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Hinata doesn’t understand. They had been dating for a little under a year, and then out of nowhere, Kageyama broke up with him. He tries to understand why Kageyama would want to leave him, but comes up with nothing. He locks himself in his dorm, which he luckily has to himself, and stays there for roughly three days without going to any of his classes, eating nothing but energy bars and drinking nothing but room temperature gatorade, until Yamaguchi and Tsukishima show up to drag him back into the word of the living.
“Come on, Shouyou,” Yamaguchi says, “You can’t stay in here forever.”
Tsukishima wrinkles his nose, “Have you been wearing the same clothes for three days?”
“Of course not!” Hinata snaps, pulling his quilt up over his head, “leave me alone!”
“Shouyou,” Yamaguchi says gently, “I know that you’re upset, and you’re allowed to feel that way, but you can’t stay stuffed up in your room like this.”
There’s a muffled snuffle from under the quilt.
“Okay, fuck it,” Tsukishima says, ripping the blanket away from Hinata, “get up.”
Hinata curls in on himself and says nothing.
Tsukishima grumbles to himself before slipping his hands under Hinata and hefting him into his arms, preparing to carry him bridal style.
Hinata glares at him and pulls the hood of one of Kageyama’s old hoodies over his face.
Yamaguchi grabs some miscellaneous things from Hinata’s dorm as Tsukishima carries him out into the hallway and down one flight of stairs. He takes him out of the building, and shoves him unceremoniously into the back seat of he and Yamaguchi’s car.
He is taken to their house, where Yamaguchi persuades him to take a hot shower, change into different clothes, and eat a substantial meal (I mean, the meal is just microwave lasagna, but it’s better than what Hinata has been eating before).
“So,” Yamaguchi says quietly. They’re in the kitchen and Hinata is crying softly into his lasagna, “Tobio broke up with you.”
Hinata nods and doesn’t say anything.
Yamaguchi hums to himself and slouches so that he can see Hinata’s face.
“Do you want to go out with me the day after tomorrow?” Yamaguchi asks.
Hinata looks up, “And do what?”
“See a local band,” Yamaguchi says, “they’re really good!”
Hinata closes his eyes and breathes deeply, thinking for a moment, “Okay. I’ll go.”
Yamaguchi lights up, “That’s awesome!”
Hinata really would like to sit around and feel bad for himself, but he knows that Yamaguchi really wants him to feel better, so he’s willing to try. For Yamaguchi’s sake, if not his own.
The next day, Hinata has class. Something that he has been missing for the last few days.
“Hinata,” Tsukishima says stoically, “You need… to go to class.”
Hinata huffs and turns away from him, “No.”
Yamaguchi had a early morning class, so he is already gone.
“You know what?” Tsukishima says, “I’ll call Kageyama right now .”
“No!” Hinata shrieks, whirling around to face a smirking Tsukishima, “That wasn’t nice!”
“You need to go to class,” Tsukishima reiterates.
“Fine!” Hinata says grumpily, grabbing a pair of his jeans and cramming his legs into him. He’s wearing a shirt with a cartoon bird on it, but you can’t see it, as he’s wearing a large university hoodie over it.
The class Hinata is headed to is Introductory Astrophysics, which is pretty exciting if you as him.
He gets there just shy of late, and clambers into his usual seat. This class only meets once a week (as do most college classes) so he hasn’t missed anything.
Several (most) of his classmates have him for other courses as well as this one, so they have noticed his absence throughout the last few days.
“Hinata!” a classmate whispers to him, “Where have you been?”
“Bad few days,” Hinata mumbles, then giving a feeble apology. The unnamed classmate seems sated.
Hinata doesn’t pay much attention, scribbling notes and doodling sad faces on lined paper until class is over. He definitely doesn't think about Kageyama.
Hinata spends this class period much like he did his last, doodling and letting his mind wander. Luckily, it’s over fairly quickly. He walks back to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s house (Tsukishima had told him that the walk would be good for him, and they don’t live that far away from the campus anyway).
When he gets there, Yamaguchi is not back, but Tsukishima (he does not have classes; he is taking a gap year) is sitting on the couch, reading a book that looks like it’s written in English.
Hinata sits on the other end of the couch. There is silence between them, which continues to get more and more awkward, even though Tsukishima is busy reading a book.
“Why are you majoring in Astronomy?” Tsukishima asks. He knows that Hinata likes to talk about this, and the boy is sad. As much as Tsukishima dislikes him, he isn’t just going to let Hinata sit on his couch and spill his sad emotions on it.
Hinata looks up, eyes sparkling, all thoughts of Kageyama forgotten in that moment “Why wouldn’t anyone major in Astronomy!? Space is all like… HUGE!!! And all… GWAAH!!! It’s super cool!!!”
Tsukishima offers Hinata a small smile before looking back down at his book. Hinata sighs exaggeratedly and scoots down until he’s in a lying position, legs somewhat resting on top of Tsukishima. Tsukishima, who is having a good day, glances up and does literally nothing before continuing to read.
Eventually Hinata falls asleep, and stays asleep until Yamaguchi gets back. Hinata’s eyes flutter open at the sound of the opening and closing door.
Yamaguchi walks through the door and smiles at Hinata, setting down a bag of groceries in the kitchen before walking up to the couch and kissing Tsukishima on the forehead.
“Adorable,” Hinata whispers to himself.
It turns out that Tsukishima is a very good cook, and he makes Katsudon, which is something that Yamaguchi particularly likes, and that Hinata has (surprisingly) never tried. Though, after one bite, HInata realizes what he’s been missing.
“It’s so good ,” he exclaims around a mouthful of pork.
