A New Adventure (Sakusa Kiyoomi )

Chapter 1

Word Count: 1241 

The plane had finally landed. It had been a very long flight. I was able to actually get up and stretch now, opening up my mouth in a silent scream as I tilted myself to my left side. The mother across the aisle eyed me with a weird look and I flushed in embarrassment. Luckily, I was able to grab my bags and get off the plane quickly. I had a fear of airplane bathrooms so as soon as I stepped off the large plane, I rushed all the way to the closest restroom.

I looked around a bit, not being able to read the Japanese signs, so I kept an eye out for a symbol of a man or woman anywhere. After a few glances, I finally spotted it and rushed over to the long line. I huffed and tapped my foot impatiently, finally grabbing my phone out of my backpack to try to distract me. I had an unread message from Dad, saying Hey Super Star! LMK when you land :). I chuckled, when it came to this trip my Dad had been so adorable. 

You see, I had come to Japan to escape my family a bit, but I never told my family that directly. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mom and Dad, it was just a bit difficult dealing with their habits and having to take care of my siblings. Keep in mind, I was the oldest of FIVE little brothers. It was hell. Whenever I got home from volleyball practice, it was my job to clean up after the youngest ones and make sure the older ones aren't too loud playing video games. It's not like I got much help from the parents anyway. Mom would refuse to do anything she deemed too messy and Dad was always working. The only time I really got to see Dad was on weekends and even then, he'd insist we only practice volleyball. Honestly though, it was kind of cute how he'd try so hard to make sure his little girl was the best. For real though, I'm so thankful he'd been teaching me since I was a kid. I learned the very basics of volleyball, but since my dad was a pinch server in high school and college, that was our collective level of expertise. 

Because of his training and hiring coaches for me since I was young, I had climbed the ranks to being apart of the starting team for the US Women's National U18 Team! I was a decent wing spiker, and a killer server. My secret? Aside from my killer curve in my serves, I was lucky enough to be born ambidextrous, so whenever someone was finally able to receive my jump serve, I just switched to the other hand. I was damn good, and I knew it, especially when I got six service aces in one set in the 2010 NORCECA Volleyball Championship. I had to leave Japan again in September for another championship, but I would come back again. For the time being, I was just going to go tour a few schools I was interested in, which included Aoba Johsai, Nekoma, Karasuno, Shiratorizawa, and Fukurodani. Honestly, I wasn't that interested in Karasuno, but I know Dad is an alumni and he really wanted me to go. Why was I interested in these schools? Well, from my Dad's research, they had very interesting Men's volleyball teams. Of course I couldn't play on their teams but I thought it would be worthwhile to observe how the men play before the national team's next tournaments. 

After my surprisingly convenient flashback, I responded back to my dad, typing Just landed, I'll call later. Gotta pee. I put my phone back in my backpack since I finally reached far enough in the line I could actually see the restroom doors. I looked around, still very bored. I started counting how many people were in front of me for fun. 1...2...3....4. As I continued counting, I spotted someone facing the bathroom, but not in line. He was EXTREMELY tall, and leaned against the wall, his body not actually touching the wall since there was a barrier of his green and yellow jacket between them. He had a mask on, which apparently was common in Japan so I paid little attention to that, rather looking at his face. Despite not being able to see the lower half of his face, his eyes were a distraction. He was glaring at the men's restroom, and just by his aura I could tell he was absolutely mortified. Luckily, living with my mom trained me to know that look. I knew what to do. I stepped out of line and approached him, clearing my throat. He turned his head, looking at me very uninterestedly. I gulped, but continued, "Waiting for a friend?" I asked. He stayed silent, but slightly shook his head. I nodded and went on, "Thought so. You got a thing about public bathrooms?" He widened his eyes and I grinned. "Knew it," I said, "If you want, I saw the bathrooms that staff use over there. Want me to show you?" He didn't say anything, but I knew that meant yes. I walked over to the left, right over to the separate hallway that had the staff-only restrooms. 

Finally, the mystery man spoke, "How do we get in? They're going to be locked." I turned towards him, faking a pout, "You have no faith in me, I'm hurt." He glared. I reached up into my hair bun, removing one of the bobby pins. "You know," I continued, "When you grow up around five little troublemakers and a mom who hates germs, you learn a thing or two about unlocking locked doors." I wiggled my pin in the lock, finally hearing a click of the door unlocking. I grabbed a wet wipe from my backpack and wiped down the door, finally turning to him, smirking. He walked into the bathroom and I stood there awkwardly. I didn't know whether this was my cue to leave or not, but before I could decide, he walked out. He nodded at me, "Thanks." His voice was deep, damn. I smiled, "Yeah! No problem, bathrooms are gross." His eyes briefly crinkled in a small smile, and he walked off. Now that he left, I groaned. "Awwwwww, I gotta pee!"

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After finally figuring my way outside of the airport, I sighed. Finally, clean air. I could now head to my first destination. My new location was the Miyagi Prefecture. I called a taxi, which I only learned how to signal recently. I had been taking Japanese classes for the past year so I knew a very basic level of how to converse, but I still could barely read. "Miyagi Prefecture please," I said and told the driver the address. It was a long drive, but luckily my parents had my back financially. After a few hours, I had arrived at dark. I opened the door to my new home. It was small, but it'd be perfect. I left my bags by the door and fell on the bed, passing out immediately after the long day. I had only a few hours of shut-eye before I had to tour Karasuno as a second-year. My next tours were weeks away.