Nishinoya stood in the middle of the street in front of the school gates in shock and disbelief. His heart was racing like it usually would coming from practice, but his mind was blank. His eyes stared vacantly in the direction that the car drove off.

It wasn't until another car honked its horn behind him that he snapped out of it. The driver yelled at Nishinoya as the boy jumped to the sidewalk. He dug into his pockets for his phone, frantically scrolling through his contacts for Hitomi's.

The number you have dialed is currently unavaila–

He ended the call and tried again, only to be met with the same error message. He pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen.

What happened? Why did she leave so suddenly? Why did she cry?

The libero tried going through all the events of today from when she arrived at his school. He thought everything had been going so well, so what happened!? A million questions ran through his head, not realizing that he had already made it back to the gym.

"Nishinoya!" Sugawara called out with several other members of the team looking his way with concern. "Did Fukumoto-san leave? Is she okay?" The vice-captain asked with a bit of worry.

Nishinoya looked up from his phone, glancing at his senior and then back down to the screen stuck on Hitomi's contact information. "I…I don't know…" He hesitantly responded back.

Before his teammates could comfort him, the libero surprised them with a respectful bow. "I'm sorry for interrupting practice! I'll do one lap of diving receives!" He rushed off, immediately going into the familiar motions of the penalties from the Tokyo training camp days.

It seemed as though he was trying to keep some semblance of normalcy in spite of what had just happened.

His team members looked on, seeing the frustration on the boy's face as he did a lonely set of diving receives.

"Welcome back, madam." The lines of servants greeted Hitomi's arrival. She didn't acknowledge them as she hastily removed her shoes.

Chiyo stepped forward with a bow. "Welcome back, Hitomi-sama. You are unexpectedly early, since you had informed me previously that you would be visiting…" The older woman trailed off as the girl continued towards the stairs without so much as even a glance at her direction.

The other servants looked at each other as Hitomi disappeared upstairs, a feeling of unease spreading among them at this unusual behavior. While Hitomi was often cold, she rarely outright ignored them.

The head maid sternly looked back at the entrance where the chauffeur was standing. He was fidgeting in place, preparing to report what he had seen at Karasuno, as he was sure that Chiyo would ask.

After hearing his account, Chiyo stood at her charge's bedroom door. Her knuckles gently tapped on the wood as she softly called out, "Hitomi-sama?"

"Don't come in."

The maid paused at her near instant icy reply. She blinked in thought, deciding it would be best to proceed as if nothing were out of the ordinary. "Is there anything in particular that you would like the chefs to prepare for dinner?"

"They can make whatever they want. I don't care." Hitomi answered, completely aloof.

Chiyo furrowed her brows in concern, but didn't let it show in her voice. "Understood. Shall I have your dinner brought up to your room when it is ready?" Her question was met with silence, Hitomi seemingly done with talking. The maid took her cue and left with a small sigh.

Hitomi listened to the maid's retreating footsteps and released a sigh of her own. The flashing light of her phone caught her eye. It had been going off repeatedly, but this was the first time she took notice.

Before even putting in the passcode, she saw the string of notifications on the lock screen with missed calls and unread messages. As expected, all from the same person.

From the message previews, she saw texts of a similar nature asking her if she was alright and such. She couldn't bear to look at them, much less open them, and decided to just put her phone away altogether in a random drawer within her nightstand.

She released another heavy sigh, hugging her legs closer to herself as she sat on her bed. Her forehead fell forward, resting atop her knees as her long hair followed to cover her sides like a curtain protecting her from the world.

The cruel world she knew existed and was painfully reminded of today.

"But I guess for guys like Tanaka and Nishinoya, they're probably thinking that with enough perseverance, you can get through to any girl."

"With enough perseverance, you can get through to even a girl like Hitomi!"

It wasn't the same. It wasn't. It's not…but it's close enough.

Close enough for Hitomi to live through the pain again.

He's not like that. She knows he's not. After all this time and after all that's happened, she knows better than to think of Nishinoya like that. He's better than that.

