Chapter Text
With puffy eyes you chewed on your jacket sleeve to quiet your sobs. You didn't want too many people to notice that state you were in. that would just cause them to ask questions and you weren't allowed to speak to strangers. But, where was your mom? She had said something about going to the seafood aisle next but you didn't know where that was. With your pink sketchers untied and your purple shorts bunching round your legs you sad down against a wall letting your shoulders shake.
“Why are you crying?” looking to your left you saw a boy with red hair sitting down next to you, he looked about your eyes, he had a cute bowl cut and a gray shirt with dinosaurs on the front, along with jean shorts and black buckle sneakers.
“I- i c-can't find my m-mother.” your voice was small and shaky as you clenched your small hands.
“Oh? Let's go find her! What does she look like?”
“What about your mom?”
“She'll help, I'm Tendou by the way!”
“y/n.”
You told the boy what your mother looked like and he took your hand helping you stand. He then leaned down to tie your shoes for you.
Taking your hand he walked to his mother and made you repeat what your mother looked like. The three of you wandered around the store until you saw your mother panicking and talking to an adult male. Breaking away from the red head you ran to your mother, grabbing her and hugging her tight. She returned it and you parted, pointing to Tendou and his mom and explaining how they helped you.
“Thank you very much, Miss Tendou!” the boys mother and your own talked and Tendou walked over to stand right next to you. “if you ever need saving again i'll be right there!”
You decided right then and there that this boy with a funny haircut was your favorite person.
You and your mom left after paying and you looked over your shoulder for red hair but you couldn't find him.
++++++++++
You were now 18, going to a new school that had a big reputation because of their volleyball team. You had never bothered to watch any of their matches, feeling they were probably over-rated. Checking out the new uniform, it made you feel confident. Nodding your head you pulled out your phone to message your favorite online friend.
Me: starting at my new school today! Crossing my fingers that i make a friend
A god: why?
Me: You can't be my only friend forever! Especially when we agreed not to let each other know who we are until we turn 20.
A god: princess you're going to make me jealous.
Me: stop whining, i gotta go.
A god: have a nice day sweetheart ;)
You rolled your eyes as you grabbed your bag. Your friend ‘A god’ and you had met over discord at age 11 because you both read the same online manga, the author added a link to their chat and since then you and him talked all the time you could.
You'd be lying if you said you felt some sort of way over you. The only things you knew about him was that he was a, well, a he. And that he was the same age as you. Even with so little information you had a huge crush on him, his constant teasing didn't help either.
Your shoulders felt heavy as you waited for the bus to come. You had skipped your morning run in favor of not being physically tired at school on the first day. You still woke up at 6 by choice, even though you didn't need to be at school until 8:30 and the bus came at 7:45.
Looking at your watch you still had two minutes before the bus got here. Letting your head fall back you looked up at the sky, the early morning clouds moved on above you. Smiling at their cute fluffiness you let out a deep sigh and then a yawn. ‘A god’ had told you that getting 5 hours of sleep each night was not healthy at all.
No matter what you still did, what could you say, you liked being alone and being the only one in your home awake. So, you stayed up late and woke up early.
The bus stopped a few feet in front of you and you got on, sitting in a seat near the back and pulling out a book to bury your nose in. your mom always told you that reading and pretending you were someone else was not going to help you with your problems but she was wrong. You loved the way you could get absolutely lost in the stories and details of a fictional world just out of reach.
Putting your book away after reaching the school you took a deep breath to quiet the growing anxiety in your stomach. This was going to suck, this was going to suck. Normally you would text ‘a god’ to help calm your nerves but after a quick check he was offline at the moment.
The bus stopped at the front of the school and opened the doors. On shaky legs you got off the bus and headed inside. Quickly spotting a vending machine you grinned from ear to ear, making your way over to the dispenser you put in the right amount for an iced coffee and watched as the drink was presented to you.
Taking it and opening it you drank some and hummed in aprovel. Heading to your first class you thanked the gods it was math. Your strong suit. Calculus. And you were good at it. The first day was review day and you blew through the work enjoying every moment of it.
