It was impossible to ignore a perfect storm.

She was aware of this. The chances of someone escaping and not getting caught up with it was slim to none. The storm was going to cause destruction to everything that it touches. No matter how fast they might try to run or hide, they're still going to be eaten by it.

Nishinoya Yū was a perfect storm.

It didn't need a genius to figure that out.

She knew she told Usui that if she ignored him then he'll eventually disappear but that proved to be easier said than done. Nishinoya simply don't disappear. It also didn't help that her friends were practically in love with him (especially Kaito, that ass.) She should've known that he was going to attack her head on with that same ferocity that he had when he marched into her classroom.

His attacks wasn't subtle, not even the slightest bit.

It started after the weekend was over. The girl was already expecting the teasing she received from her classmates first thing in the morning and she felt her exhaustion climb out of its hiding place and devour her. She quietly wondered the consequences of taping their mouth shut and how long the jail time would be by doing so. But their teasings was nothing compared to what Nishinoya had done beforehand.

Taking a detour before going to her class was nothing new, especially when she have like ten or so minutes to spare. She always made sure that she had a taste of her favorite strawberry milk before starting her day.

So there she was standing in front of the vending machine, drowsily sipping on said milk, when she heard somebody loudly screamed her first name. The sound not only nearly made her drop her drink, it also made her soul jump a few feet high. She had her free hand clutch the cloth on her chest when she looked toward the source of that ungodly sound.

And there he was, absolutely beaming at her while waving his hand excitedly. "Good morning!" he screamed again and dashed toward her with what could only be the speed of light.

Kaito's previous ramblings about the so-called "Flightless Crows" the night after that confession resonated inside her head. He said something about Karasuno's volleyball team being one of the top teams at one point, or, or—honestly she can't remember how the rest of the conversation went. It was mostly the boy who rambled about it in their LINE group until Usui rudely cut him off by saying she wanted to watch this new movie starring this one actor whose name she barely remembered.

If there's one thing that stuck though was how he referred to the volleyball members as "Crows". It made sense if one were to take the School's literal name in consideration. Although if there's one thing she refused to acknowledge was the possibility of Nishinoya being the embodiment of that little crow she dreamt of. She believed that by doing so she's going to be playing into that whole "dreamt of you" narrative and she was way too much of a realist to believe that things such as fate exist.

Besides, Nishinoya was more of an excitable dog than a crow; something very small like a Pomeranian. The girl thought while she swiftly avoided the boy when he dove toward her. It wasn't deliberate. Her body simply reacted on its own, she swear. She was almost apologetic when he face planted on the wall but he was back to his footing before she could do so.

"That's dangerous," she half-heartedly commented to which he completely ignored.

"Are you here to watch us practice?" Nishinoya asked with his chest puffed proudly. It took a bit time for his words to sink in. It wasn't until the faint sound of shoes skipping and balls hitting the wooden floor that, shit, she finally noticed that she was near the gymnasium. Nishinoya himself was dressed in what she could assume as his practice clothes and has beads of sweat running on the corner of his face.

Maybe it was because of her half-asleep state that she didn't realize where she was but it sure did brought her trouble. So much for ignoring him. She ran straight to the shark's mouth, didn't she?

The girl could only sigh. "No, I'm not. Bye, Nishinoya-san." She said as she readies to leave. At least that was the plan until he grabbed her by the wrist.

"Well, you're already here. Come and meet everyone!" He said, beaming in a way that nearly blinded her. Ah, she really don't like his smile. The girl thought. It was just too much for her in every sense. She was hoping there would be an On and Off switch for it then she wouldn't suffer so early in the morning.

"I don't really thin—" and she wasn't able to finish her words because he was already dragging her toward the gymnasium entrance.

There was two-way she could deal with this. The first one involved her tugging her hand away from his grasp and telling him to get lost and hopefully put a stop to whatever this was. The second option was to simply let him do whatever he pleases with her. The first option was obviously the ideal one. It was the easy route and the one that would benefit her in the long run.

The problem with it was, well, Nishinoya hasn't done anything major for her to treat him like that. She don't consider herself to be a cold person, she was just mostly indifferent if she was being honest. That being said, it didn't mean that she never get angry. She do, but it take a lot for her to reach that point. So far she's not angry at Nishinoya. Just somewhat annoyed and her annoyance wasn't enough for her to lash on the poor boy.

So in the end she had no choice but let him drag her away while her half-drank strawberry milk was still in her hand.

Embarrassing was the only word she could use to describe how she felt when the entire team gawked at her. She wasn't sure if Nishinoya was oblivious to the implications of him loudly and excitedly announcing her presence—with his hand still wrapped around her wrist, mind you—or he was just the type to impulsively do whatever comes to mind and thinking about the possible consequences after. At the back of her mind, she was sure it was the latter.

