them, actually, and not that expressive with his actions either. He was a bit, inexperienced with the whole concept of mutual communication and understanding, to say the least. His vocabulary was rounded, circling around the same, never-ending line of short-lettered words and various of insults and his physical approach was either an attempt at murder or a polite distancing. Sometimes it was both. He has never thought that the wall he built to keep people away from him was even capable of ever breaking. It seemed impossible and a part of him wanted it to stay that way. He didn't need people. He had volleyball and it was more than enough for him. It was interesting, though, for such a retreated person to be part of a team. Anyone would expect a guy like him to tend towards individual sports. But he loved volleyball. He was good at it, gifted with it. And he loved winning. He could only feel fully alive when he was standing on the court, with his teammates, giving it his best. He wasn't good at anything else, so he believed that he was solely born to play volleyball.
And he also believed, although he would only admit it during vulnerable moments, that he was solely made to be Hinata's most compatible setter. The perfect, weird duo. People would call them. A special connection. Hinata was, to his utmost despise, a friend. A friend that was quite the complete opposite of one when they first met. A friend that turned out to understand Kageyama more than anyone ever has, even if they were as different as the day and the night. They had a special bond, as much as he didn't want to admit it. But he was a bit prideful of it, of how well they worked together on the court, like two cogs, perfectly fit for one another. So, Kageyama didn't need people, he was quite bad at the whole communication thing, but not that much around Hinata. And it felt a bit strange. Because, well, there was always tension in between them. People couldn't really understand it, their dynamic, the on and offs, the way in which they were always fighting, then coming back together stronger than before. Kageyama didn't understand it either in the beginning, but he grew to see it, the hidden mutual understanding they had of each other, the overwhelming trust. He didn't know what it was, or where it was coming from, but he knew that it was making Hinata different from other people. And Kageyama, who only had and needed volleyball, sometimes was wondering if volleyball would ever feel the same without Hinata by his side. It was a scary thought to have. But it was occurring from time to time. Not during their fights, not during their best of moments either, but right before sleep after exhausting days.
However, the thought was always pushed away by a stronger one, filled with that inexplicable over-confidence that Hinata would never stop playing volleyball, especially by his side. It was all obvious in the look of those eyes whenever they got serious, that he was planning on playing for a long time and most importantly, keep on winning, with Kageyama and the rest of the team. And Kageyama felt the same, but lately, it has been a bit different.
Not affectionate Kageyama started working on his physical communication skills and he was bad at it but he could still give half-hearted compliments and reluctantly high-five his teammates after a successful point. So, it was some kind of growth, but there had been something else that he wanted to do for a while. That different something. And it was weird, because it would overstep all of his social limits, but something in him still wanted to do it. Everyone else does it, he did it too a couple of times, but not like this. His hand was tingling sometimes, to do it. Pat Hinata's head after a good point and run his fingers through those orange, spiky yet soft locks. He has done it before, although it was more like he was pulling the hair out of his scalp, but not during a game, not in front of so many people, not with endearing thoughts and a tendency to smile. But he wanted to. A lot. There was no reason for him not to, like he said, everyone else did it. But they were not like Kageyama. They weren't afraid of showcasing acts of affection and those acts of affection didn't mean that much to them either. But they meant a lot to Kageyama.
Especially after that point. They were in the middle of a practice match, at deuce with other team, one point ahead of them and Hinata was supposed to go into another one of their quick attacks, their toughest weapon. And he did, he didn't hesitate when he spiked that ball, leaving Kageyama a bit fascinated, like every other time. But it didn't end there. The other team's libero was able to keep the ball in the air and passed it on the other side and Kageyama could sense it, the fire surrounding Hinata when he started running towards the opposite side of the net and then he was flying, blinding and before Kageyama knew it he was tossing the ball to him. Hinata swayed his arm as if he was ready to smash the brains out of that ball, but then he stopped it mid-move and did a faint, the ball dropping low, almost powerless in between the alarmed players swiping the floors to reach it, but it was too late. And it could've been out of luck, because Hinata tended to be very lucky during games, but that time it wasn't. Hinata actually used his head in the game, his whole purpose was to do that, Kageyama was sure of it. And it made him feel some type of way. Proud, maybe?
He heard his teammates break into over exaggerated cheers and roars and he caught Hinata filled with excitement, looking at him with that specific triumphant smile he always pulls whenever he does something great. And it was just burning inside of him, that feeling. He grinned at him, which wasn't unusual whenever they were scoring a point, or even better, winning a match-point, but it didn't feel like enough. He knew that he didn't have to do more, because the rest would. He knew that Tanaka was getting ready to lift Hinata in the air and praise his ears off, but he still wanted to do that thing. His palms were itchy, the same kind of itchiness he feels whenever he misses volleyball and that meant a lot.
So, he approached Hinata. His eyes were shining, Kageyama didn't know how they did that but they were so bright and glowy, almost pleading for compliments. Kageyama took a deep breath, raised his arm until it was above the orange nest of hair and then the room went a bit quieter, it always did whenever the two of them were having a moment. He felt stupid, to feel nervous about it, but his fingers were already combing into Hinata's hair before he knew it and something changed in Hinata's expression, but Kageyama couldn't point what. It felt nice, soft, a bit sweaty but it was fine. It felt better than ripping it off. Way better.
"Good job, dumbass," The words left his mouth a bit hesitantly, his hand still in the other's hair and the room went entirely silent.
Hinata was radiating, really. It was different from other times, though. Kageyama felt like Hinata was radiating because of him and him only. Because of that praise and head pat. If that would've happened outside of the court, Hinata would've asked him if he's sick or something, but on volleyball premises, he knew that Kageyama was sincerely trying to compliment him. And he loved it a bit too much, it seemed. It was different from when he got ambushed by the whole team only a few seconds after, because he was still looking at Kageyama. That was when Kageyama had realized what he did and how it made him feel and how it made Hinata feel.
"Gross," Tsukishima muttered from right beside him and Kageyama was faster than the speed of light to shut him up with a derogatory term. But yes, it was kind of, gross. In a good way.
One thing about Hinata, though, is that, once he receives a taste of something good, he keeps on wanting more and more of it. He expects it. His greed is quite obvious at times and a bit terrifying. Kageyama knew that much. So, it wasn't hard to realize that ever since that head-patting situation Hinata has been expecting one of those again. It was obvious, the way his expectant, big, annoyingly sparkly eyes would stare right at Kageyama with a certain emotion after doing something right on court, as if asking for that high praise again. But Kageyama was never going to do it again (although he really, really wanted to). He was wondering whether Hinata would say something about it at some point. He was never one to hold back whatever's on his mind.
