Wait and see where the cat jumps
Kuro had noticed it a while ago. Instead of just with a portable gaming console, he’d seen his friend more and more often typing on his phone. He knew that it wasn’t unusual for Kenma to send one or two mails to acquaintances but he could’ve sworn that the faintest smile occurred on the setter’s face when his fingers danced over that display of his. Being best friends, they’d usually shared everything together, despite Kenma’s hesitancy, he’d found out sooner or later what bothered the other at times. But that thing… somehow it had steadily snuck its way into their routine without either of them commenting on it. The dark haired didn’t think that his friend was hiding something from him, and on another occasion he probably wouldn’t have bothered with it, but Kenma’s increasing smiles just made him damn curious.
During lunch break at school when his pudding haired friend got out his phone once more, Kuroo took the opportunity to simply ask straight away.
“Who ‘r ya texting ?” Kenma’s eyes didn’t even lift off the screen while he was still rapidly typing.
“… Shouyou” Did he just imagine it or had another smile just crossed the setter’s face? Well that was a good sign, right? Considering Kenma never had had many good friends, it almost filled him with a little bit of pride. After all it was him who had introduced the other to volleyball in the first place.
“Aah, that Chibi from Karasuno, right? You must really like him, considering how much of your attention he gets..” Kuro grinned broadly. Usually, teasing Kenma was against the rules, but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. And after all, it was kind of interesting that he’d chosen someone energetic and loud like that middle blocker as a friend.
“Yeah, he’s cute.”
Wait. What? Right now, his ears must’ve deceived him. Puzzled, he looked at his friend, waiting for him to correct himself, or explain, or anything. “R-Right now, did you just…”
In return, Kenma’s eyes briefly lifted from the screen, met with his and then ditched back, as if too afraid to look at him. “Uum..” The setter’s hands tightened around his phone.
Somehow that just took an unexpected turn. But for some reason, Kuro couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, that’s a good thing! You two really get along, right? Why don’t ‘cha invite him over for summer break then?” Smirking, he scooted a bit closer to his friend. Sure, it had come off as a big surprise, but if that’s how it was, that’s how it was. Who was he to stand in their way? And it felt nice to see Kenma with this kind of happy expression on his face every once in a while. Therefore, why should he bother with the fact that it was another boy and not a girl Kenma talked about in this way. In the end it came down to the same thing. If you liked someone, that’s how it was. Prejudice wasn’t really part of his vocabulary anyway.
“M…maybe”, the shorter one’s answer came a bit delayed while he shot up a glance to his dark haired friend, “but don’t you think it’s kind of… weird?” There it went, the smile. And yet again, the volleyball captain couldn’t hold back another laugh to loosen the atmosphere. “Who cares about that? It’s good if it makes you happy, I think. So don’t worry about it too much, I’ll keep quiet about it as always.” He winked at his friend, reassuringly.
Kenma’s greatest fear had always been being judged by other people and Kuro understood that this issue in particular was especially problematic. Dreamily smiling at his phone wouldn’t get Kenma in any trouble, but should the wrong people get wind of the reason, it could become very troublesome. He knew that the shorter one had only been so blunt with him because he knew his secret was safe, but for some reason the volley ball captain believed that it was important for Kenma to act upon his feelings for once. He’d be here supporting his friend for whatever reason needed, but who knew when this rare opportunity would come again that Kenma found someone he liked?
Kuroo sighed. “Ahh, young love.” In return he received an offended glance from the setter. “Please don’t say such embarrassing things. Besides”, a troubled expression spread over his face, “I have no idea about Shouyou’s…”
The school’s bell interrupted their conversation. “Don’t worry about it too much, I said. You won’t know until you try!” The dark haired gave his friend a light pat on the shoulder before he grinned at him again.
“Why do I feel like you’re way more excited about this than I am”, Kenma mumbled to himself before leaving a still beaming Kuro behind.
To Kenma’s surprise, Hinata had immediately accepted his invitation. Of course there was still a bit of trouble with how he’d actually get to Tokyo, but once this matter had been settled, there were only a few more days separating them. The setter had become more and more nervous, but as soon as Hinata stepped out of the train and greeted him with his usual smile, it felt like all the worrying had been completely unreasonable. Compared to their first meeting, he looked at the redhead differently, but the connection between them had stayed the same. Kenma had wondered if staying friends with Hinata would prove difficult, but meeting now hadn’t been awkward at all. The energetic boy still talked to him the same way as before, and knowing this, the older found confidence again.
