For an ephemeral moment, she swore she saw wings on their backs. So she took a picture, scared that they would fly off somewhere and leave nothing behind.

The bustling hallways filled with people, the conversations that permeated the corridors, the restlessness of the footsteps as they rushed to get to their destination, this place was where dreams were made and broken all in the same day, a place where bonds that last a lifetime are made, a place that could be called the picturesque definition of youth or another hell, and the word that bound these definitions together, school.

"transfer huh, at this time of year? And all the way from Tokyo too! But I'm not surprised, with your background you look like you could handle anything!" She watched as the small teacher flipped through the manila folder with ease, inspecting each and every aspect of the confidential portfolio. The girl stood near the teacher as she fiddled uncomfortably with her fingers.

"thank you," Her face flushed a deep red as she looked down in embarrassment, secretly happy with his praise, "but sensei about the-"

"Wow, you went to such a prestigious school! Why the transfer though?" The folder was shut with a small thud as it was placed back on the messy table after a thorough examination. The faculty room was filled with teachers as classes were nearing to an end and it was similar to the cacophony of students in the morning.

"it just… happened like that I guess," Instinctively, her hand brushed a lock of her dark brown hair, a color that had never changed since the day she was born, behind her unpierced ears. "Anyways sensei about that-"

"yes yes, of course, I'd be more than happy to have such a qualified student covering the activities of our volleyball team" From behind his glasses his eyes sparkled and with both hands, he grasped hers as a sign of gratitude.

"well actually…" She stared at the literature teacher, who frankly, looked like he could be the same age as her. His black hair stuck out everywhere, and it didn't help that he was wearing glasses that she could find students wearing today. She took a deep breath, trying to pick the words that would best clear up the misunderstanding. She was not actually interested in Volleyball, it just the most advantageous position that the school newspaper had to offer. Everyone else had joined one already and besides, taking an active part in a club would look good on her already impressive resume for college. But because of her status as a transfer student, she was to be put into a makeshift position until paperwork was settled and so instead of going into a more career oriented club she was forced to take whatever positon was available. But before she could say anything, a strange noise that could be interpreted as a bell resonated across the room, and it was a signal that the conversation would have to be postponed.

"We can talk on the way, I have to tell the club the good news," as he stood up, papers from his desk flew up into the air, "hurry!"

She stared as he motioned for her to follow him. The situation kept getting more and more difficult by the minute, and she didn't know how to tell him that she had zero idea of helping the volleyball club. All Kurumi wanted was something impressive to put on her college application because for her, nothing else really mattered besides her education. The newspaper club assigned members specific clubs to follow in order to have complete coverage. Apparently in the past, Karasuno volleyball club was famous but now all that was left were the remnants of a legend which is why no one really wanted to take on the responsibility.

"Kurumi-san, right?" He turned around and flashed a smile at her as he continued walking through the hallways.

"Ah, yes, uh sensei-" She raised her voice again in an attempt clear the misunderstanding that this was only a tentative position for her.

"I'm so happy you're here. I actually don't know a lot about volleyball but I somehow became the faculty adviser for the club. I really want to help them out but as someone who doesn't have a lot of experience in volleyball, what I can do is so limited. I know that this doesn't sound promising as other clubs so I just wanted to properly thank you," Takeda Ittetsu expressed his sincere feelings and Kurumi could sense the earnestness in his voice and she knew that she could not bring herself to say no to him after what he had said.

"but anyways, you wanted to say something before?" Takeda pushed his glasses up with his index finger and awaited her response.

"… it's nothing, I just wanted to tell you how excited I am to be working with you," she smiled politely at him. The two of them walked briskly past the classrooms filled with students, conversing about what their plans were after school and for the first time in a long time, Kurumi felt as if she was in a normal high school.

"Well here we are," He announced motioning to the grandiose gym of Karasuno."To be honest, I haven't met all the new members yet. There's a fresh batch of first years that I haven't seen yet, but they're all good kids, you'll see what I mean when you meet them."

With a somewhat lacking introduction he opened the doors to the gymnasium and Kurumi was struck with a blinding light.

"We have a practice match with Aobajousai high school!" He dashed in at full speed, the delight on clearly plastered onto his face.

