Two

The first time Megumi stepped foot onto the Teiko school property was on her first day there.

Before then, Momoi had tried more than once to convince her to visit the place before the day the school term actually started, but Megumi seemed to have an endless flow of excuses, some of them quite ridiculous, stockpiled in order to avoid having to leave her comfortable, temperature and humidity controlled house.

Now, the teal-haired girl was wearing the light blue and white Teiko uniform and stood in front of the school gates, yawning into her hand disinterestedly. The fifteen minute walk to the school was already enough to drain much of Megumi's energy, and she wanted to go to sleep despite having just woken up about an hour ago. Rubbing her eyes with one hand and adjusting the strap of her backpack with the other, she gloomily trudged ahead with lazy, half-lidded eyes.

The large courtyard in front of the main white building was packed with students wearing the same uniform as she and chatting with their friends animatedly, a sharp contrast from Megumi's own dull, even bored, demeanor.

Though she didn't look the least bit happy to be there, the gray-eyed female was actually relatively pleased with her situation. Though she had to force herself out of the bed in the morning, make herself breakfast, and drag her feet for a fifteen minute walk, she didn't mind it too much if it meant going to a school that didn't force her to take athletics class. A small price to pay for a something so beneficial.

"Swimming! Come join the swim club!"

"Sign up for the baseball team here!"

"Basketball! Basketball!"

Ah. Megumi recognized those shouts. Every year, sports teams and clubs recruited extra members by setting up a booth, shouting at new students, and shoving flyers in their faces. It was something that annoyed her most always on the first day of school. She could only take so many sports fanatics getting in her personal space before she got fed up and threw their flyer back at them as a tiny crumpled paper ball.

But this year, Megumi was determined to ignore them and get into the building as soon as possible before one of the recruiters spotted her. Taking out a book about western literature from her bag, she opened it and began to read as she walked, using the covers of the paperback to hide her face.

"Hey, you! Little lady with the Shakespeare book!"

Megumi bristled and froze in her tracks as she heard the male voice call to her. Oh yes, she knew it was directed at her without even turning to make sure because she was very certain that no one else her age would be reading about an old western playwright. Dammit.

Before Megumi could decide whether or not to pretend she didn't hear, the owner of the voice who had addressed her ran up to her. And what do you know? He held out a flyer toward her with the words "Join the Kendo Club!" printed in English. "Have you joined a club yet? If not, how about the kendo club?"

Eyelids instantly drooping with boredom and annoyance, Megumi stopped trying to hide her face behind her book and looked the boy up and down. If he's recruiting members, then he must be a second or third year. So he's a senpai… In all honestly, Megumi wanted to bluntly refuse him and shred the flyer, but she knew that as she got older and went into secondary and high school, respecting upperclassmen will become more and more important. She could get into trouble if she doesn't control her lashing remarks in the presence of the seniors.

Instead of replying how she would have liked to reply, Megumi gritted teeth slightly to get a hold on her agitation with the club recruiter, before forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes and bowed stiffly. "No, thank you, Senpai."

And with that, she turned and left, lifting the book to her face again. She mentally shrugged as she weaved past the hordes of students socializing in the courtyard. That was polite enough, I suppose.

"Soccer! Join the Soccer Club now!"

"Basketball tryouts after school today!"

Megumi kept walking and soon entered the school building, hearing the voices of the club recruiters fading. She let out a puff of relief and started to search for her classroom so that she could sit down and rest her aching feet.

Momoi had offered to help Megumi out around the school on the first day, but the teal-haired girl had declined the proposal, saying that she could just memorize the map that came with the enrollment forms.

And she did. Megumi could very easily picture the colorful, detailed layout of the entire campus as she had seen it printed on paper a few days earlier. She had always been good at memorizing images, and since her photographic memory had never failed her before, Megumi trusted the map inside her head to take her to her classroom efficiently.

Because there was still several minutes before school started, Megumi assumed that she would be the first to get to her room since everyone else was using the extra time to mingle with their friends or sign up for extracurricular activities.

It would seem that everyone had a friend they could stick with for the first day except for Megumi. But these circumstances had never really bothered the teal-headed girl as she was so used to eating lunch alone and never participating in partner work. She wondered if she should refer to Momoi as a friend now or keep their relationship at the acquaintance level. After all. she'd done a lot to help her, Megumi, enroll at Teiko without having to leave the comfort of her house.

