Work Text:
Counting Kisses
“Whoo hoo!!” Hinata’s loud shout turned the heads of a few festival participants, but the small spiker didn’t notice as he beamed at the panting setter next to him. The sun warmed the spring air around them, not a single cloud marring the perfect day. Hinata’s chest rose from the effort he had used to sprint to the festival’s entrance, though Kageyama’s gasping showed he had ran just as hard. Ignoring Kageyama’s weak glare, Hinata shoved his thumb in the air and jumped to show his enthusiasm. “That ties it up, you know. You’re losing your edge, Kageyama.”
“I let you win,” Kageyama bit out, making the shorter boy huff in annoyance.
“Liar!”
“Prove it.”
“You’re way too competitive to throw any match; you even gave yourself a stomachache from eating too many meat buns last week when I said I could eat more than you.” The grumbling from the dark-haired teen made Hinata snicker. “You were all like ‘blahh’ and I was like ‘blam!’ and then you practically keeled over in the street!”
“Now who's the liar?” With a roll of his eyes, Kageyama pushed up to his full height, a bite of jealousy sparking in Hinata when observing how much taller his partner in crime was. While Hinata had made his lack of height work to his advantage on the court, it wasn’t without it’s faults. Hinata could jump better than most, but he couldn’t say he’d mind growing a few more inches.
Then again, my height’s the reason our quick toss works so well, Hinata reasoned, his grin reaching the edges of his cheeks at the thought.
One of his favorite parts of volleyball was being able to spike a perfectly tossed ball, and nobody did it better than Kageyama Tobio. It had taken them a little while to adjust to each other’s differing personalities, but it was more than worth it when the result of their powerful combinations blew the competition away. The unyielding trust Hinata placed in Kageyama paired perfectly with the setter’s ability to adjust to Hinata’s radical movements. Daichi and the other upperclassmen had never seen a pair like the “freak duo”, which made Hinata a little more happy than he knew was normal. He liked being a part of something that only he could do. Each time Kageyama tossed to Ashai or Tanaka, Hinata felt his palms itch with the desire to be the one hitting the toss. And when he finally gained the setter’s attention, he did he best to make sure he never regretted it.
“Let’s just get this over with.” The irritated grumble snapped Hinata out of his own thoughts, his brown gaze darting toward Kageyama’s back.
“Why are you so grumpy?” Hinata asked, hurrying to match Kageyama’s pace. The two weaved through the crowded area, Hinata keeping close to his setter. Their shift started at noon, which had pleased Hinata more than his gloomy counterpart. It let him sleep in without missing the festival entirely. Sure, they were going to be one of the busier times of the day, but was that really such a problem? What teenage boy didn’t want to get kissed by a bunch of cute girls? From the crinkle on Kageyama’s nose as they caught sight of Yachi and Kiyoko waving at them, Hinata could think of one.
“Hinata! Kageyama!” Yachi’s cheerful laugh had Hinata smiling again, rushing toward the girls with both hands gesturing in front of him.
“How’s it been going?!”
“Just as amazing as you should expect from your amazing senpai!” Tanka’s loud laugh caught Hinata’s wide gaze. He stared up at his bald senior in awe, the older teen letting out a smug chuckle as he posed his fists on either side of his hips. “I must have stolen hundreds of kisses from the female population.”
“Eighteen, actually,” Kiyoko corrected, counting the money that the two girls had collected so far.
“And that one guy.” At Ennoshita’s addition to the conversation, Tanaka flinched, a flush of red sparking in his cheeks.
“It wasn’t like I could really say no!” He shot back at his friend, who only laughed and nodded.
“Of course, a senpai as amazing as you could never discriminate in front of his underclassmen.”
“That’s so cool!” Hinata said, jumping in his spot as both upperclassmen blinked in surprise. “Tanaka-senpai’s manly enough to even make other men swoon for him!”
“E-Exactly. I can’t help if my manly aura is too strong for even the same sex to ignore.”
“I’m sure I’ll be listening to that all night.” Ennoshita yawned as he stretched his arms over his head. “But now that you two are here, we’re relieved of our duty.”
