Note: This story is fictional; characters, events. The anime used in this book does not belong to me, credits goes to the creators of the anime Haikyuu!!, to Haruichi Furudate. The plot does not always abide to those in the anime for this is a story written by my imagination. All real life events similar to the story is purely coincidental. This story may also contain major spoilers of the anime.
!!! Trigger Warning: READER's discretion is advised. !!!
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The smell of the morning breeze always makes me smile; the fresh smell of trees, the fresh air; all of them. Whenever I wake up I would feel the sun shine on me, hitting my eyes, blinding me and forcing me to wake up. This is my morning everyday.
Today, I wake up at 6AM to get ready for school. The sun's already up, I should be too. I push the covers off me, getting up to make my bed as my first chore in the morning. I head to the bathroom, stretching my arms out as I yawned, trying to wake myself up. I smile at my reflection, telling myself, "You're beautiful and special," as a way of boosting my self-esteem. I undress myself, folding my clothes neatly on the countertop, going ahead to take a shower.
"Good morning." I greet my mother, kissing her cheek as she cooked breakfast for us. I walk to the fridge, taking out a carton of milk and a cookie; I drink straight from the carton of milk, earning a glare from my mother. I gave her a cheeky smile, giggling at how she reacted to my behavior. "I don't need a glass for this." I say, getting a flick on the forehead from my mom. I scrunch my nose as I rub my forehead.
"You are definitely your father's daughter. He never drinks milk from a glass, he would always drink straight from the carton." I look at my dad whose face had a surprised look on it; he's probably wondering why he's suddenly dragged into our conversation when he just got out of the room. I chuckle seeing my dad give my mom a look, they look like high school sweethearts.
"I'm pretty sure I am my father's daughter, but I'm most certainly my mother's. Unlike daddy, I'm a morning person just like my beautiful mother." I hug my mother, getting a look from her, she knows that I'm only trying to get on her good side. My mom gently pinches my side, making me back away from her.
I suddenly saw the time, 7:20AM, I have to leave now. I run to my room, wearing my blazer and swinging my bag over my shoulder. I run back to the kitchen, also the dining room, taking a piece of bread and quickly finishing it. I make my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth, brushing them thoroughly even though I'm rushing already.
"Bye mom! Bye dad!!" I yell, bidding goodbye as I ran out of the house to go to school.
My friends live quite far from me so I walk to school, alone. I do get somehow jealous of those students, who have their friends near them, they walk home together and they go to school together. It's fun having friends around, especially when you need someone to talk to.
I walk into the building, going to my shoe locker to wear my indoor slippers. I wave at friends that I see, getting a smile and a wave back from them. I happily walk to class, opening my arms when I saw my best friends on their seats. The two of them ran up to me, we hugged each other tightly.
"We're finally second years!" Maki cheers, eyes sparkled with the sun that shone into the classroom. I chuckle, taking a seat near theirs. "Let's make plans for this year." She looks at me and Honami, wriggling her brows as she thinks of plans. I chuckle, seeing that weird face she always uses when she thinks of something. "We should get a boyfriend!" I look at her, raising both my brows, her plan is somehow ridiculous. I turn to Honami and her eyes were sparkling with determination, she's agreeing to it.
"You two... are serious?" They both look at me with a raised brow, making me back away a little. I never thought of doing that this year, but I guess they did. "I mean it's okay, but really? A boyfriend?" I ask them and they nod.
"Maki.." We all turn to the voice, seeing the famous pudding head of the school, Kozume Kenma. "I kinda sit there.. My bag.." He quietly says, pointing to his bag that was on the floor. Maki immediately stands up, letting him sit. "Thank you." He gives us a small smile, knowing that he doesn't usually smile, I returned it.
The bell suddenly rings, echoing all over the school. Maki takes the seat beside Honami, and Kenma sits right beside me. I give him a smile and a nod, turning to the front to listen to the teacher.
We didn't have to introduce ourselves, almost everyone in this class was my classmate last year. The teacher informed us about the classroom rules, saying, "You may have been studying in this school for more than a year now, but of course, knowing you guys, you would have to be reminded of them," we're in high school but we're still stuck with boring class room rules.
