Chapter Text
Hinata watched as he saw Tsukishima and Iwaizumi interact with each other. And then his eyes drifted off to Yamaguchi and Yachi and his ears drooped, his tail at a standstill.
I want to find my soulmate too! He spun the volleyball in his hand and Sugawara noticed the downcast mood around the young wolf-hybrid. Excusing himself from his current conversation with Asahi and Nishinoya, he made his way towards the ball of sunshine.
"Something on your mind Hinata?" Sugawara asked as his tail languidly swished back in forth. It seemed as though every time Sugawara purposely brought himself into another hybrid's issues, he was clearly amused and proud of himself at the same time.
"Ah! Suga-san!" Hinata perked up, his ears now slightly higher than before and his tail also swished back and forth, albeit a bit slower than the silver tail of the fox-senpai in front of him. Hinata pouted, "It's nothing really.. I just wanted to find my soulmate too!"
"Ah," Sugawara nodded and he said, "You have to give it time Hinata, not all of us are that lucky."
"I know, but," Hinata grumbled, "Even that Tsukishima found his soulmate."
Sugawara held back a laugh, clearly amused at how the normally energetic ball of sunshine was actually salty jealous of the taller blonde middle blocker. Tsukishima happened to see that the two were looking his way and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sugawara shook his head and Tsukishima turned back to talk to Iwaizumi, clearly teasing her as she pouted and hit him back.
"Ne, Suga-san," Hinata called out, gaining the attention of the setter. "What did you say again were the symptoms of us finding our soulmates?"
"Attraction, desire to protect, and understanding."
"Attraction means wanting to be near them right?" Upon receiving a nod of the head, Hinata asked, "Then what does understanding mean?"
"Understanding is something you can see most commonly among Yachi and Yamaguchi, the two of them are basically capable of understanding what the other wants from just a glance. Although Tsukishima and Iwaizumi-chan are starting to get a hang of it too, Tsukishima more so than Iwaizumi-chan."
"I see," Hinata mumbled. The volleyball was now tucked in one arm and his other hand was rubbing his chin as though he was deep in thought.
"Thanks Suga-san!" The energetic male shot off, calling out to Kageyama for one more toss. His entire demeanor changed and it was as if he wasn't just contemplating and moping about the lack of his soulmate. Sugawara fondly sighed and shook his head, "They're all little birds about to leave the nest."
"One's a wolf and the other is a bunny, nothing close to being birds Suga."
"Daichi," Sugawara laughed, "We're all a part of Karasuno, so we're all crows." Regardless if we're hybrids or not.
"True," Daichi chuckled. They were both silent for a while until Daichi asked, "I wonder how Hinata's soulmate will be."
"Probably nothing like him, or just like him," Sugawara laughed, and he pointed at the two soulmate couples, "I mean look, Yamaguchi and Yachi-san are similar to each other, but Tsukishima and Iwaizumi are almost complete opposites."
"If Tsukishima and Iwaizumi were the same…" Daichi trails off, his face turning a bit paler as he deadpanned, "No."
Sugawara frantically nodded his head, "I think I prefer Iwaizumi-chan the way she is."
***
Hinata was distracted, not too much, but it was enough. There was something very sweet in the air. But he never got nothing more than a whiff of it and it was driving him insane. His ears kept perking and then flattening, when he caught the whiff and when it disappeared.
Maybe it's because I'm part wolf, but gods that scent is so sweet. Hinata mumbled, "Where is it coming from?"
After he caught whiff of it again, he suddenly stopped walking and waited for the scent again. Kageyama who was walking with him stopped too, clearly confused. And as soon as the duo in the front stopped, the rest did too, all of them confused with how Hinata's nose was sniffing the air.
"What are you doing, dumbass Hinata?"
"Shut up Kageyama, something smells good but I can't find out where."
Kageyama looked confused, but upon seeing how the other hybrids on the team weren't reacting he grumbled, "I think it's just you."
Sugawara watched the interaction and asked Hinata, "Is it sweet?"
"YEAH!" Hinata cried out, and suddenly he smelled it, "I FOUND IT!"
His head snapped in the direction it came from and he sprinted off. And everyone called out his name, but only Kageyama bothered to chase after the idiot. Tanaka and Nishinoya nodded before making a random war cry and chasing after the idiotic duo and Ennoshita sighed, "These idiots."
"Did you smell anything though?" Yachi asked Yamaguchi. The bunny shook his head and sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I don't think my sense of smell is as great as Hinata's."
"The shorty is weird enough to begin with, first his ridiculous vertical and now his smell?" Tsukishima scoffed, only to receive a "He's a part wolf Kei, what'd you expect" from Iwaizumi who was smugly poked fun at Tsukishima's stupid comment.
"Well, hopefully Tanaka and Nishinoya can bring the two back," Daichi sighed.