“Leave the booth in our care.” Kageyama bowed at the smiling upperclassman, who waved the polite gesture away with a laugh.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. We’ll see you two at the fireworks later, okay?”
“Good luck, my little minions.” Hinata laughed when Tanaka ruffled his hair, though Kageyama only scowled at the similar treatment. The second years said their goodbyes to Yachi and Kiyoko as Hinata ran toward the booth, fascinated with the simple design. The booth was a little ways away from Kiyoko and Yachi’s table, though a loud call to the girls would be easy enough to catch their attention. A pair of ropes outlined the line between the booth and the table, directing the flow of traffic Kageyama was hoping wouldn’t be needed.
“So we just sit there?” Kageyama asked, arching an eyebrow when Hinata nearly fell out of his chair in excitement.
“Kiyoko and I will be taking care of the payment, so you won’t have to worry about that,” Yachi explained, holding up two rolls of tickets. “If they have a black ticket, they’ve paid for a forehead or cheek kiss. If they have an orange ticket, they they’ve paid for an actual kiss. If they have both colors, they’ve paid for a kiss from both of you.”
“We’re also selling different types of lip balms, lipsticks, and flavors of gum,” Kiyoko added, pointing to the girl’s table of assorted items. Just looking at the array made Kageyama blush, glancing back to the sky with a sigh.
“Simple enough.”
“Try not to look so down; it’s only a few hours.” Despite Yachi’s attempt to be cheerful, Kageyama only scowled more as he walked down the aisle to stop in front of the kissing booth. He watched Hinata, who had yet to settle in his seat, before he groaned.
“I should have said I was sick.”
“Aw, come on! Don’t be such a wimp.” Hinata reached around to yank Kageyama toward his seat, the younger (something that literally killed him to admit) teen dropping to his seat to cross his arms. Hinata rolled his eyes, kicking his feet up onto the ledge of the booth and leaning back in his seat. “It’s not like you’re going to have to worry about kissing anyone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kageyama asked, Hinata flicking his eyes up toward the scowling boy to laugh.
“With your grumpy disposition and scary smile, no girl is going to want to kiss you!”
“Oh, because I’m sure they’re going to rush to kiss a bumbling idiot like you.”
“W-what?!”
“Besides,” Kageyama continued, a smug look crinkling at the edges of his lips. “I’ve gotten a few love confessions, unlike someone I know.”
“The girls who like me are just shy,” Hinata replied instantly, though the start of a blush on his cheeks made Kageyama snort.
“Shy as in invisible?”
“Let’s have a competition then!” Hinata nodded confidently when Kageyama blinked, snagging one of the orange tickets Tanka had left behind. “For every kiss we get, we get a point. The first one to fifty wins.”
“...Fine, but each kiss should have different point value.”
“Eh?”
“You didn’t listen to Yachi, did you?”
“I couldn’t hear her from over here!” Kageyama’s hand instantly grasped the top of Hinata’s head, the shorter teen whining as he tried to shake the grip off.
“Idiot Hinata,” Kageyama scolded, only letting go to cross his arms and nod toward the orange ticket. “A black ticket is a forehead or cheek kiss. A forehead kiss is one point, a cheek kiss is two. An orange ticket is a real kiss, so that should be three points.”
“Ah.” Hinata stared down at the orange ticket in his hand, weaving it through his small fingers slowly. For a moment, the happy aura of the spiker dimmed, and Kageyama felt his eyebrows furrow in concern. It was rare to see Hinata without a smile unless he was on the court, and the look of concentration welling up in his gaze was different. Silence was common for Kageyama, especially when Hinata wasn’t around. And yet for a brief moment, it almost felt stifling. The lingering feeling bothered the setter enough to reach out, dropping a hand on Hinata’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” He meant for the statement to come off gruff, but his tone swayed closer to concern than he liked to admit. Hinata blinked before his eyes looked back to Kageyama, and for a second it seemed like he was going to say something. But his mouth hesitated, and then Hinata quickly shook his head before his smile splashed back onto his rosy cheeks.
“Just thinking that I’m going to get so many tickets, you’ll be buried by the end!” Kageyama rolled his eyes at Hinata’s exaggerated proclamation, but he couldn’t seem to scowl.