“I know,” Tsukishima says solemnly, “I know.”
“It’s amazing, as always,” Yamaguchi says fondly, his head tilted and resting on his hand.
Hinata eats all of it very quickly while Yamaguchi takes his time.
The three of them sit on the couch after they eat, and Hinata and Yamaguchi play Super Smash Bros.
“I’ll be Luigi!” Yamaguchi says as the character selection screen loads.
“Luigi is so lame! Toon Link is the best!” Hinata exclaims, selecting his character.
“How is Toon Link less lame than Luigi?” Tsukishima asks. He is preoccupied with his phone, and he isn’t very into video games anyway.
“Luigi is the lamest character!!” Hinata argues, “Everyone knows that!”
“Tsukki’s favorite character is the Wii Fit Trainer,” Yamaguchi says, starting the game.
“ HOW is the Wii Fit Trainer any less lame -” Hinata is cut short as the game loads.
They play a few games before Hinata starts to get tired (didn’t he sleep all afternoon) and goes to bed in the spare room.
He lays in bed, staring at the ceiling for a good three minutes before his lower lip begins to tremble. He had been having such a good time, and then his brain decides it’s a good time to think about Kageyama. Hinata pulls the blanket up over his head and leaves it there for a few seconds while silent tears prick at his eyes, before his face gets warm and he has to pull it back down. He doesn’t want to think about Kageyama! He had had a perfectly good day, and he’s going to have a perfectly good day tomorrow, and he’ll never think about Kageyama again. Wow, what a great idea.
Hinata screws his eyes shut.
Why did Kageyama leave him? What did he do wrong ?
Is he too talkative?
Is he embarassing?
Is he tiring?
Is he boring ?
Is he… is he… is he…
The next day, Hinata doesn’t have any classes, and neither does Yamaguchi so they lay low until it’s time to head out and go to the concert venue. The band they’re seeing is performing alongside a few others that night.
Their car ride isn’t very long, and Yamaguchi drives as they listen to early 2000’s American Pop, which Tsukishima can understand most of, Yamaguchi can understand some of, and Hinata can understand none of.
When they get to the venue Tsukishima pays for them and they get their hands stamped.
The room that they are in is dark and stuffy, and Hinata feels a little like he’s being suffocated. The room isn’t quite full, and the band that is playing currently isn’t that good.
“This isn’t the band we’re here for,” Yamaguchi whispers yells, “They’ll be on in a few minutes.”
They listen as the current band finishes their song and the lights dim. It gives the room a void sort of feeling, and Hinata only has to wait for a few seconds before the lights switch back on the stage, revealing a tall man with a dark bedhead and an electric six string guitar.
“Hello, everyone!” He calls out to the audience, “You all know me, and my band, Nekoma,” he pauses for loud applause from a few people, “I hope you’re all happy to be here! Tsukki, find me after the show, I owe you a kiss.”
And with that, the band begins to play.
“Is he talking to you?” Hinata stage whispers to Tsukishima, then glancing at Yamaguchi, who seems unaffected.
Tsukishima doesn’t answer, so Hinata redirects his attention to the stage. There are four members of the band. Someone on a drumset, a… keytar , a bass guitarist, and of course bedhead guy, who appears to be on lead vocals.
Bedhead clears his throat into the microphone and a starting pitch is played. He starts to sing.
Hinata recognizes the tune as something that Kageyama had listened to a few times. He thinks about how he’s thinking about Kageyama. He thinks about how Kageyama broke up with him. Scrunching up his nose, he lets himself take in the details of the band members.
His eyes are immediately drawn to the bass guitarist. He’s beautiful, for lack of a better descriptor. His hair flows freely past his shoulders, and judging from the roots, it was dyed blond a while ago. He looks lethargic, tired and apathetic, and his eyes are the color of what stars would be if they were melted down. His pupils are striking and cat-like, and Hinata feels himself shiver as his eyes wash over him.
Their eyes meet, and Hinata holds his breath. It’s kind of intense, to be honest. The look the bassist gives him holds only a tiny amount of emotion, if any; but it’s a prolonged glance, and Hinata takes this opportunity to stare deep into his eyes. He feels like he’s going to fall into them.
The longer he looks into his eyes, the more emotion seems to be seeping into them. He can tell that the bassist is sleepy, there’s some kind of far away look in his eyes now, though they are still somewhat connected with Hinata’s. He also seems kind of… nevermind. Hinata can’t tell what he’s feeling anymore, because he has broken eye contact. It’s disappointing, to be honest. Hinata was enjoying his eyes. Whatever that means.
He thinks about Kageyama’s eyes.
He stops thinking about Kageyama’s eyes.
Nekoma’s performance is over before Hinata knows it, and Tsukishima takes them to where the band is allegedly hanging out. When they get there, it is no longer alleged. Hinata sees all four of them sitting on a bench outside of the venue as they walk outside.
Bedhead sees them and stands up as they approach grins, “Ah, Tsukki! I’m glad you decided to take me up on my offer.”
He kisses Tsukishima lightly on the cheek and Yamaguchi smiles at him good naturedly.
“Hi, Tetsuro,” he says, and Bedhead pulls him into a hug, which is evidently wasn’t expecting.
“Nice to see you, Tadashi!” Bedhead drawls, then turning to Hinata, “and who may this be?”
“I’m Hinata Shouyou,” Hinata says heartily.
“Kuroo Tetsuro,” Kuroo says, then ruffling Hinata’s hair.
Hinata huffs, but doesn’t say anything.
Kuroo is about to begin talking to Tsukishima again, before he snaps his fingers, “Where are my manners? There are my bandmates.”
The three others on the bench look up at him. There’s the bassist of course, and also the percussionist and the… keytarist.
