the trial ➢ 𝘢𝘰𝘣𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘴𝘢𝘪

ch. nine

morning practice ends with four particular boys coming up to my bench after changing into their school uniforms.

"katsumi~~ can i walk you to class?" oikawa asks while picking my bag up from the bench, a certain blonde coming up behind him. i look at kyotani, then back to oikawa.

"i think kyo-chan is walking with me again!"

"what?"

i point at the player behind him. the four turn around, oikawa getting scared of kyotani's unnoticeable presence. "jeez, maddog-chan, don't spook me like that!" oikawa nervously laughs, putting a hand on kyotani's shoulder.

kyotani moves his shoulder to get oikawa's hand off, taking my bag from oikawa and heading to the doors of the gymnasium.

"no fair! i haven't walked katsumi-chan in so long!" oikawa pouts.

"i promise, you can walk with me tomorrow, tooru-senpai!" i stick my pinky out to oikawa, who completes the pinky promise.

"okay, but, you're definitely sitting at our lunch table today." makki joins in.

"of course~~ i'll see you guys later!" i quickly stride to the gymnasium doors in an attempt to make it to class on time.

as i'm following kyotani down the hallway, still trying to catch up to him, i'm suddenly blocked by three figures. i look up to see the three boys that were walking outside of the gym during practice.

"hey! you're the new girl, right?" the one to the right says.

"ah- yeah.. excu-"

"cute. what's your name?" the one to the left questions.

"katsumi.. irihata katsumi." i try looking through the spaces between the boys for a way to get around them.

"wanna head downstairs with us, katsumi?" the one in the middle crosses his arms, lightly licking his bottom lip.

"um.. i'd love to, but, i really need to get to class.."

the three come a few steps closer to me.

"c'monn, we still have-" the guy on the left starts.

"yo." kyotani pushes the guy on the right over to the wall, standing in front of him. "lay off." i watch as his jaw clenches, his hand grabbing the shirt of the other boy.

the boy laughs. "or what?"

kyotani's grip on the boys shirt tightens as he lifts the boy off the ground a bit. "wanna repeat that for me?" he gets closer.

i finally slip past the other two guys to tug at kyotani's blazer. "can we go to class.. please.."

his eyebrows un-furrow once he looks down to me, letting go of the boy and pushing through the other two, the bell signifying the start of class ringing throughout the empty hall.

"thank you.." i quietly murmur.

"it's whatever." kyotani huffs and opens the door to our classroom, letting me in first.

"look who decided to come to class." our teacher jokes with a hand on her hip.

"i'm sorry, sensei! someth-" i start to bow before kyotani cuts me off.

"it was my fault."

"detention tomorrow, kyotani. two more tardies for you, katsumi, and it'll be a detention."

"i understand.." i look down and follow kyotani to our seats. he puts my bag on my desk and plops down in his seat, keeping his gaze on the window.

"you okay?" sukurai very quietly asks with a hand on my desk as i sit down.

"mhm!" i give him a thin-lipped smile.

i did not think so much would happen in my first three days at school.

"now that everyone is here," the teacher shoots me a quick glance, "i can announce your assignment for today. you'll be in partners, or in groups of three, and try to come up with things you like and dislike about our school, and things you think can be improved! you can decide who you work with, and be ready to, possibly, discuss your opinions after as a class."

i'm sure kyotani won't care to work with anyone, so i get up and push my desk over to his. he scoots a few inches away from me as sukurai pulls a chair up in front of us, sitting on it backwards to cross his arms over kyotani and i's desks.

"so, partners," sukurai starts, "what do we not like about school?"

"the 'being late' bullshit." kyotani sighs.

"i agree! they should atleast give you a few more days, than just three, to be tardy.." i scrunch my lips in thought, tapping my fingers on the desk.

kyotani lets out a huff from his nose. "you still have a lot to learn about this hellhole."

"never thought i'd agree with you on something. i had so many detentions last year 'cuz i'd help my dad at his shop every morning before school.. it was so stupid." sukurai rolls his eyes.

"maybe homeschool wasn't that bad.." i nervously eye sukurai.

"no!" he laughs, putting his hands on mine, "trust me, there's plenty good about the school too..! like.. uh.. our awesome volley team, am i right?"

we both look to kyotani who looks at us from the corner of his eye, immediately looking out the window again once he realizes we're looking at him.

"i agree, again! the boys are super talented~" i move my hands from under sukurai's to poke at kyotani's, unexpectedly very muscular, arm a few times. "i like how everyone is so welcoming here! except.. the girls in the hall that talked about me for being with oikawa." i shudder.

"girls are already talking about you?" sukurai questions.

i nod. "atleast i think they are.. when we were walking to class together the other day, i kept hearing whispers as we passed these girls.."

"that sucks, i'm sorry." he purses his lips.

i shake it off with a smile. "we're getting too off track!" i giggle. "what else do you guys not like about here, what should i be worried about?"

"sensei's the worst." kyotani crosses his arms.

his remark causes my eyes to widen.

"wait 'til the end of the month, she'll pile work on you."

"that. yes." sukurai agrees.

i put my head on my desk. "i should've never asked." i whine.

"don't worry, with me as your classmate, you'll do awesome!" sukurai says in an attempt to reassure me, "honestly, i think i'm something everyone likes about school."

"shut up, kura!" one of our classmates exclaims, sending a few laughs around the room.

"see!" he points a thumb back to the classmate, "he thinks so."

i spend the rest of class listening to what kyotani and sukurai, mostly sukurai, have to say about the school. kyotani mainly only mentioned what he hates about it, the only thing he relatively likes being volleyball.

~~~

i push my desk back to its original spot once the bell for lunch rings, packing up my stuff.

"wanna sit with me and the guys for lunch, katsumi?" sukurai asks while picking up his bag.

"i would! but i already promised the team i would sit with them.."

"oh, don't worry about it then! see you tomorrow?" he says while walking to the back door of the classroom. i nod with a smile as he meets yuri in the hallway, the two walking away together.

i wait a while for kyotani to get up before following him down to the cafeteria, being greeted by my four favorite upperclassmen.