"Uwaahh! Noya-san! That's amazing! You got a thirty-one on the last quiz!" Tanaka shouted out, his eyes sparkling as he stared at the libero's most recent sixty-point pop quiz with awe.
Due to the much dreaded final exams coming up, the group of second-years had decided to meet up more frequently for study sessions. In particular, to help Tanaka and Nishinoya who were in the most danger of failing and not being able to go to the training camp. This time, they had decided to meet up at Nishinoya's house.
The libero laughed triumphantly, pumping out his chest with pride. "Of course! I'm Karasuno's Guardian Deity after all!" He smirked coolly, jabbing his thumb towards his chest to emphasize his point.
"A thirty-one is nothing to be proud of, Mr. Still-Failing." Ennoshita bluntly commented. Nishinoya flinched, his confidence faltering. Ennoshita's pointed gaze then turned to the other second-year idiot, causing him to flinch as well. "And don't encourage him Tanaka!"
Kinoshita and Narita chuckled behind him while still trying to work on their own worksheets in fear of invoking the wrath of Ennoshita-sensei. "Still though, that's a pretty big improvement!" Narita remarked.
Kinoshita nodded in agreement. "It's only nine more points from passing. In modern literature, too! Wasn't that your worst subject?"
"Yeah, this is a little suspicious. You better not have cheated." Ennoshita eyed the boy. Nishinoya looked appalled. "Of course not! I would never do something so lame!"
The boss of the second-years just raised his eyebrow in question. "Then, how did you improve so much when, just recently, you wrote nothing but nonsense answers on your worksheets and tests?"
The shorter boy laughed mysteriously. He clasped his hands together, like one would do in prayer. His eyes glazed over as he looked up, a smile full of bliss gracing his features. "I received divine insight from a goddess."
Kinoshita, Narita, and Tanaka tilted their heads in confusion while Ennoshita just looked at him blankly. "Okay, here's how to do question number four." Ennoshita continued as if nothing happened. "Hey!"
The others laughed as Ennoshita paid him no mind, continuing to explain how to solve the problem. "Oh, you got that question right, Tanaka! Nice!" Narita exclaimed. "Ehh? We didn't even go over that one yet. How'd you know how to do it?" Kinoshita asked.
Tanaka blushed, his hand rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Tsukiko-chan actually showed me how to do problems like this when she came over last weekend…Cut it out!" He added when the other second-years gave him suggestive looks and mock kissy faces.
"Hmm, must have been nice! How was it, having your girlfriend over for the first time?" Narita asked.
Tanaka nearly melted at remembering how cute his girlfriend was. "It was so great…But then my sister came back and interrupted us. She was so embarrassing!"
"I don't even want to know what you two were doing before that…" Ennoshita mumbled.
"We didn't do anything!" Tanaka shouted back, but a small blush appeared on his cheeks again. "But…we did…k-kiss after I walked her back home." At the revelation, the other boys shouted congratulations at him.
Nishinoya, in particular, gave him a hard smack to the back. The sort teammates would give in the middle of a game. "Nice going, Ryu!" He then looked up at the ceiling, a flash of hope in his eyes. "Ahh, if only Hitomi-chan would come to my house to teach me too!"
"Hitomi-chan?" They questioned, not knowing anybody in their year with that name. "My beautiful angel I told you about earlier!" Nishinoya explained.
"Goddess or angel? Pick one." Ennoshita said under his breath as he continued copying notes.
"Is there a 'Hitomi' that goes to our school?" Tanaka asked, curious to know who other than Kiyoko was able to capture Nishinoya's affections.
Nishinoya shook his head in response, causing the other's interests to rise. "Do you have a picture of her?" They asked. At the question, he shook his head again.
Ennoshita's eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. "She doesn't go to our school and you don't have a picture of her…What are you, a grade schooler? You sound like a kid who got jealous of another kid and started lying to make it seem like you're just as good as them. Just because Tanaka got a girlfriend doesn't mean you have to make one up."
"I'm not lying! She's real!" Nishinoya shouted back. Ennoshita just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just get back to studying! We've all been distracted enough already." He ordered with a deep frown, making everyone quickly return to diligently working.
After a while, the group got stuck on one particular question. They were all struggling, as none of them could figure it out. Kinoshita looked up from the page. "Hey, maybe you can ask…uhh…Hitomi-san?" He suggested.
Nishinoya perked up, nodding his head excitedly. "Sure!" He whipped out his phone, preparing to take a picture of the question, but his hand holding the phone stilled in the air. His eyes darkened and a depressive aura surrounded him as his head drooped a little. "I…don't have her number…" He begrudgingly admitted.
Ennoshita sighed. "Are you sure she's not just a figment of your imagination or something?"
"She's not! I swear!" The libero yelled. His eyes widened in realization. "Ah! The convenience store!" He quickly dug into his bag, searching for the piece of paper she gave him.
"The convenience store?" The others questioned, but Nishinoya was much too excited to hear them. Upon finding the paper, he hurriedly unfolded it, searching for today's date.
It was circled.
His eyes lit up as his smile returned. "Guys! Let's go to the convenience store by my house! We can meet her there!"
Tanaka was all for it, considering it meant that they could get snacks and not have to study for a bit. Kinoshita and Narita looked at Ennoshita, as if they were kids looking to get permission from their parent. Ennoshita sighed in agitation, "Alright, fine. We can take a break, but don't get carried away!"
