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Nishinoya Yuu had a crush.
But not like the fleeting, admiration ahhh he's so cool! kind of crush.
This was the gut-flipping, blush-inducing, ruin-your-friendships and up-all-night kind of crush. This was the crush that gave you butterflies, that twisted your stomach into knots whenever you see them, that fucked you over for tests because you were too busy thinking about them. The crush that haunts your daydreams, nightmares, power naps, and every waking moment.
And this was the crush that Nishinoya had.
It didn't help that it was maybe on one of his best friends, and that said friend may have possibly started catching on. This kind of crush wasn't called "ruin your friendships" for no reason. And if it weren't for that tiiiiiiiny tiny detail, Nishinoya would have confessed already. They'd probably have done more than just hold hands by now too. And Tanaka would never speak to him again for getting a date before him.
Anyway, that wasn't the point. The point, was that Asahi may or may not possibly have been catching on to him. It couldn't have been the slightly-less-than obvious looking, or the slightly-less-than-accidental touches. Or the almost kiss (that one was an accident, honestly). Or that he may have mentioned not minding doing it again. Nah, none of those things. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not at all.
Besides, Asahi could be pretty dense sometimes... He couldn't have noticed... If he did he hella didn't let it show.
Nishinoya let out a quiet moan of annoyance and let his head fall do his desk. This crush of his wasn't distracting him from a test, more like it was distracting him from his class in general. Why was English mandatory to learn, anyway? Sure, it was a skill he'd like to have, but he really wasn't motivated to train himself to speak it. Besides, the language was complicated anyway, with so many words and so many different meanings of those words and...
Romance languages. English was mainly based of Germanic, Latin, and Romance Languages.
Maybe if he said 'I love you' to Asahi in English... No, that would be stupid and mushy and he probably wouldn't get it.
God, stupid Nishinoya for thinking that, stupid stupid--
"Yuu!" One of his classmates hissed.
"Huh? What?" Intelligent.
"You're answering!" The girl whispered, smiling sympathetically.
"Eh? Oh! Uh..." Nishinoya looked down at his notes, flipped a page, then up at the teacher. "Which question?"
"Read the sentence on the board and translate it into English, then tell me where to put the comma, please." His teacher instructed. She pushed her glasses up, ha is she Tsukishima's mom? They both even have blonde hair, and stared down her nose at him. "Unless you're not sure, you can always ask miss Ōyama next to you."
Nishinoya glanced at the girl who whispered to him, and she shook her head nope. He sighed, glancing up at the board.
As for me, my... Reason? For going to the mall is to... Um... Something there, and the... Crap, taxi, I think, is the easiest to take.
"My reason for going to the mall is to travel, I think? And the taxi is the most, uh, vegetable to take there." Nishinoya answered, skimming his notes again. The teacher opened her mouth, then closed it, and the class suddenly burst out in laughter. "Wh-what?!"
"The most vegetable!" Ōyama laughed, nearly in tears. "That's 'easiest' not 'vegetable!'"
Nishinoya flushed bright red, covering his face with his hands. Even the teacher was giggling at him. "I'm afraid that's wrong, would you like to try again?"
"My reason for going to the mall is to shop, and the taxi is the easiest to take there." He answered correctly, face still burning . "The comma is between 'shop' and 'and.'"
"Very good. Now, you can also separate this into two sentences..." The teacher continued. The class' giggles hadn't died down, and Nishinoya buried his still-red face into his arms. See, crushes that distract you from class are the worst. At least there was practice after school, which could be counted as a small blessing or a small curse; for one, he'd be stuck seeing Asahi, but he'd also be able to see Asahi. Like hell yeah but also hell no. At least the game would provide a small distraction. Ōyama rested a hand on his shoulder and gave a small chuckle, her fingers lingering longer than he thought they should have. She pulled away and returned to taking notes, smiling to herself. Butterflies rose in her gut- ah, I got to pat his shoulder!- and she blushed lightly. Maybe it was the day to confess.
