"I wonder why I didn't see it there before"
The moment the bus stopped, Hinata and Kurumi leaped out in a state of nervousness while the other players filed out without a care in the world.
"I'm sorry!" They bowed in unison several times to different people as the rest of the team started to scatter to explore the new school grounds.
"It's fine!" Tanaka tied the triple layer vinyl bag with the gross jersey, making sure that it didn't contaminate anything else.
"You were heavy and you almost drooled on me," Tsukishima glared at Kurumi, having no intention of letting her off easily.
Kurumi looked to the side, observing how kindly and affectionately Tanaka was handling Hinata. It was a picturesque moment of how an upperclassman should be treating an underclassman, being there to comfort and assure the nervous underclassman that everything was going to be alright. Compared to the situation Kurumi found herself in, she made a mental note to herself that she would one day become the kind of person people would look up to, not physically, but mentally. But Kurumi realized that this was not the day her dreams would be realized as currently she was getting reprimanded by a tall yet younger male.
"It's not my fault that I was tired," she pouted as Tsukishima kept reprimanding her.
"Just know that we're switching seats next time," Tsukishima said, wanting to avoid another uncomfortable mishap like that again.
She watched him throw insults at her and complain at her and everything that he said went in one ear and went out the other. Tsukishima was so difficult to deal with she thought. She wondered how Yamaguchi did it. Perhaps Yamaguchi got some special treatment and she thought about if a day would come when Tsukishima would come to respect her as he respected Yamaguchi. However, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thwack on her forehead.
"Ow!" Kurumi put both her hands on her forehead in pain, "What was that for?"
"You weren't listening, stupid," Tsukishima shrugged, suppressing a small grin. He had to admit, she produced the most interesting expressions when she was angry.
"I was listening!" She complained while looking for an opening to deliver the same pain to him.
"You weren't-" Another thwack resonated as this time Kurumi hit Tsukishima but not exactly at the same spot he hit her.
"You hit my nose," Tsukishima said calmly, which was scarier than when he was yelling at her.
"Oh, I missed," She grinned sheepishly as his nose started to turn red, "it's not my fault I'm short,"
Tsukishima pinched his nose as his frustration with the girl started to boil up. Noticing that Tsukishima was on the verge of explosion, Kurumi quickly ran away to a safe spot next to Daichi where she hoped she would be safe.
"Wow, so this is Aobajousai High…" Kurumi walked around looking like a tourist with her camera strapped on her neck.
"It just looks like a regular school, I don't understand why you're so excited about this," Tsukishima pointed out, successfully dampening Kurumi's mood.
"Aobajousai…" Kageyama muttered under his breath.
The Karasuno players marched around like little soldiers on the battlefield on the way to the gymnasium. As they were about to turn the corner, they could faintly hear petty gossip coming from the other side about Karasuno and Kageyama. For some reason that Kurumi did not fully understand, she also felt insulted although she was not getting insulted directly. She rolled her sleeves up, ready to have a go at them.
Kurumi puffed up like a pufferfish and huffed, "What right do they have to say that kind of stuff, who do they think they are? What cowards!"
Just as she was about to give them a piece of her mind, Tanaka put his arm in front of her and with the most gentlemanly voice and gesture he could muster said, "let me,"
As soon as Tanaka realized the gossipers were talking about them, his face distorted into the face of a criminal and Kurumi quietly hid behind Yamaguchi, sensing something scary was going to happen. Kurumi realized that an angry Tanaka would be more effective than an angry Kurumi and she let him take the spotlight. Inevitably the two groups met and it looked like a chess match between the black uniformed Karasuno and the white uniformed Aobajousai.
Kurumi watched quietly from behind as Tanaka and Tsukishima successfully intimidated the Aobajousai players with their words and their height. She was surprised that Tsukishima had taken part in this spat with Tanaka. Tsukishima did not seem like the type and she thought that he would just see it as petty drama and would merely observe on the sidelines. But for the first time since she had met him, she thought that he looked somewhat… cool kind of like a hero. That sly grin of his as he looked down at the Aobajousai members sent shivers down her back but at the same time, there was a strange attractive quality to his behavior that she just could not shake. But her admiration was cut short as Daichi came to the rescue, which made Tsukishima retreat behind Kurumi.
Kurumi blatantly stared at Tsukishima as he successfully integrated himself as an onlooker.
"What are you looking at?" Tsukishima noticed her staring up at him with a sparkle in her eye and it made him nervous.
"You… were cool," Kurumi quietly admitted, still in a daze.
"What?" Tsukishima leaned over to match her eyelevel. He could have sworn she said something but he was not sure if his ears were deceiving him because something like that could not have come out of her mouth. Kurumi was brought back to reality by Tsukishima's sudden movement and she quickly brushed away any admiration she had felt and revised her statement.
"You… can be a good guy too," She smiled at him, hoping that he had not heard her previous statement.
"Hmph," He stood up straight and dusted his pants, "I never said I wasn't,"
Just as Kurumi was going to open her mouth, the word, "Your Highness," rang in her ear and their conversation was cut short as an immense wave of tension filled the atmosphere as the Aobajousai player greeted Kageyama. Gaining more confidence from the tension, the white jacketed player continued and asked, "What sort of dictatorship will you subject them to? I'm looking forward to it,"
Kurumi froze at his words and she concentrated her attention to Kageyama, whose expression had stiffened immediately. Tsukishima also glanced behind, curious to see what Kageyama's response would be. Sugawara and Daichi looked on nervously as Tanaka seemed ready to punch the Aobajousai player. But Kageyama rapidly regained his posture and simply replied with, "sure,"
It was then the smile returned to the team and Sugawara and Tanaka gave a friendly slap to Kageyama. At that gesture, Kurumi let go of the breath that she had been holding in and grinned. Out of curiosity, she glanced back at the Aobajousai player, who looked on with shock. Kurumi, feeling courageous, ran back to him and stuck out her tongue at him.
Kindaichi stood frozen in his position and wondered what in the world was going on.
It's been too long that I've forgotten everything so I had to go and reread it to jog my memory. Whoops. I forgot that I had been writing this until I got an email in my inbox 2 days ago about it... HOWEVER, I am happy to inform you that I plan on seeing this through until the day the manga ends (which won't be for a while I hope). Reviews would be nice as I haven't been writing for a while... but anyways, thanks for sticking with me through my long breaks and I hope you'll continue to stay with me!