Haikyuu! ~ Introvert ~

Chapter 2: Socially Awkward

"Oh bother."

The class just stared. The new girl had just talked English and said a very stereotypical phrase. The girl had now started to practically hyperventilate, desperately trying to flick the cockroach away, which unfortunately only served to make it hold on tighter.

At that moment the teacher realised that this girl, judging from the way she was steadily growing paler, would need some serious help, and soon, because she looked like she was actually going to faint.
The teacher grabbed her empty coffee mug and some paper, trying to calm the girl down as she scooped the cockroach onto the paper and put the mug on top, then hurrying to the window and shaking the bug out, which fell to the ground two storeys below.

She turned around to see that the once panicked girl had somehow composed herself again and was facing the class. The girl cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Well, that was, uh, interesting, wasn't it?" She said while turning a light shade of pink."Um, as you just saw, I greatly dislike bugs, so, uh, I'll be relying on you guys to warn me if you see one!" Well damn, she thought, who would ever do that? Stupid stupid stupid.

"I might as well introduce myself, so uh, here goes? Well, my name is Koizumi Rei, and I'm half English, half Japanese and I moved here two days ago. My parents still live in England, so I live on my own. English is my first language but I also speak fluent Japanese, though I might have a strange accent to you guys. I was brought up to be polite, and I somehow ended up sounding really posh, so if a stereotypical phrase makes its way out, don't dwell on it." You did it again, idiot. No one really cares about that.
"So, uh, I hope I'll be friends with you guys!" Ah, what the hell, they can decide that for themselves.

Rei stood there for a couple of seconds, almost in a daze before walking quickly back to her desk.

"Thank you for that, Koizumi-san. I'm sure you'll be able to befriend everyone just fine!"said the teacher.
"Ah, well, about that, I'm actually really socially awkward, and don't worry about it if I say something weird." Really? That's the best I could think of? Socially awkward? Great, I just went down a few levels in everyone's expectations.

"Oh, and Koizumi-san, you'll need to find a club to join right away because you joined late. Hitoka-san, you're reliable, aren't you? Would you like to show Koizumi-san around? You can show her the clubs, too."

A small girl with short blonde hair stood up with a determined expression on her face. "I'll do my best!" She said loudly. "Koizumi-san, please follow me!"
Rei stood up, her face an emotionless mask. "Ok." She said quietly, resulting in Hitoka's determined expression faltering slightly.

••• (outside the classroom)

"So, um, Koizumi-san-"
"Just Rei is fine."
"Ok, Rei-san, do you have any particular interests? Like, a sport or something?" Hitoka seemed to be giving off a nervous aura.
"Well... I did some long-distance running back in England..." Rei said slowly.
"Ah! Maybe you could try the track team! Follow me!" She said, a new light in her eyes at having thought of something.
She began to walk off, hoping that Rei really would follow her.

"Ah, wait up, Hitoka-saaaan..." She called half-heartedly, but went after her anyway.
"Don't call me Hitoka! Just Yachi is fine!", said Yachi, repeating Rei's words.
"Well, Yachi, um, I'm not very good at running fast... Or competitively, now that I think about it... So is there anything else that sort of requires stamina and power? Because that's kinda my forte, so-"she stopped mid-sentence as she walked right into Yachi, who had suddenly halted in her tracks.

"Ah, sor-"she began, but was interrupted.

"Um, Rei-san, I think I had another idea!" She said carefully.

"Hit me with it."

"Have you ever played volleyball?"