Chapter Text
Atsumu’s confession had left Hinata in high spirits - who wouldn’t be happy to have a deliciously handsome man confess his feelings? “Take your time,” Hinata recalls Atsumu’s words and his low, gentle voice causing his heart to stir. But there was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, which was the very reason why he could not answer Atsumu immediately, even though he wanted to shove his tongue into his throat he was more than into the kiss.
And although Atsumu did say to take his time to sort things out, Hinata did feel pressured.
He didn’t want to seem like a prude - it was kind of embarrassing to admit that he didn’t have much experience in the romance field. There was a reckless desire to put away the past as quickly as possible, to start something new, become someone new. Yet, responsibility had a hold over him and he knew he should think things through before giving any answer. If anything, he didn't want another ruined relationship on his hands.
He buries his face further into his pillow and decides to give Yachi a call. It had been some time since they last spoke. The dial tone plays for a few seconds before a familiar voice picks up. “Hey, what’s up?” A sweet voice comes through.
“Hey Yacchan, I know I’m calling all of a sudden, but are you busy?” Hinata responds. “I kinda have something I wanna tell you ASAP,”
Yachi checks her watch - she had a meeting to head to in about 15 minutes but it wasn’t everyday that Hinata called. “Sure - spill the tea, I have a meeting in 15 though,” Yachi laughs, her tone light-hearted. “Why? Are you gonna say you have a boyfriend or something?”
Hinata laughs back, awkwardly. And luckily for Hinata, Yachi is quick on the uptake. There was no time to beat around the bush, anyway.
“Wait - huh? NO way!” Yachi responds, her tone going from disbelief to excitement in a matter of seconds.
“Okay not an official boyfriend, but there is someone I like,” Hinata continues, a small smile involuntarily appearing on his lips.
“WHO?” Yachi exclaims a little too suddenly and loudly, causing Hinata to move his phone away from his ear just slightly.
“It’s…my roomie,” Hinata replies, a little bit embarrassed. There’s a slight silence before Yachi can respond.
“Roomie? No way, Hinata, oh my god!” Her squeals make Hinata more embarrassed.
“Yeah…It sorta just happened.”
Yachi rattles on with no filter. “I’m happy for you but also, roomie? You’re in for it now…haven’t you heard of the saying ‘don’t shit where ya eat’? Ha! How? What happened? This is BIG news, you know that right?!”
“No, no - nothing big. Just-” Yachi cuts him off before he can finish. “What do you mean nothing big ?! You and Atsumu Miya for god’s sake…one of the best setters in the volleyball scene! And it hasn’t even been a full semester yet!” She’s practically shouting over the phone, and Hinata hopes she’s somewhere no one else can hear.
Hinata wants to interrupt but her rambles continue - “AND I couldn’t believe it when you texted and told me he was your roommate but liking him? Oh my GOD!” She squeals even louder.
“Yach- wait- I needa tell you something,” Hinata interrupts, feeling slight guilt to cut short her happy squeals.
“What?” She catches her breath.
“We haven’t… well,” Hinata starts, picking at the loose thread hanging from his trousers. Yachi stays unexpectedly slient in wait. Hinata wonders if she might have just passed out from holding her breath.
“Well, we haven’t exactly made it clear that we’re dating,” Hinata spits out.
“What? H-why not?” She blurts out in confusion.
“He uh- just confessed to me two days ago…and I just haven’t really given him a response?”
“And…why not?”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Should I be giving a response so soon?” Hinata swallows.
“Hinata.” Yachi’s voice is firm.
“Yeah?”
“Does he like you?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you like him?”
”Yeah,” he replies, kind of easily.
“Then what are you afraid of?” The question kind of throws Hinata off.