Oh how she wished for God to free her from her mortal coil when he excitedly introduced each and everyone from the team to her. It was just way too early in the morning to have so many questioning eyes trained toward her.

There were some familiar faces. Like guy who was with him that day for one, or the others whom she recognized as their fellow second years and a few seniors. The rest was unfamiliar faces, presumably the first years. He recited their names but it was hard to remember them when their eyes were glued on Nishinoya's hand on her wrist.

They were definitely getting the wrong idea.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the short boy with orange hair beamed and innocently exclaimed "Your girlfriend is very pretty, Nishinoya-senpai!" She really want the ground to eat her then. Not only did that statement embarrassed her further—with the only thing she could do was cover her reddening cheeks with her free hand (a feat considering she's still holding her boxed milk)—she inwardly asked herself which deity did she really angered for her to be subjected to this type of torture.

The fact that Nishinoya reacted far worse than she did, literally flushing red from his head to toe before removing his grip like he's been burned, proved to her that her earlier guess about him being impulsive as right. She bet he didn't even thought how it would look like to an outsider's perspective when a boy introduces a girl to his friends with such enthusiasm.

"G-g-girlfriend?!" He screamed so loudly that she was mildly concerned about her eardrums breaking.

Then as if just realizing it, one of the second years slammed his fist on his open palm. "Aren't you the girl from Class 1? The one Nishinoya confessed to last Friday?" he questioned but before she could even answer that, another one familiar face interjected by saying "Was that even a confession? he only asked her if she likes Volleyball and shit." Shortly enough, everyone got into a conversation pretty much detailing whatever happened back then.

She just want to get to her class at this point because she could feel an incoming headache.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Nishinoya suddenly screamed, startling nearly everyone. His face was still in that red color but he looks less flustered. "K-kiyoko-san! Please don't believe them! You're the only one for me!" He continued and ran toward the girl who was holding a notebook. She watched in mild amusement as the girl straight up told him she don't care.

So that's the girl Usui spoke of, she thought. She was undeniably beautiful, the type that would turn heads when she walks by. She reminded her of those models in the magazines Usui brings. Not the hardened, cool ones, but those who dawns dresses with floral patterns while they frolic around the meadows.

And she happened to also gave her the chance to escape.

The words "Nice to meet you but I need to go," quietly left her mouth and was directed to a tall boy with glasses, presumably a freshman? She wasn't entirely sure but he was the closest to her, before she turned around and leave without even waiting for a reply.

Maybe it was weird to run like she was being chased by some unknown entity but she couldn't let herself be caught by Nishinoya again. Dealing with a storm was too much for her to handle especially when it's still so early in the morning. And she still needed to finish her damn milk.

Throughout the course of the week, the girl decided that she needed new friends, someone who wouldn't enjoy torturing her to be specific.

She know what they were trying to do, especially Seiko. She was sure she was waiting for this chance to have a boy arrive and play the role of "prince charming" in her dull and boring life. More often than not she wished the girl would just give up. What was so wrong with wanting to die alone? She wasn't looking for a guy to sweep her off her feet, she just want to stay behind her walls. That was it. And she was sure Nishinoya wasn't there to play that role either. She still couldn't decipher what his actions meant but seeing him fawn over Kiyoko made it known to her that the reason wasn't romantic.

So why?

Why did he approach her, scream how beautiful she was and ask her to go out with him? Why did he made a scene just to talk about how amazing Volleyball was? Why do he excitedly scream her name when he sees her in the halls? Why was he eating with them during lunchtime like what he was doing now?! Ah, what has she done to deserve this?!

If God was truly real, he needed to give her answers!

"The Inter High Preliminaries are nearing, aren't they? Are you guys ready?" It was Kaito who asked the question. Nishinoya, who was sitting directly in front of him in their makeshift lunch table, immediately stopped devouring his lunch like there's no tomorrow and said "Yeah!" while his mouth was still full.

She inwardly cringed at the action because there's nothing that she really hate than people who speak with food in their mouth. Absolutely barbaric, she thought. Usui and Seiko though didn't seem to share her views as they giggled/snickered in unison at his antics. The girl really need to get herself a new set of friends.

"Our goal is to reach the Nationals and I'm confident that we will!" He proudly said and ah, there was that look again. It was the same as the one he wore when he rambled about volleyball the first time around. "We might've lost to Date Tech the last time but I'm a hundred percent sure that's not going to be the case this time around."

"Wow, really confident are we?" Usui whistled as she opened her bottled iced tea. "That's kind of admirable."

"I heard that the first years are quite strong. Like Kageyama Tobio who was from Kitagawa Daiichi. He was called as the King of the Court. A shame about his last match though! I was there when that happened." Kaito then saw this as his chance to showcase his extensive knowledge about sports (or gossip, whichever one would prefer.) Even his round glasses were glinting like he's some megane character from an anime.

