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Hinata’s day couldn’t get any worse.
He tossed and turned restlessly, the scratch of an unfamiliar blanket making his skin tingle uncomfortably. No matter how much he shifted, he couldn’t find a relaxing position, even though the bed wasn’t any different from the one in his room. To be honest, his inability to relax probably had more to do with the person next to him-
“Dumbass Hinata! Stop moving so much!” With an unceremonious shove, Hinata was kicked onto the floor for the fifth time that night. “It’s fucking 3 am already and in case you forgot, we need to be up in four hours.”
“It’s not my fault, stupid Kageyama!” Hinata growled, bristling with uncharacteristic irritation. “I told you, I can’t sleep in strange places and your bed is so small and narrow, there’s barely any space at all. Why couldn’t we sleep in my room instead? It’s only one night, it wouldn’t kill you.”
But the glare the dark-haired boy was shooting down at him was saying, yeah, it probably would. “Like hell I’m spending the night in your quarters with that bunch of loudmouths you call roommates. Especially since one of them’s the reason we’re like this in the first place.”
“Sorry not all of us have the privilege of getting our own room!” Frustrated, Hinata tried to stomp off because he cannot take another minute in the presence of the asshole known as the prodigy first year.
The keyword is “tried” because the minute he managed to get both feet out the doorway, it was like a chain tightened around his waist, squeezing his midline before roughly yanking him back with so much force he crashed right in Kageyama with a pained “oof!”
“Ow, idiot, get off!” Kageyama rolled him off, looking three levels angrier than he did a minute ago. “Inuoka said this spell’s not going to break for a whole day. We still have…” Kageyama checked the current time and Hinata followed his gaze to see it was 3:12. “...Another 7 hours left.” He glared at Hinata like this was all his fault when it most certainly was not.
It all started during Levitation. Hinata had still been struggling to get his stupid roll of parchment to rise the couple of centimeters it needed above his desk in order to pass the lesson but it was a futile effort, despite how much he begged and threatened it.
Kageyama, stupid asshole genius that he was, had already started spatial manipulations and kept turning back to hiss at Hinata to shut up, he was breaking his concentration (while keeping the crystal ball he was working with perfectly balanced and spinning in midair; Hinata wanted to chuck it at the other boy’s head).
The rest of their class was pointedly ignoring them, having gotten used to their antics already until Inuoka leaned over and conspiratorially whispered to Hinata that he had a super top secret incantation that he’d picked up from a cousin that would reveal a person’s every embarrassing secret, want to try it out on Kageyama?
In retrospect, agreeing probably hadn’t been the smartest move to make.
But Hinata had enough of watching Kageyama execute every spell correctly and maybe he was slightly jealous of how well the other boy was performing in their lessons and learning a secret or two wouldn’t hurt, he could use it as revenge material next time Kageyama tried to drown him in Basic Elementals (lost control of the water nymph his ass).
Once the lesson was over, Hinata stood over Kageyama’s table, relishing for a few moments that he got to look down on the taller boy for once as he was stooping to pack up his things. The moment was ruined the moment Kageyama noticed him and rose to his full height, which was significantly taller than Hinata. “What do you want?”
For a second, Hinata’s mind blanked as he quelled beneath the terrifying gaze. Then he caught Inuoka’s form behind Kageyama, encouraging him with a thumbs-up and a Lev winking by his side. Hinata took a deep breathe, steeled himself before squeezing his eyes shut to grab Kageyama’s wrists (or where he thought his wrists were) and mumbled out the incantation Inuoka taught him five minutes ago.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kageyama wrenched his hands away even before Hinata could finish, looking spitfire mad. “Hinata, did you just jinx me?”
“I-it’s not! That was just a spell for you spill all your secrets and-” Hinata clamped his hands over his mouth as he realized what he’d revealed.
“Hinata. That.” When asked later, Hinata vehemently denied squeaking as Kageyama grabbed his head in an iron-tight grip. “Is. Called. Jinxing.”
“So did it work? Did it work?” His two roommates clambered over, eyes sparkling. “Kageyama, what’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you?”
“Hell if I’m telling.” Inuoka and Lev blinked with confusion and surprise. “Looks like this dumbass messed up. Spell didn’t work.” Kageyama finally dropped Hinata, who immediately reached up to make sure he didn’t have any bald patches. Thankfully all his hair appeared to be intact.
But the incantation was pretty simple; Hinata didn’t know how it could have failed. He was pretty sure he did the whole spell correctly.
“Well. Hmm. Maybe there’s some sort of condition that needs to be fulfilled before it actually activates?” Lev mused. “Inuoka?”
Inuoka rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. “My cousin didn’t say anything about that but I guess I’ll ask her la-”
They were interrupted by the loud clatter of chairs knocked over. Next thing Hinata knew, something heavy was crushing the air out of his lungs and oh good gods, he was going to suffocate and die.
Luckily, the weight lifted but his breath was cut short as something grabbed the front of his robes, and great, he was at risk of dying from lack of oxygen again. “What. Did. You. Do?!”
Kageyama looked angry, angrier than Hinata’d ever seen him but even he didn’t know what had happened. “Um.”
“Whoa, did you see that, Lev? Kageyama just came flying in!” Inuoka was gaping at them. ”Shouyou, when did you learn to levitate people?”
“I-I haven’t!” Never mind people, he couldn’t even lift a stupid piece of parchment yet. And he might never will, considering Kageyama was likely going to kill him right then and there. “I don’t know what happened, Kageyama, I didn’t do anything, please don’t kill me, I don’t want to die yet!”
Hinata closed his eyes, waiting for a curse or a punch or great amount of pain. But all he heard was a sigh, then the hold on his collar loosened and Kageyama was leaving. The near death experience had Hinata’s heart racing and he couldn’t believe his luck at surviving pissing off the other first year who was notorious for his short-temper.
A second later, a heavy weight slammed into him again and he found himself in the same, squished position as before.
“Lev…” Inuoka began thoughtfully. “What you were saying earlier about ‘fulfilling conditions.’ You think...maybe…”
With a grunt, Hinata shoved Kageyama off for the second time that day, feeling mildly panicked now. Two minutes later, it was confirmed when Lev and Inuoka tried to drag Hinata, protesting, out of the classroom, only for an unseen force rip him out of their arms and straight towards Kageyama.
“What do you mean, ‘we’re stuck together?’” Hinata asked, arm throbbing because Kageyama the ass had dodged out of the way instead of nobly sacrificing himself as a cushion the way Hinata had so graciously done before.
“There’s a reverse spell for this, isn’t there?” Kageyama demanded, shoving Hinata aside so he found himself on his ass again for the fifth time in less than ten minutes.