He takes a moment to think. Was there anything he was afraid of? If he did like the man easily enough to admit, then why couldn’t he reciprocate Atsumu’s confession that day? There was a strong pull - he gravitated towards him, like the planets in orbit of the sun. A natural, unstoppable force of attraction. Meeting him was fate; most people didn’t have second encounters. Maybe the universe was trying to send him a signal…
Life was fun and easy with Atsumu…but precisely because life was fun and easy that Hinata didn’t want things to change. What if things didn’t work out? Life would just be a pain again - and Hinata had just come out of the woods. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure he’d be able to pull himself out of the next heartbreak, after all that he went through in the first. There was a time Hinata was dead certain that Kageyama was the one, but it turned out that he wasn’t. What if this was the same thing? Hinata hated doubting himself, and he was afraid of making the wrong decision. What if Atsumu turned out to be another Kageyama?
Just maybe, the universe was sending him a warning.
“I don’t know exactly. I think I’m just hesitant - like you said, it hasn’t even been a semester and having a serious relationship seems to be too…fast. I don’t know how the hell I'm going to deal if things don’t work out. I’m in college now. I don’t have the time or energy for an experimental expedition. I only get one shot to be here,” Hinata admits, albeit a little ashamed of himself for thinking about Atsumu that way.
“Hinata. Listen closely,” Yachi speaks up, clearing her throat. “You’re thinking of the end before anything has even started.” She pauses. “I’ll make it simple for ya - think of it like playing a match - alright?” Hinata presses his ear closer to the phone.
“There’s so many things happening on court - but what do you do when you play? What do you think about? You’re only focused on making things work. You’re thinking of what to do - Do I set? Receive? Block? Or do a running approach at first tempo? Your mind processes this as it happens in the moment. Do you think about losing? No! You can’t afford to think about losing. It won’t do you good to worry about the outcome.” She takes in a breath. “You should focus on what’s currently happening - how you feel, how you want things to continue, what you need to do in the moment. And, also, you’re right. This is your ONE chance. Don’t be stupid and let a good thing pass you by just like that.”
Hinata recognises this moment as “yachi’s power up” - it happens when she’s able to speak clearly without stuttering, about things she knows she’s sure of or feels strongly about. He had first witnessed this side of Yachi when they were first years, although it was a rare occurrence, but over the years she did seem to speak to him in her power-upped mode more often - a strong contrast to her initial shy, hesitant self three years ago, something Hinata feels immensely proud about for some reason.
Yachi’s advice is comforting, and Hinata instantly feels better. If he thinks of approaching his relationship as that, it does seem a little easier to bear. Working hard at the present moment was something he could see himself do, too.
“Y’know - for someone who isn’t in a relationship, you sure are wise, Yacchan,” Hinata jokes back.
“Hah - glad I could be of help. I learnt that piece of wisdom when I was in the stands watching our match with Nekoma in Year 1. And I haven’t forgotten about it since. So yeah, I guess what I’m trying to say is - be present. Be present in all the things you do, and it’s just easier to live life, okay?”
“Was that how you became less anxious over things? I clearly remember you stuttering all the time back in Year 1,” Hinata teases.
“Yeah yeah, joke all you want now but I’m not the one with the boyfriend problem, am I?” They share a laugh. It was good to talk about these things with Yachi. She always knew what to say. Hinata ends the call after hearing someone call Yachi in the background, talking about getting food before the meeting. A voice that sounded a little familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had heard it from. “I’ll be looking forward to an update,” Yachi quickly says before the call cuts.
Calling Yachi always brought about feelings of gratitude in Hinata; it was comforting to know that despite the distance, he could still have easy conversations with someone. And although Yachi's words served as good advice, it still left a bitter aftertaste and a sinking feeling in his stomach. What if Atsumu was the next Kageyama? The thought claws its way in, and the more Hinata tried to resist, the stronger it held its grip... A hypothetical question soon turned into a declarative. He could be, and I'd be ruining both him and me.
Thinking about the future, or not thinking at all, both were moot options.