Tanaka and Nishinoya cheered, jumping up immediately as the other second-years just smiled at them. On their way to the store, Tanaka asked the libero, "What's she like?"
"She's beautiful! The most beautiful girl I've ever seen! I would die for her!" The boy proudly stated with sparkles in his eyes.
Kinoshita raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Eh? Even prettier than Kiyoko-san?" He questioned in disbelief. It was amazing to think that someone could be more beautiful than their manager. Better yet, it was incredible that Nishinoya, of all people, would think so.
Nishinoya nodded emphatically. "Kiyoko-san is definitely beautiful too, but Hitomi-chan is just…!" He gazed off in the distance, a smile of pure joy and admiration on his lips. He couldn't even begin to find the right words to describe the love of his life, but he had a feeling he never would. In his eyes, anything he said would never be able to do Hitomi's beauty justice. "Once you see her, you'll understand!" He stated assertively.
Kinoshita looked at the others who just shrugged their shoulders, not sure what to make of the libero's statements. Once they reached the store, Nishinoya frantically looked around for Hitomi. She was nowhere to be seen so he headed inside with the rest of the second-years.
The store wasn't exactly tiny, but it wasn't so big that he couldn't tell from just a glance that Hitomi wasn't inside either. Just from the entrance, he could do a visual sweep of the store, seeing that they were the only patrons.
She was most certainly tall enough that the top of her head would poke out from one of the aisles. Not being able to see her beautiful, silky, black hair, Nishinoya's shoulders slumped a bit. "Ara! Is that Yuu-kun?"
The boy jerked his head up to see the elderly cashier, Fumio. It was the same old lady that had approved of him and Hitomi! "Granny! It's nice to see you again!" He smiled, running up to her.
The elderly woman gently smiled back, putting a hand to her cheek. "My, my! I should be saying that! It's good to see you again, too! I see you brought friends with you." When she looked over at the group of second-years they bowed politely to her. She smiled again, glad to see youngsters with such good manners. "Is Hitomi-chan not with you?" She questioned.
Nishinoya's smile dampened just the tiniest bit as he shook his head. "I was actually hoping to see her today! Did she already come by the store?" At the shake of Fumio's head, Nishinoya's smile dimmed again but soon returned in its full radiance.
She wasn't here now, but if she hadn't come at all yet, then there was still a chance she would! Just like always, he'd wait for her however long it took.
The boy thanked Fumio for the information, hopping back over to his friends so they could decide on what snacks to buy for their group study session. Passing by the candy and chocolates aisle, his eyes fell upon the soy sauce flavored Kit Kats.
His eyes brightened, remembering how cute Hitomi was when she ate the Kit Kat so seriously and was almost critiquing it. The way she sniffed at the treat and nibbled cautiously at it was just so cute!
He smiled to himself, remembering her cute gestures and how smelling the shampoo in her hair made his heart flutter as she tried tutoring him.
Rather than the large bag of Kit Kats he got for her before, he chose a smaller set instead.
Tanaka looked over Nishinoya's shoulder to see what he had picked out. His face contorted in disgust as he read the label. "Geh! Soy sauce Kit Kats!? That sounds gross!"
Nishinoya laughed, throwing the bag into the basket. "It's actually really good! It's sweet! I think it'll go well with tea, like Hitomi-chan suggested!"
The wing spiker still looked at the bag of Kit Kats in the basket incredulously. "…If you say so…"
They continued throughout the store, picking out their favorite snacks with the others. After they paid for it all, Nishinoya immediately opened up a soda flavored Garigari-kun. He chomped on the popsicle eagerly, nearly finishing it before they even walked out of the store.
When he realized that the others were well on their way back towards his house, he stopped in his tracks. "Wait! Aren't we waiting for Hitomi-chan?"
They turned to him with confused looks. "Huh? What are you talking about? She wasn't there, remember? Let's go back." Ennoshita turned back around.
"Ehhhh? But she could come any minute now! Let's wait! Didn't you guys want to see her, too?" Nishinoya adamantly stayed put.
Narita scratched his cheek, an uncomfortable look on his face. "Well, yeah, we were interested but how do you know she's coming? Did you guys agree to meet up today?"
Nishinoya blanched at that. Well, of course, Hitomi and he had never agreed to meet up any of the other times they had seen each other. He had always just come of his own free will and sometimes, Hitomi happened to show up, much to his enjoyment.
The boy pulled out the small calendar from his pocket, double-checking to make sure that today's date was circled. "We didn't agree to meet up, but today's date is circled!" He flipped the paper around to let the others see. They leaned forward, looking at the paper with curiosity.
"What does today's date being circled have anything to do with it?" Ennoshita questioned with a raised eyebrow. "If you guys didn't agree to meet up, how would she know to come here. You don't even have her number, so it's not like you could tell her either. Now come on, let's go!" He pulled on the back of the shorter boy's collar, dragging him away from the store and back to his house.
"Nooo! I don't want to! Hitomi-chan could come any second now!" Nishinoya cried out like a child, digging his heels into the ground. Ennoshita didn't listen, only using more force to drag him off. They had come over to study, not to wait for some girl that may or may not even be real! There was no way he was letting Nishinoya weasel his way out of more studying.
Nishinoya struggled harder, waving his hands around too. "Today! Date! Circled! Hitomi-chaaaan!" "SHUT UP!"
His cries echoed into the nighttime air as the sound of Ennoshita smacking his head reverberated.