"Kageyama," There it was, his own name. He was just a bit surprised.
He forgot that he was walking home with Hinata, because it was unusually quiet. For some reason his talkative, annoying friend wasn't talkative and annoying at that moment. It was weird, he realized shortly after.
"I will become way better than you, to surprise you again like that time!" Hinata's tone suddenly rose and he stopped walking, clenching his fists and teeth while staring at Kageyama with overflowing passion. It was such a Hinata thing to do, that Kageyama was almost unimpressed. Almost. He has heard the shorter say those kinds of things many times, but he knew that that one was a bit different. That was why he was, in fact, a little bit surprised and unfortunately he didn't have the time to hide it. If his brain wasn't failing him, what Hinata told him, in other words, was that he was going to make Kageyama pat his head again and it did something to Kageyama. That Hinata has actually been constantly trying ever since that practice match to make Kageyama proud of him, to have him do that again. It was twisting rusted emotions in his chest and he didn't like it. Usually, he would make fun of him or grin at him as if taking on some kind of challenge, but not that time.
"Whatever, dumbass," He said softly and averted his gaze from Hinata's piercing one, continuing to walk.
It was like that sometimes and then Kageyama would fall face-down into his pillow and start thinking about that stupid friend of his' and that frustrating character he has. They were angry thoughts, he'd often tell himself, but he wasn't feeling anger at all that night.
After a few days Kageyama came to the sour realization that the head-patting situation wasn't affecting Hinata only, but himself too. There was a certain stuffy feeling in his chest whenever someone else would do that, pat Hinata's hair. It was stupid, because half of the team and every passing stranger would do that, but that was infuriating him even more. He also realized that he wasn't very good at hiding it either when Tanaka pointed out the way in which Kageyama was throwing daggers with his eyes in Sugawara's back whenever the senior would pat Hinata. And he didn't know why. But after that, no one else would even dare to put their hands in Hinata's hair, which was a bit sad for Hinata who loved the little pats of encouragement. Someone had to do something.
That someone only happened to be Kageyama.
He was practicing late with Hinata again, but it was later than usually and both of them seemed exhausted, ready to call an end for the day. Hinata was sitting slouched on the floor, breathing heavily, a towel wrapped around his neck. Apparently his stamina wasn't endless, like everyone believed. But for him to look that tired, it meant that he truly worked harder than ever that day. Maybe, maybe it was a good excuse to praise him for it. After chugging down the last droplets of water in his bottle, Kageyama walked towards his friend and could feel his whole being tingling all of a sudden. It was that nervousness washing over him again. He bent his knees and squated in front of Hinata, who didn't take notice of his presence yet and then without another thought, he put his hand in the messy hair and wrapped it around his fingers before releasing it softly. It only took a matter of seconds for Hinata to look up at him with shiny eyes and a warm smile. Crap. Kageyama thought to himself for no reason at all.
"Good practice," He said and then ruffled the orange hair, making a bigger mess out of it before he carefully combed it away from Hinata's eyes. His heart was running a marathon, faster than a few moments ago when he was unstoppably serving. It was unusual. There was suddenly something else aside from volleyball and food that was making his heart race and it was playing with the hair of a dumbass. It made no sense. But the way in which that certain dumbass was looking at him while he was doing so, was making him feel like maybe, it was worth it. He had to say something mean before he would actually start to believe that. "But seriously, what were those last receives?" He asked in a scolding tone and pushed his finger into Hinata's forehead, who lost his balance right away and fell on his back with a loud yelp.
That sounded more like them.
But his heart wasn't slowing down. It didn't that night. He could still feel it, the hair in his palms and the excitement in Hinata's eyes.
The third time Kageyama patted Hinata's head was an accident. The two of them were blocking and Kageyama's hand wanted to reach the ball but got tangled in Hinata's hair along the way. It wasn't supposed to happen. It couldn't even be counted as a head pat, but it left Kageyama wanting to give one. Stupid, fluffy, hair.
The fourth time (not that Kageyama was counting), was also an accident (although the rest of the team was convinced that it wasn't). They were in Tokyo for a few friendly practice games and sleeping on the floor would always end up with some of the restless sleepers to be all over everyone else. Kageyama wasn't one of them, but Hinata, although small, sure moved a lot in his sleep, even in his sleep. Those constant movements somehow led to Hinata attempting to cuddle Kageyama in his sleep and asleep Kageyama's instincts to stop him ended up with him putting his hand in the shorter's hair. When he woke up a few centimeters away from Hinata, his fingers still in his locks and Hinata's leg over his hips, it was already too late. Everyone who was awake had proof. And worse than that was that a part of Kageyama didn't really want to break away from that position. He wanted to believe that it was, again, because of the hair, but that time, it seemed to have been more than that. Like how the dumbass looked a bit like an actual not-annoying human being when he was sleeping peacefully like that. It was fumbling with Kageyama's stomach. He, really, didn't like it.
He didn't think that things could get any worse than that, but apparently another urge grew within Kageyama while they were in Tokyo and it had to do with Hinata, again. Some people were doing it to him and Kageyama wanted to try it too. Squeeze and pinch his stupid cheeks. While observing others do it, he came to the conclusion that his friend had some intriguingly elastic cheeks and he wanted to feel it too, the skin stretch under the strength of his fingers. He didn't know why. It was a relief that he could do that without seeming out of character, though. All he had to do was integrate it into his scoldings, an aggressive cheek demolishment. He felt smart for a moment.
"Useless dumbass!" He shouted when Hinata failed his service during a crucial point and grabbed the boy's cheeks in-between his fingers, beginning to pinch and squeeze them as if his life depended on it. He was supposed to feel furious, but he was secretly enjoying it a little bit too much. No one seemed to care, so he kept on doing it whenever he had something to lash out at him with, which he started doing way more than usually just to get the stretchy skin in his hands. He was very well aware that his reasons were weird, but he decided to ignore that thought. And he tried really hard not to make it obvious, that he absolutely hated it whenever other people were anywhere near Hinata's face. Because he wasn't supposed to care.
He honestly thought that his strange needs would stop after the cheeks, but he was very wrong. Kageyama found something new that he wanted to try out and unfortunately, Hinata was, for one more time, his only target. To carry Hinata on his shoulders. That must have been the most stupid of them all yet. It was what made the rotten, slow cogs in his brain start to actually think about it, about the reason behind all of those ideas. Why would he want to carry a dumb dumbass on his shoulders? Nothing good would come out of it. Apparently, he has seen it a few times, how cheerful the orange-head looked whenever one of his seniors would raise him on his shoulders and Kageyama wanted that happiness on him too. But, why? Why did he like running his hands through Hinata's hair and squishing his cheeks and wanted him to sit on his shoulders? That was nothing like him, like them. But he still, wanted to.