“The loser has to buy the other a week’s worth of meat buns.” Kageyama could see the drool practically falling out of Hinata’s mouth at the bet. Leave it to the simple teen to get so sidetracked by the mention of food. Still, seeing Hinata’s normal personality spark back into his eyes eased something in Kageyama. The setter didn’t think much about the weird feeling, focusing on the first girl approaching the booth.
Hinata was practically beaming when he snagged the first point, the blushing brunette pecking his cheek before she scurried away. Hinata didn’t seem affected by the kiss, more eager to rub it into his partner’s face. Karma came back around quickly when Kageyama got three cheek kisses in a row, stunning Hinata into silence. It was too easy to tease the grumpy spiker, and Kageyama barely felt the embarrassment he should have after the kisses. It was always a little weird when the girls first approached, but soon after their lips left his forehead or cheek, Kageyama was glancing toward his pouting partner with a smirk. Hinata was no better, barely hearing the girl’s quiet mumbling of ‘thank you’ before he was turning to Kageyama and shouting his point value. Occasionally Hinata would pinch Kageyama’s cheek after a smear of lipstick marred his skin, laughing while he wiped the pink or red hue away. Kageyama ‘fought’ the motion, and returned the action whenever a red set of lips pressed against Hinata’s forehead. Sometimes, the two were too engrossed in teasing the other to even realize they had another client until she cleared her throat or called their name.
It wasn’t until there was a lull in ‘business’ ninety minutes later that the two tallied their tickets.
“Man, we’re tied at 47!” Hinata groaned as he tossed his last ticket into a messy pile, laying his head on it. Kageyama rolled his eyes at the middle blocker’s dramatics, leaning back in his chair to try and relax his tense shoulders. He didn’t like contact with other people to begin with, nevermind being kissed by them. The only thing that helped the current predicament was that Hinata was distracting him with their competition. But that was close to ending, and they still had a half hour to kill.
“Yeah,” Kageyama answered, knowing that the group of tickets they shared was completely black.
It wasn’t like that was a surprise; most of the girls who came by their booth were dared by their friends or really shy first years. A kiss on the cheek was risky enough for them to run away with cheeks blazing and hearts racing. Kageyama had assumed he’d feel the same way during this awkward event, and though he had blushed quite a few times, there was no sense of rush. His heart didn’t quicken, and his mind constantly drifted away to thoughts of volleyball and milk cartons. Sometimes he tried to plan out the rest of his day, guessing the places he was sure Hinata was going to drag him. He didn’t question if they were going to spend the day together; it was practically expected. Rubbing the cheek that had last been kissed by a slim blonde girl, Kageyama closed his eyes to enjoy the silence. It didn’t last long, the setter hearing Hinata start to squirm in his seat.
“You know, one of us would just need an orange ticket to win.”
“Hm.” A heartbeat of silence fell between them before Kageyama spoke again. “I’d rather just take two cheek kisses.”
“Eh?” He could hear the way Hinata shot up in surprise, some of his tickets fluttering by Kageyama’s arm while descending to the grass beneath them. “Why would you say that?”
“What’s the problem?” Forcing himself to look at Hinata, he watched the teen’s eyes widen for a moment. He was tempted to ask what Hinata’s issue was, but the spiker suddenly grinned and leaned forwards. Kageyama’s shoulders tensed when Hinata’s nose brushed his, the mischievous look making him much more aware of the warm breath spreading over his lips.
“Are you nervous?”
“Of you?” As if not recognizing the lack of space between them, Hinata blinked once before he shook his head once.
“I meant about losing your first kiss like this!” Now it was Kageyama’s turn to be confused, lips pursing together as he shoved hard on Hinata’s shoulder. His partner squawked and nearly tipped over in his chair, but managed to keep his bearings while he sent the setter a frustrated glare. “What was that for?!”
“For being an idiot.”
“What did I do this time?”
“It wouldn’t be my first kiss.” The blunt reply paused the conversation, Kageyama taking the look of shock on Hinata’s face as his cue to explain. His hands ran through his hair as he glanced away. Where was a group of over-bubbly girls when you needed them? “A girl in my middle school kissed me at a dance. It was messy and weird, and I think I made her cry afterwards when I said it felt like I was kissing an octopus.”