Despite her sometime annoying bubbly and energetic personality, Momoi had been kind to Megumi for the weeks they worked to raise the pink-haired female's English grade. She had never once gotten mad at the gray-eyed girl's cold, straightforward way of speaking and taken the harsh criticism when Megumi looked through her failed homework papers. Even when the tutoring wasn't needed anymore, Momoi kept talking to her and visiting her instead of being relieved that her time with Megumi was over.

Come to think of it, Megumi couldn't remember another time when someone had managed to stick with her for so long. Comprehending this realization, she felt a strange warmth on the inside.She even told me about Teiko Middle School and helped me register. Otherwise I wouldn't have known this place existed and would have had to go to some other school that required physical education.

Then, a new feeling that Megumi had never felt before washed over her: guilt. Not once had she sincerely thanked the other girl for everything she had done.

In a way, Momoi had been the one to save Megumi from having to take a cursed gym class by recommending Teiko. If she had not dragged Megumi out into the city and brought up the topic of middle school, who knew what awful place the teal-haired female would have had to attend?

Megumi was suddenly more inclined to update the status of her relationship with Momoi from "acquaintance" to "friend." She also got the nagging thought that she should do something to return her new friend's kindness, something subtle, of course. because there was no way in hell Megumi was going to buy ice cream for her or invite her over to eat lunch together, nothing too sociable. That would be out of character, and surely Momoi would end up teasing her for it.

She recalled Momoi mentioning going to watch the basketball tryouts and evening asking Megumi if she wanted to come too. Her offer was firmly declined since Megumi was focused on going back to her house as soon as possible when school ended. Now, she wasn't so sure.

Megumi contemplated her problem as she walked through the halls crowded with students. An imaginary light bulb suddenly lit up as she neared her classroom. Ah, I know… I'll just go watch the tryouts with Momoi after all. That should make her a little bit happy. If she asks why I went, I'll simply tell her that I was too tired to walk home and needed some entertainment while I regain my energy. Yes, that'll do.

Feeling good about her plan, Megumi entered her classroom, hoping that she was the first one to arrive. That way, she could have some peace and quiet before class started.

To her great shock, as her eyes scanned the room, she found that she was not the only one who came early in hopes of escape from the rowdiness outside.

A single person sat in a chair in the front row with one of his elbows propped up on the surface of the desk and his chin rested on his hand. His other hand was wrapped in bandages, white fingers tapping the table impatiently. When Megumi stepped into the room and walked past him to get to a seat in the second row, he looked up at her briefly through black rimmed glasses with narrow green eyes before staring ahead at the chalkboard again. A large, yellow rubber ducky sat at the corner of his desk, facing him.

As soon a Megumi took a seat in the second row, she realized that, with her ridiculously short height, she could not see anything with that boy, who was abnormally tall, in the row in front of her. The back of his green head blocked half of her view of the front board, and being able to see the board was essential for Megumi to take good notes and have top ranking grades.

Though she didn't really have that much competition for the first place rank in elementary school, Megumi was not so conceited that she would assume it would be that easy to maintain the position in secondary school. There were far more students in one grade than in primary school, and they all came from different places which meant there might be some unknown genius student who could easily take her rank if she's not careful.

The thought of someone else's name written at the top of the exam results poster made Megumi feel sick and without a second thought, she quickly gathered her things and moved to a desk on the front row next to the green-haired giant.

There, the two sat in a silence that was comfortable at first before quickly getting more and more awkward as the only sound in the room was the soft ticking of the clock hanging on the wall.

It was weird; Megumi had never felt discomfort from silence before. It had always been other people who started twitching and twiddles their thumbs in discomfort around her and never the other way around. Megumi was not affected by awkward silences, and yet she suddenly found the stillness almost stifling as she sat next to the green-haired boy who showed no indication of being bothered by the quietness.

The teal-haired girl, however, did not dare say anything to the bespectacled male. If being affected by uncomfortable silences was strange for Megumi, then initiating conversation was completely out of character. She made up her mind to keep quiet, crossed her arms over her chest, leaned back in her chair, and tried to act as casual as possible while she waited for the other students and the teacher to show up.

Soon, other people began filing into the classroom, still talking and laughing, and slowly the quiet was driven out by the noise of middle school kids settling into their seats and fooling around before the teacher arrives.

At one point, a girl walked past Megumi's spot and accidentally bumped into the edge of the desk that belonged to the green-headed boy, causing the rubber ducky to fall off and roll under the gray-eyed female's table.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed when she realized what she had done, bowing repeatedly at the boy in request for forgiveness.

As the girl apologized, Megumi reached down and picked up the rubber duck, examining it curiously.

