A/N: After a million years, I have decided to continue this fic BUT I have also decided to rewrite it. I felt like the first version wasn't good enough so hopefully this would be better! For those who had been following, some changes will be done so please do bear with me.
Reviews would be appreciated~
It's Love, You Fool
GoM x OC
Chapter One
The public bus was not exactly the most ideal place for sleeping. Yet, the gentle rocking of the vehicle was too tempting for her not to close her eyes; she had never been a morning person after all. When she was younger, she was chauffeured to school every morning so she always had an extra fifteen minutes of sleep. Though, she slowly came to realise that not everyone had their own chauffeurs and she became an outcast for being different. Her nanny never liked the idea of her taking public transport by herself but her insistence was far stronger than her nanny's opposition. Which resulted in her taking her fifteen minutes morning nap standing up with one hand holding onto the back of a seat, earphones plugged in to tune out the rest of the world.
As she swayed with the movement of the bus, it was a miracle that she had yet to fall. Standing just a few feet away, towering above everyone else, was someone whose attention had been focused solely on the sleeping girl since he got on the bus. It was never a rare sight, people sleeping on public transport, yet it was so fascinating to watch the blonde girl rock back and forth but still able to sleep like she was in her own bed.
One harsh brake, however, because of a bicycle was more than enough to throw the girl off balance. She lost her grip on the seat and like everyone else, was thrown forward. With his firm grip on the handle above, he caught the girl with his arm around her waist. She looked up with big eyes, giving him a silent nod as thanks before turning away, her hand gripping onto the back of a seat once more but her eyes wide opened this time. He stood next to her still, somehow taking it upon himself that if she decided to sleep again, he would be there to catch her if she fell. Though, they arrived before that could happen.
When they stepped off the bus, that was when he noticed the badge on her uniform. The very same badge embroidered on his uniform. Even though they went to the same school, he kept his distance following behind her. Being labelled as a creepy stalker was not exactly the kind of first impression he wanted to give off. They came to a crossing and he stood just behind her, waiting for the little red man to turn green. As the traffic light went from green to amber, the girl took one step out onto the road. At the same time, a car was speeding down the road, possibly trying to make it before the light turned red. Reaching out, he grabbed the girl by her elbow and pulled her back in just as the car sped by.
"That was close...are you okay?" The way she looked up at him, for a split second, he felt like she was expecting to see someone she knew. Though, she quickly looked away and tugged her elbow away, muttering a quick thanks before crossing the road with everyone else. He nearly missed the crossing time, watching as she made her way into the campus.
Since it was the first day of school, all the clubs had stalls set up in the front yard while the members were busy recruiting. Navigating through such a crowd was never an easy task but with her small size, the girl zipped through the crowd effortlessly, even dodging the club recruiters skillfully. She was so close to entering the school building without interacting with anyone else, if it was not for a leaflet shoved in her face. "Hi! Would you like to join the cheerleading squad? You are the perfect size for a flyer. We welcome everyone, even beginners. We have regular training sessions to help you with all the basics." Even as she tried to walk away, the girl persisted. "At least take the leaflet. It wouldn't hurt."
~.~
"Alright, dial it down. It's your first day of school, I know, and you're all excited to make awesome memories. But may I remind you that you are now in high school. It's different to middle school, you'll need to work harder if you want to get into a good university after three years. That being said, since we have another good thirty minutes before your classes start, let's do a simple introduction. For example, I am Mr. Suzuki, I teach Japanese Literature so we'll be seeing each other a lot. Please don't cause any trouble for the year and I wish you all the best."
One by one, the students in the classroom stood up and did an introduction. It was easy to tell what kind of personality one had just from their introduction. Some were outgoing, making the class laugh with a joke. Some were a little arrogant. Others were shy, sitting down right after introducing themselves. She was neither of those people. She would not make a joke, nor would she brag about what she was good at. She was not shy either, she just did not like social interactions.
"Matsuoka Haruka."
When it was her turn, she simply stood and said her name before sitting down again. The classroom started buzzing but even without tuning in to any specific conversation, she knew what they were talking about. Her name was nothing special, not if she was the topic of conversation. No, they were most definitely talking about the person with whom she shared a surname. With whom she was blood related.
Matsuoka Hayato, a nationally celebrated basketball player. He was just a kid on the street with a passion for the sport. He trained hard when he was in middle school, took his school to victory multiple times, and made a name for himself. He was scouted by many universities in America and was eventually drafted for the NBA. For many years after, his name gradually became internationally known. Even though he had retired from the sport recently, he was still very much beloved by the nation. Matsuoka Hayato, the pride and joy of Japan. Matsuoka Hayato, her very own father.
She hated it.
"That's her, isn't it? Matsuoka, right?"
"We don't even know if she's related to him."