“...maybe?” Inuoka grinned sheepishly. “But I’ll have to ask my cousin and she’s away on a trip right now. I could try to contacting her but she’s likely going to be wasted and whatever she says may do more harm than good.”
“Well, it looks like the maximum distance you two can get from one another is 3 meters.” Lev cheerily announced a few bruises and another chair knocked over later as he rolled up the measuring tape.
“...how long?” Kageyama seemed resigned.
“...24 hours?” Hinata and Kageyama both shot daggers at Inuoka. “24 hours!” he repeated with more conviction. “For sure! Yeah, I remember my cousin said this wasn’t supposed to be a long-lasting spell!”
“Inuokaaaa. Levvvvvv. I’m not gonna survive, this guy’ll kill me!” Hinata sobbed dramatically as he threw himself into their arms.
“Hey, it’s only for the next 24 hours!” Lev tried to slam a hand on Hinata’s shoulder encouragingly but only managed to aggravate one of his bruises. “Sorry, sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. “Who knows, could be fun!”
“That’s right, Shouyou!” Inuoka nodded with encouragement. “It could be much worse. Imagine being stuck like this forever!”
xxx
“WHY ARE WE STILL STUCK TOGETHER?”
The minute Levitation was over, Hinata and Kageyama tried to split in opposite directions, having had enough of each other after a full day, except there was a familiar tugging sensation, several students got knocked over and Hinata ended up in a heap of robes and tangled limbs.
“Inuoka!” Kageyama stood up furiously and headed into the classroom. Hinata was still on the floor in a daze, vaguely aware of a circle of students gathering to see what the commotion was about when he felt all his breath knocked out of his lungs and a sharp crack on his head as it met the hard ground. “Ah, fuck!”
“Stupid Kageyama, stop running off on your own!” Hinata’s body was still bruised and aching from being part of Lev’s “experiments” the day before. Not to mention the two of them had forgotten on several occasions that they had been magically chained to one another for most of yesterday and ended up crashing painfully into each other far too many times.
“Erm.” Inuoka came out, looking at them with contemplation. “Hmm. That’s very interesting.”
“Spell didn’t break yet?” Lev popped out from Inuoka. “Thought it was only supposed to last a day. Inouka?”
“Hinata, are you okay?” Yachi, blessed Yachi, squeezed her way out of the gathered crowd and helped him back up. “What happened? You didn’t show up in the dorm last night.”
He quickly explained the situation, Lev and Inuoka chirping in occasionally. Luckily, most of the crowd lost interest and dispersed. The rest ran off once they saw Kageyama’s scowling.
Once Hinata finished, Yachi fell into deep thought. “Hinata. Do you remember the incantation you used? Exactly, word for word?”
“Um.” Hinata wracked his brain, but memorizing spells had never been his strongest forte. He’d only managed to pull it off yesterday because it had been short and simple. But a whole day had passed already and his head had been knocked over more than several times ever since.
Luckily, Inuoka was able to repeat it for her, except Kageyama, who’d had been acting like an anti-social prick, suddenly jolted forward from where he’d been leaning against the wall. “That’s wrong.”
Inuoka blinked. “What? No, that’s right-”
“That’s not what I meant,” Kageyama clarified. “Inuoka’s is right. This idiot here,” Kageyama pointed a finger and his glare at him. “Switched the last two words.”
“I...what…” Hinata stammered. “How would you know?”
“Because I make it a point to remember incantations when people try to jinx me, dumbass!”
“How can you remember something you hear only once?”
“Not everyone is like you and needs fifty time repetitions before you get it.”
“Ah…” Yachi’s cry of realization stopped before their argument got further. The look on her face said it wasn’t good news. “About the switched words. They’re the ones that set the length of duration for the spell. In the original form, it’s only for a day.”
“...”
“And in the switched form?” Lev asked the question Hinata was dreading to know the answer for.
“...a month?”
A very, very pregnant silence passed. And then all hell broke loose.
“There has to be a reversal spell for this-”
“Are you sure, Yachi? A month? A month with this asshole-”
“-not even reversal, just something to neutralize its effects-”
“-you have no idea what a pain this guy is-”
“Will you stop griping about me and try to think of a way out of this situation?” Kageyama turned towards Yachi, who eeped-ed at having to take on the full force of Kageyama’s Glare. “Are you certain it’s a month?”
“T-technically, it’s at least a month.” Hinata gulped. He didn’t like the sound of that. “See, once the words switch, time lapse becomes less specific. I’ve seen writings and translations in old texts that indicate in the switched form, it means a month...up to a year?”
xxx
Kageyama Tobio got under Hinata’s skin. It may have something to do with the way they met, in which Kageyama took one look at him and announced Hinata had no capacity or talent for magic, how the hell did he get into the National Academy for the Magically Gifted, also there was an age limit for attendance, wasn’t he far too young?
In turn, Hinata tried to throw out a spell to prove that yes, he is magic, except he didn’t even know what the spell was for, it was just something he heard from one of the other students on the way over to the school and nothing actually happened aside from a few mushrooms popping up.
Several students watching them snickered but it was the look of derision that Kageyama gave him that made Hinata’s blood boil. He called Kageyama his rival and told him he’ll catch up and surpass him one day, just wait and see.
Lessons began in earnest the next day. Kageyama ended up being in most of them with Hinata, seeing they were both starting that term and as the days progressed, Hinata had to admit, grudgingly, yeah, the asshole was talented. He could work a spell properly after being shown once and perfected it better than even the instructors after a bit of practice.
Hinata on the other hand, consistently spent the longest time getting his spells to work correctly. He’d mess up the intonation, stumble and use the wrong word, forget a gesture and next thing he knew, the cup he was trying to fill with water was on fire, which for some reason was alive and jumping onto Kageyama.
Today wasn’t any different. They were learning to cast a sleep-inducing spell in conjunction with the awakening spell from last week and goddamnit, this is the seventh time he’s being slapped awake.
Hinata glowered, because it had been three days since that incident and frankly, he was tired of seeing Kageyama. Unfortunately, the effects of whatever spell it was (Inuoka had yet to successfully reach his cousin) meant it was in everyone’s best interest to pair Kageyama and Hinata up during lessons.
Instructor Ukai was very adamant on this point after the first time they tried partnering with other people, forgot about the ricocheting effect and proceeded to knock over several highly delicate and valuable instruments when Hinata headed to the infirmary without thinking after casting a vanishing spell (except he ended up tiny mushrooms popping up all over his arm; apparently he had a thing for mushrooms).
