Archive of Our Own

Kageyama doesn't get a lot of things. Back in school, math and english were hell itself, but even outside of it, social situations were always such a complicated task for him to manage--like a stupid equation he kept staring at until he realized that it wasn't getting any easier to understand, even after 15 long minutes--jokes flew over his head and he didn't know how to act around people without scaring them away or making them uncomfortable. His teammates didn't seem to mind, though, already used to Kageyama's awkwardness, so it didn't matter to him.

Whenever he found himself in a social situation he didn't know how to handle, he mostly leant on Hinata, who, irritatingly so, was apparently really good around people.

"Oh, Kageyama-kun," he would say, in a dramatic tone, crossing his arms and shaking his head with a small frown in his face, like a mother scolding his child, just after a girl runs away from them to the school gates in the aftermath of a failed attempt to communicate with Kageyama, "you're so dumb."

Kageyama would scowl then, because Hinata was definitely dumber than him.

"You are the dumb one, boke," he would grumble, reaching out to squeeze Hinata's head, and Tsukishima would sigh at their antics, long and weary, like he couldn't stand being around them for too long because all his energy would fly out of him.

"You're both dumb," he would say, and Hinata and Kageyama would stop wrestling to glare at him.

"Hah?!"

"Oi, Bakashima--"

"In any case, the King scared away another girl, which is not new, and I'm getting tired so can you stop talking?"

Kageyama doesn't point out that he can very much get away and not walk with them after school, but Hinata does, and Tsukishima glares at him so hard it must compete with Kageyama's Trademark Glare.

It works to scare Hinata out of replying something more than a shallow threat, and they start walking over the konbini to get some snacks after practice.

"I don't get why girls are always attracted to him. He's so--mmph--dense!" Hinata says between bites, mouth full, and turns around to shoot Kageyama a look. "You didn't even know she was flirting with you!"

Kageyama rolls his eyes. "She was not flirting," he says, last word coming out of his mouth like he suddenly started talking another language.

Hinata rolls his eyes. "She was obviously flirting, dumbass."

"You're the dumbass," Kageyama frowns.

"Well, Kageyama-kun is pretty diligent!" Yachi intervenes, before their bicker scalates. She smiles warmly and fidgets with her fingers, "So I think most girls would like that about him."

Kageyama tilts his head, because no one has ever called him diligent before, and it sounds like a really fancy word.

Hinata shakes his head, instead, and goes, "You're just being kind, Yachi-san!" he points an accusatory finger at him without sparing him a look and pouts, "It's pretty obvious that they like him just because he's dumbly tall and has stupid pretty eyes."

Something inside Kageyama's head echoes a What and Pretty Eyes? and then Pretty Eyes in Hinata's voice and it strucks him silent for enough time for Hinata to continue his ramble.

"--But he's always scowling!" he says, and then turns around to frown at Kageyama, who blinks at him, still sort of stunned. "You are gonna have wrinkles by 30," he says, "You'll look like an old man by your thirties, I swear."

Kageyama scowls, brain functioning again so he can bark an insult back to Hinata and say he'll look like a shrimp in his thirties then! and they just continue on with their daily routine and finish their food while coming back home.

So, yes, apparently, Kageyama is really bad with people and things involving social interactions, because, apparently, stuff keeps flying over his head. Hinata would scold him for that; "you didn't know she was flirting with you?", "Kageyama, stop glaring, you're scaring the kohais!", "Bakaaaayama, you don't get the joke! It was funny!" and so on. But, the thing is, no matter how much he'd roll his eyes and say Kageyama is a dumbass, he'll always stick by Kageyama's side and smile at him and laugh with him (and also of him, but Kageyama does that, too, so he lets it pass) and he's a good partner, so Kageyama guesses he really doesn't mind being bad with people stuff if he has Hinata by his side. Hinata can handle people stuff for the both of them.

"You know, Kageyama," he says one day, hands on the handles of his bike, "You are terribly awkward."

He's been staring at Kageyama for a long time before he says that, just after a classmate whose name Kageyama can't remember tells him exactly that--if only with a lot more disdain than how gentle--albeit blunt--Hinata does.

Hinata looked mad when that guy--Hashisomething--said that in Kageyama's face with a sneer, and looked like he was about to (probably) punch him in the face if not for Kageyama sipping in the straw of his small milk box and shrugging, impassive, and turning away like he didn't care--because he didn't. He doesn't even know that guy's name. Maybe it'd sting, a bit, if someone else (his teammates, his senpais--) had said it, but coming from this guy, he honestly couldn't care any less.

"But it's fun to be around you," Hinata says, and smiles, and it's soft--softer than Kageyama expects, softer than Hinata himself--and gentle and so genuine that Kageyama doesn't know what to say. The snarky remark of "you are worse than me" dies in his throat, and he blinks and squints his eyes and bites his tongue and frowns, confused.

He waits for Hinata to say something more, but Hinata just tilts his head and then rolls his eyes, fondly.

"That wasn't an insult, Bakayama," he adds, as if he knew Kageyama was thinking hard about what ulterior motives Hinata had in mind.

"Boke," Kageyama huffs, and sinks in the collar of his hoodie, because he doesn't know what to say, and Hinata laughs.

"I'm telling the truth! You are fun to be around. You are also super amazing at volleyball! Like, woah!" Hinata doesn't quite like to compliment him in his volleyball skills, always claiming that he'd defeat Kageyama in no time, but there are moments--like these, and that time Kageyama mastered the new quick with Hinata's eyes open--where Hinata apparently forgets he's supposed to hate Kageyama's guts for being--apparently, in Hinata's words--amazing at volleyball, and he states it bluntly in Kageyama's face, "It makes me mad! But it makes me more mad that people don't realize it! And it's not like being awkward is a bad thing, anyway. If only you weren't scowling all the time, people wouldn't be so scared of talking to you!" Hinata stops to think about something, and then tilts his head at Kageyama, "Do you even want to talk to people, though?"

Kageyama blinks, stunned, feeling like a ball just hit him square in the face--maybe one of Hinata's bad serves--and stares dumbly at Hinata like his mouth just lost his capability to speak real words, just like that time Hinata jumped over and over in front of him and started complimenting him so openly in the middle of a match because, apparently, in Hinata's eyes, he was "amazing! super amazing, Kageyama!"

