chapter thirty-one!
GAUCHE
"OVER HERE, YOU TWO!"
Despite Sugawara waving his hands to catch the pair's attention, Mina on the other hand was already distracted by the hustle and bustle by the riverside. It looked breathtaking, truly— the brilliant vibrance of it all, the rich scent of fried and barbecued snacks, folks of all ages dressed in yukatas, children spectating with laughter at an adult trying to get a hold of a goldfish— her eyes couldn't keep up; not when there's too many things she wanted to try.
So this is what a Matsuri looks like, she breathes out in awe.
"Looks like you're raring to go around, Lee-san!" Sugawara eyes the girl's expression with a tinkle of his laughter. "Everyone's already here but we've all broken into our separate ways. Kageyama, why don't you accompany her around the place? She'll need a tour guide around these parts."
"What?" Kageyama blinks.
"Oh my god, fried squid! Tobio-kun, look, yummy squid!" Her eyes glimmer at the sight of the food on the stand. "Hurry, hurry! Many people line up now!" She says with a tug of his sleeve.
"I-I got it, geez," The raven haired male couldn't believe just how excited she was. He nods his head at the latter. "We'll see you around, Suga-san."
"See you later!" Mina chimes in with a wave.
"Mhm, you two have fun!" His upperclassman smiles, but before Kageyama could go anywhere else, Sugawara approaches him and whispers, "You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take."
The raven haired male's expression contorts into that of confusion, unsure of what he was trying to say. "Uh..."
"Good luck!"
The latter sends him off with a knowing look before he disappears into the bustling crowd. He wasn't sure what that meant; not that he could think properly at how exuberant this crowd was. Instead, Kageyama diverts his attention to the girl who was already lined up at the squid stall. Their eyes met and she grins, lightly bouncing on her feet as she waves him over like a little child to their parent.
A soft sigh escapes his lips despite a hint of a smile trying to intercept.
"We are next!" She shows him their ticket once he slips through the line of people with mumbled apologies and stands beside her. "Wow, look at the chopped up ones in a cup— that looks good too!"
Kageyama watches as she marvels from afar at the sight of the golden crisped squids in a stick, then onto the ones with different sauces in a cup, and over to the menu dangling from the side. He had never seen someone get so worked up over a fried snack that he couldn't help but hide the snort he tried so hard to suppress.
"Number fifteen!"
The vendor yells out and Mina immediately tries to find her way through the front of the stall but she struggles with her shy mannerisms and petite height. Just then she felt her arm softly tugged and she inches backwards. Kageyama grabs the ticket from her hand and breezes through the crowd with his convenient height and intimidating demeanour.
That was a surprise, Mina thought.
Her heart skipped a beat.
The action wasn't much, it was just Kageyama grabbing the food for them but just looking at his back disappearing into the crowd— gosh, Mina couldn't believe how she was stumbling over minor details. He just looked dependent right then and there that she couldn't help but clasp her cheeks and cool them off.
"Here you go."
Kageyama reappears with the fried squids in hand. He holds it in front of her with the faint gesture to choose which one she wanted.
"T-Thank you!"
A hint of nervousness laced her laughter as she grabbed one from his hand. Mina immediately bites into it, eyes widening from the richness of flavour and the unhealthy enticement it offers.
"First time eating this?" Kageyama couldn't help but question when he sees her visage brightening up.
"Not first time but long time," Mina says. "My parents are, um... media, no, medicol— medical! Yes, medical people! They both have job in hospital, so always busy working. No time for stuff like this, you know? So when festival happens, we rarely go. They say, 'next time' but there's no next time."
Though it was faint, he could tell how her tone wasn't as bright as before. Now, because of his stupid question, Mina's down in the dumps and he didn't know how to fix it. A frown grows on his visage, biting his lips before opening it to say something, then clamping it close again due to his uncertainties.
"But, it's okay. I am here now. And you are here with me too, so I am having fun."
He looks at her. Mina was already looking at him, a smile blossoming from her rosy lips. The way she said it sounded a whole lot like she was thankful for him— for his existence. Kageyama couldn't help but look up to the starry sky with closed eyes, trying to control his heartbeat that possibly ran faster than Secretariat could ever.
This was bad for his health.
"Hm? You okay?"
He heaves out a heavy breath before finally setting his gaze down to their feet. Kageyama could still feel the rising heat crawling from his neck upwards.
"Y-Yeah, c'mon," He prods her to take a stroll. "Let's find some interesting stuff."
And so they ventured to the various entertainment the stalls offered. While they munched on the snacks bought, Mina would ask questions that supposedly a native would know but in Kageyama's case, he was mostly unsure now that someone was questioning the ways of the tradition. Didn't they just do it because that's how it has been for the longest time?
In the end, Mina didn't learn much history from him but she did enjoy his suggestions in delicacies and games.
Like the Kingyo-sukui game. Mina couldn't help but burst into a fit of unfiltered laughter as she watched the raven haired male helplessly try to scoop out at least one goldfish.
The way he was frowning, growing frustrated and mumbling out curses on the fishes cracked up the girl until her belly ached. But she had to stop him since children were listening to him grumble and he was wasting a ton of coins at this point.