They were practicing blocking with Bokuto and Kuroo when luck only seemed to be on his side for once.
"I bet that even if Hinata sits on your shoulders that you can't block my attacks," Bokuto said pridefully at some point during practice and Kageyama heard him loud and clear. He has never heard anyone better in his entire life. Also, he felt kind of insulted, a wave of competitiveness rushing through him. He glared at Bokuto and bent down, one knee touching the ground.
"Hinata," He voiced the name sternly and Bokuto muffled a laugh while Hinata let out the loudest 'Ha?!' ever, but immediately grinned when he realized that Kageyama wasn't kidding. The short boy then jumped on the taller's shoulders in just a matter of seconds and damn, he was heavier than expected. Kageyama cursed at how carelessly his friend jumped and grunted while he tried to stand back on his feet, but when he made it, something switched inside of him. He was holding Hinata on his shoulders, the realization ran through him a few times. And he liked it. Why did he like it when it was such a hassle? His hands were wrapped around the boy's small ankles, so small. Kageyama has never thought about Hinata's ankles before.
It was probably weird to think of anyone's ankles in general.
He was so distracted by his ridiculous thoughts that he almost missed it, the spike coming at them in full force, the ball touching Hinata's fingertips and then flying off into the court. However, that little contact was strong enough to send both of them to the floor, their backs colliding with the harsh ground. Happiness, Kageyama thought at that moment, is indeed short. But, he still succeeded, in having Hinata on his shoulders. He didn't know how that was a victory, though, or important, since it only resulted with back pain and embarrassment. It looked as if he kind of liked it though, that pain and embarrassment. So absurd.
And yet, as absurd as it was, it didn't take Kageyama long (three days to be exact) to find something else to preoccupy himself with, that still had to do with no other but the infamous Shōyō Hinata. The goal was to pinch his (ridiculously tiny) nose. He saw coach Ukai do it once and it seemed entertaining enough. The problem was that he couldn't just go ahead and do it. That would be weird. He had to find a way to pinch Hinata's nose naturally, not make it look as if Kageyama actually wanted to pinch it, because then things would get, confusing. Kageyama felt kind of dumb, when he searched it on the internet. How to pinch someone's nose. He actually misspelled pinch with punch the first time around and was left quite satisfied until he figured out his mistake and sighed in disappointment. And of course, the internet didn't have a single good response for the actual question, which left Kageyama braining too hard for too long. Of course, Hinata was to blame.
It was during lunch break, on a colder day than the rest, when the stars seemed to have aligned in Kageyama's favor once again.
"I think I'm going to sneeze," Hinata said from beside him and Kageyama thought that it was the perfect chance for him to pinch his nose. It would be such a good way to annoy him, right when he is about to sneeze, taking in a deep breath and scrunching his face and then Kageyama has his fingers tightened on the sides of his little nose and, pinch. He was feeling way more giddy about it than he would ever admit and Hinata lashed out right away, frustration coming out in loud complaints. But nothing really mattered, except of the fact that he got to pinch Hinata's nose, naturally. The shorter looked quite amusing, pissed off like that. Even if Kageyama was showing pure indifference with his face, he was pleasingly entertained and satisfied with himself. But there was that question again. Why? What was the big deal about it?
Usually he would shove the question away, but it has crossed his mind enough times to start irking him. Before he even knew it he was searching it up online. Why do I want to tease someone all the time? Because if he were to put it in a wider spectrum, that was what he was doing, bothering Hinata, teasing him. Secretly too, on top of it. But he didn't really like the results. They were hinting that Kageyama felt comfortable around Hinata and liked him as a person, or even more than that and that was just, ludicrous. The internet has been wrong plenty of times and that was probably one of them. Even so, his fingers lingered a bit before he hesitatingly typed in the next question.
"So stupid," He muttered to himself, a bit exasperated, staring at the emboldened search.
How do you know if you like someone?
Tobio Kageyama has never been interested in something like this before. He has never been interested in anything else beside volleyball, until Shōyō Hinata shoved his dumb existence in his life and things have never been the same ever since. It was his right to know, whether the ridiculous idea of him liking Hinata, could be true. Which was the reason why he scrolled down until the first dot .
You find yourself wishing for more time with the other person.
False. Kageyama wished he could spend less time with Hinata, because they were always together. But he did feel quite bummed when Hinata missed practice that one time he felt sick and the boy's abscence could always be felt in the air, not in the best of ways. Kageyama couldn't agree with wanting to spend more time with his dumb friend, but he sure wasn't feeling all that great whenever they weren't together. It wasn't the same thing, right? He quickly dodged the question with a swat of his hand, moving onto the next point.
Everything makes you think about them.
He pondered over it for a while. Although he hated to admit to it, he has been thinking of the slow-witted dwarf quite a lot lately. Even when they were at each other's throats, Hinata would always be present in Kageyama's mind, as someone extremely bothersome. He didn't know if there were any specific things that were making Kageyama think about him. Volleyball made him think of Hinata quite often, but that was a given. Shrimps and orange objects too. However, most of the time Hinata was making him think of Hinata, so that didn't really count, right? Everything around him had to make him think about Hinata in matter for him to actually like Hinata. Which, according to the results so far, he didn't.
Everything feels more exciting with them around. Was the next sign, which Kageyama found completely stupid.
First of all, Kageyama was capable of feeling real excitement only while playing volleyball and because Hinata was his teammate, it was inevitable. Second of all, Kageyama could also feel a great deal of excitement while eating, regardless whether Hinata was there or not. Yes, sharing a meal or a snack with his friend after a tough practice felt quite fulfilling at times, but it wasn't any different than eating at home or at school, alone or with other people. Maybe he also started feeling a bit excited while teasing Hinata those past weeks, but that excitement couldn't ever come close to volleyball or eating, so Kageyama decided that it didn't count. Which led him to the following dot.
You start to like the things they like (even if you used to hate it).
Kageyama didn't even know what Hinata liked and he was not the type of person to switch from things he hates, unless pigs start flying or something impossible like that. The only thing that Kageyama could think of at the sight of that sentence would be their duo as co-players. He used to hate it, the idea of playing on the same team with Hinata, having to toss to him, communicate with him, adapt to his likings during the game, but the hatred used to be mutual back then. There wasn't something that Kageyama started liking just because Hinata also did. Maybe he started liking volleyball more after coming on good grounds with Hinata, but everyone liked volleyball. Therefore, that didn't mean anything.
