1-A, 1-B, 1-C… Rei was going through the corridor inside the school, looking for her class. She was in 1-G, which was a class after 1-F. She considered herself lucky that she wasn't placed into 1-A. The girl she met just before; Momoi seemed to find her uncomfortable and she didn't want to spend the whole year pretending to be on a friendly term with her.
The corridor was empty. Rei knew that the class had already started but she didn't walk any faster.
'Thank God Yuuki isn't with me to tell me off about how slow I walk' thought Rei.
Yuuki was one of the friends she hung out in primary school. Out of the group members, she and Yuuki were the only ones moving to Teiko Middle School. So in graduation, they had promised to arrange the time they could meet to venture the school but she hadn't heard anything from her. She already knew that the promise was just a talk so there wasn't much disappointment. Rei felt much more at ease walking alone anyways; for she enjoyed the beauty of silence but Yuuki did not.
When Rei reached her class, she slowly opened the back door, careful not to make any sound in case she was disrupting the class. As she peeped inside, she realised that she picked the worst time to enter. A boy who had a hair as bright as the sun was standing up, seemingly making a speech. His red eyes were aimed at a person who unwillingly interrupted his speech and Rei, not liking the way everyone in class turned their heads around like the guy who was standing up, realised she had to say something quickly and fast.
"I apologise for being late, sensei. I was lost on my way here." Rei spoke quietly, looking at the teacher.
"It is okay, um, please introduce yourself to everyone since we are already over introduction. We were just hearing a speech from our class representative, Akashi-san. For now, you can sit next to Ryota-san sitting at the far left corner. He just got here as well so he doesn't have anyone sitting next to him"
"Thank you very much" said Rei, still aware of the piercing glare from Akashi. The glare was on a totally different level from Aomine's. His felt much more dangerous and scary.
"Hello everyone, my name is Tezumi Rei but please just call me Rei." Said Rei and she walked silently towards the 'Ryota-san' the teacher was talking about.
As her leg was making its way through the various tables and chairs, her eyes scanned the desk near the window. The guy whom she would be sitting next to was a boy with a blonde hair which shined brightly under the sun. Its colour was as warm as the colour of the sunflower, and its medium-length hair was swaying with the gentle breeze through the window. Rei also saw how long his eyelashes were; for a guy, he had a pretty face.
All the observation was done in the matter of seconds and as she sat next to him, she spoke of a gentle 'hello' towards him to make a good impression. What surprised her was how easy it took for the boy to answer and smile back. Most of the times, people she first met either showed disinterest or shared an awkward hellos. But he was different. She could sense that whilst his mouth was smiling and his voice sounded welcoming, his golden eyes looked cold, distant and calculating.
Rei felt something akin to realisation falling upon her. She could see herself reflected on his hardened eyes. She could see through his façade because it was what she always wore. And then in the next millisecond, she realised that he was someone like her; someone who put up a fake attitude to have a normal school life. To not get hurt in anymore relationships. But throwing that thought aside, Rei spoke of a welcome with a face as equally as smiley as his was, and she saw something flashing under his eyes. Rei could feel that he could feel the same way she felt.
Sudden clapping sounds snapped Rei out of her daze. The new class representative was in the motion of sitting down.
'He must've finished his speech', Rei thought.
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The first period had ended fast. It was just a brief introduction for the year and nothing much had happened. During the break, Rei could sense few girls taking a glimpse at her table. She was sure they weren't looking at her and that meant that they were probably looking at Kise, who looked too good-looking to have a normal quiet school life.
'Must be the reason of his façade I noticed earlier.' Thought Rei as she started to take out a new textbook for her next class. IN that short frame of time, Kise's table was already full of girls wanting to start a conversation with him. When she took a glimpse at the window, she saw another big herd of girls gathered near the window. Sighing, she could already feel the chaos Kise would be bringing to her.
When she looked around, she realised that most of the girls in her class was busy surrounding the guy sitting next to her, who was busy showing them his perfected 'fake' smile. Rei stood up, scanning the classroom once again before she took few steps towards a small group of girls consisting of three, who weren't interested in the pretty boy she was forced to sit next to. She didn't want to join in the act of fan-girling the guy she just looked through and that meant she couldn't befriend any of the girls in there right now.