Despite the internal stalemate, the days passed by quickly. Time did not wait for anyone, and before Hinata could register, Christmas was to arrive in a week. Had he talked to Atsumu yet? No. But he promised himself he would, in time, and although Christmas season did kind of set the mood to respond to someone’s confession, patience was a virtue.
Unfortunately, Christmas season also meant that the first exam season was near, bringing about another set of urgent problems that Hinata had to deal with first.
—
“HG Library at 8am.” Hinata says to himself. Atsumu gives him a look, but Hinata is too absorbed in his own world to realize. “Library. 8am. ” Hinata repeats, this time slightly louder, with conviction, as he zips up his shoe bag. Training had just ended and they were on their way back to the dorms.
“I didn’t think you were the study type,” Kiyoomi says as he puts on his mask and gets on his feet.
“Omi-san…” Hinata turns to face him, a serious look in his eyes. “Didn’t you know that the first semester determines your entire trajectory for university?” He says even more seriously.
“And what the hell does that mean?” Kiyoomi responds, curious as to the nonsense Hinata is going to say this time.
“It means that he needs to get all A’s for his first semester for his university grades to NOT suck, when the mods are at least a little easier,” Atsumu chimes in. “Duh,”
“Ah…A good strategy to have…going all out in your first semester…make the profs take notice of you and you’ll be good to go for the next four years!” Bokuto exclaims, a bit too confidently. “If you need help, just ask! Your senpai here is currently in second uppers,” he boasts, thumbs proudly pointing to himself.
Atsumu can’t help but let out a laugh, “You’re speaking as if you’re a dean-lister, way to stay humble!”
“Bokuto’s notes are pretty good, though, he lent me his old notes for the previous semester, and surprisingly the explanations were pretty solid,” Kiyoomi interjects, and Bokuto is about to swing an arm over him for a hug when he adds on, “But I guess his test performance depends on his mood for the day,”
“Well - not all days are 100%. Some days I’m at 80 and that’s the best I can do,” Bokuto replies, a bit dejectedly.
“Yeah - just like your matches too, don’t you think? If you could work on being more consistent with your performance and not let any tiny thing affect your mood, wouldn’t you have become a top three ace in the region by now?” Kiyoomi replies rather directly.
“Kinda harsh on Bokkun, don’t ya think?” Atsumu replies this time, not exactly defending Bokuto but rather wanting to humble Kiyoomi - “If you’re not on the dean’s list then you have no right to open ya mouth, Mr. I’m - Better - Than - You ,”
Kiyoomi smirks. “Huh - I guess I should continue talking then?”
Atsumu scoffs. Hinata’s eyes widen at the unsuspected revelation. “Omi-san. Omi-san, PLEASE,” he begs, instinctively hopping from Atsumu’s side to his. “PLEASE study with me,” he pleads again, grabbing hold of Kiyoomi’s elbow, a little too eagerly.
“No. I hate studying in the library. It’s always too cold and for some reason there’s always too many people around - getting a seat would be a pain,” he grumbles, shaking Hinata off.
“Well, that’s why I’m going at 8am, when the library first opens! Early bird gets the worm, right? In this case I AM the bird…and well, you get what I mean. Worm of knowledge…?” Hinata explains, hoping this might somehow convince Kiyoomi to agree to his request.
Kiyoomi seems to consider this for a moment, but quickly sighs and waves him off, “I’ll think about it.”
Hinata’s attention switches target. “Bokuto-san, what about you? Care to join me?” Hinata asks with hopeful puppy-eyes, jumping up and down.
“Hey, what about me?” Atsumu interjects, offended at the thought Hinata did not want him as a study buddy.
Bokuto stops Hinata from jumping by grabbing his head and answers quickly, “Hah - obviously Hinata only wants reliable senpais around! Hmm…although I was supposed to meet Akaashi tomorrow - but I think he wouldn’t mind joining a study session since he always has some kind of work to do. He’s forever sketching and planning.”
