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“Quick, it’s about to start!” Hinata shouted, tossing the duster he was holding at Yamaguchi.
The brunet snatched it out of the air just in time to start shredding along as his favorite guitar solo pulsed from the speakers in their living room. Hinata cheered him on as he danced around the room, strumming against the long plastic handle and nodding to the beat.
“Do the thing, do the thing!” Hinata shouted, jumping up and down in excitement as his boyfriend started to really get into character.
Yamaguchi laughed, but ran to the center of the room anyway, throwing himself on his knees to slide dramatically across the hardwood floor. He kept up his well-practiced strumming as he threw his head back and started singing along to the guitar melody in his raspy falsetto.
As the song started picking up in intensity Hinata grabbed a pair of remotes from the television stand and joined in, drumming along as Yamaguchi powered through his feature. By the end of the song they were both collapsed on the floor laughing and smiling, panting from the dedication they’d thrown into their performance.
“That was so much fun! You’re so good at guitar, Tadashi!” Hinata crowed as his boyfriend used his phone to turn down the speaker volume. They could get away with one or two loud songs, but Yamaguchi was always careful to avoid having their neighbors send in noise complaints to the leasing office.
“Yeah,” Yamaguchi agreed with a chuckle, “The other guys don’t know what they’re missing.” He groaned and peeled himself up off the floor, sitting up to look over at Hinata. “But we’d better stop slacking off and finish up cleaning before they get back. I’ll go wipe the kitchen counters real quick and bring back some water?”
Hinata whined, but obediently got up to grab his bottle of cleaner and washcloth. They were pretty close to done anyway and Tsukishima and Kageyama would be back soon so they could chill out for the rest of the day together.
The four boys had quickly worked out their Sunday schedule when they’d all moved in together about a year ago. With Kageyama and Hinata playing volleyball on their university’s team, and Yamaguchi and Tsukishima splitting three majors and five minors between the two of them at their school, they needed to follow a pretty strict routine to keep their lives from falling into madness.
They’d decided very early on that Kageyama and Hinata could not be in the apartment together while cleaning was going on. They got so caught up in competition with one another that nothing ended up getting cleaned very well and more things were at risk of being broken than being put away properly. Likewise, neither Hinata nor Yamaguchi could be trusted to do any of the grocery shopping, especially if they were together. They’d end up buying way more snack foods and sweets than anyone had any right to have in one apartment and forget all of the essentials.
So, they’d landed on their current Sunday arrangement. Tsukishima brought Kageyama along with him to the grocery store, not only to keep him out of the apartment, but because he could actually behave himself and was really helpful with finding sales and carrying groceries home. Yamaguchi and Hinata stayed home to do all the deep cleaning they didn’t have time for during the week and to get through all the laundry that piled up between the four of them. Yamaguchi was surprisingly good at directing Hinata’s boundless energy, so the arrangement worked well.
As long as everyone was caught up on their homework and had no exams to study for, they spent the rest of their day relaxing together on the couch. They watched movies, ordered food, and kissed and cuddled each other into oblivion. Hinata hummed happily as he scanned the room for what still needed cleaning, plotting how he would claim sitting in Tsukishima’s lap first–a position Kageyama defended viciously.
He cringed when he laid eyes on the ceiling fan, taking in how much dust had accumulated there. Usually Yamaguchi took care of things like wiping the tops of shelves, removing cobwebs from the tops of the walls, and all the other stuff that was harder for Hinata to reach. He must have let the fan slip his mind for quite a while though, judging by the thick layer of grime lining the edges of the blades.
Well, there was no need to bother Yamaguchi with it. Hinata could manage it himself. He wheeled over the spinning chair from in front of Yamaguchi’s computer desk and grabbed the duster from where the brunet had left it on the coffee table. It was wobbly work as the chair swiveled a bit beneath him, but he was careful to keep his weight centered so the chair wouldn’t slide away or tip out from underneath him.
With his focus glued to the horrifying amount of dust on the fan, Hinata didn’t notice Yamaguchi re enter the room until thin arms wrapped around his waist.
“Shouyou,” Yamaguchi whined, pressing kisses to his stomach, “Why are you being so naughty? Let me clean the tall stuff.”
Hinata’s heart flipped into his throat at his boyfriend’s gentle scolding, but he did his best to remain indignant.
“I’m fine!” He insisted, swiping the duster over the last blade that needed scrubbing, “You always have to do this stuff! I can do it every once in a while too.”
