YEAHHHHHH! CHAPTER 10! YEAHHHHHH!
Omg. You don't know how much I've been waiting for this to be up here. I'm still working on 11 though since, you know, the anime... it's so distracting :(((( I mean nothing against it, it's just so difficult to start writing again when you're binge watching a lot of Haikyuu and getting excited about everything lol
Sorry, I'll contain myself :)
Oh and thank you for the message ICan'tThinkOfACleverUsername! I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! Hope I can bring more great chapters to you!
Here's 10 guys! Enjoy!
The way back to Chikae's house was actually longer than Nishinoya thought. It's not necessarily a bad thing though since he enjoys spending time alone with her... even though they don't talk... and one of them wasn't even awake... But that's beside the point. Being with her makes him happy, that's all that he has to care about. So when coach was there at the door, ready waiting, the libero feels inside him a little bit of loneliness. He didn't want to let her go.
"She fell asleep on the way," Nishinoya explains as soon as he saw the coach quirks an eyebrow.
"Come inside," the young man says, "I actually wanted to talk to you."
Talk to me? the boy wonders, he sure hopes that he's not in trouble of any sort. Maybe it's about the training menu? Maybe he should have practiced more tossing.
The train of thoughts keep running as he watches the coach carries Chikae into her bedroom. Come to think of it, he has never really had a chance to take a look around her house yet. He always leaves her right before her door. The room is small but nothing seems to be out of place. No grand decorative but it isn't boring either. It is certainly not as big as Chikae's old room that he barely had the chance to visit but this house has a cozy vibe to it. A small kotatsu sitting in the middle of the living room, highly possible that it is multi-functioned as dining table and a studying table. Next to the table a heater and papers with practice menus. Coach must have been working while he waits, huh?
Karasuno owes up so much to these two.
"Sorry for the mess," the young Ukai chuckles faintly, "We didn't have time to clean things up."
"Should have seen my room," Nishinoya grins, "This is nothing."
"Yeah. How is that suppose to make me feel better, you punk? I send my daughter to your room for studying ever-"
"I will clean up," the boy salutes, and breathes out in relief when he sees the disapproving look on coach's face subsides.
Keishin Ukai signals him to sit down before laying a dish full of cookies on the table and two cups of hot tea. Needless to say, the libero was taken aback by the sight since he never dares to assume that this man could cook let alone bake.
"You don't have to look at me that way alright?" Keishin Ukai glares, grumbling at the boy, "Chikae made them."
He confirms, biting on one of the cookies. Nishinoya breathes a sigh of relief before picking up one and chomps down on it as well. It's domestic, he takes note, the cookie itself isn't extremely delicious but there is something about it that feels like home. It feels warm inside when people eat it.
"Kid seems a bit happier lately," the coach comments, as he reaches for the cup of tea, "Guess I'll have to thank you for that."
"Why me?" the boy asks, surprised at his coach's words, "I don't really do anything, you know."
"Nah, you gave her confidence. That's a lot."
"It's already there, coach." Nishinoya says, "She just needed to see it. If I'm gonna take credit, I'll just say I managed to I convince her to see that. And that's not credit. I wanted to do that."
"Either way, I'm thankful," the young Ukai smiles, "I mean it."
"I'll gladly take it!" the boy grins right before his eye catches the number on the clock behind his coach.
It's late. He shouldn't stay out this long. He didn't tell Ma he would stay out this long either. He'll have hell when he sets foot inside the house for sure...
"I have to go, coach." he says, pushing the chair away to stand up. His coach does the same, only different in that the man hurries his way to get a bag and put all of cookies inside.
"Here." he hands the bag out, "Give this to your mother too. We always received so much from her."
"Thanks!", the boy replies, "I'll make sure to."
Δ
Her wake was light but it was still sudden. It was like something snapped inside of her, a strange call that pulls her out of the deep slumber she was in. And though it was sudden, Chikae wasn't shocked. Light hits her eyes gently thanks to the curtain blocking their blare from her. The girl sits right up, reaching out for her phone.
Two notifications, she sees. A text message from Yuu and a missed call from... Koushi-san?
What did he want to talk about, I wonder?, she thinks, debating whether to call him first or see what Yuu wanted to say.
Chikae presses the phone symbol, waiting for the call to be connected. She'll text the libero back after this, it must be something important if Koushi-san called after such a long time.
"Hello?" a groggy voice greets her and she rechecks the phone.
6 a.m.
I just have the best timing in the world don't I? she cringes.
"It's me," the girl groans, "Sorry I'll call you back later. Bad timi-"
"Chikae? No no no," Koushi-san's voice still seems tired, but at least it appears to be livelier now, "I'm up. I'm up."
"You are not," Chikae chuckles, "It's okay. I can call back-"
"It's no big deal, Chikae." he says, yawning, and the girl could not help but chuckles at how cute his sleepy voice sounds. You try so hard, Koushi-san.