The keytarist stands up and sticks out his hand for Hinata to shake, which he does, “I’m Lev Haiba!” he declares, smiling genuinely before hugging Hinata, which Hinata was definitely not expecting. He makes an indignant squeak as the air is crushed out of him.
“Let go of him!” The percussionist hisses, giving Lev a sharp look, “I’m Yaku Morisuke.”
“Nice to meet you!” Hinata exclaims.
This leaves the bassist. He sits there, saying nothing for a few seconds before he registers that he’s supposed to be saying something, “Oh,” he apologizes, “I’m Kenma Kozume.”
Hinata grins at him blindingly and shakes his hand (even though it was resting in his lap and he had made no effort to extend it), which seems to surprise Kenma.
By now, Kuroo is deep in conversation with Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi has moved over as to be part of the everyone who is not either Kuroo or Tsukishima club.
“Oh!” Lev shouts, “Yamaguchi! It’s nice to see you! Also guess what!”
Yamaguchi hums at him, “what?”
Lev grins and his voice gets quieter, “I have a boyfriend.”
Yaku’s face turns red, “I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone!”
Yamaguchi’s face lifts, “That’s awesome! I wonder who it is…”
Lev rolls his eyes, “It’s Yaku, duh .”
“We haven’t told Kuroo yet,” Yaku grumbles, “And now Kenma knows. Kuroo is going to be annoyed that we told him last.”
Kenma makes a noncommittal noise and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Yaku and Lev begin to converse with Yamaguchi, so Hinata takes a few tentative steps towards Kenma, who looks up at him when his shadow casts over him.
“Hello,” Kenma says, “you were watching me during the concert.”
Hinata doesn’t have anything but he stutters out a strand of non specific vowels and consonants anyway.
Kenma blinks at him.
“Uh-h, yeah!” Hinata exclaims, “you were really good? You were! You were really good… You looked super into it and I’ve never seen a bass guitar in real life before! So yeah that was super cool! And also your hair looks like? Pretty cool? Uh- you were good? Yeah.”
Kenma blinks again as Hinata blushes nervously.
“Thank you,” Kenma says carefully, “do you want to see my bass up close sometime?”
Hinata gasps loudly, “Really?”
“Of course,” Kenma says, putting his phone into Hinata’s unsuspecting hands. Hinata feels like he’s been handed the other boy’s soul, “put your number into it.”
Hinata hastily types in hin number and creates a new contact, naming himself ‘shouyou’ with a sun emoji after it.
He hands the phone back to Kenma, and he almost immediately feels his own phone buzz in his back pocket.
unknown number: hello shouyou
He adds Kenma’s number to his contacts before texting him back.
shouyou: hi kenma!!! :D
kenma (o´▽`o): thanks for your number
“You’re welcome!” Hinata says, grinning loudly. Can you grin loudly? Hinata can.
“Okay, Hinata, we’re ready to go,” Yamaguchi says.
Hinata gives Kenma an apologetic look, “Okay, Kenma! Bye!”
Hinata seems Kenma wave at him softly before he turns his head and walks after Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.
They’re silent in the car for all of thirty seconds before Hinata begins to chatter.
“So!” He says, “how do you know them?”
“I played with him at an orchestra festival when I was in high school… he kind of stuck to me… like a leech… have I mentioned I hate him,” Tsukishima says in a monotone voice.
“Don’t be so rude, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi says. There is no real bite to his words.
“What did he play?!!” Hinata asks, “was Kenma there too?”
“He played trombone, which is an asshole instrument, second only to the trumpets,” Tsukishima says, “Kenma played first violin. Or, at least he did the first time I saw him at a festival.”
“He can play more than one instrument?!” Hinata asks excitedly.
“I think he can play double bass,” Tsukishima says, then, as an afterthought, “though, I don’t think anyone in their right mind would willingly learn to play a double bass.”
Hinata is frothing with excitement, “Aren’t those like… like the really, really big ones?!?!”
“No,” Tsukishima says flatly, “obviously not.”
Hinata is not deterred.
Yamaguchi snorts, “Tsukki! You’re being really salty tonight!”
Hinata mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like ‘french-fry’ as a half thought. He’s thinking about Kenma playing violin. Kenma playing the double bass.
Hinata was in band when he was in school. He played the trumpet, albeit he wasn’t very good. What matters is that he tried his hardest and that he wasn’t the worst person in the band. He actually sounded pretty good when he listened to Kageyama and turned himself… himself…
Kageyama.
Hinata rests his head on the window and gets a mild concussion.
They’re back at the house fairly quickly, and Tsukishima wanders off, leaving Yamaguchi and Hinata in the main room.
“Do you want to go back to your dorm tonight?” Yamaguchi asks.
Hinata sighs dramatically, “I guess .”
Yamaguchi nods, and stares at Hinata.
“What,” Hinata says.
“Well, I’m not going to get you stuff for you,” Yamaguchi says, and Hinata makes an ‘ooh’ noise.
He rushes into the guest bedroom, hastily shoving all of his things into his duffel bag before zipping it up haphazardly.
Yamaguchi let’s Hinata have the AUX cord, and they end up listening to the one song that Hinata knows in english.
(It’s All Star by Smash Mouth.)
Hinata unlocks the door to his dorm and waves Yamaguchi away. Out of the side of his eye, he sees Kageyama’s firey aura. He ignores it, bustling into his dorm room and shutting the door quietly behind him.
There’s shuffling outside of his door, and a melancholy mumble of ‘dumbass’. Then, Kageyama walks away. Hinata is bitter, and doesn’t plan on talking to Kageyama anytime soon.
