Chapter Text
Looking up at the large building, Y/N took a small breath in. It wasn’t like they were nervous for this new job, as they had been training for five years to get to this point. They also hadn’t been in a high school for the same amount of time so it was slightly weird to be returning to one but even more so in one that was so far from their hometown.
While others in their graduating class wanted to go work in hospitals and clinics, Y/N knew they wanted to work in a school. School nurses weren’t as common in Japan as they were in the United States, but with the sports programs becoming more and more competitive, more injuries occurred. More and more schools were looking for school nurses, and Y/N was excited to be offered a position near Sendai, Miyagi at a school called Karasuno High School.
The school year had just started, so new and returning students were flooding through the front gates to go to their first classes. Y/N looked like one of the new students: nervous, unsure, and lost. This was an entirely new building, after all, and a new job to boot. One where they had to be in charge of childrens’ medical care. No pressure or anything.
After recollecting their thoughts, Y/N took another breath and blended in with the group of students to walk into the school without a problem. While most students departed for their classes, Y/N went to the main office. While not a teacher, they were still a member of staff and had to have the same rudimentary orientation as the other new teachers.
“Nurse Y/N,” a man’s voice greeted from behind the office desk. The main office was like that of any high school’s: a larger room with a large counter for the two secretaries to do their work answering phones or signing in guests as well as normal office desks closer to the back of the room for other administrative staff and a few printers/copy machines. “Welcome to Karasuno High School! Please, come with me.”
Y/N raised an eyebrow when she looked at the man. He was a short, plump man with an obvious toupee. It made the new nurse snicker a little bit before quickly hiding their laughter when the man looked at them with a raised eyebrow. “Apologies, Vice Principal Kushida. I just had a tickle in my throat.”
Mr. Kushida just turned back as he began to leave the office, Y/N following close behind him. For a man his size, he was quite fast. “How ironic for a school nurse. Anyways, your office is right this way. It’s next to the doors that lead outside to the gymnasiums so you shouldn’t get lost.”
When they reached the room, Mr. Kushida took out his ring of keys and unlocked the door. Peering inside, Y/N knew they had quite a lot of work to do. It was plain, with white brick walls and equally as boring white linoleum floors. There was a check-up table from a doctor’s office, a desk with a laptop and a few office supplies, and two hospital-style beds with a curtain separating them. There were also many cabinets containing several medical care items, as expected from a nurse’s office.
It was just so…boring. Devoid of life. As soon as they could, Y/N was going to liven up the place. Make it feel inviting instead of soul crushing. Nodding to themselves, Y/N then turned back to Mr. Kushida. “Thank you, sir. I will do my best.”
“Mhm,” Mr. Kushida replied blandly. “Well, welcome to Karasuno High School. Just follow the signs if you need to go somewhere, or ask a student or something. The office is just down the hall if you’re really lost.”
Y/N gave the man a tight-lipped smile. He was so blunt and unhelpful. It was no wonder all his hair fell out. However, despite their first impressions, they gave him a small, polite bow. “Thank you, Mr. Kushida. It was nice meeting you.”
The Vice Principal nodded again before turning on his heel and beginning to leave the room. As he got to the doorway, the man turned around once more. “When you have time, talk to Ittetsu Takeda. He’s the faculty advisor for the boy’s volleyball team and they’re, uh…rambunctious to say the least. They’ll probably want you on standby.”
Y/N nodded once more, then bowed towards him again. With that, Mr. Kushida left and went back down to the main office. Y/N sighed as they looked around the bare office. They placed the tote bag they had been carrying on their elbow on the desk next to their laptop, then ran their fingers through their hair before placing their hands on their hips. “Alright. Let’s get to work.”
***
Before they knew it, the final bell had rang. Y/N looked up from where they were working at their desk, a slightly puzzled look on their face. They didn’t know they had been working for that long. Their work had consisted of getting set up in the school’s system and decking out their office, making it much more inviting. It wasn’t much, since it was still their first day and they had only brought some extra things from home, but it already looked so much friendlier. A small succulent was on the corner of their desk along with a couple of photos in frames, and some empty shelves were lined with books, manga, and a few Funko Pop figurines they had been collecting but didn’t have room to display back at their apartment.
“The day’s done already?” Y/N asked to themselves as they rested flat on their feet once more, breathing out slightly. They had just finished organizing their manga when the bell had rung, and it was thankfully the last thing they needed to set up. “Might as well talk to that Takeda dude while I have the time.”
After double-checking that everything was perfect, they left their office and locked the door behind them. Looking up and down the hall, they watched the students mill around the hallways to get to their after school clubs, talk with their friends in different classes, or just go home. Karasuno High School wasn’t a huge building, consisting of three floors of classrooms, a few gymnasiums, a race track and baseball gym out near the back of the property, and the clubrooms off to the east side of the property. Even so, Y/N didn’t know the first place to go to look for this Takeda guy.
Well. Time to go exploring.
***
The first place they checked happened to be right on the money. Ittetsu Takeda was sitting at his desk in the teachers’ office, typing at his laptop. His back was turned to the doorway and was working quietly, as he was the only teacher in the room.
