"I'm here!"
"Hinata!" Semi waved enthusiastically from Ushijima's front porch, regarding the ginger with bright, crinkled eyes as he wheeled his bike next to a surrounding tree and locked it to it. When Hinata had originally told them that he'd be riding all the way from his house way up on the mountain to Ushijima's, everyone had been more than a little wary of the prospect (the biking incident from a few months ago had basically scarred them for life) but here he was, flushed, sweaty, and smiling. "I'm glad you could make it!"
"So am I!" Hinata called back, pushing a few curls away from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I almost wasn't sure I was going to be able to come! I had to make dinner for my little sister and tuck her into bed right before this, so I almost wasn't able to make it until dark!"
Semi didn't even know why he was surprised anymore. This kid could've told him he'd been late because he'd stopped on the way to cure every single disease known to mankind, and he would've believed him.
"Isn't he precious?" Shirabu cooed from beside him. He'd also (definitely coincidentally, not because he had been specifically waiting for Hinata or anything) accompanied Semi to the porch and had been sitting by his side relatively quietly for the duration of their stay. "This kid's a fucking angel, I swear. Look, he even has a halo above his head."
"That's the sun reflecting off his curls, you dumbass."
"Ughh, I know. Don't they look so soft and fluffy today?"
Semi snorted. "Dude, what are you. Gay?"
Shirabu made a face. "Are you telling me you don't want to touch his hair? Cause that's fine if you don't, I mean I'll gladly take your spot-"
Semi kneed him in the stomach, hard, before turning back to Hinata and smiling his most sickly sweet smile, eyes softening immeasurably when the ginger returned it with ease. Shirabu, on the other hand, doubled over with a grunt, whether it be from the force of Semi's kick or the sheer radiance of Hinata's grin.
"I'm really glad to see you guys!" He continued. He put one hand on his bike and pushed it a little to make sure it was safe and securely chained to the tree, smiling when it didn't budge and crossing the expanse of the front yard to reach his upperclassmen. "It's like I haven't spent time with any of you in forever. We never have games or practice matches with you anymore, and whenever I ask if we can hang out, you guys are always so busy."
Actually, when Hinata had texted on their collective Shiratorizawa-plus-Hinata group chat asking if they wanted to come over for the afternoon a few weeks before, which had just so happened to be when they were out of the district for a training camp, Tendou had tried to hotwire a car with Ushijima and Goshiki to drive all the way back to Miyagi. It hadn't worked, obviously, because Tendou was Tendou, and he'd nearly blown the entire campus up.
They'd had to run fifteen extra laps because of it, but that didn't stop everyone else from trying the exact same thing a few hours later after dinner when their coach was asleep.
Again, it didn't work, but after being deprived of all the sweet, sugary goodness that was Hinata's entire being, could anyone really blame them?
Plus, Goshiki had nearly had a panic attack when Hinata had texted them saying it was 'alright, we can always hang out next time!' and 'don't worry about it. have a great time at camp!' with about four separate heart emojis because the thought of making the little ginger sad was borderline traumatizing.
So, basically, this was the makeup sleepover, which meant that every single player was going to adore the absolute fuck out of Hinata the entire time after not being able to spare any time to hang out with him for what, a month? Two months? Two months and a half? Whatever it was, it was too damn long to go without his energized smiles and adorably hyperactive energy.
Ushijima himself had been particularly excited about this event. He'd even smiled, smiled, earlier that day when Tendou was gushing about seeing the Karasuno middle blocker again. Smiled.
So yeah, if it had gotten to the point where the captain of Shiratorizawa actually started to show his emotions when the subject of Hinata came up, then they'd definitely gone way too long without seeing him.
Shirabu cleared his throat, forcing himself and stand back up to his full height and make eye contact. "Yeah, we're sorry about that. We had another training camp, and our coach refused to let us leave early."
