A/N: Hahahhhh, it's uh. It's been a while. To be completely honest, I lost all inspiration for this, but I did technically have the rest of this planned out, so I didn't want to leave it unfinished. If some stuff is weird/inconsistent, it is definitely because it's been two years since I've even looked at this story. I haven't watched the last season of Haikyuu either, so I don't really know anything that went on during that season... no spoilers though! I cranked this out in about an hour and a half so it's a bit rough, but I didn't want to it on it for any longer. Forgive me for the long wait, and I hope it was worth it. :)

Momoi skips towards the metal gates encircling the school building, humming a song cheerily. The gates are open, but she doesn't bother stepping foot on campus. The people that she's looking for will be leaving soon anyway.

Excitement bubbles up in her chest again and she doesn't resist the uncontrollable beaming that it brings with it. She's lucky that practice got cancelled today—Imayoshi is the team captain but he's a team captain that cares about his team's grades and he had practically forced each one of the members to sit down and study for the upcoming finals in place of practice today. Given the state of her own grades, she unhesitatingly skipped the impromptu study session and made a beeline for Karasuno High School. Sorry, Imayoshi-san, but you'll have to deal with Dai-chan on your own today.

According to a friend of a friend (and confirmed by a quick search online), Karasuno's finals are a little over a week after Touou's, and if Hinata's still the sports-head that she knows him to be, there's no doubt that he'll be bouncing off the walls in the gym.

She leans on the brick columns, admiring the sunset and enjoying the warm spring breeze. The seconds tick by and by the time the sky has gone from a soft yellow to a deep red-orange, she frowns. A member of the boys' basketball team told her that the volleyball team usually left around 6 and she didn't have any reason to doubt his information. Maybe clean-up is taking longer than usual? She'll have to have a talk with her source about being more clear with his information.

She waits for another five minutes, fiddling with the hem of her shirt before deciding to look for the gym. Unfortunately, she doesn't have easy access to the school's blueprints, so she wanders around outside squinting at signs in the dim light and curses herself for not digging around more beforehand. You're slipping, Momoi. Kuroko-kun isn't the only one who's worthy of your extra analysis.

Fortunately, even if the signs are about as helpful as a second-hand rumor when going up against another one of the Generation of Miracles, the familiar sound of heavy breathing and balls rebounding against the floor lead her to the right place. They lead her to an open sliding door, warm light spilling out onto the dirt ground and illuminating the shiny wooden surface inside.

Taking a step closer, she flinches and shrieks involuntarily when a white blur nearly hits her in the face after bouncing off the door jamb. Thank god for quick reflexes and a lifetime spent around boys obsessed with sports.

"Ah, I'm so sorry—oh, are you lost?" Momoi looks up from the volleyball clasped in her hands into the friendly face of what looks to be a teacher, though one particularly baby-faced. "The entrance of the school is that way," he continues, pointing. "Do you want me to show you where it is?"

"No, but thanks!" she chirps, walking up to the spectacled teacher and handing him the volleyball. "Do you mind if I come in?" She peers into the gym curiously and is immediately mesmerized by the arcs drawn by the volleyballs being tossed all over the place.

"O-oh, sure?" Stepping into the gym with a small bow, Momoi tears her eyes away from the volleyballs to search for the familiar shock of orange hair that she hasn't seen in ages. She spots it halfway across the room, across a court from a head of black hair. She can't see the face clearly from here, but she would bet that it's the infamous Kageyama Tobio.

"SHOU-CHAN!"

She watches with a wince as Hinata whips his head around and gets a volleyball to the side of his head for his trouble. Oops. She ignores how practice comes to a screeching halt around her in favor of running over to her friend and throwing her arms around him. "Oh, you've grown so much since I last saw you! Both you and Kuroko-kun are taller than me now! Time passes so quickly," she says, sighing wistfully.

"Momoi-chan? What are you doing here?" Momoi reluctantly releases her grip on Hinata, who looks at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing in Miyagi?!" She giggles at his dumbfounded surprise. It's her favorite look on people.