Even if she was wrong, then she probably deserved to get deceived again after not learning her lesson the first time.

She's not wrong though. She can't be. She's a better judge of character than that.

Or so she thinks.

Hitomi clenched her eyes shut, her hands furiously rubbing at her head as if she were trying to get out all of these negative thoughts.

The girl jumped when there was a round of knocks on her door. "Hitomi-sama, your dinner is ready." She heard her maid call out.

Was it that time already? So much time had passed so soon? Was she consumed by these thoughts that much?

She cleared her throat, making sure that it wouldn't come out shaky. "Come in."

The maid gently opened the door, rolling in a kitchen trolley cart with the food. Hitomi sat on the side of the bed, staring at the floor as Chiyo prepared the utensils and poured the tea.

Hitomi softly thanked the maid for the food and picked up her fork. She listlessly poked at her plate, taking small bites here and there. Eventually, she gave up, setting down her fork for a napkin. She used it to dab at her lips, moreso out of habit than because there was actually anything to clean.

Chiyo furrowed her brows with worry. It wasn't unusual for Hitomi to not finish her meals, but this was far worse than usual. In fact, she had even been eating more and more each day. This was very clearly the result of her upset mood.

"Are you dissatisfied with your dinner, Hitomi-sama?" The older woman asked out of obligation, knowing it had nothing to do with the taste. Even though she knew, it would be disrespectful to immediately question the head of the house about her attitude or mental state first.

"The food is fine. I just don't have much of an appetite tonight." Hitomi responded monotonously.

"Would you like to talk about it?" The maid offered, but the girl made absolutely no acknowledgement of even hearing the question as her gaze was fixed on her nightstand.

Chiyo's hands clenched into fists, thinking that she may have crossed the line with that question. Sometimes it was hard not to. She had been with Hitomi for the entirety of the young girl's life, knowing more about her and being closer to her than even the girl's parents who were rarely ever present.

Even so, it was difficult to get her to open up at times. Especially after Hitomi's change to the more cynical and skeptical side of herself.

The maid moved to stack the dishes and utensils, believing Hitomi's silence was a cue to leave.

"I don't want to get hurt again…"

Chiyo's hands paused as she heard her quiet voice. It was so small, but the emotion behind it was immense.

The woman set down the plate and kneeled in front of the girl, seeing how torn she was. It pained her own heart, seeing the distress in Hitomi's eyes.

The maid thought about her words carefully. "The world has been unkind to you, and you have suffered greatly from it. Far more than any girl should. You are well within your rights to protect yourself…but if I may…" She trailed off, waiting for Hitomi's reaction. The girl finally turned to look at her maid, giving her permission and signaling her to continue.

"While nobody ever wants to get hurt and we always want to protect ourselves, sometimes we need to let others in to help with that protection. I know that's not exactly how things went the first time, but we can't know for sure that it won't go right this time." Chiyo wanted to hold Hitomi's hands in her own, but kept her boundaries because the girl's face was nearly unreadable.

Hitomi stared into the eyes of her maid, knowing that she was never anything but genuine. She had always put an invisible wall between them with the status of maid and madam, but even Hitomi's cynicism didn't stand a chance against those caring eyes.

"I need time to think." The girl stated, putting up the wall again. Chiyo smiled at her in understanding. She cleaned up and left with the kitchen trolley cart. Hitomi sighed heavily, flopping on her back upon the bed and staring at the ceiling.

As Chiyo left the bedroom, another maid had just come up the stairs. "Excuse me, Chiyo-san. Hitomi's guest from before appears to be at the door. The guards had opened the gates because they recognized him, but we have yet to open the main door because we didn't know that we were to be expecting a guest tonight. Please forgive my incompetence, but I had wanted to check with you first." The maid bowed to her superior.

"No, your judgment was correct. Thank you for informing me. Take this trolley back to the kitchen while I handle this matter." Chiyo pushed the cart towards the maid, turning to go back to Hitomi's room.

"Pardon my interruption, Hitomi-sama. Nishinoya-sama appears to be at the door. I shall await your instructions." She relayed after knocking.

