A/N: New Nishinoya fic, because there are way, way too few.

Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu, only original characters.

Chapter 1: Initiations

Summer. It was one of those days when not a single cloud was in the sky and the sunlight was harsh and blinding. Gray cement buildings making up the town center had trapped the afternoon heat between them to simmer until heartbeats raised and started pounding in the ears. There were no cicadas, but the cacophony was deafening. People reluctantly went about their days and Haruka barely registered the noise they made in contrast to her pulse, the only indicator that time was passing then, for her mind had drawn a complete blank before the words that grew thunderous and short-circuited everything else.

He has black hair that falls into his eyes and a wry smile that curves up one way when he is amused. He had let go of her hand in front of a door and they had stood there, a feet apart. She wasn't in her uniform, it being summer break, and she was sweating through the back of her T-shirt while her arms hung awkwardly at her sides.

The news had said that day was the hottest one yet of the year. It was quickly outdone by another day in August when she was indoors, the air conditioner on full blast in her room. She had gotten a cold afterwards. The shivers that shook her body were all too relatable to that one hot day on the street, between a game center and an ice cream shop, when it was 36 degrees and she felt so, so cold.

He had been walking in front before they stopped. He turned to her with a look in his eyes she would keep thinking back to for months and said, as if it were a joke, "Haruka, you're no fun."

-.-.-.-

Moving to a new neighborhood was refreshing. It was still in Miyagi so it wasn't that different, but Haruka could see the area becoming like a bubble for her with school being so near. Karasuno High School was just up the hill, a few roads away from where she lived. Everything in the house was already settled. Her new uniform—white blouse, red ribbon, cream sweater, black blazer, and a grey skirt—hung on the wall of her room. She ran through a list of to-dos in her head:

Iron uniform, check.

Get stationery, check.

Feed Nemo, check.

Pack school bag, check.

There was still time before the sun set, and with nothing else to do, Haruka decided to go for a run. She quickly changed into track pants and a hoodie and tied up her brown hair.

"Don't get lost!" Her mom hollered from the kitchen. A pot was already bubbling on the stove.

Stew, thought Haruka, sniffing the air. The aroma lifted her spirits a little. "I won't! I'll be back before dinner," Haruka promised, stepping out into the cool April air.

She was in track in middle school and intended to continue at Karasuno. Taking a jog would help her get acquainted with the area. The road was slopy as it curved around residences, shops, and the neighbourhood parks. Huffing slightly, Haruka fell into a rhythm. She appreciated the quiet that came with the hour when people were either already out or enjoying time in.

Focusing on her breathing and her footsteps, Haruka kept her pace constant, her legs pumping like a metronome, going past the neighborhood and noting the locations of shops and restaurants, the post office and the clinic. A few sparse cherry blossom trees were planted by the streets, scattering pink petals on the ground whenever the wind passed through.

It's a nice place to live. Better than Wakano—

"Again!"

A loud cry from the park beside the road broke the silence and shook her out of her thoughts. Haruka heard sounds of a ball being hit, and from between the trees she saw a net stretched between two poles.

It was a group of middle-aged women, probably a neighborhood volleyball association, except for a small boy with spiky hair among them, wearing a white shirt printed with a ridiculously large yojijukugo: 一騎当千 (One-Man Army)*.

An elementary school kid? Haruka wondered.

"Ba-san, another spike please!"

"Don't call me 'Ba-san'!"

The woman did a run-up and jumped as her teammate tossed her the ball. She seemed to have hit it with considerable force, but the ball was blocked by two other women across the net. Just as Haruka felt the ball was about to drop, the small boy dove to the front of the court and brought the ball back up in the air.

"Nice follow, Nishinoya-kun!"

"Yoshaa!" The kid—Nishinoya—yelled. His teammate hit the ball again and made it through the blockers this time, the ball making impact on the other side before the opposing team could reach it.

Blinking, Haruka realized she had slowed down to watch the rally. She picked up her pace again. Just as she was about to go around the corner, the boy stood up to reposition himself and, noticing her movement, glanced at her.

Their brown eyes met for a brief second before they focused on their practice once more, each to their own.

-.-.-.-

Initiations are the worst. Haruka had been looking forward to high school (she couldn't deny it, high school seemed way cooler than middle school), but she dreaded the first day. She was in Class 1-5 and had just gotten her seat, one right next to the window but in the very first row. Now she was supposed to mingle. Haruka looked around. The students were already forming groups with a clear demarcation between boys and girls, and no doubt they were figuring out who they would lunch and hang out with. It wasn't like Karasuno had a sister middle school so in general, everyone had to start fresh and would be keen to socialize.

