Ridiculous

by creativeserialkiller

Hinata wants Tsukishima's glasses, and Tsukishima won't let him wear them.

"Pan-dor-a?" Hinata sounded out the English word suddenly from behind Kei, and the blonde covered his phone with one hand. With the other, he twisted around to shove Hinata away. "Hey, Tsukishima, does that say 'Pan-dora'?" Hinata's voice was annoying, like a mosquito buzzing in Kei's ear.

"Don't look over someone's shoulder." He scolded, as though speaking to a child. "It's rude." Beside him, Yamaguchi busied himself with a juice box. On the other side, an annoying redhead climbed over the back of the bench to sit down and Kei sighed. "Where's your royal highness?"

"Huh?"

"The King."

"He's stretching- and he's not 'King', don't call him 'King'!" Hinata returned the condescending attitude, but coming from him it was like a little, red puppy trying to act ferocious. It was all bark, and no bite. He was also talking too loudly, and drawing attention that made Kei cringed.

"Stop screaming." He snapped, going back to his phone to look through and choose a station. "And go away, don't bother me at lunch." Or ever.

"You're not even eating." Hinata narrowed his eyes.

"Then just go away."

"Tell me what you're doing. Is it Pan-dora?"

"If I say yes, will you go away?"

"You're so mean!" Hinata huffed. "Meanie-shima." He bounced up off the bench like a wound-up spring. "You're gonna be lonely one day, if you're just mean to everyone all the time." And then he had taken off, probably in search of The King, and he was gone.

Yamaguchi snorted, Kei frowned.

"He's annoying." He offered, almost as an excuse for how rude h'd been. He didn't really care how rude he'd been to the runt or his bumass sidekick. They *were* annoying, and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. Especially while one of them was all but screaming in his ear.

"He was being friendly, you know." Yamaguchi said it softly, quietly, like he was anticipating a *"Shut up."* but it never came... because he was right. Annoying as he was, Hinata had been being friendly.

It was rude to look over someone's shoulder, sure, and it hadn't been tactful to just ask about the app he'd seen while doing it, but it wasn't like Hinata had purposely gone out of his way to be rude. He *was* being friendly, however irritating his endeavor to do so was, and Kei *did* consider himself to have more social grace than The King did.

For the rest of the day, then, he was annoyed. Not with anyone in particular, or maybe with *everyone* in particular, but either way, people seemed to scoot their desks away from him in class. That only served to irritate him more, because he wasn't *trying* to be unpleasant. He couldn't help it if his aura reflected Hinata's doing- and it wasn't really Hinata that was the problem, either. He was annoyed with *himself* for being bothered, and his aura must have represented that because even walking to practice people seemed to cross the hallway to avoid his path.

During practice, his mood interfered with his skill more than once. He would see Hinata out of the corner of his eye, start focusing on their earlier encounter and fumble a block or a serve or a receive. He would see the flash of red hair and then misstep or lose focus on his balance, and by the end of practice he was fuming... at *himself*. For being so easily bothered by something that was no big deal. He was mean to the runt *all the time*, so why was this any different? He was certainly just in a mood, but that didn't really help him feel any better. It wasn't like that was the only time he'd shut down one of Hinata's attempts to be friendly with him, either. He often commented on how cool something Kei did was, from his glasses or his attitude or his new binder. He would always shut it down, always turn it around to how much of a dork Hinata was.

Somehow, though, this was different. Maybe it was what Hinata had said, before he ran off. *"You're gonna be lonely one day, if you're just mean to everyone all the time."*

Kei knew it wasn't true, but when he lingered on the words he knew they were what had irked him. Why, he didn't know. He took his time toweling off sweat from his neck and face, he took his time changing clothes and he took his time encouraging Yamaguchi to walk on without him when it was time to go. He lingered back, waiting for Hinata to finish blabbering on about practice with The King, standing by the door. When the duo went to leave, he caught Hinata by the shoulder (still sweaty, gross) and the two turned to face him.

Matching, suspicious expressions almost turned him off from talking to Hinata at all. Almost.

"What do you want?" Kageyama asked, distaste dripping from the question like syrup.

"To talk to Hinata." Kei said, giving him a blank stare in return to his distrusting one. "Alone."

Hinata paled. "Whatever I did, please don't murder me, I'm really sorry!" He bowed at the waist and Kei had to bite back a glare- he wasn't *that* scary. What was the worst he'd do? Murder wasn't really on his to-do list that day.

"Stand up, you're embarrassing."

"Why do you want to talk to him?" The King asked, and Kei raised a brow.

"Are you his keeper or something? Are you the only one allowed to talk to him?"

"No, I-"

"It's fine, Kageyama." Hinata still sounded on edge, and just a little terrified. "I'll see you tomorrow."

After Kageyama had walked on- with a final, suspicious glare at the blonde- Kei pulled out his phone and started his walk with Hinata in tow. "It's Pandora." He explained, tapping the app. The screen lit up blue, with the word printed in white in the center. "It's for music, okay?" He was embarrassed by the childishness of his tone, like a little kid apologizing because he was being made to, not because he meant it. "You just pick a band or a song and it'll play music like it."

"Um," Hinata stopped walking, and Kei followed his lead. The moon was peeking out from behind the school, illuminating the sidewalk and causing a glow off of the clouds in the sky. "Okay, thank you for telling me." He sounded uncertain, like he wasn't sure what kind of response he was supposed to give. Or like he didn't understand why Kei was telling him.

Kei shut the screen off and shoved his hands, phone and all into his jacket pockets. He started walking again, back to Hinata. He could hear hurried footsteps as the runt tried to keep up. He slowed down, just a little, and they walked together until it was time to part ways.

...

That was the start of Hinata's assumed friendship with Tsukishima Kei. The start of a whole, new ordeal began in the gym, during a water break. Kei had been talking to Yamaguchi about their plans to study after school, and Hinata had been distracted by The King and the latest 'super cool move' they'd synced together. Then, out of nowhere, Hinata had turned to face Kei and asked the question.

"What?" Narrowed eyes, like Hinata had asked something ridiculous. And in Kei's opinion, he had. "No." Yamaguchi snickered, Kageyama deadpanned. The question had been so random, it had taken him by surprise. He'd been successfully ignoring the annoying duo up until the extra-loud, ridiculously hopeful question had pierced through his head- effectively giving him a headache. Amber eyes zoned in on his own, wide and disappointed.

"Tsukishima, please?" Hinata whined, as if it were a matter of life and death. He raised his hands palm-up, fingers curled like he was clawing through the air. "Just for a minute, just one time?"

"No." Was his repeated, short and simple reply. At the shriek of indigence he received, he knew this wasn't the end. "Shut up," He added when he realized the sound had drawn the attention of his teammates.

"Tsukishima!" He sounded like a child denied his fair share, like this was an injustice put upon him by Kei, and that was even more ridiculous than the question itself.

When Kei only quirked an eyebrow, Hinata shifted. Onto his knees, one palm and the floor and his shoulders braced. Yamaguchi and Kageyama realized a moment too late what was about to happen, and went to warn Kei and stop Hinata about a second delayed.

Kei, on the other hand, realized right away and was quick enough to step out of the way- so when Hinata went to jump on him, the runt landed on the floor instead. Kageyama was frozen in place, in mid-reach to stop the tiny boy that was made up of energy and noise. Yamaguchi was staring where Hinata laid on the floor, horror and disbelief etched into his features. Hinata always did take things too far, Kei wasn't surprised at all. Then Kageyama looked at him expectantly; was he supposed to get angry? Kei lowered his eyes to the redhead that had scrambled over from being sprawled on his stomach to sitting up. He was staring up at Kei like he was offended... but by *what*? He was the one flopping on the ground in an effort to steal Kei's glasses.

"You're so mean!" Hinata pouted. "I just want to wear them for a second!"

"No." He pushed the glasses up on his nose for emphasis. Then, he turned to his freckled friend. "I left my notes in class." He turned smoothly on his heel and went to leave.

