It was getting towards the end of summer vacation when, one morning, Hitomi received a phone call from Nishinoya. "Hitomi-chaaaaan! Good morning!" His voice assaulted her eardrums as soon as she picked up.
Hitomi rolled to her side on the bed, looking at the clock on her nightstand with bleary eyes. She rubbed at them as she noted that it was just past seven. "Good morning…" She managed to softly greet back through a stifled yawn. By now, phone calls from him were a normal occurrence and she no longer felt bothered by them.
Nishinoya seemed to be an early riser, or at least, didn't have too many problems with waking up since he sounded so enthusiastic over the phone. She thought it suited his energetic personality. She normally wouldn't be this tired, as she usually woke up around this time anyways, but a particular TV show caught her interest last night, resulting in a marathon of all of its episodes.
"Did you sleep well last night?" The libero asked her. Hitomi smiled as she sat up in bed. It was funny, how genuine he always was. People always asked insignificant questions at the start of conversations, but never actually expected in-depth responses. They were more like obligatory questions that had the same effect as greetings.
When people ask, 'How are you?' and other standard conversation starters like that, they didn't actually care about your response, so long as you said something more on the positive side. Everyone knows this, and that's why they always respond with one or two word answers. If they did otherwise, the person who asked the question would seem surprised or even annoyed at times. These types of questions have mostly become meaningless in society.
For Nishinoya, however, he was fully intent on hearing her answer. When he asked, he truly wanted to hear all about her day, whether it be good or bad. If it was good, he'd be happy. If it was bad, he'd do everything in his power to make it better. He was never anything but sincere.
At first, it was strange to Hitomi. She was used to answering those types of noncommittal questions when dealing with business partners and such. So, she always gave him curt answers because she didn't think he actually wanted anything else. Of course, the libero surprised her by asking follow-up questions like what she did, or what she ate, and so on.
Eventually, she grew more accustomed to giving more meaningful answers, or at least giving answers with more substance. Her days were never really bad, mostly just boring and mundane. One time, she was curious about what he would say if she responded negatively about how her day was, and so she did just that.
The boy immediately switched gears, bombarding her with questions about what he could do to improve her mood. He never asked her why it was that she was unhappy. His sole focus was just how to make her happy.
She thought it was sweet, but then it became a little annoying when he kept insisting that he should do something. She had given him a negative answer out of curiosity, but she apparently opened up a whole can of worms that she didn't want. After that time, she kept a mental note of never doing it again. After all, curiosity killed the cat.
Even if she was having a bad day, she felt it would somehow just get better simply by being able to talk to him like this. He was always so amusing, and Hitomi was starting to come to terms with the idea of calling him a true friend.
"I slept as well as I did any other night." She responded, smoothing down her bedhead with her hand. "I didn't dream about anything." She added on, knowing that he was probably going to ask her if she had pleasant dreams last night.
"That's great! I dreamt about you again, Hitomi-chan, and it gave me an idea! Today's a rest day, so I don't have volleyball practice! Are you free to hang out today?" He asked excitedly. She could almost hear his smile through the phone.
"Yeah, today is fine." The girl answered slowly, masking her small feeling of elation at his suggestion. She pulled the covers back, sliding to the side of the bed and placing her feet into slippers.
"Yes! You won't be disappointed this time, Hitomi-chan! I promise!" Nishinoya declared. Hitomi smiled to herself. She wasn't at all disappointed last time, but she nonetheless appreciated his thoughtfulness.
"Let's meet at the convenience store in an hour!" He exclaimed. At that very same moment, Hitomi moved to stand up from the bed, but his words startled her. She lost her balance, stumbling forward as her hand shot out to land on top of her nightstand to support her. Nishinoya must have heard the banging noise because he frantically asked her if she was alright.
"In…In an hour, you said…?" Hitomi hesitantly asked, unintentionally ignoring his concerned questions.
"Yeah! You don't have to bring anything, Hitomi-chan! I have it all prepared!" He insisted, not catching her tone of uncertainty in his excitement. The girl heard some shuffling on his end. It seemed as though he was in the midst of preparing right now. "I'll see you in an hour, Hitomi-chan! Bye for now!" With that, she heard a click and then the continuous dial tone that signaled the end of the call.
Hitomi slowly pulled the phone away from her ear, looking at it with wide eyes. In an hour!? She did want to see him, but that was so soon! She only just woke up and she hadn't even had breakfast yet!
In the middle of her slight panic, Chiyo knocked on her door. After a short sound of affirmation from Hitomi, the maid walked in rolling a kitchen trolley cart. "I have prepared breakfast, Hitomi-sama." The older woman said as she poured a cup of tea.
Chiyo blinked at her charge, seeing her standing in front of her wardrobe with a serious face. "Are you planning on taking a trip this morning, Hitomi-sama?" The maid questioned. It seemed like a perfectly normal question that a servant would ask in preparation of helping, but Chiyo couldn't quite completely hide her curiosity.
The young lady was not known to go out at all, except for her trips to the convenience store for her beloved snacks. Other than that, she only ever left the home for school related outings or business related ones. In that case, Chiyo would have already been informed of such matters. Which only meant that Hitomi was going out for leisure like the last time.
The maid's face remained unchanged and professional, but her eyes sparkled with interest. Could it be that boy from the convenience store and the one she spent time with before?
Hitomi hummed in thought as she tilted her head, still looking at the clothes hanging in her wardrobe. "Yes, I'm leaving in an hour." She answered, picking out a dress and holding it against her body.