He probably notices too, her laugh, and asks, "What are you laughing about?"
"It's nothing," she replies, the smile never leaves her lips, "I just thought that you sounded really cute."
"Really now?"
"Yep!" the girl cheers, slightly happier when she hear a faint laugh coming from the other side of the line. Koushi-san, he really is comforting to talk to, "So what did you call me about?" Chikae asks, "I think I was a sleep then so I didn't hear anything."
"Ah," the boy chuckles, "I wanted to check on you, I went to your house yesterday but you weren't I- nah, I wanted to hear your voice. You finally dropped in on our practice the other day but I never really get a chance to talk to you. I mean I'm not saying that you had to talk to me, I just wanted to..."
And like that, Chikae loses herself in his words. Her mind zones out on the kindness of Koushi-san's voice and the warmth that it is emitting throughout the air around her. It's good to know that there's always him worrying about her. No matter what happens, she could always find an ally in him.
"Did I say too much?" the third-year chuckles, his kind voice wraps itself around the girl, transferring the positive energy inside it through her veins.
"No," she shakes her head subconsciously, the words escape her mouth before she could stop them, "It's okay. I'm really happy that you would think of me this much. It's the same as when I was still in New Zealand too. Even when all those voice messages and 'Good mornings' were meant for Daichi Kubota, I'm still very happy to receive them. I liked your music taste too and now that I can see I really like that dress you chose for Daichi. Ah great now I'm babbling. But I mean it. You have a good sense I bet your casual outfits look good too"
Something like a snort comes out from Koushi-san's side, "You're pretty cute yourself, Chicchan."
"I mean it, really!" she tries to reason, "I sort of want to see you in normal clothes-"
"You can actually," he claims, "that is if you agree to come with me to the Light Up festival this weekend. It's in the neighboring town so it's a bit far away but..."
"I'd love too!" she cheers, "I'll make sure my schedule is open!"
"Then it's settled!"
Her senior states, right before he lets out another yawn. That just returns all the guilt she felt for calling him this early in the morning. "I'm so sorry. I didn't check the time before calling so-"
"Nah, I told you it's no big deal. It's actually really nice to hear your voice early in the morning."
"It's kinda like I'm back in New Zealand for some reason. It's a bit nostalgic."
"It does feel like a long time since we've talked huh-Oh rats, I'm gonna have to get ready for morning practice."
"Go. Have a great practice, Koushi-san."
"Talk to you later, Chicchan."
And she cuts off the call, finally decide that she needs to get out of her bed. The smell of morning coffee leaves her with a smile. Chikae twisted her door knob and pushes the door out of her way.
"Good morning," she was the first one to greet.
Her father follows, greeting back with a comment about her being up early.
"My body'saching all over," she proceed to complain.
"I know," Dad chortles, "By the way Nishinoya had to carry you back here, I was pretty sure you'll have a painful day today."
"Right," the girl groans, "It'll be awkward as shit later."
She drops down next to the table. Sitting down gently didn't seem like an option for her since the moment she tries to bend down, using her hand as a cushion, her legs just give in resulting in a shock wave of pain spreading throughout her body.
"Nahhhh, that punk actually seems pretty happy he got a chance to carry you home."
Keishin Ukai says as he pours the stew over the rice, making sure to put more meat on Chikae's plate than on his. She needs to mend those muscle tissue of her if she wants to be able to get up tomorrow too. The young man sets the two plates down, before taking off the apron and signal her to eat.
"Thank you for the meal," his daughter claps her hands together around the same time he sits down and Keishin couldn't hold back his happiness when he looks at her. Things seem to have calm down now. Even though this child has not been very well for the last few days, and he had to bow down to that cocky dean he hated ever since the day he started his term in Karasuno, it seems like the struggle was worthwhile. Chikae is without a doubt much happier now than she is before. If anything, she seems even more alive. Hell, he didn't even dare to dream that she would ask him to let her join the Neighbor team's practice again.
Chikae used to hate it there, but she even manages to enjoy herself there as well. Maybe things are starting to look up for the two of them. After Chikae's suspension, they can really get a new start. Even with a suspension, Keishin Ukai doesn't even worry that much. His child is a bright one, there's no stopping this girl when she sets her mind to it.
"So what's your plan for today?" he asks, a little bit surprised at her speed consuming his cooking. Is he getting a hang of this?
"Imma go over to the Shimada Mart," Chikae answers, "I want to help a round with the store."
"Oh?"
"I want to learn how to take care of the store," his child smiles, "I mean if I can take care of the store then one of these days you or old man Shimada can train with the boys right? I saw the game with Ougi Minami-"
"I knew I saw you that day."
"-Great gramps took me there, but I mean the team is doing really well, Yamaguchi apparently is improving a lot too-"
"He is."
"-soooo I think that maybe I should help out by giving you guys more time to preps them for the national, yeah?"
