They’d agreed to meet at Aobayama Park near the Lu Xun monument, by a  cluster of trees. Despite having to travel much less distance, when  Oikawa arrived, through the arms of green, he could make out a mass of  flaming orange hair, waiting for him. Oikawa would be lying if he said  his joy of seeing Hinata wasn’t sprinkled with an extra dusting of sugar  having just confronted an ammo-less Kageyama, the prodigy having no  idea of this secret rendezvous.

Oikawa slipped between the branches and Hinata saw him –

With no refrain, Hinata’s face lit up like the sun, he ran and jumped  onto Oikawa who stumbled back but caught the spiker in his arms. Hinata  nuzzled his face into the setter’s shoulder and breathed deeply.

‘I missed you.’

The sun, the warmth, the air, the breeze – the moment melted the icicles on Oikawa’s heart into a puddle of water. Ba-dum.  The puddle rippled with Oikawa’s beating heart, the presence of Hinata  tripling the endorphins already whizzing round him from practice.

‘I missed you too,’ Oikawa stroked the crow’s hair, for the first  time with his bare healing fingertips. ‘Your hair is like silk,  chibi-chan.’

‘Then it’s just like yours.’

Oikawa’s heart was like a red balloon – every time he saw Hinata he felt like it grew a little bit bigger.

‘How was practice today?’

‘It was,’ Oikawa remembered the look on Kageyama’s face and chuckled.  ‘Exhilarating. I’ve had a good week but,’ Oikawa turned his head  towards Hinata’s ear and lowered his voice, ‘it’s about to get even  better now that you’re here.’

That familiar tingling sensation bolted through Hinata making him  tense. His hand curled into a fist clutching the setter’s shirt. His  racing heart, his nervous excitement – he couldn’t understand why only  Oikawa made him feel like this.

‘Also as I told you – I’m not wearing band aids on my fingers any more,’ Oikawa freed one of his arms and held up his hand.

Hinata moved back and watched in fascination Oikawa wiggle his long slender fingers speckled with healing wounds.

‘And you said you can set now!’

‘I did. And do you know what else I can do?’ Oikawa put his hand  against Hinata’s cheek, feeling the warmth of the spiker’s skin against  his fingers, ‘I can feel you when I touch you.’

Hinata’s eyes bravely met Oikawa’s. Oikawa swallowed. He had intended  for that last sentence to sound sultry, cocky, but it came out fragile,  tender, telling… too honest.

‘Are you blushing, Oikawa-san?’

Oikawa chose to ignore this acute observation. ‘Shall we go for a  walk around the park seeing as you haven’t been here before and then I  can make you some chicken yakisoba?’

Hinata let go, jumped down and looked up at Oikawa, his eyes gleaming. ‘Sounds great.’

They walked, in their volleyball uniforms, sharing about their day.

‘It was really strange though Kageyama wasn’t at practice today,’  Hinata said. ‘No one knew where he went. Yamaguchi said he saw him  around school but he wasn’t answering his phone.’

I thought so, Oikawa thought. Hinata doesn’t know.

‘By the way my mom keeps asking me to invite you round again… I’m  starting to feel like she’s liking you a bit too much,’ Hinata grumbled.

Oikawa chuckled. ‘She does know that you’re staying over tonight, right?’

‘Yeah she does.’

Except – Hinata didn’t tell his mom it was at Oikawa’s. He didn’t  want to start arousing more suspicion with other people now that  Kageyama had clocked. The less people knew, the more time he figured he  could spend with the setter.

As they rounded the park and talked more about their families, the  sun began to go down. They left and went to Oikawa’s. 

Hinata had his bike with him and he left it by a lamppost outside. Oikawa went in and  took off his shoes. Hinata took a moment, taking a deep breath and  stared at Oikawa’s home.

My second home.

The words formed in Hinata’s mind before he could stop them.

The last time he was here grief had almost broken him as he said  goodbye to Oikawa. Never would he have imagined that 3 weeks later, he’d  be back.

Walking back into Oikawa’s apartment was like a dream – there was the  kitchen island where they’d treated their wounds, the floor Hinata had  sat on waiting for Oikawa’s return, the sofa Oikawa had knelt in front  of – the bed they had laid in, where Hinata had dreamt of their kiss…

Hinata’s whole body turned scarlet. He looked at Oikawa but thankfully the setter was busy humming happily to a song he played from  his phone, cooking.

After devouring a sumptuous colourful batch of yakisoba as prepared  by Oikawa, the two of them moved to the sofa, green tea in hand, and a  plate of halved mochi between them to sample. They both sat legs crossed  facing each other, Oikawa with his back against the left arm while  Hinata sat in the middle. The topic had moved back onto school: grades, classmates, details about their week they hadn’t shared in phone calls or texts.

