pinnae. [various!haikyuu x reader]

2

The sonorous tolling of the school's bell announced that the students were now on lunch break. (Name) looked up from her class word papers and glanced towards the clock absently. It was indeed around noon, and the hungry feeling in her stomach confirmed that it was indeed time for a midday meal. Around her, chatter began to arise as students placed their books in their bags whilst speaking amongst themselves. At the front of the classroom, the teacher was accepting completed papers from the class. As far as (name) was concerned, her first day at Karasuno High was going quite well so far. Although she hadn't quite made any new friends from her grade, she hadn't exactly felt unwelcome in the school's environment. Plus, she'd been able to understand and keep up with the teacher's lesson on Japanese literature– learning about a foreign language's grammar and uses had been one of her main concerns when she decided to complete her high school education in Japan.

Around her, the students had begun to leave the room. Only a few remained: those who were still completing their worksheets and those who had taken a little longer to pack their bags. The boy seated next to her, Tadashi Yamaguchi, chattered enthusiastically to the quiet and somewhat uninterested Kei Tsukishima, who zipped up his bag and stood. The latter met (name)'s gaze and rose an inquisitive eyebrow, but said nothing. The two boys left the classroom, but not before Yamaguchi offered a small wave to the new student.

As she began to stand in the hope of giving in her work sheet from the class, she felt a little tap on her shoulder. (Name) angled her head to look behind her and made eye contact with the same girl that had asked her of her provenance before class had started. The latter smiled at her gently.

"Hello, (lastname)-san!" began her classmate. "I forgot to introduce myself before, but my name is Furukawa Ayumi! Would you like to eat lunch with me and my friends?"

(Name) almost wanted to cry. This meant that she didn't have to go through the whole awkward 'finding-a-lunch-table-on-my-first-day' fiasco. "Of course! Thank you so much for inviting me, Furukawa-san!"

"It's no problem! We were going to eat on the rooftop, but since you can't really go up the stairs, we'll eat in the cafeteria on the first floor. I've texted my friends to let them know."

"That's so considerate of you, are you sure it's alright?"

"Yup! Come on!"

Ayumi grinned at her newfound friend and beckoned for her to follow. (Name) placed her class work on the teacher's table whilst the man was absorbed in whatever he'd been typing on his laptop. Then, hobbling back over to her desk, she picked up her bag, put her arm through its shoulder strap and adjusted it so it wouldn't get in the way of her crutches. All the while, Ayumi waited patiently by the door. Once (name) had reached her, the duo departed for the cafeteria.

Moments after their departure, Ittetsu Takeda looked up from computer to see that his classroom was empty. He realised immediately that he'd missed his opportunity to speak to the new student about his idea concerning her potential involvement with the boys' volleyball club. 'Oh no!' he thought, lightly tapping himself on the forehead. 'I completely forgot to ask her... Hopefully I'll be able to catch her before she leaves school today.'

***

Once they arrived in the cafeteria and found their selected table, (name) noticed that she and Ayumi were the last two of the latter's friend group to arrive. It was not an excessively large group, but it was not exactly small either. In total, there were five girls– including Ayumi and (name)­– and two boys. Two girls with remarkably similar features and dark hair­– twins, (name) realized­– shared a lunchbox and ate away silently. A small blonde girl read over some very neat-looking notes she'd taken during her morning class. The two boys were the ones from her class, Kei Tsukishima and Tadashi Yamaguchi. Ayumi took a seat near the end of the table and (name) decided to sit opposite her, next to the quiet blonde girl. She felt the gaze of all the table's members dig into her and her cheeks flushed.