Chapter 2 – Best Friend

Yuna's POV

My best friend – Nishinoya Yuu, or as I called him, Noya-kun, grabbed me in an embrace and started to squeeze me as hard as he could.

"Noya – can't breathe – you're crushing my ribs – I'm dyi– " I was suddenly freed from his crushing arms and I took a huge breath of air. I still felt Noya's hands on the tops of my arms, and I knew that he wouldn't be letting go anytime soon.

"Yuna-chan!" His energetic voice caused me to stop in the middle of trying to catch my breath and I looked up at him. I let out a big smile, something that I hadn't done in a while.

As I was looking at his face – a face that I had missed so much despite the frequent Skype calls, I couldn't help but just jump back into his arms and let out a happy giggle. Still embracing, I noticed something that had changed about him.

"Noya-kun, you got taller!"

He pushed me back so we were no longer hugging and pouted while looking off to the side and crossing his arms across his chest. "We see each other for the first time in three years and the first thing you do is talk about my height?!"

I laughed, and pulled at his arm, "I was just joking…I also noticed your hair!" Giving the orange streak another look, I pursed my lips, "Although, I'm still not sure how I feel about that yet."

Noya let out a small chuckle, "I've missed your honesty."

"I've missed you."

"Well yeah, there probably weren't any guys in Tokyo who were as cool as me," he shrugged, as if it was super obvious.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah, you're too cool. I bet all the girls in scho – Wait a minute." I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, "What are you doing here at 12'o clock on a Wednesday? Aren't you supposed to be at school?" I pointed an accusatory finger at him while he looked away and pretended to act confused. "And also! Don't think that I forgot about how you've been acting these past couple of days, being all grouchy and sulky like you've been deprived of your precious volleyball."

That must have hit a nerve because the moment the words left my mouth, his eyes snapped up to mine, full of guilt. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. His shoulders drooped and he honestly looked as though he was about to cry.

Oh. Oh. So that's what this is about. I can't believe I didn't figure this out sooner, I berated myself internally.

I let out a small sigh and wordlessly pulled him in for another hug, softly patting his back. Having grown up together, Noya and I had developed a bond where we knew exactly what the other person needed when they were down. Since Noya was more of an action-rather-than-words kind of guy, I knew that sometimes he just needed a nice hug.

I was just about to suggest going inside since we were currently standing right outside of my house where anyone could see us when I heard a voice shout. We separated and I located the source of the voice to be my parents, who were just pulling into our driveway. My parents pretty much viewed Noya as their second son, so although it was slightly embarrassing that they had seen us hugging, it wasn't anything that they hadn't seen before.

Wait. I thought they were still in the house? I gave my mom a confused look as they parked the car and began unloading groceries from the trunk.

"I left a note in the kitchen, but I guess you didn't see it," my mom explained, seeing my expression. She did? How long was I lying on my bed for?

"Your father and I went to buy some real food since half the kitchen consists of spam and canned soup," she continued as Noya and I started to help carry some bags.

"What's the other half consist of?" I asked, grabbing another bag.

"RAMEN!" My dad and Noya shouted together. They looked at each other and laughed loudly, with my dad giving Noya a big clap on the shoulder.

My mom and I both sighed and shook our heads. Boys.


It didn't take much convincing by my parents to get Noya to stay for lunch and dinner, and while he went back next door to his house to get some spices that my mom had forgotten to buy, I quickly warned my parents against asking why he wasn't at school.

After a satisfying lunch of homemade onigiri and one of my dad's many canned soups, Noya and I went upstairs to my room so we could catch up while I continued unpacking. He began to tell me all that had happened to him over the past week, and I could tell that he desperately needed a good rant.

"…so even after I kept on getting the ball back up, and kept on giving us another chance to get another point, he decided that he was the one who didn't want to try anymore!" Noya finished exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air.

I was currently sitting on the floor beside my bed while resting my head on top of my bed. Noya was sitting on my bed, playing with one of my many stuffed toys that I had brought with me. While listening to Noya's story, many of the questions that I had had been answered. He wasn't in school right now because he had been suspended for a week. And he had been suspended for a week because he had caused a ruckus resulting in his breaking a vase outside the vice-principal's office. The ruckus was due to an argument that had blossomed between him and his volleyball team's Ace, Asahi.

"Anyways, even though I've been banned for club activities for a month, I've still been training. Can't have my muscles going weak on me!" He grinned, while doing some sit-ups.

"Maybe this was a good opportunity to take a little break from your training. You might hurt yourself one day if you keep going without rest," I warned, raising my head to look at him. I knew Noya was extremely tough on himself, since he believed that as long as he did his job as a Libero right, his team would eventually be able to win.

"I won't! I'll be careful, I promise! By the way, Yuna-chan, are you starting school tomorrow?"

"Ugh, don't even remind me," I groaned, "I'm going to be the friendless weirdo who came randomly in the middle of the school year." Due to some administration issues with my Tokyo school, I had to stay back a few weeks to get it all sorted out. This meant that I was entering school when all the classes had already begun. Great, now I'm going to be behind in school and not have any friends.

"It'll be okay; I start school tomorrow too! We might be in the same class together!"

"Sorry Noya-kun, but I'm think I'm in Class 5," I gave him an apologetic smile.

"What do yo –" he stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked up at me with a blank expression. Maintaining that blank expression, he blinked a few times and said in the politest voice I had ever heard from him, "I am very sorry, but I think that we should no longer associate with each other; I had forgotten that you had actually enjoyed studying. You – an elite from Class Five who dreams of the impossible and has the ability to do anything with your perfect grades should not be identified with me – a mere commoner from Class Three who finds entertainment in laborious sport of volleyball."

I gave him a weird look, "Okay, never mind, I don't think I want people to know we're friends at school anymore."

"Hey!" A brown bear came flying at my head, "You can't say that about your best friend!"

I laughed and threw a pillow at him. He caught it and started grabbing more stuffed animals from my bed and throwing them back at me, leading to a pillow/stuffed toy throwing contest.

"This isn't fair!" I shouted, when I realized he had started collecting all of them so I wouldn't have anything left to throw, "You're catching them with your Libero skills!"

"Well then use your Spiking skills and hit them back!" Noya retorted, beginning to throw them back at me.

One doll hit me directly in the face, causing Noya to let out a cry of joy at his success. I grabbed it and was about to throw it back at him when I got a clearer look at which one it was. A plush doll wearing a volleyball outfit with a golden crown on top of its head stared back at me. I froze, looking back at it, trying to block out the sudden burst of memories that had come into my mind involving him.

"Yuna-chan," Noya's quiet voice registered in my brain and I saw his hand slowly take the toy out of mine.

I opened my mouth to say something, but was shushed by my best friend, "It's fine, you don't have to say anything."

He grabbed my hand and helped me get up. Giving me his best smile, he said, "Let's go get some ice cream!"


Author's Note:

I realized at the end that it got dark kind of quickly, haha. But I promise it'll be more fun soon! Especially when she starts going to school. Anyways, a huge thank you to those who favourited and followed this story after only the first chapter, I love you guys! 3

Also, here are some random facts about Yuna-chan!

She is 5'5 or 165 cm - so yes, she is taller than Noya, but I mean, he's pretty short (dkm LOL)

The reason why Yuna calls Nishinoya, "Noya-kun", is because their first names are really similar. It was kind of confusing when she was calling him "Yuu" and he was called her "Yuna" so she just switched to calling him "Noya-kun"

Yuna does play volleyball (as mentioned before) and joined the girls' volleyball team in Jr. High, but stopped playing when she moved to Tokyo

Her position in the team was Wing Spiker