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In their third year, Kageyama starts taping his fingers.
It happens suddenly one day, in the changing room before practice; he just pulls a roll of white athletic tape from his bag and sets to work. Hinata, who’s just finished tying his sneakers, glances up and is immediately fascinated.
He’s always thought Kageyama’s fingers are pretty – they’re graceful and thin, and they look perfect when they make contact with the volleyball, sending it high in the air. He finds himself watching Kageyama’s hands more often than he should, especially on the court, when they’re both thrumming with determination.
It’s probably weird to consider his teammate’s fingers attractive, but Kageyama’s really are. They look even better with the white tape around them, contrasting against his tan skin.
He isn’t aware that he’s watching Kageyama with his mouth open until Kageyama scowls. “What’s that face for, dumbass?”
Hinata forgets how to use words for a moment, probably. “You… fingers… tape?” he stammers, unable to string words together into a coherent sentence.
After a moment, his words seem to sink in as Kageyama flushes and his scowl deepens. “I need to protect my fingers if we’re gonna go pro together. Even Oikawa’s doing it now.”
Hinata takes a moment to collect himself (and also to remember that his mouth is supposed to be closed like a normal human). “Uh… right.”
Tsukishima pokes his head through the door. “When you two are done with whatever it is that idiots do, practice is starting, and you’re late, vice-captains.”
Hinata squeaks. “Oh yeah, sorry, we’ll be out in a minute!”
Next to him, Kageyama pushes himself off the bench and stretches, before glancing down at his hand and wiggling his fingers.
It looks kind of uncomfortable to have some of his fingers taped together, but Kageyama pulls it off easily during practice.
When he sets to Hinata, it feels powerful and precise – even more so than usual – and Hinata’s happy, even if he gets distracted by tape and tan fingers more than once.
-
After practice, Hinata feels a pleasant tiredness in his bones, leaving him with a feeling of deep satisfaction.
He likes this feeling, but he likes brimming with energy more, so he smacks his cheeks a few times and bounces up and down to counter the laziness settling in.
Yamaguchi is already asking the first years to clean up – politely, because that’s the kind of captain he is – so Hinata takes off to the changing rooms after Tsukishima and Kageyama.
When he’s done changing, he jumps up and down a few more times before whirling around with a loud, “Kageyama, let’s go get meat buns on the way home!”
Kageyama looks up from where he’s unwinding the tape. “Wait until I’m done, dumbass,” he frowns.
Impatiently, Hinata reaches out and grabs one of Kageyama’s hands. “Here, let me,” he says.
He half-expects Kageyama to protest, because when it comes to volleyball, he’s always about precision and control and having everything perfect. But, instead, Kageyama sits there complacently, so Hinata sets to work.
Unwrapping the tape is actually sort of nice. He and Kageyama are both quiet for once, and the sound of the tape unpeeling is kind of calming. The background chatter of the other players changing fades away a bit as Hinata focuses on pulling the tape back to reveal suntanned skin.
He notices that Kageyama’s hands are calloused, just like his (of course), but his fingers are longer and his hands are just bigger in general. In comparison, his own hand looks a bit smaller and paler – nowhere near how graceful Kageyama’s hands look.
Kageyama’s hands are a bit warmer than his, too, and it’s just nice to do this for his setter. It feels close, and that makes Hinata’s heart do a funny little dance in his ribcage.
When he’s done, he holds onto Kageyama’s hands a bit longer than necessary. The two of them stay silent, a different sort of feeling than the energized go, go, go of competitions and racing to the gym.
Hinata likes this kind of feeling, too.
It's kind of like tiredness after practice, but there's no itch to shake it off. Actually, it feels a bit like he'd enjoy staying this way forever.
But he's still pretty hungry, so after a few seconds, Hinata lets Kageyama’s hands drop with a bright smile. “C’mon, let’s go get meat buns!” he sings, grabbing his bag.
“You’re always so impatient,” scowls Kageyama, but he still races Hinata the whole way there.
-
The next day, Kageyama brings the tape again.
Hinata watches carefully, sitting on the bench next to him with wide eyes.
As always, Kageyama wraps his left hand with sharp precision. Even when he covers the tips of his fingers, he keeps the tape tight around so that no pieces stick out.
However, when he starts wrapping his right hand with his left, he goes slower. The lines aren’t neatly parallel anymore, and it takes longer, too.
“I can try,” blurts Hinata, before he can think about what he’s saying.
His hands aren’t nearly as steady as Kageyama’s, and even if Kageyama’s going to use his left hand to wrap this one, it would probably be neater than Hinata using both hands.
Kageyama’s brow pinches, and he looks like he’s about to say the same thing. There’s a beat of silence where Hinata honestly expects him to refuse, but then Kageyama averts his eyes. “Try it if you want, dumbass.”
Hinata beams. He tries his best to keep his hands steady, and he wraps the tape firmly around Kageyama’s fingers, pressing down on the occasional air bubble.
They’re silent again, besides soft exchanges of “Is this too tight?” and “No, it’s fine.”
When Hinata’s done, it looks messy compared to Kageyama’s left hand, but it isn’t half-bad.
“Thanks,” mumbles Kageyama, already putting the tape back into his bag.
“No problem!” Hinata says right back. “Come on, we’re going to be late to practice again.”
-
At practice, Hinata feels a surge of pride every time he watches Kageyama make his perfect sets with clumsily-taped fingers.
-
It becomes routine, and it’s actually really nice. Hinata wraps and unwraps Kageyama’s fingers every practice, and sometimes it makes Hinata feel like they’ve gotten closer somehow.
He gets better at it, too, so he’s faster and neater. The tape starts looking more like Kageyama’s done it himself, and that Hinata hadn’t been bent over them with narrowed eyes and the tip of his tongue sticking out.
Kageyama flexes his fingers with a satisfied nod every time. “Thanks,” he says, and Hinata smiles.
-
After a while – months, maybe – Hinata gets the feeling that there’s something more to it. In the quiet lull, with Kageyama’s fingers between his own and the soft edge of Kageyama’s almost-smile, it seems like Kageyama does, too.
The other teammates appear to recognize some shifts, too, if the number of snide remarks Tsukishima’s made and the murmurings of the second and first years are anything to go by.
Hinata doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, but he’s content, and when he thinks about it at home, he can’t stop smiling.
-
One day, he’s unwrapping Kageyama’s fingers after practice as usual. “All done,” he beams when he’s finished, releasing Kageyama’s hands with a bright smile.
Before he can turn away, Kageyama grabs his hands with one of his, using the other to push himself off the bench.
Hinata’s so surprised by the sudden movement that he can barely register the feeling of Kageyama’s chapped lips against his own. Kageyama’s kissing me, he realizes, his eyes wide open. Kageyama’s eyes are open, too, and all he can see is blue.
Oh, he thinks, finally. That’s what that feeling was. I like Kageyama, and he likes me back.
He feels warm all of a sudden, happy and excited, and he thinks he should probably close his eyes (or maybe even kiss back) but then Kageyama’s pulling away with bright red cheeks.
“Thank you. For helping with the tape,” he says, looking as awkward as ever.
“Of course!” replies Hinata, and suddenly he's so happy that he launches himself at Kageyama, wrapping his arms around the setter's neck.
Somehow, Kageyama’s face becomes impossibly redder. To their left, Hinata can hear an exasperated “Well, finally,” from Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s subsequent giggles.
It’s all background noise. All Hinata can think about is how he’d wrap Kageyama’s fingers forever if Kageyama would always thank him like this.