𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

oliver tree

"Where'd you go?! About time—" Hinata's voice cut off when he looked up at the rival setter. For a horrifying moment his brain shut down and no functional thought ran through his head.

"Mr. Refreshing said you wanted me?" He flashed the same smile that made him nervous, excited, and annoyed all at the same time. 'In more ways than one'.

Shouyo cleared his throat, barely trusting himself to speak. "Y-yeah! Thanks for...for helping me Oikawa-Senpai!" The redhead flashed a nervous smile as he shuffled his feet on the old floors.

"What are you working on?" The upperclassman hummed while rolling the cart of red, black and white volleyballs closer to the net and ignoring the sweat on his hands.

"I just...a couple con-controled kills...?" the first year mumbled nervously. He could feel his ears heating up the more he talked. Suga sent this unnecessarily attractive man his way so he could shoot his shot; not manifest a relationship out of nothing! And with those thoughts, he ignored his anxiety and perked up as much as he could.

Oikawa got in his slight off-center position and slapped the ball. Hinata received it to the best of his ability and did the classic approach. Slower than usual, but by no means slow. Then he was flying.

Flying straight over the line, and almost into the net. In the end, he only managed to get some really good tips and three decent spikes.

If it wasn't for his temporary setter giving him a borderline belly dancing session, he probably wouldn't have gotten the three he made! "I'm free after dinner tomorrow too," Oikawa offered when they rested on a bench.

"Really! Could you help me out then too?"

"Of course! A king can't leave his subjects in the dark!" Hinata gave a bright smile while avoiding eye contact. "Speaking of the dark, let me walk you to your room?"

Hinata's eyes met a manicured hand that was leveled at his face. "What a gentleman," his left hand raised up to rest at his chest as his other hand took the brunet's. It was cold and that gave him some type of clarity as he squeezed.

"Your hands are still cold," the taller of the two hummed. They let go (very) hesitantly and grabbed their stuff.

"Who'd've thunk it?" the Karasuno decoy chuckled and leaned his head against the other's shoulder. They locked up the gym and walked to the dorms side by side.

***

"For some reason I just lost hope in literally everything," Nishinoya quipped as he rotated out of his position. He fiddled with his elbow pad as he focused on the game.

Ennoshita blinked and glanced over their libero. "Just...spontaneously or, like, you finally gave up?"

"A bit of both if I'm being honest," he hummed as the ref called the point for their opposing team.

Sugawara gave a soft snort. "Welcome to the club,"

"Thanks," he said numbly as he signaled for the sub.

After the match Nishinoya ended up taking a nap before lunch, and was spared from Hinata's sappy gazes. "Careful, you'll lose the two braincells you have trying to undress him like that,"

"Maybe I'll borrow yours after cutting your head off,"

"Dumbass, that's not how it works,"