Blessed Beauty

Chapter 24

Hitomi quietly sipped at her tea as she glanced over the cup's rim at Nishinoya across from her. The boy looked to be in complete and utter bliss, a glowing aura surrounding him.

The two of them had just finished their meal, or rather, he did. Hitomi had long been done with her food when Nishinoya was still going on strong like the bottomless pit he was. He had finally had his fill after copious amounts of food, the large pile of empty plates evidence of his carnage.

Hitomi pursed her lips together, trying not to laugh with great difficulty. The libero's belly was bloated, looking as if he were around three months pregnant. He leaned back into his chair, one hand gently rubbing his stomach. His eyes were closed, and an idiotically happy smile stretched on his face like he was having the most serene dream in the world.

Given the pace that he was eating and the volume of which he was doing so, Hitomi had secretly requested during the meal that the kitchen forgo any ideas of making dessert. While she did so, she acknowledged just how fit and healthy Nishinoya must be to be able to stomach so much food.

The girl was quite thin because of her genes and because she generally didn't eat that much in the first place. In fact, Chiyo had made a point to let her know that the head chef was overjoyed at how much more Hitomi seemed to be eating, despite not actually eating too much more than normal.

Seeing Nishinoya pack away all of that food made her realize just how much he probably trained for volleyball. She already knew how important the sport was to him, but this realization was no less amazing. Given his energetic nature though, she was sure he'd be just as healthy without volleyball in his life.

"I take it that the food was satisfactory?" Hitomi asked, snapping him out of his blissful daze.

He nodded furiously. "I've never had such good and fancy food in my life! Thank you, Hitomi-chan! Next time, I'll invite you over to my place and you can try my mom's cooking! I don't think she can make French food, but nobody can beat her Japanese cooking!" He proudly proclaimed with a grin.

The girl smiled back. "I'll be sure to let the kitchen know of your generous praise. Also, please don't feel like you're obligated to return the favor. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"What!? No way!! You wouldn't be intruding! I want you to be there, so you have to come! Besides, I bet my mom would love to cook for a girl again since all of my sisters are out of the house!" Nishinoya fervently insisted.

"Sisters...?" Hitomi repeated. The boy had never mentioned anything about sisters, much less siblings in general.

His eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah! I never told you about them! I have three older sisters!" He exclaimed, holding up three fingers. "They're all in college or have already moved out though!"

"You have quite a large family then." Hitomi commented with a bit of amazement. She had always been an only child. Unless, of course, her parents had some secret love children with the copious amounts of affairs that they were having. In which case, the girl wouldn't even be surprised. As of now though, and to her knowledge, she was born and raised as an only child.

Thinking on it, it shouldn't have been too much of a shock to find out that Nishinoya had siblings. If his sisters were anything like him, that would have been a rather rambunctious household. A situation that would only further exacerbate his loud and energetic personality. "They must have doted on you then, being the youngest and only boy." She surmised.

The libero gave a small, sheepish laugh. "They definitely did. Especially since I was such a scaredy-cat as a kid!"

Now that was surprising. "You? A scaredy-cat?" Hitomi repeated incredulously. He probably could have said anything else and she'd be more likely to believe it.