Urgh.

"Kageyama?" Hinata says, tilting his head, "Why do you look like that time you were trying to say 'nice' to Tsukishima? Are you constipated?"

And this is easy. Kageyama doesn't know how to handle compliments, he's never been good with those, but bickering is easy, so he ignores the way his stomach is doing weird flips at Hinata's kind words and goes for that instead, reaching out to grab Hinata's head as a counter attack. Hinata yelps and accuses Kageyama of being rude when he's trying to comfort him!, but he's already grabbing Kageyama's hoodie and pulling at it, and everything is easy again and Kageyama doesn't need to think how to respond so everything is okay.

Kageyama doesn't need to be not awkward.

Because it's not like being awkward is bad thing, anyway.

.

.

No matter how bad he is around people, he thinks that, by the time they finish high school, Kageyama is very versed in Hinata Shouyo, because he gets Hinata to a level he proudly thinks no one else can. It doesn't matter how good Hinata is around people and how bad Kageyama is around them, because if he gets one person in this world, then that's Hinata, and he gets him better than all the people who are always around him.

He notices when Hinata is having a bad day--a really bad day, which means more tosses or he won't get better. He notices right away when Hinata gets sick and tries to hide it and sneak into morning practice anyway. He notices his shoes are bothering him one afternoon as they slip into the locker room to change up. He knows he prefers drinking peach tea on Mondays, for some weird reason Kageyama doesn't get.

He knows what Hinata needs in practice, how many tosses, if he rathers work on his serve, if he's not feeling good about his spikes, if he wants to receive rather than improve that new toss.

He knows when he's feeling tired. He knows that he rubs his fingers when he's sleepy at mornings or late practice. He knows exactly what he'll say when he greets Kageyama at their usual spot so they can run to the gym every morning. He knows Hinata likes to poke out his tongue when he's really concentrated in something, and he knows the way his eyes look--intense and all-consuming, bright and sharp and burning, when he's mad or thrilled about a challenge (or both). He knows the way his voice gets when he's going to ask Kageyama something--usually more tosses or to buy him food.

He knows when Hinata is not enjoying what he's eating--which doesn't happen often anyway because he loves food to an impressive degree for someone so short (Kageyama points it out one time and Hinata kicks him in the hip, so Kageyama kicks him in response right away at his back). He notices the way he scrunches up his nose when he's cold, the way he smiles at Kageyama when he did really good in a test, the way he'd press his lips in a wobbly line when he's nervous.

He knows Hinata likes to wear Kageyama's hoodie, but he'd rather die than admit it aloud to Kageyama, so he lets him wear it when it's cold and doesn't ask for it back, feigning that he forgot to do so. He knows he absolutely adores onigiris after practice. He knows he gets flustered--and ecstatic--when someone compliments him after a match. He knows he almost starts crying when a kid in the stands lifts up a handmade poster of Hinata. He knows he stares too long when Kageyama is stretching or wiping out sweat off his brow. He knows he drums his fingers in his leg when he's scared, and that he bites his lips and nips at his thumbs when he's worried.

Kageyama knows a lot of things--his favorite food, his favorite color, the way he looks when he dozes off at the bus in Kageyama's shoulder (and the way he wakes up all flustered when he realizes where he is; slowly blinking and dopey eyes looking for a moment too long at Kageyama's face before realization hits him like a truck), the way he bounces on his heels when he's excited, the way he pouts when he realizes Kageyama did better in that Japanese test than him--for two very good points--and the way he lingers around Kageyama after practice so they would get food at the konbini.

He knows the way Hinata's eyes look a lighter shade of brown with the sunlight; the way they sparkle at night like small stars in the darkness. He notices the way his laugh hitches when something is particularly funny to him. He realizes the way he always smells a bit of vanilla and sugar.

Kageyama knows a lot of things. He gets Hinata.

It doesn't matter how bad he is around people, because he doesn't need to think around Hinata. Hinata is not a puzzle he needs to solve.

Hinata is easy to be around; he doesn't need to talk a lot--though he, surprisingly, does when Hinata is around; he doesn't need to be sweet or think about his words too much. Hinata gets him as much as Kageyama does. They bicker and Hinata laughs at him and then gets mad and then they make up and then they eat together the next day and then they bicker again and then they get at practice and work so in sync is incredibly insane.

Hinata is easy to get. Being around him is easy.

At least that's what he thinks, so when Hinata starts acting puzzling after he comes back from Brazil, doing things Kageyama doesn't get, he doesn't know what to do.

It starts when they meet at Bokuto's birthday party. Hinata shows up a bit late--rushes in and hugs Bokuto with strong arms and a beaming smile, and after some small talk, walks over to where Kageyama is sitting in the couch, looking uninterested at his phone.

"Hey, Bakayama," he says, which is normal, and Kageyama flips him off over his shoulder without looking up and Hinata laughs, which is also normal, "Why are you even here if you don't party for a bit?"

He throws himself in the couch and swings his legs over, almost sitting on Kageyama's lap--which again, is also normal, given how touchy Hinata is and how he tends to linger around Kageyama's body too long, if only for the difference in the fact that Hinata is broader and bigger now, and the outline of the firm skin of his chest and left arm press against Kageyama's side.

"I'm good here," Kageyama responds, frowning when his avatar falls over a cliff and he loses the level again.

"You're looking like Kenma right now," Hinata snickers, and Kageyama looks up to flick Hinata on the forehead and tell him to go away and bother someone else--not that he'd mean it, because Hinata's presence is warm and familiar and he's feeling a lot lighter now that he's here to annoy Kageyama.

