Author's Note:
Alright this is my first story! So let me know if there are any errors. Leave a review if you'd like, thanks so much!
Edit: This first chapter was rearranged and edited properly on December 22, 2015! I think it's better now and I'm also really sorry I never updated, it's coming now I promise! Thanks for the reads and reviews!
Chapter 1. The Last Seat
"Move it, Shortie!"
"No way. I definitely got here first!"
The entire Karasuno team sighed as Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo simultaneously attempted to shove themselves through the bus door.
"It amazes me that they always seem to have energy, even after such brutal tournaments," Sugawara said as he watched the two squabbling students continue to cross feet and bodies in an attempt to push their way in front of the other. The Karasuno and Nekoma teams stood outside the large bus waiting for one of the boys to finally succeed.
"Come on," groaned Taketora, "let's get this moving already, we all want to get home."
"We can't leave until I-" Kageyama's sentence was interrupted when Hinata finally managed to sneak past him. "Hey!" he cried as he raced behind Hinata to the back of the bus.
The remaining players followed suit, quickly climbing onto the bus, eager to leave the tournament. The daylight was slowly fading and both teams were more than excited to finally be on the way home. A regional tournament had been held downtown that weekend, and three days worth of volleyball almost seemed like enough to last a lifetime. The Karasuno teenagers often mingled wiht Nekoma for practice games, and most were comfortable sharing their space. With the club budgets depleating and the yearly costs slowly racking up, the managers of both teams had decided that the best course of action for the remaining tournaments would be to share the large buses between the two schools. Since the Karasuno team had to pass by Nekoma High to get to the majority of their games anyway, it only seemed fitting to make the journeys with their friends and rivals.
Hinata and Kageyama sprinted to the back of the bus with full force. The back row, right side, window seat was a national treasure: it had the comfiest seat, both arms could moved properly, and it had the most room to recline. The battle for this particular seat usually occured between more boys, but only the energy of the restless pair survived the tournument. As Hinata reached the last seats Kageyama rushed at him with killing intent. Kageyama's smirk appeared as his shoulder bashed into his brown-eyed companion with merciless force, sending Hinata spiralling into the last row.
Hinata choked on his usual gurgle of sound as he twirled hip first into the crevice, his feet still tripping over each other in the aisle. His left palm slapped against the window in an attempt to break his fall, while his right hand grasped for the top of the chair. Facing the seats, and uncomfortably suspended in a half-dip into the row, Hinata found himself staring avidly at the chest of a girl rather than the worn material of the seat he was expecting to claim.
As he slowly slid closer to the floor Hinata's eyes widened with shock. Kageyama's satisfied grin dropped and he froze as he realized where he sent his companion sprawling. The rest of the teams remained blissfully unaware of the situation and continued to fill in the bus seats, until a violent scream erupted from the young decoy.
"EUGAAH!"
The outburst made both teams halt and turn in their seats to search for the cause. "I-I'm s-s-s-sorry! I'm so sorry! I can't believe- p-please forgive me! I really didn't mean to- I'm sorry!"
Hinata continually stammered out apologies into the face of the petite girl he was draped across. He attempted to use is right forearm as leverage against the window, but now nervous and sweaty, his hand slipped off the window slamming down along the arm, onto the seat, and finally resting along the girl's thigh. His new position propelled him further into the girls chest. Hinata shrieked again. Finally pulling his knees under him he found his balance in a panic. Climbing off the girl he pushed his hands up and away from his body in his normal hand-waving gesture of peace. As he began to cry apologies again, Hinata realized his movement had slid the girl's skirt up a little higher than the innocent boy was comfortable with. Hinata's face shone bright red. Small hands pushing into her lap, the girl's face also glowed slightly pink with embarrassment. Desperately attempting to sink into herself the small girl's body leaned back into the seat. But as quickly as her anxiety appeared, it dissappeared as the girl brushed a stray wisp of grey hair out of her face, she straightened slightly with confidence.
Hinata stayed unusually still as he stared wide-eyed at the girl in front of him. She stared back, despite the disorienting feeling of holding eye contact with someone too close. He let out a small, stressed breath. He didn't want to acccidentally reveal or stare at anymore of her body, so fear held him hostage, refusing to let him move a muscle. "Dear God," he thought to himself, "please don't let her hit me as hard as Tobio does."
"MOVE HINATA!" Kageyama screeched.
Hinata and the girl both jumped, startled by the sound that finally broke their tense silence. Their foreheads lighty smacked together and both reeled back with their hands to their faces.
