Chapter Text
Hinata opened his eyes to a beautiful sunny morning. Birds chirped happily outside and from his window he could see their peach tree in the backyard blossom.
Hinata stretched and involuntarily let out a pleased groan when his back cracked. Such a beautiful morning. Perfect for volleyball.
With that thought in mind Hinata quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready, unable to contain his excitement of just how wonderful today was going to be.
He put on a pair of shorts, a thin T-shirt, since the weather man said it was supposed to get hot today, and fished out his gym bag from the closet. He sent a quick text asking if Kageyama would be up for an early morning training session. He was putting a water bottle into his bag not a few seconds later when he got the reply.
_sure dumbass_
Hinata grinned at his phone and finished packing. He trotted down the stairs typing a really witty comeback to Kageyama's text when he stopped. A wonderful aroma of cinnamon and blueberries filled the air.
Hinata's stomach let out a growl. He didn't give the smell a whole lot of thought. Even if his mom hadn't made blueberry pancakes in decades ever since she started working full time and then some. Even if the only other person in the house was three year old Natsu, who was not allowed anywhere near the stove or so help Mama. But Hinata was thinking of none of those things and only thought about how delicious those pancakes smelled and how Kageyama wouldn't really mind if he was a bit late.
He heard Natsu talking and sounding kind of peeved in the kitchen.
"Natsu, are you and Toto fighting again?" Hinata asked. Toto being Natsu's imaginary friend who happened to be the prince of a turtle kingdom and always wore a top hat for whatever reason.
"Oniichan! Make this bad man go away!"
Hinata smiled. Natsu must be playing. So Hinata adopted the big theatrical voice Natsu loved and yelled, "See here, evil doer! Your time of tormenting young princesses are at an end!"
He grabbed his nearest weapon, which happened to be a broom, and rushed into the kitchen.
"HAVAT THEE! OH UG-" Hinata's battle speech was cut short when he realized Natsu was not playing. Nor was she alone. In fact, standing by their stove in their mother's old apron and looking much too smug was the last person Hinata ever expected to see in his house.
" Oooh? Shrimpy thinks he's a valiant knight, eh?"
"O-O-Oik… Oikawa?"
Oikawa just smirked at him and turned back to the stove and flipped over a pancake with a spatula. The griddle let out a quiet hiss.
Hinata balked. He stared at Oikawa, then at Natsu who was quite grumpily eating a pancake with syrup dribbling down her chin. Hinata dropped the broom, picked up a napkin and wiped her face with it, still not quite comprehending what any of this meant.
"U-um… Wh-what exactly are you doing here? W-wanna fight?" Hinata adopted a weak martial arts stance as if in preparation for Oikawa to suddenly lunge at him.
Oikawa snorted. "Of course not. Why on earth would you think that?"
Hinata relaxed his stance but he himself did not relax. Not quite yet.
"Well, what are you doing here? And why is Natsu mad at you?"
"He's saying weird stuff!" Natsu piped in. "And his pancakes are too good! I don't trust him!"
Natsu then fully punctuated her displeasure by ripping a piece of pancake off her fork with her teeth.
"Now now," Oikawa said in a placating tone which Natsu only took as patronizing. "There's no need for that. I just thought since I'll be staying here, I'd do something to show my gratitude. That's all. Hana-san told me you guys liked pancakes so I decided to make some."
"Don't call our mom by her first name! That's so weird!" Hinata said.
Oikawa turned his saccharine smile toward him and said, "But she said I could. What's so bad about that?"
"Like I said! It's just really weird!"
Oikawa shrugged. "Suit yourself. But have a seat though. My pancakes aren't a breakfast to be missed."
He took his spatula and then flipped the pancake he had been cooking onto a plate. He walked over and placed it on the table right next to Hinata.
"This is… impossible," Hinata muttered. No one else was supposed to hear that but Oikawa picked up on it.
"And yet… here we are," Oikawa said.
