As the school days and classes progressed, I finally settled into this new school.
I had started developing a routine that mostly consisted of waking up, school, heading to my dorm, workout, and studying.
Every so often, I'd get an invite from someone to hang out at the mall on campus, but I always turned them down.
I didn't feel quite comfortable interacting with a bunch of new people, maybe that's why I struggled to make friends because I couldn't put myself out there.
Well, you could say I had friends like Hiyori and Ichinose. But, I never actively went out of my way to invite them anywhere. There was also Ayanokouji, but I considered him more as a loose friend that I only hung out with during school hours. Then there was Horikita, but she was more of a pain in the butt than anything else. Still, there was a feeling inside me that was pleading to have friends I could enjoy my time with.
RING
And with that, sensei strode out of the classroom at the stroke of the bell. Losing all interest in the class she was teaching.
Time to continue the regular routine, I guess.
"Hello Fukumoto-kun, I was just wondering if you would like to accompany us to the mall?"
I looked up from my desk to see the man known as Hirata. He was quite a popular person on campus, constantly surrounded by the girls in our class, and to no one's surprise, he was already swarmed by the opposite sex while he asked me this.
The girls behind him seemed to wait eagerly for my reply. I didn't really have any plans this evening but didn't particularly want to join this unusual group. Then again, I couldn't exactly deny this opportunity presented to me to make some real friends.
"Sure. I didn't have any plans after school, so I'll join you all," I replied calmly.
"Great! Shall we head off to Keyaki Mall then?"
I picked up my bag and prepared to head out with Hirata and his group.
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A few moments before we took our first steps into the mall, Hirata and his posey all turned to face me.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce everyone to you, Fukumoto-kun."
Phew, it wasn't a coordinated kidnapping then.
"This is Maya Sato, Chiaki Matsushita, Mei-Yu Wang, and Kei Karuizawa. And I'm pretty sure you also know me, but my name is Yosuke Hirata."
All of the girls gave me small waves after Hirata had just introduced them. I returned their gesture with my own wave.
"Well, now that we're at the mall, what should we do first?" Hirata addressed the entire group.
Immediately, the girl known as Karuizawa latched onto Hirata's arm, "Why don't we all go to Pallet! Oh, oh, we could also all go to a movie or karaoke!"
Kaurizawa seemed to be the leader among the girls in this group. Because as soon as she listed these options were, all the girls joined her in agreement.
"What about you Fukumoto-kun? Any particular place you want to go to?" Hirata asked me, just to get the collective opinion of everyone in the group. Hirata seemed to be a nice guy, one who wasn't concerned by his status and genuinely wanted peace for all. Definitely, a person who would consider every person and try his best to accommodate all.
"I don't have any preference, I've never been to the mall yet, so I would just like to look around."
"Alright then, to the Pallet!" And with that, Karuizawa dragged Hirata towards Pallet, and all the girls followed close behind. Leaving me behind to try and catch up with the group.
Project new friends is definitely starting off badly.
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We arrived in front of the famous Pallet.
It looked to be extremely crowded on the inside, specifically crowded with females.
The cafe seemed to be a frequent meeting place for the opposite sex, and trying to find a table for 6 would definitely be a hassle.
Nonetheless, our group walked into the busy cafe.
"Alright, should we all order our drinks?" Hirata asked.
A collective "Yes!" Sounded from the girls as they headed to the line first.
Hirata and I trailed behind the girls staring up at the menu for drinks.
These are expensive, most of the drinks were ranging around 600 points. Considering the instability I felt with this school's point system, I opted to find the least expensive drink to conserve my private points.
"What do you think you'll get?" Hirata leaned beside me so I could hear his question in the buzzing cafe.
"I was thinking of getting green tea, seems to be the least expensive. What about you?"
"Ah, trying to conserve your private points, I see. That's smart. I was planning on getting a regular coffee, nothing too crazy."
It seemed all the girls in front of us ordered extravagant and expensive drinks, but that couldn't be helped. This school seemed like paradise with the facilities and allowance, so they probably didn't care about spending more points than usual.
As everyone collected their drinks, we turned to face the seating in the cafe in hopes of finding a table for 6.
"Ah! There's one in the corner!" The girl named Sato pointed to the back corner of the cafe in excitement at the achievement of finding spots for everyone.
As we all took our respective seats, I sat in between Matsushita and Sato. While across from me sat Hirata, sandwiched between Mei-Yu Wang and Karuizawa.
The girls immediately broke out into conversation about the latest fashion trend or trivial gossip within the school. Oftentimes, they would rope in Hirata or me to comment about their opinions, but the majority of the time I spent sitting in silence listening to their conversation. Nothing in their conversation really piqued my interest to get me to comment on it out of my own volition, but when you're out relaxing with friends, there was no need to talk about any heavy matters.
"Uh... Fukumoto-kun..."
I turned to face my right, where Matsushita sat. She looked up at me, probably slightly nervous to initiate a conversation with someone new.
"I wanted to get to know you better since you're new and all, and I'm sure everyone else here would like to know more about you."
The atmosphere around the table quieted down as everyone waited for my response.
"Well, what do you want to know?" I asked Matsushita.
"How about the basics. Like what you like, if you joined a club, your favorite food, your family... You know that sort of stuff?"
"Well, for what I like, I enjoy quite a few sports, especially Kendo. I do enjoy reading quite a lot too."
"I thought so! You definitely look more like the athletic type... especially with a body like that~" Sato responded excitedly to my comment.
"Did you get to join any clubs?" Hirata continued the interview.
"Uh, no, I didn't really plan on it, and a sensei told me since I joined late, it would be hard to join anyways."
"Ah, that's too bad. I joined the soccer club, and I know we would've loved to have someone like you join," Hirata answered back with a smile.