On his way, he could hear Kageyama's scolding him. It was loud, echoing off the walls. "What did you think would happen?" and "You can't take someone's glasses!" and "You're lucky he moved, asshole!"

He hadn't really left his notes, but he was going to give both Hinata and the situation time to calm down before he returned. If Hinata tried anything else like that, Kei probably *would* murder him, so he leaned against the wall outside the gym and waited for a bit. When he'd gone back inside, sure enough, practice had moved on and the glasses were forgotten.

...

The whole thing came up again about a week later. Kei had gotten there first- he always ate lunch at the same table, with Yamaguchi, who always sat beside him. They almost always ate alone. Not this time, apparently; just after their quiet, usual greetings ("Hi, Tsukki." and "Hey.") Kei's least favorite duo came to join them. Kageyama sat across from Yamaguchi, and Hinata across from Kei, and Yamaguchi had smiled at The King. An odd, nervous smile that faded quickly to be replaced by red cheeks when he noticed Kei's eyes on him.

"Can I try them on now?" Hinata asked, before Kei had the time to think over what he'd just witnessed.

"No."

"*Why*?!" And the fact that he could sound so *incredulous*, so *indignant* was more ridiculous than the idea of Kei actually handed over his glasses.

First of all, they were expensive and Hinata was clumsy and his movements were wild. The chances of him breaking them were too high. Secondly, he was annoying, so why indulge the random preoccupation? So he could be more annoying and expect more weird things from Kei? No. And for the third and final strike, they weren't even friends, whether Hinata agreed or not. This was something you asked friends.

"Because." He answered simply, rather than explaining his reasoning. It would just go through one ear and out the other, anyway. He held the intense, amber gaze, keeping his face blank even though he was starting to get pissed off, and weirded out.

Why did Hinata suddenly and out of nowhere have such an interest in Kei or his glasses? Had Kei done or said something that made him think this was okay? Had explaining the Pandora thing really made him think they were more than just teammates? He was hard enough to ignore when he *wasn't* directing his attention at the blonde, but this was intolerable.

When Hinata spoke again, the words were stiff and insincere. "Oi, what's that in your rice?"

Kei had to fight the amusement that threatened his features with a smile. "You didn't even look down. Asshole." That had been a terrible attempt at a distraction. It wasn't even subtle; he'd have grabbed Kei's glasses had he looked down.

"Don't call me names, you jerk! Jerk-shima!"

"You called me a name just now."

"You called me one first!"

Kageyama and Yamaguchi fell into their own conversation as Hinata got more and more riled up, until he gave up to shovel food in his mouth before lunch ended. Kei kept his demeanor disinterested and bored, and eventually, the table was silent. Hinata seemed flustered even still, his cheeks a tiny bit pink and his hair a little messier than usual. Yamaguchi seemed almost bashful in his conversation with The King. Kageyama wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. Kei left the lunchroom early when the odd situation started to irk him. When Hinata's sneaking glances started to make him uneasy. Why did he want to wear the glasses so much anyway?

...

It escalated. Both Hinata's weird mission, and the weird thing between Yamaguchi and Kageyama.

The King sat in front of Yamaguchi every day, despite hardly saying a word all throughout lunch. The two stood by one another in the gym, which meant Hinata came in tow.

During a practice, Hinata had run from the side and jumped, flying through the air and grabbing for his glasses. As if trying to take him by surprise but the blonde had heard him coming (because Hinata was loud, if nothing else). Kei, doing what he did best, blocked- arms out in front of him- and Hinata had smacked into him and then into the ground. They both had to clean the gym for that, but Kei's aura kept Hinata away for the rest of the night.

The day Hinata learned stealth and subtlety would be the day Kei was officially doomed.

...

Yamaguchi and Kageyama wouldn't look at each other in the locker room, but made a simultaneous effort to appear normal anyway- and failed. Badly. Kageyama held out a towel for Yamaguchi, but because they weren't looking at each other, it just lingered in the air while Kageyama blushed and Yamaguchi remained oblivious. The other teammates noticed quickly, and began to stare, and Kei was irritated enough from Hinata's escapades that his patience was thin. He casually walked by and pumped into The King, shoving him enough that the towel bumped into Yamaguchi and the two got a move on. The King had turned to ell at him, face burning red and features fixed in a glare, but Yamaguchi had stammered a thank you and Kei had turned his back and that was the end of that.

...

Hinata had jumped *down the stairs* to the middle platform, grabbing for Kei's face and losing his balance in the process. He'd lost his footing when Kei stepped out of reach, knocked into some poor kid and nearly fell down the stairs. Kei had caught his arm instinctively, even though falling down the stairs might teach him not to *jump down them*, and let go the moment the redhead had caught himself. Hinata's face had turned redder than his hair and he'd babbled for a beat, trying to apologize and say thank you and explain himself and save his dignity all at once. Kei had turned, without waiting, and made his way to class.

...

Hinata had noticed when their two friends began holding hands. Kei had seen them first, when he was going to take a water break and the two were sitting on the floor. Fingers laced together between them on the floor. His first instinct was to see if anyone else had noticed- and not only had someone noticed, but it was *Hinata*. Loud, rude, attention-drawing *Hinata*... and he didn't say a word. They had sat down beside their respective friends, and they had both seen and no one mentioned it.

Kei didn't care; it was what it was, and what it *wasn't* was any of his business. Hinata briefly caught Kageyama's eyes, and they both went rent in the face and silent. Yamaguchi went to say something, noticed Kageyama was blushing, and became flustered himself and just as silent. Kei could handle the shift in dynamics, he could handle the King's presence more often, he could handle Hinata's ridiculous mission, but he couldn't handle the awkwardness. He was cool, he was collected, and it was embarrassing to be associated with a bunch of flustered dorks.

He pulled the top of his water bottle and took a long drink (stalling, before the chaos that would come next), and then reached over to press the icy plastic to Hinata's cheek. There was a shriek, and then Hinata was yelling and things were back to normal. He pretended not to see Kageyama's glances at him during practice.

...

Hinata had taken the seat beside Kei on the bus. Yamaguchi had paused, surprised, and then Kageyama pulled him into a seat together and the blonde was stuck with this mass of energy and excitement. He was suspicious that it had been planned, if only Hinata were capable of subtleties like that.

Hinata yammered on about training camp, and it was just that. Training camp, nothing to be so giddy about, and yet here he was anyway, bouncing in his seat and overly-emotional as usual. He grabbed Kei's arm not even five minutes into the ride, shaking him lightly, going off on how excited he was to see this list of people that he apparently texted with regularly anyway, so why did he care so much? And going on about how he knew they would win every practice match, even though they didn't matter or count for anything anyway. So enthusiastic, so optimistic, so annoying.

Kei couldn't turn his eyes away from the flushed cheeks, the wide eyes and the breathless words, even when he tried. The Hinata was silent, and a flicker in his gaze made Kei scowl.

"If you touch my glasses, I'll switch seats with someone." He warned, and Hinata had pouted for all of two minutes before he was going on about his excitement once again.

And true to his words, when Hinata had made a fruitless grab at Kei's glasses, the blonde traded seats with Tanaka. Nishinoya was energetic and loud, too, but aside from the occasional smack or punch of 'encouragement' he was far more tolerable. Kei regretted switching seats, and it wasn't because of Nishinoya.

...

Yamaguchi and his King weren't very subtle about- well, any of it. Go big or go home had never been the freckled boy's way of life, but maybe something about Kageyama demanded it. Or maybe not. Maybe it was something Yamaguchi just wasn't ashamed of, or afraid of letting the world see. That was more true to his character. Regardless of why, he had planted a brief, tiny, flutter of a kiss on Kageyama's face right before the first practice game. He'd said something like "Good luck!" before turning and freezing in place; he'd caught Kei's eyes, a deer in headlights.

It became clear to Kei that he'd thought no one was looking, or that he wasn't thinking when he did it, or maybe it was just that he was afraid of Kei's reaction. He wanted the affection, but not the attention that would generally come with it. Well, Kei could give him that, at least.

