eternal

the third time's the charm / ushinielle

high school, it seemed, was the time where everyone started falling in love.

it was a commonplace to see people watching their special someone with focused and loving eyes. it was not rare to see people confessing to their secret crushes after school, in the courtyard, under a tree, or somewhere private. it was also not surprising to see people get into relationships which may or may not last past graduation, or the massacre of love when their feelings are unrequited.

it was not any different in shiratorizawa.

ushijima wakatoshi, the stoic-faced star of the boys' volleyball team, was one of the soughtly chased after males in the school. he would find confession letters in his shoe cubby every morning when he arrived at school from the dorms, and after school when he swapped his indoor shoes for his regular ones. he would receive chocolates on valentine's day, and he would have to reject his suitors. he would also be pulled away from his friends during breaks to receive confessions, to which he would also have to turn them down, because he simply was not interested.

however, everything changed when he entered his third year, on the very first day of the first term.

shiratorizawa had a tradition of gathering everyone in the main hall to welcome the freshmen into the school. for the subequent week, activities would be held for the freshmen to help them settle in and adapt to their new high school life. this week was known as orientation week.

on this first day of this orientation week, ushijima was walking past the main gates (since the dorm was close to it) and heading towards the main building, when someone interrupted him with a confident yet rather unsure "um, excuse me."

ushijima's head turned to meet the owner of the voice. a rather petite but not too short female (she was well over the average height of most girls, but she was not that tall either) stood at the gate, a map in her hands. her hair was tied into a ponytail, her eyes watching him behind her glasses. her rather tan skin soaked in the sunlight, giving her a effortless warm glow. she wore shiratorizawa's female uniform: a pristine white blazer wrapped around her frame, a violet bow tied neatly round her neck, and a matching checkered skirt reaching her knees.

a freshman, was his first thought, then his brain proceeded to add, she's kinda—

"uh, sorry to be a bother, but could you help me?" the girl's voice pulled him out of his morning daze.

"sure," he said, walking towards her, "what can i help you with?"

"i'm having trouble finding the hall," she said, casting her gaze down to the map, "it — the map got a little confusing."

usually, freshmen would just follow the crowd and get into the hall just fine. however, it was seven in the morning and the assembly did not start until an hour later.

"here, i'll show you the way," ushijima said, nodding at her and proceeding to lead the way.

they first headed to the main building, where the shoe cubbies would greet them. he helped the girl find her cubby, to which she quickly swapped her shoes out with the indoor ones. once both of them had their respective indoor shoes on, ushijima then led her to the main hall.

it was huge and impressive, as expected of shiratorizawa. it had a high wooden ceiling and had two floors. the lights gave a nice warm ambience, but not a far too cozy one, lest it made students fall asleep in the velvet chairs. a seating plan was flashed across the pull-down screen, and indicated that the freshmen were to be seated on the ground level. some freshmen were already present, with some curious gazes from students seated on the ground floor.

"thank you for your help," the girl said and did a little bow, bending over just a little.

"you're most welcome," ushijima said somewhat monotonously, "and welcome to shiratorizawa."