An Embarassing Way to Meet (Haikyuu!! Ennotana Fan Fiction)

Chapter 3

•Chikara Ennoshita•

As he came in to join us, I looked away slightly, hoping that he wouldn't recognize me. Then, the orientation began. I guess what I was doing was working? Or he has horrible memory, which was the more likely situation.

After I introduced myself, it turned out that the libero's name was Nishinoya and the person that I ran into before was named Tanaka.
From what the captain was saying, it sounded like we were going to play a 3 on 3 match tomorrow to see how high our skill was. He also said that coach Ukai was going to be coming back.  Apparently he was going to be coming out of retirement.

Once club was over, I got my stuff and started on my walk home. After I was a few feet away from the gym, I heard somebody yell, "Ennoshita!"

I turned around to find that Tanaka called me and already caught up to me.

A burst of happiness sprang up in me and I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey," I responded, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Do you want to walk home together? This place called Sakanoshita has pretty good meat buns, and it's at the bottom of the hill," he offered.

"Sure."

A few moments of silence pass as we leave the school grounds.

"I remember you," he says, shattering the silence.

"Hmm?" I ask, hoping that he wasn't saying what I thought he was.

"On Saturday. You were the person that jumped onto my back. I honestly didn't think I'd run into you again," he said, staring at something distant.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Nah, it's okay," he gets out, then mutters something that I couldn't quite make out.

"What was that?" I asked, curiosity eating me.

"Oh, look! We're here," he said, changing the topic with his voice sounding very stiff.

I decided to just go with it since I needed some energy for the walk home. As I entered the store, it was stuffed with the scent of smoke. You could even see a little bit of it in the air, being exposed by the lights in the ceiling. As we walked up to the counter, there was a man sitting there, smoking and reading a magazine. He pulled it down as we approached and asked,
"What do you guys need?"

"Two pork buns, please," Tanaka asked, and the cashier rung it up before asking, "Anything else?"

"No thank you," Tanaka acknowledged.

"That'll be 500 yen."

Tanaka handed him the money and we exited the store. He handed me a bun while I tried to pay him the cost of mine. He turned it down, "My treat to you," he said.

I looked away while taking a bite, feeling somewhat warmer. I looked back at him to find him trying to finish it in one bite.

"What?" he said, and you could tell that there was a coat of confusion on his face. I laughed and finished mine in a few more bites, moving my eyes to the pavement in front of me. I felt eyes watching me, and when I looked back at Tanaka, it looked as though he just turned his head away. I felt my face warm up even more. Dammit, face, why now?

Then he looked back at me. Too late to look away now. Crap. I ended up looking away anyways. More silence. After a few minutes, we made it to my house.

"This is me," I told Tanaka.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sure. Bye," I managed to say despite this suffocating feeling overcoming me.

"Bye," he said and walked off.

As I walked inside, my mom asked me, "How was your first day?"

"It was pretty good," I told her, "I'm probably going to head upstairs, I'm pretty tired, and my friend bought me a pork bun on the way home."

"Okay, good night!" she yelled as I started going up the stairs.

"Good night!"

After I closed my door, I crouched and buried my face in my knees. I'm surprised that I've been able to keep myself from doing this for the last few minutes. I stayed like that for a couple of minutes before getting up and stretching my legs. I brushed my teeth and changed into sleeping clothes. I figured that I'd do my homework tomorrow since it's due on Friday.

I turned off my lights and flopped onto my bed. I started thinking about the 3 on 3 match tomorrow and what the teams would be. I could honestly care less about what team I was on, now that I think about it. I tried to fall asleep, but I kept tossing and turning. Eventually, I finally fell asleep.

///

As my alarm was going crazy, I just turned it off right away. The previous night was pretty rough. I think I fell asleep around 11:30. I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes. I walked over to the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water before brushing my teeth. I walked to my closet and put on my uniform. I slung my backpack over one of my arms and headed downstairs and out the door.

On my way to school, I stopped by the vendor that sold Okonomiyaki and ordered one that had cabbage, mayonnaise, seaweed, and dried bonito. I exchanged it with the vendor for 800 yen. I ate it on my way to school, letting the warmth and the flavor overcome me. I heard birds chirping and my feet meeting with the ground, but they were eventually dulled out when I heard the sharp yell of, "Ennoshita!" I turned around and saw Tanaka jogging after me.

"Hello," I replied as he caught up, and started walking next me.

"What are you eating?" he asked, visibly drooling.

"I got some Okonomiyaki from that vendor on the way here. It's pretty good. Fresh, too. I might start stopping by there every day."

"I might, too, if it's as good as you make it sound."

"Oh, IT IS," I said with my mouth full, having just taken a bite.

I finished my food just before we got to Karasuno.

"I'll see you at practice later," I told Tanaka as we parted.

"See you!"