What Is Love?

Chapter One

"Hanoka-san, watch out!" someone yells.

I see a soccer ball flying towards me and just manage to catch the ball inches away from my face, dropping it on the ground in front of my feet. I stare at the ball as it bounces up slightly, then rolls a few inches away.

That was WAY too close! Ugh, my eyes hurt now.

This time of the year, the sun just starts to set as we finish up practice, so it makes it difficult to see the ball when it's in the air because the sun is blinding.

My teammate, Yuugo Katou, comes running up to me looking frantic, her blonde ponytail swishing lightly from side to side.

"I'm so sorry, Natsuki-chan! I almost hit you in the head!" She exclaims, with her hand up to her mouth.

"Natsuki-chan?" How informal.

Yuugo is one of my teammates on my soccer team. The team has been practicing together for a few weeks now, but Yuugo and I have never talked to each other before.

From what I've observed, Yuugo seems like a good player and it appears as though everyone gets along with her. She just joined this semester, so she's new, unlike me.

I've been on the team for two years already. I know most of my other teammates very well, even though I don't consider them my friends. I only know them because we're always practicing.

I kick the ball back in the direction of the crowd that was staring at me and state, perhaps a little too coldly, "I'd prefer it if you call me by my family name. We don't know each other, and I don't want the other girls on the team discovering we're on a first name basis and thinking that gives them the right to come bother me."

I was hoping she would read between the lines and understand that I was including her in that statement. I have given up on people, therefore, a girl coming up to me out of nowhere and acting like we've been friends forever is a bother to me. Especially hyper girls like this one.

Yuugo is probably the only one on the team that has ever talked to me casually. Most of the other girls end up acting like fangirls when they have a chance to talk to me, so I usually try to avoid them. If they find out that another girl on the team is cozying up to me, they'll come bother me even more than they already do and that will just give me even more to worry about.

"Oh, okay. Sorry, Hanoka-san," she says, trying to hide the sadness in her voice but failing. "Anyway, I'm reeeeally sorry about that! This is so embarrassing! Thank God you're okay though! I never would have forgiven myself if I hit you!"

"Please watch what you're doing in the future."

This is really starting to become an occupational hazard...

Being a writer, I often zone out and visualize things in my head. Normally I would do it in a safer area, but since I have presently been having difficulty, I ended up doing it carelessly. That event was what just came of my imprudence.

"Well, still though. I'm sorry. I should've been watching where I was aiming." She laughs nervously and then adds, "To be honest I was trying to show off. So much for that!"

No kidding. Complete fail. Watch where you're kicking! You shouldn't be messing around like that anyway.

The group that Yuugo came from goes back to practicing and I head for the sidelines, Yuugo following me like a puppy. She's just as annoying as I predicted she would be.