In the centre of campus there stood a young lady clutching her book bag and looking up at the clear blue sky. The clouds drifted white and fluffy in gentle breezes. All around, the green and pleasant lushness of the campus spread as a verdant utopia. Her eyes lingered on the pale brick buildings sitting pleasingly among grassy patches, beds of bright flowers, and trees.

The campus was spread over a large area, with separate buildings for various faculties. The university was a young one, and had a feeling of newness.

Right before this girl was the faculty of Sports Science, where future star athletes trained with the university's top coaching staff. A banner hung on the side of the building celebrating the basketball team's most recent conquests. The team name and motto: Unstoppable Power - Wildcats! was scrawled proudly for all to see. Off to her right was the library building, floors packed with books, journals, and modern IT facilities.

At her back were more departments - the archaeology building, the science and technology block, mathematics, chemistry, and more. As a literature major she spent most of her time away in the humanities block on the further side of campus, out of sight.

But for now she stood staring at the Sports Science faculty, clutching her books, and wondering what it would be like to...

"Ha-ru-ko-chan~!" a cheerful female voice broke into her daydream. She turned around to see one of the junior professors from her faculty approaching.

The woman came alongside her, reached out, and ruffled up her long silken hair. Haruko yelped in surprise.

"What are you-?"

"Sorry, sorry," Ayako held up her hands, smiling. "I just can't resist you freshmen. You're so cute."

Haruko eyed her warily. "There's a report line for student harassment, you know."

Ayako winced. "I'm just joking!" she promised. She lifted her eyes to the sports building before them. "So, what sport are you signing up for?"

"I didn't decide yet." Haruko also turned back towards the building.

"You'd better choose quickly. Our faculty always needs players."

"Well," Haruko considered, "I'm not very good at that kind of stuff."

The junior professor gestured towards the building and they began to walk together.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Haruko enquired. "Staff don't compete… do they?"

"Oh!" Ayako began, "didn't you hear that the Wildcats have got a new ace this year? A freshman. I'm going to check him out."

Haruko gave her a disapproving look from the corner of her eye. "Aren't you a little old to be 'checking out' the freshmen?"

"Oh, surely there's nothing wrong with looking?" Ayako pouted. "And I'm not that old."

Haruko silently rolled her eyes.

Ayako was practically hopping along as she walked. "Think he's any good?"

Haruko tilted her head. She had heard about the new player from her friend. "I heard he was top of the country in high school."

They entered the building. It was already crowded with students signing up for various duties at makeshift booths.

The university held an annual sports week, with all faculties participating. Events were spread out over four days of summer and faculties competed against one another to earn accolades. Those students who did not wish to participate as athletes could assist by taking on duties such as organisation, promotion, cheerleading, and other supporting roles.

Haruko considered signing up to represent her faculty in the basketball competitions on the second day. However, she went and signed her name on the cheerleading roster instead. That way, she reasoned, she would have the most opportunities to view the games from the stands.

Her older friend tried to sign up to do water runs, saying that it was the best way to get close to the athletes. However, she was rebuked by the organisers who insisted that only students could participate, not faculty staff.

Ayako was still sulking about the unfairness of this when there was a sudden commotion from the side of the hall, and people starting craning their heads, muttering and shuffling around to get a look. Ayako's hand was suddenly in Haruko's and squeezing tightly.

"Oh, oh, look! It's them. The Wildcats. Quick! Over here!" she dragged an astonished Haruko halfway up a flight of stairs from where they could look out over a sea of heads.

From their vantage point they could see that an empty space had appeared around a group of newly arrived students. They all wore Wildcat team jerseys and strode with confidence into the hall, moving towards the booth where the basketball athletes signed up. There were many different sporting events held over the four days, and the university had many successful sports teams, including tennis, swimming, and track. But it was this team - the basketball Wildcats - who had most caught the imagination of the student body.