But the more Oikawa spoke, the more that feeling, like waking a sleeping giant, returned to Hinata…

‘I would’ve loved for you to have stayed all weekend chibi-chan but  tomorrow for Iwa-chan’s birthday, we’re doing a day trip to Matsushima  Bay. I think on Sunday Chihaya from class D is also having a picnic – I  need to show face – we did that chemistry presentation earlier on this  week -’

That sleeping giant with its many arms of questions took a lunge and  grabbed Hinata’s throat. Oikawa sensed something was up. Hinata’s  expression darkened by the minute, the sun dying out of him to leave a blank, absent look.

‘Chibi-chan. What’s wrong?’

Hinata put his empty cup, and the empty plate between them, down on the floor. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them. When he spoke he stared at the skin on his knee caps.

‘You’re just… so busy and so popular… you have so many friends and so  many people who want to be around you… and I just -’ Hinata suddenly  looked up, with intensity in his eyes. ‘I don’t want you meeting me out  of pity.’

There. I said it.

Oikawa’s eyebrows hit the roof.

‘I can’t bear to think of you meeting me because you constantly feel indebted to me and that you have to “show face” like with your classmate  – I know you probably never think of me because you’re so busy, but if  meeting me is something you feel like you have to do then I’d rather we didn’t meet at all!’

A stunned silence hung in the air between them. Oikawa looked surprised but not offended, in fact, Hinata detected that the  upperclassman seemed almost… amused by his outburst?

‘This isn’t funny,’ Hinata whispered.

Instantly the look in Oikawa’s eyes was as lethal as a gun. ‘I never said it was,’ he whispered back.

‘Are you only seeing me… because I asked you to teach me how to serve?’

‘If you hadn’t asked me then I would’ve assumed that you didn’t want to see me. To answer your question, meeting you isn’t something I feel like I have to do. It’s something I want to do. I want to keep seeing you. Serving or not. I just wasn’t sure if  you wanted to keep seeing me and I didn’t want to put that pressure on  you after the trauma of the earthquake. And as for me never thinking  about you… you honestly think that I don’t?’

Hinata blinked at him. ‘Well. You’re just so busy and you have so many friends -’

Oikawa extended a hand across the sofa. Hinata placed his small hand into the padded bandaged warmth of Oikawa’s.

‘I’ve counted seeing a crow seventeen times this week, do you know why?’ Oikawa said softly.

Hinata shook his head.

‘Because every time I see a crow I think of you. Every time I see the  sun I think of you. Every time I see the colour orange, I’m reminded of your hair. I don’t pity you – I pity myself because in your busy  Karasuno world I doubt you think of me even half as much as I’ve thought of you.’

Hinata’s other hand, while Oikawa had been talking, had started squeezing his kneecap. His heartbeat was so loud in his ears he could  barely hear above it.

‘You want to know something else?’ Oikawa’s hushed tones just about reached Hinata, still the setter had that serious look on his face. ‘I dreamt about you last night. I dreamt that you were here. Don’t forget  that I’m the one who has to sleep in the same bed every night, the same  one you left, while you get to freely go about your life, with all your friends, with your family who you live with, without giving me a second thought -’

‘That’s not true!’ Hinata’s fingers gripped the back of Oikawa’s  hand, making Oikawa wince. ‘How can you say that? You think I just go  around without giving you a second thought when all I can think about is you all the time when I’m in class, when I’m in  practice, when I’m at home – I-I’ve dreamt about you too! A lot! Every  night since I left here! Th- the same dream -’ Hinata suddenly blushed, realising what he was saying, his eyes involuntarily roved to the bed  then back to Oikawa. ‘I’m always wondering how you are and I always look forward to seeing you -’ Hinata abruptly tailed off, unsure where he was going with this.

Oikawa watched him, light dancing behind the setter’s eyes but his face was unreadable.

‘What dream?’ Oikawa asked.

Hinata jerked, abashed. He knew, knew, Oikawa would pick up on exactly what Hinata didn’t want him to.

‘It’s nothing -’ Hinata’s voice had gone an octave higher.

‘It doesn’t sound like nothing.’

‘No, really, it’s just a dream -’

‘You glanced at the bed.’

If it was even possible, Hinata turned a deeper shade of red. ‘It’s just a recurring dream -’

‘What happens in it?’

Hinata stared at Oikawa, his heart on the brink of collapsing. Oikawa  raised in inquisitive eyebrow. Hinata crossed his legs to buy himself  some time. Oikawa still hadn’t let go of his hand.

‘Chibi-chan it’s OK, you can tell me,’ Oikawa whispered. ‘I just told  you that every time I see the sun I think of you. Do you know how many  times in a day that happens -?’

