"I am home!"
Home. Yuki still felt a bit strange at how easily that word rolled off his tongue. Just a month ago he tried so hard to reject the existence of this place, still thinking that everything that happened to him was a dream. However, it didn't take a long time for him to accept this place, especially after meeting its residents.
"Yuki-nii, you are finally back!"
"Aiko-obaasan has been waiting for you!"
"Yeah! Come on, dinner will be ready in ten minutes!"
The children who greeted him were Hiko and Hina, a pair of twins about ten years old who were also the victims of the disaster. Unlike him though, they were not that lucky. Hiko, the boy and the younger one of the twins had to lose both legs as the ruins of the building fell straight into his lower body part. As for Hina, she lost her right eye forever in that disaster, blinded by something that hit her face which was also the cause of scars stretched all over her place.
It still amazed Yuki how they both could stay cheerful even after losing so much like that.
"Well, Hina-chan, can you help me bring this bag to the dining room?" Yuki smiled. It was at that time the twins noticed two plastic bags full of things that their big brother figure brought.
"What is that?" Hina tried to peek inside the bag curiously, yet was prevented by Yuki quickly.
"Nope! We can see it together with the others in the dining room, okay?" He smiled playfully.
Hina pouted slightly, yet complied with his order. She took the two plastic bags from his hand and ran quickly to the dining room, leaving her twin alone with Yuki. Hiko had his face darkened a bit as he cursed his sister for forgetting about him.
"Don't worry, let me do this," Yuki chuckled, pushing Hiko's wheelchair.
The so-called dining room was just a medium-sized room, about 8 X 5 meters square with the addition of a long table and eleven old wooden chairs provided for everyone to be able to sit. For a dining room, that size was pretty big. But since it also became one with the kitchen and it had to be able to be filled by all the eleven children who lived under that roof, it became a bit crowded whenever dinner time arrived.
The moment Yuki and Hiko arrived, they were greeted by a small girl who jumped straight to Yuki's tight, squealing happily, "Yuki-nii! You are back!"
Yuki smiled softly, chuckling silently when he saw the little girl smiling brightly at him, her face was messy with rice still stuck in the corner of her mouth.
"Hello, Mai-chan." He greeted the girl. "Don't you want to watch what I bring back for you?"
The girl's eyes widened as if she just realized something before flying away from his grasp, peeking around curiously at the other children who were also doing the same, waiting impatiently for Yuki to open up the bag.
When they received a nod from Yuki, they didn't need to be told anymore as within a second, the plastic bag was on the floor already. Looking at the box wrapped with old paper, they tore it apart immediately, curiosity had been taking over by now. Yuki smiled when he saw the eight children had their eyes lightened up when they saw behind the wrapped paper, it was a huge plastic box with a cute Doraemon image on the front as the cover image while what was inside could also be seen from outside.
"It is crayons!" Hina squealed happily.
Indeed, it was a set of crayons with 32 colors that usually was used by kids who started to learn how to paint. Yuki remembered Hina begged to Aiko-obaasan several times last week that she wanted to learn how to draw. Since her sentiment was shared by all the children here, Yuki decided to buy it for them the moment he got the money in his pocket.
"Thank you, Yuki-nii!"
Yuki laughed cheerfully when he was surrounded by all the children there, everyone tried to have a piece of him.
"Isn't it the set from that expensive merch?" Aiko's voice suddenly attracted their full attention, she seemed worried. "From where did you get the money to buy this?"
Yuki smiled, knowing why the matron was full of concern. This orphanage was pretty new, founded only a month ago by Aiko to accommodate orphan children who had to flee from their hometown after the disaster. Since it took a long time to deal with the paperwork, the orphanage had been surviving only from the society's donation, hadn't been deemed eligible to receive the government fund until now.
For them, every yen mattered, so spending so much money just for a set of crayons seemed to be a bit too much.
"Don't worry, Aiko-obaasan. I didn't get the money illegally." Yuki reassured the woman. "It is like this…."
-A little flashback-
"Son, are you sure you have never received proper training in the past?" Akira Shinji, the coach of the volleyball team in his school asked, his eyes full of disbelief.
