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It’s not like he wasn’t going to miss his parents, but taking the last possible train to Tokyo just so he could spend a few extra hours with them was probably a mistake. He’d only have a few hours of the evening left to get settled into his dorm, and he had a class first thing the next morning. Not to mention it'd been months since he’d last visited the campus and he wasn’t even sure he remembered where everything was.
To top it all off, the kid sitting next to him on the bus was passed out on his shoulder and dangerously close to drooling on him. At least, Kageyama would’ve assumed he was a kid if he wasn’t on the same university bus as him and carrying as much luggage as he was.
Kageyama leaned his shoulder in towards him until he was slumped over his armrest into the aisle. Jerking awake, he caught his drool before it could escape.
“What happened?” he asked, looking ready to fight someone despite barely having woken up. He seemed to remember where he was after a second and relaxed. “Hey,” He looked at Kageyama with no suspicion, “You were on the train from Miyagi too, right?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah, I was,” Kageyama said, surprised. This guy recognized him? How had he not noticed someone with bright orange, messy hair? Even sitting down, he could tell this guy was pretty short. That was probably why.
“I knew it! So we’re from the same town. I wonder if we ever saw each other around?” This guy was way too energetic for someone who was asleep thirty seconds ago. “My name’s Hinata Shouyou. What’s yours?”
“Kageyama Tobio.” Kageyama knew he’d probably have to deal with small talk once he reached campus and met his roommate, but this was coming earlier than he’d been prepared for.
“What are you majoring in?” Hinata asked.
“Don’t know yet.”
“Me either. It’s kind of a relief to meet someone else who hasn’t decided yet,” Hinata chuckled. “So what made you choose H University?”
Kageyama briefly considered answering honestly and making conversation.
“Don’t know,” he muttered, looking out the window.
“So you picked it at random?”
“Sure.”
“That’s pretty exciting,” Hinata said, refusing to take a hint. “All my friends who go there seem to think it’s a good school, so that’s why I picked it. Maybe that’s kind of a lame reason-”
“Wait,” Kageyama said, squinting at him. “You’re only going to college to hang out with your friends? Are you serious?”
“Wha-” Hinata gaped, caught off guard. “That’s not what I said!”
“So what then,” Kageyama pushed, “You wanna spend a few years making memories or something?”
“No, I’m actually gonna go to class and learn.” He crossed his arms, leaning back against his seat. “Geez, do you always pick fights with people you just met?”
They glared at each other as if they were trying to burn holes into each other’s heads with their eyes. Looking away, they spent a few minutes in silence, which was fine by Kageyama. He could only hope it would last the entire ride.
“What’s your schedule look like?” Hinata asked, his tone nowhere near as enthusiastic as it was. Kageyama wordlessly pulled his folded up schedule from his pocket and handed it over so Hinata could examine it. “Looks like we don’t have any classes together,” he said, handing it back.
“Good.”
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but at least it got Hinata to abandon his attempts at making conversation.
As they got further away from the main city, the tall buildings turned into fields of crops. The fact that the University was practically in the middle of nowhere initially made Kageyama a little nervous. He didn’t care anymore. The sooner he was off that bus and on campus, the better.
They rolled up to the edge of campus. Before the bus came to a complete stop and Kageyama was allowed a peaceful exit, Hinata was leaning over him, frantically prying the window open, and sticking his head out.
“Bokuto-san! Akaashi-san!” He yelled, waving at two students who were waiting on the sidewalk.
“Hinata!” One of them yelled back with equal enthusiasm. “I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it for myself. You actually made it into college!” He threw his head back and laughed.
“Bokuto-san, he scored higher on his entrance exam than you did,” the other one said. Bokuto’s laughter turned into in offended choking sound.
“Akaashi! Don’t let him know that!”
Hinata laughed, blissfully unaware of Kageyama fuming right beneath him.
“You mind getting the hell off me?” Kageyama growled, finally making him realize he was practically in Kageyama’s lap.
Ducking his head back inside, he scrambled back as quickly as possible, losing his balance. He had to grab onto Kageyama to avoid falling. His right hand landed innocently on his shoulder. His left hand wasn’t so fortunate. He pulled it away immediately.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to- um-” he struggled to get the words out. Kageyama didn’t want him to get the words out.
“Get out of my way, you perverted dumbass,” he growled.
Hinata leaped into the aisle without hesitation.
“Look, I’m sorry, it was an accident.” At least that’s what Kageyama thought he heard Hinata saying. He was already dragging his luggage to the door, the look in his eyes scaring the rest of the passengers too much for any of them to even think about getting in his way.
Stepping off the bus, he walked with intent in what he thought was the right direction. He ran a hand down his face. He had a campus map somewhere in his luggage but was already too exhausted to bother trying to find it. It was way too early in the school year to accidentally be felt up by someone he’d just met. At least he knew they didn’t have any classes together and probably wouldn’t see each other again.
He looked around him. The closest building was Fukurodani Hall, which meant his dorm building was all the way across campus, but it was also a straight shot. He'd almost forgotten how big H University's campus was.
Room 910 was all the way at the end of the hallway of the first floor of Karasuno Hall. Kageyama knocked and let himself in when no one answered.
The room was almost a mirror image of itself. It had a window in the middle of the furthest wall, two beds, two nightstands, two closets, and two desks with shelves above them. The only difference was on one side, there was a small refrigerator with a microwave sitting on top, and on the other side, a bookshelf. The shared bathrooms were a few doors down the hall, and a little ways further was a community kitchen.
Not exactly five star living quarters, but when he compared the prices for dorms like Fukurodani or Shiratorizawa, he didn’t mind.
He was surprised to find the room not already half-covered in someone else’s belongings. He knew he’d been assigned a roommate. Maybe they were running late or something. Whatever the case, Kageyama got first dibs, and he picked the side with the fridge.
He made his bed, hung up his clothes, and was placed his school supplies in his desk drawer. He should probably get some groceries before the day was over. Or he could get tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast from the school cafeteria, then go shopping after class. He also needed to fit time in at some point to familiarize himself with the campus. He’d passed the building he’d be having his first class in on the way to his dorm, so he wouldn’t have trouble in the morning, but as for the rest of them-
Someone knocked at the door, breaking his train of thought.
“Come in,” he said. It was either a friendly neighbor or his roommate. Most likely his roommate.
The door opened and the first thing he saw was a smile disappear from a pair of big brown eyes.
Oh shit.
“What are you doing here?” Hinata asked in horror.
Please let him be a neighbor.
“This is my room,” Kageyama said, fearing the worst. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my room!”
“What?” Kageyama barked.
“Don’t get mad at me, it’s not like I chose this!” Hinata yelled back.
“I don’t care who chose this, there’s no way I’m living with you for an entire year.” There were thousands of students at this school. Why did it have to be him?
“Well I don’t wanna live with you either, so at least we can agree on that,” Hinata huffed.
“Good, so go find yourself another room.”
“I will!” Hinata shouted and took off down the hall.
* * * * *
That night, they each lay in their bed, facing away from each other.
“How can every room in this building be full?” Kageyama grumbled.
“We’ll figure something out tomorrow, just go to sleep,” Hinata said, not in any better a mood.
“Fine,” Kageyama said. It was quiet for a minute. “If I catch you perving-”
“I told you it was an accident!” Hinata yelled, sitting up in bed. Someone pounded on the other side of his wall.
“Shut up and go to sleep!” they yelled. It caught both of them off guard. Too surprised to argue, they obeyed.
* * * * *
After confirming that every single room on the men’s side of Karasuno Hall was, in fact, full, Hinata figured he had no choice but to accept his fate as Kageyama’s roommate.
Kageyama didn’t take it so well.
Hinata would be the first to admit he hadn’t made the best first impression. Even he wasn’t stupid enough to think otherwise. Still, he wanted to be optimistic. He wanted to believe his relationship with Kageyama was salvageable and a year as his roommate wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
But holy crap was Kageyama making it difficult.
He was a complete neat freak and Hinata couldn’t even be bothered to make his bed most days. He once left his pillow on the floor, Kageyama threw it at him, he threw it back, and what ensued was a pillow fight no one won. Hinata likes to sit on the floor while studying, and every time he left a textbook or his bag laying around, Kageyama lost it.
Once, when Kageyama caught him eating rice straight out of the rice cooker, Hinata thought it was over for him. That was how he’d go.
Caught by his roommate committing the heinous crime of eating rice straight out of the cooker.
* * * * *
Taking a morning class on Fridays was definitely a mistake.
Dragging himself out of bed, Kageyama made a mental note never to admit to his parents they were right about that. They probably knew anyway.
As he staggered towards the general direction of his closet, his foot caught on something and after a brief fight with gravity, he landed face first on the ground.
“What the hell,” he growled, startled by his rude awakening. He felt around trying to find what tripped him, though he had a pretty good idea already. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d tripped on Hinata’s stuff.
Expecting a textbook, he froze when he came into contact with something that felt an awful lot like a fuzzy sock.
A fuzzy sock on someone’s foot.
He dragged himself off the ground and flipped on the light to confirm his suspicion and found Hinata, sprawled out on the floor, dead asleep, with his right leg in the perfect position to trip him.
“That’s it.” He grabbed Hinata by the front of his shirt, shaking him awake. “Wake up, dumbass,” he ordered.
“Huh, wh- what, what?” Hinata asked, more asleep than awake.
“Why the hell are you sleeping on the floor?”
“I’m?” Hinata glanced around. “I… think I was studying. I guess I fell asleep.”
Kageyama pulled him closer.
“You have a bed. Right. There.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Hinata said, slowly becoming aware of the position he was in. “I was just trying to study.”
“You have a desk,” Kageyama reminded him helpfully.
“Yeah, but it’s got stuff all over it. Why are you yelling at me? What time is it?”
Kageyama let go of his shirt.
“You know what? This ends now,” Kageyama said. He stomped over to his desk and pulled a large roll of tape from the drawer. Hinata’s eyes shot wide open.