Class is ongoing; I'm looking back and forth at the board and my notebook, copying important notes. I suddenly heard something, background music, turning my attention to my seat mate who was playing on his phone, hands under his desk. I tap his arm, trying to get his attention; Kenma shook his arm every time I tapped him.
"Kenma, you're gonna get caught if you continue playing on your phone." I whisper to him, trying to make me look natural as the teacher eyed us. I nudged his leg, trying everything I can do to help him. "Kenma, hey stop that." I whisper again, trying my best to make him stop.
"What?" He asks, his voice was kinda loud, catching our teacher's attention. I pointed to the teacher, who's now right beside him. He looks up and flinches, noticing the teacher in front of him. I look away, pretending to be clueless of the situation.
"Kozume Kenma." The teacher looks down on him, giving him that scary look she always wears when she catches her students doing something else. "Come to the office right after this class." Kenma bows, face looking so red. The teacher goes back to the front, continuing on with our discussion. I felt him look at me so I averted my attention to my notes, trying to run away from my mistake.
If I hadn't done anything, he would've been okay, he wouldn't have to be called into the office. I glanced at him from time to time, seeing him look so down after getting that from the teacher. I should apologize to him.
The bell rang, indicating that it's the end of first period. Kenma immediately stands, heading out of the classroom. My eyes followed him, feeling guilt build up inside of me as he walked out of class. He's not really sociable, so doing that to him, making him go to the office right on the first day; I feel bad.
I waited for him to come back, I wanted to say sorry. He didn't deserve that, he doesn't deserve that at all. If it was me who got scolded, on the first day, I would probably lose it and curse myself for being stupid. Either that or I'd blame whoever made the teacher pay attention to me.
The moment I turned to the door, probably the 20th time, he was there. I looked away when he saw me. I take a deep breath before turning to him again; I turn to my right, seeing no one. Where is he? I turned my head to every direction, but there was no single trace of a pudding head. I slammed my face to my desk, feeling a few classmates looking at me.
"(Y/n)." I jump out of shock; hitting my back to the wall on my left, and my head by the window frame. I wince in pain, reaching for the back of my head. I look ahead of me to see Kenma. "Are you alright?" I blink a few times, shaking then nodding my head. Kenma looked at me, tilting his head slightly to the side, probably asking which one.
"I-I'm fine. I'm not bleeding so, I'm fine." I collect myself; dusting my skirt, and fixing my hair. I reach for the back of my head once again; touching the part that hit the window frame to see if I wasn't bleeding, thankfully I wasn't. I look at Kenma and he's just looking at me, I give him a smile and he nods.
Because of him scaring the hell out of me, I wasn't able to apologize. He didn't look pissed at me nor was he trying to make me feel bad; I still feel incredibly awful for acting like I was clueless. After embarrassing myself, I can't even look him in the eye, strike up a conversation or sit still.
I'm writing my notes as I tried my best to listen to the teacher. My head is just everywhere; I keep on blaming myself for embarrassing Kenma in front of the whole classroom, I also keep thinking of embarrassing myself in front of him.
I hold my right wrist with my left hand, trying to stop it from shaking. I'm not sure if I'm having an anxiety attack because I can't feel my chest; moreover, I couldn't feel the pain I usually feel when having an attack. The shaking was only on the right side of my body, mainly my arm; then suddenly, the shaking moved up my arm to the rest of my body. I bit my lip, tears are forming in my eyes from the anxiety attack that's really starting to get to me.
"(Y/n)?" I take a few deep breaths, turning to my seat mate whose eyes widened when they met mine. Kenma's eyes went to my wrist. "Shouldn't we ask for help?" I try to wipe the tear that dropped from my eye, shaking my head at him. "(Y/n) you're unstable right now." I accidentally slam my head to my desk, failing to keep myself steady.
"What's happening back there?" The teacher asks in a loud voice; I close my eyes tight as I felt the need to cry, starting to feel the immense pounding of my heart. "Kozume what's happening to her?" I try to lean back on my chair, almost falling over to my desk again; Kenma had caught me and helped me lean on my chair. My head falls on Kenma's shoulder as I fail to keep my shaking body leaning on my chair.
"S-She's having an attack." My body is uncontrollable now, I'm falling over to Kenma more and more. My breathing gets more unstable as I started crying. "W-We should bring her to the infirmary." I tried opening my eyes, seeing the silhouette of the teacher and a few other people, in front of me.
