one step further // haikyuu x OC

a tangerine and awkward introductions // 2

I still felt slightly unprepared for school, even though I had a week to cram some studying and unpack when I had arrived in Japan. When I got to the small house in the Miyagi prefecture I thought Dad would be there to at least say hi, or welcome me to his home, or something. Hell, even pick me up from the airport... But instead I was escorted and given a tour of the home by an assistant he sent out. At least she was nice enough to show me every part of the place, show how the appliances worked, and lead me to my bedroom where all my belongings had been shipped a month prior. The lady gave me a bank card and explained it was from my dad, and that money would always be on it. She also left her personal business card to call in case of emergencies.

I can't even begin to tell you how stressful it was trying to buy groceries for myself when I got there. I mentally kicked myself in the ass for skipping on Kanji practice for the last several months before flying out. Speaking Japanese was a lot easier than reading it, and apparently that was something I wanted to learn the hard way. I bought a lot of stuff so I wouldn't have to go again for a while.

Now there I was a week later, standing in front of the mirror looking at my school uniform.

Weird... Definitely gonna have to get used to dressing in a uniform everyday... At least my hair looks good with it...?

I groaned thinking about how little I'd get wear my street clothes. Shaking the thought out of my head I double checked that I had all the books and assignments I completed for school, and triple checked that I had my stuff for practice. My spine tingled from excitement thinking about being able to play volleyball with a team again. I'd been waiting for a few months because I wasn't able to join a club before moving. So, my free time after the Fall season was occupied with training and practicing by myself or with Angie and her adult league team, like I had always done since falling in love with the sport as a kid.

I checked myself out in the mirror one more time while tucking my mousy hair behind my ear, flustering at how grey it looked. I pinched my cheeks to bring out some color and stepped back until I was satisfied with my look.

After a quick breakfast I  studied the directions to the school one last time before grabbing my bags and beginning the walk. Little butterflies tickled my stomach as I got closer with every minute, the crisp April morning air softly caressing my face. When I arrived, my heart lightly pounded in my chest, so many new faces passing by as I stood there staring at this building that was going to be my new high school. It was a really cool experience. And only about a 30 minute walk, so not that bad. My gawking didn't last long though, I was interrupted by a loud voice quickly approaching.

"Watch out!!" I barely managed to jump out of the way of a fiery redhead on his bike, looking like he was in a hurry. "I'm sorryyyy!" He shouted over his shoulder as he hopped off the bike and ran it somewhere out of my line of sight.

"*Hey!*" Shouting after him did no good, he was already gone. I sighed to myself. I wanted to get mad, because what the hell? But I just let the tangerine get away with it.

New day, new beginning. No need to loose my cool over shit I can't control.

As I entered the building I settled on putting my worn-out black converse in my gym bag instead of a locker, feeling a little awkward and anxious in this sea of people while putting on the uwabaki. I had to find the administrator office. And even though I was there early, still there were a lot of students to navigate through in this part of the building. And there were enough stares from other students that made me uncomfortable anyway.

I strolled around, not in much of a hurry. Just looking around and trying to get a feel of the building. A self-guided tour. Everything was clean, organized; the hallways weren't crammed with people. It didn't smell like ass. Tons better than my high school in the states.