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It had been an innocuous enough comment, Yamaguchi had thought.
Just a slight mention, while the others were talking about their favorites, that he’d never actually been to a pet cafe.
Hinata had turned to him with wide eyes, looking like he’d just uttered a horrible secret.
“What?!” he had cried. “We’ve gotta change that! Let's go this weekend! Me and you!” And before Yamaguchi could really give his input, he was already home, staring down at the time and date he had texted Hinata, and Hinatas response.
It’s a date!!
Three little words.
Those three little words had driven the whole situation home, and Yamaguchi was suddenly even more of a nervous mess than he tended to be on the court.
Which was how Yamaguchi found himself where he was now, sitting on a bench outside the bus stop, leg bouncing and breath clouding in the winter air as he fidgeted with the sleeve of his sweater.
He was almost painfully early, he couldn’t bring himself to be anything but today, and the waiting was finally starting to get him, he noted as he opened his phone.
Ten minutes until they were supposed to meet, and fifteen until the bus was supposed to leave.
Yamaguchi forced himself to take a deep breath. It was fine. This was fine. He was just going to a cat cafe with his crush for what might or might not be a date.
Totally fine.
He glanced up, watching the sky, filled as it was with light gray, fluffy clouds, and wondered if it would snow.
Hinata probably liked the snow, he mused to himself. Sledding and having snowball fights seemed right up his alley. But Yamaguchi figured he could probably get him to help build a snowman with minimal prodding, as well. The thought brought a smile and a light blush to his face.
Maybe they could do that tomorrow, if it did end up snowing today.
Because one thing was true, whether or not this was a date.
Hinata and Yamaguchi were friends.
It felt weird, almost, even though he knew it was true. He had gone so long with just Tsukki, that having another friend, multiple new friends, was the most wonderful feeling kind of weirdness and uncertaintly.
“Yamaguchi!” a familiar, bright voice called, and he looked towards it with a smile.
Running towards the bus stop with a big grin and a dangerously thin looking jacket was one Hinata Shoyo. “I’m not late am I? Have you been here a while?” he panted as he all but skidded to a stop next to the bench Yamaguchi was on. Yamaguchi shook his head as he scooted over.
“No, you’re a few minutes early.” he assured as Hinata dropped down next to him, his rapid, shallow breaths creating small bursts of condensation in front of him. “And I haven’t been here long either.” Yamaguchi lied. “I live closer to this stop than you do, I’m pretty sure.” he added, and Hinata nodded.
“Good! I’m just glad I didn’t make you wait!” he said, seeming to get his breath back a little as he began swinging his legs.
“You didn’t.” Yamaguchi assured.
And hey, it was true.
It wasn’t really Hinata’s fault that Yamaguchi’s nerves had decided he needed to get here almost an hour early and then fret over every little thing, from his outfit to his hair to if he’d brought enough money to how long they’d be out.
Though, looking at Hinata, he was pretty sure he wasn’t the one who’d managed to mess up the ‘outfit' portion of the equation.
“Are you warm enough?” he asked, taking in Hinata’s dark pants, sneakers, thin orange rain jacket, contrasting with Yamaguchi’s warmer pants, favorite thin hoodie underneath a nice sweater, and a scarf.
“I’m fine!” Hinata assured. “My good jacket's in the wash, but I have my mittens.” he added, taking his hands out of his pockets to show them off. "Besides, it’s not that cold,” he shrugged. “And we probably won't be out once it gets dark, so we don't need to worry about that.” he added, and Yamguchi nodded slightly.
“If you say so,” he responded. “And, I was wondering, how long are we going to be out?” he asked.
“Dunno.” Hinata shrugged. “How long do you wanna stay out? I’m free pretty much all day since Kageyama won’t help me practice, my mom doesn’t want me to practice since it’s so cold, and Yachi’s too busy to help me study.” he rattled off.
“I don’t have anything else going on either.” Yamaguchi admitted. “Mr Shimada and Tsukki are busy, and my parents are out of town right now.”
“Then we should go to the park too!” Hinata gasped. “I heard last night that they’re doing a light display this year. Maybe we can watch them put it up.” he suggested as the bus pulled up.
“Sure, that sounds nice.” Yamaguchi responded as they stood, his face going a bit redder as he tried to ignore the romantic implications of the offer.
