〚 third person 〛
☾☾☾
Soon after the whole summer festival day, Hinata and Kageyama were quick to scoop up Momo like a fish and steal her from the Tsukishima sea.
It happened as soon as practice finished.
"Good work. Clean up and head home." Ennoshita called out as everyone began to clean up. Momo quickly began to pick up the volleyballs, cleaning them like she was supposed to.
"You remember the plan, right, dumbass?" Kageyama asked as he glared at Hinata who was laughing sheepishly.
"Of course, Kageyama-kun. Maybe you should explain it again, so you know it well." Hinata said as Kageyama snatched him by the collar of his shirt. These two never changed since last year.
After a brief explanation, Hinata nodded and gave Kageyama a thumbs up. "Alright. I'll distract Tsukishima and you grab her!"
Everyone dispersed as they made their way to the club room to change. Hinata and Kageyama sprinted there, tricking people into thinking they were racing so it wasn't suspicious.
"What're they doing?" Tsukishima asked blankly as he stared at Kageyama and Hinata with distaste.
Kageyama dashed out of the room, leaving Hinata with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.
"Tsukishima, we're gonna borrow Momo-chan for the day, okay?!" Hinata stayed loudly, pointing a finger at Tsukishima who remained impassive.
"Okay? Why are you even telling me?" He deadpanned, completely unbothered by the entire situation.
Hinata narrowed his eyes at Tsukishima and huffed. "I don't even know why Momo-chan likes you, Saltyshima!"
With that, Hinata threw open the club door and ran after Kageyama who stood at the school gate with Momo in his arms. He was carrying her like surfboard under his arm, making her skirt slightly lift up.
"Kageyama-kun, put her down! Her skirt!" Hinata quickly blocked Momo, not allowing anyone to catch a glimpse of her pink panties. Kageyama complied, placing Momo on her feet.
"Sorry." Kageyama muttered, smoothing out Momo's hair that was messed up from being held horizontally.
Momo giggled, grinning softly. "It's fine! It was kinda fun!"
"Where are we off to?" Momo asked as she linked her arms with both Kageyama and Hinata.
"Should we be letting them go like that?" Yamaguchi asked as he sweatdropped. It somewhat looked like Kageyama and Hinata were kidnapping Momo.
Tsukishima placed his hands in his pockets, watching the three in the distance with a cold look on his face. "It's none of our business. She can do whatever she wants."
☾☾☾
"What?!?" Hinata shouted as Momo finished her bowl of ramen before him. Kageyama slammed his chopsticks on the table, frustrated since he also lost to Momo.
"She's a damn monster." Kageyama muttered, watching Momo order another bowl of ramen. She looks like a small eater, but she eats more than Hinata and Kageyama combined.
Momo slowly slurped the ramen noodles into her mouth as Kageyama and Hinata settled down.
"What's so good about that salty bastard?" Kageyama questioned, genuinely curious as to why Momo was so in love with Tsukishima. "He's a prick who acts like a little shit all the time. He doesn't listen to a single thing I say and always has some smart-ass remark. He's not even that good lookin-"
"No, no, he's actually kind of good-looking. It's annoying." Hinata interrupted, getting a glare from Kageyama who silently told him to shut up.
"Anyway, he's not much a good guy. Are you sure you're not in love with some fantasy Tsukishima you made up in your mind?" Kageyama questioned, slightly expecting Momo get to offended. He was rather taken aback when her lips curled upwards into a smile and a cute laugh escaped her mouth.
When her laughter died down, her expression softened a bit. "In junior high, life wasn't very good for me. I was having a lot of problems with my family. To make things worse, my classmates started to dislike me and I became an outcast."
Her words made Kageyama and Hinata lean in, curious about what she had to say. The frowns that formed on their lips only grew as she went on.
"I quit school in my second year and stayed cooped up in my house for months." Momo explained as she smiled weakly. "But, I ran out of food one day and went out to buy some, and I met Tsukki-senpai."
Her eyes glowed as she spoke fondly of the male. "He probably doesn't know it, but he saved my life. Not in the way you think though. It was indirect, but I found it extremely touching."
"Seeing him work hard made me want to cheer him on and do my best too." Momo admitted, recalling the Karasuno matches she went to last year. Seeing him try so hard during the Shiratorizawa match made her want to try her best too. "So I begged my father for tutor and started studying to get into high school after almost two years of no school."
"Does Tsukishima even remember you?" Kageyama questioned, perplexed by how Tsukishima didn't mention her at all last year.
Momo shook her head, motioning to her appearance. "When he met me, I didn't look like this. I was a mess, and I'm kinda thankful he doesn't know me by that appearance." She laughed sheepishly, a bit embarrassed about rambling about everything.
"Sorry to burden you guys with all this. I hope I didn't make you guys feel uncomfortab-" Hinata threw his arms around Momo as he squeezed her tightly.
"You're so strong, Momo-chan! I never thought you had such a hard life because of how happy you were! I wanna be like you!" Hinata exclaimed, genuinely amazed by how strong Momo was despite her life conditions.
She giggled softly, patting Hinata's arm. "Thanks, Sho-chan, but you're probably stronger than me haha!"
"What do you think about him now?" Hinata questioned after he stopped his small crying fit.
Momo looked down, smiling to herself as she thought of Tsukishima. "Well, he's not as mean as you guys say he is. He makes fun of me a lot, but I know he's not intentionally trying to hurt my feelings. He can be very sweet and thoughtful, even if we aren't anything more than senpai and kouhai."
"Sometimes, I get upset all on my own because I can't shorten the distance between Tsukki-senpai and I. It's really frustrating." Momo's voice weakened at end of her sentence as she looked down. "I know my place, but I don't want to be his kouhai anymore."
She looked up, smiling weakly at Kageyama and Hinata. "I wanna be special."
They frowned, feeling empathy for this female who just wanted to be special to the guy she liked. They also shared that feeling since these two dumbasses like each other but don't know.
"But it's fine! As long as I can stay by Tsukki-senpai's side— even as just an annoying, clingy kouhai— I'll be happy." Momo finished, smiling genuinely at Kageyama and Hinata who nodded, feeling like she was truly amazing.
"Though, aren't you already special?" Kageyama questioned, earning a nod from Hinata who tapped his own chin in thought.
Momo tilted her head to the side, puzzled by his statement. "Hm?"
Kageyama leaned forward, lifting his shoulders slightly to shrug. "I don't know, but aren't you already special to him? That bastard only hangs out with Yamaguchi, but he lets you be him around him all the time."
"That's probably just because I'm stubbor-" Momo was cut off by Hinata shaking his head.
"Tsukishima's not that nice to let random underclassmen cling to him. He'd probably have told you to go away already." Hinata explained, making complete sense for once. "So that must mean you're not just anybody to him."
"Yeah, tons of girls make Tsukishima lunch, but he only eats your bentos." Kageyama pointed out, knowing which bento came from Momo because they always had a cute sticky note on it with the same thing on it.
'I love you! Have a nice day! - Momo♡'
It was sickeningly cheesy, but Kageyama found it rather endearing since he hoped Hinata would one day to that for him.
Momo shifted in her seat, trying to process that piece of information. She wanted to leap for joy, but the intrusive thoughts nipped at her happiness.
Don't get your hopes up. Just because he lets you stick around doesn't mean anything.
"That sound really nice." Momo said as she smiled at Kageyama and Hinata. "It'd be a dream if that was true hehe."
It is true though. Both males thought but kept it to themselves.
"Should we head back?"
"Yup."
"I wasn't talking to you, boke."
"Don't be a prick, Bakageyama!"
"Yes, we can head home, you guys."