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Hinata thinks he has a crush on the girl that works at the ice cream parlor.
No, not the black-haired girl (lady?) who was scooping out a round ball of chocolate chip ice cream on a cone for Hinata, even though she was really pretty and Hinata could bet his best volleyball trainers that most of the customers had tried to ask her out at least once before. (He’s actually seen that happen before and she would always just level them with a cool stare before asking them very politely to not block the queue.)
“Toppings?” The lady – Shimizu, according to her nametag – was asking him now and Hinata switched his attention back to the present.
“Yes! Um—rainbow sprinkles please!”
No, it was the other girl—who was currently at the other end of the counter, asking a newer customer if they wanted a cone or cup for their ice cream. She had short bright blonde hair that came down to her chin, held back a little on one side in a small ponytail, and a smile that made Hinata think of sunshine and honeydew. Her name was Yachi and Hinata is pretty sure he has a crush on her.
Which was kind of silly, because Hinata hasn’t actually talked to her, not really. Only the usual staff-and-customer cordialities whenever Hinata visited the parlor, when he was lucky enough for her to be serving him at the time. She was always really friendly, and had begun to greet him with a shy recognition whenever he entered through the doors.
And also maybe with some surprise that he was still coming back after the first time when she spilled ice cream onto his volleyball jersey.
Yachi was really cute. Hinata watched her now as she gingerly balanced a scoop of strawberry ice cream onto a cone and looked up at the customer, asking if he would like toppings to go with it. Idly, Hinata couldn’t help wondering that if he was maybe a few (maybe several) inches taller, she’d take even more notice of him.
“Here’s your ice cream.” Hinata barely heard Shimizu speaking, holding out his chocolate cone to him, but he straightened up with a small “ah, thanks” and reached out to grab the ice cream—
—And felt his hand closing around cold cream.
Shimizu was staring at him, her normally impassive eyes widened in shock. Hinata stared at his own hand, gaping, clutching at the chocolate ice cream and not at the cone like he was supposed to. He was completely mortified, and he suddenly realized the other customers and Yachi was staring at him too, which seemed to make it a lot worse because he could feel his entire face going red.
“I—I’M SO SORRY.” The only comfort was that Kageyama wasn’t with him this time, who would no doubt be calling him a dumbass. “I’M REALLY SORRY.”
“It’s fine, really…” Shimizu was saying, putting a hand out so that he would stop bowing. “We can get you a new one.”
“I’M REALLY REALLY SORRY,” Hinata babbled, keeping his gaze trained to the mess he had just made on the countertop, shoulders hunched so that he wouldn’t see Yachi’s reaction in his peripheral version. It was so embarrassing, and so uncool too! He scrabbled in his bag for a handkerchief with his free hand, ears burning as the mess was being wiped away.
Shimizu was handing him a napkin, along with a new ice cream cone, and he took it gratefully, swiping at his now-sticky hand with it before taking the new cone, mumbling a word of thanks. She looked almost sympathetic as he paid for the ice cream, but Hinata didn’t let himself dwell on it as he quickly made for the door.
As he retrieved his bike from the bike rack in the parking lot, ice cream already gobbled up in his hastiness to forget that ever happened, Hinata decided he would much rather have his volleyball partner be there to yell at him for being a dumbass. Then at least he wouldn’t have to think about how much he just embarrassed himself in front of the girl, with bright blonde hair and a smile like honeydew, whom Hinata had only just realized he had a crush on.
---
The first time Hinata visited the ice cream parlor was when he was walking home with Kageyama after volleyball practice, bickering about Hinata’s serves when they passed by the store, only recently opened. Kageyama had stopped and said he Sugawara-san mentioned this before and that they should try it.
Before Hinata could even ask about why was Kageyama talking to their upperclassmen that was in college and whom they haven’t seen for several months, the perpetually-grumpy-faced setter had already walked through the door and Hinata could only sigh and follow.
