Disclaimer: I do not own any characters other than my ocs
"Eh, why is this so hard to find my classroom?" I groaned out loud when I noticed that I had just passed the same recycling bin again.
Pausing in the middle of the hall I scratched the back of my head and swiveled my head around in hopes of finding my classroom.
After leaving Hinata to face this so called Kageyama fellow I had gone to the main building and gathered all my necessary papers before leaving. Although the secretary had been more than willing to call the class representative from my new homeroom I had wanted to avoid an awkward meeting and had assured her I could find the classroom on my own. However, almost ten minutes later and I was still lost.
"If I don't find my class soon then I'm going to be late and that will definitely be awkward," I sighed,
Even though classes hadn't started yet the floor I was on was completely vacant which probably meant that everyone was now settling into their classrooms. Deciding this time I would try the next floor I made my way to the staircase and took the steps two at a time.
Reaching the next floor I was relieved to see that my classroom was actually at the end of the hall. Jogging slowly to the other end of the floor I couldn't help but peer into the classrooms I passed. I wasn't completely sure but I had a feeling that Hinata was a first year like me so as I passed the classes I tried to find a shock of orange wild hair.
As I passed the second to last classroom my eyes widen at the sight of a tuft of orange hair that was poking out from the middle of a group of boys. From where I was looking I couldn't tell for sure and although I could have gone closer to peer in I was too shy and decided against it and instead headed straight for my homeroom instead.
Stopping just in front of the door I ignored the loud bell the signified the beginning of first period and fidgeted with my uniform. I wanted to look perfect before stepping in, I didn't want to give anyone any more of a reason to stare at me than they already did.
"Ah, are you Mina Hashimoto?" A voice boomed from behind me,
Turning around quickly I saw a somewhat tall man with kind and easy looking brown eyes staring at me, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said sheepishly, bowing his head slightly he smiled, "I'm Mr. Ken Nakahara, I was told I should be expecting a new student…is that you?"
Nodding quickly I stuck out my hand but quickly pulled it behind my back and bowed instead, "Yes, I'm Mina Hashimoto, I'm sorry that I'm late but I was having trouble looking for the classroom,"
"Ah, don't apologize," Mr. Nakahara chuckled almost bashfully, "I can imagine that your old school was much different from here,"
Nodding sheepishly I shrugged, "my school back home was much smaller than this but had twice as many students, I wasn't expecting it to be this hard to find the room though."
Laughing at my honesty, Mr. Nakahara nodded, "Hmm, I'm glad you were able to find it though, it would have be a little nerve racking to go in the middle of class,"
"It would have been," I agreed growing more comfortable, "ah, but should I go in now?"
"Hmm, let me go in first and just settle everyone down, I'll call you in once everyone is calm." He said with a smile before disappearing into the classroom.
Okay Mina, don't freak out, you can do this!
Slapping myself softly on the cheeks I took some deep breaths,
"Ms. Hashimoto you may come in now," Mr. Nakahara called,
Sucking in a deep breath of air pushed the sliding door aside and step in. Almost instantly I could feel all thirty-five pairs of eyes focused on me.
As I made my way over to stand next to Mr. Nakahara I couldn't stop myself from looking down at my feet as a means to avoid meeting everyone's gaze.
"As I explained earlier class 1-5 will be receiving a new student today," Mr. Nakahara chirped, placing a hand on my shoulder I forced myself to meet his gaze, "why don't you let the class know a little about yourself?"
Prying my eyes away from him I forced myself me look at the class and clenched my hands nervously at my side, "Uh Hello my name-" I started in English. Shaking my head slightly I took a deep breath in started over in Japanese, "Hello, my name is Mina Hashimoto, I'm 16 years old and just transferred from the United States. Uh, I know you might have a few questions about me and I just want to let you know that I don't mind answering them…"
For a moment no one said a word but then almost instantly hands began shooting up in all directions,
"Are you black or Japanese?" Someone yelled from the back of the room,
"How come your Japanese is so good?" someone else questioned loudly,
"Where are you from and why are you joining the semester so late?" Someone else bellowed,
Twiddling my thumbs I tried my best to answer all the questions as best as I could, "Uh I'm half Japanese and half Khosian, my father is Japanese so I've pretty much spoken it all my life along with English. Eh, I'm from the states but my older sister lives out here and uh well um…she asked me to move here and finish up my high school education here so uh that's why I'm here so late…"
Once again even more hands shot up which started to overwhelm me. I didn't mind answering their questions but at the same time I wasn't expecting so many either,
"Settle down everyone," Mr. Nakahara broke in as students continued to fire questions at me, "I'm sure Ms. Hashimoto meant that you could ask her questions after class,"
Shooting a grateful smile at him he merely grinned back, "now are there any free seats available?"
