Kazumi remembered little about the day she had become mute. It was just a flash of light and a sensation of her world becoming silent for a few moments. She vaguely remembered being wheeled off to the surgery room, her arm going numb. This happened in her second year of middle school. She lost a lot of things because of the car accident.

Her mother. Her speaking. Her ability to play basketball- a sport she had loved. Her friends. Her life was quiet, both literally and figuratively. Few people attempted to talk with her. Unintended isolation, she assumed. It was April, so today was the start of a new school year. Maybe life would get better.

Maybe.

Someone gently shook her shoulder. Kazumi's purple eyes fluttered open as she drowsily awoke. Her father smiled at her, and she noticed how worn out he seemed. He both signed to her and said, "Good morning, Kazumi." Kazumi and her father had learned to sign when she had become mute. Really, she couldn't ask for a better father. Although he didn't need to sign to her since she could hear, he insisted on doing it so he didn't forget.

"Good morning, daddy." Kazumi signed, a smile on her face. The gestures for this phrase was meaningful to her, as he was one of the few that hadn't rejected her. Her father ruffled her hair and left the room, most likely to cook breakfast. Kazumi got out of bed and trudged to the shower. After her shower, she dressed herself and headed to the kitchen.

Walking downstairs, her father had already gone. Probably another urgent call to work. A note was posted on the refrigerator.

"Sorry, the company needed me.

Have fun with your new classmates, Kazumi.

By the way, Pisces (your zodiac sign, in case you forgot) is first today!

Isn't that great?

- Dad"

Kazumi smiled while rolling her eyes at her dad's love of horoscopes. She turned to the table, which had a warm plate of toast and eggs. Quietly, she ate her breakfast and put the dishes in the sink. Kazumi walked over to the huge tank that was installed in the wall. It was half filled with water, with little fish swimming in it. There were rock cliffs, colorful aquatic plants and a moss floor that covered half the surface of the water. Her frog, Froggie, hopped around on the moss. She released some live crickets onto the moss and watched happily as the frog chased after them.

After a few minutes, she packed up her bag and left the house. While she was locking the door, she heard arguing and the sound of heavy panting. Curious, she stepped out to see what the cause of the sound was. It was a bizarre sight. A black haired guy was riding a bike- but that wasn't the weird part. A cart was attached to the bike. Inside the cart was a green-haired guy, a person she recognized. Midorima Shintarou. He was famous at her school for being the ace of the basketball team.

"Argh! You jerk, you said we would switch after five minutes," the black-haired guy said, panting. Midorima adjusted his glasses with his taped fingers before he spoke.

"Cancer has the worst luck today, Takao," he simply stated. His friend, Takao didn't seem to be amused by his response.

"Then where's your lucky item for the day?! It should make up for you bad luck, right?!" he said.

"Well, the lucky item was a Pisces. But none of my family members are Pisces." Midorima said, a frown on his face.

"I think the bigger problem is that you considered bringing your family members," Takao told him, exasperated. Kazumi giggled silently as she thought about how coincidental it was for her father and Midorima to have an obsession with horoscopes. Kazumi opened up the Oha Asa app on her phone and started walking. She was startled by how loud her volume had been turned up.

"Congratulations! Pisces has the best luck today! Today, your lucky item is a mirror!" Immediately, she felt the gazes of the two boys on her.

"You." Kazumi froze at the sound of the voice. She turned around and saw Midorima staring at her intently.

"Are you a Pisces?" the green haired boy asked. Kazumi nodded carefully, hoping that this wasn't go the way she thought it would. He couldn't possibly... "Please get in the cart." Kazumi was shocked at how blunt he was. Takao rolled his eyes and smacked Midorima on the head. Midorima glared at Takao, who started lecturing on how little common sense he had.

"Gomen, gomen. You're a Shutoku student, right? Ah... Hinomari-san?" Takao said apologetically, glancing at the name that was written on her bag and her uniform. Kazumi nodded again with a smile. "Well, if you would..."

Somehow, Kazumi had ended up in the cart. Takao had pleaded her to get in since apparently he didn't want to die on the first day of the school year. Midorima agreed to drive the cart if she rode in it because today he "had" to have his lucky item. So, here she was, sitting in the cart with Takao while he aimlessly chattered.

"Why don't I know you?" Takao asked her. Kazumi looked puzzled and tilted her head in question. What did he mean? Was it because she seemed weird?

"You're a bishoujo, but I've never heard of you," he clarified. Kazumi blushed in embarrassment at the compliment. She shook her head in denial of it. Takao, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem at all at saying it. The black haired boy chuckled at her reaction and continued his talk about how he was excited for the new year and wanted to be in the same class as "Shin-chan." The nickname made Midorima click his tongue loudly in annoyance.

The cart slowly came to a stop as they arrived at Shutoku. People laughed and pointed at the cart, but didn't seem surprised about it. It gave off more of an "Oh look, it's the cart." feeling rather than "That's such a weird cart." Kazumi stood up and stepped out of the cart, stumbling when her foot hit a rock. She bumped into Midorima.

"Be more careful. It's rude to bump into people," he muttered. Kazumi frowned at his harsh comment. It had been an accident, and it wasn't like she could apologize verbally. Oh well, there was no reason to get upset over it. She merely nodded and slightly bowed in thanks.

"Don't scare the poor girl, Shin-chan." Takao said with a yawn. Kazumi exchanged farewells with them, her waving and Takao cheerily sending her off with a "See ya later, Hinomari-san!" She walked over to the notice board, where all the class listings were posted. She scanned the second-year classes for her name. She found it listed under 2-C. She walked to her classroom and gently opened the door. The room was already filled with her soon-to-be classmates, all socializing with each other.