"Do you live under a rock? It's definitely her, I saw her picture in the magazine before."
Getting up from her desk, the chatters in the room seized and every pair of eyes that was on her was now directed elsewhere, as if they had not been staring at her for the last ten minutes. She could not stand being in the room any longer. She knew that there was no stopping them from gossiping about her, not even if she left the room but at least she would not be there to listen to them. The moment she stepped out of the classroom, the chatters returned. Even as she was walking down the corridor, she could feel stares from everywhere.
A red bean bun in hand, she went on a hunt for the most secluded place in school where she could eat in peace. Eventually, she found a small corner enclosed between two walls, just a few dozen metres away from the soccer field. Making herself comfortable on the ground, she could hear her nanny's voice in her head already. You look pathetic eating lunch alone. Go and make some friends.
"Oh wow, someone's here already." Peeking around the corner was a pink-haired girl. She walked into the corner, sitting down next to Haruka without asking for permission before letting out a sigh, looking to her. "You too, huh? Tough first day?"
Looking away, Haruka took a bite out of her bun and shifted slightly to the side, uncomfortable with the close proximity. She did not mind sharing the same space with someone else. She did mind, however, when that someone did not keep to themselves and sat a little too close for comfort. Despite the silent treatment, the girl continued chatting on, digging into her bento at the same time.
"You know, I don't get it. It's not like we're in kindergarten now, you know? The whole gossiping and giggling behind someone's back really isn't nice." With her mouth wide open while she ate and talked, the girl was practically a machine gun for rice. Haruka made a face, frowning at the one grain of rice that landed just a few milimetres from her shoes. Feeding another spoonful into her mouth, the girl opened her mouth to talk though Haruka stopped her. "What?"
"You're spitting everywhere." She pointed to the grain of rice to prove her point.
"Oh shit, sorry," the girl laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she chewed and swallowed what was in her mouth. "Yeah, sorry about that. I usually eat by myself so I don't really have to care about others." Haruka frowned a little at the carefree comment the girl made. She ate by herself for most of her school life too, but it was not something she would tell others. Seeing the frown on Haruka's face, the girl let out a chuckle. "You think I'm weird, don't you? It's alright, just say it out loud. Everyone thinks I'm weird."
"Why?"
"Hm? Because I've got no parents. Dad left and mum killed herself. No matter what the movies and dramas say, tragedy will not bring sympathy. It brings you bullies."
Although her story was not as tragic, Haruka could not help but felt a connection with the girl. They were similar, they were both outcasts. The only difference was that the girl's outlook on life was much more positive than Haruka's. It was something that Haruka admired yet at the same time, hated. How could someone be this positive when such horrible things had happened to them? They were putting on a facade. It was illogical to Haruka.
Reaching into her pocket, Haruka placed something in the girl's hand before getting up from her spot. The girl looked down to see a green hard candy in her palm before smiling up at Haruka. "Hey, what's your name? It's weird not to know the name of your lunch buddy. I'm Chinatsu, Hamasaki Chinatsu. I'm in class eight if you ever want to look for me."
"Matsuoka Haruka."
~.~
Getting through the school day was a lot harder than she thought. Eyes followed her everywhere, and words were whispered behind her back. Within the day, her identity as Hayato's daughter was known throughout the school. Even the seniors would purposely walk past her classroom to steal a glance of the girl. The only time things seemed to be normal was at the cheerleader tryout.
Excitement buzzed through the first years, too occupied wondering if the uniform would look good on them. A good handful of them were too nervous to even talk, afraid that they were not good enough to join the squad. Haruka managed to slip into the gym unnoticed until she was near the bleachers. Sitting a few rows up was a familiar pink-haired girl, who clearly recognised her, enthusiastically waved her over. They were not friends, or at least Haruka did not think so. Yet, her feet moved on their own and she was soon sitting next to Chinatsu.
"I didn't know you were joining the squad too," Chinatsu grinned. "Did you cheer too for your last school?"
"No."
"Then...you're an amateur?"
"Sort of."
"Not much of a talker, are you?"
A snap of the fingers echoed through the gym, getting the attention of the agitated first years. Standing at the bottom of the bleachers, her hands on her hips, a tall girl scanned through the crowd of girls in front of her. "First of all, I would like to welcome you all to Seirin. I am Shigetome Natsumi, the captain. Secondly, thank you for coming to the tryout. However, just because you are sitting here right now, does not mean that you get on the squad. Seirin may be a new school but our squad has made it into the finals of the National Cheerleading Competition last year. We will only accept the best. So, without further ado, let's get started."
After showing a small routine and demonstrating a few basic stunts, the tryout officially started. They were each asked to show a series of tumbles (or whatever tumble they could do), a test to see where everyone's standard was at. Last in line, Haruka stepped out a little to take a look at how those in front of her did. More than half of them were unable to do a simple flip, let alone the more complicated ones, but the upperclassmen were still encouraging, telling each person how they could improve.
