Chapter Text
Unsurprisingly, it was all Tsukishima's fault.
Practice had been going like usual—Shouyou had made a few less-than-stellar receives, and now Kageyama was in his face about it, a stream of dumbass and you suck and pay attention pouring out of his mouth.
Shouyou was almost certain it wouldn't evolve into a full-blown fight. Those things rarely ever happened anymore. After the actual fight they'd had a few weeks ago, Shouyou had learned to recognize a pattern in Kageyama's rage. He was all bark, no bite these days.
“Are you even listening to me, you dumbass?” Kageyama fisted the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward, their faces coming even closer.
And truthfully, Shouyou wasn't listening. The stream of curses Kageyama threw at him flowed right through one ear and out the other. Shouyou had learned how to tune him out long ago, focusing only on his expression.
Kageyama already looked terrifying on a good day, but like this—eyebrows drawn tight, lips pulled back in a scowl, everything up close—he was just breathtaking.
At Shouyou's lack of response, Kageyama shook him once, twice. Daichi's voice sounded in the distance, stern, telling them to cut it out. But that wasn't what drew Shouyou back into his body.
“You two should just make out already,” Tsukishima said in a bored tone.
And just like that, Shouyou was acutely aware—of his own body, of Kageyama's hand in his shirt, hot breath hitting his face, still panting from his outburst.
“Uh?!” Shouyou exclaimed, as Kageyama pushed him away abruptly. Shouyou staggered back a few steps, even though the push hadn’t been that hard.
“The fuck did you say?” Kageyama snarled.
Tsukishima just smirked at them, lifting a water bottle to his lips. “You know, instead of getting into physical altercations all the time, you two should just blow that energy on something more productive.”
“Altercation?” Shouyou asked, stunned, at the same time Kageyama said “Productive?”
Tsukishima hummed. “Well, obviously. Anything is more productive than fighting. Although…” a devilish grin split his face. “I'm sure you've heard of the benefits of a good make-out session.”
Shouyou just stared at Kageyama, mouth agape. The other boy stared back at him with wide eyes, the fight completely drained from him.
Tsukishima sighed that annoying sigh of his that said, you're hopeless. “It is a well known fact,” he started in his most condescending tone, “that kissing can strengthen the bond between a setter and a spiker.”
Distantly, Shouyou heard laughter, a chorus of “Nice one, Tsukki,” and a loud clap as someone's palm hit Tsukishima's shoulder. The boy glared at whoever did it, but Shouyou's mind couldn't process much more.
Instead his eyes focused on one single spot—the crease between Kageyama's eyebrows, almost hidden by his bangs.
“You're messing with us,” Kageyama said, and he sounded dangerously calm, for once.
“I swear it's true,” Tsukishima said simply. “I heard Fukurodani’s ace does it with his setter regularly.” At that, he sent Shouyou a knowing smirk.
It felt like he'd been stricken by lightning. It was true, wasn't it? Tsukishima had been invited to a couple special training sessions with Bokuto-san and Kuroo-san back at the training camp in Tokyo. It wasn't surprising that he'd gotten some more insight into the other teams’ training techniques.
“B-but,” Shouyou stammered, barely hearing himself through his own stupor, “how is that supposed to help…?”
Tsukishima pushed his glasses up his nose, fixing him with a serious look. “It should make you more attuned to each other, for one.”
Roaring laughter erupted around them again, and this time Daichi's order to Cut it out already! came with ringing finality. Still, Shouyou tuned it all out, too focused on a single thought, rolling around in his mind like a wayward volleyball. His eyes met Kageyama's, and he knew the other boy was thinking the same thing.
What if?
*
The rest of practice went on without incident, at least where Shouyou was concerned.
Kageyama still tossed to him as usual—amazingly, always in the same spot, perfect angle and timing. But there was something off about him for the rest of practice. His face looked pensive in a way it rarely did outside of matches, and even then, this wasn't the same kind of intense focus Kageyama displayed during a long rally.
No, Shouyou thought, this wasn't the same thing at all. Instead it looked like Kageyama was lost in thought, rather than thinking too hard. Shouyou almost teased him about it, and he would have, if he didn't have a clue about what could be going on in the other boy's head.
(Kageyama didn't pick another fight with him for the remainder of practice. In fact, he didn't even look Shouyou's way, except for that split second necessary to toss the ball.) (Shouyou definitely didn't care. Really, getting a reprieve from Kageyama's constant nagging was a relief.)
Still, he'd had enough of Kageyama's evasive behavior by the time practice ended. He said goodbye to his senpais, promising to lock up the club room in a little bit, then cornered Kageyama.
“You not tossing to me today?” Shouyou asked, leaning against the shelf next to him.
