Himeko nervously clutched at the strap on her bag. She walked at a slow and steady pace to her new high school, resisting the urge to fidget with her hair.

She had woken up far too early that day, anxious to make sure she had everything.

Lunch prepared for her and Shōyō? Check.

School supplies? Check.

Phone charged? Check.

Uniform? Check.

She spent ages in the bathroom constantly fixing her hair and makeup. The slightest unnecessary smear made her redo most of her work. Again and again, she repeated the process until she was (finally) satisfied.

She was far too nervous to eat. She felt awful about refusing the breakfast her uncle made her, but the very idea of putting food in her mouth made her want to throw up.

Did she look okay? What if she messed something up? Was something out of place? Would she be okay? What if when she tried to speak to her classmates, she couldn't get a word in and they all stared at her while she squeaked? Would she survive the humiliation?

More than once she found herself wishing she hadn't made such a drastic change in her life.

Even if things were painful, at least she wouldn't have had to worry about these kinds of things before. She didn't care about anyone else before, and she would have had two upper-year students walking to school with her. She could hide behind them any time she wanted to, and they always talked for her.

Things hurt back then, but this was a new kind of pain.

Now she was—

She was—

—forced to do things herself.

The thought made her sick.

She traded familiar pain for new anxiety. Which was better? She couldn't say.

The only thing keeping her from faking sick was the fact that Shōyō was expecting her. As loathe as she was to venture into the scary new world of high school, she could not tolerate the idea of disappointing her only friend there.

So with wobbly knees, Himeko forced herself out of the house.

She knew she wouldn't be able to handle talking to anyone right away so she plugged in her earphones and turned her music up. Even if she wasn't paying attention to whatever was playing, people would be less likely to approach her.

Himeko wanted to make friends—she really did—but oh God not right now please just one thing at a time, please, please, please.

She heard a ding.

[Hajime Iwaizumi]

Hajime: good luck :)

Himeko: (ᗒxᗕ)

Hajime: lol

Hajime: u'll b ok

Hajime: u got this

Himeko gripped her phone, smiling.

It was... nice. Nice to reconnect with something familiar. Hajime was so understanding. When he called Himeko the other day, he was very kind. He promised not to mention anything to—

Well.

She needed the change, but she was happy she didn't need to lose everything.

She was happy he still wanted to be her friend, even if she required space.

Himeko: thank you

Hajime: deep breaths

Hajime: try to eat ur lunch today ok?

Himeko: :)

Hajime: eat ur lunch today ok?

Himeko: :)

Hajime: eat

Hajime: ur

Hajime: lunch

Hajime: ok?

Himeko: okay. Hope you have a good first day

It was a fair-weathered day that April 2nd in 2012. Chilly enough to warrant the black school jacket, but with the sun shining above, it was nice enough to get away with a skirt. Wide-open blue skies and cherry blossom petals constantly caught in the wind. It was picturesque, really. Himeko thought any heroine would look at the weather that day and go: What a beautiful day!

Himeko thought: If the weather was bad enough they would have canceled school and I could be at home, in bed, not freaking out every time the wind blows my hair into my lip gloss.

Shorthair had its ups and downs.

Pros: Easier to comb and manage.

Cons: Can't sweep it into a bun to keep it constantly out of your face.

Far too soon for Himeko's liking, she arrived at Miyagi Prefectural Karasuno High School.

Right. Okay. Here I am.

Himeko squeezed her school bag strap tightly.

One step in. One—oh, right—

Himeko pulled her phone back out, pausing her music. She sent a message to Shōyō, letting him know she was there.

Shōyō had wanted to see the gym right away, but all activities were postponed until after school. He was disappointed when he learned about that, but then quickly veered directions saying, "Then I'll just hang out with you 'til school starts!"

It was sweet of him to do that. Himeko could use a familiar and kind face that day.

All of this was so nerve-wracking.

She hadn't even gotten to the scariest part of the day—after school!

All the clubs would be advertising for new members after classes that day.

And Himeko was determined to join one—maybe two!

What if I get turned down for everything I apply to?

No, no, no. She couldn't let those thoughts come back up.

Deep breath. Deep breath. One thing at a time. One thing at a time. What am I doing first? Oh, right. Waiting for Shōyō. We'll find our classes together and then—-

Himeko's heart thumped painfully in her chest, her throat constricting.

And then—

What if all of her classmates knew each other since kindergarten? She had moved from an entirely different district, after all, and these people likely grew up together. They probably had groups formed already. What if Himeko was an outsider again—?