They quickly boarded and took seats next to each other on the fortunately mostly empty bus, Yamaguchi at the window and Hinata at the aisle.
“I’m really glad you were free today.” Hinata said as they settled into their seats. “This is gonna be so much fun!”
“Uh, yeah.” Yamaguchi managed. “I’m excited too. I don’t usually go downtown that much.” he admitted, and Hinata beamed at him.
“It’s a good thing I know my way around, then! My dad works out here, and one of Natsu’s friends lives closer to the city too, so I’m pretty used to it.” he explained, continuing a lovely, bubbly one sided conversation about the city, Yamaguchi listening and nodding in the right places, trying not to get too distracted by how cute Hinata looked when he got all excited and chattery.
Before he knew it, the bus was stopping.
“Oh, this is us!” Hinata said, interrupting himself as he stood. They filed off the bus along with a few other people, and headed down the street with Hinata a half step in front of Yamaguchi. “The cat cafe we’re going to isn’t too far from the park, either, so this works out pretty well.” he said as they walked. “I still can’t believe you’ve never been to one.”
“I didn’t realise it was weird.” Yamaguchi responded with a light laugh, hoping it hid his slightly genuine embarrassment. “I’ve always thought they sounded neat, but Tsukki doesn’t really like them and my parents never had the time to take me, so I stopped asking. I had sort of forgotten about it until you brought it up, honestly.” he admitted.
“Well, no time like the present!” Hinata declared before gasping. “There!” he yelped as he grabbed Yamaguchi’s hand and took off at a dead run, only his height disadvantage keeping Yamaguchi from getting yanked flat onto his face as he stumbled for several meters.
Yamaguchi finally managed to get his feet under him, and was able to see what Hinata was pointing at with the hand that wasn’t gripping one of Yamaguchi’s.
They were hurtling towards the edge of a park, and several people were busy with decorations. Lights and ornaments were being strung up in trees, wreaths were being attached to lampposts, and there was a still untouched pile of decorations off to the side as they worked.
“Wow.” Yamaguchi managed as Hinata finally slowed a few meters away from the decorator closest to them and laughed brightly.
“Right?” he said. “It’s gonna look so good! I didn’t realise they’d put so much out!”
“Yeah, it’s gonna be a lot.” Yamaguchi agreed as they continued down the path and into the park.
“Hey, you guys are doing great!” Hinata called to one of the decorators, who smiled back at him.
“Thank you. I hope you like the finished product.” they responded.
“Man, I really do love coming out here.” Hinata continued as they walked. “It’s so cool. Oh, and there’s a neat playground near here too, one time I fell and knocked one of my teeth out, but it was a baby tooth so it didn’t even really matter,” he chattered, beginning to swing their hands as they walked, which was when it really occurred to Yamaguchi that they were holding hands.
They were holding hands.
And walking together.
In the middle of December.
On their way to a cafe.
Yamaguchi tried to keep himself from spontaneously combusting at that.
He was just grateful for Hinata’s soft mittens. If it had been their bare hands together, he wasn’t sure how he’d be doing right now. But, as it was, the experience was nothing short of amazing, if a little nerve racking.
Their breath clouded in the cold air as they walked under the partially decorated skeletal trees, the sky an even gray above them and Hinata’s cheerful voice filling what would’ve been an uncomfortably thick silence if not for his talkativeness.
It really was a quite gorgeous set up for a first date.
Yamaguchi just wished he knew if that was what this was or not, glancing out of the corner of his eye too see Hinata’s face as he laughed, eyes crinkling closed as he tipped his head back a bit, fluffy orange hair framing his face in a way that Yamaguchi thought he’d probably never get tired of watching.
And then, Hinata was looking back at him, still grinning.
“Thanks for coming with me today!” he said.
“I should be thanking you.” Yamaguchi responded quickly, glancing away. “I’m the one getting a new experience, after all.”
“Yeah, but so am I.” he pointed out. “I get to be with Yamaguchi Tadashi when he visits a cat cafe for the first time!”
Yamaguchi blinked in surprise at the earnestness in Hinata’s voice when he declared that, like it really was something exciting, like it was a privilege.
“I’m glad you’re excited, but I really don’t think it’s a big deal.” he said, face starting to warm.