Even if he would never say things like “I’m so glad we could meet again” or “Thank you for being my friend”, Kenma tried to show his gratitude in a different way by showing the middle blocker around his town (even though he believed it was just a boring suburb, but Hinata’s excitement over everything and the ocassional “Is this the sky tree?” reassured him that it was alright), and he’d even agreed to play video games with him in the evening.
Even though Kenma was already tired from walking around town the whole day, he’d been looking forward to playing video games together the most. The only person he occasionally played with was Kuro, who usually wasn’t too interested or complained that he’d rather play outside; and as for playing online, he even was too shy to do that most of the time. So now finding someone who actually enjoyed it, and this person even being someone he liked, made the setter unbelievably happy.
They settled down in his room around the TV, their backs leaning against Kenma’s bed. He’d picked a fighting game for them to play since he believed it was the simplest to start with. But after Hinata had suffered utter defeat only after a few rounds, the older let his controller sink in a frustrated manner. This was usually the part where Kuro would just ragequit and they’d have to find something else to do. Out of the corner of his eyes, he tried to sneak a glance at his friend, afraid of his reaction. But when he carefully picked at a few loose strands of hair in his way, he was met with a radiating grin.
“K-Kenma! You’re soo amazing!” The next moment, Hinata leaped up to his feet. Kenma’s eyes widened in surprise, while the middle blocker still jumped around in front of him. This kind of reaction was a first and it made his heart beat faster with joy. Usually he found it hard to trust people, but the redhead’s emotions had been genuine from the start, making it impossible to even doubt him a second. Maybe that was a reason why he liked him so much. It wasn’t difficult to tell what Hinata was thinking, or how he would react. The setter wouldn’t go as far as to call him simple minded but there was a certain kind of simplicity about the younger boy, that seemed so very reassuring to the pudding haired. And as much as he would’ve liked watching Hinata frolicking any longer, he really should tell the other to pipe down a bit.
“Your character went BAMM! and GWAM! So cool! And ohh, please teach me the move where he goes all…” – “Shouyou, please be a little more quiet… The neighbours are gonna—“
Trying to make Hinata sit down again, Kenma had grabbed hold of the shorter one’s shirt, but catching him mid jump, the middle blocker was thrown off balance and tumbled right on top of him, making Kenma’s back hit the floor.
The older had closed his eyes on impact. This wasn’t really what he had wanted to achieve. His head seemed to buzz slightly and for some reason, his body felt a lot heavier. When his senses recovered from the shock, he also became aware that the weight wasn’t exactly from his body, but from a certain something on top of him.
“Ow ow ow..”
Softly spoken words that directly passed his skin made Kenma snap his eyes open. Only to be met with vivid orange orbs. For a second it felt like he could see his own reflection in these eyes, felt the other boy’s warm breath directly on his own lips, but a single blink disconnected the moment. The setter felt his cheeks grow hot.
“ I’m so sorry! I hope you’re not hurt or anything!” Hinata quickly scrambled off of him, his tone of voice sounding a mix of concern and nervousness. Kenma preferred not to answer and only mumbled in return, while he slowly rose into a sitting position again. Right now, that..
Embarrassed, he shot another glance to his friend. The redhead had returned to his spot as well, but other than before, avoided the setter’s eyes. And while Kenma noticed his nervously jolting hands, he also didn’t fail to realize the flush on Hinata’s face that spread straight down his neck.
The air around them had become thick with awkwardness. In any other situation the older probably would’ve taken the first chance to run out of the room, but he couldn’t really leave his friend sitting here alone. And when he thought of what Kuro told him…
“H…here… I’ll show you how to do this attack” The older cringed at the sound of his own voice. He only wanted to shake off this flustered feeling, and changing the subject would certainly help, no? And as soon as he’d concentrate back on the game, he’d surely forget the way how the colour of Hinata’s hair and eyes matched up so perfectly with that blush.
Kenma leaned over to grab the controller his friend had just picked up again. He had thought that it would be best to teach while they were both holding the device, but as soon as their hands touched, the smaller boy twitched again, as if hit by a small electric spark. Their eyes met for a second, but even the otherwise confident middle blocker averted his gaze again rather quickly.
