Currently, it's 8:00 A.M. on a calm and foggy Saturday morning. Why am I up this early? Well, surprisingly enough, I was apparently supposed to be up earlier.
Yesterday, when I got home from my long and dirty escapade, I happened to find a crumpled up piece of notebook paper with kanji written on it. It was basically directions as of where to meet tomorrow (in this case, today), and what to bring. But, it never said what time. Even if I did know the person who put the note in my bag, I wouldn't have any method of contacting her/him. So, I let it be and started on with my daily household chores and studying, along with the hassle of washing the once clean and pure white stockings I owned.
Anyways, today I figured I should get up early to go to the Karasuno High gym (typical meeting place for a sports team). Besides, in my volleyball playing experience, the team always had to get up on weekends before 8 to head to the gym anyway. I'm sure high school volleyball would be the same, right?
I ate a quick and light breakfast before heading out the door to a train station. A bike would be too slow, and I figured I definitely shouldn't get there by 9:30.
Nothing very enticing happened on my journey to the high school, so I can exclude that part of the day. But when I did arrive, a very attractive woman came to open the gymnasium door. And boy, was I intimidated.
She was beautiful. Too beautiful. I felt absolutely..... Envious of her presence. She had short black hair, but nothing like mine. It was wavy and thick, suiting her way more than it would me. Her eyes overwhelmed me the most. They were such a charming, icy blue that was especially rare in Japan. She seemed so... Goddess-like, to put shortly.
"Good evening. Please come in."
She muttered with the utmost soothing voice. I could have sworn if honey had a voice, it would have been exactly like that.
"T-thank you. Um..."
I looked around the gym and saw the typical sight of sweaty and tired volleyball players. I would have said this was normal and moved on, but they all looked like they practiced for an awfully long time. Therefore, I checked my watch quickly.
9:15
"Excuse me, what time did they start practice?"
I asked the beautiful girl standing next to me.
"Around.... 6:30? Although, a few members got around here earlier than that.."
WHAT?! I was so unacceptably late! By almost 3 hours?! What kind of manager would I be to make such an insufferable first impression?
"Nakemura-san.. Oh, I'm sorry if you weren't aware I knew your name.. Coach Ukai-kun told me."
"No, it's fine. What's wrong?"
"Did I happen to write down the time you were supposed to arrive on the piece of paper?"
Ooooh, so it was her who put it in there! It makes sense now that I think about it. The writing was too feminine for a guy, and the kanji seemed to fit her delicate demeanor.
"So it was you? And yes, there was no time written..."
"Yes. I'm sorry for not putting my name and contact information down, it was very irresponsible of me. I'm sorry you were unaware, I'll try to be more careful in the future. By the way, my name is Shimizu Kiyoko. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The alluring high school girl then bowed to me. To be honest, I was utterly flustered by the gesture. Shouldn't this situation be the other way around? No way would a girl like me have so much respect shown from this dignified, polite, mature woman! This was too unnatural.
"Trust me, Kiyoko-san! It's okay, I would have forgotten too, but please stand back up! You don't need to show so much respect for me, honestly......"
"WOAH! IS KIYOKO-SAN BOWING FOR OUR SECOND MANAGER?!"
A fiery voice broke the polite silence the high school girl and I made. We both turned our heads toward the sound and saw a fuming red athlete, pointing a finger at us while standing in the most awkward and queer position I think I've ever seen. I soon knew this had to be Tanaka-san, the fiery bald spiker whom I saw in Karasuno's previous scrimmage.
"OOOOI! LET'S JUST SEE HOW WORTHY SHE IS OF KIYOKO-SAN'S RESPECT!"
He ran up to me more quickly than I could react. Before I knew it, he was uncomfortably close, examining me while standing in front of a supposedly annoyed Kiyoko-san.
"HEY! IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT, BUT YOU AREN'T THAT BAD CLOSE UP! YOU'RE PRETTY CUTE, NAKEM-"
Before the volleyball player could finish his bold (and embarrassingly loud) statement, Kiyoko-San saved me by hitting him sharply in the head with a light pink clipboard.
Upon the violent gesture, he gave out a sharp and short yelp as he backed away from both me and Kiyoko-san.
"I'm sorry for his action. Please don't feel uncomfortable, it's a fairly safe environment. They usually keep their distance."
I looked down to the ground and nodded with a bright red face. Never have I ever been called cute by anyone, nevertheless my parents when I was younger. This was just too much to take in for me.
I glanced over Kiyoko-san's small shoulder and saw a surprisingly goofy and love-struck look on Tanaka-san's face. He was mumbling something very incoherent, but I other than that, I did see a rather short and curious looking boy also peeking at the commotion from behind Tanaka-san's back. Upon closer inspection, I realized I've locked eyes with Nishinoya-san. He was staring at me quite intently, which made me jittery and flustered. This was too much for one day!
"HEY! YOU'RE RIGHT, RYU! SHE'S NOT BAD!"
Nishinoya-san exclaimed as he emerged from behind his friend's back (assuming so, after all, he did call Tanaka-san by his first name, with no formality at the end).
I could feel my face getting hotter as I quickly hid behind Kiyoko-san and covered my crimson red face. Even by Nishinoya-san, the boy who I couldn't really stand? This must be a horrible dream! My conscience is too mean!
"You guys! Be considerate to our new manager! This attitude is too rude to a person you just met! You'll scare her away!"
Sugawara-san said as he got up from the circle of volleyball players now staring curiously at me. He dragged the now solemn and stone-faced teenagers back to the circle as Kiyoko-san angrily huffed at them.
"Don't worry. I'll stick around you for the most part so things like this won't happen."
"Thank you, Kiyoko-san. I'll try my best..."
I shyly stepped out of Kiyoko-san's protective shadow and stood to face the team and the two coaches among them.
I nervously peered at Kiyoko-san for encouragement. When she returned my gaze, she smiled and nodded for me to continue.
"P-....Please take care of me... I'll try my best to be the m-most efficient supporting manager for the team....."
Silence filled the air as I had pairs of eyes now staring straight at me. With the attention, I felt way beyond uncomfortable, and fidgeted with my thumbs while looking down at the shiny wooden floors beneath me. I wasn't used to saying something like this to a group of people alone, basically because I never threw myself into doing so. But now, I was kind of obligated to.
"PLEASE TAKE CARE OF US!"
The booming voices of many black-coated volleyball players forcefully ripped my attention from the ground and towards them.
They....
They were all bowing?
To me?
I looked over to the two coaches behind them. One with curly black hair and thick, rectangular glasses mouthed a polite "Congratulations.", while Ukai-kun winked and gave a thumbs-up.
I was unbelievably red by now. In fact, because of the multiple times blood rushed to my head and face, I felt dizzy. This could have had the same effect as being in a hot spring for too long.
It wasn't long before I was crumpling to the ground because of all the embarrassment and shock. My vision became fuzzy and disoriented, so I couldn't make out the expression Kiyoko-san made when she noticed I fell to the floor in utter sheepishness.
Afterwards, I heard the distant sounds of worried and dreadfully loud Karasuno high schoolers rushing over to their second manager's aid.
I couldn't remember what happened after that, but one thing for sure I vaguely recall.
I'm fairly certain an extremely goofy smile was plastered on my face.