However, when he looks up, he's met with Hinata wearing a black button-up shirt. Which in itself shouldn't be a weird thing, he guesses; after all, a lot of people are dressed up at the party--more dressed up than Kageyama's simple outfit at least--and Hinata has been dressing up a bit more, but--his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and a lot of buttons are unbuttoned, even if buttons are for that, to use them and button them up, and his jeans are really tight and his hair is an absolute mess, and there's too much skin--tanned and smooth and firm--and too much muscle on full display for Kageyama to see--the slope of his collarbones, the strong column of his neck, the defined muscles of his arms, the set of freckles over his shoulders--

And maybe it's because he's still not used to seeing Hinata looking so--so muscular and strong and all sharp and hard edges of skin made out of hard training, but it's--for a moment, he's so close and he's warm and he's smiling, blinding and so very Hinata but also so very much--bigger and adult and muscular and--for a moment, it's too much for his brain to take--

"Eh?" Hinata says to Kageyama's blinking face, and a slow smile tugs up his lips. And it's normal--Hinata smiling, he's always smiling--but there's a cheeky edge to it, a cocky one that's more Kageyama's than Hinata's, and a blissful glee in his eyes that's somehow different to what Kageyama is used to. He leans back in the couch and stares at Kageyama, and then, "Is it hot in here or am I the one making you blush?"

Kageyama scowls, because he's definitely not blushing, what the hell is he talking about? Except that, a second later, he realizes the skin of his face feels very warm--warmer than his entire body that already seems to sizzle with a hot buzz--so he must be blushing.

He scowls harder then, because why the hell is he blushing and why the hell is Hinata looking at him like that, and why is it making him feel so nervous and why the hell can't he stop staring at Hinata's collarbones, and--

"I'm not blushing," he snaps, very much defensive, and--normally--Hinata would bite back and counter with something equally snappy, but this time he just smiles wider, seemingly elated.

"That so, Kageyama-kun?" he says, and why the hell does he sound like that.

Kageyama's brain shots down for a moment, and he splutters and curses his face because why is he blushing more?!

Then, he shoves Hinata's beaming face away with the palm of his hand, remembering the annoying line Hinata said just minutes before, and realizes ah, he's just trying to annoy me, which is normal, so he tries to calm down and frowns when Hinata laughs into Kageyama's hand.

"It's hot, stupid, shut up," he says, and Hinata arches an eyebrow and stares, but after a long moment, his grin becomes his usual grin, and he starts talking about the last match MSBY had last weekend and how he's totally gonna kick Kageyama's ass next time they play against them, and how he's obviously better at serving now than Kageyama is, and this--all of it--is normal, so Kageyama falls easily into the usual and familiar bickering and relaxes again.

.

.

It's been days since that happened, and it falls at the very back of Kageyama's head between all the practice and Hinata's constant texts and hanging out with Hinata to catch up now that he's back in Japan, that when Hinata acts weird again, he doesn't even remember that time at the party until then.

They're making a photoshoot of Kageyama and some of his teammates for the cover of a magazine he doesn't know the name of--back when the coach told them in the gym, almost all of his teammates have looked surprised, except for Ushijima, who just stared blankly at him and told him that he had been invited as well (which only gained more surprised looks and a "I don't get girls!" from Hoshiumi-san.)

He got a cocked eyebrow from Tsukiasshole, a congratulatory pat from Yamaguchi and Yachi, and a wide-eyed face from Hinata as he told them over a group dinner a Saturday night.

"So girls like constipated idiots," Tsukishima says, smirking, "Good for you, King."

Before Kageyama can say anything, Yachi makes a surprised noise, and says, "Oh, they probably will make you wear a suit for the cover!"

What.

Hinata's eyes widen even more, and the next second he's on Kageyama's face, leaning on his side and curling his fingers in Kageyama's arm; they're warm and calloused and grounding.

"Can I go?" he asks, and Kageyama blinks.

"Huh? Why?"

It's not like he can't take Hinata there--they told him he could bring someone along if he wanted, as long as it wasn't more than one person, but he doesn't know why Hinata would want to go. It's probably going to be boring anyway. He wasn't that good at photoshoots and modeling, and they'd always tell Kageyama he needs to smile more and look less intimidating and be less fidgety and to not stare like that and--

"I don't have anything to do that day," Hinata says, swinging his legs and shrugging casually, "I'll be bored to death."

Kageyama quirks an eyebrow. "That will be boring, too."

Hinata's smile is charming, "But what's better than go and make fun of the way you look in a suit, huh?"

Kageyama scowls, and flicks Hinata's forehead.

Hinata laughs, and instead of trying to flick Kageyama's forehead as well or poking out his tongue like he used to do in high school, he moves so he can grab Kageyama's wrist. His touch is burning, blistering like he's storing real fire inside himself.

"I'm joking," he says, and rubs his thumb along Kageyama's palm. For some reason, it makes his skin tingle, a shiver running down his back involuntarily, "Come on, I can cheer you up! I know you don't like doing those shoots."

Kageyama doesn't like doing those, that's true. And it'll probably be better if Hinata is there, anyway. But something tells him Hinata is only trying to convince him so he can sneak out photos of him and laugh at them later.

"Can I please go?" Hinata leans over and rests his chin on the table, looking up at him through thick eyelashes, fingers opening and sliding up to link around Kageyama's. "Hm, Kageyama-kun?"

The thing is, Kageyama has always been weirdly weak to Hinata's puppy eyes, even now, and he's too distracted with Hinata touching him that he can't think properly, so he accepts grumpily in no time. Hinata beams at him and gives him a quick hug, and by the time he remembers all of his friends are still there, looking at Kageyama and Hinata in different degrees of exasperated, Kageyama focuses on eating instead.

A few days later, Kageyama is here, in an uncomfortable dark blue suit, trying not to scowl deep at the person who's trying to make his hair less messy.

"Why are they choosing Tobio-kun for this is a real hard mystery, I tell you, Iwa-chan," Oikawa--who just came back for a few days to Tokyo--is saying at his side, not bothering to lower his voice even though Kageyama can hear him clearly--and maybe because he wants Kageyama to hear him clearly, "Even your feet are more attractive than his face."

"They called you as well," Iwaizumi-senpai's voice comes through the speaker of his phone, "so why are you complaining, Shittykawa?"

"Iwa-chan, you're always so mean!" Oikawa chirps, dramatic, but a smile spreads wide over his lips, "How are you comparing my beauty to To--"

"I'd hardly call your ugly bedhead beautiful, though," Iwaizumi shoots before Oikawa can even finish.

"Iwa-chan, how dare you, my hair is perfect and elegant and the epitome of breathtaking, as well as my face--"

"Stop bitching and antagonizing the kid and just enjoy it, Tooru," Iwaizumi says, and... huh. That sounds a lot softer than Kageyama remembers Iwaizumi's voice. In fact, even if all the time he was talking he sounded annoyed, he also sounded... fond.

