Gremstellar

Chapter 1 - First Impressions

Excited? That you were.

Nervous...? That too.

Where exactly did you sit in the classroom? You hoped for a place by the window and in the back, as much of an anime-fanatic you were. Though it was cliche, you had to admit, it seemed pretty nice to gaze out a window whenever you were bored.

However, that wasn't the case in this classroom. In fact, you had been assigned a seat in the front and in the middle, not even close to the window. Just my luck.

As all the other students sat down in their seats, you hesitantly sat down in yours. Sitting in your seat, two other students caught your eye. The one sitting two seats away from your left, had a gray shaved head and a somewhat menacing face. You shivered and looked away, not wanting to be caught staring by such a guy. The other, who happened to be sitting right next to you on your right, had spiky brown hair with a bleached tuft in the front. You thought his hair was...interesting.

The shuffling sound of a door being slid open was heard. A man, who you presumed to be your teacher for homeroom, walked in and stood in front of the class. He had short, somewhat curly hair and dark yellow eyes. He seemed to be extremely nervous as he fidgeted around his black glasses and the papers he was currently holding.

"A-Ah, a-all rise!"

He spoke in an unsteady voice as all the students, including yourself, stood up.

"U-Um, welcome to your homeroom, J-Japanese literature! Why don't we start with some i- introductions, so we can all get to k-know each other?!"

You stood there, not caring about introductions. This teacher seemed like a mess. Whenever he spoke, he seemed to be yelling, as if he was scared that none of the students would hear him. Wait... Has he even introduced himself yet?

A hand shot straight up in the air. It was the boy with the spiky hair. Seeing him stand up... Well, he was pretty short, to say the least. Not that you were one to talk.

"Excuse me, Sensei! Don't you think you should introduce yourself first?"

In an instant, the teacher's face went red. His glasses became lopsided upon his face, and he started to bow at a lightening fast pace.

"AH! I'm extremely sorry everyone!!"

All of the students just stared at him, and if this were an anime, you were sure all of them would be sweat dropping. When he was finished bowing, he looked towards the ground, seemingly ashamed of his mistake.

"Alright... L-Let's try this again... I'm your homeroom teacher, Ittetsu Takeda..."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Takeda-sensei!"

Every student greeted him, as if an attempt to cheer him up. He only seemed slightly relieved.

"Okay... Again, I'm s-sorry for my mistake... Now, we can finally continue on to student introductions. U-Um, why don't we start with you in the front?"

You looked around the front, trying to see who he was pointing at. That was then you realized, he was pointing at you. All of a sudden, your body was filled with extreme anxiety. Everyone was staring at you; people you've never met or seen before in your life. You opened your mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Your teacher, or Takeda-sensei, looked at you with concern.

"Are you alright, miss...?"

"AH...!"

You clamped a hand over your mouth. You really didn't mean to shout so suddenly. Bowing to him, you showed your apologies.

"S-Sorry for the sudden outburst. My name is..."

It was lunch time, and you sat on the top of the roof, holding your bento on your lap. You didn't have much of an appetite, especially considering what had previously happened.

"My name is- Wah!"

You suddenly fell backwards, as your bottom hit the ground. Some students looked at you like you were an idiot. Some were trying to hold in their laughter as others didn't even try. Takeda-sensei shushed them, and you could tell you were on the verge of tears. How embarrassing...

You stood up, trying to retain your posture. Not wanting to show signs of weakness, you took a deep breath. And smiled.

"Ahaha... Whoops! Oh, I didn't get to finish! My name is Abukara Sakuro. Nice to meet you all!"

"Pleasure meeting you Sakuro! You may sit down if you like."

And you did sit down, your fake smile making its way off your face. You looked down at your desk, your bangs covering your eyes. So much for first impressions...

You sighed, a cold breeze blowing through your hair. Not only did you manage to screw up your introduction, the one thing that decides how others are going to first view you, but you had to find a club to join. Every student was required to find at least one club that they were interested in. It was going to be difficult; finding a club where you fit in at a brand new school filled with strangers. Frustrated, you looked up at the sky and yelled.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING TODAY SO SHITTY?!"

Inhaling, you felt much better. You finally felt like eating again, so you picked up your chopsticks and began to pick around your bento. As you shoved a piece of sushi into your mouth, you could hear footsteps. You looked up and saw two students; two boys. As they walked closer, you could fully recognize them. They were the two boys who had first caught your attention in class. The scary-looking baldy, Ryuunosuke Tanaka, and the short porcupine, Yuu Nishinoya. They looked at each other and then back at you, questioningly. Nishinoya was the first to speak up.

"Uh, were you the one yelling? Sakuro, right?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

All of a sudden, Tanaka started to laugh uncontrollably. Nishinoya glared at him and smacked him on the head. He whispered something to him, inaudible to you. Tanaka, still giggling to himself, spoke to you.

"Pfft... W-Well... We wanted to see what was wrong, and- Ha... AHAHA!!"

You stood up abruptly, putting your bento to the side. You glared at the boy laughing at you, embarrassed.

"H-Hey! I don't see what's so funny!"

Nishinoya pushed his friend aside, smiling.

"Sorry about him. He just...found your introduction to be quite the show."

You could feel your face growing hotter at the second. You looked down at your shoes, fidgeting with your thumbs.

"A-Ah... I see..."

It was silent between the three of you. Well, that was if you didn't count Tanaka's loud laughter. After a few moments, he finally settled down, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Aha... Well, that was a good laugh! Oh, yeah! Sakuro-san! So, just why were you yelling?"

You smiled, rubbing the back of your neck. You gave out a light laugh.

"O-Oh, well... You know, my introduction and everything was pretty bad, so there's that. But, I'm also pretty concerned about finding a club because it's required and all that... So I was pretty upset and frustrated with myself."

Both Nishinoya and Tanaka stared at you and then glanced at each other. Suddenly, their faces grew into wide smiles. Nishinoya stepped closer to you.

"Well, Sakuro-san.How do you feel about volleyball?"