"It's okay, they'll find their way home, Hinata could just track his own tracks back." Tsukishima sneered, causing him and Yamaguchi to laugh. Iwaizumi sighed, "Oh my god Kei, shut up."
***
Hinata didn't realize how far away the scent was until he arrived at the school gates of Aoba Johsai. And he froze. Oh my god. This is the Grand King's school. What- why- WHY IS THE SCENT FROM ALL THE WAY OVER HERE? But it was a lot stronger here, and he flinched as he heard the familiar, "Oh! Chibi-chan."
"G-G-GRAND KING!?" Hinata jumped backwards, avoiding any physical contact. And when he looks at him, he blanks out. AND THEIR ACE. GRAND KING AND THE ACE OF AOBA JOHSAI ARE-
"Oikawa, knock it off, you're scaring him," Iwaizumi butted in. He notices that Hinata calms down significantly once he was a good unreasonable distance away from Oikawa and he asks, "What are you doing here?"
"I was-"
"HINATA, YOU DUMBASS!!!" Kageyama cried out as he finally caught up. Hinata flinched and Oikawa's eyes narrowed, "Tobio-chan."
"Oikawa-san."
The two immediately began to stare the other down and Hinata frantically looked between the two, unsure of what to do. Do I stop Kageyama? What if the Grand King starts looking at me like that? And their ace too!? I ONLY WANTED TO FIND THE SWEET SCENT, I DIDN'T MEAN FOR ANY OF THIS TO HAPPEN AND-
"Tooru, you're scaring people again? Leave them alone already," your voice cut through the tension like a knife, snapping both Oikawa and Kageyama out of their staring contest. Hinata's mind went numb as he could only focus on your voice. The scent was literally radiating from you, the girl that had just appeared, but his nerves wouldn't move. Hinata was unfortunately stuck. She's... She's so pretty!! And she smells so good. Is it her? This entire time was it her? This pretty lady is-
"[L/N]-senpai?"/"[F/N]!"
Hinata snapped back to reality upon hearing Kageyama's familiar tone with the girl that had just caught his interest. And he was more than shocked at how cheerful and friendly you were with the normally icy and awkward Kageyama. KAGEYAMA ISN'T AWKWARD AROUND HER AT ALL?! WHAT IS THIS!?
"Oh! TOBIO, IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!!!" You walked up to Kageyama giving him a bright smile before turning to Oikawa and slapping the side of his head, "Seriously it's so embarrassing seeing you bully the underclassmen. Regardless of what school they're from." They're not from here, Kara... Karasuno?
"[F/N]!" Oikawa whined. You ignored him and turned to Hinata and asked, "Did Tooru say anything that upset you? I'm so sorry for his idiocy." Aw, he's almost as short as me! How cute!!
Hinata furiously shook his head and stuttered, "N-n-n-n-no! No! I-I'm okay! E-e-everything is okay!"
You blinked several times, your [e/c] orbs openly displaying the confusion and amusement at how nervous Hinata was. And then upon realizing how cute his nervousness was, you laughed. I could listen to her all day.
"That's a relief," you smiled, "I'm glad you're okay."
You turned back to Oikawa and mentioned something of the lines of 'going home' and Oikawa mentioned something about 'walking together,' but Hinata's mind was still too frazzled to properly function. But as soon as he saw that you were about to leave, he quickly calls out.
"UH." You, along with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, turn around, and Hinata shout-stutters out, "I-I'M SHOU-TA!! I MEAN! WAIT! I MEAN, I'M HINATA SHOUYOU!! F-F-FIRST Y-YEAR IN KARASUNO!"
Oikawa nudged you, indicating that Hinata was indeed talking to you, and you let out a soft, "Oh." And then you brightly smiled at the orange haired wolf boy, "I'm [L/N] [F/N], a second year in Aoba Johsai. It's nice to meet you, Hinata-kun."
***
After you walked away, Kageyama waved his hands in front of Hinata, even shook the boy to try to get his attention, but unfortunately nothing seemed to be working.
"Oi! Kageyama!! Hinata!! YOU IDIOTS!!"
"Tanaka-san, Nishinoya-san!" Kageyama replies, and then turns back to Hinata and he asks, "Senpai."
"Yes?!" the idiot second year duo puff their chest out at the word, and Kageyama asks, "Hinata froze, what do I do?"
"Eh?!"
[L/N]-chan called my name... and she said nice to meet you. Ah. Hinata's eyes were literally sparkles as a silly stupid grin took over his face and he began to melt into a puddle of happiness.
"HINATA?!"
"OH MY GOD CALL 119!!"
"HINATA. HANG IN THERE HINATA. WE'LL SAVE YOU!!"
[L/N]-chan, I can't wait to see her again!!!