Work Text:
Everyone knows that Noya is one energetic boy. He’s not the type to hold back. On anything. At all.
So when he asked you out, you almost thought he’d been kidnapped and replaced by a fake.
Oh, not that you were surprised that he asked you out (although you were, you were so surprised to discover that Nishinoya Yuu, the man himself, liked you. You, of all people?)
What you mean is, of course Noya would ask out the person he likes, after all—he always goes after what he wants and puts in at least fifty percent more effort than necessary while he’s at it too. (That’s something you’ve always admired and later gone on to love about him.)
No, what was really weird was the way in which he did it.
Everything about Noya is loud and flashy. When considering his preferred method of confession, one might expect a fireworks show or a marching band and a parade with self-made floats.
Well. Maybe not quite so flashy, but one would still imagine something like a public declaration of affection complete with a rose and daisy bouquet, and Karasuno’s entire volleyball team (maybe minus Tsukishima) surrounding Noya as he stands on a lunch table and points at you and makes a heart with his hands, grinning triumphantly because it’s Noya, and he doesn’t hold back.
He’s a goofball, and unafraid to show it. And that’s what you like about him, and you thought that was all there was to it, but back then you were a different person and didn’t really know him yet. Didn’t know him apart from the glimpses of him you’d seen and what you’d daydreamed up about him for yourself, as if he was a character in one of your mediocre fantasy novels that you’d never get to meet in real life.
Because you really didn't! You didn’t expect you’d ever get to know him, didn’t even dare entertain the possibility that you two could become close, could become anything, because it seemed just as impossible as hugging a fictional character or holding their hand. In your mind’s eye you just couldn’t, because he seemed just as far away and out of reach as a shonen anime protag. Unreal and untouchable.
You didn’t know him back then, not really.
But luckily for you, he knew himself quite well. And unlike you, he knew.
He knew lots of things, like for example, he knew that you were real, in front of him, tangible and substantial and concrete, that if he reached out and stretched his fingers he could feel the fabric of your sweatshirt.
And he knew that he wanted you to stay there. To stay real. And for that to happen, he had to do something.
Now, Noya thinks he’s always had a pretty good relationship with the world around him. He’s been aware of his surroundings for as long as he can remember. When he was little he used this natural talent for scoping out potential danger to run away from, but that turned out to be a waste of his inborn ability and of life, which in its kindness offers up so much to see and do, so many opportunities for meaningful, memory-making experiences.
It’s all thanks to his gramps’ old advice, his guidance which has led Noya to create a sort of new life philosophy that he’s honed over the years. He can’t pinpoint the exact time he started seeking new experiences, new roads to bike on, new paths to hike, new people to greet, but he’s all the more glad for it.
He can’t pinpoint either, the first time he realized just how much happier he is when you’re around. He always notices you in his peripheral vision, no matter what you’re doing, even if you’re not interacting with him, just standing off to the side or talking to your friend or sitting on a bench, eyes focused on a book.
In his memories, you were always there somewhere. Sometimes the two of you met up together, in class when the teacher let you choose groups and he would purposefully come by your table or when he passed by your preferred lunch-eating spot near the cluster of trees and you and him just talked.
Incidentally, Noya isn’t as out of touch as he may appear. He knows his swagger and excitability can throw people off. He never acts the way he does to piss people off on purpose (unlike some tall glasses-wearing people)—no, he really just finds joy in being loud and cheerful. He likes showing his appreciation for stuff that makes him happy, and how better than to loudly exclaim so?
His reasoning for why he’s able to expend so much energy in regular, dreary day to day life is that living is worth celebrating, you know? If stuff’s boring, then take action to make it less so!
These are words he lives by, and it shows in the way he carries himself; his energy and passion bleed through every word he says and it can get overwhelming for some, but you never cared. He remembers loving how he could gush over his favorite orange popsicles and what Tanaka and Hinata and Kageyama did during practice the other day and what he thought about it, and all the while you would listen attentively and provide nice little comments and joke back and forth with him and laugh. Your laughs surprised him at first, because you look so solemn when you’re alone, almost contemplative, and he guesses that he just assumed that you were like Kageyama in that you were unresponsive to jokes. How glad he is that he was wrong! More than glad, more like completely gratified!
Silly little smiley boy, you call him sometimes, and when you do he only smiles wider, even though it means you’ve called him little, but he knows that coming from you it’s a term of endearment. Rather, it’s like one of your quirks, calling stuff little, and he likes to parrot it back to you, turning the tables and calling you little instead, watching your cute-ass reaction.
Yes, he remembers thinking that your presence allowed him to explore a side of himself he didn’t often get to. You gave him new experiences, and he would find himself thinking about them, thinking about your jokes and your hair and the way you handled your backpack. He began to think that you were perfect, and not just because you were near him.
You were someone worth running after.
There was a chance, always a chance he’d misread those glances you’d give him from across the room and the conversations you two occasionally shared in the few classes you had together. A chance that your laughter during those conversations wasn’t just meant for him, that he only happened to be the one to make you laugh during the time. If you expressed disinterest, he would back off, no question about it.
But still.
If he didn’t do anything then you would slip away and he’d curse himself forever for failing to take a chance.
