CH 2 — Meet the Members

2nd POV

To say that you were nervous is an extreme understatement.

It wasn't like you're a very anxious person in general, but you weren't exactly someone who pulls herself together when meeting other people. Much less, people you don't know. After all — moving from your home city to another is barely comfortable for you at the moment.

Your hands were slightly colder than the chill weather. With every steps you take as you follow Kita to the gymnasium felt like your heart beats to get out.

Your cousin, Kita, is aware that you're not a sociable person.

But amid the world you built yourself, he knew that 'change' is bound to happen. Some would distance themselves from you and that's what you've always been accustomed to from the moment you were born. If they weren't the one that distance theirselves – you do. It was unhealthy for Kita to accept, self-isolation and decline of attachments happen to be one of the self-destructive things that a person can do.

He just wanted you to learn that people are so much more than that, and acceptance isn't limited to mere standards. He knew that you fear the fear of people that you tried to get with. Their fear is your greatest fear — the fear of being feared.

You knew that as long as people feared you, there is a very slim chance that anyone would accept you. For who you are — you doubted your own value. That's why you always thought that as long as you limit yourself around the people who can stand to be around you, you'd be fine.

This wasn't a part of your principle at all.

"We're here."

Kita turned to you with a soft look and placed his hand on your shoulder, "Sukii, you'll be alright."

"I can't do this..," You mumbled, "They'll fear me."

He gave you a smile.

"As long as I'm with you, no one will fear you," He guided you in, "Besides – they're not the same people from Shibuya. They don't easily fear."

"But what if they're all the same? What if they find me weird?" Your voice was shaking.

Kita laughed softly, "Your overthinking will kill you someday. Put your trust in me, will you?"

No choice was made given that after you nodded with hesitation, he already opened the doors and brought you with him.

The gym became awfully quiet when Kita entered. You thought it was because of his presence but it's not just that. You didn't know that it was also because of the fact that their captain brought a girl with him.

The coach grinned at Kita, "You're here. Even with your council duties you still managed to make it in time."

You dropped your head even lower when the coaches turned their eyes on you.

Earth pull me under. Earth pull me under. Earth pull me under. Earth pull me under! You closed your eyes tight and prepared yourself for the worse.

"May I talk to you about something? It's about the team's manager," Kita asked the coaches and moved somewhere more private with them. You hesitantly looked up and met eyes with a girl who was sitting on a bench.

The court became noisy with players playing again the moment you walked to the girl after she motioned for you to sit beside her on the bench.

"Good afternoon."

You gripped the hem of your skirt tightly and mustered the courage to look at her.

She had hate behind them even when she's smiling at you.

"... Good afternoon," You muttered and looked back to the ground.

She sighed, "You must be my replacement. I'm Dahlia Mizuse, their current manager. You are?"

She hates me already. You thought.

"Sukii Notabe, I'm a second year. I just transferred," You said without stammering.

"Ah, a transfer at this time of year?"

One of the many traits that you hated about yourself is the ability to read people. You were able to catch a strong glimpse of their emotions behind their eyes, and that scares you for so many years now. Most people are easy for you to read and it hurts you.

Everyday you wished that even for the slightest bit, you are dense.

"You applied for manager? Or did Kita scout you?"

"Neither. I wanted to decline....-"

"Then why didn't you?"

You turned to her with your eyes slightly wide. You weren't surprised, but you also weren't expecting her to be cold and upfront about it.

"..I-I swear I tried to refuse," You failed to keep your composure.

Her brows furrowed in annoyance as she looked at you with disgust, "Why didn't you refuse harder? That should be simple, shouldn't it?"

You had no words to say, you had no place to say anything either. Silence engulfed you both as she just stared at you with the same disgusted look that people have given to you even back then.

"Fighting to stay at this team would've been easier if they couldn't find a replacement," She scowled, "I wouldn't have been resigning now.. if it weren't for someone as low as you."

"You really think you have what it takes to manage this team? You must be so full of yourself and you haven't even started yet," She scoffed.

"I heard you didn't," You retorted back out of impulsivity.

She stood up and grabbed you by the collar of your blouse. Your eyes widened when she was about to shove you but a hand grabbed her wrist already.

"That's enough," Kita said, calmly. His cold eyes pierced into hers as she cowered back down. She harshly removed her hand from your blouse and Kita's grip as she sat back down. Everyone in the court watched the interaction, ever since you started talking to her.

A stray ball was zooming at you with heavy force and at a fast pace.

You caught the ball in one hand and let go of it after it lost its momentum.

"Yikes. She caught that?" A bored dark haired boy with middle parted bangs frowned after his twin teammates' rally went off court and moved to a girl they didn't recognize.

"She didn't seem bothered," A boy with dark skin said.

You turned to Kita with a frown.

"Shin, I don't think I can be your manager-"

"Sorry."

You were surprised when a guy who looked familiar slightly bowed to you. He had a blank look on his face.

"Don't practice so recklessly, Osamu. You almost hit her," Kita glared at him.

"Sorry, Kita-san," The boy got nervous and went back to the court with the others.