It was after Yuki finished the challenge when he was called by the teacher, being interrogated in front of all the players. Everyone stared at him in awe as if he was the next Michael Jordan of basketball graced from heaven.
Well, their reaction was understandable. This cycle challenge was a method of training formed by their head coach to ensure their basic was above the standard. For any rookies to subpar players, they would already have a hard time dealing with the first two, and the most they could go was at the third challenge. However, not only did Yuki destroy the first four challenges, but he also obliterated the last one, sending the head coach a wet dream for the prospect of the team.
Honestly, no one expected him to be successful in that challenge. It was designed to find a player who could specialize in blocking, something the school seemed lacking by their reaction. At first, Yuki had to face a hitter one-on-one, blocking a simple spike without any deception. After he managed to do that, the number of attackers increased to three people and he had to judge where the ball would go and who would be the one who attacked him. Finally, the same challenge as before, but the number of players was increased to five, making it a full-team offense against him.
It was a crazy challenge that was almost impossible to deal with, yet Yuki was able to read the play well and blocked all three attempts successfully, making him the only one who was able to finish the cycle.
That was probably why the head coach couldn't believe he was a rookie in this game.
"Yeah, I am sure I have never received any practice yet in the past." Yuki nodded at the question. "Well, except if you counted the PE class when they thought the basics of it, I guess."
"Kuso!" Akira cursed loudly. As a head coach with years of experience, this was the first time he heard something outrageous like that. "And you have never joined any team before? Was your middle school stupid?!"
Yuki's face hardened as he replied, "Well, I studied in a small school in Fukushima and it had no sports club before, so I would appreciate it if you don't badmouth my alma mater like that."
If he didn't explain his condition first, everyone would be surprised by his cold tone when talking to a teacher or the threat implied behind his words. However, when his hometown was mentioned, silence dropped around them, everyone was shocked and some looked at him with pity.
Riku who didn't know anything about it grew impatient and asked, "Why are you all suddenly so silent like that? Is there anything wrong with what he said?"
"Shut up and be more sensitive, Riku!" Akira glared, his expression turned solemn. "Fukushima was probably the prefecture that suffered the most in the chain of disaster a month ago. At least more than 1000 people are declared to be dead with more than 200 people are still missing, their couldn't be found until now."
'Including my parents.' Yuki added in his mind, his thought was dark.
What the coach didn't say was the aftermath only Fukushima had to suffer. As one of the few prefectures with a nuclear reactor, the moment Fukushima suffered from the disaster, it was crucial to check whether there was an anomaly or not in it. And true to what most people feared, there was some problem there as almost all of the power plant's backup energy sources were damaged due to the disaster. Because of that, almost all of the people there had to flee from their hometowns while the other places started to do their reconstruction.
Even though Riku seemed to be new in this country, he still read the news and knew about the disaster a month ago. He stared at Yuki with pity, didn't know what to say.
"Where do you live now?" Akira asked softly, his tone changed a lot.
"The Hope Orphanage," Yuki said casually. Yet once again, it made everyone cringed as they realized that he lost his parents in that disaster.
Meanwhile, Akira furrowed his brows tightly, unfamiliar with the place. "I have never heard of an orphanage called that before, so if you don't mind, can you tell me where is that?"
"Just fifteen minutes walking to the south, it was pretty close to the port. The orphanage itself is new, created to help orphans like us who don't know where to go, so you shouldn't know about it."
Akira nodded, accepting the explanation.
"Anyway, can I get the prize now?" Yuki asked impatiently. "It is late already and I want to go back as soon as possible."
"Oh, sure!" One of the players suddenly pulled 10 pieces of 1000-yen money from his wallet. Even though no one predicted someone would win, they still prepared the money in case something like this happened. "Thank you for participating!"
"Thanks." Yuki bowed, full of gratitude. "Can I go home now?"
"Yeah."
"Then, bye!"
All of the members of the volleyball team sighed as they stared at Yuki until the boy disappeared from their sight. That was when one of them suddenly cursed, attracting the other's attention.