“I knew you were shitty, I didn’t realize just how shitty.” Kageyama’s voice pulled him back to the present, where Hinata was failing epically at making the other boy fall asleep. As if to taunt him further, he yawned from lack of anything happening.
“I-I’m learning at my own pace!” Hinata retorted, muttering the spell again. He thought maybe Kageyama looked just a bit drowsier and that is totally because he was improving and not because the classroom was warm and the taller boy hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before because Hinata still couldn’t sleep either.
“...you’re doing it wrong.” Kageyama finally said. He squirmed, seemingly uncomfortable and looking very un-Kageyama-like. “Look, you need to breathe out this spell, not yell it or even say it in a normal voice. Also, it helps if you can touch the other person’s forehead.”
“Huh?” Hinata gaped, wondering if the sleepless nights had finally caught up to him and he was dreaming since there was no way Kageyama would give him advice.
“Do you really need me to demonstrate, dumbass?” Just like that, the irate look was back and Kageyama was his normal self again. Before Hinata had a chance to reply, he felt something warm on his forehead and the last thing he heard was a surprisingly gentle voice that in no way could he associate with Kageyama telling him to sleep.
xxx
He was warm and comfortable and something was prodding his side and he frowned, groggily smacking the annoyance away. “Mmm….five more minutes.”
There was unpleasant snickering and a voice that sounded like a douchebag called Tsukishima was mockingly saying, “Please keep such behavior to the privacy of your room.”
And then the warmth was gone and the floor was very cold and very stuck to his stinging cheek. “Ow, ow. What happened?” Hinata looked up, still half-asleep and confused. His eyes widened with shock when he saw the normally composed Kageyama red-faced and stammering at Tsukishima to mind his own damn business. “Kageyama?”
“Alright, I’ll leave the two of you alone. Be gentle, won’t you?” This last bit seemed directed at Kageyama, who looked about ready to spit fire at the glasses-wearing blonde.
Hinata yawned, stretching and feeling refreshed for the first time in several days. “What was that about?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Kageyama sounded terse as he all but threw his books into his bag. Hinata thought he saw one of them get bent. “Hurry up, you have Standard Healing next.”
“Ehh? But aren’t you in like, Advanced Healing? I’m not going to understand a thing.”
“From what I’ve seen, you barely understand basic magic theory. Also, I got excused from Advanced Healing for the next few days.” Kageyama threw Hinata’s bag at him, evidently too impatient to wait for him to get up and put his own things away. “I...I can help you with whatever you’re having trouble understanding in that class. And anything else you’re having difficulty with.”
“...I’m dreaming. I’m still asleep and this is a dream, this has to be.” Hinata pinched himself, but it hurt a lot. “...this is not a dream.”
Kageyama looked severely offended. “Well, we’re stuck with each other for who knows how long and honestly, I thought it be amusing to watch you mess up everything but really, it’s just frustrating as fuck. If you can’t work anything properly even once, I think I might explode. So.”
“So…?”
“So it’s for my own sake, not yours and stop grinning like that, dumbass.”
Kageyama grabbed his head in a vice-like grip and it kind of hurts a lot but all Hinata can see the scarlet flush on the taller boy’s face and a laugh bubbles out of him. “Kageyama, are you maybe actually nice and just really bad at showing it?”
In response, Hinata got booted out into the hall but he was grinning from ear to ear because, wow, who knew Kageyama could get so flustered from doing something as simple as helping someone.
xxx
Hinata was currently in a very, very dangerous predicament and most definitely no longer grinning.
“Kageyama-san? I think there is a very heavy penalty for murder, even if you are a minor.”
“It’s fine as long as they don’t find the body.” Kageyama looked and sounded so serious Hinata actually began to worry. He had Hinata pinned against the headrest, the hand visibly twitching like it wanted to throttle him.
“Ah. Um. That is...Kageyama? I think people will notice if you’re dragging a corpse around. Because you know, we’re still sorta stuck together until this spell dissipates.” Hinata prayed to the gods above and beyond that his words were getting through to Kageyama, else he would not live to see the next sunrise.
“Is there nothing that can help you sleep?” Kageyama finally released him, much to Hinata’s relief since he’d been about to choke.
There was one thing that helped but Hinata was reluctant to say so, partly because he felt Kageyama would laugh at him and partly because he felt he shouldn’t need such a thing now that he’s no longer a little kid. He was about to lie and apologize once more for disturbing Kageyama’s needed rest but something in his expression must have tipped Kageyama off because the dark-haired boy’s glare sharpened.
“What is it? Spill!”
“H-hot chocolate.” Hinata’s voice was small.
There was a long pause and when Hinata looked up, Kageyama was blinking at him in confusion, which in turn confused Hinata. Wasn’t he going to be made fun of for being a little kid? It was even worse because he knew without being constantly reminded that he already childlike for his age (stupid height genes).
“How does that even make sense?” Kageyama frowned, looking like he was thinking very hard. “Shouldn’t chocolate make you more energetic and actually keep you awake?”
Hinata shrugged. “It makes me sleepy.”
“The kitchens are closed at this hour. Oh wait. Come here.” Kageyama got up but paused when he noticed Hinata wasn’t moving from his spot. “Oi, didn’t you hear me? Get your ass over here.”
“Huh?” Before Hinata could fully comprehend what was happening, Kageyama had grabbed his wrist and was all but dragging him over to his closet. He pulled out a large trunk from its depths and began digging through the contents.
Hinata peeked in curiously, saw a stack of newspapers, a crystal orb, many, many articles of clothing and a fleece blanket that looked incredibly soft and warm, perfect for the coming winter months.
“I thought my mom...a few weeks ago…” Kageyama was muttering to himself as he swept aside the blanket and check the pockets of a few jackets. “Oh, found it.”
He stood with a victorious air, lips pulled up in what Hinata assumed was meant to be a triumphant smile, but really looked more like the smirk of a demon who grinded bunnies to dust for fun. Oh, was that where dust bunnies came from-
Kageyama cuffed him over the head, signature scowl back in place. “For the last time, I do not torture small animals as a hobby.” He paused, then muttered, actually looking embarrassed, “They don’t like me much. Small animals, I mean.”
“And that bothers you?” Hinata couldn’t help asking, surprise overwhelming him. Kageyama’s face was scary-looking, he supposes that could be a reason why. Kageyama still sort of scared him and he was stuck with the guy twenty-four seven until further notice.
But the fact that it genuinely, actually upset Kageyama, that was...that was kind of...cute?
