Heartbreaker? Pfffsh...
My Mother Doesn't Like You…
(…And She Likes Everyone.)
With one final, triumphant point, the Karasuno Boys Volleyball team almost collapsed in shock. They had done it.
They had actually done it!
Saeko – Tanaka's older sister, who had turned up to support the team – had to grab hold of Hitoka to make sure she didn't fall in a limp heap by her feet. Tears, hot and prideful, began to roll down Karasuno and their supporter's cheeks as victorious yells filled the air.
Yamaguchi had taken what Hitoka had said to him to heart, and she couldn't be prouder. Was this how Kiyoko felt whenever she helped the team in secretive, minute ways – outside of enamouring the opposition, of course? Because if so, Hitoka rather liked the way her encouragements paying off lit up her inside with warm fuzziness.
Unlike with Aobajōsai, though more importantly, Iwaizumi and Oikawa, Hitoka didn't feel a single shred of remorse over her team's win. It stemmed from not really knowing Ushijima and the rest of Shiratorizawa's players all that well, she supposed. While they were gracious in their loss (though it was hard to tell with Ushijima's stiff expressions), Shiratorizawa were gutted. With Ushijima on their side, they had been assured a third win. They were a team of pure white birds – destined to dominate and shine. To be pipped to the post by a mob of upstart crows was unthinkable, and Shiratorizawa's players would take away one very important lesson form this match: underestimation could get you defeated. Be wary of who you dismiss.
Either way, Hitoka was happy with the result. She slapped at her face to rouse some sense into her body; the floaty, somnambulant sensation she was feeling hadn't subsided yet and she wished for reality to ground her firmly to the floor.
Flinging herself away from Saeko, she hurried out of the gymnasium's stands and down to the courtside. Kiyoko would need a second pair of hands to help wrangle everyone into cool downs and to distribute energy drinks, snacks, and towels. Before that though, they would each have to subject themselves to a fierce (and uncharacteristic) Hitoka Yachi hug.
Skidding down the hall, Hitoka stumbled to a halt. Iwaizumi and Oikawa were also just leaving the stadium.
"Congrats!" Tōru beamed, though his grin didn't quite meet his eyes. Behind his spectacles lay the gaze of someone wary and hurting. Of course, his pride had been wounded by Karasuno the previous day, but upon taking in Hitoka's ludicrous joy, a single spark of something that Hitoka couldn't identity helped to lighten Oikawa's mood. (Second-hand revenge, might have been one interpretation, seeing as Karasuno had been the ones to knock Shiratorizawa off their perch.)
"We're going to the Nationals…" Hitoka told them quietly, as though she didn't quite believe it herself.
"You all did really well," Hajime agreed, nudging Tōru. "We came to watch."
Oikawa's mouth opened in protest – something along the lines of 'I just found myself here. Not that I wanted to watch' – but he was cowed by Iwaizumi's narrow glare. He instead settled for, "You've got a lot of work ahead of you for Nationals."
Hitoka gulped. "We'll… we'll do it though."
"I know you will," Tōru conceded.
"I didn't know you-you'd be here today. You could have c-come to sit with me and the others," Hitoka told them.
"Shittykawa just wanted to see who would lose," Hajime intoned dryly. "Didn't even want to hang around for the awards ceremony, can you believe it?"
Hitoka, playing along with Hajime's debasing of Tōru's character, smiled knowingly. "How touching," she said.
Oikawa pouted. "We've only known you properly for two weeks, and you're already ganging up on me with Iwa-Chan. What happened to the frightened little star we met at the planetarium?"
Hitoka blinked dumbly, and Oikawa fiddled with the sleeves of his navy-blue coat. Finally, he said; "Well, I guess you decided it was time to shine brighter, huh?"
Hajime had been checking his phone for available bus and train times. "We should get going if you want to catch the next one."
Waving goodbye for one last time, the pair left Hitoka completely alone in the corridor, and try as she might, she couldn't get her feet to take single step. In all her jubilation, she had forgot to stop and think whether they would let anyone run onto the court – even the assistant manager. It was probably best that she waited until the teams were done shaking hands and receiving their awards before she congratulated anyone.
