Smells Like School Spirit

chapter one.

☆★☆★☆★

"Excuse me, Ichijou-san."

Ichijou Mai turned her head at the mention of her name, causing Ojiro Aran to gulp a little bit. He was not the nervous sort, but there was something about the dark-haired girl that caused him to catch himself a little bit.

Not gonna lie, approaching one of the prettiest girls in the middle of the school's hallway like this reminded Aran of a scene in a shojo manga. Not that he got the time to read them.

Ever since the third year of his high school years began, Aran started to worry about the fate of the volleyball club once he graduated. Leaving the club in the hands of the Miya twins, especially Atsumu, without a capable manager who could call on his bullshit...Inarizaki Volleyball Club would turn into a full-fledged circus.

Hence, when he found out that Miya Osamu was getting a little close to one of his female classmates who was decidedly not one of the lovesick fangirls, Aran decided to give this a try. It was only yesterday Mai visited the gym during volleyball practice because she wanted to get the vibe of sports as it was related to her photoshoot with a volleyball magazine. And unknowingly revealing to the whole club that she and Osamu were at least acquaintances.

Aran could not help but see just how beautiful Ichijou was. With her piercing jet black eyes and long hair as dark as the midnight skies, no one could deny that she was one of the prettiest girls in school and yet also the most elusive. She was wearing a maroon-colored hair band that certainly gave the impression that she was maintaining her looks.

Even by keeping much to herself and seemingly focused on her job as a teen model only fueled the number of boys joining her fan club. Although as much as it caused Aran to raise his eyebrows, the Miya Twins got even more fans than she had.

Sometimes he wondered if that was the reason why Mai chose Inarizaki among all other schools. She was not even an athlete or interested in any form of athletics. It was clear that she was hiding behind the twins' and sports clubs' fame to shield herself.

"Yes?"

Her voice was not soft and demure like he expected a girl who looked so fragile and breakable. It was throaty and a little bit raspy, like a smoker's voice. He had heard her talked, but listening to her voice up close only emphasized just how Mai defied his expectations of her.

"Uh..." Aran scratched the back of his head, suddenly at loss for words. Yeah, he was the ace for their school's volleyball club and Ichijou-san was a whole year younger than him. If he was being honest, years of being way too invested in volleyball certainly did not give him the finesse to talk to girls, let alone the pretty ones. "I...you know Miya Osamu well, I take? I want to approach you with this proposition."

She stayed quiet, waiting for him to finish. Aran was not used to being given the time to talk and let him finish his thoughts and being in the same team with the twins did not help. He had to fight for every chance he got to say his piece of mind and somehow he was given the time to fill in the silence. It felt weird and yet also pleasant.

"Do you want to be the manager for the volleyball club?" Aran finally got the damn words out and he sighed in relief. He was not even spiking a ball into the other side of the court and yet Ichijou made him nervous in ways he could not describe.

Mai had this unsettling gaze on her eyes like she was only existing and not truly living. The only other unsettling person Aran knew was Kita, who could practically dismantle anyone with one gaze and several words, but he never did it out of malice.

Something about Ichijou screamed emptiness as if she was wearing layers and layers of superficiality and nonchalance. For what reason, Aran could not tell. He was not like Kita-san who could dissect someone with one look.

Cocking her head sideways, Mai looked into Aran's eyes before throwing her head back and let out a laugh. It was not a pleasant laugh, Aran noted to himself, but a rather bitter and full of irony. "Of all the fangirls who are most definitely waiting in the long line to be the manager, why me? At least please do answer that."

Aran was honestly startled, but honestly being around the Miya twins, he should have expected that the prettiest people who could spew the most bitter words. Mai did not say anything rude, but her tone implied a deep sense of self-deprecation that Aran could not understand.

"You're the only female I know by association and do not harbor any kind of worship towards any of the school clubs, or even care about the school spirit," he decided to answer honestly. "I'm sure you know how Inarizaki is with our school spirit and how deep it is connected to the school's sports clubs."

"You're right about several things though," Mai answered as she raised her hand. "I don't care about school spirit and you know me only by association. As much as I wanted to help you, I can't because my schedule outside school hours makes it impossible to commit to becoming a manager."

Ah, of course, Mai was also committed to her job as a part-time model. It was thoughtless of him not to think about her activities beyond school hours as well. "Ah, forgive me, Ichijou-san, I honestly think that there is a possibility you can squeeze in manager duties into your schedule. That was thoughtless of me and I'm sorry."

Aran bowed at her, showing that he truly meant the apology. As he straightened his back, he saw Mai's eyes widened, as if she could not wrap her head around what just occurred right before her eyes.

"You...Geez, you don't have to say sorry for something so trivial," Mai exclaimed and it was the only time he saw her emoting something rather than...deliberate nonchalance. "I...argh, Ojiro-san, if you really want to get a manager for your precious volleyball club, I do know someone who would probably fit for the job if you're looking for someone who doesn't care much about athlete worship or school spirit. But don't tell her that I'm the one who is putting her up for this job."

Aran was ready to turn his back and walk away, retreating to think of another way to the solution. Hearing Ichijou's words caused his ears to perk as he turned his back again to face Ichijou, who now wore a look of mild amusement.

"Wait, you're serious, Ichijou-san?"

"As serious as I could ever be, but whether or not you manage to scout her as a manager, that is entirely up to you." Mai flipped her fair as she started to walk away. "The name is Shibazeki Reina, by the way, a second-year student in class 2-7."

With that, she retreated into her class leaving Aran in the second year students' hallway all alone. Okay, now the only thing he had to do was find this Shibazeki Reina. Class 2-7, she must've got a whole lot of brain cells, which was honestly necessary to deal with Aran's juniors, who were hooligans. If one wanted to deal with his juniors, they needed a whole lot of brain cells to sacrifice and still got enough left to maintain their sanity.

Ah, there was still hope, after all, to make sure that when he graduated by the end of the year, the volleyball club would not turn into a full-fledged circus. 

☆★☆★☆★