Chapter 8

Hinata reached home at around 3 p.m. and went straight to his room to take a bath. He took his time washing his body, and then changed into a simple t-shirt and shorts after drying himself. He then laid on his bed and began thinking about all that had happened today.

He didn't think he'd get to talk to his future teammates today itself. Now that he thought about it, he felt like he'd been a bit too hasty, but he just couldn't control himself after seeing them there.. especially after seeing Shimizu with them.

He smiled softly when he thought about that. His heart had skipped a beat when he saw her.. she was just so beautiful. He now understood why Tanaka was so taken with her in the vision. They somehow ended up getting married too. He felt himself frowning when he thought of that. He didn't understand why, but he just didn't like the sound of that. It felt very unpleasant. He stopped himself thinking about that.. for now. He had bigger issues at hand.

He needed to practice but joining the girls volleyball club and the neighborhood mother's/housewives for their practice wasn't enough. He needed something more solid. His started thinking about all his options when he heard his mother's voice.

"Shoyo, can you please come down?"

"Yes Mom! Just a second!" he replied before hurrying downstairs.

He saw his mother had prepared snacks for them and wanted his help to set the table.

Soon he had the table set and then proceed to place the snacks on it as well. She had made Karaage and it wasn't long before Natsu arrived with her nose in the air.. clearly attracted by the smell. They both just laughed watching her. His mom had stopped calling for her as she usually just appeared on her own when she smelt food.

They were soon digging in and enjoying the familiar taste of their mom's Karaage . Shizuka just smiled watching her kids enjoying the food. It was one of the reasons why she loved cooking for them, because they always enjoyed her food. Well.. most of her food. Natsu still made faces at vegetables and Shoyo - while he loved her food - didn't eat as much as a healthy boy his age should.

'If only I could fatten him up a bit, he'd look even more adorable.' she thought and sighed in her head.

She stopped thinking about that and decided to ask her son about his day but Natsu beat her to it.

"Big bro.. how was your match? Did you win?"

"No.. we tried our best but they were just too strong. Which was to be expected as they are one the favourites to win. But I did learn a lot from that match and now I know what I have to do to improve" he replied with a soft smile.

"Mom.. I needed to talk to you about something."

"What is it honey?"

"Mom.. I want to follow a diet and start training seriously. I realised that I've been neglecting my body and health. Maybe I'll even hit a bit of a growth spurt if I'm taking proper care of myself along with proper training. I've already thought of what I should start eating from now. Once I'm where I want to be.. I can be much more lenient with my food as by that time I'll be training regularly so it won't matter that much. I just wanted to hear your thoughts about it."

Shizuka was stunned momentarily.. but then smiled like Christmas had come early. Her son had really started to grow up and she was so proud. He even said the exact same thing she was just thinking.

"Does that mean you'll start eating more from now and won't stop me when I try to fat-- eh.. feed you more?" she asked with a smile but the gleam in her eyes scared him a bit. He knew his mom. If he allowed her to have her way.. he'd probably explode by the end of the month.

"I guess.. but Mom? Please remember I'm trying to get an athletic body.. and not the body of a small panda 🐼.. okay?" he asked with a nervous smile.

"Fine.. but I still get to feed you more so I guess it's okay. Can you buy the groceries tomorrow? That way you can get what you want. I'm guessing since you'll put more weight and muscles, you'll be needing more meat and proteins but don't forget your vegetables too okay? It's important"

Natsu made a face as soon as she heard about vegetables and she quickly left for her room with her plate, in fear of being told to eat more vegetables as well.

Shizuka just laughed. She wasn't worried about the food because Natsu was responsible enough to not make a mess in her room.

"Okay.. I'll go to buy the grocer--" he stopped suddenly and his eyes widened! This was it! He couldn't believe he didn't think of it earlier!

He quickly jumped to his feet and pulled his mom into a hug.

"Thanks mom! This is just what I needed. I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. This will definitely solve the issue of getting enough practice!" he was almost jumping in excitement. He quickly excused himself and ran to his room with his food.

She didn't understand a word he said but before she could ask anything further, he was gone. She just shook her head and decided to just ask him about it at dinner.

She finished her food and walked towards the kitchen to wash the dishes. While she did that.. she couldn't help but think how adorable he'd look in a panda outfit and wondered if she should get one for him and Natsu.

Hinata sat at his table and thought about the idea he'd gotten thanks to his mom. It was definitely a solid plan and would solve his immediate problem but he just didn't know how to go about it. As he sat there eating his food, he began to think about the different ways he could approach this but he didn't like any of them. This might be his only chance and he couldn't afford to mess this up.

He decided he'd just deal with it and go with the flow. He was confident he'd be successful and even if he wasn't.. he was nothing if not persistent.

Yes.. he'd definitely succeed.