𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐀
(ɴ.) ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏ ᴏꜰ ᴄʜᴀɴɢɪɴɢ ᴏɴᴇ'ꜱ ᴍɪɴᴅ, ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ, ꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴏʀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴏꜰ ʟɪꜰᴇ
the way to school had never been so boring. usually the street would be loud, the bike tires screeching every so often and the soft stepping of students blend with one another. this time the only thing that was picked up from the early morning was music. the lyrics were muffled but a faint melody could still be heard, disrupting everyone's conversations, but not too much to be deemed as annoying. for the first time, riding a bike felt like a curse, not something that could even be romanticised.
y/n hated it.
fear consumed them the moment they step inside. no one even batted an eye at the new, and unfamiliar face, but they still felt cornered. y/n had forgotten the horrors of being new, 'where's sho?! i need sho!' with such anxiety, how would they ever find their classroom? choosing to fiddle around with the tie which hugged their neck and collar, giving it some adjustments, before looking at the crowd of people that occupied the hallways. 'which of them looks the most extroverted..'
their eyes land on a guy with bleached hair, but not in the way where he looked like a gangster, but in an outgoing and adventurous way. there are others next to him, but they figured ignoring them was an option. what would they do? force them to talk? maybe. but not a definite. hesitantly, they walked over to the group, they don't seem that bad. that was proven false when the height difference became noticeable and they immediately straightened their shrimp-liked posture.
"yo! what's up,, uhhh?" he stared blankly, trying to recall a name he doesn't even know.
"..i'm y/n, uh, l/n y/n. can you help me find my class? class 1-4." he seemed friendly, but the atmosphere still felt dry and awkward. y/n was naturally an open book and would talk to anyone without a care, but with a new school, a new environment, everything felt so off. especially when you have no one.
he smiled in response, which was taken as a 'yes' and forced his two friends— friends? one of them look just like him, but with brownish-grey hair, so maybe a friend and twin, to go with him. the two groaned but nonetheless complied. the walk there was quiet, the loud noises drowning as they slowly space out, they weren't even sure if the trio they approached even said anything to them. there were some occasional glances from other students, but with a forced smile and a wave, their heads turned away right away. talk about embarrassing.. eventually they meet with said class, and the four separate, "i'm atsumu by the way, that's osamu and suna. okay, see ya!" and he ran off. 'what an odd guy. not so different from sho though.' they reminisced, they wonder if shoyo is doing fine on his first day at high school.
★彡 timeskip
the bell echoed through the school. students rush out the classroom without a word, the hallway packed and you could smell the stench of others as they push against each other. however, apart from the body odour, the day ended off nicely. making friends wasn't challenging for someone so extroverted, not to mention how sweet everyone was.
finally escaping the crowd, y/n headed over to the bike rack when something catches their eye. "you guys go ahead, i left something in the gym." the small group of friends wave them goodbye, then talking amongst themselves as they were before. walking into the gym with an almost empty head was not smart, yet it saved them nonetheless. all in less than a minute, the volleyball leaves his grasp, flying at them. their eyes follow the ball unfazed, but snapped out once the ball came into a closer proximity. it was caught without much effort though, perhaps having a volleyball obsessed friend did have its pros, catching things just to make sure nothing gets broken. "just getting something, sorry." they drop the ball, walking further to the back, where the benches were. it was a half-assed apology, because if anything, they were the one who could've gotten injured, so they don't even bother being fast, instead dragging out the time. it didn't matter anyway, they were still playing, it's just one extra person in the way, not that they couldn't do the basics.
