Saving Shoyo ✔︎

15//Loved//

Ushijima POV

The feeling of Hinata-- Shōyo's hand in mine didn't quite register as we walked back to the gym. His hand was so tiny, just like the rest of him. It made me angry, to think of someone taking advantage of that, to think that his vulnerability had been exploited.

I flexed my palm against Shōyo's smaller one, gently opening my hand, only to slide my fingers in between his. I hear the huff of his breath hitch, and there's a returning squeeze.

I can't believe he thinks of me this way.

It still didn't feel real, didn't feel like I deserved to think of him that way. I still couldn't say why he'd poured his trust, and hurt, and pain into me. Shōyo had opened up to me and I...

What had I given him?

"Stop that." I turn to the spiker as he halts, our hands tugging up between us in the space of the steps I had taken.

"Stop what?" Did I do something?

"You're over thinking. Trust me, I can tell," a wry smile forms on his lips, and I return it, relieved.

I walk the distance back to Shōyo, our hands falling slack as I tower above him. "And why, exactly, shouldn't I be over thinking? I just confessed for god's sake."

"Still don't know why you did that. . .," I catch the end of Hinata's muttering and frown.

"You don't know why I like you?" I guess I never really said, did I...?

Shōyo fidgets, turning his head in an attempt to conceal a blush, barely visible in the evening light. "Well....gah! It's not like I want a sonnet from you, gosh."

"Don't encourage me, I'll do it."

Hinata stares for a moment then giggles slightly, swinging our joined hands between us. "Don't you dare."

For a moment I consider telling him that I haven't the slightest clue why he likes me, but I decide against it. Maybe he'll tell me if I tell him...

"I like you because you're strong," my voice is softer than before, but it seems to echo through the dim clearing. Hinata cuts me off as I try to continue, looking down with a scoff.

"The hell about me is strong, I couldn't even--," He doesn't finish his sentence, and I don't need him to.

I school any compassion from my face. It's not what he needs right now. "I like that you are strong, even when people try to take your strength from you, and that even when it feels like they've won, you keep your head up to let everyone know you're ok, when you're not."

His eyes find mine. I continue. "I love it when you smile, and I love that I'm the one who gets to see it," I almost cough at how ridiculous I sound but...I'm not lying. "And I want you to keep smiling, so just know that I-,"

" -like you, Wakatoshi-kun."

I don't reply, don't get a chance, before Shōyo tugs me downward and muffles my words with his lips.

His lips.

I lean into the kiss, only returning what he was willing to give. Never taking.

Not from Shōyo.

The kiss only lasted a few moments, but I savored it, the feeling of his hot, delicate mouth demanding my touch. It was sensational, and conveyed his feelings wordlessly.

My anxiety from earlier melted as Hinata pulled back, his dark, amber eyes gazing up at me. Up, as though I were the pillar tying him to this world. Without a word, I pulled the little crow into a hug, his tousled, orange curls tickling my collar bone as he wrapped his thin arms around my waist.