Oikawa got a clean glass out of the cabinet and poured him a glass of orange juice while simultaneously asking Natsu if she'd like a refill on hers. She nodded but wouldn't look at him. Oikawa didn't seem bothered by this and just smiled when he handed Hinata his glass.
Hinata didn't know why but he almost dropped the cup. He suddenly felt warm in the face and his hands trembled. What?
Hinata ducked his face and tried to excuse himself with something. He can't remember what it was. But Oikawa wasn't fooled for a second. Instead, he got right up into Hinata's personal space forcing Hinata to look at him.
"Uh-oh, Shrimpy. Don't tell me you've got something of a crush on me?"
Hinata squawked out a denial but Oikawa just took it in stride. He advised Hinata to finish his breakfast before it got cold. Oikawa then turned back to the stove and poured some more batter on the griddle.
Hinata and Natsu shared a look. Oikawa wasn't really doing anything bad so they couldn't really complain. If they did and Mama heard about it, she'd be furious that they were rude to a guest.
Hinata decided to not worry about it now and judging by the way his phone kept buzzing, Kageyama was waiting and getting increasingly impatient.
So Hinata decided to just dig in and worry about the hows and whys later.
Hinata slathered his pancake, which was about the size of his head, in butter and maple syrup. He cut off a piece and shoved it into his mouth. Before he could stop himself he made the loudest yummy sound he'd probably ever made.
He heard a delighted laugh from the kitchen.
"Didn't think my pancakes were that good, Shrimpy."
He soured at the nickname but chewed his food and swallowed which instantly made him feel better.
"Grand King, this is the best pancake I've ever had!"
The next laugh was higher and louder and made Hinata inexplicably pleased with himself. He didn’t know getting Oikawa to laugh would make him feel so happy. He continued to shovel the rest of the pancake into his mouth and chug his orange juice. When he was done, he put his dirty dishes in the sink.
"Going somewhere?" Oikawa asked.
"Yep! Kageyama and I are playing volleyball!" And shit. Maybe Hinata shouldn't have mentioned Kageyama. Suddenly something had shifted in Oikawa. He still had on the same smile. He still looked completely relaxed. But something (maybe his eyes?) gave him this hardened edge that wasn't there before.
"Oh, Tobio-chan, huh?"
"Y-yeah. Um, I thought Mama was going to be here. But I guess she got called into work?"
At Oikawa's nod, Hinata continued, "Then, do you mind watching Natsu? If not that's fine. I'll just take her with m-"
"I'll watch her." Oikawa didn't look up as he flipped over the pancake.
"O-oh. Great. Thank you."
Oikawa gave him… a smile. Not like his other ones though. This one was different. It seemed off, less perfect than his other smiles. His other smiles were too perfect, like he’d spent hours in front of the mirror practicing. This smile was crooked, his eyes scrunched up too much. And it made Hinata's stomach do weird things. Which probably wasn't for the best since he had just eaten.
"You're welcome, Shrimpy."
"Oniiiiiiiicchhhhhaaaaannnn!!"
Hinata jumped and looked over at Natsu who had her little arms crossed over her chest and glaring daggers at the two of them.
"What is it, Natsu?" Hinata asked.
"Don't leave me alone with that guy! He's a bad guy!"
"Natsu! That's not nice! He's kind of weird and mean sometimes but he's not a bad guy."
He heard a quiet and offended "hey" from Oikawa.
"But he is bad!"
Hinata turned toward Oikawa. "What did you do?"
Oikawa looked affronted and said, "I literally did nothing except make pancakes and told her her hair clip was cute."
Hinata turns back to Natsu and asks, "Is that true?"
Natsu was still glaring daggers at Oikawa when she nodded.
"Well, why are you saying all that stuff when he didn't do anything?"
Natsu turned her head away and refused to look at either of them. "But he did do something!"
"What? What could I have possibly done?"
