Hitomi quietly sipped at her tea as she glanced over the cup's rim at Nishinoya across from her. The boy looked to be in complete and utter bliss, a glowing aura surrounding him.
The two of them had just finished their meal, or rather, he did. Hitomi had long been done with her food when Nishinoya was still going on strong like the bottomless pit he was. He had finally had his fill after copious amounts of food, the large pile of empty plates evidence of his carnage.
Hitomi pursed her lips together, trying not to laugh with great difficulty. The libero's belly was bloated, looking as if he were around three months pregnant. He leaned back into his chair, one hand gently rubbing his stomach. His eyes were closed, and an idiotically happy smile stretched on his face like he was having the most serene dream in the world.
Given the pace that he was eating and the volume of which he was doing so, Hitomi had secretly requested during the meal that the kitchen forgo any ideas of making dessert. While she did so, she acknowledged just how fit and healthy Nishinoya must be to be able to stomach so much food.
The girl was quite thin because of her genes and because she generally didn't eat that much in the first place. In fact, Chiyo had made a point to let her know that the head chef was overjoyed at how much more Hitomi seemed to be eating, despite not actually eating too much more than normal.
Seeing Nishinoya pack away all of that food made her realize just how much he probably trained for volleyball. She already knew how important the sport was to him, but this realization was no less amazing. Given his energetic nature though, she was sure he'd be just as healthy without volleyball in his life.
"I take it that the food was satisfactory?" Hitomi asked, snapping him out of his blissful daze.
He nodded furiously. "I've never had such good and fancy food in my life! Thank you, Hitomi-chan! Next time, I'll invite you over to my place and you can try my mom's cooking! I don't think she can make French food, but nobody can beat her Japanese cooking!" He proudly proclaimed with a grin.
The girl smiled back. "I'll be sure to let the kitchen know of your generous praise. Also, please don't feel like you're obligated to return the favor. I wouldn't want to intrude."
"What!? No way! You wouldn't be intruding! I want you to be there, so you have to come! Besides, I bet my mom would love to cook for a girl again since all of my sisters are out of the house!" Nishinoya fervently insisted.
"Sisters…?" Hitomi repeated. The boy had never mentioned anything about sisters, much less siblings in general.
His eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah! I never told you about them! I have three older sisters!" He exclaimed, holding up three fingers. "They're all in college or have already moved out though!"
"You have quite a large family then." Hitomi commented with a bit of amazement. She had always been an only child. Unless, of course, her parents had some secret love children with the copious amounts of affairs that they were having. In which case, the girl wouldn't even be surprised. As of now though, and to her knowledge, she was born and raised as an only child.
Thinking on it, it shouldn't have been too much of a shock to find out that Nishinoya had siblings. If his sisters were anything like him, that would have been a rather rambunctious household. A situation that would only further exacerbate his loud and energetic personality. "They must have doted on you then, being the youngest and only boy." She surmised.
The libero gave a small, sheepish laugh. "They definitely did. Especially since I was such a scaredy-cat as a kid!"
Now that was surprising. "You? A scaredy-cat?" Hitomi repeated incredulously. He probably could have said anything else and she'd be more likely to believe it.
"Weird, huh? I don't really remember much about it, but I think it continued up until I started primary school. I was scared of tons of things! Bugs, dogs, birds, riding a tricycle, ghosts, and everything! I was shy with strangers and stuff too!" The boy explained, laughing at himself.
Hitomi tried, with great difficulty, to imagine a young Nishinoya who was completely scared of anything and everything. Her eyebrows scrunched together, unable to paint a proper image with what she knew of him now. "Your older sisters must have helped you to get over it quickly then."
Nishinoya nodded, looking up in thought. "Yeah, they did! Although, it was mostly my gramps since he was about tough love and all!
Just as she was about to respond, a bell sounded from the nearby clock. "Oh no! Do you have to be somewhere, Hitomi-chan!?" Nishinoya asked with concern, thinking the sound was some type of alarm.
She shook her head. "No, it's alright. That clock sounds every hour." She explained, taking note of the time. It just hit eight o'clock. "But I'm not sure if you have a curfew or anything. I don't want to hold you and have your family worry."
"I did tell my mom that I'd be back by nine! Thanks for having me over, Hitomi-chan!" The boy stood up but glanced back down at the large pile of dishes he had accrued. "I can help clean up before I go back!"
At his suggestion, Chiyo stepped in. "That won't be necessary. I and the other servants will take care of everything. We would be remiss if we allowed Hitomi-sama's guest to do our job for us."
