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On a pleasant Sunday morning, Yachi Hitoka woke up to four text messages, four cupcakes, four presents, and four faces at her door.
From: Hinata Shouyou
To: Yachi Hitoka
happy birthday, yachi :DDD i hope you have a wonderful and fun day!! (◕‿◕✿) (∪ ◡ ∪)
From: Yamaguchi Tadashi
To: Yachi Hitoka
Happy birthday Yachi! Hope you have fun!!! ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡
From: Kageyama Tobio
To: Yachi Hitoka
Happy Birthday, Yachi
From: Tsukishima Kei
To: Yachi Hitoka
Happy Birthday.
Yachi giggled and answered her four friends accordingly.
"Hitoka!" her mom called from the kitchen.
"Yes?"
"There are some packages for you here!"
Yachi grinned and leapt to her feet, rushing to brush her teeth and hair before skidding into the kitchen. The door was open, letting chilly air into the door and Yachi shivered slightly in her nightgown before peering over the countertop at the boxes.
There were five: four being wrapped presents and the fifth being a box of four cupcakes, neatly lined up and covered. She pulled the cupcake box off the counter and laid it on her lap as she plopped down on the carpet of her dining room.
Cupcake #1 was vanilla, frosted with something that she didn’t recognize until she took some icing with her finger and tasted it. The cinnamon flavor was unmistakable and the sugar on top seemed to be cinnamon as well.
Cupcake #2 was vanilla too, and the icing on top was obviously strawberry. The strawberry on top was small and bright red and Yachi marveled at how well it was made. Her mouth started to water at the sight of it, she sighed, and, knowing that she couldn’t eat it right now, moved on to the next one.
Cupcake #3 wasn’t a cupcake at all. It was a muffin, blueberry, she realized, and it looked homemade. There was some kind of sugar dusted on top of it and she took a bite out of it, realizing that it had to have been homemade and that it was delicious.
Cupcake #4 was chocolate, frosted with vanilla icing and covered in orange and black sprinkles. She quickly realized that they were Karasuno’s colors as she noticed the small volleyball shaped candy at the top and she smiled as she realized who that cupcake was undoubtedly from.
“Hitoka! Come have breakfast before I leave!” her mother called and Yachi dropped the half eaten muffin back in its spot, getting to her feet and going back to the kitchen where her mother had made a stack of waffles for her.
“Happy birthday, Hitoka,” her mother said and picked up her bag off of their rack. She gave Yachi a quick kiss on the cheek before walking out the door briskly.
As much as she would have liked her mother to stay with her on her birthday, she was much too busy. Yachi was plenty okay with the wish and the kiss and the sugary syrup on her plate.
The four other boxes were still sitting on the countertop near where she was eating and she finished her breakfast quickly, washing the syrup off her hands, so she could tear into what looked to be her gifts.
The first present was small and wrapped in plain cream colored paper. Yachi carefully peeled off the tape at the bottom and unwrapped it revealing a box with a tightly closed lid. She pried the lid off to find a necklace with a simple heart shaped pendant. She let out a soft “ooh” and lifted it out of it’s case. Underneath the necklace there was a small slip of paper and Yachi left the necklace on the counter unfolding the paper to see “From: Kageyama Tobio” written in scratchy letters.
The second present was larger and wrapped in colorful wrapping paper. She poked on it to find that it was soft and smushy and she tore apart the clumsily wrapped paper to reveal a white and light pink scarf. Her mouth immediately widened into a grim and she shoved her face into the warmth of the scarf. A card was wrapped up underneath the fluffy layers and she yanked it out to find a crudely drawn volleyball colored in with crayons followed by a cute note from Hinata. Scribbled under Hinata’s own name in a different colored crayon was the name “Hinata Natsu”.
The third was soft as well but wrapped in plain brown paper. Eyebrow raising, Yachi unwrapped it and a light pink sweater (ironically the same color as the scarf) fell out of the packaging. She caught it before it fell to the floor and unfolded it. There was a heart stitched into the fabric and, looking closer, she noticed almost invisible words sewed into the bottom of the sweater. She traced the letters, which spelled out “Karasuno Volleyball Club”. Picking up the wrapping paper again, she searched it for any sign of a name, but no matter how many times she looked, there was no sign of who it was from. But, of course, that meant she knew exactly whose it was.
The last package was a tan colored backpack, covered with glittery black stars. She unzipped the top and inside there was a book that Yachi remembered talking to Yamaguchi about wanting a few weeks ago. She blushed as she realized that he had probably gone out of his way to get it for her, because it was only sold in Sendai. Inside the book was a note from Yamaguchi, wishing her a great day. She smiled, took the book out and, grabbing all her other presents in her hands, walked into her room, dropping them all on her bed. She left the book on her nightstand, promising herself that she would read it in the night.
As soon as she finished, her phone started buzzing and she dove onto her bed to answer it, picking up the call from Hinata with a click.
“Hi, Hinata!”
“Yachi!” came a shout and the sheer volume made her jerk away from the cell phone. “Kageyama, let me talk to her!” There was a yelp as Hinata’s phone was clearly pulled out of his hands by Kageyama, accented with a cry of “dumbass”.
“Stop fighting!” she heard Yamaguchi say faintly as Hinata and Kageyama continued bickering over the phone and then there was a noise as the phone was transferred to another hand.
“Yachi-san?” Tsukishima’s voice came floating through the phone.
“Yes?”
“Those two idiots called to ask you if you wanted to go ice-skating with them. We’re waiting outside.”
“Um, sure!” Yachi chirped. “I’ll just...get ready!” Tsukishima gave a noise of acknowledgement over the squeals of Hinata trying to retrieve the phone but before he could hang up, Yachi spoke again.
“Tsukishima-kun, if Kageyama-kun and Hinata invited me, why are you there?” she asked tentatively and there was a short pause.
“Yamaguchi,” was all Tsukishima said before ending the call.
Yachi took a moment to giggle and then quickly showered and got ready. She put on the sweater from Tsukishima and a pair of jeans, clasping the necklace from Kageyama around her neck and throwing the scarf from Hinata over her arm. She took her ice-skates from her closet and put them into the backpack from Yamaguchi, grabbing the bag and rushing out the door.
She took the stairs down to the outside of her apartment building where all four of the first-years were waiting.
“Yachi!” Hinata exclaimed and almost tackle-hugged Yachi to the ground as soon as he saw her. “Happy Birthday!”
“T-thank you, Hinata!” she said, trying to contain how flustered she became at the sudden hug.
“The whole team is waiting at the ice-skating rink for us,” Yamaguchi said calmly and Yachi blushed.
“You didn’t really have to--”
“Don’t be stupid, Yachi-san,” Tsukishima said shortly, and Yachi jolted at the thought that he was really listening through those headphones.
“You’re our manager, after all,” Kageyama finished and glared at Tsukishima, who stared back unfazed.
“Um, thank you!” she squeaked, quite overwhelmed, so she just grabbed Hinata’s hand daringly. “Should we go now?”
She wasn’t expecting Yamaguchi to hold her other hand, nor did she expect Hinata to practically drag her along, until Kageyama smacked him on the head.
“Calm down, dumbass!” he shouted and Yachi smiled at all of them brightly.
She also didn’t expect all of her friends’ cheeks to pink softly but it made it a happier birthday, nonetheless.