"I'm looking for Hitomi-chan! Does she go here?! Do you know her?! Do you know where I can find her!?"

Hitomi froze in her tracks. She had just left school and was on her way toward the gates when she saw a small crowd of people near them.

Hitomi really believed that Nishinoya Yuu wasn't the stalker type, but she was now beginning to doubt herself.

The small crowd of people near the gates of the school had their heads tilted slightly downwards to look at the person shouting. Hitomi hoped that it wasn't him, but she could clearly recognize that loud and energetic voice of his.

She was just beginning to regret showing any semblance of kindness to him when she realized something.

The last time he saw her, she was in her school uniform.

She had gone to the convenience store from her school, having read a couple books in the library before leaving. It was already late, so she had decided to just go to the convenience store without stopping by her house first.

At the time, she hadn't thought everything out clearly and didn't realize that Nishinoya might be able to recognize her uniform. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like the boy had no problems figuring out where she went to school.

Hitomi sighed in annoyance and pinched the bridge of her nose to help relieve a bit of her stress.

Well, at least there was still some hope that Nishinoya wasn't a complete stalker. His appearance was the result of her lack of foresight. So, if anybody was to blame, it would be her.

The girl gave a final sigh, attracting some stares. When a couple people from the crowd had turned around to see her, they had parted slightly so that she saw Nishinoya behind them.

The libero's eyes instantly lit up, and his smile shined brightly.

Hitomi had looked even more stunning than he remembered. Last time, he had only seen her in her uniform when it was dark outside. Seeing her in the day time now, it really enlightened him.

It seemed like Hitomi grew more beautiful each time he saw her, and he would cherish every blessed moment he got to witness her beauty.

"Hitomi-chaaaan!" He ran up to her with open arms, preparing to smother her with his love. When he reached her, he swung his arms inward for a hug but only managed to hug himself and the air since Hitomi sidestepped him.

Not fazed in the slightest, Nishinoya immediately recovered and turned back around. "Hitomi-chan! I missed you!"

His bold statement caused everyone's eyes to widen. Even Hitomi was slightly flustered. The boy had always been very forward, but it was the first time he had ever said something like this. It drew the attention of the many students around them.

Hitomi glanced at her whispering classmates, choosing to ignore them. "What…are you doing here?" She asked him hesitantly, but needed to know the answer.

"To see you, of course!" Nishinoya replied with no hesitation, the smile on his face somehow growing even larger.

The girl sighed as she heard the gossip around her beginning to be more apparent. "And what about volleyball practice?" She asked.

"We have a day off to rest our muscles right before the Inter-High! So, I decided to come see you! I'm glad that the person I asked about your uniform got the right school!" Nishinoya happily explained.

Suddenly, Hitomi realized another thing. She had left the school right after the dismissal bell rang. Unlike many students who frantically packed away their belongings to leave the school as fast as possible, she always took her sweet time to do so. After all, it wasn't like she was ever in a rush to be anywhere.

Today, she hadn't stopped by the library or anywhere else before leaving the school. Yet, Nishinoya still caught her before she left. Even if he didn't have volleyball practice, schools still let out at basically the same time. Karasuno also wasn't particularly that close to Tohoku High School.

Hitomi took a brief moment to survey the area. She grew more confused when she saw that he hadn't come with a bike or any other form of transportation like a scooter or skateboard. She then examined the boy. His bright smile was still there, but he tilted his head in confusion as she just stared at him in disbelief.

There wasn't a drop of sweat on him.

He couldn't possibly have run here! It was far too fast! Even if he did, how could he not be sweating right now?!

Hitomi couldn't believe it. It should just be inhumanly possible to travel from Karasuno to Tohoku that quickly by foot…right?

Just as she was about to ask him, the voice of another boy interrupted her. It was a voice that she was very not fond of. It belonged to an especially persistent classmate who was one of the reasons why she had mapped out the entire school with special hiding places so she could eat her lunch in peace. "Hitomi-chan! Who's this? Your younger brother?"