“What does it matter to you?” Kageyama sounded angry again, but his cheeks were red and honestly, it was cute without a question mark because Hinata was starting to realize that 80% of the time, an angry Kageyama was actually an embarrassed Kageyama. “Anyway, here. Hot chocolate, right?” He held out a few packets in front of Hinata, who could only gape.
“Wait. F-for me?” He needed to confirm that the egocentric Kageyama was offering something of his own to another person, least of all to Hinata.
Kageyama rolled his eyes. “Do you see anyone else in the room? We just need to heat up some water and find some mugs. I should have some in here…”
Tucking the packets of hot chocolate into a pocket, Kageyama turned back to the trunk.
“I can look for it.” Hinata crouched down with him, growing excited. “Kageyama can start boiling the water, this will be fun, drinking hot chocolate late at night is the best-.”
“Dumbass. We can’t heat the water without a container. Just find the mugs first.” Kageyama didn’t make any move to leave, instead looking very concentrated on dumping out the contents of his trunk.
Hinata saw something curved that might be the handle of a cup and reached for it at the same time as Kageyama. Fingers brushed Hinata’s hand and the unexpected shock of electricity jolted him so bad, he dropped the mug. Unfortunately, the trunk was nearly empty now, so there was nothing to cushion its fall.
“Ah, shit. Sorry, sorry!” Hinata’s nerves went haywire as he reached out for the shattered mug, thinking he could fix it or something.
“Hinata, hold on.” Hinata went still as Kageyama’s hand grabbed his. “Clumsy idiot that you are, you’ll probably end cutting yourself on these.” Kageyama’s voice was quiet and Hinata’s heart quailed because now the other boy was probably furious at him. “Just...just help me put my stuff back in.”
Hinata nodded, miserable as Kageyama carefully gathered up the jagged pieces of the broken mug. He forgot his misery, briefly, as he watched Kageyama work with fascination, murmuring the spell for repair and it was like time reversed itself as the pieces of the mug rearranged themselves back in place.
“That’s amazing!” Hinata burst, making Kageyama start. “I mean, that’s not something easy to learn. Instructor Takeda was saying we should be able to do it by third year cuz it’s super advanced but you were like ‘vrrshuu’ and it’s like it wasn’t even broken in the first place!”
Kageyama meanwhile was looking overwhelmed like he didn’t know how to react. “That’s just something I’ve been practicing a while. It’s the first time it worked, actually.” He shot Hinata an irate look, like the compliments were an annoyance and shove the fixed mug into his hands. “You can at least heat up water, right?”
It wasn’t until Hinata was seated back on the bed, pressed comfortably against the squishy pillows and warming his hands that he realized something.
“What about you, Kageyama? You don’t want some?” Hinata breathed in the delicious aroma of freshly made hot chocolate and took a tentative sip. He yelped as his tongue was burned but he’d always been too impatient to wait for hot drinks to cool to more reasonable temperatures. His eyes widened as his taste buds realized what they’ve been blessed with. “Oh shit, this is amazing.”
“I don’t like sweet stuff all that much.” He thought Kageyama’s mouth quirked upwards, just a bit for a very brief moment. The speeding increase of his heart was probably due to the sudden onrush of caffeine and sugar from the drink. “Besides, it’s for you anyway.”
And spreading warmth of his cheeks was definitely from the hot drink.
“Well, it’s a shame if you don’t try some!” Hinata pushed the mug in Kageyama’s direction, who eyed it dubiously. “Trust me, it’s reeeeaaaally good. It warms you up all the way from everywhere.”
Hinata knew he’d won when Kageyama sighed and scooted closer. What he didn’t expect was for Kageyama to cup his hands over Hinata’s own and tilt the mug towards himself.
Kageyama made a face and wrinkled his nose in a way that made words die in Hinata’s throat. “Definitely too sweet.” Kageyama’s hands were still on Hinata’s and he became intensely aware of the skin-on-skin contact happening, especially when Kageyama’s grip tightened and his heartbeat skyrocketed as Kageyama pulled him forward to take another sip even though he just said he didn’t like sweet stuff okay what the hell was happening. “But you’re right. It is warm.”
He suddenly found himself unable to meet the other boy’s eyes and he wanted to die because his whole face and even his ears felt hot and why was he feeling so embarrassed?
Suddenly, all the warmth on his hands were gone and by the time Hinata looked up, Kageyama was pulling the covers over himself, back turned to him. “Just set it on the floor when you’re done. Hurry up and sleep. We still have lessons in the morning.”
“Okay, thanks, Kageyama.” The hot chocolate had cooled significantly by now, but he felt strangely cold and empty as he gulped the rest of it down. Even after burrowing himself in blankets, he still didn’t feel half as warm he did when Kageyama’s hands were holding his.
xxx
Things soon spiraled from weird to awkward.
“Kageyama, hurry up!” Hinata rapped the glass door behind which a great amount of steam was rising from. His skin was feeling gross and sticky from the humidity and he really wanted to wash off the sweat that had accumulated in the time Kageyama had been in the shower.
“Dumbass Hinata, I can’t even shower in peace, can I?” The door flew open and Kageyama came out, one towel around in his waist and another drying his hair.
“Well, you were taking for-” The rest of his sentence died in Hinata’s suddenly dry throat because what the hell, Kageyama’s body was unfairly nice to look at, as water dripped off the tip of his damp hair and down his neck and his mind flashed back to a few days ago when the stupid spell yanked Hinata into the shower stall after he tried to leave to get the towels stupid Kageyama had forgotten to grab.
The two of them refused to look one another in the eye for the rest of the evening and unanimously agreed to never speak of the incident again.
Kageyama made his way over to his pile of clothes, unaware of Hinata’s mental breakdown and it wasn’t until he dropped his towel that Hinata was jolted back to reality with a strangled scream, instinctively burying his face into hands without really understanding why.
“The hell are you still doing here?” Kageyama sounded pissed and Hinata was too freaked out to check. Why was he even freaked out in the first place? They were both guys after all and it wasn’t like this would be the first time Hinata’s seen Kageyama na- not fully clothed and oh my god why did his face feel so warm?
“Um. Um. Don’t look!” he yelled, even though he’d been the one looking in the first place.
“Haa? What are you, stupid?” There was a short pause and in the silence, Hinata could feel the blood pounding in his ears. Then, “Oi, Hinata, how long are you going to take? Weren’t you the one that was complaining earlier?”
Cautiously, Hinata peeked through his fingers (this situation was not weird at all) and a felt bit of relief when he saw Kageyama had his back to him, towel hitched back in place. Hinata pointedly chose not to think about the weird flutter of disappointment that meant absolutely nothing, telling himself it was stupid to turn around as well but still doing so anyway.