I don't know what happened after that, but I know I fell. I now feel like I really have to apologize to Kenma: first, I had him get sent to the office; second, I burdened him and my head fell on his shoulder. I have done nothing but be a burden to him; Kenma probably thinks I'm a nuisance now. So much for a fresh new school year.
I open my eyes seeing white, "Am I dead?" I couldn't think of anything else but that, where else would it be white? I tried moving my eyes to look left and right, up and down. I can see my body when I look down, other than my body, there's a metal frame. I take a deep breath, feeling the oxygen in me as I inhaled it.
I try sitting up, coughing a few times halfway up. I look to my side to see Maki sleeping on the edge of the bed. Wait, why am I on a bed? As far as I can recall, I was on my seat, troubling Kenma by falling on him. I try shaking Maki to wake her up, coughing once again from the itchiness I felt in my throat. I hug my body with my left arm as I feel the cool air around me, it's so cold. I hold my head, feeling something sting at the back; it's the one from earlier, when I hit the window frame.
"Maki..." I try shaking her, this girl is a heavy sleeper. "Maki... Wake up... Maki..." I call her name as I kept shaking her body to wake her up. I grunt, kicking her body to wake the hell out of her. I kick her again, seeing a skeleton in front of me. I looked around me, seeing everyone turn into lifeless skeletons.
"It's all your fault."
"You did this to us, (Y/n)!"
"One day, you'll bring pain to all of your friends. One that none of them will ever forget."
I jolted up, breathing heavily from what I just saw. I clench my chest, feeling the pain as I started to cry from just imagining what I saw. I look over to my right, seeing her. What the hell? Is this a loop?
I try shaking her, doing it a lot more aggressive this time. I cry as I try to shake her to wake up. She suddenly moves, sitting up, looking at me with widened eyes.
"Hey (Y/n), are you in pain?" She asks, taking a seat on the bed. I cry harder, seeing my best friend alive right before my eyes. "Babe why are you crying so hard? (Y/n) I'm here.." She pulls me into a hug, patting and caressing my back as she hushed me. That nightmare... I hate it. "Shh, I'm here.. Whatever you saw is just a dream, don't let it get to you." I pull away, wiping my tears with my sleeves. Maki gives me a warm smile, easing my pounding heart.
Maki and I just sat on the bed, still getting comforted by her. I told her what I had seen; it was horrible, I don't like it. We didn't talk about anything else aside from the dream while she tried to comfort me, convince me that it was all just a dream.
"How long was I out for?" I ask, earning a sigh from my friend. "You're scaring me.."
"You've only been out for two hours, you missed two classes that's all." She answered.
We both headed to class, stopping by the vending machine to get me a carton of milk to help me calm down. I linked my arm with hers, still feeling kinda nervous to get back to class after falling unconscious. I hide behind Maki, entering our classroom; I earned a few stares here and there, I feel like I've burdened everyone.
I take a seat, leaning on my chair as I take a look at my messy notebook. I raise my brow, seeing notes and information I've never written, but are present on the pages of it. I look at Maki and she shrugged, who wrote this? The penmanship is beautiful, well written, neat and clean. Whoever wrote my notes for me, followed how I write them.
The bell rings and echoes all over the school; it's time for class. Maki goes to her seat, giving me a reassuring smile before turning to the front. Honami came running to me, giving me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. I give her a smile, wanting to let her know that I'm fine now.
I take out my other notebook, my math notebook; nice class to get back to, ugh. I start writing the small details, the date and a few doodles. I avert my attention to my seat mate; Kenma just casually sat beside me. I look down, turning back to my notes. Maybe he is mad at me, annoyed for the very least.
"Here." I blink a few times upon hearing his voice. I look at what he slid in front of me; a blue pill on a tissue, and a bottle of water. "I was ordered to give this to you once you get back. It's for your heart... or whatever." I look at him, seeing him playing a video game on his PSP; what the heck, it's time for class. I turn back to the pill, smiling. I drank the pill and focused on the teacher.
The whole day, all subject teachers were cautious and observant of me. Probably word had spread to all the teachers about me having an anxiety attack this morning. The rest of the day was normal; listening to lectures, writing my notes, eating when it was break, and now, club activities.