Hinata knew it was bad but he kind of found it funny (not cute) how upset Oikawa was getting about this. To anyone who has never met the guy, he just seemed a bit annoyed. But that was the most upset Hinata had ever seen him.
He saw a golden opportunity and he took it.
Hinata covered his mouth to hide his grin as he said, "Why are you getting all worked up, Grand King? What? You can't have one girl think you're not amazing? Wow, how lame."
Okay, now Hinata can safely say that he's never seen Oikawa that angry. Oh, Oikawa was smiling but his eyes and body language held murderous intent and Hinata was about to flee for his life when he heard Natsu call out.
"No! Stop!"
Natsu had gotten between Hinata and Oikawa and had her arms spread out as if she were a wall protecting Hinata.
"You aren't going to make Oniichan cry again!"
Oikawa's previously livid expression just melted into one of mild surprise.
"Cry? When did I do that?"
It took Hinata a minute but then remembered what incident Natsu must have been talking about. He felt the tips of his ears go hot and said, "You didn't! Nope! Not ever! Natsu, what a fanciful imagination you have! And you know what, Oikawa? You don't have to watch Natsu today. You already made us breakfast which was really great of you! I'll take Natsu with me then. Okay, let's go. Bye, Grand King!"
Hinata grabbed Natsu by the hand and dashed toward the front door. "Hey, I'll get your shoes and how about you bring some coloring books along, kay?"
"Okay!"
Natsu skipped away to find her crayons and coloring books, happier now that she gets to spend the day with her big brother instead of the bad guy!
Hinata hurriedly put on his shoes and didn't notice someone standing behind him until there was a plastic wrap covered plate with a pancake on it right next to his face.
Hinata looked up to see Oikawa grinning down at him.
"Here, you and Natsu-chan can split it later. Or give it to Tobio-chan. I'm sure he hasn't eaten breakfast this morning."
"O-okay."
Oikawa just smiled and it held more of the whatever it was that made Hinata's heart beat faster.
Natsu came back soon enough with her little sunflower tote bag filled with books and crayons. Hinata handed her her little pink shoes and waited as she put them on.
"Okay, ready, Natsu?" Hinata asked after she was done.
She nodded.
"Alright then. Bye, Oikawa!"
Oikawa smiled and waved. "Take care~" he sing-songed.
"R-right." And with that, Hinata left with Natsu, trying not to think how incredibly domestic that had just been.
================================
"I'm telling you, Kageyama! It was just so weird!"
Kageyama only scoffed and said, "Well, that's fairly obvious."
"I mean, what was he even doing in my house in the first place?"
"That should have been one of the first questions you asked him, dumbass."
Hinata didn't know whether to be angry at Kageyama for calling him a dumbass or calling him a dumbass when Natsu was only a few feet away. Hinata quickly checked to make sure she wasn’t listening. Thankfully, she was sitting outside of their sand court in the grass, happily coloring in a Disney coloring book. Hinata turned back to Kageyama.
"Hey! Don't swear in front of Natsu! And besides, anyone would have forgotten to ask some questions when the guy from an opposing team is just making pancakes in your house like he belongs there."
Kageyama scoffed. "Not one as obvious as that one."
"Ugh!" Hinata didn't see a point arguing this point any further and instead asked for another toss. It seemed like that was the only thing Kageyama obliged him on.
The park they were at wasn't too far from Karasuno High School. Sometimes, when Kageyama and Hinata wanted to play volleyball over breaks the gym was often closed. It had been pretty lucky that they found a court to practice on not far from school. They had come across it while running with the team. Kageyama had gotten that weird pinched up smile he got when he was extra excited.
They played a bit more. The subject didn't come up again until they decided to take a break. Hinata sipped at his water bottle while Kageyama did the same. Sometimes giving quick glances to the plate with the pancake on it. When Hinata had brought it and asked if Kageyama wanted any, he looked at it with suspicion. He had taken a few bites and asked why Hinata brought him a pancake. Hinata had explained that Oikawa had given it to him so that he could give it to Kageyama. That lead to Kageyama asking why the hell Oikawa was giving him pancakes and Hinata had explained the situation while playing. The pancake had been untouched ever since.