Yamaguchi wrinkled his nose and pouted up at him. As the freckles decorating his cheeks scrunched up Hinata found it drastically more difficult to remain firm.
“Sure, but standing on spinny chairs isn’t safe for cute little boyfriends,” Yamaguchi said matter-of-factly. He nuzzled into Hinata’s chest once more, holding him tight presumably to keep him from falling.
“Whatever, I do stuff like this all the time! I’m basically a professional.”
“Even professionals make mistakes,” Yamaguchi said, grinning cheekily at him. “Just wait until I tell our boyfriends how naughty you’ve been, they’ll definitely be on my–”
Cheeks flaming, Hinata squatted down and pressed his lips firmly to Yamaguchi’s to shut him up. The brunet made a quiet noise of surprise but didn’t pull away. Instead, he smiled into the kiss and pulled Hinata even closer, so that he was forced to step off the chair and wrap his legs around Yamaguchi’s waist.
“Mmm, my little guy is so sweet,” Yamaguchi purred, moving to kiss along Hinata’s jaw so they could catch their breath.
Hinata bristled at being called little, but before he could complain Yamaguchi playfully nipped at his ear. What a jerk, he knew exactly how to keep him quiet.
Hinata found he didn’t really mind, though.
He turned his head to draw Yamguchi into another kiss, much more heated than the last. The brunet sighed as he let Hinata push his tongue into his mouth and pull the tie out of his hair so he could tangle his fingers into Yamaguchi’s soft locks. Without breaking their kiss, Yamaguchi walked them carefully to the other side of the room. Rather than sitting on the couch like a normal person, he chose to be dramatic, pushing Hinata into the wall so he could focus on deepening their kiss.
Hinata gasped when Yamaguchi finally drew back long enough for him to breathe. The brunet didn’t slow down at all though, moving his hands down to cup Hinata’s ass. “No, Tadashi!” he whined as his boyfriend started sucking a bruise into the delicate skin at his collar.
Yamaguchi smirked as he pulled away for a moment. “Shhh, Shou,” he purred, “I want our boys to be nice and jealous when they see what I’ve done to you.”
Hinata felt the flush in his cheeks intensify and couldn’t hold back a little roll of his hips.
“But ‘Dashi,” he gasped as Yamaguchi leaned back in to keep working a hickey into his neck, “If they get jealous they’ll–”
A moan spilled past his lips as his mischievous boyfriend bit down deliciously over freshly bruised skin.
“They’ll what, Shou?” he whispered, bringing his face up to whisper into his ear.
Hinata’s hips bucked of their own accord into Yamaguchi’s abs as the brunet started nibbling and kissing his ear. He bit back another whimper. “They’ll need to make their own marks on me and then… Then the whole volleyball team, ah! The whole team is going to m-make fun of me!”
Yamaguchi made a little mocking sympathetic noise before pressing Hinata a little harder into the wall and locking lips with him once more. He kissed him deeply, stealing his breath away and snuffing out what little fight was left in him.
“I dunno,” Yamaguchi murmured, drawing back and grinning when he heard keys jingling outside their front door, “Sounds like a personal problem to me.”
☀
“Okay, it has to be around here somewhere. You go left and I’ll go right?”
Kageyama nodded and turned his back to Hinata, dutifully scanning the shelves. Hinata admired his boyfriend’s back for a few moments. They’d just finished their afternoon conditioning and hadn’t had time to change out of their practice clothes, so Kageyama was still in his sweat-soaked shirt. The thin material clung tight to his broad back, accentuating the gorgeous definition he seemed to achieve effortlessly.
He shook his head and turned toward the row opposite the one he’d sent Kageyama to. He couldn’t afford to get distracted, he needed to find that stupid book.
He and Kageyama had been scouring the stacks in the campus library for at least fifteen minutes, looking for a book Hinata needed for one of his classes. It was a freshman class that Hinata had been pushing off until the last minute, and the professor had assigned them a paper with research requirements designed specifically to help new students get used to the way the library worked. Unfortunately, both Hinata and Kageyama were too stubborn to ask for help, preferring to turn the search into a competition.
Hinata scoured the shelves, noticing at last that the books on the top shelf toward the middle of the row had numbers that were pretty close to the one he’d seen in the library catalog for his book. He scanned the shelf slowly, reading each title until… there it was! Excited to beat Kageyama and rub victory in his boyfriend’s face, Hinata jumped onto the bottom shelf without hesitation. The bookshelves in their school’s library were freakishly tall to support the massive collection, so if he had any hope of reaching his prize he was going to have to climb.
