"Hinata! Focus!"

I fell backwards onto the floor, as the volleyball smacked into my forehead for the fourth time that day. Kageyama looked concerned but I waved him off. I just couldn't make myself focus. Not with him twenty feet away, reminding me of the 'talk' we're going to have. What was even going to happen? Was he going to kiss me? Ugh, I had some fish with my rice, and I don't have any gum. Him pulling away and telling me he can't be with me because I have fish breath, was NOT how I wanted my first kiss to end.

"Hinata!" I glanced up and barely managed to receive another incoming ball. It still sucked, though, and flew outside the court. Daichi yelled out to me and motioned for me to go over to him.

Well, crap.

When I got close enough, he put his hand on my shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

I kept my gaze on the floor. I wasn't sure what to tell him. 'Oh, I'm sorry captain, I can't focus right now because of the impending doom of my first kiss.'

He looked over my shoulder and then I felt a hand grab my elbow.

"Daichi, do you mind if I have a word with Hinata. Outside?"

Daichi nodded and then Suga was tugging me along towards the gym doors. We walked outside and my eyes met Kiyoko's. She was holding some papers, and Suga stepped forward to stand beside her. He looked at me and I saw the disappoint in his eyes. The kind that usually shows when someone finds out they've been lied to.

"Who told you?" The question felt numb coming out of my mouth. The only person that knows is Kageyama, but my heart didn't want to believe he would go behind my back and tell them.

Kiyoko spoke first. "I saw you during the second week of school. You were carrying papers to another classroom. I went to Michimiya and asked if a Hinata Shouyou had applied for the girl's volleyball team. She found your application and said she remembered you by your hair. That you were really energetic, but they didn't have any room. I believe that was the day I saw you, and invited you to join the boys team."

"Hinata, why didn't you tell me that day in the locker room that you were a…" Suga gestured vaguely to my chest. "A girl?"

"Because all I want to do is play volleyball! I need to play! It's my life, and a girl can't play on a boys team. I thought if we at least made it to nationals this year, then maybe I would be okay with giving it up."

Suga sighed.

"C'mon Hinata." He took my hand and walked me into the gym. He told me to stay by Kiyoko and went over to Coach Ukai. My stomach felt nauseous and I knew he was going to tell everyone, and this would be the last time I stepped foot in this gym. Coach Ukai, Takeda, and Suga walked over to us. The whistle blew, and Ukai told everyone to gather towards him. It took a couple minutes for the team to make their way over and I locked eyes with Kageyama. It made me feel a little better knowing that he would still be my friend.

Daichi came over to stand on my left and Suga stood on my right. From the confused look on Daichi's face, I knew Suga hadn't told him about my situation. Kiyoko moved to where Coach Ukai stood, on the other side of Suga, and everyone quieted as Suga cleared his throat.

"We need to discuss something as a team about one of our members."

My nerves made me hyperaware of my very full bladder. Maybe if I let it release now, everyone will be distracted and I can run away. Maybe move to London, or even go all the way to America. I mean, heck, go big or go home right? I can change my name to something super American sounding… like Becky.

"Most if not all of you are unaware that Hinata is actually a girl-"

"The fuck!"

Everyone turned to see Tanaka and Noya clutching each other while staring at me. Noya's eyes lowered to my chest and then immediately shot back to my face. He started shaking his head and then clutched Tanaka tighter. "That's a sick joke, Suga!"

Suga rolled his eyes and cleared his throat to get back the attention that was stolen.

"As I was saying, Hinata is a girl and as such, can't be on our team since it's an all boys-"

"Wait, hold up. What?!"

I'm pretty sure if Noya interrupted Suga one more time, he was going get his ass whooped, hardcore.

Noya stepped away from Tanaka. "That's not fair, he's our teammate." He looked over at me and then gasped, "SHE! I meant she! She's our teammate!"

Some of the other players started talking, but Suga was stepping forward, raising his voice to be heard.

"If everyone could just stop interrupting me, then maybe you all can hear what I'm trying to say. And afterwards maybe we can, I don't know, play some volleyball. Since we're, you know, in the gym. To play volleyball." His voice was sharp, but his smile was sugary sweet. I saw Noya and Tanaka gulp and simultaneously take a step back.

