Tobio and Hiromi boarded the bus. Karasuno's volleyball team was on its way to a practice match against Aoba Johsai (Seijoh). He couldn't wait to play and win against the team that had a few of his middle school teammates, especially Oikawa Tōru, his rival and fellow setter. On the other hand, she was excited to see the said rival and Iwaizumi Hajime, Seijoh's ace.
Hiromi wasn't a team member but Takeda Ittetsu, the team advisor, insisted that she get a ride with them. He said it was the least they could do as she would be the only one going to support them.
She sat next to Kiyoko to help her with some work. After they were done, Hiromi turned towards her senior and tried to understand why she looked so familiar.
"Is something wrong Hiromi-chan?" Kiyoko asked, noticing her stare.
"Ah! I'm so sorry for staring like that!" She bowed her head and she kept it like that until the older girl chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder, telling her it was ok.
"Shimizu-senpai, it's just that, I feel like I know you from somewhere..... Are you an athlete?"
"I used to be. I specialized in hurdling."
It finally clicked and she gasped. "I know you! I've seen your recordings, you were a star in all of them! And even though we both specialize in different things, you're one of my idols!" Hiromi's eyes were sparkling with excitement. She was so honoured to be sitting next to her.
Kiyoko chuckled once again. It wasn't common for her to be so cheery or talkative but her junior was too adorable. She also couldn't believe people watched her races let alone idolized her. "You're amazing too. Everyone's right when they say that you're going to be at the top. I'm sure you're going to represent Japan one day, I can't wait."
Hiromi's eyes were as wide as saucers. She almost died. Oh. My. God. This beautiful, talented, senior athlete, my freaking idol, just complimented me?! OH MY GOD! I hope I'm not dreaming. She calmed herself down before she fell off her seat and embarrassed herself. She took a deep breath, then asked a question that had been bugging her. "Why did you quit?"
The older girl frowned and looked away. Clearly, it was a sensitive topic.
Shit! Great job, you idiot! I already upset her. She mentally kicked herself. "I'm so sorry for ask-"
"It's fine." Kiyoko sighed and thought for a few seconds. Even though they had only spoken a few times, she felt comfortable around her and liked talking to her. She decided to tell her the truth. She knew about the injury the younger girl got last year, so it was only fair that she know about her own bad experiences too. Also, if anyone would understand, it was her.
Kiyoko gave a brief explanation. Once, she loved running but after a while, it wasn't fun anymore. She got injured many times, getting multiple scars and there was a lot of pressure on her to win. It became a burden. So she left it.
"That's why I admire you. Athletes don't get the recognition they deserve. Running is very tough, especially long-distance. You got injured too but you're still continuing with it. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have given up on something I had insisted on for so long," she said wistfully.
"You stopped liking it, so you quit which is admirable too. There is no point in forcing yourself to do something you dislike. Many people do it because they are afraid to try something new. But you were brave and gave managing a try, even though it's difficult and different from what you were used to. You're incredible because you can not only run but also handle these hooligans like a pro!" Hiromi hoped that she said the right things.
Kiyoko smiled brightly which reassured the other girl. "Thank you, I needed that."
They continued to talk about various things, especially athletics.
"Did you ever get nervous, senpai?"
"Yes. But once I'd start running the uneasiness would disappear, replaced by concentration. You?"
"It's fine when it's just a practice competition but otherwise I get extremely nervous. I always keep vomit bags with me just in case, I even have some now."
"That nervous huh?" They both giggled quietly.
Their bonding and pleasant conversation came to an abrupt stop as all hell broke loose.
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"NAKAI-SAN! Did you say vomit bag?! Can you give me one? PLEASE!" Hinata shouted from the back of the bus, looking a sickly shade of blue. They were sitting far apart but it seemed like the urge to puke had given him super hearing powers.
"He's been like this from the beginning. You better go to him or he'll puke on someone," Tobio scoffed.
"NAKAI-CHAN! FAST!" Tanaka screamed. He was sitting next to Hinata, trying to calm him and he did not want to become the victim of puke.
"SHIT! HOLD ON!" Hiromi shot out of her seat and bolted towards him, bag ready in hand but she was just a second too late.