“It doesn’t have to be a big deal to you, but it’s a big deal to me!” Hinata responded, squeezing Yamaguchi’s hand, and sending the butterflies in his chest into overdrive as he tried to come up with some kind of response.
Fortunately, Hinata saved Yamaguchi the trouble a moment later when he, yet again, gasped in astonishment, this time dropping Yamaguchi’s hand before surging ahead to a small bridge, and all but throwing himself against the railing, leaning over it far enough that Yamaguchi was worried he might fall.
“Yamaguchi, come here!” he called. “You gotta see this!” Yamaguchi shook his head a bit as he hurried forward, hoping it would clear his thoughts.
“What is it?” he asked as he arrived next to Hinata.
“I fell off this bridge when I was six! See that rock over there? I cut my leg on it.” he said
“Oh, was it your left? Is that where that scar above your knee’s from?” Yamaguchi asked, and Hinata beamed at him.
“It is! I’m surprised you noticed it, though, it’s gotten a lot fainter over the years.” he said, releasing the railing as he and Yamaguchi drifted back towards the center of the small bridge, making their way across. “I wonder if it’s gonna snow tonight.” Hinata remarked, looking up as they walked. “That would be fun.”
“We could make snowmen.” Yamaguchi joked lightly, but then Hinata was turning wide, far too excited eyes on him.
“We totally should!” he said. “Natsu always says mine look weird, but I bet if we worked together, we could make a good one.” he added as Yamaguchi went slightly red.
“Oh, well I...I guess we’ll see if it snows tonight.” he responded.
“Yeah, good point.” Hinata conceded before perking up. “Oh, we’re almost there!” he said, speeding up slightly.
A moment later, the park gave way to a small playground, the trail leading past it to a sidewalk and the street, lightly bustling with the weekend afternoon crowd, dampened as it was by the weather.
“It’s just a couple blocks down this way,” Hinata said. “Oh, look! They’re putting stuff up over here too.” he added, pointing to where a handful of people were stringing lights up around the eaves of a gazebo with tables near the playground. “I can’t wait for them to finish!”
“It’s going to look really pretty,” Yamaguchi agreed, and they fell into a comfortable quiet as they arrived on the sidewalk and headed down the street.
A moment later, Hinata was speeding up yet again, rushing to the front door of a cafe, glancing back to Yamaguchi with a huge grin.
“Here we are! You’re gonna love this place!” he announced as Yamaguchi caught up with him, and then was ushered inside. “It’s really cool, you pay by the hour and they give you a free drink, and then you can also buy other food and stuff, and there's a bunch of cats and toys,” he explained as he tugged his shoes off, and Yamaguchi followed suit uncertainly as Hinata rushed over to a small counter, where the attendant grinned at him.
“Hey Sho.” they said. “Long time no see. And I see you left your parents and sister behind today too.” They remarked as Yamaguchi approached behind Hinata. “Oh, who’s this? A friend of yours?” Hinata nodded.
“Yamaguchi! He’s never been to a cat cafe!” he announced cheerfully as the attendant glanced over Yamaguchi before smiling at him.
“Well, we can’t have that. Come on in, first timer. Let's get you guys the best seats.” they said, quickly waving them through a door to their left after pointing them to an area to change from outside shoes into simple slippers.
They were led into what, as far as Yamaguchi could tell as he glanced around, looked like an average cafe, with a sparse handful of other patrons sitting around, sipping drinks, reading, or messing with open laptops.
There were tables with chairs, nice, large windows that provided a good view of the street and foot traffic outside. But as he continued to look, the evidence of the animals became apparent. There were small beds in the window sills, several baskets of cat toys in easy to access places, one of the other patrons actually had a sleeping tabby in their lap, and was absently scratching its head with one hand while they typed on a laptop with the other, and, finally, against the far wall and put in a corner between the wall and the last window, there was a large climbing and scratching post with several areas, some enclosed boxes, some hammocks, and a few simple open areas, and Yamaguchi could see at least three cats asleep on it.
“No way!” Hinata cried. “For real? We can sit next to Cat Castle?” he asked, and the attendant laughed.
“Yeah. It’s been pretty slow today, I think a lot of people are staying home, and no one’s reserved or requested it. So have at it, my treat to you,” they said with a smile as Hinata and Yamaguchi sat at the table closest to the scratching tower.