Not that he regretted any of that at all though, because it was a really cool ice cream place – a small store with just enough space for a wide counter and a row of chairs against a bench table along the wall and windows. It was light and cozily spaced; a comfortable chill rising from the refrigerator that made up for the long, exhausting day; everything painted in pale and creamy brown and muted gold. Kageyama had stiffly ordered hazelnut vanilla while Hinata had gotten a triple-scoop cone because he couldn’t decide.
Serving that day had also been Shimizu and Yachi, and Shimizu had looked completely unfazed by Hinata’s boisterous babbling about how WHOAAA THERE’S SO MANY FLAVOURS and Kageyama’s glaring (he wasn’t glaring but Kageyama glares even when he tries not to), nodding when they ordered and deftly scooping out Kageyama’s hazelnut vanilla from its tub.
Not so Yachi, who flinched every time Kageyama’s gaze passed her and her hands shaking as she balanced three ice cream scoops on the cone. Hinata had watched her as she did it, and he was so impressed that he said it out loud, throwing in a playful jab at Kageyama for his Towering Mountains of Intimidation – not quite realizing that it was what made Yachi smile, relaxed, when she handed him his ice cream.
Before it slipped and promptly dropped all over his shirt.
It was funny how a small shop with only four people present could erupt in a flurry of mishaps, but it did. It was all a bit of a blur now, but he remembered Yachi going over to him amidst the commotion, handing him a towel from the store and apologizing profusely. She was rattling off apologies and how she was so clumsy and also so sorry really I’m going to be fired and your shirt is now dirty what if it gets on your other clothes it’s going to be all sticky now and then you’ll hate this place and won’t ever come back I’m really really sorry please—
“It’s okay! Really!” Hinata laughed, waving a hand as he accepted the towel and wiped the mess off his shirt. “I mean, Bakageyama here was yelling at me earlier for serving a volleyball to his head during practice, so between you and me I think you’re a lot better than me!”
Kageyama might have made some growling retort in response to that, Hinata didn’t remember. But he remembered Yachi stopping to look at him, blinking twice, mouth hanging open as if she had stopped mid-ramble.
And then she had snorted a little, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she giggled, her blonde hair falling over her eyes as she ducked her head in embarrassment.
Hinata’s heart had skipped a beat then, and he found himself dropping by everyday after school or practice, even when Kageyama wasn’t with him.
He also made sure to get single-scoop orders every time, although from recent events, maybe he should just get them in a cup next.
---
“I can be cool!”
Kageyama stopped mid-lick with his ice cream and turned to stare at Hinata. “Hah?”
Hinata turned to look at the taller boy. “Girls think I’m cool, right?”
A few days had passed since that mortifying incident at the ice cream parlor, and Hinata was starting to get over it. Just a little. He kept up his visits, and winded up not getting his orders in cups as he thought he should after his accident (he can opt to just get single scoops but nobody not resist the chocolate-and-hazelnut-rimmed waffle cones, surely).
And Yachi…she didn’t look like she thought he was a total idiot after it, either. She still smiled at him and said hello, in fact her expressions seemed considerably warmer, if but still a little shy. But Hinata could be reading it wrong and he was still convinced he had painted himself the image of a total fool in her eyes forever.
“I don’t know, I still think you’re a dumbass,” Kageyama said shortly and Hinata shoved him, though without much force since they were both holding ice cream cones.
Kageyama had gone with him this time to get ice cream, and ordered a hazelnut vanilla again. It wasn’t so bad, because Hinata got to tease Kageyama about not trying new things and Yachi had laughed a little as she handed over their orders.
She had a really nice laugh, Hinata thought.
They now sat on the curb at the parking lot just around the corner, having gone there with the full intention of retrieving Hinata’s bike and then going on their way, but the volleyball practice today had been so much more grueling than usual, with Prefecturals coming up, that they decided to take a break. The air was a nice mix between warm and cool, with the sun slowly setting for the evening, and Hinata could not stop thinking about Yachi’s laugh.
