Part-Time Lover [NoyaHina]

Chapter twelve「12 課」

The training camp had finished a few days prior. It was a chilly Tuesday afternoon when Hinata found himself cycling to the same tiny, grocery store. He wondered how many more days he had to work before his debt was paid off. Hinata missed passing the ball against the wall of his house and trying to teach Natsu how to bump. He sighed and continued peddled, feeling the cold hair hit his face with each sharp turn of a corner.

The doorbell chimed it's familiar but annoying song as Hinata entered. He saw that Nishinoya was already there, sitting at the top of a ladder. He was trying to hang up some sort of poster that advertised a new brand of instant noodles.

"Hi, Shouyou!" Nishinoya gave him a cheeky grin from the top. It seemed like the coldness from the training camp had finally faded away. After the camp, Hinata noticed he rarely saw his upperclassman around school. Despite trying to look for him, he only managed to catch him a few times at trainings. Even then, he was quickly dismissed as the other second years crowded him as usual. Hinata felt like he shouldn't disturb them, since they looked like they were having fun. Though, it was sad since he felt like he was missing out.

Nishinoya hummed from the ladder. Since the training camp he had tried to organise his thoughts and process what Hinata had told him. He wasn't sure what to do. It would be too weird to just spill his feelings out too quickly because that would make things awkward and uncomfortable. He reckoned he would just let Hinata breathe for a few days to calm down from such a huge confession. In all honestly, Nishinoya just didn't know how to process his own feelings; making excuses not to see Hinata just so he wouldn't embarrass himself anymore. He pinned the final corner of the vinyl banner to the ceiling.

-

Hinata felt lonely during those days, resulting in him returning to eating his lunches with the silent Kageyama. He tried to ask Kageyama for advice, but his friend just seemed as useless as his own brain. The tangerine didn't know why he expected Kageyama to understand; it was more likely that he would bully or tease him for having girly feelings. Kageyama also had never had a girlfriend or anything of that sort, Hinata wasn't even sure he talked to girls period.

Everyday, he would see the other boy walk to their school along the path that followed the road he biked down every morning. He still had the same earphones in that they shared that one morning, probably still listening to the same music. Hinata would purse his lips, wanting to stop and talk to him but then he'd always hesitate and cycle away. He would look back to try to catch Nishinoya's gaze, which was usually directed at the screen of his phone or the bricked footpath.

Hinata wondered if the other boy even noticed him passing by, surely, he did as it used to be tradition to wave good morning as the two passed each other. It made him feel usually lonely, despite always hanging around his friends. Without Nishinoya, there was a gap in their group, a hole in his heart which could only be filled by him. By this point, Hinata knew he had feelings for his upperclassman but the chances of the feelings being mutual were impossible. Hinata had already insulted Nishinoya during the training camp, he knew the other boy probably didn't even want to talk to him ever again.

The thought hurt him more than it should, even though he apologised. He wanted to talk to Nishinoya again, but the fear of rejection crept up his spine and gripped his heart, it already hurt enough to be ignored.

There was an innate, subconscious fear of losing his friendship with the other boy. There had been so many times Hinata had confessed to his female friends, causing their friendship to fizzle out with awkwardness. There was no way he'd risk losing his close connection with Nishinoya for something as petty as his feelings. He had to focus on volleyball, these things could wait even if they hurt like nothing he had felt before.