My friends and I don't really have a club so we always go home early. I begged them to stay with me in school first, I don't want to go home yet. The moment I step into my house my mom would probably tell me to come with her to the hospital, so no.
The three of us roamed around the school campus, taking a look at all the clubs that we had in our school. I saw classmates when we came across the baseball club; most of the boys I know from class, are here. We bought food from the cafeteria, continuing on with our adventure.
"Those cheerleaders are so thin and sexy, ugh." Honami complains, throwing annoyed looks at the cheerleaders that were practicing. Good thing no one saw us. But honestly, Honami's not even chubby or fat, she's also slim; I don't get her complaints. "Even (Y/n) is sexy." I furrow my brows and scrunch my nose at her comment, I am not.
"Oh right. (Y/n) when you were out," Maki pauses as she and Honami gives each other a look, "The boys were worried about you. I heard most of them say they want to be your knight in shining armor." I shiver upon hearing her story, ew cringe. "Most of the boys in class likes you, (Y/n)." Maki giggles, looking so happy at the thought of it. Her cheeks are red and so are Honami's. "You might get a boyfriend soon... sooner than the two of us." The two of them smirks at me, making me scrunch my nose in disgust.
"Me? A boyfriend?" The both nod. "Never in a thousand years."
We continued going around the school; I stopped walking when I heard the sound of shoes rubbing against the floor, basketball? I let go of my best friends and looked at the club that was using the gym. I feel like the wind had blown to my direction when the player hit the ball straight down to the floor; this is volleyball?
I looked at the players in awe, feeling the excitement just by watching them receive the ball with their arms; the sound's so satisfying. A player with the number 2 on his shirt, jumped and hit the ball to the other side of the net; the player whose number is three, received it perfectly. I put my hand up to my chest as I watched them play, they're amazing.
A familiar pudding head catches my attention when I heard everyone grunt; he did something with the ball, he didn't hit it but it was more like a tap or something. Wait— he's an athlete? The pudding head is an athlete?! He clearly looks skilled, he doesn't make unnecessary moves; I don't know anything about the sport but, he's playing so well that my eyes are on him. I'm curious as hell. The reason why my are eyes on him is because I never knew he played a sport, all I know is that he loves video games.
"(Y/n), are we going to watch them?" I slowly turn my head to my friends, eyes not in sync with my head as I watched the volleyball club play. "Do you want to watch them? You looked so amazed by them." Maki says, chuckling at me; I won't deny that I am amazed. "Your seat mate's here too." She turns her attention to the players, smiling as she turned back to me.
"You guys knew he played?" I ask, eyes looking back and forth to both of my best friends.
"Well, yeah? Everyone knows, maybe except you." Honami plays with her lips, looking so disappointed that I never knew that fact. I turn back to the players; they're on break. "Look, there's Yamamoto." She waves at the mohawk, eyes sparkled with the light; I can see sparks fly.
"Hey girls! Anyone interested into becoming our manager?" I tilt my head to the side as I blink my eyes repeatedly. Yamamoto copies how I look; we're both confused. "You're not here for that?"
"What's a manager?" I ask and he gives me a look of disbelief; I know how a manager is or what it is but, in volleyball it might be different. I don't even know the sport. "I have zero knowledge when it comes to this sport, don't give me such a look."
"Oya oya, it's (Y/n)." Kuroo-san walks up to us, swinging an arm around his teammate. I just smile at him as he gives me that usual smirk. "Interested into becoming a manager?" He asks, bending to look at me straight in the face; I back away when his face was only a few inches away from mine.
"I don't know what a manager is," "She doesn't know that," Yamamoto and I answer in unison.
"(Y/n) for someone that taught me calculus last year, you're pretty sport-stupid." Kuroo-san says with a straight face, making me furrow my brows at his remark. At least I know calculus. "Well, since you don't have any knowledge on volleyball; a manager is the one who, for the basics, hands out towels and bottles to us; moreover, she takes note of our mistakes so that we can do something to correct them or improve ourselves." I nod as he explains what it is. "So, anyone up for it?"
"We'll think about it, I will for the least." I answer, glancing at my friends to see Honami excited, and Maki uninterested. "We'll go ahead, good luck with practice!" I link my arms with my friends, giving the two players a smile before dragging ourselves away.