"There's one back here, in front of Mirai-san!" Someone piped from the back of the room,
"Is that okay with you?" Mr. Nakahara asked me,
Nodding in response he gestured for me to go take my seat.
As I made my way to my seat students shot me small little smiles and mumbled their hellos which I shyly responded back to. Once I reached my seat I started to place my backpack in down only to freeze when I felt an intense aura.
Slowly looking up I couldn't help but sweat-drop when I saw that the girl who I assumed to be Mirai was looking at me with wide dark blue eyes and an unreadable expression.
We held eye contact for about ten seconds before her overwhelming presence caused me to look away and quickly sit down.
Eh, why is she staring at me like that?! Can't she tell she's making me nervous?!
For the next fifty minutes I tried desperately to focus on the slightly difficult math lesson but found myself focusing more on the intense presence behind me.
Every time I casted a hesitant glance over my shoulder I would meet Mirai's intense stare. It was almost as if she was trying to see right through the back of my head.
Fidgeting slightly in my seat I kept telling myself to simply ignore her and focus on the lesson, after all math was one of my best subjects so no matter how complicated the lesson was I knew I'd be able to understand the concepts once I focused.
As the lesson carried on, Mr. Nakahara would make it a point to callout to me and ask me if I was following or having any issues which I'd always assure him that it was fine and that I understood.
Thankfully in the middle of one of his more complicated concepts the bell rang signaling that the first period had ended and the second one would start shortly.
Apologizing to the class for not closely following the time, Mr. Nakahara left us with some homework and assured us that we'd finish the last concept tomorrow.
As he made his way out of the room the students suddenly perked up and began chatting amongst themselves. Even though I figured everyone was friendly I still felt too self-conscious to engage in any type of conversation with anyone so instead of looking welcoming and engaging I pretended to intensely focused in my notes and even jotted down some notes of my own.
The next three periods carried on somewhat like the first. The teacher would walk in, greet me and make small talk while the rest of the class would try to throw in some questions at me which I answered. And just like earlier, Mirai continued to focus her laser like gaze at the back of my head.
Fortunately, time seemed to be flying by today. By the time the fourth bell rang signaling the end of social science students were already pushing their desk together and huddling for lunch.
Reaching into my own bag, I realized that I had forgotten my own bento lunch in my cubicle in the main locker area.
Quickly standing up, I skirted around clustered desk and made my way to get my lunch.
As I walked down the halls, students who were walking by in groups or alone would stare at me almost with surprise and confusion but then would quickly smile and wave before returning to their conversations or personal business.
Turning right to take the stares down stare a shiver crawled up my back. Freezing for a moment, I started to tremble as I craned my neck only to see Mirai standing a few feet away from me just staring at me with her intense eyes and a shadow casted over the top half of her face.
Eh?! What does she want?!
Quickly taking the stairs down I could hear her speeding up in an attempt to catch up to me,
"Hey wait!" A high pitch voice protested,
Not even bothering to listen I took the steps more hurried and rushed down to the next landing,
"Hey I said wait Michelle!"
Freezing up I stopped mid way down the stairs. Loud thuds clomped down behind me and then the sounds of heavy breathing,
"Ah! I knew it was you Michelle! Wow you run so fast, I had a hard time catching up to you!"
"W-what did you say?" I croaked nervously as I turned to face a now smiling Mirai,
"Michelle?" Mirai asked in a somewhat confused yet chipper voice "you're Michelle right?"
"N-no I'm not!" I denied shakily,
H-how did she know?!
Leaning forward with her hands on her hips, Mirai studied me for a moment before crossing her arms, "Eh? What do you mean, I know it's you, your eyes give it away Michelle,"
Growing angry I took a step back and glared at her, "I don't know what you're talking about so leave me alone," Spinning on me heels I was about to dash downstairs when her voice stop me,
"You're Michelle Mina Hashimoto, the third daughter of Daisuke and Helena Hashimoto. You are 172.72 cm and weigh 56.25 kg. You ranked fifth overall in the junior international division for women's volleyball when you were 13 years old and received the honorary junior international title for best setter in your division in the same year. Your favorite food is rice balls with pickled radish centers and you hate anything that is excessively sweet. After your mother's death three years ago your dad fell into a crippling depression and resigned from the U.S.A Olympic volleyball team while your second eldest sister Emi moved out of the country. Unlike you, your oldest sister Hana went on to replace your mom on the-"
Without warning, I swung around and gripped Mirai but the color of her shirt and dragged her down the stairs, into the girls' washroom and into a vacant stall then slammed the door shut.
