CHAPTER ONE: FIND A FRIEND
"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
Rin Nekomata shifted awkwardly on her feet, her honey brown eyes darting anywhere but on the people in front of her. The homeroom teacher, Midori Sensei, was enthusiastically introducing the new second year to her classmates, completely oblivious to the harsh whispers and confused stares the girl was getting. It was only natural that most were confused, the girl was wearing pants instead of the traditional plaid skirt that went along with the girls uniform - and she had arrived to school two weeks after it started. Rin clenched her jaw, tightening her grip on the strap of her backpack - she was trying to ignore the whispers of both males and females in the room but it was hard for her not to snap. She wasn't the easiest person to get along with in the first place, solely because her temper was so short. Living with only males for so long will do that, apparently.
Her gaze snapped over to her teacher, the tiny woman reaching up and placing a hand on Rin's shoulder encouragingly. Rin tried to hold in her flinch, and apparently she did it well because the teacher smiled warmly up at her - completely oblivious to Rin's tense posture.
"Would you like to add anything Nekomata-san?"
Rin tilted her head and resisted the urge to frown, instead she cleared her throat and forced a sheepish smile onto her face. She rubbed the back of her neck and spoke, her voice much softer than what most would expect, "Eh? Not really, Sensei."
The teacher laughed softly and waved her hands the new girls direction, patting her shoulder encouragingly, "Well, how about just one thing? It's not often that we get new students during their second year, you know!"
Rin resisted the urge to turn around and just leave the room, she wasn't really good at talking about herself. And by not really good, it really meant not good at all. Rin could truly be a terror, so what nice thing could she say about herself?
"Uh, my grandfather is the Volleyball coach here at Nekoma?"
Although it was a fact, Rin worded it more as a question - turning to her homeroom teacher to see if that little tid-bit of information was enough to satisfy her curiosity. Midori Sensei nodded happily and pointed to an open seat near the back of the room. Rin sighed and pulled her bag closer to herself as she made her way through the rows of students, she could feel their eyes following her and it only made her uncomfortable and angry.
Seriously, do they not know what manners are?
Rin set her bag down on the floor and plopped into her seat ungracefully, stretching her legs out in front of her. She kept her eyes on her desk, still refusing to meet the eyes of the other students. Her face was probably set into an unpleasant scowl, but she could really care less.
"Uhm, since you don't know your way around yet," The teacher began, her eyes scanning over the students before landing on a boy who say a couple seats away from Rin. She clapped her hands together happily and grinned, "Tetsurou-san! Why don't you show Nekomata-san around?"
"Eh?" The boy perked up, turning to glance at Rin before looking back at the teacher. He leaned his cheek into his hand and shrugged his shoulders, an all too happy grin making it's way onto his face. Rin huffed, not entirely happy with his his reply, "Why not?"
"Great!"
"Ah, it's really unnecessary, Sensei," Rin began, trying to remove the frown off her face. She really didn't want a babysitter around school, she honestly didn't want to talk to anyone at this point. She was completely happy with figuring her way around alone, "I could always just ask -"
"Nonsense!" The red headed teacher exclaimed, making an 'x' with her hands, "Tetsurou-san is Captain of the Volleyball team, you're bound to meet him sooner or later!"
Rin resisted the urge to smack her face against her desk, instead she just slumped even further into her seat and muttered a string of profanities under her breath. She could feel her cheeks flush as her anger rose. Rin wasn't exactly excited about getting antiquated with someone from the Volleyball team, though she was sure her grandfather would be beside himself at the news. She wasn't really good at making friends in general, she was awkward and easily angered, and had a nasty stubborn side that could tick off even the calmest of men. She was hard headed and sometimes a bit too honest, and it took a lot for her to actually show someone she cared. The only person she really openly cared about was her brother - and he was off in college in America. Rin sighed, pulling a random notebook from her bag and opening it with a slap. She could still feel students watching her and she tried not to snap her pencil in half as she held it in her left hand. Instead, she busied herself with doodling, occasionally writing the notes that the teacher had put on the board. She wasn't exactly paying too much attention, but Rin was sure she knew all of this already. Daisuke had made sure when he was homeschooling her that she was learning everything equivalent to an honors student, she expected nothing less from her brother. He was, after all, going to a school that Americans called a 'Top Ivy League College'.
Rin's eyes darted around for a split second and she immediately regretted it, she shot her eyes back down to her paper and huffed. She was receiving some heated glares from a few girls in the classroom, and a few guys were openly staring at her. Her cheeks grew hot once more, and most probably thought it was out of embarrassment. She gripped onto her pencil tighter, the lines she was making to draw a finger grew darker and she huffed.
Really, was it so odd for a girl to wear pants?
Rin knew they're weren't staring at her for her height, sure she wasn't exactly petite like most girls but she wasn't as tall as Daisuke. Her brother stood at a tall and broad 198 cm, while Rin just a "weak" 180 cm.
