Haikyuu!! x Reader

Gaze {Hinata Shouyou} (Request)

You're the apple of this little orange's eye ;)

Requested by Vivzielock_studios

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A pair of brown eyes watched you in the most subtle manner they could as you jotted down formulas your science teacher was scrawling on the whiteboard. After a few moments, they moved back to their owner's journal to look over the very few notes he'd written himself. He couldn't help it; having you as his lab partner was too distracting. How could he resist the urge to gaze at you when you had such beautiful features? He loved the way your (h/c) strands of hair framed your face and spilled over your headband, much to your annoyance. The way your eyebrows knit together in confusion every now and then made him resist the urge to smile, and watching you tap your pencil against your glossy lips sent his heart racing.

To his dissatisfaction, he usually wasn't able to look at you longer than a moment at a time, since you always seemed to notice when his eyes strayed from his notebook or the front of the classroom. When you did catch him staring, you were quick to scold him with a quiet hiss under your breath. "Shouyou! Pay attention or else we're not going to be able to do the lab!"

With a sheepish smile, he'd apologize quickly and duck his head when he'd turned back to his work in a futile attempt to hide his profuse blushing. "Sorry, (f/n)-chan!"

But he never learned. Here he was again, drinking in as much of your beauty as he could before you noticed. He wished your (e/c) eyes would focus on his as intently as they were focused on the board. He wished you could listen to his thoughts instead of the boring lecture from your teacher. But, most of all, he wished he was brave enough to tell you how he truly felt about you. However, he remained silent, keeping his sentiments to himself out of fear of ruining the strong friendship you shared.

When his gaze drifted to you once again, you were quicker than usual to notice, much to his dismay. Your lips turned downward in annoyance as you warned, "Shouyou, focus."

"Ahhh, but I don't want to, (f/n). I'm so bored," he complained with a pout and slumped onto the desk rather dramatically.

As much as you wanted to argue with him further, a glance at the unsatisfied expression on your teacher's face made you stop in your tracks. You shot her an apologetic smile and quickly returned to your previous note taking to appease her. Not even ten minutes after you'd reprimanded your friend for being distracted, you found his eyes on you again.

"What is your deal?" you grunted. Despite the fact that you were fuming over his lack of cooperation, he was happy to have your attention on him. When he didn't give a response because he was too caught up in admiring your features, you whined, "I don't want to flunk this class, and since we have to do everything together, I really need you to pay attention!"

"I'm trying! It's not my fault Mrs. Suzuki is so dull."

"Hinata! (L/n)!" your teacher barked from the front of the classroom, immediately drawing your wide eyes to her, "You may continue your conversation during your time after class, which you will spend cleaning up the lab!"

"M-Mrs. Su-"

"Enough! Now, as I was saying."

The icy look you sent Hinata's way in response to being issued a punishment as a result of his inability to focus was enough to make him shrink away from you and glue his eyes to his papers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hope you're happy with yourself, since, for some weird reason, this seems to be worth not paying attention in class for like five minutes to you," you growled as you swept a broom across the dusty floor of the lab.

"I told you, (f/n), I can't help myself," his weak defense echoed from across the classroom where he was washing out beakers in the sink. Sure, he felt terrible for getting you both in trouble, but he couldn't hide his gratitude at knowing he didn't have to endure his punishment alone.

"I don't get it," you sighed, plopping down into one of the seats for a moment to regain your strength. You had already been exhausted from a long school day and the last thing you wanted to do at the moment was waste any precious energy you had on sweeping. Especially when you knew the floor was just going to get dirty all over again after tomorrow's classes.

Hinata paused in his rinsing duties when he noticed you'd sat down. "What do you mean?" he asked, feelings his cheeks burn with the emotions he felt towards you.

You looked over at your longtime friend and the blaze of orange hair atop his head. "Why are you always looking at me?"

"B-Because...!" he puffed out his cheeks and wiped his hands dry with a paper towel as he tried to articulate his thoughts. "I... I just get so distracted sometimes!"

You scoffed, "By me doing my work?"

A growl of frustration escaped his mouth, making you jump. While this was normal for you to hear during practice or a match, it was completely unexpected at this moment, which is why it took you by surprise. At first, you thought the anger he felt was directed towards you, but you realized his irritation was with himself when he cried, "You're so beautiful, (f/n), and you don't even realize it!"

"Shouyou..." you uttered softly, taken aback by his outburst.

"And I've been wanting to tell you what I think of you for so long, but I've been too scared of ruining our friendship to do it!" he continued. He balled his hands up into fists. "But that's why I'm always looking at you." The silence that ensued following his confession as you tried to comprehend everything was too much for him to bear, and he turned away from you with his head hung in shame. "I just really like you, (f/n), and I hope you can forgive me."

Your gaze remained on him for a few moments before you rose from your seat to approach him. When you were right behind him, you wrapped your arms around him, pressing the side of your face into the back of his shoulder. "I like you too, Shouyou." Your gentle voice admitting that you returned his feelings was music to his ears, and he whirled around so he could pull you into a tight hug. Your giggles echoed across the classroom as he lifted you off the ground before putting you down so he could hold you closer.

"Does this mean I can look at you without you getting mad at me now?" he asked, his voice muffled by your shirt as he buried his face in your shoulder.

With a roll of the eyes, you said, "I still want you to pay attention during class," making him grumble with indignation. "But, you can look at me any other time." When you pulled away from him and realized he was staring at you unabashedly with a dopey look on his face, you chuckled and added, "Starting after we finish cleaning up the mess you got us into."