Calm My World [Kagehina]

Chapter 9: The First Move

The next day, the two met at the coffee shop again, presumably to work on their project. They discussed it a little, made a few notes, but went on to talk about other things. At this rate, they weren't going to finish in time, but neither seemed to care.

Kageyama was determined to look for signs that Hinata might possibly like him. So throughout their conversation, he was observing Hinata closely. This is what he observed. First of all, Hinata did stare at him a lot and then lick his lips. Three times to be precise. And he did seem to blush a lot when looking at Kageyama.

Kageyama was woefully inexperienced with dating, but was feeling more confident that there might be something going on between the two of them. His heart soared and he had to look away from the redhead once he came to that realization to avoid being embarrassed.

Unbeknownst to Kageyama, Hinata was doing some close observing of his own. Hinata realized that each time they met, Kageyama seemed to be less nervous around him. He was definitely getting more comfortable and Hinata found that he liked the comfortable Kageyama a lot. Hinata also realized that Kageyama could be intense. Sometimes he stared at Hinata with such ferocity that it took Hinata's breath away. When this happened, Hinata found himself blushing and turning away to avoid showing too much emotion on his face.

Both of their crushes were growing.

They parted ways, again having done not much of anything on the project, and agreed again to meet at the coffee shop the next day. They were almost, not quite, but almost beyond the pretense of the project as a reason to see each other.

They met again the next day, same time, same place. The baristas were getting to know their orders and they could be considered 'regulars'. They were dancing around each other, getting more comfortable, a little more flirty, but still neither made a move.

Kageyama excused himself to go to the restroom and came back a minute later to an unexpected sight. There was a tall blonde guy talking to Hinata, and not his tall blonde friend from class, either. Kageyama didn't know this person, and his hackles immediately went up, from caution and, okay, jealousy. He arrived back at the table just in time to hear:

"Leave me alone, Yuji. Just go away."

"Shoyo, come on, why can't we talk? I miss you."

Kageyama's blood began to boil. So this was Yuji. He came up behind the blonde, fighting the urge to smash his asshole face.

"Shoyo, what's going on?" Kageyama asks with way more calmness than he felt. He realized it was the first time he had ever used Hinata's given name, but he figured it was a good time to send a message to Yuji.

Yuji spun around and took in the sight of Kageyama, face scowling, eyes narrowed. Kageyama was a few inches taller and pretty muscular and Yuji was trying not to be intimidated, so he went on the offensive, as usual. He crossed his arms over his chest and said, "What do we have here? Is this your new boyfriend, Shoyo?"

Hinata opened his mouth to answer but Kageyama beat him to it. "No, I'm not his boyfriend. But if I was I'd treat him a hell of a lot better than you did. He asked you to leave, so leave. He doesn't have anything to say to you."

"Are you putting words in his mouth now?" Yuji dropped his hands to his side and clenched his fists, assuming an aggressive stance that was not lost on Kageyama, who stood up straighter to emphasize the few inches he had on the blonde. Before Kageyama could respond, Hinata said, "No, I'm saying this for myself. Go away. I have nothing to say to you." Hinata now sounded tired.

Yuji turned to Hinata and softened his expression to have the effect he wanted on his trusting ex-boyfriend. "Shoyo, I'm hurt. Can't we at least talk about what happened?"