Carry the Day

Chapter 2: The Club

"Do you think she's dead?" A blank voice asked.

"Tsukki, that's not nice!" Another said. 

Something poked my cheek, making me growl in annoyance. I had been in Japan for a week now, and I was still exhausted from the move. I slowly lifted my head up and looked at the two boys staring down at me. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head. "Why did you wake me up?" I asked them.

The shorter boy chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "S-Sorry, but class has ended." he said. His voice seemed to be the second one. "I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi. Nice to meet you." the boy said with a smile.

I looked at him and said, "Watanabe Akira." Then I turned my head to the taller guy beside him. "And who are you, titan?" I asked. I rose an eyebrow at him and smirked when I saw his eye twitch in annoyance.

He looked down at me, his lips turning into a smirk of his own. "Why would I tell a shorty like you?" he asked. He bent down to my level and rose an eyebrow.

Blinking, I stood up and rose to my full height. I was a lot smaller than him, I stood at around 168 cm, and it amused him greatly. "Well, at least you have your height to compensate for that brain of yours." I said. I grabbed my bag from the ground and slung it over my shoulder.

The guy rose his eyebrow. "I'm busy, you're ugly." he said before turning to his friend. "Yamaguchi, let's go." Then he turned around and walked to the door. Yamaguchi gave me an apologetic smile before running after him. 

I walked out of the classroom, my fists clenched as I slammed the door shut. My noistrils flared and my eyes shone with anger. I made my way to the third years' corridor. When I arrived at class 3-2, I slammed the door open, startling the small amount of students still present inside. A ravenette walked up to me. "Let's go." she said.

I followed her through the hallways. "You're Watanabe Akira?" she asked. Her voice was quite blank and her eyes showed no sign of emotion. 

Giving a nod, I asked, "Yes, you're Shimizu Kiyoko, then?" 

She nodded and gave a small smile. I returned it and we walked in silence. She was pretty, but she didn't really like showing emotion. She looked at my application and glanced at me."You want to be a player?" she asked me. Her eyes widened a bit and she seemed surprised.

"There are no rules against a girl playing in a guys' team." I said. I put my hands in my pockets as we arrived at the Second Gymnasium.

She slid open the door and let me go in first. Then she closed the door and placed her bag on the ground. "Are you even able to play?" she asked.

I flinched at her question. Narrowing my eyes at her, my shoulders tensed and I crossed my arms. "Why can't I?" I snapped at her. I kept my voice flat and placed my weight on my 'good' leg.

She looked at me before glancing over my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to see a brunet guy walking up to us. He smiled at us and stopped between the two of us. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, everything's fine." I said. I looked at Shimizu-senpai and bowed reluctantly. I didn't need trouble on my first day; Too much effort. Shimizu-senpai gave a small smile and walked off with her clipboard in hand. 

"I suppose you're the captain of the team?" I asked the brunet. 

He grinned at me and nodded. "I'm Sawamura Daichi, third year. You must be Watanabe Akira, right?" he asked. "I honestly thought you'd be a guy." Sawamura-senpai said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"A lot of people do." I said. I walked to my bag and searched around. I pulled out a few pieces of paper and handed them to him.

Sawamura-senpai grabbed the papers and flipped through them. He took his time reading them before nodding to himself. "Well, that's fine, right? For now you can just train with us and act like a manager." he said.

I nodded at him, agreeing to his words. He motioned me to follow him and we walked to the side of the court. "Everyone, this is Watanabe Akira. She'll be joining the team as player and manager." Sawamura-senpai told them.

I bowed slightly to them. "Pleased to meet you." I said before straightening up and looking around the faces while they resumed practice.

Sawamura-senpai pointed to a group of three. "Those are the three second years Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita." he said. Then he pointed at two others. One was bald and the other was a grey-haired guy. "Those two are Tanaka Ryunosuke, second year, and Sugawara Koshi, third year." he said.

Footsteps were heard coming closer. Sawamura-senpai turned to them and smiled. "And those are two of the other first years." he said. I turned around and was met with two familiar guys staring at me. I blinked as I stared at the titan. Yamaguchi chuckled awkwardly as he looked in between us. "Those two are Yamaguchi Tadashi and Tsukishima Kei." Sawamura-senpai said.

"We have met. Right, titan?" I said. 

Titan, or Tsukishima, smirked and tilted his. "I swear you get shorter with the second." he said.

My eyes narrowed and my jaw clenched. I jutted out my hip and crossed my arms. A smirk grew on my lips. "Thank you, god only lets people grow until they're perfect." I said.

He smirked at me before walking passed me, Yamaguchi following after him. "You and Tsukishima seem to dislike each other." Sugawara-senpai said as he came to stand with me and Sawamura-senpai. 

I shrugged and smirked. "Who knows," I said. "Maybe it's the start of a weird friendship." I said before sitting on the ground to start stretching. "What about those other first years?" I asked as I bent over.

"We have Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama from Kitagawa Daiichi." Sugawara-senpai said. 

My head snapped up and I looked at him. My eyes narrowed at the grey-haired guy. "Kageyama? Tobio's here?" I asked him.

Sawamura-senpai nodded. "You know him?" he asked me.

I nodded and looked down, a bitter smirk forming on my lips. "Yeah, I'm from Kitagawa myself." I said. I stood up and walked onto the court.

"You're from Kitagawa Daiichi?" Tanaka-senpai asked me as he walked up to stand with us. 

"Yeah. Only for my first year, though." I said. I picked up a volleyball from the ground and threw it up in the air. I concentrated on the ball as I passed it back and forth to Sawamura-senpai. "Why aren't they here, Sawamura-senpai?" I asked.

Sawamura-senpai caught the ball and got this serious look in his eyes. "Just call me Daichi." he said and proceeded to tell me how Tobio and Hinata couldn't get along and how he'd kicked them out of the gym. Then he told me how they'd boldly challenged them and that their match would be Saturday.

I scoffed and said, "Well, that doesn't surprise me. He's always thought the players had to match him instead of him having to match the others." I caught the ball Sawamura-senpai passed me and we started passing back and forth again. 

After a while, I caught the ball and placed it on the ground. I pulled my sweats down to reveal shorts, and my prosthetic leg. When I looked up, I saw most of them gape at my leg. I narrowed my eyes at them. "What?" I snapped, clenching my fists.

Sugawara-senpai shook his head. "It's just a little something to get used to." he said. He smiled at me before picking up the ball and passing it to me.

I caught it quickly and threw it back at him. "You're not gonna ask?" I asked. 

"You'll tell us when you're ready to." Yamaguchi said from behind me. The others nodded in agreement, well, except titan.

"How are you even going to play like that?" he asked.

I snapped my head over to him. "I don't know, but I have to become number one." I snapped.

"You don't have to be number one, right?" Tanaka-senpai asked.

A humorless laugh escaped my lips as I picked up a stray ball. "Not with my family." I muttured before slamming my hand against the ball.

So, it would seem she's met the guys. Now, I kind of like the little insults thrown between Tsukishima and Akira. You guys also got a little hint on her home situation and the kind of person she is.

I hope you enjoyed reading the second chapter! Don't forget to comment and give me some feedback!