He fumbled clumsily with his clothes, trying five times before he was able to unbutton the clasp of his robes correctly and hastily remembered to grab his towel (no way he was forgetting that) before shutting the door to the shower behind him, creating a barrier between him and the weird awkward atmosphere that had sprung up.
When he came back out and pulled on his sleepwear, he found Kageyama was dozing on the floor, sitting almost exactly where Hinata’d been previously. It was the first time he’d seen the dark-haired boy asleep and relaxed and he thought as he knelt down, Kageyama wasn’t so scary if he wasn’t scowling or looking like something was biting his ass.
“Is it your hobby to creepily stare at people?” Kageyama cracked an eye open, glaring and just like that, the serene demeanor was gone.
“I am not creepily staring,” Hinata denied, even though he kind of was and then he felt himself flushing because he realized Kageyama was referring to earlier when the taller boy came out of the shower.
Judging from Kageyama’s snort of contempt, he didn’t believe him but neither did he push the subject. “Come on, it’s late and I want to actually get some sleep tonight. At least we don’t have lessons tomorrow.”
Kageyama really did look tired. Hinata felt a stab of guilt because he knew that was mostly his fault, his constant tossing and turning at night had kept Kageyama up for the past few days. It wasn’t his fault, really, that he found sleeping in strange places difficult.
An hour later found him still fully awake, staring up at the ceiling sparkling with illusionary constellations. Kageyama had knocked out in less than five minutes after collapsing, lack of sleep finally catching up to him.
Hinata tried very, very hard to stay still. He figured if he kept waking Kageyama up with his kicking and moving when trying to fall asleep, he’ll be the one to stay awake tonight so the other boy could get some proper rest. He shifted and sat up, about to get out of bed, thinking maybe he could do something to make himself sleepy, wash his face or sneak down to the kitchens for a cup of hot chocolate, before he remembered the stupid spell and cursed.
“What’s wrong?” Kageyama sleepy mumble startled him.
“Sorry, did I wake you again? Shit, sorry, it wasn’t on purpose-”
“It’s fine.” Kageyama sat up as well, hair not the slightest bit tousled, unlike Hinata’s, which refused to behave and be flat even on the nicest of days. “Still can’t sleep?”
Hinata grinned sheepishly. “When I first moved to the dorms here, it took me a month and half before I got used to my room.” He didn’t elaborate on why it took him so long to adjust, but Kageyama didn’t inquire further, just looked a slight bit surprised.
“Well, I don’t know how you survived sleep-deprivation for that long but I’m not waiting around for you to get used to here.” There was a tug on his arm and he found himself pushed back down on the bed, Kageyama leaning over him with an expression Hinata couldn’t read in the dark. He ignored the warmness creeping up his neck that had nothing to do with the placement of the cool fingers on his forehead.
He got a sense of deja vu. “W-what you doing?”
“Making you sleep. It worked earlier.”
“Wait!” Hinata grabbed Kageyama’s hand to stop him. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I mean, I’m the one keeping you awake and you were tired enough to fall asleep on the restroom floor earlier, that’s like the worst place ever to fall asleep and anyway, I will sleep eventually, it’ll just take me several hours.”
“You can’t even cast the spell properly, dumbass. It’s better if I do this, then we’ll both get proper sleep.” He paused, then added but not with any trace of malice, “Also, at this point in time, I don’t really trust you to cast any spell, no matter how simple.”
Hinata felt indignantly insulted even though a part of him admitted Kageyama did have a point. He dropped his hand as Kageyama flattened his fingers over his forehead and is it just him or did the room temperature suddenly shoot up?
“Just go sleep, dumbass.” Hinata’s eyes fluttered once, twice as an overwhelming sense of drowsiness seeped into every part of body and he found himself slipping into unconsciousness.
xxx
They both slept in late the next day and neither said a word about how Hinata had his arms and legs wrapped around Kageyama and how Kageyama had his face buried in the nook of Hinata’s neck.
It was the weekend and they had a pile of homework to get through. Though they shared most classes, a few such as healing had allowed Kageyama to move into the advanced level after he’d demonstrated sufficient skill.
Hinata couldn’t help being slightly impressed, looking over at the books Kageyama was pouring over, full of complicated and intricate circles, written in some archaic script he could barely read.
“I give up.” Kageyama slammed the giant tome shut. “What? Did you think I enjoyed studying?”
“Yeah. I mean. Kind of? You’re smart, aren’t you?” Hinata asked. “You get all the spells correct right away, they let you into advanced classes and you even got your own room.” For which Hinata would be eternally grateful for because the situation they were stuck in would be about 100 times more embarrassing if they had to deal with harassing roommates like Inuoka and Lev.
Kageyama just grunted unhappily and Hinata found himself biting back a smile because the other boy looked really cu-
Abruptly, Hinata broke his trail of thoughts away by banging his head hard on the desk. Several times.
“What the hell, Hinata?” Kageyama looked mildly startled, frowning at him in confusion and Hinata squinted at him closely, feeling relief that he couldn’t find any trace of features on the other boy that would be considered cute. Because Kageyama wasn’t. He wasn’t cute at all and Hinata was probably just drained from the hours of studying (they’ve been at it for not even half an hour), that’s why he had a moment of delirium.
“You’re right, this is impossible. Let’s take a break!” Hinata thought for a moment about how to procras- rest their studious selves for a while. “Oh yeah, you promised to help me with spells!”
Kageyama looked like he wished he hadn’t. “I thought you wanted a break from studying.”
“Spellwork’s not the same as studying! ‘Cuz you’re actually doing something and making things happen instead of just sitting and looking at words you can barely read. Anyway, I wanna try the sleep spell from last week.”
“...what if you mess up and I never wake up again?”
“That...that won’t happened! Probably…” Kageyama did not look reassured. “Either way, promise is a promise! Besides, my intuition tells me I can do it this time. You know they say third time’s the charm.”
“Hinata, you tried and failed about twenty times already.” But Kageyama sighed and shrugged his go-ahead, evidently understanding Hinata wasn’t going to be satisfied until he got to try.
Heart-thumping, Hinata scooted his chair closer and recalled the other boy’s advice, placing his hand on Kageyama’s forehead, which was tickling his palm for some reason, was that his bangs-?
“Idiot, you almost poked my eye out!” Kageyama growled.
Hinata squeaked his apologies, not having noticed he wasn’t reaching high enough in his deep thoughts (not his fault, Kageyama was too damn tall) and moved his hand up, remembering the next part. “...wait, what do you mean breath the spell out?”
“Go back to your textbook, Hinata.” Kageyama made to yank Hinata’s hand off.
