Chapter Text
Nishinoya Yuu was currently being haunted by his conscience. He felt as if his soul was burning in hell although he was still alive. His heart felt ripped apart mercilessly by wolves and his brain ached like it was shrinking into nothing.
That was how great his crime against Hinata Shoyo had been.
So what happened?
It all began last Friday evening somewhere in Miyagi prefecture, when Karasuno Highschool Men's Volleyball Club finished their daily practice.
"Here, everyone. My treat."
"Waaah! Pork buns!"
"Thank you very much!"
"Tsukki, here's one for you!"
"Ah. Thanks."
"Oi, Hinata! Why are you eating ahead of everyone?!"
"Don't you first year boys know how to RESPECT YOUR SENIORS?!"
"Tanaka-san, you're too loud…"
"Uh…Suga…Daichi looks angry now…"
Nishinoya could only laugh while watching his team mates fool around outside the coach's Foothill Store. And why not? All of the senpais were there: Azumane Asahi, Sawamura Daichi, Sugawara Koushi, and Tanaka Ryuunosuke. Then there were the freshmen: Kageyama Tobio, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, and the shorty Hinata Shoyo.
Shorty. Insult intended.
"Noya-senpai!" the petite, orange-haired spitfire of a kouhai approached the team's Guardian Deity, unintentionally implying the (not-so-huge) gap between their heights.
"The snack tastes good! Can I have yours?"
A vein pulsed in Nishinoya's forehead. Somehow the first-year shrimp has been blessed with a few centimeters' length of bone, so he was taller than him. The libero suddenly recalled the moment when Hinata had actually mistaken him for a kid at the training camp.
"No way in hell." Noya ate his pork bun as quickly as possible.
It was strange that height issues got into Noya's nerves that evening. Even weirder was the fact that he was irritated at the fact that Hinata, his kouhai, was taller than him, a senpai. Nishinoya was not the kind of guy who fussed about such trifle things. He had always ignored his size before. He was, after all, an exceptionally-skilled libero. Everyone acknowledges him once they see his moves – like the Rolling Thunder. As well as its newer version, the Rolling Thunder – Again.
Nishinoya naturally noticed his strange behavior himself. Hence he mulled about it as they all began to walk home.
"NOYA-SENPAI!" Hinata, who was an enthusiastic idiot, ran to his side, interrupting the shorter boy's thinking.
"What?" Nishinoya grunted uncharacteristically.
Hinata either did not notice the change in the other boy's tone, or he simply ignored it. "Our practices have gone well, nee? I think we're ready for the next match!"
Of course, I know that, Nishinoya thought without responding.
"Those guys are gonna get surprised when someone as small as you beat their attacks!"
Of course, they'll be surprised when someone as –the curse word hit Nishinoya like an arrow.
"Oi, Hinata! How dare you – " the libero was about to scold Hinata, had the orange-haired freshman's attention was on him.
"Waaah!" Hinata was looking up the night sky instead. So did the other guys.
"Cool! Meteor shower!"
"At this early?" Tsukishima wondered, with a hint of interest in his brown eyes.
"Why not? It's quite dark already." Sawamura replied.
"Ah! We need to make a wish!" Hinata abruptly shut his eyes close and clasped his hands in prayer.
Nishinoya looked up at the sky, now decorated with beautiful shooting stars which light quickly came and went.
He wanted to make a wish as well.
He closed his eyes, and thrice he spoke in his mind that he wanted to be taller than his kouhai.
Guess what, his dream came true.
The Effect:
Noya's wish quickly took effect, indeed.
The next day, Kageyama Tobio went to Hinata's classroom to invite the latter to practice receiving during lunch time. To his surprise, the orange-haired shrimp was not around. He asked one student and found out that Hinata did not attend the classes that day.
It was the first time that Hinata did not come to Karasuno to attend classes, so Kageyama was quite worried.
Weird, he thought, and wondered if the short boy was sick.
He was thinking about Hinata's probable reason for being absent that day when he accidentally ran into Nishinoya at the hallway.
"Kageyama!" Nishinoya greeted with a wide grin.
"Senpai." Kageyama replied with a slight bow.
The libero immediately noticed the look of concern on the freshman setter's face.
"What's wrong? You look preoccupied." Nishinoya asked worryingly.
"Nothing." Kageyama answered. "Hinata's absent today, that's all."
"Eh?" Even Nishinoya was perplexed upon hearing the news. "Did something happen to him?"
Kageyama simply answered with a shrug.
"Hmm." Nishinoya wondered for a moment if his moodiness last night had something to do with it.
"I wonder if the captain knows about this." Kageyama spoke thoughtfully.
"We can tell him about it later." Nishinoya smiled.
"At club time."
"Right." Kageyama nodded in agreement.
The club room of the men's volleyball team was in a two storey apartment-like stone gray building that was separate from the school building. The building was used mainly for the sports clubs of Karasuno High. Here the club members could hold some meetings, keep their own stuff and do whatever activity they must do.
That afternoon, just after the cleaning hours, Kageyama walked to the building and climbed upstairs to the second floor, where their club room was.
"K-kageyama!"
Kageyama looked up, startled. He heard a high-pitched voice spoke. He looked over his shoulder and noticed a fluff of bright orange hair jutting out of the corner of the sports club building.
A vein pulsed on Kageyama's temple.
"Hinata you idiot, why didn't you attend classes?!" he walked to the back of the building. He was supposed to beat the crap out of the short-legged shrimp, but he stopped when he saw Hinata looking upon him in a desperate manner.
It made Kageyama feel uneasy.
"O-oi," the raven-haired setter gave Hinata a look, "why are you looking at me like that?"
Hinata's big brown eyes were brimmed in tears. His mouth was quivering, as if on the brink of a major breakdown.
"K-kageyama…" he spoke in a shaky voice.
Kageyama raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Your voice sounds higher…like…a girl…"
He asked Hinata a question out of mere curiosity. Plus, he wanted to throw a slight insult because Hinata did not attend school that morning.
"Are you undergoing late puberty?"
Hinata's brown eyes gradually became pools of tears. He snuffled and held them back, but the remark seemed to have a major impact on the smaller boy that he burst into tears all of a sudden.
"THAT'S BECAUSE I DID TURN INTO A GIRL!" Hinata wailed in desperation.
"My voice became higher because I became a girl!"
Kageyama could only gape at such revelation.
"…WHAT?"
He was totally dumbfounded.