Suga clapped his hands and his smile widened. "Thank you! Now, I know all of you are probably confused as to what's going on. The girls volleyball team was full so we-" Suga's arm came around my shoulders and pulled me to him- "decided to take in Hinata while Kiyoko went to the school board to apply for a co-ed volleyball team."

My mouth dropped, but before any kind of reaction could form on my face, Suga pinched my arm.

"We are asking everyone here to vote. If you want this club to be co-ed, and to keep Hinata on the team, please raise your hand."

Without hesitation, everyone's hands raised. I felt tears start to form in the corner of my eyes, when even Tsukishima's hand went up. He caught me staring and raised his eyebrow.

"What? As a girl, you can't possibly reach the same potential as me, which means I will quickly outclass you. This is all very strategic."

"How about I strategically shove my foot up your-"

"It's settled! Everyone needs to sign the form stating that we all agree and want to be recognized as co-ed. This means that future first years who are girls can also apply to join."

Noya gasped and grabbed Tanaka's arm, slowly turning to him.

"This is the best day of my life."

Everyone signed the form, and Kiyoko went with Takeda to drop it off somewhere. Coach Ukai and Daichi asked to speak with me while everyone else continued practiced.

"Hinata, from now on you tell us anything that is necessary to the team. Got it?"

I nodded, and then felt the tears gather in my eyes again. Daichi looked terrorized and I saw the blurry shape of Ukai backing away.

Daichi reached out and patted my shoulder, which caused a lone tear to fall. He quickly let go and ran, yelling for Suga, sounding like he was being chased by the babadook.

I was glad to be alone to process all the emotions I was feeling. I felt the tears flow faster and was annoyed that today was the day I had to start my period. The first day always made me extremely emotional. A puppy could lick my hand and I would cry. They didn't need to know any of this, though. The way everyone was slightly horrified at having to deal with a crying girl was making up for the fact that Suga didn't tell me they got a freaking co-ed sports form, and made me think they were kicking me off the team. If I didn't already love him, I would hate him. I looked over to where he was standing beside Daichi. I made eye contact and his widened to comic proportions. I maintained the eye contact as another tear fell. His face paled, and I have never, in my life, been so happy to be on my period.

"Are you nervous?"

I was sitting on the gym stairs with Kageyama. Everyone else had left and Takeda had stopped me as I was leaving, letting me know that they submitted the form and we should hear back within a week if it was approved. I was sitting down on the steps, watching my teammates leave the school, when Kageyama dropped down beside me.

"About getting approved? Yeah. Although to be honest, I thought everyone would kick me out when they learned the truth."

"Of course not, dumbass. You're apart of this team too."

He bumped my shoulder and smiled at me.

With all the confidence I had, I asked, "Did you want to get pork buns with me? Right now? Like, as a date?"

He stared at me, and for a hot second I thought that maybe I had hallucinated everything that happened during lunch and he was about to turn me down. That would be incredibly awkward. I guess I should start coming up with an American last name. I'm sure my parents will miss me, but that's the price you pay when you live life dangerously.

"You idiot! I'm supposed to ask you on the date!"

Oh, for the love of sesame buns everywhere. Why did I have a crush on him? What did I do to deserve this? I felt like shouting to the heavens that it was unfair that the only person I wanted to date was such a nincompoop.

"Baka! It doesn't matter who asks who on the date! Just say yes or no!"

"No! Take it back so I can ask you out."

"Bakayama!"

"Dumbass!"

I don't really know who reached for who first, all I know is that I was staring at his stupid, stubborn face and all I could think was that I wanted him to be my first kiss. I grabbed the collar of his shirt at the same time that he reached out to grab my cheeks, and then his lips were on mine.

It was an awful first kiss. His lips were pressing down really hard, and when I opened my eyes, his were squeezed shut. I'm pretty sure this was his first kiss too.

What am I saying, its Kageyama. Of course it's his first kiss. If it was legal to marry an inanimate object, I'm pretty sure he'd be long gone, whispering sweet nothings to his volleyball.