"You flirt a lot with your boyfriend, Oikawa-san," a new voice says, and Kageyama looks over his shoulder instantly to see Hinata standing just behind him, smiling up at Oikawa. He must have come back from the bathroom, then.

"Chibi-chan!" Oikawa greets him enthusiastically, and a wicked and teasing smile curls up in his lips, "Look who's talking."

Eh?

Kageyama doesn't have time to process Hinata's laugh and the small punch he gives Oikawa's arm and Oikawa's knowing, cheeky smile and the voice of the person in front of him saying that he's about to shoot in ten minutes so to wait for a bit, before Hinata is standing in front of him with a beaming smile.

"Heyyy, Kageyama," he drawls, smile all flashing white and pointy teeth, "Did you miss me?"

Kageyama frowns. "You were there for like two minutes."

Hinata clicks his tongue. "It was more than that," he says, and links his hands behind his back, bouncing on the heels of his feet, "And? I missed you."

Kageyama's frown deepens, and there are a lot of questions swimming inside his brain for him to catch up, like What and Were they flirting, really? and Is Iwaizumi-senpai Oikawa's boyfriend and How do you know that and How do you even know they were flirting, seriously, but the thing that comes out of his mouth when he opens it to speak, instead, is:

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Huh. Weird.

Hinata blinks, seemingly caught off guard. "What?"

"You told Oikawa that he flirted a lot with his boyfriend and he told you 'look who's talking'," Kageyama explains a bit too rushed and bit too stiff.

"Ah," Hinata blinks again, "No, he's only talking about--" he stops, and then smiles, tilting his head, "Anyway, no, I don't. Have a boyfriend."

Huh.

"Oh," Kageyama utters, feeling weird inside, like his stomach was a lot lighter, and a lot less like throwing up, "Good."

Hinata quirks an eyebrow at his response, which makes Kageyama's face grow warm and his neck feel itchy, for some weird reason.

"Good," Hinata echoes, with a weird look in his face, scanning Kageyama's face with a hint of amusement and something Kageyama can't quite place.

"Are you going to make fun of me now or what," he snaps, feeling strangely self-conscious.

Hinata blinks again, like he doesn't know what Kageyama is talking about, but then something inside his head seems to click.

"Oh," he says, "Are you talking about the suit?"

Kageyama gives a jerky nod, but before he can say something like "you'd look way dumber anyway", Hinata steps closer to him. One, two, three, four steps, and he's all inside Kageyama's personal space. His eyes look him from down up to Kageyama's face, slowly, like he's trying to memorize every single curve he can see, like he's trying to burn the way Kageyama looks inside his brain.

"No, actually," he says, smiling in a way that makes Kageyama's legs feel like jelly. Which is weird. Really weird. He hopes Hinata doesn't smile at him like that in a match because he sure will get distracted. "You look ridiculously good in that, Kageyama. It matches with your eyes. You look pretty."

Kageyama blinks. Huh?

Hinata looks over his shoulder when someone behind Kageyama calls him over for the shoot, and then pats Kageyama's chest, smooths down both of his hands over Kageyama's shirt, like was looking for any wrinkle to fix, and grins.

"See you in a bit, have fun," he says, stepping back and making a peace sign in his direction, big smile in his face, "Ganbare!"

Yeah, no. He doesn't feel cheered up in the slightlest.

If anything, Hinata Shouyo just makes him feel like a big mess.

.

.

It doesn't stop there. Hinata keeps complimenting him out of nowhere, telling Kageyama that his new serve is super cool, like woosh!, and that he seriously looks really good in that hoodie, he should wear it more, and that he watched his new commercial and that Kageyama actually did good in that one!, and that they should go out to watch a movie because it's been ages since he watched one and hey, maybe Kageyama should pick the movie because Kageyama has really good taste, and ohhh, Kageyama looked amazing in that last match against Shiketsu, and wow, Kageyama, red suits you!, and Kageyama, you're awesome! How did you even receive that killer serve, and--

Not only that. Hinata didn't stop at only compliments--much to Kageyama's absolute dismay because receiving genuine compliments was a complete nightmare and was Hinata trying to kill him and why does he keep saying I look good in everything and why does he keep staring at me and--

No. He doesn't stop there.

Kageyama wouldn't pay any mind to the compliments--if only for the fact that Kageyama's brain starts malfunctioning every single goddamn time--and he nearly doesn't pay attention to the other weird things, because Hinata's always been clingy so, at first, it's completely normal in Kageyama's head, but one day, he's sitting at Suga-senpai's couch when he invites the team over dinner, and Hinata is curled up at his side, head nuzzling in Kageyama's shoulder, warm and soft and strong against Kageyama's side, legs over Kageyama's, and then they're eating at the table and Hinata is touching him all the time, brushing fingers as he passes Kageyama some food, and hands lingering in Kageyama's arm a bit too long when he laughs at something Tanaka-senpai says, and then he's resting his chin in Kageyama's shoulder to poke his tongue out at some insult Tsukishima mumbles his way, and then he's bumping their sides as they walk over to Hinata's train station, and he's brushing his fingers in Kageyama's cheek because it's red from the cold and Hinata finds it amusing, and then he realizes.

Hinata is glued to Kageyama's side.

It's not like Hinata has never been touchy. He's always been clingy and he's always lingered around Kageyama's side like iron attracted to a magnet, orbiting around him like the planets around the Sun in the solar system.

But this is different.

Hinata is always touching him. All the time. He always seems to try to stay at Kageyama's side when he can. He hugs him and curls his fingers in Kageyama's sleeve and spreads his fingers over Kageyama's back to tell him he looks super stressed, he should scowl less or his back will suffer from it--

And the thing is... it's not like it's making him uncomfortable. Kageyama enjoys Hinata's presence. He never considered himself to be clingy or touch-starved or a handsy person, but being around Hinata is nice. Feeling Hinata's warm hands around his waist feels comfortable; feeling Hinata's soft hair tickle the base of his neck is familiar; feeling Hinata's side pressed over his when they walk at the sidewalk, hands brushing between them, it's pleasant. Hinata is welcoming and a soft buzz that feels good to be around, so it's... nice.