They really did seem like they were from another world, Haruko thought dreamily. Tall, handsome, with that little touch of arrogance that made her knees weak. Haruko had a dozen posters on her dorm wall showing those confident, cocky, predatory grins. She could gaze at them all day.

"Where's the new guy?" Ayako was muttering, craning her neck.

The Wildcats were greeting the awed students in the room. They smiled and waved and patted shoulders and struck up conversations with those nearby, happy to engage with their supporters and peers. Haruko watched a particularly handsome player flirting rather shamelessly with a blushing girl who was manning a booth. He had a glittering gold hoop in his ear.

Ayako's grip on her arm suddenly tightened. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing. "There!"

Haruko followed the direction of her finger. At the basketball sign up booth she saw a tall player in a Wildcat jersey leaning down to write his name. Unlike the others, he was not bothering to chat to those around him, even though a group of students was standing and watching him curiously and looking very very much like they wanted to talk to him.

The freshman.

Haruko considered him. He was actually a little smaller than she had expected. Perhaps because for some reason she'd been expecting a full-grown athlete and not someone who was still a teenage boy. He was tall, but he was more lanky than powerful. There was an undeniable grace to his movements but really he was not so different from his fellow Wildcat teammates. His hair fell in a silky black mop. And under it, an impossibly handsome face with glittering blue eyes that looked like the morning.

In total, the effect was of something quite magnificent, and yet still small and flawed enough to seem almost within one's reach. He was not an untouchable celebrity. He was real.

If he had been more perfect, perhaps he would not have been so appealing. He would have seemed impossible, so far away; a character from a fairytale.

But in his imperfections, he was absolutely irresistible.

"Holy crap," Ayako breathed. "He is hot."

Haruko rolled her eyes again. "You're gonna get fired for real one of these days."

"For him? It would be worth it."

Haruko's eyes lingered on the shape of his shoulders. The length of his forearms. The softness of his hair. The sharpness of his gaze. The heat and size of his body. Solid. Warm.

Oh.

She gripped the handrail.

Well, it's true. He is… really… very hot.

She ignored her older companion who was practically vibrating with excitement beside her, and watched him intensely as he turned, his handsome face and powerful eyes moving dismissively over the students gathered around him as if he couldn't imagine what they were doing there or why they were in his way. He reminded her of a cat, tail twitching, observing birds.

He began to make off back towards the doors through which he'd come. But as he stepped forward he collided with an inelegant bump against another who was at the same time pushing forward towards the basketball booth.

This newcomer didn't seem to be aware of the celebrity in front of him, intent only on reaching the booth to write his name. Haruko's eyes fixed upon him at once.

He was wearing a rather shapeless woollen sweater. He was tall, taller even than the player in front of him. But his body seemed softer. There was none of the other boy's natural aggression in his expression. He smiled in apology. A pair of thin glasses gave him an intellectual look, despite his height. He could not have been more different from the ace in front of him.

A dog, Haruko thought, looking at him.

The basketball ace glared. The other boy tilted his head, looking back at him, his gentle eyes blinking in quiet interest. Then he stepped aside and let the other go past, his eyes fixed upon his back, as if reading the team name Wildcats written on the back of his jersey. He then stepped up to the booth and bent to write his name.

The basketball ace disappeared out the doors, leaving his teammates behind. He hadn't spoken to anyone.

"Well," Ayako said beside her, fanning herself ineffectively with one hand. "I don't know about you, but I really need to-"

"Please do not complete that thought," Haruko begged.

Ayako blinked innocently. "I was just gonna say we should get a drink."

Haruko sighed and looked back at the hall. The cat was gone, and the dog had already vanished into the crowd.

ANs: Thank you for reading! This fic is already mostly complete with roughly 40k words in short chapters. I'll update it fairly regularly whenever I have free time. There's a Haikyuu (Atsumu x Sakusa) version that I'll post on a different account on AO3. If you are interested, please let me know and I'll tell you where to find it ;)