Himeko stared sullenly at the empty desk in front of her.

Hitoka Yachi was absent that day. Himeko was bummed to have lost her usual lunch partner, as she had grown to genuinely look forward to eating lunch with Hitoka. The two girls found they had a lot in common, and the more Himeko conversed with the blonde the less she stuttered. Why, just last week she managed to get through an entire lunch period without stammering.

Granted, they had spent a good chunk of that period watching a makeup artist they both loved on Himeko's phone, but still!

She was making progress.

Himeko had a goal to exchange contact information with Hitoka that week. Then maybe sorta one day she could even possibly kind of hopefully hang out with Hitoka outside of class.

Maybe.

Himeko glanced down at her packed up bento, then out the window by her seat.

If Hitoka isn't here, I don't want to eat at my desk.

The day was too nice for Himeko to eat at her desk. Desiring a change in scenery, she packed up her bento and headed to the courtyard. Karasuno had a lovely courtyard. There were a few vending machines under the bridge, and there were stone benches scattered around. The benches were far enough apart that students could still have private conversations on them.

Himeko headed out to the courtyard, surprised that only a couple students were out there.

Then again if Hitoka wasn't gone, I wouldn't have bothered to make the trip.

It was more convenient to eat at a desk than from your lap, after all.

And most people were friends with their classmates.

Maybe I should try to talk to more people besides Hitoka...

It wasn't the first time Himeko had that thought. She wondered if it was something she could really do.

Before continuing that thought she noticed a familiar face.

Tobio Kageyama was purchasing milk from one of the vending machines.

I hope that's not his actual lunch, Himeko thought, immediately concerned when she saw he had nothing else in hand. As an athlete, Tobio needed to eat a bare minimum of carbs every day so he wouldn't feel fatigued, or worse. She saw firsthand how hard the volleyball team practiced and she would hate for one of the members to pass out because they didn't eat properly.

Before Himeko knew it, she was approaching Tobio. "Kageyama?"

Tobio placed the straw inside the milk carton. He flatly asked her, "What?"

"I—um—I just wanted—just wanted to see if that was all you had for, for, um, lunch," Himeko managed to get out. She found it increasingly uncomfortable to talk with someone who looked like they were glaring at her. Given Tobio's rough personality, she honestly wasn't sure if he was mad at her or not. Her palms felt cold and clammy, her knees weak, and her throat dried up.

"Yeah, and?"

"That—" Himeko struggled to keep her nerve.

Do it for the team. Do it for the team.

She thrust her bento box forward. "Please take this."

"Huh?"

"You—you need more than that," she said in a rush, her face feeling uncomfortably warm from embarrassment.

Can I please, please, get through a sentence with him without stuttering? He's not going to bite me, why am I so anxious? I'm so stupid.

Tobio furrowed his brow, his expression turning to disbelief. "What about your lunch?"

"Not hungry," she said and because of her anxiety she was absolutely sincere in that moment. "I—I just—I just came out here to get a drink in-instead."

Tobio frowned. "Really?"

"Yes," she squeaked out her lie as convincingly as she could.

"Oh," he said. "Okay."

He accepted her lunch and her arms sagged back down to her side with relief.

"Then here."

Himeko jumped, stiffening in surprise. Tobio was holding out his milk carton. It took Himeko a couple of seconds to realize that the stoic-faced Tobio was offering her the milk he bought.

"Th-Thank you," she said, taking it. She sipped on it, wanting to ease her tight and dry throat. Uncertain what to do next, she blurted whatever thought popped into her head. "Do you want t-to eat together?"

"Okay," he said, nodding to one of the empty benches. "That okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered, surprised he agreed.

More than surprised, actually. She was completely flabbergasted.

He... listened to me... accepted my lunch... and is now eating with me...?

Those things didn't correlate with the scary Tobio she had built up in her head.

Did I... misjudge him?

As the two quietly sat at one of the benches, Himeko pondered this. She didn't have many encounters with Tobio and to be frank, he never actually did anything to her. He glared, but he seemed to do that most of the time. What if that was just his natural look?

Maybe he's not so bad.