Chiyo couldn't contain her smile then. If Hitomi was thinking about wearing a dress, then it most definitely was an outing for fun and not business.
Until now, if she were to be meeting someone, it would be related to their family contacts and for business. In a lot of situations, her father used her as a sort of trump card, or a wild card at the very least.
As with most things, the world that they live in is widely dominated by males. As such, the Fukumoto family often used the elegant beauty of the daughter to tip the scales in their favor. Many of the partners that the Fukumoto family struck deals with had eligible bachelors for sons. In essence, these people agreed to partner with them in the hopes that they had some chance of being able to join their families with marriage.
The partnership was obviously beneficial in other ways, but many would do anything to impress the sole daughter of the Fukumoto family. Hitomi was well aware of this. That's why she never wore anything impressive when she was told to attend business meetings or anything along those lines.
This meant clothes that revealed minimal amounts of skin. Only pants, no skirts. Not so casual that it would be rude, but not so formal that it would offend. Not too flashy so as not to attract too much attention, but not too bland so she'd still be able to keep their interest for the sake of the business deal.
Of course, wearing a dress to these meetings would be out of the question. So, Chiyo knew it had to be that boy from last time. "Do you require any assistance, Hitomi-sama?" The maid asked, her eagerness leaking into the question.
Hitomi hummed in thought, looking at herself through the mirror. "No, thank you. I'm fine. You can just leave my breakfast here."
"Very well then. How long will you be gone, milady? Should I have the chef prepare a lunch for your outing?" Chiyo asked, slightly disappointed in the young girl's answer. Hitomi paused, remembering Nishinoya's words about how she didn't need to bring anything because he had it 'all prepared.' Deciding to trust him, she shook her head at her maid.
Chiyo gave a respectful bow and then turned to leave. Once she heard the quiet click of the door closing shut, the maid skipped to the servants' room. She couldn't wait to tell all of her co-workers of the new developments with the young lady of the house.
Hitomi pulled out her phone, checking the weather. The day was going to be full of heat and sunny skies. A perfect day to go out and have fun.
She stared at the dress laid on her bed. She had no idea what Nishinoya had planned. It was a looser and flowing dress, so if they were going to be outside for most of the day, she could move around in it easily.
What if they were going to be inside though? In an air-conditioned place? Then she might be too cold because the dress was sleeveless. The girl walked back to her wardrobe, flipping through the hanging clothes. She found a thin, white cardigan that she could wear over the dress if it happened to be too cold.
She nodded to herself, laying the cardigan next to the dress on her bed. She went back to her wardrobe, bending down to peer into its drawers. She pulled out some bins, checking them for her many pairs of shoes. Finding white, ankle strap flats, she smiled triumphantly and took them out, placing them on the floor in front of the bed.
Standing up, she looked at the ensemble. Her finger tapped the middle of her bottom lip, thinking that something was amiss. Walking back, she pulled out a large, straw, sun hat with a white bow tied around it. She nodded to herself, feeling that this fixed everything.
After she went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, Hitomi finally sat down in front of her breakfast with a sigh. She drank the now lukewarm tea, not really having much of an appetite. Her meals normally weren't very large, as she never really ate too much. The chef always gave her more than she could eat so she rarely ever finished everything on her plate.
Staring down at all the food, she thought about what Nishinoya might have planned for today. They definitely wouldn't be going to the library or the movies again, that's for sure. With his personality, she felt like he might have planned something more active.
"…Let's eat a little bit more today…" She mumbled to herself, thinking she might need the extra energy. For once, she finished everything that was prepared for her, thinking that this would surely please the head chef.
She started preparing to leave, folding the white cardigan and placing it in a straw tote bag along with her phone and wallet. She knew he said not to bring anything, but she didn't feel right not bringing her wallet along.
The girl started applying sunscreen as she stared at her face in the mirror, or rather, her hair. Should she do something with her hair? She couldn't put it up into a ponytail like last time because now she had the hat on. Her hands fiddled with the ends of her hair, her fingers threading through it to lightly brush it.
She shook her head, deciding against it and leaving it down as is. She put the bottle of sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses in her bag, checking that she had everything. Folding it closed, she gripped the handles and checked herself in the mirror.
Hitomi stood in front of the full-length mirror, twisting and turning to see herself. The baby blue sundress fit her comfortably, flowing down to just above her knees. The white flats and straw sun hat complemented the outfit perfectly.
…But was a sundress too much? Knowing him, would he take her outfit the wrong way like all the other guys she's encountered? This wasn't a date, after all. It was just a friendly outing, and she was well aware of how he felt about her.
She looked down at herself, wondering if this was a bad idea. It might be, but when was the last time she was able to wear a dress? Before, she couldn't even consider it, so that surely meant something.
It'd be such a waste to never wear something so pretty, and she didn't think she'd have to worry about Nishinoya ogling her like other guys. Even if he did, it wouldn't be with perversion but with more innocent fascination. In fact, she was probably more worried about the people around them.
Hitomi chuckled to herself, imagining his reaction when he sees her. He'd surely shower her with compliments and make a ruckus about how beautiful she is. She looked back up at herself in the mirror, noticing the wide smile on her face. Her hands reached up to lightly touch her cheeks in awe.
Since when was she able to smile like this?
Hitomi convinced herself that it was because she was thrilled to finally wear a dress without having to worry so much.
That it wasn't because of how excited she was to see Nishinoya and how she unknowingly didn't mind if he were to admire her beauty, as she did one last twirl and headed for the convenience store.