Nishinoya laughed. "Wow, thanks! It's really like I'm in a castle or something!" Chiyo gave him a gentle smile, leading him and Hitomi out of the dining hall.
"I'll be sure to ask my mom when I get back about having you over one night for dinner!" He promised as he slipped on his sneakers. "School is starting up again and I still have volleyball practice, so I'll text you what days work for me!"
"Once school starts again, I'll have to go back to prep school too. Hopefully we can find a day soon that works for both of us." Hitomi replied, surprised at how honest she was being.
It was worth it to see that shining smile on his face though. "Okay! I'm off then, Hitomi-chan!" They boy walked out, but his head was still turned back around in her direction. A bright smile adorned his face as his arm waved around as he said goodbye. Hitomi lightly waved back until he was out of the gates and out of sight.
"Hitomi-sama, the bath has already been prepared for you." Chiyo informed as she softly closed the door behind her. The girl nodded in thanks as she went to go wash up.
When she returned from her bath, she noticed a message had been sent to her phone.
From: Weirdo
Subject: Dinner at my place!
Text: Hitomi-chan! My mom said yes! Are you free next weekend?
"I could have walked there on my own. You didn't need to come walk me." Hitomi said. She and Nishinoya had decided on a day for her to come over and have dinner with his family. Nishinoya had insisted that they meet up at the convenience store between their houses so that he could escort her personally.
"Of course I couldn't let you walk here by yourself! Especially when it's getting late!" The boy responded.
Hitomi nonchalantly looked up at the sky. "The sun hasn't even set yet." She commented. She wasn't exactly all that bothered by walking with him. It was just that she was still so unaccustomed to actions like this, despite knowing how he is.
Nishinoya chuckled, causing Hitomi to look back at him. "Well, I also wanted to see you just that much sooner, Hitomi-chan!" The libero admitted with a closed-eye smile and a tiny blush adorning his cheeks.
Hitomi looked forward again to avoid his gaze, sporting a small smile of her own. "You're unbelievable…" She muttered, wondering if he ever got tired of saying such embarrassing things.
The boy just laughed it off. "By the way, what's that bag you're holding, Hitomi-chan?" He asked, pointing at the white, paper shopping bag in her hands.
"Oh, this?" She lifted it up. "It's just a little gift for your family for having me over." She paused when he did, his face blanching at her statement.
"I never brought your family anything last time!" He screamed in remorse.
Hitomi instantly waved her hands in dismissal. "You didn't need to! Like I said, you never have to feel obligated to return any favors. This is just something I thought of on my own. Besides, my parents are often overseas, so anything you bring would probably be wasted." She explained.
Nishinoya pouted, somewhat unsatisfied with that answer. "Still! I'll be sure to bring something over the next time!" He declared.
The girl gave a small sigh of defeat, paired with a little tilt of her lips. "I already said that it's most likely going to waste, but do whatever you want." She gave in, just accepting it.
The boy beamed back at her, overjoyed at the implication of a 'next time.' She had mentioned it last time in passing when they were playing video games, but to have it reaffirmed now meant even more to him.
The two had made it to the front of his house, Hitomi suddenly feeling very nervous. Her hands tightened on the bag's handles as she looked down at herself. She wore a simple outfit today. An oversized, white shirt tucked into blue jeans. She hoped it wasn't too simple. Another feeling she was unfamiliar with.
As Nishinoya opened the door to let her in, her lips felt dry as she heard and smelled the fragrance of traditional Japanese cooking. They took their shoes off as he called out, "I'm home!"
She cleared her own throat and quietly uttered, "Please pardon my intrusion." Her fingers were still fiddling with the bag's handles as she glanced around. The inside of his home was rather traditional, with tatami mats and paper sliding doors. A stark contrast to her European-styled estate. The home was obviously considerably smaller than her own. Not that she had an issue with it, but for some reason, she could feel the warmth radiating within it.
She became stock-still when a woman, who appeared to be Nishinoya's mother, emerged from another room in an apron.
"Welcome back! And hello to y—" The woman cut herself off as she laid eyes on Hitomi, becoming just as still with her smile frozen in place. They were like two deer in headlights, but the headlights were each other.
"P-Please pardon my intrusion. My name is Fukumoto Hitomi." The girl awkwardly introduced herself, stiffly bowing in respect.
