"Hinata," the third-year setter patted the back of Karasuno's tiny middle-blocker, catching his attention before he left to change with the rest of the team.
"Sugawara-san?" he asked with a quizzical tone, pulling the towel he had been using around his neck.
"Is there something bothering you?" the setter inquired, a troubled frown spreading on his face. "You seemed kind of spaced out during practice."
"Erm…" Hinata's eyes strayed every which way, an embarrassed flush coloring his cheeks. "Well— uh—no…Not really. Everything's fine!" he sheepishly laughed while rubbing at the back of his head. Sugawara simply frowned at this, because it couldn't be more obvious that there indeed was something bothering the first-year.
"Oi!" The two turned to see the approaching libero, Nishinoya. He energetically waved his hands at them, a grinning Tanaka following close behind. "Come on! Let's go change so we can get some steamed buns on the way home!"
The pause and uncertain gaze that Sugawara sent to Hinata didn't go unnoticed by the two second-years. "What's up?" the short libero inquired with a raise of his brow.
"Something's bothering Hinata," Sugawara stated. Hinata gaped at the upperclassmen in disbelief.
"N-no!" he stammered with a flustered expression. "I said I was fine!" His attempt to defend himself was easily given away by his obvious embarrassment. His older teammates exchanged doubtful glances with one another.
"Hinata, you can tell us anything," Tanaka started with a genuine grin, reassuringly wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulders. "We're your senpai, after all. We're here to help you!" he finished with a thumbs up.
Hinata's face slowly lit up at this. "Really?" he asked, his eyes shining expectantly.
"Of course!" Nishinoya reassured his awe-struck friend.
There was a pause, and Hinata stared at the three upperclassmen before him—seemingly analyzing each of them with a considerate gaze. Finally, he pulled away from Tanaka's grasp and shyly fiddled with his hands. "Ah, well then…It's actually about (y/n)…" he quietly admitted.
Nishinoya and Tanaka immediately beamed at this—a sly and cunning smile instantly growing on the libero's face. "Ohoho—so you're having some love problems? Tell your senpai all about it. I'm a love expert, you know?" he cheekily grinned.
"Same with me!" Tanaka confirmed arrogantly. Sugawara simply rolled his eyes at the two second-years, letting out an amused sigh while shaking his head.
Hinata seemed genuinely amazed at the two upperclassman, though—his cheeks flushed and eyes shone with admiration. "Please help me, Tanaka-senpai! Noya-senpai!" he eagerly exclaimed.
The two barked with haughty laughter in response. "Tell us, tell us!" they urged.
"Ah—well it's a bit embarrassing, actually…" Hinata admitted, going back to fiddling with his fingers. "(Y/n) and I have been dating for three months already now, and we still haven't…You know…"
Nishinoya gawked at this. "Shouyou!" he exclaimed. "You can't rush that sort of thing! It's the mark of reaching your manhood! And taking away both of your innocence! And—Mmmph!"
Sugawara quickly covered the libero's mouth, sending a confused Hinata an apologetic look. "Noya-san. I'm pretty sure you and Hinata are on very different subjects right now," he spoke with a warning grin.
He then released the second-year who paused, his mouth forming an 'o' shape in his sudden realization. "Ah…Sorry about that. Forget everything that I said," he awkwardly laughed.
"Hinata, why don't you tell us specifically what you mean," Tanaka lightly prodded.
Hinata, still looking confused, simply nodded before continuing. "Well, (y/n) and I haven't kissed yet…We give each other kisses on the cheek all the time," he quickly added. "But, she's the one who initiated that…I'm too nervous to kiss her. I'm not sure what to do," he confessed with a heated face and worried eyes.
The upperclassmen all chuckled at this, seeming amused by the innocent question. The laughter simply flustered the already nervous Hinata, though. He puffed his cheeks slightly and had a dissatisfied frown plastered on his face.
"You said you kiss her on the cheek already, right?" Nishinoya asked. "Just do the same, only on her lips!" he nodded at the red-head, as if it were that simple.
"And you have to take her on a date!" Tanaka immediately followed. "Make sure the mood is right, and then just go in like this—" he puckered out his lips like a fish and made kissing faces into empty air.
Hinata nodded feverously at the advice, moving on to copy the face Tanaka was making—going cross eyed in the process. Sugawara chuckled to himself and shook his head before lightly tapping the first-year's shoulder for his attention.
"Hinata, how does (y/n) make you feel?" he asked.
Hinata blinked as if to process the question. He then turned to give the silver-haired setter a deadpan look, speaking without hesitation. "(Y/n) makes me happy," he stated.
"And how do you feel when you kiss her on the cheek?" Sugawara continued with kind eyes and a patient smiled.
This made the small boy falter. His face seemed to tint a certain shade of pink, and he looked away with thoughtful embarrassment. "Erm…" he held his hand to his chin and really seemed to consider the question. "I feel…warm when I kiss her. On the inside, I feel a bit like,"—he raised his arms above him—"Like 'bwah'!" He finished with an earnest expression.
The two second-years snickered at this, much to Hinata's disdain, but Sugawara simply grinned. "Just let that feeling move you. Don't think about the technique of anything—it's as simple as getting the sensation that you want to kiss her and letting your body act on that."
All three of the volleyball members stared in awe at the third-year setter—leading him to smile uncomfortably and rub at the back of his head. "Well, that's what I think at least…" he lamely finished.