Frowning deeply I studied her smiling face for a moment before giving her a slight shake, "Oi, how do you know all that?"
"I'm your biggest fan! It's my job to know all that!" Mirai cried out with an insulted tone as if I had asked her a stupid question.
Slapping a hand over her mouth I urged her to quiet down. Once I figured she was calm enough I removed my hand and took a small step back, before I could say something, Mirai pulled me into a tight bear hug and began squealing,
"I can't believe I'm really touching you! I'm your biggest fan! Ah you aren't as tall as I thought you'd be, ah wow you are so pretty! Oh- what am I doing?!" Mirai exclaimed, blushing deeply she let me go and bowed a full ninety degrees "I'm Mirai Takahashi," suddenly straighten up, I flattened myself against the stall door as I took in her crazy eyes for a moment.
Clasping my hands in hers, Mirai leaned forwards again "I'm so sorry about earlier, when I first saw you in class I was in shock, at first I thought I was dreaming, I mean there is no way someone like you could ever be someone like here! You are like a god- a legend- a hero- my hero!"
Sweat dropping at her sincerity I pried a hand away and scratched the back of my head, "eh…thanks?"
Gasping as if I had slapped her, Mirai threw her hands on my shoulders and shook me violently, "I should be apologizing! It's me who is scum which is touching you Mina-sama!"
"Eh don't call me that!"
"Mina-dono?"
"Just call me Mina please,"
"L-like friends? Like close friends- does this make us friends?!" Mirai stammered excited,
Shrinking away from her I shrugged, "eh, sure?"
Squealing excited I quickly clamped my hand over her mouth again. This time I studied her. Unlike before she no longer seemed super intimidating, instead with her pale white skin, wide dark blue eyes and long black hair which were pulled into two low pig-tails she looked completely unthreatening and even cute.
"But all that stuff before where did you get that information?"
Pushing my hand way she beamed at me, "from U.S.A sports monthly! I'm only subscribed for the volleyball issues though since you are- I mean were my favorite player I read everything about you!"
"Oh…"
"Speaking of which, can I ask you some things?" Not even bothering to wait for my reply she started firing her questions, "you mentioned that you are living with your older sister, is it Hana because if it is can I meet her? Oh is it Emi?! Can I meet her?! Where is your dad? Is it true that your mom's really dead I heard some theories saying that she's hiding after the last tournament humiliation, why aren't you playing? Are you planning to play here? Oh- are you going to join the volleyball team here?!"
Sweat-dropping I tried to gesture for her to calm down, "eh, I'm living with Emi and no? I don't know where my dad is, my mom is really dead…um, no I don't play anymore and no."
"Ah," nodding as if I had just gave her the meaning to life Mirai instantly perked up again, "well, I won't pry anymore into your life…for now."
Laughing nervously, I pushed the stall door open and exited it, "um then I'm going to get my lunch,"
"I'll come with you! Oh, I can be like your unofficial official tour guide!"
As we made our way out of the bathroom Mirai began enthusiastically explaining to me everything I should know about the school. She pointed out some shortcuts, told me which foods to avoid in the cafeteria and even showed me a neat trick to get two drinks from the vending machine while only having to pay for one.
When the bell chimed and signaled the beginning of fifth period and last we headed for the gym. Unfortunately the school goofed and forgot send me my gym uniform so the teacher allowed me to sit out for today's class. Although Mirai seemed jealous that I managed to get out of gym I couldn't help but be jealous of her. I liked gym, it was one time out of the entire school day where I got to get out of my seat and move freely.
Watching the kids from the sidelines I reflected on what had happened earlier and grew slightly anxious.
When I first moved here, Emi had assured me that no one would even recognize me. Unfortunately she was wrong. The only reason why I had agreed to move out here with her was because of the luxury of being unknown. I wanted to disappear and become irrelevant. I didn't want anyone to look at me and question me about what had happen to my family, I wanted to be a nobody but clearly I wouldn't get that.
Pulling my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them I buried my face in my legs. Who would have figured on my first day of school in the rural parts of Japan I would end up running into someone who knew my past and happened to be one of my biggest self proclaimed biggest fans? I knew this could have been a fluke but now I was scared, what if there were others like her who knew me? Would I get my fresh start that I wanted?
"Hey, are you alright?"