Rin sighed, continuing to doodle random hands, eyes and noses all over her notebook. Her mind occasionally drifting to her brother and other things, she subconsciously brought her right hand to her knee, her left hand still doodling away.
"Oi, are you coming?"
Rin jumped, her eyes snapping up to meet a pair of brown ones. She scanned the boys features quickly, it was the boy who Midori Sensei had assigned to escort her around. The girl clenched her jaw and turned away in an attempt to hide her frown, her hair fluttering around her.
"You know," Rin began, closing her notebook and stuffing it into her bag, "If you're worried about me telling Jii-chan that you didn't want to show me around or something, I'm not going to tattle. I'll be fine on my own."
The boy snickered, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. Honestly, Rin thought he was pretty cute. Tall with a bed head look that gave him that all around "bad boy" feel, he was lean - no doubt from playing Volleyball - and Rin now understood why the girls in class were giving her the stink eye before. She wasn't one to get flustered around boys so quickly, solely because she hung out with her brother and his friends so often that she just stopped getting all "kyaa". There really was no other way to explain it.
"I wasn't worried about Coach," He smirked, "But he never did mention having a granddaughter."
Rin sighed, standing up from her seat. He was taller than her, but not by much, so she only had to tilt her head slightly upwards to get a good look at noticed that with the light spilling in from the classroom windows, her eyes looked a lot more yellow than they did brown.
Rin slung her bag across her shoulder, her posture poor as she looked towards him and spoke, "I'll be fine on my own."
"I'm Kuroo Tetsurou," the boy told her, completely ignoring her statement.
Rin bit the inside of her cheek, her brows furrowing together. She shifted, feeling uncomfortable with him staring down at her now. Sure, she could use the help getting around school. It was larger than her middle school, and it wasn't like she knew anyone here. But did she want the help? Not really, Rin never liked asking for help in the first place.
The boy raised his brows at her, silently asking if she was going to follow him or not.
A large part of her wanted to just storm past him and ignore him for the rest of the day, but she did appreciate that he actually accepted the offer to show her around.
"Nekomata Rin, call me Rin," She stated, beginning to walk in step with him, "I'm, uh, not too good at the whole formalities to be honest."
Kuroo snickered, "Me either. Are you hungry?"
Rin shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. She could feel her classmates staring at her and she fidgeted under their gazes, it was really starting to tick her off.
Pushing those feelings aside, she answered the boy, "Not really, uh, but is there a vending machine here? I'm pretty thirsty, I don't know if it was just me or not but I'm pretty sure half the girls were giving me heated looks. Really, I think I started to sweat a little."
Kuroo chuckled again and lead Rin to a nearby vending machine, "Ah, don't let the girls get to you."
Rin snorted, pushing the button for an iced coffee. She waited for the drink to dispense and she eyed Kuroo with her peripherals, a single slender brow raised at him, "Oh? I'm fairly certain they were giving me such looks because it was you who was assigned to be my babysitter."
"Babysitter?" Kuroo teased, leaning against the wall beside the vending machine. He watched as she opened the can and brought it to her lips, continuing to look at him with a raised brow.
She decided to ignore his comment. She ran a hand through her hair and cocked her hip slightly as she spoke, "So, uh, you're the Captain of Jii-chan's Volleyball team?"
Kuroo nodded and pushed himself off the wall, giving her a closed eye smile, "Come on, I'll introduce you to -"
"I really don't want to meet the rest of the team right now," Rin muttered into the can, her shoulders slumping.
"I was going to say my friend," Kuroo smirked, looking at Rin from the corner of his eyes. She moved her eyes from his and focused down on her drink as the two began to walk again, "He's a first year."
"Oh," Rin answered, feeling awkward beside the Captain. She was receiving even more stares than she originally had when she first arrived this morning, and she immediately regretted not trying harder about going around school on her own. Kuroo would occasionally offer a wave to random students, mostly males, but there were a couple girls who would come up to him and say hello, all while shotting a harsh glare at Rin. He wasn't oblivious to it, Rin could tell that much, but he did choose to ignore it. Her cheeks flushed each time a girl would glare at her, and when Kuroo would turn away she would offer a sneer of her own for a split second.
She didn't need the only person being remotely nice to her to suddenly be turned off by her personality, so she tried to hold in as much of her anger as she could.
"You're quite popular," Rin mused once the two reached an area mostly occupied by first years. They all looked at the two with wide eyes, a lot of the first years having to crane their necks up to get a good look at the two. Rin seemed oblivious to the amount of blushing faces of the young first year boys, but Kuroo noticed them - a lot of them staring at her with open mouths and red faces.
"So, why'd you come here your second year?" Kuroo asked, tilting his head to the side - completely ignoring Rin's statement.