Your thinking is focused on every little thing about them.
He felt a sour taste on his tongue once he read the point a few times only to end up defeated by it, since it wasn't completely wrong. Consciously or unconsciously, Kageyama was always observing Hinata, was it during games, practice or other surroundings. He knew what his hair felt like under his fingers, because he wanted to know. He knew how squishy his skin was because he had to feel it himself. He knew what Hinata was thinking most of the time only by looking at him once. He knew it when Hinata was begging for a toss with his fiery eyes and also knew when Hinata was having doubts before a game. He knew when Hinata was getting tired, despite of his never-ending energy and he knew when Hinata was hungry and what Hinata liked to eat on certain days. He knew that Hinata's nose was extremely small and sensitive to cold and strong scents. Only by looking at his mannerisms, he could tell if Hinata was feeling good or bad, pumped or discouraged, ready or hesitant, anything and everything. Kageyama was aware that to know so many things, he must've focused a lot on Hinata throughout those few months they spent in each other's presence, glued to the hip.
Kageyama let out a heavy sigh and flipped on his back, holding the phone high above his face, eyes starting to ache from the light of the screen and the small text on it.
The last point was referring to something that he hasn't actually thought of before.
You get jealous when they're with someone else, or talking about someone else.
Jealous. Kageyama always hated that word, that feeling, everything about it. He knew exactly what it felt like and how raw it was. He could recall feeling jealous of Hinata a few times, sometimes because of his talent and other times because of his social skills. But it was light jealousy, nothing compared to how he used to feel in middle school about better players than him. He didn't really know the depth of the jealousy he was supposed to think about. Was him interrupting Hinata from getting all excited while talking with Yachi when they were supposed to be doing homework considered as jealousy? Was him disliking other people touching Hinata's hair or face or him in general a sign of jealousy? Was the idea of Hinata being around guys taller than Kageyama bothering him that much because he might be jealous? Was the thought of Hinata feeling as good spiking with another setter as he does with him that infuriating because of jealousy? He didn't quite know. They did feel like mild types of jealousy, but were they mild enough to not be considered a warning sign, or were they just on the edge of an alarm going off?
Did he truly, like Hinata?
You want to touch them and mirror their actions, feel close to them.
Kageyama wasn't a big fan of affection, or anyone touching him or him touching others in general, but recently he has been having the urge to touch Hinata, a lot. It started with the damned high-fives, which weren't his idea but he kind of started liking them, feeling the small of Hinata's palms over his', it felt nice. The hair, the cheeks, the nose, his weight over his shoulders. He has been searching for a plentiful of excuses to be in physical contact with Hinata at all times. It felt as if Hinata was a magnet and Kageyama was the metal that couldn't stay away. That had to be close. Despite Hinata being the clingy one and Kageyama hating that clinginess, he was growing to like it, need it at times, maybe even initiate it. And he hated it so much.
But, well, eventually, in spite of his own stubbornness, Kageyama gave in and let himself come to terms with the fact that he, Tobio Kageyama, indeed, liked Shōyō Hinata in more than a friendly way. And that idiot of Hinata wasn't supposed to find out, not yet.
🏐
Apparently, after figuring out about the little crush he was having on Hinata, something has changed in Kageyama. He became even more observative than before, at least as long as it was about Hinata. Thoughts that had never crossed his mind before began to rage in his head and he didn't really know how to stop them. How to stop wondering what would it feel like to hug Hinata, to hold those idiotic hands of his', to touch that dumb face whenever he wanted to and lastly, to kiss that frustrating grin off of his annoying, perfect, cute face. They were thoughts that were distracting him during practice, distracting him during lunch, distracting him before sleep and Tobio Kageyama was not one to get easily distracted. He was completely right when he thought that liking someone was a waste of precious time. He has been losing too much time just to think of Hinata, it was insane.
The truth was that he was still trying to adapt to it, to liking Hinata. Everyone would think that competitive and passionate Kageyama, if he were to be interested in relationships, would be just as impactful with love as with volleyball, but they were a bit off. Kageyama loved volleyball and he could pursue it, he could play anytime, hold a volleyball in his hands whenever he wanted to, talk about it with anyone. But liking someone, especially Hinata, was a bit different. It felt like it should be harder than that, to confess and express his feelings. He couldn't talk to someone about it either, so he settled on doing even more observing, to figure out if there was any chance that his dumb friend could be feeling the same way. And undoubtedly, he searched it on the internet. For someone who wasn't easily swayed by the glowy screen, he was sure putting a lot of trust in it all of a sudden.
Anyways, he was still going to try it out.
How do you know if someone likes you?
The first sign he read was implying that, if Hinata were at least a tad bit interested in him, his body language would show it by leaning towards him, standing close to him. It was true that Hinata was always close to Kageyama, but it was only after going over that article that he started to pay more attention to it. When he used to be busy ignoring Hinata, he didn't realize just how often Hinata was clinging to him. They were close, most of the time and Hinata was always unconsciously searching for Kageyama, facing him, moving beside him and Kageyama gravely failed at noticing it before. Yes, he was Shōyō Hinata, lively, social, affectionate, but he knew that his friend was not someone he could so freely be close to. Kageyama felt a bit dumbfounded when Hinata placed his forehead on his shoulder during practice once, moving it into the bone to massage it while murmuring something about having a headache. And that was weird. He looked around alarmed but everyone was acting as if it was normal, when it obviously wasn't. Since when did Hinata start allowing himself to do things like that? Like, lean his body into Kageyama's at times or wrap an arm around his shoulders (as much as he could reach them), as if they were buddies.
But were those acts of closure signifying that Hinata had feelings for him, or that he was just being a good friend? He couldn't seem to be able to differentiate them.
Perhaps he would be able to know more by examining the next sign. Remembering small details. Kageyama wasn't one to talk a lot about himself, or anything else except of volleyball, so if Hinata were to know, remember details about him that might've slipped some time ago, it would probably mean something. To his own frustration, the short idiot looked as if he knew more about Kageyama than Kageyama himself. For instance when they were eating. Sometimes Hinata would order for the two of them, always getting one of Kageyama's favorites dishes, or he would share something from his own, which was unlike them, but it was always parts that Kageyama secretly loved eating. Or while they were studying, although it would only happened once in forever, Hinata seemed to know the places where Kageyama felt more content to study in, he seemed to know that Kageyama, although very organized, tended to forget his eraser in the classroom, or preferred underlining with scentless markers, which were the ones Hinata had. It looked like he always knew what to say to him whenever he was feeling low, or how to act about it, as if he was able to fully understand him.