But he doesn't know why Hinata is doing it. Is it without thinking? Is Kageyama thinking too hard? Maybe he just missed Kageyama. Or contact in general. He hugs his friends a lot. Maybe it's just the fact that he finally came back and he missed everyone. Maybe they hugged a lot back in Brazil and now he misses that physical closeness with people around him.

Maybe.

He doesn't ask, he doesn't want to make Hinata feel weird. And it's not like it feels weird, or anything, so he doesn't pay it any more attention than he should.

At the end, he gets so used to it he doesn't even notice it himself.

(Verbal compliments are still a hard task to get by, though.)

.

.

"You know, Kageyama," Hinata says one day, lying down next to Kageyama in Kageyama's bed, one of the many times he invites himself over Kageyama's apartment (not that Kageyama really cares; it's better when Hinata is there anyway), "I got a lot taller since I was in first year."

Kageyama grunts, because it's true, but he doesn't know what Hinata is getting at.

"You're still a shrimp," he mumbles.

"Hm," Hinata hums, arms crossed behind his neck, squinting his eyes at Kageyama's sitting form. "But I almost reach you!"

Kageyama ignores the movie that's rolling in the small screen of his laptop in favor of glaring at Hinata. It's not like Hinata is paying attention to it either, apparently.

"That's not true."

"It is!" Hinata counters, smiling up at Kageyama, eyes brimming with a mix of joy and amusement, "I bet my hands are bigger than yours now."

Kageyama frowns. "They're not."

"Hm," Hinata hums again, pressing his lips together like he's thinking, but the edge of his mouth twitches like he can't bite down his smile any longer, "I think they are."

He lifts up his hand in the air, fingers slightly open, palm facing Kageyama, right at the level of Kageyama's neck.

As a reflex, Kageyama instantly puts his own hand against Hinata's, heels pressing together. The touch is familiar and electric, and Kageyama doesn't think about it twice as he aligns their fingers together. The first thing he notes is how warm Hinata's hand is; the hot buzz spreads all over Kageyama's arm and warms up his chest, light and bubbly as their hands connect; the second thing he notes is the rough skin--he remembers brushing his hand along Hinata's in high school, or Hinata grabbing his arm or his hand for a brief moment to catch his attention or to pull him somewhere or to point at something or because he was laughing so hard he was doubling over and he needed to hold onto something--and back then, Kageyama was always surprised to note that Hinata's hands were really, really soft. As they grew older, Hinata's hands became less and less soft, skin covered in scars and calluses of the hard training and, sometimes, even band-aids. It didn't make Hinata touching him any less nice, though. It just reminded him of how hard Hinata was working, all the time. By now, his skin is rough all around the edges, but it's... nice, and Kageyama's fingers tingle with the need to just brush his thumb over the skin.

He ignores the weird desire to put attention to the important task at hand. Hinata has freckles all over the back of his hand, and his nails are a bit crooked, and his fingers are a bit broader than Kageyama's slender ones, but his are definitely longer.

He smirks, because Hah! Kageyama's hands are bigger!

He feels a childish sting of smugness tug at his chest, and lifts up his chin in a cocky manner, but when he looks at Hinata, he doesn't see disappointment in any of Hinata's features; in fact, he doesn't look gloomy in the slightlest, he's grinning, eyes sparkling merrily, and looking overly happy.

"Oh, my bad," he says, smiling so big it makes Kageyama's fingers twitch, and Kageyama's breath stutter in his chest, "yours are bigger, Kageyama."

Breathe in, breath out. Why doesn't it feel like he won? Why does it feel like Hinata won something, instead?

"Hm."

"You know," Hinata's eyes are so big and bright, warm-brown and liquid amber melting down in one enthralling color, "you have really pretty hands, Kageyama."

Kageyama exhales, skin tingling all over his body.

"I've always thought that," Hinata continues, staring Kageyama down, "Your fingers are long and slender, and your nails are neat; maybe because you keep taking care of them."

Kageyama can feel his face warming up. Maybe because of the compliments, maybe because of Hinata's voice, maybe because of Hinata's deep stare, or maybe just because Hinata's warmth has spread all over himself.

Hinata hums, as if reflecting, and speaks up in a low voice, then.

"They're really, really pretty," he says again, and Kageyama swallows, throat too tight for a moment.

"Hm."

"Hmm," Hinata echoes, and his fingers curl down so he can intertwine their hands together, "They're cold, though," he adds, voice rolling off like honey.

Kageyama swears he can feel the hair at his nape stand on end.

"Want me to warm them up?" Hinata asks, smiling, eyes sparkling, fingers carefully linked to Kageyama's.

Oh.

Okay.

Okay.

Why is Kageyama feeling like a mess? Why is his breathing getting uneven? Why can't he swallow? Why are his thoughts a jumble of pretty hands, pretty hands, pretty hands, pretty hands and warm, warm, he's so warm, and it feels nice and he also smells nice, and Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata--

"Why do you look like that?" Hinata snickers, "Are you constipated?"

Kageyama frowns, embarrassment prodding his ribcage and threatening with making him tremble at Hinata's touch.

"No one has ever hold your hand before?" he asks, arching an eyebrow, but it's low and secretive, somehow, and earnest, as if Hinata was genuinely curious.

"You've hold my hand before," Kageyama says, because it's true, Hinata keeps touching Kageyama again and again, and huh. His voice sounds... a bit breathless.

"I have," Hinata echoes, blinking, and then a smile tugs up at his mouth again, "Want me to hold it more, Kageyama?"

Kageyama's frown deepens. "Why?"

"Dunno," Hinata shrugs, "It's nice."

He squeezes Kageyama's hand.

"Don't you like it?"

Kageyama doesn't know how to answer. The word yes keeps repeating over and over inside his brain like a broken record, but when he opens his mouth, nothing comes out. So after a few tries, he looks away from Hinata's face, stubbornly watching at the screen of his laptop instead, scowl deep between his eyebrows.

He squeezes Hinata's hand back instead when he realizes words are not going to work for him any time soon, and he's not sure what that means, but when he looks at Hinata with the corner of his eye, Hinata is grinning, delighted, so he figures it wasn't a bad answer.

.

.

Hinata keeps holding Kageyama's hand.

He swings their linked hands like a little kid as they walk together to some place one time they agree to meet, and skips over the sidewalk like he's incredibly happy Kageyama is not pulling away.

