Chapter 1 : Encounter
Sonoda Umi had been whole-heartedly contented with her height,well,had been. And at this moment in time she regretted it so deeply. Enormous bookshelves towered over her, the rustic odor of books filled up her nostrils. All of them were lying in wait to be explored,to be uncovered. Unfortunately,a 159 cm Umi was unable to reach 'Withering Heights' on the 5th shelf. However, Umi was undoubtedly a strong-willed girl with no intention of giving up on procuring the book. Her feet started to wobble as she tiptoed over to get the very book she longed for. Her forehead became slick with sweat,strands of blue hair in disarray.
'Almost there'-Umi thought as she strove towards the shelf again but to her horror,the book was nowhere in sight
Just as Umi began to panic,which had sort of become an ingrained tendency,she noticed a heap of verdant next to her. The unusually tall bespectacled man seemed to be her age,or so she thought. He was offering her the book on one taped hand and holding a packet of salt on the other. Being the insightful one Umi was able to discern the greenhaired teen's beautiful facial features,hidden behind his stern gaze.
"Thank you very much!"-she bowed as low as she could in order to avoid eye-contact. Despite his breathtakingly beautiful eyelashes, his overall gigantic build combining with the sheer hostility he exhibited created an excrutiatingly stagnant atmostphere.
Umi's overtly tactful manner took Midorima Shintarou by surprise. Umi straightened up,and inadvertently looked right into his eyes. Both of the teens wewre drowned in embarrassment,and began to stammer unintelligible things probably about school idols and basketball .
Umi awkwardly received the book from Midorima as she bowed yet moment their eyes met,though he constantly refused to consciously admit it,but he truly found Sonoda Umi's appearance quite appealing. Her silky blue hair,her vibrant amber orbs,in addition to her dignified manners gave the impression of a traditional Japanese beauty,who could certainly captured the hearts of every single man on Earth.
"Excuse me..are you..perhaps..injured?"-Umi's sudden inquiry snapped him out of his daze. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"It's a method to keep my fingers intact. Well-manicured fingers play an important role in ensuring the quality of my shots-nodayo"
"Then perhaps salt is also crucial to your shots,I suppose?"-Umi was confounded,trying to find out how a packet of salt was related to hand-maintenance
"That is, Cancer's lucky item for the day, a packet of salt"-he proudly enunciated,much to Umi's confusion. It was unbelievable who seemed initally a rational man turned out to be ridiculously superstitious.
"Yeah—" –Umi awkwardly replied,then bowed agin before making her exit.
Midorima also grabbed a book from the fiction section. He had contacted Takao to fetch him to a practice match. When he walked out of the library,he saw Umi looking impatiently to her watch,she was also waiting for a certain hyperactive friend . They both waited in silence for a long time
"Shin-chan!"
"Umi-chan!"
Two shouts echoed across the streets,following by a scandalous sight: Honoka was sitting on a cart,cycled by none other than Midorima's energetic teammate. He pulled up where Midorima and Umi were standing. While Umi couldn't utter a word ,Midorima was incensed: not only was Takao late,but he had been taking some random girl around in his cart and left him waiting.
"U-umi-chan I can explain… You see,I woke up really early this morning and..and Yukiho asked me to help her with some..homework..I left the house a little later than I had expected.."-Honoka scratched her head nervously
"H-hey Shin-chan sorry for letting you wait here alone..with this gorgeous lady"-Takao gestured to Umi-"HEY!Aren't you Sonoda Umi from MUSE?!Shin-chan did I rank first on Oha-Asa,because today sure is my luckiest day"-Takao beamed with sheer bliss
"HOW DID BOTH OF YOU END UP RIDING ON THE SAME RICKSHAW THEN?"-Umi and Midorima shouted in unison
"I was on my way to your place when I saw this Honoka-chan from Muse miserably dashing out of her house. Then I decided to give her a lift…But Shin-chan,traffic in the morning was hectic and you are so mean to expect me,and this rickshaw to be here on time"-Takao finished with his lengthy excuse,earning a nod of approval from Honoka
"YOU IDIOT!"