Kageyama hasn't noticed those things before.
He also failed to see just how much more talkative Hinata was around him, with someone who could swallow his tongue without no one figuring it out. That was leading him to the next sign, which was about communication. It was a known fact that Shōyō Hinata was a chatterbox. If 'curiosity killed the cat' were a person, it would be him. Just like 'cat's got your tongue' would be Kageyama (completely different). But for some reason (maybe because they were friends), Hinata was never shutting up in his presence. He was babbling about his day, what was getting him angry or excited, asking dozens of things about Kageyama then answering his own questions about himself and Kageyama hasn't really been listening to him all that time. He started feeling bad about it. But to his defense, that blabbering mess was talking mostly nonsense. Either way, the point was that, indeed, Hinata was communicating more with Kageyama than with other people, which was rather, surprising.
And just like he thought that Hinata was talking with everyone all the same, he didn't think any differently about his smile. Hinata was always smiling at everything and everyone, that was something everyone knew. He was always getting excited over the tiniest of useless things and expressing it with that stupid, mouth of his'. But the internet was telling him that Hinata was supposed to smile in another way at Kageyama. And that he was supposed to feel that contrast. Sometimes he did. From time to time Hinata would throw smiles so bright they were blinding, his eyes smiling along, glimmering and closing in two curved lines while the corners of his mouth wouldn't stretch too wide, just enough to form a grin, a calmer, warmer one than usual. Kageyama tried to see if he was offering those to anyone else, but they seemed to only be directed towards him. But he could also be imagining things.
Why was it so hard? To know if Hinata liked him? He could easily figure out whenever a girl at school was eyeing him a bit too much for his liking. It was easy to know if any of them liked him.
He let out a sigh while looking at the orange source of his problems from afar. He wished he could just pick him up by his dumb hair, twirl him around and throw him somewhere far away. It would solve at least some of his worries. Some of his nervousness, which was also one of those dumb signs. Not that Kageyama was nervous around Hinata or anything like that. But he could at least speculate that Hinata was, occasionally, nervous around Kageyama, but not for the best of reasons. He knew that Hinata was afraid of screwing up during a game because Kageyama was scary when he was upset with him and that he used to get very nervous around him during their first clashes. However, a different kind of nervousness? He could see at times, a flush of redness in Hinata's cheeks, but it wasn't unusual, or happening only in front of Kageyama and he didn't know if it was nervousness or just blood deciding to run in his cheeks. How was he supposed to know if Hinata was acting especially nervous around him when the little guy was always on the edge?
That unhelpful site said something among the lines 'The more you embrace your surroundings, the better you will know', but he has embraced his surroundings more than he has in his entire life altogether and the only thing he came to conclusion with was that Sugawara was sometimes looking at the two of them with a weird, parental smile. As if he knew something that Kageyama didn't. And it was a bit annoying.
In other words, his research ended up being useless.
But he had another plan up his sleeve and the headline was:
How to stop liking someone? Sponsored by, of course, the internet.
According to a random article he had to tell himself what he didn't like about Hinata and why a relationship in-between them, wouldn't work. And then he had to start spending less time with Hinata, observe him less, ignore him more, exactly what he was doing before he came in touch with his own feelings. And well, he tried, he really did, but it was impossible. Any wavering change in their friendship would result to a drastic change on the court and he couldn't risk it. Also, he shamefully came to the awful realization that he liked everything that he disliked about Hinata. But he did ponder more over the reason why they wouldn't be able to work together romantically. He tried to imagine it, having a dispute with Hinata if they were more than friends and he could immediately feel his blood boil in his veins. That stubbornness would surely be a problem, for both of them. But he couldn't imagine them not making up. They were always coming back together after breaking, no matter the seriousness of the issue. He knew that it would be same if they were together.
To put it shortly, Kageyama wasn't thinking of stopping to like Hinata any time soon. And he only had two more (hopefully one) plans to resort to.
🏐
How to make someone to like you? Was the plan, as stupid as it sounded.
Firstly, he had to start showing more interest in Hinata. He decided to take a task a day with the beginning of the new week and once Monday hit in he was ready to give Shōyō Hinata his utmost interest. He knew it would be strange for others, he could feel their stares throughout the whole day. Because Kageyama wasn't being subtle about it. He was keeping his eyes on Hinata at all times, holding eye-contact, glued to him by the hip at any moment, actually listening to everything he was saying, doing whatever the other wanted to on and off court. Before Hinata could even move, Kageyama was already giving him his bottle of water, because he was interested. And he didn't know how to feel about the look of confusion on Hinata's face, that just eventually turned into a thankful smile.
"Can you bring mine too?!" Nishinoya shouted from the other side of the court, but Nishinoya wasn't Hinata, so Kageyama glared at him with utmost annoyance, the libero quickly lifting his hands up in his defense.
Only volleyball and Hinata, deserved his full attention and devotion. He never thought he would ever say that. And weirdly enough, Hinata wasn't mentioning anything about it, like he did that time about the head-patting.
Before he even knew it, it was already Tuesday and he had to ask Hinata things about himself and compliment him. Unfortunately he found those way harder to do than silently take interest in him. He had to put way more effort into that. His first attempt at initiating a casual conversation was a failed murmur that dumbass Hinata didn't even hear and the second one was a bit too much.
"How are you?!" He almost shouted, kind of aggressively, at the end of class. His classmates flinched at the sudden loudness and Hinata's color drained from his face. Once he settled back to reality, the shorter boy's mouth opened but no sounds were coming out, which was very unlikely of Hinata.
"I'm, I'm fine," The boy answered after a little while, stuttering. He looked so flustered that Kageyama started wondering if it was the first time he has ever asked Hinata about how he was doing. Guilt filled his throat at the thought. He had to calm down.
Scratching the back of his head, he looked away for a moment.
"What do you like doing during break time?" He muttered under his breath, nonchalantly and although he already knew the answer, maybe Hinata would appreciate that he was actually asking him. He hated how proud he felt when he saw that stupid face light up immediately. Then they were practicing together, during break time. They have done it before, lots of times, but it was never Kageyama who was initiating it, or caring about what Hinata wanted to do. He thought that it was, some kind of progress.
