Chapter Text
He hadn’t noticed her at first. He had been walking with Noya to his class after practice, and the libero had been talking animatedly about the awesome receive he had pulled off that morning.
“And then I was all like bam! And whoosh! And then the ball was back up in the air, and—hey, did you see that girl?”
Tanaka turned around and found who his friend was talking about. There was a young girl huddled in a shivering ball of fright against the wall. She was tiny, with a mop of hair covering her face, and quivering uncontrollably as she stared at the books in her hands. Occasionally a sniffle broke loose from behind her tightened lips. Cute, sure, but very obviously a nervous wreck.
He slowed to a stop, bending down to whisper into Noya’s ear and still keeping an eye on the girl. “Do you think she’s alright?” he asked, concerned.
“I dunno, she looks kind of lost. Maybe she’s a first year?”
“Yeah, probably. Hey, maybe we should help her”
Noya looked at him, a little sceptically. “Are you sure bro? I mean, you’re not exactly smooth with girls, and this one’s a grade-A cutie”
Tanaka scowled, but there was humour behind it. “Oh yeah, like you’re a real lady killer yourself” he responded, taking Noya into a headlock and ruffling his hair.
“Hey!” the smaller one protested, squirming his way out of Tanaka’s grip.
“Besides,” he continued, ignoring as Noya huffed his chest and ran his fingers through his hair, complaining about how it taken almost half an hour to style that morning. “I don’t want to get all buddy-buddy with her, just give her some directions. If she is a first year, then that makes me her senpai. And a good senpai always helps his underclassmen!”
Noya rolled his eyes and gave his hair one final pat. “Alright, but don’t get all mopey if this goes wrong”
Tanaka just flashed him a thumbs up and sauntered towards the girl, who was still shaking like crazy. “Oi, first year,” he called out as he neared her. “Do you need help wi—”
The girl looked up and paled considerably. Her lip quivered, her eyes widened, and soon enough tears sprung up. She had even begun backing up against the wall. Classic signs of fear. Tanaka winced noticeably. “Hey, don’t get freaked out, I just wanna hel—”
“I’m fine I’m OK please don’t hurt me!” she squealed, her voice cracking, and she ran off towards the other end of the hall. Papers flew from her hands, flapping wildly, but she was too distressed to notice. Conversations stopped, and the other people in the hallway watched her leave. They directed their accusatory glances towards Tanaka, then turned back to each other and whispered behind cupped hands, occasionally looking concerned towards the receding figure in the distance.
Tanaka just stood there, so wounded by her reaction that he barely heard Noya’s roaring laughter from behind him. He retreated sullenly to where the libero was still cackling.
“Bro, I knew that would happen!” Noya said, wiping an imaginary tear away. “I just didn’t think it would happen so bad!”
“Yeah yeah, I get it, I’m too scary-looking for cute girls” Tanaka replied, bitter. Noya stopped laughing and studied his face for a bit, before slapping one arm across his back.
“Ryuu, it doesn’t matter what some freshman girl thinks of you. You’re one of the coolest guys in this school. And I’m honoured to be able to call you my friend”
Tanaka’s entire face turned red, and he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, whatever. Shut up” he mumbled, lightly kicking Noya behind the knee as he continued to class. He pulled his collar up and shoved his face into it, hoping to hide his grateful smile. After all, he had a tough-guy reputation to maintain.