"Uwaaah! Bishoujo!" A voice said from behind her. Kazumi jumped in shock of the unexpected voice. She turned around to see a girl... a really cute one. The girl had short, wavy brown hair and energetic green eyes.

"Hey there!" the girl said, a grin on her face. Kazumi smiled back and waved. The brunette tilted her head at Kazumi, as if she was studying her. "You're a quiet one, aren't you?"

Kazumi nodded and shrugged at the same time. She didn't really remember if she had been talkative before her accident, but she surely wasn't loud after becoming mute. The girl giggled at Kazumi, but Kazumi didn't feel that the girl was making fun of her.

"Well, quiet bishoujo, my name is Haruna!" she announced cheerfully. Haruna looked at her expectantly as if waiting for her own introduction. Kazumi struggled to think of a way to introduce herself. She hadn't expected to tell her name to anybody- she didn't have to last year.

"Oh? Hinomari-san is in our class, Shin-chan!" a familiar voice said. Takao and Midorima had also entered the room, causing Kazumi's classmates to talk excitedly about having the ace of the basketball team in the class. The brunette's eyes widened at his words.

"So your name is Hinomari?" she said to Kazumi, looking satisfied at having found that out. Kazumi nodded in response. She heard Midorima mutter something that sounded like "Man proposes, God disposes." He was a weird one, she thought to herself. As the bell rung, everyone took a random seat. The teacher, who Kazumi recognized to be Tamaki-sensei, walked in. He was a fairly young teacher, with blonde hair and a warm personality. Tamaki had been her history teacher, and one that knew about her condition.

"Alright, don't get too comfortable. We need to assign seats." Tamaki-sensei said, and the class groaned. "Alright, who wants and/or needs to be somewhere? If you can't see well and you need to be in the front, etc."

"Sensei! I want to sit next to Shin-chan, and he wants to sit next to Hinomari-san!" Takao shouted out, causing laughter from the class. Kazumi was puzzled by his words. Another hand shot up.

"I want to sit next to Hinomari-san too, sensei!" Haruna said with a grin. Tamaki-sensei looked mildly surprised and looked at Kazumi, who was frozen with shock. The teacher, however, grinned and nodded.

"You're popular Hinomari-san, aren't you?" he joked. He start assigning seats and had the four of them together. Haruna and Kazumi both sat next to the windows, with Haruna being a seat in front of her. Midorima was across from Kazumi and Takao sat in front of Midorima.

"Aren't you happy, sitting next to Hinomari-san?" Takao teased, and Midorima adjusted his glasses.

"I just need her to be in close proximity of me for today. I need to make up for my bad luck," he stated plainly. Kazumi smiled- she would have never imagined in the morning that she would have 3 people that were willing to interact with someone who didn't talk.

During gym, after 10 laps, they were allowed to do whatever they wanted as long as it was something "active." Kazumi waved goodbye to Haruna, who had been asked to join a volleyball game. Kazumi walked to an empty basketball hoop and stood a few meters away. She dribbled the ball three times before shooting. Kazumi smiled to herself as she retrieved the ball. Although she wasn't supposed to put a lot of physical strain on her knees by jumping or running excessively, she felt that a few hoops wouldn't hurt her. Standing at half court, she jumped and shot. Kazumi grimaced when she saw that it wouldn't go in.

"Tsk, tsk." Takao said as he ran past her and shot it in after getting the rebound. Midorima walked up next to her and motioned to Takao, who passed to him. In the instant the ball was in his hands, he jumped and shot it in cleanly. What a showoff, Kazumi thought, but she was impressed. Her black haired classmate tossed it underhanded to her. Dribbling the ball a few times, Kazumi bent her knees to shoot but was stopped by Midorima who readjusted her fingers on the ball and her posture.

"Shoot." he commanded. Kazumi listened and shot in that position. She turned to him, beaming. Midorima cleared his throat and shifted his glasses once more. Kazumi found it quite interesting that whenever he touched his glasses it would make a clicky sound.

"Hinomari-san~" Kazumi heard Haruna say. Haruna was sweating, most likely from her volleyball game. With a serious expression, she put a hand on her shoulder. Kazumi tilted her head as if to ask what was wrong. "Can I call you Kazumi-chan?"

Kazumi's eyes widened, and Haruna made an apologetic face. "Sorry... I mean if you don't want to be called that..." Kazumi shook her head furiously and then nodded. She would have never expected to have a nickname. Haruna smiled widely and hugged Kazumi, who smiled back.

"Alright! Then I'll call you Hino-chin! I think Hino-chin is more catchy than Kazu-chin..." Takao said, frowning as if wondering which one to use. Kazumi shrugged but smiled. Midorima merely listened to the duo's energetic chatter, dribbling the ball gently.

Okaa-san in heaven, how are you doing? Today, I met a lot of people. Haruna-chan is a sweet and kawaii girl who's very energetic. Takao-kun's a member of the basketball club and is quite sociable. Midorima-kun is quiet but has his own quirks. They haven't isolated me for not talking... but I wonder if it's because they don't I can't talk at all. Maybe they think that I'm just really quiet. Kazumi thought as she laid in bed. Getting up, she turned off the light and snuggled into her warm bed. It had been a good day.

A/N: Should I continue this? Anyhow, thanks for reading! Please follow, favorite and/or review. Arigato!