Kageyama has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

.

.

It's days later when one of the weirdest things happen, though.

All of MSBY and the Adlers have come to a yakiniku place to eat some grilled meat and barbeque after a practice match. Kageyama's ad--the famous curry one--shows up at the screen of the TV hanging above the small bar, and Atsumu laughs hard after it finishes.

"Power Curry is a service ace," he wheezes, and doubles over when he remembers the moment Kageyama looks at the side in the middle of the commercial.

At some moment, most of all who are currently sitting at the table are talking about it. Kageyama continues eating peacefully, unbothered. He doesn't really care, to be honest, already used to it. If anything, he wonders what about it is so interesting to have so many people talk about it fifteen minutes after it already finished.

"Well, yes," Hinata's voice says when Atsumu asks him about it, "he looks dumb," he agrees, like a matter of fact, and Kageyama tries to chew down the meat so he can argue with Hinata.

It's not like he really cares, but it's fun to argue with him, and he almost does it as reflex by now, so...

"But," Hinata adds, and, given he's, surprisingly, not sitting at Kageyama's side, looks over to him across the table. When they lock eyes--Kageyama's squirrel-cheeks and childish frown in his face across Hinata's sparkling eyes--he smiles, "he also looks cute."

The table goes silent, and for a moment, the only thing Kageyama can hear in the deaf noise is an erratic and fast thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, and it takes him nearly a whole minute to realize that's his heart, hammering against his throat so hard he wonders if everyone can hear it as clearly as he does.

Then, the next minute, Bokuto is chirping "oya oya oya" and grinning so hard it must hurt, and Atsumu is giving Hinata a pitying look, chin resting on the palm of his hand and nose scrunched up.

"Oh, Shouyo-kun," he sighs, theatrically sad, "you're so blind."

Hinata laughs; eyes not looking away from Kageyama's blinking ones. "But he is, Atsumu-san!"

"I beg to differ," he counters, "roundly, Shouyo-kun, roundly."

Before Hinata can confirm, for the third time, that Kageyama is, in fact, very cute chewing down curry and staring off into space in national television, Kageyama swallows, hard.

"I'm not... cute."

"See? Even Tobio-kun admits it!"

Hinata stares at him, like there's something on his face. And it probably is. His face feels weird. He feels weird.

"Kageyama," Hoshiumi-san, sitting at his side, quirks an eyebrow and leans over the table to scan a look at his weird face, "Are you okay?"

Instead of answering, Kageyama gets up with wobbly legs and a stammering heart, and runs down the hall until the fresh air of the alley outside the restaurant bites at the boiling hot skin of his face.

He thinks he hears someone behind his back--probably Hinata, it's very probably Hinata--but the sound is muffled in his ears with the thunderous flood of the blood running through him, "Wait, Kageyama--"

After some quiet seconds, the door behind him opens, and the sound of light steps come to a halt as someone--Hinata, it's very probably Hinata--grabs his arm and pulls at his sleeve.

"Hey," a small voice says, and yes, it's Hinata, it's definitely Hinata. Who else?

"Hmph."

"Hey," Hinata says again, but it's equally softer than the first, and pulls at the end of Kageyama's sleeve one more time. "Kageyama, look at me."

Kageyama doesn't turn around to face him.

"Kageyama."

No. Hinata is not seeing his face. Hinata is definitely not seeing his face.

"Kageyama," Hinata says, and then steps closer, until his face is buried between Kageyama's shoulder blades, fingers curling on the fabric of Kageyama's jacket, "Bakayama."

"Hmph."

"Bakayama," Hinata says, muffled against the soft clothes, and his fingers grip the jacket tighter, "stop being stupid and look at me."

"You're the stupid," Kageyama grumbles and, a second later, feels more than hears Hinata's gentle laugh, warm body shaking against Kageyama's back.

"You're so dumb," he huffs, amused, and Kageyama grunts.

"You're the dumb one, boke."

"Oh?" Hinata exhales, and breathes hard in Kageyama's back, fingers flexing in Kageyama's clothes. "It's been a long time since I heard that one. Good old times."

It's quiet, and then Hinata is rubbing circles over Kageyama's upper back and his cheek is pressed against the cold cloth.

"You smell nice," he says, "like coconut."

Kageyama frowns, because his heart is doing weird flips inside his chest again and he doesn't know how to make it stop.

"Kageyama," he breathes, and it's a mere whisper in the serenity of the night, "please turn around and look at me."

Maybe it's the way he says it, breathy and shaky and like he's about to start crying; low like he's sharing a secret; pleading, like he seriously wants to see Kageyama's face. Either way, Kageyama doesn't know why, but he moves and turns around to face Hinata before even thinking it twice.

Once he does, he expects Hinata to bury his face in his chest, maybe step back so they're not that close, but instead, Hinata just stays there, arms coming up until they're resting above Kageyama's neck and Hinata is linking his hands behind Kageyama's nape, pulling Kageyama down until their foreheads are touching.

Hinata's eyes are burning; alive and beautiful, breathtaking in a way Kageyama can't quite describe. He's so warm Kageyama can feel it in the skin pressing against Kageyama's. Or maybe it's Kageyama himself; he's feeling very hot all over since Hinata is so close; like a heater inside him just got turned on as Hinata started touching him.

Hinata exhales.

"I wasn't making fun of you, dumbass," he mutters, but even with how low his voice is, it's clear and so Hinata and very, very close, and Kageyama's heart stutters and starts doing gymnastics inside his ribcage like an olympic athlete, "if that's what you thought."

Kageyama frowns. "I didn't think that."

"Then what did you think?"

A beat. Frown deepening.

"I don't know."

"Hmm," Hinata hums, eyes scanning his face, fingertips sinking in the back of his head, nails brushing the scalp, messing up his hair between strong fingers; Kageyama is glad he's somehow grounding with Hinata's body, because he's sure he can feel his legs getting all wobbly suddenly, "Are you mad?"

"No." He's not. He's just...

Weird.

Hinata hums again, "Good."

Kageyama nods, and Hinata smiles. Soft; ethereal; gorgeous.

He closes his eyes and presses himself closer to Kageyama. "Can we stay here for a moment?"

"Mmn."

