Crimson Chords

Chapter One: Comedian

Despite the chill during night, she still ran. Her lungs and legs burned and ached, but she had to get back home. The streets were empty and the lights flickered from time to time, yet Karalea still had the guts to think and zone out. It was incredibly stupid of her to not bring her inhaler, but she just impulsively put on her tennis shoes and ran for a good mile or so. Her home was in view and after she passed the ordinary house that seemed out of place compared to the rather poorer and smaller homes in the neighborhood, she would reach her humble abode. The paranoia never left her and settled into her spine. She was afraid of being chased after running so long in the dark. Karalea brushed her stray, crimson hairs out of her slightly sweaty face as she trudged on. By the time she arrived home most of the lights were off, except for the kitchen light, and she found the sudden feeling of warmth to be weird. 

"Welcome back, honey," a woman in her mid-forties sat, hunched, over a bunch of paperwork in their kitchen. The living room was a little messy with the pillows thrown onto the floor. The inside of their house was pretty modern and small, but they used what they had efficiently. She placed her tennis shoes at the genkan with the rest of her family's plethora of shoes. Making sure not to trip once she stepped onto the elevated part of her house, she walked to where her mom was and set her coat on the couch. Something her mom would nag at her for in the morning. Their house was unusual compared to most since theirs resembled a small, western home. They didn't have tatami or anything like that, but they did have the typical sliding doors. 

"How much are the bills this month?" Karalea shook her hair out of her ponytail and looked expectantly at her mother. 

"Nothing you need to worry about," she mumbled against her palm,"go to sleep, you have school tomorrow."

Karalea sighed and did as she was told. She walked up the steep steers that led to a short hallway. Her room and her brothers room that they shared was up here along with a bathroom. As she stripped out of her t-shirt and leggings when she entered the bathroom, Karalea looked at herself in the mirror over their sink. She rubbed her eyebags and the acne on her chest and sighed. The formula and serum she was using for the past two weeks didn't seem to be working on her bosom.

"Guess I'll just have to wear sweaters and t-shirts for the rest of my life."

The cold water cascaded over her tall and lean body, sending shivers down her spine. After washing her body, hair, and face she exited the shower feeling refreshed from a busy day of events and wrapped a towel against her cold body. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night and Karalea still had some assignments to finish. When she left the bathroom, the kitchen lights were off and she had little trouble navigating since she knew ever nook and cranny of her house. Her mom most likely went to bed already. 

She's working herself too hard, Karalea thought as she put on a pair of undergarments, sweatpants, and a knitted sweater. She pulled a few folders and textbooks out and set them on her desk in the corner of her room by the window. As she worked on finishing her remaining tasks for the day, she noticed her phone light up from her bed. With a sigh, she picked the grey device up and noticed a text message from her friend, Bokuto. 

"I knew owls were nocturnal creatures but this is ridiculous," the red haired female muttered under breath as she read the text. It was a meme of a business man passed out on the floor of a train. Bokuto was up late at night and he took the time to bother with sending her a pointless joke, yet Karalea laughed a bit. 

If you stay up too late you'll end up like him :)), Bokuto texted again after he sent the picture. Karalea found herself grinning a bit and texted back, poor guy is just tryna catch up on some sleep.

She quickly shut her phone off and proceeded to quickly finish her homework and student council work before putting everything back in her bookbag. After shutting the lights off, Karalea practically jumped onto her bed and savored the feeling of her soft blankets against her body. She took Bokuto's advice and did, in fact, sleep rather early.

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The hallways were bustling with students littered everywhere. It was the beginning of the day at Fukurodani and they all had fifteen minutes before classes officially began. A certain red head stood apart from the sea of students as she walked towards her section of the school. Fukurodani was a large and fairly prestigious academy in Tokyo. Some of their teams and clubs had placed nationally. Both the male and female volleyball teams have made it to nationals in the past decade, but only the girls team had placed first at Fukurodani. Although, that was years ago and since then the girls team had only managed the top five. 

"HEY! HEY! HEY! REA!" A boisterous and powerful voice that was all too familiar to Karalea called out. This gained the attention of many students in the hallway. Some were taunting, apologetic, jealous, and judgemental stares. Karalea wasn't all that well-liked due to her blood. A hafu or crossbreed they'd call her. The red haired female could only sigh and turn around to see her friends Bokuto Koutaro and Akaashi Keiji. Akaashi looked tired and waved his hand in an apologetic manner. 

"Hey, Karalea," the stoic male greeted her. Akaashi was a reserved and calm individual. Always so calculating and silent on the court like a snake waiting to strike at the right moment. 

Karalea nodded her head in acknowledgement,"Good morning, Akaashi." 

"EH!" Bokuto yelled out rather dramatically."What about me? Do I get a greeting?" His hair that was frosted white at the ends and black at the roots seemed to droop down like a puppy when they're sad. 

"Hm, I'll think about it," Karalea tapped in her chin to add fuel to the fire. Bokuto was anything but calm and composed. He was always boucing up and down as if he had way too many sweets, which did seem plausible considering the male's huge sweet tooth. Bokuto resembled the school's mascot, an owl, with his round gold eyes and constant screeching. 

"UGH!" Bokuto fell to the floor dramatically which earned a scolding from Akaashi."MY HEART! I don't think I'll ever be able to-uh-bleed...again..." He ended awkwardly. Karalea rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the clock in the hall. About five minutes before school started.

"You should get going, I'll take this guy to his class," Karalea told Akaashi.

"Ah, thanks, good luck with him," his dark blue eyes glinted in amusement before he turned to get back to the second-year section of the school. Karalea did need that good luck after all. First, Bokuto said he didn't want to go his math class since it was too early in the morning. However, this wasn't the first time Karalea had dealt with this.

"If you don't get up, then I'll  get ice cream with Kuroo without you," Karalea threatened, which made Bokuto bolt straight up.

"That's pretty cruel of you, Rea," he snickered and leapt up to his feet. Bokuto always liked getting some sort of rise out of Karalea, though he did prefer hearing her laugh or see her smile. 

"C'mon, we need to go," Karalea rolled her eyes at hearing his whine, though she did let out the tiniest laugh as she walked away.

"HEY! Don't leave me behind!" Bokuto was about to run until a faculty member passing by warned him. He only sheepishly giggled before catching up to Karalea. 

"I think I heard a giggle from you," he spoke lowly in her ear in a teasing manner.

"I guess it's because you're quite the comedian, Koutaro," Karalea shuttered a little at the feeling of his warm breath against her ear. Bokuto grinned, as usual, at her comeback.

"I know, I'm the funniest guy you're ever gonna meet."

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GAHAHAH. This chapter was really bad but I'll fix it at some point in my life. We've yet to see Karalea and the girls team interact, so yeah...I do apologize in advanced if the story does go at a slow pace. I'm not much of a writer but I do enjoy writing. I just-I'm just very stupid. Also, I feel like some of the characters are too out of character and the speech is just weird I guess. Feel free to be a grammar nazi or spelling nazi since I'm writing this when I should be sleeping. Have fun guys!

-AN, LeechyTea