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No one liked exploring Karasuno with Nishinoya. It upset him at first, because why didn’t anyone want to explore with him? He got over it fairly quickly, though. If he was alone, then he could claim every discovery he made without anyone trying to fight him on it. That was a win, even if no one else thought so.
He’d gotten ready for practice earlier than normal, so he had time to look around the outside. He stayed close to the gym, but it’d been a while since he went exploring, so this was enough for now. There wasn’t much to see, a couple of bugs, but he didn’t pick them up since everyone would hate them. There were also some pretty flowers he thought Kiyoko would like, but he didn’t want her to have to hold them during practice since they didn’t have a vase. Maybe he should buy them one.
Nishinoya poked his head around the corner of the building, and that’s when he saw it, a frog. He loved animals—he wanted to have at least one of every kind, which his grandfather and sisters shut down. They didn’t like frogs, which he assumed was because they weren’t fun. They didn’t see how cute they were. The team would love it, though!
He gently reached out for Gamakichi (that was the frog’s name because Gamakichi was really cool in Naruto) only for Gamakichi to hop away from him. Nishinoya huffed slightly but moved to try to grab Gamakichi again, which had him fall to one knee. If this was how it was going to be, then Nishinoya was ready to win.
He chased after Gamakichi for several minutes, and he was getting dirty from how much he was falling. He was resilient, though, and refused to give up until Gamakichi was in his hands once again. Gamakichi hopped, and Nishinoya grabbed him mid-air, making sure how to squeeze him too hard. He didn’t want to hurt his new friend, so he gently held Gamakichi, but kept the right amount of pressure to make sure he didn’t hop away again.
Nishinoya didn’t know how much time had passed, but practice had to be starting soon. So, he hurried to the front of the gym, making sure to not drop Gamakichi. He couldn’t bite down the smile on his face, because he was so ready for everyone to meet each other. The team was going to love Gamakichi, he just knew it.
He slowly entered the gym, and Tanaka was the first to look over at him. “Dude, where were… Is that a frog?”
“Yeah! His name is Gamakichi, like from Naruto!” Nishinoya said, his smile only growing. Tanaka didn’t seem freaked out, so that was a good sign.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to have it in the gym,” Tanaka said as he walked closer to look at Gamakichi. “It is pretty cute, though.”
Hinata hurried over, and his eyes were wide and sparkling. “Is that a frog?!” Nishinoya nodded. “Can I hold him?”
“Well…” Nishinoya started, as he looked between Hinata and Gamakichi. “I dunno. It was really hard to catch him.”
Hinata pouted, his shoulders drooping. “I promise I’ll be super careful!” Hinata said, and Nishinoya hated the sad look on his face. “I’ll be careful like you, Noya-senpai!”
And how was Nishinoya meant to say no to that? He slowly extended Gamakichi towards Hinata. “Be gentle. Frogs are very squishy,” he said, and Hinata’s hands grabbed Gamakichi, but the frog fell out of his hands to the floor. It then immediately started jumping away, further into the gym. “Gamakichi!”
Everyone looked over, and that was when the first scream started. Asahi hid behind Daichi and Sugawara as he let out a high-pitch scream that made them cover their ears and glare at him. Then Yachi trembled as she quickly hid behind Kiyoko and let out the loudest gasp Nishinoya had ever heard. Several other teammates hurried away from Gamakichi, who was just trying to leave.
“What’s going on?” Y/N asked behind Nishinoya, and he froze. Oh, no. Y/N was going to see what he did. “Is that… Is that a frog?”
“Yes, it is!” Asahi said, his voice still high-pitched. “Save me!”
“I think Suga-san and Daichi-san have you plenty saved,” Y/N said as he walked past Nishinoya, going for the frog. There was no stumbling to his knees like there had been for Nishinoya. Y/N captured Gamakichi in less than a minute, and Nishinoya swooned slightly. “Alright, whose frog is this?”
“Noya’s!” Tanaka immediately said, and Nishinoya glared at him for offering him up that fast. What happened to the bro code?
Y/N looked at Nishinoya, and he looked pretty holding a frog like that. Nishinoya knew he was the only one who thought that, though, which meant it was special. “Show me where you got it so we can put it back.”