Hinata emptied all the contents of his stomach onto Tanaka's pants, ruining them and his hopes of not becoming a human barf bag. It didn't stop there. Hiromi got a first class, high definition view of the great puking tangerine. The sight and smell of someone's partly digested food was too revolting for her to handle. So of course, she felt like puking too.
She clamped her hand over her mouth to hold it in. She tried to move away from the eye scarring scene but ended up falling on the floor and rolling to the front. At least, she was away from the puke.
The bus was in an utter frenzy. The third-years tried to calm everyone down but it was all in vain.
"STOP THE BUS!" someone shouted.
Tobio ran towards Hiromi and lifted her from the ground. He rubbed her back and snatched the bag out of her hand, holding it to her face. "Please, not you too! Take deep breaths! WAIT NO! On second thought, cover your nose properly!" He realized that he wasn't helping.
"STOP THE BUS!" the ones who were still sane shouted as that was their only hope.
Finally, the bus stopped. Hiromi rushed out just in time to spill her guts in the women's toilet. Tanaka got a new pair of trousers and everything else was taken care of. For the rest of the way, Hinata and Hiromi sat together in the seat of shame and they reached their destination without any further complications.
"We should have done this from the beginning. The two nervous shrimps could've helped each other with their disgusting puking tendencies. It would've saved us so much time and trouble." Tsukishima commented, getting off the bus.
"SHUT UP!" the two shrimps shouted indignantly.
"Why? I'm making a valid point." Right then, Hinata ran off to the bathroom to puke again. "Hence, proved," the salty blonde said smugly, satisfied with his accuracy.
Tobio was on the verge of killing Hinata for being so unnecessarily nervous, the only thing holding him back was Hiromi and Sugawara. Daichi massaged his head, hoping against hope that the match would go better than the bus ride.
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It didn't.
With Hinata arriving late from his trip to the bathroom and messing up multiple times, the game was problematic. The worst and most hilarious part was when he served the ball straight into Tobio's head. Tanaka and Tsukishima started laughing and teasing them, making matters worse. However, to everyone's surprise, Tobio hadn't ended Hinata's life right then and there. Instead, he managed to finally calm him down in his own terrifying way.
Another thing that didn't go as planned was that Oikawa played only for half of the game.
On the bright side, after all that, Karasuno somehow managed to win the match.
As they were about to leave, the captain and the vice-captain of Seijoh, Oikawa and Iwaizumi, appeared out of nowhere.
Oikawa pointed at Tobio, "Next time in an official match, I'll play for the entire game and I'll pulverize you." He smirked at him and the rest in a sly manner. The Karasuno team didn't give him the reaction he wanted and walked away to the bus. His resentful scowl immediately switched to a thrilled expression when he spotted Hiromi among them.
Before she could follow the others, he grabbed her hand. "Hey, Hiromi-chan! Why are you going? We are seeing each other after so long. Aren't you going to chat with me and Iwa-chan for some time?" he asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes.
"It's ok Oikawa, let her go, the team will be waiting for her." Iwaizumi slapped his hand away. Then, he smiled, ruffling her hair. "It's been a while but you have to hurry so we'll catch up some other time."
She gave them a big grin, though feeling a bit disappointed. "You're right, we will. It was nice seeing you guys again."
"Before you go, you have to tell us, did you come here to secretly cheer for Seijoh? If you did I wouldn't blame you, everyone cheers for me... Oh and my team too, I guess," Oikawa flaunted shamelessly.
She and Iwaizumi shared an eye roll. "You haven't changed a bit. Still got an ego bigger than yourself. And no, even though we are friends, I only support Karasuno. To me, they are the best." She stated proudly, putting her hands on her hips.
"You mean, you think Tobio-chan is the best because you like him, don't you?" They smirked, seeing her become flustered.
She glared at them. "N-NO! I-I mean YES! Of course, I think he is the best. But I don't have a c-crush on him or anything."
"He never said anything about having a crush," Iwaizumi pointed out as they grinned cheekily. She had fallen right into their trap.
She started inching away from them, getting ready to flee before the cat got out of the bag. "I can't hear you. And by the way, you guys will lose badly to Karasuno. See ya~!" she said before sprinting towards the bus.
"Lying is not good! We'll win, just you wait!" Oikawa shouted back.