He puts the duffel bag down and reaches for his phone.
He has a few new messages from Kageyama that he hasn’t read.
kageyama (broken heart emoji): where are you???
kageyama (broken heart emoji): ???
kageyama (broken heart emoji): i’m sorry hinata.
kageyama (broken heart emoji): please talk to me. you’re not at your dorm and i’m worried.
He ignores them.
kenma (o´▽`o): hi, shouyou. do you want to hang out sometime soon?
At first, he wonders if Kenma is asking him out on a date before he remembers that he has asked Kenma to show him the bass guitar up close, and that is presumably what they would be doing.
shouyou: whenever u want!!!! we can go out for coffee 2 if u want?????
He gets a reply almost instantly, but is disappointed.
kenma (o´▽`o): no, thank you. how is three on the day after tomorrow?
Hinata agrees, and texts Kenma his dorm number so that he can pick Hinata up. Now, it’s time to sleep. Sleeping. Hinata toes off his shoes and shimmies out of his jeans before flopping onto his bed and burying his head into his pillow. He only thinks about Kageyama a little bit before he falls into a sleep that probably isn’t the most peaceful one he’s ever had.
He wakes up in the morning to his phone alarm.
“No,” he says to the alarm, “stop that.”
The alarm, being non sentient and all, doesn’t comply. Hinata prys his eyes open and looks around dazedly. His phone is laying on the phone halfway across the room. He stares at it, hand. Willing it to stop beeping. It keeps beeping.
With a groan, Hinata bumbles out of bed and swipes his phone off of the ground.
Hinata has a few classes today, one of which is Introduction to Astronomy, a class that he will not be getting any credit for, but he decided to take anyway. There are a few non astronomy majors in the class, as well as people who are majoring and minoring in it. Today they’re talking about the farthest known galaxies. Hinata is still pretty tired, and dreams his way through the class.
He also has a Japanese Language Arts class, conveniently slotted right after ASTR 100. Kageyama is also in his Language Arts class. He thinks about going to class. He thinks about seeing Kageyama.
In the end, he decides that he is bitter, and that he will not be attending Language Arts today. Instead, he goes back to his dorm.
When back in said dorm, he finds himself with nothing to do.
He lays in bed fully clothed for a few minutes before he pulls out his phone and texts… who should he text? Yamaguchi and Tsukishima would disapprove if they knew he was skipping class, and he can’t text Kageyama… He doesn’t really have a lot of other friends. Of course, there are some upperclassmen that he knows, but he doesn’t know them well enough to just randomly text them in the middle of the day. He decides to text Kenma.
shouyou: hi kenma!!!!!!!!!!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): hello, shouyou.
shouyou: i was bored so i decided i would say hi!!!!! so hi!!! whats up!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): i’m just at home. i live with kuroo, and his friend is here. he’s very loud so i’m just hiding in my room.
Hinata glared at his phone. This conversation feels super awkward, and Hinata doesn’t know how to make it not awkward. He wants to be Kenma’s friend , but he doesn’t know him at all yet.
shouyou: ok im gonna b super blunt here!!!!!!!!!!! i wanna b ur friend but i dont know how!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): okay. we can be friends.
kenma (o´▽`o): see, that’s all there is to it. we’re friends now.
shouyou: that isnt how it worksss kenma!!! i dont know you at all!!! tell me about your self!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): alright… what do you want to know?
shouyou: i dont know!!!!!! are you in college? what are you majoring in?!
kenma (o´▽`o): yes. i’m majoring in fine arts.
shouyou: ????
kenma (o´▽`o): fine arts are things like architecture and photography. sometimes graphic design. i’m only really taking basic classes right now, but i’m going to be doing mostly photography and and maybe painting next semester.
shouyou: ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
shouyou: THAT’s SO COOL???????
kenma (o´▽`o): thank you. you’re also in college, i assume?
shouyou: yes!!!!!!!! im majoring in astronomy!!!!!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): that seems like it would be hard. you have to learn astrophysics.
shouyou: it’s super exciting!!!!!!!! i really like it!!!!!!!! tbh, it;s not that hard????
kenma (o´▽`o): if you says so.
shouyou: fjkshfksdj
kenma (o´▽`o): ?
shouyou: this is so awkward!!!! we’re talking so stiffly!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): that’s because we barely know each other.
kenma (o´▽`o): i have to got for now, but we can talk tomorrow.
kenma (o´▽`o): bye
shouyou: bye kenma!!!!!
Hinata puts his phone down and sighs dramatically. What to do now…
Suddenly, there’s insistent knocking at his door. He cracks it open, and reveals a ruffled looking Goshiki Tsutomo standing in the hallway.
“Hinata!” he exclaims, “I brought you notes from today! Kageyama was going to but the he asked me to? I don’t know why he wouldn’t want to see you…”
“We broke up,” Hinata tells him, taking the papers from his hand and shutting the door.
“What?!” Goshiki yells, “you two were so… so???”
Hinata frowns, and then opens the door again, “Why do you think he would break up with me?”
Goshiki shakes his head so fast Hinata thinks it could rip off, “You two looked like you were doing really good together! If you want, I’ll ask him about it?”
Hinata sighs, “No. Thanks though, Goshiki.”
Goshiki smiles happily before turning and walking down the hallway.
Hinata looks at the notes and narrows his eyes. He doesn’t want to look over notes.
In a moment of genius, he decides to facetime Yachi, who is studying language in America. He hasn’t talked to her in a while, and he knows that she doesn’t have classes today, so this is the… perfect plan.
He pulls out his laptop and opens skype, calling her contact. It’s ‘1000 happy bees’ at the moment.