Hinata took one last swig of his water bottle when Kageyama said, "Why don't you call your mom about it?"
"Huh?"
"She'd probably know, right? Since Oikawa is apparently on a first name basis with her."
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, makes sense."
He got his phone from his bag and dialed his mom's cell phone number.
It rang a few times before she picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mama. It's me."
"Shou-chan! Hello! Well, isn't this a nice surprise!"
He scratched the back of his head. He wished she would just drop the nickname.
"Yeah, Mama. Hi."
She was just so excited she started talking about her day. Hinata didn't have the heart to interrupt her. Apparently, all of the employees at the office thought to make their called-in workday better, they all agreed to bring in something for breakfast. They had a big potluck and it had made it that much better.
Eventually Mama seemed to come back to herself and asked what Hinata had called her for.
"Oh! Uh, so this morning… we, uh, Natsu and I… there was someone else in the house?"
"Who?"
"Oikawa? From the Aoba Jousai team? Why was he there?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"No."
"Oh. Well, his parents are good friends of mine from work. We had actually thought at one point that the two of you should be playmates. Since the two of you are around the same age."
Mama laughed like she was thinking of a wonderful memory. Hinata didn't think it was that funny. He had half a mind to remind his mother that he wasn’t at the age to be needing playmates anymore. Only teammates. But he held his tongue and made himself ask about more pressing matters. His mind was also reeling from the fact that Mama and Oikawa’s parents were so close.
"So, why is he here again?"
"Well, the Oikawas are getting their house remodeled. They needed somewhere to stay. Well, Tooru-kun does at least. His parents took the opportunity to go on a cruise."
"What? Why isn't he with them then?"
"From what I understand Tooru-kun already had plans with his friends and didn't want to go."
Oikawa was a weird guy, Hinata could admit. But saying no to a cruise? Definitely weird.
"Well, either way," Mama continued, "I hope the two of you are being kind and considerate to our guest."
She said it in that way that moms have. Like what she's saying sounds like a question but at the same time sounds like she already knows the answer and is pissed about it.
"Uh… well…"
"Did the two of you behave?"
"Well, I called him lame and then Natsu got mad at him for making me cry and-"
"What?"
Hinata floundered for a bit. He didn’t know how to explain to his mother that OIkawa had sort of made him cry but it wasn’t really his fault it was just the fact he won that stupid game and losing made him cry not specifically anything Oikawa did besides win but Mama seemed to pick up on the reason.
"Oh, yes yes yes. That’s right. But did you explain to Natsu that that wasn't his fault?"
"I tried to but she still thinks it was him that made me cry."
Hinata refused to look at Kageyama when he was talking about him crying with his mom.
"Well, there's nothing that can be done about it now. Just try to be warm and welcoming to him, alright? He's a very sweet and shy boy."
If he didn't know his mother would scold him into next week, Hinata would have laughed. Oikawa? Sweet? Shy? Pull the other one.
"Okay, Mama," Hinata said instead.
"Alright. Well, I need to get back to work. Tell Natsu Mama says to be nicer to Tooru-kun."
"Okay."
"Alright. Bye-bye. Love you both!"
"Ok. Bye. L-love you too."
Hinata quickly hung up the phone and braced himself from the barrage of teasing he expected from Kageyama. He was probably laughing his ass off.
But when there wasn't any laughter, Hinata looked up to see Kageyama staring at him with a blank expression.
"So? What's going on?"
Hinata breathed a brief sigh of relief and explained the situation.
Kageyama's face went from blank to scowl city in less than a minute into Hinata's story.
"He must be planning something."
Hinata should probably have not been as surprised at that statement as he was.
"What are you talking about? If he needs a place to stay then why shouldn't his parents want to put him with an adult they trust?"
