Chapter Text
His eyes scanned the crowd, skipping over the massive section of purple and white and going straight to the familiar orange and navy. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t insanely nervous – they were only playing the most important game they had ever played against one of the best aces in the nation, after all – and he knew seeing your face would be the only thing that could reassure him. He needed to see that smile, the one that was meant for him and only him. The one that said I know you’re going to wipe the floor with them, so go out there and do it.
“Where are you,” he muttered to himself as he scanned the Karasuno section. The unfamiliar faces blurred together until finally he spotted someone he knew. Tanaka’s sister, Saeko, was standing right at the front, next to Yachi and two of the guys from the Karasuno Neighborhood Association. But you were nowhere to be found.
The cheers around him seemed to grow louder as his stomach dropped and disappointment flooded through him. His eyes swept across the crowd frantically a few more times before it really sunk in. You weren’t here.
He jumped as a hand suddenly slapped his shoulder. Looking over, Tanaka gave him a large grin.
“You ready to show Shiratorizawa who’s boss, short stuff?”
His eyes flicked back over to the fan section, hoping that maybe you had magically appeared in the brief second he had looked away. The sting of disappointment hit again.
“Yo, Noya? You there?” Tanaka waved a hand in front of the libero’s face.
“Yeah,” he dragged his eyes away from the student section before giving Tanaka a half-hearted smile. “I was born ready!” He threw in a fist pump for good measure. Nishinoya was known for being a boisterous ball of energy, so he had appearances to keep up. If the team noticed that there was even a chance something was wrong with him.. well, he didn’t want that kind of energy surrounding the team during this extremely important game.
Tanaka wasn’t fooled though, and with one quick look at the crowd, he was able to figure out what was stopping the smile from reaching Nishinoya’s eyes.
“She’ll be here, bro. There’s no way she wouldn’t come to support you.”
Nishinoya’s face turned red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied. Tanaka raised an eyebrow, the grin returning to his face.
“Oh, so you’re not upset that your girlfriend isn’t out there in the crowd? That your girlfriend won’t be able to see you look super badass on the court? That your girl- OW!”
“She’s not my girlfriend!”
Before Tanaka could respond, Daichi’s voice broke through the chants.
“Alright guys, huddle up!”
Tanaka gave his friend one more look before running to join the others. Nishinoya sighed, and started jumping up and down, shaking his arms as he did so. Shaking off the stress. Shaking off his nerves. Shaking off the extreme disappointment.
Taking a deep breath, he planted a large smile on his face and ran towards his team with his arms out. Hopping on the back of an unsuspecting Asahi, causing him to stumble forward, he let out a battle cry.
“Let’s do this!”
Shit! Shit shit shit!
The bus was so close, yet so far away. You ran as fast as you could, praying that you’d make it in time. You already missed the first bus and if you missed the second, you’d surely get to the game too late.
You reached the doors just as they were about to close. You managed to jump in and stumble up the steps before they closed shut with a quiet hiss. The driver glared at you, which you returned with a quick apology and a small bow before you made your way deeper into the bus. There were no seats available, so you squeezed in the small gap between two bored looking adults and grabbed on to the pole anchored between the floor and ceiling with one hand. The other went to your chest as you tried to catch your breath without sounding like an asthmatic cat.
You pulled out your phone to check the time, but were interrupted as it began to vibrate from an incoming phone call. You tapped the green phone icon on the screen, but before you were even able to get the phone to your ear, the person on the other end started talking.
“Where are you?? They’re about to begin!”
Your hand paused, holding the phone away from your ear as Saeko’s voice blasted through the speaker, almost drowned out by the loud cheering in the background.
“I missed… the first… bus,” you huffed out, still trying to catch your breath. You took a large gulp of air and managed to steady your breathing before continuing. “But no worries. I’m on the bus now, and I’ll be there in about half an hour.”
“You’re going to miss the first set!”
“Well it’s better than missing the whole thing!” You snapped. The people around you turned their heads to stare, no doubt wondering why in the world a phone conversation needed to be so loud. You gave the onlookers a sheepish smile and mouthed an apology.