Rei was known for her braveness to go up to any stranger and strike any conversation without getting nervous and she was going to do the same thing because she didn't want to be a loner in class on her first day of school. The friendship group made from now could change, but it was better than sitting by herself next to the popular kid, feeling lonely.
"What's up guys! My name is Rei! Sorry but I kind of came in late today and didn't get a chance to know your names, but I would love to get a chance to be friends with you guys", spoke Rei confident but sheepishly, scratching the back of her head as she walked towards the girls. It was easy for her to always take the first step. All you had to do was just introduce yourself, join in, show them your smile, say hi and talk. It was nothing hard, something she was used to by the end of her primary school days.
"Hello Rei-san. My name is Sakura Tsuga"
"Hi! I'm Tsubaki Yuu, just call me Tsubaki, I don't mind"
"Nice to meet you, my name is Shuuro Otowari, call me Shuuro"
As she slowly mixed into the group, she found herself getting tired as she had to match their topic of their choice. Clothes, make-up, boys… These were the topic she had no interest, but she had learnt to try to remember certain amount of detail of the following topics to be 'normal' and those knowledge were proving themselves useful already.
As she analysed the conversation and the girls' body language, she realised that this was a freshly made group. She inwardly sighed in relief, knowing that she was not going to be left out. Finding a good friendship group was always the top priority when starting a new year, especially for girls. So she always changed her personality to fit whichever group. If she wanted to be liked and have a good first impression, she had to be very flexible and lenient and it wasn't hard for her to do that anymore. She was a person who laughed and smiled easily naturally, and it wasn't difficult to make it look realistic when it was needed.
As she was becoming friendly with the group, she could feel someone looking at her. Not turning around fully Rei took a sneak peak using the back of her eyes and she saw Kise. But when their eyes met, they both looked away. It felt weird to see someone like her in the same class who did the same thing as she did.
'I wonder if he understands….'
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Spending every break by going into different groups and making sure they knew her name and that she was a fun, welcoming and friendly person drenched her out by the end of school. She could feel the slight nausea coming in, telling her to have a quality time by herself. This was the repeated procedure every time after school. She would feel weakened to the heart by forcing herself to be someone she was not. It was an ongoing process. As she started to calculate the amount of time it will take for her to pack up and leave, she could feel that someone had poked her in the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Tezumi-san"
"No no no, just like I said in my introduction, Rei is just fine Kise-san. I was grown up overseas so it feels weird for me to hear people calling out to me using my last name. Please feel free to just call me Rei"
"Sure, Rei-san, um, I mean Rei. Oh! Then you can just call me Ryota too! It is rude of me to call someone using their first name when that person is calling me on such formal terms! Anyways, I was wondering if you had chosen which club you wanted to join in?"
As Kise was talking, she could see the big smile he always wore towards his fans. But weirdly, she could capture some interest dangling in his eyes.
"Hahahaha, if you insist, Ryota-kun-"
"No no no, Ryota is fine! All of my fans call me using my first name anyway."
He sounded so casual, but was it some bitterness in his voce she could sense? Rei wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to lose the chance to become on a very friendly term with the most-likely-to-be-popular-kid in her class. She could tell he was faking it. She could see that his eyes were warning her not to get any closer than what he lets. Realistically, even though it seemed like a fake relationship, it was always good for Rei to have someone like Kise next to her. It will make her seem more approachable. So without a second thought, she smiled.
"Okay, 'Ryota', seriously, this is the fastest time it took for me to be on a first name basis with a stranger"
"But we're not a stranger anymore, aren't we?" Kise asked in a playful tone.
'If this is the direction you want to head, fine by me' was the thought rampaging inside Rei's brain.
"No, definitely not. Anyways, if you were still curious, I will take a look at this one club I am interested in, but I think I know which club I will join. What about you?"
"I'm not too sure, but maybe soccer? I can't put in too much time into club activities anyway because of my job as a model- but it seems pretty popular"
"I see. Well, I think I have to hurry up - I might be late to the club introduction, I will talk to you later! Bye!"
