Lovex2

Confession

After their confrontation, Izumi and Hinata's relationship went back to normal- mundane due to the distraught boy. The two ignored what happened that night and Izumi stopped groundlessly hugging him. Izumi remained lowkey and Hinata just went along with it. The school year passed and they started their third year with new first-year recruits.

Hinata met Kageyama at their athletic meet and they were rivals at first sight. His sweaty hands and beating heart, symptoms very similar to when he confronted Izumi, relapsed. The sight of Kageyama would make him all nervous and giddy, and Hinata would excuse it for being overly excited at having a rival.

They only met once, with Hinata losing to  Kageyama's team due to their opponent's better players and practice quality.

He realized he liked him later on into his third year. The implication was perfectly clear and the way Kageyama's scary face danced around in his mind proved him otherwise. Hinata has never been one to bear his own feelings. No matter how his father thought of him, his love life has been one affiliated with uncertainty and brusqueness- his sister called him out for that once, but Hinata never took it to heart- he just goes with the flow.

With Izumi, it was different. Friendship was more important to him than his feelings. To let these improper feelings hamper with his and Izumi's relationship was something he didn't dare to touch on. The red string hasn't appeared since Izumi, so Hinata allowed himself to confess to Kageyama. At least without the strings attached, Kageyama will give him an honest answer.

With Kageyama, a confession was the only good thing he could do for himself. With Kageyama, he didn't have to carry the burden of his public image and strain their friendship when they didn't have one, to begin with. It was similar to Murae, but this time, his crush didn't go to his school.

Kageyama was dumbly handsome, and Hinata would be repulsed by his own action if he still didn't have a sliver of hope in him that maybe, Kageyama would accept his affection. Hinata wanted to give himself one last chance, and if he gets rejected, then it'll be okay because he won't see Kageyama again. It'll hurt, but he won't have to dwell on it.

"Kageyama-" Hinata started nervously, looking at the little present he tied up and fretting that it was not enough to please the black-haired boy.

He traveled a long distance to see Kageyama by bike. It was hard to find his school, but he managed to by asking strangers along the way.

Hinata could see the impatience in his eyes so he brashly shoved the present in front of Kageyama. The black-haired boy looked at the gift stunned, but he still took it with uncertainty. 
"I have a crush on you." His voice started off strong, but the more he spoke, the weaker it got; it turned into a whisper by the time he finished. "I hope you can accept my feelings because I like you a lot."

His eyes wandered nervously but never once did he look at Kageyama. Hinata couldn't get his eyes to connect back to the other's narrow ones because he knew that if he did, he might throw up on him.

"It's okay if you don't like me back. You might find it disgusting, but just count the gift as a present from me instead of a confession. Like an early birthday gift."
"...."
He wavered but simply played with his fingers behind his back. Using what's left of his courage, Hinata limply raised his head to look at the boy, eyes getting hazy from upcoming tears. Kageyama just stood there as if deliberating with himself. His dark brows scrunched together and he bit his thin lips unconsciously. Turns out, kageyama's brain was just blanking. He wasn't thinking of anything.

Even though Kageyama hasn't said anything yet, Hinata still straightened his back and prepared for it.

"Sorry Hinata, I don't feel the same way. It's also a little weird for boys to date each other. So...please understand." It was the gentlest thing Kageyama has said to him ever since they met at the game. The awkward aggression in his rejection made it clear that it was his first time turning down a boy and his rival at that. Maybe it was because it was so tender and uncharacteristically like Kageyama that Hinata got a little discouraged. His face fell visibly and his sliver of hope also dropped into an abyss.

"Thank you for your time. I hope you like my gift then!" He gave Kageyama a grateful bow and a sunny smile, teeth and all, to tell him that he was okay with the rejection. He didn't want Kaegyama to return the gift he gave him because he would straight up start bawling his eyes out.

Kageyama sees the short boy turn away, and for some unknown reason, his heart becomes restless. He has the urge to grab the boy's wrist and turn him around to say something like, "please don't stop liking me" which was out of character even to him. He didn't understand what his conundrum was, and it wasn't like he reciprocated Hinata's feelings. This desire to keep him close surged out of nowhere; it rippled delicately in his heart, but with his mind still intact, the only thing running around up there was volleyball. He only care about volleyball, so when the weird tangerine he had met eight months ago- and he only met him once at the volleyball meet- confessed to him, it made sense why Kageyama would turn him down.

Although he has to admit, his mouth had done the talking before his brain could do the thinking. He would consider himself dumb in school, but to also be this slow in life too? He didn't even know what to tell himself.

He was also sure the distance between his and the boy's school was pretty far and seeing the bike in Hinata's hands, Kageyama could tell he peddled all the way here to confess to him. It made him happy and a smile almost made its way up Kageyama's normally moody face.

He stepped forward and reached out his hand as if to stop him, but the boy had already climbed on his bike. He wanted to yell for him to wait, but he couldn't get the word out of his mouth. He was too much of a tsundere to say such a thing. Therefore, he ended up keeping his mouth shut in case he makes an embarrassment out of himself.

"Have a good day Kageyama. Please don't let my confession bother you. I promise that it won't get in the way of our rivalry!" Kageyama blushes softly.

He had thought too much of it, the boy was fine even after he had turned him down. Kageyama didn't say it but he was a little upset; couldn't he, at the very least, be sad a little longer? It could've been just some kind of puppy love or admiration on Hinata's part, but it made his body itch and burn. Unlike his other confessions, this one made his heart beat in a frenzy. He also has this feeling of wanting to stuff him in his pocket to prevent others from looking at him; he didn't want anyone looking at Hinata.

But Kageyama realized that Hinata doesn't belong to him. He can't claim Hinata's body nor his heart after a rejection like that. He really didn't like the boy, but the way he behaves- wanting to grab hold of him and take him away- confuses even him. It was such a strange feeling that Kageyama had to forcefully pull at his hair to regain some of his senses. The tip of his ears burned bright red, but Hinata couldn't see it. He couldn't see the fire igniting deep in his eyes or the blush budding across his cheeks like peach blossom trees.

Kageyama closed his eyes and tried to tranquilize his trembling heart; his lashes quivering delicately to his own tremor. Opening them up again, he forcefully turned around and left. Someone was crazy enough to take a one hour trip to his school to confess to him. Was he that important to them?

"Idiot.." he groused with fondness hidden in it.

Now that Kageyama thought about it, for someone as slow as Hinata, he has a good sense of direction to have come to his school. He looked at the poorly wrapped gift and stuffed it in his jacket. Even though he has the habit of throwing the gifts given to him to the corner of his room, he unconsciously tightens his hold on box in his hand. He wanted to open this one, just for no reason.