"Sorry! I'm deaf to bullshit!" The two third-years could hear her voice getting fainter as she went further away.
"Well, we have to walk the talk, so let's get to practice," Iwaizumi said and they walked back to the gym.
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It had been a week since the practice match and Hiromi had already met the missing members of the volleyball team along with the other first years.
Nishinoya Yū, a second-year was the team's tiny, boisterous and superstar Libero. He had been suspended for misbehaviour. While Azumane Asahi, a third-year was the team's gigantic, all-powerful but timid ace. He had left the team for a brief period.
Nishinoya and Hiromi had gotten along well from the start. Initially, she had been frightened by Asahi because of his large, intimidating appearance. Most people had this reaction when meeting him for the first time but soon enough she realized that he was a big softie and warmed up to him, much to his relief.
That day, as usual, she was making her way to the volleyball court after her own practice.
She wanted to scare Tobio like he had done a few days back, embarrassing her in front of his entire team. So, she waited outside the gym.
Suddenly, a ball zoomed outside the gym and Nishinoya ran out the door to collect the ball. She tried to hide so that he wouldn't catch her but failed.
"Hey, Nakai-chan! What are you doing out here?!" As usual, he spoke loudly.
"Noya-kun, shhhhhh!"
He picked up the ball and walked over to her. "What's going on?"
She quickly explained her plan to him and he nodded in approval.
"All the best! You'll need it because I don't think anything scares him. He'll probably end up scaring you again with his grumpy face."
"Hey! You're supposed to be more supportive as my senpai and as the guardian deity of Karasuno." She emphasized the 'senpai' and the 'guardian deity'.
This made him puff out his chest and flare his nose. "You're right, I'm your senpai and the guardian deity! You will do well, I believe in you!" He patted her shoulder, gave her a thumbs up and then headed back into the gym. She chuckled, he really did love being called those words.
She waited patiently, getting super excited. Soon, she could hear them wrapping up practice and readied herself. She took a glance and saw that Tobio was going to walk out the door. Right when someone stepped out, she jumped in front of them and shouted, "BOO!"
She ended up scaring poor Asahi, disclosing her plan and location to the entire team.
"N-Nakai! W-what was that f-for?!" The terrified guy was on the floor, shaking.
"I AM SO SORRY ASAHI-SAN! I DIDN'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU!" She kept bowing in perfect ninety degrees continuously, only stopping to help him up.
"I-it's ok.... Just be more careful next time...." He seemed to have calmed down.
"YES, SORRY!" She saluted him as he gave her a sheepish smile, trying to assure her that she didn't have to feel so bad about it.
"Hiro? What the hell were you trying to do?" Someone appeared next to her out of thin air, placing a hand on her arm. She flinched and shrieked at the top of her lungs, immediately turning around in a defensive stance. Her momentary peace got disrupted by Tobio.
"I told you. I had so much faith in you and I cannot believe you failed so badly." Nishinoya was practically rolling on the floor with laughter.
"How can someone as clumsy and awkward as you scare the king?" Tsukishima added.
Soon, everyone started teasing her mercilessly. She felt so attacked and hurt that she just helplessly stood there with her mouth open.
"Hey, leave her alone," Daichi scolded.
"Yeah, that's enough." Sugawara shut her hanging mouth and gently patted her back. Giving her a sweet smile, he continued, "Nakai-san, a bug could get into your mouth."
She almost cried tears of joy, glad that they came to her rescue.
After thanking them and apologizing multiple times, Hiromi dragged Tobio along with her so that they could finally go home. She had been humiliated enough for one day.
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On their way home, she bought them a packet of meat buns. For some time, neither of them spoke as they ate their food.
"What's going on?" Tobio asked with a raised eyebrow, breaking the silence.
"Uhh, nothing? Why?" Hiromi copied his actions.
"First, you bought me milk for lunch. Now, you bought this even though you embarrassed yourself because of me."
"Oh!" She chuckled nervously. "...I'm just.... being a nice friend unlike you, can't we leave it at that?"
"No. Tell me."
She mumbled some gibberish which caused him to let out an impatient sigh. "Well?!"
"I'm in a good mood!"
"No shit but that's not the entire reason. Just say it!"