The rest of the day went by quickly, and before Nishinoya knew it, school was over. Class was dismissed and Nishinoya gathered his stuff to leave. Ōyama was on cleaning duty, and watched him from across the classroom as he slipped on his jacket. He pulled his bag on over his head, and she knew it was now or never. "Yuu!"
Ōyama jogged over to him. There were only four people in the classroom, including them, but she talked in a hushed voice anyway. "I, um, have something to tell you."
"Oh? I'm sorry to rush you, but I do have volleyball club after school today." Nishinoya smiled apologetically rubbing the back of his head. Ōyama smiled sheepishly. "Um.. For a while now, I've... Well, I..." She paused, took a breath, and covered her reddening face with her hands. "I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing. I've liked you for a while now, and um... I just like you a lot. Yeah. I like you, Yuu."
Nishinoya blinked a few times, watching her crack her fingers to peer at him. When he stayed silent, she put her hands up in surrender. "I-I mean-!! It's alright if you say no, I just-! I wanted to tell you that! That's all! Sorry!"
Nishinoya couldn't help but laugh at her. She gave him a confused giggle herself. "What?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm going through something similar myself. I can't return your feelings, Ōyama, but you've given me a bit of courage. Thanks." He told her. She have him another laugh and scratched her cheek. "Ah, I'm a little dejected that I'm not your type... But I guess if I can help Yuu out in any way I'm happy..."
"There are a lot of other cute guys in this school, and in college too." Nishinoya puffed out his chest. "Obviously not as cute as me! But still cute."
Ōyama slapped his arm. "They'll be cuter!"
"How can you say that, I'm hurt!" Nishinoya exclaimed. They shared another laugh. "But seriously, thank you for that. You're a great person, Ōyama, and I admire your bravery."
"Etsuko."
"Etsuko?"
"Yeah. Just call me Etsuko, since I call you Yuu all the time." Ōyama replied. Nishinoya mulled it over, then grinned. "Alright, Etsuko! Thank you for the help, I'll see you tomorrow!"
He rushed out of the room, leaving her to finish up cleaning the class with the other two students (they seemed to simply ignore them, thank goodness). She brushed her brown hair behind her ear and smiled to herself, a little but sadly. He has somebody else already... But you helped him in the end, right? So why do you still feel a little jealous? Ah. I'll get over it someday.
Nishinoya ran to the club room, a new spring in his step. Ōya-- Etsuko had really given him new confidence. He felt bad about turning her down, but he knew he couldn't accept her feelings until he got over Asahi... If he ever would. Probably not. They'd almost kissed, for crying out loud! And he'd replayed that scene in his head hundreds of times.
Asahi had tripped while trying to receive one of Hinata's hits, like the big clutz he was, and fallen over Nishinoya who had been trying to cover for him, just in case. The only thing he wasn't sure about was how Asahi had ended up on top of him, but the light brush of his lips against his cheek played vividly enough in his mind. Those smooth lips of Asahi's had run from the side of Nishnoya's own to the hollow of his cheek, leaving a light trail of Chapstick. The warmth of his body crushing him into the court still warmed his gut, and the one hand holding his...
Nishinoya slowed to a halt, pressing his hand to the side of his face where Asahi had almost kissed him, trying to will his blush away. Visually he didn't remember much, because he'd had his eyes closed. But all the touch and scent and feelings he remembered still made him a little crazy at times. It was because of that almost-kiss that he knew he liked Asahi. Before he knew, but suddenly BAM, he knew.
He shook his head and slapped his own cheek lightly, then continued running. Etsuko's little bout of bravery gave him courage. Today was the day.
Or maybe not, god damn it. First he'd try to talk to Asahi in the club room, but the guy had shown up thirty minutes late for club due to tutoring in math. Next Nishinoya tried to catch him after warm ups, but Hinata had come over and started pestering Nishinoya on tips for Rolling Tunder. Being the good upperclassman he was, he couldn't turn down Hinata, and promised Asahi they'd talk later. On his walk away, he'd realized it was him who had tried to talk in the first place, and thought, it should have been the other way around-!!