He'd just shrugged, and turned away. That was enough to reassure his friend, because the next time they'd caught gazes the freckled boy had flashed him a smile. Afterward, though, he was *very* aware of both Hinata and Kageyama looking at him too much, too often, and he was able to ignore it up until halfway through the rematch. Quick glances were one thing, but *staring* threw him off.

Kei faltered, locking eyes with Hinata. The ball smacked his arm where he'd gone to block, bounced against the net, hit the floor and then his Hinata *hard* in the stomach before bouncing back across the floor. Hinata cried out and then coughed, doubling over as the game was put on hold and Sawamura and Sugawara went to his side.

"I'm fine!" Hinata insisted with a croak, and Kei felt his face warm because Hinata had distracted him. He'd fumbled a block because Hinata had been staring at him, and he'd lost his cool.

"Sorry," He muttered to their captain, glaring at the redhead now that he knew he was alright. Why was he staring, anyway? Hinata met his glare and then scrambled up and behind the King.

"Oi, don't hide behind me, asshole!" Kageyama snapped, glaring at him too.

Sawamura clapped a hand on Kei's shoulder, startling his attention from Hinata. His voice, like his grip, was firm. "What happened?"

"I have a headache," He lied. The practice match went on, and they lost to Nekoma for the second time that day.

...

Kuroo and Kozume ("*Kenma!"* Hinata had shrieked upon seeing him first) had come to Karasuno's room while they were setting up after dinner. So had Bokuto, and Akaashi, and they were sitting with Hinata in one corner of the rom. Yamaguchi was busy being grossly affectionate with Kageyama in another (they had lightly bumped shoulders while laughing together) and Kei felt alone for the first time in a while. Not by choice, not due to his own grouchy attitude (that he would deny having at all) but because the two people that considered him a friend were busy with other friends, and Kei only had the two.

He didn't have any right to feel jealous, he wasn't very nice to anyone anyway, and it wasn't that he was jealous anyway. He didn't blame them for having other friends, that was ridiculous, and so was the fact that he felt abandoned just because they weren't actively including him. He could include himself, if he wanted to, and it wasn't fair to put that on them- and the fact that it was 'them', instead of *just* Yamaguchi, was equally ridiculous.

Hinata had been keeping a distance from him since the incident in the gym, which was why it surprised Kei when he'd waved and called out to him. "Are you still mad at me? If you're not still mad at me, come make Kuroo stop being a jerk!" Hinata had whined, loudly, followed by a shriek when the bedhead pinched his side. Loud enough to drwa attention, both to him and to Kei and Kei grit his teeth. He didn't like when people paid so much attention to him, and if he went over there now it would something of a confirmation that they were friends. If it wasn't obvious already, by the fact that they at together every day.

He slowly, casually crossed the room. Everyone was still in uniform, and his uniform had no pockets to hide his hands in. He didn't have his headphones either, there was nothing to distract his nerves. He sat down beside Hinata.

Bokuto, Akaashi and Kuroo greeted him with a sincere enthusiasm, and he wanted to frown. They weren't friends, so why did Kuroo reach over to pat his back like they were? Like they were fond of one another. They weren't friends, so why did he let them pull him into a conversation, even if he only gave one-word answers most of the time? Kozume, a young-looking boy with a fade to his hair, was busy with a game.

It wasn't a console that Kei knew the name of, but he'd seen kids playing it at school. It had a touch screen, and the usual buttoms. He had never been interested in videogames, but then again, he didn't have an interest in many things. He let his gaze on it linger for too long, because Kozume caught him. Sharp, calculating eyes, but somehow lazy even so.

The pudding-haired teen asked, "Do you play?"

"No." Kei replied. When the eyes didn't leave his, he scrambled for something else to say. He felt like it was expected, and there were eyes on him that felt like pressure. What should he say? "What game is it?" That was a normal enough question.

"Why does it matter? You don't play, so you wouldn't know it." He'd said it casually, without any bite or sass to the words- probably not meant to sting but they sounded rude regardless.

Kuroo cut in before Kei could reply. "It's Lego. Jurassic Park, about dinosaurs." He grinned his lopsided grin. "He's embarrassed because it's for kids."

Kozume glowered at his game, shoulders tensing. Kei understood something about him them; he wasn't being rude, he wasn't being mean or disinterested, he just didn't want to answer and that's how it came out when he did. That was something he could relate to. To sounding angry, or mean or biting, even when he wasn't trying to say something angry, or mean or biting.

"Cool." He said, and Kozume nodded to show he'd heard. Hinata was gaping at him, and Kuroo looked smug. Whatever, dinosaurs were cool. Jurassic Park was cool. Lego didn't change that.

...

Setting out the futons, an issue came up. Yamaguchi and Kei slept beside one another. They always had, that's just how it was, and the same went for Hinata and Kageyama. But now, things had changed, and the four held their futons it an awkward, uncertain and hesitant silence.

Kei, as much as he regretted it afterward, exchanged a glance with Yamaguchi. He looked at Kageyama, then, and then at Hinata. There weren't enough spaces to line up four or even three in a row. Hinata was friendly with everyone, so wherever he slept he'd be fine. But Kei realized with a start that he was *dependent* on Yamaguchi. That if he didn't have Yamaguchi to sleep next to, to sit next to, he wouldn't have anyone for sure, and now he didn't have Yamaguchi for sure anymore. It was a feeling like losing his balance, losing his cool.

He was about to motion to the general left, to say he'd set up elsewhere and let them figure out the rest for themselves- Yamaguchi obviously wanted to sleep beside the King- when Tanaka clapped his and Hinata's shoulders, leaning in with a grin.

"Can't help but notice my first-years haven't set up, yet!" And there was a warning in his tone, like *"Listen to your elders!"* or maybe more *"Listen to Daichi!"* and although his words lacked any real threat or danger, Hinata was instantly stammering his explanations.

"We don't know where to-"

"Stop talking." Kei cut him off with a bored scowl. It was embarrassing enough without being said out loud. Azumane beat Hinata to a reply.

"I can move so you can set up next to each other." He offered, and before Yamaguchi could tell him *"It's fine, don't worry!"* he was picking up his futon and moving to lie next to Nishinoya.

"Thank you!" Everyone had mumbled at once, moving quickly to set up because god, this was embarrassing.

Since when was it so important that he slept next to one of his friends? Since when did he have more than one friend? He ended up beside Hinata, across from Yamaguchi, and Kageyama across from Hinata. It was a good solution, but irritating that there had been a need for a solution. He should've just gone to sleep somewhere by himself, he figured, and saved everyone some embarrassment.

...

Morning came, and when Kei had woken up Hinata and Kageyama were gone already. As were the majority of his teammates- only Tanaka and Yamaguchi were left, and Tanaka was still snoring (loudly) and Yamaguchi was dressed and waiting on his futon. Clearly, there was a conversation that needed to be had.

Kei sat up, feeling the floor for his glasses before he remembered where they were, and why they were there: Hinata. He remembered the night before, too, and how awkward and uncomfortable things had been. "Why are you waiting for me?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. He hated mornings with a passion.

"Um, I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay." He said, instead of 'obviously'.

"So I stayed behind."

"Okay," Again, obviously.

"Do you- are... um, is-"

"Yamaguchi." Kei cut in before he stammered for the next hour. They needed to get to breakfast sometime before the afternoon practice match.

He was looking at the space in between them, quiet for a moment. Then, he raised his eyes (blurry, to Kei) and something seemed to well up inside him. He took a deep breath, and began.

"Me and To- Kageyama are dating, but you're still my best friend and I know you don't like him, but please don't stop being my friend." A beat of silence and he withdraw, ducking his head and blushing a little before he continued. "I- um, he knows I won't stop hanging out with you, so he said he'll try harder to get along, so please try a little too."

"Are you joking?" He asked, deadpan, even though he knew it wasn't a joke.

"Uh, well... what?" He rubbed at the back of his neck, and Kei faltered.

