Haikyuu!! Tobio's Girl 15

Reina couldn't quite believe it. She was walking home from school with Kageyama. On a weekday.

After all the tournaments finished, Coach Ukai decided that they needed to keep practice shorter for a while to regenerate after a tough competition. It wasn't that easy to do with Karasuno, so every afternoon, after 1,5 hours of training, he shut the gym, took the key, and yelled at them to go home. It was also so they could prepare for the final exams. All that tournament frenzy made them terribly behind in school.

That's why Tobio was now going with Reina to her house. To study together. Well, it's not a date. But at least we can spend some time with each other outside of school. It wasn't something that happened very often. Reina looked at Tobio with a smile, but she noticed he seemed slightly nervous.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Well, I just realized that I never been to your house before, and I never met your family."

Reina was surprised. Kageyama didn't seem like the type to worry about such things.

"Don't worry. Mum's staying at the coast now, for work. And my brother rarely comes here during the week. So only grandma is at home."

"Osu."

Soon they reached her house. Kageyama followed her inside cautiously. They went to see her grandmother in the kitchen.

"Grandma, I'm home."

"Good afternoon," Kageyama said.

"Welcome home. Did you bring a friend?"

"Yes, this is—" Reina started talking, but her grandma interrupted.

" Well, aren't you Tobio, Kageyama-san grandson?"

" That's correct," Kageyama admitted, surprised.

" How big and handsome you have grown. I remember you being a tiny adorable child, 3-years-old maybe, that would come to our practices at municipal volleyball team."

"Osu. Thank you" Kageyama seemed shocked.

"Did you play volleyball, grandma? I didn't know." Reina asked.

"Oh, it was years ago. When I was feeling better. And it was only a municipal 9-person team, made of older ladies. So you two go to the same school?"

"Yes. Actually, we've come here to study for the exams, so we will just go to my room...." Reina tried to sneak out upstairs.

"Hmm, I remember your parents studying together all the time when they were your age," her grandma said with a cunning expression. They both avoided her scrutinizing gaze. "But you must eat dinner first. Reina, come and help to set the table."

Reina followed her obediently. She would rather spend the precious little time they had alone with Kageyama, but she didn't have the heart to deny him food. She sat quietly at dinner, observing with disbelief how taken with Tobio her grandma was.

"Take more, my boy. It's nice to see young people eat well. Our Reina eats like a little bird."

"Grandma!"

"It's true, she does. But I can see where she gets her cooking skills from. Thank you for the meal. It was delicious." Kageyama could be surprisingly well-mannered at times.

"You're welcome. Do you want some tea now?"

"Grandma, can we go drink it upstairs? We do need to study." Reina asked.

"Alright, alright, I'll let you young folks go." Her grandma said with a smile.

Reina quickly led Kageyama to her room.

"It wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked him when they were alone.

"Yes, your grandmother is very nice."

"So.. you played volleyball since you were 3-years-old?" she asked with a smile.

"Hmm... I played volleyball for as long as I can remember." He replied.

"Somehow, it doesn't surprise me."

Kageyama looked around her room and went to her desk.

"Hey, you have pictures of me serving here," he said after examining a board above it.

"Ehm... I... I just thought they came out well, um... photography-wise... that's why I hang them." She said in a panic, rushing to the desk. She didn't think about taking them down before, and now it was too late. Or maybe, it's time to admit to how much I like him instead of making stupid excuses. Just thinking that made her flustered.

She nervously started to sort out papers on her desk.

"Um, shouldn't we start? We finally got into aerodynamics. This can be fun." She tried to calm her nerves and look at him.

"Osu..." he said, looking into her eyes. So close. When there were just two of them, they immediately started to pull closer together. She liked that gravitation.

Reina tried to focus on her notes, but at that moment, she heard the front door of the house closing loudly. Oh, no! Could that mean...