“Excuse me,” Y/N spoke up, breaking the silence. Takeda immediately shouted in surprise, falling off his chair but able to catch himself by holding onto his desk. Y/N also shouted in surprise, shocked to hear such a loud shriek from a man who had been so quiet a second before. “I-I’m so sorry! The Vice Principal sent me to talk to an Ittetsu Takeda, I’m sorry for surprising you!”
“Oh!” The man then perked up when he heard his name, swiveling around to look at the person standing in the doorway. Taking into account what they were wearing, which was a pair of navy blue scrubs and a white cardigan, he assumed they were the new school nurse. “That’s me! How can I help you?”
Y/N bowed a little bit towards the man in greeting before approaching him. “My name is Y/N Y/L/N and I’m the new school nurse. The Vice Principal told me to come talk to you when I had time. I was told you’re the faculty advisor for the boy’s volleyball team?”
Takeda nodded as he pulled over a rolling chair from the desk next to him, offering for the nurse to sit. Y/N did so gratefully, sitting across from him now. “Yes, I am. Thank god that you’re here, honestly. In the past, our volleyball team hasn’t been the greatest but I have a good feeling about this year! But even with our bad track record, injuries have come too often for us. It’s still early in the year, but if possible, I’d like for you to be as present as you possibly can in case something does happen.”
Y/N raised their eyebrows at his words, taking a second to process before letting out a little laugh. “Are they really that rambunctious? The Vice Principal did warn me this morning.”
Takeda laughed as well, then nodded in confirmation. “They really are,” he replied, then crossing one leg over the other. “I’m sure a couple of the guys are meeting for a small practice right about now. Go take a look if you have the time, I’m sure you’ll understand. The boy’s volleyball gym is the gym right next to your office, just through the doors.”
Y/N nodded, shrugging their shoulders slightly before standing up and shaking Takeda’s hand formally before heading out of the teachers’ office. It wasn’t that hard to find the gym, as it was literally the gymnasium that the exterior doors next to their office lead to.
They barely had to open those doors to hear the shouting from the gym. It made them not want to go in, fearing they were interrupting something but as they got closer, they could begin to make out words.
“Woah! Not even I could get that!”
“Pathetic! How’s that different than last year?!”
“One more try!”
“Okay, cut it out!”
Now they had to see what was going on. It sounded amusing. As Y/N pulled open the heavy doors that lead into the gymnasium, they got there just in time to see a tall kid with pointy black hair in a gym uniform serve a ball. He was flying through the air, so with what knowledge Nurse Y/N had of volleyball, they could tell it was a jump serve. A shorter kid with orange hair was on the opposite end of the court, and he moved his feet so fast that Y/N barely had time to register he was there before he was somewhere else.
Three other boys stood next to the stage. They all looked older, probably in their second or third years, and all wore matching black tracksuits. One had a shaved head and the demeanour of a feral animal, one had ashy blonde hair that looked more silver and a quiet dignity to him that could turn wild at any point, and the last was obviously the captain of the team. He radiated maturity and experience, and had an aura to him that demanded respect or be yelled at.
The Vice Principal was also there, and Y/N barely had the chance to acknowledge him before the orange-haired kid received the ball that had been sent his way. However, it ricocheted into his own face and made it detour elsewhere at an alarmingly fast speed.
Directly into Mr. Kushida’s face.
The moment seemed to slow down as he yelled out in surprise and pain, and what made the moment worse was the fact that his toupee flew off of his head. That seemed to be the worst of it. That was, until the toupee landed on top of the captain’s head.
He looked mortified.
The gym was silent for three seconds, and it seemed to be the longest three seconds in history. Y/N was too stunned to speak or move, just watching from the doorway as the black-haired kid walked over to the other side of the court. “Oh, man. That was a toupee?”
“You just now figured that out?” Tangerine snickered towards him. “I noticed it at the entrance ceremony.”
“Dude! Shut up!” Baldie then yelled, trying to force down his laughter but very obviously failing. “It’s not even that funny!”
He then burst out into a fit of laughter, turning away so the Vice Principal wouldn’t see his face as Quicksilver shouted at him, “You shut up, moron!”
“Captain,” Mr. Kushida then stoically said, eyes narrowed in anger. He looked like he was about to burst. “A word, please.”
Y/N then shook their head to clear their mind, jogging into the gym towards the group and interrupting what obviously would have been an awkward conversation. “That can wait, Mr. Kushida. That hit was pretty hard. Let’s get you an ice pack and then you can yell at these children for an accident that could’ve been avoided if you weren’t standing behind an active volleyball court. Sound good?”
Mr. Kushida looked towards Nurse Y/N with wide eyes as Baldie began laughing again, the other four boys just staring in bewilderment. It looked like the Vice Principal wanted to rebute, but he looked towards the captain again. “Fine. No need for an apology, then. But this doesn’t leave this room!”
All five boys agreed immediately, and the captain quickly pulled the toupee off his head and handed it back to the Vice Principal. Y/N nodded in approval, then gently steered the man towards the gym entrance. “I’ll be right behind you, Mr. Kushida. You head to my office.”
As Mr. Kushida walked out of the gymnasium, Y/N turned back to the five boys still staring at them. “Hi. I’m Nurse Y/N. And I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”