With that, Hitoka slowly made her way back up to the stands, telling Saeko that she had simply rushed to the toilet instead of providing a long-winded story. The older woman seemed to take it in her stride, despite how twitchy and dismayed Hitoka looked, and cheered a little louder during Karasuno's round of applause to bolster Hitoka's half-hearted yells.
"See! See?" Daichi hissed. "He's doing it again."
"Doing what again?" Kōshi mumbled through his (gritted) smiling teeth, waving up to Karasuno's supporters in the crowd.
"He's watching her again – not the… what did you say his name was again?"
"Oh? The weird one?" Kōshi asked, and Daichi hummed. "Who's watching who?"
"Japan is watching Yachi-Chan again."
Kōshi, frowning now, inquired as to how Daichi knew this. The latter huffed; shuffling his feet sheepishly. "Because I was watching him through the game, and every time he looked up, he was looking at her."
Formalities over, it was time for Karasuno to move into the changing rooms and sort themselves out for the drive back home – though Takeda-Sensei had insisted that he treat them all to a hearty dinner.
"I did say he might have trouble seeing over distance," Kōshi pointed out, though he was starting to get at what Daichi was saying; Ushijima's staring was becoming a little creepy – and the stunt Shiratorizawa had pulled before the game had even begun had set his own teeth one edge. "Maybe he was using the stands as a focal point."
Daichi shook his head, "He was definitely looking at Hitoka."
Kōshi halted in his action of trying to pull his shirt over his head. It resulted in his collar trapped around his hair, like a nun's wimple. "That's the first time I've heard you call Hitoka-Chan by her first name."
"Yeah, well, you do it," Daichi chuckled. "I've picked up a lot of things from you over the years, Suga."
If only, Kōshi thought bitterly to himself. He was shaken from his thoughts by a hand slapping gently against his rump.
"Thanks, Sugamama."
Face no doubt colouring, Kōshi answered, "Anytime, Dadchi."
"I still think we need an intervention though," Daichi insisted, the topic of their conversation immediately turning back to Daichi's protective streak over Hitoka, which was, coincidentally, about a mile wide.
Kōshi exhaled heavily. Just when he thought he was getting somewhere…
Having nearly been flattened by a leaping Nishinoya and Tanaka, Hitoka decided against all physical forms of congratulations. She'd seen the way the boys would high-five each other too and didn't fancy a cracked wrist partway through the school year. Plus, casts were itchy.
She smiled whenever she caught the Karasuno team looking; nodding along eagerly as Hinata babbled to her about the match (as though she hadn't been there, watching every moment) and refrained from cringing when Kageyama cast his smile upon the world. She didn't even shy away from Asahi as he bumbled past, offering him a squeaky 'Well done!'
Their celebratory dinner was a raucous affair. Takeda-Sensei had one too many beers, Coach Ukai didn't know where to put himself as the teacher began to doze against his arm, Hinata almost choked on what he was scoffing down quickly, and Daichi kept looking at Hitoka weirdly. All in all, a typical Karasuno outing, but one that was, in a sense, ramped up with further insanity.
"Ushijima isn't going to give you any trouble, is he?" Daichi probed, as the team were encouraged to make their way home while Coach Ukai hefted Takeda-Sensei into the minivan with the sole intention of dropping the teacher back at his apartment.
Hitoka shook her head. "It ree-really was a coincidence, Daichi-San."
"Good," Daichi nodded to himself. "I don't think my heart can take any more unexpected visitors turning up at practice for you."
After texting her mother – who was away on business, again – to inform her of Krasuno's victory and that she had returned home safely, Hitoka plopped down onto the sofa in their living room. Her hair stuck out like a disarrayed stack of straw, her gym clothes tight and clammy. Her legs and arms felt heavy, and they largely played a factor in Hitoka's decision to loll limply on the couch than going to bathe.