“Sorry, I just thought you’d be a distraction more than help,” Hinata responds quite honestly to Atsumu, a little shy he even has to say it, but swiftly turns back to Bokuto and tells him that he looks forward to seeing them at the library tomorrow.
Atsumu gets what Hinata’s poking at, and decides to drop the matter, albeit teasingly. “You’re missing out if I’m not there - I got 3 A’s and single B last year. No deans-list, but I definitely score,”
Hinata is somewhat impressed after Atsumu reveals his grades, and so is Kiyoomi whose eyes widen a little but says nothing. Hinata relents, and a part of him secretly admits he is excited to have Atsumu present for motivation. “You can come if you promise me you’re going to teach and not bother,” he says.
Atsumu gives a cheeky smile. “Put some faith in me, would ya?”
—
HG Library is located right smack in the middle of campus, an entire building ten stories high - obviously filled with endless books of academia. The university boasts having one of the best facilities in Japan, with the library being one of them, catering to diverse fields of study.
Standing in front of the glass doors to the building, Hinata looks the entrance up down to confirm he’s at the right place, and takes a step through the sliding doors. Immediately, he’s greeted by a waterfall display from the third floor all the way down to the first. The waterfall is almost soundless, as water flows down quietly and serenely. A sight that awes him momentarily. They certainly didn’t have such modern displays back in high school. The interior design is wood-based and made of light neutrals; keeping to a still Japanese-inspired yet modern look.
In fact, he is still quite amazed he even got into Hyogo in the first place, considering it is one of the top three universities in Japan, but a recommendation letter and phone call from Washijo sensei who knew some of the board members of Hyogo really helped to seal the deal. Some might label the string pulling as nepotism, but Washijo sensei rarely, or rather, never had at all, recommended anyone before Hinata, which spoke volumes about his faith in Hinata and his potential to achieve great things at Hyogo.
Hinata takes the lift up to the seventh floor. Damn, the elevator even has music! Hinata steps out of the elevator onto dark green carpeted floors that muffle any sound of footsteps. He glances at the wall clock near the librarian’s counter. 8.10am. There’s a few people here, but thankfully not crowded at all. Hinata takes his time to survey the area, circling around the floor to find the best study spot. Tables and soft chairs are around the library and he’s about to head to the corner spot when he feels his hoodie being pulled off his head from behind.
“Wha-” Hinata exclaims, rather loudly. “Shh, we’re in a library.” He whips around quickly, and is greeted by sunglasses. “Omi-kun?!” Hinata blurts out even louder this time, which garners a death stare from the librarian.
“Keep it down, chibi-chan,” Kiyoomi whispers, threateningly, and walks to the other side of the library. Hinata tugs at his jacket and points to the corner table. Kiyoomi shakes him off. “I know a better spot,” he says, and leads the way. They walk past shelf after shelf of books, and suddenly Hinata is greeted by a secret corridor. There are two rooms along it.
“Soundproof.” Kiyoomi smirks, tapping the glass cubicle, proud of himself for somehow bringing Hinata to this spot. He taps his student ID on the reader and the glass room unlocks, its interior lights and air-conditioning flickering on immediately. It’s a rather minimalistic room - a large rectangular table in the middle, four cushioned office chairs, a fake house plant at the corner, with a television screen in-built into the wall.
"Soundproof, huh.." Hinata echoes, and his eyes meet Kiyoomi's by accident. At that moment, it seems they had thought of the same, dirty thing.
Before Hinata can even fluster, Kiyoomi coughs and explains, “We use these rooms for group projects. Normally you’d have to book them, but I checked in the morning and there was none. So lucky us.” He maintains his ever-present cool façade.
Hinata pushes past him. “You’re the best!” A wide smile spreads across Hinata’s face as he plonks down on one of the chairs, rolling it slightly back and forth, testing its comfort.
“Of course,” Kiyoomi responds without missing a beat and takes the seat opposite Hinata. “So where’s fake blondie?” He continues without missing a beat. “Wasn’t he practically begging to join yesterday?”