“If this is about Yachi-san,” Kageyama went on. “Then you should just talk to her.”
“Wait—“ Hinata spluttered, mid-crunch on the ice cream cone. Crumbs flew out at Kageyama and the other boy swatted at him, barking at him to talk when his mouth wasn’t full. Hinata swallowed the crunchy waffle and carried on, “How do you know?”
“I know things!” Kageyama retorted, looking offended. “Besides, you blush easily, so it’s obvious. And you do that springy-step thing when she says anything to you. That’s what you do every time you get excited.”
What the hell was a springy-step thing? Hinata casted his mind back but all he could think about was the fact that he was so obvious. According to Kageyama anyway, with his frowny faces and “niffs”. “Huh, I didn’t think Kageyama-kun would’ve become so perceptive of anything but volleyball after one year.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve had help.” Kageyama snorted, finishing his ice cream scoop and proceeding to nibble on the cone, a small bzzt coming from his pocket. As Hinata responded with a thoughtful “huh”, Kageyama pulled out his phone.
But would Yachi think I’m cool? Hinata leaned back on the curb, letting Kageyama tap away some text message or another. He crunched through the rest of his cone. That would be really uncool, if I really did do that springy-step thing…
Hinata turned towards Kageyama, still on his phone, opening his mouth to ask what exactly was the spring-step thing because that could mean the hopping thing he does when warming up for practice or short jumps he does that go boing-boing-boing when he’s trying to not run or—
FROM: Sugawara-san
“WHEN DID YOU AND SUGA-SAN STARTED TEXTING???” Hinata leaped at Kageyama, grabbing his friend by around his shoulders and practically pushing them both off the curb. Oh my God, was that why Kageyama said that Sugawara had told him about the ice cream place and the whole I’ve had help thing also are those emojis holy cow Kageyama does the rest of the team know this isn’t about volleyball is it—
“Get off me, dumbass!” Hinata was unceremoniously shoved off and he jumped back up to his feet, trying to lean over Kageyama’s shoulder to see the contents of his phone.
Suddenly a realization, a somewhat distant memory, dawned on Hinata and he gasped loudly. “WAS THAT WHY? Was that why you were doing that scarily-calm face on the day Suga-san and Daichi-san and Asahi-san were graduating? The face you do every time you’re psyching up for volleyball matches? I knew it I knew it was weird but I just thought you were holding yourself back from crying I KNEW IT!”
“What the hell is my scarily-calm face, dumbass! And stop yelling!” Kageyama barked at him, grabbing the shorter boy by the collar and pulling him back down to sit down on the curb. “Also this isn’t about me and S-Sugawara-san!”
Hinata was ready to argue about the complete opposite, ply Kageyama with questions about if he was going out with Suga-san or something, but he stopped, opting for a grin. “Well, congratulations.”
Kageyama looked like he was going to protest but he also stopped, harrumphing a little, his ears red. “Thanks.”
“I guess you’re cooler than me,” Hinata sighed, watching the sun dip down behind the houses and a soft gray, tinged with gold, washed over the sky. He got up; brushing down his pants and went to get his bike. “Let’s go home.”
Kageyama was looking at him strangely as Hinata pushed the bike towards him. He blinked when Hinata flashed him a quizzical look.
“Sugawara-san didn’t, well, like me back because I was cool,” Kageyama said, only stuttering minimally, though his ears were still red. He scratched the back of his neck before pursing his lips into a frown, as if trying to phrase his thoughts properly to Hinata. “I don’t think you have to be cool for someone to like you back, especially if that’s not your thing to begin with.”
Hinata stared at him, and Kageyama muttered a “if that makes any sense” in the short pause. Hinata thought of Yachi’s laugh, soft and warm like sunlight washing over him on a good day.
At that, Hinata smiled. “No I—I guess you’re right. Who knew you’d give solid advice like that, huh?” He added, giving Kageyama a nudge.
“Shut up.”