Tanaka laughed and chimed in from the seat in front of them, "Nice going Hinata, you finally get a girl underneath you and you go and headbutt her! Ha ha ha!" Tanaka's contagious laugh echoed through the weary students, and soon most were facing front again to giggle into their hands, while the select few, Tsukishima, Nishinoya, and Taketora, laughed blatantly at Hinata's struggle.
"H-hey! This isn't the first ti-time I've..." Hinata's rebuttal slowly trailed off as he realized he was only going to embarrass himself more.
A quiet murmur broke through the laughs from behind Kageyama. Kenma Kozume stood quietly with his PSP glowing in hand. He tilted his head slowly, and spoke softly as he stared at the girl in the last seat, "Nanami... Why are you here?"
His gentil eyes barely wavered as he surveyed her features, high cheek bones, determined eyebrows, and a round face. Nanami's light eyes gazed at Kenma with nostalgia, but she remained silent as he gazed back. Their pale translucence reminded Kenma of the humid mornings of summer, when soft clouds covered the whole sky and he didn't have to worry about bright bursts of sunshine blinding him in the middle of a boss battle. Soon, Kenma's intent staring drew Hinata over to the young girl's prominent features as well. Hinata had to look away as his blush spread further across his cheeks.
"You know her, Kenma?" Hinata prodded.
"You know a girl, Kenma?" Kuroo said, smirking from an adjacent seat.
Kenma's sharp glance to Kuroo acted as a wordless insult. His stoic expression more fierce than usual, Kuroo grimaced as he looked away.
"Um," the petite girl finally said. The boys around her were immediately drawn in, their stares adding to her nerves, "I was with the girls team earlier, but I got distracted watching the Shiratorizawa Match, and then the Aoba Jousai girls were playing... I guess the team left without me."
"You play volleyball?!" Hinata said, still hovering by Nanami.
"Yeah," she said gently, "I play Libero for Nekoma."
"Woah! That's so cool! Did you play in the tournament today? Did you win? What year are you? How long have you been play-"
"Shoyo, you idiot, ease up on the questions, and sit down already, we're trying to leave."
"Agh, sorry," Hinata slumped his shoulders and attempted to side shuffle out of the space between the back seats.
"Sit you idiot!" Kageyama reached across from his seat and roughly pushed Hinata's shoulders, forcing him down next to Nanami.
Kageyama sat with Taketora across from Hinata, in front of them Kuroo was turned around chatting softly to them while Kenma sat quietly playing video games. In front of his own seat Tanaka and Nishinoya were slowly drifting to sleep, obviously worn out from the weekend. The bus slowly fell to a quiet hum as it seemed that only the two in the last row were still awake.
After sitting quietly for nearly ten minutes Hinata turned to Nanami with a panicked look on his face, "It's okay that I'm sitting here right? Because I can move if you want." Hinata was already attempting to squirm out of his seat.
Nanami softly grabbed his wrist, stopping his escape. "It's fine," she said, "I was just a little startled when you flew into my lap, but you can relax. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not worried that you'll hurt me either." Her hand slowly slid off his wrist, down along his hand, and back into her lap.
Hinata blushed again.
"So, your name is Nanami?"
"Sure is," she smiled, "Nanami Michitsu. And you're Hinata right?"
His eyes widened, "How did you know that? I didn't think I was famous yet, I know I want to be as big as the little giant but..."
Michitsu let out a small giggle, "Your friend said it earlier, when you wouldn't sit down. I haven't seen you play and I'm not a mind reader or anything, although both would be pretty fun. "
Hinata slowly started to relax. The girl's presence didn't teriffy him anymore, but his heart continued beating at a rapid pace. Nanami's hair fell just above her eyes, her blunt bangs masking part of her face. The rest of her wavy hair fell beneath her collarbone. Hinata wanted to run his hands through the soft looking blue-gray locks. He started to imagine what her expression would be if he did. Her butterfly lashes fluttering closed her head leaning closer, or maybe she'd blush and pull away.
"Hello? Are you awake Hinata? I was just joking around."
Hinata straightened up, his internal embarrassment was overwhelming, he was already thinking of touching her hair and he'd met hee less than fifteen minutes prior. "Sorry," he sputtered, "I was just thinking about- uh. I'm Shouyo Hinata. I'm Karasuno's decoy."
Nanami's eyes had started to droop. It was obvious that she was as tired as all the others on the bus. "It's nice to properly meet you, now that you're out of my lap," she smirked.
Hinata gave a breathy laugh and rubbed his neck, "Yeah, sorry again about that."
