New Friends
Saturday again!
You got up and did the same like every weekend, you liked routine, so you didn't mind at all. You went out for a morning run and stopped by the same green area to catch your breath and stretch a bit. You were listening to music so you didn't realize someone was calling you.
"Oi! Mysterious girl!" someone yelled and waved at you as the team ran past you.
Seeing that he failed his attempt of getting your attention, he decided it'd be better if he just approached you.
"Hello," he sang but you didn't notice his presence until he patted your shoulder, making you jump in place and turn around to punch him in the stomach as a reflex action.
Your eyes widened as you saw the guy before you, grabbing his stomach in pain, and his friends agape before they started laughing.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" you took off your headphones and bent over to the guy, "Are you okay?" you asked, concerned.
"I'm okay, don't worry about it," he hissed, "My guts have just been relocated, that's all." he said, wheezing, "I'm Tendou Satori, by the way," he added.
"Uhm... I'm LN YN," you said back, "Nice to meet you, Tendou," you said shyly and helped him get up straight.
"Guys," he turned to his team, "This is LN YN," he announced, "Watch out, she's incredibly strong," he said and you blushed.
The team said hello to you and you learnt that the tall guy you used to see every weekend was named Ushijima. You knew who he was, but tried not to show. You had heard your team talk about the famous Ushijima Wakatoshi from Shiratorizawa Academy, and now you were standing in front of him. After some small talk, they started talking to you casually.
"So, LN-san, which High School do you attend to?" Goshiki asked you.
"Karasuno High."
"Do you happen to know Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo?" Ushijima asked calmly.
"Yeah, of course, I'm friends with the volleyball team." you announced and they seemed interested all of a sudden.
"We're a volleyball team too!" Tendou cheered loudly.
"Really?" you chuckled, "What High School do you guys attend to?" it was your time to shine, and prove yourself you could be a great actress if you ever wanted to.
"Shiratorizawa, just a few streets away from here." Ohira replied.
"Ah..." you paused for a second, "The huge one?" Tendou nodded happily, "I heard it's incredibly difficult to get in."
"It is indeed, I wouldn't have gotten in if it weren't for my scholarship." Goshiki muttered looking down, and Yamagata patted his back.
The conversation kept on for a couple more minutes before you decided it was time to return home, for it had been almost an hour and a half since you left.
"I should probably get going," you said.
"Yeah, we should too, before Tanji-kun gets angry," Tendou said, "See you soon, LN-chan!"
"See you, guys," you smiled before turning away.
The team waved goodbye as you started running in the opposite direction. On your way home you started thinking, What had just happened? Did you just befriend your team's rival?
[...]
You were meeting Kageyama today and you were hoping your address was legible in the note you handed him yesterday. What if he didn't understand some kanji? Or got on the wrong bus? You lived rather far from Karasuno High... Anyway, he would find the way, eventually. Or that's what you wanted to believe.
You were also relieved that your dad was on a business trip that weekend, it was enough with your mom being there. Not that you had a bad relationship with them, rather the opposite. Your mom was your friend, but she could embarrass you sometimes, you know, the way a mom would. Your dad, on the other hand, was very tiring with his dad jokes, which for the record, Tanaka and Nishinoya loved to hear.
You arrived at your street, and to your surprise, someone was sitting on your front yard stairs, purposely waiting.
"Ah," you were surprised, you took your headphones off and looked at the time on your phone, "You're early!" you looked at him.
"Umh... Yes," Kageyama looked back at you, getting up, "I didn't want to be late so I left early to get here on time," you nodded in response "I, I hope you don't mind," he added, watching your expression.
"Not at all," you reassured, smiling, "I'm gonna go take a quick shower and I'll be ready to start," you pointed out and started walking to the door.
Kageyama stayed in place.
"Are you coming?" you turned to ask him, "Or are you gonna wait outside?" you tilted your head, it seemed his mind was blank for a minute, "Come on in," you insisted, signaling your house with your head.
Kageyama hurried to follow you inside.
"I'm back!" you said as you stepped inside and took off your shoes, Kageyama followed your lead, "Mom, this is the boy I talked to you about," Kageyama blushed, listening to your words.
"Oh, hello there young man," your mom smiled at the boy.
"Hello, Mrs. LN! I'm Kageyama Tobio. Thank you for having me," he rushed to bow at her, you and your mom looked at each other and giggled a little.
"I'm going to the shower, you can wait in the living room."
Kageyama hummed back at your suggestion and found his way to your couch, leaving his school bag on the floor. You ran upstairs and rushed to the shower, trying to be faster than ever. You didn't want Kageyama to wait for long.
About thirty minutes passed, and you were back downstairs. You leant on the door frame and peeked into the living room to see Kageyama looking through his English text book while nibbling his pencil. You smiled to yourself.
"Hey," you spoke from your place, "Do you want some snacks? Maybe a drink?" Kageyama turned to look at you and his pencil dropped from his mouth as he saw you wearing your hair down, instead of a ponytail like before, it was also slightly wet and your cheeks were still red from the hot shower you just took.
"Uhm..." he gulped.
