I do not own Haikyu!

東峰 旭

Azumane Asahi had to be one of the most gossiped about students at Karasuno High School. With his tall height, broad physique, and matured face, he was the center of unwanted attention. Though, it would be later mentioned that he did not quite reach the requirement in personality that would be expected for he was rather weak-hearted, disappointing a number of the females that knew him.

That's why when he heard rumors going around the school that were not about him, he was quick to eavesdrop (though he did feel slightly guilty about doing so).

Mei, a big busted first year in his class, was talking to a group of girls, her loud voice piercing the room during lunch hour.

"I heard there's a yanki attending our school now. She's loud and mean and covered in piercings."

"I hear her dad is part of the Yakuza," one of the other girls he didn't know in the group said.

Asahi paled a little bit in his seat. Yanki? Yakuza? She sounded terrifying. How could the school let somebody in like that! Maybe they paid the principle to let her in. Or maybe they even threatened for her to attend!

That's why when Asahi later bumped into her, literally, on his way home from volleyball practice, he felt his soul leave his body.

She was every bit as terrifying as they had described. She was tall, as tall as him, and her hair was wild. It was polychromatic, dyed a mixture of earthly tones such as blonde, red, brown, and black, all pulled up into a high messy ponytail. Then there was all the metal adorning her face. Not covering the entirety, but definitely a concerning number of piercings. She had one on her lower lip, two on one eyebrow, and a septum; and her right ear had a lot more than her left.

"S-Sorry," he stuttered out, sweat rolling off of him in waves.

The girl stared right at him, dark lined eyes unblinking.

Then she smiled and Asahi didn't know how to take it. Because it wasn't a smirk nor full of malice, it was warm and radiated friendliness.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I hadn't noticed you there either."

Asahi blanched.

Her eyes widened in obvious concern.

"Hey. . . Are you okay?"

Oh, she really made him nervous. With her skirt that was a little too short to be worn in public, least of all school; her shoes spotted with multiple neon colors; and her untucked and slightly unbuttoned top with the vest missing. She looked every bit rebellious as gossiped.

A hand waved in front of his face and Asahi nearly jumped five feet in the air.

"Y-Yes!"

She laughed. It was light and girlish, and he didn't know how it went with her looks, but it did.

"You're a pretty scary looking dude, yet you spook so easily."

He felt like an arrow had shot right through his back. Ouch. Of course someone as thug looking as her would say that. . .

"Although," she continued, "I think it's rather cute."

Asahi stared at her with wide eyes while she only looked at him with a kind smile.

And it was then that he thought she was rather cute.

東峰 旭

It had been a week since Asahi ran into Karasuno's new First Year Delinquent—as was dubbed by the student body—and all he could do was think about her.

"Although, I think it's rather cute."

He felt like such an idiot for just spluttering out complete nonsense in her presence, but he hadn't been prepared at all for her vivacious presence. Despite her appearance, she immediately gave off such a warm and inviting persona that he thought he'd have gotten whiplash at the stark contrast.

"Woah, dude! You're turning red! Are you okay?"

Asahi could still remember how fresh her hand felt against his forehead; soft and cool, the rings on her fingers colder than her flesh when she made contact. He could still remember how fast his heart beat in his chest at her touch, and the shiver that ran through his body when she retracted her hand.

"You're really hot. . . Should I go get someone?"

Asahi was suddenly hit with a hard, fast force that knocked him off his feet and left his face throbbing.

Ow!

The sound of feet running could be heard as Asahi laid writhing on the sweat splattered gymnasium floor.

"Azumane-san!" cried many of his teammates, but their voices were mixed and Asahi couldn't care enough in the moment to see who was worried about him. In his defense, getting clobbered by a hard spike to the face excused him from being coherent.

"Azumane-san are you alright," asked one of the third years, more specifically the captain.

"Y-Yeah. . ." he replied. What he really wanted to say was 'nah.'

"Can you get up," Captain Kirigaya Satoshi prodded.

Asahi started sitting up, wincing in pain. "I think so." What hurt the most was his ego.

"You should really go get checked out," Satoshi motioned to his face. "It looks like it's going to bruise."

"Do you need any help?" a new voice piped up. If Asahi recalled correctly, the boy's name was Sawama Daiki. . . or something to that effect.