"Hmph," the owner of the rubber animal regarded the poor girl coldly as he pushed up his glasses a little with taped fingers. "Idiot, watch where you're going next time. That's my lucky item you just knocked over, nanodayo."

"Y-yes!" the girl squeaked in response, clearly intimidated by the boy's height and piercing glare. Then, she bowed once more and hurried away to her friends.

Megumi watched her go with eyes slightly wider than usual. After seeing how the boy treated someone just for knocking over his rubber ducky, Megumi was very glad that she did not try to talk to him while they were alone in the classroom.

"Oi," the teal-haired girl gave a small start when said male's attention was suddenly directed towards her. "Give me back the rubber duck, nanodayo. Now."

Nano…dayo…? The hell? Does he say that after every sentence? Megumi glanced at the squeaky bath toy that was sitting in her hand and back at the male. "Could you as you ask for it more politely?" she inquired, No matter how socially awkward she herself was, Megumi knew that she was not as bad as her new desk neighbor.

"Tch," the male's eyebrows furrowed with irritation. He reached out his right hand to simply take his "lucky item" from her, but Megumi reacted quickly and brought it to her other side, away from the boy and out of his reach.

"Just ask me to give it back nicely," she reasoned, though she knew that if the boy got out of his seat, he would easily overpower her and get the duck back without fulfilling her conditions.

One brow twitching, he sharpened his already narrow eyes with concentration before questioning her seriously, "What blood type are you, nanodayo?"

Megumi blinked. Eh? "Type O. Why?" Normally, she would not have bothered to keep the discussion going by asking why he wanted to know, but Megumi saw a true interest in the boy's eyes that she rarely saw in the people who usually engaged her in conversation; he seriously wanted to know her blood type and wasn't just asking to avoid awkward silences which clearly he was no bothered by. He was genuinely curious which in turn made Megumi curious as to why he was curious.

"Zodiac sign?" he continued, ignoring her question.

"Uh. Scorpio."

With a vaguely intense look in his eyes, the green-haired boy pushed his glasses up again and replied, "Oha Asa said that I'll meet a Scorpio and a Sagittarius today, one of whom will cause me trouble in the near future. I had predicted it would be the Sagittarius since Scorpio and Cancer are usually compatible while Sagittarius and Cancer aren't, but now I'm not so sure." He fixed her with a sharp glare out of the corner of his eye.

Is he actually serious? What the hell is Oha Asa? In response to his dirty look, she just stared back at him dully, wondering how to properly reply to his brief horoscope lesson. "Uh..."

But before Megumi could think of something feasible to say, a middle-aged woman wearing a dress shirt and a pencil skirt walked into the classroom, carrying books and filing folders. Her intelligent brown eyes scanned the students momentarily as they all separated from their friend groups and got into their seats.

Megumi suddenly realized how weird she would look with the rubber ducky displaying on her desk, and hastily tossed it back to the green-haired boy, who caught it with ease.

The teacher set her stuff down on her desk at the front of the room, put on a pair of reading glasses, and pulled out a roster of all the kids in her class. "Good morning, class," she started in a dry tone as if she was reading from a script with no enthusiasm. "My name is Royama-sensei. I will be your homeroom teacher and counselor. I will start by taking roll. Please respond when your name is called. Then I will place you in a seating arrangement based on your surname."

Several groans were heard throughout the room as people understood that they won't be able to sit with whoever they wanted.

Royama-sensei ignored the displeased moans and started with the first name on the list, "Akechi Megumi."

"Here, Royama-sensei," Megumi responded.

"Aomine Daiki."

A voice from the back of the room that Megumi wasn't interested in enough to match a face to, called back, "Here."

"Bokuto Hideko."

"Here."

"… Fukuzawa Hirohisa… Hida Yataro…Itobe Hanami…"

Megumi had hoped that once the teacher made seating arrangements, she would be moved far from the green-haired boy, whom she found out was named Midorima Shintaro, surname starting with "Mido" which was far away from "Ake". But to her dismay, though their surnames were certain to place them apart from each other, the green-eyed boy ended up in the seat right behind her because there were only eight people with surnames in between them.

Megumi had the front row seat next to the window and on the other side of her was someone named Aomine Daiki, a tan-skinned, blue-haired boy who was also oddly tall for his age, maybe even taller than Midorima Shintaro. He had an athletic build, which immediately put Megumi off a bit but looked like an overall nice guy.