“Thank you.” Yamaguchi said.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. I just hope you two have fun.” they said before glancing at Hinata. “I’ll be back for your orders in a minute. Feel free to say hi to any of the cats you see. They’re a bit sleepy today, but that usually just makes them more cuddly.” they said, and then they were slipping out of the cafe area, presumably back to their entrance post, Yamaguchi blinking after them as Hinata peeled his coat off and tossed it over the back of his chair.
“I’m gonna go say hi to Marshmallow, want me to introduce you?” he asked excitedly as he stood, hands on the table, leaning towards Yamaguchi with a grin.
“Uh, sure. Sounds great.” Yamaguchi managed, hoping the red on his face could still be attributed to the cold outside.
“Awesome!” Hinata said, quickly leading the way to the side of the cat tower closest to the window and farthest from their seats. “He likes to lay over here, so I bet...Ah ha! Yep!” he said with a grin, hurrying towards a hammock with a view out of the window that currently held a large, fluffy, white cat.
Hinata reached up, having to go on his tiptoes, and scratched the cat's head, getting a small ‘mrp?” noise in response as the cat cracked it’s eyes open and looked down at him.
“You’re so sleepy.” he laughed softly, shifting his hand to scratch behind the cat's ear, and the cat started to purr in return. Hinata glanced over his shoulder with a smile. “You wanna pet him? He’s super soft.” he said, and Yamaguchi nodded, stepping in closer as Hinata glanced back at the cat. “Marshmallow, this is Yamaguchi,” he said as he stepped away, giving Yamaguchi a better angle. “And Yamguchi, this is Marshmallow.”
“Hi Marshmallow.” Yamaguchi said with a soft smile as he reached out and ran his hand gently down the cat's back.
“See? Isn’t he super soft?”
“He is.” Yamaguchi agreed.
“Oh! You wanna meet Cinnamon too?” Hinata asked enthusiastically. “She’s got shorter hair, but she’s still really soft, and she always likes attention!”
“Sure.” Yamaguchi responded, looking back towards Hinata
“Lets see, where is she…” he mumbled, eyes scanning the room before stopping and brightening. “There she is!” he said before hurrying across the room, Yamaguchi following.
They arrived at an empty table, and Hinata crouched down at one of the seats, which Yamaguchi now saw held a small dark brown tabby, all curled up, her nose tucked under her back legs.
“Hey Cinnamon.” Hinata said softly, and she raised her head up, her fur getting adorably ruffled as she pulled her head out from under her legs, revealing that she only had one ear.
“She’s cute.” Yamaguchi said with a smile as Hinata gently petted her.
“She really is.” he agreed. “Oh, and she doesn’t really like her head getting petted.” he cautioned. “She won’t bite you or anything, but she likes the back and tummy more.” he explained, and Yamaguchi nodded in acknowledgement as he reached out and carefully stroked her back while she watched him with skeptical eyes.
After a moment, he stopped, holding his hand out to her and letting her sniff it. After a few seconds of investigation, she gave the back of his hand a small lick, and began purring.
“Aww, she likes you!” Hinata said with a grin. “She only licks people she likes.”
“Well, I’m honored.” Yamaguchi said. “Thank you, Cinnamon.”
“Oh Sho,” The attendant from earlier singsonged. “You ready to order?”
“You know what I want!” Hinata called as he and Yamaguchi hurried back to their table.
“Just making sure.” the attendant said with a smile. “And what about you?” they asked, shifting their attention to Yamaguchi, who very suddenly realised he hadn’t even glanced at the menu.
“Oh, uh…” he tried, and Hinata laughed.
“I think I know something you’d like! Can I go ahead and order it?” he asked, and Yamaguchi nodded quickly, deciding that a potentially less than ideal drink or dessert was better than awkwardly being the center of attention for any longer. “Awesome! Get him the drink that Natsu likes, and that pastry thingie my dad always gets.”
“Good choices all around today.” the attendant said with a nod as they scribbled it down. “That won’t be long, I’ll probably have it out in about fifteen minutes, in the meantime, enjoy cattime.” they said over their shoulder as they headed back towards the kitchen, or at least what Yamaguchi assumed was the kitchen.
“Thanks!” Hinata responded, before his attention was back on Yamaguchi. “You wanna meet everyone else?” he asked.
