Haikyuu!! Tobio's Girl Chapter 7

Reina was sitting in her window and watching fireworks exploding in the distance. Today was another summer festival. It was one of her dreams to dress up in a yukata and go to a festival with a boy she liked. Who would have thought she did just that 2 weeks ago.

When Kobayashi-senpai casually asked if she wanted to go to a summer festival with him and his friends, the only response she could think of was an eager "Yes!"

Miyako and Sawako were excited to join, Eri less so, but eventually, she tagged along. Kobayashi was accompanied by his friends from the basketball club and a sulking pretty boy, Arakawa, whom he introduced as his childhood friend.

The goofy basketball trio immediately went to try their skills at every game available. Miyako and Sawako had fun cheering for them and gracefully accepting every award the guys won.

"Oh, my... Those guys act like little kids again. Sorry about them." Kobayashi commented on his friends.

"How do you know so many people on the basketball team, senpai?"

"I used to play with them in middle school. But it became tedious and boring, so I quit."

"Oh..."

"I mean, I like basketball and I'll go to a match with pleasure. But you're young only once. I want to get the most out of it."

Reina nodded eagerly. She was working hard to enjoy her youth too.

"And when you're on a team, you spent most of your time training. Even now, when I dragged those guys here, all they care about is throwing things at a target."

Right, guys who are into sports tend to have a single-minded focus. Reina suddenly thought about Kageyama. She couldn't imagine him having fun out of the gym at all. Wait, why am I thinking about him now? Live in the moment, Reina. Focus. Isn't it the evening you've been waiting for?

"You... don't want to play any games, senpai?" She wouldn't mind joining the fun.

"Nah... I can think of more fun things we could do together." He smiled at her mischievously. "But there's no stopping them, so let's just continue on our own. Shall we?"

"Oh...Okay." She blushed. In a way, it was turning into a date. Or a double date. Eri and the pretty boy were tagging along in grim silence.

Reina followed senpai in anticipation. It was her first Matsuri ever! But soon, she felt overwhelmed. When he grabbed her hand to help her pass the crowd, she mainly worried about her hand getting sweaty. And when he nonchalantly touched her lips to wipe off the sauce from the food she was eating, Reina stiffened up. Shouldn't she have her heart fluttering, getting excited, blushing, or something? Why was she feeling just awkward?

Then Kobayashi leaned over her.

"It's getting crowded here. Do you want to go somewhere quieter? I know a place with almost no people around but with a great view of fireworks," he whispered to her ear.

Wow, we're going through shoujo-manga-like events with high speed. She wondered, however, if she could keep up with it.

She heard a loud slurping noise. She looked back. Eri and Arakawa were still in their company, still with gloomy faces. They were eating shaved ice, which they bought somewhere along the way.

Slightly panicked, she looked towards Eri for some non-verbal advice, confirmation, or who-knows-what.

"I feel an inexplicable need to catch some goldfish," Eri said and started towards the stalls. Arakawa waved her bye-bye and apathetically continued to eat his ice cream.

"I want to try that too," Reina latched herself onto her friend and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"So you wanted to get away, huh? I wasn't sure what you meant with that crazy look," Eri said.

"I'm not sure what I wanted to do. I thought you were giving me a way out."

"Oh, I just wanted to get out of there myself. The atmosphere was getting annoying." Eri said without a smile.

"I guess you ended with a grumpy guy there. Sorry about that."

"I meant that lovey-dovey act with you and senpai. It was a bit cringy to watch. I didn't mind that Arakawa guy. He was kind of refreshing. The only thing he asked me for half an hour was whether I wanted some ice cream. No expectations and no pressure. I much more prefer it than to hear from a guy some empty compliments like how I am the prettiest girl they've ever met and so fun to be with. As they tend to say when they want to get things from you. And you do your best to live up to that image. But as soon as you say "no" to something because you're uncomfortable, you're suddenly not that great. You know?"

"I wouldn't know." Reina was stunned. Eri was on a completely different level than her when it came to relationships. Reina couldn't even handle some basic flirting, as she discovered a moment ago. Maybe she should just talk with her friends more honestly instead of getting her whole knowledge from shoujo manga.

"Right, sorry for the rant. I broke up with my boyfriend recently."

"Oh, I didn't know. Sorry." It would explain why Eri was not in a lovey-dovey mood. "So, are we going to get some fish?"

"Hmm, actually, why not?" Eri smiled for the first time that day. Surprisingly, they managed to catch some. Later on, they caught up with Miyako and Sawako, who had enough of watching guys play and were trying some games themselves. Reina finally felt at ease. That was the best part of the evening. They managed to stay lost from the guys, even though they saw them once from afar. Senpai was now avidly talking to his indifferent friend and enjoying the attention of some girls ogling them. He didn't seem to miss her at all.

Reina signed after the fireworks outside her window ended and turned her gaze at Mikan-chan, a little fish that Eri caught for her. At least she had a good time hanging out with her friends. She smiled at the memory.

