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There were a lot of things that were different in Karasuno compared to his old school. Everyone seemed to take the sport seriously, there were less players in the team and his teammates actually seemed to tolerate (in some cases even like) him.
The biggest difference came in form of a very loud, very energetic and very orange middle blocker. Hinata was a lot of things. He managed to be friends with everyone, including Tobio himself, had a passion for volleyball rivaled only by Tobio and gave his best every single time. Which was very commendable.
But as they say, there was always a downside and Hinata had one as well. The problem with the spiker was that he spoke all the time. He never shut up. Never. Even when he was eating his beloved meat buns he was talking. And yes, others found that disgusting because where are the manners of that boy? However, Tobio found it annoying not because of the lack of manners but because he was still talking.
Here he was, trying to enjoy his meal and the short little ginger was talking and talking, even with his mouth stuffed.
The continuous talking of one Hinata Shoyo was getting on Tobio’s nerves. And pretty soon he was looking for different ways to shut the other boy up to get some well-deserved quiet. Now, he knew the food wasn’t really working to shut him up, so Tobio had to come up with other options soon enough.
This is how Tobio spent the time during which he wasn’t in school or practicing volleyball, brainstorming on any ideas how to stop Hinata from talking. Everytime he found a viable option he tried it out on Hinata the next time. With various levels of failing.
Changing the topic to something boring didn’t work because Shoyo just changed the topic back and continued his onslaught of words. Distracting him with volleyball didn’t work because then he would want Tobio to set for him and they just ended up playing, even though Daichi told them to go home. Walking away didn’t work because Hinata would just run to catch up and then talk like nothing happened.
As you can see, it’s one of the hardest things to get Hinata to shut up. Tobio found it even more complicated than English and that’s saying something.
So when he finally found the one method that worked, he was surprised to say the least. Partly because he was so used to failure that he didn’t expect to actually succeed anymore and partly because he didn’t expect this particular method to work. He thought of it on the weekend.
It was Saturday evening and Tobio had spent the day after school doing some extra practice first with the team, then with Hinata. He was very tired and didn’t have much energy left. Normally he would spend the evening in his room reading something about volleyball but for today he decided to stay on the couch in the living room, keeping his sick sister company.
Miwa would normally never stay home on a Saturday evening but a strong case of the common cold stopped her from doing anything other than hanging around at home and sneezing or coughing. With nothing better to do, she had decided to do a marathon watching of her favorite movies.
When Tobio arrived home and joined her in the living room she was on movie number 7. A boring romance Tobio would never watch by himself. While Miwa enjoyed it, Tobio was aghast at what he was seeing.
„This is so dumb.“ Tobio commented on yet another stupid scene between the protagonists. They were fighting but according to Miwa it was clear as day that they loved each other. Tobio didn’t understand. If you love someone you know that, right? Again, according to Miwa that wasn’t the case.
„Not dumb, they‘re oblivious of their love for each other which leads to fights. I thought we went over this.“ Miwas’s voice was scratchy and proved just how sick she really was. She even sounded sick. But maybe that was because of him.
Tobio shook his head. He was still of the opinion that nobody could be THAT oblivious. If they were in love just like Miwa said, then what’s the point of fighting? You don‘t fight when you love each other. He told Miwa his thoughts which resulted in her facepalming and groaning.
„Tobio we‘re fighting all the time. We still love each other.“ Tobio frowned. Miwa was his sister. „That’s different because it’s family.“ Miwa raised her eyebrows and then sighed as she shook her head. „You’ll see as soon as you fall in love. We can talk again when that happens and see if your opinion changed.” She gave him a look and grimaced. “Which will probably never be.”
Ignoring the insult of his sister, Tobio shook his head. He doubted that he was in the wrong. There was simply no way anybody could love someone and not know.
On the screen the two protagonists were fighting on, stepping closer and closer while screaming into each other’s face. For Tobio it was very weird that they didn’t hit each other already but they are a girl and a boy. You shouldn’t hit girls. That’s probably why.
The man was getting yelled at by the girl who was gesturing wildly with her arms and had a crazy look in her eyes. Then it happened. The guy closed his eyes only to scream „Shut up“ out of the top of his lungs. The girl glared back and with a defiant body language stated: „Make me.“ For a few seconds there was silence and then the man stepped even closer, grabbed her face into his hands and pulled her close. To Tobio’s surprise he started to kiss her very aggressively. Not in a way that hurt her, but he really gave it his all.
