Chapter 4: Avoidance

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Hinata was in Atsumu's dorm room while Atsumu was taking a shower. He had just gotten a text from Kageyama. Hinata stared for a few minutes at the message.

Kags: "Hey, want to hang out this weekend? We could get meat buns and play that new game you were talking about."

He was debating what to say. He really was not ready to face Kags yet. Hinata knew he would have to talk to him eventually and that they would go back to being friends at some point -- they had to. They would. But he just wasn't ready yet. He needed more time to distance himself, to push down those feelings and hide them away. To lock them where they didn't seep out and torture him every time he saw Kageyama. It was harder than he thought it would be, which is why he'd been avoiding his friend. He knew it wasn't fair to Kags, knew he was kind of being a dick, but he just didn't think he could face him yet and talk about it. After a couple of minutes, he made his decision:

Hinata: "I'm sort of busy this weekend with Atsumu."

Again, Hinata felt the sting of knowing he was being an asshole, but those thoughts were interrupted as Atsumu came out of the bathroom toweling his hair and wearing a pair of jeans slung low on his hips, and nothing else.

This sight was not lost on Hinata. Hinata had sensed that Atsumu had been flirting with him, trying to figure out if Hinata was interested in him. It was pretty obvious to Hinata, but he didn't actually encourage it. Or discourage it, to be honest.

Right now, it just felt good to have someone want to spend time with him, who he enjoyed being around, who was funny and fun to be with. And best of all, someone who didn't bottle up all his feelings and thoughts. It was a great relief to spend time with Atsumu because he was straightforward. Hinata didn't have to study his voice inflection or body language looking for hidden meanings. Atsumu was ... easy. And you know, not bad to look at, especially without a shirt. He was nicely toned, with a visible six-pack and a prominent v.

Hinata took all of that in before looking away and back to his phone. He wondered if he found it attractive, and guess he did, in a theoretical sort of way. But he didn't feel any butterflies in his stomach or heat in his, well, you know. So, maybe he wasn't attracted to Atsumu that way?

Atsumu came to stand in front of Hinata, still half dressed. This was probably another test, Hinata figured.

Atsumu: "Who are you texting?"

"No one." mumbled Hinata and he locked his phone and went to stand up. That was maybe not a great idea. Atsumu was close, less than a meter away, and looking at him without speaking. Hinata got a weird and uncomfortable feeling and realized he was afraid that Atsumu might try to kiss him. So he turned away and started towards the chair where he had his hoodie and said "Almost time to go."

Miya looked at Hinata's back, disappointed, but not fully discouraged. He replied:

"Yeah. Just let me throw on a shirt and I'll be ready to go."

They were planning to hang out with some friends Atsumu made in one of his classes. Hinata guessed that Atsumu made friends really easily, seeing as how he seemed to have as many friends as Hinata and he had only been at the school a week. They were going to hang out, watch movies, play video games, and drink. Just another Saturday night for a college student. But Hinata thought to himself as they left the dorm room that he wasn't going to drink too much. He needed to feel in control, which is something he had been struggling with lately. And also, he was afraid of those feelings that might bubble to the surface if he let his guard down again.

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