The girl sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, trying to conjure the best honest answer she could, "I use to live with my brother, but he moved to America to go to school over there. So I, uh, moved in with Jii-chan."
"Ahh~," Kuroo hummed, "America? That's amazing."
"He says it is," Rin nodded.
"So," Kuroo continued, leaving no room for silence. He, just like a lot of people, was curious about the new girl. Not only did she attend the school during her second year, but also two weeks after classes had started. She wore pants instead of the skirt, and he she was pretty enough to catch the attention of a few males in the class. She seemed different to him, and Kuroo was always up for different, "Do you or your brother play any sports?"
Rin clenched her jaw, a familiar feeling of distaste making it's way inside her mouth. She resisted the urge to yell and him and stomp away, but her brothers words rung in her mind. He had drilled it in her brain while he was still in Japan, he had made sure she remembered exactly what he said for a moment just like this.
"Give people a chance, leave the past in the past. I can't be there, so find a friend who will."
"...I don't," Rin shook her head, turning to look at her feet as they walked.
Kuroo eyed her for a moment, he wasn't the smartest guy out there but he was far from dumb. He knew she was lying, and of course he was curious as to why, but he'd let it drop for now, "And your brother?"
Rin cleared her throat, tossing her empty can into a trash bin they passed, "Daisuke plays basketball in America, he's good at it."
"Ah? No Volleyball?" Kuroo chuckled, Rin noticed they were near a grassy area now, shaded by multiple trees. Leaning on one of the trees was a young boy with shoulder length black hair, casually pushing the buttons on a handheld gaming device. Thankfully, Rin didn't have to answer Kuroo's question because the tall teen beside her called out, "Kenma!"
Kenma looked up and Rin shrunk back a little, meeting one person was enough - now she was meeting another? Really, she was already sure half the second year class hater her, she didn't not need anyone else staring at her for befriending a first year - and really, could he get any more adorable?
"Kuroo?"
Kuroo nudged Rin forward and she glared at him, trying not to hiss at him. Her brother would scold her for doing so, telling her something along the lines of 'it's not lady-like', "This is Rin Nekomata."
"I could have introduced myself," Rin huffed, frowning at Kuroo before turning to look at Kenma, "You can just call me Rin."
Kenma nodded shyly, averting his gaze, "Kozume Kenma."
"Kenma is our setter," Kuroo stated, leaning against the tree with a smug grin on his face.
"That so?" Rin murmured, taking a step into the shade underneath the tree. She reached for the tie around her neck and yanked it, it was really warm out and wearing pants wasn't helping her cool off any.
"Rin here is Coach's granddaughter," Kuroo stated, noting that it didn't seem like the other two weren't going to make an attempt at conversation. While he knew Kenma was quiet and to himself, Rin was the new girl - so, obviously, she wasn't going to spill her life story to them then and there.
"Oh?"
Rin plopped down on the grass, across from both Kenma and Kuroo. She crossed her legs, letting her bag sit behind her so she could lean on it, "It's really nothing special. He's just an old man who coaches Volleyball."
Kuroo hummed, tilting his head at the girl, "Can I ask you something, Rin?"
"You're probably going to ask even if I say no," Rin answered, running a hand through her hair lazily. She leaned over, her shoulders hunching as she rested her hands on her lap.
Kuroo smirked, "Why the pants?"
Her eyes stared into his for a moment, and she debated on how to answer. Come up with a thick lie? Evade the question all together? Answer with the least amount of information possible?
"Is it really so odd for me to be wearing pants?" Rin tugged at the black pants for a moment, a small frown pulling at her lips.
"Yes."
"Kuroo, you shouldn't be so rude," Kenma quipped quietly, looking up from his game for a second to glance between the two second years.
Kuroo shrugged, before a thought popped into his head. A smile made it's way onto his face and he looked back at Rin, she eyed him warily, "Oi, so since your grandpa is the coach does that mean you'll be at all our practices?"
Rin frowned and pulled a few pieces of grass from in front of her, "Unfortunately, I think so."
"Ah, it's not that unfortunate! You'll just get to spend more time with Kenma and me!"
Rin tilted her head and pointed towards the quiet first year, "I think I'm looking forward to spending time with him, he's quieter."
"Eh? That's so mean!"
[DISCLAIMER: I do not own Haikyuu! or any recognizable characters. The only characters I take claim over are Rin, Daisuke, and some students that I'm going to conjure.]
{AUTHORS CORNER: Ah! Thanks so much for the comments, follows and favorites! I really wasn't expecting much on the first chapter but I'm really happy with the response I got! I wasn't going to post this until after I updated my other story, but I decided to anyway! I double checked it, but I have a bad habit of missing some things so please let me know if there are any grammatical or spelling errors in the story! Again, thank you so much for the feedback! It made my happy.}