Running Out of Time

"You…" Hinata's eyes darted in every direction. It looked like he was searching for something to say, as if it was going to be spray painted on the brain-nulling walls of the hallway. He stood there for another couple of seconds. I could only find myself smiling at his flustered state.

"I love you too! It…hasn't been too long right? Like I can still say it?" his shoulders slumped and looked to the ground, "I probably hesitated too long," he said softly. I cupped his cheek and led his face back up towards mine. Our eyes locked.

"I don't care if it took you a couple seconds or a couple hours, I would wait for your response. I'll always wait for you." I took him into my arms and let my mind melt away.

On Hinata's first day of detention, I waited for him outside the detention classroom. He begged and begged me to pick him up afterwards so that he wouldn't be walking the hallways with the thugs and "big bad meanies" to quote him directly. So I stood there, and I waited.

When I peered into the classroom through a little window in the door, I found the kids in there to be a lot less intimidating than I imagined. One of them had a book in hand and was calmly reading. The other one was a face I half expected to be there. He grumbled to himself and pouted, probably arguing to no one about why he shouldn't be there. He was anxious to get out, constantly rubbing the back of his neck and playing with his fingers. Yamamoto was exactly the way I had expected him to be in detention.

I shifted my eyes from him to Hinata, who was asleep. Drool pooled out of his mouth and onto the desk while his very tangled and messy hair flopped over his eyes. Instead of a peaceful look on his face, he looked uncomfortable. I quickly took a picture and returned to my spot in the hallway.

It wasn't too long until detention ended and Hinata walked out of the classroom door in all of his sleepy glory. I smiled at him as he yawned and stretched his arms.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked. He looked from side to side and I laughed again.

"Oh nothing, I'll tell you later, let's go."

After walking back to my house we hung out a little longer. Sometimes I thought that if I spent so much time with him then I would eventually get bored of him. He was the same person. We would eventually run out of things to say. There's only so many things we could share and only so much time to say it. And even though we didn't know it, that time was running short.

"What're you doing?" I was playing a video game while he finished his homework. He had giggled a couple times so I turned to see why maths was so amusing. "Shoyo, are you recording me?" He bit his lip to suppress a laugh. I paused my game and reached for his phone.

He dodged me and kept the phone pointed towards me.

"Shoyo!" I yelled with a smile.

"It's Hinata to you!"

"Oh please."

I reached for the phone a second time and knocked it out of his hands. It landed with a thud and I fell onto Hinata's chest. We were both laughing our arses off. Two little teenage boys, laying on top of eachother, laughing and smiling.

And that's what we both called love.

Walking too and from school was easier with him.

It might've been his hands, it might've been his mouth, his legs, or even a combination of all of those. Maybe it was just him. Or maybe walks have always been this fun. Either way, he made it so much easier.

I once laid in my bed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about our walks. I thought that what I was feeling was a sort of longing. A longing to walk with him forever. We could leave no corner of the world untouched. Where would we walk to? Why would we have to walk? We could fly, we could drive, we could sail, but my desire would always lie with the feeling of putting one foot in front of the other. My desire would always lie with him, with walking with him.

I had never felt so complete in my life. And I never would feel more complete.

Missing him was something that I didn't think would be a problem. I had never been a clingy person, and he didn't change that. He was different. Whenever it was my free periode he would skip maybe 20 minutes of his class. I always insisted on him going back, but he never listened. He had a problem with listening.

He led me to a locker and placed his lips on mine, at first gently. Whenever I felt those lips, my mind went to fuzz. There was nothing to think. I didn't have to. Kissed him back, I kissed him back like I would never feel those lips again.

I could feel everything. I felt his hips with my hands, his palm with my neck, and his tongue with my own. I didn't want to stop feeling. For the first time in my life, feeling was something good. He leant into me and I supported him. His weight was reassuring. He was there. He would always be there. We could stay here forever.

Oh, how I wish it was true.

"Boys! No PDA!" a teacher separated us. I went to the school garden, and he went back to class.

"Hey Kenma, have we really ever been on a date?" We were walking again. This time to no specific place, just walking to walk.

"Uh, we went to that milkshake place, and what about the arcade?"

"Yeah well you never like…formally asked me out." I shook my head. Hinata had always wanted our relationship to be perfect, and I couldn't make the argument that it wasn't. However, he was right, I had never formally asked him out, but I never thought that it mattered.

"Okay then," I sighed, "would you, Hinata Shoyo, my boyfriend of six months, go on a date with me."

"Depends. What're we doing?" I looked up at the sky. Finals were in two weeks.

"Studying." His smile dipped into a frown. I felt a series of complaints rising to his lips, but I stopped him before he could start, "Finals are coming up, and I don't want you to absolutely bomb it like you did with midterms." He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. I put my hand on his back and rubbed small circles.

"I'll come to your place Friday, okay?" He nodded.

Now it was just a matter of time. Time. That funny little thing.

The next day was a huge practice match against Karasuno. Normally I hated games, even with him there, but this time was the best game we had had in a while. I don't know what happened to me, but I was determined to get each rally right. Every movement had to be perfect.

It was the third set, and we were down 23-24.

Karasuno served, Inuoka received, Hinata shouted.

"KENMAAA!" The ball touched and left my finger tips in a split second. It was so fast that I didn't even see him hit the ball. Another point. 24-24. Our serve.

Yamamoto served. The ball soared over the net for their libero to receive. I looked over to Hinata who, along with Inouka, positioned themselves to block the ball. A set. A spike.

I watched the ball bounce off of Hinata fingertips and trickle down to the floor.

I looked at the other side of the court where the ball bounced. I felt my eyes widen. I felt a smile inflate. I looked over to Hinata who had the same amazement and wonder in his eyes.

Almost as if we were connected, we both yelled with joy at the same time.