PAPER AIRPLANES, y. nishinoya

three

"i should really start remembering directions…" you sighed to yourself. you walked around the school a bit more, relying on your memories to guide you.

you finally found your class, thanks to the vending machines near class 2-a.

you sat down on your seat and prepared the materials you needed for your first subject.

you took a quick look to your side, noticing that nishinoya wasn't present.

'hm… maybe he's late.'

but before you could think of all the possibilities of where nishinoya might be, he went dashing into the classroom and almost fell back when he sat on his seat.

"morning!" he glanced at you and grinned.

"good morning," you smile back at him.

"hey, do you have a pencil and an eraser? i'll exchange it for this paper airplane—" he asked, quickly taking out a paper airplane out of his bag.

the airplane's wings had been colored with a sky blue color. it was also a bit wrinkly.

"what happened to the pen i lend you?" you questioned, afraid he might've lost it. "i forgot it at home…" he sulked, looking like a sad puppy again. the thought made you smile softly.

you took out your pencil case and grabbed your pencil and eraser. the pencil was bland looking. however, the eraser was shaped like a cat. not a realistic cat, a chibi cat.

you extended your hand to give him the utensils, and in return you received the paper airplane. you put it below your desk, right beside the other one he gave yesterday.

'i should display these somewhere.'

"oh yeah! you're still up for watching me play volleyball right?" he gave you a goofy smile. "yeah, of course." you have him a double thumbs up.

"woohoo!"

—

as lunch time rolled around, you decided to eat in the cafeteria. you thought maybe it's time you made some new friends.

you grabbed your bento box and headed to the cafeteria full of people. you thanked yourself for packing lunch so you didn't have to wait in line for shitty food.

you didn't really think this through did you?

you had no idea where to sit down. you spotted nishinoya eating with (who you assumed) his volleyball teammates. you didn't want to disturb them and potentially ruining the mood by sitting with them.

so, you backed out from the "make more friends" plan. it wasn't really planned out anyway.

but as you walked away, you bumped into something, or someone. and it wasn't a simple, "oh, sorry" bump. it was—

"ah! i-.. i'm so sorry! are you okay!?" came a high pitched voice.

you opened your eyes to a short blonde girl, frantically waving her arms to make sure you're okay. you glanced to your side and saw your bento box spilled over on the floor.

'my lunch…' you sadly thought.

"i'm so sorry! i should've looked where i was going!" she apologized once more and bowed.

"ah— it's okay." you responded as you got up. trying to reassure the frantic girl.

she looked at your spilled lunch with a hint of guilt in her eyes. "let me help you clean this up."

together, you both started picking up the scattered food, placing it back into the bento box as best as you could.

"i'm really sorry about this," she repeated, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

"don't worry about it. accidents happen," you assured her, offering a comforting smile. "it's just lunch. no big deal."

she nodded appreciatively, and as you finished packing what remained of your lunch, she glanced at her watch and gasped. "oh no, i'm going to be late for my extra class!"

with a hurried goodbye, she darted off, leaving you alone with your slightly battered but salvageable bento box.

'she's such a cutie.'

you walked back to class and just decided to sleep. you didn’t bother wasting your money to buy more food or even a drink. "hopefully someone wakes me up…"

—

"hey..! hey! HEY!"

you woke up to someone shaking you violently.

"hey sleepy head." nishinoya greeted you with his signature smile. "oh hey… class hasn't started yet right?"

"oh no, it just finished."

"WHAT."

he must be joking. he must be. right…?

"and you didn't bother to wake me up!?" you shouted.

"you were sleeping so peacefully, it was so cute. how could i..?"

"what—"

'this fucking guy…'

"but don't worry! the teacher didn't notice you." he smiled innocently with his eyes closed.

you sighed in response, 'well the past is the past, i just hope we didn't learn anything important.'

you tidied up your things and packed them in your bag. "anyways, let's go!"

"huh… ?" you were confused since you haven't finished packing yet and what does he mean by "let's go?"

let's go where??

"we're gonna walk to the gymnasium right? to watch me play?"

and that's when you remembered.

"oh, right."

nishinoya waited for you as you finished up.
as you both were walking to the gymnasium, your mind started to heat up.

you had zero idea what volleyball was about. well, yeah, it was about playing with a ball and some nets but you didn't know the rules, the positions, and shit! you don't even know how many are supposed to even play in one game.

you only knew what a libero was, and that was only a textbook definition of it!

'ah… ! this is so confusing!'

nishinoya notices your furrowed brow and hesitance. he chuckles, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

"hey, don't worry, it's not as complicated as it seems. i'll explain everything once we're there. it's gonna be fun!"

relieved by nishinoya's comforting words, you managed a grateful smile and nodded, appreciating his reassurance. "thanks, nishinoya. i'm looking forward to it."