Chapter 02 — Joining a Club

Tak tak-taka tak.

Shizuma Yumei.

"G-good morning...m-my name is Shizuma...Yumei. Pleasedtomakeyouracquaintance!" The young girl rushed her sentence in nervousness after stepping aside and writing her full name on the board, lowering her head as she did so in a greeting.

She always write her name just so when people couldn't hear her the first time, they still would know her name, more or less. Too many people have told her that her voice was too quiet and no one could hear her even if she yelled. Too many for her liking.

"Okay, Shizuma-san, you can take a seat beside Mob-kun." The teacher instructs her and she nodded, her bangs almost covering her eyes as she did so and looked over to the only vacant seat of the class. 'Mob-kun?' she repeated in her mind as she looked to the person sitting beside her seat. 'Oh, it was only Kageyama-san.' She sighed in relief as she saw Mob who was also looking back at her with his usual blank face.

Just as she was walking towards her seat, she could hear words as she passed by.

"Look at her, acting shy and awkward."

"That's just all an act to attract boys."

"It makes me wanna puke."

"And why is she transferring at this time of the year?"

"Must be a troublemaker."

[Progress towards Yumei's breakdown: 39%]

She let the ends of her bangs to cover her bespectacled eyes so that no one would know that they got to her. Of course, someone just have to go and ruin her first day of school. Actually, she was kinda expecting it — what with her previous experiences from her previous school. And the previous school. And also the school before that. Fortunately for her, Shigeo couldn't read the atmosphere, and that was why when she send a small wave to his direction, he send one back without noticing any different.

Time passed by fast, as the day continues without any significant events, save for Mob being called out to answer a question he couldn't answer and ended up being laughed at by the whole class again. Yumei felt bad for the boy, especially since he wasn't the only one sleeping in class and yet he was the one chosen to answer.

Yumei tried to offer some kind of consolation to Mob as soon as he sits down. Although before she could, she noticed that any sign of embarrassment that was present in his face earlier was gone, only to be replaced by a deadpan expression. Or was it he had a deadpan expression in the first place and it was she who misunderstood it as embarrassment?

She kept quiet, studying him indiscreetly as she did so and propped her chin on her palm. 'He sure is hard to read.' she thought, trying to study his face. She remembered how she interpreted his blank face earlier when they bumped into each other as a negative one and apologized to him. She thought he was offended - but that's just how he was.

Meanwhile, Yumei didn't realize how she was staring too much, causing Mob to sweat and was becoming uncomfortable under her gaze. He had never been stared at by a person after all, more so a female. Did he do something wrong? Why is she staring at him? Did she expect him to talk to her and was staring at him to start a conversation? Was that it?

[Progress towards Mob's explosion: 28%]

Or maybe he was imagining it? Yeah, that's most likely, after all, no female would be interested in him, now. Right? Right? So he relaxed, trying not to stress himself further and tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying (yet failed to focus since the subject was mathematics). By then, Yumei stopped glancing at Mob and payed attention to class as well, writing formulas on her notebook as she did. Mob noticed this in the corner of his eye, and it allowed him to observe her.

Her oval face was almost covered by her bangs which made him nearly unable to see her dark brown eyes behind her oval-shaped, violet-rimmed glasses. Her straight hair that almost looked like black but was actually medium brown in color fell from her face, stopping on her mid-back. She had a pale skin color, similar to his, yet hers were much more healthier looking.

The bell rang suddenly making his head snap up to the sound, signalling the end of classes for the day and a sign for the students to go home or attend extracurricular activities.

'Club, huh? I think Gouda-senpai told us we're going to jog for today...' Mob mused to himself.

"Stand. Bow." The class representative ordered the class as the teacher exits the room, and as soon as the teacher left, the class was buzzing with activity. Friends invite other friends to hang out, some proceed towards their own respective clubs, others start their own cleaning duties, but there were also some who were diligent enough and started making their homework. Yumei wasn't in any of those groups considering she just started today, so she planned to go to the Student Council to ask about clubs and the like.

