A/N: This story is based off of the drama "She Was Pretty", hence the title. However not all themes and events from the drama will be used. This is my first fanfiction (and my first fanfiction of Haikyuu!) in a really long while that might take more than a couple or so chapters. I'm gonna give this a shot and let's see what happens. I don't have a beta, so there might be mistakes or weird phrasing-don't be afraid to mention it in the reviews, they'd be much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu!, She Was Pretty, or any characters/themes in both of the shows.
A young man with a tuft of messy orange hair hurriedly went to a table full of well-dressed young men, a flushed face full of freckles all over his cheeks-Hinata Shouyou carried a tray of mugs filled to the brim with beer to the said table. "Drinks are here!" Hinata Shouyou cheers, setting down the beer he had on his tray. Hinata exuded a cheerful attitude, hoping to have some of it rub on the customers that were getting more impatient and irritated by the minute. "Appetizers are gonna take a bit more, but here's some popcorn!"
"Hey, I don't want want your cheap popcorn! We've been waiting for forever and our food's not here yet...?!" A customer who looked the most well-dressed out of them all, had all but practically shouted at Hinata.
Hinata, who was a bit surprised at the customer's outburst, remained composed. "Ah! I'm very sorry, but our cook's really taking his time to make yours extra special!" He replied, albeit a bit to cheerfully. Although he was saying these words to the irritated customer, he was also repeating this to himself as well. 'Ahh, why is it taking so long... jeez...'
"Um, hey?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Wasn't our server a pretty one?"
"Um, yes...? Oh! Yes!" Hinata tried to compose himself. He knew he was never good looking, but it irritates him every single time that he's reminded of how he's not as cool as he was before when he was younger. Or so, he'd like to think. Hinata some energy, "Yes! I will get right back to you with that! I'm sorry, but I'll get to it as soon as possible and have someone pretty to serve your table!"
Hinata felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen "Shit." He bid farewell to the manager at the bar, got his overtime pay and changed his clothes in the locker room.
He frantically walked his way to the venue of the party his bestfriend Kenma had invited him to. He felt his phone vibrate again, he looked at the caller ID, "Ah, jeez, I guess I'll just answer it."
'So I can get him to calm down.' Hinata thought to himself. "Hey hubby! I'm at the bridge, wahhhhh... the view here is great!"
"Hey, you've been saying that for an hour now... Where the heck are you?" Hinata could feel the irritation in his bestfriend's voice.
"Ah... that... I-I had to go get something I forgot at the bar. Sorry...! On my way! Bye!"
"Ah! Hey! You-!" Kenma couldn't even finish his sentence before Hinata turned off the call.
Kenma sat bored in the middle of a crowd of his suitors. He practically ignored a guy who just gave him a limited edition Star Wars Battlefront Play Station 4 bundle. "Kenma-san, I even pre-ordered this just for you." Before Kenma could even reply, at the corner of his eye he saw a tuft of unruly orange hair. "Ah! Hinata!" A small smile dawned on Kenma's face upon seeing his bestfriend finally arriving at his birthday party. "Who's that weird looking short dude?"
This sentence caught on Kenma's nerves. "Short?" He slowly turned his head towards the person that uttered such a rude thought. "I'm short."
"Ah, no! I didn't mean you, Kenma-san! Here! Take this! It'll make you feel better." The limited edition Star Wars Battlefront Play Station 4 bundle was offered to Kenma's face. Unfortunately for the suitor, Kenma just shot him a blank look and pushed it-a bit forcefully-back to the person. "You know what? You can have it. Don't bother showing up in front of me when you insult my Hinata." Shivers went down the spines of each suitor that surrounded him. He made his way to Hinata with light steps. "Dude! Where have you been?"
"Ah, sorry. Hey, weren't you a bit too harsh on those guys?"
"Don't mind them."
"What do you mean nothing?" Hinata felt his stomach grumble, "I'm gonna go get some food, okay? You go and play. Go on! Play!" Hinata pushed Kenma back towards the crowd of suitors, where his piles of state of the art gaming consoles and latest video games were.