What he was more hesitant about was the complimenting part. He was barely getting the hang of complimenting him on court. He didn't have the slightest idea how compliments worked outside of volleyball. Nice face? No, that was stupid. No one actually said that. He hoped no one did. And no, he wasn't going to search it up, he had some kind of self-respect left.
They were in the changing rooms when he was ready to act up. Hinata wasn't struggling with taking off his shirt that day and Kageyama thought that it was worth complimenting. Well, nothing in his opinion, except of mind-blowing volleyball skills, was worth complimenting, but that was Hinata, his crush or something like that.
"You don't look like that much of a dumbass today," He said without an ounce of liveliness in his tone or expression, staring at the shirtless idiot. Someone would definitely disagree, that that could be counted as a compliment, but for the two them, it was. Kageyama was basically calling Hinata cute, in a very tangled way. That's right. Not that he actually thought that Hinata was cute. That wasn't what was happening. He was just, following orders.
Later on, during practice, he was giving Hinata more praises than usually and even smiling at times, which was labeled as creepy by the rest of the team, but he didn't care, since smiling, according to the internet, was an important part of the whole charming someone process. He was sure that his change was becoming noticeable, but while they were walking home that evening, Hinata didn't talk about it. He was going on about how cool Kageyama looked while serving and he might've blushed for a millisecond. He hoped no one noticed.
And then he closed his eyes and it was Wednesday. His mission was to make Hinata laugh and entrust him with one of his secrets. He figured that Wednesday would be the most difficult day yet. If he were anyone else but himself, making Hinata laugh would've been a piece of cake, because Hinata laughs at everything others say and do. But he was Kageyama. There wasn't a single ounce of humor in his bones. And he even had to share a secret with Hinata? He would rather smile at him a thousand times or look at Tskukishima in a non-murderous way once than share anything personal with anyone.
Thankfully, making Hinata laugh turned out to be easy, because the world was on his side (or not really) and he succeeded in saying something dumb enough to have Hinata tumbling on the floor from laughter. He couldn't remember what it was exactly, because he was refusing to admit to it. But Hinata's laugh was really, nice. Kageyama who didn't like Hinata would never think like that. He was starting to believe that the whole process to get Hinata to like him was making Kageyama like Hinata even more. He was sure that it wasn't supposed to go that way. But he was just glad, that he succeeded.
It was evening on that same day, night already having taken over the sky and Kageyama was walking home with Hinata, like any other day. The hours passed by in a flash and he hasn't yet told Hinata a secret and it was the least to say, irritating. He kicked a rock and munched on the inside of his cheek, Hinata's rambling voice fading in the background. It wasn't that he couldn't trust Hinata with a secret, if he were entirely honest with himself he could trust Hinata with anything. He felt the most comfortable with being himself around Hinata and his true self wasn't open about personal matters, it was just how he was. He knew that Hinata was aware of that and was okay with it. Which was why he kind of wanted to, impress Hinata. He knew that it would make Hinata happy, if Kageyama were to open to him.
"I don't mind it," He took a deep breath, without looking at Hinata, who stopped talking. "I don't mind it when you cling on to me during sleep, or anytime,"
And out of all the things Kageyama could've said, he had to bury himself six feet under with that one. Theoretically, it was a secret. Just the wrong one. He was excepting Hinata to look weirded out, which he did, for just a brief moment until his eyes did that sparkly thing again and he was grinning from ear to ear. He shouted Kageyama's name with pure excitement then jumped higher than he ever has, wrapping his arms and legs around his tall friend, both of them falling to the ground in a matter of milliseconds. If he were the normal, not-crushing-on-Hinata Kageyama, he would've killed the ball of orange fluff right away, but he was a very crushing on Hinata Kageyama, so being like that, on the ground, hugged by a small being called Shōyō Hinata that he was undoubtedly weak for, felt like bliss. Especially when Hinata started laughing and Kageyama wasn't one to laugh wholeheartedly, but he couldn't hold back his breathy, soundless, giggle that time. He was curious of the way in which he was looking at Hinata at that moment. Was it different from old Kageyama? He was sure that it was.
"Boko," He almost whispered, too fondly to even recognize himself and Hinata chose not to attack him with a bickering session on that evening. Instead, he happily gazed at the street-lamp lit face of his friend and placed the tip of his index on his sharp nose, a mischievous bulb lighting up in his fox-like eyes.
"Last one to arrive at my house buys breakfast tomorrow," He then said, faster than he was capable of, his tongue twisting and his body already moving away from Kageyama, running off. Screw you, Hinata. Kageyama thought to himself after a moment, then bolted down the street after the short, sprinting, irritating guy who he was, for a reason unknown to him, gone for.
If Wednesday was all about communicating and trust, Thursday was all about confidence and attraction. The most absurd day of them all. Kageyama, for the second (don't ask about his first) time in his life, had to care about his appearance. And on top of that, he had to pay for breakfast. His day wasn't starting in the nicest way. He decided to wear his 'Setter Soul' shirt over the school uniform and leave his hair as it was. It didn't have to look as if he was trying to look different. He just knew that Hinata liked that shirt a lot, alongside with that one grey hoodie they shared once. It turned out that he was right when they met at their usual spot and Hinata was too energetic for that hour of the morning.
"You're wearing the cool shirt! You look so cool Kageyama! You're even paying for breakfast! So cool!" He kept on chanting and jumping up and down as if someone recharged his batteries the second he woke up and Kageyama was trying his best to remain unfazed by the sudden wave of compliments and adorable enthusiasm. It was only the beginning of the day. He had a lot of confidence and physical contact to spare in front of him. He was freaking out, a bit.
Kageyama bought Hinata everything that he craved for (his wallet was crying but he had to act cool) and naturally placed his hand on the little of his back when they were waiting in the line. Hinata's waist was really small, he has realized from that meaningless action. Once they were finished with eating, Kageyama put a challenge on the table, a battle of pulses. They were supposed to race to school like any other morning, then count each other's pulses to see whose was beating less. Which unfortunately ended up biting him back and becoming a disadvantage to him, because his heart only accelerated when he pressed his fingers over Hinata's neck and the boy's thinner, smaller fingers did the same over his own. But it somehow felt good, to lose for once (no, he didn't lose and wasn't feeling good about it, he was probably drunk). Hinata looked really happy and his pulse felt, cute. Kageyama seriously had to get a grip.
He felt so foolish, coming up with all of these ideas to get to connect physically with Hinata in any way he could.