Looking up, I saw Mirai panting slightly with a worried expression on her face, not bothering to wait for a reply she plopped down next me she poked my arm, "you don't look that well, you could skip out on cleaning today and go to the nurse office if you want,"
Looking around me I looked back at her, "class is over?"
"Yeah, Ms. Yoshiro let us go ten minutes early; do you need me to take you to the nurse office?"
"Ah, no I'm fine I was just wondering…um…are there other people like you?"
Pointing at herself, Mirai tilted her head and raised a brow, "me?"
"I meant any fans?"
Looking up to the sky Mirai scrunched her face up in concentration, "probably, we do have two volleyball clubs. I'm not sure about the girls though. They don't seem to be too obsessed with the sport but maybe the guys might know about you, they have some die had players- especially the first years,"
Panicking a little I widen my eyes, "d-do you know them?"
"Yes!" Mirai chirped, "Uh but not personally, I mean I know of them but I could always point them out to you,"
Jumping up I clapped my hands together, "that would be helpful!"
"Well then follow me!" Grabbing my wrist Mirai dragged me to the far end of the school- the same spot where I had ditched Hinata that morning.
Looking around me and shielding my face with my free hand I tried to see if I could see any of the members for myself.
"Okay, we're going to have to hide here," Mirai said pointing a bush near the entrance of a gym, "we'll be able to look in through the window and see anyone who walks in!"
"Eh, are we hiding for my benefit or yours?" I asked sweating dropping,
"Both!" Mirai exclaimed confidently while blushing,
Crouching behind the bush Mirai motioned me to half crouch half walk towards a window that would allow us to peer into the gym,
"You seem to know a lot of about sneaking around," I mumbled with a side long look and smirk,
Swatting my arm, Mirai pointed into the gym, "okay so it looks like the entire team isn't there right now but they should be on their way soon so I'll just let you know about the ones here,"
Following her gaze I noticed that Hinata was inside talking to some bald guy who was standing bare chest with his shirt in hand,
"Okay that chibi orange shrimp is Hinata Shoyo, he's a first year and the mid-blocker for the team,"
"Eh? But he's so short!"
"Mhm, but you'll understand once you see him play,"
Smirking at her I wiggled my brows, "so I'm going to go ahead here and assume that you've been stalking these guys for a while,"
"S-shut up! Anyway, that bald guy there is Tanaka Ryunosuke, he's a second year student the team's wing spiker- he's always yelling and being loud not to mention he can never keep his shirt on."
"Hmm, who's that?" I asked pointing to a tall blond guy with glasses who was glaring at a tall mean looking guy with dark hair,
"Ah, that's Kei Tsukishima a first year and he also the team's middle blocker and that one is Tobio Kageyama- he's also a first year and the official team setter"
"That's Kageyama?!" I repeated, peering closely I had to admit that he looked just as mean and intimidating as he sounded this morning,
"Yeah, why…do you have a crush on him or something?" Mirai asked with a questioning look, "because if you do then good luck with that,"
"Ah! I was just asking!" Blushing slightly I pointed at a boy who appeared to be even shorter than Hinata, "who's that?"
"Ugh," Mirai shuttered dramatic, "that's Yu Nishinoya, a second year and the team's libero- also he's a loud mouth who told the team that I was stalking them, pfft, as if!"
"Uh…isn't this considered stalking?" I teased, "Who's that one? The one with the dark green hair?"
"Uh, that's, uh…he, um, T-tadashi Yamaguchi," Mirai stammered and let out a tiny squeal, "he's a first year and the team's pinch server,"
"Hmm, what's this? Are you blushing? Does someone have a crush on him?" I asked with a sly grin,
"Eh?! Don't look at me like that! You look like a cat that found its prey!"
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it. Anyway, what about those three over there?"
"Eh?" Standing up on her knees, Mirai squinted hard, "I honestly have no clue."
Before I could question her on that a loud, booming voice bellowed somewhere off to the side, "Oi!"
Eyes widening, Mirai grabbed my hand and threw herself stomach flat into the ground and then gesture to me to do the same. Not bothering to ask why I did but only because the voice had sounded terrifying,
"Ya! Come out from wherever you're hiding damn it!" A grumpy yet angry voice snapped in a scary tone,
Peeking out from our hiding spot I noticed a blond, spiky hair man in a bright red track suit stomping about only a few feet away from us,
"That's Ukai Keishin, he just became the coach and he's really scary,"
"Why is he screaming though?" I whispered,
"Ah Calm down Ukai I'm sure it's just that first year girl again," a mellow voice said,
Covering my mouth and averting my eyes away from Mirai's angry yet embarrassed glare I started to laugh, "Oh, so they know you?"