After a few rings, a blurry image of her face appears on the face, beginning to render after an a few seconds.
She grins at him blindingly, before she begins to chatter away in what Hinata recognizes as English.
“Woah, woah!” Hinata exclaims, “I don’t know English!!”
Yachi looks at him in confusion before realization dawns on her, and she blushes madly, “sorry, Shouyou,” she says in English, “I’m used to it now that I’m living here.”
Hinata shakes his head, “It’s totally fine!! What are you up to??”
Yachi tells him that she’s been having a very nice time in America, and that it’s very different from Japan. Hinata nods along, a happy feeling growing in his stomach. It’s nice to talk to Yachi.
“So,” Yachi says after a while, “how is Tobio?”
Hinata’s face falls instantly, and he covers it with his hands.
He hears a distressed noise come from Yachi, and looks back up, “he broke up with me.”
Yachi looks surprised, though, not as surprised as Goshiki had been.
“Are you doing okay?” she asks.
Hinata sighs, “I mean, I guess . He didn’t give me any explanation or anything. It was over text, too.”
Yachi nods in horror.
“I want to know what I did wrong?” Hinata explains, “I don’t get why he left me…”
Yachi frowns deeply, “I don’t feel like you did anything wrong. Have you talked to him about it?”
“No,” Hinata admits, “I’m bitter.”
They talk for another half an hour before Yachi bids him goodbye, and Hinata is lying alone in his room again. It’s the afternoon now, and Hinata has literally nothing to do. He shoves his face into his pillow and gorans.
After a few minutes of staring up at his ceiling and thinking of all the things he’s ever done wrong in his life, there’s a ringing from his phone. He picks it up without looking at the caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Shouyou!” It’s Yamaguchi.
“Hi, Tadashi,” Hinata says, sitting up in bed.
“You’re going on a date with Kenma?” Yamaguchi asks worriedly, “Is this some sort of rebound?”
“It’s not a date!” Hinata denies, “he’s showing me his bass guitar! You know, I asked him out for coffee, but he said no so it’s definitely not a date.”
“You asked him out?” Yamaguchi asks, then sighing, “Hinata, it’s too soon after Tobio broke up with you to go chasing after other people.”
Hinata grumbles to himself, “You’re not my mom.”
Yamaguchi makes a frustrated noise, “Shouyou, wait a little while to start dating someone else, okay?”
“Okay,” Hinata relents, making an unpleasant face.
“ Thank you,” Yamaguchi says, “I just don’t want you to rush into anything, Shouyou. You’re still upset about Tobio.”
“Okay,” Shouyou says softly, “fine.”
It’s then next day before Hinata knows it, and Kenma is at his dorm around three in the afternoon.
“Hi, Kenma!” Hinata says, pulling on a light weight coat and stepping out of his dorm.
“Hi, Shouyou,” Kenma says, “it’s not that far of a drive to my place. Maybe 30 minutes.”
“30?!” Hinata exclaims, “That’s super far!”
Kenma shakes his head, smiling softly at Hinata.
Kenma has a older car, but it’s in very good condition.
“Lev likes to clean it,” Kenma says, “if it wasn’t for him, this car would be a piece of junk.”
They get to his house after 45 minutes, ‘much longer’ than Hinata had anticipated.
The house is small and there is some paint peeling on the sides, but it looks like a home, and Hinata is excited to go inside.
“Kuroo is out today, so we’re alone,” Kenma says, “my room is down the hall.”
Kenma’s room is… messy. Hinata hadn’t expected it, to be honest, but it’s obvious that Kenma had at least tried to clean before Hinata had come over, and Hinata was grateful that he had thought of him.
There are three instrument cases leaning against the wall, and Hinata knows that they are Kenma’s bass guitar, double bass, and violin.
Kenma walked over to the cases and picks the one that is obviously his guitar, lying it on his bed. Hinata watches with rapt attention as Kenma unzips it, revealing the hot pink bass. Now that he’s up close, Hinata can see that there are tiny cat designs on it.
“It’s adorable!” Hinata exclaims, reaching for it, and then stopping himself, “can I touch it?”
Kenma puts the electric bass into Hinata’s arms, and invites him to sit on his sloppily made bed.
Hinata does so very excitedly, and holds the bass in the way that he has seen many other people hold six string guitars. Kenma says nothing, so this must be correct.
Hinata inhales deeply, and strums the guitar, eyes widening when it makes no noise.
“Kenma!” Hinata exclaims, looking down at the instrument in horror, “I broke it!”
Kenma smiles and shakes his head, handing Hinata a guitar pick and plugging the bass into a small amp.
“Now try,” Kenma offers, and Hinata does.
“Uwa!!” Hinata exclaims, “you fixed it!”
“You never broke it, Hinata,” Kenma explains, “you were just… playing it wrong.”
“That’s a relief!” Hinata exclaims.
Kenma takes the guitar from Hinata and sits next to him on the bed, playing a few notes. It’s a tune that Hinata recognize, but doesn’t know the name of.
“You’re so talented, Kenma,” Hinata swoons.
“That was… the literal easiest thing to play on a guitar,” Kenma says.
“Yeah, well like, in general! You sounded really good at the concert!” Hinata says in explanation.
Kenma nods, his hands ghosting over the strings, playing silent chords, “Anyway, here’s Wonderwall,” he says.
Hinata’s eyes grow wide and he lets out a breathless shout of a laugh, “You know that meme?!”
Kenma gives him a tiny smile, “Of course.”
“Okay, okay,” Hinata grins, “what’s your favorite meme.”
“That’s a tough one,” Kenma laments, staring at his wall.