“But Gamakichi is my friend!” Nishinoya whined, and Y/N’s expression remained flat.
“You can visit him later. Right now, we have practice.” Y/N walked toward the door, looking over his shoulder at Nishinoya. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”
Nishinoya pouted as he hurried to walk alongside Y/N and show him where he found Gamakichi. His heart hurt when Gamakichi jumped into the grass and away from them. Hopefully, they’d find each other again.
“Oh, those are some pretty flowers,” Y/N said, and Nishinoya looked over to see the flowers he wanted to give to Kiyoko. However, seeing Y/N next to them, fingers brushing over the petals, he wanted to give them to him instead. Y/N looked at him. “Let’s go wash our hands and then get to practice.”
Nishinoya’s brows furrowed. “Wash our hands?”
“We just touched something dirty. You usually wash your hands after that.”
Nishinoya had touched lots of dirty things before and not washed his hands after, but he figured it was better to not tell Y/N that. It was mainly quiet as they washed their hands, which was okay. Y/N didn’t talk much, and Nishinoya was either used to being quiet or talking when the mood called for it.
“How did you get Gamakichi so fast?” Nishinoya asked, and Y/N looked away from the water at him. The breeze decided to pick up and brush his hair from his face, and Nishinoya stopped breathing for a second.
“Oh, I used to have pet frogs,” Y/N said with a shrug. “My brother and I would capture them and then let them go after a couple of weeks. We had a cool setup, though. I’ll show you some photos later if you want.”
Nishinoya nodded, because that meant he’d spend more time with Y/N. They’d even be close to each other, because phone screens were small and maybe there were lots of photos. He hoped there were millions of photos. Their shoulders being pressed against each other, and Y/N’s soft voice would be in his ear. Nishinoya couldn’t bite down his excitement.
“Yeah!” Nishinoya said, far too loudly, and Y/N flinched. “I’d love to see some photos!”
Y/N smiled, and Nishinoya wanted to frame it. Since when had Y/N been so pretty—wait, no, handsome? He was so handsome. Since when had that become a thing? Nishinoya ignored that, since it was definitely not the time to start thinking about that. Especially when Y/N turned off the water and waved his hands to air dry them.
“Alright, let’s get to practice.” Y/N stretched slightly, his shirt raising slightly, and Nishinoya saw some skin. His neck and cheeks burned. “I imagine Coach Ukai is going to be pissed that we’re late.”
Nishinoya nodded, even though Y/N wasn’t looking at him. He really hoped Y/N wouldn’t look at him. It’d probably make it worse if Y/N looked at him. So he silently prayed that Y/N wouldn’t look at him, so he didn’t have to endure any sort of embarrassment.
“Yeah,” Nishinoya said, his voice shaking. “Let’s go.”
They walked in silence the rest of the way there, and Nishinoya looked away every time Y/N looked at him. All he could think was that this was bad. Having a crush on Y/N, the upperclassman who told Ukai to put Nishinoya on the starting lineup, made things difficult. How was he meant to practice knowing he had a crush?
“You okay?” Y/N asked right as they were at the doors.
Nishinoya nodded aggressively. “Yes! Just fine!”
Y/N didn’t look too convinced, but he didn’t push it. “Alright. Just know if something’s happening, you can tell me.”
Nishinoya nodded. “I know.”
Yes, he was known for being loud and rash, but Nishinoya knew he couldn’t just confess his feelings. That was very stupid. Sure, he told Kiyoko like every day, but Y/N wasn’t Kiyoko. It was different. As they started stretching together, Nishinoya couldn’t stop thinking about how bad this was, especially when he kept messing up. He closed his eyes and prayed to every God ever that he wouldn’t mess up during practice because of seeing Y/N or touching him or just knowing he exists.
Things were fine until Daichi said something that made Y/N smile so wide and laugh. An ugly feeling bubbled into Nishinoya’s chest as he watched them. They were just friends—everyone on the team were just friends—but still. He hated that someone else made Y/N smile like that, so beautiful and radiant. Not even thirty seconds later a volleyball hit Nishinoya right in the face.
Yeah, this wasn’t good.