“Hey, it’s not–what do you think you’re doing, stupid!”
Hinata twisted to look over his shoulder as Kageyama came stomping toward him, an irritated scowl plastered on his face.
“What does it look like I’m doing, I found my book!” Hinata whisper-shouted. Really, Kageyama was so oblivious sometimes. He turned his attention back to the top shelf, adjusting his grip on the metal so he could pull himself up enough to grab it. Just as his fingers brushed the smooth plastic dust jacket covering the book’s spine, Kageyama’s long arms wrapped snugly around his chest and pulled him away from the shelves.
“What the heck, Tobio! I almost had it!”
Kageyama lightly boxed the side of his face, ignoring his protests. Instead, he grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath and pressed closer to Hinata’s back, reaching up and over him. With almost no effort the taller boy grabbed the book and plucked it from the shelf, only to bring it down and smack Hinata over the head.
“What was that for!” Hinata hissed, swiveling on his heel to glare up at his boyfriend.
“For you being a dumbass!” Kageyama said, pinching Hinata’s nose between two of his fingers. “You can’t just go climbing up library shelves like some freakish monkey!”
Hinata swatted at Kageyama’s hand until he released his nose, only to scowl deeper when Kageyama flicked his forehead. “Well what was I supposed to do, idiot!” He whined, punching at the taller boy’s chest. “It was too high up for me to reach!”
“Uh, I don’t know!” Kageyama said mockingly, “Maybe grab one of the three hundred stepstools laying all over the place? Ask me to grab it for you since you made me come with you anyway?”
“If I did either of those things I would have forgotten where I saw it!” Hinata huffed and buried his nose into Kageyama’s chest, ignoring the dampness of his shirt. “My way was fine,” he grumbled.
Kageyama took pity on him, pulling him in for a hug. “Dumbass,” he said fondly, “It was not. You could’ve, I dunno, pulled the shelf down on top of you or slipped and fallen or, like, gotten yelled at by a crazy librarian. Just ask for help next time.”
Hinata stifled the aggravated shriek that rose into his throat, clutching tightly at Kageyama’s shirt. He wanted to pitch a fit and remind his idiot boyfriend that just because he was short that didn’t mean he was helpless. But he didn’t really want to fight with his boyfriend in the middle of the school library. He took a few deep breaths and let his anger fizzle out.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “Let’s just check out and go catch the train.”
Kageyama hummed and ruffled Hinata’s hair, his own irritation gone as fast as it had arisen. “Sounds good to me,” he said, reaching down to take Hinata’s hand. “Tadashi texted me while we were at conditioning and said Kei is making dessert tonight. I’ll hold him down while you steal the batter?”
Hinata laughed as he imagined the look on Tsukishima’s face. The blond was a surprisingly good baker, but he couldn’t stand it when anyone stuck their fingers in his raw dough, claiming it tainted the end product. Unfortunately for him, none of his boyfriends could resist the siren song of sweet, gooey batter.
“Yeah, we can have Tadashi lure him out of the kitchen and then you can grab him. He won’t stand a chance!” Hinata distractedly handed his book and ID to the student working the check-out station as they made it to the front of the library.
Kageyama nodded thoughtfully while Hinata took his book and reminder slip for when it was due back. As they pushed open the doors to start walking toward the station his brow furrowed. “Wait, but if we piss him off then he won’t cuddle me after my shower.”
Hinata giggled and slapped his boyfriend’s back. Tsukishima had trained Kageyama into good behavior by rewarding him with snuggles and gentle back massages on the couch every night after he washed up. The blond claimed he was only doing what he had to do to make sure the idiot would actually practice good hygiene, but Hinata knew he looked forward to their little routine just as much as Kageyama did. After all, who could resist a warm, sleepy Kageyama crawling on top of them for quiet snuggles?
“Don’t worry about it! Even if he does get mad, isn’t it worth it for the sweet, sweet batter?” Hinata doubled over as his boyfriend only looked even more torn. “Hey! Cheer up! Tadashi and I can’t beat Kei without your help… And besides, I’m sure we could find a good way to reward you for your trouble...:”
Kageyama perked up a little at Hinata’s insinuation, his sweet look of intrigue so cute Hinata couldn’t help but squeeze his hand and squish close to his side as they walked. Kageyama was notoriously weak for promises of any kind of physical affection.
As he grabbed his phone to text Yamaguchi the details of their plan, all memory of the frustration Hinata had felt in the library evaporated.
