"Oooh! Look at Kimura's work!"

"It's really pretty!"

"I bet sensei will give her a perfect score!"

"Emica-chan, I want to see it too!"

Five year old Kimura Emica walked into her kindergarten classroom with a bright smile on her face. In her arms, she carried her art project which was an intricately made clay sculpture of a dog. It was seated on a plywood decorated with cut grass, head tilted to the side with it's paw slightly raised from the ground. For strangers, it would be a great surprise to know that a five year old would be able to create such a piece. But Kimura is a gifted child. At her tender age, she has learned to hone her gift of art and she never failed to amaze her family, friends, and her teacher. Emica settled her work on top of her desk and put her backpack on the floor. Her classmates immediately swarmed her desk, excited to see her work. Praises were thrown at her from every direction and all she could do was mumble a low "Thank you" in response, the blush in her chubby cheeks evident.

But not everyone was impressed with her work.

At the back of the classroom stood a group of girls who glared at Emica. They were immensely jealous of the said girl.

"It is so obvious that she didn't do that. How could our classmates believe her?" asked one of the pupils.

"She thinks she's so good. Our artworks are way better. She must be sensei's favorite because she always gets a high grade. I want a high grade too!" scowled another.

The tallest girl smirked. "I have an idea," she motioned for the two girls to come closer while she whispered her plan. Just a few feet from them sat Akaashi Keiji, who observed the girls closely. He had a bad feeling about this.

The clock struck eight and the pupils immediately retreated to their seats to greet their teacher. She greeted them back with a warm smile. "Wow! I see that you all have your projects with you. We'll put them in my office later."

The class went by smoothly and the pupils enjoyed the activities their teacher had in store for them. At last, classes were over and it was time for the kids to place their work inside their teacher's office.

"Okay everyone, get your works and follow me to my office. Be careful on the way so you won't drop your work, okay?"

"Okay teacher!" the class chorused. One by one, the students picked up their paintings and sculptures and followed their teacher. As Emica was walking to the door with her sculpture in her hands, one of her classmates called her.

"Kimura-chan! We need help with the cleaning, Can you lend a hand for a minute?" Emica turned her head to see Sasaya Kiku, the tallest girl in class. Little did Emica know that she is also one of the few girls who were not impressed with her work.

"Okay Sasaya-chan!" Emica placed her sculpture on the table and headed over to the group of girls assigned to clean. She just started wiping on one of the desks when one of the girls suddenly pushed her with such force that she fell and knocked the table along with her. Emica let out a gasp and looked up to see Sasaya and two other girls glaring down at her.

"We've had enough of you. You think you're so great huh?"

"You keep hogging all the attention from sensei. Where does that leave us?"

"We all know that you don't do your projects by yourself. You may have sensei fooled but you can't fool us."

Emica gaped at them. Her eyes started to fill with tears. "That's not true! I do all my artworks all by myself. Ask my ne-san! Or even my okaa-san and otou-san"

"Stop lying!" Sasaya screamed. "We've had enough. I've had enough. You think you're all miss goody-two-shoes? Always getting high scores and always getting everyone's attention? You're a fake!" Sasaya turns to the sculpture forgotten on the table. "And a fake like you deserves this."

Emica watched in horror as Sasaya shoved the dog sculpture off the desk and started stepping on it. Her other two friends joined in and went as far as disassembling it and throwing the pieces out the window. Emica ran towards the girls and tried to push them away but her small stature was no match for the three bigger girls. One of them threw the plywood stand at her and Emica fell flat on her bottom.

"Let's see you try to impress sensei now." The bullies cackled and went out of the classroom. Kimura finally let her tears flow and ran outside the room to pick up the thrown away clay. As she was scavenging in the grass, a shadow loomed over her. She looked up to see Akaashi Keiji, the quiet boy in her class. He crouched down and looked at her with his neutral face.

"What happened?" he asked. Emica looked away from the boy.

"T-they. S-S-Sasaya," she sniffed "K-Kondo, Sa-Saito," she sniffed again "They broke my artwork and threw the parts out here. I'm looking for the parts so I can put them back together and give it to sensei before she leaves." She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

Akaashi's eyes widened. He felt something in him stir. His blood grew hot and his hands started to fist. The feeling was unpleasant. Was he angry?

"I'll help you look." Before Emica could object, the boy started parting patches of grass to find the balls of clay. Akaashi heard her say 'thank you' in a soft voice.

Her tears stopped flowing when the boy ran to another part of the field to look.

About fifteen minutes have passed when the two kids have found the pieces of the sculpture. All the clay balls have mixed up with the other colors, mud, grass, and other particles found in the ground. Emica felt her heart shatter.

"I can't work with that. They're too dirty." She started crying once more. Akaashi looked thoughtful for a moment then suddenly said "We can make a new one." Emica looked at him like he grew a second head.

"Are you crazy?! I can't make a new one right now. It will take me a long time to make a new dog."

