listen...

Chapter 1: Beginnings

     "Shit, my lunch." You cursed, walking back into your house. Going into your kitchen you grab the lunch you prepared the night before from the fridge.

     "Mmm... fried rice with shrimp. Can't believe I almost forgot this..."  You thought to yourself. Quickly looking around to make sure you didn't forget anything else, you picked up your bag carrying your gym clothes as you strode to the door, opening it for the second, and last time this morning.

     "DAD! I'm off for real this time!" You yelled into your house.

     "BYE CHIP HAVE A GOOD DAY I LOVE YOUUUU!" Your dad boomed from his office.

     You cringed at the use of his nickname for you, although it did make you smile. Shutting the door behind you, the memory of your front tooth chipping as you bit down onto your dad's shoulder while wrestling played in your mind.

     "Ow!" You shouted, instinctively covering your mouth at the sudden pain. You didn't mean to bite that hard but your dad had moved his shoulder up at the same time you moved your jaw down. 

     "Haha! That's what you get for playing dirty!" He joked. "I said no biting this time y/n!"

     You wanted to laugh at his joke but the pain stopped you. This didn't feel like just a bruise...

     "You okay?" He asked, brushing your hair out of your face.

     You shook your head, tears beginning to well in the corners of your eyes.

     "Open up then," He sighed. "Let me take a look..."

     Your tooth had completely split down the middle horizontally. The pain was almost unbearable. Your nerves from the inside of your tooth felt like they were on fire. After the initial shock left both of you, your dad picked you up and put you in the car. The whole ride to the dentist he tried to console you, without much luck. You were convinced your smile would be ruined forever.

     But the dentist had assured you it would be fine. It was just a baby tooth and was about ready to come out anyways. The tooth was pulled and no trace of it was left, except for a small scar on your gum line above the tooth that had been chipped. You thought it was ugly, but your dad assured you it was an "epic battle scar!" which you wholeheartedly disagreed with.

     The warm summer sun pulled you out of your trance, making you remember that it was time to go to school. Adjusting your bag over your shoulder, you smiled at the thought of the memory. You reached into your pocket for your headphones and plugged them into your phone, raising the mic to your lips.

     "August 28th, 7:04 am," you breathed out after pressing record.

     You had decided to document your feelings this year. Something your therapist had recommended you do. You thought it was stupid at first, but hey, anything to make that hag get off your back, right?

     "This is my first time doing this, feels kind of weird not gonna lie..." you began, not sure what exactly you were supposed to be doing. "But I'm doing this stupid shit to make that bitch happy, so guess I'll go through with it," you continued, rolling your eyes at the thought of your therapist, Dr. Felter. 

     You continued to document your feelings as you walked down the sidewalk, on your way to Karasuno High. It wasn't your first choice, but your house was too far from Aoba Jousai to walk each morning and afternoon, and your dad definitely couldn't drive you, so you settled for the small school that was a couple blocks away. You talked about how you would miss your friends who went to AJ, but you were hoping this school would be okay. Eventually your thoughts dwindled, and you couldn't think of anything else to say, so you stopped the recording of your voice. Putting some music on, you stuffed your phone into your pocket as best as you could (the Karasuno girl's uniform didn't have the most spacious pockets...) and hummed along to the song. Seeing as though the sidewalk was empty and a long, straight line, you closed your eyes and walked to the beat of the music, completely tuning out everything around you. It was peaceful, and you felt like you might be able to get through your first day.

     Well, until something hit you directly in the face, that is.

     "-the fUCK?!" you shouted. Your eyes shot open as you tumbled to the ground. As your anger started you rise, you saw what had hit you, and tugged out your headphones.

     A volleyball?

     "Watch where you're going, headphones!" 

     You sat up ready to slap whoever gave you that nickname. You looked forward and saw someone walking toward you.

     "This bitch..." you thought, unable to comprehend how someone could blame you for what had just happened, but your breath hitched when you actually looked at who was standing in front of you.

     He was tall, thin but somehow also well built, and had wide shoulders. You had to look up to find his face, and when you did his sapphire eyes were hooded with annoyance. His black hair hid a good portion of his face, but you saw enough of his eyes to know he was mad. Really mad.

     "Excuse me?" you huffed, standing up and smoothing out your skirt.

     "I said, watch where you're going, headphones." He repeated, reaching down to pick up the ball that had hit you in the face.

     "Um, you hit me. I think you should be watching where you are going, and more importantly, where that ball is going, dumbass," you asserted.

     He rolled his eyes. "Ugh, I tried to warn you but you clearly didn't hear me..." He mumbled, shifting his weight uneasily.

     "Well duh," you stated, "That's what headphones are for idiot."

     "Well maybe if you had heard me you could've dodged it!" The boy declared.

     "Maybe if you weren't a lousy volleyball player, it wouldn't have gone out of control in the first place!" You fumed, pushing past him while he stood there in rage. "Now get out of my way so I can get to school."

     "Whatever..." he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, but his loud groan made you stop in your tracks. You turned around to see him facing you now.

     "What now?" You grumbled, seeing the anger on his face shift to annoyance once again.

     "You're going to Karasuno, aren't you..." he grunted, making your eyes roll.

     "Yeah, is that a problem...?" you inquired, confused as to why he'd care.

     "Great..." he mocked. "I'm headed there too."

     "Ugghhhh this day is already so bad, not this too," you complained. "Just stay far behind me, I don't want to see or talk to you," you scoffed, popping your headphones in again.

     "Whatever headphones..." the boy snapped.

     "And DON'T call me that," you ordered, stomping off to the school, already in a bad mood.

     What was that guy's deal?? Normally guys are too scared to even speak to you. Much less give you attitude like that. Rubbing your forehead where the ball hit, you decided to put it past you. You weren't going to let this one stupid boy ruin your first day. Taking a deep breath, you continued your walk. This was going to be your first day at Karasuno high, and you were gonna make it count.

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