#askhqchibis

“Is it going to work?” Tanaka asked nervously, wringing his hands on his shirt. A hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he looked down at the shorter boy who had a fist clenched in a position of confidence.

“Ryuu, think about it—Kiyoko-san walks in and we’ll both stand on either side of the door. Then we’ll point up, and she’ll have no chance but to accept it!”

The image formed in Tanaka’s mind—his lips meeting the smooth, pale skin of Kiyoko’s furiously blushing face. Excitement and anticipation rushed through his veins, and he nodded wildly, “You’re right, Noya!”

Glancing at the clock, the both gave a loud yelp and scrambled for the step ladder, tripping over each other in haste to hide the evidence that they had tampered with the setting. Then, smoothing over themselves, they hid on either side of the door, eyes searching for their lovely Kiyoko-san.

Soon, the sound of pounding feet—definitely not Kiyoko’s footsteps—came racing at the door, and Nishinoya ran from the door, skidding back only to grab Tanaka by the scruff of his neck and dragging him away from the door.

“You cheated, dumbass!” Kageyama’s voice panted from right outside the door, and they strained their ears to hear Hinata’s ringing, out of breath laugh.

“Don’t be mad, Tiredyama. I’m only beating you 56 to 54 now!” He let out a triumphant yell that cut off when Kageyama most likely grabbed him in a headlock. The two second years gave each other matching shit-eating grins and turned toward the door, hands placed on their hips. They watched as Kageyama dragged a squirming, protesting Hinata through the door. The two first years stopped struggling when they noticed their senpais standing in the gym.

“Hi?” Hinata asked cautiously, not liking the sly grins on his friends’ faces. They said nothing, opting to gesture upwards. Simultaneously, Hinata and Kageyama tilted their faces upwards, and they both paled at the sight of the mistletoe hanging above them. Figuring that the two were about to bolt, Tanaka grabbed onto Kageyama as Nishinoya locked Hinata in a hold.

“Gotta do it!” they crowed. “It’s tradition!”

Realizing that they weren’t going to escape, the two stopped struggling and blushed furiously.

“Let’s just get this stupid thing over with,” Hinata muttered, eyes not leaving the ground. He jumped when he felt lips on his cheek, and whirled to see a burning Kageyama looking away.

“Wha—?” he asked incredulously.

“I just wanted to get it over with!” Kageyama shouted and stormed away, face looking as if it were on fire. Hinata stared after him for a moment before running to the opposite side of the gym, obviously avoiding the setter and oblivious to the cackling upperclassmen.

The next to fall victim were Daichi, Sugawara, and Asahi, all three arriving from class together. When they looked up in confusion, Daichi had blushed while Suga had laughed heartily. Asahi had burned a bright shade of scarlet. The vice captain leaned over to give the captain a peck on the cheek, and then slapped him upside the back of his head. Then he pulled the ace down and gave him a light kiss on his cheek, shoving him away right after.

Blushing slightly, but still laughing, Suga walked away from the two and winked at Nishinoya and Tanaka, who were gaping at how casual Suga was with the arrangement. He looked around and noticed that Hinata and Kageyama were blatantly avoiding each other and both still blazing bright red. It clicked, and he bowled over, laughing loudly.

Daichi and Asahi caught on, and they both chuckled at how Kageyama shouted insults at Hinata from across the gym, still burning red from earlier.

“Nice, Shimizu’s coming later. But good luck anyway,” Suga whispered, clapping both underclassmen on their shoulders. They nodded, determined to get their kiss from their beloved manager.

The two started to make their way over to the door, when they heard talking from the other side and scrambled away. Tsukishima walked in, bag slung behind him, expression just as impassive as it usually was, and Yamaguchi came right after him, chatting happily. However, the two were stopped when they noticed the rest of the team staring at them, Hinata and Kageyama in horror and the upperclassmen in amusement. Tsukishima looked to his captain, who only pointed upwards.

They both looked up and Yamaguchi blanched as Tsukishima let out his signature “Tch”. He leaned down and pressed a feather light kiss on his friend’s forehead and moved away, face just as impassive as before, but now he had a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks. Yamaguchi practically burst  into flames, and he stood frozen at the door, eyes glued to Tsukishima’s back. Snapping out of it, he quickly caught up to him and resumed his chatter.

At this point, Tanaka and Nishinoya were fidgeting uncomfortably, anxious for their manager to walk through the door.

“All right! Get ready to stretch!” Daichi called, and they reluctantly moved away and made sure to find a position where they could watch the door with piercing gazes. Not long after, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita stumbled through the door, noses red from the cold.

At Tanaka and Nishinoya’s insistence that they just absolutely had to kiss, Ennoshita sent them a scalding glare, and they quickly shut up, silently excusing them from the mistletoe tradition, much to the shock and scandal of the first years.

“When is Kiyoko-san coming in?” Tanaka muttered impatiently, and Nishinoya nodded, both their eyes still trained on the door.

“Tanaka! Nishinoya! Focus on stretching,” Daichi called, and they reluctantly turned away for a second, long enough for Suga to notice Shimizu coming up the steps. He smiled slyly.

“Ah, hello, Shimizu!” he called out, and the two second years immediately whipped around and clambered for the door, tripping over each other as they raced towards her.

“Ah, senpai, I’m not late, am I?” A light voice called from behind Shimizu, who nodded and smiled at Yachi as she ran up the steps. Kneeling over, Yachi gulped in a few breaths before standing straight. Shimizu turned to acknowledge and greet the team when she noticed Suga pointing up. She glanced up, knew immediately who’d put up the mistletoe, and smiled.

Then she leaned down and kissed Yachi’s forehead, ignoring the way the first year blushed a fiery red and the dismayed cries of Tanaka and Nishinoya, both of whom at this point were ignoring Daichi’s shouts of “Tanaka! Nishinoya! Shut up!”