Hinata's entire face softens; fingertips rubbing haphazard figures in Kageyama's hair, "Good."

.

.

"I don't know what he's doing," Kageyama frowns, "I don't get it."

He sinks his head, still burning hot, deeper in his pillow.

"Is he trying to fight with me?" He says, frustrated. He thinks he hears an incredulous 'fight?' at the other side of the line, but Kageyama ignores it in favor of saying, "It's a weird way to fight but that's what we do. I think he's just trying to annoy me or make me mad, but he's doing it in a weird way. I just don't get it, does he want me to get nervous? Am I thinking too hard? He's trying to annoy me, probably, but he told me he's not making fun of me... but why else would he call me cute of all things?"

"Because he thinks you're cute? Why else?"

"I don't know!" Kageyama snaps, fuming in his pillow, utterly confused, "He's just really weird."

A beat.

"Do you think he hates me now?"

His voice sounds weird even to his own ears.

His sister hums, audibly in the speaker of his phone, and she asks, in a very slow tone, like she's talking to a kid, "You're telling me Shouyo-kun watched that hilarious curry commercial and then he called you cute," she says, and Kageyama grunts a small 'mmn' in agreement, "and now, you think he hates you. Because he said you're cute."

It sounds even worse when his sister says it!

"And that's not all!" Kageyama says, sitting up in the bed, "he's been acting weird since he came back!"

There's a pause from his sister's end, and then, a blunt, "Define weird, please."

"Well... he says weird things."

"Mhm," his sister hums, "Be more specific."

Kageyama frowns. "I don't know... he says I smell nice, and that I look good in red and blue, and he compliments the way I play, and he texts me all the time, and he's always touching me."

"Mhm."

"And he likes to hold my hand."

"Mhm."

"And he looks at me weird, like... like, I don't know, like he's looking at a volleyball. Maybe."

"Mhm."

"And he's always staring at me--"

"Mhm."

"Are you listening?!"

"Oh, I am listening. Carefully."

Kageyama frowns so hard it almost hurts. "And?!"

"In conclusion," his sister summarizes, "Shouyo-kun thinks you're cute, you smell nice, you're amazing at playing; he texts you all the time, he's always touching you, and complimenting you."

"Yes!"

"And are you uncomfortable with that?"

Kageyama presses his lips. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I just want to know," his sister says with a diplomatic voice, "It's very important."

Kageyama grunts. "No. It's just weird."

"Again, define weird, please."

"It makes me feel all tingly and stupid. Like I can't think."

"You mean like always."

"Hah?!"

She laughs. "No, I think I get it. You mean that you just focus on him and feel bubbly and light inside and basically can't focus on anything else that's not him when he does those things."

Kageyama frowns. "...Yes."

There's a pause again. "...And you don't know what's happening?"

"Huh?"

His sister breathes, long. Then:

"Oh, Tobio," she says, very much like Hinata used to do when things flew over his head, "You're so dumb."

"Hah?!"

"Don't worry, you'll get it when you grow up," his sister says, "You're still a kid."

"I'm not that younger than you," he grumbles.

"Well, yeah, but it seems like you still haven't reached the youthful and exciting adulthood life..."

"What."

His sister laughs.

"No worries, idiot," she says, fondly, "I don't think he hates you or anything. If only, he likes you a whole lot."

Kageyama is puzzled. "Huh?"

His sister clicks her tongue.

"Ah, Tobio," she sighs, "You should make some space in that head of yours for more than just volleyball, you know?"

"What's more important than volleyball anyway?"

Volleyball is what connected him and his grandfather. It's what lead him to meet all of Karasuno. It's what lead him to where he is now.

It's what made him and Hinata connect.

His sister sighs again.

.

.

Unfortunately, the call with his sister doesn't solve anything. She just clicks her tongue and then tells him to figure it out and call her in three days if he hasn't realized it by then. So she'll spell it out to him.

Which is dumb, because if she knows, then why won't she tell him now.

"Because you must learn by yourself, Tobio! What kind of older sister am I if I don't let you, my dear dumb little brother, live your life by youself?"

He calls her a dumbass and then she laughs and calls him stupid and then hangs up.

Kageyama frowns and stares at his ceiling. Utterly unhelpful.

.

.

Three days later, though, he is having dinner with Hinata again. Which is completely unhelpful to figure things out, too, because Hinata makes him weird and doesn't let him think, especially when he starts asking weird things again.

"Hey, Kageyama," Hinata taps his fingers on the table and blissfully smiles at him. "Have you had your first kiss yet?"

Kageyama frowns.

"Have you?" he hisses, meaning to be defensive about it, but then frowns deeper, because thinking about Hinata kissing strangers in Brazil or anywhere doesn't sit well with him.

Hinata hums, impassive, eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. "Not yet."

Oh.

Kageyama blinks. "Seriously?"

Hinata smiles; warm and delicate, and for some weird, inexplicable reason, Kageyama's eyes dart to his lips. They're cherry red, and they look soft--soft, soft, soft--and Kageyama wonders if they'll feel as soft as they look against his own lips.

Ah.

Why did he think that...?

"Yes," Hinata answers, tempting mouth catching Kageyama's attention when he thumbs at his own lips, aware--and apparently very delighted--at Kageyama's stare. "I haven't."

He leans over the table and his pinky curls around Kageyama's index finger.

"Would you like to try?" His voice rolls off his tongue, silky and low and reverberating in Kageyama's core, making Kageyama's skin all tingly.

"Huh?" he answers, dumbly.

"Try it, Kageyama-kun," Hinata clarifies, eyes sparkling under the dim light of their shared booth in the small and cozy restaurant, "Try kissing."

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Hinata's tongue pokes out at the edge of his mouth, pink and wet and soft, and Kageyama's head spins.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Hinata's thumb brushes over his knuckles, index finger caressing the tender skin of the inside of his wrist, pressing on a nerve at the same time Hinata nibbles at his own bottom lip, and wrecking every single braincell in Kageyama's head.

"Could you stop acting weird?!" he blurts out, quite freaking out because his heart is racing so fast and he's losing his mind and Hinata is so pretty and his head is full of Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata.

Hinata blinks at his outburst.

"Weird?" Hinata blinks again, and then frowns slightly, "...What do you mean?"