But then, she remembered someone who can help her in that endeavor. She turned around eagerly to look for Shigeo but was disappointed to see he was already gone from his seat. 'Of course...I can't expect Kageyama-san for everything. Just because he showed me the way to class doesn't mean I'm already a friend.' Yumei thought to herself as she shouldered her school bag and exited the room. 'Besides, I'm used to doing this alone.'

However, she did not take into account her sense of direction (or the lack of it) as she mistook the teacher's directions multiple times. She tried hard not to appear lost as she casually looked around for the mentioned room, but to no avail. It might be nonsensical to get lost in a small school like Salt Middle School, but she couldn't do anything. She wasn't like this when she was younger, if she remembered right — she was the one guiding her classmates back when they're lost, not the other way around. She had friends back then, too. This was way back before she and her family started moving residences, and it was also around that time that she was despised and feared. It was also around that time, when that night happened.

She was brought back from her absentmindedness when a door to her right opened abruptly, making her jump back in surprise. It seems she still could count on her luck as she saw with a jolt, students wearing red armbands with the words: "Student Council".

"Finally...!" she sighed in relief, watching as the one who opened the door abruptly leave the room and she was planning to go after him but was interrupted.

"P-President! Wait!"

She averted her dark brown eyes to the people inside the room and saw that they were confused by something, judging by their silence and their quirked eyebrows on their faces. She tilted her head at the sight yet stayed silent since she didn't know what's going on.

Then, she saw a familiar face amidst the group of male students and waited for him to glance her way. Once he did so, she meekly waved at him, which effectively gained his attention. "Shizuma-san? Why are you here?" Ritsu asks her as he made his way to her. "Uhh, d-did I come at a bad time?" she replied, glancing around them.

Ritsu scratched his cheek, "Well, yeah. The president told us he had something important to tell us tomorrow at the usual morning line-up, but didn't specify what exactly."

She looked back to the retreating figure chased by student council members and assumed he was the president, "Oh...do you have an idea why?" she asked him just to continue their conversation as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. However, that seemed to be the wrong question to ask as she sees his eyes hardened and his face was almost shadowed by his hair.

'D-did I say something wrong?!' she panicked inwardly, noticing how he went silent out of the blue.

She at once tried to divert the topic. "A-anyway, Kageyama-kun, (can I call you that)?" she quickly added the last bit in which he nodded to. "I, uhh, came here to ask about clubs...I wanted to join one." Ritsu visibly thawed at that and smiled, the type of smile that he always give to the girls when they ask him for a date and he refuses: automatic and polite. "Really? Have you decided, then?" She chuckled nervously, "W-well that's that. I haven't, yet. I came here to ask what kind of clubs the school offers," Ritsu paused, seemingly thinking of something before telling her, "Wait...I think I have the list..."

Yumei watch the younger ravenette make his way inside the Student Council room to search for the said list. Meanwhile, she made herself occupied and decided to stare out of the window in lack of things to do. There at the field, she sees students running around, warming up for their respective sports club. Some are already going home through the main gate, doing whatever a typical middle-schooler would do on a typical day.

Amidst of all the crowds, her dark brown eyes caught something (or someone) as she surveyed the students below. She followed a group of seven making their way out of the school campus, each of them wearing a white t-shirt with magenta-colored PE shorts. What interested her wasn't the choice of colors of their uniform nor how almost all of the males were literally bulging out of their shirts by how muscle-bound they are; no, what interested her was the small, lone figure trailing from behind which obviously indicates his lack of physical fitness. Anyone would notice that bowl-cut hairstyle anywhere.

It intrigued her since she never thought of him to be a sporty type, especially considering his pale complexion that suggests possible anemia, and that his appearance alone screams: "frail". She didn't peg him as the passionate one, but in the contrary, she couldn't read him well enough to know what type of person he is, besides, she just met him earlier today.

Lost in her musings, she didn't realize the figure coming close to her until her name was called.

"I'm sorry, Shizuma-san. I couldn't find it." Ritsu told her apologetically, scratching the back of his head while doing so. To his surprise, she smiled, her eyes dazed as if she was looking far away. She then told the younger Kageyama without looking back, her eyes still on the petite figure trailing behind the group of six. "No, it's okay, Kageyama-kun."

"Hm?" He hummed in confusion, wondering what changed her mind.

"I think I have a club in mind."