They had walked down the end of the street when a thought hit Hinata.
“Wait, were you saying that I’ve NEVER BEEN COOL AT ALL, KAGEYAMA?!”
“THAT’S NOT THE POINT, DUMBASS.”
---
Just talk to her.
It made total sense to Hinata, in retrospect, but he started to think that it was easier said than done.
First of all, Yachi had other customers to serve. It was very rare that Hinata would find the store crowded and bustling with people, what with it being tucked away in a corner like the town’s best kept secret (although Hinata supposed the shop didn’t seem to be suffering for it), but still, you can’t exactly strike up a conversation when Yachi has other people to serve. Plus Hinata has never been the word-savvy sort of person; his teammates say that he’s good with getting along with other people from the very start, but when it came to trying to find the right thing to say in front of the person who made your heart go BOOM-POW and your stomach do flips like GWAAAHHHH…that was a different story entirely.
Secondly, she wasn’t always there. From the looks of it, Yachi was a high schooler, which would make her a part-timer. Of course, Hinata could be wrong, considering he hadn’t been sure whether to refer to Shimizu as a girl or lady in his head (but then again, she’s so elegant-looking it seemed better to refer to her as a lady), but one day he dropped by the ice cream parlor after practice only to find just Shimizu behind the counter and without Yachi’s bright “welcome!” to greet him.
Hinata had lingered at the doorway for a while, feeling slightly disappointed, trying to get an idea of whether maybe Yachi was in the back or something, before going up to the counter to order (it felt wrong to just leave, he didn’t want to offend Shimizu or the ice cream.)
He must have looked more dejected than he intended to, because as Shimizu handed him over a waffle cone topped with a scoop of cookies-and-cream, she had looked at him with some sympathy.
“She has after school club activities today,” Shimizu said quietly, ringing up the order on the cash register. “Hitoka-chan, I mean.”
And Hinata, because he’s so cool, had blinked dumbly at her and just blurted out, “Yachi-san?”
“The very same.” Shimizu smiled a little bit – was that amusement in her eyes? – and adjusted her glasses. “That’ll be two hundred yen, please.”
So that was that—Hinata couldn’t just keep psyching himself up before each visit. He had felt like a bit of an idiot, realizing for the first time what Kageyama had meant about him being obvious, but at the same time he had also started to feel a little less bad about himself. Just talk to her.
Yeah, he just needed to figure that one out.
---
It turns out that he didn’t need to, after all.
“Ah! Welcome!” Yachi was there today, and she smiled brightly at him when he walked through the door. Hinata found himself smiling back, warmth fluttering like butterflies in his chest. It was kind of nice; to be a regular at a store to the point the person at the counter could greet you with that kind of recognition and familiarity. It just so happened that he had a crush on the person at this store.
“What would you like today?”
Hinata had been steadily going through every flavor there was available everyday since he first returned to the store. His favourite would always be the classic chocolate chip (despite the unfortunate incident), but today he was craving something sharper and more…pop? Like mango. But there was the chocolate chip tub; practically staring at him, and Tanaka and Nishinoya had been having an in-depth discussion about marshmallow desserts earlier today, which got him thinking about…
He had been staring at the display with such intensity that it took him a moment to notice Yachi fidgeting behind the counter. He jumped a little, realizing he was holding her up. He opened his mouth to order – chocolate chip, just to redeem it from the experience – but Yachi cut in before he could say anything.
“Do you want to get additional scoops?”
Hinata blinked and Yachi rushed on. “I just noticed that you’ve been ordering single scoops this whole time! And I couldn’t help think—m-maybe the time I dropped the ice cream on you kind of—kind of made you not want to order additional scoops? I might be overthinking it this entire time though! I just don’t want you to think, you know, that I’d drop it all over again…”
She fiddled with her fingers and when Hinata didn’t respond immediately, her face grew red and she spluttered, waving her hands, “I didn’t mean to suggest anything! I just—just thought I’d let you know—you always seemed to look like—you wanted to have more than one flavor, you know, ahhh what am I talking about I’m so sorry just pretend I didn’t say anything—“
“Ah! No!” Hinata quickly interrupted before she could spiral off. It was silly to think it but she was kind of cute when she did that, but still. “It’s not your fault! I didn’t even know that you noticed that sort of thing.”