Tobio blinked. On the TV there was silence.
„Why did he kiss her?“
„Shut up, that’s the best part.“
„But I don’t understand. She’s silent now. She stopped talking.“
„SHUT UP!“
Tobio waited until the scene was over. With big eyes he saw how the shocked face of the girl changed into something he couldn’t quite describe and she ended up kissing the guy back even more passionately.
When they broke apart, Miwa stopped the movie and turned towards her brother. „Now, what the fuck is your problem?“
„I just don’t understand. Why would he kiss her? They were fighting.“
„They love each other. I explained that already. And he kissed her to shut her up.“
Because Tobio didn’t possess the ability to feel what the characters felt, he just had to accept that they did indeed love each other. What he found way more interesting was the second part of Miwa’s comment. The guy kissed the girl to shut her up. Tobio had never even heard of such a thing. Why would anyone do that? It seemed like something that wouldn’t work.
„Why did he kiss her to shut her up?“
„You’re kidding me, right?“
He wasn’t, but obviously he wouldn’t get a good answer out of Miwa regarding this topic. He tried to get at least some information with one last question. „And that works?“
„Obviously. You saw it did.“, Miwa said off-handed and pressed the remote to watch more of the movie. Tobio stayed in the living room and even finished the movie with his sister but couldn’t really concentrate anymore.
Apparently, if you want someone to shut up, you kiss them. Which was a method he didn’t consider yet for his Hinata problem. He debated if that was even a viable option because they were both boys. But in the end, he decided it didn’t matter. It was something to make someone shut up. Gender didn’t matter. It was only a way to reach a goal.
Without any further thought, Tobio added the method to his mental folder of possibilities.
He found the right moment to test his new method just a week later when Shoyo babbled on and on about the new sort of meat buns Coach Ukai had in his store and how tasty they were. Hinata had already been talking about it for more than fifteen minutes and slowly but surely Tobio had enough.
„…and this is why the new one has the better filling if you compare it to the older one and if you think more about it, that’s probably why…“
Without thinking much about it, Tobio grabbed Hinata’s arm to make him stop walking and bent down to kiss him straight on the mouth. It didn’t last long as it was just a quick peck, but the response happened instantly. Tobio couldn’t believe his ears.
There was silence.
Hinata stared at him but not a single word escaped his lips. Tobio was stunned. The method worked without fault. Content that he finally found a solution to his problem, he removed his hand from Hinata’s arm and started to walk again. After a few steps he could hear Shoyo say „Huh“. But still, after that one confused „Huh“, there was silence once again. This was heaven.
When he was about five to six meters in front of Hinata, his friend realized he had to catch up and hurried after the setter. For the rest of the walk, until they went their separate ways, Hinata talked significantly less and it was a very nice change for Tobio. He had the most relaxed evening since ever and enjoyed it to the fullest. Even Miwa asked why he was in such a good mood.
The next day, Tobio wondered how long the effect would last for and if the method would work a second time. The first question got answered when he arrived at school and Hinata started talking as soon as he saw him arrive. The second question is yet to be tested.
He just needed to wait for the next opportunity to use the possible weapon. As of now, they were both busy playing volleyball. No time for Hinata to talk obsessively about anything except volleyball and that was something Tobio didn’t find annoying at all. The rest of the day, they had school and during lunch break Tobio had to finish something for his next class. So, he only saw Hinata again at evening practice.
It was the first time Tobio actively waited for Shoyo to annoy him with endless talking. Just to confirm the effectiveness of his new method. It was after practice when his wish was fulfilled. They were in the clubroom and the rest of the team was already gone. With everyone else gone, Hinata had no other option than to talk to Tobio. Not that he found that bad. He seemed very happy to tell Kageyama everything his sister did yesterday evening.
When the topic changed to the last math exam, Tobio decided to try for a second time. Just as Hinata wanted to walk through the door, Tobio hurried to be there before Hinata and blocked his way. Confused as to why his friend didn’t let him leave, Hinata looked up to Tobio with big eyes. It was a talent to still talk in a situation like this. A talent which Hinata possessed. Tobio swallowed and then tried his trick for a second time.
Just like the first time, Hinata shut up. He followed Kageyama outside. He still talked a few words here and there but again, it was significantly less often and Hinata almost seemed like a normal human being with normal human energy reserves for once. Kageyama grinned smugly.