“Mine is the randy your sticks one,” Hinata says, then thinking about the meme and laughing wildly, “you know that meme? That’s the best meme.”
Kenma shakes his head, “I don’t know about that…”
“Name one meme that’s better than that one,” Hinata challenges him.
“The crave that mineral meme,” Kenma says after a long pause.
“NOOO,” Hinata exclaims, “ no .”
“I liked that meme,” Kenma says, “we should bring it back.”
“No,” Hinata says, “dead memes should stay dead.”
Kenma shrugs, “How about… left shark.”
“Stop it!” Hinata wails, covering his ears, but there’s a wide smile on his face.
After a few more minutes of ‘memeing’ the two of them settled down.
“Do you have a tumblr?” Hinata asks.
Kenma looks at him with his eyes, “of course.”
Hinata whips out his phone, “my URL is shouyolk. Like, it’s an egg pun! Pretty sweet, right?”
Kenma nods, and a few seconds later, Hinata gets a notification.
pr3ttys3tt3r has followed you
“Pretty setter,” Hinata says out loud, “you play volleyball?”
“I did,” Kenma says, “in high school. I quit when I started college. Though, I still play with Kuroo sometimes for fun. He’s a starter on the college team.”
“I played in middle school!” Hinata says, “I didn’t in high school though, at least, not on the team. When I was in middle school, I really wanted to be on a boys team but our school didn’t have one-”
Hinata tells Kenma about how he lost to Kageyama’s team, and was so upset that he quit volleyball altogether. He ended up going to the same high school as Kageyama, but they didn’t play on the team together. They became friends outside of the sport, and Kageyama insisted that he had seen potential in Hinata back in middle school, but Hinata refused to join the team. Sometimes Kageyama set to Hinata for fun, and sometimes Hinata sat in on practice, but overall he was more invested in his school work than in any sports.
Kenma tells Hinata that he had only played volleyball because Kuroo has asked him to. The team was fun, but Kenma knew he’d never make a career out of volleyball, if only for the fact that he didn’t want to spend his whole life doing it. Kuroo got a sports scholarship from a very nice college, and Kenma had followed him, not playing volleyball of course, but living with him in the dorms until this year. They still share some classes (Kuroo took a gap year, and is a year older than Kenma), and of course, the live together.
“Who does Kuroo play volleyball with?” Hinata asks.
“Bokuto Koutarou,” Kenma says, “Sawamura Daichi. Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime.”
“Oh!” Hinata says, “I know Suga! He was a setter on Kageyama’s volleyball team! And I think I know who Oikawa is…”
He thinks about Kageyama. Damn it.
“Who’s Kageyama?” Kenma asks.
“I went to highschool with him,” Hinata says, “he’s also my ex-boyfriend…”
Kenma raises his eyebrows.
Hinata puffs up his cheeks, “Yeah, I like guys. So what?”
Kenma blushes and looks away, “Nothing,” he says, “just, me too.”
Hinata feels relief flood him, “Oh, that’s good!”
Kenma frowns for a second, and looks back at Hinata, “Shouyou, I want to tell you something.”
Hinata blinks at him, “Okay…?”
“It’s something personal, and important to me. I don’t share this information freely, but I thought you should know,” Kenma says.
“What?!” Hinata squeaks, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to!”
“I want to,” Kenma assures him, then taking a deep breath, “I-”
Hinata waits for Kenma to continue, but he doesn’t, so Hinata makes an unsure noise.
“I’m… uh…” Kenma swallows hard, and then motions for Hinata to come closer. Hinata scoots over and Kenma puts his lips next to the younger boys ear. Hinata hears his quiet exhale.
“I’m…” and then, in a tiny whisper, “John Cena.”
Hinata jumps away, tears gathering in his eyes as he laughs, “Dang it!”
Kenma gives a breathy laugh before his face turns stoic, “But, uh, in all seriousness, I do have something I want to ask you.”
“Ask away,” Hinata offers.
“Do you like me?” Kenma asks, “romantically, I mean.”
Hinata’s eyes widen and he chokes on air, “What?”
Kenma scrunches up his nose and looks away, “I mean, it just kinda… seems like you do.”
Hinata rubs his eyes and falls back onto Kenma’s bed, breathing in the cotton and vanilla smell of the room.
“I don’t know?” Hinata says, “I barely know you… And I promised Yamaguchi that I wouldn’t rush into anything, because I just broke up with Kageyama. He’s afraid it’ll be a rebound…”
Kenma nods and falls back next to Hinata, “Okay.”
After a few seconds of silence, Kenma continues, “Do you know why he broke up with you?”
Hinata shakes his head, “Nope! It was over text, and I’ve been avoiding him since…”
Kenma makes a soft, disapproving, noise, “You should talk to him.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Hinata says, “I’m like, super bitter about it.”
“We should go on a date,” Kenma says quietly, “we should get to know each other.”
Hinata’s eyes widen and he springs into an upright position, “Huh?”
“We don’t have to date now,” Kenma says, “or ever, if you don’t want to. But you’re a pleasant person to be around, and….”
“And?” Hinata presses.
“I don’t know what I was going to say,” Kenma replies. His eyes are shut and his hair is in a halo around his head. He’s beautiful.
“Okay,” Hinata says, “we can get to know eachother better!! I think I’d like to know you? I just don’t want this to turn out to be some sort of rebound because of Kageyama… I mean, I’m still not really over him...”
“Okay,” Kenma says.
They talk for another hour or so before Hinata hears his stomach growl.
“Oh, are you hungry?” Kenma asks.
Hinata stammers for a few seconds before answering, “No! No, I’m fine. I didn’t have a very big lunch, is all. I’ll eat when I get home!”
“You could eat here,” Kenma offers.