‘It’s the dream I had on my last night here.’ What was his mouth doing?

‘Oh?’

‘I dreamt -’ he was standing at the edge of a cliff, ‘of you,’ and he jumped, ‘kissing me.’

Hinata’s cheeks were hotter than a country in the middle of the  equator. He watched Oikawa, whose expression hadn’t changed – still  unreadable.

‘And how was it? In the dream, I mean.’

Hinata stared at Oikawa. ‘As in, you want me to give it a score?’

Oikawa laughed. ‘No you dummy I want to know how it made you feel.’

The intensity of the setter’s gaze made Hinata feel like he was in a sauna. He looked away but whenever he did his eyes kept going towards  the bed. Damn it. Sheepishly, Hinata made eye contact again. The calmness and patience of Oikawa inexplicably gave him a confidence boost.

‘Amazing,’ Hinata replied.

Oikawa’s eyebrows shot up and an irresistible smile spread across his face.

‘Really?’ Oikawa looked like a smug cat. ‘And you’ve been having this dream every night?’

Hinata dropped his gaze to his knees and felt the burn on his face. The weight of what he’d just admitted suddenly came crashing down on him in a humiliating plonk.

‘Stop making fun of me!’ Hinata snatched his hand out of Oikawa’s.

‘I’m not making fun of you chibi-chan -’ although Oikawa could not hide that self-satisfied look from his face any longer.

‘Yes you are! You’re always teasing me with – with words or kisses or  – or actions – I know it might not be a big deal to you because you’ve done this stuff before but I haven’t – and I’m always – I’m always the one moving towards you but it’s – it’s not fair,’ out of nowhere hot tears appeared in Hinata’s eyes, betraying him, ‘because I mean it when I say I want to hold you, Oikawa-san but to you – I don’t know if this is normal, if you’re like this with all your friends, touching them and  holding them -’

Oikawa untangled his legs, scooted forward and in one swoop picked up Hinata and brought the bird back with him, so Oikawa could lean on the  arm of the couch again, placing the crow neatly between his outstretched  legs, and resting on the setter’s chest.

‘You silly little bean,’ Oikawa sighed, cuddling him. ‘You silly, silly bean.’

But Hinata tried to resist. He pushed up off the setter’s chest,  breaking free of those arms, and turned to face Oikawa on his knees –

Big mistake.

Their faces were painfully close, and Hinata’s whole body was between Oikawa’s legs. Whatever cute’n’cuddly vibe Oikawa had just played in was gone. Sheer thirst lit up his eyes that carefully surveyed Hinata’s  eyes, nose and lips. Hinata’s heart punched at him with the force of a champion boxer.

‘You think I’m like this with all my friends?’ Oikawa’s hand went to  Hinata’s damp cheek, and he dragged his thumb down on Hinata’s bottom  lip feeling its outer softness and inner wetness. Hinata’s whole body was on fire.

‘I’m like this with no one,’ Oikawa whispered, his eyes burning into  Hinata’s. ‘You bring this out of me… and I like feeling this much power because of you… I don’t “move towards you” because I want this to be your choice although… I’m not sure what you mean. Last time we were here  on this sofa I remember definitely moving towards you.’

Hinata felt like someone had dumped his organs on top of a crazy washing machine. Despite Oikawa’s closeness, and that Hinata knew his cheeks were as flushed as a doll’s, he still wanted to stand his ground.

‘OK but most of the time I’m the one hugging you, running to you,  asking you to hold me – I don’t want you to do these things if they mean  little to you but a lot to me -’

‘Again you have it the wrong way round. I’m the one afraid it means nothing to you but so very much to me, so I’ve been -’ Oikawa gently placed a hand on the back of Hinata’s neck, lacing fingers through his  hair. ‘Holding back. Out of consideration that I figured all of this was new. But I did move towards you, more than you’ve done, another time.’

‘When?’

‘On our last night here.’

Hinata casted his mind back.

‘On the bed,’ Oikawa watched the spiker’s face.

Hinata looked perplexed. Oikawa firmed up his grip on the back of  Hinata’s neck. With smouldering eyes he leaned forward, his nose gracing Hinata’s who’d frozen into stone. Their lips were centimetres away.  With one last look at those startled amber eyes, Oikawa breathed onto Hinata’s trembling lips –

‘Here let me remind you -’

And kissed him. 

Oikawa wrapped his other arm around Hinata, and pulled the spiker closer, gently prising open Hinata’s lips in a soft  but firm kiss. The moment, the truth of what Oikawa had just said struck  Hinata down like lightning – it wasn’t a dream – and he wilfully plunged himself deep into that sea he had dreamt of for the  past 3 weeks, that same pressure pushing against him, the only  difference was it tasted like strawberry mochi. The heat from Oikawa’s  body, the setter’s arms entangling him, the knowledge of those lips  finally, finally, on him was like a release which Hinata submitted his whole being to.