"I'm just teasing you. I actually thought it was kind of fun, I am a lib after all. Living without some action would just be boring." Her cheeks glowed as she gave a genuine smile. Then she softly bit her lip, and Hinata couldn't help but notice the single dimple on her right cheek. Hinata's mind started to drift back to other actions that made life exciting.
"Yeah, I-I agree," he managed to stammer, keeping his mind from going too far.
Nanami yawned, and fought to keep herself upright. Conversation between the two died as the soft whir of the bus lulled them both to sleep. The two leaned into each other without recognition. Nanami's head lay on Hinata's shoulder, and Hinata's head rested gently on hers.
The soft turns and curves of the road shifted Hinata and Nanami's position. When the bus finally came to a stop outside of Nekoma High, Hinami's head rested along Hinata's back, while Hinata was hunched straight forward with his head in his palm.
Nekoma's coach called out to his sleeping team, "Alright boys, we're back, grab your stuff let's get you all home. I hope to see you at practice tomorrow, I want to start working again as soon as possible. But, that being said, I'm moving our practice to after school so you can all get some extra sleep. I want you all well-rested for tomorrow. You played some good games at the tournament, but now I want us to get stronger, smarter, and faster, so we can get back out on the court with a new arsenal. If we want to get to nationals we'll all have to dedicate our time and motivation to practice, and our upcoming games."
The team gave a tired and unenthusiastic hoot in response, and began to pack up their things.
Kenma looked over his shoulder at the still-sleeping Nanami and Hinata. He quietly walked over to the two and called out Nanami's name. Still unresponsive, he reached over a snoring Hinata and put his hand gently on Nanami's shoulder. He whispered her name again, "Nanami." Kenma cleared his throat and steadied his shaking hand. He slowly brought it to Michitsu's face and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "Michi, we're at the school."
Nanami's eyes drifted open and met with Kenma's. "Huh?" she slurred.
Kenma nervously glanced at her hand and reached out timidly. "We're at the school" he said, grasping her hand with a pounding heartbeat.
Nanami pulled away from Hinata's hunched figure still holding Kenma's hand. "Thanks," she said, "for waking me up. I think I've had enough of this bus." She scooped up her things from beneath the seat into one hand and refaced Kenma.
The setter's face, if only slightly, held a contrasting expression to his usual emotionless exterior. His eyebrows were slightly raised and his lips were parted only a centimetre, but the expression still confused the female player. She then realized that she still had a firm grasp on Kenma's hand. Nanami gradually let go of Kenma, and reached down to fix her skirt. She looked away as she held back a smile and a light pink tinged her cheeks. Kenma stole a look as he turned to exit the bus. Nanami lightly bit her lip. "He called me 'Michi'," she thought, "it's been a while since anyone but the team used that nickname."
She walked to the front of the bus looking down as her happy expression faded. Before she descended the stairs she peeked back for a final time at the sleeping boy in the last seat. His eyes were hardly open but he still managed to smile and wave with a weak hand. She tilted her head in response, as well as surprise of his awakeness, then turned and left the bus.
Stepping out into the cool air she caught a sight of Kenma and hurried to follow close behind him and Kuroo. As they all walked the remaining blocks home together, Nanami's stomach tightened as she thought about Hinata's bright face. Her anxiety grew again as she thought of Kenma's grip on hers, and the feel of his quick heartbeat through his wrist. The thought of the two boys made her ill, or perhaps it was the cold, or the long day at the tournament, whatever the cause of her sudden sickness, the feeling was overwhelming. The trio reached their narrow street and made the final strides to sleep. Kuroo was first to break off to his abode, with a subtle hand gesture he said goodnight, practically asleep before he got to the door. With Nanami's house across from Kenma's, her heart thumped as they made the final steps and slowed to part. Nanami, sick with feeling, looked at her neighbour, smiled softly, and then entered her home without turning back. Kenma's small smile spread on his face to match.
Author's Note:
I was sort of in a Hinata mood when I started writing this but now i'm kind of feeling the whole Kenma thing. I've got a weak spot for Kenma, but I'm still not sure where this is gonna go. Tell me what you think! Maybe I'll change my mind! This is the first story I've written so I'd love feedback, especially if anyone seems out of character, thanks so much for reading!
Edit: Again I know I haven't updated in so long but thanks again friends!
Also, quick funny story, I wasn't sure how to describe that sound of terror that Hinata always makes like "hyeugk!" so I asked a friend and she said, "um i would describe it as 'when u fucking fall and u think u might die so u brace urself'"
And that's everything, thanks guys!