"We have orange juice, pineapple juice, chocolate milk..." you started naming, trying to remember what you saw in your fridge this morning. Kageyama was still staring at you, unable to say much, "Hmm... I think there are some yogurt drinks left as well..." and from the look on his face you knew you just hit the nail on the head, "I'll get you one of those," you laughed.
"Thank you!" he rushed to say. He sometimes spoke so fast you frankly didn't get what he said, but you were getting used to it by now and honestly, you had gotten so much better at deciphering him.
You nodded at him and made your way to the kitchen, where you found your mom cleaning up a little. You went straight to the fridge to pick a yogurt drink for Kageyama and an orange juice for yourself.
"He seems nice," your mom said, "Very polite," she added, eyeing you.
"Hah, yeah he is," you chuckled at her remark, closing the fridge behind you.
"He's also very good looking," your mom slightly nudged you.
"Mom!" you whisper-yelled at her, surprised, "I frankly think he's quite young for you, but..." you pointed out, leaving the drinks on the counter to look in the cupboards for something to eat, "If you want to give it a try..."
"YN!" she laughed at your stupid remark, "Don't be silly, you know what I mean."
"Mom, I'm his senpai."
"Oh, so he's young for you but not for me?" she downplayed what you just said, still doing some chores.
"Hey, I don't make the rules!" you both laughed, "Besides, I'm just tutoring him," you turned to her with a more serious look, gaining a disbelieving look from her "It's nothing like that."
"Okay, honey... Whatever you say," your mom resumed her doing.
You eyerolled and went back to the living room. To your surprise, Kageyama wasn't alone. Your cat had crawled to his lap and he was stroking her hair so gently that you stared at him for a while. His usually cold aura seemed to shut down. You held up your drinks and snacks, tilting your head He might be... somehow cute, you thought to yourself. Kageyama looked back at you and found you staring.
"Let me help you!" and with what seemed to be all the delicacy in the world, he picked up your cat and slowly placed her on the couch so she could keep sleeping. He quickly got up afterwards, and grabbed everything you had on your hands, blushing a little, but not much for you to notice, at the feeling of your touch.
"Ahm... thank you!" you finally came back from your thoughts.
Kageyama left the drinks and snacks on the table and returned to his seat.
"Do you like cats?" you asked him, sitting next to him but leaving a gap between you two for your furry cat.
"Ah, yes. I've never had one, though. But I used to have a dog," he said, a bit of sadness in his words "H-He passed away a few years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry," you sadly whispered and he nodded.
"My grandfather got him when I was six," he started saying, "Wait..." he bent over to his side and looked through his bag, taking out his wallet. He handed you a polaroid "This is us on my 10th birthday," he tapped the picture in your hand.
"Aw, you two looked adorable," it was a stunning black and white border collie and Kageyama looked so cute and happy, "What was his name?" you added.
"Uhm..." Kageyama rubbed the back of his head, "Mochi."
"Mochi? As in the rice cake?" you asked, as if you had listened wrong.
"I was six, and I liked mo-," he started saying, trying to explain himself before you cut him mid-sentence.
"That's a great name," you giggled, "It suits him well."
Kageyama was stunned to see this new side of you. So gentle and welcoming instead of intimidating or goofy as you usually were with your friends.
"And I suppose this is your grandfather?" you pointed at the tall figure in the picture.
"Yeah," he muttered, "He passed away not long before Mochi did," he sighed.
"Oh," you didn't know what to say, "I'm so sorry" you squeezed his hand in yours for a second, looking into his eyes.
You knew very well how painful it must've been. He nodded, and both of you blushed a little as you were still holding hands. You retreated your hand and wished that you just didn't make things awkward between you two. However, you couldn't help but think to yourself if these events were the reason he now looked more serious and somehow unapproachable.
"What's her name?" he asked after a moment of silence, looking at your cat.
"Haru, as in Spring. You know, she's never that friendly with anyone," you said, looking at your sleeping cat and then facing him.
"Oh, really?" he caressed her head and scratched her chin, making her comfortable enough to roll around showing her belly.
"Yeah..." you smiled at the scene, "She really likes you," his face flushed darker and he gulped not knowing how to react. Did you like him as well?
"Have you thought about getting another dog?" he came back from his thoughts.
"Uhm... No, at least not for the time being. My sister got really sad when Mochi passed, and said she didn't want to go through anything like that again. So... I guess I'll just wait for the right moment to have one of my own."
"I see..." you empathized, Haru wasn't your first cat after all, "I didn't know you had a sister. Is she older than you?" you tried to change the subject.
"Yup, she's 23. And she's a pain in the ass sometimes," he scoffed.
"I wish I had a sister," you daydreamt.
"You can always borrow mine," Kageyama tried to joke.
"Maybe I will," you chuckled back.
Kageyama started to understand why everyone was so friendly around you, you seemed to always know what to say or how to act around people. You made him feel at ease, like he could finally be himself around you. On top of that, he also started to realize how much he loved hearing you laugh.
You decided it was time to get the study session on, and bending over a little you looked at the open book on the table.