第2章

"OHHHH!" I squealed.

"OHHHH!!" I squealed again.

"OHHHHH!!!!!!!!" at this point, I went to every corner and room to squeal in excitement.

The landlord, Mr. Yamada, was showing me my new house, and right now, I was pretty sure he was judging me while silently standing at the entrance of the house. Though his face was masked by a humble smile, accentuating the wrinkles of his face. He was a small and kind old man, he even wanted me to call him grandpa because apparently I reminded him of his six year old grand daughter....I did not know whether to be content or offended, I do admit...I was quite short for my age.

After a small moment of me acting like a toddler going to a carnival for the first time, I sheepishly went towards him and bowed apologetically, scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment. He responded with a hearty snicker as his eyes disappeared into small crescents. The only hair evident on his face were his thick white eyebrows and a small beard on his chin. He kind of reminded me of the water spirit from Spirited Away. It was wholesome. I imagined him playing games with his grand kids and go on walks with them with that smile on his face, internally cooing at the thought.

"Thank you so much Mr. Yamada! I will make sure to take good care of the house!" I beamed as I stood stiff to show my assertiveness, I was pretty sure my eyes were sparkling with determination.

He smiled as his hand went for his back pocket to take out the house keys, "You're such a responsible little kid, I'm pretty sure your parents are so proud of you! You study in middle school right?"

Those words went through me like an arrow, sharp and long. I tried my best to hide it but I am pretty sure it was evident on my face, "I....Mr. Yamada.....I am a high school student....I am here to study in Karasuno....I wrote this in the contract..." I said with puffed up cheeks, slightly pouting. Though I was pretty used to these assumptions.

"Ah! Sorry, my bad! Well, hope you have a nice time in Karasuno! My grandson studies there as well! I'll get going now, I have a few errands to do, take care Roy-chan!" he chimed as he walked out the door, to which I waved back and wished him a good day.

I was left alone in the house now. It was the smallest one in the area, with two bedrooms, a kitchen connected to the living room, a bathroom and a balcony. It was a sweet house. My own house! I was more than excited to live in it! I could make food for myself in the kitchen, fill the refrigerator with loads of items! There was already a mattress and a study table in both the bedrooms, so I could sleep and study in one of them and probably use the other one for practicing my music instrument, since it was situated deeper in the house, thus more sound-proof. The view from the balcony was amazing! The greenery with side road prolonging through the hill looked like a stroke of grey paint on a green canvas. Although it looked out-of-place, it did fit with the view pretty well.

But there was no time to relax yet! I had to go to the school to sign all the documents for my admission. So, I took the bike that Mr. Yamada so kindly also let me use and rode my way to the school. It was nice how I could see the school from up the hill, from the entrance of the house.

The journey took around 40 minutes when I reached. But my god I would be lying if I said the ride terrified me a little, especially the speed at which I was going downhill. I walked towards the front office to sign and fill all the applications. I got to know the basic things I needed to get me going for the first day. I was allotted to Class 5, my teacher was Takeda sensei and he taught math. But it was hard to remember the rest of the teacher's names because I am terrible at remembering names, plus, my school starts from tomorrow, which is great!

Since I had some time to myself, I walked around the campus to familiarize myself with the environment. The school was mostly empty, except for the staff and the teachers. It was the weekend after all. The classes and the hallways looked pretty neat, a typical architecture style you could imagine for a high school, white walls, wooden chairs and tables, some decorations and announcements on the bulletin boards, etc. I was walking past an exit way when I heard some sounds coming from the gymnasium at the other side of the exit. The door and the gymnasium was connected by a shed pathway with a waist high barrier and designed railings on both the sides for support.

When I watched more closely, I saw a ball fly across the entrance of the gym, followed my sounds of 'pongs' and the squeaks of shoes. Curious, I went to check it out. The closer I got to the gym, the louder the sounds got, with some heavy sighs and occasional grunts lightly audible. I peeped in to see two men, each on one side of the court. They were running around the court to receive the ball thrown by one another. Their reflexes were really amazing, plus they looked like actual volleyball players, with their form and physique. I was subconsciously ogling at them...they were handsome.

Damn it Urvi, snap out of it! You're being creepy!

I was snapped back from my gutter-dunked brain when I heard a loud 'Look out!' as I saw the green and red colored ball gyrating right at me in full speed. I yelped and ducked down, my hands supporting my weight on the steps as I squatted and squeezed my eyes shut, missing the ball by a hair's breadth. The ball landed with a soft thump after a second or so, almost too soft, followed by silence which was...odd. The speed of it was enough to atleast slowly fade out from multiple loud thumps on the floor.

But then, I broke out in a cold sweat as I heard a short and soft groan from behind me. Possibly from pain. Shit, who told you it was a good idea to duck? I shakily turned and looked up from my position to a boy in a full black outfit, bag slung around his shoulders and his hands tucked in his pants....weird flex but okay. Surprisingly the ball was still intact on his face, stuck like a glue so I was unable to see it. At any other situation, I would have rolled on the floor and laughed my ass off but right now, his presence was intimidating and he was taller than me when I stood up, adding pressure to the tense atmosphere.

The ball then fell from his face and rolled away. Fortunate little thing as I would have guessed it got intimidated as well, running away from the boy it angered. It was like a curtain being drawn open to a scene of a play. But it in this case, the ball fell to reveal a really scary looking expression. The boy's head was tilted up but he glared at me with what would look like mock anger but it was quite terrifying, especially when he looked like a thug with that face and shaved head. I started whimpering as he let out small heaving breaths of anger. I could practically feel the steam coming from his head, as I was pretty sure I would be dead and buried in a ditch. I did NOT think through this situation when I planned it out with my mom.

I heard a couple of voices approach from behind me, shouting some quick 'sorry's and some random screaming. But my mind was swirling around the thoughts of how I did not want to die without even attending the school,. It swirled so much that I ceased to notice the sudden change in the guy's expression and the voices behind me getting more clearer until they were right behind me.

"Kid, you alright?" I heard a soft voice say and felt a hand on my shoulder. I broke, yelping. I jumped a few metres away from them with as much force as I could, breaking free from their touch.

"I AM SORRY PLEASE DON'T KILL ME AND THROW ME IN A DITCH I WANT TO LIVE! I SWEAR I WILL DO GOOD FOR THIS COUNTRY!" I screamed as I ran as fast as I can away from them, running like my life depended on it, daring to look back if they were following me.

I felt relived as I sighted by lonely bike and went to it, standing there for a few minutes to catch my breath, ignoring the pain of my lungs as I heaved for air. I was a little relieved that they were not following me. I wonder who they are....seniors? Delinquents? Drug dealers?? Extortioners!??! Whoever they were, it was better to ignore them as much as possible.

Roman Holiday - Nicki Minaj