"Shit! We forget to ask his name and from which class he is! And more importantly, we forget to invite him to the club!"
That was the time they all realized the fatal mistake they had just made.
"DAMN!"
-End of the flashback-
"Wow…" Aiko had her mouth gaped wide in disbelief. "So, you completed the challenge the volleyball team held and did it successfully, a challenge which no one was able to do that if I am not wrong, and the prize is 10000-yen?"
It wasn't just her who was shocked, but almost all the kids who listened to his story. Mai who sat on his lap just nodded her head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world while saying, "Yuki-nii is the best."
"Yup! I am the best!" Yuki smiled smugly, tickling the girl playfully.
"Ow, stop it, Yuki-nii!"
"Is it okay, though?" Aiko asked again, still worried. "10000-yen is a lot of money for a high school student, right? Which club in their right mind to offer that amount as a prize for challenge?"
Yuki shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know, but I won it fair and square, so it should be okay."
"Don't worry, Obaasan. If Yuki-nii said it is okay, it should be okay." Hina said innocently. "Hey, don't grab the red one! That's mine!"
"What do you mean it is yours?! Yuki-nii said this is for us to use it together!"
"But it was me who asked for the crayons!"
Yuki chuckled before separating the children from their arguments. "Okay, Kids. The crayons are for us to use together, don't fight over it. Hina, we can share it with the others. Miyu, if Hina still used the crayons, wait patiently or ask politely if you could borrow them or not. No snatching from each other, okay?"
The two girls who were about to fight over one crayon looked at each other grudgingly before they said, "Gomen, Yuki-nii."
"Don't worry about it." He smiled, patting their heads fondly. "Oh, by the way, Aiko-san, here is the rest of the money. I only use 1200 yen for the crayons." He pulled out a stack of money from his pocket.
The matron widened her eyes in shock before she shook her head immediately. "This is the money you got from your effort. Just use it wisely, okay?"
Hearing that refusal, Yuki furrowed his brows. "Well, this is me spending it wisely. With this money, we can at least eat something decent for the rest of the week and you can also buy something that you need for this orphanage."
Aiko wanted to refuse again, yet she was wilted under the puppy-dog eyes she received from all the kids. After battling against her dilemma, the matron of the orphanage finally sighed, smiling helplessly. "Well, I will accept it this time. But there will be no next time, okay? You will save the money you get by yourself. No need to worry about this orphanage, I am not that helpless outside."
Yuki grinned a little as he nodded. "Sure!"
----------------------------------------------------
It was the next day and Yuki came pretty early. To his surprise, he found out one familiar blonde boy was sitting already in the back row as if he was an anime protagonist, trying to look cool while all the girls in the classroom squealed like fangirls. He blinked a few times, trying to check whether he entered the right room or not.
'It is 1-B, I am not wrong.'
He stared at the blonde boy for a moment until the latter finally noticed his presence. They had eye contact for a second before finally, the blonde boy reacted.
"You are here?! Wait, does that mean we are going to be a classmate?!"
Yuki facepalmed, groaned inwardly. "Man, this will be a long year.." He sighed.
They are in the same class?!
"His name is Riku Agostini. Due to the paperwork problem, he couldn't join us yesterday, but he will be your friend for the next three years, so I hope you guys can get along with each other, okay?"
"Yes, Sensei!"
That was the short introduction for the blonde boy Handa-sensei gave to the class. And as expected, it didn't take too long before his popularity soared among his peers. Girls were already talking and whispering and glancing at him while the boys looked at him with hostility as if he just stole their limelight.
Yuki himself ignored the commotion, didn't even glance at the blonde boy. While he might have seen the boy in the volleyball club, they didn't know each other that well. Hell, they had never exchanged even a single word before this morning, and it was just a short greeting with the blonde boy who was too shocked knowing they would be in the same classroom.
However, Yuki didn't want to be involved with Riku for too much. As a foreigner, the blonde boy was destined to be popular, and even if Yuki couldn't see the future, he knew that popularity would attract trouble. He had been in that position when he was in middle school, and Yuki didn't want to repeat that one more time.