Oh, he was the one who asked food from me earlier at the rooftop. You blinked.

"Everyone, gather!" Kita called to all the members, fueling your anxiety.

You gulped and looked anywhere but them. Especially the girl from earlier that was glaring at you so hard that you can almost feel an uncomfortable spot behind your head.

"As you all know, Mizuse is resigning today as your manager. The decision has been made and is approved, albeit not mutually from both parties. But with respect to our policy, a decision that was made with the confirmation of the majority is to be followed," The coach said.

Kita turned to Dahlia who stood up with balled fists and a hard stare, especially towards the person who took food from you earlier.

"Thank you for your service. You're dismissed," He said as he gave her a small, emotionless smile.

Dahlia couldn't compose herself and lost grip of her emotions. She lunged at you with both hands but you caught them both in one hand.

You sweatdropped as she hopelessly flailed her whole body to escape your grip but she couldn't. You were not flinching. Her eyes carried extreme confusion, hate, anger, and rage. She felt a sense of inferiority when she realized she was shorter than you, with her being around 5'2" and you were around 5'5".

"Why the hell are you so strong...!" She gritted her teeth and tried to kick you but you let her go with a light wave. She fell down the floor with a thud. Your eyes widened.

"I'm sorry...," You nervously said, about to help her out but you stopped yourself. She scowled at you before standing up and running out of the gym enraged.

"This is awkward..," A guy that looked familiar from your class whispered as he sighed.

I did it again. You looked at your hand that was slightly trembling just a little below your skirt.

Kita stepped forward to cover you.

"With Mizuse permanently gone, the team's manager spot remains open. For the sake of our growing club, I came up with my own decision to seek someone and that decision is approved by the coaches. Not as replacement, but as a means of rejuvenating the crucial spot that essentially aids the club," Kita started.

He moved aside as you tried your best to look calm even though your eyes are still glued to the floor. You wanted to look anywhere else, just not in their way.

"This is my cousin. I have recommended Inarizaki to her and she moved in from Shibuya. I hope that you treat her well with respect," Kita said, even though it subtly came off as a stern warning.

You gulped and mustered your strength to look at them.

Curiosity. Interest. Doubt. Confusion. Shock.

Not a single hatred, anger, disgust, or fear present.

You felt your tension die down as you spoke, "My name is Sukii Notabe, I'm a second year assigned to class 1."

"Is she your classmate, Suna?" A blond guy asked the guy named Suna who was beside him wearing a bored look.

"Oh, yeah. No wonder she looked familiar. She's the new student I asked notes from earlier," Suna said. The blond guy hummed in interest and gave you a grin.

It wasn't totally genuine, yet it didn't carry any negativity either.

Your eyes transferred to the guy beside the blond, the one with the grey hair. Realization hits you — they are twins.

"Everyone, introduce yourselves to her," Kita commanded as he grabbed the clipboard from the coaches and handed them to you.

You took the clipboard from his hands and your eyes almost spun with all the details plastered on sheets of paper that is stacked thin upon each other.

"Take their attendance. I'll teach you what you'll be doing after," Your cousin told you as he went to the benches with the coaches to go over the official training that will commence after attendance.

The attendance took around 5-7 minutes. You were surprised that your mind kept up with all the names while simultaneously ticking the attendance after each name. Somehow, you managed to memorize their names after one roll call.

After that, you were about to head back to Kita but two guys walked over to you.

"You were the one that gave me those delicious kaarage and ohagi earlier during lunch, weren't you?"

"Miya... Osamu, right?" You nervously asked. You hoped you were right.

He nodded, "Yeah. Everyone calls me Osamu here, as to not confuse me and my brother."

You nodded back and blinked when he gave you a small smile. It was faint and hardly noticeable, but you caught a glimpse of it.

"The food you had was really delicious. Did you make them?" He asked, interested.

You were about to answer when his twin, Atsumu cut you off.

"Let me just say, if you're bound to have no difference than the other girl, I won't ever accept you."

You froze as you heard the word 'accept'. Your eyes went blank and your body felt colder.

"And by the way, can you quit talking about food in the middle of practice?" The blond turned to his twin.

He scoffed and walked away.

The reason why you were still holding yourself together is the fact that he said that with no sign of anger or irritation. You felt a sense of concern from him and you wondered why.

Osamu pursed his lips and looked at you again, "That's my brother 'Tsumu. He's a difficult person to be with so just pardon him this time. He's just being cautious because of what happened with Mizuse."

You sweatdropped. Anxiety was already gnawing your mind after he had said those words to you, what could possibly be worse than asking Osamu the reason why?

"May I ask.. why?" You mumbled. Kita explained it already if you remembered correctly. You just didn't want to assume that he was talking about Osamu.

He shifted, as if hesitating to explain.

"Oh, it's okay! If you didn't tell me..," You nervously said and gripped your clipboard tighter.

He nodded with small guilt in his eyes, "Thanks."

"Get back to training, you slacker!" Atsumu yelled and threw the ball at him. Osamu scowled when the ball hit his back and chased him around the court.

Twins are scary... You shivered as you made your way back to Kita.

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