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Author's Note: Art by Bre.Lexis on IG
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The new girl...
The foreigner...
The one whose Japanese was not only accented by English but was also littered with nuances from the Hokkaido dialect because that's where she'd grown up for the last six years...
Having now been at Fukurodani for three years didn't matter. People still looked at me and first saw all those attributes rather than seeing me for me.
Though I'd made friends, the alienating feeling never stopped bothering me. People always found a way to remind me that I was the "foreign girl who talked funny".
However, I channeled these raw emotions in times like these- when my eyes were just over the net- to stoke the fire burning in my heart. I knew there was more to me than people assumed, and I wanted those people to start seeing me for those things too. But since they wouldn't give me that opportunity, I decided long ago to just take it. I alone had to carve out a space for myself at this school. I couldn't win them over with nicety, so I used my prowess on the court to leave my mark on the population at Fukurodani.
My arm sailed back and just as quickly came down onto the ball.
"Everything is riding on this... everyone is depending on me..." It was just a practice game, but I always forced my mind to treat every game like it was world-ending. I wanted to feel like my academic career at Fukurodani was riding on this.
I watched the blockers try to meet my spike head-on.
*smack*
The ball flew beyond their reach and hit the ground just within the court's boundary, echoing throughout the gym.
The designated referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the match and a hard-earned win for the Fukurodani girls.
"[Y/N]!"
Bokuto's voice made me look up from the magazine I'd been reading.
"Hey, Bokuto!"
"I was calling your name for a while, but you weren't responding!" He walked to where I'd been sitting by the academy's gardens. "Whatcha reading?" He then slid into the space next to me and peeked curiously over my shoulder.
"Nothing interesting... just the latest, special edition of Number!" 'Number' was Japan's top-selling sports magazine and I often kept a copy of the newest issues on-hand. In my first year at Fukurodani, Bokuto caught me reading it during lunch. It sparked a conversation between us that became the start of our friendship.
There was a split second of calmness before the realization hit Bokuto and his whole mood lit up.
