slow burn tsukihina

chapter six

hinata spent all Saturday morning a bit anxious. he texted tsukishima about an hour ago and regretted texting so early. truth is, he texted tsukishima about three minutes after he woke up. he didn't want tsukki to know this, but he probably already did since hinata texted so early. 

hinata checked his phone for the fifteenth time since he went downstairs. 

"are you waiting for someone?" his mom asked, noticing his odd behavior. 

"uhh... yeah. i told you i have to spend time with tsukki every Saturday. so I'm just... waiting for him to text me," he said and smiled sheepishly. had he been obvious? 

his mother nodded in understanding and opened her mouth to say something. before she could do so, hinatas phone buzzed and he jumped a bit. immediately he picked it up and saw it was tsukkis text message. he smiled at his mom and told her it was him. 

meet me at the dragon cafe, close to the mountain. 

it was a simple message, but for some reason it made hinatas stomach twist and turn. 

alright. what time?

in 20 minutes. breakfast. 

alright see ya.

this made hinata feel a bit odd because he already had breakfast and brunch. he went to his room and changed his clothes to fit the occasion. he added a cute furry bucket hat that kenma gave him and smiled at himself in the mirror. he told his mom and sister where he was going and around what time he would be back. they all hugged and he was off. 

on his walk there, hinata thought about what they were going to do at the cafe. hinata had seen a bunch of cafe scenes in the love dramas he would watch with his mom and natsu. one of them would have some food smudged on their lips and the other would wipe it off and they'd share a moment. hinata put himself and tsukishima in the scene and immediately his face set fire. 

he shook his head and looked down. 

NO! that's weird...

hinata always knew he was gay, or at least had some attraction to guys, but that didnt stop society from hating on the idea. therefore, he stayed quiet and focused on other things. its not like he wanted or needed to date anyways. he's young, he has time. 

before he could keep thinking about it, he saw the cafe in the distance. it was a cute little shop. it had a huge window and you could see all the deserts inside. they had a lot of plant life hanging everywhere, and some comfy sofas and seats for people to sit and enjoy themselves. it was quiet and there were probably five customers at most. he walked into the place and a bell dinged. 

"ohayo!" 

"ohayo!" 

hinata took a seat on one of the sofas with a table in the middle, he guessed tsukki would sit across from him on the other sofa. he sat and looked around for a bit before he saw tsukki at the front door. hinata waved for him and tsukki came over, raising the volume on his headphones. 

"hi tsukki!" hinata said loudly as tsukki took his seat in front of hinata. tsukki gave a small sigh and paused his music. he took off his headphones and put them in his pockets. 

"hi shrimp." he greeted hinata, who grumbled a bit at the nickname. for a moment, it was silent. hinata felt the atmosphere get more awkward as neither of them knew what to say. he decided now would be a great time to get to know tsukki. maybe this could help with volleyball? hinata doubted it, but if he was forced to spend time with this guy, he needed to keep himself entertained. 

"so..." hinata started and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. 

"Let's order." tsukishima said and stood up from his spot on the sofa. hinata nodded and followed tsukki in line. he started thinking about what he was going to eat and what could fit in his budget. 

he decided he was get some miso soup and a water bottle. they both ordered and hinata took notice that tsukishima really really liked strawberry shortcakes. he giggled to himself silently about it and tsukki shot him a glare. 

he can read my mind!

they sat back down and waited for their food to come to them. 

i feel like i know nothing about tsukki, even though we've known each other for so long. i only know the bad and mean things about him. 

hinata decided now is the time to get to know the good things about tsukki. tsukki was an okay person. at least he wasn't a murderer or rapist. or was he? nah, hinata didnt think so. but maybe... NO!

"so... what do you do?" hinata asked, tilting his head. they were across from each other again and their feet were almost touching under the small table. 

"what do you mean idiot shrimp?" tsukishima said, shooting an annoyed look. hinata let a heavy breath escape his nose and he crossed his arms. tsukki took the time to look hinata up and down. he was cute in his little outfit. and the bucket hat was adorable, not that tsukki would ever admit it. something in tsukki felt like he had the outfit planned the day before. something about the thought was really cute to him.

"what do you do, rudeshima? like... outside of volleyball." his voice was softer on the last sentence, but that didn't stop tsukki from rolling his eyes at the nickname. 

"that's none of your business shrimp." for some reason, something in tsukki wanted to tell hinata. he wanted to tell him all about himself, even the boring parts, just for hinata to listen. he wanted to elongate the time they had together, but he didnt at the same time. tsukki felt lost and confused. this is exactly why he hated feelings. they were confusing, overwhelming, and just plain annoying. but, everything was annoying to tsukki. 

"how about i go first?" hinata suggested with a big smile. tsukki snickered and pushed up his glasses. "i don't care," he replied annoyedly. its true. he didn't care, but something inside him felt as though he wouldn't mind if hinata spoke to him about anything and everything. tsukki felt that maybe, just maybe, he would listen. 

"mean! well... outside of volleyball, i like to talk to my friends! like kenma! sometimes we play games together but i get mad because he always wins. but it's still fun. i also practice volleyball by myself!! i used to be bad at it, but I've gotten better. and a secret about me that no one knows is..." hinata stopped for a second and dramatically looked side to side. once he decided the coast was clear, he leaned towards tsukki with his hands around his mouth. 

tsukishima backed away for a second, before leaning in to listen to the secret. 

"i actually really really like to bake." hinata said softly and tsukishimas mood changed. he wasn't really expecting the shrimp to be into something so... cute. 

hinata leaned back onto his seat and smiled wide at tsukki. 

"that's..." tsukki didn't really know what to say. he decided against scolding the small boy, even though every cell in his body was telling him to do so. did they have to be so close for no reason?

"...cool." 

"yeah! maybe if you're lucky you'll get to taste my amazing baking skills!" hinata said and pointed to himself with his thumb. tsukishima let out a snick and pushed his glasses. 

"yeah, sure. whatever."