"Oh yeah, it's okay! Don't worry about it." Hinata cocked his head to the side in an almost puppy-like manner, rosy cheeks and freckles on full display as he did so. Shirabu choked. Semi had to snake an arm around his shoulders to keep him from melting into a pile of goop (and also keep himself upright as well because who the fuck gave this kid the right to be so obviously adorable Jesus Christ, he was going to have diabetes by the time this sleepover ended, but Shirabu didn't need to know that.) "But like...did you guys try to sneak out or something? I heard Daichi talking about it, and he threatened to make us all run thirty suicides if we ever tried something like that."
Semi blinked. "Oh. Uh-"
"Hinata Shouyou!" Thank god for Tendou's perfectly imperfectly perfect timing. The front door to the house slammed to the side as the blocker came barreling out of it and towards the ginger. He barely had time to brace himself before he was scooped up into a gangly embrace and twirled around in a way that could only be described as giddy. "I haven't seen you in forever, shorty pants! How have you been? You look better than the last time I saw you, that's for sure."
Hinata laughed a beautiful sparkly sound (yes, they used sparkly to describe a laugher. Deal with it. It's Hinata Shouyou.) and returned Tendou's hug with vigor. "Last time you saw me, I was in a hospital bed after running face-first into a brick wall."
"Details, details." Tendou sniffled. He unlatched his arms and plopped Hinata back onto the ground as one might a baby kitten, putting a hand in his hair and ruffling the curls ( "Lucky bastard." "Shut up, Shirabu.") until they were a mess of soft fluff and ginger strands. "I think you've gotten shorter."
"Wha- I did no-"
"Anyway." Semi sidled between the two, slinging an arm around Hinata and internally cheering when the middle blocker side-hugged him back. "Lot's of people have been dying to see you, so we should probably get inside." He paused for a moment. "Have you had dinner yet?"
Hinata nodded vigorously, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, whatever annoyance he'd held for however brief at Tendou's comment disappearing into thin air. "Yup! I made some miso soup and tempura for my sister and me earlier." He blinked owlishly, eyes as wide and curious as ever. "But if you had something planned, I'm always hungry."
"You can cook?" Shirabu ignored his last statement entirely. "Like, you can cook cook?"
"Yeah!" Hinata abandoned Semi to bound over to Shirabu's side. The setter, unable to resist himself, poked the massive ball of fluff and curls that was the spiker's hair. Either the ginger didn't care or didn't notice because he kept on rambling. "My mom goes on a lot of trips for work and stuff, so she's not home a lot. She's a single mom, you know? She does it to take care of us. I taught myself how to make dishes for me and my sister so she could have a break and not have to stress about leaving us just enough money for takeout whenever she was on trips!"
Of course. Of fucking course Hinata Shouyou would learn how to cook to make things easier on his working mother. Was there ever not a precious reason to why he did absolutely everything in his life?"
"Oh, that's so cool, shrimpy!" Tendou, once again, snatched Hinata away, leading him towards the front door as he did so. "Maybe you could show me sometime. You know, cook me a three-course meal completed with desert and only the finest of fruit and the blood of my enemies..." His voice trailed off as the duo entered the house, the sound of the door closing cutting off his mindless, senseless ramblings from Semi and Shirabu.
"What the fuck is he even saying."
Shirabu shrugged. "Hell if I know." He beckoned over his shoulder. "C'mon. It's freaking cold out here."
xxx
Tendou threw open the doors to the living room, ushering the ginger inside and holding it slightly open so Semi and Shirabu could slide in as well before closing it behind him. He cleared his throat, clasping his hands together in front of him.
"I brought the shorty!"
The reaction was instantaneous.
It was almost comical how fast everyone's head whipped around, especially considering a good half of them had been playing a video game and they'd nearly thrown their controllers against the wall in the process.
Immediately, the ginger was crowded by a bunch of six-foot-something volleyball players with scary strong muscles, which would've been borderline scary for any lesser man, but this was Hinata, and Hinata absolutely basked in any attention he could get. It was always interesting to see the prominent extrovert in the middle blocker at work, and it was even more interesting to slowly watch the energy of everyone else burn out over the numerous hours of playing around while Hinata's stayed constantly hyperactive and talkative.