“I’d love to.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth was he being ushered around the cafe, meeting and greeting five others cats, even one who was in someone else's lap (Fortunately, they were in good enough spirits to not seem terribly upset about the intrusion).
Yamaguchi wasn’t sure he’d remember all the names, though he did note they were mostly food themed, especially since Hinata was all bright and excited the whole time, which was more than a little distracting and not exactly easy on Yamaguchi’s heart, or nerves, since he still wasn’t sure if it was a date.
But it was fun.
So he opted to focus on that as best he could.
On how fun watching the cats bat around little jingly toys was, or on how soft they were, or how cute they were, and how cozy and relaxing the air of the cafe itself was as they waited for their order.
It almost helped him ignore how red he went when Hinata held his eye for a beat longer than normal, or how his chest fluttered when he laughed.
Almost.
Eventually though, the attendant's voice was calling to them again.
“Sho, Yamaguchi, your order’s up!” They called cheerfully, and Hinata, who had been laying down to bat a cloth ball back and forth with an adorable gray tabby called Pepper, scrambled to his feet and all but launched himself towards their table, Yamaguchi following in a much more subdued manner.
“Heck yeah!” he cried as he dropped into his seat with a huge grin and the attendant put a mug and a plate in front of him. “Thanks so much!”
“Just doin my job, lil buddy.” they said with a grin, tousling his hair after putting another plate and mug on the table, in front of Yamaguchi’s seat as he quickly sat down as well. “You two enjoy. Let me know if you need anything.” they added, and then they were gone, Hinata all but attacking the food in front of him so quickly that Yamaguchi wasn’t really sure what it was.
He glanced down at his own instead, and found a decent sized pale green pastry with a pink drizzle and cream. The mug next to it appeared to hold some kind of hot chocolate, though the scent was a bit strange, like it had an additional flavor Yamaguchi couldn’t quite place.
“That's a matcha strawberry something.” Hinata supplied, finally breaking away from his food. “Not sure what it actually is, but my dad gets it and I’ve tried it a time or two. It’s pretty good.” he elaborated, and Yamaguchi took a bite.. “And the drink is Natsu’s favorite, a spiced cocoa.” Yamaguchi nodded as he swallowed, pleasantly surprised by the treat.
The pastry was light, and the tea flavor wasn’t overpowering, pairing well with the sweeter strawberry cream and the slightly floral rose drizzle. Not at all what he’d expected, but not at all disappointing.
“Sorry if it’s a weird combo, I didn’t really think about how they’d taste together.” Hinata admitted as Yamaguchi tried the drink.
Sure enough, a somewhat spicy hot cocoa, a mix of cinnamon and some type of chili, if Yamaguchi had to guess, hit his palette, mixing in an incredibly weird way with the other lingering flavors, but Yamaguchi just smiled as he swallowed and set the mug down.
“It’s weird,” he agreed. “But good. I like them both a lot. Thanks.”
HiInata beamed at that.
“Awesome! Let's hurry and eat so we can get back to playing with the cats!” he said before diving back into his food, and Yamaguchi smiled as he followed suite.
It didn’t take long for both of them to finish their snacks and move onto interacting with the cats that were up and about, playing with laser pointers and dangly toys.
It was way more fun than Yamaguchi had thought.
He wasn’t sure if that was just because of Hinata’s infectious energy, and they way you couldn't help smiling if he smiled, laughing if he laughed, or having fun if he was having fun, but he wasn’t about to complain.
Eventually, as it started darkening outside, they decided it was time to leave, and drained the last of their now cold drinks, slipped their shoes and jackets and mittens back on, and stepped out into the rapidly darkening evening, their breath clouding in the air as the door fell shut behind them.
“It started snowing.” Yamaguchi noted, looking up at the soft, pale flakes drifting down gently, and, for now, slowly. “Do you still wanna go look at the lights?” he asked, glancing towards Hinata, who was still staring up at the snow with a smile on his face.
“Huh? Of course!” he said cheerfully, glancing at Yamaguchi, his nose already reddening. “Unless you don’t want to,” he added.
“I’d love to. I just don’t want you to get cold.” Yamaguchi explained. “That jacket doesn’t look very warm.”
Hinata shook his head as they started slowly walking towards the park.
“It’s fine, I’m not cold.” he assured, though he shivered slightly at a particularly strong gust of wind.
