Foreign Interference

Chapter 2

Singing...Lyrics...High speed rhythm, the girl heard it intruding in on her slumber.

"No matter when, no matter who, wanting to stand there..."

The artist sang, the girl stirring.

"Even if it's wrong, even if it's frustrating, keep struggling..."

The girl opened her eyes slowly, registering that her alarm was going off.

"Never give up, I don't want to end like this..."

The girl sat up, fully awake, turning towards her phone,

"Carrying this imagination, I'll go, OH, OH! ~" She sang the last of the lyrics before turning off her alarm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

'Today's the day!' She sprang into action, racing to her closet she released the hanger from its burden and quickly put on the uniform. Inspecting her form in the full-length mirror hanging on the back of her door, she smiled widely. Then as if only just remembering, she opened her suitcase in a hurry and dug around until she found what she was looking for. Pulling the over-the-knee socks up her legs, she stuck her tongue out slightly in concentration. When the deed was done, she stood back up to gaze at her work in the mirror. The uniform fit perfectly and the socks brought it all together. She inspected her work from the bottom up and then snickered after catching a glimpse of the mess on the top of her head.

'Well, it can't all be perfect, right?' She thought while making her way to the bathroom to fix her hair. Once in the hallway, she smelled something delicious coming from down the stairs. The excitement just kept growing and growing.

After the girl brushed the remaining strands of hair into submission, she stopped and stared into her eyes in the bathroom mirror. Her day was starting off perfect: her hair decided to agree with her, and what makeup she put on went on easily and neatly.

'Yes. We're gonna meet lots of people today, and we're not gonna be intimidated!' She mentally prepared herself before leaving the bathroom. She could feel it; something good was going to happen today!

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"Ready, (F/N)-chan?" Kiyoko asked from the front door.

"Ahh, yes, Shi -- I mean -- Kiyoko-san!" The new girl replied rounding the corner, remembering that last night after meeting Kiyoko for the first time, they decided that they would address each other by first names due to the girls living together. This way Kiyoko and her mother wouldn't be confused as to who was being spoken to when the new resident said "Shimizu-san." The girl stuffed her large headphones in her bag before swinging it over her shoulders turning towards Kiyoko, smiling. Before leaving, Kiyoko made sure the first-year had everything she would need for school. After the quick check and confirmation, the two girls left the house towards their high school.

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'Those guys were such a handful this morning without Shimizu-san.' Yachi thought with a sigh. She collapsed in her chair, head down, eyes closed, thinking about this morning's practice. Tanaka and Nishinoya were so rambunctious and would have been a huge problem if Sugawara and Ennoishita weren't there to protect her. Letting out another sigh, Yachi reread the text Shimizu had just sent her.

"Remember the exchange student I told the team about?"

"Yes! Of Course!" Yachi had replied.

"Well, it turns out that she is in your class. If it's not too much to ask, could you help her adjust? I'm sorry if that is too burdensome."