"Because even in middle school his parents would remodel the house. He always stayed with his friends. So why is he staying at your house now?"
"Maybe his other friends were busy?"
Kageyama didn't look like he believed him. But Hinata honestly didn't care that much about it. And sure Oikawa's kind of weird and creepy but if he needed a place to stay and Mama was okay with him staying then that's all Hinata needed to know.
However, Natsu not being happy around him was certainly a big problem. He doesn't know how long Oikawa was going to stay with them but he didn't want Natsu to be unhappy during that time.
Kageyama, deciding their break was done, told Hinata to get into position. Hinata obliged while simultaneously trying to come up with some kind of plan.
====================================
"What?"
Hinata wasn't sure but he may have just made the Grand King speechless. He mentally gave himself a pat on the back.
"I said do you want to get dinner?"
Oikawa was staring at him as if he just popped the question out of nowhere. There was a long stretch of silence. Hinata heard about three cars pass by their house. They didn't live on a particularly busy street. Hinata gulped.
"Um… I guess that's a no?"
Oikawa seemed to come back to himself in a snap. His usual smile back in its usual place as if it'd never left.
"Oh, Shrimpy~" Oikawa touched one hand to his face. "Are you confessing to me? How cute~"
It was Hinata's turn to gape at Oikawa. "Wh-What!?"
"No need to be so shy. It's fairly obvious you have a crush on me, right? It's only natural."
"Wh-What?!"
Oikawa just chuckled. Then he waited as if he was giving Hinata enough time to realize himself that he had a crush on Oikawa.
"Th-th-that's not it at all! I-I'm not asking you out on a date! Okay? Natsu's coming too. We normally go into town for dinner when Mama's not home! I just thought you were a human and, you know, needed to eat!"
Oikawa's smile dropped.
"Don't look so disappointed!"
Oikawa sighed. "Alright. Let's go then."
Hinata just made a disbelieving squawking sound. What the hell was this guy playing at?
Oikawa walked into the bathroom without saying anything. He didn’t hear Hinata’s attempt at a comeback. It was probably for the best.
“Ugh, can you believe that guy?” Hinata said turning to Natsu.
Natsu only glared at the bathroom door and didn’t say anything.
Natsu had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since they got home from practicing with Kageyama.
Hinata wished there was a way to get Natsu to understand that his crying that one time wasn't Oikawa's fault (well, not 100% at least). He had even tried to talk to her about it today. She refused to listen. She insisted that it was still Oikawa's fault and she wouldn't forgive him unless Oikawa properly apologized.
Which would never happen because Hinata had no intention of ever breathing a word about that incident to Oikawa.
But still, he didn't want Natsu to be uncomfortable and he didn't want to throw Oikawa out. That'd just be rude and Mama would never let him hear the end of it.
So maybe all of them eating together would help somehow. But then again, Oikawa is pretty weird. Hinata wasn't necessarily sure he wanted to have Oikawa around. He kept saying weird stuff. Stuff that was totally not true. Not at all. Nope.
When Oikawa waltzed out of the bathroom, he looked nicer… somehow. The skin on his face looked softer and smoother. Even his lips looked softer. When Hinata asked him about Oikawa only said that he had needed to freshen up a bit. Hinata didn’t know what kind of witchcraft he used on his face but Hinata would leave it for another time.
They decided to take the bikes to town. Hinata and Natsu being the pros they were at bicycling didn't even think that someone wouldn't know how to ride one.
"Here, Grand King. This is my older bike," Hinata said, wheeling the bike toward Oikawa. "The wheels squeak a lot but you can adjust the seat higher than mine. Since, you know, you're freakishly tall."
Oikawa didn't take the bait at all and instead stared down the bike like it was an opponent on the court.
"Uh… Oikawa?"
Oikawa briefly glanced at Hinata and just as quickly looked away.
"Uh. Do you not like it?"
"No," Oikawa said. "It should be more than good enough for me."