“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re terrible at explanations! Just tell me what you meant!” Hinata stubbornly slipped his hand away and placed it back on Kageyama’s forehead, thankful the long sleeves of his school robes hid the goosebumps that were rising along his arms as the other boy turned a piercing gaze his way.
“It means exactly what it means. Just...breath it out.” Kageyama sighed when Hinata just makes a noise of confusion. “Like...like...you’re humming a lullaby to put a child to sleep. I even showed you yesterday. Don’t you remember?”
Hinata did remember. And the memory was making him feel very, very warm for some reason. “Well, you did it so suddenly.” It also made him recall something else and he latched onto that to distract himself from the weird fuzzy sensation bubbling in his stomach. “Oh yeah, what were you and Tsukishima arguing about?”
“What does that have to do with this?” Kageyama demanded snappily.
“It doesn’t, I’m just curious. Also, you didn’t have to pushed to the floor to wake me up,” he added petulantly. “That really hurt.”
“...yeah, sorry about that,” Kageyama muttered, surprising Hinata because the other boy so rarely apologized. “Anyway, just do what I did.”
Once more, Hinata pressed his fingers against Kageyama’s forehead. “Sleep.”
For second, he thought it didn’t work, that the spell backfired like all his other ones, and he winced, waiting for the explosion or something to indicate what went wrong. Then Kageyama’s eyes were closing and he was tipping forward and Hinata found his arms reaching out to catch him because he’s fallen on the floor enough times to know how much that hurts.
Except he hadn’t counted on how heavy Kageyama was (it’s not that he himself was weak) so they ended up with throbbing bruises on the floor anyway. At least Hinata did. Kageyama was fast asleep, using all of Hinata’s lap and part of his stomach as a pillow.
His stomach was doing some pretty incredible flips now, maybe it had something to do with the ten rolls he ate at breakfast? Kageyama was a warm weight on him, a bit too heavy but despite the uncomfortable position Hinata found himself in, he couldn’t say it was altogether unpleasant. And that definitely meant something was very wrong.
He tried to sit up, wondering how safe it was to try and wake Kageyama up. He weighed his chances and decided he would still like to live to see tomorrow, thank you very much.
Since he was going to be here for a while, until Kageyama woke up on his own, Hinata decided he might as well try to get some more homework reading done. He reached up the table for his book that was right at the very edge...and realized his fingers fell short by just two centimeters.
He cursed every god and deity in existence.
xxx
“Look, I said I was sorry already.” Kageyama sounded exasperated but Hinata thought his reaction was perfectly reasonable. After all, the other boy ended up napping for three hours and Hinata could do nothing but be an uncomfortably squished pillow. Who almost suffocated him to death he might add.
It most certainly wasn’t because having Kageyama pressed so close against him for so long had made him weirdly antsy.
The few times he tried to move away, Kageyama would clutch at him and grunt angrily (when Hinata told him, Kageyama turned bright red and went quiet for several minutes). Hinata himself was careful to not mention how he really enjoyed the feel of Kageyama’s arms around him and how the memory of it maybe set his heart thumping like mad.
“I hurt. Everywhere.” Hinata repeated, still curled petulantly in a ball on Kageyama’s bed, who rolled his eyes at his probably childish antics. At the moment, Hinata didn’t really care. He was turning into a weird mess (yes, he admits everything about this is officially weird now) and it was all Kageyama’s fault, so in retaliation, he was going to make Kageyama’s life as difficult as was possible.
“Where?” Hinata jumped as fingers began poking and prodding at his shoulders. He hissed and flinched when a particularly tender spot got jabbed. “Sorry, sorry.”
“What are you doing?” Hinata looked up and blinked, wondering when Kageyama got so close to him.
“Shut up and stay still.” Kageyama spread the palm of his hand over his shoulder blades, fingers gripping firmly but gently and that was when Hinata’s stomach decided to start practicing somersaults again.
He tried to focus on something else, anything else, besides the warmth spreading from where Kageyama was touching him but he could feel the blood rushing up and his ears were probably turning bright red, why was this happening again? This was so embarrassing even though Hinata still didn’t know what about it was so embarrassing but it just was.
Kageyama muttered a few words, Hinata was freaking out too much to catch what they were, but the ache in his joints disappeared like magic. Go figure. “That better?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Without thinking about it, Hinata leaned into the touch. Kageyama shifted and for a second, Hinata thought Kageyama was being a normal person and moving away but instead, Kageyama was moving his arm down until it was at his waist and Hinata felt himself pulled in.
Kageyama smelled like freshly laundered clothes with a hint of peppermint, and the scent made him sleepy and his thoughts fuzzed out with a sigh because even though Kageyama was such a grouch normally and every other word out of his mouth was an insult of some sort, he was very warm and comfortable to hug.
He remembered in time, before fully falling asleep, to mumble out a thank you, not sure how much the jumble of noises made sense. Kageyama probably understood and Hinata thought he felt something soft press against his head or maybe that was his dream.
xxx
It had been nearly two months and no one in the entire Academy could figure out how to reverse Inuoka’s cousin’s stupid spell or even what it was. Inuoka did finally contact his cousin, but she had unhelpfully told him she herself picked it up at some party or the other, and that it should eventually go away on its own. Hopefully.
That filled Hinata with dread because now he was stuck indefinitely with no way to escape from the source that constantly made a flurry of butterflies erupt in his stomach region. Sometimes they migrated to his throat and he’d find himself not breathing for several seconds.
The fact that Kageyama had gotten much more comfortable around Hinata wasn’t helping matters much. There were times when walking through the crowded halls during lunch hour, Kageyama would just pull him in closer. Hinata tried to tell himself it was because neither of them wanted to go through the repercussions of the spell should the crowd separate them too far from each other.
It sounded less convincing when the halls were empty and Kageyama still pulled him along by the wrist.
“I’m not gonna run off, you know,” Hinata told him once. They were on the way back from dinner. It was getting late, most people were in their rooms already, so the hall was practically empty except for the two of them.
Kageyama had his hand wrapped firmly around Hinata’s wrist and while the warmth was welcome, considering the weather was starting to turn cold, the odd fluttering swirls messing up Hinata’s insides were not.
At his words, Kageyama stopped and his grip slackened. “With your attention span, you’ll probably get distracted and start chasing snowflakes or something.”
Hinata puffed indignantly because he hadn’t done that since he was 9 years old and he had been trying to catch one to preserve and give to his mom as a present. Kageyama started shaking at that and panic flooded Hinata. Was Kageyama having a fit? Was it a seizure? What do you do when someone has a seizure?
