Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyu
Authors Note: This was adopted from SimpleEasyAwesome , so anyways let's get into it.
A normal day of practice had just ended. The sound of sneakers squeaking and volleyballs slamming against the hardwood gym floors still rang through everyone's ears. Ennoshita and Narita were lowering the net. Hinata was picking up volleyballs to help Yamaguchi cart them back to the storage room. Sure, he was planning on regrouping with Kageyama and Yachi to practice their quick attack after everyone left but it was the thought that counts. That, and Daichi would reprimand him since he was told to clean up the stray balls, so it wasn't really like he could say 'no'. Everyone else was either having a casual conversation or already on their way out of the club room.
Once all the boys had left for the Club room, save for Kageyama and Hinata, who were clearly stalling for time, Shimizu called Yachi over. "Hitoka-chan, will you be helping Hinata and Kageyama practice their quick attack again tonight?" The blonde manager caved almost immediately, frantically and quietly apologizing. Seeming to be on the verge of tears, she asked, "Are they gonna get in trouble with Sawamura-san?" "No, they aren't," Shimizu reassured, "because I'll be covering for you three." "Wah! Thank you, Shimizu-senpai," Yachi cried. "But why do you wanna cover for us tonight?" "Well," the older manager started, before leaning closer to speak in a whisper, "Don't tell Hinata, but I have some business with him."
The two managers' gazes shifted to the gym's doorway where Hinata sat, still pretending to tie his shoe for what had to be five minutes, now. The golden rays from the sunset added highlights to his bright orange hair and his face was still shiny with sweat from practice. "Hinata," Shimizu called out to the small middle blocker, "could you tell Daichi that I'll be watching you and Kageyama practice your quick tonight?" Hinata's eyes widened, but he vigorously nodded and frantically yelled, "Sure, Shimizu-senpai!"
As he sped off, Yachi could see the softness in the upperclassman's smiling profile. And she could've sworn she heard a giggle come from the older girl as well as saw a light blush on her cheeks. Giving a quick glance back at Kageyama, who had already put the net back up and was making his way over to the storage room, she asked in a low voice, "So, what business do you have with Hinata, anyway?" Shimizu chuckled again, her cheeks growing ever so pinker and said, "Well, it's personal." The upperclassman didn't even seem fazed by Yachi's rushed out apology and 90-degree angle bow.
The next few hours of extra practice for the freak twins went as smoothly as it can go for them. There was the inevitable bickering between the two and the occasional flubbed spike, but they were definitely getting better. Yachi could barely contain her smiles of prideful glee whenever they nailed a practically perfect attack. "Alright, boys," Shimizu called from the gym doorway as she checked her watch, "time to clean up for the night. It's almost eight and you have practice early tomorrow morning." "Okay, Shimizu-senpai," the first-year boys responded, already starting to trip over each other as they silently competed to pick up all the balls scattered around the gym floor.
"Hinata," Shimizu waved for the energetic redhead to come closer, "I'd like to privately speak with you before you leave, if that's alright with you." The first year's eyes widened at the offer as he shouted out, "Um! Sure thing, Shimizu-senpai!" Hinata then promptly turned on his heels and ran to push the volleyball cart back to the storage room. "What'd you get in trouble for, this time, dork?" Kageyama growled out as he followed the other to the storage room. "Why does the manager calling me automatically mean I'm in trouble to you?" Hinata squawked back.
After several minutes of bickering from the storage room to the club room, the freak twins bid each other good night. Hinata walked outside the club room to find Shimizu waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, Shimizu-senpai," he said, "I thought you'd already be going to the gate. M'sorry I made you wait for me out here." "No, it's okay," she reassured, dismissively waving her hand, "I didn't even wait long, so you're fine." There was a beat of silence, only filled by the shorter boy's footsteps on the metal steps. Once he reached the hard concrete below the stairs, Hinata asked, "So, you said you needed me for something?" Shimizu's lips were pulled into a soft smile, her voice light and airy with subtle joy as she answered, "Yes, I wanted to ask you something."
The next morning, Hinata seemed… off. It didn't take a genius to see that. He seemed to be slower to react when receiving and was flubbing a lot more serves than normal for him. It wasn't like the redhead was sluggish in his movements; quite the opposite in fact. He seemed to be filled with as much energy as he usually was, though it was more like nervous energy that made him freeze up rather than give him his usual energetic buzz. And his more attentive teammates like Sawamura, Sugawara and Tsukishima didn't miss the way Hinata would jolt or yelp whenever Tanaka or Nishinoya yelled his name or patted him on the back or shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up from whatever anxiety he was having. Unbeknownst to the overzealous second years, it seemed their mere presence was adding to their precious underclassman's anxiety.
That same, inexplicable anxiety loomed over Hinata for the entire day, though it seemed to have waned a little by the time afternoon practice rolled around. He definitely wasn't as tense as he was that morning, but he was clearly still stiff in his movements. When practice ended, Kageyama wasted no time approaching Hinata and asked in a low voice, "So, do you wanna practice the quick again today or are still being weird-" "I'm in big trouble, Kageyama," the short middle blocker interrupted the setter with a rushed whisper-yell of his own whilst he gripped his biceps.