At least, the teal-haired girl thought so until she saw him doodling rudimentary pictures of girls with large busts while he was supposed to be taking notes about what the teacher was saying. Megumi was surprised none of the senseis in their first three classes noticed that he wasn't paying attention.

Now that it was lunchtime, Megumi was slightly disappointed that Momoi wasn't in her class, though she would never admit it to the pink-haired girl. Some people started to leave the classroom to find their friends to eat together, but the gray-eyed girl, who had no one to meet up with and who hated going outside, decided to eat in the classroom on her own.

But that idea was quickly disregarded when she noticed with a sweatdrop that Midorima Shintaro had not moved from his seat and was taking out a bento box and a pair of chopsticks, clearly having the same idea as Megumi to stay in the room for the lunch period.

So he doesn't really have any friends either. Just as the teal-haired female was wondering if she should stay or leave to have her own bento elsewhere, a familiar feminine voice called her name cheerfully.

"Megu-chan! Let's have lunch together!" Momoi invited from the doorway of the classroom, waving at her warmly. "Dai-chan and I are going to the roof. Want to come?"

Megumi stared at her for a moment, processing the unfamiliar words.

While she remained indecisive, Momoi skipped toward her desk, followed by Aomine Daiki who was carrying her school bag as well as his own (Dai-chan... Oh. Megumi thought). "Come on, Megu-chan. It's such a nice day; I'm not letting you stay in here when the weather is so pretty."

"Why did you give me a choice in the first place then?" Megumi muttered under her breath, but reluctantly allowed Momoi to take her wrist and pull her out of the chair anyway. "Okay, I'm coming. Let me get my stuff…"

She quickly dug out her own bento box and some chopsticks. Then, she followed Momoi and Aomine Daiki out of the classroom, leaving Midorima Shintaro to his own devices

"So, Megu-chan, this is Dai-chan," Momoi introduced, pointing at her tall, blue-haired friend. "And, Dai-chan, this is Megu-chan. She's the one who—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Aomine said, rubbing the back of his neck as he led the two females to the staircase that went to the roof. "She's the one who tutored your English. You've mentioned her so many times that it was starting to get annoying."

"Well, I was thinking that she could assist you too," Momoi persisted. "Your math grade really needs help; I'm actually kind of worried as to how you'll graduate to high school if you keep this up."

Aomine waved one of his hands dismissively while the other reached for the knob of the door that led to the rooftop. "I don't know what, but there's something about your notes that lets me pass every time. As long as I copy them before exams, I'll be fine. Stop worrying, Satsuki."

Momoi put her hands on her hips and pouted slightly but followed Aomine through the doorway.

The rooftop was vacant at the moment, but Megumi was sure that it would be more occupied in several minutes, being a relatively popular spot for eating with friends.

The three first-years sat in a row along the railing that ran along the edge of the platform and opened their lunches.

"Anyway," Momoi continued, sitting in between the teal-haired girl and Aomine, "it's great that you two are in the same class. When I realized I wasn't in Dai-chan's class, I was nervous about how he would do without me." She flashed a bright grin in Megumi's direction. "But I think he'll be okay if he has someone as smart as you sitting right next to him, Megu-chan."

"I guess…" Megumi wondered if she should mention the doodles she saw in Aomine's notebook.

"Hmm? Your bento is so small, Megu-chan," Momoi commented with a tilt of her head, intrigued by the abnormally tiny bento in the other girl's lap.

Megumi took out her chopsticks before carefully opening the box and replied without looking at the other girl, "I told you, Momoi, I don't eat much. Most things don't taste that good anyway…"

The gray-eyed girl's lunch box consisted of four little compartments with some rice in the largest one, a bundle of green apple slices in the next biggest, a vegetable stir fry and a couple slices of cooked fish in the last two spaces. Nothing special.

Momoi looked at the bento in wonder, her eyes twinkling in admiration, "You eat so healthily, Megu-chan," she exclaimed. Then, she seemed to realize that there were virtually no sweets or candies in the box. "But isn't it a bit bland without a desert?"

Megumi shrugged indifferently, putting a piece of fish in her mouth and swallowing before answering, "Doesn't matter. Everything tastes the same to me."

"What do you mean 'everything tastes the same'?" the pink-haired girl questioned with a hint of worry in her eyes. She gasped quietly when a suspicion swam its way into her brain, and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, Megu-chan… Don't tell me you're anorexic? No, please don't be—"

Megumi almost dropped her eating utensils in shock. She twitched before whirling on Momoi angrily, "Of course not, you idiot! I just don't particularly like any foods, so I don't find pleasure in eating. But since I have to consume food in order to stay alive, I might as well make it healthy food. Was that so hard to guess?"

