Chapter 8 Nero arrived in front of the academy at 9:50 AM. He had 10 more minutes before the lessons started. He wasn't the only one who showed up so early, as there were other students in front of the academy's gates. "Heh, it's time to do what I've always done outside of school!" he thought, then he sat down in an isolated spot, far away from the mass. He was used to doing that in middle school, as he never had many friends. He only had one friend in middle school, but after becoming a KANSEN he lost contacts with him too. In other words, now he doesn't have a single friend. But he thought it was alright, and that he was used to it. He accepted his loneliness even more now, since there were no boys to befriend. "School will be even more boring now... great...as if it wasn't boring enough...". He simply stared at the home screen of his phone, not knowing what to do. He was so immersed in staring at it that he didn't notice that the spot he chose wasn't exactly isolated. A girl with white, short hair and blue eyes was basically doing the same thing he was doing. It took Nero a while to notice her. "WHAT?! WHY'S A GIRL HERE?? ... well, it's just girls here, why am I even surprised?". "Should I start a conversation..? But what if she's too embarrassed? What if she's disgusted by me? What if..." and so he kept pondering all the different what-ifs, and before he knew, he missed his chance. In fact, the bell of the academy rang. The girl hastily stood up and walked through the gates, which had been opened. "... Why am I stupid." He waited for the majority of the crowd to enter, before standing up and entering after them. Nero started walking towards the building, and as he drew nearer he saw the Commander leaning on the wall next to the entrance of the academy. The Commander waved at him, and Nero approached him. "Hey, it's been a while!" said Nero. "It has. I was waiting for you, why did you get in after everybody else?" "Oh, it's something I always do at school. How can I help you?" "Well, actually, I'm the one who has to help you. You come from America, right?" "Uh huh?" "You're used to the american school system then. Well, you need to know that this academy follows the typical european system. And it's very different from the one you're used to. Main differences are, students attend all their classes in one single classroom, there are no lockers, no cheerleading (getting stereotypical here), and more. You'll get used to it overtime." "That sucks." "I know, american schools are better than european ones, but the Azur Lane is mostly made up of european countries: Italy, Germany, France and the UK. So yeah, cry about it, I guess." "Can't cry at this academy yet." "So you cried at school ..?" "Yeah." "Ah. Well... Have fun! ... Or, try at least.." and with that, the commander walked inside the building. "It'll be kinda hard, but sure, I'll try..." Nero followed. He walked through the main hallway. The academy sure was huge on the inside, the walls and the ceiling were painted green, and the different flags of the Azur Lane's nations were hanging on the ceiling. At the sides of the main hallway there were two corridors, in front of it were stairs which led to the second floor. "Is this some kinda Ikea shop..? I hope I won't get lost on my first day... Wait. WHERE THE HELL IS MY CLASSROOM AT???" he had just realized he didn't know where his classroom was. "WHAT DO I DO NOW..??" He thought. The situation he was in was the worst: he was introverted, didn't know a single person, and was in a giant school. He was starting to get really worried, until he felt a pat on his shoulder. He turned around, and saw a familiar face: it was Bremerton, the girl he met on his first day at the HQ. "Why the hell are you staring at nothingness in the middle of the main hallway? Are you considering to skip school or something?" she asked. Nero felt as happy as that time when he got lost in the woods and miraculously found his way back. "... Bremerton. I'm so glad you exist." "... You're creeping me out..." "Alright, forget about what I said. I have a big favor to ask you, Bremerton." "What?" "Do you know where my classroom is, by any chance?" "How am I supposed to know? Weirdo..." she started walking away. "WAIT WAIT, BREMERTON PLEASE!" Nero shouted without thinking. Some of the girls who were still in the hallway stared at him with a concerned look. "... I'm that good at embarrassing myself, huh?" he didn't know what to do or say in that situation, but his idiotic consciousness told him to run. And so he did. He ran towards the stairs and went to the second floor, and he kept running until he saw a toilet sign above a door in the hallway. He ran inside and closed the door behind him. He took a second to calm down, before sitting down against it. He already felt extremely embarrassed, and he didn't even start the lessons. "Why am I not able to not feel embarrassed for a damn second whenever I'm in a school..?". "Awesome. The lessons probably started, and I have no clue where my classroom is. Great. This is exactly what I WANTED!" and he punched the wall in frustration. He knew he couldn't remain in that room forever. Somebody would come in eventually. And he surely didn't want others to see him cry. Tears started running down his cheeks. He didn't know whether he was crying out of sadness or frustration. Perhaps both. The only thing he knew was that he had to calm down and wipe his tears. He took a toilet paper roll, ripped a piece of toilet paper and wiped his tears. After doing so, he looked at himself in a mirror. "... I look so pathetic right now... I haven't changed a bit since my first year of middle school. No... maybe I'm even more pathetic than I was back then. I already reached two failures today: I didn't talk to that girl outside the school, and I embarrassed myself in the middle of the main hallway. What's next? Somebody will come in now?" And, plot twist, the door behind him opened! Nero felt a chill down his spine as soon as he heard the door opening. The person who opened the door was, luckily for him, somebody he met earlier that day. "Nero?" Eugen stood at the doorway. "Oh... Uhm... What was your name again..?" "Eugen. Did you already forget?" "It's not that... Sorry if that seems rude to you.." "More importantly, you don't look like you're in a good mood. On the other hand, you look pretty sad. Don't tell me you're crying because you don't wanna attend classes?" "No, it's not that... Actually, I'm crying because I CAN'T attend them." "Hm? What's the matter?" "Well... You wouldn't be able to attend them either if you didn't know where your classroom is, right?" "... Aaw, so that's why you're so sad? That's so adorable!" "It fucking isn't, you whore." Nero thought. He was actually tempted to say that, but instead he didn't say anything. "Well, you can ask one of the janitors, they know where your classroom is. ... Or, are you perhaps too shy..?" "... Take a guess." Eugen smiled at him, Nero didn't know if she smiled out of pity or if she was directly making fun of him. Then, she walked to him and held his hand. "Come on, I'll take you to one of the janitors." she said. Nero's expression lit up. "Thanks..." he mumbled. The two of them got out of the toilet and they walked through the hallways until they met a janitor. That janitor was Mikasa, which recognized Nero immediately. "Oh, Nero! How's your first day going?" "... V-very well, thanks..." he perfectly knew he was lying. "He doesn't know where his classroom is, Mikasa, could you kindly lead the way?" Eugen asked. "Oh, naturally! Come with me, Nero!" Nero looked at Eugen for a short second: he wanted to thank her properly, and show her how immensely grateful he actually was, but in the end he simply followed Mikasa through the hallways. Chapter 8 end Aaaaand Nero's first day of school finally came! Even though it wasn't so great. Before leaving the images of the newly introduced characters, I'd like to ask all of you readers a favor. Now, to all of you who read at least three chapters of this fanfiction, could you please leave a comment to judge this thing so far? I know it sucks, but I'd still like to know your thoughts on this. Anyway, leaving the images below.
Bremerton (previously appeared in the first chapters)
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