"Aren't you a little old for dolls, Miyajima?"
"He's not a doll! He's a teddy bear and his name is Ryuu!"
"Teddy bear shmeddy bear, he's pretty lame if you ask me."
On a late afternoon after the kindergarten class let out, a little girl with amethyst colored hair was being teased for her teddy bear. Her sapphire colored eyes welled up with tears as this little boy mocked her. As she began to clutch her bear closer to her, the little boy then started to pull and tug on the arms of the bear.
"Stop it! You'll hurt him!"
"Relax Miyajima, I'm just doing you a favor! You're already lame, the bear just makes you a loser, haha!" No matter how much she struggled, the little boy managed to rip out her bear and push her down the ground. He ran off swinging Ryuu by his little arm and even taking the time to throw him down and stomp on him.
Junko accepted her defeat by sobbing loudly. Tears ran down her cheeks and stained her sleeves as she buried her face in her arms. Suddenly, a swift wind whipped by her. She looked up to see a shadowy figure chase after the little boy.
Before she could comprehend the situation, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. Her brother, Hayato, stood by the gate of the little school and was ready to walk her home. Rather than linger, she wiped her tears and sulked over to him, not revealing what had just happened.
-
The first day of high school, at least, the first day of the 2nd year. Miyajima Junko stood in front of her school with great vigor. Her amethyst hair was in 2 cute little pigtails that were pinned to form a loop on both sides of her head, her bangs adorned with two blue barrettes that formed an x. Wearing her freshly cleaned and pressed uniform, her knees also freshly bandaged, and her determined smile always either scaring her classmates or enlightening her friends.
This year, she was a class representative, and was already well on her way to show a new transfer student the ropes.
'This year, I'm not making a fool of myself. No more delinquent, clumsy Miyajima-san. Look out world, here comes Junko, the courageous and beautiful!'
With that thought, she sprinted towards her school doors.. but not before tripping over a fellow classmates book bag. It was only a matter of seconds before Junko made a complete ass of herself, and on the first day, no less.
She scrambled to pull herself together, and hoped that her skirt didn't fly up high enough for everyone to see her underwear. She scuttled quickly to the entrance with her face as red as a beet, trying to ignore the quiet giggling.
'Okay, a minor slip up. It's okay, accidents happen sometimes. I was just a little too excited, but it's alright. Nobody important saw it, right?'
She inhaled deeply, held it for a few seconds, and exhaled quietly. The vigor in her spirit came back, now she was ready.
As she exited the bathroom, she fixed posture and then strutted very coolly down the hallway. A subtle grin gave her the glow she wanted people to see, sure, she was a little ridiculous but she felt herself radiate with confidence, she was no longer little Jun-Chan who would cry when you did so much as accidentally trip her. She was now Junko, the bold and brash class rep who wasn't gonna take anyone's crap. When she reached the office to show the new transfer around, she took a second to compose herself and went in. She was immediately greeted with a glasses wearing girl with a blank look on her face, she looked rather unimpressed to be there, or simply bored. In either case, Junko was going to wipe that look off her face and show her how great the school was.
"Ahh, miss Miyajima, you're just in time. This is Nakamine Akari, she just transferred from Date Tech High an-"
"Oh bonus! So you finally decided to join the good guys, huh? Hehehe." Junko tried to rouse her but unfortunately was met with a slight glare and the clicking of the new transfer's tongue.
"Er.. as I was saying.. This is her first day as well, I would like you to show her the common areas and where her classrooms would be. Under normal circumstances, your past status as a delinquent concerns me, but you've shown a new attitude lately and also, my other class rep is currently busy with other things. So please don't make me regret my decision here, miss Miyajima. "
"You can count on me!" Her overly imposing attitude made Akari feel uncomfortable, but she mustered up her tolerance and tried to bear her for the sake of making it through the day.
As they walked through the hallways, Junko studied her new classmate and tried to make conversation.
"So I really like your hair.. the waves in it are very pretty and it suits you pretty well!"
"Thanks I guess.."
"What kind of products do you use? Though I'm sure that you don't need a lot."
"It's a pain in the ass. There's so much of it, which means I go through a lot of product and spend a lot of back-breaking time just for it to look okay."
"… Well it looks very nice. All that hard work pays off for you."
Akari smiled slightly. Junko took her to the commons areas such as the cafeteria, the courtyard, and the library.
"Do you play any sports, Nakamine-san?"
"Well, I used to play basketball back at Dateko.. but I-"
"Oh that's awesome! Let me show you where the gym is!"