The three of us went home, and I had to split with them; they headed for the train station and I walked home. Walking alone made me think about what Kuroo-san and Yamamoto had suggested, was that even a suggestion?
I had the job in mind. If I join then, I could get extra-curricular points for having a club; I can get higher grades with those additional points. I have never ever joined a club since I started school, I didn't like the idea of going home late but, this time I feel like I want to.
I take out my phone and start searching how volleyball works; I'd have to know the mechanics and rules of the sport if I want to join the club. I opened multiple sites just for the rules, it seems like there's a lot; here I thought basketball had too many rules. I watched volleyball matches of our team, feeling so hyped whenever the ball gets tossed and spiked by a player.
When I got home, I undid my shoes by the door, eyes still on my phone as I studied more about the sport. I actually am starting to be a volleyball fanatic, I might just really join the club. I glance up to see my mom, blinking her eyes as she looked at me.
"You're watching sports?" She asks and I nod, turning back to my phone to watch. "That's unusual. Are you going to join a club?"
"I don't know yet, but I might." I tell her, kissing her cheek before heading to my room.
I run to my desk, dropping my bag to the floor. I take out my journal for the rules, writing all of them down as how I could remember them. I designed my notes; I drew banners, flower pots, cacti, and other simple doodles. I tried to make my journal look as pleasing as I can. I hold my journal up, turning my chair around, spinning my way to my bed. I fall on my back, smiling as I felt so happy to see my journal.
"Volleyball club..." These two words are like music to my ears, it's just my first time but, wow. I'm already falling in love with the sport.
I went outside to take a shower, doing my night routine. I also went downstairs to eat dinner, going to the bathroom again to brush my teeth. I did my homework on my desk, slowly feeling the weight pull my eyelids down. I blink a few times to keep myself awake, hurriedly finishing my homework. I checked all of them to see if I missed anything; seeing none, I put them in my bag and went to my bed to sleep.
I woke up the next morning, feeling so excited about joining the team; well being the manager. I keep unconsciously humming to myself as I got ready for school. I gave my parents a kiss on the cheek, happily sitting at the table to eat my breakfast.
"You seem like you're in a good mood." Dad comments, taking a bite of his toast. I just smile and giggle at the thought of joining the club to be their manager.
"Dad, I'll be joining a club. A senior invited me to be the volleyball team's manager; the men's team." I explain, eating my pancakes. I love my Mom's pancakes; I stuffed a slice one after another. "I'll gain extra points from that!" My Dad gives my Mother a look, making me frown at my parents. "Will you not let me, Daddy?"
"Of course I will let you, Sweetheart. As long as you want to then you can go ahead." I immediately smile, biting my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling too much. Dad strokes his hand down my hair, giving me a warm smile.
I brushed my teeth, getting my bag and heading out to go to school. I smile to myself, greeting our neighbors as I meet them on the streets. I feel so excited, this is my first ever club, I will do everything that I can.
I get my Dad's worries. They know I have struggles when it comes to my anxiety; they tried making me get treatment but I want to treat myself instead. I've had anxiety attacks since middle school; I got bullied a lot, I never fit in before, but then Maki came. Maki was a transferee during our second year in middle school, and so was Honami. I befriended them and they never believed the rumors about me; they are my first official best friends.
I run to my best friends, meeting them by the shoe lockers. I give them both a kiss on the cheek, changing into my indoor shoes or slippers, whatever I should call them. We link arms with each other, going to our classroom.
"(Y/n), you're so happy today." Honami comments, looking at me with a grin on her face. I scratch the back of my head, feeling my cheeks heat up.
"I've decided!" They both turn to me as I throw my first up. "I'll join the club." I cheekily smile at my friends, feeling so excited about joining. This is my first club after all.
"So you guys will be leaving me on my own?" Maki asks, sounding so sad as she spoke. She's not joining? "I was thinking of joining the drama club." I jump in front of her, clasping my hands with hers as I felt happy. "(Y/n) you're so enthusiastic today." She chuckles at my behavior.
"Maki, you can be an actress. I promise you that! Tell me if you'll be acting in the future too, I want to watch you act." I hug my friend and she gives me a smile.
