DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HAIKYU! ONLY THE OCs! Forgive my grammar. Not my first language~ ENJOY!

"Hinowa-chan, I'll go get Ami. You should go to the usual place first!" the girl with bob cut hairstyle tapped her shoulder.

She nodded and her friend left the room. She took out her lunch box from her bag and proceeded to the door when she bumped into someone whom about to leave the room as well. For Hinowa, as the shortest among the girls in their class, it was surprising she stood above someone else, let alone a boy. She looked at the person, nose meets forehead. Her gaze went down to meet his brown eyes and she stiffened upon realizing who it was.

"Sorry." He side stepped to make way for her.

She nodded, cheeks getting warm at the sight of him so close to her. And before he notice the blush on her face, she left the room.

"Noya-san!" Tanaka called out making his way to the shorter boy. "Let's eat lunch together."

Nishinoya nodded as he watched the girl walking away.

"What are you spacing out? Let's go!" Tanaka nudged him.

He shook his head in response and left with his friend in the opposite direction.

A sigh escaped her lips. She was glad that she left before the shaved-head teen arrived and notice the blush on her face. She cupped her warm cheek. Her eyes soften as his face appeared in mind without even realizing that she stopped walking.

Nishinoya-san…

To think a day would come for them to meet again and on top of that, both were in the same class for the first time. She believe that it was fate, but sometimes she thought of it only as a mere coincidence. In junior high, it was in middle of her second year when she transferred out from Chidoriyama to Tokyo and that was the last time she saw the boy. Not until she turned high school. She came back to her hometown due to family matters and attended Karasuno High School. They weren't in the same class during their first year but right now, they're both in Class 3. She remembered how shock she was when she saw him during entrance ceremony. At first, she thought she had the wrong person but as the days passed by, it confirmed her suspicion that it was definitely Nishinoya Yu.

"Kiyoko-san!"

She looked out the window and searched for the owner of the voices until her eyes landed on Nishinoya and the guy he's with earlier, fawning over a beauty near where her friends sat (whoactuallywaitingforher) but she forgot because she was too absorbed thinking about a certain boy.

"Kiyoko-san, wanna eat lunch with us?" Tanaka chirped.

"This is rare chance for us to eat together!" Noya added equally excited as his friend.

Hinowa stared at the scene before her. Her eyes locked on to the shortest of the three. She knew he was fond of their senpai. She knew because he always fawn over Shimizu Kiyoko, whether it be practice or in the hallway and for some unknown reason, she's always there to witness it. She won't deny that she also admire Shimizu-senpai but there's always this gnawing feeling in the pits of her stomach whenever she saw this kind of scenario. About three years ago, she doesn't feel this way. She was contented watching him from afar, but ever since they became second years and were place in the same class, her longing for him grew stronger. It didn't matter if she's taller than he was or that he's shorter than she was. What matters was her feelings for him. She wanted him to see her like how she sees him, she wanted to be with him, and she wanted him to look at her and only her. Overall, she wanted him just to herself. And she hated how this selfishness grew day by day.

She clenched and unclenched her fist. For a moment, she stood there in silence, her arms hanging limply at her sides as her chest won't stop hurting. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then walked away.

Her smile dazzled him. It's not just her smile, but her personality as well. He always finds her cheerful in everything she do. Although sometimes her bluntness gets her in trouble but still a-ok. That was Nishinoya's thoughts as he wiped his face with the towel hanging on his shoulders. He was washing his face on the outdoor sink earlier when the girl in his class arrived with rags in her hands. Since he knew her, he talked to her.

"What's wrong Nishinoya-san?" Hinowa asked, her smile disappeared.

"H-huh?"

"You're spacing out."

"O-oh! I was just thinking that your name really suits you!" he confessed showing her a toothy grin.

A tint of pink appeared on her cheek.

"You're like Shouyo." He pointed at the orange haired teen that was arguing with a sharp looking boy outside the gym. Although she didn't quite get what he meant, she assumed that he must have been referring to their names since that was what he had said to her.

"Really?" she muttered.