Had it been him, then, who had been distant? Had he been separating himself from Yamaguchi and not the other way around? "I don't care-" And he stopped, because that wasn't true. "It's fine. I haven't been rude to him, have I?"

Things were easier after that. Breakfast was normal, warm-ups were normal, the practice matches were normal. Not normal as in the way they had been before, but normal as in this is how things were, it wasn't tense or awkward anymore, and it was okay. Kageyama didn't stare at him, Hinata didn't stare at him, and Hinata didn't act weird about the situation either.

Things were normal. They felt normal. Kei felt better.

...

Hinata didn't try again for his glasses until the teams piled into the teacher's lounge for a movie. He had leaped off the couch, Kei had stepped back and just out of reach and Hinata was left sprawled across the floor. That was the second time this had happened as a result of one of these attempts, and it wasn't getting any less ridiculous. It was a little more amusing now, after he had failed so many times. It was less annoying, only amusing and kind of sad.

And then, partway through the movie (something boring about sports, not even about volleyball) his attention was drawn to to the redhead and his giggling. He was sat between Kuroo's legs, stifling giggles as he was restrained there by the older boy's arms crossed around his shoulders. Bokuto was poking his sides and stomach. Kozume was disinterested, leaning against Kuroo's side and only really reacting to scowl when Hinata jiggled them in an effort to escape.

For a while, he watched without thinking about it. Just watched Hinata's smile, his eyes, the way his entire body laughed when he did. He was so... lovely, and genuine in every way and it made it hard for Kei to breathe or to think- and then Kuroo raised his eyes, caught Kei's and he grinned, sly and malicious. It was an expression to rival Tanaka's. His arms uncrossed and his hands slid down Hinata's sides, fingers wiggling and poking to tickle the runt and make him squeal but Kei knew what Kuroo was doing.

He was irritated. That was a bad sign, a very bad sign. Not at Hinata, like he'd normally be if he made noise during a movie, but *about* Hinata. About how there were guys all over him even though it was just playful, just platonic on all sides. He was irritated about how Hinata so easily let everyone touch him, and he knew it wasn't okay to feel like that. Not about a friend, and not about anyone in general. Hinata wouldn't be *him* if he wasn't so oddly close with literally everyone he met. He was naturally open and friendly with everyone. He didn't even have enemies, it probably wasn't possible for him to have enemies. That was something amazing, and exclusively Hinata and Kei wouldn't change it no matter how irritating it was.

The implications of the irritation, though, was something far worse than the feeling itself. They were friends. He didn't have the right to that kind of feeling, even if it wasn't unhealthy.

Kei turned away. He stared at the screen for the rest of the movie, even if he didn't really watch.

...

The four had set up their futons in the same way that they had the night before, only on this night, Kei was awake long after everyone else had fallen asleep. He couldn't sleep, his mind reeling with his realization of the evening. He couldn't stop thinking about the implications of his envy, though he couldn't truly call it that. He had to crush that feeling, to get rid of it. He could definitely ignore it until it went away, like he'd done with Yamaguchi a couple of years prior. After all, it had come suddenly, hadn't it? So it would go away suddenly too. Hopefully. And if not, who cared? He could deal with it. They were friends, and that was enough, because *everything* with Hinata was too much.

He turned on his side to look at the boy in question. Things would be okay. He would just ignore this until it went away, or he'd get used to it and then it wouldn't matter anyway.

It had happened suddenly, hadn't it? To Kei, it felt that way. It felt like things were moving too fast, happening too fast and like he couldn't keep up. Yamaguchi had been his only friend, and then he hadn't, and then he was dating Kageyama, and then Kei *liked* Hinata. And not long ago, he couldn't even stand him. Hinata was still obnoxious, but now, Kei didn't mind that he was obnoxious. He was still noisy and still accidentally-rude all the time, but Kei *didn't mind*.

The one thing he could count on to stay the same was Hinata's inability to get his glasses from him, and even that had become more of a game than anything else. Each failed attempt came with a laugh or a giggle, a promise of *"I'll get them next time!"* even though he almost certainly would not.

His anxiety was eased, just a little bit by the calm expression Hinata kept while sleeping. This was worse than he'd thought.

"Why'r'you awake?" Hinata's eyes were open, amber and glowing in the dark. Piercing straight into Kei as he spoke in a whisper. A sleepy, groggy whisper and he probably wasn't even really awake, so what harm would it do to talk to him a little?

"Because you snore too loud."

"I don't." But there was no energy behind the argument, and he scooted closer to Kei. Almost on his futon, now. "You're not as scary as you us'ally are."

"I'm not scary. You're just scared because you're a shrimp."

" 'm not that short!" Beside him, Ennoshita shifted. "I'm not." He repeated, quieter.

"Sure."

"...taller than Nishinoya."

"He's short too. What kind of victory is that?"

"Mean." Hinata pouted, eyes barely open anymore.

"I'm not mean, I'm honest."

Hinata just pouted for a beat, and then there was silence while he sulked and Kei wanted to laugh but he wouldn't. Then, Hinata huffed. His breath ghosted over Kei's face, and honestly, who had taken control of Kei? Because it couldn't be himself, or he'd have shoved Hinata all the way off of his futon for that. Instead, he just waited.

"You're still nicer. Not as scary."

"I'm not." Even though he knew he was. Even though he was watching his tone when he teased, so he didn't sound too mean. Even though *everyone* had noticed the change, not just Hinata, because sometimes he would hand the King or Hinata their water or a towel and some of the team would gawk at him.

"You are." And Hinata reached out, his hand resting on the bit of Kei's arm that was poking out from under his pillow.

Kei mentally ordered his heart to slow down, to stop beating so loud in case Hinata could hear it too. And then Hinata was asleep, and Kei closed his eyes and tried not to focus too much on the hand that was still touching him, or on the way it made his skin tingle.

...

They didn't win a single practice match, but it didn't matter. He wondered, as they boarded the bus, if the team would still be so optimistic if Hinata wasn't there. Probably not; he was a ray of sunshine and determination that lit up the mood even when they lost. His optimism was contagious, and Kei wasn't *happy* that they'd lost, but he wasn't as disappointed as he'd be if it wasn't for Hinata. He didn't protest when said redhead pulled him into a seat, either.

"If you fall asleep on me," He warned, glaring down at the redhead as the bus pulled out on the road. "I'll push you off the seat."

"I'm not gonna fall asleep!" Hinata protested. Kei could hear Yamaguchi snickering. Hinata turned around in the seat to look at Kageyama. "Tell Tsukishima to stop being mean to me!"

"Tell him yourself." Kageyama snapped. "Why should I do it?"

"You're supposed to defend my honor!"

"What honor? You're lucky I never pushed you off the seat, with how much you drool."

"I do not drool! Jerk! You do!"

"Both of you drool," Tanaka cut in from the back of the bus, his tone dangerous. "Now shut up so I can sleep!"

And it was maybe ten minutes later that Hinata was asleep and- predictably- drooling. He'd slid over, of course, leaning against Kei's side so the taller boy had to drape his arm along the back of the seat so it wouldn't fall asleep. Hinata ended up laying half in his lap, and it was all the blonde could do to not push him off the seat, or yell at him to wake the hell up and stop being embarrassing. Especially when Azumane looked over from the seat opposite, and turned away, surprised. Even so, he refrained from making any noise. Even so, he was still to avoid waking him. How could he wake someone that looked so peaceful, and so tired?

By the time they got back to the school, his body felt still from not moving for so long and he was sure that Azumane had whispered to Nishinoya what he'd seen, who had whispered it to someone else and eventually everyone had turned around to look at least once, except maybe Sawamura or Sugawara.

After a particularly long, hard look from Kageyama finally got to him, he stopped on the walk back to the gym.

"What?" He demanded shortly, and Kageyama had just shrugged and walked on.

...