It had been exhausting – but rewarding. Hitoka was tired. Still, she gathered a little strength and meandered to the bathroom; a shower would help her relax, and she would feel better taking one now than in the morning when she'd become even more of an unappealing mess overnight.
The heat of the water and the wafting steam made her sigh; her muscles soothing under her ministrations and the warmth. She scrubbed at her hair, resolute to blow-dry it properly afterwards before she slept, instead of allowing it to dry into a multitude of abstract, untameable directions.
The only thing that could complete the ensemble of a warm shower and cleanliness was a set of comfortable, freshly laundered pyjamas. Hitoka, wrapping her body firmly in a fuzzy towel, sought out the latter; padding along the hallway while the bathroom demisted to dress herself. She dug out a light, fleecy dressing gown, which – once dressed and with her hair dried – she put on too. It had been warm of late, but autumn was a season for rainy cool days. Today had not been like that weather-wise, but Hitoka bundled herself up anyway.
The fabrics held within them a comfort – like the reassurance of a hug or being tucked firmly into bed at night as a child to keep the monsters from crawling under the blankets after you. It was still far too early to contemplate going to sleep, despite Hitoka's fatigue (which was, in itself, more of a need to unwind than to nap). She made her way back to the living room, switching on the television, and then to the kitchen to fix herself a hot drink.
Tea brewed and trapped in a thick ceramic mug that Hitoka couldn't quite wrap her hands around – and that she could leech even more warmth from – Hitoka sat down once more; comfortable and refreshed.
She sipped without a cause, flicking through the channel guide and finding nothing she desired to watch before finally landing on a cheesy television movie she had seen before. It wasn't the greatest or entertaining film out there, but it would do. Hitoka couldn't be bothered to move and bring a DVD out from her room to watch – she'd even left her bag by the coffee table in the living room, instead of taking it with her to her bedroom while she showered and changed.
Hitoka wondered whether her mother had text back yet, draining the rest of her tea and placing the mug down on the table before reaching for her phone. She had, though her reply was brief. She maybe had a dinner-date-slash-meeting she was going to then, Hitoka thought, and had replied when she had the fleeting opportunity to do so.
There was, however, another text waiting in Hitoka's inbox.
To: Yachi Hitoka
From: [UNKOWN NUMBER]
19:47 PM
I HEARD YOUR TEAM GOT THROUGH
CONGRATS YA-CHAN!
There was only one person (that Hitoka knew of) who called her 'Ya-Chan'. Confused, she typed out a slow reply:
To: [UKNOWN NUMBER]
From: Yachi Hitoka
20:08 PM
I'm sorry, but is that you Bokuto-San?
How did you get my number?
A seemingly instantaneous reply nearly caused her to drop her phone from fright – Hitoka was glad she had finished her tea off before she'd decided to text, otherwise she would be changing her pyjamas and mopping up liquid from the sofa and the cream rug spread underneath the coffee table.
To: Yachi Hitoka
From: [UKNOWN NUMBER]
20:11 PM
HINATA MESSAGED KENMA WHO MESSAGED KUROO WHO MESSAGED ME ABOUT YOUR WIN
I GOT YOUR NUMBER FROM HINATA THROUGH THAT LOT
SORRY
Hitoka wasn't sure how she felt about this… and what was with the Caps lock?
To: Bokuto Kotaro
From: Yachi Hitoka
20:16 PM
It's fine. I was just a bit surprised.
20:16 PM
I'm actually really tired, Bokuto-San, so I think I'm going to try and get some sleep.
Good night.
To: Yachi Hitoka
From: Bokuto Kotaro
20:17PM
NIGHT YA-CHAN
Hitoka fled to her room and slept fitfully. Owls, eagles, and aliens haunted her dreams.
A/N [28/7/2018] : This is the last chapter for this set. I'm feeling really low energy at the moment, and everyone is kinda down at the moment with all the hot weather in the UK (it seems petty to those from a warmer climate, I know, but our summers are usually always wet, and never reach above 21C)
I'll see you all for the last five chapters on [1/8/18]!