Oikawa continued to massage Hinata’s lips with his and Hinata opened his mouth in response, following the rhythm that Oikawa set. Hinata  wrapped his arm’s around the setter’s neck and Oikawa gripped Hinata’s  hair tighter. The spiker felt like his body was about to explode – his hands tugged onto Oikawa’s locks and Hinata wasn’t sure, because his eyes were closed, but he sensed that Oikawa smiled.

This. This is what I wanted. Hinata received and returned  Oikawa’s hungry mouth just as passionately back. He drank up the sweet  dark scent of the setter every time he breathed through his nose mingled  with the taste of strawberries. The kiss was delicious and Hinata  savoured every mouthful. But it wasn’t just the kiss. He felt like he  now had permission to touch Oikawa again –

Hinata combed his fingers through Oikawa’s hair, like when he’d dried  it, then down the side of the setter’s strong neck, like where he  touched during the blackout – his small claw stroking down Oikawa’s  chest – he accidentally grazed Oikawa’s left nipple –

Before Hinata knew it, he was on his back on the sofa – his eyes  snapped open – Oikawa had stopped kissing him but was on top of him.

Both of them were panting and staring at each other. Oikawa’s beautiful face, those eyes, that hair –

Hinata grabbed the turquoise collar of Oikawa’s volleyball shirt and  pulled the setter back down to his lips. Soundlessly Oikawa kissed him,  in a way more erotic than any dream Hinata had had in the past 21 days,  starting again slowly but firmly then building in fervency. Hinata felt  his erection, fully formed, trapped in his boxers. But even with his  mouth full his hand was still hungry for more. Hinata’s hand traced the  contours of Oikawa’s torso through the setter’s volleyball uniform,  imagining the skin underneath, those beautiful abs… as Hinata’s hand  moved down he wondered… if this was having the same effect on Oikawa as  it was on him… Hinata’s hand snaked down until he hit Oikawa’s hard  dick, fighting against the constraints of the volleyball shorts.

Oikawa sharply pulled away as Hinata dropped his hand. The setter’s eyes were ready, glinting, dark like gun powder. They 

hungrily assessed  Hinata.

‘Chibi-chan,’ Oikawa breathed, breathless. ‘You always surprise me.’

‘Can you lie next to me and hug me for a m-’

Before Hinata had finished the sentence Oikawa had clambered off the  sofa, whisked up the spiker in his arms, placed Hinata on the bed and  then joined him, holding the crow in a tight embrace. Front to front,  Oikawa could feel Hinata’s hard on through the volleyball shorts, digging into his stomach. Hinata’s face was right in front of the setter’s, who planted a kiss on Hinata’s cheek.

They stared at each other, hearts beating, breaths heaving.

Oikawa’s eyes remained on Hinata’s face, as one of his hands traced  their way to Hinata’s bulge and squeezed. Oikawa’s palm hurt briefly but  his fingers felt fine. Hinata exhaled in a frown, his eyelids flitting  shut and he continued to breath heavily through his nose. Oikawa dragged  his naked fingers back up, slowly lifting the hem of Hinata’s shirt. He paused. And then slipped his hand between the shorts and boxers.  Hinata’s eyes snapped open and looked directly at Oikawa, a blush creeping on his cheeks.

The setter began moving his fingers up and down against the fabric. Hinata closed his eyes and frowned in pleasure, Oikawa drinking up the  expression. Instinctively, Hinata started moving his hips, up and down, against those beautiful fingers he’d imagined too many times. With his eyes open, Oikawa lifted his head, leaned in and connected his lips with Hinata’s. A second later as Hinata opened his mouth in response, Oikawa  slipped his tongue in and watched, satisfied, as the spiker opened his  eyes in alarm. Oikawa pushed further in, a small hand clutched his shirt  – his eyes smirked and his scarred fingertips moved up to the waistband  of the redhead’s boxers and playfully pulled at the elastic.

Lights burst in Hinata’s mind. He felt like he was on the edge of losing control. He kissed Oikawa back passionately, daring his tongue  out to meet the setter’s.

‘Mmm -’

That’s it chibi-chan. Take what you want.

Oikawa stroked just under Hinata’s stomach and smirked at the sound  that got trapped in Hinata’s throat. Far too slowly, he began edging his  fingers down, into the area under Hinata’s boxers, across the pelvic  area, lower, against bare skin until he hit a fringe of pubic hair and  stopped –

But Hinata couldn’t take it anymore –

He let go of the setter and plunged his hand hard onto Oikawa’s, forcing his obsession to touch him.