Even when he was brushing his fingers over Hinata's, accidentally, while they were eating, writing, running or blocking. Or when he was squishing that elastic face more than ever and ruffling his hair until it was becoming worse than a tornado. He felt foolish. But it was a bit addictive, being able to allow himself to touch Hinata. He used to feel good whenever he was smacking his stupid head or burning up his palms during a high-five, but that feeling was already long replaced. He wouldn't be able to (playfully or not) hurt Hinata again even if he wanted to. But he would willingly hold his hand or something dumb like that. Only if he could.
Troubled, he frowned while removing his shirt, wrinkling it in his hands and throwing it in his locker. It somehow felt like being unable to play volleyball in the way he wanted to. And he hated it.
"Even your body looks cooler than other days today, Kageyama!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed from beside him, already dressed and Kageyama could swear that Daichi noticed the dumb fluster that filled his cheeks from the straightforward comment and that he was making fun of Kageyama, in his own discreet way.
He then felt two cold, small-sized hands wrap around one of his arms, Kageyama's whole being tensing up. Hinata was feeling up his arm muscles, and it was okay, it wasn't a big deal. He clenched his jaw and looked in a different direction, still making sure that he was at least keeping his muscles tense. It was ridiculous, what was happening was ridiculous, but he knew that Hinata had a thing for guys with stronger, bigger builds than him. It was motivating him or something. Which was stupid, because Hinata's body was amazing as it was, but that was far from the point at the given moment. The given moment, as in Hinata's reckless, idiotic hands moving over Kageyama's chest and that was where the little man was crossing the line.
"Touch your own," He mumbled, attempting to not sound like a truck has ran over his vocal chords, because he was feeling a tad overwhelmed by the whole wave of heat passing through his body because of a certain pair of hands.
He came to the conclusion that Thursday of attraction was absolute Hell.
But nothing could be compared to what was coming up, which was, Friday of He Didn't Know Anymore. Because that was what was actually happening. He was running out of ideas and he didn't know what to do or what was happening anymore. And Hinata didn't seem very different from before. He was feeling kind of, deflated? As if something has been sucking out the air out of him throughout the whole week and he has reached the last day, but he was left with nothing to give. As if he had no one to toss for, or no one wanted him as a setter. Which was a terrifying comparison and very different emotionally wise, but it felt a bit similar. That helplessness.
He has gone through a lot of internal conflict to figure out that he liked Hinata. And then he went through even more to figure out if Hinata liked him. But that didn't work so he even tried to stop liking Hinata, but it didn't seem like much of an option so he ended up trying to make Hinata like him. He has really gone through quite the emotional battle only to meet a dead end and it was frustrating. Which was what led him to his last plan.
🏐
How to confess to someone, and that time, he didn't search it on the internet.
He didn't have much of an actual plan either. He just knew that it was that or nothing else. But he had his doubts, yes, Kageyama had doubts. He was afraid that this confession would affect their games in a bad way, although he was still confident that the two of them were able to get over anything. But that was different. It wasn't about volleyball anymore. It was about their personal relationship. So, it was normal for him to worry. He decided to take it all out with exercise. He ran around his neighborhood before school, then he raced with Hinata to classes (and won) and he ran again around the building a couple of times during breaks, warmed up like a mad man during practice, then practiced like crazy. He wasn't sure if it was helping at all, because his head was a continuous mantra of 'I have to confess, I have to confess, I have to confess, I have to confess'. But it was keeping him away from socializing, which was a good thing, for him.
He might have jinxed it the second he thought about it.
"Toss me some more!" Hinata appeared out of nowhere and pushed the ball into Kageyama's chest, his stare patronizing. The practice was already over, but the two of them would always stay behind to keep going. During that time they were usually alone. But he tried to distract himself from that thought by giving it his best as Hinata's setter (which was a bit ironic, because whenever the ball would go up, Kageyama's gaze would fall directly on Hinata, flying Hinata, gorgeous Hinata). He couldn't really focus on anything else other than Hinata.
Hinata down, Hinata up, Hinata to his right, Hinata to his left and finally, Hinata sprawled out on the floor beside him, his sweaty head and arms leaning onto Kageyama's body, who was also on the floor, breathing heavily. He wondered whether dumbass Hinata could feel the erratic beats of his heart through the thin volleyball shirt. And as if synchronized with that thought, two fingers pressed lightly on the side of his neck, where his pulse was. Hinata didn't have to lift his head to look at him or to say something for Kageyama to understand and immediately place his own fingers on the sweat coiled neck of his friend. And then they were quietly counting in comfortable silence.
"I win," Kageyama said in a low tone, a smug grin on his face. That was when Hinata finally looked at him, prompting his little hands on Kageyama's chest to be able to face his teammate better. He was frowning and pouting with every single tiny feature on his pretty face and Kageyama's feelings surfaced so fast he almost threw them up in-between the little space left from Hinata's nose to his'. Kageyama was probably out of his mind, to even think of what he was already thinking. But how could he not? When he liked Hinata so much and they were so close? When it was Friday of He Didn't Know (and didn't care) Anymore and there was a flashy note in the corner of his eye that was clearly stating that he had to kiss the boy then or never.
Hinata was complaining about something irrelevant again, but Kageyama couldn't hear a single word. He reluctantly wrapped his palm around the back of Hinata's neck in the middle of whatever he was rambling about and tuned him out right away. He lifted himself while dragging Hinata lower until their lips met midway and there he was, bad with words, bad with actions, bad with relationships Tobio Kageyama, kissing the air out of clueless, dwarf-sized, certified dumbass (the best dumbass out there), Shōyō Hinata, his crush. Hinata's lips were dry and chapped and a bit cold despite of the unbearable heat in the court and it took Kageyama a flying second to realize that the orange-haired stupid turd wasn't pushing him away. In contrary, his hands morphed into fists around Kageyama's shirt and his lips pressed harder onto the taller's mouth, opening them wide enough to allow themselves to move their lips together. Kageyama was feeling nauseous, afraid that he would wake up at any moment from the sound of his alarm. He was actually kissing Hinata and Hinata was, for goodness's sake, kissing back. It couldn't have been real, but it was, because Kageyama could feel them everywhere, the side-effects of that kiss.
His fingers were grasping onto the hair on Hinata's nape, his leg was feeling restless, his throat felt tight, his head was fuzzy, his whole attention focused on how good it felt to kiss Hinata, how perfectly well their lips fit, how Hinata seemed as driven as him. He thought that he would pass out anytime, even if their kiss wasn't fast or pushy, he was already feeling breathless.