“Wait, whatever I did, I’m sorry, please don’t kill me,” he begged, scooting back. Kageyama scoffed.
“Kill you? Are you that stupid?”
Hinata’s shoulders relaxed a little, but he stayed on edge.
“You’re not gonna tie me up and kill me?” he asked hesitantly.
"That's tempting, but no. Instead," he positioned himself by the window, right between their beds, "I'm gonna do this." He pulled a stretch of tape from the roll, sticking it on the floor and walking back towards the door, cutting the room in half. "That's your half and this is my half, so keep yourself and all your crap on your side and I'll do the same."
Hinata stared at him in disbelief.
“But the fridge is on your side!”
He hadn’t thought about that. That would probably be a problem. He thought hard for a few seconds.
“Go buy your own fridge.”
Hinata gaped.
“What? How is that fair? This is your idea, why do I have to be the one to buy a new fridge?””
Kageyama groaned. He didn’t have all morning to spend arguing with Hinata. He still had a class to get to.
“Fine, you can cross the tape to get to the fridge, but otherwise, stay on your side.”
Hinata was barely able to get another word in before Kageyama was out the door.
He was like a king laying down borders where he saw fit, unwilling to listen to the opinions of commoners. His law was absolute, and he refused to budge.
Hinata leaned back on his hands and sighed. This was going to be a really, really long year.
* * * * *
Hinata sat on the floor, his back pressed against his bed, looking back and forth between his textbook and what little notes he’d managed to scribble out during the few minutes of class he’d been awake for.
“Your foot’s on my side,” Kageyama said, startling him. He’d been concentrating so hard on trying to decipher his own handwriting, he hadn’t heard Kageyama come in.
His foot was an entire whopping centimeter past the tape, so he pulled it back towards himself while glaring at Kageyama. It’d been a week and a half since Kageyama implemented the tape rule, and he’d been enforcing it with an iron fist ever since. Unless he was getting something from the fridge, Hinata was expected to stay on his side of the tape. Even when he was in front of the fridge, Kageyama watched him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t stay longer than he needed to.
And it was getting old really fast.
Pushing his textbook to the side, he stood up and stretched.
“I’m gonna go to the café,” he said excusing himself before the two of them being in the same room would result in another argument. Kageyama didn’t say anything as he left.
The lunch rush wasn’t due for another hour or so, so there were only a few customers inside Nekoma café, who’d all already been served.
“Kenma, you don’t have a roommate, right?” Hinata asked the barista.
“Right,” Kenma said.
“Maybe I could move in with you?”
“You’re not allowed to switch buildings after the school year starts.”
“Seriously?” The last flicker of hope inside Hinata died. He slammed his forehead onto the counter.
“Aw come on, I just cleaned that,” said the other barista, a tall guy with a serious case of bedhead. “And anyway, I practically already live in Kenma’s dorm, since he gets so lonely,” he grinned.
“I do not,” Kenma glared at him.
“Do too.”
“You only come over to get away from Yaku.”
“Can you blame me? Now that Lev’s enrolled here, he’s over all the time. Those two make me sick.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the pastry case. “But for the record, I actually enjoy our video game sessions.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Hinata said, still face down, “But I still have a serious problem here.”
“Yeah no kidding, you’re breathing all over my clean counter.”
“Kuroo,” Kenma said, glancing at the clock on the wall, “Shouldn’t the muffins be done by now?”
“Crap,” Kuroo said under his breath, disappearing into the kitchen.
Raising his head, Hinata found Kenma staring at the door, still in motion behind Kuroo. He leaned in closer.
“So are you and him finally…” he didn’t have to finish. Kenma knew what he meant.
“No,” he whispered. “I mean, I don’t know. There have been a few times where I thought something might happen, but he hasn’t really said anything or made a move.”
“Why don’t you make a move?” Hinata asked. Kenma looked at him like he was crazy. “What? I bet you could if you wanted to.”
“Didn’t you come here to talk about your horrible roommate?” Kenma asked, his voice returning to its usual volume.
“Oh yeah,” Hinata deflated, resting his chin on the counter. Kuroo came back out from the kitchen.
“How are the muffins?” Kenma asked.
Kuroo shrugged.
“Edible. Anyways, what were we talking about?”
“Hinata’s roommate.”
“Right. Listen, if you’re gonna spend the year living with this guy, it’s worth it to at least try and get along. If Yakkun and I didn’t at least try, one of us would probably be dead by now.”
Hinata still hadn’t completely ruled out the possibility of Kageyama murdering him.
“It’s not that I’m not trying. I’m just not sure if Kageyama’s capable of getting along with anyone. He acts all mad and scary all the time.”
“Wait, Kageyama? Is he tall with black hair?” Kenma asked.
“You mean cranky ‘no cream no sugar just plain black coffee’ Kageyama is your roommate? No kidding,” Kuroo said.
“You mean you know him?”
“Eh, not really. He comes here and gets coffee pretty much every morning,” Kuroo explained. “He’s not much of a talker, though. And he always looks really pissed. He scares the other customers, it’s not good for business.”
“Neither is burning our product,” Kenma said with a blank expression.
“They’re a little toasted, it’s fine,” Kuroo assured him. “Maybe,” he said, putting his hand to his chin, “If you became friends with Kageyama, he wouldn’t be so cranky. He doesn’t seem to have any friends, so maybe he’s just lonely.”
Hinata thought about it. He hadn’t considered that before.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like Kageyama even wants to make friends. Especially not with me.”
“Oh yeah?” Kuroo leaned forward. “See, that sounds like quitter’s talk to me.”
“What?” Hinata straightened up, ready to take Kuroo’s challenge.
“Don’t turn this into some bet,” Kenma warned them. “Shouyou, you’re good at making friends. I think if anyone can befriend Kageyama, it’s you.”
Well, Kenma thought he could do it. And if there was one thing Kuroo was right about, it was that getting along with your roommate would make life easier. A lot easier.
“Ok,” Hinata decided, “But, how?”
“Bokuto’s throwing one of his parties next Friday. Why not try inviting him to that?” Kuroo suggested.
Hinata couldn’t imagine Kageyama saying yes, but it’s not like he had any better ideas. It was as good a place as any to start.
* * * * *
Double checking his bag to make sure he had everything for class, Hinata was about to leave when Kageyama knocked and entered.
“Oh good, I didn’t think I’d catch you before I left,” Hinata said. He grabbed a vacuum cleaner that hadn’t been in their room earlier that morning and placed it next to the tape border. “I borrowed this from Yamaguchi and thought I’d ask if you wanted to use it before I gave it back.”
Kageyama squinted at the vacuum cleaner, glancing back and forth between it and Hinata more times than necessary.
“Who’s Yamaguchi?”
It took a second for Hinata to realize he was serious.
“Our next door neighbor? You know? Freckles? Lives with that four-eyed jerk Tsukishima?”
“Oh,” Kageyama said, recognition never once crossing his face.
“Haven’t you ever talked to anyone else in this building?” Hinata asked.
“Not really.”
Kuroo’s words from the day before came to mind.
Maybe he’s just lonely.
“Oh.” That was all Hinata could think to say to that. He headed towards the door but paused with a hand on the doorknob. “Hey, Kageyama,” he said looking over his shoulder. Now was a good a time as any. “My friend Bokuto-san is throwing a party next Friday. You should come if you’re not busy,” he said, flashing a friendly smile.
Kageyama raised his eyebrows as Hinata left for class.
* * * * *
After a week of arguing with himself, Kageyama still found himself walking through Fukurodani Hall’s front doors with Hinata by his side. Judging by his lack of reaction, Kageyama was guessing Hinata had already been inside Fukurodani Hall before. For him, it was the first time.
He wasn’t surprised that it was bigger than Karasuno Hall. That much was obvious from the outside. He hadn’t realized how much bigger. It felt more like a hotel than a dorm building. There was a lobby with sofas, chairs, and a fireplace. The floors didn’t have those occasional creeks. The hallways were wider. It even had an elevator.
Even if Hinata hadn’t been leading the way, Bokuto’s dorm would’ve been easy enough to find. The door was wide open and there were people inside and outside of it, talking and laughing loudly, holding drinks while music blasted.
The inside of the room was as huge as expected. To the right, there was a full sized kitchen with an island, and straight ahead was a living area the size of Hinata and Kageyama’s entire dorm, fully adorned with a u-shaped sectional sofa, coffee table, and flat screen tv.
That couldn’t all have come with the room, could it?
Branching out from each side of the room were two short hallways each leading to an individual bedroom and bathroom. What.
“Hinata!” someone shouted over everyone else in the room. Kageyama would’ve assumed they were drunk if he hadn’t heard that voice once before.
“Bokuto-san!” Hinata yelled back. Bokuto charged over, pulling Hinata into a headlock.
“You finally decided to show up, huh?” he asked, ruffling Hinata’s hair and making him laugh. “So you gonna introduce me to your plus one, here?”
“This is my roommate, Kageyama Tobio,” Hinata said, still in Bokuto’s grasp. Kageyama bowed lightly. Maybe it was a bit formal for the situation, but he wasn’t sure was else to do. An almost evil grin crept onto Bokuto’s face.
“Ah, so this is the infamous Tape-kun.”
Kageyama glared at Hinata.
“What?” Hinata feigned innocence.
“It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name. I’m Bokuto Koutarou,” He released Hinata, pulling a can from a torn cardboard box sitting on the island and tossing it to Kageyama, “And I’ll be your gracious host for the evening.” Kageyama read the label on the can. It was beer.
“Bokuto!” Kuroo yelled from across the room. “We’re waiting on you!”
“Coming,” he promised. “We’re starting a new round of Dance Battle. You two want in?”
“Heck yeah,” Hinata’s eyes were sparkling.
“I’ll pass,” Kageyama said.
“Suit yourself. See you around, Tape-kun,” Bokuto waved with a flourish. Hinata hung back for a moment.
“You sure you don’t wanna play? I mean, I don’t wanna ditch you. We just got here and-”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Kageyama popped open his can. “Inviting me doesn’t mean you need to be at my hip the entire night.