That wasn't to say that all of the players wouldn't try their absolute best to stay up as late as possible, though. They were all in far too deep and had been stuck in the inescapable trap known as Hinata's friendship for far too long to deny him of anything.
"I'm glad you could make it, Hinata," Ushijima said solemnly after all the commotion had died down. "Have you reconsidered my offer about joining Shiratorizawa?"
Gosiki choked on his Fanta.
Hinata, however, just laughed (which made Yamagata fall over with a gasp, but that was beside the point) and regarded the captain with smiling eyes. "Yeah, no, I'm okay at Karasuno. Thanks for the offer, though."
Ushijima just pursed his lips. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I think Kageyama might murder me if I went."
"If we dispose of Kageyama, then will you think about joining?"
"What?"
"Nothing." Ushijima smiled, smiled, and patted Hinata's head, almost like one might a kitten or a puppy. Only the freakish powers of Hinata Shouyou could make the scariest ace in all of Japan soft. "I'm glad you're here, Hinata. It's been quite a while since we've seen you last."
"I know!" Hinata nodded, promptly hopping over the back of the couch and landing next to a positively delighted and undeniably smug Akakura. He turned to the libero momentarily. "Was anyone sitting here?" Akakura shook his head no because even if there had been, there was no way he was forfeiting this spot now. "Okay, good." Hinata turned back to Ushijima and shot him his most brilliant smile. "I feel like it's been forever. The last time I saw most of you was when I was in that hospital bed a few months ago. Ever since then, it's just been volleyball and volleyball and training camps and games and stuff. I didn't really mind because volleyball is pretty much the best sport in all of existence, but I still missed you guys."
The sheer earnesty in his eyes and truthfulness in his words was more than enough to have all the players practically tripping over themselves to grab the other seat next to Hinata on the soft, all blubbering apologizes and stumbling over their words as they tried to communicate to him just how much they'd missed him over the past two or two and a half months. It was immeasurable, honestly, because the ginger had become such a regular part of their social lives that they'd nearly suffered withdrawal symptoms after not seeing his addicting smiles or experiencing his undeniable sweetness for so long, but they couldn't exactly communicate that without letting Hinata know precisely how powerful he was to have the entirety of the volleyball league wrapped around compromise the unspoken agreement throughout all the schools that they wouldn't tell him (it was a miracle he wasn't already aware of how goddamn adorably lovable or how fucking high his charisma was) or else he might use his power to take over the world or something.
That wasn't to say that he wouldn't be a good world leader. In all honesty, he could probably achieve world peace within a few weeks of his term and solve global hunger and pollution or something like that. It was just like this particular volleyball league didn't like sharing, and not being able to see the ginger for months on end because of something like that sounded absolutely appalling.
None of them even tried to deny how whipped they were anymore. They just accepted whatever heart attack came with Hinata's smiles and moved on with their daily lives. No use fretting over how a small first-year could make their hearts constrict in such a way when said first-year was basically made up of sparkly kittens and energetic puppies rolled into one with rainbows sprinkled on top.
After everyone had stopped fawning over him, which had taken a good five minutes at the very least, the sleepover was deemed officially ago.
The first act of business was to get dinner with the money Ushijima's parents had left behind. They were out on some trip or holiday or something or other, so that left him in charge of the house and the small amount of cash he'd been given.
They'd ended up ordering food from some Thai place around the corner after Hinata had told them he'd already had dinner (they'd all wanted him to choose, if only for the fact that he'd burst into a storm of compliments and praises about how nice they were). It had delivered relatively fast, but they were twelve nearly full-grown high school boys, and unsurprisingly, the amount of food they were able to get with the amount of money Ushijima's parents had left wasn't nearly enough to fill all of them up.
So, Hinata had decided he'd cook.
Everyone suffered at least three heart attacks at the fact because the already perfect Hinata Shouyou could cook? What the hell was his mom feeding this kid?