"Did you see the vice-principal's hair at the ceremony? It's definitely a toupee!"

"Yes, yes! Everyone was talking about it! It's so obvious, isn't it?"

Sighing, Haruka waited for the bell to ring for the second period. She planned to hand in her application form at lunch. She had already approached the track club counter for the document and knew she was to submit it to the captain, Fukuoka Yuka from Class 3-4. Running a club, and most likely being a regular, on top of college preparatory class couldn't be easy.

Haruka took a pen and the sheet of paper from her drawer and started filling in her details:

小林遥. Class 1-5. Age 16.

Around her, students were still talking to one another. When she got to the last question, she paused.

Why do you want to join the club?

Tilting her pen back, Haruka thought for a moment and wrote:

Because I have always been in track.

At lunch, Haruka left her classroom once she finished her bento. She hadn't sat with anyone to eat, so it was rather oppressing to see some of her classmates moving tables and chairs to form archipelagos, laughing and bantering over their food and what their middle schools were like.

Not that I care, Haruka thought. And not that she was the only one either—there were also a few students who kept to themselves on the first day, likely because they were fed up with all the socializing or felt intimidated by it.

With her form in hand, Haruka made her way to the third-years' floor. Karasuno had a rather simple arrangement. The school building had first-years and the cafeteria on the first floor, the second-years on the second, and third-years on the third. She walked up the stairway, scanning her form one last time to check her application.

Haruka could hear him even before she turned the corner. He was very loud, and he was laughing with a friend who was also very loud. What she didn't expect was for the pair to rush to the stairs so brashly they practically ran into her head-on.

"Whoa!" The guy with the buzz cut sidestepped to avoid her just in time. In her surprise Haruka had dropped her application form, but the shorter of the two nipped the paper in mid-air before it drifted to the ground.

"Sorry! We went too quickly," the buzz cut guy said, one hand up in apology.

"No, it's fine," Haruka said. Running in the hallways—what are you, children?

She just wanted her form back. She looked over at the shorter of the two.

"Ah—"

Spiky hair and curious brown eyes. He had his gakuran buttoned up all the way. The elementary school kid who played volleyball.

No way, he's an upperclassman? Actually, now that they were closer, he—Nishinoya—was about her height, maybe slightly taller, but still. With his bleached tuft and swept-up hair, he looked like a delinquent.

A five foot three delinquent, Haruka deadpanned, vaguely amused.

"Here." Nishinoya handed her the form.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Haruka wasn't expecting him to be so curt, what with his boisterous attitude earlier. Nishinoya nodded and the pair continued heading down, probably to the cafeteria.

It took all but two seconds for the two boys to get rowdy again, guffawing about something they saw online yesterday. Haruka could still hear them as she went up. She sighed. Too loud.

-.-.-.-

Track practice wouldn't start until next week, so Haruka decided to schedule her runs after school for the time being. There wasn't much in terms of school work just yet but it had been slightly stressful, like all first days, and she was looking forward to sweating it all out. That was the reason she started long-distance running. It is a very meditative process—you go over a certain distance from point A to point B, you pace yourself, and steadily improve your time. Haruka enjoys the systematic approach to it, the process by which you condition your body and put it under your control. Even in a team, ultimately it is your individual time that matters.

Having tried out some of the roads yesterday, Haruka decided to go through another route to figure out her options. This time she went the other way, circling around the neighborhood before heading back home.

Halfway through, she realized she would go past the park where Nishinoya played volleyball no matter which route it was.

Not that I care either way, Haruka thought, jogging in place while she waited for a light to turn green.

It took Haruka about half an hour to reach the park. By the time she was there, the clearing was empty. There wasn't even a volleyball net in place. Only a few children were there, clinging to monkey bars and the swings while their fretful mothers hovered around.

Shrugging, Haruka continued on with her path.

-.-.-.-

By the third day of school, Haruka was pretty certain Nishinoya and her lived very close by, if bumping into each other in the mornings was any indication. The day before, Haruka had seen Nishinoya first and avoided him at all costs, preferring to savor her relaxing walk to school, so she trailed behind him and his obnoxious hot pink messenger bag.

Actually, Haruka was surprised they would run into each other in the first place. She had planned to arrive to school half an hour early to settle down and leaf through the new textbooks before her teachers picked up the pace with their lessons. She had taken Nishinoya to be the kind of guy to sleep in and rush to school at the very last possible second, but he is apparently a morning person. Maybe he is the type to hang out with friends before homeroom.