“Here, why don’t you wear mine?” Yamaguchi offered, but Hinata shook his head vigorously.
“No way! Then you might get cold. I’ll be ok.” he repeated. “In fact,” he said, reaching out and grabbing Yamaguchi’s hand. “Let me help keep your hands warm.” Yamaguchi hoped his blush could be attributed to the cold, but found himself at a loss about to respond. After a briefl silent moment, Hinata grinned, and squeezed Yamaguchi’s hand. “Oh, this reminds me,” he continued, starting chattering about serving tips he’d gotten from Kageyama, once he’d translated them from the insults they’d been delivered in.
They strolled down the street, hand in hand, Yamaguchi listening to every energetic, enthusiastic word of Hinata’s as the sky above them darkened even further, the snowfall increasing, and before he knew it, they were back at the park, and the christmas lights were turning on, stopping Hinata mid word.
“Whoa,” he breathed, eyes widening, and Yamaguchi had to agree.
The trees had been wrapped in golden lights, the branches strung with pale blue ones. Lighted oversized ornaments hung from the lampposts. White lights wrapped around the gazebo and up its support columns, lighted snowflakes hanging from the eaves. Lighted arches had been placed along the sidewalk that Hinata and Yamaguchi slowly walked along, every ten or so feet until the path disappeared into the trees.
“It turned out really nice.” Yamaguchi said softly after a moment as they stopped under the last arch and turned back, looking out at the open area of the playground. He glanced at Hinata after a beat, acutely aware of their joined hands, and found him still wide eyed and grinning, the lights of the arch reflecting in his eyes and lighting up his orange hair as the snow started to stick in it.
“Really nice.” he echoed before turning his gaze on Yamaguchi, his grin only widened. “Thank you so much for coming with me today. This has been an amazing first date.”
Yamaguchi’s heart tripped in his chest.
“Like… date date?” he managed, and Hinata blinked. The wonder and happiness slipped off his face, replaced by a worried type of confusion.
“Didn’t I say that already?” he asked. “When we were planning, I said ‘it’s a date!’, right?”
“No, no, you did!” Yamaguchi assured, blushing even more. “I just, I wasn’t really sure if you meant that in the ‘a set time and place to hang out’ way, or the ‘romantic date’ way.” he admitted, and Hinata laughed.
“Well, I meant date date.” he confirmed. “I hope that’s ok,” he added, frowning a bit.
“No! I mean yes!” Yamaguchi tried. “I-I wanted it to be a romantic date.”
Hinata’s blinding grin returned just as quickly as it had disappeared.
“Great!” he said cheerfully. “Does this mean we’re boyfriends, then? Cuz I think I’d like that, if you would.”
“I-Yeah. I think I would too.” Yamaguchi laughed, making Hinata laugh, leaving the two of them furiously red faced and giggling nervously as they stood together under the arch, bathed in soft golden light, the snow drifting down around them.
Yamaguchi’s heart was having a field day in his chest, and he wasn't sure what to do next, hardly able to form coherent thoughts.
He had a boyfriend.
He had a boyfriend.
The thought alone was enough to fill his heart with all the soft mushy feelings Tsukki loved to lightly tease him about, and he could hardly have been happier.
He and Hinata could go on more dates, they could eat lunch together more, they could spend more time together outside of school and volleyball, they could-
Yamaguchi gently squeezed Hinata’s hand as one last thought of things boyfriends did occurred to him.
And normally, he felt like he never would have been able to ask, too bogged down with nerves and doubt, but tonight, in their little semi-magical winter world, he found enough courage.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked, and Hinata beamed.
“I was hoping you would!” he laughed as he shifted, so they were facing each other instead of side by side, taking Yamaguchi’s free hand in his as a gust of wind blew, and he shivered a bit.
Yamaguchi hardly gave himself time to overthink it.
He leaned in and slightly down as Hinata raised up slightly, and pressed his lips to Hinata’s.
It made Yamaguchi’s stomach flip in an incredibly weird, pleasant way, though it was brief, and as they pulled apart, he knew his main takeaway wasn’t what most people’s was after a first kiss.
“Your lips are freezing,” Yamaguchi said. “You should take my sweater, really, I’ll be warm enough.” Hinata laughed.
“Well, if my boyfriend’s asking me too, I guess I shouldn’t refuse.”