You are special. You’re something unique in his life, apart from anything else, but in a way you were the same as everything else because if he wanted to get anywhere, he had to face you. If he wanted to obtain a shot at spending time with you, he had to acknowledge the existence of his feelings and take them like a challenge, like he was staring down an opponent on the court. He had to rush up and meet the challenge head on like he was reaching towards a volleyball, readying himself for the toss, so it would go up in the air. Creating the possibility for a new future which he had made with his own hands.
And like everything, it was easier thought than done. After he had made up his mind, i’m gonna tell her, no matter what happens i’m gonna tell her and be proud of it, it got harder to talk to you without stammering.
Seeing you in the school library started making his heart beat faster than normal. A sign of being scared. (He would know, after all, from his youthful escapades with his grandpa.)
On the day when he approached you after school, you were getting your bike and he was getting nervous.
“Oh, Noya. What’s up?” You sounded utterly casual and that’s how you were supposed to sound, how you always sounded, but now it was nerve wracking, muscle tensing, and he wasn’t acting the way he’d envisioned at all.
Stuttering the fateful words out did nothing except make you say “Huh?”
Noya had to repeat himself. All the usual things a person would say while confessing: I like you, I think you’re cute, Let’s-youknow, let’s—do youwannagowithmeonadate… except it didn’t sound like what you associated with Noya. He was practically muttering to himself. Quiet. Not quite making eye-contact. Nothing at all like the self-assured 5’2 boy you were used to.
Truth be told, he might have been scared you wouldn’t like this side of him.
It took several tries for you to confirm what he was really saying, and you had to stand there for a while and work through your own shock and disbelief which turned to pleasant surprise which turned to giddiness and excitement that would rival Noya’s usual demeanor.
----
After you accepted his invitation to go on a date, a little bit of shock lingering in your expression, Noya was only too happy to join you in revelling in happy feelings, the two of you glowing like idiots.
He had done it. Standing there next to the bike racks, holding his own hands and wringing at his fingers, head turned slightly so as to not meet your questioning gaze, he had done it. Not well, but he had, and all was turning out well so that was cause for celebration, wasn’t it?
Seeing him then, what convinced you it was all real was his hesitancy. Something along the lines of: Huh. The great Nishinoya Yuu isn’t without fear.
It proved that he was real, that he was not fictional, he was a real human standing in front of you and baring his soul, some of it at least, just for you. And in that moment, some part of you swooned.
It made him cooler, finding out more about how he worked as a human being. After you both got over the initial woah that actually happened, he was more than willing to share with you how he had felt and his concerns and worries and you met them one by one with your own, and you two just talked.
It was lovely.
Your first date was thrilling, and more in line with typical Noya behavior. Literally thrilling because he took you to a theme park and rode the roller coasters with you. He wasn't raring to go on some of the ones with higher, scarier drops, which was okay because it gave you the chance to convince him to ride them with you.
It was refreshing to be the one advocating for something for once, while Noya looked on apprehensively, skepticism replacing his usual enthusiasm.
"What if we fall? We definitely wouldn't survive that drop. No chance! And it makes my butt hurt when we go down.."
"But look at how high up it goes! Like seriously, wouldn't it be the most fulfilling experience if we got to go on it?
“But you have to sit next to me! Or else I refuse forever.”
“What do you mean 'forever'? And of course, cuz that was always the plan, Noya.”
It wasn't a hard decision to cave in to you. Actually, he was planning on doing so all along because he was really tempted to see how you looked like on a rollercoaster, and not just from the point of view of someone standing on the ground watching you fly around in the air without him. It was only that he also really wanted to hear you try to wheedle and persuade your way to getting what you wanted; to swap roles and be the cautious one for once.
Getting buckled into the seat next to you was satisfying. And so was the fear he felt going up the ramp, because you were next to him. You two were in it together, like partners. You laughed and screamed with glee on every drop and loop of that coaster and he screamed on some of them because hearing you sound so carefree made him want to chase the feeling with you.
It makes sense now, when you think about it, that Noya would have fear. Later on he would explain it to you, how being afraid can act like a compass for him, giving him something to base his decisions on and showing him where to go. Showing him the paths available, whether he’s gonna face his fears head on or run away from them.
It makes him even cooler, even more worthy of adoration and admiration in your book. That every single time, he manages to conquer something that’s subdued lesser people, that he never succumbs to hopelessness in spite of something like fear and keeps faith in himself no matter what.
Your daydream Noya was flimsy, no substance at all, and would probably turn to dust and nothing if you could touch him.
The real Noya is strong enough to hold up you and himself, and oftentimes he does…
Now that you know that, you’ve changed. In how you approach Noya and how you are as a person. You can’t help it, being in such close proximity with a guy like Noya is bound to have a positive affect on how you view the world.
It’s funny how things work out, because if he were to be honest, which he always is, he’s not the same person he was before and during that confession.
You two have changed and grown together, and that in itself is an experience that he will always cherish. lThat slightly botched confession ended up starting the best thing that ever happened in all his high school years.
You did it.
You changed him just by existing, and he will always be so, so thankful.
That you’re here. That you’re real, and that he can reach out and take your hand and be comforted in the knowledge that you’re breathing and thinking and being, right now, right here.
Of all the experiences in the world, he got to have you.
(And of course, you have him.)