"And I'd say my favorite food would have to be ramen," I continued.
"Eh?! Ramen? Not something like pizza, or cake, or ice cream?" Karuizawa couldn't help but be disgusted at my desired choice of food.
"Anyways~, what's your family like Fukumoto-kun?" Matsushita interjected, saving me from having to explain my apparent horrendous choice of food.
But, it was the most dreaded question asked. The one I wished to answer the least.
I stared back at my reflection in my green tea. Thinking of the best response to not ruin the mood.
"I lived most of my life with my uncle. You could say he was like my dad in a way. As for my mother and father, I only have faint memories of what my mother looked like when I was young, but I don't remember anything about my dad."
I could feel the mood get darker with each word that left my mouth, everyone started looking away from me to not feel the guilt of asking such an unknowingly tough question.
"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you remember something hard like that," Matsushita looked at me with an obvious sense of concern for me.
"Don't worry about it. None of you knew, so it was obviously gonna be asked at one point or another," I tried to reply with a happier tone, but my efforts did little to change the mood.
"Well... What do you think of the school Fukumoto-kun?" Mei-Yu Wang tried to get the ball rolling again and lift up the mood.
"My thoughts about the school... Honestly, I find the school far too indulgent." Everyone perked up upon hearing my quick evaluation of the school. "Personally, I don't understand how this school can offer all these facilities and points to this many students without there being an underlying system built upon an idea like meritocracy or worth that's attached to these points. A system that we first years cannot truly comprehend, yet."
Everyone looked slightly confused about my evaluation of this school, but Matsushita was the first to question my theory, "What do you mean by meritocracy and worth? If there was an underlying system attached to these points, wouldn't the teachers have told us about it?"
That was a great question. What were the criteria to judge students as worthy of these points? As for the teachers not telling us, we would have to look at this establishment objectively.
At the foundation, this is still a high school, an institution to prepare us for the future, a future where we are not always told everything. But are expected to discern the truth for ourselves.
"Yeah, why wouldn't the school tell us. That would seem unfair." Karuizawa interjected, obviously dissatisfied with a theory that put us at any risk.
"I don't know the exact reasons or exact method as to which the school uses to justify this amount of points. But, at the moment, it's just a theory, and until there is definitive proof to back it up, nothing will change."
"You must be really smart, Fukumoto-kun, to come up with a theory like that after only being here a short while," Hirata replied with a sense of pride.
"Oh, I'm not that smart, it's just a theory in the end."
The conversation between everyone started to pick up again and was finally restored to our former lively discussion of school gossip and the latest trends.
But, just off that small discussion about the inner workings of the school, I could tell who in this group were people who questioned, challenged, and analyzed their surroundings. Compared to those who took it at face value and didn't bother to question it.
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After the cafe, the group decided to head out to rent a karaoke room.
Now that was an event I would never want to be a part of.
Just before we made our way to the karaoke place, I interjected into the group's conversation.
"I'm sorry guys, but I gotta go back to my room. I'm starting to get a headache and should probably lie down."
No one could definitively prove if I had a headache or not, so they would have to take my word at face value, all I had to do was play the part of a sick patient. It was an easy excuse to dismiss myself from the embarrassment of singing.
"I'm sorry about that, well I hope you had fun today and get better!" Matsushita replied.
After giving a small wave back to the group, I turned on my heels and headed back to the dorms.
It was still pretty early into the afternoon, around 4 o'clock. So I could probably just chill in my room, or go to the library and read to kill the time before I turned in for bed.
"Please! Just leave me alone!"
As I neared an abandoned alleyway behind the mall, I heard what sounded like someone in distress. I quickened my pace to get the person, in case they were in trouble.
"All I want is some measly private points, it's not that hard, just hand some over, and this problem will go away."
I got closer to the alleyway and heard more of the conversation occurring.
"I won't listen to a dictator like you!"
"Fine. I won't make you listen to me..."
Maybe, this situation will resolve naturally without my intervention.
"But, you'll receive a punishment for not following my orders."
Oh no.
I had finally made it within three meters of the alleyway. The people in the alley likely wouldn't notice me coming as I was still hidden by the wall to my right.
"Albert. Teach him a lesson."
"Alright, Boss."
I turned the corner of the alleyway. Four students were standing over one. All of them giving off an imposing aura.
Three of the students stepped back to let the biggest one among them, which I assumed to be Albert get closer to the student on the ground.
The one named Albert stepped up closer to the student sitting on the ground, and in one motion, he swung his leg with a hard direct kick to the student's head.
"Huh?"
The big guy let out an audible gasp, as I blitzed from the entry of the alleyway. I lowered myself down to catch his kick with my body. Completely stopping all his momentum and grabbing his leg with both arms, I caught his kick with minimal effort.
The power behind it was unreal for a high school student, but I've dealt with stronger opponents before.
I turned back to face the student cowering on the ground, who was now in complete shock at the events that had just transpired.
"I think you can leave now," I said nonchalantly to the unknown student.
"Ye... Yes..." And with that, they sprinted out of the alley.
"Oh? A new toy to play with?"
A boy with magenta hair stood beside Albert with a devilish grin as he looked down at me. Not once seeming to waver in confidence as I had stopped his friend's attack. His sense of superiority and lack of fear flowed out of his mouth with every word he said.
With that, all four of the students had gathered around me, staring down at me with big grins.
"Seems like this year might be a little fun, with someone like this around. Too bad I have to put him in his place this early since he interfered with my plans."
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AN's:
Why hello all,
Here comes Ryuuen. I honestly think he is a top tier character in COTE. I really enjoy his tactics and intimidating personality.
Once again, thanks for all the support, continue to vote and comment!
Until next time!