Plus, watching the ginger move from pan to pan with his hair tied back and out of his eyes in a messy, fluffy bun and some weird multicolored apron he'd found was not good for their health, nor the cavities that they were developing from even looking at this kid and drinking up all the sugary goodness they could get.
By the time Hinata had presented them with twenty Japanese rice balls, a whole pot full of udon noodles, and about three plates worth of fried rice, they were all putty in his hands.
The small speckles of flour decorating his cheeks didn't help either as he bounded around the table, joyfully setting out the dishes and eagerly awaiting their response.
Even if the food hadn't been fucking delicious (which it was because of course it was, it was Hinata) with the ginger's eyes looking so shiny and excitedly acquisitive that they didn't even think they could let him down if they tried.
After they had licked the plates clean, polished off the last of the fried rice, and cleared the table (which they had refused to let Hinata help with the last bit because this boy had cooked them a goddamn feast for god's sake, and didn't need to be cleaning up their mess), the mass of volleyball players had moved to the living room.
The next three or so hours basically consisted of everyone fawning over Hinata and fighting amongst themselves for his attention because they saw each other every day, but getting to spent time with their favorite resident ginger was becoming sort of a rare experience. Hinata, of course, didn't mind being passed from one player to another, merely happy to be in his friends' presence after such a long time.
The system went as follows: one person would hang around Hinata wherever he was in the living room, and as always, make effortless conversation with the natural extrovert and play around until they were both red in the face from laughing so hard while the others played video games or crowded around to take part in the fun as much as they could without interrupting the two. Once said player's insides turned to complete mush after staring at those sparkly, hopeful eyes and brightly lit smiles for so long (or if they had a heart attack, either worked), then they would switch out.
That way, no one suffered from cardiac arrest via adorableness overload, and they still all got time to be with their precious ginger.
The movie came next. Ushijima's parents were crazy wealthy, which was why his house was big enough to host twelve volleyball players in the first place (it was about, like, five times the size of Hinata's), so he had a massive flat screen tv set up in the basement that was big enough that it nearly covered the entire back wall. Hinata had almost passed out when he'd seen it despite the fact that he'd been over to the captain's house multiple times before and watched movies on it numerous times before.
All of them had situated themselves relatively easily after that. The barren basement had quickly turned into a pile of highschool boys surrounded by a plethora of blankets and pillows and whatever fluffy and soft and comfortable things they could find. Ushijima was scrolling through random movie channels trying to find something to watch or buy, and Hinata was just happily munching on the communal bowl of popcorn by himself, occasionally adding his input whenever he saw a show or movie he either liked or dislike.d
Everyone else, for that matter, was currently trying to calm themselves down a few feet away for a hot second before their hearts exploded out of their chest because Hinata was wearing Ushijima's sweatshirt, and he was absolutely swimming in it. He had sweater paws. In the most platonic way possible, they wanted to cuddle the daylights out of him.
Eventually, Ushijima had gotten the movie set up, and everyone was forced to come back to the pillow pile and face the kitten-like face that was Hinata Shouyou, which wasn't too bad because he was focused solely on the movie intro logos popping up on the screen and not at them. That was, honestly, a good thing. If he had smiled at them at that moment or even looked at them the wrong way with those sparkly eyes of his, the players of Shiratorizawa were pretty sure they might've exploded.
The movie didn't actually turn out to be half bad. It was some thriller-slash-action mashup where the main character was dropped off in the wilderness with no supplies and forced to survive. It was a rather captivating film, all things considered, and the players watched it practically sprawled on top of each other while munching on the variety of snacks they'd acquired and swaddled in blankets and their own humongous sweatshirts.
They were down to the last thirty minutes of it when Goshiki interrupted the silence that had fallen over the group.
"Ohmygod, look."
"What the hell." Tendou hissed, slapping Goshiki's shoulder. "It was just getting to the..." He followed his underclassman's outstretched hand. "Oh."