Then Kageyama turned away from him, the hand not on Hinata covering his face as he made a strange noise and suddenly it dawned on Hinata that Kageyama was laughing.
“D-don’t make fun of a young boy’s pure intentions!” Hinata should be indignant, maybe slightly pissed, but really, all he cared about was how Kageyama looked because the other boy hardly ever broke a smile and Hinata had thought him a cold slab incapable of laughter.
“I’m not...making fun...of you.” Hinata pulled free of Kageyama’s loose hold and ran around in front, tugging at the taller boy’s other arm. “Hinata, what-?”
Maybe in retrospect it was a really bad idea because Hinata had no idea a happy Kageyama (and he never thought he would use the words ‘happy’ and ‘Kageyama’ in the same sentence ever) could look so cu- nice, he totally meant to say nice. Then again, Kageyama looked nice all the time, whether he was sleeping, studying, scowling, strippi- okay, Hinata’s just going to stop thinking now.
He supposes this shouldn’t be unexpected but it still didn’t stop Hinata from gaping at him in wonder and crap, his heart was doing that racing-skip thing again and the worse thing was he kind of didn’t mind it happening.
“You should smile more,” Hinata found himself saying. “It...it suits you. I mean, you look cu- nice. You look good nice. I mean, nice. And good. And less scary.” His mouth was running from nerves and he really hoped Kageyama would do something to stop him before he embarrassed himself even further. “I like it. Other people will, too, if you show them.”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Kageyama was covering his face again. Hinata could see tinges of red beneath his hand and he felt slightly better knowing the other boy was getting just as embarrassed. “Just...stop. Ugh.”
A silence stretched, borderline awkward until Hinata sneezed. Kageyama tsk-s but Hinata barely hears the admonishes about not wearing more layers, dumbass, you knew it was going to be below freezing because his wrist has been captured again and warmth is flooding from the hold, a sharp contrast to the biting cold.
“...it’s cold.”
“That’s why we’re going back our room-” Hinata nearly tripped for real at Kageyama referring to the room as theirs. “-where the temperature is regulated and warm.”
They walked a bit more in silence before Hinata broke it again. “My hand is cold.” He pointedly kept his eyes on the floor and ignored the way his whole face was heating up.
“Stick it in your pocket then.” Hinata made a small noise of frustration and wriggled the arm that was being held prisoner by Kageyama. “Oh. Sorry.” Hinata wished he knew how to work the spell to make the ground swallow up Kageyama when the other boy just let go of his wrist. Seriously, could he not read social cues at all? Apparently not, because he was giving Hinata a very confused look, obviously sensing something was amiss but not understanding what. “Hinata?”
Without looking at Kageyama at all, Hinata dug up every bit of courage and adrenaline he had before slipping his hand into Kageyama’s. Actually, it was more like he bumped their hands kind of painfully together and latched onto two fingers because he wasn’t looking properly.
He gulped nervously at how stiff Kageyama felt, not responding at all. And then it was like every bit of nerve in him caught fire as Kageyama intertwined their fingers together. They walked the rest of the way back like that, both too embarrassed to look at the other.
xxx
By now, the few times Kageyama was not with Hinata was when they needed to shower or use the restroom.
This was the case now, as Hinata fidgeted restlessly outside the stalls. A large group of people came in, chattering loudly and Hinata pressed himself to the side so as to not get trampled underfoot.
How long was Kageyama going to take? They finally got a bit of reprieve after several weeks of exams and were out visiting the city for a bit of fresh air and Hinata was impatient.
“Hey, you an Academy student?” One of the guys from the group had approached him, looking curious. “What year?”
“I just started this year,” Hinata answered, glad for a bit of distraction.
“Nice.” The guy grinned at his friends, some of whom were glancing over with growing interest. “We were there ourselves, a few years back. Ah man, it sure brings back some memories. Say, first-year, want us to give you a grand tour of the city?”
Without waiting for a response, he slung an arm around Hinata’s shoulders and began steering him out. It was so unexpected that Hinata was already out the restroom before he thought to protest. Unfortunately, when he tried to back away, stammering about waiting for a friend, he realized with a start that the rest of the group had formed an impregnable human wall from behind.
Panic sets in then as Hinata remembered Inuoka’s spell still hasn’t worn off yet, even after three months and the last thing Hinata wanted was to face its stupid repercussions, top of the reason being not wanting to deal with a very pissed off Kageyama for the rest of the day.
His stomach lurches with a familiar tugging sensation as the group turns the corner leading out to the main street because this is definitely passing the 3 meters limit and Hinata squeezes his eyes shut for a painful impact.
Except nothing happens.
One moment, he still feels the tugging and the next, it’s disappeared without a trace. Hinata is so very confused, not to mention slightly terrified as he slowly comes to realize the situation. He starts struggling in vain to get away but there’s too many people on all sides and he’s completely hemmed in, where is that stupid Kageyama?
There’s a disturbance at the back, cries of surprise emanating as people get shoved to one side and then a familiar grip is on his wrist, pulling him out through a gap that has blessedly opened.
“Kageyama-” Hinata’s sense of relief is cut short when he see the demeanor of the other boy is practically radiating murder. It makes a chill crawl up his spine.
The group of guys take one look and hastily retreat, several of them throwing uneasy looks over their shoulders like they feared getting cursed from behind.
“Kageyama. Kageyama? Hey, Kageyama!” Hinata is getting a bit freaked out. They’ve been walking for nearly ten minutes now and Kageyama still hadn’t said a word. His grip on Hinata’s arm also hadn’t lessened; in fact, it was starting to hurt a bit and Hinata thought a bruise might be forming. “Listen to me when I’m talking!” Hinata planted his feet firmly and tried to yank his arm back hard, forcing Kageyama to finally stop.
“The hell is wrong with you, dumbass Hinata?” Kageyama snapped at him. His stormy expression hadn’t cleared one bit; in fact he looked more pissed off than before. “I knew you were dumb but I didn’t think you were dumb enough to follow a bunch of strangers and get kidnapped! What are you, five?”
“Stop calling me dumb, I know better than that but they didn’t give me much choice!” Hinata’s arm was starting to go numb and Kageyama was really starting to scare him now. As he thought this, the other boy took a step closer and Hinata shut his eyes, fully expecting to get punched for being what Kageyama considered a dumbass.
Instead, he found himself enveloped in a warmth that was all too familiar and overwhelmed with the scent of fresh peppermint. He blinked, facing a wall of dark fabric as his senses simultaneously died and went into overdrive because holy hell was Kageyama hugging him? Not that he hadn’t done so before, but they were in public, Kageyama wouldn’t even hold hands with him unless they were completely alone.