Hinata didn't know why but the way Oikawa said that just really pissed him off.
"Great, then get on."
Hinata mounted his bike and Natsu did the same.
Hinata caught out of the corner of his eye Oikawa gingerly getting on his bike.
"Ready?" Hinata called to him.
Oikawa gave him an okay sign and Hinata pushed off. It wasn't until Hinata and Natsu were half-way down the hill that they bothered to look back and see that Oikawa wasn't even behind them.
A few seconds later his phone buzzed.
It was from Kageyama.
_Oikawa says he needs your number and won’t tell me why_
Hinata stared at his phone for a bit, completely bewildered before typing a reply.
_What?????_
_Read the text again if you don’t understand._
Hinata grunted at the phone in frustration. He even shook it a few times for good measure. Eventually he decided to type out a reply
_Okay? Then just give him my number? I guess?_
_i don’t envy you_
Hinata was working furiously at the keys to tell Kageyama how full of shit he was when his phone buzzed again.
_SHRIMPY!! D: WHERE DID YOU GO!? WHY DID YIU LEAVE ME IN THR FOREST!!! THIS IS THE WORST DATE I'VE EVER BEEN ON :(((((((_
Hinata hesitated to save Oikawa's number. He briefly considered blocking the number in fact. But he sighed and wrote back.
_FOR THE LAST TIME THIS ISN'T A DATE!!! AND WE DIDN'T LEAVE YOU ON PURPOSE!! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE RIGHT BEHIND US!?!?_
"Come on, Natsu. We have to go get the Grand King." Hinata offered his hand and Natsu took it in her own tiny hand.
He thought Natsu would pout but instead she giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"You were making funny faces at your phone."
Natsu then started to make all of the faces that Hinata could only assume were supposed to be the faces that he made.
They started walking their bikes back up the hill while Hinata's phone buzzed periodically.
One text was Oikawa asking if they were on their way with a bunch of crying emojis. Hinata sighed and typed out that he and Natsu were on their way.
The next texts were a series of pictures. The first Oikawa was looking around worriedly with the caption. "Hurry!! There's something in the bushes."
Hinata rolled his eyes and replied, "There's nothing in the forest that can hurt you."
The next picture was a close up of Oikawa. "I think it's getting closer!"
"I think you're overreacting."
Oikawa's next picture only contained half of his face and Hinata could see the trees and brush behind him. Oikawa's handsome face was skewed into a look of terror.
"There's something in the bushes I swear to God!!!! I am blaming you for my untimely death Shrimpy!!!!"
Hinata was halfway through typing "Calm down" when his phone buzzed again.
This time it was just a blurred picture of something. Looked like the brush and… a small animal.
The caption was "HOLY SHIT FUCKING FUCKER FUCK!!!
Hinata laughed. Hard. And for awhile.
Oikawa's next message wasn't even a picture. Just a regular text.
_Tell anyone about this and I'll murder you_
That only made Hinata laugh harder. At Natsu's questioning stare, he showed her the pictures and texts, carefully and strategically placing his thumb over expletives.
When they got to the last text, Natsu laughed too.
"The Grand King sure is a coward, huh?" she asked.
"Natsu! That's not nice," Hinata said. But his laugh hissing through his teeth belied his cool stern older brother persona.
They finally got back to the forest and Hinata couldn't help himself.
"Hey, Grand King~ Does somebody need to be saved from the evil tiny forest creatures?"
Natsu was trying to hold her giggles in with her hand.
Oikawa was not nearly as amused.
"Ha ha, Shrimpy. Very funny."
The look on Oikawa's face was entirely unimpressed and equally priceless. Hinata couldn't help but laugh harder.
"The Great… The Great K-King! Brought to his knees by some… some squirrel?" Hinata had to take frequent pauses while speaking because this was too much. He couldn't breathe. This was the best day ever!
"I'd appreciate it if we never talk about this again. And besides… it was… a really big squirrel."