Her eyes started to burn.

No, no, no. Stop it. Why am I like this? Why can't I just have nice thoughts? Why am I so—

Something warm touched her cheek. Himeko startled, stiffening. Her eyes widened as she realized that Shōyō had arrived. He hopped off his bike, grinning at her. "G'morning Hime!"

"G-Good, um, morning, Shōyō," Himeko stumbled to get out. She tried out a smile. It felt weak. "How, um, was the ride?"

"Easy," he said with pride. "I told you thirty minutes was nothin'."

"For you," said Himeko, relaxing upon seeing Shōyō's bright smile. "Are we, um, still okay to eat, um, t-together...?"

"Yep!" he chirped. "'Course if you make any new friends bring 'em with, yeah?"

"I doubt that," she said quietly.

He nudged her shoulder. "You know what new thing you can do today?"

"What?"

Shōyō grinned. "Ask a stranger what their favorite drink is."

Himeko paled. "What?"

"Ask one of your classmates that," he encouraged. "This school has vending machines, right? Ask them what they like. Who knows, maybe you'll find something in common."

Himeko felt faint at the very thought. "Oh Shōyō, I—I don't—that—"

"You got this," he said, patting her shoulder firmly. "I wanna hear all about it at lunch, okay?"

"Okay," she squeaked out because Himeko was a people-pleaser by nature and had a very hard time saying no to requests. Especially to her currently only friend at her brand new and terribly intimidating school.

დ

Himeko sat at her desk stiffly. She had a window seat, which was nice for a change, but she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the new view.

Ask a stranger what their favorite drink is. Oh, God, that's so weird. Isn't that strange? What if they think I'm some kind of stalker?

Or was that normal?

She didn't know. Or maybe she did and her panic was overriding her thought process.

Just do it Himeko. Do it and be done with it. Like ripping off a bandage. You can do this. Just one sentence. Just one sentence. Say it to whoever sits in front of you. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it.

Himeko was so focused on completing her goal at hand, that as soon as someone sat at the desk in front of her she loudly blurted out, "What's your favorite drink?"

The girl in front of Himeko jumped and let out a small eep.

Himeko wanted to cry.

Oh my God I scard her. I scared her! What do I do—?

"I'm sorry," Himeko rushed to say, her eyes stung as shame prickled inside her. "I'm s-so sorry."

The girl started to laugh, turning around to wave Himeko off. She had brown eyes like Shōyō. "No, no. I was off in la-la land to be honest. I'm sorry, did you ask what my favorite drink was?"

"Yes," Himeko whispered, her cheeks burning. "S-Sorry. You don't, um, have to—have to answer—"

The blonde beamed at her. "Royal Milk Tea!"

Himeko let out a small gasp. "Really? Me, too."

The girl briefly giggled. "Oh wow! We've got something in common, huh? I'm Hitoka Yachi."

"Himeko Kuroko," Himeko introduced with an anxious smile. "Th-Think they've got Royal Milk Tea here?"

"I hope so! I forgot to pack it with my lunch," said Hitoka.

"D-Do you usually bring it with you...?"

"Mmm... every time I had a test or I knew it was going to be a long day at school I always brought a can," said Hitoka, tilting her head and tapping her cheek. "I guess it's kind of my lucky charm too, haha."

Himeko slowly felt more at ease the longer Hitoka talked. Hitoka seemed to be a sincerely kind girl, and so far their conversation didn't feel uncomfortable. Himeko tried out another smile, hoping it was better than her last one. "I know how that feels. A-After every test I used to go over to—to a friend's house as a reward. We'd binge a lot of junk food."

"Oh? Do you have a favorite binge food?"

"Um f-fugashi and pocky," Himeko admitted.

Hitoka slapped her desk, her beige eyes sparkling with delight. "Fugashi is literally my favorite thing in the whole world. Same classroom, same favorite drink, and now we share a favorite snack? Quick, favorite color!"

"Ah—um—ehh—white?" Himeko floundered.

Hitoka covered her mouth as her eyes widened. "No way."

Himeko gasped. "Do you also like white?"

"No, mine's blue but wouldn't it have been amazing if that was another thing in common?" Hitoka giggled.

Himeko laughed. "Yes."

დ

When class was over and the day finally ended, Himeko took a deep breath and began her journey around the school.

She lingered around each club, listening to their pitch with interest.

Himeko wanted to join a club that year. Well, she wanted to join two.