The shrimp's fixation on Kei's glasses didn't end after training camp. There was another incident, just after class had ended. Kei was packing his things up and waiting on Yamaguchi (and Kageyama by association) to come walk with him to the gym. Hinata had gotten there first, meaning he had probably run. That was made even more likely by the fact that he was out of breath when he made a beeline through the classroom to Kei's desk. He knew there were eyes on him, he knew people were looking. They knew him to be icy and unfriendly, and Hinata to be a burst of energy and overly friendly. He knew his classmates were watching to see how he'd react to someone with such a burning, hot intensity.

The answer was, he'd melt. "Don't run just to get here, bumass."

"But you always leave before I get here, and I wanna walk with you too!"

"Then I'll wait, so don't run anymore." If he kept running, he'd end up getting hurt or getting detention. Or at least, that's how Kei rationalized his decision. Until Hinata moved fast, half-atop the desk and grabbing for Kei's face. He leaned back. "Nevermind, I won't wait.

And Hinata whined.

But he did start waiting anyway, every day after class for the obnoxious redhead.

...

Regardless of how he felt about them now, studying with the obnoxious duo hadn't become any easier. If anything, it was worse now, because along with the outbursts and arguments and trying to keep the yelling down, he was ever-distracted by little things that Hinata did.

That Hinata had always done, but had never been notable, until now. Things like the way his tongue poked out from the corner of his mouth during a difficult subject, the way he squirmed where he sat when he didn't understand something. The way he ran both hands through his hair when Kei or Yamaguchi tried explaining something, and he just didn't get it. THe way that, when he'd realize what he was doing wrong, he would wave his hands through the air as though he were *physically erasing* his mistakes to start anew. Even the way his eyebrows pulled together in thought or the way he'd pout when he messed up a problem.

Kei would be studying again later, alone so that he could actually pay attention. So that he could retain some of the information. This kind of studying was a fruitless endeavor, even if he wasn't completely distracted by Hinata's every move, because the loudest two out of the four constantly got into arguments and name-calling matches. Kei and Yamaguchi spent so much time calming them down, so they wouldn't bother anyone's family, they barely got to any actual studying.

He was pretty sure they weren't really there to study, though. They had snacks and drinks, they gathered together like friends. Studying was just an excuse to hang out, because two of them wouldn't admit to being best friends (except Hinata, sometimes, when he was off on a tangent, he would forget that they couldn't stand each other) and Kei typically wouldn't hang out with anyone without a reason.

For Kei, at the very least, it was an excuse. He needed one to rationalize his willingness to see the two people that had once been the bane of his existence, and because he was pretty sure if he just started asking them to hang out, they would both die of shock.

It was during one of those excuses that Hinata tried again.

One moment, the four of them where sitting on the floor around a table, comparing notes. Kageyama was glaring at the papers so hard that they might spontaneously combust. Hinata was hiding his face in his hands, spouting off a muffled rant about how he didn't know how to take good notes. Yamaguchi was making an effort to help the King, and Kei had already resigned to just re-study later.

The next moment, Hinata had almost done it. He was over the table and on top of Kei, pinning his back to the floor and wow, Hinata was heavier than he looked, and ouch, that knee to his ribs was probably going to bruise. Kei blinked, his brain taking a moment to catch up with what had happened and his eyes struggling to see through a blur.

Kei's glasses lay on the floor, and then in Kei's hand.

"I was *so close*, I almost did it!" Hinata's voice was shrill with defeat and loud with pride, making some sort of hand movements that Kei couldn't quite make out. Then, all at once, he seemed to realize exactly what he'd done along with the fact that no one in the room had spoken a word. Kei placed his glasses on his face and made a quick glance around the room.

Yamaguchi was staring in anticipating horror, Kageyama seemed braced for a storm, and Hinata had thrown himself off the blonde and across the floor. He was back-against-desk, eyes wide while he stammered apologies and what sounded like a plea for mercy.

Hinata's expression- eyes wide and panicked, cheeks a shade of red that envied his hair- was enough to make him snort. That's what Kei himself would call it, at least, even if Yamaguchi would call it a laugh. And Kageyama wouldn't comment, because there was a good chance he'd imagined it; there was no way that Kei, that *Kei* would laugh at something like this. No chance that he wouldn't be angry.

Later, Hinata had decided on walking Kei home, and he asked, "You're not angry?"

No. "I'm too surprised that you weight more than thirty pounds, to be angry." He was too surprised with himself that he wasn't angry, to pretend to be angry.

"I am *not* that small!" He insisted, grabbing onto Kei's arm to shake him and since when had that become okay? He'd say it was when he didn't *literally murder* the redhead for tackling him to the floor, but the blonde was *well aware* that it had been *long* before that.

"I know, but you look that small. That's why I'm surprised."

"Asshole." Hinata growled. "You just think so because you're a giant." And his fingers hadn't let go of Kei's arm.

His heart sped up. He pretended otherwise. His hands felt cold. He pretended they weren't. "No, Takeda thinks so too." He'd just said the first short person that came to mind.

"He's *barely* taller than me!" Hinata's voice came out as a horrified whisper.

Kei snorted (an actual snort this time), and Kei bumped his friend with his arm- with what would've been a shoulder, if they were anywhere near the same height- and Hinata let go. They walked together in silence for a while, sun setting. The sky was a deep red-orange, like Hinata's hair, and Kei cursed himself for the comparison. He wasn't poetic, he wasn't a romantic, so it was ridiculous the things that made him think of Hinata lately. Like the sky, and the vending machine at school where Hinata went to between class and practice, and the obvious one, the sun.

"Oi, Tsukishima,"

He hummed his question.

"Can I call you a nickname?"

"What? No." Why? He didn't look at the runt, because his cheeks were warm. Nicknames didn't come from just *asking*, they came naturally. And they came in middle school or elementary school. They were too old for it, now, and anyway, *why*?

"Please? It's not fair if you only get to call me one!" He was so loud, for so late in the day.

"No, I don't." He narrowed his eyes, finally looking down at Hinata.

"Yes you do!" He'd grabbed Kei's arm again to emphasize his insistence. "You call me 'Shrimpy'."

"That's because you're short, it's not a nickname. You call me 'jerk', that's not a nickname either."

"It's because you're a jerk, but that's different. Please?"

"No."

"I'll pick one myself, then."

"No."

"Stinky-shima. Jerk-ashima." He paused. "Booty-shima."

He scowled, scoffed, because otherwise he might have laughed. "Booty-shima?"

"Yes! That's it. Booty-shima, until you tell me a nickname." And that really wasn't something he wanted his classmates to hear. He could only intimidate so many people at once, and there were quite a few people that would love a chance at a nickname like that. It would ruin the rest of his high school years.

"Not Tsukki." He gave in. That was exclusive to Yamaguchi, anyway.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because."

"Okay. How about Shima?" He paused, then, and probably would have stopped walking if Kei hadn't pulled him along. "No, nevermind." Why did he sound so disappointed, anyway? Why did he let go of Kei to fidget with the strap of his bag instead, like he was deep in thought over something this silly.

"Why do you want to?"

"We're friends, right?" Hinata was staring hard at the ground. He sounded nervous, or it seemed that way. His voice had gotten strangely quiet in comparison to his usual volume. It was a rare, airy voice that sounded almost the way he did when he was half-asleep at the training camp. A voice and tone that nobody else could hear, only Kei, and it made him nervous, too.

Kei shoved his hands in his pockets. What kind of question was that, anyway? Wasn't it obvious enough? Hadn't Hinata already decided that? It was humiliating to say out loud, to acknowledge it. He must have been silent for too long, though, because Hinata spoke again and his voice had gone back to normal and his words were scattered.

"Uh- nevermind, I'm sorry, it was just a weird question-"

"Yes."

"Huh?"

God, he was the one that had asked the question! Why was he making it so difficult? "*Yes.*" Kei said again, and almost flinched at how irritated he sounded. Hinata was quiet for a beat, and Kei considered an apology (he wouldn't give one) and then the redhead understood.