Before she could get another word it, Junko pushed open the double doors to the gym, where the boys volleyball team happened to be practicing before the day started.
"As you can see, we have a pretty good sized gym. Most of the time the volleyball team is here in the morning, so if you wanna shoot a few hoops before class, you may have to share with these guys."
Akari watched the small group of 2nd years practice their sets, before turning to Junko and noticing her wide eyed stare. Her cheeks developed a small pink tinge as she looked on, her usual talkative self going quiet.
"Uhh.. Miyajima-san?" Junko snapped out of it and focused on Akari.
"Yes! Yes?"
"Can you show me where my classro-"
"Ooiii!"
THWACK!
Before Akari could finish her sentence, her tour guide was pummeled in the face with a fly-away volleyball. She crumpled to the ground without much effort, and lost consciousness for a brief moment.
Akari turned around to see a grey haired boy covering his mouth in horror, a brown haired boy looking in embarrassment, and a bald boy clenching his teeth in fear.
The gym fell absolutely silent. Then, rising like a graceful vampire, Junko stood up, her eyes closed and a dark ominous vibe coming from her presence. Akari shrank back in defense and panic as Junko's feet slammed onto the ground, opening her eyes to reveal pure anger. Junko's eyes met with the bald boy's, her stomach lighting with a fire that blazed furiously.
"TANAKAAAAAA!" She yelled as she pointed to him, as if issuing a challenge. He froze in sheer terror.
"J-j-j-j-j-j-Junko-chan, imsosorry! It was an accident!"
"Don't be so familiar with me, Tanaka!" Her voice bellowed, Akari swore she saw flames. However, she managed to simmer down for a brief moment.
"You're lucky that I'm a class rep now. Otherwise I would've beaten you to a bloody mess. You live to see another day. For now.. Let's go, transfer. It's almost time for class." Junko turned away and walked out the doorway, and soon followed but not before turning back to see the grey haired boy trying to help Tanaka back on his feet.
'What kind of girl is she?'
Akari followed behind Junko, practically watching the raging, dark aura emanate from her presence. Afraid to say anything to upset her, she tried to keep quiet but was then startled by her sudden change in attitude. Junko whipped around to show a big smile and a hand gestured towards a door on their right.
"Here's your classroom, Nakamine-san. I hope you see how awesome Karasuno is." She grinned cheerfully and walked away. Even though she put on a good face, Akari could still see Junko's fists clenched at her sides.
'That girl.. has got some issues.'
The day seemed to drone on for Junko, even though the rest of her day went by without error, she seemed to be fixated on the incident that took place in the gym. She had a chance to look really cool in front of a new transfer student, but not only did she get socked in the face with a ball, she nearly lost her temper and probably came off as a total psycho. After a day of entrance ceremonies and newfound friendships, she couldn't wait to just go home and sleep off the embarrassment, she was exhausted from the dwelling and moping.
"How goes it, former delinquent, now class rep, Miyajima Junko?"
A familiar voice called out to her. She looked up to see her older brother, 3rd year Miyajima Ichiro. His dark crimson hair shined in the sun, catching the attention of many female students, making them swoon as he pushed his glasses up and winking at them.
"Who knew being a good kid would be this draining.." she said as she slumped over in defeat.
"Come on Jun-chan, it's only the first day. You'll pick up the routine and before you know it, you'll be a regular Hayato." Junko groaned loudly at his teasing. She then stood up and dusted herself off.
"You're right, nii-san. I can't give up yet!" Her flame quickly went out as she had stood up too fast and was not prepared for the rush of blood in her system.
Ichiro laughed quite loudly, making her cheeks bright red as she tried to recover from her dizziness. She then heard another familiar voice and looked to her left, only to see Tanaka and his fellow teammates talking and joking about the new applicants for their team. Tanaka's chuckling was cut short as his eyes met with Junko's scowl before she jerked her face to the opposite side with a loud 'hmph' to emphasize her disdain. She got up and marched away in silence. Ichiro was confused for a moment before seeing the anxiety fall over the group of boys. He knew.
That night, Junko laid in bed staring blankly at her ceiling. Ichiro was right, she just needed to keep trying and she could be the person she wanted to be. She didn't wanna be seen as the hot tempered tomboy who could hold her own against a group of unruly boys, she wanted to be the cute, likeable class rep with a handful of boys falling at her feet.
Well, there was only one boy whose attention she wanted more than anybody, however, at this rate, she may still just have them cowering at her sight rather than falling over in love, but she wasn't going to give up.
After all, tomorrow was a new day.