Chapter Text
Asahi had been avoided and called scary once more. It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence, however it never lessened the hurt it left resonating in the boy's glass heart. Nishinoya had called him a coward on more than one occasion, true as it was, but seeing his friend close into himself with a kicked dog expression plastered on his face never left a pleasant feeling with the libero.
Seeing it play out from across the courtyard, Nishinoya watched with what he hoped was a fierce expression as a few freshmen girls, firstly, purposefully walked around Asahi. They created a large gap, where they could have just shifted to the left and still avoided him. Secondly, when one of the girls dropped her handkerchief she'd just placed back in her pocket and Asahi had picked it up to give back, the girl had feigned ignorance of the item even being hers and quickly exited the school while loudly telling her friends how scary that "held back senior" is.
It infuriated Nishinoya.
There was still volleyball activities to be done, but afterwards, he decided, he would not sleep until he found a way to remedy all the hurt places in Asahi's heart. Which is how he ended up fighting off sleep all through the next days lectures and doodling ideas in a notebook. An encouraging look from Kiyoko (truthfully she had only glanced in his direction) fueled Nishinoya to perform with enthusiasm throughout practice. At the end of the day it was Ryuu who locked an arm around his shoulders and told him to come along to his house.
Nishinoya was nodding along (more like nodding off) to whatever Ryuu was loudly (he never really does things in halves when it comes to volume, but neither does Nishinoya so he can't complain) explaining when Saeko peeked into the room.
"Oh, it's only Yuu."
"'Sup, big sis," Nishinoya said as he tried to shoot himself as far up as he could (which really only straightened his back) and give a half hearted bow. If felt like all the energy he had drained in that one outburst. He would never admit aloud what this did to his pride.
At the same moment that Saeko said, "So manly as always," Ryuu stated, "That was way more lame than your usual."
A shared look passed between the siblings before they scrutinized the petit male. Nishinoya always enjoyed watching how similar the siblings became when they were concentrating on something; how their faces became something similar to a death glare, this is if you didn't know the difference between them trying to intimidate or figure out a complex problem.
"You're right, he's a bit pale and has dark circles under his eyes." Saeko tilted her head as if this would explain anything.
"He was lagging during practice too." Ryuu squinted his eyes, which made his face look more like he was trying to intimidate a reason out of Nishinoya, which only made the boy want to laugh. If he had the energy, he probably would have and brushed him off with some joke.
Saeko welcomed herself to sit down next to Nishinoya, her shoulder squeezed against his. "So what's got you in a fit?"
"I'm not having a fit," Nishinoya stated. He felt Ryuu lean up against his other side. It was not a pleasant feeling being sandwiched between the Tanaka siblings.
"Then what's got you down?" Ryuu asked. It was rare, but when a friend was in a bind Ryuu could actually show some real heartfelt care to console them.
"I'm not really down about anything either," Nishinoya said and paused before adding, "It's just-" He stopped and sighed.
"It's just..?" The older Tanaka sibling inquired, resting her head on top of Nishinoya's.
There was a long pause between all of them, a quiet that was so bizarre to be held between three naturally loud and obnoxious people.
"Big sis," Nishinoya started softly, feeling a bit of shame that he'd have to go to an outside source for help. He eased himself with thinking that a man has got to do what a man has got to do and this was big sis. Who better than big sis? No one. "Can I tell you about something?"
"Of course."
Still feeling the weight of the two, Nishinoya figured that the two siblings felt more like a blanket than two pieces of bread that were only in existence to squish him. He considered just telling his tale of searching for a heart cure to big sis alone, as Ryuu would probably be less helpful and create more of a scene. But that was also putting little faith in someone he had originally sworn allegiance to.
"Someone close to me is hurting," he really hoped he didn't sound adrift as he explained. "I want to find something that will make them happy."
"What kind of person are they?" Saeko asked, curiosity easily coloring her words.
"They're easily hurt and afraid, a damn wimp, a right out coward! But they're also gentle and easily hurt." When Nishinoya looked over at Ryuu, who had been quiet all this time, he could almost hear the gears moving and calculations being formed inside the other boys head. Ryuu would have a perfect list of who Nishinoya knew and what kind of person they were, so it wouldn't be hard to narrow the list down and figure it out.
Saeko hummed, which felt strange against Nishinoya's head, before saying, "A flower crown." To both boys grunts of confusion, she elaborated further, "It's a fad going around the campus. You weave flowers together to make a crown. For a gentle soul, a flower crown would be best."
Nishinoya wasn't sure a crown made from flowers would exactly make Asahi happy. In fact, he was positive the other boy would look at him weird for the following weeks. Through the long silence that followed the explanation, Nishinoya thoughts took a steep downward spiral, creating worse and worse scenarios of Asahi's possible reaction to a flower crown.
"That might be really good," Ryuu said, breaking the silence. "It would suit him."
"Eh?" Nishinoya's voice came out loud from shock.
"I'll be your partner in crime!"
"Isn't that good, Yuu? You've got it all figured out now." She lifted herself off of Nishinoya and patted his head. "Next time, bring big sis something sweet, okay?"
"Of course!" He replied, enthusiastic.
"Always so manly," she murmured before leaving the boys alone.
"What happened with Asahi?" Now that it was just the two boys and Nishinoya had been properly consulted, Ryuu shifted away so they were sitting on different sides of the small table.
Nishinoya explained the girls, how even if they hadn't shied away from Asahi, he'd end up getting out of their way. About the cruel words and Asahi's stricken face and how it had made something burn angrily inside of Nishinoya.
"Don't worry, Noya." This was said with a slap to the back. "He's our ace, there's no way he'd be destroyed by this." Ryuu gave a toothy smile, a smile that screamed danger, but Nishinoya was comforted by the confidence.
"You really are a man above all men."