Hitomi flinched, not expecting to have to confront him so soon. She should have known that he wouldn't have just stopped at missed calls and unreturned text messages though.

She bit her lip and her fingernails dug into her palms. "Don't let him in." She ordered, but instantly felt the pangs of regret. Despite Chiyo's words earlier, Hitomi just wasn't ready to let someone in yet. She needed more time than this.

"Understood." The maid replied, knowing that this was a difficult decision for the girl. The other servants made way for her as she walked to the front door and pushed on the intercom to address Nishinoya. "Good evening, Nishinoya-sama. I regret to inform you that we are unable to receive guests at the moment. I offer you my sincerest apologies."

"Oh…" The boy breathed out, looking down. Chiyo could see the immediate disappointment from the intercom's camera, but it was quickly replaced with concern. "Something happened earlier at school and she hasn't answered her phone or responded to my messages. I just wanted to know if Hitomi-chan is okay." He was almost pleading for any information on her.

Chiyo grit her teeth and furrowed her brows. It was the first time she was feeling guilty in this kind of situation. This wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last for the maid to turn someone away for Hitomi's sake.

She had done it plenty of times before for unruly, persistent, and shallow boys who would continuously ask to be in her charge's presence. If it wasn't business related, which was often the case, Hitomi always told the maid to deny them entry.

Their reaction had always been the same. When told that they couldn't see her, their immediate response was to ask why. Chiyo had lied on behalf of the girl many times, telling the boys that she was not feeling well, not currently home, or some other vague excuse. Their next response would be to ask when she would next be available, and that would lead to another vague response from the maid. This conversation would go in circles for however long it took them to realize they wouldn't get anywhere, and they would reluctantly leave.

Chiyo was fully prepared to go through the same thing again, but she didn't expect to experience such guilt. She knew that Nishinoya wasn't just some ordinary boy, and he clearly wasn't like the rest.

He was genuinely concerned for Hitomi's well-being. His immediate response wasn't to ask why he couldn't see her, but to ask if she was okay. Given he probably already had a clue as to why, considering he was the last person she saw before coming home, but something was to be said when his own disappointment was so easily overridden by his concern for her.

Chiyo sighed to herself before pushing the button on the intercom. "Please rest assured, Nishinoya-sama. We are well equipped to take care of Hitomi-sama should she need our assistance."

The libero's lips were pressed firmly together in a thin line, evidence of his unabated desire to see her. Nevertheless, he accepted that there was nothing more to be done. "Okay, so long as she's alright…Could you tell her I hope she feels better?" He requested.

The woman felt that pang of guilt again. So many had given that exact empty statement when she lied to them that Hitomi wasn't well enough to receive guests, but she knew that Nishinoya was being sincere. She could see it in his eyes and in every one of his actions.

"I will be sure to relay your message to her. Please have a safe trip home, Nishinoya-sama." She had given this exact empty response back every time to get them to leave, but this was the first time she really meant it.

Hitomi stood at a window in the hall, pulling the curtains back just enough for her to peek through it. She saw Nishinoya's small form below, walking back in the direction of his own home. She turned at the sound of Chiyo's footsteps.

"Nishinoya-sama would like to communicate his best wishes for your well-being." The maid relayed, causing Hitomi to purse her lips together in frustration.

As the head maid and her personal one, it was her duty to relay all information to her. Of course, that only applied to information of use. The older woman had never passed on any of the messages from her suitors before because she knew it was useless and that their statements were superficial.

The fact that she was even mentioning this to Hitomi told her that even she believed Nishinoya to be genuine. That she believed there was something of worth to tell Hitomi.

The girl looked back out the window, but Nishinoya was already out of sight. She looked down, contemplating her maid's words. Eventually, she walked back towards her room. "Don't let anyone in unless I call for them." She softly ordered.

"Understood." The maid replied. Her eyes followed Hitomi until she disappeared behind the closed door. She looked at the window Hitomi was at, staring out at the dark roads below illuminated faintly by the street lights and wondering how long it would take for that boy to return.