Chapter 1
“Daichi!” she whined dramatically into the phone, “I’m dying, I’m seriously dying. I might be dead!”
“Oh my god, you’re not dead!”
“How do you know, huh? Are you here??? Can you see me?! I DIDN’T THINK SO!”
“Micchan, please! Tell me you realize that you couldn’t be talking to me if you were dead.”
“I could totally—“
“Nope!”
“No but—“
“Oh my GOD Micchan, no! Dead people don’t talk!”
“WELL CLEARLY THEY DO!”
There was a pause, and then Daichi was laughing at her, which was expected, but still kind of annoying.
“So are you going to tell me what’s figuratively killed you, Micchan?”
“Oh my god, OH MY GOD, DAICHI, SHE’S BEAUTIFUL!!”
He laughed again, although at least this time he pretended he wasn’t. “I see, it’s a girl—“
“NOT JUST A GIRL, DAICHI!!! SHE’S A GODDESS!!”
“Is there a reason you thought to call me about this? I mean, I’m not sure I’m the most qualified—“
“Oh, okay, fine, sure! Pass the phone to your nice boyfriend, Daichi, and he and I can talk about girls!”
“Oh my god—“
“He’d actually be way more help in this situation, I won’t lie. I mean, I called you because, like, you’re my best friend and stuff, but yeah, it’d totally be better to talk to someone who can appreciate my situation, so—“
“Micchan! God, fine, I’ll listen to you rant about a pretty girl, oh my god!”
She hesitated, finger on her chin. “No, that wasn’t sarcasm. I mean it was meant to be, but it’s actually true, Suga’s input would be good—“
“I’ll listen to you rant about a pretty girl, I will most certainly not listen to Suga do so!”
“Ugh, fine, I’ll text him later.”
He sighed. “Okay, okay. So, what, are you gonna talk or what?”
“Daichi! She’s way too pretty to EVEN EXIST IN NATURE!”
“Wow, that’s---that’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Her stupid sparkly eyes, and her stupid flowy hair—“
“You think it’s stupid?!”
“She’s all graceful and put-together and shit!! And her glasses should totally be dorky but somehow they make it worse??!?! She’s like some kind of innocent, perfect human with like, the most sincere attitude all the time!?! SHE’S PERFECT AND AMAZING AND WAY OUT OF MY LEAGUE!”
“Uh huh”
“I mean, it’s not like I didn’t think so in high school too, it’s just worse somehow, now—“
“Wait, back up--high school? You knew this girl then too?”
“Um, yeah?”
“Micchan, we went to the same school. I don’t remember there being any goddesses at Karasuno.”
“Daichi, you are the gayest man alive, of course you didn’t notice.”
“Excuse me?? I am not the gayest, I’m just a regular gay. And you realize that just because I am attracted to guys doesn’t mean I can’t tell if a girl is pretty—“
“Dude, you not realizing there was a goddess in our midst is a pretty good indicator that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What? I know what pretty girls look like, Micchan, you’re a pretty girl!”
“I’m talking about Shimizu, idiot! She’s probably the prettiest girl in the universe! Wait, did you just call me pretty?”
“Kiyoko?! Oh, yeah, okay. I get that, I know a lot of guys who were into her. And I mean, yeah, objectively she’s pretty. Although I guess I always thought there was something about her ignoring them that they liked, or something, like it was more fun to pursue a girl who made them work for it? I didn’t really understand, but that seemed like what was happening, at least with Tanaka. I didn’t think you’d be the kind of person to like that sort of thing, though?”
“First of all, no, that’s not it AT ALL, she’s literally MADE OF STARDUST OR SOMETHING, and second of all, um?? Can we get back to you calling me pretty?? Because I’m pretty sure that just happened right now.”
“She’s very much not literally made of stardust, oh my god. She’s a nice girl, though, and really funny once you get past her defenses.”
“Daichi you called me pretty!”
“Well, yeah. I mean you are pretty. Not prettier than Suga, but you’re on the scale, anyhow.”
“There are not many people prettier than Suga, so I can accept that.”
“Well, good.”
“I mean, Shimizu Kiyoko is TOTALLY prettier than Suga, but—“
“FIGHT ME, MICCHAN!”
Michimiya Yui, college volleyball player, was having a satisfyingly ordinary first year. She’d moved into the athletic dorms a few weeks early for new student orientation and immediately made friends (her new roommate was an intimidateinly impressive tennis player, and the girls across the hall all played baseball). The dinning hall provided acceptable-to-good food, depending on the day and time, her room was vaguely comfortable, and all her classes so far weren’t horribly boring. She hadn’t declared a major (wanting to play volleyball again/more/AT ALL was her only motivation for higher education, if she was honest with herself), which had concerned her mother but pleased her father (“It’s good to see you thinking carefully about your future, dear.”).
So far, so good.
She was sitting in the back of a required biology class, lecture hall full of students, when things changed. The boys in front of her (and therefore a bit below—the hall was set up auditorium-style) giggled amongst themselves, and one of them pointed forward before descriptively mentioning a girl’s behind, and, like an good lesbian, Yui perked up and followed his motion.
Well.
There, three rows back from the front of the hall, sat one Shimizu Kiyoko, in what was definitely not an unflattering pair of skinny jeans.
Well, then.
As Yui concentrated on not verbalizing the combination of poetic nonsense and alarmed squealing going on in her head, the object of her attention removed her jacket and twisted in her chair to hang it over the backrest, revealing a pink croptop with lavender sleeves, and, more importantly, the vast majority of her abdomen. Yui could feel herself becoming more gay by the moment. In fact, she was beginning to wonder if she had even been gay to begin with, or if this moment was some kind of forging, as if fate itself was taking a nice girl with sapphic potential and exposing her to such a moment, using the heat to change her into a True Lesbian. Lesbian Supreme.
Kiyoko pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and suddenly Yui was exposed to her neck and shoulders and holy actual shit get a hold of yourself Yui wow.
Then the professor started talking and Yui knew that a passing grade in Bio 110 was not going to be possible.
Maybe I should ask her to tutor me?