Across the road, Imai had already waited for a green light and came jogging over. She leaned in close to Unabara Uta with a curious look, peering in: "What, what? I feel like I just heard something incredible!"
Hinata, who also suddenly realized there were girls present, turned bright red and crouched down with his head in his hands, attempting to escape reality.
Aaaaah—it's out! Such an embarrassing thing!
Seeing a tall couple standing there, along with a Little One being bullied into crouching down with their head in their hands, passersby on the other side of the road began pointing at them.
Unabara Uta quickly turned around to bow and apologize with a smile, then reached out to pick up Shoyo before the situation could escalate further.
"Alright, let's find somewhere else to talk." Unabara Uta said with a smile, exchanging a wink with Imai beside her.
In a dessert shop not far from the shopping street, Hinata sat opposite Unabara Uta and Imai.
Still feeling a bit uneasy, he couldn't help but jump slightly when the shop assistant passed by, looking every bit like a coward.
Watching the staff bring out their drinks, Unabara Uta looked up and said, "Thank you."
Watching the staff members depart, Unabara Uta looked back at Hinata across from her. "Alright, now let's talk about your problem."
"Huh? Yeah." Shoyo froze for a moment, then nodded.
And the first question Unabara Uta raised made Imai, who was standing nearby, unable to stop himself from laughing: "Shoyo, do you get this feeling when you're watching other people?"
Hinata thought back for a moment, then shook his head. "No, it seems like it's only Atsumu-senpai."
Rather, it was more that he had never had this feeling before, but for some reason, he had started to find Atsumu-senpai very handsome and well-built.
The effect of Atsumu-senpai wearing his clothes this time was truly a bit too much for him to handle.
It felt as if a certain.. strange sense of possessiveness deep within his heart had been satisfied.
Before Unabara Uta could say anything else, Hinata had already followed up with a second sentence: "But this isn't right, is it? Atsumu-senpai is a senior, a mentor, a Captain who deserves respect.."
In the end, it seems they shouldn't have appeared?
He shouldn't have those kinds of strange thoughts, like wanting to touch the other person's muscles, or wanting to hug them to feel their body heat..
It was a bit too out of line, it also gave him a sense of excessive guilt.
Imai couldn't help but whisper to Unabara Uta, "Do these two play this wildly?"
Hearing these words, Unabara Uta's serious expression almost crumbled, she quickly coughed a few times to cover her embarrassment.
Meeting Hinata's confused gaze, he quickly spoke seriously, "But Shoyo, there's nothing wrong with that thought itself. You see, sometimes I also think about hugging and kissing Maho."
Hinata jumped in surprise: "Ki-kissing?!"
His face turned bright red as he subconsciously imagined a scene of himself and Miya Atsumu embracing and kissing, following Unabara Uta's words.
Startled beyond measure, he leaned back, knocking over a chair in the shop and falling straight under the table.
The two people opposite him were startled, they simultaneously crouched down and crawled under the table, attempting to check on Hinata's condition.
When the clerk came over to serve the strawberry parfait, he saw the three of them had collectively vanished, huddled together under the table.
She fell silent for a few seconds, then asked tentatively, ".. Guests?"
Unabara Uta hurriedly scrambled up and apologized quickly, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, there was just a small issue, but it's fine, please go ahead with your business."
Hinata crouched on the ground, peeking out from the edge of the table with half his head visible, secretly watching the two people who had already sat back down opposite him.
Although he did indeed have some slightly strange thoughts about Atsumu, he had subconsciously assumed they stemmed from admiration and longing, which was why he wanted to reach out and touch him.
But Unabara Uta directly shifted the topic of discussion to "kissing." Did this mean Unabara Uta had judged that his thoughts were rooted in his feelings for Atsumu-senpai?
—The kind of affection that involves wanting to be in a romantic relationship with someone?
Hinata ducked down a bit, revealing only the part of his face above his eyes under Unabara Uta's gaze.
"Ugh.." Hinata narrowed his eyes, an internal struggle raging in his mind.
It seems.. he really likes Atsumu-senpai.
In many cases, subconsciously seeking someone out to celebrate with, or wanting to lean on them when feeling uneasy, are indeed all characteristics of so-called "liking" someone.
Although he wasn't sure what being in love was supposed to look like, couldn't quite imagine it, he.. felt that if he could kiss Atsumu-senpai, it would make him very happy.
To put it another way, he has feelings for Atsumu-senpai.
He had actually thought about this before; in every respect, Atsumu-senpai was the perfect match..
Wait, what was the scene back then again? It seemed like Oikawa-senpai was advising him not to date in high school? And hinting that he shouldn't date Atsumu-senpai?
Hinata's mind went blank, under Unabara Uta's gaze, he directly shrunk under the table.
He actually started liking Atsumu-senpai that early?
And Oikawa-senpai even noticed it??
Was it that obvious!
Back then, he was still thinking that 【Atsumu-senpai wouldn't have such thoughts】 and was completely dismissing Oikawa Tooru's words.
But looking at it now.. it was his own idea!
Seeing Hinata taking so long to come out, Unabara Uta could only crawl under the table again to look for him: "Shoyo? What's wrong?"
Although Atsumu-senpai is quite scary, he felt that Atsumu-senpai was very good to Shoyo and would make a wonderful boyfriend.