" Dear, little sister! Is he here!? Do you have your boyfriend here? Stop hiding him from me!" She heard her brother shout. How the hell did he know? Did grandma call him? They were always plotting things together.

"It seems that my brother wants to meet you," she said with a sigh.

"Oh... right." Tobio's face became anxious.

She wanted to reassure him that it should be alright. But before she could, Haruo was barging into her room.

"Oh, it is him," he said, looking curiously at Tobio.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kageyama Tobio." Tobio responded loudly with a nervous bow.

"Hello, Tobio-kun. I'm Takenaka Haruo. You can call me Onii-san." Haruo said with a mischievous smile.

"Osu, Onii-san," Kageyama responded and kept on standing stiff as Haruo was looking at him from head to toe.

"Yes, you seem pretty well built," Haruo said with a satisfied smile.

"Oh... Thank you?" Kageyama looked at him, confused.

"I saw you play at the nationals. What is the peak of your jump?"

"337 cm"

"I think you can jump even higher. Would you like to jump even higher?"

"Of course, Onii-san!"

"Then, Tobio-kun, come along with me and tell me all about your conditioning," Haruo said and put his arm around Tobio's shoulder.

Reina just watched, stupefied, how he led Kageyama downstairs and into the backyard.

She continued to observe them with disbelief for the next half an hour through her window. Her brother was explaining exercises, and Tobio was excitedly performing all of them. All of her hopes for spending some time on their own disappeared. She signed, gathered the study notes that she prepared for today, and went downstairs.

"Grandma, I'm going to the grocery store. Do you need something?" she said, peeking into the living room.

"No, dear. I think we have everything. What do you need to buy?"

"Just something." Reina went to the entrance. She put the notes on Kageyama's bag and left the house.

She dealt with shopping quickly but was reluctant to go back home. Instead, she sat on a bench in a nearby playground, now in the evening, desolate. She put the grocery bag next to her and stared at it. She did buy all the ingredients she needed but now wasn't so sure if she actually wanted to make that thing. Wasn't it all pointless?

Her phone ringed. It was Kageyama calling.

"Where are you?!"

"I went to the supermarket. I'm on my way back now."

"Oh... Where exactly are you?"

"In the playground on the way."

"Please wait for me. I'll be there in a moment."

"Okay..."

Kageyama appeared seconds after, breathing hard. He must have been running.

"Where did you disappear to?" he asked her.

"I had to go buy something. And you guys were busy anyway."

"Your brother is amazing! He taught me a lot. I wish I met him sooner."

"Well, we don't spend that much time together outside of school, that I would have a chance to introduce you to him."

"Right..." He admitted and fell silent. She just kept staring in the distance aimlessly.

"Do you want to go home now? Or maybe we could--" he asked eventually.

"Yeah, sure, I can't wait to hear my brother gloating over how my boyfriend likes him more than me," she said and stood up.

"I don't like your brother more..."

She knew that. It was volleyball, and everything connected to getting better at it that he liked more than her. She took a deep breath. She knew it was something she had to accept.

"It's just that... having relatives at home, like your grandma, and exercising with someone in the backyard. I think I missed that," he said with a smile.

She didn't expect that. She shouldn't be so resentful if that was the case.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, then." She was a bit ashamed of herself.

"You left me those?" he held out her notes.

"I figured out that you'll manage to study it on your own. I've written you examples and all."

"Right, studying... we were supposed to do that..." he said, "although, if I have to study, I'd rather do it with you. "

She looked at him, surprised. "Well, we can study it at school. Or some other time. I guess grandma wouldn't mind you coming to dinner again."

"Mhm... sure..." he said, looking around to see if they were alone, and moved closer to her.

"What are you--" she started nervously, but he was already kissing her. She wouldn't lie. It improved her mood a lot. They were, however, interrupted by annoying dings from her phone.

"Ugh, my brother...he's so damn jealous," Reina said, checking it.