Unfortunately, what Yuki didn't know was that his fate was already bound to Riku the moment they met in the volleyball club yesterday, and they were bound to have a crazy journey for the next three years.
-0-
Riku yawned, his eyes kept moving from the clock to the teacher who explained something about mathematics. Looking at the point of the clock were still in between one and two, he sighed, slumped in his chair. There was still about one and a half hours before the day was over, and he already felt tired.
This was his first day studying in Japan, and Riku was shocked to see how different it was compared to Italy where he lived before.
Here, almost everything was mainly centered on teachers, emphasizing the leadership of educators and paying attention to the basic knowledge with strict rules. Not saying that in Italy the rule was not strict, but at least it focused on students' practice based on their own exploration with interest, and the teachers were also willing to include the students to learn together. At least, with that method, he wouldn't have to listen to boring lessons all day.
Unfortunately, he could only complain to himself inwardly as it was the system that had been running here for a long time already. There was no way the school would change its method just to comply with his protest.
His eyes then started scanning the room for anything, anything at all, to shake off the monotony. But all he saw were his classmates scribbling notes, their pencils scratching out a rhythmic beat that only seemed to lull him further into a state of boredom. As his gaze drifted back to the present, it landed on one person that intrigued him the most since yesterday.
'So, his name is Kobayashi Yuki, huh?'
His mind flashed back to yesterday's challenge when Yuki obliterated all five challenges that easily. Honestly, if he was given the same chance, Riku was sure he would be able to do the same that easily. And yes, it was jealousy that took over his body. He loved to show off and to be in the spotlight, so when it was snatched from him, it hurt.
However, no matter how he felt right now, Riku had to admit - even reluctantly - that what Yuki did was incredible.
That cycle challenge was something that came from his uncle's brain when he first wanted to learn volleyball, even stating boldly he wanted to do it professionally. That was a few years ago when Italy was able to get second place in the Volleyball World Cup and the sport spread all over the country. At that time, his uncle promised that if Riku could persist in this training until he was able to complete all five challenges, his uncle would support his decision to be a professional.
And yeah, if you were wondering, his uncle was Akira Shinji, the head coach of Tsunemori High's volleyball club.
What hurt Riku's ego the most was the fact that he knew Yuki had never received any training, yet could complete all the challenges the first time he did that. It showed how much talent Yuki had for volleyball. Compared to him who needed more than a month to get it done, Riku knew he was far behind compared to Yuki just in terms of talent.
While it hurt, this also made Riku's competitive spirit pump up more, though.
'Uncle should hold a sparring to assess the freshman today, right? I should bring him to the club too.'
-0-
"What?! You don't want to join the volleyball club?!" Riku's shriek attracts people's attention.
Yuki groaned, wanting to run away from this troublesome blonde boy, especially after seeing he was surrounded by so many people. "Yes, Agostini-san. I don't want to join." Yuki wanted to give himself a pat on the back for still managing to be polite in front of them all.
The school was finally over, and as expected, almost all the students there flocked into Riku, wanting to invite him to join a club or have some fun together. This was just the nature of a high school student, always felt the need to get closer to the most popular boy in the class. And since Riku was a half-Italian with rare blonde hair, it spelled the word 'Idol' all over his face.
To their surprise though, not only Riku refused their offer, he went straight to Yuki's seat in the front row and invited him to go together to the volleyball club.
For those who didn't go for the volleyball club's challenge yesterday or didn't see it until everything was over, they didn't have any idea why Riku was attracted to Yuki. In their impression, while Yuki was a handsome boy and always greeted them politely, there was this air radiated from him that gave them an unapproachable feeling. With Riku asking Yuki to go together, this was like the plot from a teen novel where the popular guy was hanging out together with the loner of the class.
And when they thought the surprise was over, they were shocked by the second wave that came from Yuki's rejection.
"Why?!"
Yuki sighed tiredly, didn't want to explain at all. "Well, you know my condition, right? I need to start to make some money since I am 15 already." Out of politeness, Yuki still gave the blonde boy a short answer.