As Hinata opened his mouth to respond, Bokuto called him over. Now alone, Kageyama sniffed his drink. He took a sip and had to put serious effort into not flinching. Maybe the second sip would be better? He tried again and gagged. After a few seconds of struggling, he managed to swallow it. He set the can down.
“Not much of a drinker?” Someone asked, startling him. This guy had messy black hair and a deadpan expression. Kageyama felt like he vaguely recognized him from somewhere.
“Not really.” As in he’d never tried alcohol before in his life.
“My boyfriend doesn’t have the best taste in beer, so I don’t blame you for hating it. He keeps soda in the fridge, though.”
His boyfriend? Was he talking about Bokuto? That’s where Kageyama recognized him from. He was with Bokuto that day at the bus stop. What was his name?
“Akaashi!” Bokuto screamed, “Come watch me win!”
“Excuse me,” he said, not looking too mad about his situation.
Kageyama searched the room for anyone else he knew. A few faces looked familiar, probably from class, but no one whose name he knew. It's not like he ever came across anyone wearing a nametag. Except maybe-
“Kozume-san?” He’d never seen him without the Nekoma Café apron. Or outside of Nekoma Café. But there he was, leaning on the kitchen island, playing a game on some handheld device.
“Shouyou got you to come after all, huh?” He barely looked up from his game.
“I guess- Wait, you know Hinata?”
“We’ve been friends since high school.” So he was one of the friends Hinata already had before coming here. How many were there?
“So, are you at this party because your friends are here?” Kageyama asked.
“I guess. I mostly came for the free food.”
Their options weren’t exactly impressive. Mostly cheap store-bought chips, dip, and desserts.
“I see.”
Kenma seemed way more invested in his game than in anything going on around them. Or in the food he claimed to be there for. Or in their conversation.
Kageyama knew better than to say no to free food. A large plate of brownies appeared to be the only thing that was homemade. He took a bite of one. He didn’t normally care much for sugar but was pleasantly surprised by how subtle the sweetness was. He finished it and started on a second when he realized Kenma was finally looking at him. Staring was a better word.
“What?” he asked, off-put by those eyes. Bokuto appeared across the island.
“Hinata, you didn’t tell us your roommate knew how to party.” He looked impressed. “Man, not even I could eat an entire one of those.”
“I didn’t know you were into that, Kageyama,” Hinata said, looking surprised.
Into what? Brownies?
“I mean, I don’t normally eat sweets…” he wasn’t sure what else to say. He popped the last bite into his mouth.
“Tape-kun, you do know what those are, right?” Bokuto’s expression was starting to fade into something less enthusiastic. Kageyama felt the need to hold off on swallowing that last bite.
What exactly was in his mouth?
Kuroo slid in beside Kenma to grab a chip.
“Those are pot brownies. They’re Konoha’s recipe, but I’m kind enough to donate my baking skills.”
Before Kuroo finished speaking, Kageyama was frantically looking for the trashcan, and spitting out everything left in his mouth.
“They’re what?!” he gripped the edges of the trashcan tightly.
“You didn’t know?” Hinata asked, looking as horrified as he felt.
“It’s not like they were labeled! Shit, I’ve never been high before.”
“Relax, relax,” Bokuto tried to calm him down. “It’s not like eating one of those is gonna kill you.”
“I had two.”
“Holy crap, seriously?” Bokuto’s jaw dropped. “I ate half of one once and it had me going all nigh- Ow!” Akaashi stepped next to him, giving him a stern look.
“You’ll be fine. One of our friends ate three in one night and was back to normal by the next day,” Akaashi assured Kageyama.
“Yeah, but she ate everything in our fridge,” Bokuto said, looking as though he were lost in a dark memory.
Kageyama groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I’m leaving,” he said, turning and stomping away.
“Kageyama, wait,” Hinata tried to stop him, but he was already out the door. Within moments, Hinata was chasing him down the hallway. “Kageyama!”
"Just leave me alone," he snarled. "Go back to the party or something."
“I’m not gonna leave you alone when you’re freaking out like this,” Hinata caught up to him.
“I’m not freaking out!” He flew down the stairs, trying to leave Hinata behind, but couldn’t manage to shake him.
“You obviously are! Here,” he offered Kageyama a water bottle. “Akaashi-san said you should drink this.”
“What is it?” Kageyama looked at it like it was something offensive but took it anyways.
“Water.”
“Will it help?”
“I think so.” Hinata didn’t sound too confident, but it was all Kageyama had to go off of.
As they exited Fukurodani Hall, Kageyama downed the entire thing in one go.
“What now? Should I drink more?” Kageyama asked. Hinata looked at him in confusion.
“What?”
“What should I do now?” Kageyama asked, losing patience.
“Why are you asking me? I’ve never been high either.”
“Then you’re useless to me right now.” He shoved passed Hinata in the direction of Karasuno Hall.
“Wait,” Hinata said. “I can look it up.” He pulled out his phone as Kageyama looked on anxiously. He scrolled through the search results. “These all say water, food, and exercise will weaken the effect.”
“Weaken? Nothing can stop it?”
“No, but these things sound like they’re worth a try.” He did his best to sound reassuring. Kageyama brought a hand to his chin, the wheels in his head working overtime.
“The campus gym is already closed, so there’s no point going there,” he mumbled. Hinata thought hard, too.
“We’re gonna need groceries soon, right?” Hinata thought out loud. “What if we jogged to the convenience store right off campus? Food, water, and exercise all in one trip.” He was pretty proud of himself.
“We?” Kageyama asked. “You know there’s no reason for you to come.”
“I told you I’m not leaving you alone,” Hinata said, refusing to budge. Kageyama clicked his tongue.
“Fine, convenience store,” he said already taking off jogging, not bothering to wait for Hinata.
“Hey, false start!” Hinata ran after him.
“This isn’t a race, dumbass!”
Within 10 seconds it was a race. The entire way they were neck and neck, but Kageyama won by a hair. As they both lay collapsed on the ground, desperately trying to catch their breath, two people exited the store.
“Um, are they ok?”
“Just ignore them and keep walking Yamaguchi.”
“Ok, Tsukki.”
* * * * *
"I don't know how long that stuff is supposed to take, but I still don't feel any different," Kageyama said through the last bite of his meat bun. They couldn't race back to their dorm while carrying groceries, so they walked. "Maybe those brownies weren't really that strong."
"Do you wanna go back to the party, then?" Hinata readjusted the bag of rice he had over his shoulder, finishing the last of his own meat bun.
“No.”
Arriving back at the dorm, Kageyama went to the bathroom as Hinata put away the groceries.
He stood in front of the mirror. He didn’t look any different. He still didn’t feel any different. Maybe they’d been trying to freak him out, and those brownies were just brownies. He thought by now Hinata would know better than to try to pull something like that. Apparently not.
As he reached for the doorknob, it moved away from him. He froze in place. Staring hard at it, he tried to figure out how a doorknob could move on its own. Didn’t that mean the entire door was moving too? No one was opening it though. It should be perfectly still. He looked closer. Maybe it wasn’t farther away. It only felt like it was.
It wasn’t just the doorknob. Everything around him, the walls, the ceiling, the ground beneath him- they all seemed further away than they were a minute ago. He felt smaller, or maybe lighter. He couldn’t tell which. Somehow, he was floating. Or his body was. He was also attached firmly to the ground with no chance of moving anytime soon. But he needed to. All he had to do was reach that damn doorknob. He knew how to. He’d done it a hundred times before. All he had to do was stretch his arm a little further and it would be right there. He knew it would be right there.
Why couldn’t he reach it?
* * * * *
After rearranging everything twice, Hinata managed to make the groceries all fit in the fridge. Kageyama had been in the bathroom for a while now. Hoping he hadn’t had a nervous breakdown or passed out, Hinata went to check on him.
He opened the bathroom door and found Kageyama right on the other side, staring closely at his hand with wide eyes.
“What are you doing?” he asked. Kageyama’s eyes slowly found their way to his face.
“I couldn’t open the door,” he mumbled. “I couldn’t reach the knob and...wait, is it open now?” He looked above and around Hinata, not seeming to focus on any one thing.
Oh no.
“Uh, yeah it is. I opened it.” He tried to figure out what he could say without freaking Kageyama out. “Can you walk?”
“Yeah,” Kageyama said like it was obvious. He seemed to become aware of the fact that his hand was still in front of his face and slowly lowered it to his side. Putting one foot forward, he sort of stuck it around in the air as if the ground was something elusive and unsure. Once he managed to find his footing, each step became a little easier for him to take, and a little less painful to watch him take. Under Hinata’s watchful eye, Kageyama slowly managed to direct himself back to their room.
Hinata wanted to ask if he knew he was high, but couldn’t decide whether or not that was a bad idea. He had to know right? What if he was too high to know he was high?
Kageyama sat down on his bed, looking around as if he were in some new, unfamiliar environment.
“Are we in the right room?” he asked.
"Yeah, we are," Hinata assured him. Kageyama remained skeptical but didn't question it further.
“I feel really weird,” he hung his head. “I don’t like it.”
Hinata grabbed a water bottle off his desk and tossed it so it’d land next to Kageyama.
“Here, try drinking some more water,” he suggested.
“Ok.” Kageyama picked up the bottle and gripped the bottle cap with his entire fist, twisting it one way, then the other, then the first way again. Releasing it, he glared at the perfectly secure cap. Trying again with a looser grip, he was barely brushing the lid with his fingertips. After two minutes, Hinata couldn’t stand it anymore.
Hesitating at the tape for a moment, he stepped across it and took the bottle from Kageyama’s unsteady hands, twisting the cap off with ease. He handed it back to him, only letting go once both of Kageyama’s hands were securely on the bottle. With some effort, he managed to raise the bottle to his mouth and drink, with only a small stream of water escaping.