"Bye Rei!"
It felt weird; extremely weird. For Rei, it had never taken such short time like this to become friends. She wasn't sure if this was intended by Ryota, but one thing Rei knew for sure was that it would be beneficial for her to have a friend who was popular. Laughing at her luck, one side of her mouth inched upwards. Whether Ryota was a fake or not, it was a good start of her middle school year.
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Rei's stop was, of course, the basketball club. Ever since she played it with Aomine, she had fallen in love with its fast-paced and strategic side of it and she had been hyped up about it ever since she set her foot on Teiko. She knew she wouldn't get to join in though, since because of her parents it was already decided that she was to join the marathon club. But before she did that, she wanted to enjoy the little freedom she had.
Seeing tens of boys entering the building made her realise how popular the school's basketball was. She knew from reading the Teiko newspaper that the girls' basketball team weren't as good and well known as the boys' team. The first string of the boys' team, aka the regulars had won nationals in many years but girls had failed to even get through to the regionals. She knew by taking a short look at the girls' basketball team that they were indeed weak and boring. Too many girls took it as a hobby and weren't as serious and fun as the boys' team.
There were trials held for the whole week and even though it was only the first day, the gym was packed with many first years who wanted to try out. She saw a familiar red head standing in the middle of the try outs. As she squeezed her eyes to see who it was, she was realised it was Akashi.
'Never knew he was the type to play sport…so he is the class representative, AND wants to play sport? Either he is a genius, or he tries too hard.' Thought Rei.
As she was watching the first string practise with a keen eye, she heard someone calling out her name. It was Aomine, walking towards her with Momoi tagging by.
"Hey, dickhead" commented Rei as she walked in closer as well. Surprisingly, she could feel the nausea she was feeling moments ago had disappeared and her mind seemed comfortable hanging out with him.
"I'm not a dickhead! I called you with your name and you answer with a 'dickhead'? You stupid little-"
"Dai-chan! I told you that you have to be nicer to girls!"
Her guard was up instantly as she heard Momoi speak and felt her patience thin out as she interrupted their conversation again. 'Too many times' thought Rei as she tried concentrating on Aomine once again. Rei knew that Momoi was just being nice and looking out for her. But for some reason she could feel something against the nice girl and since her instincts never proven themselves wrong, Rei decided to watch her out.
"Anyway, dickhead, why are you here? Are you trying out for basketball team as well?"
"Yes, Rei-chan! Daiki will be trying out for the team while I try out for the manager. Are you here for the same position like me as well…?"
Rei could sense that in short fraction of time Momoi had spoken, she had looked slightly worried.
'Why would Momoi be worried? ….And if she interrupts me again third time I am going to tell her off.'
Rei knew Momoi was pushing her luck when she kept cutting their conversation off. She was not the type of person to get swayed and she would not allow her to take the control of the flow.
"No, I won't be. I have already decided to join the marathon club. I'm just here to see how good they are"
"You, shortie, wait for me after practise today, okay? I'll beat your ass and make sure you don't call me dickhead anymore"
"Is that a bet? What do I get if I win?"
"You can call me dickhead all you want. But I'm tellin ya, I won't go easy like last time. Hell, that was only a fluke, okay?"
"Sure, dickhead. So same bet as last time, right?"
"Right"
"Dai-chan, I'm telling you, stop-"
"Okay dickhead, see you here after you're finished. I am going to register myself for marathon club. Don't chicken out" spoke Rei, feeling a bit better as she cut Momoi interrupting her speech again.
"That's exactly what I want, shortie. Bring it on"
Heyy guys, as i was writing this chapter i was thinking about deleting it and rewriting my whole story-again. I feel like i am such a bad writer and my story is so bad :( but i have decided to just go with it and finish it first. Only after then will i think about editing or deleting or whatever- but just wanted to tell you readers that if you want a good-quality story, you should silently click that arrow pointing backwards. But i just wanted to say that if you want to see a story where the story eventually develops; where the writing gets better and better (hopefully) then you have chosen the right one:) please look out for more chapters and i will be back soon!