Riku winced, knowing what Yuki was talking about. While he wasn't an orphan, he knew it was basically a universal rule in every orphanage that all the kids over 14 or 15 would have to start making money by themselves. However, Riku still insisted on inviting him, his competitive spirit was hungry after seeing Yuki's performance yesterday.
"I know, but please! Come with us!" He pleaded a little. "Just this time! We will have a sparring game, and after I play against you, I will not bother you anymore!"
Honestly, the sight of him begging Yuki to come surprised the other students. They didn't know Yuki's background story, so the only thing inside their mind right now was Yuki trying to play hard to get, something which made their impression toward the glasses boy worsened by miles.
"Agostini-san, why do you really want him to go with you? I can do it too!"
"Yeah! It is just a volleyball game, right? Let me be your teammate!"
There were several of them who offered to replace Yuki's spot. However, Riku didn't bulge, still staring at Yuki with his bright, brown eyes. Facing such a request, Yuki finally wilted, complying with the request. "Just this one time, right?" He asked for a confirmation.
Riku's face lightened up as he smiled brightly. "Yes! Just this one time! Then, I will not bother you again!"
Yuki sighed, weighing his options one last time for a second. While he could refuse the invitation, he didn't want to do it, considering Riku did that under more than ten pairs of eyes. Riku was bound to be a popular guy, so refusing it would make a lot of enemies for him, something that Yuki didn't want to deal with. In his mind, it was okay to be a loner, but being a public enemy on the second day of his school life would be bad.
"Just this time, right?" Yuki sighed one more time. "Don't forget your words after this is over."
"Sure!"
-0-
Yuki's eyes blinked a few times behind his glasses, his mind was wandering far when he entered the gymnasium building once again. This was his second visit in two days, some sort of record considering he had never visited a school gymnasium other than for the PE class when he was in middle school.
Unlike yesterday though, this time, no crowds were queueing for a challenge, making it easier for him to process everything that happened inside the gym.
It was a massive building with two courts inside it, separated by a thin line straight in the middle. The high ceiling and gleaming wooden floor seemed to reverberate with the sound of laughter and shouts, as a group of students were busy warming up for a game on one of the two courts. To his left, a row of tall goals stood like sentinels, guarding the volleyball court, where a few players were already starting to toss the ball and spike it back and forth. Meanwhile, on the other court, a group of basketball enthusiasts were lacing up their sneakers and preparing for a pick-up game.
"Oi, everyone! Look at who I bring here!" Riku's voice suddenly snapped Yuki from his thoughts. The blonde boy was waving his hand excitedly, attracting the attention of all the people on the volleyball court. It didn't take too long before all the eyes turned to them, and everyone was excited immediately the moment they saw Yuki's presence.
"Oh! You bring him here! Good job, Riku!"
"Is he in your class?"
"Man, with him here, today would be interesting!"
"What is your name, by the way?"
"Hey, move! You overwhelm him!"
In a second, Yuki was surrounded immediately by the overly excited players from the volleyball club. He sighed, had already expected something like this to happen. He regretted a little inwardly, questioning his decision yesterday to show off a bit. What surprised him more though, was the fact that all the players here somehow were familiar enough with Riku, to the point of calling each other with the first name basis. No matter how extrovert the blonde boy was, it was impossible to be this close to about ten or eleven people just in one day.
'Well, that would be a question for another time.' Yuki took a note inwardly.
"Are you here to join us?" When the crowds finally dispersed, one of the players suddenly approached him, offering a handshake while smiling politely at Yuki. "My name is Noriyuki Hanji, by the way, the captain of this team. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Noriyuki-senpai." Yuki accepted the handshake politely, trying to ignore the noisy whisper from the other players in the background. "I am Kobayashi Yuki, a freshman. I was dragged here by Agostini-san to join the activity."
The blonde boy gulped nervously when his name was mentioned, especially when all the eyes suddenly turned to him.
"Oh, interesting." Noriyuki sent a sweet smile at Riku, a smile that promised pain. "Let's talk about it later with Akira-sensei after everything is over, okay, Riku-san?"