“An octopus?”
“That’s why I didn’t want to do this stupid booth!” Kageyama snapped back, feeling himself blush when Hinata instantly broke into loud gasps of laughter. His frustration led to him kicking Hinata’s chair, ignoring the look of concern from Yachi at the loud crash. Hinata didn’t seem to care, now grasping his stomach while he tried to speak through his laughter.
“Oh man...you….you suck, Kissy-yama!”
“Like your first kiss was any better!” At that Hinata finally did quell his laughter, rubbing his palms over his eyes to brush away his tears. He heaved the chair back into place before sending a bright grin over to Kageyama, his elbow rubbing into his teammate’s side.
“My first kiss was awesome.” Kageyama made sure to arch his eyebrow and crossed his arms, proving that the spiker wasn’t going to get away with that lame explanation. “She was at the same summer camp as me. She was a little taller than me-”
“Who isn’t?”
“-with some of the prettiest blue eyes I’d ever seen. Sharp, but cool. Hard to look away from.” Hinata let his eyes linger on Kageyama’s for a little longer than the setter felt comfortable with, disliking the way his heart fluttered. “We were best friends. And then, the last week of camp, she kissed me. We dated for like, three days, but then we broke up because she lived so far away and we were only twelve, ya know?”
“...I bet she dumped you because you were a terrible kisser.” Kageyama’s snarky response had Hinata jumping onto his seat, perched like a gargoyle while grasping the taller man’s shoulders.
“No way! She said I was like ‘bwah’ and it was super cool. There’s no way I suck as bad as Mr.Octopus.” Kageyama’s eye twitched at the reminder of his botched first kiss, reaching out to mess up Hinata’s already messy hair.
“I’m telling you, that wasn’t my fault. She was the one who shoved her tongue in my throat.”
“That’s called french-kissing, idiot-yama.”
“It’s called suffocation.”
“You suck.”
“Do not!”
“Prove it.” The challenge hung in the air between the two, their eyes refusing to move away from the other’s serious gaze. Kageyama’s hands were still shoved in Hinata’s fluffy hair, while one of the smaller boy’s hand were wrapped around the back of his setter’s neck. The other was bunched in Kageyama’s shirt, but it didn’t feel like he was pushing his teammate away.
Normally, Kageyama had no problem holding the gaze of his friend. They were known for staring contests that could last hours. But in this moment, the emotion rolling through the light brown eyes in front of him caused his own to waver. Kageyama tried to cover his loss with a scoff, eyes lowering to the flurry of tickets spread around them.
“Fine. The next one who buys a...I’ll…” The end of the sentence was left unsaid, though he knew that they both understood the stipulation. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if Hinata would tease him from how his voice wavered or because he couldn’t finish his own sentence. Instead, Kageyama winced when the small spiker’s hand tightened, yanking at the hairs at the base of his neck. His head jerked up at the pull, sending a deadly glare to Hinata. He paused before his verbal threat when seeing Hinata’s focus was no longer on him. The hand in Kageyama’s shirt was now shoved in Hinata’s pocket, yanking out a few crumpled bills and smacking them onto the booth’s counter.
“Alright.” Hinata spoke the word with confidence, like Kageyama was supposed to understand. The fiery gaze was raised back to him, and Kageyama was quick to drop his hands to Hinata’s shoulders when he was pulled forward.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I bought your kiss.” The air located in the setter’s lungs quickly evaporated, eyes wider than he ever thought possible as he stared down at Hinata’s red face. “A girl will be biased! I want to make my own opinion, and the only way I’m going to do that is if you kiss me.”
“You’re a moron.” But the insult was a little more breathless than he wanted to admit. Hinata bit his lower lip for a second, dragging the gaze of Kageyama to the injured piece of flesh. He shouldn’t even be entertaining the idea, yet he felt something shift in his stomach while he watched Hinata’s lips for their next argument.
“If you wanted to tell if a meat bun was cooked well, would you ask some random girl to taste it? No way, you’d taste it yourself!”