"Great idea," Satoshi clapped, clasping his hands together. "Sawamura will escort you to the infirmary."

"Yes, Captain," Asahi conceded, standing to his full 170 cm height with the help of Sawamura Daichi.

Switching out of their gym shoes, Asahi and his companion Daichi set out to the nurse's office. It was quiet between them at first, neither quite knowing what to say to the other. For Asahi, it was more because he could feel his eye already swelling to unhealthy proportions and he was inwardly berating himself for his actions. Daichi on the other hand was speculating as to what had his taller counterpart's head in the clouds so much. He'd typically seen the long-haired boy focused on the game, always ready to spike a ball that came his way. But this time. . .

"How's your face feeling?"

Daichi's question broke Asahi out of his musings. "Oh, it's fine, thank you." Asahi bowed his head in appreciation. "And uh, thank you, again, for escorting me."

Daichi waved him off. "Yeah, no worries. It wouldn't be good if you had gotten a concussion without realizing it."

"Ha-ha, no, no. No concussion here, mostly just a wounded pride."

Daichi laughed earnestly at that. "Don't sweat it too much! We've all had those moments. We wouldn't be volleyball players if we haven't taken a ball to the face at least once."

There was another lull in silence, a peaceful one, as they reached the nurse's office.

"Excuse us," they announced at the same time, sliding the door open. Upon noticing that it was unoccupied they went in and got an ice bag themselves. Asahi sighed as he sat upon one of the infirmary beds, ice bag held to the side of his face; his right eye closed from swelling and his eyebrow pulsing. He was so embarrassed about his predicament—if only he had been paying attention rather than daydreaming, then he'd still be on the court playing. The Karasuno volleyball team was currently looking for players to add to their first line, a lot of the third years looking for their replacements.

"So," Daichi said after they had settled, "what had you so distracted? I've seen you play and you're really good, but today you seemed really out of it on the court."

The long-haired boy sweat dropped. "Oh, uh-"

"Not if it's too much trouble of course," Daichi fumbled, waving his hands in front of his body. "I don't want to overstep!"

Asahi laughed it off. "No, no – it's fine." He hesitated, the hand holding the ice bag slowly falling from his face and resting on his lap, his dark brown eyes staring intently (or as intently as he could with one eye swollen shut) at the blue fabric of the bag. It was cold in his grip, his fingers slowly falling numb, but he hardly noticed it.

No, for he was far too focused on the girl. She never once left his thoughts in the week that's passed since their first meeting. With those light brown eyes that looked like molten gold in the setting sun, hidden behind a thick layer of eyeliner; she was so close that he could see how it smudged on her lower lash line. And she was so tall. He'd never met a girl that even neared him in height, let alone was the same height. It unnerved him, but also excited him.

If only he hadn't ran away from her before learning who she was.

"A girl."

Daichi's eyebrows raised, surprised. "A girl?"

Asahi nodded. "Yeah. . . I met her the other day and I just-" he sighed.

Daichi looked away, head titled up at the ceiling, but his eyes stared at something beyond the fiberglass ceiling.

"She must be something else then if thinking about her made you catch a spike to the face."

Asahi tensed, a strangled noise slipping past his lips at the accusation. Or, truth really.

"What's her name," Daichi continued, uncaring of how worked up he made his fellow first year.

"I-I actually don't know. I didn't get a chance to ask. . ."

He hummed, "She goes to Karasuno?"

"Yeah, she does. But I don't know what-"

The sound of the infirmary door sliding open caught the boys' attention; a girl and the nurse walking in. Both Asahi's and Daichi's jaws dropped as the girl walked in with an angry scowl fixated on her face. Asahi couldn't believe that after all this time of thinking about her, here she finally was. In the flesh. Daichi just couldn't believe that he witnessed an actual thug walk into the room.

She seemed to have felt the stares on her as she whipped her death eyes on them, the boys jumping out of their skin with an audible eep! tearing past their lips. But just as quick as she glared at them, her face softened and a smile widened on her face, instantly radiating happiness.

"Oh! It's you!" she cried out before bounding over to them.

"Y-Yes!" Asahi shouted.