"Umi-chan,don't scold me! The 3rd- year have to complete their university application,so they won't make it today.I've just been informed. So let's go have some parfait!"-Honoka excitedly pumped her fist in the air.
"Hey Shin-chan our practice was actually postponed ya know? I received the message while I was stuck in the traffic. To think that I have gone all the way here just to have you scold me…"-Takao slumped down in despondency.
"Ne ne Takao-kun!How does getting some parfait sound? My treat ,as you've helped me a great deal back there!"-Honoka beamed at Takao whose face brightened up instantly
At the time,Midorima who was standing next to Umi could detect a menacingly dark aura radiating from her. Takao and Honoka seemed to notice this sudden change as well
"Woa Umi-san,you look even cuter up close!"-Takao exclaimed
"Right? Umi-chan often receives a lot of love letters from boys"-Honoka, having been Umi's childhood friend for years,she knew exactly how to appease the blunnette in situations like this.
Umi huffed and looked away,her face burning and her eyes watery. Midorima had to stifle a laugh at this hilarious sight. The composed Umi that he just met was now a total blushing mess.
"Oi Shin-chan,wanna go with us for some parfait?"-Takao motioned to the cart,hinting that Midorima would have to comply or else he would go home on foot.
"Don't just randomly socialize with people you don't know"-Midorima facepalmed
"But Muse is popular all over the country. So Honoka-chan counts as a celebrity!"-Takao retorted
By now Umi had regained her composure,
"You too Honoka!How could you indiscreetly jump onto other people's vehicle like that?" she also voiced her disapproval
"Shin-chan and Umi-san are both so scary,aren't they? I doubt they will make great parents in the future,right Honoka-chan?"-Takao sneakered,making both of them blushed furiously
"Don't joke around,Takao!"-Midorima reprimanded Takao
"Takao-san,that is not an appropriate way to joke!"-Umi shot him a death glare
"Relax now don't you and Honoka-chan hop in?I'll.."-Takao was about to suggest giving Umi and Honoka a ride to the nearby dessert shop,but was interrupted by Umi
"No thanks,I'll walk"
"You two have a nice time walking then! We will be going first"-Takao departed while waving his hand
Midorima and Umi sighed though they had to deal with their childish partners everyday,they still found it hard to keep up with their peers' enthusiasm.
They strolled along the street awkwardly in silence,earning envious and admiring looks from pedestrians.
"Midorima-san,uhm,sorry for having thrown a tantrum back there.."-Umi sheepishly apologized.
"It was the idiot's fault. I apologize on behalf of Takao for causing you unprecedented inconvenience"-Midorima politely replied
"What school are you two currently attending?"-Umi asked the green giant,now that she had became more comfortable interacting with him
"Shuutoku High,second year. What about you?"
"Otonikizaka High. It's an all-girls private school so I doubt you would know. Having gotten into such a prestigious school like Shuutoku,Midorima-san must be very intelligent."-Umi gently smiled ,making the tall man's heart skipped a beat
"I-I'm not t-that good"-he stammered,looking away
"Earlier,Midorima-san did mention 'shots'. Do you play basketball?"-Umi questioned
"I'm a shooting-guard nanodayo. My shots never miss because I always carry my lucky items with me"-he proudly stated
"L-lucky items?"-confusion was written all over her face. A gust of nostalgia overtook her as she reminisced about the days members of muse were indoctrinated with Nozomi's overtly superstitious preachings.
Realizing that Umi was spacing out,he asked:
"What's your star sign?"
Baffled by the sudden question,she stumbled over her words
"..15th ..of March..so it would be Pisces,yes Pisces"
To Umi's astonishment,he looked surprisingly pleased after hearing her response
(Pisces ranked highest in terms of compatibility with Cancers,followed by Scorpios)
"Then..your sign is..?"
"Cancer,unfortunately I am extremely unlucky today. Uhm..you.. ..Pisces is the luckiest today"
"My name is Sonoda Umi,by the way"-she tactfully introduced herself.
English is not my mother-tongue so please bear with my vocab&grammar mistakes
I ship these two since I find them strikingly similar :D So please review and give me constructive criticism on how to develop this story!
The subsequent chapters might be shorter than this one though :(
Thank you very much!