“Ugh, I knew I shouldn’t have let you go on your own! Why didn’t you just ride with me like the past two days?”
“I told you, there was something I needed to do before the game,” a small blush crept up your cheeks.
“And why couldn’t you have done it last night when you had all the time in the world?”
“Because!” You groaned. “Everything’s fine, Saeko, I’ll be there soon! Cheer extra loud for me, okay? Bye!” You hung up the phone before your friend could continue scolding you.
You shoved your phone back into your pocket and sighed. You were so angry with yourself for missing the first bus, which would lead to you missing part of the most important game. But as you looked down at the item in your hand, a warmth crept up your chest, and you knew wouldn’t regret it later.
It’s Nishinoya’s stupid fault anyways! If he had been more organized I wouldn’t have struggled to find this stupid thing!
The reason you weren’t able to ride with Saeko to the game today, much to her disappointment, was because you had planned a surprise for your best friend. And the reason you couldn’t have done it the night before, like Saeko had so brilliantly suggested, was because said best friend had crashed in his room the second he got home from the intense game they played against Aobajohsai. And for the surprise, you needed to get something from his room. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if he had seen you take that thing, now would it?
So, you had to wait until this morning, when Karasuno was on the bus and on their way to Sendai. Once you were sure of that, you had gone to his house where his mother was already waiting for you like the angel she was. She let you in and you rushed upstairs, expecting to it to be a quick in-and-out ordeal. But once you entered his room, you knew it wouldn’t be as easy as you had hoped.
After twenty minutes of digging through the multiple piles of clothes (clean, you prayed) scattered around his room, you still had not managed to find it. When his mom came to give you a house key so you could lock the door when you left, you asked if she had any idea where it might be. She gave you a few possibilities and then left for work, leaving you alone to panic.
Finally, you managed to find it in the laundry room underneath another pile of his clothes.
Good lord, you thought. We wear a uniform five days a week, how many clothes can he possibly have?!
You stood atop the mountain of clothes holding the orange jersey triumphantly in the air, looking very much like that famous French painting, “Liberty Leading the People”. Though, finding the extra jersey had been a more impressive feat than the July Revolution in France honestly.
Deciding you would just change at the Gymnasium, you ran out of his house. Unfortunately, you missed the first bus due to this endeavor taking much longer than you anticipated.
So, that left you to where you were now. Anxiously tapping your foot as you kept checking the time on your phone, as if you could will the bus to move faster.
I really hope Nishinoya hasn’t noticed I’m not there . Your heart dropped as you thought about it. No, I’m sure he hasn’t. I’m not that important.
You laughed dryly to yourself. As long as Kiyoko is there, he’ll be fine.
You tried to ignore the surge of jealousy you felt as you thought about Karasuno’s manager. Despite being absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, you knew that your best friend had a major crush on her. He and Tanaka made sure that the whole world knew, really.
It’s fine. Not a big deal! Anyone with eyes would have a crush on her… If only Nishinoya didn’t have eyes.
You shook your head at that thought, eyes widening. Okay, too much. Too much.
After what felt like an eternity, the bus finally came to a stop in front of the Sendai City Gymnasium. You were the first off the bus, running as fast as you could up the steps and into the building. You decided that you weren’t even going to bother changing and threw the jersey on over your shirt, which was luckily just a lightweight black t-shirt.
You forced yourself to slow down as you descended the stairs to where you knew your friends would be watching the game. God forbid you trip and break your leg.
“Hey!” You said breathlessly as you popped up between Saeko and Yachi, scaring the latter.
“Finally! I was just about to call you again, this time I wouldn’t have been nearly as nice,” Saeko frowned. But once she actually took your appearance in, specifically the orange jersey with a large number four in the center, a large grin spread across her face. “Oh my god. Are you wearing that pipsqueaks’s jersey?”
Normally, you would defend your friend when someone made fun of his height (it also hurt you, considering you were a few inches shorter than him), but Saeko had known Nishinoya almost as long as you. Since he and Tanaka were so close, she was no stranger. You knew that when she made fun of him, it came from a place of love.