"It's getting late. If I don't return home soon, my brother will start pestering me with calls." She looked at her shopping bag. "Besides, I have something that I need to make today."

"Hmm? What is it?" He reluctantly let her go and picked up the bag with the intention of carrying it home for her.

"Just that you cannot figure it out is cute, actually."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She just smiled mysteriously.

8i8

The next day, when she got to school and walked into the classroom, she witnessed the most horrendous scene.

"Kageyama-kun, I made those especially for you. I hope you will enjoy them." There was a bunch of girls standing before Kageyama, and one of them was holding out a red heart-shaped box. Reina didn't even know them. But the audacity! She gasped with anger. Wasn't it known to everybody that she was Kageyama's girlfriend? She knew that with the team going to Haruko and Kageyama's distinction on a national level, he was rapidly gaining popularity. Did it mean she will have to deal with competition now? Reina panicked. She didn't know what she should do in this situation.

"Sorry, but I cannot accept this," Kageyama said with his usual, indifferent face, turned away from the girls, yawned, and went back to his desk.

The girl with the box looked offended, but without any other choice, she and her friends turned to the exit. Before she left the classroom, she glanced anxiously at Reina.

Yep, she totally knew I was his girlfriend. Yet she did it anyway. Reina smiled triumphantly and pleased went to Kageyama.

"Oh, Reina. You're early today." He looked up at her.

"You did well. You did very well." She said, patting him on the head.

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Well, as your girlfriend, I would be sad if you'd accepted Valentine chocolates given with serious intend by another girl," she said, turning slightly red.

"Oh... but I wouldn't accept even if I didn't have a girlfriend. As a rule, I don't accept Valentine chocolates, especially homemade ones."

"Why, though? Aren't you usually happy to get free food?" Reina asked, surprised. She thought all boys were super excited to get Valentine chocolates, even if just out of pride.

"It's different. Well, it's not that often I was even offered some. But that one time in middle school, a girl gave me homemade chocolates, and I mindlessly accepted."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, she wanted me to try some, so I did, but they were inedible." Kageyama cringed at the memory." I said so to her, and she almost started crying."

"Wow, you're cruel. I pity that poor girl..."

"It was bothersome, so I vowed to myself never to accept chocolates again. I mean, I don't even like sweets much, and I don't want to get sick. But today, I had to refuse 3 times already." Tobio said, annoyed. Just as she feared, he was getting popular.

"Good, good, good. If you have trouble with that, just say you cannot accept because you have a girlfriend," she said eagerly.

" You have to accept this, though." She put a box on his desk and giggled when she saw his expression. When she was preparing this, she hoped for more enthusiasm on his part. But seeing the anguish on his face was a different kind of fun.

"Is this... homemade?" he asked with fear in his eyes.

"Oh, yes. And I would love to see you try it as well. You're hungry after morning training, right?"

He stared anxiously at the box for a moment and then opened it decidedly.

"Let's just get this over with. It's not like I have any reason to distrust something you've made." He took out a piece of heart-shaped waffle.

"Oh, it's not chocolate... what is this?" he asked.

"Just try."

He took a small bite.

"So good! It's not that sweet, actually. And the taste seems familiar," he said, munching on more eagerly.

"These are chocolate protein waffles. I can give you nutrition info if you need it."

"This is great!" he said and reached for another piece, but his hand stopped in hesitation.

Reina decided to end his anguish.

"Don't worry, my brother taste-tested them yesterday, and he's feeling fine."

"He taste-tested them for you? Onii-san's great! So thoughtful. I should thank him..."

"What I meant is that he ate them without permission, and I had to make a new batch," Reina said, irritated.

Something was wrong with this entire situation. So okay, she did succeed in forcing Kageyama into eating her "chocolates". Still, she neither felt that she conveyed her feelings nor that he appreciated it any more than other food she had given him. Guess Kageyama wasn't that excited to get a Valentine gift from a girl. Or maybe she just wasn't someone he would get excited about.