Chapter Text
“Hey, Kageyama?”
“What?”
The two third years were sitting on the floor of the gym, drinking from their bottles. Everyone else had gone home half an hour ago, but they were still going at it, trying to perfect their new attack. And Shouyo had decided it was a great moment to ask existential questions.
“What does kissing feel like?”
Tobio stared at his spiker like he was stupid, which was basically how he looked at him all the time.
“Why would I know? I’ve never kissed anyone, idiot.”
“I know that, dumbass.” It was surprising how after all these years Shouyo still looked at him offended when Tobio called him an idiot, even if it was for just a second.
“You should ask Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They kiss in front of us like all the time.”
Their beloved captain and not-so-beloved teammate had started dating, to no one’s surprise, during their second year of high school. What did surprise them was how little shame those two had when it came to PDA. Both Shouyo and Tobio had seen things they wished they could erase from their minds when they’d walked in on the lovebirds.
“I asked them yesterday.” Shouyo replied. “But I don't really understand their answers so I’m asking you now.”
“What did they tell you?” Tobio would never admit it, but he was curious about this.
“Well, Tsukishima didn’t reply and left. Yamaguchi said it was hard to explain but that for him it felt like he was flying.”
“Flying?” Tobio frowned, confused. “Why would kissing make anyone feel like flying?”
“No idea.” Shouyo replied with a shrug. “The only time I feel like I’m flying is when I spike.”
“That makes sense, because when you spike you jump and when you jump you’re flying for a second.”
Silence fell on the empty court, the two of them lost in thought. And then Shoyo’s face lit up like he’d just made a really good receive.
“What if kissing feels like spiking?” Shouyo suggested.
“So that's why everyone likes it so much.” Tobio replied, nodding like that made any sense.
None of them actually knew if it did or not, because they'd never kissed anyone.
“Come on, set for me a bit more before we go.” Shouyo changed the topic, getting up. Tobio didn’t hesitate to follow.
The two of them stood on the same side of the court, automatically doing the same exercise they’d been doing together for two years now. Tobio served, Shouyo received, Tobio set for Shouyo and he spiked. It was a simple machine, but perfectioned by the hours and hours of training together.
While his body moved almost on its own, Tobio was lost in thought. He’d never understood what was supposed to be appealing about kissing. For him it’d always looked gross, but he guessed he’d understand when he was older. He was turning eighteen soon and still didn’t know. So how long did he have to keep waiting until he understood?
But now that he thought of it, people only kissed those they loved. So maybe it was like visiting relatives for the holidays. Something that you did to show you loved the other person, not because you necessarily wanted to. That’d make some sense…
After half an hour more of practice, they finally decided to go home. They put everything in place and closed the gym before leaving. Long gone were the days when Daichi kicked them out at normal hours, Tadashi had given up on trying to get them to go home early and had trusted them with a key to close when they left.
Neither of them said much as they walked towards the school gates, both of them lost in thought. Shouyo yelled goodbye as he got on his bike. Tobio mumbled a reply before he disappeared speeding down the hill, headed home.
As he pedaled through the mountains, Shouyo’s mind started wandering like usual. Today, what stuck in his mind was the same question that had been stuck in there for the last couple days. What did kissing felt like? And the newest addition to his questioning was his conversation with Tobio.
Did kissing really feel like spiking? It didn’t make much sense, because those two things had nothing to do with each other. But it’d explain why people kissed. I mean, what other reason could it be for people to willingly mix their saliva like that and have their tongues touch? For a thrill like the one he experienced when spiking, Shouyo could understand it.
He had never thought much about kissing, always more focused on volleyball. But lately, it’d been in his mind a lot. He blamed it on hormones, but that didn’t kill the curiosity. He wanted to know how it felt, to understand what others found so appealing in kissing.
He finally got home and left the bike at the entrance. When he walked inside he was met by the smell of dinner, his stomach rumbling as he made his way into the kitchen. His mother heard him before she saw him, and smiled.
“Come on, Shouyo. Go shower and then we’ll have dinner.” She told him.
“You stink.” Natsu added with a smirk. Shouyo ruffled her hair, making her squeak.
He obeyed his mother and went to have a shower. While the water ran down his body, he found himself lost in thought again.
In the last few days, he’d been trying his best to imagine how kissing would feel like. He wasn’t doing very great at it, he just couldn’t imagine how it’d feel. But maybe, maybe he didn’t have to imagine just the kiss. Maybe it’d be easier if he imagined a person first.
‘Okay, Shouyo.’ He thought to himself, closing his eyes. ‘Think of someone you want to kiss.’
Some part of his brain suggested imagining a girl, but his imagination quickly provided him with an image of a random faceless guy. ‘I can live with that’ he decided, not too surprised by his subconscious mind’s choice. He focused, trying to make out more details of the guy.
The faceless boy started shifting. He was taller than Shouyo, and wearing a Karasuno uniform. His hair was short and dark. He pushed his mind to try and imagine a face. Familiar sharp eyes and a creepy, forced grin appeared on the boy’s face. Shouyo’s eyes snapped open as his breath hitched.
Did he just imagine Tobio?
No, that couldn’t be right. Why would Tobio be his brain’s first choice when thinking of someone to kiss? Well… Tobio was kind of good looking, even if he was always yelling at Shouyo. And they spent like all of their time together.
If he could have seen himself right then, Shouyo would have been able to notice the furious red tinting his cheeks. Instead, feeling like he was doing something forbidden, he closed his eyes and let the image of Tobio form in his mind again.
He imagined he’d stand on tiptoes to reach up. He imagined their faces would be so, so close. And then their lips would collide. Shouyo's chest would fill with that excitement he only got when he was spiking a ball.
He opened his eyes again, the image fading. The water was still running down from his head to his toes. His heart was beating fast, almost too fast. But Shouyo didn’t notice, too busy replaying every single conversation and moment he’d ever had with Tobio, every thought and feeling about him.
He had just realized he liked Tobio Kageyama. And now he wanted to kiss him.
On the other side of those same hills Shouyo crossed daily to get to school, Tobio sneezed. He stared at the homework he was supposed to be doing like it was its fault. He couldn’t focus. His mind kept circling back to his conversation with Shouyo and kept thinking about kisses and spikes and liking people. And he was just realizing, he had no idea what liking someone was supposed to look like.
Objectively, he knew it. When you like someone you care a lot about them and want to be around them all the time, that person is always on your mind and you feel butterflies in your stomach. And then if that person likes you back you kiss and everything is great. Just now, Tobio was realizing his way of seeing it was kind of childish.
To be honest, he’d never considered the possibility of liking someone himself. He had volleyball, he had Shouyo, why would he want to date someone else? He was happy as things were.
‘Wait, what?’ His train of thought suddenly stopped.
He had volleyball, he had Shouyo. That was what he’d thought right now. But, why? He knew the answer to that. Volleyball and Shouyo were the two things that made him happy. His brain had to stop again to point out that was probably not a very friendship-like thing to think.
Tobio let himself keep going down that line of thought. He wanted to find out where it’d take him.
If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t even want to imagine a life without Shouyo. He wanted the other boy by his side no matter what, making his days brighter just by being there like he had been doing since high school started. Making Tobio himself better because he was there. He wanted Shouyo to care just as much about him, to need him just as much. He wanted the world to know that Shouyo was his partner, his person. In the court, but also outside of it.
He wanted Shouyo Hinata to be his boyfriend.