When Kageyama first looked at Hinata's face, his first thought was that he looked horrible. He quickly amended that thought, thinking 'pitiful' was a more appropriate word. The short middle blocker's orange brows were furrowed with worry and his lips trembled in the thin line they were pressed in. His face looked like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be beet red or a ghostly white but glistened with sweat all the same. Fed up with staring into the little nuisance's face, he asked, "What's wrong with you? Do you have to throw up or something?" Snapping out of whatever anxiety-induced trance he was in, Hinata whipped his head from side to side to check if anyone was paying attention to them before tugging on one of Kageyama's arms. Taking the hint, he leaned forward to listen to what the other whispered into his ear.
If only a few stray gazes were on the freak duo, all eyes were on them when the sound of Kageyama screaming, "WHAT?!" resounded through the gym. The two first years continued to bicker with each other, "Why are you being so loud?!" "Because there's no way in hell that's true!" "What? You think this is all an act?" "I think you're lying out your ass because there's no way in hell that that could be true!" "What reason would I have to lie to you, Bakageyama?!"
Snickering from the sidelines, Tsukishima smugly called out, "Do you even have the mental capacity to tell a lie, Shorty?" The comment earned himself a glare from Hinata and a sighing, "Tsukki…" from Yamaguchi. Taking advantage of the break in their arguing, Daichi stepped in between the loud first years. "What's all the yelling about, you two?" The captain asked. "Well," Hinata began, his voice much quieter. Twiddling his thumbs with his gaze to the floor, he continued, "So, Shimizu-senpai asked me to hang out next weekend-" "HUH?!" Daichi shouted in disbelief. Backpedalling from, rather rudely, interrupting his junior, he apologetically added, "Sorry for my response, Hinata. That's just really crazy to believe""I know," the redhead agreed with a nod. "You can ask Shimuzu-san for yourself, if you want."
"Kiyoko," Daichi called, immediately acting on Hinata's permission. "Yes, Daichi?" Shimizu responded, walking over to the boys by the wall. Despite her casual tone, her smile didn't go unnoticed by Daichi as she stood beside him. "Did you actually ask Hinata out on a date?" He already knew what the answer was probably going to be. Wouldn't shock him any less. "Yes," she answered bluntly, "I did ask Shouyou on a date." She crouched down to be level with the redhead's flushed face. "I'm not ashamed of it and he shouldn't be, either." She punctuated the statement with a ruffling of his fiery orange hair and a small peck to his forehead.
If Hinata was just pink before the contact, he was deep red and ready to faint afterwards. Calm and collected as ever, Shimizu stood back up and walked back to Yachi, leaving behind a barely conscious Hinata, a wide-eyed and gaping Kageyama, and Daichi scrambling to his feet to badger the dark haired manager with more questions than his own mind could process. Kageyama, being the first to break out of his shocked trance, awkwardly cleared his throat and mumbled, "So, I guess you weren't lying, huh?"
"Hey, Shouyou!"
Suddenly, it seemed like all of Hinata's previous anxiety came crashing back into him when he turned to the direction of Nishinoya's voice. Seeing the libero and Tanaka approach the annoying little middle blocker, Kageyama could totally understand why Hinata was so anxious. Anyone who's spent less than five minutes around the two loud second years with Shimizu in the same room knows just how crazy they are for the manager. Hell, Kageyama would be nervous about telling them the coveted manager asked him on a date.
Kageyama was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Tanaka eagerly ask, "So, Hinata, what did Kiyoko-san get all close to you about?" Hinata audibly gulped in the midst of his quiet stammering. Voice surprisingly clear and eyes nervous but fixed on his upperclassmen, the small first year managed to get out, "Shimi... Kiyoko-san asked me out on a date."
Everything going through the two second years' heads seemed to pause, their faces blank as they processed Hinata's words. After almost thirty seconds of silence, their blank faces melted into big grins, taking the two first years by complete surprise. "Ah, that's so like Kiyoko-san," Tanaka gushed. "Taking the initiative and breaking stereotypes," Nishinoya added.
Confused, Hinata asked, "You guys aren't gonna try and hurt me or something?" At this, the second years' gushing stopped and their smiles faltered. "Well," Tanaka drawled, "if you were any other guy from any other school, yeah, we'd be a little upset." A severe understatement, the two first years thought. "But we know you, Shouyou," Nishinoya chimed in, "and you know us! And what we're capable of." The libero punctuated that last statement with a wink. "In a nutshell, these two overzealous idiots trust you, Shouyou," Ennoshita piped in, casually approaching from behind the other two second years and making the four other boys jolt at his sudden appearance. He added, "To be honest, I'm a little shocked that Kiyoko-san would ask anyone on the team out on a date but we all trust you and we trust that you won't hurt her."
Hinata's face softened at his level-headed upperclassman's words before realization struck him and stiffened back up. "Wait, what do you mean, 'we all?'" He asked in a rush. "Oh, yeah, mostly everyone's in the club room right now. Suga heard Daichi talking about it with Kiyoko outside and the word sort of spread itself," Ennoshita answered. Hinata's eyes darted around the gym and, aside from himself, Kageyama, the two older wing spikers and Nishinoya, the building was deserted. The redhead sucked in a breath as he stood up. His cheeks were dusted pink at the thought of, not only all the attention that'd be on him, but why all that attention would be on him.
Having any intimate contact with Kiyoko Shimizu was truly a blessing and a curse.
Authors Note: Chapter two will be out soon. PLease review, and tell me what you think about this story