"Oh- *oh*!" And again, for the third time, hands on Kei's arm. On his wrist, clutching him like a child might but it wasn't annoying like it should have been. He was beaming when Kei made the mistake of lowering his gaze. "Then it's fine, I don't need to call you a nickname." His expression, the way he said it like he was so happy, Kei nearly stumbled.

He didn't ask why. Later, long after Hinata had left Kei from walking him home, Kei texted him.

*'Are you home?'*

*'Yes why?'* had been the reply, and when he didn't text back, another text came. *'Tsukishima! Why?'* and then a final *'Tsukishimaaaaaaaaaa'* with enough characters to break it into two texts. He never replied, and the next day at school, Hinata yelled at him for it.

...

For a while, Hinata forgot about the glasses. Or maybe he just wasn't willing to try Kei's patience any more than he already had. Either way, a few weeks went by before he tried again- study sessions at alternating houses, walking each other home, walking together and eating together in school. The weeks went by normally, volleyball was going well and everyone was improving. Things were good, normal and calm, and Kei had *finally* adjusted to the way things had changed. And then, Hinata being who he was, the runt had taken another step that meant readjustments to the way things were going to work now.

"Come to my house!" Hinata's voice startled him, and the brush of fingers on his hair did too. He stepped swiftly away from the stairs, and out of HInata's reach.

Hinata, who had come very close to grabbing his glasses. Who would have been able to, had he not announced his presence with the question. Hinata, who had sent Kei's heart racing from the touch, and who really shouldn't have this kind of effect on him.

"We're going to the King's house tonight," Or that had been the plan.

"His mom's having a guest and she said we can't come over 'cause we're loud," His eyes were bright, wide and he kept looking away. Nervous, but why?" "So come to my house?"

There was no 'we' being loud, there was Hinata and Kageyama being loud. "Okay. Have you told-"

"Not to study. And not them. Just you come over. We can watch a movie or something, if you want..." Oh. This time, there was no excuse. He wanted to hang out, to do something as friends and not as a group and not to study.

Kei was hesitant. Why was he hesitant? They had already established, clearly and undeniably, that they were friends- but if the really thought about it (which he wouldn't), he knew why. It was because he was nervous. Because being alone with Hinata meant no distractions, and because it would probably make it harder to push aside his god-awful, gross feelings to act normal around him. He'd already slipped up so much. It was to the point that everyone on their team had noticed his change in behavior, even if they took it to mean he was friendlier. They'd still *noticed*, and that was a problem. Even his classmates whispered about his change in behavior, about how nice he was to Hinata when the redhead came to bother him after class. What if it got worse? What if he started acting even more differently and people caught on?

"I really need to study."

"Then we can just study at my house!"

"What about your sister?"

"I'll tell mom to keep her out of my room."

"Hinata-"

"Nevermind," He was stammering, blushing, fidgeting. "Sorry, you should study with Yamaguchi since Natsu would bother us-"

"Don't apologize for inviting me." He narrowed his eyes. Hinata hadn't done anything. Kei was irritated, but it wasn't at him, it was at the whole situation. "Bumass."

"Don't call me-"

"I'll go."

"Really?" He breathed, like he couldn't believe it. "Hah! Yes!" And Kei didn't have to turn around to know that he'd jumped up in the air. That's what he did when he was happy; he flew.

...

Hinata had warned him that his sister was little, that she was silly, but he hadn't thought anything of it until they'd come inside to take off their shoes and a miniature Hinata had come around the corner-

and shrieked. Louder than he'd ever heard Hinata, she had let out a shriek of terror and threw her arms around her brother. Hinata, apparently, found this hilarious, because he was laughing while he maneuvered to remove his shoes. When he'd stepped onto the floor, he scooped her up. She looked five, maybe four, but Hinata wasn't that much bigger than she was. Holding her like that made him look even smaller, and Kei had to put in effort to refrain from saying so. He stepped into the hall as well, bowing as a woman- Hinata's mother, he assumed- came to greet them. She wasn't much taller than Hinata, either.

"Mom! This is Tsukishima Kei." And apparently, he'd already brought up Kei coming over.

His sister, Natsu, confirmed this with a squeak. "You didn't tell me he'd be so giant!"

"Thank you for having me." He said, over Hinata's scolding his sister for being rude.

"Please make yourself at home!"

Kei had only ever been to Yamaguchi's house this way, just to be there. As a friend. He had no idea what sort of etiquette was common, he didn't know what to say to parents or how to act, so he just stood awkwardly by the redhead and waited to be prompted.

"Say hello to him, Natsu!" Hinata insisted in a whispered kind of yell. Natsu buried her face in his chest when she caught Kei looking. "Natsu-!"

"It's fine." He tried to sound reassuring, but when Hinata looked at him it seemed as though he sounded as uncertain as he felt.

"Mom, we're gonna watch TV," He announced, setting his sister on the floor. "Okay?" She promptly ran to hide behind their mother.

Like he'd been on the walk over, Hinata was quiet. They sat on opposite ends of the couch, staring absently at some game show on TV, and Hinata was silent. The blonde had never realized how much he depended on other people to fill the silence, until no one was. It was made worse by the fact that Hinata was *silent*, and he was *never* that way, except apparently for today. Something was obviously bothering the redhead, with the way he was picking at his nails and the way he had fallen so quiet. Kei should probably leave, he probably did something rude without realizing, or maybe Hinata regretted inviting him over.

"Do you want a snack?"

"I can go home,"

They spoke at the same time and Hinata turned to gawk at him. "What? Why?"

Kei wished that he could disappear into the couch, that he could sink between the cushions into a realm of non-existence. "You're acting weird." He said it calmly, the way he'd point out that the sky was blue or that Hinata was annoying. "I can leave."

He didn't understand the pinkish tint that settled over Hinata's cheeks and nose. Hinata shifted on the couch until he was on his knees and facing Kei. "I'm not!" He argued, but didn't leave room for argument before going on. "It's just- you're just really cool, and everything you do is like, *gwah!*" He threw his hands up, palms out and fingers splayed. "I don't know what to do when people come over and I don't wanna be not-cool, and-"

"It's fine." Kei understood, kind of, or a lot. He didn't know what to do either.

Before he could say anything more, Natsu walked in the room carrying two glass bottles tucked under her arms, and a bag of chips. She carefully, slowly and cautiously, made her way over and set them on the coffee-table. Then, she turned to look at them. Her gaze, like Hinata's, was intense.

"Mom said to bring these." She said, but her eyes were on Kei. Somehow determined and shy, both at the same time. "You're too tall." She pointed an accusing finger at him, and Hinata went to push her hand down.

"Don't point at people!"

"I'm sorry." Kei apologized, careful not to smile or to laugh so that he sounded serious. She and Hinata had the same opinion.

Hinata was gaping at him, like he'd said something shocking, but Natsu just crossed her arms. "You're not sorry." She argued, with squinting eyes.

"Yes I am." He insisted. "I didn't mean to be so tall." He felt like a fool, like Hinata was laughing at him for talking to a little kid like this. He'd *just* said how cool Kei was (whatever 'gwah' meant) and that was definitely out the window now. "I don't want to be scary."

Natsu swelled up her chest, and for a fleeting moment he panicked because what if she cried? What if he made her cry? But she only huffed, dropping her arms to her sides. "You're not *that* scary."

"Oh, good." He breathed a sigh, like he was relieved, and tried to ignore the way Hinata was studying him so intently. "I don't want someone so cute to be afraid of me."

Natsu beamed, and then blushed, and then ran out of the room like she didn't know how to respond. He relaxed a little when he heard her yelling to their mother about what he'd said, and their mother laughed. He must have said the right things, done the right things, because Hinata breathed the next words he spoke.

"Tsukishima! That was amazing! She's gonna love you, it took forever for her to like Kageyama and you just walk in like that-" He clapped his hands together. "-and he likes you already! How come you're so good at talking to kids, Tsukishima?'

"I have a little cousin." He said, but it wasn't like he saw her often. He didn't think he was very good with kids at all. It was a nice discovery to find out otherwise.

...

