Chapter 1 - Taking One for the Team

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"Oh! I want Oikawa!"

"WHAT! No! I was going to pick Oikawa!"

My two second-year writers glared at each other. It was that time of the year where Seijoh's
newspaper writers chose a third-year to write about for the last edition of the school newspaper. As I expected, our own Toru Oikawa was going to be the subject my female writers would fight to the death for.

I stood up from the desk at the head of the room and slammed my hands against the solid table in front of me.

"Enough! I will write Oikawa's article." I said authoritatively. "I am the head of this newspaper and just so you aren't all at each other's throats for the rest of the year, I will write his article, is that clear?"

As the wave of crossed arms and pouty lips moved across the room, I felt it was a good time to end our club meeting.

"You have until the end of the week to pick your third-year and ask them if they'd like a feature in the newspaper. As I said before, the person you pick will get a page in the article talking about their high school career, any clubs or sports they participate in and their plans after high school. Get to know them and what they do to make Aoba Johsai proud." And with that, our meeting was dismissed.

Packing up my club binder and supplies, I felt nervous. I didn't want to write Oikawa's article but seeing as pretty-boy was the most popular boy in school, it had to be me to ensure our club wouldn't turn into a fight club.

The problem was, this meant I'd have to speak to him. I'd have to get close to him. The king of Seijoh.

Our meeting ended close to the time that volleyball practice would be over. My shot to talk to Oikawa and ask him if he'd be interested in the article.

The irony was that Toru Oikawa and I had actually gone to school together since junior high...but I knew nothing about him. Well, other than the fact that he loves volleyball and he could basically have any girl he wanted. Oh! And his favorite food is milk bread. But that's only because I heard another girl mention it by the lockers.

The doors of the building opened and sweaty boy after sweaty boy exited the building. I held my breath to avoid the terrible smell knowing the captain would be the last to exit.

"That was a great practice you guys! Get some rest and let's work on it again tomorrow." I turned to the doors to see the handsome brunette following his team out with a smile on his face. Even sweaty, he still looked as beautiful as ever. I mean seriously? Who still looks that good after volleyball practice??

"Toru...Oikawa...?" I asked as if I wasn't sure this was the right handsome volleyball captain I was looking for.

He turned to look at me slightly confused.

"Yes?" He asked.

I cleared my throat and stood up straight, my short stature still not even tall enough to meet his gaze without having to bend my neck to look straight up.

"I don't know if you know who I am but my name is M..."

"Mia...yeah. You're the head of the school's newspaper and you're in my third period. You also went to Kitagawa Daiichi?" He chuckled.

So he does know who I am? In all honesty, I can't say that I don't stand out here. For one, I was one of the few students with parents of different ethnicities. My mom is Japanese and my dad is originally from Argentina so I looked a little different. Two, I didn't become the head of the newspaper that easily. It takes assertiveness and dominance to be the head of any club when you're a girl. That basically means I had to make a name for myself, though I still wouldn't consider myself popular. Finally, three...I was one of the few girls that wasn't all over the Toru Oikawa.

Sure, I can admit he was a pretty sight to look at. But he was hardly desirable seeing as he thrived in all the attention. Cocky wasn't exactly my thing.

"Yes...um, I wanted to see if you'd like to be featured in the school's newspaper? Every year, our writers pick a third-year to write about and I wanted to know if you'd be comfortable with me asking you some questions and writing your article?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah! I heard about that. That would be cool!" He smiled while scratching the back of his head as if he was a little embarrassed.

"Great! I know you're probably busy with volleyball seeing as you're the captain but I can give you my number and you can text me when your schedule is open."

"Actually...if you're not busy...we can start now? I was gonna go grab a drink if you want to tag along?" He said confidently.

"Uh...sure. Yeah, I could go for some tea." I could feel my cheeks run warm, an effect he seems to have on most of the girls he talks to.

He smugly put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and we began walking side by side to the restaurant.

•••

It was hotter than I realized that by the time we got to the little shop, I felt sweaty and gross. We ordered our drinks and sat at a small table by the front window.

"Do you mind if I run to the restroom really quick?" I asked.

"Not at all." He says back.

As I entered the bathroom, I immediately ran to the sink and proceeded to splash a little cold water onto my face, careful to avoid smearing my makeup too much.

Was I nervous? No, it's just the weather. Why would I be nervous?!

I walked out of the bathroom and to my surprise there were three girls crowding our small table.

Wow, can't even leave him alone for two minutes without girls coming onto him.

"I think volleyball is SO cool! You should teach us how to play sometime!" One of the girls said flirty, making sure to push her boobs together with her arms as she laid her hands on the table directly in front of him.

Oikawa blushed while letting out a slight chuckle.

"Excuse me..." I butted in.

All three girls turned to me disgusted.

"I'm gonna need you to leave." I smiled.

"What? Are you like his girlfriend or something?" Boob girl turned her body to face me, hands still flat against the table.

I slapped my hands down to meet her face to face. "No, but I'm about to become your worst nightmare if you don't step away from this table."

She rolled her eyes and signaled to the other two girls to leave with her.

I sat down in my chair and proceeded to take out my notebook and a pen.

I looked up to see Oikawa smirking at me.

"What?" I said.

"Nothing. It's just that what they say about you is true..." he said, taking a sip of his tea.

"What do they say?!" I asked swiftly.

"Just that you're kind of scary...and intimidating." He said, setting his drink back down. "But...but it's not a bad thing!"

People really say that? Can't say I'm surprised but still.

"Well I know what everyone says about you...but I want to know who you really are. How did you fall in love with volleyball? Why Seijoh? All that good stuff. Start anywhere and I'll ask questions as we go along."

Toru and I spoke for a while and while I learned a lot about him, I couldn't help but wonder if he was sugarcoating a large chunk of it.

I would expect as much coming from someone as confident as him. I know there's more to him, I'm a writer. I know everyone has a backstory, I just had to figure out his.

This wasn't to "expose" him but rather to find out who was really behind that pretty face and smug attitude.

I have to admit, I wasn't crazy about having to write my article on Oikawa...but after today, I'm actually kind of...excited? Maybe this would turn out to be one of our newspaper's best articles about our very own golden boy? Or maybe even more than that.

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