He got a grunt in response. “Not today,” Kageyama said, still not looking at him, and Shouyou tried his damn hardest not to let his shoulders sag.
Instead, he squared them, leaning into Kageyama's space. “What's gotten into you? Are you still hung up on what Suckyshima said?”
The way Kageyama's whole body went taut was all the answer he needed. Shouyou let out a startled laugh.
“Oh my God, you are!” Boldly, he poked a finger into Kageyama's arm. “Just forget it. Tsukishima Is stupid.”
“You're stupid,” Kageyama growled, shaking him off. “Get off me.”
Shouyou huffed. “You're stupid. Now shake it off and come toss to me.”
Kageyama finally turned to him, that vague expression replaced by seething rage once again. Shouyou almost found it comforting.
“I already said not today,” Kageyama snapped. Still, he made no move to actually pack his things and head out.
Shouyou stared at him. “What's gotten into you? Don't tell me you're—” he cut himself off, eyes widening, and slapped a hand over his mouth before an aggravating burst of laughter could tumble out. “Don't tell me you're actually considering it!”
Kageyama glared knives at him, but didn't try to deny it.
“Oh.” Shouyou's other hand joined the first over his face, for an entirely different reason this time. “Are you… are you actually considering it?”
Kageyama answered with a grunt, looking away again. What Shouyou could see of his face was beet red, and he looked downright murderous. Shouyou let his hands fall away from his own face.
See, the smart thing to do would have been to back away slowly and give Kageyama some time to calm down.
But Shouyou rarely did the smart thing, nor did he ever pick the plain, easy road. So, instead of fleeing when he had the chance, what he did instead was to take a step closer, sticking his head into the lion's mouth.
“You… think it could actually work?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“... I don't know,” came Kageyama's response after a few tense seconds. “Probably not.”
“Yeah,” Shouyou said. “Tsukishima was just taking the piss.”
“Yeah,” Kageyama said. “He's stupid. This is really stupid.”
Shouyou looked down at Kageyama's hands, assessing the risk. He watched as those perfect hands flexed, closing in tight fists before relaxing again, long fingers fluttering around nothing.
“I mean,” Shouyou started, taking the leap, “we're stupid. That's been established already. So.”
Slowly, Kageyama turned to him again. Shouyou felt a tingle run down his spine and braced himself for impact. But Kageyama's hand didn't shoot out towards his head. Instead, the other boy just… looked at him for a second.
Their mouths opened at the same time.
“Should we—”
“D'you want to—”
“Try it?” They burst out in unison.
Shouyou could see his own bewilderment reflected back at him in Kageyama's face. He knew it; knew he wasn't imagining the look Kageyama got earlier. That look that screamed “What if?” despite the absurdity of the idea.
Shouyou placed one hand on his chin, stroking it pensively like a cartoon villain, though he was mostly trying to conceal the blush on his cheeks. Kageyama looked a little green, his body bending forward, hands braced on the shelf in front of him.
“I mean,” Shouyou started, swallowing past his embarrassment. “It couldn't hurt to try, yeah? Tsukishima said Bokuto-san and Akaashi-san do it regularly, and they're one of the best teams in the whole country. So.”
“That was probably a lie, too,” Kageyama said, as he straightened up.
“Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure,” Shouyou said. “They seemed pretty tight-knit.”
Kageyama rolled his eyes. Shouyou couldn't help staring at his face; this newfound ruddiness that wasn't anger or frustration. Kageyama never got this nervous, not even before matches. It was a rare chance, seeing the king with his cold demeanor undone like this.
So he watched, rapt, as Kageyama considered the possibility. He knew they were thinking the same thing, deep down—the Spring Tournament was just around the corner, and their new quick was sitting steadily at a 70% success rate. They’d gotten through the qualifying rounds rather easily, but Shouyou had no delusions that the next round would go as smoothly. After all, they still had Seijoh and Shiratorizawa blocking their path to Nationals.
If kissing was what it took to finally get them to sync up, then…
“How does that even work?” Kageyama asked, looking at Shouyou like he actually knew the answer.
“Dunno,” Shouyou shrugged. “Tsukishima said it’s supposed to make us more at—attained? To each other.”
“Attuned,” Kageyama corrected him. “It means to make receptive or harmonious. To acclimatize.”
“Yeah, that!” Shouyou frowned. “Hold on. How do you know that?”
“Shut up!” Kageyama barked. “I studied this with Yachi-san for our exams.”
If Shouyou was impressed that Kageyama still remembered the dictionary entry for the word over a month later, he didn’t let it show. “Anyway, that sounds exactly like what we need right now. So…”
“...I suppose we can give it a shot,” Kageyama finished.
Shouyou nodded once, resolutely, then took a step closer and leaned up. Kageyama frowned down at him.