I pulled back and hit his shoulder with the palm of my hand.

"Baka! what the hell was that?!"

"Shut up! First kisses are always awful."

"Oh, and you know this because you have so much experience?"

Instead of responding, he leaned in again. This time was… not so bad. His lips felt warm and they were a lot softer than the first time. He pulled back and raised his eyebrows at me.

"Pretty good, huh?"

Ugh.

We found out the day before we were supposed to leave for the training camp. Takeda came running in, looking out of breath. None of that was unusual, but what caught my attention was the paper in his left hand. Kageyama turned to see what captured my attention and then ran over to Daichi. He yelled out for everyone to gather around Takeda. I walked over to where Kageyama stood with Suga and Daichi.

Daichi looked at me and then subtly stepped behind Suga, as if he was hiding from me. I guess he was afraid I'd cry again if it was a denial notice. If this was any other moment, I would have laughed at how scarred they were from a few measly tears. Right now, however, I grabbed Kageyama's hand and squeezed. He leaned his arm against my shoulder.

"We just got this back from the board of education. Having submitted the signatures of all players, as well as the coach and manager, they decided to approve the decision to make our team co-ed. This will be a probation year, and if any trouble comes from future games they will veto this decision and we will go back to having a boys only team."

Noya was the first to react. He leaped up and tackled Tanaka, shouting in his ear, something about designing new uniforms for the girls. Kageyama turned me to him and hugged me tight.

"I'll take you out tonight, to celebrate." He whispered it low enough that only I could hear. His breath was warm on my ear and it made me shiver.

Hands on my shoulders pulled me back and then Suga was hugging me, followed by Daichi. Ennoshita was behind him, and soon all the members, excluding Tsukishima, had given me a congratulatory hug. When I turned to him, he just scowled and said that idiocy was contagious.

I turned and saw Kiyoko making her way over to me.

"Tanaka told me you talked to him a while back-" She leaned close to give me a hug, which was surprising because I don't think I've seen her show outward affection towards anybody. "-thank you."

She looked over and I followed her gaze to where Tanaka and Noya were shouting and Daichi was trying to get them to stop.

She stepped back and then Coach Ukai blew the whistle.

"Okay, thats enough. Clean up the gym, we're leaving early tomorrow, so go home and get some rest."

We were stopped at where the path forked and we usually separated. Kageyama still held my hand, but he was looking towards the sky. He kept his gaze upwards as he spoke.

"So, are we staying casual?"

I jerked my hand back and jumped up to slap the back of his head.

"Baka! What's wrong with you? Staying casual?! You're lucky I know you're as smooth as a salt lamp or I'd be really offended!"

He laughed and finally tilted his head down to look me in the eyes.

"I'm just kidding, I would never release you onto the unsuspecting boys of our school." He let out a long sigh, "I guess, in order to keep them safe, I'll have to keep you for a while… maybe all three years. Who knows."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the collar of his volleyball jacket, yanking him down. I pressed my lips to his and one of his hands clutched the back of my head, fingers digging into my curls, while the other grabbed my shirt at the small of my back. Our lips parted and I felt his tongue slip into my mouth.

We've had a lot of practice the past few days, and the horrid first kiss I had to endure seemed almost like a memory now. Kageyama learned fast and he stole my breath away every time. Not that I would ever tell him that. I pulled away slightly and smiled at the dazed look in his eyes.

"You've gotten a little better Tobio. Pretty soon you won't even need the back of your hand to practice kissing. Or maybe you use your volleyball, hmm?"

I knew the minute my words registered in his brain, because he scowled and grabbed the top of my head with his hands.

"Why am I even dating you?! You're nothing but a menace!"

I laughed as I clutched his wrists to get him to let go. Once he did, I jumped up and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"See you tomorrow, Tobio!"

I heard him cursing my name, but when I turned to look back he was staring at me with a small smile on his lips. He waved at me and started walking down the other path to his house. I touched my fingertips to my lips and sighed.

Chopping off my hair was the second best decision I ever made.

The first being the decision to join the Karasuno boy's volleyball team.