Oh gods, not this stuttering mess again. Asahi knew he would have to get control over himself this time, but it was easier said than done considering who was in front of him.

She let out a low whistle as she neared. "Damn, what happened to your face," she asked. The long-haired boy believed it was somehow her destiny to render him a complete moron as she put her face just inches from his, his nose flaring as the smell of her perfume (something smooth yet spicy, too rich to be considered floral) surrounded him. Her cool fingers took his—red—face into her hands while she examined his bruises. "I hope you won." She laughed.

Did she really think he got into a fight? That somehow this big-hearted slab of volleyball meat could possibly pick a fight with someone? And win?

"Actually, he lost," piped up Daichi.

Both teenagers turned their heads to look up at the other male. The tall girl, her hands still on Asahi's face, blinked at Daichi as if barely becoming aware of his presence.

"Oh?" she hummed, fingers slowly retracting from his cheeks, unknowingly making goosebumps to appear on his arms from the act, before she crossed her own arms across her chest. She rose her pierced eyebrow at him, not in anger but silently urging him to continue.

"To a volleyball," Daichi explained. "During practice he let it get the better of him. Hit him right in the face and he got knocked out."

"I didn't get knocked out!" Asahi exclaimed. "I just. . . fell. . ."

"More like you plummeted to the ground."

The girl laughed at that; it was light and delicate, evidence of the humor it carried. "Oh god, what a shame. Like I said before," she looked at Asahi then, her eyes shining with glee, "you're a pretty scary looking dude but your heart is so gentle."

Asahi blushed hard, his ears going warm. With an embarrassed smile on his lips he said, "I guess there's no helping that, huh?"

She and Daichi stood while Asahi sat, a comfortable silence passing over them before Daichi broke it.

"So, what are you here for?"

And just like that, the girl's smile fell and an agitated expression overcame her. She glowered at the nurse who had been standing back by her station, seeming to busy herself while the students spoke. "Because this hound and the witless vice principal have a problem with how I look. I've been in the office for the past hour and now they're making me come her to 'fix' my face."

"Ah well," Asahi rubbed the back of his head, apprehensive to continue his sentence, "piercings aren't really allowed at school."

"And your point is?"

The two volleyball boys were taken aback by her statement.

"Well, we just mean," Daichi stepped up, a bead of sweat on his temple, "that it's part of the code to dress respectfully and appropriately."

"Uh huh. . . And I'm not respectful or appropriate? That because of how I look and dress I am lesser than any of you?"

"That's not what we're saying!" Asahi was getting nervous. Who knows what would happen if they pissed her off.

"Then what are you trying to say?"

They stayed silent, too wary to continue.

The nurse took that as her opportunity to intervene. "Watanabe-san, may you please hand over your piercings now?"

That same piercing glare as before when she walked into the room was back full force and on the nurse now, all warmness that could previously be felt though the girl turned ice cold.

"No."

The nurse didn't know how to respond, a beat of sweat forming on her brow. "B-But you can't have them and-"

"I'll repeat to you again what I told you and the vice principal: I'm not going to follow your ridiculous rules blindly. I was admitted into this school, and I will graduate from this school. I will dress how I want, I will express myself how I want, and you can't tell me otherwise. I will continue to wear my piercings, I will keep my hair dyed, and you will not take that away from me."

The nurse had taken a step back during the girl's rant, her mouth hanging open; no words able to form.

The girl turned back to the boys who had watched in stunned silence, their own mouths dropped.

"What were your names again?" she asked like it wasn't a big deal that she had just talked down to a member of the school's faculty.

"S-Sawamura Daichi," he bowed, too scared to do anything else.

She turned her gaze onto Asahi who had yet to respond, "And what about you, big boy? I don't think I had the pleasure of knowing it considering you ran off before I could ask."

He nearly choked on his spit. "Azumane Asahi! Ma'am!"

"That's a cute name, I like it." Cue his blush. "I'm Watanabe Tsubame."

This story should be considered AU for a few reasons. For one reason at least, is because not too much is know about the lives of the third years prior to the storyline with the exception of a few helpful insights given. It should also be mentioned that I'm going to take creative liberties with the Haikyuu storyline and characters for this fanfiction while trying to stay as true as possible to canon. Thank you!