Her classmate came up behind her, taking note of Nishinoya in front of him. "Aww, did he come to visit you? That's cute! What year is he in? Elementary school?" The boy observed Nishinoya and placed his hand on Hitomi's shoulder, slightly leaning on her. "Oh? Hang on, he's wearing a gakuran. So, maybe middle school then?"

The libero was about to burst out in anger when he suddenly felt a cold chill creep down his spine. The other boy had felt it as well, but with far greater impact.

Hitomi had simply looked at the hand on her shoulder and to the boy, but she sure did give him a fright. She said nothing, but her glare made the message loud and clear to him.

Get your hand off of me.

Her classmate hastily pulled his hand back, as if he had burned it by touching her shoulder. He laughed nervously, hoping to alleviate the tension in the air.

Hitomi looked at the shoulder that her classmate's hand just vacated. Even though his hand was gone, it seemed like she was still looking at it with disgust.

Watching this interaction, Nishinoya realized something.

He hadn't been on the receiving end of one of Hitomi's ice cold glares in a while.

Of course, that might just be because he only sees her maybe once a week or so, if at all. Still, the past times that he saw her, she had graced him with a few small smiles that nearly made him melt on the spot. This realization made him immensely happy.

Hitomi's voice brought him back out of his little reverie. It was just as cold as her glare. "This is Nishinoya Yuu from Karasuno High School." She emphasized the last part, probably more for the libero's sake than for her own, which he very much appreciated.

Not only that, but the sound of his name coming from her lips was absolutely heavenly. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to take it if she ever introduced him as her friend.

Or even better, as her boyfriend.

The shorter boy quickly shook his head, ridding it of impure thoughts.

"O-Oh! High school! Right! U-Uh anyways…I should get going! I'll see you later!" Her classmate dashed off, having gotten too uncomfortable with her glaring. It seemed extra cold today.

Seeing him run away, Nishinoya was once again thankful and thought he was blessed that he wasn't at the brunt of Hitomi's scowling. His attention went back to her when she spoke to him.

"We should talk somewhere else. We're causing too much of a disturbance on school grounds." She walked off without waiting for his response.

The shorter boy looked around them, noticing that they had indeed garnered a lot of attention. A crowd was somewhat surrounding them and blocking the gate. Students who were uninterested in what was happening had to go all the way around or weave through the crowd just to try to leave the school.

Nishinoya smiled at Hitomi's retreating back. Just like always, she was thinking about others without being asked. Her words may have seemed a bit harsh at times, but they were good-natured at heart…usually.

Just as he always did, Nishinoya started following her like a puppy. He stopped after a few steps when he heard the whisperings of some students nearby.

"Ugh, there she is: Ice Queen Hitomi…"

"Haha, you mean Stone Cold Bitch Hitomi!"

"God, did you see how rude she was? Sora-kun was just trying to be nice! She didn't have to be so mean to him!"

"Totally! She may have a pretty face, but she's so ugly inside."

Nishinoya's bright smile instantly turned to one of anger. How could they talk about her like that?! They were clearly talking loud enough for Hitomi to hear too!

Not to mention everything they said was completely wrong! Hitomi was extremely kind, and there was nothing that would make him think differently about that.

He was about to give those people a piece of his mind when he felt Hitomi's soft hand tug at his wrist. He turned back to look at her with confusion.

She wasn't exactly glaring as much as she gave him an admonishing look. The girl shook her head at him, confusing him more. Although, he didn't struggle when she pulled him away from the gossiping students.

When they were finally away from school grounds, Nishinoya voiced his thoughts. "Hitomi-chan! Are you just gonna let them talk about you like that!? They were saying such horrible things, and they weren't true at all!"

The girl only scoffed, continuing to walk. "Why should I care about the opinions of people that don't know anything about me? I know who I am. I don't need other people to tell me what I'm like."

The shorter boy looked up at her in awe. She had an air of solidarity, and her eyes held nothing but unrelenting confidence.

Thinking about her words, he smiled and pumped his fists. That's right! Who cares about what other people think about you!

Man, Hitomi was kind and beautiful, but now he knows she's super cool too!