That seemed to snap the woman out of it. "A-Ahh! Yes, yes, welcome! I'm Yuu's mother! Yuu! Come help me in the kitchen for a moment!" She quickly grabbed the boy's collar and dragged him into the room she came from, leaving Hitomi standing at the entrance.
"What do you need help with mom?" Nishinoya innocently questioned, not reading the situation at all.
"Yuu! Why didn't you tell me about this?!" His mother whisper-yelled, a slight panic in her eyes.
The boy tilted his head and furrowed his brows in confusion. "What do you mean? I asked if I could bring a friend over for dinner this weekend and you said yes!"
The woman sighed in exasperation. "Well, yes, I know that! But I thought you just meant Ryu-kun or one of the other boys from your volleyball club! You never said that you would be bringing over a…a girl! Not to mention she's an absolute beauty!"
"She is pretty, isn't she!?" Nishinoya smiled, his eyes closed in bliss as he blushed. A flowery aura surrounded him.
"Who is she? Your girlfriend!?" His mother questioned urgently.
Her son blushed harder at that title, his finger sheepishly scratching his chin. "Hehe…Well, she's not my girlfriend, but she is a girl that's my friend that I want and hope that she'll become my girlfriend."
The woman gently smacked him atop his head, eliciting a small yelp from him. "This is no time to be joking, silly boy! You should have told me all of this before!"
"It's not a joke, mom! I'm serious! I really like her!" Nishinoya declared adamantly. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Hitomi could clearly hear every bit of their conversation.
After all, she was just in the next room over and there wasn't exactly a whole lot of space in between. It wasn't like she could move to avoid eavesdropping either, and they weren't really being all that quiet. She covered her face and furious blush with her hands, the warmth of her cheeks seeping into her palms.
Unable to take it anymore, she poked her head around the corner to see them. "Umm, excuse me…If it's too much trouble, I could leave." She timidly suggested, awkward and tense in front of them.
"Oh, no no no! It's no trouble at all! I was just surprised because this idiot son of mine didn't tell me about you! Please, stay!" The older woman exclaimed.
"If you insist…" Hitomi shuffled uncomfortably in place. She held out the white shopping bag to the woman. "This is a little gift for having me over."
The woman took it gratefully. "Oh, my! This is so thoughtful! You didn't have to do that, Fukumoto-chan! Thank you!" She bowed her head in thanks.
"Y-You can just call me Hitomi." The girl suggested, often not particularly fond of someone using her family name. "They're Belgian chocolates. I hope you'll enjoy them." She revealed.
"B-Belgian chocolates! Oh, dear you didn't have to get something so expensive!" Nishinoya's mother frantically shook her head and bowed a few more times in gratitude.
Hitomi responded in kind, frantically waving her hands about. "No, it wasn't expensive at all! Please don't think anything of it!" It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't necessarily a lie either.
The chocolates were rather expensive on their own, but Hitomi received them from a suitor at no cost. She felt slightly guilty about re-gifting a gift given to her, but then she remembered that the man who gave her the chocolates had only wanted to get into her pants and then she no longer felt bad about it.
Nishinoya's mother placed a hand on her own cheek, her head leaning into it as she softly smiled. "Oh, this is so refreshing! All of my daughters haven't been in the house for some time and it's just been men in here for a while. It's so nice to see a cute and thoughtful girl like you, Hitomi-chan!" The woman explained.
Hitomi blushed at her words. She was used to receiving empty compliments and such, but this was not the case. Just like with Nishinoya, his mother's words seemed completely genuine and it made Hitomi feel warm inside. Once again unfamiliar with the situation, she simply bowed her head in thanks, not knowing how to respond while also hiding her blush.
"Yuu! Go keep her company while I finish preparing dinner!" His mother ordered, causing the boy to tilt his head in confusion.
"Eh? But didn't you say you need me to help you with something?" He asked.
"Just go!" His mother shouted back, pushing him away from the kitchen and then flashing Hitomi a smile.
Nishinoya scratched his head, still expressing confusion but he quickly brushed it off and turned to Hitomi. "Hitomi-chan! You know that fighting game we played at your house last time? I have the game that came before it, so let's play that! I play this one all the time, so things won't go like last time!" He declared as he began setting up the gaming console in the living room.
Hitomi smiled at his antics, choosing not to mention that she, too, had this game and had played it plenty of times before. "Ok, we'll see about that." She calmly commented as she kneeled to help him set up the game.
Nishinoya's mother turned her head around to look at them from the kitchen. She tenderly smiled, seeing the look of pure joy on her son's face and the lovely smile on Hitomi's.