Chinatsu was one of the rare ones who did well, impressing the upperclassmen. She was definitely made to be a cheerleader; she had the looks and the skills. As she made her way back to the bleacher, Chinatsu gave Haruka two thumbs-ups and mouthed a 'good luck' to her. As her turn was coming up, Haruka stepped up to the mat, an indifferent expression on her face. "Name?" Natsumi asked, holding a clipboard without so much as looking up.
"Matsuoka Haruka."
"Ah, the famous Matsuoka," Natsumi commented. "Let's see what you're made of, shall we?"
Natsumi stepped off the mat to give Haruka the space. She gave the younger a girl a nod, indicating that she could begin. Haruka took a few steps back, doing a small run up before doing several flips on the mat. She stuck the landing perfectly, looking back to Natsumi whose jaw was hanging open slightly. Recovering from the pleasant shock, the captain grinned to herself, writing on her clipboard as she signaled for Haruka to do it once more. Starting from the other end of the mat, she did everything she did before...backwards.
"Alright, no need for showing off," Natsumi smirked. "Which school did you cheer for?"
"I wasn't on the squad."
"You're not a cheerleader?"
"Gymnast."
The doors to the gym swung opened as if on cue, catching everyone's attention. Natsumi looked over her shoulder to see the basketball team walking in before letting out a sigh. She handed her clipboard to the person closest to her, making her way over. "Hey, we've still got the gym for the next half an hour. What are you doing here?"
Natsumi never quite got along with Riko.
They often argued over who had priority over the gym (the basketball team did, kindly pointed out by the principal) and it did not help that their positions in their individual clubs were too similar, often resulting in the clash of personalities. And much to Riko's dismay, her team was always on Natsumi's side because she was 'prettier'. It was no surprise to the second years, the hostility the two greeted each other with. Today was just like any other day last year. It was only a matter of who would win this time.
"I know," Riko said, folding her arms and straightened her back to look as tall as she could. "We're just getting ready. We won't get in your way."
"Better not. And tell your guys not to stare."
"You better hand over the gym on time!"
Turning on her heels, Natsumi nearly smacked Riko in the face with her ponytail, walking back over to the cheerleading team. "Alright, listen up," she said, taking her clipboard back, her hands glued to her hips. "We only have half an hour left because we have to hand over the gym which we unfortunately share with the basketball team and they are here to pressure me. So, we'll just cut this tryout short. Those who cannot follow this little routine, I'm sorry to say that you didn't make the cut." Giving a signal to two other girls, Natsumi stepped to the side, letting them demonstrate the routine before ushering the first years onto the floor.
"Shigetome-san is so pretty," Koganei sighed.
"She's still so cool."
"Hey, isn't that the first year girl?" Hyuuga asked, pointing in the direction of a certain blonde. "Matsuoka Hayato's daughter, right?"
Completely ignoring Natsumi's comment about not staring, the basketball team stood on the other side of the gym, watching the cheerleading tryout. Their attention was all over the place until Hyuuga pointed out the one girl whose name interested everyone, even (especially) Riko. She looked nothing like her father, something her nanny had always thanked the Lord for. If it were not for her name, she would never be associated with her father. The only thing that was on Riko's mind, however, was that there was a glaring opportunity right in front of her. An opportunity to have a world class player coach their team, even just for a day.
Watching the first years with her arms crossed, Natsumi was joined by a fellow cheerleader. "You like her," the girl smiled. "I told you I found us a good one. I just didn't know that she was this good. Are you going to ask her to join the competition squad?"
"It's still too early to tell, Aoi."
"Oh come on, you know you wanna," Aoi grinned, poking Natsumi's side.
"We shall see," Natsumi said, slapping Aoi's hand as she walked away, clapping her hands to get the attention of those trying out. "Those who remain, I would like to congratulate you. You are now a part of the squad. We have practice every Wednesday and Friday after school. If you are on the competition squad, we have practice in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Please do not be late to the practices, I am not particularly keen on having to apologise to the basketball coach if we run overtime. As you leave, please let Aoi at the door know your size for your uniform."
"The keys, please."
Taking opportunity, Riko approached Natsumi, holding her hand out for the keys to the gym. Natsumi rolled her eyes and took the lanyard off her neck, dangling the keys just above Riko's hand but yanked them away just before the basketball coach could take them. "Actually, I have another two minutes," Natsumi smirked, pointing to the clock at the other end of the gym. She picked up her bags, slinging them over her shoulder and started strolling over to the door. She dropped the keys by the door, looking back to Riko with a smile and gave her a little wave. "Nice to see you again, Aida-san."