Suddenly the girl stopped walking, causing Nishinoya to stop as well. She turned to him, eyes narrowing and eyebrows furrowing slightly in doubt. "Besides, what makes you think that what they said was wrong? Also, why do you even care?" She asked skeptically.

"Of course they're wrong!" Nishinoya shouted adamantly. "You're super nice and cool! I bet they all just misunderstood you! I mean, I don't know what happens in your school, but the Hitomi I know is really kind and I don't like people talking bad about my friends!" He defended.

Hitomi raised a brow. "I've said this before, but I've hardly been that nice to you on multiple occasions. I don't really consider us friends." She knew that she had probably been very mean to him, but it was just in her nature. She had trained herself to be cynical so that she could push everyone away and wouldn't get hurt.

"That's not true!" He shouted again. He sure was getting fired up about this. "People might think you were being mean, but I talked to the guys on the volleyball team and they told me that I really was being creepy! I shouldn't have approached you like that, and I think any girl had the right to be mad at me! Sorry about that! I'll buy you a Garigari-kun, so please accept my apology!" He bowed to her energetically.

Hitomi just stood there in front of him. The ends of her lips curved up slightly as she almost felt like laughing at him for worrying about that after all this time. She made a mental note that he had been talking about her with his teammates. "Well, your friends are right about you being creepy. I can't believe you found out what school I go to and showed up like that. What are you, some kind of stalker?"

Nishinoya jumped up. "No! I swear I'm not! I remembered you in your uniform the other day so I asked around to see if anybody knew! I came to Tohoku to check!"

The girl hummed. "Well…if that's the case, then I suppose it's fine."

Nishinoya sighed in relief. "Geez, Ennoshita asked me the same question…I swear I'm not a stalker…" He mumbled.

"I have to ask you not to come to my school again though." Hitomi requested, interrupting his mutterings.

"Eh?! Why not?! Don't worry, you look super cute in your uniform!" He gave her a thumbs-up, assuming that she was just embarrassed to be seen in her school uniform.

"…That's not what I'm worried about." Hitomi frowned at him. "You were so loud that probably the whole school knows about you now. You defended me, too. If those people were saying that stuff about me, I'm sure you can imagine what they're saying about you because of that."

Nishinoya stared at her. The confidence in her eyes was still there, but there was also something else. He could have sworn that there was a brief flash of sadness in them, but it was gone before he knew it.

"So what?!" Nishinoya shouted back, slightly surprising her. "It's just like you said! You said you don't need to care about what other people say about you, so I'll do the same! I don't care what they say about me! The Hitomi I know is definitely a kind, cool beauty! One that tells me I'm too loud when around hungover cashiers and buys me aloe vera gel to help heal my bruises!"

His beaming smile made Hitomi look away in embarrassment. It's not like what she did was all that amazing or kind. He was blowing it way out of proportion.

"…So long as you know what you're getting into." She relented.

Nishinoya gasped in excitement, his eyes twinkling with delight. "So, I can come again?!"

The girl felt very uneasy about it, but Nishinoya had done nothing to really make Hitomi suspect him of anything foul. Even if she told him 'no,' she was sure that he'd find some other way to see her anyways. She sighed, hoping this decision wouldn't come back to bite her. "Do whatever you want."

"YESSSS!" The libero jumped all around, unable to contain his excitement.

Hitomi quickly spoke again, attempting to bring him down a notch. "I don't know how you got here so fast, but don't always expect to catch me on time."

His enthusiasm didn't tone down in the slightest. "That's okay! I'll just wait at the gates until you come!" He exclaimed.

She looked at him as if he had two heads. "Huh?! This isn't like the convenience store, you know!? It's not like I'll come later in the night. If I'm leaving school, then I'm definitely not coming back until the next morning!"

The boy paused. "…Oh…You're right…Haha! Then I'll just wait until it gets dark!"

"…Do whatever you want…" Hitomi sighed in exasperation as she put her face in her palm and shook her head.

Nishinoya Yuu truly was an idiot.