Today, Haruka had no such luxury of avoiding him. Nishinoya and her had bumped into each other right at the junction, so she had no choice but to voice a greeting.

"Good morning."

"G'morning."

A silent walk ensued. It was so awkward it made Haruka want to tear her hair out. She didn't have an excuse to go ahead either. Nishinoya is obviously flamboyant and has no problem conversing with people—as far as she could tell with he and his Buddha friend—so it was unnerving to have him so quiet in front of her.

Maybe he is just bad at talking to girls. Snorting slightly in indignance, Haruka resorted to initiating contact for once.

"Ni...Senpai, what is your name?"

Ugh. She wasn't supposed to know his name, it would just come off as creepy and stalker-ish. He might not even remember their first encounter at the park.

Nishinoya froze. For a second Haruka was worried he'd picked up on her change of phrase, but when she turned to look at him, his chest was puffed out and he was blushing.

"Uh…"

Nishinoya straightened up and brushed his nose with his thumb. He looked seriously flattered.

"T-that's right, I'm your senpai after all! I'm Nishinoya Yuu, second-year! I haven't seen you around—you're a first-year, aren't you? What's your name?"

"...Koyabashi Haruka. I'm in Class 1-5."

"Whoa, you're in advanced class? I'm in Class 2-3. You do sports, right? I'm a libero," Nishinoya grinned.

He speaks like a hurricane. Libero? Probably a volleyball position? Haruka gave pause. "How do you know I do sports?"

Nishinoya cocked his head. "You were running by the park a few days ago, no? You have good form and your pace is quick, so I thought you're in track or football or something."

So he did recognize her. And she couldn't kick a ball to save her life. "I'm in track," Haruka explained. "I do long-distance running." Looking away, she couldn't deny feeling slightly flustered and happy about her running posture being complimented.

"So...what's a libero?"

"The star player in volleyball!" Nishinoya huffed, his hands on his waist. "The libero prevents the ball from dropping on his side of the court. As long as the ball is up in the air, it means your team hasn't lost!"

"I guess you're in the volleyball club."

Nishinoya frowned. "I am." His eyes clouded over with a frustration manifesting so quickly it took Haruka by surprise. She seemed to have struck a nerve.

"I am, but I'm suspended for now." He almost gritted out the last part.

Falling silent, Haruka decided not to pry. They barely knew each other after all, and it wasn't her business anyway. Who was to say they would be more than schoolmates who knew each other's names? She could foresee bumping into Nishinoya quite a few times though, with how close they both lived to school. But she was determined not to be a busybody.

"That's why you're practicing with the neighborhood association?" she suggested instead, now that Nishinoya admitted to seeing her on that day.

"I was, but they're not meeting up regularly enough. In fact, I might have scared them a little," Nishinoya said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I wanted to do block follow training! Of course I had to do several drills."

Haruka grimaced. That probably meant he had practiced so much the housewives on the team were scared to repeat the ordeal ever again.

Haruka scrambled for a response. She looked ahead—the school building was still a distance away. "The track and field club isn't active until next week, so I've been running in the afternoon," she said. "N-Not that I'll stop once practice starts. I just need to figure out my schedule." She added the last part so it wouldn't seem like she was going to slack off outside of school practice.

But I do need to see when I'll study and when I'll run, Haruka thought, making a mental note to have a look at her lesson timetable again. Math was her weakest subject. If she scheduled her runs so that she could study on the days before her lessons...

Deep in thought, Haruka kept walking. When she finally felt the empty space around her, she turned to discover Nishinoya had stood in place. "What?"

Nishinoya looked like he had struck gold. "That's it!" he hollered, pointing at her.

Haruka started, raising an eyebrow.

"Can I join you when you run? Are you practicing this afternoon? You run around the neighborhood, right? That's perfect!"

All logic crumbled in Haruka's mind. If her brain were a machine, smoke would be coming right out through her ears. She tried to process Nishinoya's request again.

"Ehhh?"

-.-.-.-

*yojijukugo (四字熟語): A four-character Japanese idiom consisting of kanji. Basically what you see on Nishinoya's shirts, but there are many more.

A/N: Kobayashi Haruka's name in kanji is 小林遥. Translated literally, it means "the distance in the small forest." And just as an FYI, Nishinoya's name in kanji means "the evening sun that sets in the Western valley"—it doesn't suit him at all!