“Really?” Hinata asks, “does this count as a first date, then?”
“Sure,” Kenma says, jumping off of the bed and walking into the hallway, “I’ll make you an omelette.”
“I love omelettes???” Hinata exclaims, following Kenma, “How did you know?!!?”
“I like omelettes too,” Kenma says as they walk out of the hallway and then into the kitchen.
Hinata isn’t the best cook, but he knows how omelettes work. He takes four eggs and a stick of butter out of the fridge. Kenma has gathered the rest of the ingredients.
“Do you know how to make an omelette?” Kenma asks.
Hinata makes a noncommittal noise, “Vaguely.”
They they crack the eggs and mix them together with some herbs, a few of which Hinata recognizes as sage and thyme, along with some onion powder and a few other things that Hinata can’t identify.
“We can only make one omelette at a time,” Kenma tells Hinata. The stove had been preheated, and there is a pan waiting on the stovetop.
Kenma carefully pours roughly half of the egg mixture into the frying pan and asks Hinata to hand him a spatula, and Hinata complies.
Kenma stares at the eggs in the frying pan, and then squints his eyes and mumbles something to himself. He then pokes at the eggs with the spatula.
“I… don’t know how to do this,” Kenma says, “how to do I do this. I’ve only ever made scrambled eggs.”
“What?!” Hinata exclaims, though Kenma can tell that he isn’t really upset with him, “I thought you knew how to make omelettes?”
“I’ve seen Kuroo do it before,” Kenma explains, “Okay, I have to do something before the eggs burn. I hope you like them scrambled.”
Kenma begins to stir the eggs and they begin to form a nice scramble. Before they’re too solid, Kenma grabs Real Bacon Bits™ and… sprinkles them into the gradually solidifying egg.
As the eggs are almost fully solidified, Kenma pours a generous amount of cheese on them, watching it melt before spatulating the eggs onto a plate and starting the whole process over, making another portion of eggs for Hinata.
They sit on the couch in Kenma’s living room for a few minutes, eating in comfortable silence, before Kenma asks Hinata if he wants to play a game.
“Like, on your Wii?” Hinata asks, spying the console.
“Yeah,” Kenma says, “I have super smash bros, and-”
“Wait!” Hinata exclaims, balancing the plate of eggs on his leg and pointing accusingly at Kenma, “who’s your favorite character?”
“I’m the best at Peach,” Kenma confesses, “but my favorite would have to be Toon Link.”
“No way!!!” Hinata yells, “me too?? I love Toon Link!!!!!”
Kenma smiles at him and grabs a controller from the coffee table, “Do you want to play…?”
Hinata hums to himself, thinking about the offer, “Mario Kart?”
Kenma chokes on a bit of egg, “Sorry, but no way. I get road rage in real life, but that’s nothing compared to how I act when I’m playing Mario Kart. Kuroo refuses to play with me anymore.”
Hinata looks Kenma up and down, “You don’t seem like the type of guy who would get angry… like, ever!”
Kenma shrugs and smiles at him good naturedly, “We can play Yoshi’s Wooly World?”
“Okay!” Hinata agrees, and they play until it begins to get dark outside.
Kema drives Hinata back to the dorm, and says goodbye. Hinata may or may not give him a small kiss on the cheek before he leaves.
Hinata is tried by now, and the elevator is broken, so he has to walk up an entire one flight of stairs. When he gets to his dorm, he is very surprised.
There, asleep next to his door is one (1) Kageyama Tobio.
He crouches down next to the boy and shakes his shoulder, “What are you doing here?”
“Huh?” Kageyama says, blinking rapidly before registering his surroundings, “Hinata!”
He mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like ‘dumbass’ under his breath before pulling Hinata down onto the floor next to him.
“I need to talk to you,” he says, wiping sleep from his eyes.
“Okay,” Hinata says begrudgingly, removing Kageyama’s hand from his shoulder.
“Thank you,” Kageyama says gruffly, leaning back against the wall.
Hinata’s palms start to sweat, and he can feel the rough carpet digging into them as he presses his hands to the floor.
“I’m… I’m sorry, okay?” Kageyama spits out, “ fuck .”
Hinata inhales deeply, “Why did you break up with me? What did I do wrong ?”
“Wh-what?” Kageyama splutters, “Nothing??”
Hinata narrows his eyes, “then why’d you break up with me?!”
There’s a muffles ‘shush’ noise from a room that Hinata knows to be occupied by Akaashi Keiji.
“Why did you break up with me?” Hinata asks, much quieter this time.
Kageyama’s face is very sour, “Hear me out, alright? Listen to what I have to say before you blow up on me.”
Hinata nods in agreement.
“I… I never wanted to date you in the first place, okay?” Kageyama confesses, “when you asked me out, you seemed so… excited … I couldn’t just say no ! I… fuck, I’m sorry, Hinata.”
Hinata frowns to himself. There are two ways to look at this:
- He had pressured Kageyama into dating him.
- Kageyama had been leading him on.
“Well, why’d you only break up with me now?” Hinata hisses.
Kageyama’s face is in his hands, “Because I started…” he mumbles something that would be illegible if it was in writing, but that we will call indecipherable because it wasn’t in writing.
“What?” Hinata says.
“Because I… I started to actually like someone…” Kageyama spits out, “I thought that if I stayed dating you for long enough I’d start to like you? Uh, that didn’t fucking work, obviously.”
Hinata looks down at his hands… He feels so bad . They had dated for a year, and Kageyama hadn’t enjoyed one second of it.
“Who,” Hinata says, “who… do you like?”