Eating dinner at Hinata's house was a long endeavor. He could only sneak quick bites in between Hinata's or Natsu's talking to him. At school, he could just ignore anyone that spoke to him during lunch, but here, that would be impolite. (Or it was impolite at school, he just didn't care, and he cared here.) Natsu was extremely talkative now that she wasn't afraid of him. She was cute, but she asked a lot of questions, and usually it was right when he took a bite so he felt rushed to finished so he could answer. Their mother was more polite, and only prompted him when he was free to answer.

Throughout the meal, Natsu compared him to Kageyama a lot. How he did things differently than Kei, how he argued with Hinata more than Kei, height comparisons. It wasn't annoying *exactly*, and he probably should have, but he hadn't anticipated it so he wasn't sure what to say. That, and Hinata desperately trying to keep his family from saying anything embarrassing made it a little awkward, but otherwise the meal was nice and Kei was pretty sure he could handle visits like this, if he was invited again.

And then after dinner, Hinata's mother suggested that he stay the night since it was already so late, and Hinata and Natsu had both jumped at the suggestion.

It was dark outside already, and Hinata had mentioned how far Kei lived, and it wasn't like they hadn't slept in the same place before, given the training camps. The issue wasn't that Kei didn't *want to*, it was that he felt deceitful. Would Hinata let him (or more like, eagerly beg him to) sleepover if he knew how Kei felt about him? If he knew the idea of sleeping beside Hinata made Kei feel tingly and light on his feet, would it be different? Probably. The blonde felt as if he were lying, pretending that they were only friends when everything seemed like so much more to him.

It seemed inappropriate to accept, even though he had no intentions of doing anything more than friendly. He did accept, nonetheless.

He did try to object. He didn't have clothes to wear; Hinata's dad's clothes would fit him. He needed to study; they could study together. Finally, he gave in, and called his mother. She didn't mind, of course, pleased that he was making friends and he hurriedly got off the phone. He changed into some pajamas that were a tiny bit too small, but ultimately fit. His father was 'away', a vague answer when he asked, but that no one seemed keen on discussing so he dropped it. Pajama-clad, Hinata turned on a scary movie and turned out the lights.

...

Partway through the movie, he was aware of eyes on him. He turned to face Hinata, to ask him what he was staring at- and felt his brain freeze up instead. Hinata had that intensity about him again, that swell, like he was about to say something about volleyball only they weren't playing or practicing. That look was for Kei, not for volleyball. He was looking at him, entranced, as if Kei were doing something incredible. As if he'd made an amazing block during a match. He faltered his question of "What are you looking at?" and remained silent instead. He was used to that sort of face when they were playing ball, but not here, not now, while he wasn't even doing anything.

"I can't believe you're so nice." Hinata gushed, then, in a whisper so he didn't wake his mother. "I can't believe Natsu likes you so much. You're so cool, Tsukishima."

Kei blinked, willing his heart to slow, to not burst through his ribs. "I'm not nice." He argued for the sake of it.

Hinata just giggled, and scooting closer to him on the couch until they were arm-to-arm, leg-to-leg. Kei wondered if the smaller boy was faking when he jumped at a scare, clinging to Kei's arm, but that had to be hopeful thinking and nothing more.

When the movie was over and credits began to roll, Hinata turned switched off the TV and then let out a startled squeak in the dark.

"You're the one that turned it off." Kei would've rolled his eyes, if it was light enough to see him do it.

"I didn't think it'd be so dark!"

"Stop yelling, it's late."

Silence, and then shuffling, and then a hand all but groped Kei's face as Hinata felt his way back to the couch. "Sorry!" Hinata giggled, and the blonde glared into the darkness. Then, finally hushing his voice, Kei was pulled to his feet by his hand. "Come on,"

Kei allowed himself to be led through the house and to Hinata's room. He hoped that his suddenly-cold, suddenly-sweaty palms went unnoticed. He hoped that his heartbeat wasn't as loud as it sounded like it was. He wished Hinata felt the same prickly, tingling needles from the touch as he did, and he wished he didn't feel them at all.

Hinata's room was small. When he eyes adjusted to the light, he could see the only stuff he really had aside from the desk, bed and closet were volleyball related. Posters, and some sports-related collectible figures. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for Hinata to prompt him to do something. He was definitely over-thinking this. At Yamaguchi's house, he'd just sit at the desk or even on the bed, but it wasn't Yamaguchi's house. It was Hinata's, and just the idea of sitting on the bed made him nervous.

Hinata was at the closet, pulling out a rolled-up futon. He watched the redhead, who was hurrying about and looking about as nervous as Kei felt, set it up on the floor. Finally finished, he spun around to face the taller boy.

"It's more comfortable than the ones at training camp. It's like a normal bed." He said, hurriedly, without taking a breath and Kei wasn't sure what was going on anymore. "Natsu likes to sleep in here- but it's clean, I wash it before school!"

"Thank you." Kei said, before he could ramble on any more.

There was a beat of silence, and then, "You can come in, you know."

He did, sitting down on the futon.

"Do you- um, you wanna listen to music? Or I could play videos on my laptop, or..." He trailed off, sitting down on the edge of his bed like he was thinking. They still hadn't turned on the light, but Kei's eyes had adjusted and he could see Hinata's tongue poking out of the corner of his lips.

"What do you do at night?"

Hinata seemed to grow more and more flustered, more and more embarrassed. "I Skype Kenma or Yachi."

"So do that."

"I can't do that while I have a guest!"

"Yes you can, I just said you can."

"But then you wouldn't be doing anything."

"I have my phone."

Hinata slid off the bed and sprawled out across the futon, taking up the space where Kei wasn't sitting. "I just don't want you to be bored." He said, frowning up at Kei.

"I'm not."

"How do I know you're not just being nice?"

"I'm never nice."

"You're nice to Natsu. And you're nice to my mom."

"I'm just polite."

"You're so cool, Tsukishima." He was breathy again. "You're even cool when you talk to my sister. I'm so jealous,"

He pushed his glasses up on his nose to hide the tint on his cheeks, even though Hinata couldn't see it in the dark anyway. "Your standard for 'cool' makes me uncomfortable."

Hinata pouted again, and then stopped and pushed his feet on the floor to slide loser to Kei. "You can say that all you want, but I still think you're cool."

"Because I am."

Hinata giggled, resting his head between Kei's ankles where his legs were crossed. Red curls tickled his skin. He wanted to touch them, to see if they were really as soft as they seemed. He didn't, wouldn't.

"You're nice, too. I didn't think you'd be *mean*, but you were *sweet* to Natsu." Couldn't he just drop it, already? It was embarrassing that he was carrying on.

"Go Skype your friends."

After a bit of convincing, Hinata did, for a while.

...

Kei expected to be at least a little involved in the conversation, because Hinata had a way of dragging everyone around him into whatever he was doing. He didn't expect Kozume to be with Kuroo, and he didn't expect Kuroo to insist that Kei come to the webcam with threats of saying embarrassing things if he didn't. The four of them- or three, mostly excluding Kozume who was busy playing a game, and *more accurately two since Kei only spoke when he had to- talked for a couple of hours into the night. Kei didn't use Skype at home. He idn't even have an account. There was no point when he hardly said anything the whole time. If Hinata was there, though, nobody else really had to say anything. He filled the silence in a way that didn't leave anyone else behind.

Kei was relieved that Hinata, when going over the events of the night, left out how 'cool' Kei was with Natsu and how good he was with kids. In fact, he left out some details about the night like the awkwardness, the nervousness and the scary movie. Kei appreciated it, because Kuroo knew, he was sure of it, and he didn't want to give him more ammunition. When the call ended, Hinata was visibly sleepy. It seemed that his energy was a constant, full-force until it depleted and he was half-asleep without anything between.

About twenty minutes into the night, Kei was staring at the ceiling while the day's events replayed in his mind. He'd assumed Hinata had fallen asleep, until a whisper interrupted his thoughts.

"Tsukishima,"

"Why are you still wearing your glasses?"

