chapter 2, 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙑𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙀𝙔𝘽𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝘾𝙇𝙐𝘽
glaring at her reflection in the mirror, [name] knew she wasn't ready for her first day back to school as a second year. her hair was too frizzy, her eyebags were too dark, her uniform was too wrinkly, and frankly, she didn't want to socialize with anyone but ennoshita. sure, having friends is great, but they could be so tiring.
the girl sighed as she thought about her friends, or rather lack there of. ennoshita was truly her only friend. sure, she had acquaintances (maybe even some online friends), but she never got anything deep or real out of her conversations with them. with ennoshita, she could.
she remembered the first day she met the brown haired boy. it was her first year of high school, and everyone was dreading it, not only her. it was the "big kids" school, and she had watched too many high school movies before her first day, so she was terrified of being bullied. fortunately, that was not the case. instead of meeting roughly edged boys itching to steal her lunch money, she met ennoshita. they were in the same class and something of her caught his attention as he was the one who introduced himself first:
"i like your pin," the stranger commented on the other stranger's accessory attached to her school bag. it was a pin of a character from her favorite show.
"oh... thanks... you watch that, too?" [name] mumbled, cursing inwardly to herself for her lack of social skills. she could tell the boy struggled to grasp onto her muddled words as his gaze on her deepened, but with a soft smile he nodded and showed his understanding.
"mhm, been watching since season one. they're my favorite character."
[name] raised her eyebrows in surprise before a timid smile etched across her face. "me too. what's your name? i'm [name] [last name]."
"chikara ennoshita, nice to meet you, [last name]. what club do you think you're gonna join?"
the moment was ever so strong in her memory as it was her first experience making a genuine friend. ever since then, the two of them were close, doing random shit together when the both of them were free.
usually, [name] was the one consistently free as ennoshita was typically running around with his volleyball club, which [name] thought was cool. her club, the photography club, was easy work in comparison to ennoshita's club. her and her club mates would simply bring in their artwork and explain where and why they took the photos they did. of course, they would work together to edit photos and even go out to use their cameras, but it was never anything super involved. [name]'s work was always the most impressive, bordering professional levels of camerawork (according to the teacher sponsoring the club, who had a degree in photography), but she always brushed off the compliments, never believing in them.
obviously, ennoshita would praise the girl heavily on her work. the photos were always so meaningful and captured with immense thought and execution. he would always tell her he wished he was as creative as her instead of brawny, and she would say the same.
with a groan and a slap to the face, [name] jolted herself out of her daydreaming. she noticed from her digital clock on her desk that class was starting in fifteen minutes, so if she wanted to get to class on time, it would have to be now.
huffing and puffing, [name] snatched her satchel, the pin from first year still hanging on, slipped on her school shoes, and sped walked to karasuno high school. the light breeze outside felt nice, but she knew once she arrived to school and looked at herself through the reflection of the window besides her in class, her hair would be a mess. luckily, she kept a comb and other miscellaneous hair maintenance supplies in her bag.
eventually, she arrived to karasuno, switched out her shoes, and found salvage in her homeroom class, where ennoshita was already awaiting.
"almost late on your first day? tsk tsk, [name]," ennoshita teased, waving his finger in the air.
"shut your hole, chikara."
"my what now?"
[name] didn't know how much more she could stand of this photography club. it was the end of the school day, and all of the clubs had started up again, including the photography club. there was some familiar faces, like the girl who sat in front of her in homeroom, emi uehara, and tsuyoshi ozaki, one of the only boys in the club, both of them being returning members. those two and a few more were bearable, it was the new incomers, though, that pissed [name] off.
they were obnoxious, to put it simply. they had no idea how to use a camera, one of them complaining all of her photos were coming out black when she simply needed to take the lens cap off of the instrument. they were also very loud. cackling and giggling, taking photos of dumb shit instead of trying to understand the art form.
[name] wasn't the type of person to be super anal about art and discredit anyone she seemed "unfit" in their work, it was just that these kids were in the club to be in a club. [name] sighed and looked off into the window besides her as one of the new first years nearly shattered a camera by tossing it to another first year.
to her left, emi uehara pouted at [name], understanding her feelings. "you good?" she poked a perfectly manicured finger into [name]'s bicep.
the other girl slowly swiveled her head to meet uehara's gaze. "hmm? oh, yeah. i'm fine, just bored."
uehara nodded, unconvinced. she tucked a face-framing piece of dark purple hair behind her ear before observing the disruptive first years once more. [name] followed her gaze and copied the girl, but quickly grew tired of it.
abruptly, she stood up, dusting off her uniform's skirt. she packed away her camera, placed it into her satchel, and pushed in her chair. it squealed, hurting everyone's ears around her.
"where you goin'? club doesn't end for another twenty minutes..." uehara whined, missing her friend (acquaintance to [name]) already.
[name] looked back, a slightly irritated expression resting on her face. "doesn't matter, i'm not in this club anymore."
with a dejected look on her pretty face, uehara disappointingly watched as the photography club's best artist quit the club over annoying first years and onto who knows what.
"you what?! are you crazy? that's your thing, though... what are you gonna do now?" ennoshita exclaimed after [name] broke the news that she had quit the photography club. her reasonings were understandable, but she couldn't stick it out for a few more club meetings to see if they would get better? nevertheless, ennoshita didn't express that, not wanting to downplay her actions.
[name] shrugged as her and her friend walked their route back home. "i don't know. where ever the wind takes me."
ennoshita sighed, looking above at the sky. the darkening sky painted the clouds in beautiful shades of pink and orange, creating a breathtaking picture. he considered taking out [name]'s camera, knowing she always had it with her, but decided against it once he recalled the one time he tried that and she freaked out since the camera was an expensive gift.
the orange streaks in the sky suddenly reminded him a certain someone from the volleyball club's recruits. first he thought it was funny, the colors of the sky and the first year almost being identical, but then a crazy thought from earlier struck ennoshita in the head.
"hey, what if you joined the volleyball club?"
[name] furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, whipping her head to face ennoshita. "what? do i look i own a penis to you?"
"wh- eww, gross, no. sorry, i should've been more specific. do you want to be a manager for the volleyball club?" ennoshita scoffed at [name]'s weird penis comment.
the girl hummed in thought, bringing her gaze to the sky. she too thought it would be an amazing photo, but her answer to ennoshita was more important now.
"i mean... maybe. but what would i do? i'm not a big people person, i feel like i'd be useless," [name] mumbled as her insecurities rose through her unconfident tone of voice.
ennoshita frowned, saddened by his friend's view of herself. he place a firm hand on her shoulder. "you wouldn't, though. you have your emt certificate, for one, so if any of us were injured in practice or a game you'd be quick on your feet and help us. secondly, you're a photographer, so you could get photos-"
"say less."
"o-oh... for real?"
"for real."
"...okay, here's the sign up sheet."
[name] eagerly snatched the paper from ennoshita, it slightly wrinkling under [name]'s tight grip as she instantly filled it out. once finished, she shoved the paper back into ennoshita's hands, a smile gracing her face. she had found her new club.
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trivia!!
- before ennoshita suggested the volleyball club, [name] was considering the sign language club. her reasoning being, "what if i had a deaf patient?". her second option? ping pong club.
- even though [name] is a withdrawn person when it comes to admitting her true feelings, ennoshita is a very good body language reader. out of everyone who knows (or will know) her, ennoshita is the best when it comes to reading [name]'s mood and feelings.
- emi uehara, after [name]'s dropping of the photography club: "i never got her number! she was so cute... maybe i'll ask during lunch some day?"