Hinata tells Kiyoomi that Atsumu couldn’t wake up for the life of him, and he’d probably only join later, to which Kiyoomi gives a look that could only be read as “As expected.”
Now seated, there was no time to waste - Hinata had a goal to achieve today. He needed to study 350 slides worth of material for two modules, “Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology” and “Human Nutrition”. In a flash, he emptied his bag of his waterbottle, lecture notes, a notebook, pencil case, and of course, his iPad, to refer to past lecture videos and slides, placing them neatly on the table. Kiyoomi soon followed suit, except that he went the extra step of plugging in his earphones.
Thirty minutes passed. Kiyoomi was making good progress - he didn’t really need much clarification to the material he was learning. It seemed like him paying attention during lectures and doing consistent notes paid off. He quickly looks up to check on Hinata…who has his pen in his mouth and is nervously scrolling through his slides. Kiyoomi decides to watch him for a few more minutes, but Hinata still has nothing written down. “Omi-san…” Hinata suddenly stops chewing on his pen. “Help, please… I don’t know where to start, or even what to do…” Considering Hinata’s pitiful look, Kiyoomi sighs and closes his own book.
“How the hell did you get through high school?” Kiyoomi says as he shakes his head. It seems that even though Hinata went through three years of high school, he still could not figure out how to study. “I just don’t know what to do first - there’s too many things to remember and - ” Kiyoomi could tell Hinata was about to send himself into a spiral and cuts him off.
“I’m only going to teach you this once, so you better clean out your ears and rub the dirt out your eyes.” He says firmly, and moves over to take the seat next to Hinata. Hinata obeys, rubbing the muck out the corner of his eye. He knows that although Kiyoomi speaks rather harshly, he actually is kind. Very much so.
Instead of teaching Hinata the material directly, Kiyoomi teaches Hinata how to study. They refer to the course list, marking out important readings first. “These are the core readings you need to refer to. Certain exams are open-book, which might give you the impression you don’t really need to study because all the answers ‘can be found in the book’, but that’s BS and anyone who tells you that wants you to fail.”
Hinata gives a firm nod.
“Anyways - for Anatomy and Physio, it’s not open-book. It won’t be since it's a foundational course so you gotta learn that shit well. Memorise whatever you’ve been taught thus far. Get it into your brain and future you will thank you for it.”
Kiyoomi pokes Hinata in the head. He then continues, “They’ll only test you up to the material you’ve learnt so far, so don’t overdo it. Look - there’s only 5 chapters you’ve learnt so far, and every chapter builds on the previous one.” He uses a neon yellow highlighter to mark out the chapters on the printed course outline.
Hinata is listening intently. They make a list of contents to study, and Kiyoomi points out the key segments Hinata needs to take note of for each chapter. “Even if you forget a little, it doesn’t really matter. Instead of focusing on every single detail, it’s more important to capture the big ideas first. Use the slides from each chapter and sieve out the big ideas from them,” So Kiyoomi continues, guiding Hinata in learning the big ideas for the first chapter for the next forty minutes. After Hinata has gotten the hang of it, he makes notes under each ‘big idea’, which has a header of its own.
“The next part is up to you how you want to do it. I write out the smaller details in point form and explain it in my head. But others like to have visuals like mindmaps to show the connections between ideas. Pick whichever method works best for you, I guess, and then after that - go through your notes religiously and make sure you know what each big idea entails.” Kiyoomi explains, tapping the pen on Hinata’s notebook.
“Thanks a bunch, Omi-san, you’re a LIFESAVER ,” Hinata proceeds to give him a side hug, to which Kiyoomi accepts. Hinata feels a little less overwhelmed at the material he needs to study now, and seems to know how to better tackle the 350 slides and lecture readings.
Kiyoomi presses Hinata’s head down, a show of his own affection. “You owe me lunch.”
A demand to which Hinata gladly accepts.