After class you packed up your things and headed to history. Your weak point. Ap human geography. And it sucked. You tried your best to focus on what the teacher was explaining, but your mind kept returning to thinking about lunch. You felt so hungry you might be sick. And while other students were scribbling notes, you were drawing flowers on your wrist.
The bell rang and you were the fastest to pack up and leave the classroom. Following some other kids you found the cafeteria easy and went to get lunch, pizza and fries. Not the most healthy but it was still food. Smelling the pizza you went to sit down when a flash of something caught your eye. Your eyes darted around the room desperately searching for it again.
You spotted a tall boy with spiky red hair and red eyes. You would never forget that color. Swallowing a lump in your throat you walked towards where the man sat down. He was sitting next to a man around the same height as him with olive hair, and a shorter man with gray hair and tired eyes. With your lunch tray in one hand, the other clenched by your side you stood behind him tapping on his shoulder.
“Erm, can I, uh, can I sit next to you?”
“Oh? Are you new? Of course of course!”
Sitting down slowly you looked at your shoes, shy suddenly, as it had been about 13 years since you saw him.
“Yeah i'm new, do you, do you not recognize me?”
“Hmmm, no, sorry, should i?”
“Oh right, well, you helped me find my mom once when I was younger.” his eyes lit up and they met yours, he was basically glowing. “y/n!”
You smiled as he finally remembered you, at least he didn't forget your eyes.
“I will never forget that red hair of yours.” you laughed into your hand lightly and he did so as well.
“Who is this Tendou?” asked the boy with tired eyes, wow, he sounded sort of mean.
“She's a childhood friend from a long time ago!”
“Yeah, one time I got lost and he helped me. He had a bowl cut and everything.”
“I've heard about his bowl cut.” the same man laughed and you found your thoughts of him already changing.”
“I'm Ushijima Wakatoshi.” you raised an eyebrow at the olive haired man. “ i'm y/n. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, and that's semi semi.” Tendou pretty much shouted as he pointed at the gray haired student.
“Got it.”
Lunch continued in peace, nobody bothering to speak. After the end of the lunch bell ended you headed to biology and Tendou was heading the same way. So you guys had a class together, that would be fun. You guys ended up sitting next to each other and talking the whole class.
Whether it was about how he played volleyball, how you loved math, him asking about what mangas you like to read. generally just catching up on all the missed time.
The class flew by and soon you found yourself sitting next to Ushijima in language arts. The teacher went over the syllabus and how she would be grading stuff but you weren't listening.
Me: I hate this already.
A god: how come?
Me: I hate language arts.
A god: oh lol, how was the rest of your day though?
Me: good, made some friends and did super well in math.
A god: can't be that bad, how's that book your reading going though?
Me: its awesome, the protagonist just professed his love for the villain and everything is exploding
A god: sounds sort of stupid.
Me: like you?
A god: bye.
He immediately went offline and you giggled at the action. Ushijima turned his head to look at you but didn't say anything.
On the bus ride home you read more of your book. It was delightful.
When you got home you made a quick dinner and some cookies and ate before leaving a portion for your mom on the table. Heading to your room you lay in bed shoving a book in your face until you felt your phone vibrate.
A god: you up?
Me: yeah. You?
A god: nope, i'm fast asleep.
Me: oh crap, that was stupid question
A god: y’know what they say, stupid people ask stupid questions
Me: i hate you
A god: you love me
Me: yeah yeah whatever.
A god: say it, say you love me.
Me: I tolerate you slightly more than other people.
A god: not what i was looking for but good enough
A god: did you fall asleep holding your phone?
A god: okay so you're either shunning me or you're asleep, so uh, sleep well nerd.
You weren't asleep, in fact you just wanted to see his reaction. Scoffing when he called you a nerd you realized he wasn't wrong. Slapping a hand over our eyes and raking it down your face you sighed and turned your phone off, plugging it in and setting it to an early morning alarm you finally went to bed at 1:39 am.