Hinata sat next to him, thankful he wasn’t fazed by the fact that he’s crossed the tape. Kageyama tried to set the bottle on the bed between them and Hinata caught it right before it spilled.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
"Um, it's um," Kageyama stammered, "It's like I'm… floating. Like it's hard to stay on the ground. But I am on the ground. I think." He looked down. "Wait, I'm not on the ground. I'm on the bed. I think. I… I can't figure it out." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. Was he crying?
A pang of guilt ran through Hinata’s chest. He really shouldn’t have left him alone when they got to the party. Even if Kageyama said it was fine. He was supposed to be trying to make friends with him, and instead, this happened. He knew he shouldn’t put the blame entirely on himself, but he couldn’t help it. And right now, he didn’t know how to help Kageyama.
“Wait, are you on my side?” Kageyama asked, looking straight at him.
"No," he lied, sitting completely still as if that would make him harder to see.
“Are you sure? You look really close.” He reached his hand towards Hinata’s face. Hinata leaned back, staying just out of reach.
“Maybe your, um, depth perception is off or something,” Hinata tried, hoping he'd buy it.
“Huh. I guess that’s it,” he dropped his hand. “Dammit. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to that party.”
“You didn’t wanna go?” Hinata sat back up.
“No.”
“Then, why did you?” He asked, confused.
Kageyama lay back on the bed.
“I thought I'd regret it if I didn't. I… I don't know why I'm telling you this.”
“I'm kinda glad you are,” Hinata admitted. “You're actually talking to me instead of yelling for once. It's nice,” he chuckled.
“This doesn't feel nice,” Kageyama pouted.
"Right. Sorry," Hinata scratched the back of his head. "So, I don't get it. You didn't want to go but went anyway because you thought you'd regret it if you didn't?" He could see Kageyama working very hard to process all the words he'd just said. Maybe sticking to shorter sentences for the time being would be a good idea.
“Yeah,” Kageyama finally decided. “My parents came to school here, and… my entire life they told me how fun college was.”
Was he about to get Kageyama's life story?
“They met each other and all their friends here, and they always talked about all the things I had to look forward to when I came here. Making friends and talking with people never came easy to me like it did to them, but… I still wanted it. I wanted what they have. And what you have.”
Hinata didn't know how to respond. Kuroo really had been onto something. Making friends was always something that came naturally to him, so he hadn't considered it was something he took for granted. Wait…
Was Kageyama jealous? Of him?
“Why'd you invite me, anyway?” Kageyama looked at the ceiling like it was the one he was talking to. “You don't even like me, but you invited me to a party. Are you seriously that nice?”
Hinata wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a compliment, but it was probably the closest he'd ever get to one from Kageyama.
“I was hoping we could become friends,” he answered honestly. Kageyama was quiet for a few moments.
“Really?” He asked.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Hinata shut his mouth. Saying 'Because it'll make living with you easier’ seemed like a bad idea. He searched every corner of his brain for Kageyama's good qualities. There had to be some. “You're… not boring.”
Kageyama looked genuinely surprised.
“You think I'm interesting?”
That wasn't how he worded it, but he didn't want to rain on Kageyama's parade.
"I don't know how anyone could ever think you were boring." He wasn't stretching the truth one bit.
Kageyama hummed in response and closed his eyes. He would've looked content if he hadn't started shivering.
“I'm... tingling all over. It feels really weird.” He wrapped his arms around himself. “I think it's getting stronger.”
“What can I do?” Hinata asked.
“I don't know. Talk about something. Anything.”
“Ok,” Hinata tried to think about what to talk about. “You already know I'm from Miyagi. I have a younger sister named Natsu. We get along really well. Actually, the only reason I moved in the day before classes started was because she wanted me to stay home as long as possible.” He told Kageyama about his childhood and his teenage years. The schools he went to and how bad his grades always were. How he liked sports, playing them, watching movies about them.
He told him about how he didn't know what he wanted to do in life yet. How he hoped to figure it out by the time he graduated. How all his friends seemed to already have themselves figured out.
“I don't know what I wanna do either,” Kageyama murmured, startling Hinata. He's been so quiet, Hinata almost forgot he was talking to someone other than himself.
“You don't?” he asked.
“No. I only picked this school because its where my parents went. Wait, were you still talking?”
"It's fine," Hinata lay back so he was right beside Kageyama. "Do you wanna tell me more about you?"
The last time Hinata checked the clock, it was past three in the morning. Kageyama was too tense to easily allow for sleep, so Hinata stayed up with him, listening to his stories, no matter how many different directions they went in. He did his best to calm him down whenever he needed to. Eventually, deep into the night, pure exhaustion won them both over.
* * * * *
Not yet anywhere near being fully awake, Hinata reached out, searching for his phone. Instead, his hand was met with the warmth of another person. Confused, he forced one eye open to find Kageyama next to him, curled up in a ball. Last night's memories came rushing back to him, and he realized not only was he past the tape, but he was also in Kageyama's bed.
Hinata held his breath, trying not to make any sudden movements. If Kageyama woke up…
He didn't want to think about would happen. He was too young to die.
He carefully slid himself downward until his feet hit the floor, and as soon as he was completely off the bed, made a leap for his own. He found his phone and saw it was well past noon.
Kageyama stirred, grunting softly and bringing a hand to his forehead. Hinata really made it out just in time.
“You awake?” Hinata whispered.
Something along the lines of “Yeah,” came from Kageyama.
Hinata figured he'd leave Kageyama to sleep off any lasting effects, but instead, Kageyama shot up in bed wide-eyed, disoriented, and scaring the crap out him. He was barely able to get a gasp out.
“I think I'm still high,” Kageyama said in horror. Even though the curtains were barely peeking open and the room was so dim, it was still obvious how red his eyes were. Even if he had barely woken up, they were never that bloodshot.
“Well, Bokuto-san said half a brownie lasted him through an entire night,” Hinata realized too late he should've kept his mouth shut.
Kageyama's face twisted over and over like it couldn't decide which emotion to settle on.
“So, this is gonna last forever?” Kageyama whimpered.
“What? No,” Hinata couldn't figure out how he came to that conclusion.
“You don't know that,” Kageyama wailed, looking dangerously close to tears.
“Kageyama,” Hinata kept his voice as calm and soothing as he could. More than he knew he was capable of. “I'll stay with you until you feel better. No matter how long it takes. I promise.” This all started when he left Kageyama alone. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
“What good will that do?” Even high out of his mind, Kageyama was still blunt as ever. In a weird way, it was almost comforting.
"You won't have to go through this alone." It was partially his fault this happened to Kageyama. But besides feeling guilty, there was something inside Hinata wanting to be a friend to Kageyama. Not only out of convenience. He really wanted to be his friend.
Kageyama stared at him, thinking hard.
“I'm hungry,” he declared. Even after a full night of it, Kageyama's conversation shifts threw Hinata for a loop.
“Uh, ok. What do you want to eat?”
“A lot.”
At least he wasn't picky. Hopping out of bed, Hinata dug around their tiny fridge.
“Let's see, we have… eggs,” he stood up, peaking into the rice cooker, “And rice. Want a rice omelet?”
Kageyama thought about it. “How big can you make it?”
“As big as the pan lets me, I guess?”
Kageyama looked unsure.
“I can make two?”
That did the trick.
Karasuno Hall's community kitchen wasn't huge, but it was nice, clean, fully furnished, and, thankfully, empty at the moment. Hinata got to work frying veggies and beating eggs while Kageyama sat at one of the tables staring into space.
Ideally, a rice omelet would have some type of meat, fresh veggies instead of frozen ones, and a few more spices, but given what he had to work with, Hinata thought he did pretty alright. Flipping the omelet onto a plate, he topped it off with ketchup and served it to an increasingly fidgety and impatient Kageyama.
He wondered for a second if he could cook himself one before he made Kageyama's second one, but the speed at which Kageyama was tearing through his first one made it clear he wouldn't have a chance.
Tossing more veggies onto the pan, he couldn't help but feel like someone taking care of their sick spouse. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kageyama smeared in ketchup with rice clinging to his face as he devoured his omelet.
Okay, maybe less like a spouse and more like a child. Or a rabid pet.
By the time he placed Kageyama's second plate on the table, his stomach was growling. When he finished cooking his own omelet, he plopped down in a seat across from Kageyama.
“Where'd you learn how to cook?” Kageyama asked in wonder.
“My sister taught me how,” Hinata said in between mouthfuls. “She's a lot better than me, but she always wanted me to cook with her, so I ended up learning a few things.”
Kageyama nodded.
“That's adorable,” he said with a serious look on his face.
Hinata almost choked.
“Hinata?”
He turned at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Yachi-san, hey," he said, still laughing. Standing there was a tiny blonde girl in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants carrying her school bag on her shoulder. She looked like she was trying to smile, but it was incredibly hard for her to keep her eyes on him. He was about to ask her what was wrong when he remembered Kageyama sitting right across from him, covered in breakfast.
Her expression made sense.
“Oh, uh, Yachi-san, this is my roommate, Kageyama Tobio. Kageyama, this is Yachi-san.”
Kageyama bowed as best he could while sitting down.
“Nice to meet you,” he said with more force than necessary, causing Yachi to jump.
“Sorry,” Hinata quickly apologized on his behalf. “He accidentally ate some of those brownies Kuroo makes. He's not really himself right now.”
“Oh.” The trembling in Yachi's knees eased. “I see. Well, that's quite a situation,” she relaxed and chuckled.
“So what brings you over to the men's side of the hall?” Hinata asked.
“Yamaguchi-kun, Tsukishima-kun, and I are studying together,” she explained.
“Really?” he asked, his interest piqued. “Do you think we could study together sometime?” Yachi was a lot smarter than him, and while his grades weren’t the worst they’d ever been, they could use some serious improvement.
“Yeah, let's do that,” she agreed with a smile.
“Yesssss,” he hissed in triumph.
“Well, I should get going,” she dug around in her bag for a second, pulled out a pack of tissues, and handed it to Kageyama. “Here, you've got a little something on your face.”
“I do?” Kageyama was genuinely surprised. She nodded.