"What club are you in again?"

She shook her head. "I don't belong to any clubs."

"Then why are you-"

"I'm helping a friend with her club today." She cut him off.

An 'o' formed on his lips and she found it cute which teasingly clutters her heart. A small smile formed on her own just to cover up her growing feelings.

"Noya-senpai! Daichi-senpai's calling!" the sharp looking person called out to him.

"Coming!" he waved back. "Sorry. I have to go." He told her.

"Sure." She nodded and waved goodbye.

As she watched him go back inside the gym, she couldn't help but smile affectionately. She didn't expect that helping her friend with her manager's duties would gave her the chance to talk to Nishinoya. That was a first for her. They were classmates, yes, but she never really got the chance to talk to him in class because he was always out of their room in an instant, the moment the lunch bell rings. She placed her hand over her heart which was beating fast.

"How will you react if I confess, Nishinoya-san?" she whispered to nobody.

Dropping the idea, she continued what she was doing before and then went back to the tennis court.

Today, they have P.E. The girls did volleyball while the guys did basketball. Hinowa and the rest who didn't belong to the batch who's currently playing, sat on the sideline and watched the others. They'll be the next one to play after that game.

"Sorry! My hand slipped." Came a voice from a distance.

She turned to the people standing by the corner, two were boys while the other one was a girl. One of the boys was holding a ball and the one apologizing to the girl, while the other stood behind the two and suppressing his laughter. They look like they were talking to the girl but if you look closely, there was a tense atmosphere between the boy and the girl. Especially the girl, she looks somewhat uncomfortable with the two. When the guys left, the girl sat back on her place and look like about to cry. Hinowa frowned as she watched the retreating back of the two boys. Her frown deepened when she saw them snickered at the girl.

"Those two are really awful."

She turned to her friend whom sitting beside her.

"You saw?" she asked.

Saki, her friend's name, nodded. "They were aiming the ball to Nakahara-san earlier but most of it didn't really hit her, although the last one did."

Hinowa shifted her eyes to the other side of the court. The said boys were now busy playing with the other guys. After a short while of waiting, it was their turn to play.

Hinowa eyed the ball and the target of her serve. It was near Saki who's in the opposing team but then something caught her eye. Behind Saki was Takahashi, one of the boys who messed with Nakahara and an idea came to mind. She positioned herself and tossed the ball above her then hit it. Unfortunately, it went for the pole on the left side. She didn't mind but slightly embarrassed especially when Nishinoya was watching.

Forget hitting that guy when you can't even do a proper serve. She mentally told herself.

The game goes on until she was back to serve again. She looked at the target yet again, he was goofing off with his friend and partner in crime. For a moment, her face was calm but then, replaced with an annoyed face. She tossed the ball and hit it, this time the ball went to the other side but it was out. She smirked and her team didn't understand when they didn't even score. The ball had hit the spot right beside Takahashi, surprising him, that's why. It wasn't the reaction she wanted, but that was good enough. And so the game continued.

Nishinoya watched the girls' volleyball, he doesn't expect much, but every time the ball was toss around, he wanted to step in to receive the ball as well. He already played basketball as he was belong to the first batch, that's why he's on the sideline now watching the girls. The game was improving bit by bit compared earlier where both teams sucked, all of a sudden from the corner of his eyes, he saw someone ran out of the gym. He was about to turn his head towards the direction where he saw that person came from, but something else caught his eye. The ball was flying fast, heading to the same direction he was about to look and then a loud thud followed.

"Sorry, my hand slipped."

Takahashi looked up to see the owner of the voice and saw Hinowa looking down at him.

"What the hell!?" he retorted.

Her face was calm yet scary and somehow that made him uneasy, so he did what he knew that would tick off the girl.

"Stupid violent chibi."

A throbbing vein appeared on her left cheek and without saying anything, she punched him in the face. Loud gasps came from their classmates whom watching the whole time and the teacher finally interrupted them. Nishinoya, who stayed still in his place, watched the smaller girl walked out the gym with their teacher in charge and as for Takahashi, the boys carried him to the clinic since he was knock out cold.