Himeko sipped on the milk, glancing over at Tobio. She choked when she saw he was already almost finished with the lunch. "Geh—did—did you chew?"

"Yeah," he said.

Himeko stared in plain disbelief. "A-Are you going to enter an e-eating competition soon or s-something—?"

Tobio looked at her quizzically. "What?"

"You've almost finished an entire lunch in only a couple minutes," Himeko said.

"Is that good?"

"It's—" Himeko struggled to define if it was good or bad. "Impressive? H-Have you ever done something like that—?"

"No."

"Wh-What about timing yourself drinking milk?" Himeko asked, nodding to the milk cartan in her hands.

"No," he said again, slower that time. His brow creased. "Have you?"

Himeko had vivid flashbacks to chugging various drinks over the summer at Shōyō's behest. Her stomach churned. "Urk... yes."

Tobio cocked his head. "Was it that bad?"

"Shōyō and I threw up afterward," she said with a grimace. "It was terrible. Came out of my nose and everything."

Tobio snorted. "Heh. Why'd you do something so stupid?"

"Because," she said, "I, um, haven't done it before. I—I want to try new things. Every day I—I want to try something new."

Tobio finished the lunch. He placed the lid back on it. He frowned at Himeko. "That sounds exhausting."

"Aha," she let out a small giggle. "Nowhere near as, um, tiring a-as your guys' training."

"That's standard," he dismissed. "Everything can be planned and put into a routine. But something new every day? What if it goes horribly?"

"Then it goes horribly."

"Like chugging milk?"

"Like chugging milk," she agreed with a smile. "But it can go well, too."

He frowned. "Yeah?"

"Sure. Something new I did today: I, ah, ate lunch with you," she said. She paused then decided to take a blind leap. "I hope one day we can be friends."

Tobio blinked, taken aback. "Friends? With me?"

Himeko panicked. "Um—yes—? I—do you—did I offend—?"

"No, I was just surprised," he said, and to Himeko's amazement, she saw the tips of his ears turn red. "No one's wanted that before."

"I—I do," she said. "C-Can we be friends—?"

"Okay," he said.

"Th-Then if you feel comfortable... please call me Himeko," she said with a nervous smile. "Or Hime."

Seeing Tobio turn red made Himeko feel even more flustered. She could sympathize with his embarrassment. If no one had ever directly asked Tobio to be his friend, it must be an overwhelming situation. Himeko certainly wanted to crawl into her bed and never get up, but she persevered. He had said okay, after all.

"Okay," he said. "Then... call me Tobio."

Himeko beamed as Tobio awkwardly smiled, both of them ignored how red their cheeks were.

დ

Himeko spotted Kiyoko on the way to the gym. "K-Kiyoko!"

Kiyoko stopped and turned around. "Hello, Himeko."

Himeko beamed, rushing over to her so she could walk side by side with her to the gym. "How was your day?"

"Unremarkable," Kiyoko quietly replied. "And you?"

"A-Actually good," said Himeko, thinking back to lunch.

As the two girls neared the gym, a loud and unfamiliar voice could be heard from inside. It belonged to a boy, but Himeko was certain she hadn't heard him before. Perhaps a new student?

"—Karasuno has black uniforms and the girl's uniform is cute. The school's close to home. It was a no brainer to come here."

Kiyoko and Himeko entered the gym. Himeko immediately spotted the new addition. He was a boy about the size of Shōyō—maybe even a few centimeters shorter—with wild dark hair ruffled upwards and a tuft of bleach dirty blonde at the front. He had brown, slanted eyes that positively lit up as soon as he spotted them.

"Kiyo—AH?! Another pretty manager?!" He sprinted straight at them, startling Himeko badly enough she stumbled back, tripped on the step in, and promptly fell on her butt. He faltered in his rampage over, and Kiyoko took that opportunity to slap him hard across the face.

Kiyoko then turned on her heel, and offered her hand to Himeko. Red-faced from embarrassment, Himeko took her hand.

"Sorry," the boy apologized, smiling in spite of the red handprint on his cheek. "Didn't mean to scare ya! I'm Yū Nishinoya."

"Himeko Kuroko. I-It's o-okay," Himeko stammered, flustered.