Hinata's eyes shone with a new formed confidence. He clenched his fists together and nodded his head to himself—turning to face the three upperclassmen. "Thank you for your help! I'm going to go find (y/n) now!" he loudly exclaimed before bowing to his three teammates.
The two second-years hooted and hollered their encouragements at the short middle-blocker as he ran out of the gymnasium—Sugawara shouting "Good luck!" right before Hinata bounded through the doorway.
He raced to change back into his uniform and then ran to where he knew you would be waiting. He could envision it now—you standing by the school's gate, probably leaning against the gate's column and fiddling with your hands, maybe kicking at the dirt—doing whatever to fill the time before Hinata came to greet you with a hug. Only this time it wouldn't be a hug, Hinata confidently thought.
He rounded the corner of the corridor, and when he saw you waiting a huge grin plastered onto his face. He charged at you again, wanting to hurry and kiss you—implementing the lessons that his teammates had taught him.
You looked up and watched as he swiftly approached you—the sound of charging steps and a huffing breath giving away his arrival before the sight of him even registered. Then he was suddenly in front of you—attempting to catch his breath, and face completely flushed over.
"(Y/n)," he started. "I…I…Uh…"
Suddenly having you before him had torn away his previous high of confidence. He was left staring into your (y/c) eyes—frozen. His mouth suddenly felt dry and his knees weak. His palms were clammy with sweat, and he wouldn't be surprised if you could hear his heart drumming away from where you stood.
You tilted your head in confusion. "Everything okay, Shou-chan?" you inquired curiously, eyebrows pulling together.
His cheeks colored and he broke away his gaze to sheepishly stare down at his feet, where he began to lamely quick at the dirt, "Yeah…" he started. "I just…Um…" He paused and clamped his eyes shut.
You can do this Hinata! The red-head desperately thought to himself. What did they tell you to do? He quickly ran through his racing thoughts and randomly plucked out at one. Okay! Set the mood!
He started by clearing his throat and then casually propped himself beside you on the gate-column. "Nice day today, huh?" he stated with an attempted husky tone.
You stared at him peculiarly and answered slowly. "Yeah…Are you sure you're feeling okay, Shouyou? You sound kind of sick…"
Hinata embarrassedly flushed at this and he shot straight back up to his previously frigid stance. Crap, this isn't working! He thought with frustration. What was next? He rushed through the lessons in his head again and then thought, Right! Let my body act first!
Okay, think about how she makes you feel…He clenched his eyes tightly together and tried to summon the similar feeling he had before…
It didn't come.
He was too nervous knowing that you stood right before him—all he felt was a growing seed of humility beginning to slowly take over.
Suddenly your hand was in his and he opened his eyes to meet your worried gaze. "Let's get you home," you spoke.
Hinata simply slumped in defeat, knowing that he had long past his opportunity to kiss you. "Okay," he begrudgingly agreed.
The both of you walked home in silence—still hand-in-hand. Hinata was lost in his frustration from losing his chance to finally kiss you. And he wasn't sure if he could ever do it, after what had just happened. You simply made him too nervous.
As they reached your place, Hinata released your hand and awkwardly rubbed at the back of his head. "Sorry about earlier…" he spoke with a grimacing frown.
"Don't worry about it," you assured him. "I hope you feel better."
Hinata simply nodded, wanting to play along with having 'felt sick' to lessen his humility. "Well, goodnight, (y/n)," he leaned in, wanting to at least kiss you on the cheek—but you had the same idea and had moved in as he did.
There was a pause of silence as it happened, and then you both suddenly pulled away in embarrassment. Your awkwardly timed kisses had made it so half of his lips had met yours.
You didn't know what to do. Your cheeks flushed and you began to stutter out in embarrassment. "Sorry! I didn't know you were also...I-I just—"
The soft grin he sent you cut you off mid-sentence. You stared at him with nervous, rounded eyes.
"That counts," he suddenly stated.
"What?" you asked, your eyebrows pulling together in confusion.
"That counts," he simply repeated, and then he was leaning towards you again.
His eyes lowered and his hand moved to cup your face as he gently met his lips with your own. Your breath hitched in your surprise, but you found yourself quickly melting into his kiss. You moved yourself closer and embraced the overwhelming warmth that grew from the pit of your stomach, extending throughout the rest of your body until it hugged you like a warm blanket.
His lips were a bit chapped and rough against your own, but you honestly didn't care. The way he delicately held you, and the way he was careful to press his lips onto yours made you burn with delight. All you could feel at the moment was your blissful happiness.
Finally, you both pulled away—slightly panting, and out of breath. His cheeks were as colored as your own, and his eyes shone in such a way that you've never seen before. There was a shared pause of silence between the two of you where you both simply stared.
He then broke it with a grin, grabbing onto your hand. "See you tomorrow, (y/n)," he hurriedly spoke before yet again pushing his lips onto yours. He released the grip of your hand and hopped back while sending you a wave. The smile he had seemed to take up half of his face, and you watched as he happily jogged away—randomly jumping and cheering to himself.
The short red-head was ecstatic—he felt invincible. Finally having been able to kiss you made him so extraordinarily happy in a way that he honestly just wanted to race through the streets shouting in joy. Even if it didn't work out exactly as he had wanted, it didn't matter. The result was even better than he could have ever imagined. He couldn't wait to tell Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Sugawara about his accomplishment. Even more so, he couldn't wait to be able to kiss you again, and again, and again—wherever and whenever he wanted.