Gale (Haikyuu Fanfiction - Nishinoya)

08: Sweet Smiles

C H A P T E R   0 8

"They've finally arrived," Daichi announced to the team, his arms folded on his chest. 

I peeked inside the gym, squinting at the box in front. It had orange and black uniforms that were made of synthetic cloth. Each had a number at the back starting from #1. Each had a masking tape on it with their names written on it. 

"Woohoo!" I heard Noya cheer as rummaged inside the box to look for his. I chuckled at his expression, walking inside the gym and taking off my shoes. 

Hinata too was cheering happily as he ran to the cardboard box. He fished out a shirt with the number ten on it. He looked at it, shrieking happily as he admired it. 

"Oh right, now that I remember," the coach told Hinata. "The 'little giant' wore that number on his shirt when he went to the nationals."

"The 'little giant'?" I asked, joining in the conversation. 

"Hinata's idol who used to be in the Karasuno Volleyball team," Kageyama explained with his usual bored voice.

At hearing the coach, Hinata squealed louder, putting on the shirt on top of his school uniform. He seemed pleasantly surprised to be in the same ranking as his idol. 

"D-did you do this intentionally?" Hinata asked the coach.

"Nope, it was just coincidence," the coach admitted.

"Then it's fate!" Hinata cheered, jumping up and down. 

"He just said it was coincidence, idiot," Kageyama scolded, slapping the ginger's neck. 

"You're just jealous!" Hinata laughed mockingly, sticking out his tongue at the pissed off Kageyama.

"You asshole!" he began, lifting him from the collar.

"You two, stop it..." I heard Daichi reprimand them and I sweat dropped as I tried not to get in their way. 

I glanced around, looking for Nishinoya. I spotted him standing next to his bag, holding his uniform in his hands. I ran over to him, asking what was wrong. His uniform was orange in color, unlike the others which were black. He told me to hold the shirt, and I obliged flashing him a questioning look. He unbuttoned his school uniform, oblivious to the fact that I was standing right in front of him.

"W-What do you t-think you're doing idiot?!" I stammered, covering my eyes. 

"Oh, it's a usual sight here, so get used to it," I heard Tanaka say.

"How-"

"I'm sure are enjoying this, aren't you Nagisa-chan?" I heard Tsukishima tease into my ear, flashing a smirk. "Maybe it turns you...on?" 

"Shut up four eyes!" I hissed angrily, stepping on his foot. 

  -~-~-~-~- 

"You know, you didn't have to get all embarrassed about it," Nishinoya laughed, putting his hands into his pockets as he put on his shoes. 

"B-But you can't just undress in front of a girl!" I protested. 

"Don't worry, I will only do it in front of you," he winked at me, smirking. 

"Idiot..." I hissed through gritted teeth as my cheeks blushed redder than ever. He grinned at me innocently, before he started sprinting off. "Hey! Don't run away!" I yelled, chasing after him. 

When I finally caught up to him, I glared at him as I gasped for air. I squatted down, feeling my legs ache. I wasn't used to doing a lot of sports since I was rather skinny and weak. 

"Jun you are so wimpy," he complained, raising up my arm as if it was a doll's. 

"I'm not," I protested, smacking him.

"You are." he pouted cutely.

"I'm not." 

"You are."

I sighed, giving up on arguing with him. He smiled at me adorably, holding his bag over his shoulder. I felt even angrier, wanting to say how much I hated his goofy face. But I didn't want to stop this moment from lasting... I wanted to treasure this. His smile. His jokes. His teases. Him. Even I can't express my love in the right way towards him, I will make sure to support him in any way I can. But I couldn't help but ask him something.

"I'm not pretty," I said, my tone serious and at the same time sorrowful. "nor attractive, or even smart... so why did you choose me?"

He smiled, his gaze averting up to the sky. "You know what I thought when I saw you?" I shook my head, remembering the time when he showed his move called 'Rolling Thunder'. "I thought that you were having a rough day so I did my best to make a cool entrance to make you smile... And when you did... I felt a sense of motivation to make you smile more." he said timidly, scratching the back of his head. "That's kinda lame for me to say, but..."

"Yuu..." I only managed to say because tears were rolling down my cheeks as I grinned like a cheshire cat. 

"D-Don't cry..." he cooed, not knowing what to do as he patted my head gently.

"Ever since I was small," I wept. "I thought that I was just an insignificant human being. With no talent at all. Just an average girl... but you..." I sniffed. "You changed everything... you made me who I am today. And... and every day I can find myself progressing faster and faster... to be the person who deserves you..." I shed my tears, looking up to face him. 

He was blushing red from his cheeks to his ears. He tried to cover his face, stammering small sentences which I couldn't understand. He seemed to be at the loss of words. I guess he couldn't always keep his cool with everything. 

"Jun... why are you so cute..." he murmured.

"I'm not cute," I said flatly but Noya laughed, still blushing. 

"You know, if you were a vegetable, you'd be a cute-cumber," he stated, giving me a wink.

"Oh so now you are using pickup lines," I mumbled but he didn't seem to hear.  

"I will make you mine," Noya said enthusiastically, pulling me towards him. 

"W-wait... so that means... you are my boyfriend?" I asked, blushing as I felt his chest in contact with my back.

"Mmm... well we did confess to each other," Noya said, and I could feel his breath through my hair and he put his chin on me. "Which makes you mine!" he hugged me tightly but I tried to break away from his grasp, hissing to him. "Jun you're so cold... you are like a stray cat," he whined, pouting to me.

"You started it," I continued, walking off without him but he soon caught up to me.