“Wha—I didn’t mean now, you dumbass!”
Shouyou huffed, getting on the tips of his toes. Even then, he couldn’t quite reach Kageyama’s scowling face. “If not now, when? We’re already alone here, and you don’t want to toss to me, anyway.”
Besides, he didn’t need to add, it’s not like we have much time left. Kageyama looked to the side, his face all pinched up. Shouyou gave up on trying to reach him, his feet hitting the ground with a soft thud.
“Fine,” Kageyama finally bit out. “Just—let’s—sit down.” With that, he dropped heavily on the ground, leaning back against the shelves. .
Shouyou frowned, then grinned. “What, afraid you’ll faint?” He sat in front of Kageyama, so close their knees were touching, and leaned forward again.
“Shut it.” Kageyama’s cheeks were still red, but this time he didn’t avert his eyes. Instead, he glared right at Shouyou, challenging him to go ahead.
Shouyou sat back. “I can’t do it like this!”
“Like what?” It was Kageyama’s turn to smirk, teasingly. “Are you getting cold feet or something?”
“No,” Shouyou said through gritted teeth, “it’s just hard to get in the mood when you keep glaring at me!”
At that, Kageyama’s face twisted up, looking even more murderous somehow. “That’s just my face!”
“Stop glaring!”
“I’m not!”
Sitting back again, Shouyou took a deep breath. “Look, just… close your eyes and try to relax, yeah? Let me do the thing.”
Kageyama didn’t look happy with that, but he did close his eyes, at least. Shouyou held back a sigh of relief. He slowly inched closer, studying the other boy’s face, trying to find an angle that would allow him to fit his lips against Kageyama’s without cutting himself on any of his sharp edges.
The problem here was, everything about Kageyama was sharp. From his tongue to his eyes to his eyebrows, his nose, his cheekbones, his jawline. His mouth was even sharper than the rest of him, especially when he tried to smile: the stretch made him look almost like a shark, teeth straight and glinting like knives. Shouyou could bet Kageyama was the kind who bites.
So, he had witnessed that mouth sharpen impossibly one too many times to be comfortable getting so close to it. Still, Shouyou charged ahead, clinging to his purpose: if this works, we could be truly invincible together…
He could do it. For the sake of their quick, of their team and their partnership, he could do it. Even if Kageyama did bite him, it’d be a small price to pay.
He leaned even closer, until there were only a few inches between them. Kageyama was gracious enough to bend down a little this time, so Shouyou could easily reach his mouth. It was right there. God, even his cupid’s bow was sharp. Shouyou made the mistake of looking up, and immediately jolted back, startled.
Because Kageyama’s eyes weren’t closed anymore. Instead, he stared down at Shouyou with intense focus. He didn’t even look angry or nervous anymore, just…
Calm. This was it; the same serene look he sometimes got on the court, when faced with a difficult opponent, during a critical moment. He looked more terrifying than ever.
“You’re actually chickening out,” Kageyama said, his voice neutral.
“I-I’m not!” Shouyou said, willing his voice not to crack. It didn’t quite work. “I’m just psyching myself up.”
Kageyama’s eyebrows pulled down, right when Shouyou thought his gaze couldn’t get any more intense. His eyes were painfully blue. Like, obviously Shouyou knew his eyes were blue, but still. Sometimes the color was hard to make out, all the way across the court, but like this, up close, the blue was simply piercing.
Suddenly, faster than even Shouyou could react, a flash of blue and black filled his vision. It was gone as soon as it came, leaving behind only a throbbing pain on Shouyou’s upper lip.
“What—” he brought one hand to his mouth, pressing against the spot. “What the fuck was that?!”
Kageyama shrugged. “A kiss.”
“Like hell,” Shouyou hissed, voice muffled, “You fucking headbutted me, you caveman!”
“Well, you were taking too long!”
Shouyou took deep breaths, willing himself to calm down. He licked his teeth, checking for the taste of blood, but everything seemed fine. It’d be fine, he decided. He’d taken plenty of harder blows to his face, this was nothing.
“Kageyama,” Shouyou started, cautiously, “have you ever… kissed anyone?”
Kageyama gave him a blank look that lasted several seconds. “Uh. Should I have?”
Shouyou held back a sigh and rubbed his face. “Just let me do it, alright?”
The glare came back with a vengeance. “Have you done it before?”
“Yeah,” Shouyou answered. Granted, he’d only done it twice, but he was still ahead of Kageyama, for once. “Now shut up and let me do it.”
“You shut up and get on with it—”
Kageyama did actually shut up when Shouyou reached out with one hand and cupped his jaw. Shouyou could feel a muscle jumping up right beneath his palm; could almost hear Kageyama’s teeth grinding together.