Eventually they'd moved on to a receiving drill and Nishinoya was standing in line behind Asahi. They were almost at the end, with Sugawara and Ennoshita standing behind them. The line was moving quickly, but he'd have to take a chance!
"Hey, Asahi?"
"Hm?" The taller teen asked, turning slightly to look down at his friend. "Hey Noya. What's up?"
Stop smiling cutely, you're distracting me.
Nishinoya gulped quietly. "I want to talk to you later, or maybe after club. Is that alright?"
"Oh? Yeah, that's fine. About what, if I may ask?" Asahi questioned, leaning down slightly. Nishinoya flushed a light pink and tried to start, "Well..."
Coach Ukai yelled something, and suddenly the ball he'd hit slammed into the back of Asahi's head, crushing his forehead into Nishinoya's nose. The both of them yelped, breaking up the line and causing most of the team to either step back, or circle them.
"Nishinoya! Asahi! Are you alright?" Ennoshita called. He and Sugawara were both on the scene first, followed by Daichi and then Yamaguchi with a first-aid kit. Nishinoya cupped his nose, gritting out, "I'm alright!"
Ennoshita took the first aid kit from Yamaguchi, and the dark-haired boy ran back to stand by Tsukishima. He looked back to Nishinoya, examining his nose and lip. "Can you move your hand?"
"Sure." Nishinoya sniffled, smelled blood, then moved his hand away. Sugawara gasped quietly, nodding at Ennoshita. "You're bleeding."
"I am? It's not that bad, right?" Nishinoya said, playing it cool. Nah way, it wasn't cool if he could smell the blood AND taste it while he talked. Ew.
Daichi sighed heavily as Ukai came over, and said to Nishinoya, "You need to pay more attention. Both of you." He sent a pointed look to Asahi, who jumped, his face paling. Ukai shook his head. "Why don't the rest of you grab partners and start peppering with each other? Make groups of three if there's an uneven number. Daichi, go lead them."
"Yes sir. Ennoshita, you too." Daichi instructed, nodding to Sugawara before running off. Ennoshita also nodded at Sugawara and ruffled Nishinoya's hair, earning an indignant huff. The two boys ran to the other side of the net and started passing, setting, and spiking at each other with the rest of the team.
"Alright, Nishinoya, tilt your head back and pinch the bridge of your nose. That will help. Sugawara, go get miss Shimizu and tell her to get an ice pack for both of these clowns." Ukai instructed. Sugawara nodded and rushed to the other side of the gym, quickly explaining the situation to Kiyoko and eventually running out of the gym with her. Ukai turned his attention to Asahi, and tapped the boy's shoulder. "Hey." He held up four fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Four?" Asahi asked. Nishinoya snorted, his tone was so cute. "S-sorry, Noya..."
"It's fine. It'll probably just bruise or something. Is Suga back yet?"
"Not yet. Asahi, look at me for a second?" Ukai asked. Asahi did as he was told. "No dilating of the eyes... Alright, stand up."
The two stood. "Walk along this line, to me." Once again, Asahi did what was asked, walking along the line perfectly.
"He doesn't have a concussion." Nishinoya said. Ukai frowned. "We have to be sure. You're doing this after he does. Alright, put your hand straight out, then touch your nose five times, like so." Ukai demonstrated the motion twice. Asahi did it perfectly.
"You won't make Nishinoya do that, will you?"
"Of course not, his nose is bleeding." Ukai said. "You're fine, big guy. Go join a group until we're done." Asahi nodded, and glanced down at Nishinoya. Their eyes met briefly, and he quickly looked away, nodding almost too energetically. "Y-yessir!"
Wazzat about, huh 'Sahi? Were you blushin'?
"Alright Nishinoya, we'll do a walking test later, yeah? How many fingers am I holding up?" Ukai asked, holding up two. Nishinoya grinned. "I'm fine too, you know."