☀
Hinata planted his hands on his hips and hummed as he scanned the kitchen, trying to think of where Yamaguchi would have put their fun mugs. He’d checked the pantry, the cabinet with their cups, the cabinet with their plates, and he’d even looked behind their big soup pot. It wasn’t like the mugs were easy to miss: a bright yellow long-necked dinosaur mug for Tsukishima, a volleyball with arms for Kageyama, a really fat sloth for Yamaguchi, and his own shark wearing sunglasses and biting a surfboard.
He let out a quiet exclamation when he spotted the small cupboards over the refrigerator. They had to be in there!
Excited that his plan to make hot chocolate for his boyfriends hadn’t been foiled just yet, Hinata scrambled up onto the counter next to the fridge. The angle was a little awkward since he had to half-crouch to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling and lean back a bit to get around the big cabinets floating over the counter, but he managed to pull open the little doors.
Lo and behold, there they were!
Humming a pleased little song to himself, Hinata started pulling the mugs out of the cabinet and placing them on top of the fridge. As he was grabbing the last one, he heard the familiar click of Tsukishima’s tongue behind him. Before he could shoo his boyfriend from the kitchen so the hot chocolate surprise wasn’t ruined, large hands curled under his arms. He yelped as Tsukishima lifted him off the counter and set him lightly on his feet.
“Down, boy,” Tsukishima said, wearing his signature smirk as he ruffled Hinata’s hair.
Pent up aggression Hinata hadn’t even realized he’d been harboring bubbled up thick and ugly in his chest. He smacked Tsukishima’s hand away. “Do not talk to me like that!” he hissed, fighting back angry tears. He shoved a very startled Tsukishima away and stomped toward the living room.
Kageyama and Yamaguchi looked up from where they sat cuddling on the couch, confused no doubt by whatever weird expression he had on his face. Without saying a word, he squeezed himself between his boyfriends, tucking himself aggressively under Kageyama’s arm to hide his face in the larger boy’s side.
“Shou?” Yamaguchi asked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, “What’s going on?”
Kageyama held him close and twisted as Tsukishima walked into the room. “What did you do to him?” He barked at the blond. Hinata almost punched him in the side–he hated that Kageyama yelled whenever he was scared. He also hated that Kageyama was scared.
“I don’t know!” Tsukishima said, voice high and confused. Hinata heard the coffee table squeak as his tallest boyfriend sat down on it so he could face the couch. “Shouyou, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“What did you say?” Yamaguchi asked, voice low and accusatory.
“It’s not about what he said!” Hinata cried, pressing his face even harder into Kageyama’s side. He let out a loud, frustrated whine, keeping his mouth clamped shut so it wouldn’t turn into a shriek.
He felt Kageyama tense, but before his boyfriend could say anything Yamaguchi interrupted.
“Hey, hold on a minute,” he said, voice low and placating. “Let’s all take some deep breaths, yeah? I’m sure Shouyou will tell us what’s bothering him in a little bit. Let him breathe for a minute.”
Without pulling away from Kageyama, Hinata reached up to grab Yamaguchi’s hand. He cradled it to his chest and squeezed, grateful his boyfriend knew what he needed. He might be really upset, but he didn’t want to yell at his boyfriends–not when it wasn’t for fun over something stupid.
He took deep, slow breaths and counted backwards from fifty. He lost count a few times and had to start over, but by the time he made it to zero he didn’t feel like screaming anymore. He let out a long sigh and pushed himself off of Kageyama, keeping a tight hold on Yamaguchi’s hand.
He turned to Tsukishima first. “I’m really sorry I snapped at you,” he sighed, reaching out for his boyfriend’s hand. Tsukishima gladly wrapped their fingers together and leaned down so he could press a soft kiss to the back of Hinata’s hand.
“And I’m really sorry I upset you,” he whispered.
“It’s not–” Hinata paused and squeezed the two hands he was holding, wishing he had a third hand to hold Kageyama. “You didn’t really do anything wrong, I guess. I just… I feel like all of you treat me like a little kid who can’t look after himself.”
Tsukishima frowned. Yamaguchi leaned in to kiss his cheek, making a sympathetic noise. Kageyama looked nervous and confused, but Hinata knew he was doing his best.
“What makes you feel that way?” Tsukishima asked.
“I mean… I don’t know! You’re all a lot taller than me so I mean I get why you’re always grabbing stuff for me or whatever, but sometimes I feel like you think… less of me. Cause I’m small.” His voice had fallen to barely a whisper by the end of his confession, but all three of his boyfriends heard him.