Volleyball, and whatever else caught her fancy.

Himeko was interested in volleyball for two reasons.

Admittedly, one of those was reasons was because of her friend. She knew it, and she didn't think it was a bad reason.

She wasn't dedicating herself entirely to one person and gaining next to nothing in return. Shōyō was her friend. What she gave, he reciprocated in kind. She felt comfortable with him, and she thought she had a better chance at making more friends with him at her side.

The second reason was that she spent a lot of years learning volleyball. She had little interest in playing the sport herself, but she didn't want all of that knowledge to... to go to waste.

She hoped that in addition to volleyball, she could find something else to practice. Something else to enjoy.

I still want to join something else. Or at least do something else. I don't want to only have one thing in my life again. I want more.

She knew a lot of her time would be taken up with volleyball—if she was accepted—but she still wanted to dedicate some of her time to something new.

If not another club, what else...?

Maybe she could try learning a new skill?

That sounds hard.

Harder than moving to a new school and starting over?

Himeko chewed on the inside of her cheek. Okay... maybe not... too hard... I don't even know what I would want to learn.

She was hoping one of the other clubs would spark her interest, but so far none of them did.

Was that normal?

A lot of students her age seemed to already have a set goal in life. Yet Himeko had nothing outside simply wanting new things.

Himeko finished walking down the third hallway and moved to the second hallway where the sports managers were advertising their clubs.

Baseball, soccer, judo, kendo, track, tennis, softball, volleyball, and kyūdō.

She was surprised by the variety.

She was even more surprised when she saw the boys volleyball manager.

Himeko blushed.

Is she a model?

She was gorgeous. The kind of beauty that drew anyone's attention by her mere presence. Himeko wasn't the only first-year staring at her. A lot of first-years were admiring her—at a distance—with flushed cheeks.

Himeko slowly, nervously, approached her. I hope she's nice.

"Hi," said Himeko.

The beautiful student spoke in a melodic, reserved voice. "Hello."

"A-Are you recruiting for, um, th-the boys' volleyball team?" Himeko asked. Shōyō had had submitted his form online over summer.

"Yes. Do you want to be a manager?" she asked, tucking back some of her shoulder-length ebony hair.

How does she get it that shiny? What shampoo does she use? It looks like it'd be silky to touch.

Himeko stared. "What? M-Manager?"

"Yes. We need a manager for next year, as I'm graduating this year," she explained quietly.

Himeko swallowed. Wait—Wait would that mean—I could play with Shōyō?

That sounded... that sounded like a lot of fun, actually. She, obviously, couldn't play in any official matches but she might get to practice with her friend like they did over summer!

And—wow, actually—

I won't have to play in any official matches!

That had been a huge concern. Himeko played basketball when she was younger and had an awful experience. She wanted to try a lot of things, but playing in public games was... honestly she would rather break a bone.

She sincerely meant that.

"I—I'd like to apply," Himeko blurted out excitedly. "I—I mean, um, can I—?"

The girl smiled.

Whoa.

"Yes," she said, handing Himeko a form. "Please submit this tomorrow morning with your guardian's signature, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, awed by her smile. Was it just Himeko or did the whole world turn a shade of pink the moment the pretty lady smiled? "Thank you."

"Mn. Have a good day."

Himeko walked off in a daze.

დ

Himeko's pack was stuffed with brochures of all the clubs. So far none of them had greatly appealed to her outside of volleyball, but she definitely wanted to join something. If volleyball didn't work out, she'd randomly select one of them and apply.

Although that's still only one thing. I want to do more. I wish I had more direction.

Her phone buzzed. She saw it was Hajime calling her. She picked up.

"Hi," she said. "How was your first day?"

"Dull," he said. "Practice finished early. And you?"

"I, um, I actually applied to a club," Himeko bashfully admitted.

She could feel the smile in his voice. "Yeah? Which one?"

"Right now as a manager for the boys' volleyball team."

"No kidding? Hope you get it. You going to try anything else?"

"I don't know. I have the brochures for a lot of them, but none of them stick out right now."

Hajime made an acknowledging noise. "Yeah. Well, don't force it."

"Huh?"

"If nothing catches your interest this year, that's fine," he said. "You shouldn't force yourself to try and like something. Let it come naturally."

Himeko chewed on her bottom lip. "Does it? Is it... easy?"

"It will be," he said. "Give yourself more time. Don't do too much at once or you'll get overwhelmed."

There was the temptation to ask. The question was on the tip of her tongue.