Now, Tobio never thought he would be that successful, but he accepted it with open arms. Whenever Hinata started talking too much he kissed him, which resulted in silence. Usually, it lasted about a day. Sometimes, when Hinata was especially loud and obnoxious, it took only a few hours until the effect faded.
Tobio enjoyed his newfound power at first. Whenever Hinata was too loud, he kissed him and got rewarded with relative silence. He felt like a superhero. He may have abused his power a bit too much though, because it got to the point where other teammates or friends noticed the strange change in Hinata. Oftentimes, he got regarded with a questioning look when he didn’t tell them how hungry he was for the thousandths time or how boring school was.
With all that, Tobio should have been happy. He didn’t get tortured by endless talking and if it happened again, he just had to quickly kiss Hinata to make it stop. But there was a problem. A big problem. Because slowly but surely Tobio found that the new Hinata just wasn’t Hinata.
Hinata should be talking. Hinata should be loud and obnoxious. Hinata should annoy him.
All that wasn’t possible if Tobio continued to kiss him. The only solution was to stop doing it. Which should have been easy. But Tobio didn’t really want to stop. Not because he missed the silence or anything. It was because he noticed how he liked kissing Hinata. Maybe it was even the way Hinata looked up to him right after a kiss. All of it gave him a warm fuzzy feeling. Tobio wanted to feel that way all the time.
Making Hinata happier and back to normal was more important than his newfound liking to that weird feeling. So, with a heavy heart, Tobio stopped kissing Hinata to make him shut up. Soon enough, Hinata was back to normal and talked pretty much all the time again. That was the only thing that managed to make Tobio smile the following days.
From time to time he could feel Hinata’s eyes on him. Maybe he asked himself why Tobio stopped. Maybe he wanted to keep going as well. Maybe Tobio was just moping around and Hinata was the only one noticing. It didn’t matter anyways.
A week after stopping, Tobio was walking home with Hinata. The shorter player was talking endlessly like always. Which reminded Tobio that this would be another perfect moment to kiss him. Tobio tried to shake the thought out of his mind. Seemingly out of nowhere, Hinata stopped talking about curry balls and asked: “Why did you stop giving me kisses?”
Tobio’s brain had a hard time trying to process what Hinata just said to him. He decided to go with the intelligent option and answered “Huh”?
Hinata wasn’t having it. “Don’t give me ‘Huh’. You started with it in the first place. I’m asking you. Why did you stop?”
“I missed your talking. I didn’t want you to shut up anymore.”
Hinata looked at him like he just lost his sanity. Tobio grimaced and scratched the back of his head. What else was he supposed to say? It was weird enough that he had to talk with Hinata about kissing.
“Huh?” Hinata mimicked Tobio from before. “Explain yourself.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Tobio looked anywhere except Hinata’s eyes. He couldn’t answer him. The other boy waited a few seconds and when Tobio still didn’t say anything, he sighed.
“I was shocked when you first kissed me.” No Shit. Tobio would be too.
Hinata was talking in a low and quiet tone. The voice sounded almost sad. “I was thinking that it might be the same with you but I never had enough courage to actually ask.” Tobio frowned. What was Hinata talking about?
“And then you kissed me out of nowhere and it felt all ‘gwaah’ and ‘zoom’.” Oh, Tobio knew that feeling. He felt that too. “And then you stopped again. I don’t know why. Tell me.”
“I didn’t kiss you out of nowhere. I kissed you to shut you up.”
“I…what does that even mean? And you didn’t answer my question. Why did you stop? Did I do something wrong?”
“What…No! I stopped because you didn’t talk anymore. And I wanted you to talk.”
Tobio could feel his cheeks getting hot and was pretty sure he was blushing. Finally, he looked Hinata back in the eyes and found that the other boy was blushing as well. He looked up to Tobio similar to the way he looked up to him after a kiss.
Warmth spread through his entire body and the fuzzy feeling he missed so much was back.
“So, you still like me?”
“Of course I do. You’re my friend, dumbass.”
“You know what I mean.”
“…No?”
A flabbergasted Hintata frowned at him. Slowly, the expression changed to something else. “You seriously have no clue?” When Tobio nodded, Hinata let out a hysteric laugh and then looked back at him, still shocked by what he was living through at the moment. Tobio himself was just confused.