"Fine!" She huffed in exasperation. "I'm happy because you are. I haven't seen that sparkle in your eyes for a while and I know it's because of your team. I feel like you have found the dream team! And you're doing so well on being more friendly and I'm proud of you! It may not be a big deal to many but I still think it's an achievement. So, I wanted to do something for you."
Tobio looked down to see her annoyed expression change into a gentle smile. His heart almost leapt out of his chest. Shit! She's too sweet. He dismissed those feelings and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.
This startled her and increased her heartbeat rate but she wasn't complaining. They continued to walk in silence on the quiet road as the night breeze blew past them. The sky was dark and the street lights were on. A few people passed by them either on foot or on cycles.
When they were done with the last of their meat buns, she stuffed the packet into her pocket. After dusting off her hands, she quickly grabbed onto his hand that was hanging over her shoulder with both of her own. She wanted to make sure that she remained in his embrace throughout their entire walk home.
"So, what's this for?" She nodded her head towards his arm around her shoulder.
He just shrugged. I don't know what you're talking about. She narrowed her eyes. Just spit it out, you terrible liar. Of course, that wasn't enough to get an answer out of him. She continued to give him an intense stare until he finally cracked, "Do I have to tell?"
"Yes, I told you, now you better tell me."
"....."
"....."
"Ok, ok.... I wanted to... thank you without actually having to say it. But of course, that's not possible with you." She beamed and he knew she was going to comment on how 'sweet' he was being. Before she could, he quickly added, "If you want I can let go."
"No don't!" Her grip on his hand tightened, surprising them both with her frantic tone. "....I mean... you only do this sometimes so I want to enjoy it while it lasts," she corrected herself.
Once again the quiet between them was broken when he said, "It's not just for me."
"What do you mean?"
"Even you found a good team. And it's not just them. You're friends with everyone in my team and that girl from your class. You seem happy and comfortable with them. I'm.... glad."
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you? Karasuno is great! But you know what my favourite part is?"
"How will I know if you don't tell me?"
"Ugh, no need to be sarcastic. Anyway, the best part is you, Tobio-chan. I wouldn't like any school as much if you weren't there with me."
He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to see if she was joking but her adorable smile erased all his doubts. "Ifeelthesame," he managed to grumble, annoyed at how flustered he was feeling all of a sudden.
"What was that~?" she asked in a sing-song voice, having heard him even though he was far from clear. She just wanted to hear him say it properly.
He mumbled something very vague.
"Sorry?"
"I SAID, I FEEL THE SAME, DAMMIT! WAS THAT CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU?! ARE YOU HAPPY, NOW THAT I SAID SOMETHING SO..... DISGUSTINGLY NICE OUT LOUD?!" He glared at her.
"Awww~! Don't be like that, I always knew you were an absolute sweetheart, Teddy-chan."
"Shut it! I'm not. Again, you're only saying that to cover up your fear."
She gasped. "How dare you?! I thought you said you believed me when I said that I'm not scared. You liar!"
"Then why were you trembling and squeezing my hand when we were seeing that trailer?"
"That lady with long black hair was creepy as hell, ok? What if she killed me in my sleep? I needed to protect myself from the horrors of the dark and your threatening aura is the best shield against everything."
"You just admitted to being scared of the dark."
Her eyes widened in realization and she hastily tried to change the direction of the conversation. "You're so shitty! You know what?"
"What?"
"You have been relieved of your position. I will use the teddy bear Oikawa-kun gifted me as my shield instead." That was a blatant lie. Oikawa wouldn't do that, he would much rather keep the teddy bear for himself than give it to her. She never needed a plushie anyway because she had Tobio.
"What gift?! I thought I was your teddy bear? How dare you replace me with some cheap toy he bought you. That bastard probably gave you something one of his fangirls gave him." He would not tolerate being thrown aside by her because of that guy. He absolutely hated losing to the older setter.
"You just admitted to being my teddy! Hah! I got you."
"Oh, you were trying to change the subject the entire time. Looks like you failed, scaredy-cat."
"Teddy bear."
"Better than being a scaredy-cat."
This continued. It was ironic because they were insulting each other but at the same time, holding each other close. It was like a subconscious declaration that they could never let go of the other.
Too engrossed in their little world, they didn't notice that they had passed by their houses a while back.
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Date: 11/03/2022