Hinata made his way to the buffet table, grabbing some food and brought them all to a lone table near the pool. He looked around and started to eat, scanning his surroundings briefly, what he saw was a bunch of rich kids who were clearly enjoying their time as if nothing is wrong with the world. Just then Hinata felt his phone vibrate-a text message reminding him that the student loans he got for college were due by the end of the month. This made the food Hinata was eating a bit tasteless, numbing down his appetite. Just as he was about to take another bite, he heard splash-
Hinata's eyes widened at the sight he saw. Kenma fell into the pool and he was drowning. Forgetting he still had food in his mouth, he shouted a muffled "K-Kenma!" bits of the food he just chewed fell on his shirt. He broke into a sprint, and just as he was about to jump into the pool-one of Kenma's suitors pushed him aside in a frantic moment of trying to save Kenma, along with the other suitors who swam to Kenma like moths to a flame. With the shock that came with the push, Hinata was unable to prepare himself and fell into the pool. Confused and surprised, Hinata also drowned whilst Kenma's suitors swam to save him from drowning. The messy tuft of orange hair floated in the water, framing Hinata's face as his feet touched the bottom of the pool. Feeling solid ground, Hinata's eyes burst open and swam to the surface, looking behind him he saw Kenma being brought to shore with countless people tending to his needs. 'Atleast he's safe.' Hinata couldn't help but feel lonely all of a sudden, remembering how people used to cater to his every need-'When I used to be cool and popular that is...'
Squeezing out water from his shirt, he silently made his way out of the party 'til he reached a footwear store on the street. 'Maybe they'll have flipflops for me to change in,' Hinata thought as he made his way into store and heard a fart-like sound coming from his feet. "Ah, did you just hear that? Gross. He just farted, let's go." A passing couple rudely remarked. The orange haired 28-year-old sighed 'and maybe have something for my wet shoes...' Heaving another sigh, he took off his shoes and went into the store. Tapping his toes on the waxed floorboards, he took a pair of flipflops and found the cheapest one. "Can I even afford this?" checking his pocket, "Maybe if I work another job I'll be able to make it..." Nodding to himself he went to the register and bought the pair. The kind cashier even offered him a plastic bag and a free towel to keep himself warm. "Is it really okay?" Hinata stared wide-eyed at the cashier. She was around her late twenties like him, and had golden hair. "Yup! You looked like you really needed it." She said with a warm smile.
"T-thank you...a-achoo!" Hinata started to sneeze.
A bit thrown off, the cashier encouraged Hinata to accept the towel and threw in some hot packets. "Go on, take them."
"Really..." Hinata couldn't help but feel warm inside, and hugged the girl before realizing that he might get her wet. "A-ah! I'm sorry did I get you wet, I-I uh..."
"Ah... it's no big deal, I'll just change into my other clothes later. I'll see you when I see you, yeah?"
"Hn! I'll see you! Ms... uh...?"
"Yachi."
"Yachi, right. See you, Yachi!" Hinata cheerfully went on his way home which was just a couple of blocks away.
"See you."
Hinata sat in his room wiping his head with the towel Yachi gave him. He got changed into fresh clothes and left his shoes out to dry in porch. The 28-year-old lived inside the small penthouse on one of the many condominium buildings in his area. He shared the place half and half with Kenma, although the place was mainly owned (and bought) by Kenma-Hinata was forced to cohabitate with the gamer. Considering himself lucky, Hinata thought this was a great chance for him to work on paying back his student loans while working part time jobs. Warming up a meat bun in the microwave oven, he sat down by the coffee table and brought out his laptop. "Right! time to submit job applications!"
Opening his e-mail, his eyes widened at the sender's name. With the shock that overcame him he wasn't able to hear Kenma come home.
"Shouyou, why the heck did you leave early?" Kenma complained with a slight dull tone in his voice. Approaching the orange tuft of hair that he saw peeking out of the edge of the sofa, he sat down as soon as he was beside Hinata. "What are you looking at?" Kenma said as he removed the freshly bought boots one of his suitors bought him on the way home, to keep himself warm apparently.
"Kenma he..."
"He...?"
"Kenma, he e-mailed me." Hinata tried to breathe as normally as he could. The excitement was taking him over. "Kageyama Tobio, e-mailed me..."
"Kageyama... Tobio?" Kenma knitted his eyebrows together. After a little thought, he looked back at Hinata. "You mean that quiet volleyball nerd back in elementary?"
"Yeah..." Hinata said, his eyes softened and looked dreamily back at his laptop's screen.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Open it!" Kenma said as he stood up going to his room to change.
Gulping his anxiousness down, Hinata moved his mouse over the e-mail and opened it. Hinata quietly read the e-mail's contents:
"Hinata, how are you? I've come back to Japan and I would like to meet. Kageyama Tobio."
"...MEET?!"
A/N: Well the first chapter's done, and the others will be coming in the near future. Only this chapter is heavily laced with themes from the drama, after that-themes taken from the drama will decrease. Thank you! 'Til the next chapter.