Chapter Text
Tsukishima hated making promises, mostly because he took them quite seriously as he was stood there outside Hinata's door the next day after school. One hand in his pocket and the other one running through his hair as he wondered just what kind of mess he was getting himself into, clicking his tongue at himself.
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he shifted on his feet for a brief moment before he rapped his knuckles against the door. It was Hinata himself that came to the door this time, there was a little more colour in the other's face and he supposed that Hinata had actually taken his advice for once and rested.
"So you really did come," Hinata said, that smile pushing its way across his mouth.
"You expected me to break my promise?" Tsukishima asked, mildly annoyed but not at all surprised.
"Can you really blame me?" Hinata said, sheepishly rubbing the nape of his neck as he smiled weakly up at the other.
"I suppose not," Tsukishima muttered under his breath and Hinata's head tilted to the side as though the other were trying to hear him better. "Are you ever going to let me in?" He asked, brow arched pointedly.
"Y-yeah," Hinata stammered as he stumbled backward, holding the door open for Tsukishima to come past, closing the door behind the other. "How was school?" He asked, loneliness evident in his tone and it was obvious that he was going mad being trapped indoors.
"The same as it always is," Tsukishima said simply, shrugging as bent down to slip off his shoes.
"Nothing happened?" Hinata asked, looking perplexed as he stared up at the other.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Tsukishima furrowed his brow, surely Hinata knew what sorts of things went on even if he wasn't there.
"Wow," Hinata drew out before walking further into the house.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsukishima grumbled as he entered Hinata's bedroom, leaning on the frame as he watched the other gather the unfinished homework.
"I don't remember what the 'usual' is exactly or did you forget that?" Hinata said, he sounded kind of angry, not sparing a glance toward Tsukishima as he set the materials on the floor.
"Sorry," Tsukishima murmured after a moment, standing properly before he approached the other, sitting opposite Hinata on the floor. "Tanaka and Nishinoya were trying to figure out if Shimizu-senpai is sophisticated or sexy and eventually settled on both, then Daichi-san yelled at them whilst Sugawara-senpai stood smiling beside him. And Yamaguchi just practiced quietly and Kageyama was completely oblivious as he practiced with that scary focus of his," he droned on, crossing his legs as he got comfortable on the floor.
Hinata only blinked at him in response, expression growing sadder to the point where it was starting to make Tsukishima feel bad.
"What's wrong?" Tsukishima uncharacteristically asked, brows furrowed.
"No, it's nothing," Hinata's voice broke as he rubbed at his eyes, making it very apparent that it was clearly something and not nothing.
"If you say so," Tsukishima wasn't the kind to pry at all and how Hianta felt was one of those things that definitely wasn't his business. So instead of getting involved he arranged his own homework and let the other get on with composing themselves.
"We've all been together for months and I can hardly remember these people you're talking about," Hinata blabbered.
Tsukishima looked up from the papers and his notebook to find tears streaming down the other's face, he frowned, really this was getting bad and he had to get a handle on in his emotions.
"It's fine," he grumbled, "no one's going to expect you to remember everything straight away, you're injured it's not your fault," he reeled off, words meant to placate Hinata as he watched the other sniff pathetically.
"It's just really frustrating," Hinata bit out, fists balled in the hem of his t-shirt.
"There's nothing you can do about that right now, let's just get on with this homework for the time being," Tsukishima said, pushing the papers toward the other as he spoke.
"Fine," Hinata sighed, running forearm across his face.
They worked together for a while, Tsukishima quickly finished his own homework as he answered Hinata's inane questions. Oddly, he didn't find it half as irritating as he had before, maybe it had something to do with the pity he felt for the other, or he'd begun to harbour feelings for Hinata. Neither option was appealing but he couldn't deny that both possibilities were becoming more and more valid as he continued to choose to spend time in the other's presence, before he'd simply found the other annoying and a little full on for his taste. He didn't know what had changed, he didn't know what had made Hinata tolerable, but he was slowly allowing the other closer.
"Huh," Hinata sighed after Tsukishima hadn't looked up for a while.
"What?" Tsukishima asked, pointedly raising a brow at the other.
"You have your own way of comforting others don't you," Hinata smiled weakly and Tsukishima balked.
"I just didn't want you to do something useless," Tsukishima muttered, staring back down at his maths notes, trying his best to hide the heat in his cheeks. As if Hinata would have even noticed.
"You can be cool sometimes Tsukishima, I never knew," Hinata beamed.
"I'm not interested in being cool and neither should you be, you should focus more on your studies," Tsukishima said, going over the notes he'd already gone over twice as he continued not to look at the other.
"You're definitely not being cool now," Hinata pouted, scratching out his answers onto the page.
Tsukishima didn't know what do to now, he'd finished all of his own homework and Hinata didn't seem to really need his help anymore. He found himself watching the other, small hand curled around the mechanical pencil, chicken scrawl coming out on the page slowly. Bright orange bangs framed Hinata's face, fell into the other's eyes as they looked down. Lip held between teeth and brows furrowed as Hianta concentrated, it was cute and the fact that Tsukishima thought that alone was damning.
"Will you come tomorrow?" Hinata asked, suddenly looking up at Tsukishima, eyes gleaming.
"Tomorrow's Saturday," Tsukishima said uselessly.
"So?" Hinata said scrunching up his face, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"There's going to be a lot of practice," Tsukishima returned, chewing the words out without feeling them in his mouth.
"And?" Hinata asked, looking more confused, mechanical pen dropping to the floor.
"I'll be tired," Tsukishima said, unable to say that he didn't want to not just because it wasn't true, but also because he didn't want to see the other's reaction to those words.
Then Hinata was up on hands and knees, papers scattered on the floor, brightly shining eyes inches from Tsukishima's own.
The world around them seemed to still and the pounding of Tsukishima's heart was the only thing he could hear, this was no good surely.
"I'd like it if you came," Hinata murmured, breath sweeping over Tsukishima's face and fogging up the other's glasses, "so please, would you come back again tomorrow?" He asked again, conviction and determination ringing out from him as strong as it always did.
Tsukishima swallowed before speaking, "I might, if I feel like it," he said slowly, wholly unsure of himself. He hated this feeling, sinking and sickly twisting inside him, it felt like he was betraying himself.