Momoi was now placing a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "That's really interesting, Megu-chan. I've never met someone who dislikes eating." She then smiled at her brightly. "But there must besomething you like eating, and I'm going to help you find it. I'll make you a bento tomorrow with some of my favorites, and you can try it."

Megumi sputtered at the same time, for reasons unknown to the teal-headed female, Aomine choked on the hamburger doused in teriyaki sauce he was having for lunch.

As the blue-haired boy coughed violently, Megumi tried to dissuade Momoi of her decision to make a bento for her, "Wait, Momoi, you don't have to—"

"No objections, Megu-chan," the taller girl interrupted firmly with her hands planted on her hips again. "Don't worry; I've made bentos for Dai-chan before, right, Dai-chan?" she asked with the most innocent smile.

Aomine looked a bit pale when she focused her attention on him but nodded unconvincingly to her question. However, as soon as Momoi turned her back to him again, the tan-skinned boy frantically made warning gestures at Megumi over her shoulder.

The inner clockwork of Megumi's mind tried to figure out what Aomine was trying to get across, but before she could figure it out, Momoi abruptly closed discussion on the topic of bentos, declaring that she was going to make a bento for the gray-eyed girl whether she liked it or not.

The rest of the lunch period passed with the pink-headed female telling stories about herself and Aomine when they were younger and Megumi trying to understand what the boy had been so worried about when Momoi offered to make a bento for her.

When the last class of the day was over, Megumi packed up her things and almost forgot that she had settled at going to watch the basketball tryouts with her pink-haired friend. She let out a loud exhale, eyelids drooping when she remembered that she would not get to go home like she had thought. With one strap of her bag dangling off of her shoulder tiredly and her long teal braid starting to fall apart throughout the day, Megumi's weary demeanor reminded several of her classmates of a homeless person trudging on the streets.

"Akechi-san, please wait a moment."

Megumi froze in the middle of a step, her mouth still open in a wide yawn when she heard Royama-sensei's voice call to her. "Hmm?" she turned back around with dull eyes to the teacher sitting in front of the chalkboard. "Yes, Royama-sensei," she said with the most interested tone she could muster. The last of the students left the classroom as Megumi approached the teacher's desk. She wondered if she was in trouble.

Royama-sensei placed her elbows on the her table and folded her hands together under her chin, gazing at Megumi through thin glasses. "I just received a notice from the director of athletics concerning your sports choice."

Megumi's brow furrowed in confusion, and an unpleasant shiver ran down her spine as she realized that something was wrong. All her previous indifference was quickly replaced with anxiety as she responded hesitantly, "Err… I didn't sign up for a sport, ma'am."

"That's the problem," the older woman said and went on, not noticing the color drain from Megumi's already naturally pale face. "Of course, we'll give you another day to decide which one you want to participate in since we do offer a lot of choices, but we'll need your answer soon. Our sports teams are very serious and start practice this week."

Megumi was now mildly trembling as she processed the words. Wait, what about not having a gym class? She tried to calm herself. "I am required to do a sport?" she asked in a somewhat meek, but hopeful voice, praying to all the heavens that the teacher would shake her head.

Royama-sensei nodded, and the teal-haired girl's entire world and faith in a kind higher power shattered into a million little pieces.

She stood there as an empty shell for a few seconds, feeling like she had crumpled to ashes and the wind was blowing her away. Only the wave of Royama-sensei's hand in front of her face brought her back into reality which really wasn't much better than her imagination.

"You may go now, Akechi-san. Just remember to turn in your sports application before this time tomorrow. Have a good afternoon." The teacher dismissed her and walked out of the classroom, holding a stack of papers and heading home for the day.

For another several seconds, Megumi remained in the same spot she was standing when Royama-sensei told her the news. After those several seconds, she blinked once, twice, having fully comprehended her situation. Then, where once dry emptiness was, there suddenly came a burning anger so intense that Momoi, sitting in the first gym on the other side of the campus, felt an unexplained chill.

A/N: Hmm… How was I at writing Midorima, Aomine, and Momoi? If you don't already know, keeping canon characters in character is what I am poorest at. I think I try too hard to keep them from going OOC that I end up making them OOC. What do you think? Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in the reviews. As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope to get the next update out soon.

Next time: How will Megumi deal with her serious problem? What sport will she up joining (that's pretty obvious)? How will Momoi handle the wrath of the hermit? Find out next time!