Keishin turns quiet, his eyes never leave her smirk. Lifting his hand up and reaches for Chikae's head, Kieshin shuffles her hair wildly, disregard the complaints from her as he cackles, "You're a good kid, Chikae."
"I learnt from the best," she comes back, wittily
"And obviously getting better at flattering too."
"Told ya I learnt from the best," his child titters, before smack one on the table, her eyes lit up, "Speaking of plans~", she starts, "I'm hanging out with Koushi-san this weekend. There's a lighting up event, and he invited me."
"Go have fun then," Keishin says, standing up from the floor his hand carrying the finished plate.
"It's strange for you to agree so quickly." Chikae comments flicking her hand at him, still half way from standing up properly.
But Keishin just smirks, his gaze dawns on her with sheer amusement. He feels bad for Nishinoya a bit but Sugawara apparently was faster this time. It's not his business to get involve with their relationship though if it is, the young Ukai is all for-Sugawara. He has no beef against Nishinoya, but Chikae just seem so much safer if she hangs out with the setter. Nishinoya is a bit too... heated for her.
"Can't say no," he shrugs with a grin on his face, and a coyly teasing look in his eyes, "After all you're beaming so happy about it. Right, I gotta get the shop open."
"I'll take care of the dishes." Chikae replies and the young Ukai grabs his jacket and truck's key.
"Have a good day." he says to her, before hurrying out the door and leave for work. It's tiring for sure waking up early in the morning everyday to open shop but if he can share breakfast with his daughter like this, it's worth the effort for Keishin.
Δ
Shimada Mart doesn't seem as crowded as Chikae thought. Given that it is weekdays, the girl had expected guests to flood into the store. Housewives are their main customers but with the whole town stocking up for winter, she did hope that she might get to see first hand of how Shimada-san handles large number of guests.
But instead most of the time they were free. Doing the clerk work isn't hard. It doesn't take much practice just hovering goods before the scanner and wait for the beeps. So the young man sent her to set up all the goods inside the store.
The day goes on slow, too slow for her liking actually. It's not a bad thing to have less customer. You earn the same amount but with less work. Everybody likes that. It's just when it's not enough customer and you still earn the same amount, it starts to get really difficult to deal with the guilt of receiving your money because you don't really think you deserve it.
"Exchuse me," a cute little voice sounds behind her and Chikae turns back from her crouching position to see a little girl, no older than ten fidgeting.
"Hello there," she cracks a smile at the little customer, "What do you need?"
"My mom told me to get weggs for dinner," the little one says, "My brother likes to eat raw wegg with his rice."
"I see." Chikae chuckles, "Did you mom say which brand to buy then?"
"Nwo", she answers, "Last time the shopkeppwer gave me twen!"
Oh!, the brand name flashes through her mind and Chikae takes the little girl's hand leading her to the egg section.
She picks the kid up and let her takes out the carton box herself, which seems to have made her very happy.
"Thank you miss!" the little one says, "Shooyoo will like this a lot."
Hinata? Ahhh so that's what it is, a faint smile crosses her lips when Chikae realized that the kid share the same hair color with the first year. This is Hinata's little sister huh? Not as loud as her brother but evidently much cuter.
From a far, as sudden call rings. "Natsu," the new voice says, just as she sees a young woman closing her distance with them. Possibly Hinata's mother. She's beautiful, the girl notes.
"Mama!" Natsu cheers, rushing back to the young woman.
"Be careful!" Hinata's mother scolds, "You're gonna drop the eggs if you run, Natsu."
The scene makes Chikae laughs. The girl starts to wonder if she was like this too, so innocently running towards her mother.
"Tohru! I got the bread!"
An unforeseen voice echoes through the atmosphere surprising her. What was that all about, the girl wonders alone when the round she made to search for the source of the voice yields no result, Maybe I'm just imagining things?
It's awfully strange how she could just hear a young voice when the only kid she could see is Natsu alone.
"We're going back, Natsu. Say goodbye to the kind miss." Hinata's mother smiles, gesturing towards Chikae.
"Bwai Bwai!" Natsu waves at her and Chikae too in returns faintly reply the act with a small wave.
"Have a good meal, Natsu." she says, watching the two heading to the register. Little Natsu clings onto her mother, cackling as she goes on about all the dishes they would eat and Mrs. Hinata in turn, gives out kind chuckles as responses.
Happy house, Chikae smiles, returning to her job of stacking up Pepsi bottles. Well, she doesn't really like raw egg with rice like Hinata but eggroll might not be such a bad idea for tonight's meal. If anything, dad seems to like it too.
"Right!" she tells herself, "Let's get this thing done and get cooking!"
What do you guys think about Natsu? :))) I love Hinata's sister so much ;))) She's so adorable and did you know there's actually a story for her? Like her encounter with Asahi and it's just hilarious!
Oh and I didn't forget! I only own Chikae! I'll see y'all again next chapter!