effervescent (nishinoya yū)

CHAPTER TWO / the practice

Early the next morning, you left a note on the coffee table and grabbed your volleyball shoes. Nishinoya had texted you a few minutes ago, saying that he was ready for you to come over any time. You weren't surprised that he was up at the crack of dawn; it only seemed natural.

You grabbed a banana from the kitchen and began jogging down to Nishinoya's house. It was a little smaller than yours, but just from the outside it looked far more homely. You stood there for a second, staring at the outside and fidgeting a little. In any other case, you would have been more than happy to run up and knock on the door, but for some reason it felt weird. Maybe because you'd only just met Nishinoya yesterday?

Someone yelled your name. You flinched and looked up to see Nishinoya bounding down the steps two at a time. "I'm glad you made it!" he exclaimed, sliding to a stop a few feet away from you with that incessant smile. How the hell is he so excited already?

Despite the early morning, you had to laugh at his enthusiasm. "Of course! Like you said, it's always nice to have company."

He nodded so fast you swore you heard his neck crack. "I am so ready to leave you in the dust," he said, his smile turning impish as he did a few warmup squats.

"Oh?" You stretched your legs out as well, kicking them out a few times to get your blood flowing. "Sorry, Nishinoya, but I don't think that's gonna be happening."

He paused. He whined your name and put his hands on his hips. "Give me a nickname!" he insisted. "Just calling me by my full name is too formal, y'know? I'd like to think we're friends!"

"Already?" You hummed and looked up at the sky. "How about...Nishi?"

"I like it!" He jumped up and down a few times and pointed down the street. "I usually like to do a lap around the block, okay?"

You nodded and turned to face the direction he had pointed. Before he could start counting, you took off. "Gotta be faster than that, Nishi!"

"H-Hey!"

You felt bad for the neighbors, having to listen to you and Nishinoya yell as you raced each other. For a warmup lap, you two were going pretty fast, and by the time you got back to Nishinoya's house you felt like you had just gotten a full workout. Despite that, you had enough energy left to cheer. "Hell yeah!"

"Ugh, not fair!" Nishinoya protested. "You got a head start."

You stuck your tongue out at him. "We can have a rematch later. For now, let's practice!"

You waited outside while he grabbed a volleyball. When he returned, he served the ball toward you and you quickly received it with your forearms. Nishinoya narrowed his eyes and followed with the same receive.

Soon enough, your practice turned into another competition as you tried to show each other up with increasingly ridiculous serves. The competition finally ended as you watched the ball land and did another receive with your foot.

"Dammit!" Nishinoya pointed at you. "How do you do that?!"

You winked at him and caught the ball. "Practice, my dear Nishi!"

The two of you took a quick break and sat against the wall with the ball between you. Nishinoya chugged about half of his sports drink before he interrupted the silence. "Can I ask you something?"

You nodded, taking a sip from your own drink.

"Back at Aoba Johsai, you were called the Kitsune. Why'd they give you that name?"

"Well, a kitsune is a fox spirit, right?" He nodded and you fiddled with your drink. "Apparently, it was because the good 'zenko' was sometimes a guardian spirit, especially at shrines dedicated to Inari, the god of fertility. The more mischievous ones also caused trouble for the prideful and took vengeance on behalf of their chosen families. It kind of matched up with my playing style"