Blessed Beauty

Chapter 11

Upon reaching the convenience store, Hitomi pulled out one of her earbuds. She had been listening to English vocabulary words as she flipped through index cards in preparation for that portion of the final exam, but she could have sworn that she had heard her name. She also could have sworn that it was Nishinoya's voice.

Looking around, there was no sight of him. She furrowed her brows in confusion and then shook her head. She must have been getting too used to seeing him always here and imagined it. She sighed again, realizing that he really was making his mark on his life if she was getting this used to seeing him. So much so that she was even expecting him to be here at this point.

She put away her earbuds and index cards as she walked into the store, being greeted by Fumio. "Ah! There you are, Hitomi-chan! I was wondering when you would come by!" The old woman said.

The younger girl blinked and tilted her head in confusion. Of course, Hitomi only ever came to the store when a female cashier was scheduled, but it wasn't like she always came whenever Fumio was scheduled to work. She had just come often enough that the older woman could recognize her, making her previous comment seem a bit strange to Hitomi.

Noticing the girl's confusion, Fumio tilted her head as well. "Oh? Yuu-kun was just here, saying that he wanted to see you and asked me if you had come by the store yet." She explained.

Yuu-kun? Oh, she must have been talking about Nishinoya. Well, of course, he would say something about wanting to see her. He was always going on about that and using other stupid, cheesy lines. "I see. We never agreed to meet up, so he must have just been running his mouth again about embarrassing things." Hitomi responded straightforwardly.

Fumio frowned, her features laced with concern. "Oh, that's too bad. He was here with his friends just a moment ago! You must have just missed each other!"

Hitomi blinked, thinking that maybe hearing her name outside earlier wasn't just her imagination. She shook her head, as if to shake herself out of it and stop thinking about him. If they really had just missed each other, then that was a good thing. Fumio said that he was here with friends after all. Hitomi didn't need more blubbering boys to annoy her. That was the last thing she needed.

She walked into the drinks aisle, picking up a bottle of orange Ramune. She was about to go and pay for it when her eyes caught sight of the soy sauce flavored Kit Kats. She still had many snacks back home, but the soy sauce Kit Kats were already all gone. They were unexpectedly quite good and went even better with some tea like she thought they would. Thinking for a bit, she grabbed a couple of individually wrapped ones.

Hitomi gave a breath of laughter, remembering how ridiculous Nishinoya looked with several of the bars shoved into his mouth. Unlike what she was used to seeing, he had absolutely no etiquette.

That should have been considered bad, but that also meant that he never held himself back. He was straightforward in everything that he did, never hiding. Something that Hitomi learned to appreciate. Not from him specifically, but in general. She's dealt with many people, often those hiding behind a mask and hoping to gain her or her family's favor.

The girl blinked, realizing that she was thinking about him once again. She shook her head, as if to shake the thoughts of him out. What was she thinking?

Returning to the front counter, Fumio raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Only a drink and a few Kit Kats? You always get a handful of snacks. Have you finally decided to listen to my advice about how having so many snacks all the time will ruin your beautiful figure?" The old woman looked at her pointedly.

Hitomi smiled sheepishly, a sweat drop forming on her temple. "Ahh, actually I have a lot of snacks still left over. I was just craving orange Ramune is all." It was the truth. Nishinoya really had bought far too many snacks than she would normally eat in a week or two.