“Idiot, don’t naively listen to strangers like that. What if you were by yourself?” Oh no, Kageyama should never use a voice like that, where it goes quiet and sounds like it’s about to crack.
“Kageyama, were you actually worried about me?” Hinata defaults to teasing because he’s not sure how else to deal with the sudden well of emotions that makes him feel like choking.
“Dumbass, don’t ask questions if you already know the answer.” He could feel the scowl in the other boy’s voice as his breath ghosts over the bare skin of his neck, just barely brushing the lobes of his ear. It takes every bit of miniscule sanity left in Hinata to suppress a shiver.
The awkward silence stretched until Hinata couldn’t take it anymore and he cast his mind around for anything to break it. He latches onto the first thing he thinks of. “Soooo, it looks like Inuoka’s spell broke?”
“Wha-? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I guess.” Kageyama suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing because he quickly stepped away and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking anywhere but at Hinata. He notes the other boy’s cheeks are stained a deep scarlet red and Hinata’s stomach drops with a sudden whoosh that leaves him breathless and his chest tight.
They spend the rest of the day browsing shops, Hinata oooh-ing over anything new (everything) and Kageyama reining in his energy when it threatened to explode. Everything was relatively normal until Hinata wandered off a bit too far and when he turned around, fully expecting Kageyama to be right behind, he was met with a shockingly empty space.
Panic set in without warning. He’s gotten so used to being perpetually stuck together with Kageyama that even though they were no longer compelled to do so, he felt weird that they weren’t.
The store wasn’t that large, Hinata was sure if he turned that corner, he’ll see Kageyama’s grouchy face-
He walks right into someone, instantly recognizing that familiar waft of peppermint.
“Kageyama!” Hinata knows he’s being too loud but he can’t help it. “Where-”
“Where you go, dumbass?” Kageyama beats him to it, of course he does. “Don’t just disappear the second I turn around, what if someone tries to grab you again?”
“Then make sure that doesn’t happen.” Hinata wants to take his words back the moment they leave. There’s a quiet roar in his ears as all the blood rush to his cheeks and he keeps his eyes fixed on the soles of his shoes.
He jolts as fingers wrap around his, tugging him forward. Surprised, he glances up and Kageyama looks as red as he feels, glaring like he was angry, completely in contrast with the gentle way he was thumbing over Hinata’s knuckles.
They’re still holding hands even as they head back, apparently the unspoken rule about not doing so when people were around was no longer applicable.
“Are you moving back to your room?” The question was so unexpected, Hinata could only blink for several seconds.
“Do you want me to?” Hinata’s been dreading that question ever since realizing the spell had broken. He’s also not quite ready to answer it, despite knowing how he wants to answer it; he’s afraid Kageyama’s response would be irritation and annoyance. “Are you that eager to get rid of me?” He winces. The words sound bitter even to his own ears, though he meant to say them lightheartedly, so he could pass it off as a joke if necessary.
“I asked first.” Kageyama turns his back towards the setting sun, making it impossible to read his expression.
Hinata opens his mouth, not really knowing what to say, when a cold wind blows through an opened window and he sneezes instead. Something warm and very soft and smelling of peppermint wraps itself around his neck, surprising him. He is about to protest, insist that he’s really not that cold except he doesn’t even get the chance to as another thing, also warm and soft (but it’s a different kind, a very different kind) press against his mouth.
His mind blanks as his pulse thumps loud and fast in his ears. Their noses bump briefly but Hinata is too caught up with the unfamiliar tingling sensation of chapped skin brushing over his lips to even notice. When Kageyama pulls back, eyes dark and lidded, everything feels far, far too hot.
The small puffs of air Kageyama breathes out heats up his semi-moist lips and Hinata only dimly registers the already rapid beat of his heart abruptly spiking as Kageyama leans in again, his hands reaching up this time to cup Hinata’s face. His own hands are clutching the front of Kageyama’s robes, hanging on for dear life because his legs are going wobbly and they nearly do buckle when he feels gentle tugging on his lower lip.
Something like a whine or maybe moan rises from the back of his throat and Hinata wants to die, he hadn’t meant to make that embarrassing sound. Maybe Kageyama hadn’t heard, it’d been really quiet after all, there’s no way he could have-
Another noise, this time far louder and most definitely a moan escape him before he can pull it back. Kageyama goes still; he would have to be deaf to not have heard that.
If his brain hadn’t already melted into a pile goo, he would have probably yelled that it was Kageyama’s fault for trying to stick his tongue in, could he please keep going? Hinata wonders briefly if it was too late to find that spell to make the ground swallow him up because Kageyama was moving away.
And then he forgets about embarrassing sounds, forgets all other thoughts in fact, when he sees Kageyama’s flushed face and feels the rapid heaving of his chest. Hinata’s own breathing was ragged and it sounds too loud in the quiet of the empty halls.
“That’s my answer. What’s yours?” Kageyama’s eyes are searching frantically and really, this is too much thinking for Hinata, his mind was still stuck on the part where his lower lip was getting nipped. “Hinata?”
He scrambles frantically to pick up the scattered remains of his sanity, most of it shattering anyways when he feels Kageyama’s fingers running through his hair. It’s a foreign sensation and ridiculously distracting and he doesn’t want Kageyama to ever stop.
“Urgm,” is his very intelligible response.
“Hinata?”
“Um, you won’t mind, you don’t- I mean, you want me?” The words tumble out of him, not really caring about order or structure and Hinata has to wonder if it was possible to explode from over-embarrassment.
His only compensation was Kageyama’s expression seemed to be mirroring his own. “Obviously, I do wa- I mean, I’m not going to- but, ugh why do you think I-?” He pauses, visibly swallows and it’s unfair how Kageyama makes nervousness look so endearing. “Will you move in with me?”
Hinata almost laughs, because the way Kageyama says it makes it sound like he’s proposing, but he doesn’t, because the way Kageyama says it like he is proposing has Hinata’s stomach knotting up so badly he’s not sure if it will ever untangle.
“Yeah, yeah sure, if you’ll have me.” Forget learning the spell to make the ground swallow him, Hinata was ready to dig a hole and simply bury himself alive. Why did he answer like he was replying to a proposal? “I-I mean, if you don’t mind me. And if you’re sure. ‘Cuz I’ll always be in your space and there won’t be any privacy. I kick in my sleep and tend to make things explode and you always say I’m annoying-”
“I can deal with that. I had to put up with you for three months, I can probably do that for another forever.”
It takes at least a minute for the words to register. Another minute lapses before the meaning fully clicks.
“Wait, what do you mean ‘forever’?!”