"Ooh, you seem to know a lot! Are you a fan?!" Nishinoya asked which turned Kaito into a bumbling mess; saying something about he really just like sports in general and was up to date with the current news and whatnot. That of course seemed to delight the smaller boy who proceeded to him proudly state that their third years were also a force to be reckoned with. "Just you watch, we'll get to the Nationals and we'll win that championship." The boy said with his eyes glinting like it held a million stars in the sky.

She didn't know what compiled her to say something.

All throughout the time he had invaded her space, she had been successful in acting that he didn't exist. Admittedly, it was hard to do so when he's directly speaking to her but she managed to simply give him a look and pretend not hear anything. If her mother were to hear about this she would surely be disappointed and say "I don't remember raising such a rude child!" before pouting and crossing her arms like a little kid.

The girl wasn't proud of it, really. But there was just something about Nishinoya that unsettled and made her raise her guard to the maximum.

So it was a surprise to everyone including her when she blurted "Dreaming so high will just leave you disappointed." She didn't mean to say it out loud. In fact she didn't realize she said it out loud until their table went uncomfortably silent.

"I see," were the first words that came out of his mouth. "So you don't think we can do it?" If there was something that surprised her, it was that he didn't look the littlest bit offended. Instead, he appeared to be challenging her with the question.

There's something about that tone that ground her gears. She's already started this, she might as well go through it. She thought that maybe if she pissed him enough then he would finally leave her alone. "Perhaps," She said. "I don't expect much from a team coined as 'the fallen champions' or something who'd been losing these past years." The girl continued, using the information Kaito gave them. There was a bite to her tone that she deliberately added knowing it was going to easily get under his skin.

The scolding tone simultaneously used by Kaito and Seiko—they really do like acting as her parents, don't they?— was to be expected. Maybe she had crossed that invisible line because the smile on Nishinoya face fell and his expression morphed into something unreadable that made her regret talking in the first place.

The girl could feel the guilt that's rising up her throat.

"You may be right," Nishinoya spoke before she could take back her words and apologize. "There is a high chance that we're going to lose to Date Tech again, or something else could happen that will not go our way. I don't dismiss that possibility." He continued, this time that expression was replaced by something she could only describe as pure determination. "But there's also the possibility of us winning against them. Maybe it's true that the basis of your lack of faith against us are due to the losses the team had acquired and I wouldn't blame you for that..." There's a pause and he diverted his attention forward, like he was seeing a view that no one else could.

"But things are not always going to be the same!" Nishinoya exclaimed and she once again saw that endless galaxy swimming in his eyes that made part of her heart ache. Huh? She paused. Why did it do so? "Change is inevitable. An underdog is not always going to stay as one. Just because you'd been pushed down multiple times that doesn't mean you needed to paint the world in black and white. You always have a choice. You either strive to be a better person or stay as an underdog for the rest of your life; always letting that fear of things not going your way consume you."

Ah, there was that painful clenching of her heart again. It was like there was a hundred hands simultaneously grabbing and squeezing it as his words rang loudly in her ears. She hated it. It made her feel like she was drowning and no one could see it, or refused to for that matter. It activated her fight or flight instinct and the overwhelming feeling of disappearing overcame her.

That's right. She wanted to disappear.

"For someone so tiny, you sure talk big." Was all that she could say. She couldn't bring herself to give him a response and she was afraid that uttering a single word would result into something she'll regret. There was that feeling of the world closing in on her that she can't seem to escape from and she just knows she needed to go. Nishinoya's "What did you say?! You're looking for a fight?!" was wholly ignored when she stood up from her seat and made a motion of leaving.

"Where are you going?" Seiko asked with worry clear on her face.

The girl flashed her friend a reassuring smile, hoping that it'll wipe that frown off her face. "Toilet, I need to take a piss." She said in a way that normally would earn her a scolding, something about her unladylike manners and how she should tone it down, but her friend merely stared at her with that same look.

She didn't say anything after that nor did she acknowledged the look the others were giving her.

The girl merely and quietly walked out of the classroom. She was aware that she was running away from that conversation and she also know that Nishinoya was right about his sentiments. Even though he said it in a way that she thought was borderline preachy—something that she absolutely hate—she didn't dismiss the truth of it all. But she wasn't in the mood to have that conversation or lay her heart out to someone she barely knows.

So if running away meant she would keep that boy from putting a crack to her world then so be it. She was going to run as far as how long her legs would take her.

(She didn't saw him that afternoon much to her relief. She was also thankful that none of her friends mentioned the awkward lunch that they had. Although she didn't miss how Seiko was more touchy than usual or how her hugs were tighter than the ones she usually gave. She was bothered by it and at the back of her mind, the girl couldn't help but blame Nishinoya for it.

It was wrong to do so, she was aware. But if he hadn't barged into her life-like the way he did, then they wouldn't have that conversation in the first place. She was right. Nishinoya Yū was nothing but trouble.)