Yachi laughed awkwardly. “Oh—uh—it sounds kind of, ah, weird doesn’t it.”
“It really isn’t,” Hinata said earnestly. He grinned sheepishly at her, which seemed to relax her some. Kageyama might have said he was obvious but…but he didn’t think she’d take note of things of him like that. (Unless she did that with everyone but, well.) “Honestly,” He went on, rubbing the back of his head, feeling a little red himself. “I didn’t want to cause any trouble for you that’s why. I felt kind of bad, ‘cause you were so nervous that day.”
“Oh.” Yachi blinked rapidly, then smiled a little. “I’m glad to hear it! Not that you feel bad but—that it wasn’t my fault.” Her eyes lit up. “I’ve been practicing though, and gotten better, thanks to Kiyoko-san! Y-You don’t have to worry! You’re the customer; feel free to order whatever you like! It’s my job, after all!”
Okay, she was a lot cuter when her eyes brightened and her voice picked up a notch of confidence. It was like she shone more, and Hinata wondered if for her it was feeling that GWAAHHHHH feeling when he landed a solid spike on the court.
Wow. I really like her.
“Well if that’s the case,” Hinata grinned. “I’ll take chocolate chip, mango, and the rocky road, on a cone, please?”
Yachi grinned back. “Right away!”
She was right; she’s definitely gotten better. It could be, of course, because there wasn’t Kageyama glowering over the counter at her, but Hinata was sure that even if he were she’d be just fine. As he watched Yachi scoop out the ice cream, with a kind of intense focus, Hinata marveled at how someone so small – she was smaller than him – could form such perfect round balls of ice cream like that. (He’s tried, at his uncle’s ice cream stall over the summer, and they always turned out into weird mushes.) He also noticed that she stuck her tongue out as she worked, and made sure to brush her hair back before leaning over into the fridge.
When she straightened up, tripe-scoop ice cream in hand, Hinata blushed and averted his gaze, trying to not look like he had been staring at her. If she noticed stuff like how he’d choose single-scoops over double- or triple-scoops, she’d surely notice the way he acted around her.
Just talk to her. Instead, he mumbled “rainbow sprinkles” when she asked him if he wanted any toppings, and the words echoed in his mind again, almost pointedly, as Yachi handed the ice cream over to him, holding the cone with two hands. As Hinata’s reached to take the cone, he felt his fingers briefly brush over hers.
A warm shock ran down his arm from the point of contact and seemed to spread through his body. Not quite electric, but kind of tingly. Comfortable. Nice.
As he blinked owlishly at the ice cream, he realized Yachi was doing the same, hands hanging in midair a little, as if she too had felt it.
Did she?
Hinata looked at Yachi then flicked his gaze away, reaching for his wallet as she punched in the numbers on the cash register, almost hastily. Unless it was just Hinata’s imagination, it had to be. He was just the customer.
“That’ll be five hundred yen, please.” Yachi said quietly, cheeks pink.
He paid, peeking up at Yachi through his bangs. She rang the change on the register, and Hinata felt the world ground to a halt as he blurted out the next words—
“Will you go out with me?”
Yachi jumped. “Eh?” She blinked, wide-eyed, and Hinata felt his heart leap up to his throat.
“I-I mean,” Hinata stuttered. “M-may I have a receipt? I’M SO SORRY.” And he bolted.
He dashed out of the door and sprinted to the parking lot, cursing at himself for being so blunt as he jerked his bicycle from the bike racks. It took him a near-trip over the curb to remember that he was holding a tripe-scoop ice cream, and that because of said near-trip he had dropped the ice cream all over onto the road. Smooth, Hinata, smooth.
