Hitomi reached the convenience store for the first time this week. She went there in just the same way that she normally would. She had returned from school, washed and changed into more comfortable clothes, completed her homework for the day, ate a lavishly prepared dinner, and walked to the convenience store with several hidden bodyguards surely following her every move.
As she entered the store, she greeted the elderly Fumio-san behind the counter as she always would. Taking a shopping basket, she travelled to the candy and chocolates aisle first, as per usual. She picked out her familiar favorites and then moved to the next aisle to do the same.
Everything she was doing was routine and regular. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Yet, something felt...off. When she reached the ice cream freezers and saw the Garigari-kun brand, it dawned on her.
This was the first time she had come to the store and hadn't seen Nishinoya waiting for her.
She tilted her head, thinking on her encounter with him yesterday. He had basically ambushed her at her school, drawing a large crowd and unwanted attention. "We have a day off to rest our muscles right before the Inter-High! So, I decided to come see you!"
She nodded to herself, remember his words yesterday. So, the Inter-High should be today. Surely, he would be tired from his match or matches then.
Thinking back, Hitomi remembered the time that he had fallen asleep in front of the store while waiting for her. He must have been training and practicing extra hard for the upcoming tournament if his fatigue and constant new bruises were any indication. It was no wonder she didn't see him today when all the other times he had been so vigilant.
Her hand paused as she picked up a Garigari-kun popsicle, soda flavor.
Since when had her thoughts been so filled by him? When had she become so accustomed to his presence? Why was she even rationalizing why he wasn't here? She should have been overjoyed that she didn't have to deal with another flippant boy! Things were back to normal for once!
The girl gently shook her head and sighed, as if to collect herself. She should be enjoying this peace and quiet while she had the chance.
Unfortunately, this didn't last long because the doors to the store opened with a chime, welcoming Nishinoya Yuu. "Hitomi-chaaaaaaan!!!!"
She flinched at his sudden loud voice, dropping the popsicle back into the ice cream freezer on accident. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, or rather, think about him in this case.
Hitomi slowly turned around, her eyes falling upon the libero. She noticed that yet another thing was unusual today. Instead of his normally swept-up hair, his hair was down in its natural state.
She blinked, wondering why he seemed shorter than usual. She realized that it was the hair. His swept-up hairstyle added illusionary height. Looking at it quickly, the style seemed like it would have added around ten centimeters to his height.
She held her tongue and decided not to comment on it, knowing full well how sensitive he was about that topic.
The boy dashed up to her with his usual bright eyes. "I'm so glad I managed to catch you today!! I was super tired after our matches so I took a nap, but then I really wanted to see you to tell you about it!!"
Hitomi almost laughed. He really did have the pure excitement of a child, but it wasn't exactly childish per se. It was just a wonder how he could always be so positive about everything. Hitomi didn't think she got so excited about anything like that since she was child. Compared to her constant cynicism, it most certainly looked like an amazing feat. "I take it the first day of the Inter-High went well then?" She asked him as she returned to picking out popsicles from the freezer.
"We beat both Tokonami and Datekou!! You should have come! You would have gotten to see me make some super cool receives! How about coming to see my match tomorrow?" Nishinoya exclaimed, slightly puffing out his chest with pride.
Hitomi glanced at him from the corner of her eye before going back to deciding the last flavor of Garigari-kun that she wanted. "No thanks." She bluntly responded.
"We'll be up against Seijoh, one of the top four in the prefecture! But we're definitely taking them down!" The boy continued, as if Hitomi didn't just clearly reject his offer. "It'll be even better than seeing us get revenge on Datekou! You definitely should come see it!"
"Revenge?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, against her better judgment. She shouldn't have encouraged him, but there was just something about his innocent excitement that made it difficult for Hitomi to treat him as harshly as she would any other boy.
Nishinoya nodded, the pride shining in his eyes. "Yeah! Last year, Datekou completely shut us out, but we paid them back today! We blasted through their Iron Wall!"