Didn't occur to me that she can be violent too. He thought.

And that concludes their P.E class for today.

A deep sigh escaped from her mouth. Hinowa stared at the faucet for quite a while before she turned it on and washed her face. She turned it off once she finished but stayed in place as her head hanged in the air.

Good thing I wasn't suspended. She thought. I wonder how Nakahara-san is after that. She didn't attend the afternoon class, too. Did I make the right choice? Even though, I don't have anything to do with them.

She sighed one more time before wiping her face with her towel. All of a sudden, a ball came flying right beside her. She was stunned for a moment before turning to see the ball bounced on the wall behind her. She was lucky it didn't hit her face.

"My bad. My hand slipped."

She immediately turned around to find Takahashi and Sarutobi smirking like how they did back then when they successfully hit Nakahara. Her calm face didn't waver though.

"You're lucky I didn't get to hit your face, chibi-chan."

She didn't say anything since she already punched him for calling her that earlier. She already learned her lesson but it seems that this guy didn't learn anything at all. And she can't punch his face when he's standing tall, since she can't reach it but she can punch the lower parts. However, she shook the idea away.

"Don't you have practice today? I heard the basketball team will have a practice match with another school soon." She said, hoping to change their mind of whatever they wanted to do with her.

"If you laze around, you'll be useless in your team." she added.

"We do, but that's none of your concern." Said Takahashi picking up the ball that made its way back to him.

She gulped as he tossed the ball up and down in his large hand. They walked closer to her, their smirks didn't falter and her eye twitched in annoyance. Damn, these guys! She moved a step back.

I don't want to get in trouble with the teachers again, but if it's the only way to settle this then I'll do it. She clenched and unclenched her fist. If they attack her, then so be it, she won't hold back either. When she thought they'd attack her, they started to talk about what to do with her.

Unbeknownst to them, some of the volleyball's club members were watching them from inside the gym thru the open door. After all, the faucet were right outside the gym that the volleyball club were using.

"Oi, Noya!" Tanaka called out to the libero who was busy practicing receives with Asahi.

"What?" He said, not looking to his friend.

"That girl's in your class right?" Tanaka asked.

"Who?" he asked back.

"That girl in pigtails! You know, the girl you told me about during lunch!" Tanaka replied.

He thought of it for a moment, then something clicked on his mind. Immediately, he left Asahi and went beside Tanaka. He looked outside and saw her near the faucets area with two familiar boys.

"What do you think they're doing?" Ennoshita asked.

"From the looks of it, they're cornering her." Tsukishima said standing behind them.

"What are you watching?" Hinata asked curiously, as he makes his way towards his teammates.

"Oi where do you think you're going!?" Kageyama demanded throwing a ball at Hinata. "We're not done practicing!"

Said boy went back to practice with him but was distracted again when Tanaka shouted to Noya.

"What the hell, Noya?! Where are you going?! Take me with you!" Tanaka exclaimed. "Don't hog all the glory all to yourself!" and he ran out following Nishinoya.

"Oooi! Where are you two going!?" Daichi barked.

"Looks like a fight is about to start." Tsukishima smirked.

A throbbing vein appeared on Daichi's temples and he stormed out the gym towards the runaway members. Suga followed behind dragging Asahi with him for back up, just in case something happens. On the other hand, Hinowa was too focus thinking of a way to escape Takahashi and Sarutobi that she fail to hear what they were saying and only the 'right' was all she heard. Her face instantly paled as Sarutobi grinned maliciously and threw the ball at her as forceful as he could. She closed her eyes, ready for the impact but after a few seconds of waiting, she didn't feel hurt at all. She opened her right eye first to peek, but then opened both eyes when she saw a familiar spiky hair in front of her.

The ball had stopped in his arms then fell on the ground. Takahashi and Sarutobi's mouth hang open as they stared in surprised at the sudden intrusion of the volleyballs club's libero. And not just him, but also the other members. Takahashi and Sarutobi's eyes twitched in annoyance when they saw the smirk on the shorter boy's lips.

