Work Text:
Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck.
Tadashi was fucked, completely and utterly fucked.
He knew he was a hopeless romantic but come on!
Tadashi’s crushes had always been a bit of a sore spot for him, because they were always unrequited and even worse, they were pretty much exclusively blondes.
First, Tsukishima Akiteru, who Tadashi had been scared of when he’d seen him for the first time. That didn’t stop him from being so fascinated by him and just hearing Kei talk about how cool he was and how he was the ace of his volleyball team that didn’t help the burning, fuzzy feeling in Tadashi’s whole, little body. He was pretty sure that had been his bi awakening, even if he hadn’t fully comprehended it at the time.
Obviously, that was never going to happen with their ages, so as Tadashi grew up, that crush faded into the background before disappearing completely.
Second, that he could really place, was Tsukishima Kei, but he didn’t want to get too much into that. He wasn’t sure if it was really even a crush, or mostly just because Kei was someone, he was so comfortable around. As Kei’s best friend, Tadashi felt an obligation to keep things as they were and push that crush as deep down as he possibly could and never think about it, never face it.
That crush(?) didn’t go anywhere, either for obvious reasons.
There were some short ones here and there. Hallway crushes, a cute girl he’d walk past here and there, some guys on other teams he knew of, so on, so forth. Tadashi was way too much of an awkward wreck to actually confess even anonymously, let alone ask someone out. They had been unrequited crushes, that’s all.
Yet, here he was, confessing to someone for the first time.
“A-ah, U-uhm,” was all Hitoka could say, her hands shaking as she clasped them together to look more put together. Her eyes were darting all over the place, looking like she was about to scream and run off. “Uhhhh…”
Tadashi’s third down bad crush, Yachi Hitoka. As soon as Hitoka had introduced herself, Tadashi felt kinship to her. She was also shy and anxious, never seeming 100% sure of what she was doing.
Despite all of it, she was still so considerate of others, cheering on for the team, leaning fast and helping to the best of her abilities even if she was nervous.
Tadashi had felt that familiar bloom in his chest, unable to stop himself from staring at the short girl and blushing at every single little compliment and interaction with her.
Her personality aside, Hitoka was disagreeably adorable. She always had these blue star shaped hairclips in her hair, and it fit her so well. Her eyes were big and such a pretty shade of brown. They made her so expressive and always seemed to shine. Her face was quite round and soft and her smile reminded Tadashi of a bunny. Being around her made Tadashi want to protect her from everything and anything while also getting an immense amount of cuteness aggression that made him want to squeeze her until she popped.
At practice, Hitoka was often clinging to Kiyoko, especially at the start, and while most people were focused on Kiyoko, Tadashi always focused on the blonde next to her. Hitoka was sweet, polite and kind even if her anxiety sometimes made her a tad overdramatic.
“No pressure!” Tadashi managed to get out himself, bringing his hands up and shaking his head. “I just wanted to tell you, because I thought you were really cute when you first came here and the more I get to know you, the more I like you and-“
“No, no, it’s fine!” Hitoka looked up at Tadashi, fidgeting with the edge of her skirt. Every single brain cell in her head was working overtime trying to come up with a response. “I think you’re really cool, Yamaguchi…”
“Hm?” When Hitoka trailed off, Tadashi waited, leaning closer without even realising it. His heart was pounding, hopeful that maybe, just maybe, for the first time, he might be lucky.
“Uhm…” Hitoka’s face was turning as red as Tadashi’s had been for the past five minutes. She bounced in place once as if to get some of the nervous energy out and started multiple sentences at once. “I’m flattered- don’t think I don’t- you’re nice-“
She stopped seemingly frustrated with the sudden inability to from a proper sentence before, quite loudly, announcing “Lesbian!!”
Tadashi blinked a few times, his brows furrowing as if he was trying to solve a complicated problem. Hitoka’s panic was very much rubbing off on Tadashi and while that made his brain speedrun every scenario it also made his logical thinking skills move like they were in tar.
When it finally clicked, Tadashi eyes widened, his mouth opening to blurt out a quick “I’m bisexual!”, though not elaborating any further than that.
They were like deers in headlights, completely frozen until Hitoka clasped her hands over her mouth and sunk onto the ground. She didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, she definitely hadn’t.
Tadashi stared at Hitoka as he crouched down next to her, watching and trying to discern whether she had heard or comprehended what he had said. Eventually, Hitoka looked up Tadashi, her face showing all five stages of grief simultaneously. Tadashi went in to place his hands on her shoulders, but pulled them away, not sure if he should or not, leaving them hanging in the air awkwardly.
“I’m sorry…” Hitoka said, unable to look Tadashi in the eyes, though Tadashi wasn’t doing much better. She pressed her knees together further as if to ball up to be even smaller than she already was.
“It’s fine.” Tadashi reassured, giving a smile. Was he hurt that another one of his crushes ended up unrequited? A bit, but he wasn’t going to hold a grudge over it, especially when it came to Hitoka.
Tadashi stayed on the ground with Hitoka for as long as she stayed there, breathing deeply to calm her, closing her eyes. When she finally opened them again, he smiled and got up, offering a hand for her to do the same.
“Ahh…” Hitoka started, giggling quietly as she took Tadashi’s hand and let him pull her up. “I’m sorry, I really am. That’s probably not how you imagined this going.”
“Like I said, it’s fine.” Tadashi said, nodding a few times. “I’m honestly just glad I was able to tell you.”
He released her hand and rubbed the back of his neck. Hitoka’s nervous laughter caught him as well as he started speaking again, feeling sort of breathless. “I’m glad to even stay friends as well.”
Tadashi felt a new kind of fear curl in the pit of his stomach, the thought of Hitoka not wanting to be around him was horrible, but he understood if she wanted to. Thankfully she smiled and nodded eagerly, her eyes squeezing shut.
Yachi looked back up at Tadashi again, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m honestly really flattered, so thank you for telling me you… have a crush on me.” She said as if unsure she was using the rights words or like she was unsure of the sentiment.
Tadashi nodded as well, placing his hands on his sides and swiping the sweat off on his trousers. “Yeah… You’re, uhm, you’re welcome?”
They stayed quiet for a little bit more before bursting out laughing. The relief and absurdity of the situation at last occurring to both teens. When their giggles died down, Hitoka stepped closer and gave Tadashi a hug, which made him blush as red as a tomato.
“Thank you, Yamaguchi,” Hitoka said, pressing her face into Tadashi’s chest as that was where her face reached best. “For not freaking out.”
“I’d say I freaked out quite a lot!” Tadashi responded, but wrapping his arms around Hitoka, feeling her shoulders shake as she started laughing again. “You should’ve seen me practically vibrate while I was waiting for you!”
“Fair.” Hitoka said as she pulled away, smoothing her skirt that was still wrinkled from her fidgeting with it. “But I meant more of the… lesbian part.”
“Oh.” Tadashi answered in surprise, but he understood what she meant. Being anything other than straight was a taboo, never really discussed. It was something Tadashi knew all to well and when he really thought about it, this might’ve been the first time he’d ever admitted it out loud - not even Kei knew about it. “It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it’s nice to know I’m not the only one.”
The confession had not gone as planned, nor did it end up with Tadashi finally being freed from being a hopeless romantic, but he wasn’t upset, it ended up quite nicely, actually.