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At first, Tsukishima hates how easily Hinata gets under his skin. He spent all of middle school creating a personal bubble of "I don't give a damn" that works on everybody except Yamaguchi. Hinata doesn't even seem to notice it. Hinata doesn't quiet down when Tsukishima gives him the cold glare, doesn't give up saying good morning even when Tsukishima ignores him, never stops trying to get a high five out of him. When he makes a receive with his arms instead of his face, he throws his arms around Tsukishima's waist because he's the closest person, and squeezes him tight.
"Stop that!" Tsukishima demands in horror, holding his arms up and out like he's been suddenly splashed with a cold ocean wave before he was good and ready to get his swim trunks wet.
"I got it!" Hinata exclaims, grinning so widely it makes Tsukishima's jaw ache to see it.
"Yes, well, statistically one ought to bounce off the right place every five hundred balls or so," Tsukishima grumbles, pushing Hinata off and ignoring his pout. Tsukishima dusts him off successfully, only to find Yamaguchi grinning at him. "Get bent, Yamaguchi."
"Sorry, Tsukki. It's just funny, because you don't actually hate it, even though you want to." Yamaguchi's smile softens and he pats Tsukishima's shoulder. "But keep making that face, though, it always makes me laugh."
Eventually Tsukishima comes to accept that Hinata is going to keep figuring out new ways to get under his skin. He's really good at it, even though he's not trying to do it. That's actually, Tsukishima comes to think, probably the reason he's good at it. He's loud because he's happy, he says good morning because he's happy to see Tsukishima, and he holds his hand up for a high five because he truly believes, every single time, that this time Tsukishima will actually hit him up.
He also works so stupidly hard and loves their team so stupidly much, and he's never embarrassed by either of those things. Watching him makes Tsukishima feel awkward and a little bit jealous.
"You could do it too, you know," Hinata tells him just before the Newcomer's Tournament, because he isn't an actual idiot and he knows Tsukishima as well as any of them at this point, except Yamaguchi. "Just feel a thing and say it. It's not that hard."
"You make me angry and you're short," Tsukishima tells him. Hinata goes on grinning at him, swinging his feet under the bench. "But when you score enough points for us not to get crushed, I don't hate that."
Hinata holds up his hand. "Up high, buddy." Tsukishima sighs, but then lifts his hand to slap his palm against Hinata's. "Excellent. Knew I'd get you eventually."
Hinata hops up and dashes off to practice, only pausing for a second to flash Tsukishima a wide smile that's just for him. Tsukishima feels the corner of his mouth lift, like it somehow just can't help itself.
He doesn't seem like he's going to stop getting under Tsukishima's skin any time soon. Tsukishima guesses that he can start living with that, if he doesn't have any choice.