"Wake up!" a voice interrupted Inouye Erika's sleep.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," she said, crawling out of bed. "I'm getting out of bed…" She yawned, standing up.
"Breakfast is almost ready," Erika's mom, the voice who woke her up, said. Footsteps echoed, indicating she had left the room.
The teenage girl started to get ready for school. She was a first-year at Karasuno High School, and it was her first day there. Erika grabbed her school uniform and put it on. Walking into the washroom, she brushed her teeth. Then, she brushed her wavy brown hair and walked downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Good morning," she greeted her parents.
She ate breakfast thinking about how the day would go. Who would she meet? Would they be nice? Erika finished her breakfast with a last bite.
"Be careful on the way to school!" her parents called as she left the house.
"Don't worry, I will!" she replied over her shoulder.
Erika walked to her new high school, only slightly nervous. Erika wasn't easily intimidated, and that applied for many situations.
At least she had people she knew going to Karasuno. Her best friends from junior high, Katsura Arisu and Fujita Otsune.
Arisu was very shy, almost the complete opposite of Erika. Otsune was pretty similar to Erika, just a little bit more boy-crazy and head-strong. Actually, as she thought about it, a lot more boy-crazy and head-strong.
She knew this, as well as the fact that she almost always got the guy. Erika didn't care much at all, though. Otsune was really pretty. Her thoughts were cut off as she reached the school.
Erika entered the school, subconsciously looking for her friends or anyone else she knew. Her quest bore no results, so Erika proceeded to her classroom. Except she had no idea where that was. Erika had a map of Karasuno, but that wasn't much help, so she asked the first person she saw for directions.
He was tall, towering above her 165 centimeters of height, with blonde hair and glasses. A passive and cold expression masked his face. Erika instantly disliked him, as she hated people who tried to mask their emotions. Or rather, she hated one particular guy from her past with said qualities.
Shaking her thoughts away, Erika asked, "Excuse me, can you tell me where class 1-4 is?"
"1-4? I'm in the same class," he said without emotion. "Just follow me."
Erika did as he said, not speaking a word. Soon enough, they arrived at a classroom. "Inouye Erika," she introduced herself, making an effort to be polite.
"Tsukishima Kei," he replied. "Nice to meet you." His voice, however, did not make Erika feel nice to be met. Rather, the opposite. Tsukishima turned around and walked away, leaving her standing there.
"Erika!" a familiar voice called.
"Arisu!" Erika called back. "You're in this class?"
"Yep," she replied.
Arisu was a pretty girl with straight, blonde hair. Many boys crushed on her, but her shy and polite nature always turned them down. She just couldn't handle a relationship, not after what happened a year ago.
Erika was never jealous, because even more boys confessed to her. She's always been the "popular" girl, but really, this is a fact she couldn't care less about. In fact, Erika hoped at Karasuno, she wouldn't be as well-known. She always stayed to her small group of friends, which included Arisu and another girl named Fujita Otsune. They've been friends for years now.
"Is Otsune in this class too? Have you seen her?" Erika asked.
"She's not in this class and yes, I have seen her. She's in class 1-3," Arisu replied.
Erika nodded her understanding and suddenly said, "Crap! Class is starting." She gestured up at the teacher.
They sat down and class commenced. Erika nearly fell asleep, but managed to pay attention. When they were dismissed for lunch, Erika and Arisu looked for Otsune.
"Oh, there she is," Arisu said.
They saw the black-haired girl sitting at a table, talking to a boy also with black hair who Erika vaguely remembered from her class. Beside the boy was Tsukishima, the boy Erika met earlier. He seemed to be bored out of his mind. Otsune, on the other hand, was obviously flirting. Yeah, Erika wasn't surprised at all. She would probably ask Erika and Arisu to stalk boys with her later. That wouldn't be a surprise either.
"Otsune," Erika called out.
The girl turned to her friends, who walked towards her. "Hey, Erika," she said.
Tsukishima doesn't say anything to acknowledge the fact they had met each other already.
"Tsukishima-san," she nodded towards the blonde-haired boy.
Only then does he greet her, "Inouye-san."
"You know each other?" asked Otsune and the black-haired boy in unison.
"We met earlier today," Erika explained, as Tsukishima kept silent, pulling his headphones over his ears.
"Tadashi Yamaguchi," the black-haired boy said. "I'm Tsukki's friend."
"I'm Katsura Arisu," Arisu said.
They all ate lunch together, talking, with the exception of Tsukishima, who seemed very anti-social. He only talked when Yamaguchi told him to and seemed to not want to be sitting with them at all. He was probably only here because of Yamaguchi. Erika learned they were all first-years, and the boys planned on participating in the volleyball club.
"Do you think there are any hot guys in the volleyball club?" whispered Otsune.
"That's all you're thinking of right now? Hot guys?" asked Erika, exasperated.
Otsune shrugged. "I plan to have at least one boyfriend before the end of this year," she said.
Arisu piped up. "That's not gonna be that hard, you've had plenty of boys like you," she brought up.
Otsune sighed. "Yeah, but none of them were like 'woah' hot…"
"Does it really matter?" argued Arisu. "I mean, if you like their personality…" She blushed. The group knew she had a boyfriend back in middle school, but it didn't last very long. He cheated on her. But she liked him a considerable amount. She was pretty depressed when she found out, but from it, Arisu learned that nothing is forever. "On a second thought, personalities can be deceiving," she said, sadness slightly tainting her voice.
"Wait, did lunch end?" asked Erika suddenly. She checked her watch. "Damn, we're gonna be late if we don't hurry."
They went back to their classes, Otsune leaving to go a different way to her different class. As school ended, the three of them met up to talk about clubs.
"My mom wants me to join one, but I don't know which one…" Erika sighed.
"Same…" said Arisu. "I was thinking… Maybe the art club?"
"I was thinking about that too," said Otsune.
"I sort of want to do a sport," said Erika. "I mean, I'm pretty fit and athletic. I also love sports." Mumbling, she added quietly, "Even after what happened."
Luckily, her friends didn't hear her.
"Which one?" asked Otsune, curious. "Although it's pretty obvious already, having known you for so long. You started playing like before we even knew you! Which is a long time…"
"Yeah," added Arisu.
"Well…" Erika hesitated. She loved that sport, it made her feel amazing. But, she couldn't trust this year would be better than the last three. But, she made up her mind. "Yeah, you're right. I am going to join volleyball." In her head, she added a small maybe.