It had been three weeks since the waitress had thought that he and Hinata were a couple and Kei knew that it was bullshit, but he still couldn't forget it.

When he got home that day, he had started to think about what it would be like if Hinata really dated someone and somehow that someone became himself in his imagination.

Kei started wondering what it would be like to kiss Hinata, if he would make that surprised expression, if he would reject him, and things only got worse from there. Even in his dreams the redhead had appeared recently. Once, while they were training, he even got hit because he was thinking about him and definitely not in the way a teammate should.

He tried to ignore what he felt when he realized that he really liked the boy, no matter how stupid it was, responding as little as possible to what he said and staying as far away as he could. However, Hinata didn't let him get away so easily (on second thought, he should have prepared for something like this).

"I don't know what the problem is, Tsukishima," he said when Kei failed to escape a study session with him. 'But you are important to me, so I will not let you go," he said with conviction, almost as if he were announcing once again that Karasuno would be champion.

Kei looked at him in surprise as he felt his heart racing. Honestly, the only people who had said something like that to him were Yamaguchi and his parents, not even Akiteru had tried to stop him from getting away. He wasn't used to having people wanting to be in his life so badly, but one look at Hinata was enough to know that he wouldn't give up.

"Okay," he replied simply and stopped trying to ignore him.

They managed to get back to normal a little that day, with Tsukishima explaining the school's affairs and Hinata, most of the time, listening. A few hours, Kei could almost forget how he felt about him.

But Hinata did not make it easy. Kei had hoped that he wouldn't bring up the subject of that day again, but he seemed to have fun in making jokes about it and occasionally said something about their supposed relationship, when they were away from people they knew.

When, once again, he talked about it, saying that Tsukishima shouldn't be so impatient with his boyfriend, Kei decided that it was time to fight back. It wasn't just him who could joke about it.

"Well, I'm annoyed that my boyfriend can't concentrate on his homework for three seconds," he said, keeping his expression nonchalant. He took pleasure in Hinata's absolutely shocked expression.

"Sorry," he replied after a few seconds, when he finally managed to recover from the shock and to Kei's surprise, he remained silent for the rest of the study session.

Kei smiled. Maybe things could get interesting after all.

The next day, they acted like nothing had happened, still teasing each other, but without saying anything about relationships, since they didn't go to coffee. Instead, they focused on volleyball training.

Kei was tired before he even stepped into the gym. He hadn't been able to sleep well the night before, waking up frightened by the dream he had had and for some reason feeling guilty.

"Tsukishima! Stop being so lazy," complained Hinata while the blonde narrowly missed a block, disappointed. He thought that Kei had already overcome this phase of not dedicating himself to volleyball.

Tsukishima contained the urge to roll his eyes, because Hinata was partly right. He had jumped a little too late; but that was because he was already at the end of training and he was getting tired. Not everyone had the infinite energy of him and Kageyama.

"Idiot, he's just really bad," Kageyama interjected, on the other side of the net, with a mocking smile.

Kei knew he shouldn't be angry. He had been dealing with the arrogant boy for over a year. But at that moment, his comment only added to the frustration he was feeling with himself. He didn't need his opinion.

"Kageyama! Stop being so rude," Hinata complained, but without really looking angry at him.

Not that Tsukishima was really expecting that Hinata would get angry with the setter to defend him, especially about something so stupid. He contained the urge to answer Kageyama back, knowing that in a few seconds he would have a much better chance of showing who was superior.

"Hey, you can do it. You play better than that," Hinata spoke softly, his expression serious.

"I'm just tired," Kei muttered back.

"But you still haven't reached your limit. I know that," he replied with conviction, probably thinking of all the times that they have played together.

Kei nodded, while processing his proximity. When had he become so pathetic? They weren't even touching, but it was more than enough to bring all the dreams back.

He looked around the court, preparing for the next move. He saw Yamaguchi's worried look before he smiled at him from across the court and picked up the ball to play.

Tsukishima almost felt bad for Yamaguchi, because now there was no chance that he would let the other team win, regardless of what it would cost. He was going to prove to Kageyama who was the best and that Shōyō was right. He was far from his limit and he was going to show everyone that, even himself.

Tsukishima didn't know what the best part was: Yamaguchi's smile when the game ended, Kageyama's irritation, or the happiness that Hinata emanated.

"That's why I like you guys," said Tanaka, smiling. "You always play seriously".

"Bro, you made incredible plays in the game," commented Nishinoya and the two started talking, going away from the second year.

Hinata started to analyze his plays with Kageyama and Tsukishima stopped listening to the conversation for a while. When he got back to it, Yamaguchi was pulling his arm gently.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Tsukki just nodded, not wanting to even think about the causes of his problems, which was very close to him. His best friend knew better than to insist and started talking about a new video game he was playing.

"You played very well today," said Hinata, when they sat at the table, having already said goodbye to Yamaguchi and Kageyama and going to the cafe.

Kei looked at him suspiciously, remembering how badly he was playing at the beginning of the game. It had been one of his worst performances in the past few months.

"I mean, after you started playing for real," he said, making a face. "In the beginning, you were terrible. But then even Kageyama couldn't think of a way to get past your block! And the attack you made was so cool, you should attack more," he spoke very excitedly.

Kei smiled. It had been a great feeling to make that attack and if he didn't love blocking so much and seeing the opponents' expression when they realized that there was nothing else they could do, maybe he would've wanted to play as opposite.

"Stop trying to distract me and let's study," he said.

"I can't even praise my boyfriend," said Shōyō, with an amused gleam in his eyes.

Kei tried to tell himself that he was used to being called that and that it didn't affect him at all, but that weird feeling came up again. It was different from what anything he had already felt for someone else, but it reminded him of affection, only stronger. He couldn't explain it. It wasn't a bad feeling, yet he was uncomfortable because of it.

"Your boyfriend is trying to secure your future," he replied back, having a lot of experience in pretending to be indifferent.

Hinata stared at him for another second, causing the sensation to expand even more, before sighing and picking up the notebook. Tsukishima also took his, although he was almost sure that he would not be able to get anything done now.