In her second year of junior high, Momotari contributed most of her free time to helping Hinata. It wasn’t as if she was always with him playing volleyball. She would tell him on certain days that she was just too busy. On those days, Hinata was completely understanding, and she really appreciated it because she saw how he could hound people to toss to him. But on the days where she did come and meet him after her track practice, Momotari was happy. Hinata and her would have idle chit chat sometimes when they just passed the ball back and forth.
When Hinata would spike the ball, Momotari would ompliment him and, if she could, critique him (although this rarely happened because she wasn’t as educated in volleyball as he probably was. ) If they were feeling especially chipper that day, Hinata would offer up the idea of getting ice cream after. Momotari almost always agreed. It wasn’t that Momotari liked him especially. It was rather that he was good company. Momotari didn’t have many friends and the ones who actually did talk to her were somewhat negative. She could list off many faults about all of her friends.
She could also list off faults of Hinata as well. The difference to her was hat Hinata’s faults were all along the line of “too enthusiastic” or “really loud. ” Those were things Momotari could get used to; and she had. She now enjoyed many things about Hinata that she once thought made him annoying. (However, she still thought he was an idiot sometimes. She had seen his grades and they were less than impressive. ) Hinata was just a good person in her eyes. She couldn’t exactly say he was more friendly than others or that he always wanted to help people, but he was still a good person.
It probably had something to do with him being one of her closest friends. It was ind of pathetic when she thought about it because she knew she wasn’t Hinata’s closest friend. Momotari just didn’t have friends like that. She hadfriends. As in, people who she talked to occasionally. People she would joke around with. She hardly counted some of the girls she talked to as even acquaintances. So when her parents told her she would be finishing her 3rd year at a different junior high, she was less than ecstatic. When she met Hinata the next day after hearing the news, kept quiet. She said a “hello” and nothing else.
They hit it between each other for a bit, and Hinata got so many spikes in he that he should be exhausted. “So,” she started as she hit the ball high up into the air, “I won’t be going to Yukigaoka next term. ” Hinata jumped into the air to hit the ball, but ended up missing terribly. “What? ” he asked as his feet touched the ground. He had to regain his footing. “Will you be attending another junior high? ” Momotari nodded her head. “Aw, but who will toss to me now? ” Momotari sighed as she fought the urge to glare at him. “Is that really the only thing you’re concerned about? Hinata looked confused at her hostility but nodded his head nonetheless.
“Yes. I don’t see the point of getting worked up over you leaving if it’s already been decided. ” Momotari turned away from to go retrieve the ball. Her shoulders drooped, and she sighed once more. She knew she was being overly sensitive about his reaction, but she thought he would be at least a little disappointed about her leaving. She faced him again, the ball in hand and dark aura looming. Hinata must have picked up on her feeling of dismay because he suddenly had a panicked look on his face and was waving his arms out in front of him frantically. “Ah, no!
Not that I’m not sad! I will miss you! Please don’t be upset! ” He stopped for a moment to take a closer look at her face. “You’re not going to cry, are you? ” She pushed the boy away from her roughly. “I’m not going to cry, you idiot. It’s not like I’m moving to another country. I’ll just be at another junior high. ” Still, Momotari wasn’t sure if she was ready for the challenge of meeting new people. “But you look really sad. ” “Well, I am sad. It’s like you said though. I can’t really do anything about it. ” Hinata blinked at her before smiling. “So I was right then? Wow, this is the first time Momo-chan has admitted that I’m right.
The girl blushed, mostly out of embarrassment. She turned around quicklyto hide the heating of her face quickly, her black ponytail swishing behind her. “ldiot. I’ve said that before. ” He came up behind her before leaning over her shoulder. “Yeah, but only about volleyball things! This is different! ” “No it’s not! ” Hinata nodded his head furiously. “Yes it it. I am smarter than you in terms of volleyball, so I should be right. ” He walked around her so that they were face to face. “But now I’m right about something else, see? ” Momotari raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you just say you’re smarter than me?
Hinata’s smile dropped as he backed away slightly. “O-only in volleyball! ” He brought both his hands up in front of him. “Is that all you heard! ” Momotari ignored him for the moment as she twirled the ball in her hand. “Hey. Do you want to head out for ice cream afterwards? ” Hinata put one hand on the back of his neck nervously. “I forgot my wallet at home today. Sorry. ” Momotari continued to twirl the ball in her hands. “I could pay for you. Just for today. ” “Oh really? ” He tilted his head. “But should we really be getting ice cream in February? ” She waved him off easily. “It’s fine. It’s always a good time for ice cream. Hinata shrugged his shoulders.