“It was nice meeting you, Kageyama-kun. See you later, Hinata,” she waved goodbye and disappeared down the hall.
“She's nice,” Kageyama said, tediously trying to remove a tissue from the pack.
Hinata swallowed the last bite of his omelet and collected the plates.
“Hinata,” Kageyama said, having somewhat successfully cleaned his face.
“Yeah?”
“Could I have another omelet?”
By the time Kageyama finished his third omelet, a few more people had entered the community kitchen. They were starting to get weird looks, so Hinata washed the dishes as quickly as his hands would allow and ushered Kageyama back to their room.
After all, Kageyama was under the influence of an illegal substance.
“Where do you think Konoha-san even gets that stuff?” Hinata wondered out loud, sitting on the floor with his back against his bed.
“What stuff?” Kageyama asked, observing Hinata’s actions and mirroring them, resting his back against his own bed.
“The weed for those brownies.”
Kageyama thought about it.
“Maybe he grows it in his room. Or maybe Kuroo-san grows it in the cafe.”
Hinata was going to choose to believe neither of those were the case.
True to his word, he stayed with Kageyama through the rest of the afternoon, and after a late night shower, Kageyama was back to himself. Mostly. Safely behind the tape, Hinata grinned at him.
“I gotta say Kageyama, you’re really not so bad when you’re high. Maybe you should try it more often.”
Kageyama grabbed his pillow and threw it at Hinata as hard as he could, knocking him over.
* * * * *
Monday morning, Kageyama tried to pull open the door to his lecture hall, but was met with unexpected resistance and almost spilled his coffee.
“What the hell,” he pulled again with no success. He knocked, and after there was no response from inside, he pressed his ear to the door and heard nothing.
He pulled his phone out, double-checking the time and day, making sure he hadn’t arrived too early or late. He hadn’t. He was there when he should be, so why wasn’t anyone in the classroom? If class was canceled, he should’ve gotten an email-
Oh.
He had. Two days ago.
That means the email was sent on Saturday morning. No wonder he doesn’t remember reading it. He wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind at that time.
When he got back to the dorm, Hinata was sitting in bed looking over his laptop at him.
“You’re back early,” He said it almost like a question.
“Class was canceled,” Kageyama set his bag on his desk. “Are you watching something?” He sat down on his bed.
“Yeah, it’s a movie about basketball.” Hinata glanced between his laptop and Kageyama. He paused the movie. “Do you wanna watch it, too?”
That caught Kageyama off guard. Hinata wanted to watch a movie together?
“...Sure.” It sounded better than the reading he had to do. And it’s not like he had a class to go to.
“Ok,” Hinata picked up the laptop and sat down on the floor right along his side of the tape, positioning the laptop in front of him so it was right on top of the tape. “Is this ok?” he asked.
“I guess,” Kageyama said, assuming he was supposed to sit on the floor, too.
Hinata hit play. The movie was pretty good.
* * * * *
The two of them watching movies together ended up becoming a regular thing. Every couple of days, Hinata would show up in the evening with a movie about one sport or another, they’d set up the laptop right on top of the tape, and watch it together.
Some nights they'd have popcorn, sometimes Hinata would cook something a little more elaborate. Usually, the movies were good. Occasionally they'd suck.
The two of them would usually get into heated debates about the movies.
The next time one of Bokuto’s parties came around, Hinata tried inviting Kageyama again. He turned him down without hesitation. Even though Hinata promised it would be different than last time, Kageyama knew parties weren’t for him. So Hinata went alone.
As he lay in bed that night, Kageyama wondered how late into the night Hinata would come back. He’d probably wake him up. That’d be annoying. Or maybe he wouldn’t be back until the next morning. Maybe he’d spend the night at Bokuto’s. Maybe he’d meet someone at the party and spend the night with them.
He got too restless to sleep. He looked up a recipe for a rice omelet and picked the first one that popped up. He dug through the fridge for whatever ingredients were closest and headed to the community kitchen. His first attempt burned. His second one was probably as good as it was going to get. It wasn’t bad.
It wasn’t as good as Hinata’s.
As if his thoughts had summoned him, Hinata appeared before him, yawning and surprised to find him awake and in the community kitchen and what was that burning smell?
Kageyama threw the rest of the crappy omelet away and went back to the dorm with Hinata, finally able to fall asleep to the sound of his light snoring.
* * * * *
On a Thursday night, the two of them were hunched over the laptop. They were watching the movie Hinata picked out earlier. It was about track and field.
It was almost the end and the main character was neck and neck with his rival. The finish line approached, and as they crossed it at almost the same moment, Hinata and Kageyama held their breaths. The main character won.
Cheering loudly, Hinata threw his arms around Kageyama. Kageyama paused his own cheers to shove Hinata off.
“I'll still report you for sexual harassment,” he threatened.
Hinata opened his mouth to argue, but a familiar bang on the wall interrupted him.
"Will you morons go to sleep already?" Tsukishima's plead was followed by a tortured sigh. Kageyama glared at the wall.
“It is pretty late,” Hinata admitted. “Maybe we should call it a night.”
Kageyama's eyes stayed glued to the wall.
“I just remembered,” Hinata sat up straight, “Our school is hosting a track meet tomorrow afternoon and a group of us are going to cheer our team on. I heard they’re pretty good. You wanna come?”
“A track meet?” Kageyama asked, finally looking at him. He seemed excited about it. “I don’t know, I’ve never been to something like that before.”
“It’ll be fun,” Hinata promised. “We always watch movies about sports, so why not see the actual thing in person?”
Kageyama thought about it. Would a track meet be anything like a dorm party? Probably not. Everyone would probably be more focused on the meet than on trying to make conversation. There’d probably be no brownies. And Hinata would be right by his side.
"If it's in the afternoon, I'll be done with class for the day," Kageyama mumbled, still weighing the pros and cons.
“So you’ll come?” Hinata asked, his eyes sparkling with eagerness.
“Yeah, I’ll come,” he gave in.
"Great," Hinata beamed at him. Kageyama's eyebrows twitched.
He stood up, stretching his arms over his head.
“I should get to bed if I wanna make my class tomorrow morning,” he said, climbing into his bed.
“Oh, right,” Hinata shut the laptop. Kageyama pulled the blanket over his head as Hinata flipped off the lights. He listened to Hinata’s footsteps and the light sound of his mattress springs as he crawled into his own bed.
“Hinata?” he whispered, immediately hoping he’d been too quiet to hear.
“Yeah?” Hinata murmured.
“Um,” Kageyama swallowed, “Goodnight.”
“Night, Yama,” he said through a yawn. Within a minute, his breathing evened out and he was fast asleep. He could fall asleep faster than anyone Kageyama had ever known.
Rolling over so he was facing the wall, Kageyama pulled the blanket down, allowing himself some fresh air.
* * * * *
His morning class didn’t go well.
It couldn’t be helped when he’d woken up maybe 15 minutes before it started. He hadn’t meant to be up half the night. But certain thoughts insisted on creeping into his mind and refusing to let him sleep.
He and Hinata were… friends? Actual friends? He still couldn’t wrap his head around it sometimes. At some point, he stopped hating him. Fair enough. He was more tolerable than Kageyama initially thought him to be. But beyond that-
He slammed his forehead onto his desk. This was annoying.
When he reached the track and heard “Hey hey hey, Tape-kun,” he knew he’d made a mistake. He immediately turned around and walked in the opposite direction. This wasn’t something he was prepared to deal with today.
“Not so fast, Kageyama-kun,” Hinata skidded in front of him, blocking his path. He had a cheeky grin on his face. “You said you’d come today!”
“You didn’t tell me they’d be here,” Kageyama pointed behind himself where he was sure Bokuto and Kuroo were acting like Bokuto and Kuroo. Either of them alone was a handful. Together was an entirely different level.
“I never said they wouldn’t be here,” Hinata said, grabbing Kageyama by the wrist and dragging him back to the others. Kageyama didn’t put up much of a fight.
He almost didn’t notice Kenma was there too, playing on his gaming device, looking uninterested in anything and everything happening.
“Alright,” Hinata said once they caught up to the group, “That just leaves Akaashi-san.”
“Wait,” Bokuto squinted, “I thought Yachan was coming?”
Hinata raised his hands in apology.
“I invited her, but she’s hanging out with Shimizu-senpai today,” he explained. Bokuto crossed his arms and pouted.
“I never get to see Yachan,” he grumbled. No more than 10 seconds into his fit, he spotted someone that pulled him right out of it.
“Akaashi!” He yelled sprinting towards him. Kageyama could not figure that guy out.
They only had to wait a few minutes for the meet to start. The starting shot fired, and the runners were off. In the beginning, all anyone could see was a giant clump of runners, but as they spaced out and leaders were made clear, the excitement built.
Even without a dramatic soundtrack in the background, Kageyama had to admit seeing the real thing in person was something else entirely. Seeing the desire and determination actors could only try to replicate was incredible. And clearly, Hinata thought so, too.
He was screaming the names of the runners from their school every time they passed by, and even cheering on opponent runners who seemed to be getting discouraged. He was so genuine, they could tell he wasn’t making fun of them. Even the skinny guy in last place who looked like he’d never run before in his life seemed encouraged by his words. He was earning a lot of smiles.
He was like that. Always bringing out smiles.
The further into the race they got, the harder Kageyama was finding it to concentrate. Things were getting intense, the race was reaching its climax, its grand finale. He shouldn’t have been able to take his eyes off the two runners who were neck and neck for first place. But instead, he couldn’t take his eyes off the boy next to him.
Thunderous applause arose. Someone probably took first place. Kageyama wasn't sure until Hinata ripped his eyes from the track for the first time since the race started and beamed up at him.
“Isn’t this amazing?” he shouted.
Kageyama was pretty sure his heart was pounding as hard as the runners’.
“Yeah,” He took an unsteady breath and smiled. “I think so.”
* * * * *
“Ah, Tape-kun, so nice to see you again today,” Kuroo grinned at him from behind the register. “Medium black, I assume?”