He turned, narrowing his eyes at the redhead who was peeking over the side of the bed. "Why do you care?" He asked, but knew the answer already.

A huff. "Why can't I wear them? Just once?"

"Why do you want to?" He sat up a little, propped up on his elbows and ready to move out of the way if Hinata reached down. "It's weird."

"It's not!"

"Don't yell at night, bumass."

"Don't call me names. And give me your glasses." He reached a hand out that was swiftly dodged and caught.

"No."

Another huff. "I'll get them."

"No you won't. I'll just stand when you're around."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means you're short. And stop yelling or I won't talk anymore."

Hinata retracted, and slid back on the bed until he was sitting with his back against the wall. "Come up here."

For some reason, Kei did, setting his glasses on the table beside the bed first. "What?"

"I'm too scared to sleep. The movie scared me."

"You picked it."

"I didn't know it was *that* scary!"

"It's called a scary movie, what else would it be?"

He huffed for a third time. "You're mean." He said, scowling.

"Duh." And when Hinata giggled, Kei realized that his insults and jabs had lost any bite. That somewhere along the way to this point, Hinata had stopped taking his bait and Kei had stopped trying to bait him. It was all banter, it was just for fun. The realization was jarring, and it probably meant nothing to Hinata, but to Kei it meant a lot. That would make two people in total that saw through his unkind, cold way of communicating and knew when he was and wasn't serious. Yamaguchi, and Hinata. Nobody else had stuck around long enough for insults and rudeness to become playful and in jest.

"Hey, Tsukishima," Hinata asked, after a moment of silence. "Can I call you Kei?"

"No,"

"Oh." And god, why did he have to sound so defeated? Why did he care so much?

"Nobody calls me that."

"Exactly!"

"What?"

"Well, nobody calls you that, so I thought it could be like a nickname." He was fidgeting again. Clearly sulking, and really, Kei had no reason to give in at all, but,

"Not during Volleyball." He probably wouldn't even think to respond to it during a game. "Or at school."

Chest swelled, shoulders back, eyes so bright they were probably glowing in the dark and a smile even brighter. "Yes!" And why, god, was Hinata so happy about something so ridiculous.

Kei snorted. "I won't call you Shouyou."

"That's not the same as a nickname anyway. A bunch of people call me that, so you have to think of something else."

"Why should I?"

"Because," Hinata said it like it was obvious, like Kei was being obtuse deliberately. "That's what friends do!"

"That's what children or lovers do." He regretted the words immediately, or specifically, the one word. He was glad for the dark to hide the fire that had taken his face. It was ridiculous to be so flustered by-

"N-no, normal friends can do it to!" Hinata stuttered, and he was flustered too.

Kei wanted to hope, but he wouldn't even let himself wonder. The whole day had been strange, had been weird, but he was afraid to indulge that sort of thought. "I'll call you Shou. But only alone."

Hinata's smile was one that was too bright for the dark room. "Sleep up here, okay?"

It wasn't normal for boys in high school to do that. "Why? That's weird."

"I'm too scared to sleep alone." Hinata's lower lip poked out in a real pout, eyebrows drawn together but he was exaggerating, Kei was sure of it.

"Fine."

They both adjusted on the bed, sliding beneath the blanket and lying so close on the single-mattress that they were touching, even at opposite sides. They were so close, that Kei was afraid.

Afraid, because there was no way that Hinata couldn't feel his heartbeat, or at least hear it now. Afraid because amber eyes hadn't left his own since he'd laid his head on the pillow. Afraid that something he didn't want Hinata to see would show through anyway. Staring like this, looking into one another's eyes felt too intimate. It made him feel light and heavy all at once.

"Talk to me." Hinata demanded in a whisper.

"About what?"

"I don't know. Something you want to know. Anything."

"...Where's your dad?" He asked softly, hoping he wasn't overstepping any lines.

Hinata frowned, but it was thoughtful, and not sad. "He left. He left my mom when Natsu was born. I don't know why she keeps his stuff. In case he comes back, I guess."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be." Hinata smiled, slightly. "I don't miss him." He paused then, smile fading. "Can I ask you something too?"

Kei nodded.

"Do you like anyone?"

His heart sped up, it beat harder, pounding against his ribs like it was trying to chip away at his bone to get free.

"Kei." Hearing Hinata say his name, however exasperated, made him falter.

"Do you?"

"Yes!"

"Who?"

"It's a secret. Your turn."

"Yes." He didn't push for who it was, because he knew he would like them less if he knew.

"Really?"

"Why is that so surprising?"

"Is that why you're nicer now? Because you like someone?"

"I'm not nicer."

Hinata just giggled. "Who is it?"

"It's a secret."

"If you tell me I'll tell you."

"I asked you first, so it would be the other way."

"Kei!"

"Don't yell."

"Please tell me."

"No."

"Can I have a hint?"

He hesitated. Was it worth the risk? Was it worth the chance of ruining- this? This moment, this friendship? "It's someone on the team.

"Shimizu?"

"No."

"Yachi," He sounded sure.

"No."

The silence lasted maybe three seconds, but it felt like much, much longer. "Oh."

More silence followed, because Kei had nothing else to say. He wasn't about to ask for acceptance, or to plead some case- if Hinata didn't want him in the same bed, or didn't want him spending the night now, so be it. It was what it was. He wished that they weren't laying so close. He wished that they weren't still looking at each other.

"Can I wear your glasses?" Hinata asked, then, and Kei just stared at him. "*Please* can I?"

That had been the last thing he expected to hear, right after a confession like the one he'd made. The absolute last thing, and yet, this was Hinata, so why was he really surprised? He reached back, feeling the table until he found his glasses and then brought them up between the two. He really wasn't going to drop it, and if he'd ask at weird times like this-

When Hinata took them, Kei noticed a tremor in his hands. He wasn't smiling, or cheering, or yelling about how he *finally* got them like he'd said he would. He just unfolded them, placed them on his face, and then sat up. "I'm Tsukishima Kei," He began, and Kei scowled at him. "Hinata, will you go out with me?"

"What?" Kei sat up too, staring at him in what was almost horror. Was that the plan the entire time? Was that the reason, the *whole time*? Every failed attempt, every injury, every single tackle or jump, was it just to do *this*?

"Yes!" Hinata answered the question he had asked, taking the glasses off and holding them back out to Kei. "I will."

Kei took his glasses back and stared at Hinata. Was he serious? Was this serious? Why did he even like someone this dorky? "Are you joking?"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who asked."

Oh my god, he *was* serious. All of this, these weeks and months of almost falling down the stairs and of falling on the floor and grabbing at Kei had all been for this.

"Well, I take it back. You're too much of a dork for me to go out with." He set his glasses on the table, and he was surprised that his voice didn't shake when he said it.

He laid down, and Hinata glared at him. "Oi!"

"Don't yell."

"You can't take it back, it's too late." Hinata said, then, grinning down at him triumphantly. All of that effort, every moment of it for this when he could have just-

Kei could have asked him, too. Actually asked him. It had been so long ago that Hinata first asked for his glasses. If the goal had been the same all along, that meant Hinata liked him for that entire time, maybe even before Kei liked him back. Would he have been this happy, back then? This feather-light?

"I'm glad you asked," Hinata said, lying down next to him and pulling the blanket to his chin. He was still nervous, like he was afraid Kei wasn't going to go along with it. Like he was afraid he had misread something. "Kageyama said you wouldn't ever, so now I get to rub it in his face."

"Stop." Kei laughed, really laughed. "You really are a dork."

"Since we're going out, you have to buy me meatbuns."

"Okay." Kei agreed, because he was in a good mood and not because he agreed with the dating etiquette. "We'll go tomorrow, after practice."

"Just us, right? And not the whole team?" Hinata asked, and Kei knew he still wasn't sure. Oblivious as ever.

"Obviously. It's because we're going out." And god, the words felt good to say, and god, he felt like a fool for not realizing before now that Hinata felt the same way.

But Hinata smiled at him, eyes wide and pupils blown and he was too giddy, nervous and excited to feel anything else.