"How many?"
"One and your thumb."
"Yeah, you're still snarky as ever, you're fine. Follow my fingers." Ukai put his index fingers together and started drawing random shapes. Nishinoya easily followed, until the coach split his fingers apart. The libero blinked rapidly, scowling. "I don't think I can do that."
Ukai laughed. Sugawara returned with the ice pack and the coach waved him off to partner with Asahi. He pulled Nishinoya's fingers away, wiping the now-dried blood from his face, and replaced the digits with ice. "Ow-ow-ow-!! That's cold!"
"You're such a baby." Ukai smiled. Now, I want you to walk over to the bench and sit with Kiyoko until she tells you to play again. You're our libero so we need you in tip-top shape, understood?"
"Yessir!" Nishinoya agreed, grinning. He stood carefully, walking over to the bench and plopping down next to Kiyoko. He would have bowed, but nose. Ow. Head rush.
He spent the rest of practice on the bench, only being joined by Narita after he twisted an ankle. "Today is the day of injuries..." Takeda joked while wrapping Narita's leg. They used Nishinoya's ice to soothe the swelling. Today was indeed an injury kind of day.
Practice finally ended, and Nishinoya helped clean up. He wasted some time bumping to himself, until Daichi scolded him for goofing off. Tanaka laughed at him for the bandaid across his nose, "What will that even do, except make you look like more of a delinquent?" to which Hinata jumped to his defense with, "Well at least he has hair, even if it's dyed!" That sent a chorus of ooooh around the room.
Nishinoya spied Asahi gathering his things, and excused himself, waltzing over to his friend. "Asa~hi~!"
"Oh! Nishinoya!" The taller teen jumped slightly. "H-how's your nose?"
"I'm fine, don't worry. Can I still speak with you?" Nishinoya asked. He felt some confidence drain at the hand Asahi put on his own neck. "I don't know... Are you sure you're okay? Wouldn't it be better to go home and tell me tomorrow?"
"Just because of a little bonk on the nose?" Nishinoya asked. He then laughed, startling Asahi. "I said I was fine! Hey, let's go to your place, yeah? I could use a little help with my history homework."
"Of course..." Asahi mumbled, smiling fondly.
"Wow that's a cute smile."
"What?"
"What? Nothing!" Nishinoya laughed nervously. "I just thought of something I saw online last night, that's all! Come on, let's get out of here!"
Asahi gave him a mildly confused expression, but agreed and packed their bags anyway. They threw on their pants, scarves, and jackets, then bid the club farewell for the night. The two left the gym, Nishinoya in the lead, and they exited the school premise to start the short walk to Asahi's house.
Nishinoya snuggled into his scarf, shoving his hands into his pockets. He liked spending time with Asahi, even in the relative silence they were in. Usually they'd be talking, but for some reason, it didn't feel like there was much to say. Asahi had both hands by his sides, clenched lightly to keep warm, since his jacket had no pockets. Nishinoya looked at his reddening hand, then slipped his hand out of his pocket and into Asahi's.
There wasn't a moment's hesitance until Asahi realized what was going on, and he squeezed Nishinoya's hand suddenly. The libero looked up at the ace, as if asking, "is this alright?" to which he earned a small nod. Nishinoya slid Asahi's hand into his own pocket, cramming both their hands together in the front of his jacket. "Nishinoya..."
"You're cold, right? You should have brought gloves." He scolded jokingly. Asahi nodded, face flushed. "N-next time."
"So what's for dinner?"
"I think my mom's going to make beefsteak? I forgot what she said this morning." The conversation lapsed back into normal, allowing Nishinoya a moment to think. Where was Etsuko's courage when he needed it-!!
They sprinted the last block to Asahi's house, since Nishinoya's nose started bleeding again due to the sheer cold. They barely could greet Asahi's parents as they rushed up to the bathroom, freezing clothes and all. Asahi practically fell over Nishinoya while sitting him down on the toilet and trying to get him tissues, making Nishinoya flush at the close proximity and another almost-kiss. There was no way he could go two for two, he had to get a real kiss in their somewhere.