Hinata made the biggest and most disgusting snorting sound ever made by a human. He had tried to keep in his laughter but to no avail.
He couldn't help it. Today had been several shades of wild and Hinata felt like he deserved to laugh.
When he calmed down enough, Natsu was smiling up at him and Oikawa's face was blank but not completely closed off. Hinata just smiled at him and said, "Sorry. But you have to admit that was pretty funny."
"Not particularly for me. First I thought I was gonna die then I get laughed by a short ginger. Ugh, can we go now? I'm starving."
Oikawa then picked up his bike from where it had been laying on the ground. He proceeded to walk the bike toward town.
Natsu and Hinata shared a look. Natsu smiled but it was more sober than it had been. Maybe she felt bad for laughing at Oikawa.
Hinata sighed. "Sorry, Oikawa. Look, if it makes you feel better how about I buy you dinner?"
Oikawa snapped out of his sour mood in a second. He turned his bright eyes to Hinata and said, "Really?"
"Uh, y-yeah." Hinata felt himself get a little warm under the collar from the attention he was getting.
Oikawa twittered out a laugh and said, "Maybe this date isn't so bad after all."
Hinata could tell his face was super red now and he snapped, "For the last time! It's not a date! Who would bring their baby sister on a date?"
"A kind idiot who'd rather bring his baby sister than leave her inside an empty house by herself, perhaps?" Oikawa answered smoothly.
Hinata stopped and stared. He didn't know whether to be offended, livid, or flattered.
"That's right! Oniichan is the best idiot ever!"
Hinata shot Natsu a scandalized look. "Natsu, you agree with him?"
"Yep," she said, unapologetically. "You're the best big brother ever. But sometimes you're an idiot."
Oikawa laughed and Hinata couldn't believe it.
"What? Natsu, you're not supposed to say things like that to your brother."
"But it's true. Sometimes you forget to come get me.Sometimes when you’re watching volleyball you forget about the dinner you were cooking. And sometimes the dryer shrinks my dresses because you weren’t watching it."
Hinata didn't know what to say. He still heard Oikawa laughing.
"See? Even Natsu-chan knows you're a bit of an idiot. Best to just embrace it. Right, Shrimpy?"
"Okay! So I'm forgetful sometimes! It doesn't mean I'm an idiot! I-"
Hinata would have continued if he hadn't felt someone's warm hand slip into his unoccupied one.
Hinata barely registered Oikawa was talking until he called him that annoying nickname.
"-Shrimpy. What? Don't have anything to say to that?"
Hinata didn't know what Oikawa was talking about but he assumed it was something degrading so he shot back. "Oh yeah? Well, same to you!"
It didn't exactly have the effect that Hinata was looking for. In fact, quite the opposite. Instead of being offended, Oikawa just smiled that easy smile of his and squeezed his hand tighter. Hinata felt his heart rate pick up. Hinata didn't look up at Oikawa at that point in time. He just stared at their hands interlocked and silently cursed the universe that Oikawa's hands were bigger than his and slightly rougher. A callused thumb from years of practicing sets gently ran across his knuckles. Hinata held his breath. He didn't know what to expect next.
He was surprised to realize that he was disappointed when Oikawa took his hand away.
"Well, let's get going then. I'm sure we're already late for our reservations at that five star restaurant you're taking me to." Oikawa put both of his hands back on the bike handles and started to walk toward town. Hinata sighed.
"Sorry to disappoint, Grand King, but us common folk can only afford a trip to a fast food burger joint."
Oikawa had the audacity to put a finger to his lips and ponder. "Hmmm… well, I am in the mood for commoner food at the moment."
Hinata just rolled his eyes. He and Natsu began walking toward town along side Oikawa. When they all got to where Natsu and Hinata had left their bikes, they decided to just walk their bikes down. Oikawa wouldn't tell them the reason why he preferred to walk but it didn't take Natsu or Hinata long to guess.