“I’m not a meat bun, idiot, I’m a guy!” The last thing Kageyama wanted to be compared to was a piece of meat that was sold at a convenience store for a dollar. Then again, his kiss had only cost a few bucks. Maybe he was selling himself a little cheap? Shaking his head to focus on the task at hand (or in his hands, as his grip had now located on Hinata’s hips), Kageyama watched a sliver of insecurity ripple in Hinata’s gaze.
“Are you freaking out cause I’m a guy?” Kageyama was sure his look of confusion was evident on his face when Hinata used his free hand to gesture between them. “Or cause we’re both guys, I mean.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Girl or guy, you’re still Hinata. Your gender’s got nothing to do with how stupid you are.” The blunt statement lit up Hinata’s face instantly, which was unexpected. Why was he getting so happy over an insult? Then again, why did Kageyama feel a burst of embarrassment from saying it?
“So then you’ll kiss me?” The easy way Hinata asked made Kageyama tense, his hand instantly reaching up to punch the back of his spiker’s head.
“Do-don’t just ask like that!”
“But I paid, so you’ve gotta,” Hinata whined, returning his hand to the setter’s shirt and gently tugging the fabric. “Even senpai did it, so…”
If he wanted, he could have continued arguing. Honestly, it wasn’t hard to distract Hinata with volleyball or food. The conversation may come up again in the future, but not in this specific predicament. And it’s not like the physical hold the spiker had on him was tight; he could have resisted easily. Honestly, he should have resisted at least a little bit more. Yet despite what his mind and pride and probably all logically sense told him, Kageyama felt himself slowly leaning forward. His hand that had just been fisted slowly uncurled, dragging across the ear of Hinata to rest on his cheek.
“You’ve gotta…” A huff of annoyance covered his excitement as Kageyama yanked Hinata’s face closer, tilting the round cheek up. “Just for a second.”
“But enough that I can...you know, judge it!”
“Ri-Right.”
Their eyes met again, but it was Hinata who easily forfeited the challenge by closing his eyes. The trust was there instantly, just like every other time the middle blocker had let Kageyama lead him. No matter where on the court Hinata ran to score a point, he closed his eyes and never doubted the setter. Except instead of a spike, this was a whole other type of monster. This wasn’t practiced or crafted by hard work and dedication. This was new. This was terrifying. It was a natural desire that was rumbling in Kageyama’s stomach that he, for some reason, didn’t want to ignore. And watching how easily Hinata leaned his flushed cheek into Kageyama’s calloused touch made him question if his teammate was feeling the same.
The first brush against Hinata’s mouth was dry, and Kageyama pulled back to lick his lips and try again. It couldn’t count as an actual kiss if they barely touched, right? So with the same dedication he gave to a serve, he pushed forwards and sealed his mouth against Hinata’s. The shorter boy shivered against his touch, and the setter found his eyes closing instinctively. There was little motion between their lips until Hinata squirmed to rise onto his knees and suddenly he was kissing back. Kageyama had to tighten his hold on Hinata’s waist to steady him, distracting him enough for his partner to deepen the kiss. Kageyama was sure the judgement could have been made by now, yet he found himself wanting to prolong the kiss. It felt...really good to be touching Hinata like this.
It wasn’t weird, like he assumed it would be. The two reacted to each other with the same synchronization that came from playing on the same court for so long. If Hinata tilted his chin a little, Kageyama was quick to accommodate the movement and both shivered at how the new angle deepened their kiss. Before the setter even knew he wanted Hinata’s hands on him, the spiker was running his fingertips along the back of his sensitive shoulderblades. A weird mix between a gasp and moan filled his mouth when he pressed back against Hinata’s assault, remembering he was the one who was supposed to be proving he was a good kisser. He swiped his thumb against Hinata’s jaw, enjoying the tremor he received in response. A flick of his tongue against Hinata’s lower lip was answered with instant access, but suddenly Kageyama felt the rush of embarrassment filling his cheeks. Ignoring the soft whine (from Hinata or him, he wasn’t brave enough to guess), Kageyama broke the kiss apart with a ‘pop’.
“Ah…” Hinata’s head dropped to press to Kageyama’s chest, but the setter could see the flush on his friend’s face. The way Hinata tried to hide himself was cute, and the thought instantly made Kageyama want to curl into a ditch and hide. He prayed a cold breeze would come cool his face before Hinata could see the effect the kiss had on him.
