Blessed Beauty

Chapter 12

The next time Hitomi arrived at the convenience store, she saw Nishinoya outside like usual.

Except, this time, he appeared to be talking to himself?

Hitomi couldn't exactly see too well from a distance, but he appeared to be holding something with both hands. He was facing the street, speaking into the air. He bowed his head and his body slightly, like how somebody would introduce themselves while handing out their business card.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked as she walked up. The libero shouted in surprise, quickly hiding whatever he was holding behind his back. He faced Hitomi with an awkward smile, a few droplets of cold sweat appearing on his forehead. She raised an eyebrow at him in question.

"I-It's so wonderful to see you, Hitomi-chan!!! How are you today!!" He was always a cheerful and overly energetic person, but his voice was extra loud now. It was as if he thought the volume of his voice would mask his nervousness and the fact that he had something to hide.

Hitomi mentally chuckled to herself, thinking that he might be terrible at keeping secrets. He didn't seem like the type to love gossip, but just seemed like he would make it obvious that he knew something. She decided not to push him because it was clear that he didn't want to reveal anything. "I'm doing fine, and you?" She asked in return.

"Better now that you're here!!!" He instantly responded, his shoulders being relieved of the tension. His voice returned to its usual, slightly too loud volume as his smile and eyes sparkled at Hitomi. She rolled her eyes at yet another one of his cheesy lines.

Normally, she would have been disgusted at one of those lines because they were always being said by some sleazy guy hoping to curry her favor. With Nishinoya, she could tell that he was being completely genuine.

For other guys, saying such lines were natural because they had probably used them on hundreds of other girls before. With Nishinoya, it seemed more like he just blurted out the first thought that came to his head. He always paired it with that stupidly bright smile of his.

Those cheesy lines may have sounded better and more genuine coming from him, but that didn't exactly mean Hitomi liked it. She sighed, seeing him shove whatever he was hiding into his back pockets as they walked into the store.

The cashier today was just some other female part-timer who greeted the two as they entered. Hitomi bowed her head in acknowledgement as she picked up a shopping basket. As always, she went to the candy and chocolates aisle first.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise when, instead of blindly following her around like a puppy, Nishinoya walked ahead of her down the aisle. The girl shrugged her shoulders, thinking that he probably wanted to buy something for himself for once. Better for her. Less of an annoyance that way.

After throwing a couple snacks into the shopping basket, she turned to walk further down the aisle. She stopped two steps in when Nishinoya met her, arms full of soy sauce flavored Kit Kats. They were nearly overflowing, on the verge of spilling from his arms. "I hope you're not planning on eating all of those." She joked.

"They're for you! You like them, right?" His eyes gleamed. She blinked at him, wondering if he was serious in thinking that she'd buy that many.

"They're good, but they're not that good." She explained while she picked out a couple, throwing them into the basket. That appeared to be good enough for Nishinoya, his eyes brightening up even more somehow. He carefully put back the rest of the Kit Kats as Hitomi went to the drinks aisle next.

She looked up and down the aisle, tapping the middle of her bottom lip with her index finger as she thought about what she wanted. Once again, she noticed that Nishinoya had walked ahead of her down the aisle but she thought nothing of it. After a few moments, she saw him come up to her in the corner of her eye.