This wasn’t really turning out as planned, the older thought, seemingly frustrated but filled by a still unsatisfied curiosity. He’d never been in a similar situation before and now his mind felt so preoccupied that he could barely tell what was going to happen next. Cautiously, he cupped his hands around Hinata’s, who was still holding onto the controller, avoiding it as best as possible to look at his friend’s face. Just concentrate on the game, then everything would turn out alright.
“.. You press this button”, Kenma’s thumb gently pushed down that of his friend’s, “and when you move the analog stick into that direction…” When he nudged Hinata’s left thumb the right way, he could almost feel a shudder going through the boy’s body. Kenma was too taken in to finish his sentence. Without giving it another thought, he carefully pried the controller from the short middle blocker’s grip, slowly loosening each of his fingers individually before the device fell onto the floor, discarded.
Still holding the redhead’s hands in his, their fingers instinctively intertwined. The setter’s heart started racing. It almost felt like it was beating in his throat, ready to jump out at any given occasion. When he ran his thumbs over Hinata’s palms, they felt warm with sweat, the same as his probably, and their skin seemed incredibly soft to him for someone who could hit these amazing high speed quick attacks.
A stifled whine brought his senses back into reality. His catlike eyes shot up to focus on the smaller one’s face, but the sight just made his head swirl with unknown feelings. He was gonna do it, was he? The thing Kuro sometimes couldn’t shut up about.
Hinata’s cheeks glowed red, and when their gazes met, his formerly bright orange eyes were soft, almost as if glazed over. He tried to speak again, but only made a small noise instead. That was when Kenma noticed his friend’s quivering lips. Did Hinata think the same? Was he scared, excited?
“… Shouyou”, he drew a shaky breath. This seemed like the biggest decision he ever made.
“Close your eyes.” Saying it like this made his own overheated cheeks burn again. There was no turning back now. The younger boy blinked once more before he quickly nodded his head.
“O-Okay…”
Even behind their lids, Kenma could still see the restless movement of his friend’s eyes. Yet the nervousness only mildly affected him himself in this moment. He scooted a little closer to face the redhead, not letting go of his hands while he leaned in. Inches before the other boy’s face, he paused to take a look at his face again, as if washed over by a wave of guilt.
Was this really what Hinata wanted as well? If he wouldn’t hurry now, what would happen? The middle blocker was still shivering a little, his lips parted slightly. It wasn’t until he actually noticed those lips moving, that Hinata was going to say something.
“K-Kenma.. you too…”
“Huh?” Had the smaller one noticed him staring? Was he going to tell him to stop?
“Close your eyes as well..” The redhead’s voice died down to a squeak. Kenma swallowed before answering.
“…Alright.” Did that mean he actually wanted him to do it?
An almost impatient tug on his hands gave him the much needed approval.
He leaned in once more, following Hinata’s orders to close his eyes when he could feel the other’s excited breath on his cheek.
Their mouths collided a bit clumsily at first, but on the second try, they met each other’s lips spot on. Kenma felt like he was melting against the softness and gripped Hinata’s hands more tightly, who immediately returned the gesture.
The kiss seemed to have lasted forever, when he finally withdrew. His eyes opened barely in time to catch Hinata lingering in the moment a bit longer before the boy opened his eyes as well.
Kenma wasn’t prepared for the silence that would follow next. How should he explain his actions, and even more, his feelings? His heartbeat had settled for a moderately fast pace again, but there was still this warmth filling out his whole body, preventing him from having any clear thoughts.
By now he had let go of the younger boy’s hands and it almost made him feel naked to sit there without any contact.
“Uh-uhm…” Having aimed his gaze at the floor, the setter hadn’t noticed Hinata springing back into life. When his hands were snatched again, he couldn’t help but throw a confused glance at his friend, who now seemed so very differently than his nervous self a few seconds ago.
“Woahh!! That felt totally amazing!! And on top of that, it was my first kiss!” The redhead’s eyes sparkled with excitement, leading to an almost ashamed blush on Kenma’s side.
“Mine too…”, he admitted in a hushed voice. It was more about the way his friend had said it than the fact itself, that made the older slightly nervous again. Speaking about it so bluntly only made him grow aware what had just happened between them.
“Can… can we do it again?”