You tried to ignore the heat rising to your face as you nodded. “Yeah, he’s always going on and on about how he’d die if a girl wore his jersey to a game. He’s been pretty annoying lately, so I thought I’d try it and see if he was serious.” You shrugged. “I’m probably not the girl he was hoping for but-”
“Sweetie, I think you’re exactly the girl he’s hoping for. Oh my god, I can’t wait until he sees you.”
You just rolled your eyes and turned to the manager-in-training next to you. “What’d I miss? Catch me up, coach!”
Yachi’s eyes widened, clearly not liking the sudden pressure. “U-uh, we’re in the second set now. We lost the first, unfortunately.” You frowned, turning to the game. Your eyes immediately landed on Nishinoya, who was standing near the back with a scowl on his face. He clearly was not happy. And looking at the other players, you could tell he wasn’t alone.
“Not only is Shiratorizawa good, but their number one has an insane serve and spike. He’s left handed, which our guys aren’t used to. Everyone is struggling to receive his attacks, even Nishinoya,” Yachi sighed, sounding defeated. You hummed, biting your lip. Nishinoya was a fantastic libero, and you had yet to see something he couldn’t handle.
However, it wasn’t long before you witnessed the insane attack that Yachi had told you about. Shiratorizawa’s number one was almost unstoppable when he spiked the ball. He blasted through Karasuno’s blocks every time, leaving the players to scramble to try and receive it. As you watched, you could see the frustration growing amongst the team. While they were able to receive some of his attacks, it was clear the ball wasn’t going where they wanted.
You hoped that Nishinoya would look up into the stands and see you, see that you came to support him. You wanted so badly to give him an encouraging smile (well, that wasn’t really what you wanted to give him, but it’d have to do) to make him feel better. But he never did.
The tension continued to rise as the set went on. Karasuno couldn’t get more than a point ahead before Shiratorizawa would catch up. It was a constant back-and-forth battle, and it was frustrating to watch.
Karasuno was currently one point behind, sitting at 21. Saeko grabbed your arm with excitement as Tanaka received Shiratorizawa’s serve, and the excitement built as Kageyama set the ball beautifully into the air, allowing Tsukishima to send it over the net. It soared just barely over their red-headed blocker’s fingers and looked like it was going to land right in the center, where the floor was open. You tensed, anticipating a jump of joy, until at the last minute, one of their players dove and hit the ball back into the air. Your heart dropped as you realized the team was setting up an attack for their number one. You watched as he jumped into the air, almost in slow motion, and sent the ball back to Karasuno. Like every time before, the ball broke through the block and flew towards the ground. Right where Nishinoya was.
You held your breath as you focused on him crouched, ready to go, a fierce look of determination on his face. As the ball connected with his outstretched arms, you expected it to go flying off to the side and into the crowd. Instead, it arced into the air perfectly, straight into Kageyama’s waiting fingertips. The power of the receive sent Nishinoya flying back and he landed on his butt with an astonished look on his face, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he had just done. You were too busy gaping at the libero to even notice Tsukishima spike the ball, scoring Karasuno another point.
Your heart soared with pride as the crowd around you erupted into cheers. The players on the sideline hollered with excitement, jumping up and down.
“YEAH, NISHI!” You screamed, jumping up and down like a lunatic.
Upon hearing the nickname that only you used, he looked up to the stands. When his eyes met yours, he stood there for a moment looking dumbstruck. You grinned and tugged at the jersey you were wearing, hoping that after all the hard work you put in to get it, he would notice.
A switch seemed to flip in his head, and you watched as his face completely lit up and his look of confusion morphed into a look of utter excitement. He jumped up and down while pointing at you, and even from the stands you could see him mouthing “My jersey! That’s my jersey!”
Tanaka followed Nishinoya’s gaze, curious to see what had got his friend so excited. His eyes widened when he saw you, and what you were wearing, and he threw his arms up with a pout.
“What about me?” You saw him exclaim. You just shrugged your shoulders and gave him a wink before turning your attention back to the excited libero. He had returned to his spot on the court, a fresh look of determination on his face. And you couldn’t help but notice the stupid grin that graced his lips and made your entire stomach do a backflip.
Yup , you decided. Being late was definitely worth seeing that look on his face.