Chapter Text
The morning student council meeting had dragged on until the bell rung, making Ritsu late for class. His shoes skidded on the floor as he racewalked down the hall, apology half out of his mouth by the time he slid the classroom door open. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the teacher standing in front of the class with a girl who looked weirdly familiar, though Ritsu was sure they had never actually met before. The girl had a round face, slender body, and silver hair that reached halfway down her back. Her uniform looked crisp and new.
Both his teacher and the girl looked at him when he entered, his teacher didn't stop talking. "...previous school. Sit down, Kageyama," his teacher instructed. He did as told. "Anyway, I hope you can make Saji feel accepted in her new class. Saji, there's an empty seat next to Kageyama over there, so you can sit there."
The silver haired girl, Saji, hurriedly walked down the aisle of desks to the empty desk right next to where Ritsu sat. She gave a smile to Ritsu but looked away before Ritsu could react.
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The moment the teacher left and the bell rung, a few female students visited Saji's desk with their usual questions and compliments about the new kid. They dispersed soon after, strangely enough.
Just as Ritsu put away his books and stationery, he heard a girlish voice call his name. He looked up and saw the face of the new transferee standing by his desk holding a bento box.
"Kageyama, right? Do you think you could show me around school? You must be capable, seeing you're part of the student council," Saji said, gesturing to his armband, and quickly added, "Oh, but I hope I'm not bothering you or anything."
Ritsu cursed inwardly. Why approach him of all people? Aagh. "Sure, I'm not busy right now. Saji, correct?"
"Oh, yeah, but you can call me Aiko. Nice meeting you."
"Have we met before?"
Aiko smiled politely, "No, I don't think so."
The day was chilly and overcast, the sky a blanket of marbled silver with flecks of blue trying to peek through. They walked around the school, Ritsu pointing out various places of interest. Aiko didn't seem to be listening. She was inquisitively looking around at the other students milling about, as if surveying them. She turned back to Ritsu, hair whipping around her shoulders.
"So, Kageyama, what do you like to do in your spare time?"
Bending spoons, thought Ritsu. "I'm usually busy with the student council and studying, but I also write in a... journal sometimes," said Ritsu.
"That's so cool! You should show me one day," Aiko said. Ritsu thought otherwise, but he kept it to himself.
The two sat down on a bench outside and started with their lunches. Ritsu idly pushed around the fried rice left over from yesterday's dinner, spoon clicking on the plastic container. By the time Ritsu started to pay attention to Aiko again, she was nearly finished with her bento.
"Hey Kageyama," Aiko asked, "are there any cool clubs here? I used to be in a silly telepathy club. We didn't do anything, though. I tried to study during club time because my classroom was always noisy and distracting. It was just some sort of luck that I ended up in there."
He suppressed the urge to chuckle at the memory of having to deal with the so-called "telepathy" club. "I assume your club got disbanded by the school, too?"
"Oh, no. My last school was... how do I put this... terrible. There were a lot of bad students, and some of the teachers didn't even come."
That explained why his classmates weren't exactly swarming Aiko like they usually did when there was a new student. Ritsu guessed that the teacher was explaining Aiko's previous school's reputation before he arrived, so maybe the other students were avoidant of her. Suckers.
Aiko was still talking. "The club was useless, but the school had other problems to deal with. Do you have telepaths here too?"
That was some... interesting phrasing, thought Ritsu. "What do you mean?"
"I mean- Nevermind. By the way, can you help me with my schoolwork? I'm very behind on my grades because... you know. I bet you're smart."
Before he could refuse, his mouth seemed to sprint before his mind and he out-of-characterdly blurted out, "Of course. My grades are fine. I can help you with your studies."
Aiko thanked Ritsu profusely and clutched his hand, but Ritsu was too busy staring at his half-eaten rice and picking up the broken pieces of his plans to binge Naruto to notice.
After a moment to recollect himself and mentally return to Earth, he continued, "I have student council meetings in the morning and afternoon. I'm free during lunchtimes, though. When you get home, figure out what you want to work on so we can get more done faster."
Aiko beamed in awe that was so excessive it almost seemed fake. "Wow, Kageyama, you're so respoonsible!"