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Walking home together had become their post-practice routine. They would leave practice after the rest of the team and without saying a word to the other, they would start walking towards their homes. Hinata lived further away than Kageyama and walking to his house was completely out of the way of his own, but he didn't mind. To Hinata, the time he spent walking home beside Kageyama was far too precious to care about the extra ten minutes he added on to his journey back home.
"Kageyama," Hinata spoke up, pushing his bicycle beside him. The raven haired boy let out a sort of grunt, which Hinata took as a 'yes?' and continued on, "Have you ever wondered what...kissing feels like?"
Kageyama choked on his own breath, his face flushing red, "W-what?"
"Kissing, ya know, the thing two people do when they like each other and touch their lips against each other's?" Hinata stared at Kageyama like he was stupid, which according to his test scores, he kind of was, but that wasn't really relevant. Kageyama was frozen in shock. Had Hinata just asked him if he wondered what kissing felt like? How weird was that?
"I know what it is, Dumbass. Why-why are you asking me if I've ever wondered what it felt like?" Kageyama recovered from the initial shock and began to walk again, his long legs carrying him quickly away from the short ginger. He was a few feet ahead of Hinata before the boy realized it and sped up, his bicycle wheels squeaking as he pushed it with him.
"Well, because you're a teenage boy? And you've obviously never kissed anyone." Hinata replied matter of factly, his brown eyes glinting in the streetlights. How could Hinata have known that? Kageyama thought to himself, panicking at the thought that he was very obvious about being the biggest virgin to all things dating-wise. Maybe his lack of experience was just transparent to everyone who had ever met him. It wouldn't be that difficult to get to the conclusion that he'd never gotten to that level of intimacy with another human being, considering how socially awkward and distant he was.
"What do you mean I've obviously never kissed anyone, dumbass? How would you know if I have or not?" Kageyama went straight into defensive mode, as any normal person would. He wasn't necessarily embarrassed that he'd never kissed anyone, but he wasn't proud of it, either.
"Well, you never hang out with girls and you're always practicing volleyball so I just assumed that you'd never...Yeah..." Hinata looked down at the ground, dejected. In the back of Hinata's mind, he wondered if he'd assumed correctly. What if he was wrong and Kageyama had kissed someone before? What if he just outed himself as having never kissed anyone before and then Kageyama made fun of him for that? Well, the setter wasn't really the type to care about that, but what if he told Tsukishima? Tsukishima would definitely torture Hinata if he had that information.
"Well, have you ever kissed anyone?" Kageyama turned the subject from himself to Hinata, trying to salvage what little pride he had. The shorter boy blushed and mumbled something under his breath that Kageyama couldn't hear. He moved closer to Hinata, the shorter boy's arm brushing up against his leg. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Psh, of course I have, idiot. I'd be a loser if I hadn't yet." Hinata stuttered and blushed over his own words, a tell-tale sign to anyone but Kageyama that he was lying. But Kageyama didn't seem to get the body language that Hinata used, too focused on his volleyball game and yelling at Hinata.
"Really? Are you saying I'm a loser for not kissing anyone?" Kageyama looked at Hinata with his usual pissed-off glare, but underneath he was wondering if this was true. Did everyone think that you had to kiss someone by your first year of high school to be truly cool? Had everyone else he knew kissed someone? Was he truly this far behind even the shrimp?
"Well, yeah. It's just how it is." Hinata shrugged, walking faster along the road to escape the glares Kageyama was directing at his back. He was so far ahead of Kageyama that the younger boy had to run to catch up with him.
"Wait up, you dumbass!" Kageyama sprinted up to Hinata, reaching his long arm out and grabbing the shorter boy's shoulder. Hinata was jerked back into Kageyama, who was glaring down at him once again. Hinata's brown eyes were wide open in surprise and a little bit of fear. Had he pissed Kageyama off? Were they going to fight again? He hated when they fought.