"I'll help you. And it doesn't have to be a dog. We'll think of something else like, um," Akaashi's eyes wandered around. Then he spotted it. "A house!"

Emica sniffed. "I don't have anything to make a house with."

"But I do." Akaashi removed his backpack and opened the front zipper. He brought out a bundle of popsicle sticks. "This is my popsicle stick collection. I got each one after eating popsicles. But don't worry, I washed them." He quickly added after seeing Emica make a disgusted face. "I promise they're clean. I used soap. I think I have enough to make a house."

"Are you sure we can make one before sensei leaves?" Emica asked while wiping her eyes.

"Mhmm. We'll do this as a team." Akaashi gave her a smile. Emica mirrored the smile.

"Okay!"

"But before we start, wipe your face first. You look scary." Akaashi chuckled as he handed her his handkerchief. Emica blushed as she accepted and quickly wiped her face. The two went inside the classroom and went to work on their little project. They used Emica's old plywood stand as the base of their house. Akaashi cut the sticks into the right length that would not make the house too big nor too small. Emica glued them together. Once the house is almost done, Akaashi stood up and told Emica that he would get something from the field. Emica finished the rest of the house and she smiled. She was about to stand up and give it to their teacher when Akaashi ran back inside.

"Wait, let's put these too." Akaashi's left hand was full of pulled out grass. On his right, a little swing made out of popsicle sticks and a yarn.

"Un!" Emica nodded her head vigorously. "Let's!"

Once they glues the grass and the tiny swing, the preschoolers stood up and looked at their work. Akaashi expected Emica to say something but when she stayed silent, he panicked.

"I know it's not as good as the one you first made but—" he began but he was abruptly cut by the girl.

"I love it." She whispered.

"What." He deadpanned.

Emica turned to face Akaashi. "I love it!" She repeated with a huge adorable smile on her face. "It's sooo~ pretty! I like this one better then my first artwork because you helped me make it! Thank you Akaashi-kun! Thank you!" She engulfed Akaashi in a tight hug. The latter stayed frozen with wide eyes. He was panicking. He was never hugged by a girl before. Except for his mom and older female cousins. Akaashi resolved to awkwardly giving her a pat on her back but the small girl was too happy to notice the gesture. She pulled back, a smile still on her face and said "Let's give it to sensei now."

Akaashi carried Emica's new project while Emica skipped happily towards the faculty room. Just as they were about to knock, their teacher opened the door with a bag in hand. She was surprised to see her two pupils.

"What are you two doing here? Shouldn't the two of you be at home now?"

"We're here to pass my project, Sensei!" Emica beamed. Akaashi handed over the artwork and their teacher gave a puzzled look.

"Kimura-chan, this was not the project I saw on your desk earlier." Her teacher said. Emica visibly flinched. "U-um, w-well,"

"Sasaya, Saito, and Kondo broke her project, Sensei. I helped her make a new one." Akaashi said in his monotone voice. Both the teacher and Emica looked at him with wide eyes. The teacher, surprised to have heard her pupil say a full sentence when not asked to and Emica, for being the one to tell the teacher the problem she faced when he clearly was not involved in the first place. It was not just his personality to state facts about situations that did not directly involve himself.

"O-oh I see," their teacher stated. "I'll make sure to talk to them tomorrow. I'll put this project in my shelf now. But you two better get home at this instant, okay? You're parents might be worried about you." She pupils chorused an "Okay, Sensei. See you tomorrow." before walking towards the school's gate.

Emica saw her mother standing by the gate. She was talking to another woman. Upon seeing her daughter, Kimura Satomi smiled and waved. Emica ran towards her mother. Akaashi followed.

"Okaa-san, okaa-san! Akaashi-kun was so nice to me today! He helped me make a new artwork because some of my classmates broke the first one. But don't be mad, Okaa-san! Everything's okay now because Akaashi-kun helped me make a new one right, Akaashi-kun?" The boy blushed and looked away. The woman who Emica's mom was talking to chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Is that true, Keiji?" The woman laughed as the boy hid behind her leg and muttered a silent "Yes."

Satomi just stared at her daughter, speechless. She did not quite understand half of what Emica said. She laughed it off. "I did not catch half of that, sweetie, but I am sure that Keiji-kun here has been really helpful, huh?" Emica nodded.

"Well, we'll be off now, Satomi. I'll see you again soon! Say bye now to your auntie and to your classmate, Keiji." Akaashi gave them a small wave while Emica practically screamed "Goodbye, Akaashi-kun!" until the Akaashis disappear right around the corner of their school's walls.


AN: Heeeey hmm so this was supposed to be a prologue but it was too long so I guess it can be counted as one chapter but not officially (?) Just a flashback to kickstart this story. I noticed that there are really not much Akaashi x OC stories so I decided 'hey why not give it a shot?'. I do hope you guys liked this first chapter! I reaaally love Akaashi and I wish he would get some more exposure when season 4 comes.

PS: I do not own Haikyuu just my OCs and the story line ~