“Oh, love,” Yamaguchi cooed, nuzzling into the back of his neck. “I’m sorry we made you feel that way. We love you so, so much and we don’t ever want to hurt your feelings.”
Hinata whined and threw his hands in the air. “I know you don’t, but sometimes I just feel like you don’t let me do things by myself. I’ve been short my whole life, I know how to deal with it! I know how to like, not fall down when I need to climb on things!”
“So we should… let you climb on stuff?” Kageyama asked.
Hinata couldn’t help but laugh and gently punch his boyfriend’s shoulder. “That’s not the point, idiot! I just mean…” He gestured wildly, searching for the right words. “Like, you guys don’t always have to feel like you need to do stuff for me or whatever! And sometimes I just want to do stuff on my own!”
He turned his attention back to Tsukishima. “Like, just now in the kitchen. I wanted to surprise you jerks with hot chocolate and I needed to climb onto the counter to get the mugs I wanted to use. You didn’t need to rescue me or whatever, I was fine!”
Tsukishima looked a little sheepish, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry for ruining your surprise,” he said quietly, “But when I saw you up on the counter I got nervous. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
Hinata’s heart swelled up to at least twice its normal size. “I know, I know! But that’s what I mean when like… I feel like you don’t trust me or whatever.”
“Shouyou,” Yamaguchi crooned, pulling him in for a hug. “We do trust you! But we’re still gonna worry about you when you’re climbing up on stuff. I know you can handle yourself and I know you probably won’t fall,” he said, gently poking Hinata in the ribs, “But I can’t help it. I’m just a big baby I guess.”
Tsukishima laughed and kicked at Yamaguchi’s shin. “You can say that again,” he chuckled.
Hinata laughed too and took another deep breath. “Anyway, whatever. I know it’s pretty stupid but it’s just been bothering me a lot lately I guess. Sorry. I shouldn’t get so mad about it.”
Yamaguchi frowned. “You’re allowed to have feelings, Shouyou. If it makes you angry it makes you angry, you know?”
Tsukishima smiled and leaned in to kiss Hinata’s cheek. “We only worry about you because we love you so very much,” he purred.
“Yeah,” Kageyama added, “And it feels nice… To help you with stuff. I didn’t know it hurt your feelings.”
“How about this?” Yamaguchi suggested, snuggling closer so Hinata was squished even more tightly between him and Kageyama. “Since it’s easy and we like to help our sweet little boyfriend, we’ll keep helping you grab stuff you need… But if you’re in the middle of doing something yourself we’ll do our best to ask permission to help you before we just jump in and do it. Okay?”
Hinata pursed his lips to think, but was quick to nod in agreement. That seemed fair enough.
“Good,” Tsukishima said. “But I will say I’m absolutely not negotiating on picking you up whenever I want. I will one hundred percent fight you on that please don’t take that away from me.”
“Yeah, me too,” Kageyama agreed, a pout turning down the corners of his mouth.
Hinata laughed, his heart feeling much lighter. “I don’t care about that!” He cried, “I mean, I don’t mind being the smallest. You guys make me feel safe… And I like it when you hug me or pick me up or whatever… I just don’t want you to treat me like a kid or anything.”
Tsukishima and Kageyama both looked so relieved, tension rolling off their shoulders, that Hinata couldn’t stop giggling.
“We can do that,” Yamaguchi assured him, kissing the top of his head. “Now… Didn’t you mention something about making us hot chocolate?”
Hinata grinned and hopped up off the couch. “Yes!” He furrowed his brow and looked carefully at each one of them. “But, you have to promise to pretend to be surprised!”
All three of his boyfriends nodded and crossed their hearts. Hinata beamed and kissed each one of them, lingering on their lips a little longer than he normally would to make it clear he was no longer upset. Then he turned on his heel to head back into the kitchen. When he reached the doorway he paused, then twisted to look back over his shoulder.
“Kei?” He called softly.
“Yes?”
“Can you help me get the mugs off the top of the fridge?”
Tsukishima looked absolutely delighted, immediately getting up to follow Hinata. “It would be my genuine pleasure,” he said, wrapping an arm around his waist.
Hinata grinned up at him and nuzzled into his side. “Thanks!” he cried, skipping ahead. He stopped in front of the fridge and turned to fix Tsukishima with a very serious look.
“But then you have to leave, ‘cause it’s a surprise!”