"Silly Shou-chan, I just want to visit my second-favorite Miracle!" Sorry Shou-chan, but Kuroko-kun will always be number one in my heart. "Besides, can't I just come to see how my friend is doing?"

"W-well yeah, but—"

"Oi, idiot, stop talking to girls and focus on practicing with me!" Momoi blinks in surprise at the interruption, looking over at the black-haired boy—Kageyama—on the other side of the net. She's still formulating her response when another boy, this one with buzz cut, shouts back.

"Kageyama, you can't treat girls like that! They're precious and should be treated with respect, like our Kiyoko-chan!" He storms over and forces Kageyama's head into the facsimile of a bow, seemingly uncaring for the dark glare on the taller boy's face. "Sorry about this one."

"No harm done," she says with an uncertain smile. Oh, goodness, this isn't going how I imagined it would. "Sorry for interrupting your practice, but I just had to come see Shou-chan."

"It's fine, we were wrapping up anyway," a brunet across the gym pipes up. He's standing next to a silver-haired boy, staring curiously at her. Momoi feels mildly uncomfortable with so many unfamiliar eyes on her, but she pushes the feeling aside. "How do you know Hinata?"

"Oh, we went to middle school together!" she replies happily. "Did you never tell them about us, Shou-chan? I'm disappointed in you." She pouts at Hinata, who's looking a little overwhelmed.

"Um, this is Momoi-chan, she was our manager and analyst back in Teiko," he introduces quickly. "She goes to Touou now."

"With Dai-chan!" she adds, throwing up a peace sign.

The brunet lets out an "ohh" in understanding. "Well, we were about to start cleaning up, so if you were hoping to see a practice match, you're out of luck, sorry."

"That's perfectly fine!" Momoi says with a smile. "I'm just here to talk to Shou-chan."

"Alright then," he says after a small pause. "Hinata… you're excused from clean-up. If you want some privacy, it might be best to step outside…" He trails off, gaze flicking over to the tall, angry-looking black-haired boy from earlier. The glare intensifies at that. Momoi raises a brow. Interesting.

"Thanks, Daichi-san!" Hinata says quickly before dragging her out of the gym. Momoi scarcely has time to take a breath before Hinata starts talking. "What are you doing in Miyagi? Isn't Touou in Tokyo? I think that's what Kuroko said, but I don't really remember. Hey, have you met Kenma? He lives in Tokyo too! He goes to Nekoma and he's super cool and—"

"Shou-chan!" she interrupts with a laugh. Oh, Shou-chan, you haven't changed a bit. "Really, I'm in Miyagi to see you. No alterior motives, just checking in on a friend." Hinata squints at her suspiciously and she resists the urge to coo. "You talk to Kuroko-kun?" He hadn't mentioned that to her. Hm.

"I never stopped talking to him," Hinata replies innocently. "Sorry about your loss during the Winter Cup, by the way."

"It was for the best," she says with a shrug. "Everything turned out for the better, so I have no regrets."

"That's good."

They lapse into an awkward silence. Momoi has never known Hinata to be a quiet person, but she supposes that a year without communication does lend itself to a rough reunion. After a few moments, she clears her throat.

"How are you doing, Shou-chan? Really," she adds, seeing Hinata draw in a deep breath, probably to start rambling on again. She always listens to him talk with fondness, especially given the taciturnity of her other friends (maybe with the exception of Takao), but it's not what she wants to hear right now. "I want to know the truth."

Hinata is quiet for a moment longer, before grinning and Momoi's breath catches at the simple action. It's not a soft smile. It's a smile stitched together through hardship, a cousin to the kind she sees during games, when the next point could define the fate of the game. It's the kind of smile that makes her heart beat faster and harder, the kind that reminds her of why she puts up with the side glances and rude comments and insults. It fills her heart even more than an entire afternoon of talking would. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Momoi smiles back in kind, feeling the sharp corners of her own expression.

"Good."

A/N: Thanks for sticking with me! You can find me on tumblr (littlenookofnonsense), twitter (yersin_a), and curiouscat (same as twitter)!