When they parted, Kageyama was already missing that sensation. But he had more important and overwhelming things to deal with. Like the way in which Hinata hid his face in the crook of Kageyama's neck the second they stopped and how at the sight of that, the realization of their moment struck Kageyama like a thunder in broad sunlight. Fuck. Kageyama's head dropped back on the floor with a loud thud, hovering his face with his arm. He kissed Hinata and Hinata kissed him. They kissed. Fuck. Kageyama's hands covered his face and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, slowly getting engulfed in panic. He never cared that much about whatever was going on in Hinata's head, but he would kill to know why he was so quiet all of a sudden. Whether he was hiding because he was shy or...regretting what happened.
"Shōyō?"
And dammit, Kageyama despised how vulnerable he sounded while calling out the name he has been preventing himself from using for so long. He removed his hands from his face and felt the flutter of soft eyelashes on his skin, which meant that Hinata opened his eyes. Kageyama had to pull himself together. He lifted both of them under the strength of his left arm and used his free hand to give a weak flick on Hinata's head.
"Dumbass," He murmured warmly and deepened his hand into the fluff of hair, until Hinata took the courage to look up. Look at Kageyama. Murder him on spot. His expression was unreadable, an emotion Kageyama has never seen in those lame eyes before. His cheeks were a tender shade of rosé and his mouth was trembling in the slightest way, his pupils dilating and sparkling so intriguingly, Kageyama couldn't look away. He was so unexpected. Kageyama thought that simple-minded, overreacting Hinata would freak out if anyone even tried to hold his hand, but there he was, quieter than he's ever been. Maybe that was the form of his utmost horror. But it didn't look like it.
"One more?" Hinata asked softly and gave Kageyama on of those special smiles, short, warm, yet dashing.
"This isn't volleyball Hin—"
The words were pushed at the back of his throat right away, by the touch of Hinata's lips on his'. Hinata was the one kissing him first now. They were kissing again. And it was different than the previous one, because both of them knew exactly what they were doing. Hinata's hands moved from Kageyama's chest to his cheeks, thumbs tightening around the boy's defined jaw as he changed the angle of their lips and deepened the kiss, catching Kageyama off guard. Was that boy really the Hinata he knew? It was almost as if he has been waiting for that exact moment, as if he's been penting up feelings and thoughts about it, because he couldn't express them. He's seen it happen before, when he was a bit blinded by greed. So, what was blinding him again? To be kissing Kageyama like that? He couldn't believe that he could still overthink in such position, but he had to know that it was okay for both of them.
Which was why he stopped out of the blue.
"Let's talk about this,"
He couldn't believe that he was the one to say that. He had no idea how that talk would happen, or what it would be about. He found himself worrying for a second, when Hinata was being unreadable again. He looked, a bit confused, a bit bummed, a bit excited and even, motivated? How was it even possible, to express so much at once? Did he break Hinata for good? Could kisses brainwash people if their cranes were as empty as Hinata's? Kageyama was seriously concerned. Daichi was going to kill him.
"What's this..." Hinata mumbled, confused, inclining his head. "You said you wanted to talk but you're staying silent," The boy continued and he sounded, normal. Perhaps Kageyama was the one who broke. Hinata was just waiting for him to speak, not malfunctioning. He even had that annoyingly innocent look on his face after knocking the air out of Kageyama's lungs.
What was he supposed to say? That he liked him? That would be too cheesy.
"You're so stupid," Way to go, Tobio. "You're the most stupid person I have ever met,"
But Hinata wasn't acting up. He was just listening, taking it all in. It was different.
"I hate how stupid you are. Everything about you is stupid. Seriously, if I had a scale of stupidity you would surpass it. Couldn't you just be smart like everyone else and leave me alone? You're making me stupid too,"
He was sure that that wasn't how a confession had to sound like, not even close, but it felt as if his tongue had caught fire for the first time in his life.
"Always asking me to toss to you and trusting me so blindingly, hanging around me all the time as if I'm actually fun to hang out with. Always competing with me over meaningless things, only dumbasses do that. Keep doing all of that and I might get used to it, then you'll never be able to get rid of me, idiot,"
His voice was just a whisper at the end of the sentence. He thought that he has been talking in his usual aggressive tone so far, but that wasn't the case. He sounded calm, as if he was telling a story not insulting someone. Kageyama thought that he would be able to handle a confession naturally after all of those weeks of trying to run away from it, but he was wrong. He was more affected by his own feelings than he thought he would be. All of his insecurities were suddenly downing on him in front of Hinata, the last person he'd want to see any of that.
"What are you talking about, Tobio?!' Hinata's voice cut sharply through the silence, his fists tightening around his shirt to shake him up, making him lose the strength in the arm that was holding them up, Kageyama's back hitting the floor and Hinata crushing into him.
There he was, the Hinata he knew. That burning glare. Kageyama was aware of how much he hated it whenever someone was doubting themselves or having negative thoughts. Especially if that person was him. They've fought because of this lots of times.
"You're so cool! And talented! The best setter I know and not only! You're way more than you're giving yourself credit for!" His every shout was followed by a shake of Kageyama's body, that wasn't restraining them. "Do you really not know how much I look up to you and like you, you brainless ass?!"
Oh.
"I don't care what we are as long as I can always be by your side, as long as you keep tossing and I keep spiking, as long as we keep racing each other every mor-"
And Kageyama was doing that thing again, shutting Hinata up with his lips. He was starting to believe that it was a very good tactic. It took him long enough to do it. That time, while kissing Hinata, he wasn't thinking of anything else but keeping on kissing Hinata. It was their third kiss, slow and steady, sighs of relief leaving both of their mouths as Hinata's hands moved in Kageyama's hair and Kageyama's arms embraced his small shoulders. Gosh, both of them were reeking of sweat.
"That's cheating, you can't keep doing that whenever you want to shut me-"
But he was doing it again. Shutting Shōyō Hinata up. It felt too good to be true.
"Go away, you're stinky" Hinata scrunched his nose and pushed Kageyama away.
"You're the stinkiest," Kageyama gritted through his teeth and pressed his fingertips into Hinata's ribs, the smaller boy breaking out into a high-pitched laughter.
Kageyama's heart was beating like crazy. And it felt just right.
The internet is so stupid, he thought to himself while smiling.
"Let's go home, dumbass,"
And if they went home holding hands that night, Kageyama knew nothing about it. It was an accident. Also, if they competed about who could walk the other home more, it was too, just an accident. If they delayed their farewells with shut-up kisses and bickering, it was just a delusion. Because that would mean that they were, in a relationship or whatever and that was, like Tskukishima would definitely say, gross.