Kageyama tries to scramble back in his seat so Hinata can't feel his pulse any longer, and that seems to be a clue to Hinata, because he presses his lips together, a single line wrinkling the space between his eyebrows.

"Oh," he utters, and it makes Kageyama pause in his panic, because Hinata sounds sad, terribly so, "I'm sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Yes!" Kageyama says without thinking, and then wants to smack his head against the table because the string of visible pain and hurt and rejection that cross Hinata's face is unbearable to watch.

"Oh," Hinata says again, releasing Kageyama's wrist, and ducking his head so Kageyama can't see his eyes, "I'm sorry, I'll stop--"

"I mean, no!" Kageyama hurries to say, shaking his head so hard he can feel his brain knocking over the walls of his skull, "You're not making me uncomfortable! No, that's not it, but--"

Before he can finish (and probably make it worse), Tsukishima--who's been sitting across the table the whole time--heaves a sigh, long and tired and so loud that Kageyama is sure they can hear him across the street all the way to the pharmacy in front of the restaurant they're in.

"You're both so dumb," he says, flat and looking exhausted.

Kageyama glares. "Hah?!"

Hinata looks up to frown. "Hey--"

"He doesn't get it," he says, before they can continue, and points his chopsticks at Kageyama like he's some insect inside Tsukishima's udon, "It's not that he's uncomfortable. He's confused. He doesn't know you're flirting because he doesn't know what flirting is."

"Wh--"

"He doesn't get you've been flirting with him for months, idiot, because he's as dumb as you are, and even denser," he states, looking bored but also so deeply tired, "so can you stop being so goddamn stupid and tell him explicitly, spell it out to him, that you want to get into his pants so we normal people can eat in peace one single night while you're here too?"

"What?" Hinata blinks, dumbly, "I don't want to get into his pants--well, okay, yes, I do," he hurries to add, when Tsukishima shoots him a look, "but that's--I mean--not only--I'm not only--of course he knows I'm flirting, what else would he--?"

Before Hinata can continue, as if on cue, Kageyama splutters, "F-F-Flirting?!"

Because... what?! Is that... what?! Hinata has been... what--how--what--

"Oh," Hinata blinks, looking at him. "He didn't know."

"Huh?" Kageyama utters, lost; the word flirting bouncing off the walls of his brain over and over again.

"Wh--" Hinata starts, and then tilts his head, "what did you think I was doing?"

"...Fighting?"

"Fighting?" Hinata echoes, arching both eyebrows, and, okay, now it sounds dumb when Kageyama says it aloud, but. How would he know--?

Then, after a couple of minutes staring at each other, Hinata starts laughing. It starts out as a giggle, Hinata biting down his lips as if he wanted to stop the sound from coming out of his mouth, but then he starts laughing openly and so fully and hard that he doubles over his stomach.

Kageyama frowns.

When Hinata looks up after he calms down, the usual spark is glinting warmly in the chocolate-honey eyes, and his smile is so ridiculously fond it tugs at Kageyama's chest.

"I forgot how clueless you are," he huffs, amused.

Kageyama reaches over to flick Hinata's forehead, because his smile is making Kageyama all jittery and wobbly and stupid.

Hinata takes the opportunity to hold Kageyama's wrist again, fingers wrapping up the tender skin. He thumbs at his pulse, and, "Yes, I am flirting with you, Kageyama."

His hearbeat skyrockets into the outer space.

ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump--

Judging by the way Hinata's mouth curls up, he can feel it in his fingertips.

"Eh?" Kageyama stares dumbly, because, "Why?"

Hinata rolls his eyes, fingers coming up to brush over his forearm.

"Because I like you, dumbass," the words 'like' and 'you' stringing together in Hinata's voice are enough to shock him silent for a long time, enough that he doesn't even think about retorting with a classic 'you're the dumbass' while Hinata opens his mouth to speak up again. "You are incredibly stupid, but that's also why you're terribly cute."

Kageyama frowns hard, trying to look away so maybe he won't notice the way Kageyama's face boils red in a second.

"I'm not cute," he says through gritted teeth.

"You are, though," Hinata cocks an eyebrow and scans his face like he's just realizing something. "Oh. You were just embarrassed that time."

Kageyama is about to yell at him because he's definitely not embarrassed, but Hinata just huffs out a sigh of relief.

"That's good! I thought you got mad at me."

"I didn't--I just--Huh?" Kageyama stammers oh-so-eloquently.

HInata laughs, and then he sends him a look that reminds Kageyama of that time he used to scold him because things and social cues just flew over Kageyama's head like the tosses he set up for him.

This time, though, Hinata's eyes are even softer than back then, brimming with fondness and affection. It makes Kageyama's chest ache.

"Oh, Kageyama-kun," he says, voice silky and sweet and amber-eyes sparkling, "You're so dumb."

For some reason, it sounds like "you're so cute", instead, like Hinata finds him terribly endearing.

It makes his neck grow warm.

"You're the dumb one, stupid," he tries to argue back, weakly, and Hinata reaches over to hold both of his hands in his. They're warm and familiar and grounding.

He smiles.

"I like you. I like you very, very much." Hinata breathes, words rolling off his tongue and making all of Kageyama's body fill with warmth, swell with a ridiculous amount of affection, "So will you please go out with me?"

.

.

.

.

.

"Congratulations!" His sister voice rings through the speaker, sounding genuinely surprised and extremely happy, "You figured it out even before than I thought you would! You're all grown up, Tobio! Your sister is proud!"

"Hmph."

He's not telling her Bakashima made him realize his feelings and Hinata's feelings because he can read them like an open book.

"Good luck on your date!" his sister chirps merrily, "Please make something with your hair and don't just comb at it with your fingers like you do every three days."

Kageyama groans.

"What?" his sister scolds, "you must look nice for Shouyo-kun!"

Before he can reply something along of "it doesn't matter, I think he looks pretty all the time and apparently he does that with me, too", his sister starts giggling.

"Oh, wait, I'm sorry," she giggles again, "My bad, it's not Shouyo-kun now."

Kageyama frowns. What--

"I mean your--Tobio's boyfriend."

Kageyama groans while his sister laughs, but he's glad his sister can't see his blushing face--and stupid, giddy, wobbly smile--in person.

Tobio's boyfriend.