But at least that meant he could hop on the bike and pedal away, and never ever set foot in the store again because he was absolutely sure he had royally ruined everything in front of the person he liked. Why did he have to crush on someone in such a situation, he wasn’t cool at all and now—
“Oh good!” Hinata froze just as he had swung himself up onto the bicycle seat. Hinata turned to see that Yachi had ran after him and was standing at the corner that led to the parking lot, looking a little out of breath. “You’re still here!”
Oh no she’s going to hate me forever, Hinata thought, ready to hit the pedals when Yachi called out again, “Please wait!”
Stupid Kageyama, stupid Kageyama and his new relationship or whatever with Sugawara that prompted him to encourage Hinata like that, stupid Hinata for even thinking of saying what he had said to Yachi, stupid Hinata for liking her so much, stupid stupid stupid—
Yachi quickly caught up to Hinata, panting a little bit as she stopped a few paces from him. She stopped to catch her breath and even though all instincts told Hinata to flee – flee from his own stupidity – he stayed. He stayed, because Yachi had told him to wait; because she had ran after him and he really liked her and his heart thudded against his ribs like boom-boom-boom, daring him to hope.
“It’s…ah,” Yachi said, straightening up, looking flushed. Hinata noticed that she was clutching something in her hands, and she was handing the something to him. “It’s…you forgot this…”
It was the receipt.
“Oh.” Hinata felt something heavy drop in his stomach and he lifted one clammy hand from his bicycle handles to take it. It was a little crumpled, shaking a little as Yachi held it between her fingers.
She didn’t let go.
Boom-boom-boom. Hinata looked up at her, and she was looking down at the receipt, and their fingers holding at each end of it. She pressed her lips together, her free hand bunching up the material of her shirt in front of her.
“Um,” He heard her say. “You know I…never did really know your name. Properly, I mean.”
“It’s…it’s Hinata.” Hinata said softly. “Hinata Shouyou.”
Yachi nodded, as if this was information she fully intended to store away with a serious purpose. “H-Hinata-kun, nice to meet you. I’m…Yachi Hitoka.”
I know. Hinata wanted to say, but his mouth felt dry and the name sounded so new, coming from her, being said by her voice. And his name, when she said it, made him want to hear it again. “Just Hinata is fine.”
She blinked, and then smiled a little. Shyly. Warmly. “Just Hinata then.”
Hinata blushed, then looked back down at the receipt. “So I’ll—take this…Yachi-san?”
Yachi blinked, then squeaked, releasing the receipt and jumping back a step or two. Hinata couldn’t help it, he found himself laughing – partly from embarrassment, partly because it was cute. Yachi was cute, and he liked her a lot.
She laughed too, a hand coming up to cover her mouth to muffle the giggles, her cheeks all flushed, and Hinata could feel the warm tingly feeling again.
There was a pause as the laughter died down and Hinata crumpled the receipt into his pocket. Yachi didn’t seem to be finished, although she said nothing else, and Hinata didn’t want to leave, although he was still poised on his bike to pedal off.
“You know—“
“Actually—“
They stopped, stared at each other and laughed again. Hinata rubbed his nose and smiled at her. “You first.”
“Well,” Yachi rubbed the back of her neck. “I-I was just saying, that I’m getting off work early. T-Tomorrow, I mean! If you want we can hang out. And talk. I-If you want!”
His heart wanted to fly. “I do—“ Hinata said quickly. “I mean, yes I w-would love to. If that’s okay with you. I want to.” He repeated, echoing her.
Her smile, in response, all sunshine and honeydew, was enough to have him soaring.
“Okay.”
Hinata adjusted the strap of his bag. “Then I'll come find you here. Tomorrow. I’ll come straight after volleyball practice!” Not that he had been doing anything else in the past several days, but still.
Yachi giggled and nodded, her little ponytail bobbing to the movement. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
Hinata cycled home after that, letting out whoops of joy and elation into the sky.