How is he?

She refrained. She was doing so well to not focus on him. She didn't want to risk making him the topic of their conversation.

Himeko smiled. "Thank you. You're always looking out for me."

"No," he said. "I should have talked to you sooner. If I had—maybe it wouldn't have gotten so bad."

"It's my own fault. I'm sorry."

"You're both dumbasses," he said. "But neither of you can help it, so stop apologizing."

Himeko winced. "S—okay."

"Good. Be safe going home. I'll call you this weekend."

"Okay. Bye-bye."

"Bye."

Himeko put her phone away.

I'll see how Shōyō is doing in his club, then head home.

She moved to the gymnasium at the back of the school, and to her surprise, Shōyō stood outside it, along with a lanky boy with dark hair and a permanent scowl.

A very familiar scowl.

"Kageyama?" Himeko said in surprise.

The dark haired boy turned around. "You—?"

Tobio Kageyama.

He went to middle school with Himeko, and he was someone on—on Hajime and—

He was on their volleyball team.

Himeko hadn't spoken to Tobio often. They never shared a class, and when she went to volleyball practice it was only ever to speak to her friends. Her neigh—Her neigh—no—

She can do better.

She can think about his name.

Tōru.

Tōru hovered in between her and the other players. Himeko always got nervous when people she wasn't friends with approached her, so Tōru acted as a buffer. Or at least that's how Himeko understood it.

Most of their teammates were very polite to Himeko. Some would even say hi to her in the hallway even though she wasn't in their year.

Tobio was an exception.

To be honest, he kind of scared her. He had an intense gaze and seemed to always be glaring. The handful of times they talked, he snapped at her. He was obsessed with volleyball and at loathe to be interrupted in practice. There was a time Himeko distinctly remember being brought to near tears because of how furious he looked at her one time.

To that day, she had no idea what she did to ignite such an intense rage.

"Huh?" Tobio's brow creased. "What are you doing here?"

"I—I—I, um, go to school here," Himeko struggled to get out. He was scowling at her, but at least it wasn't a death glare. Still, Himeko had a strong urge to hide behind someone. Her previous go-tos has been Tōru and Hajime, but—

She moved to Shōyō, then stopped herself.

So rely on someone else?

Her hands curled into fists. She forced her shoulders back as she fought to keep his gaze.

"I thought you were smart?" Tobio was baffled. "You failed the exam to Aoba, too?"

Too?

"Huh?" Himeko blinked in surprise. Shocked by his question—he thinks I'm smart?—and that he would assume she had simply failed. And... did he say too? Huh? "No? I—I, um, chose Karasuno."

"Huh," he said. "I thought you were Oikawa's girlfriend."

Himeko sucked in a sharp breath, her heart jumping as her face grew hot. She said the words she had to repeat so, so often with more venom than intended, "We've never dated."

She thought no one would ask her that again after starting at Karasuno. No more girls waiting for her after class to ask her about Tōru. No more strangers coming up to her to ask her about her personal life and—of course—to ask about Tōru. No more jealous glares that he walked home with her. No more snide remarks if he accepted her lunch.

None of that drama.

It never escalated to the point of bullying—Himeko was never harassed—but oh was she tired of having to say that line.

Especially. To. His. Current. Girlfriend.

It did not help that they rotated like clockwork. The longest was a month and she needed near-constant reminders that no, Himeko was not his girlfriend, she was just his friend.

"Oh," Tobio said. "Okay."

During the entire exchange, Shōyō had looked back and forth between Tobio and Himeko with wide, interested eyes. As if he had walked in some intriguing drama and was utterly fascinated.

"So what are you two doing?" Himeko asked, fondly amused by Shōyō.

At once, Shōyō's demeanor drooped.

"We gotta practice," Shōyō muttered sourly. "'Cause he's a jerk."

"You can barely receive," Tobio snapped.

Himeko pursed her lips. Shōyō's receives weren't the best, but he had shaped up a lot over the summer. Still, she did not like his tone.

"Why do you need to practice out here?" she asked, resisting the urge to glare at Tobio.

"We got kicked out. But! Tomorrow! Tomorrow we'll prove we can work well together," Shōyō declared. "We just gotta beat two others."

"Oh. Then do you want to go home—?"

"Actually," Shōyō said with a shy smile. "I wanted to ask you if we could use the gym? Your aunt's gym?"

Himeko smiled. "Sure. Let's go."

Shōyō cheered. "Woo-hoo!"