Kurumi watched from behind as the members of the volleyball team gathered around him and made a huge commotion about this practice match. As Takeda was explaining the details of the practice match as well as the conditions, Kurumi stared at each one of the people present in the gymnasium. She split them into two categories: scary and friendly. On the scary side were three people: a tall blonde male with glasses, who in her eyes seemed like a giant, a male with a buzz cut, who seemed to be angry all the time, and another male who looked studious but had an overwhelming aura around him. Conversely, on the friendly side there were four people: a male with freckles, who looked eternally nervous, a gray haired male who was emitting a sense of stability, another black haired male who she was able to distinct as the captain, a very short orange haired boy who reminded her of a dog and a beautiful girl who looked like she could be a model.

"Also, I'd like to introduce you to Kurumi, she'll be helping us gain popularity through exposure via the school newspaper. She'll be around often because her job is to basically follow us around and record our activities!" Takeda gave her a slight push towards the group and she slid into the gym. Her eyes darted back to her teacher and he gave her a reassuring look.

"Hello, I'm Kurumi, 2nd year, nice to meet you," She said as she stepped into the middle of the circle of people that were gathering around her.

The team captain was the first to shake her hand and just by being accepted by him, she felt a feeling of comfort, "Daichi Sawamura, 3rd year, Captain,"

"I'm Koushi Sugawara, also 3rd year and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!" The gray haired boy now known as Sugawara said. Kurumi turned her head to greet the next person, only to find that no one was there.

"I could have sworn that someone was here," she muttered to herself.

"This is Tanaka," Sugawara laughed, pushing Tanaka towards her, "he's a little shy,"

"R…ryosuke tanaka," The thug looking boy stuttered, looking down and Kurumi couldn't help but notice his personality was nothing like his appearance.

"Don't mind him," A soft voice echoed next to her, "Kiyoko Shimizu, 3rd year, manager."

At the sound of such a feminine voice, Kurumi jumped and she felt her shoulders tense up, "It's a pleasure to meet you!" She exclaimed in a voice a little bit louder than she expected. The first years all turned and stared at her.

"uh.. I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi, 1st year…", the freckled boy trailed off as he gave her a somewhat aloof smile, "oh and this is—"

"Tsukishima, Tsukishima Kei," The blondie peered down at her intimidatingly with a frown on his face. She immediately felt as if she had shrunk to the size of a toddler as he stared down at her, his body looming over hers.

"Ah, don't worry about him, he's just a jerk!" The orange haired kid exclaimed, sticking his tongue out at him, "I'm Hinata Shouyo!"

As soon as his mouth curved into a smile, she felt her heart melt as if he was her adopted puppy. She felt a sense of responsibility towards him, as if he needed to be protected.

"…cute," she quietly blurted out and immediately turned red when she realized she had accidentally said that out loud.

"huh?" Hinata tilted his head and looked back at her with an innocent expression.

"n…nothing!" She quickly covered up, embarrassed.

"Kageyama Tobio," The smart looking male shot out his hand at her and looked at her directly in the eye, showing no signs of embarrassment.

Kurumi jumped back at the sudden action and slid her hand out reluctantly to shake his. He eyed her suspiciously as if he didn't trust her and she made a mental note to herself that he was going to be hard to be friends with. She was astounded by all the new faces that surrounded her, the many different shades of people and personalities. Although she had just met them, there was something warm about them, like a fireplace in the winter. As soon as introductions were over, most of the members of the group scattered, as they dispersed to go home.

As soon as Kurumi was about to leave to go home, a hand gently tapped her on the back.

"S..senpai," Yamaguchi looked away as she turned to face him, "I think the group members are going to eat nikuman together…i…if it isn't a bother… would you like to come with us?"

"is that okay?" Her eyes widened as she received the invitation, amazed that someone was asking her something that was not related to schoolwork.

"Of cour—"

"Well, they're obligated to invite you, now that you're part of the team," Tsukishima interrupted, poking his head in front of Yamaguchi's.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi exclaimed, his eyes darting nervously between Kurumi and Tsukishima, feeling the tension between them.

Kurumi cocked her head to the left and narrowed her eyes at the blonde giant.

Her face crinkled, "don't you think you're being too disrespectful here? I'm a year older than you,"

"It's just a year and besides you're so short that it's so hard to see you as a senpai," Tsukishima smirked as he looked down at her, clearly amused with her reaction.

Suddenly, something snapped inside of her, and she had the sudden urge to wipe that cocky grin off his face and snatch his glasses away from his face. More than anything, she hated people that acted like this without any remorse. It reminded her of the pompous students at her old school. Thankfully, before she had the chance to, Yamaguchi intervened in between them, "Senpai! He's just kidding, right Tsukki?"

"Of course," Tsukishima shrugged, with the grin still on his face.