"I guess (Y/n) and I will be joining the volleyball club." Honami smiles at the two of us, I give her a nod.
"I'll get us club application forms, you two go ahead. I love you both." I kiss their cheeks, running off to the office.
I tried searching for the office, where is it again? I had to ask someone help me; I can't believe I forgot where the office is. I thank the student and he gives me a smile before leaving. I take a deep breath, knocking on the door before I slid it open. I found my homeroom teacher, bowing to greet him with respect.
"Sensei, may I have three club application forms?" He looks at me in disbelief.
"You're joining a club? The three of you?" I smile and nod. He smiles, taking out three application forms from his drawer. "I'm glad to see you three finally join a club."
"Thank you, sensei." I bow, turning to head for the door.
I happily skip to class, earning a few stares from the people but I couldn't care less. I'm so excited, I've never felt so ecstatic about joining a club. I get to class, giving my friends the application forms. I take a seat at my desk, immediately filling up the form.
The bell rings, making me frown; I haven't finished my form yet, I want to finish it already. I put the form under my desk, taking out my notebook and textbook for our first period. I write the smallest details first, adding the banners and a little notepad doodle for the date. I pay attention to the teacher, writing down important notes.
"(Y/n)." I slowly turn to Kenma, blinking my eyes as a way of asking him what he needed. "Will you lend me a pen? I forgot my pencil case at home." I let out as stifled laugh, giving him what he asked for. "Thanks."
"Keep it." He raises his brow and I give him a reassuring smile.
He needs it so he may as well just keep it. With the sudden interaction, I remembered that I still need to apologize. I should say sorry to him soon, even if he brushed it off. I take out my medicine, drinking it to help prevent myself from having another attack. I can't afford to burden the people around me, again.
I continued writing my notes, listening to everything the teacher says; some were nonsense things but I guess he tried to entertain us. I have to write my notes as clean as possible, not that it's needed, just that I like them clean. Though I am kinda the messy type.
The bell rings; music to my ears. I take out the form from under my desk, filling up the rest. I'm so happy! I finally get to do something else aside from studying! I smile as I scan the words I wrote on the application form. I look around me, not much students are here, most of them went out. I tap my best friends on their shoulders, smiling brightly at them as I showed off my form.
"(Y/n), chill. You're such a ball of sunshine right now." Maki chuckles and takes my form. "You're really serious?" I nod. "Just call me if something bad happens, I may have not seen how it was for you before we arrived but I want to be there for you as much as I can." Honami taps our shoulders, crossing her arms at us as she pouts her lips. "I meant we."
"Let's pass them." I stand up, hitting my foot on the foot of the desks; I almost stumbled but Kenma had caught me, you again? He just came from somewhere. "Thanks." I balance myself, heading out with my friends.
The rest of the day went by so fast; my heart started pounding each hour we got closer to club activities. I'm such in a good mood today that I happily answered all my teachers whenever they asked me a question. My teachers seemed kinda happy when they saw me so lively after yesterday.
Each break, all I could tell Maki and Honami of is volleyball. I showed them my journal; I'm still so pleased by how I did my journal last night. It's so clean and pretty, I used maroon colored writing tools and I'm happy I chose that color. I feel like I opened a new road, leading to a beautiful future. I hope everything goes well!
The last bell rings all over the school, making me jump off my seat when the teacher left. I hurriedly gather my things, dropping a few pens and notebooks, from the nervousness and excitement that I felt. Honami helped me fix my things. We gave Maki a hug and a kiss on the cheek before heading to the gym. We made sure we didn't link our arms so that Maki wouldn't feel like we're trying to leave her out.
We greeted the coaches; Nekomata-sensei and Naoi-sensei. They told us a few things and all I can feel now is excitement. A start of a new life. The players came in; I feel so nervous yet so excited it's crazy!
"Boys, we have new recruits. Girls, go ahead and introduce yourselves." Nekomata-sensei gives a short speech...? He gave us both a nod, smiling to help us ease up.
"I'm Minetsu Honami, I'm your new manager. I hope we all could get along!" Honami introduces herself, bowing to the boys in front of us. I take a deep breath, giving them all a smile.
"I'm (L/n) (F/n), I hope we all could spend a wonderful time together." I bow, keeping the smile on my face.
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How's the book so far? <3