“Yeah,” Kageyama glanced around, “Where’s Kozume-san?”
"Cramming for a test," Kuroo said, scribbling ‘Tape-kun' on the side of a cup. "Or so he says. You know, not to pry or anything, obviously, I would never do that," he looked sideways at Kageyama as he poured his coffee, "But I couldn't help notice how yesterday, you weren't watching the meet half as much as you were watching Chibi-chan."
Kageyama hoped his face wouldn’t betray him.
“You mean like how you’re always watching Kozume-san?” Was he really as painfully obvious as Kuroo? No, since Kuroo realized it, that meant he was probably even worse than him.
“Hey, we’re talking about you here, not me. Could I interest you in a pastry today, sir?”
“I’m not eating anything you baked.”
Kuroo gasped as if Kageyama had said something unreasonable and offensive.
“What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything. Can I have my coffee?” Kageyama was starting to wonder why he hadn’t invested in a coffee machine yet.
“You really think I would sell those in here? I only make those for my nearest and dearest friends.”
“Whoever shows up to Bokuto-san’s parties are your dearest friends?” Kageyama raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly! And since that included you for about five minutes, that makes us friends, so here's a bit of friendly advice." He secured the lid on Kageyama's cup but didn't immediately hand it over. "Don't keep your feelings hidden." His tone of voice softened. "The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna get to say it. It's not fun." He finally handed over the drink.
Kageyama stared at him. That permanent smugness wasn’t completely gone from his face, but he meant what he was saying. He grabbed his coffee cup.
“Thanks for the advice, but Hinata’s the first friend I’ve ever made. I’m not trying to screw that up.” He paid for his coffee, told Kuroo to keep the change, and left.
Alone in the shop, Kuroo looked around for something to clean or restock.
“I guess I can’t blame you, Tape-kun,” he sighed. “I know exactly how you feel.”
* * * * *
“We should build a blanket fort,” Hinata said out of nowhere.
“I thought we were gonna watch this movie?” Kageyama was already seated in his usual spot on the floor with the laptop ready to go.
“We are, but we can watch it inside the blanket fort,” he explained.
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘Why’? Haven’t you ever built a blanket fort before?”
Kageyama thought back to his childhood. Had he?
“I don’t think so.”
“Seriously?” Hinata gawked. “It’s no wonder you ended up like this.”
“Like what?” Kageyama barked.
“Like that,” Hinata chuckled behind the safety of the tape. Kageyama looked away. Hinata laughing was one of the things that got to him.
“Fine, we can make the stupid fort.”
“Alright,” Hinata was already pulling the sheet off his bed. “Do you have safety pins?”
“Why would I have safety pins?”
“Ok, what about clothespins?”
“If I don’t have safety pins, then why would I have clothespins?”
After a few minutes of trying to figure out what could hold their sheets together, they settled on tape. After a few more minutes of arguing about what would work best for the structure, they each grabbed the chair from their desks, positioned them side by side right behind the laptop, and draped their giant double-sheet over them, using textbooks to weigh down the ends of their sheets on their beds. It was too short for them to sit up inside, so they grabbed their pillows and lay on their stomachs in front of the laptop.
“It’s too bad we don’t have Christmas lights,” Hinata looked around at their little structure, “But isn’t it cool in here? It’s like we’re having a sleepover.”
“I guess,” Kageyama said. It did feel intimate.
“Are you sure the tape will hold up?” Hinata asked.
“No, but unless you want to break into the sewing room, it’s all we have.” Kageyama hit play on the movie.
The majority of the time, Hinata picked good movies. They were exciting to watch and had uplifting messages. This one might’ve had some sort of uplifting message in the end, but they’d never know for sure. It was so boring, they were both asleep within the first half hour.
Even though the tape apparently wasn’t enough and the fort collapsed in the middle of the night, Kageyama didn’t consider building it to be a mistake. Even though that lame movie literally bored him to sleep, he didn’t consider watching it to be a mistake. He didn’t even necessarily consider falling asleep next to Hinata to be a mistake. What he did consider a mistake was waking up next to him.
There wouldn’t have been any problem if Hinata had gotten up before him.
But he hadn’t.
The first thing he saw when he woke up was Hinata’s sleeping face, right there, close enough to touch. It’s not like he’d never seen him asleep before. The first time they met, Hinata was sleeping. But things were different now.
Thanks to the fort collapsing, the early morning light streaming in from the window was hitting him directly. It was making his hair glow. Making him glow. Up close, Kageyama noticed for the first time how long his eyelashes were, and how they brushed against his cheek when his eyes were closed. How his mouth was open just a little bit. Did he always do that when he slept?
He was so close. So damn close. He was right there.
Right across the boundary Kageyama had created to keep them apart.
* * * * *
Hinata barely saw Kageyama over the next two weeks.
With their completely conflicting class schedules, there were plenty of times throughout the week they didn’t see each other. But lately, pretty much the only time he saw Kageyama was right before bed. Even that wasn’t a daily thing.
Kageyama said he’d gotten behind on studying and needed to put more time into it, but Hinata hadn’t expected that to mean every minute of every day. When he wasn’t studying, he had one excuse or another. He was going to work out, he promised to help a professor with this, he promised to help a classmate with that. After the tenth consecutive day of not ever seeing Kageyama for more than five minutes at a time, Hinata finally accepted the truth:
Kageyama was avoiding him.
He racked his brain for what he could’ve done wrong. There was that one day Kageyama walked in right as he was eating out of the rice cooker with his hands. Had he seen him after all? No, he was sure he hadn’t. If he had, he would’ve yelled at him then and there.
That was another thing. Kageyama never yelled at him anymore.
Not too long ago, it would’ve been exactly what he wanted. Not having to deal with Kageyama and his rotten attitude.
Not that his attitude was any less rotten now. But, Hinata didn’t mind so much anymore.
At least he didn’t when Kageyama was actually around.
* * * * *
Bokuto stared hard at his textbook, squinting at it as if it were something offensive.
“Yachan, how did I survive these past two years without you?” He asked, sounding genuinely confused.
“You clearly managed somehow,” she giggled. “What part are you having trouble with?” She pushed her own textbook to the side and scooted closer to him.
“All of it.”
Hinata and Yachi had come over to Bokuto’s dorm for a study session and were spread all over the couch. While Yachi and Bokuto were managing to study, Hinata had been staring at the same page for the last five minutes.
"Right, Hinata?" Bokuto's voice startled him.
“What?” he asked, looking back and forth between Bokuto and Yachi. Was he supposed to be part of their conversation?
Bokuto tilted his head.
“You’re totally spacing out aren’t you?”
“I guess,” Hinata rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, I should try to focus.”
“Is something bothering you?” Yachi asked, looking at him with worry.
“What makes you think that?” Hinata tried to sound casual.
“It seems like something’s on your mind,” Yachi said. “Maybe talking about it will help.”
“I mean, it’s not really anything. Just roommate stuff,” he said. It’s not like he was lying.
“I thought you and Tape-kun were getting along nowadays?” Bokuto asked, forgetting about studying altogether.
“We were,” Hinata said, “And that’s the thing, we didn’t have a fight or anything. He just started avoiding me out of nowhere and I don’t know why.”
“Have you tried talking to him about it?” Yachi asked.
“It’s hard to ask him when he’s never around.”
“Why not text him?” Bokuto suggested. Hinata hadn’t thought about that before. Probably because there was a huge problem with that plan.
"I don't have his number." Bokuto and Yachi stared at him as if to ask if he was serious. "We didn't get along, remember? And after we did, we spent a lot of time together anyway, so I never had a reason to ask for it." Saying it out loud, it occurred to Hinata for the first time how much time they'd been spending together. Enough so that they said everything they wanted face to face, and never even considered the need to text.
“Ok, you don’t have his number,” Bokuto said, rubbing his chin, trying to come up with a new plan of action.
“If Kageyama-kun were here right now, what would you say to him?” Yachi asked. Hinata thought about it.
"If I did something wrong, I'm sorry. I want my friend back. I guess," he shrugged.
“I’d take that,” Bokuto said. “I think if you could get Tape-kun to listen for ten seconds, the two of you will be back to normal no problem.”
“You think so?” Hinata asked.
“Keeping it short and sweet is the way to go in my opinion,” Bokuto nodded in agreement with himself.
“I think you and Kageyama-kun will be fine if you just talk things out,” Yachi agreed.
Putting his feelings into words did seem to help. Maybe if he talked things out with Kageyama, they could get back to the way they were.
"I think you guys are right," Hinata said, the knot in his chest looser now.
"Perfect," Bokuto clapped his hands together, " And once you and him kiss and make up, you can invite him to my party next Friday, 8PM, my place, be there or be square," He winked for effect.
“He’s never gonna come anywhere near your dorm again after what happened last time,” Hinata laughed.
“Sure he will! Be sure to bring Tsukki and Yamaguchi, too.”
“They’re not party people.”
“Since when are you a quitter? Yachan, I’m putting you in charge of getting them here.”
“Sorry,” she waved her hands in front of her, “Friday’s date night.”
“Then the obvious solution is to bring Kiyoko-san, too!”
It was a while before they got back to studying.
* * * * *
When Hinata got back to his dorm, he found Kageyama packing his school bag. He hadn’t expected his chance to talk to Kageyama to come so soon.
“Kageyama,” he said. He was going to tell him. Wait, what exactly was he gonna tell him? No, he was gonna ask him-
“What?” Kageyama barely gave him a sideways glance.
“Um,” Hinata tried to get his thoughts in order. Maybe seeing Kageyama so soon caught him more off guard than he’d realized. “How are your classes going?” What?
“Fine,” Kageyama said, zipping up his bag.
"That's good." This was bad. Kageyama would be out the door in a few seconds and he'd have wasted his chance to fix whatever was broken between them. "I was asking because, um, you said you wanted to put more effort into school, and I guess you've been doing that, and I'm glad it's working for you." Kageyama wasn't even looking at him. "But I mean, if all you ever do is study, you're gonna fry your brain and," he took a deep breath, "And I'll never get to see you."