Yamaguchi felt his face warm even further as he dropped Hinata’s hands and quickly slipped his sweater off, leaving him in his thinner jacket. He handed the sweater to Hinata, who wiggled into it rather enthusiastically, and a moment later, was grinning as he adjusted it.
“How do I look?” he asked, and Yamaguchi laughed softly.
The sweater was loose on Yamaguchi so he could use it as an overcoat, so it was far too big for Hinata, hanging off his shoulders awkwardly, the sleeves completely covering his hands, the bottom falling near the tops of his thighs.
“It looks great.” Yamaguchi responded. “Hopefully it’ll keep you warm enough.”
“It will, it’s super nice.” he responded. “But, now you’ll get cold, so I have to give you these.” he declared, pushing the sleeves up so he could take his mittens off. “These sleeves are long enough to be like mittens for me, so I’ll be fine, but your hands are pretty red.” he added as he held them out towards Yamaguchi.
“Oh, uh, thanks.” Yamaguchi managed, taking them.
He hadn’t said anything because he hadn’t wanted to stop holding hands, but Hinata was right, Yamguchi’s hands having started to tingle from the cold only a few minutes after they left the cafe.
“Of course, Tadashi!” Hinata said, and Yamaguchi wasn’t sure if his heart could take much more tonight, the happy, excited way Hinata said his name feeling so different from the way anyone else had ever said it.
It was usually said in a much more dismissive way, or with cruel laughter, from everyone except Tsukki, who said it in a more subdued, though certainly kind, for him, way when he used it.
Hinata said it like Yamaguchi was exciting and fun and worthy of being the center of attention.
“I can call you that now, right?” Hinata asked after Yamaguchi didn’t respond, too busy trying to get the mittens on and not combust.
“Yes!” he almost yelped. “Yes, that’s fine. Great. Very nice.” he managed, and Hinata laughed.
“Perfect. You can use my first name now too, if you want.” he offered, and Yamaguchi nodded as he finished getting the mittens on.
“We should probably hurry. We don’t want to miss the bus back.” he said, hoping that a slightly different topic might give him some more time to adjust and stop feeling like he was about to explode.
“Oh! Race you back to the bus stop!” Hinata said, and then he was sprinting away, down the path and into the snowy trees.
“Hey, hold on!” Yamaguchi called after him, rushing to catch up.
Hinata laughed, and it rang clear and bright through the frigid night, making Yamaguchi smile as they raced down the path.
Somehow, even with his height advantage, Yamaguchi stayed a step behind Hinata the whole time, until they were both doubled over and panting at the bus stop, their sharp breaths clouding as Hinata laughed again.
“I win!” he managed, and Yamaguchi shook his head with a smile as he straightened up a bit.
“Yeah. Good job, Shoyo.” Hinata blinked, his expression shifting from nearly smug happiness to utter confusion in the blink of an eye, and Yamaguchi realised that if Hinata had been able to, he would’ve gone even redder. “Are you warm enough now?” Yamaguchi added after another stunned moment of silence from Hinata.
Hinata finally shook his head, seeming to come back to himself.
“Yeah! It’s super warm!” he assured. “How about your hands?”
“They’re great. Thanks.” Yamaguchi responded with a soft smile.
“Well at least someone appreciates them. I actually made them a year or two ago, when me and Natsu were trying out knitting. I made them for my mom, but Natsu said they were too ugly and hid them so I couldn’t give them to her. I didn’t find them until after her birthday, and by that point she already had gloves, so now they just kinda get used by anyone who doesn’t have a better pair clean.” he explained, and Yamaguchi laughed.
“Well I think your sister was being a bit dramatic. They’re really nice.”
“Why don’t you keep ‘em?” Hinata suggested. “They almost never get worn at my place, so if you like ‘em, they’re yours.”
“Are you sure? I’d hate to-”
“Ah, don’t worry about it.” Hinata said, waving his hand dismissively. “I want you to have ‘em.”
“...Alright. Thanks again.” Yamaguchi managed, finding himself holding his hands to his chest and glancing down at them and the thick yellow and black fabric that encased them.
Before either of them could speak again, the bus was arriving. They climbed on and settled next to each other, again with Yamaguchi at the window seat and Hinata at the aisle seat. As soon as they sat, Hinata’s hand found its way into Yamaguchi’s.