Hinata, who was pretty much in the middle of the cluster of volleyball players and who they'd last seen wide awake and eating whatever snacks were handed to him, was curled all the way around one of the massive pillows Ushijima had had on hand, sweatshirt pooling around his ankles since his knees were tucked up to his chest and his small frame buried entirely in the soft fabric. The hood had fallen off sometime during the movie, leaving his curls wild, soft, fluffy, exposed, and splayed all across his face and the blanket he was laying on. His eyes were closed, he was still other than the gentle rise and fall of his chest, his freckles were on full display, and his lips had fallen into an unconscious, totally unintentional pout.
"Oh my fucking god." Shirabu, who had rolled over to see whatever Goshiki was so excited about a few moments before, shot up. "Whoever has the remote, pause the movie." No one moved. "Now."
There was a quick, five-second scramble between the remaining players before the screen froze and whoever had the remote tossed it to the side. Shirabu joined Tendou and Goshiki to where they were currently crowded around Hinata, staring at him, and was followed soon after by the others.
"He looks like a puppy." Semi did a double-take, sucking in a big breath. "Or, like, a baby kitten or something. Ohmygosh, look at his hair."
"He's so cute." Tendou squealed, having gotten over his initial shock of seeing this ethereal being near him in the first place. He fingered at his hair, pushing a curl out of his face so they could get a better look at his closed eyes. In turn, Hinata let out a sleepy grumble and snuggled further into the pillow he was clinging to. "Look at him. Ohmygosh, I'm going to die." He turned towards Ushijima, hands clasped together in front of him. "Can we keep him? Please? I will literally love you forever if you say yes. Please, Ushiwaka?"
"I am...seriously considering it," Ushijima said slowly. He looked something akin to dazed. "If any of you wake him up, I'm kicking you off the team."
"He's so cute." Shirabu put his hands on each side of his face in a pitiful effort to stop his smile from growing any wider than it already was. "I'm literally fanboying so hard right now, you don't even know. He makes me want to donate all my money to charity and then make him hot chocolate with marshmallows."
Hinata let out a little groan, murmuring something incomprehensible into the pillow before burying his face into the soft fabric completely.
"I'm literally going to cry." Semi latched onto Shirabu's arm, fingernails squeezing so hard they could've broken skin if they weren't covered by the thick sweatshirt fabric. "Shirabu, I'm serious. I feel tears coming on. I physically cannot take this. My heart is going to explode." He turned to Ushijima, eyes borderline frantic. "Can we please keep him? I have the extreme urge to swaddle him in blankets and feed him all the good food I can find. Ushiwaka, I'm literally begging you."
"I cannot believe Karasuno ever lets this boy out of their sights," Goshiki murmured quietly from beside him. "Wait, ohmygod, do you think they see this all the time? Like, what if Hinata falls asleep in their laps during long bus rides to training camps or something?" He buried his face in his hands. "Now I'm jealous of Karasuno of all people. That's so embarrassing."
"It is totally valid, though." Tendou mused aloud, taking only a moment to nod affirmatively at his underclassman before turning back to Ushijima. "Ushi, I'm literally serious. I'll do everything you say, I won't make up songs about the other teams anymore, I'll literally deep clean your entire house, just please let us keep this child. I'm his mother now. It would be cruel to separate us."
Semi toed Tendou's knee rather harshly. "Wasn't it already established that I'm the one considered Hinata's mother on this team? I actually take care of this precious baby puppy. You'd probably leave him at Walmart or something."
"I am offended-"
"I texted Daichi." Ushijima interrupted, pocketing what was apparently his cell phone. "I said that if he doesn't respond within the next ten minutes, then he forfeits his rights to Hinata and he'll officially join our team. I also attached a picture for good measure." A small ding resounded throughout the room, making Goshiki flinch and Hinata curl further into his side, Shirabu cooing despite himself as he did so. Ushijima took a peek at his phone. His lips curved downward. "Bad news. Daichi said no."