“How was it?” He asked quietly, unsure of what else to say to break the moment. He wondered if Hinata would even be able to answer, so he was more than surprised when the orange hair popped back up. A bright smile filled Hinata’s face, and Kageyama was sure all of the spiker’s embarrassment had somehow transferred into him.
“Amazing! Just like a perfect toss! You were like ‘whoosh’ and I was like ‘kwah’ and suddenly your tongue just-”
“Shu-shut up!” Hands clambered over Hinata’s mouth at the rush of compliments Kageyama wasn’t prepared for. The brightness of the eyes that watched him made his mind scramble and his heart pound. What was wrong with Hinata? What was wrong with him?! The kiss at the dance hadn’t felt like that at all! And he definitely hadn’t wanted to kiss that girl again. A muffled shout of his name came from behind his hands, but Kageyama refused to pull away from Hinata’s mouth even when the teen tugged on his wrists. He had to buy time to think of something, anything, to say to stop the blood from rushing up into his ears-
“Uhm, Kage...yama?” The embarrassed voice over his shoulder made the setter jerk his head back, Yachi jumping in her shoes at the fierce look he gave her.
“What?”
“Some of the girls in line want to know how much to charge to see that again.” Kiyoko’s calm voice was completely different than Yachi, whose face probably matched Kageyama’s in embarrassment. His eyes flickered over to the group of girls waiting, who seemed to side more on the side of Hinata’s excitement than Kageyama’s panic attack. People had seen them. Did any of them know the duo? Were any of their teammates there? For some reason, his mind went straight to the ugly sneer on Tsukishima’s face when he got wind of what had happened between them. The thought froze Kageyama, giving Hinata the opportunity to break the hold on his mouth and turn to his female friends.
“Did you see that?! Kageyama just tried to kill me!” Hinata sucked in a few long gasps of air, his hands crumpled in his shirt to assure himself his lungs were still functional. His eyes sharpened on the frozen guy beside him, his hands free of fabric when they reached up and smacked onto his cheeks.
“Ow!” Kageyama was snapped back into the present at the pain, looking down at Hinata with a glower. It only lasted a second when he remembered where he was, but Hinata didn’t let him regress back inside himself.
“You can’t kiss anyone else like that, you hear me?” The loud declaration was met by a group of gasps, but neither boy paid attention to the crowd as Kageyama scowled down at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“If girls know you can kiss like that, you’ll never have time to toss to me!” The serious tone that Hinata used proved that the idiot really thought what he was saying was true, which made the whole situation even more embarrassing. Seriously, could Kageyama die of heat stroke from a blush?
“W-Well you’re not going to be able to spike my quick pass if you’re kissing girls either!” The argument was stupid, and Kageyama had a hard time getting the rebuttal out without a stutter. The feminine giggles behind them were obvious, even as Kageyama heard Kikoyo ushering the onlookers away. Hinata didn’t seem to mind, yanking his face closer so they were at the same eye level.
“I’m banning you from kissing anyone else until we stop playing volleyball together.”
“We’re supposed to play until we get to the top or die, stupid.”
“I know.” There was a hiccup of silence between them, and all of the anxiety and desire to die from humiliation evaporated in Kageyama’s stomach. His eyes no longer had a problem holding Hinata’s gaze, even when the spiker leaned forward and placed another hesitant kiss against his lips. It was much briefer than the first, with a sense of softness that had eluded them before. But when they pulled away, Kageyama felt just as breathless. Hinata swallowed gently, his hand dropping onto the counter to grab the setter’s. Finally Hinata showed a side of humility, his palm sweaty against Kageyama’s as he struggled to find his words. “I know that, so...”
“Okay,” Kageyama answered, feeling his lips twitch into a smile that didn’t carry it’s normal creepy tone. Hinata lifted his gaze back to Kageyama, his smile just as bright as ever. Not willing to show how warm the moment made him, Kageyama pulled back, his eyes glancing to the money laying innocently beside their entwined fingers. “Hey, Hinata?”
“Eh?”
“You owe me meat buns for a week.”