For the first time in two weeks, Kageyama looked him in the eye. He didn’t look angry. He looked… shocked? Maybe something else? Hinata couldn’t quite place it, but whatever it was, it was bringing up a rush of emotions he didn’t know he’d been keeping buried.
"So," his voice cracked a little, "If you're free sometime this week, we haven't had a movie night in a while." He said it almost like a question, but actually phrasing it as one suddenly felt too scary. Why did he feel so vulnerable? All he was doing was asking his roommate to watch a movie with him.
Kageyama looked away first, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
“I don’t have time for movies.”
Hinata’s gut twisted.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked.
“What?” It was Kageyama’s turn to be caught off guard. Serves him right.
"If I did something to make you mad, then tell me already," Hinata begged. Kageyama sputtered.
“This isn’t about you. I told you, I’m focusing on school-”
“Every minute of every day? That’s how much time schoolwork takes?” Desperation was creeping its way into Hinata’s voice and he was finding it hard to care. Kageyama’s eyes narrowed.
“And if it does? Why should you care? You’re my roommate, not my mom.”
“I’m your friend!” Hinata stepped towards him. “Of course I care! You’re pushing me away and hiding something from me and all I want is to know why. Is that too much to ask?” He stared into his eyes as if he could find the answer in them.
Kageyama swallowed. He looked like he wanted to say something. Like he was dying to say it. He opened his mouth but snapped it back shut an instant later, his expression darkening.
“You’re on my side,” he hissed.
Anything else Hinata might’ve wanted to say to him was gone. He stepped back until the tape was no longer behind him.
“I’m gonna go find somewhere quiet to study,” Kageyama said, headed for the door.
“Ok,” Hinata whispered.
Kageyama closed the door. Hinata felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes.
“All I was trying to say was… I miss you.”
A few seconds later, he heard Kageyama’s footsteps start down the hall.
* * * * *
After rereading the same paragraph for the sixth time, Kageyama decided to get up and stretch his legs. His "study" spot for the day was the library, so he wandered aimlessly up and down the aisles, his fingers skimming the spines of books.
It'd been a week since he and Hinata fought. Spending time apart from him was supposed to give him a chance to clear his head and get his feelings under control. He hadn't expected the opposite and worse to happen.
It was incredible how much he’d managed to screw everything up.
He paused when he got to the DVD section. He hadn't put much thought into where Hinata was getting all those movies from, but glancing through, he could pick out several titles of movies they'd seen together. The basketball one. The track one. The swimming one. The figure skating one. He imagined Hinata standing where he was, deep in thought about which one to pick. Or maybe he'd grab the first one that caught his attention. That seemed more like him.
"Kageyama-kun?" A voice he didn't recognize startled him. A short blonde girl with star-shaped hairpins was looking at him. Wait, maybe he did recognize her. Did they have a class together? He'd definitely seen her somewhere. He felt like if he thought hard enough maybe he could remember her name. "Oh, you might not remember me," she said. "You were a bit, um, out of sorts when we met."
Out of sorts? What was that supposed to mean-
Oh god.
"Yachi-san," he remembered her name. His face heated up at the memory of when they met. "Sorry, I don't normally do that kind of thing." Didn't Hinata tell him afterward his face was smeared in ketchup?
"Don't worry about it," she giggled. "It happens." Did it really, or was she just trying to make him feel better? She was definitely trying to make him feel better. "So which one were you going to pick?" She asked. It took Kageyama a moment to realize she was talking about the movies.
"I wasn't," he admitted.
"Oh? I thought Hinata mentioned you two liked watching movies together." Kageyama practically flinched at his name. Was there something knowing in her voice? Was he imagining it? She wasn't giving him the snarky look Kuroo gave him. It was much gentler and more understanding. But it was knowing. "You like him don't you?" she cut to the chase.
Kageyama looked down.
"Yes," he admitted.
"Then why don't you tell him?"
"It's not that simple," he sighed. "We live together, and I didn't wanna risk our friendship over it." Yachi looked confused.
"Eh, Kageyama-kun? I’m not trying t be rude, and I don't mean to overstep any boundaries, but isn't making him think you hate him a lot worse for your friendship than letting him know you like him?" Kageyama opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn't have even a remotely good argument. Yachi's fingers skimmed along the DVDs until she pulled out some romcom. "Well, tonight's date night, so I don't wanna keep my girlfriend waiting," she clutched the movie to her chest, "But I don’t think you should be afraid to go after the things you want. Hinata taught me that." She smiled. "See you later, Kageyama-kun," she waved and headed for the checkout desk. Kageyama only remembered to wave back once she was already out of sight.
He turned back to the movies. He was... really stupid. Wasn't he? He scanned the shelves. Seen it, seen it, seen it. He found what was probably the last sports movie they hadn't watched. Volleyball. He grabbed it, gathered his things, and almost made a dash for the door before remembering he was supposed to check it out first.
* * * * *
Gripping the DVD case tightly, Kageyama took a deep breath. He opened the door to the dorm to find Hinata bent down tying his shoelaces. Hinata looked up at him and they stared at each other, all the tension from their fight still hanging in the air.
Right.
Hinata stood up, not breaking eye contact.
“Are you going somewhere?” Kageyama asked, not sure what else to say.
“Yeah, Bokuto-san’s throwing a party tonight.” Hinata sounded more serious than normal. There was something unusually guarded about him.
And Kageyama knew it was his fault.
His tight grip on the DVD case loosened, catching Hinata's attention. He squinted at it as if trying to make it out. He looked back up at Kageyama.
“Is that-”
“Um,” Kageyama had to fight the urge to hide it behind his back, “It’s just, the other day, you said you wanted to watch a movie together, and this is one we haven’t seen and… nevermind.” What was he even saying? Was that supposed to be an apology? His shoulders dropped. He didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know what he was trying to do. “Have fun at the party,” he mumbled.
After a moment of not knowing how to respond, Hinata muttered a quick “Thanks,” and was out the door. He almost looked as if he wanted to say something, but shut the door without another word.
Kageyama tossed the movie onto his desk and flopped face first onto his bed, burying his face as deep as he could in his blanket. That was his chance and he blew it. He rolled over and looked up at the ceiling.
Now what?
* * * * *
“You usually put up more of a fight than this,” Kuroo taunted.
Four rounds into Dance Battle, and not only was Hinata getting worse, but he was also pretty sure his score was worse than the first time he’d ever played. As he wiped a light layer of sweat from his forehead, Bokuto put a hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll avenge you, Hinata,” he swore solemnly.
With Bokuto’s screaming now serving as the party’s background noise, Hinata tried joining in on a few different conversations. He kept getting distracted. His mind was somewhere else.
He opened a can of soda and fiddled with it instead of drinking it.
“Shouyou?”
Hinata jumped and dropped his soda. Scrambling, he lost at least half the can before he managed to pick it up. He looked up at who’d spoken to him.
“Kenma! Hi! Do you know if Bokuto-san has paper towels?”
“Right behind you.”
“Thanks!” Hinata began frantically sopping up his sticky, carbonated puddle.
“Are you alright, Shouyou?” Kenma looked and sounded concerned. “You didn’t eat one of those brownies, did you?”
“No,” Hinata tossed his first soggy wad in the trash. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
As he lay down more paper towels, Hinata almost asked how he knew something was wrong. He thought better of it. After all, this was Kenma.
“It’s Kageyama,” he admitted.
“Did you have another fight?” Kenma asked.
“No.” He threw the last of his mess away and crossed his arms, leaning back against the island. “I think he was trying to make up with me before I came here.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Well yeah,” Hinata huffed, “I just don’t get him. One minute everything’s fine, then he’s acting like he hates me, then he’s acting like he doesn’t. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“I don’t think he hates you,” Kenma said.
“What makes you say that?”
“If he did, I don’t think he’d have any problem telling you to your face.”
Hinata couldn’t argue with that.
“Ok, if he doesn’t hate me, then why’s he being so weird?” Hinata wasn’t sure, but he felt like Kenma’s eye twitched the slightest bit.
“Why are you being weird about him?” Kenma shot back.
“What?”
“He’s all you talk about and apparently all you can think about.”
Hinata opened his mouth as if to gasp, then shut it. It felt like he was being accused of something.
“That’s not true!” Even as he denied it, he knew it was true. But what was so weird about that? They were friends. Of course he thought about him. And talked about him to all his friends. And wanted him back in his life. And…
And Kageyama was right. He was a dumbass.
Kenma smiled. Hinata let out an embarrassed chuckle.
“Thanks, Kenma. I gotta go,” he dashed out the door as Kenma waved goodbye.
“Just like that,” Kenma whispered, a little in awe. He took a sip of the soda Hinata left behind.
“Hey, Kenma,” Kuroo appeared next to him, loading handfuls of chips into his outstretched shirt. “Bokuto’s starting up a new game in a minute. You wanna join in?”
Kenma thought about it.
“Actually, I think I wanna go back to my room and sleep,” he decided.
“Oh. Sleep’s cool, I guess.” Kuroo nudged him with his elbow, “Look at you making healthy choices.”
“Shut up,” Kenma rolled his eyes. Kuroo laughed.
“See you at work tomorrow morning?”
"Yeah," Kenma began turning towards the door but stopped. He’d known how he felt about Kuroo for years and still hadn’t done anything about it. Hinata ran after the guy he liked right after realizing he liked him. Why'd he have to be so damn inspiring?
He turned himself back around before he could lose courage, stood on his tiptoes, and planted a kiss on Kuroo's cheek. The chips he'd been gathering cascaded unceremoniously to the ground.
Kenma turned his face down so his hair would cover his burning cheeks.
“See you at work tomorrow.” He left before Kuroo could even begin to get his thoughts in order.
Kuroo brushed his fingers against his cheek, the warmth from Kenma’s lips still lingering. Did that really just-
“Well, well, well!”
A loud voice and a muscular arm around his shoulders jerked Kuroo back down to earth.