Finally deciding on the pear flavor, Hitomi moved to the check-out counter as she responded. "I see. That must have been satisfying." There wasn't much else she knew to say, nor did she really want to. She had no idea what this 'Iron Wall' meant, but she assumed that it wasn't an easy task to defeat them.
As she reached the counter, the elderly Fumio-san greeted her with a warm smile. "Hitomi-chan, it's good to see you again! On another one of your snack runs, I see!" She started the conversation happily, scanning the girl's items.
"Likewise, Fumio-san. How is your back? I came at another one of your shifts, but Ueda-san was covering for you. He told me that you took off because your back problems were acting up." Hitomi asked with concern. Of course, she would hate to lose another day in which she could freely visit the store without being hit on by a male cashier, but more importantly, she genuinely was worried about the old woman. She was one of the very few people that Hitomi could stand, even with her slightly overbearing nature.
The old woman just waved her hand dismissively at the girl. "Oh, don't you worry about me! It's just something that comes with old age. Instead, you worry about yourself! Be careful about all these snacks now, you hear? They could ruin your beautiful figure!" She lectured.
Hitomi just looked away uncomfortably, used to hearing her say this and about how she should treasure her youth more. "Yes, I understand." She said to appease the woman.
Fumio smiled and then turned her attention to Nishinoya who was strangely quiet, choosing to simply admire Hitomi's beauty. He looked like a child looking up to his hero, or a dog happily waving his tail as he looked up at his owner. She would have thought that the boy was in middle or even elementary school because of how small he was. Hearing his conversation with Hitomi, however, notified her that he was in high school. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but his loud voice was extra loud in the nearly empty store. "And who is this young man? Your boyfriend?" She asked curiously.
The libero turned to her, smile wide and eyes beaming, obviously excited at being assumed of being Hitomi's boyfriend. "Yes!" He shouted out without any thought.
Hitomi turned to look at him with borderline disgust, the displeasure clear on her face. The boy shrunk a little at that, but his excitement was still evident. "Well, actually no..." He corrected himself. "Not yet, at least! I will be soon!" He boldly stated.
"Ignore him." Hitomi instructed, doing the very same herself. "Hitomi-chaaaaan!" Nishinoya whined in response.
Fumio laughed. "He seems like a nice young man, but I have to say I'm a bit relieved to hear that! You know, I still haven't given up on setting you up with my lovely grandson! You'll have to get a boyfriend sometime!" She gave the girl a suggestive look.
Hitomi looked away uncomfortably again. "Fumio-san, please. We've been over this..." She reminded the woman gently. She was terribly averse to the idea, but she couldn't be disrespectful to such a kind old woman, no matter how nosy and overbearing she could be.
Before Fumio could respond, Nishinoya slapped his hands on the counter, leaning towards her eagerly. "Don't worry, granny!! I'll definitely become Hitomi-chan's boyfriend one day! I can definitely make her happy!"
The boy yelped as Hitomi swiftly hit the back of his head to calm him down. "Stop talking to her as if she's my mother and you're asking permission or something. It's weird. Also, who said you were going to become my boyfriend?" She glared at him as he rubbed his head tenderly. Although, he was doing it with a strange happiness.
"Ahhh, getting hit by Hitomi-chan! It feels even better than when Kiyoko-san does it!" He breathed out, a weird satisfied aura exuding from him.
This time, Hitomi looked at him with open disgust. Again, with this 'Kiyoko-san.' Hitomi didn't know who she was, but she knew that Nishinoya had a strange attraction to the girl. She once again thought about this 'Kiyoko-san' possibly being a past flame of his, and that he was using Hitomi as a sort of rebound. For some reason, being compared to 'Kiyoko-san' didn't sit well with her. Especially not if she was being used as a rebound.