“So, I forgot to ask earlier, but what did you think of your first visit to a cat cafe?” he asked, and Yamaguchi smiled as he tightened his grip briefly.
“It was amazing. Thanks for taking me.” Hinata beamed at him.
“Awesome! Now, you get to pick where our next date is.” he said with a grin, and Yamaguchi wasn’t quite sure how to respond, so he opted for nodding.
They fell into silence after that, Hinata yawning, apparently finally tired, and slumping against Yamaguchi’s shoulder, dozing as Yamaguchi alternated between looking out the window and down at Hinata, occasionally brushing a piece of hair off his forehead, more for an excuse to touch him than anything else.
He needed the proof that this was all real.
That he was wearing Hinata’s mittens, that Hinata was asleep against him, that they were dating now, it all felt like some perfect dream.
But it was real. And Hinata’s hair under his fingertips, after he slipped one of the mitens off, helped him believe that.
He was confused and maybe a little nervous, but overwhelmingly happy and excited.
The bus stopped, and they slipped off, Hinata yawning again, rubbing at his eyes with sweater paws that were adorable than should have been humanly possible.
Yamaguchi realised, in that moment, that he was going to be an incredibly sappy boyfriend, and that fighting it would most likely be futile.
“What’re you looking at?” Hinata asked as he finished yawning.
“You.” Yamaguchi admitted, feeling his face warm. “The sweater looks really cute on you. You can wear it home, if you want.” he offered, and Hinata grinned.
“Really? Thanks!” he said cheerfully. “And you’re really cute too. I hope you’re not too upset when it happens, because the little blushy thing you do when you’re kind of embarrassed is adorable.” he added, making Yamaguchi blush even more. “Yeah! Like that! Should I stop? Does it really upset you?”
“No, no it’s ok,” Yamaguchi responded. “It’s not a bad kind of embarrassed. It’s more like… a little uncertain and nervous.” he elaborated.
“Well you don’t have to be nervous around me, I think you’re awesome and anyone who doesn’t see that is either looking at the wrong things or just plain old mean and impossible to please.” Hinata stated. “And you can always ask me, if it’s about us or relationship stuff. Like with the kiss earlier.” he added.
And Yamaguchi was nearly speechless.
Hinata really felt that way about him?
"Speaking of which," Hinata continued, as though he hadn't just said something that Yamaguchi had always wanted to hear. "Can we do that again before we go home?" He asked. "Kiss, I mean." He clarified after a beat, and Yamaguchi came back to himself.
"Yes." He managed before clearing his throat. "Yeah, that sounds nice."
Hinata smiled as he stretched up and Yamaguchi leaned down a bit, quickly and gently pressing their lips together.
Hinata smiled as they pulled apart, but stayed close, the clouds from their breath swirling together.
"I like that a lot." He noted.
"Yeah. Me too." Yamaguchi agreed softly. "This has been a great first date, Shoyo. You really thought of everything and it was really amazing. Thank you, so much."
Hinata started going a rather vibrant shade of red, but didn't seem terribly upset about it.
"I'm just glad you had fun. Things don't usually go as well as tonight did when I'm in charge." He admitted.
"Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm in charge of the next one. That should give your luck time to recharge."
Hinata laughed at that.
"Yeah, it should." He agreed with a grin, and before he could say more, his phone buzzed from his pocket, and he yelped, moving away from Yamaguchi as he tugged it out and unlocked it. "Ah, geez, I'm sorry," he said, looking up. "It's my mom. I gotta hurry home." He explained.
"Oh, no worries." Yamaguchi assured. "I should probably be getting back too. Do you live close?"
"Close enough." Hinata shrugged with a grin. "And besides, I've got a nice sweater to keep me warm." He added.
"Ok, well then, I guess I'll see you at school."
"I'll text you when I get home too."
"Sounds good."
"Awesome, bye, I love you!" Hinata said quickly, tiptoeing to kiss Yamaguchi's cheek, and then all but sprinting off into the dark, cold evening.
"Bye. Love you too." Yamaguchi managed after a moment of stunned silence.
Again, three little words had meant so much.
Yamaguchi liked these three a lot more than the first three from a few days ago, though, he thought to himself with a growing smile as he headed towards home, one gloved hand coming up to lightly touch his cheek, and the other to rest gently, half closed, in the center of his chest, the snow drifting down around him.