Song: If You Love Me, Come Clean- Flatsound

Can you believe that this is the 30th chapter already??? I can't. Someone pinch me.

"That was... wow." Hinata still couldn't believe what had just happened. "You just punched your friend for me."

Kageyama felt his skin prickle. "That dickhead is not my friend. And it wasn't a punch. It was more like... A playful tap."

Hinata stared at his co-club member incredulously. "If that's what you consider a 'playful tap,' I'd hate to see you get serious." He kicked at a rock. "And the owner of the ice skating rink would say otherwise."

"Yeah... Damn, banned for life. This sucks." Kageyama shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the empty blue sky.

Softly, Hinata let himself smile. "Didn't you have fun, though? I did. I mean, I was having fun before you went and punched a guy, but I guess that was kind of a rush in its own sort of way, so--... Sorry. I'm babbling." He blushed as Kageyama stared at him.

"No, I had fun, too." Kageyama found himself smiling. "... So now what do we do? How about-"

"He called me your boyfriend." Hinata burst out suddenly. Before he knew it, he kept talking, should've shut up, but he couldn't stop himself. "So... Are you really the dominant one?"

Kageyama's face turned a whole new shade of red. "W- what the hell are you talking about?"

Hinata's laughter twinkled playfully. "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

Tobio died a little inside. "Shut up, would you?"

"Sorry."

They walked in silence for a bit, turning corners and kicking at pebbles on the sidewalk.

They stopped at a bridge overlooking a small river. A few cars passed behind them on the road, but otherwise, the noise of the city was muted.

Next to him, he saw Shouyou looking out over the water. His breath was forming in the air, soft, gentle puffs that floated away in the cool endings of winter. A look of sadness was there. Sadness, etched deeply in his heart, but it was mixed with something else. He was happy.

And suddenly, Kageyama was thinking about a future. His future, one spent with the one and only Hinata Shouyou. He pictured stupid picnic dates and late night movies. He saw cheesy pickup lines and short retro shorts. He saw what he craved so dearly to hold in his arms, standing not even four feet away from him. All it would take is a single stride and their hands could brush, and their lips could meet, and their bodies--

"What do you want me to be to you, Hinata?"

Had he just said that out loud? Did those words really just come out of Kageyama Tobio's mouth?

The question seemed to catch Shouyou off guard. He turned to Tobio with wide, velvety eyes that name Kageyama see stars.

"What do you mean?"

Tobio turned toward him with shaking palms.

No turning back now.

"I'm asking... what am I to you, Hinata Shouyou?"

"I don't--"

"No. Don't tell me you don't know." Kageyama paused, feeling extremely conflicted. This didn't feel like the right time to do this. This should've been romantic, should've been sometime other than when he'd just punched a guy. Or maybe this never should've happened. Kageyama couldn't tell anymore.

"Please." He felt his stomach curl. "I need to know."

"And what am I to you?" Hinata's reflection of the question took Tobio off guard. A soft gust of wind blew strands of hair into his eyes-- he didn't bother moving them away. Shouyou looked back out over the water, propped his arms against the railing.

Kageyama didn't know how to answer.

Across from him, it felt like Hinata was pulling away. A calm, cold expression. He couldn't tell what Shouyou was thinking. No, no, no, this felt wrong, this felt like the Hinata from Christmas break-- small, lonely, closed off.

Kageyama needed to pull him back.

He took Hinata in. He looked at Shouyou's retro shorts that framed his hips, at his long sweater that enveloped him, at his orange hair that stood out like a traffic cone, at his soft lips. And then he looked deeper. Kageyama looked at Hinata's pain over Natsu, at his hope for a better life, at his loyalty to his friends, at his longing for understanding.

He took in Hinata, embraced him for his flaws and for his good, accepted him for all that he was.

Kageyama took a step forward.

It was small, but it was enough to bring him next to Hinata, who now faced him. His big gold-flecked eyes stared up at Tobio, framed by soft eyelashes, and his face was one of a lonely boy.

One step more was enough to close whatever gap was between them.

"Kageyama?" The words were spoken softly from Hinata's lips.

The cars behind them forgotten, the river forgotten, Kindaichi forgotten, they were alone together in their own world.

"Please don't hate me for this." Tobio pleaded with a whisper: a final warning for Hinata, a message to tell him to stop before Kageyama ruined the friendship he'd  worked so hard to create.

Before Hinata was allowed the privilege of an answer, Kageyama gently took Hinata's hand in his and, with the other, cupped his cheek and joined their lips in a kiss.

It was gentle.

It was gentle, and it was loving, and it was everything their first kiss hadn't and should've been. Kageyama tasted clementines on Shouyou's lips, smelled honey and oranges, pictured a field of orange trees and Hinata, tending to the trees in a flower apron while Tobio watched from their front porch.

When Kageyama pulled away, he found Hinata with a hand at his lips, eyes wide and cheeks a soft pink.

"You--...?" It was an unspoken question.

Kageyama felt himself smiling bitterly, despite the pit in his stomach forming an agonizing knot. Had he just fucked everything up? Would Shouyou hate him again? Would things ever be the same? "Yeah."

"...this whole time?"

Kageyama nodded, tears forming in his eyes as he smiled. "This whole time."

He looked away, waiting for Hinata to hit him, to yell, to be disgusted.

But when he looked back, Hinata was smiling. His eyes were bright, hopeful. And then,

"I do, too."

A punch, a kiss, and a confession, all on one day??????? Well damn, I warned you at the start-- things get crazy in garden club!!