"I think I found something I'm better at than the Grand King!"
Natsu giggled."The Grand King doesn't ride bikes~"
Once she began to sing the teasing tune it didn't take a whole lot more for Hinata to join in.
"Hey!" Oikawa snapped. "Listen, it's not my fault I never learned how!"
Hinata giggled. "Sorry, Grand King."
They stopped singing the song but they couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces.
Eventually they all made it into town in one piece. Hinata and Natsu lead Oikawa to their favorite burger place. Oikawa's eyes lit up when he saw it.
"I haven't been here in awhile," he said.
"Natsu and I come here sometimes when Mama's working. Especially if I have volleyball practice."
"Oniichan's too tired after volleyball practice to cook." Natsu added.
Oikawa nodded. "I know the feeling well."
They ordered their food and Hinata had completely forgotten about his promise to pay for Oikawa. That is until Oikawa sort of graciously reminded Hinata of his promise. It involved a lot of crocodile tears and logic you would use in a playground scuffle. "But you said you would! You're breaking your promise!"
After they got their food, they sat down at a table near the window. Natsu started playing with the toy she got with her meal and Hinata tried to look everywhere except for Oikawa.
Hinata was sitting next to Natsu in their small booth and Oikawa was sitting across from them. The bastard was smiling away at him as if he hadn't taken off his shoe and was running his foot up and down Hinata's calf.
Hinata scowled at Oikawa. At least he tried. With how flustered Oikawa's impromptu game of footsies made him, there was no way of really knowing what facial expression he had. Oikawa didn't seem at all bothered by Hinata's expression and continued on.
Hinata held up a hand to shield his mouth from Natsu's eyes.
«Get your goddamn foot off of me, you bastard!» Hinata mouthed at Oikawa.
Oikawa only continued to smile.
«Make me.»
Hinata's blood boiled. Oikawa just leaned back and removed his foot.
"I have to use the bathroom," Oikawa announced out loud. He sent Hinata an annoying wink and got up from their table. Hinata sighed as he walked passed.
Hinata and Natsu continued to eat their meal. After awhile, Hinata felt small eyes gaze up at him.
"What is it, Natsu?" he asked.
"Do you really think the Grand King is cute?" she asked.
It took a few minutes for Hinata's mind to get back on track after that reeling question.
"Um… no?"
"Oh. So you were lying?"
"Natsu, what? When-"
"Back in the forest. You were all wooooooooooo after the Grand King went bam! Then he was all ‘I think you’re cute’ and you were all ‘so are you!’ then you made eyes at each other like how Mama makes eyes at the bakery man."
Hinata tried to wrap his head around Natsu’s adorable reinterpretation of what had happened. He grinned at Natsu’s use of onomatopoeia words and her impression of Oikawa. He did remember responding like that to something Oikawa said. But didn't Oikawa insult him? He actually said…
"He thinks I'm cute!?"
From the stares everyone in the restaurant were giving him, he realized how loud that must have been. He gave the on-lookers an apologetic wave and smile.
Natsu just rolled her eyes. "Duh, Nii-chan."
Hinata didn't really understand if it was pretty obvious or Oikawa was just messing with him. He figured that it was probably the latter since he can't imagine anyone flirting like that when they're serious.
Although if he was serious…
Hinata shook his head to dispel that thought from ever completely forming. He told Natsu to keep eating and began shoveling the rest of his meal into his mouth.
It was a couple minutes after they had both finished when they started wondering where Oikawa had gotten to.
Hinata got out his phone and typed a quick message.
_Are you shitting bricks in there? Where the hell you?_
He got a reply almost immediately.
_How crude. And no im not. Aren't u comming in 2?_
_uh no i dont like public bathrooms. Just finish up in there and lets go_
A few minutes later, Oikawa appeared looking a bit red in the face and.. disappointed.
Hinata smiled sweetly and said, "Couldn't push it out, Grand King?"
"Bite me, Smalls."