"Guys who hit girls are lower- no- the lowest among the lowest even lowest to a crap left by the dog in the sidewalk." Tanaka growled with his usual scary face, thumbs down.

"You youngsters should be ashamed for ganging up on a girl!" Daichi snarled. "And you call yourself a man!"

The other two didn't say a word but still made the underclassmen back away until they were out sight. Nishinoya, who was quiet all this time turned to Hinowa and showed her a toothy grin.

"You're not hurt are you?" he asked.

The girl shook her head.

"No, I'm fine."

"That's good to hear!" Tanaka slapped her back as he laugh.

That hurt.

"Now that your business here is finished, let's head back to the gym. We still have more practicing to do." Daichi said.

The others nodded following behind him and before they could walk away, Hinowa called out to them.

"Thank you very much for your help! Senpais, Nishinoya-san!" she bowed. "And to you too, Tanaka-san!"

They smiled at her and nodded, then they walked back to the gym. Hinowa sighed out in relief when everyone was gone. She was glad that Tanaka and the upperclassmen helped her. Cause if not, she didn't know what she might do with those two if they had hit her with the ball. Then, there's Nishinoya who stopped the ball for her. She was surprised to see him in front of her, she didn't expect him to be there. As if, he had appeared out of nowhere just to save her.

"Hinowa-chan!"

She turned around and saw Saki running towards her.

"I was worried when you didn't come back! I thought your face disappeared when you wash them!" Saki cried.

"Huh?" She tilted her head in confusion. What is she saying?

The next day, when Hinowa entered the room, she came face-to-face with Takahashi and Sarutobi by the door. They were surprised to see her, not to mention there's a bandage on her left cheek, but then averted their eyes and went out of the room without saying anything to her. She didn't bother to talk to them either and went to her seat. Nishinoya, who just arrived, saw Takahashi and Sarutobi leave the classroom but when they saw him they glared at him, and he glared back. He wasn't the kind of person to back down when someone intimidates him. After finally reaching their room, he went straight to his seat. His ears perk up hearing a familiar voice up ahead, thus he turned around and saw Hinowa talking to a classmate. He froze instantly upon seeing the bandages in her cheek, elbow and knees. Without thinking, he ran up to her and slammed his hands on her desk. She was surprised and confused at the same time with his action, so was their classmates.

"Did they get you after that?! Those bastards!" he snarled.

"H-huh? I-I'm sorry, I'm confused." She stammered, blinking once, twice.

"This wounds." He pointed.

An 'o' formed on her lips and a larger 'O' followed when she realized something. She immediately explained herself.

"No! You're wrong! They didn't do anything after that! Truth is, I fell from our stairs back home. That's where I got my wounds." She grinned at him, assuring him that Takahashi and Sarutobi weren't involve in her little accident.

A pause. Then, he breathed aloud. Relieve that he was wrong and glad that she didn't get into trouble any further. He slumped on the floor, his hands still on her desk. His actions were cute in Hinowa's eyes. This was the first time Nishinoya worried over her and that made her happy.

Nishinoya stared at her when a smile formed on her lips and a shade of pink appeared on her cheeks. Somehow, that made him speechless. He didn't know why, but her smile always dazzled him. Every feature of her face just struck him so. And that's when he felt a fluttering feeling in his gut as if he wanted to throw up but not quite like that, at all. He reached for his stomach.

"What's wrong Nishinoya-san?" Hinowa asked him.

"I need to go to the toilet." He answered, and left the classroom in a hurry.

Hinowa stared at the door for a moment before placing her chin on the back of her hand as her elbow supported it and smiled to herself. Thinking back to everything that had happen yesterday and earlier, she couldn't help but feel very happy. She really like him a lot, she wanted to tell him but she didn't have the courage to do so. But someday, she will and she'll make sure that it'll reach him. For now, she's good being his classmate then maybe become his friend too.

He just wait and see.

THANK YOU FOR READING! CRITICS AND COMMENTS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED~!

-Update-