"H-Hai!"
Noriyuki sighed before saying, "Well, I apologize for any disturbance he caused for you. But since you are here, do you want to join our sparring game?"
That was a genuine invitation. Yuki knew just by one look at his eyes that once he refused the offer, the captain would let him go immediately without holding him back. This was his chance to get away from this situation. However, Yuki was a man of principle, and he had never been the one who walked away after promising something to the others. He knew this principle would bite him in the ass later, but for now, not even a second the idea of crossing his principle flashed inside his mind.
"Well, I have already said yes to Agostini-san, so why not?"
Hearing his response, the hopeful eyes on Riku's face suddenly exploded, turning into an ecstatic one. The blonde boy jumped immediately, blood seemed to rush into his head as his face was red, full of excitement.
"Yosh!" Riku clenched his fists. "Now that we are here, let's start the sparring immediately! Come on, Captain!"
Yuki and Noriyuki looked at each other for a second before sighing helplessly, knowing this would be a long day for both of them.
"Well, Kobayashi-kun, do you bring a casual shirt to wear for training?" The captain asked.
Yuki shook his head, then rolled up his uniform's sleeves, saying, "It is alright. This would be fine. "
"Are you sure?"
"Yup."
After staring at Yuki for a moment, Noriyuki nodded a little before saying, "Well, since you just arrived with Riku-kun, how about you do some warming up with him?"
At first, Yuki wanted to refuse, the idea of spending so much time with Riku who was still bubbling with enthusiasm sent a shiver through his spine. However, the blonde boy overheard the conversation and his eyes shone brightly, dragging Yuki immediately.
"Come on, Kobayashi! Stand on the other side! Let's see if you can receive my serve!"
Yuki's face palmed, knowing this was definitely not the warming-up he had imagined anymore. The other players just chuckled out loud, especially seeing how helpless he was facing a bundle of joy like Riku. However, it seemed no one wanted to help him here.
The moment Riku took a ball from the floor, all the eyes suddenly turned to him, observing every little movement he made before facing the serve. Yuki narrowed his eyes slightly in suspicion. If the reaction wasn't this intense, he would think this arrangement was a coincidence. However, now, he suspected that the captain deliberately planned this to test his ability.
It seemed they wanted to see more carefully his capability after the display of skill yesterday.
'This is what I got for showing off, right?' Yuki groaned inwardly.
"Oi, Kobayashi! Are you ready?!" Riku waved his hand excitedly at him. Yuki sighed, knowing he couldn't get away from it.
'Well, let's end it as soon as possible.'
After bracing himself, Yuki gave a thumb up to Riku, signaling that he was ready. He blinked a few times, shocked at the sudden change of expression in the blonde's eyes. Gone was that childish excitement a few seconds ago, now he was completely locked into the game.
'I need to be careful.' His consciousness told Yuki to do that.
He kept observing Riku on the opposite side as the ball was thrown high in the air before the blonde boy jumped. With a swift motion, Riku brought his arm back, coiling his body like a spring about to release. Then, in a flash of speed and power, he snapped forward, unleashing a blistering ace serve that whizzed straight to the other side.
Yuki could hear dramatic gasps from the sideline. However, he had no time to think about that. All he had in mind right now was the ball that seemed to zoom into his face with light speed. He swore that the ball crossed the net just a second after Riku hit it.
He didn't panic though. Since his eyes could track the ball's movement perfectly, Yuki just took a step back, timing when the ball would come in his direction, bending his knees a little before stretching his arms, letting the ball come to it perfectly.
There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to process what happened. Everything happened too fast, not all the eyes could follow it. What all of them knew was the fact Yuki killed the ball's speed perfectly, as the ball bounced from his hand toward the spot where in a normal game the team's setter would be there.
The silence was finally broken when Akira Shinji, the head coach of the team suddenly appeared, applauding Yuki's perfect play with his eyes shining brightly at the glasses boy.
"Nice receive, Son! Are you sure you have never received any formal training before?"
Yuki comes to the volleyball club once again! Will he finally join the team?
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