"N-no! They know of me though! Besides I'm not here all the time!" she replied defensively,
"Suga-san's right Ukai, besides it's not like she's doing anything bad,"
"Shut up Ashai! She could be spying on us," Ukai hollered causing the boy called Ashai to look pathetically hurt and turn away which in turn caused Suga to sweat drop and pat the taller boy's back,
"What's with all the screaming?" A familiar and shrill voice yelled, hopping out of gym I saw that Hinata as well as the other boys inside the gym had come out and were all sending looks of either annoyance, concern or boredom to their coach.
"Ukai thinks that first year girl who always hangs out around here is spying on us," a boy with cropped, tousled brown hair explained,
"Wah!? A Spy?! We should look around Daichi!" Nishinoya yelled angrily causing Hinata and Tanaka to agree with just as much enthusiasm,
"Okay this is ridiculous, we need to leave," I mumbled, getting up to crawl away Hinata's head suddenly whipped in our direction.
Freezing I wasn't sure if I should move or not. I knew from where we were there was no possible way Hinata could see us but with the way he was staring intently at our hiding spot I started to doubt myself.
Just as he took a step in our direction, Kageyama suddenly whipped his hand out and gripped Hinata tightly by the hair, "Baka what are you do?!"
"Wah! Let go!"
Bickering back and forth Daichi suddenly gripped both juniors by the back of their neck and pried them apart with a hauntingly scare look on his face, "cut it out both of you."
"Y-yes."
Breathing out a sigh of relief I got back onto my stomach.
"What were you looking at Hinata?" Tanaka asked curiously,
"I thought I smelt Mina…" Hinata replied slowly turning his head in our direction again,
"Wait how does he know you?" Mirai asked turning to me with a small knowing smirk,
"Ohhh" the boys chorused causing Hinata to blush furiously,
"A girl? Chibi-san has a girlfriend?" Tsukishima hummed with a condescending smirk only causing Hinata to blush even more,
"Shut up! N-no, I met a girl today on my way to school," Hinata explained quickly, "I accidently hit her with my bike and when I landed on her I caught a whiff of strawberries and I just smelt strawberries again so I thought maybe it was her!"
"You perverted little dog you!" Tanaka and Nishinoya yelled teasingly,
"Tsk, baka, you should have looked where you were going," Kageyama muttered,
"Well was she cute?" Tanaka asked excitedly,
"What did she look like?!" Nishinoya added just as excitedly,
Blushing slightly I watched intently as Hinata played with the question in his mind.
"Hmm, mhm, she had bright sea foam green eyes and was tall…she had short hair with a red hair band in it and well her smile was nice," Hinata mumbled looking embarrassed causing all the boys to either smirk or raise their eyebrows, "she said she was only half Japanese, she mentioned she was k-ko- uh I don't know how to say it but either way I guess…I guess she was cute,"
Once again, the boys let out a chorus of ohhs,
"But she's not my type!" Hinata hollered in an embarrassed and meek tone.
I'm not your type?! I thought crossly,
"She's taller than me and I don't think I'm her type either…we'd look funny together…" he trailed off quietly,
"Ah! Mina-sama please don't stand up they'll see us!" Mirai begged as she tried to stop me from standing,
"Tsk, we're wasting time," Kageyama remarked rather coldly, turning on his heels he marched back into the gym.
Perking up almost instantly, Hinata jumped up and yelled, "Oi Kageyama send me a toss so I can spike!" Running in after him the rest of the boys followed all sweat dropping and chatting amongst themselves.
Giving one last threatening look across the empty quad, Ukai finally entered the gym and slid the door shut behind me.
"Yeesh, that was close!" Mirai breathed finally releasing her iron like grip from my arm.
"Did you hear him?!" I practically shouted while gesturing wildly to the gym "how am I not his type? I'm everybody's type- I'm adorable!"
Letting out a weak laugh Mirai threw her face into her fold arms, "I'm just glad that they didn't come over here,"
Grunting a reply, Mirai nudged me, "okay, now let's get out of here before someone actually spots us,"
Agreeing we started to stand up when we suddenly heard a rustling off to our right,
Whipping our heads to the sound we found ourselves only an arm length away from a blonde hair girl who had a single high pigtail secured on one side of her head staring back at us with light brown eyes with an eerie calmness.
Bowing her head slowly, she finally looked back with a fearful small smile, "P-please…please don't kill me."
A/N: Hmm, wonder who that blonde girl is
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a review on what you think of the characters so far!