Kageyama wriggles uncomfortably, “It’s not important. Also; they’d never date me…”
Hinata stares at him with those big old eyes for a minute or two before he breaks, “It’s Akaashi. He’s on my team…”
“Keiji?” Hinata asks, “He’s just across the hall from me!! He’s the one who shushed us!!”
Kageyama’s face heats up.
“You’re totally right though, he’d never date you!” Hinata exclaims.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Kageyama asks, crossing his arms and looking away moodily.
“Like, if we’re being realistic ,” Hinata says, “I also think he already has a boyfriend anyway??”
Kageyama nods, “I almost took his starting position, you know. It’s usually him who plays, but sometimes I start too. Anyway, his eyes are really pretty? And, he’s always really nice to everyone...”
Hinata nods enthusiastically as Kageyama waxes about Akaashi, who could very well be listening to their conversation from inside his own room.
Kageyama has just started talking about Akaashi’s arms when Hinata interrupts him, “ Anyway , how about I tell you about my crush!”
“We just broke up!” Kageyama laments.
“I saw him at a concert that Yamaguchi took me to a few days ago,” Hinata exclaims, “two days after we broke up. Maybe. I have no concept of time.”
Kageyama rests his face on his hand, “Okay, go ahead I guess.”
“ So ,” Hinata starts, “his name is Kenma, and he can play at least three instruments, and his hair is so pretty and he smells like… like warm sheets? Like, y’know what I mean? And he’s really good at Yoshi’s Wooly World, and also he can make eggs! He-”
Hinata starts to ramble and Kageyama, who isn’t really listening, nods and makes soft noises at the appropriate times. Hinata begins to grow gradually louder as he keeps talking, and as he reaches something that could no longer be considered an inside voice, Akaashi’s door creaks open.
“Hinata,” Akaashi says, stepping out into the hallway. He’s wearing an oversized black shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, “please, write poetry about Kozume somewhere else. I am trying to sleep.”
Kageyama’s face is red, and he’s looking anywhere but Akaashi’s face.
“Of course!” Hinata says cheerily, “goodnight, Akaashi!”
Akaashi nods, giving Hinata a small smile, which Kageyama catches out of the corner of his eye. His head falls against the wall with an audible ‘thump’.
“Is Tobio alright?” Akaashi asks.
Hinata nods vigorously, “He’s fine!”
“Alright,” Akaashi says, not totally convinced, “goodnight.”
Hinata waits for Akaashi to close his door before opening his own and pulling Kageyama inside.
Kageyama’s face is beet red, and he won’t meet Hinata’s eyes.
And suddenly, Hinata feels bad for him.
He closes the door and watches as Kageyama sits down on his unmade bed. He sits next to him.
“I’m sorry,” Hinata says to him, watching as Kageyama’s face retorts in response to his statement.
“For what?” Kageyama asks, surprised, “Dumbass, you didn’t do anything.”
“Uh… for saying you didn’t have a chance with Akaashi?” Hinata offers, “And I’m also sorry that he has a boyfriend?”
Kageyama shakes his head, “It’s not like I’d really date him… I like him, yeah, but so much that it would be weird if I dated him… and dating kinda sounds… bad… no thank you…”
“We dated for a year!” Hinata chides him.
“I know,” Kageyama replies, looking deeply into Hinata’s eyes, “I guess I’m fine liking him without ever dating him. That feels…. safer… also.”
Hinata nods, “But like… what if you’re just in love with him forever? Than what?”
“I’m not in love with him!” Kageyama replies hotly, “I don’t know him well enough to be in love with him!”
Hinata shrugs and turns to look at Kageyama, before wrapping his arms around him.
Kageyama’s surprise is evident in a small noise that escapes him. Kageyama says nothing, and Hinata doesn’t release him for what feels like a few minutes. Hinata isn’t sure, because he has ‘no sense of time’.
“I’m glad that you explained to me?” Hinata says, “I was really bitter… and I thought I had done something , like… horribly wrong…”
Kageyama is silent.
“How long were you waiting outside my door, anyway?” Hinata asks, before seeing that Kageyama has fallen asleep.
Hinata pulls out his phone, and instantly texts Kenma.
shouyou: [img]
shouyou: we made up!! we are now friends again!!
kenma (o´▽`o): that’s good. did he tell you why he broke up with you?
shouyou: WELL! you see… he never wanted to be dating me in the first place…
kenma (o´▽`o): …
shouyou: ill tell u about it later!!!! also,, guess who hes crushign on!!
kenma (o´▽`o): who
shouyou: akaashi!! the teams regular setter!! he says he doesnt want to date him tho,, and i’m PRETTY SURE that akaashi is dating someone else anyway!!
kenma (o´▽`o): he’s dating bokuto koutarou. bokuto is on kuroo’s volleyball team.
shouyou: that’s cool!!!!!!!
kenma (o´▽`o): hey, shouyou. do you want to go see a movie with me tomorrow? unless you have classes, that is.
shouyou: i have classes, but we could go after????????
They arrange their date, and Hinata sends Kenma several heart emojis before the other boy tells him to go to sleep.
Hinata sleeps on the floor, wrapped in a quilt, because Kageyama takes up his whole bed when he’s laying down, which he now is.
The next day, Hinata and Kenma go on a date, and after the date Hinata hangs out with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, and after hanging out he goes back to his dorm and Skypes Yachi to tell her about the development, and after that he texts Kageyama and Kenma goodnight, and after that he sleeps. The next day he goes to class, and enjoys the lectures, and texts Kenma, and talks to his friends; and the next few days are equally good. He’s happier than he’s been in a while, including when he had been dating Kageyama.
Things are looking incredibly upwards for Hinata Shouyou, and that isn’t about to change any time soon.