“I’ve already told you to relax,” he said, pressing his thumb to the hinge of Kageyama’s jaw, as if he could loosen it. “You’re so tense.”
Kageyama answered with a grunt, but his jaw went slack under Shouyou’s hand. He moved closer again, eyes trained on Kageyama’s mouth. With his other hand, he pressed his fingers to those lips, and realized with surprise that they were actually soft.
Shouyou held that information in his mind for an instant, not quite knowing what to make of it. He hadn’t expected Kageyama’s lips to be this soft. Not that he’d expected them to be anything— he’d had no expectations at all, simply because this scenario had never crossed his mind.
He probably uses lip balm, Shouyou mused. Kageyama was many things, but unkempt wasn’t one of them. In fact, Shouyou had been observing his routine for a while, and it was clear Kageyama took great care of his body. This was likely just a consequence of that.
Still, he couldn’t help but watch the way those lips dipped under his fingers, so pliant, pink and pouty. Shouyou was so focused on the way they felt against his thumb that, when Kageyama spoke, the vibrations of his voice startled Shouyou to his core.
“If you don’t do it already, I’m going to bite your finger off.”
Shouyou pulled his hand away instantly. “No biting!”
Kageyama’s face scrunched up like it always did when he glared at Shouyou, even though his eyes were closed once more. “Then do i —hmf!”
And Shouyou did it. He was doing it. He was kissing Kageyama.
It felt surprisingly good, even though he’d already established that Kageyama’s lips were unfairly soft. It was almost like kissing a girl, if he closed his eyes really hard and ignored the fact that nothing else about Kageyama was soft.
He tried to recall the other times he’d done this. There was this girl called Asami, back in his second year of junior high, whom he’d dated for about a week. Both times Shouyou kissed her, she’d smiled against his lips and giggled, but stayed mostly still.
He should’ve known this would be nothing like that. Should’ve known Kageyama would push back, fight back, because of course. Of course. Kageyama couldn't simply sit still and let Shouyou gain the upper hand. Like everything between them, he had to make it a competition.
So Kageyama's lips moved against Shouyou's, a bit clumsy but purposeful, matching every one of his movements like a mirror. Shouyou couldn't quite remember how to breathe. It was hard to think of anything that wasn't the way Kageyama's lips fit against his, the way their noses pressed into each other’s cheeks, the heat of Kageyama’s breath on his face.
Shouyou couldn’t tell exactly how or when it happened, but at some point his hands ended up on Kageyama’s shoulders, holding him in place as Shouyou pushed harder against his mouth. Still, Kageyama didn’t back away one inch, giving as good as he got.
It was hard to believe this was Kageyama’s first kiss. Fucking genius. Of course he’d get the hang of it quickly. Shouyou thought Kageyama could do anything he wanted—could be the best at anything he did—if he just put his mind to it. It was so unfair.
The push and pull of their lips continued, locked in a stalemate, for as long as Shouyou managed to go with the little oxygen he could get in his lungs. When he finally broke away from Kageyama, his head felt too light, and his whole face prickled with heat.
“Uh,” Shouyou said, very eloquently, between gulps of breath. “Um.”
“Yeah,” Kageyama said, chest heaving. He wasn't faring much better than Shouyou. “So?”
They stared at each other for a beat before looking away in opposite directions.
So… Shouyou had kissed a boy. And not just any boy, but Kageyama— probably the most prickly, rude and downright ruthless guy in the whole school.
No, he shook his head at himself, trying to clear it up. He'd kissed Kageyama, Karasuno’s genius setter, his partner. They'd kissed, and somehow, it wasn't awful. In fact, it felt great. Shouyou thought he could get used to it, if this meant strengthening their bond.
His eyes widened, and he turned back to Kageyama. “Hey, do you feel any different?”
Kageyama's eyebrows tugged down. “That's what I just asked you, dumbass.”
“What? No, you didn't.”
“I just did!”
“No, you—” Shouyou cut himself off. Or rather, his growling stomach cut him off. “Whatever. We'll find out tomorrow. I need to eat something.”
Kageyama nodded. “Sakanoshita?”
“Sure.”
As they gathered their things and locked up, Shouyou tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach, telling himself he was just hungry. If anyone saw us now, he thought, they probably wouldn’t guess what just happened. Because at first glance, nothing had changed. And yet, Shouyou felt a shift in the air around them, a newfound tension, humming like electricity. A brewing storm. It made the hairs on his arms stand on end every time his eyes met Kageyama’s.
They raced each other from the school gates to Sakanoshita Market, bought their meat buns, and then parted ways unceremoniously. So, really, on surface level, there was nothing different. Still, as Shouyou rode his bike with difficulty up the steep hill, he couldn’t help but feel like everything had changed.
He could only hope it was for the best.