"U-um, Kageyama? What?" Hinata stared up into the dark blue eyes of his teammate, trying to decipher what emotions he was feeling. But Kageyama wasn't able to be read easily and Hinata's attempts to do so were all in vain. He would just have to wait for the other to just come out and directly say what was on his mind (which he hardly ever did).
"Who did you kiss?" Kageyama breathed out, the scowl on his face more prominent now, as he was closer to the other boy.
"Um, uh, I-I don't remember?" Hinata's lie was less than perfect and this time, Kageyama could tell.
"You. Don't. Remember." Kageyama's voice was rough and angered. Hinata's gaze shot down to the ground beneath them as he nodded. The apparent lack of caring made Kageyama more upset, as he sputtered out, "Oi! Dumbass, how can you not remember? Or have you never actually kissed anyone?"
"It was a bad kiss?" Hinata suggested, looking up at Kageyama with a sheepish grin. The setter stared back at him, utterly confused. How could one not remember even a bad kiss? Surely when he finally kissed someone, he would remember it, right?
"So, you don't remember bad kisses?" Kageyama tilted his head in contemplation for a moment as Hinata nodded. Then, after a few moments, he whispered an 'okay' before leaning down and pressing his lips to Hinata's. The kiss was short and awkward, as first kisses were, and Kageyama pulled away first. The raven-haired boy looked at Hinata for a moment before muttering something and running away.
Hinata stood there, in the middle of the street, his lips still tingling and his heart pounding in his chest. What the hell was that?
The two teammates didn't talk for a week after The Incident. But neither of them could get the other out of their mind. Everyday at practice, Hinata noticed more about Kageyama. The way he slightly smiled after tossing the ball perfectly to one of the spikers. The way he effortlessly tossed the ball, a concentrated look on his face. The way his lips moved when he called out to his teammates. The way those lips had felt on his own, even in those few moments they had touched.
And Kageyama was the same. He'd noticed the way Hinata's eyes would light up every time he spiked the ball. The way Hinata would fly through his words whenever he was excited, sometimes even jumbling them together to form gibberish. The way Hinata would jump around outside before the gym was opened for morning practice. The way the sweat glistened just above his lips, the same ones that had been on his only days prior.
"Oi, Kageyama, Hinata, you two are cleaning up!" Tanaka called from the door of the gym as he, Daichi, and Suga were leaving. Before either of the two first years could protest to being alone together, the three of them left.
Hinata looked to Kageyama, who was staring down at the ground. Without a word, both of them started to pick up. Hinata picked up all the loose balls while Kageyama swept the floor. Each was in their own world, trying to avoid the other, when Hinata decided he'd had enough. He didn't like not talking to his best friend, his partner. It was hell.
Hinata burst out, "I remember." Kageyama jumped, turning around quickly to face him. Before Kageyama could ask exactly what he meant, Hinata kept on, "I remember the kiss. It was my first. I-I lied and you kissed me and then I avoided you, cause ya know, I thought you just did it out of anger or something and I don't really know what I'm saying because maybe you don't remember what happened and this all sounds really stupid and yeah, I just, I don't want to ignore you, anymore? And I don't want you to ignore me anymore."
Kageyama set the broom down, walking towards Hinata, "Are you done now, dumbass?"
"I, uh, yeah, I guess." Hinata looked down at the ground, turning around to leave the gym when he felt someone pull him back. He turned to see Kageyama, right in front of him. His arm was around Hinata's wrist, giving him the fluttering feeling inside his stomach that felt like butterflies.
"What are you doing, dumbass?" Kageyama stared into Hinata's eyes, unnerving the other a bit.
"I was leaving, you, um, you don't want me to be here."
"You're so stupid," Kageyama shook his head disapprovingly, but before Hinata could say anything else, Kageyama mumbled, "I remember, too."
He pulled Hinata into his chest and brushed his lips against Hinata's once again. And this time, he didn’t pull away for a while.