They've also met the fellow Karasuno players, with one instance having met Hinata who couldn't believe his eyes that the two were strolling around together— by themselves.
Hinata's little sister was also there, whom introduced herself as Natsu, and the two upperclassmen, Daichi and Asahi, as well as Yamaguchi and Tsukishima in tow. Of course, with the kindness of Hinata's huge heart, he offered that the two come with them but it was their captain who immediately stopped him.
Saying excuses like, "Oh! Hinata, didn't your sister want some candied apples?" And Natsu bouncing excitedly at the thought of it.
On the other hand, Yamaguchi marvelled at the sight of them together. Kageyama might've been a good teammate [at times, of course] but for him to accompany Mina? He just couldn't understand why Sugawara explicitly told everyone else to stay away from the pair, to not bother them— ever. But one glance at her expression and it seemed like she was enjoying his company nevertheless.
And then they were all ushered by Daichi to move along, Yamaguchi giving the two one last glance before he turns to his friend.
"Hey, don't you think Lee-san's really patient? I mean, I feel like she doesn't even mind Kageyama's personality."
The tall blonde's eyes falls to his friend for a short second before looking forward again, uninterested.
"Weird people attract each other."
"Huh—what?"
MINA STARED AT IT.
She held the doll up high and then down before a hardly suppressed smile bloomed from her lips and into a toothy grin— she couldn't help it! No matter how many times she stared at it, the similarities it held with Kageyama's facial features forced a giggle to escape her lips. Badtz-Maru looked astoundingly the same as the raven haired male beside her.
As the source of her amusement, Kageyama was slowly regretting the fact that he won that thing for her. But his competitive streak wouldn't allow itself to tarnish his pride and so he went and threw those circular rings like an unstoppable madman.
"You look the same," Mina held up the plush doll right next to his face. "Brothers maybe?"
"Hah? I don't look anything like that!" He protests, slightly embarrassed and more on so irritated to be compared by such a dull looking penguin.
The two sat quite far from the riverside, right across the street where there was a fenced basketball court with benches and vending machines located inside. Mina was thankful that there wasn't that many people around but probably only that adult who chose to smoke in hidden sight behind the machines. The festival was slowly coming to a wrap with its finale being the fireworks showcase, and that's exactly what the brunette was anticipating for.
"Do you come to festival many times, Tobio-kun?" She queries as she places the doll down beside her.
His stare falls to her for a brief moment.
"Yeah, mostly when the old man was still around," He replies after a few seconds. "We don't do it a lot now, though."
Mina blinks and then stares down at her feet, humming with a soft nod. "Your grandfather is the old man..?"
The raven haired male nods. "He forced everyone in the house to go to any festival— says it's bonding or something. But... nowadays, we don't do it a lot. Everyone's just gotten too busy that there's little time to do these kinds of things. I wishㅡ"
And he pauses, causing Mina to look at him. Kageyama's expression shifts, a small frown forcing its way to grow on his visage as he bit his lips. But he contains himself, not wanting to bring forth those past emotions he couldn't bring himself to part with back then. He shouldn't be mulling over his past, not when living in the present. And he only has his grandfather to thank for that, the old man who brought the world of Volleyball to him.
A small and faintly nostalgic smile forms on his lips and he looks at her, shaking his head. "That's not it. Iㅡ"
A stream of light shots up at the sky and explodes into frays of countless colours. Both of them look up at the starry night as more explosion ensues with vividly brilliant variations of shades. Cheers and hoots erupted from the crowd in the distance but for them, it was complete silence. As Kageyama would've expected, Mina should've been gasping and fawning over the fireworks but she wasn't.
He glances at her and finds her staring at the night sky with a sense of tranquility. Her lips curves by the slightest while she watches the display, but there wasn't that fervid excitement she held earlier. It's just her spectating and admiring it, the illuminations in the sky reflected on her eyes.
Man, was she beautiful.
Kageyama couldn't help but think so. There were many things that he found pretty, like the freshly waxed floors of the gymnasium or the spherical symmetry that a round ball has, but none of them could ever be up to par with her. Mina was just— this whole human being that makes him feel stuff he would never feel with other people. He's confused, he absolutely knows that, but that romantic feelings that Saeko keeps telling him is intangible.
But Mina on the other hand, is tangible. She's right there, at less than an arm's length away. His heart beats against his ribcage like it's wanting to be released and he puts his hand over his chest but that was deemed futile; how could it ever slow down when the heart knows what it wants.
"Alright, look. You gotta know the symptoms of liking someone. Does it feel like your heart is going to burst? Is your belly getting some weird jittery feeling? Do you feel like you're having a fever when she's around? And most importantlyㅡ"
"—do you think about her a lot?"
"Mina,"
The girl's focus ceases with the call of her given name, something he had never done before. But when she looked at him, staring right at her with a tranquil expression quite unlike any other, Mina couldn't utter out any words. She merely allows the sounds of people cheering and the explosions in the sky to fill in the gap of silence in between them.
"I LIKE YOU."