“Then let’s go now! ” He grabbed the ball from her hands and started running around the gym, gathering his stuff and putting things away. “C’mon! ” he called out after noticing her catatonic state. “But don’t you want to-” “Let’s go! ” Momotari stared at him for a moment longer before smiling. She grabbed her bag and put on her jacket. “Wait up Hinata! ” It was possible that she was only excited to get ice cream, but she was pretty sure it’s also about the boy who went with her. Because it was the same boy who stopped doing what he loved ost at that moment just to have a frozen treat with her.
Hinata and Momotari ended up having their ice cream, with Momotari paying. She didn’t mind. She knew she enjoyed the ice cream and their time together more than Hinata did. She’s not really sure what other people thought of him, but to Momotari, he would always be the nicest friend she had. “Thank you, Momo-chan. I will see you tomorrow. ” He waved at her before heading off to grab his bike. Momotari was happy that she had met him. He wasn’t exactly smart and she couldn’t exactly say they were best friends, but he made her a lot happier. Good bye, Shoyo-kun! ” She began her trek home.
Her thoughts mainly comprised of what her new junior high would be like. And she hoped that she would meet someone as nice as her friends at Yukigaoka. As February passed and March flew by, Momotari saw Hinata less frequently. She was busying herself mostly with getting her new things for the next school year. She had already gotten her new uniform she was supposed to wear in April. It wasn’t too bad, she thought. She had already been registered as well. She didn’t really have any excuses for avoiding Hinata (and all her other friends) for the last couple of months.
She supposed it didn’t matter though. It was already spring break and she would be going to a junior high that she couldn’t care less about. She had no obligations to see them anymore. Momotari was actually rather disappointed by it all. She never really had close friends and she never fit into a certain group, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss her friends. She sighed as she passed the store that she would always get ice cream from. It really was the only place she would hang out with Hinata outside of school. She continued walking to her house without much thought of the volleyball fanatic.
When April came and break was over, Momotari reluctantly got up and put on her new brown uniform. She walked a new route to get to her new junior high. When she arrived she saw only new people and instantly missed the familiarity of Yukigaoka. After the opening ceremony and the ridiculously long school day, Momotari headed over to the track. She had thought about joining, but she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to put in the effort. Her friend who had initially made her join quit their second year. She sighed a bit before leaving the school grounds and heading home.
Two weeks after the start of the semester, she had made her first friend. (Actually, she had her first non-school-related conversation. ) It had started out as the girl asking if she had moved up in classes because she had never seen her before. After Momotari told her about transferring, she seemed to become ecstatic. “Oh! So this is your first year here? How nice! Which junior high did you attend before? ” “Yukigaoka. ” The brunette placed a finger on her chin. “Hm. I don’t think I’ve heard of that school. ” “It’s not really that big or anything,” she admitted abashedly. “Oh well. I’m Yasuda Umiko. Its a pleasure to meet you. Momotari Hanako,” she paused for a moment before adding, “Please take care of me. ”
Momotari ended up asking about all the other students and their teacher and especially the volleyball club. Yasuda explained that they did have volleyball teams, boys and girls, but they were nothing special. Momotari mentioned Yukigaoka’s team and Yasuda laughed. Momotari supposed that the oneman-team was sort of funny. So she laughed too. Momotari then found herself talking about Hinata, but not mentioning his name explicitly. Yasuda listened intently, and at the end, commented on how it seemed like they were really good friends.
Momotari nodded but inwardly cringed. She hadn’t meant to make it sound like they were close friends. She also hadn’t meant to go off on a tangent. So Momotari apologized for her negligence. Yasuda laughed at her though, so maybe she wasn’t offended. For the rest of her third year, Momotari ended up hanging around Yasuda. They weren’t exactly friends, but they were close enough. Yasuda was an excitable girl. Momotari often scolded her for yelling too much. Momotari didn’t really mind though. It was somewhat familiar. Guys I’m sorry. I’m not entirely rehearsed in japanese culture.
So if you ever feel like correcting me, do so. The next chapter should be at Karasuno since her junior high life is unimportant. And we all know what happens with Hinata so. Ah, but the next chapter probably won’t be them reuniting. That would be too soon. I’m not sure if I’ll continue this story, but I probably will since | have the layout already. And again, HinaxOC? I’m not sure. Also, thank you to everyone who followed and favorited this story! I wasn’t going to upload this chapter, but I decided to because every email that tells me people actually read this story makes me so happy. So thanks!