“Kageyama. Tobio.” Tobio blushed at the way Hinata said his given name. He never did that before and the way he pronounced it just made Tobio like his name more. “You do like me romantically, right?”
“No. I think I would know if I did.”
Hinata flinched but tried not to let it show too much. Even if he was the one who did that to him, Tobio wanted to console the other boy. It hurt him just as much as it did Hinata. Slowly, the shorter boy took a breath and blinked.
“You’re even more oblivious than I thought you’d be.” Hinata shook his head and sighed deep. “Tobio.” Now he was looking right into Tobio’s eyes which made something in his chest burn.
“Do you want to be with me as much as possible?”
Tobio nodded. Hinata was his partner. Of course he wanted to stay at his side.
“Do you feel happy around me?”
Nodding again, he thought about all the times where he felt instantly better when Hinata had appeared.
“Do you want to make me happy as well?”
Of course. There was no question about it.
“Do you feel warm or a weird fuzzy feeling around me?”
Tobio knew exactly what Hinata was talking about. He felt it right now. He nodded again.
Many questions followed. About how he felt when other people were with Hinata and how he didn’t like that. About seemingly normal things that weren’t very normal according to Hinata. To every single question he got asked, Tobio had to agree. It was crazy how Hinata knew exactly how he was feeling.
“Did you like to kiss me?”
This time Hinata seemed to be more nervous about the answer than with the other questions. But for Tobio it was clear. Hinata’s lips were always very soft and there was always this ‘zoom’ when said lips finally touched his own. He nodded again.
“Do you…want to do it right now?”
Oh.
Tobio realized just how much he wanted to kiss him. And not to shut him up. Tobio gulped and then, slowly, nodded.
Hinata took in a sharp breath and then stepped closer. He reached out his hand and slowly pulled Tobio towards him. There was enough time for him to refuse, if he really wanted to. The thing was, Tobio didn’t want to. What he really wanted to do was to get closer. Which he did as he closed the distance to kiss Hinata.
The kiss was a bit different from the ones before. There was the fact that this time it was Hinata who initiated it. It was also longer and seemed more intimate than the usual quick peck Tobio did to Hinata. There was more passion behind it, the want and need to get closer. It left Tobio feeling breathless. When Hinata broke the kiss off and stepped back, Tobio knew exactly why the method worked so well. He was speechless himself right now.
“You know. All these feelings, everything you agreed on, it means you like me. And to be perfectly clear here: you like me more than a friend.”
As soon as he heard Hinata say it, he knew it was true. Tobio was an idiot. Apparently, he had been loving Hinata for a long time. He just didn’t realize. He nodded once more, shocked by his discovery.
Hinata chuckled and slung his arms around his torso. It felt warm and soft and that feeling appeared once again. The feeling he now knew was love. He put his arms around Hinata and pressed him close. They stayed like that for a long time. When Hinata stopped, it still wasn’t long enough for Tobio. Reluctantly, he let him go.
“Tobio. Why did you say you kissed me to shut me up?”
Damn. He had hoped that Hinata forgot about that. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other he tried to find the words to describe it in a way that lessened the embarrassment at least a little bit for him.
“You talk too much. I like it but it annoys me. And I heard that it shuts people up when you kiss them. It worked by the way.”
“Excuse me?”
Tobio shrugged his shoulders. “My kisses were very good. They made you speechless.”
Hinata’s face flushed and he looked to the ground. Finally he let out: “I was only quiet because I didn’t know how to act! I thought you were my boyfriend. And every time you kissed me, I got reminded again and froze.”
“You thought you were my boyfriend?”
“That’s not important now. Just tell me how you got the stupid idea with the kiss.”
Tobio ended up explaining everything he learned that evening with Miwa to Hinata, who had a laughing fit and made fun of Tobio for the rest of the day. But revenge is sweet and every time he did so, Tobio just reminded him that he thought they were together for the last few weeks.
When the discussion arose if they really were actually together now, they didn’t have to argue about it. Both were absolutely sure that they were indeed boyfriends now. Kisses would be shared just because they liked each other and not to make the other person shut up.
In the end, Miwa was right. There were plenty of oblivious people in the world. Tobio had been one of them. He dreaded the day Miwa would find out he had a boyfriend and ask him for details. Remembering their conversation, she would make fun of him and remind him just how much of an idiot he was for believing he would immediately know if he was in love. He wouldn’t hear the end of it, he was sure of that.