"Come on Himeko," said Kiyoko, tugging her along. "Let's get changed."

"Ahhh~ how I've missed you ignoring me, Kiyoko~"

Kiyoko ignored him, pulling Himeko away.

დ

Yū Nishinoya was a very passionate individual. He did not stay for the entire practice, but he returned halfway through to give pointers on receiving. According to Kiyoko, he was Karasuno's libero—the main receiver—but due to some drama he wouldn't be returning to the team so easily.

At the end of practice, Yū wanted to demonstrate some receives, so Himeko tossed him a ball.

"You go zip, then go whoop, and pow," he said, gently receiving the ball she had tossed. He looked over at the first years who were watching. "Like that."

Shōyō, Kei, and Tadashi all looked perplexed by Yū's explanation. Himeko couldn't blame them. While Yū had excellent posture when receiving the volleyball, his explanation was... lackluster.

Ryūnosuke clicked his tongue. "It's no good. He can't explain it because he moves purely on instinct."

Tobio frowned. "Really? I sort of understood what he was saying."

"'Cause you belong to his species," Ryūnosuke said. "When you explain something, all you say is pow and whoa and stuff. Nobody else understands you."

"Huh?" Tobio was taken aback, a small blush on his cheeks. "R-Really—?"

"Um... Nishinoya?" Shōyō cocked his head.

"Mn?"

"Earlier you mentioned someone named Asahi. Who's he?"

Yū frowned. "He's Karasuno's ace, for what it's worth."

"Ace?"

"What's with that dopey look?" Yū asked.

"I... want to be ace," Shōyō earnestly said.

"Huh? Ace? With your height?" Yū blinked in surprise. Then he grinned and slapped Shōyō's shoulder. "I like you! Right? You want it because it's awesome, right? Good, good. Do it, do it. Become the ace. You'd be far more impressive than our current ace." Yū laughed heartily. "But then again, it's the ace that inspires you."

Shōyō beamed, a sparkle in his eyes. "Yes! Aces are awesome."

"The word ace has an awesome ring to it. Setter and libero sound boring." Tobio glared at that. "But... in a match, when the crowd is going crazy even more than at an amazing spike, is when there's a super receive. In the battle of height that is volleyball, libero is one of the few positions in which a short player can survive. But I'm not a libero because of my height. I'd be a libero even if I was two meters tall. Even if your side misses the spike, even if your side can't block, as long as the ball doesn't hit the court that means you haven't lost. And the one best suited to do that is the libero."

"S-So cool!" Shōyō joyfully praised.

"J-Jackass!" Yū's whole face was as red as ripe strawberry. "Don't say it so sincerely! Damn it! I'll buy you two kinds of ice cream. Soda and pear flavor."

"Thanks!"

Himeko smiled as she watched the exchange.

დ

Once practice was over and everyone had changed out of their gym clothes, it was time to head home.

"Hime," Shōyō sung, "are you hungry?"

"Famished," Himeko said. While she didn't regret giving Tobio her lunch, she was certainly starved.

Shōyō patted the back of his bicycle, grinning widely. "Hop on!"

Himeko let out a small giggle as she climbed on it behind him. "Are you sure you want me to ride with you?"

"Yep! It'll be faster this way," he said, taking off. Himeko reflexively wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling her stomach somersault at the sensations.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You like pizza?"

"Yeah."

"You like ramen?"

"Yeah."

"We're getting pizza-ramen!" Shōyō laughed. "My treat. Well. My mom's treat 'cause she gave me the money, but still! When I went grocery shopping with my mom, I saw the flyer for a new ramen shop and they've got pizza-ramen."

"That sounds absolutely insane," Himeko laughed in delight. "I love it! I can't wait to try it."

"Me too." They went down a hill, Shōyō stretching his legs as he didn't need to peddle. They zoomed down it at a dangerous speed—Himeko would have certainly braked if she was riding on her own—but strangely Himeko wasn't scared.

Her smile didn't falter; she felt no fear as they bolted through the darkness together.

დ

Answer: Morning exercises. I used to go for walks pre-pandemic but... x.x

Question: Best food strange food combinations you've had?

Reviews are love!