“I believe I recall several years of you saying you were gonna make a move, but it looks like Kenma beat you to it!” Bokuto threw his head back and laughed way harder than necessary.
“Yeah, yeah, shut up, you stupid owl,” he said, shoving him away and trying to look annoyed. The bashful smile on his face was making it hard.
“That look suits you,” Bokuto teased.
“God, you really need to learn how to shut up.”
Bokuto snickered.
“Hey look,” he said, “I’m really happy for you. I mean it.”
"Thanks, man."
“And by the way, the broom is right over there.”
“Good to know. You mind handing it to me so I can beat you with it?”
* * * * *
Hinata ran as fast as he could to room 910 of Karasuno Hall. His body had moved faster than his mind, and he wasn’t even sure what it was he planned on doing once he got there. He finally knew how he felt about Kageyama, but was that what he was on his way to do? To tell him?
Refusing to hesitate, Hinata unlocked the door and threw it open.
“Kageya-” Hinata words were cut short by Kageyama stumbling backwards, holding his nose in pain.
He’d thrown the door into Kageyama’s face.
“Kageyama! Oh god, I’m so sorry, please don’t die!” he begged. Kageyama glared at him.
“You really think this will kill me, dumbass?”
“I hope not,” Hinata stepped closer. “Here, let me see it.”
Kageyama moved his hand, and to Hinata’s relief, his nose didn’t look broken. That relief vanished when blood seeped out of both nostrils. Kageyama’s hand flew back to his nose.
“Oh god, oh god, what do we do?” Hinata panicked. “I don’t think the nurse’s office is open this late, and I don’t know first aid, and I don’t know if anyone I know does and- where are you going?” he asked as Kageyama walked past him.
"To the bathroom," Kageyama said. Hinata followed behind and after a few minutes, Kageyama's nose stopped bleeding and Hinata could breathe normally again. He relaxed as Kageyama washed his face in the sink and the water ran clear.
“No one’s ever died from a nosebleed,” Kageyama said, looking at Hinata’s reflection in the mirror, unimpressed. Hinata’s ears went hot.
“Well, excuse me for being worried! I’ll know better than to care for your well being next time,” he pouted. “Anyway, what were you doing right behind the door? Waiting for it to hit you?”
“Of course not! I was-” Kageyama hesitated. “I was… about to go to Bokuto-san’s dorm.”
Hinata furrowed his brow.
“You were? I thought you said college parties weren’t for you?” Wait, if Kageyama was about to leave for Bokuto’s party anyway, that means there was no point to Hinata running all the way back and breaking his face.
“They aren’t,” Kageyama assured him, “But,” he looked down, “You were there, and I wanted to see you.”
Hinata breath caught in his throat. Kageyama wanted to see him?
“I came back because I wanted to see you,” Hinata said, a smile creeping onto his face.
Kageyama’s eyes went wide. He turned away from the mirror to look at Hinata properly.
“Hinata-”
The door opened and Tsukishima walked in, glaring at them for daring to be in the bathroom at the same time as him.
Back inside their own dorm, they weren’t sure what to say to each other. Hinata spotted the DVD case sitting on top of Kageyama’s desk.
“You still wanna put that movie on?”
By the end of the movie, they’d exhausted themselves screaming and cheering.
“Hey, I just realized,” Hinata said, “Tsukishima didn’t yell at us this time.”
“Oh yeah,” Kageyama looked at the wall.
“Yamaguchi said he bought earplugs because of us, so I guess they worked,” Hinata chuckled.
“Hmph. Good,” Kageyama said. “So, did you like the movie?”
“Heck yeah!” he sat up straight, “I think it was my favorite one yet.”
“Me too,” Kageyama smiled.
Hinata had seen Kageyama smile before. Not very many times, but he’d seen it. He’d never noticed how beautiful it was.
“I like you,” Hinata blurted. “That’s what I came back to tell you.”
Kageyama choked on air and the noises coming out of his mouth were nowhere near being words.
"Dumbass! You can't just say that you-you dumbass!" He ran his hand down his face and sighed. "Even after how I treated you?"
“Well, you’re pretty terrible at human relationships, so I guess I can forgive you,” Hinata smiled. Kageyama glared at him.
“You’re way too forgiving.” He swallowed. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I just… didn’t know how to deal with it. I’ve never felt this way about someone before.” He glanced at Hinata’s lips for an instant.
Hinata saw him. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against Kageyama’s.
He misjudged the angle and his nose bumped right into Kageyama’s injured one, making him flinch in pain.
“Ow,” Kageyama jerked back in pain. “You really suck at this.”
“Oh, shut up,” Hinata said, only slightly mortified. “I’ll be careful,” he promised. He leaned forward again, and when Kageyama didn’t stop him, carefully this time, he placed his lips gently against Kageyama’s.
The first kiss lasted only a second. The second one lasted a little longer. By the third one, Hinata’s hands were cupping Kageyama’s face, holding him close. His lips were so soft and his cheeks burned underneath Hinata’s fingertips. Making sure to avoid his nose, Hinata’s lips moved against Kageyama’s, sending a shiver through both of them.
“I really like you,” he whispered between kisses.
“I like you, too,” Kageyama said even quieter.
Hinata wrapped his arms around Kageyama’s neck, kissing him deeper as Kageyama clung to his shirt, responding to Hinata’s every move. Hinata pulled back, panting, and rested his forehead against Kageyama’s.
“You wanna go get coffee in the morning?” he asked.
“Like a date?” Kageyama asked, just as breathless.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Kageyama said, kissing Hinata again needily.
Acting on instinct, Hinata pulled Kageyama closer, throwing him off balance, and sending him falling forward onto Hinata. His left hand landed on the floor next to Hinata, his right hand landed-
On Hinata.
He immediately pulled it away.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to-” he couldn’t finish.
Registering what just happened, Hinata laughed, partially to hide his own embarrassment.
“I guess you finally got me back,” he covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
“What?” Kageyama looked confused.
“Remember the day we met?” Hinata smiled at the memory. At the time, it was mortifying. As time passed, it got funnier.
Now it was hysterical.
Kageyama groaned.
“Way to kill the mood.”
“What?” Hinata sat up, ready to argue. “If anyone killed it, it was you. You’re the one who-”
“Don’t say it!” Kageyama warned.
A pounding on the wall, much louder than usual, sounded through the room.
“GO TO SLEEP!”
They both sat quietly in shock.
“Was that Yamaguchi?” Kageyama whispered.
“I think so,” Hinata said. “Maybe we should go to sleep.”
Kageyama looked down.
“First,” he ran his fingers along the tape, “I’m getting rid of this.”
Hinata watched as he peeled it off the ground, crumpling it up into a big ugly tape ball.
“Oh, oh,” Hinata stood up, “Set it to me and I’ll spike it into the trash.”
“What?”
“You know, like in the movie,” Hinata said, bouncing, ready to leap.
“Why would-”
“Just do it!”
“Fine,” Kageyama agreed. It took a few tries, but Hinata was actually able to spike it into the trash can. The pounding on their door immediately afterward cut their celebration short.
* * * * *
Kageyama woke up to something tickling his nose. When he tried to brush it away, he flinched in pain, rudely reminded of his bruised nose. He cracked one eye open and found a familiar shade of orange, lit up by the tiniest hints of early morning light.
Closing his eyes, he decided it was still early enough to go back to sleep, and reburied his face in Hinata’s hair.
* * * * *
"You asked me out, you pay, that's how it works," Kageyama said, pushing the door of Nekoma Café open.
"Seriously, that's how it works?" Hinata asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Ugh," Hinata threw his head back. Even on a date, he couldn't catch a break with Kageyama. "Fine, but I'm not buying you that bitter black stuff. I'm getting you something that actually tastes good," he said, dashing towards the counter before Kageyama could argue.
Behind the cash register, Kuroo was leaning down to whisper something in Kenma's ear, making him laugh. Things had never seemed tense between those two, but now there was something more natural. Something that was always there, right beneath the surface.
Hinata cleared his throat as he approached, trying not to smile. Kenma finally noticed him and tried to push Kuroo away as subtly as possible. Kuroo chuckled and planted a kiss on Kenma's cheek before disappearing into the back. Kenma glared after him.
"Morning, Shouyou," Kenma said, looking defeated.
“Morning,” Hinata leaned in. "What'd I miss?"
"I couldn't let you outdo me," Kenma allowed himself a small smile. His eyes moved passed Hinata. "You're here with Kageyama?"
"Yeah, I sort of confessed and asked him out," he beamed. "Anyways I'll take my usual and a latte," he skimmed the pastry options, "Oh and two of those."
He found Kageyama at a booth in the corner, looking out the window. He approached with a coffee cup in each hand and a pastry bag clamped in his mouth. He dropped the bag on the table and plopped down across from him.
"You're not nervous are you, Yama-kun?"
"Of course not," he denied immediately. Hinata chuckled.
"Here," he slid Kageyama's cup across the table, "I got you a latte."
"What’s a latte?"
"It's a coffee with milk, just drink it."
Kageyama sniffed it suspiciously and took a sip.
"Do you like it?" Hinata asked.
"It's alright," he admitted.
"So you do like it." Hinata wasn't teasing him. He was glad he chose well.
"Yeah, yeah," Kageyama took another sip. He set his cup down and fiddled with the lid. "Are you busy later?" he asked.
"Nope. My schedule's wide open," Hinata said. Kageyama was suddenly having trouble looking at him.
"Do you wanna spend the day together?" Hinata's heart fluttered a little at the way he asked that.
"Yeah, I'd like that," he smiled
"Cool," Kageyama said into his cup.
"Oh, by the way," Hinata pushed the pastry bag towards him, "One of those is yours." Kageyama scowled at the bag as if it were something offensive.
"You know I don't trust anything he bakes."
"I promise he doesn't put anything in the stuff they sell here," he assured him. "I get things here all the time," he sipped his coffee. Kageyama thought about it.
"What are they?" He asked, grabbing the bag and peaking into it. Hinata grinned.
"Brownies.”