Was it really something unacceptable for Hinata to realize that he might have feelings for Atsumu-senpai?
Hinata turned his head bit by bit, looking at Unabara Uta with red-rimmed eyes.
Unabara Uta looked bewildered, watching the tears in the other's eyes, completely unable to keep up with the rhythm: "Huh?"
Meanwhile, Miya Atsumu, who was still waiting for Hinata, suddenly let out a sneeze. He rubbed his arms and walked silently toward a nearby milk tea shop.
It's still not true summer after all; the temperature difference between day and night is quite large. Shoyo is only wearing a short-sleeved shirt; he won't catch a cold, will he??
Thinking this, Miya Atsumu ordered two cups of hot milk tea and sat in the shop waiting for Hinata.
He rested his chin in his hands and muttered to himself, "Where on earth is Unabara Uta taking Shoyo.. I'm definitely going to settle this with him later!"
On the other side, inside the dessert shop, Hinata sniffled and said something that made both Unabara Uta and Imai feel lightheaded.
Unabara, I think I..
I've fallen in love with someone who doesn't love me back.
Chapter 291: The Two Hundred and Ninety-First Fox
Unabara Uta's mind went blank, feeling that his incredibly rich dating life since Junior High was completely useless at this moment.
He and Imai, who had also just crawled under the table, looked at each other blankly, both of them clearly sensing the confusion and bewilderment in the other's eyes.
Opposite him, Hinata was already on the verge of tears.
Unabara Uta hurriedly reached out to stop the shocking statement about to escape Hinata's mouth, sitting on the ground in a bit of a breakdown: "No, where did you even get that conclusion from?"
You aren't even in a relationship yet, so how can you say you're heartbroken?
Imai also found a comfortable position to sit down. "What, did you actually confess your feelings to Atsumu-senpai in private a long time ago, only to be harshly rejected?"
"N-no," Hinata shook his head.
But before Unabara Uta could speak, he added a sentence himself: "But it feels about the same, right?"
Unabara Uta was even more confused: "Huh? Did I miss some important plot point?"
No way! Every day when Atsumu-senpai looks at Hinata, it feels like he's staring intently, like he's about to drool!
If it were Hinata who took the initiative to bring this up, Atsumu-senpai would definitely agree a million times over; how could he possibly be refused?
"Um.. um.." Hinata sat cross-legged, trying hard to organize his thoughts into words.
How should I put it? It's just that Oikawa-senpai and I had actually talked about this before. He asked me what I thought of Atsumu-senpai, then he advised me not to date anyone during high school.
Unabara Uta clicked her tongue lightly.
As expected, Atsumu-senpai's ulterior motives toward Hinata were simply too obvious, to the point that even the seniors from other schools had noticed..
“And then?” He asked, supporting his chin with his hand, eager to know what exactly was going on inside Hinata's little head.
"Thinking about it now, I might have unconsciously acted like I liked Atsumu-senpai, then Oikawa-senpai found out," Hinata said, counting his fingers with a serious expression.
And besides, there was a time when Atsumu-senpai asked me if I was jealous that you had a girlfriend, Unabara Uta, I said I wasn't..
Hinata looked up at Unabara Uta, his expression full of pity: "After a bit of simple reasoning, is Atsumu-senpai perhaps hinting that I should find a girlfriend? Oikawa-senpai seems to have a lot of romantic experience, so is he here to advise me.. um.. to return to the right path?"
Indeed, it seems Atsumu-senpai has many fans; every time he goes out to compete, he greets all those girls, so it's very possible they don't like him!
Knowing that Hinata's pause was most likely because he was searching for the right words, Unabara Uta fell into a long silence.
He seemed to have slightly underestimated Hinata's IQ, also slightly overestimated his EQ; this guy knew absolutely nothing about romance!
Imai rubbed his chin, looking profound. "Ah.. a romance that ended without a cause."
Unabara Uta raised a hand to cover her face: "Help, please stop making things worse.."
Imai laughed heartily, then raised a finger and said, "Hahaha, I think Atsumu-senpai really likes Hinata-kun."
Did Hinata know all along that he liked boys?
It has nothing to do with gender; love is an emotion that arises because one likes a certain person. If Unabara Uta were a girl, she might also fall in love.
After all, it wasn't just about physical attraction; the love between the two of them had grown bit by bit from their childhood friend stage into its current state.
What she likes is Unabara Uta, that is all.
Hinata shook his head. "No.."
After all, he was actually shocked that he would have those kinds of thoughts about Atsumu-senpai!
Unabara Uta held up a finger to provide an example: "Shoyo, look, doesn't Atsumu-senpai often have things like 'I like Shoyo' or 'I like Shoyo the most' on the tip of his tongue?"
Hinata nodded, his eyes downcast with a hint of loneliness.
But that was exactly why he felt something was wrong.
After all, Atsumu-senpai also said he loves Coach Kurosu the most, loves the Kita Team the most, loves Xiaoxia the most, he also frequently says he hates Osamu-senpai the most, yet those two clearly seem to get along very well every day.
Those kinds of words.. can they be trusted? And considering Atsumu-senpai's wicked personality, I can't help but feel they're quite frivolous and unreliable.
—It couldn't possibly be that he's giving him a serious confession every single day.