Still, she felt stupid for acting like that at the festival. Hanging out with a cool guy was supposed to be exciting. So why was she feeling uncomfortable most of the time? She sighed with frustration. How was she ever going to achieve the eventful high-school life she always wanted if she blew such a chance? She looked forward to her first summer in Japan, but now she was only sitting at home trying to hide from the heat. She should have gone with her mom to visit her dad abroad. He surely missed her.

She looked at her calendar to check how many days she had wasted and saw a marking on tomorrow's date. "Volleyball tournament qualifiers" was written there. She stopped sulking at once.

Should I go?

She had been studying sports photography for the last few weeks out of boredom mostly. Now she had a chance to try things out.

Should I go then?

She didn't have anyone to go with. Her friends were out of town. But she was sitting at home for so long. She really wanted to go somewhere.

Besides, volleyball was fun to watch. It would make her take a break from brooding over her love life dilemmas. She could see how the Karasuno team was doing. Before the summer break started, she heard from Yachi that they were going for some away training but didn't know anything since. She wondered if Kageyama managed to learn those new technics. She grabbed her phone and wrote.

"Hey, how are you? Long time no hear. I wish you good luck with your games tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing you play!"

She automatically clicked sent.

The response was immediate... and brief.

"Osu, see you then."

Reina was staring at her phone, panic rising. Why did she write to Kageyama?! They didn't exchange messages since the time she had helped him study. She was supposed to contact Yachi. Wasn't she? And she sent it without thinking! She even added a cute cheering emoji... And what's with that response?!

She was nervously circling around her room. Then, suddenly, she stopped and smiled.

She had to go now, right? After she wrote that. Excited, she started to prepare for tomorrow.

8i8

Reina knew Karasuno was not in the first round, so she took her time getting to the tournament. Their match had just started when she arrived, so she went to the stands where she found Yachi.

"Hey, Hitooka-chan, how is it going?" Reina said with a polite smile.

"Go, go, Karasuno!" Yachi yelled. She was so engrossed in the game that she barely nodded to Reina.

Reina looked at the court and took out her camera, getting serious. She watched the match through the lens, finding one good frame after another. Karasuno was dominating the floor. Then Kageyama hit a service ace. Her heart started to beat faster. She zoomed in as he was serving again. His hair was slightly messed up, and she could see droplets of sweat on his focused face. His dark blue eyes were alert. He had that intimidating air about him, but he also looked so damn hot...

What am I thinking about?!

Her face was heating up. She was so surprised at herself that she didn't even notice how the match ended.

"Yatta! Yatta! They've won!" Yachi was jumping next to her. "Reina-chan, do you want to go downstairs with me?"

"Sure..." Reina answered and followed Yachi. But when she saw the team, she fell behind and only greeted them from afar. Should she go talk to Kageyama? She felt a bit embarrassed to do so. Besides, maybe he didn't even notice that she was here. She strolled around the corridors for a while and eventually went to the gym door to look at other matches. There were many players around, and she started to feel a bit uncomfortable. She was quite sure some guys were staring at her. She took out her camera and started to check the court's view from a different perspective, not to look so idle.

Then someone stood right behind her. She glanced back.

"Oh, Kageyama, hi," she said nervously when she realized it was him. He was scowling at some guys. Rivals from another team? Then he looked at her.

"Osu, Takenaka. So you actually came here."

"Umm yes... that last match was great..." she started talking while trying to turn around, but at the same time, he suddenly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to the side with him. She almost stumbled, so he supported her other arm as well. The team that was just playing rushed past them, exiting the court. Pressed against the door, Kageyama was so close behind her that she could feel his body heat. When the players passed, he let her go, and she returned to look at the court, although it was empty at the moment. Kageyama was talking with someone behind them.

She didn't dare to glance at him now.

"Karasuno, fight!"

She realized that the whole team was now standing next to her. The captain just gave the signal to enter the court. She didn't move when Kageyama passed her by.

"Reina-chan, are you going back upstairs?" Yachi called her.

"What? Um.." She didn't want Yachi to see her face at that moment, so she raised up the camera. "I'll stay for a bit and see if I can get some better angles. I'll come up later."

The match started. Reina was shooting pictures mechanically, like in a daze, staring at Kageyama in between. He was out there, playing his best, paying her no attention. And she was standing here, her heart racing, still feeling the heat of Kageyama's hand on her shoulder.

8i8

Kageyama packed his things and looked around the emptying gymnasium.

"Has Takenaka-san left already?" he asked Yachi.

"Oh, yes. She left right after the match. She promised to give me the pictures as soon as she sorts them out." Yachi answered.

"Are you missing your girlfriend?" Tsukishima asked, smirking.

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"You say so, but you were staring down the guys that were checking her out pretty hard. Jealous?"

"I didn't want them to bother her, so I was just copying Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai. Jeez!"