Monstrous Intuition. | Tendou x reader |

Chapter 1

Major opportunities didn't come often, that much you were aware of. It was always clear to you what path you wanted to take when such opportunities were presented to you. So an exchange trip to a high-status high school for a semester was offered with almost no money asked of you, there was no other choice but to say yes.

Yet, you didn't expect it to go quite like this.

With the few things that you were able to bring over on a plane, you attempted to make your dorm feel more like home. The exchange had allowed you to send over a couple bags, thank god, so you did have a few things.

It was never the dorm that you were imagining having first. As most people you would expect to be decorating your freshman year college or university dorm first, but apparently you had moved to such a bougie high school that now you were basically cosplaying as a college student.

You set out your art supplies on your desk, making a pile of your various-sized canvases to lean against the leg on the ground. You may not have many decorations for your room now, but at least you could make yourself some.

Nights would probably always be lonely. The purpose of the exchange was for you to learn in another country, not necessarily for you to meet anyone anyways, so it was okay.

That's what you kept on telling yourself at least. Yet, your heart dropped a bit at the thought, and it was hard to push that feeling away.

You looked out of your window and found a campus bustling with students. There were sports fields surrounding the building you were sitting in and you wondered how you were possibly chosen to come here.

Sure, your academics looked good, but most of these kids looked like they were smart and incredibly athletic. You had maybe one of those on a good day.

Maybe it was simply exposure, too. You had heard that foreigners were not common in Japan, and you had heard it again from the dorm advisor that showed you to your room. Apparently the city you were in was a small one that not many visited, even tourists.

You hoped that would be a good thing, but you knew that was wishful thinking. Stares were going to be common, strange questions were bound to come out of your mouth and that would only lead to more staring. It was all a mess waiting to happen.

So, instead you would find safety in this little dorm. At the very least you could make it so nice that when you did have to venture out there was always somewhere safe to return to, right?

✦ ✦ ✦

You weren't expecting a celebration or anything, but maybe a tour guide would have been nice.

You had gotten a tour from a girl that was much too cheery the moment you had arrived about a week ago, but it was general and didn't go into much detail about what you actually needed. Like where your classes were for example. Simple thing to leave out when giving a new person a tour, really.

The first day of classes was one of the most confusing, stressful days of your life. Each turn led to a different set of room numbers than what you would have expected, and you only seemed to be gathering stares rather than any help. You wanted to ask someone, but most of them would throw a glance your way that made your stomach crawl.

You knew this school was for rich and smart kids, that was the first thing you saw in your research, but they still didn't have to look at you like you were scum. Sure, you had some paint left on your hand from your stress painting before school, but your uniform was just the same as everyone else's.

Yet, you couldn't help but feel that you somehow doing it wrong. It should have been simple, it should have been easy. This was supposed to be good for you, right? 

There were no smiling faces to look at. The shoulders that passed you were so cold, you started to think about the distance to home. Thousands of miles away was the last genuine smile you saw. 

This was only the first day. The first of weeks.

Even after you scrubbed the acrylic from your skin in the bathroom, they still look at you strangely. Was it that obvious that you didn't belong? Were they really able to see something as small as your bowtie being just a little bit lopsided? That's what it felt like they were looking at this point.

You did look different than the other kids in the school, but you were afraid to admit that was the reason you were getting glares. That was something you truly could not change so you wanted to believe it was something as little as your tie being askew. That you could at least fix.

With some struggle, you finally made it to your classroom. You praised the way classes worked there at that moment because you wouldn't have to move outside of breaks and one elective. Maybe it was finally time for you to let out the breath you had been holding.

You could make it through this. You were capable of learning in this new environment and growing because of it. 

You had to be.

✦ ✦ ✦

Class wasn't too hard and not much happened out of the ordinary-- that much you were grateful for. The teacher didn't even do that embarrassing thing you had seen in movies where they introduce the new kid in front of the class. You were regarded with a nod as you entered, but after that you were treated just the same as the rest of the students in the class.

Maybe you oddly wished for more bells and whistles, but everything about your trip so far seemed as if they were trying very hard to treat you as if you weren't special in any way. Well, all of it seemed like that outside of the glares that you were getting constantly.

It was as if they had never seen anyone not exactly like them in their lives. By now you would have expected at least one kind glance, but no. Even the girl that was next to you in class regarded you with a strange scrunch in her nose.

You turned towards the window, wistfully looking at the landscape that almost looked familiar, but all of the trees were different than the ones you knew from your own home. It was literally a completely different environment. This was somewhere new and you wanted to be excited, but everyone you had encountered so far only seemed to want you to run away.

As you glanced back at the clock, you realized that you would have to move classes soon. The thought of going anywhere but the safety of the room you had managed to find was daunting, but you also could hardly contain yourself at the thought of going to an art class.

Art was safety to you. The people there were usually kinder and more like you. Maybe even in this preppy school full of people that regarded you as if you were a piece of trash there could be someone that felt as you did.

Just one friend. That would be nice.

welcome to my new project :) i'm having so much fun writing this because it feels just like home with my style
i never had too much interest in tendou but i woke up one morning and felt fully inspired to write this exact thing so i hope you guys enjoy this ride with me !!

edited (2/15/22)