His nose finally stopped bleeding, and eventually they retired back to Asahi's room, Nishinoya flopping face-first onto the bed. He flipped over quickly, making sure there was no blood on the pillows first. Asahi fell into his chair, turning to face his guest. "What's up?"
"Asahi, have you ever had a crush?" Well that escalated quickly.
Asahi flushed brightly and looked away, the chair jerking with his movement. "Why do you ask? That's so sudden..."
"Well..." Moment of truth, Nishinoya. Go for it. "There's this person I kind of like..." Or do that.
Asahi gulped, eyes widening. "Yeah? Is it Kiyoko?"
"No. Kiyoko is too amazing for the likes of me, to like her is to ascend to another plane of existence." Nishinoya said. "It's not her. No, they're tall, and look kind of wild, but they're actually a pretty sweet person. I've known them for a bit, and I really like him."
"Him?"
"D-did I say him?" Nishinoya sat up, looking over at Asahi. The libero laughed and collapsed back down onto the bed. "Well, I guess him, yeah. Is that strange? That I like a guy. He's really strong, but also really gentle, and he has a nice face and nice lips and--"
"Have you kissed them?" Asahi asked. He seemed to be getting a little crestfallen now, but his voice wasn't betraying his curiosity. Nishinoya closed his eyes and nodded. "Once or twice. Well, almost really. He fell on me while we were practicing volleyball and kissed my cheek."
He opened his eyes, yelping when Asahi was suddenly leaning over him, one hand next to his head and the rest of his body hanging off the side of the bed. He was blocking out the overhead light in the room, giving his face a small silhouette. He had this strange expression on his face, somewhat dejected, but also curious and a little confident.
"Is he about to kiss you now?"
"Wait, what-" and suddenly Asahi was actually kissing him, pressing his lips softly to Nishinoya's.
They stayed like that for a while, until Asahi adjusted himself slightly, allowing Nishinoya to wrap his hands around his neck. A small noise came from the libero's throat, making Asahi pull back. Nishinoya's hands gripped his hair and pulled him back down for another kiss, earning an "hmmph!' of surprise. He was finally allowed to pull back.
"Did he kiss you, just now?"
"Yes." Nishinoya admitted. "He did. And it was great. Do it again."
Asahi smiled. "I like you too, you know."
"I couldn't tell." Nishinoya rolled his eyes. He earned a flustered, "Nishinoya-!" and Asahi buried his face into the smaller teen's chest.
The libero pulled Asahi's face back to his and pecked his lips, smiling sweetly. "I'm kidding. Yeah, I know."
A fond smile was given, and they kissed one last time. So yeah it was a day of injuries, but it was also a great day for courage.
It was the beginning of their lunch the next day when Ōyama found out. The door flew open and Asahi ran into the room, yelling, "Noya-!!"
He picked the much smaller boy up from his chair, gripping his shoulders tightly. "Who else did you tell?! Why do Sugawara and Daichi know too?!"
"Huh? They know? I didn't tell anybody. Well, I texted Tanaka but that was it." Nishinoya defended.
Asahi gave him a small shake. "Why would you tell Tanaka of all people-! Nishinoya!!"
The libero leaned forward and pecked Asahi's lips lightly. "Don't worry about it. Suga and Sawamura won't say anything. It's fine."
Asahi flushed crimson, covered his face, then quickly ran out of the room, leaving Nishinoya to laugh.
Ōyama looked between the door and her friend. "He was the one? No wonder you turned me down, I'm seriously not your type."
Nishinoya laughed. "Sorry E-tsu-ko~ He's the one for me~"
"He is cute, I must say." She agreed, picking up one of her rabbit apples and popping it into her mouth. "I'm curious, Was that your first kiss?"
Nishinoya put a finger over his lips, a devious smile gracing them. "That is a secret."