Fumio chuckled at their interaction. "Well, if you two do end up dating, I don't think I'll have to worry about you making her happy!" When Hitomi looked at the women with confusion, she continued. "I have never once seen Hitomi-chan talking about or even looking at boys, and I've seen lots of girls come into this store. Sometimes, that's all they talk about! But not Hitomi-chan! That's why I was surprised to see you come in and talk to her so familiarly. You must at least be closer to her than others!"
"It's only because he's forcing himself into my life without any consideration of my feelings. Please don't look further into it than it actually is." Hitomi firmly shot down the idea.
"Wha—!! It's only because you wouldn't tell me anything! Not even your name! I had to hear it from that creepy guy last time!" Nishinoya defended himself, grimacing at being reminded of how disturbing the manager, Ueda, was.
"You know, normally people would take that as a hint." Hitomi responded with an accusatory look.
"I would never give up my love for you so easily!" The libero declared with complete confidence. Hitomi just rolled her eyes at that, choosing not to humor him anymore. Fumio chuckled as she handed the bag of snacks to the girl and received the money for them.
"Well, it was nice to see you, Hitomi-chan! You too, young man!" The elderly woman smiled at the two of them.
Nishinoya released a sound as if realizing something. "I'm Nishinoya Yuu! Nice to meet you, granny!" He bowed enthusiastically to her.
She smiled and chuckled again. "What good manners! He wouldn't hold a candle to my grandson, but he seems like a keeper!" The woman complimented, causing Nishinoya to lift his head with the biggest smile.
"It's your imagination." Hitomi coldly responded, but Nishinoya's happiness at the compliment couldn't be deflated.
Fumio only smiled. "Thank you for your patronage! Please come again soon!"
As the two high schoolers walked out of the store, Nishinoya looked up at Hitomi eagerly. "Did you hear that? She called me a keeper!" He repeated the compliment, hoping that it would somehow change Hitomi's mind on dating him.
She didn't even spare him a glance. "Did you hear that I also said that she was just imagining things?"
"Aww, come on! Well, if you won't date me, at least come see my match tomorrow!" He requested.
"Again, no thanks." She refused. Although his cheerfulness was very much still there, Hitomi could tell that he was disappointed. For any other person, she wouldn't have cared. For some reason though, she felt a bit guilty. After all, he still came all this way to have only a possibility of seeing her, even after how tired he must have been from playing two matches today.
Hitomi sighed, reaching into her bag of snacks. "If I give you this, will you stop bothering me about it?" She handed him one of the popsicles she bought.
It was a Garigari-kun popsicle, soda flavor.
Nishinoya had his mouth agape as he carefully held it in the palms of his hands, as if it were the most precious and delicate thing in the world. "Oooohh! A gift from Hitomi-chan!!"
She furrowed her brows. "It's just a popsicle. You're acting like you're holding diamonds or something."
"It's worth more than diamonds!" He shouted. "It's a precious gift from you! It's my favorite popsicle and my favorite flavor too! You remembered!!!"
"It's a coincidence." She lied. Hitomi couldn't understand why he was so happy at a simple popsicle, but it was worth it if it freed her from that odd bit of guilt she just had.
Nishinoya beamed at her. "Man, I'm just reminded of how nice you are every time, Hitomi-chan! This and the aloe vera gel you gave me before! It's no wonder I fell in love with you!" He exclaimed as he unwrapped the popsicle.
The girl looked away in embarrassment. "It really isn't anything worth making such a big deal for. Anyways, I'm leaving." She turned to walk away, but paused after a few steps. "...Congratulations on your wins today...and...good luck in your next match..." She walked off before Nishinoya could recollect himself.
The boy was left standing in front of the convenience store, staring after Hitomi's retreating form with awe and a pink tint to his cheeks. He had completely forgotten that he hadn't finished eating the popsicle until it started dripping onto his hand. Finishing it with two large chomps, he flipped the popsicle stick over to see a word printed on it.
Winner!
Nishinoya shouted and jumped for joy, running back into the store to claim another free popsicle.