Semi quirked his lips. "Did you seriously ask the captain of Karasuno if we could steal his angel-faced middle blocker at two in the morning?"
"Yes."
"And he responded?"
"Yes." Ushijima frowned, face nor tone holding any trace of joking or sarcasm. "I ask him every other Saturday. He always says no."
"You ask Daichi if we can have Hinata every other Saturday?"
"Yes." Ushijima's eyes flickered downward. "Was there something you misunderstood about that statement?"
Shirabu hummed, sitting back on his heels and clasping his hands together so he wasn't tempted any more than he already was to brush Hinata's curls away from his face. "He probably gets texts like those a lot, actually. Have you seen him?" He gestured to the ginger helplessly. His voice lowered to a whisper. "He's so fucking adorable, holy shit."
Ushijima scratched his chin. "He does kind of remind me of a sleeping kitten." He reached his hand over the boy's lower body and put it softly, more gently than anyone thought possible for one of the most dangerous aces in the country, on top of his head, soft ginger strands curling over his fingers as he did so. "A very little baby kitten. I think-"
Hinata shifted.
The room froze.
Hinata murmured something incomprehensible into the neckline of his sweatshirt, eyelashes fluttering for a quick moment as he rearranged himself in his sleep. He rolled over, still mumbling to himself, which made the entire side of his face land in Ushijima's humongous palm. He sighed in contentment, the creases that had been present for only a moment between his brows disappearing as he nuzzled into it, nosing it unconsciously before curling back into himself and stilling once more.
The room was silent for a good five-second.
"Holy shit, dude." Semi whisper-yelled. "You can't move now. Like, you are literally forbidden to move unless Hinata gets off of you."
"Yes." Tendou was staring at the captain with equally starstruck and jealous eyes. "Your hand is now his pillow. There's no changing it. He's chosen you, and you must fulfill your mission."
"That's so fucking cheesy," Shirabu muttered under his breath. "But yeah. Seriously, dude. It's like an unspoken rule. Hinata has the face of a kitten and the energy of a puppy, which make him, like, ten times more adorable than either of those things." He jammed a finger at a stunned Ushijima. "If something cute lays on you, you don't dare move. If you do, you'll go to hell."
Ushijima's brow furrowed, but he looked so undeniably soft and fonder than any of them had ever seen him. "So...am I just supposed to sleep like this?"
"Sleep?" Goshiki sounded scandalized. "Who said anything about sleep? You are going to protect this child with your life. You don't have time to sleep." He blinked. "And are you seriously complaining in this situation? I'll gladly switch your hand out for mine if that's what you want."
"Nope. Nope." Ushijima shook his head seriously. "I am fine where I am, thank you, Goshiki."
Semi groaned, throwing his head back. "Ugh, you're so fucking lucky, dude! He's like a baby. Just looking at him makes me want to cuddle him to death and never let him leave this house."
"Same."
"Same."
"Same."
"Same."
"Did you guys know that Kurro apparently has a whole photo album filled with pictures of Hinata sleeping?" Goshiki murmured after a moment of silence as the players all stared at the ginger. "Supposedly, there's like forty pictures in it or something."
Tendou sniffed. "Does anyone have his number?"
"I do," Semi answered. "We're in a setter's group chat."
"Can you get him to send it to me? I need something to fill me with unbearable amounts of serotonin after a bad day."
"Me too, please," Ushijima commented softly. His eyes still hadn't moved from where they were trained on Hinata's sleeping face that was cradled in his palm. "That sounds rather nice."
"Y'know," Shirabu commented from the side. "Do you know how much bank we could make if we turned them into scrapbooks or something? We could probably sell one to all the players in the league."
The room was silent for a moment.
"I still want to keep him."
"We know, Tendou.
"He's so goddamn adorable."
"We're well aware, Tendou. We're sitting right here."
Never let it be said that Hinata's ridiculous charms didn't work as well when he was asleep as they did when he was wide awake and smiling.
If anything, they increased tenfold.
