The landscape in front of my eyes flashed away in a blur as the bus progressively drove to our destination.
The advanced nurturing high school.
A school established by the Japanese government to nurture young graduates who will support Japanese society in the future. It also boasts a 100% employment and college entry rate, which is one of the main reasons one would consider choosing this as their high school.
Of course, getting in wasn't easy, as one would have to go through an interview and pass the exam, but it was certainly worth it.
That is, if you plan to be a part of Japanese society someday.
Seriously, why would I want to be a part of the society with the highest suicide rates? Judging by that fact alone, it wasn't absurd to assume that there were some major flaws in our society.
Originally, I had planned to just stay in my room and earn money by participating in online tournaments in various games, so there was no need for me to go to school and graduate. However, life isn't always as easy as I wish it to be, so my aunt registered me for this school without ever telling me.
I winced at the memory of my entrance exam. Honestly, I don't even know how I passed, as I barely answered any of those questions.
While subjects such as mathematics, Japanese, English, and science were easy for me, I probably completely failed in Japanese literature and social studies.
I never cared about them, so my knowledge about those subjects was nonexistent. I am pretty sure, that I failed the entrance exam, so I was pretty surprised when my aunt told me I passed.
Unfortunately.
At first, I wanted to fail the exam on purpose, but considering the effort, my aunt put into it, I didn't want to make her feel bad. I don't exactly know the reason why, but I feel like knowing that I made her feel bad, would also affect me in some way, so I at least tried.
Though even it damaged my ego a little, I still hoped I would fail the exam. I'm still not sure whether to be happy I passed or mad about it, to be honest.
"The scenery is quite beautiful, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
A voice next to me ripped me out of my thought.
Turning my head to the voice, I found myself facing the smiling face of a lilac-haired girl. Her features were quite extraordinary, as I was pretty sure that lilac hair and violet eyes weren't common. At least I've never seen them before.
"You've been staring out of the window for the whole ride. Am I mistaken that you've been watching the scenery?"
Oh, that's what she meant. I shook my head before responding with a faint smile. Truthfully, I felt a little embarrassed as I didn't even notice her sitting next to me.
"I was just a little lost in thoughts. But looking at it now, you're right. The scenery is quite beautiful."
"You were lost in thoughts? What have you been thinking about?"
The girl seemed to be quite curious, as she asked me while tilting her head by approximately 15 degrees.
Cute...
"Nothing much. I've just been thinking about the school. I've not been to school for a very long time, so it is kind of weird to go to school again, I guess?"
"You didn't go to school for a long time? Were you perhaps homeschooled?"
I shook my head.
"No, that isn't it. I just stopped going to school someday for personal reasons."
"Oh?" Her eyes narrowed, as the expression of the girl changed to a predatory one.
Her curiosity was still there, but it seemed like a different kind of curiosity. At first, it was an innocent one, akin to a child exploring a new toy, but her current gaze seemed more like she was analyzing me.
"How did you pass the exam then?"
I let out a small chuckle, before resting my cheek on my open hand.
"That's what I've been wondering too. I guess that my scores in some of the subjects just balanced my bad scores out. I mean some exams were pretty easy after all. Especially maths. That was really easy."
I watched as her eyes widened in confusion before she regained her composure. The girl looked to the side, furrowing her eyebrows before looking back at me.
"It certainly wasn't super hard, but...easy? I wouldn't necessarily call it easy."
"Really? I fell asleep in the maths exam and still managed to solve all questions in the last five minutes, so easy would be a pretty fitting word in my opinion. Though, I can see why people would usually find such things difficult."
There was silence between us for a few seconds before the girl opened her mouth and closed it again. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to say. After a while, some words finally escaped from her mouth.
"...if that was easy for you...what was the hard part?"
"Oh, the hard part? I am pretty sure I failed all questions regarding history. Like seriously, how am I supposed to know when world war two started?"
"..."
Again, she didn't answer. With furrowed eyebrow, she kept looking at me and away, as if I was some sort of alien she couldn't understand. I never had any trouble talking with people, I just found it taxing, but talking with this girl was quite fun. Her reactions just seemed cute to me, which made the conversation quite enjoyable.
"I.."
She opened her mouth, trying to say something to me, but was interrupted by the sudden halt of the bus, throwing both of us forward.
"It seemed like we're here."
I reached for my bag and stood up from my seat, preparing to leave the bus. Being inside the bus for so long made me feel a little lightheaded, so I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Before leaving, I turned to the girl one last time, before waving my hand.
"It was nice talking to you. Let's meet again sometime, alright?"
"---sure. We will."
________________________________________
The entrance ceremony was quite boring. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one with that opinion. When I looked around the room, I spotted dozens of those same bored expressions.
I couldn't blame them though. After all, I felt the same way-
However, I still understood that it was an important thing, as the entrance ceremony marked a new beginning for many of the students.
While some might just continue with their previous life, others chose to completely change themselves and create a new identity in the new school.
Usually, the first few days after the entrance ceremony is used to make some friends and create distinctive groups, so it would be best for me to do the same.
However, I didn't have any intention to socialize with other people on purpose. While I was never bad at socializing, I never understood the meaning of doing it solely for the sake of doing it.
It just feels so...superficial.
I always had difficulty connecting with other people, but I gradually got used to it after some time. After all, getting attached was basically like asking for getting hurt, so not being able to form genuine relationships was okay for me.
I think.
Shaking my head, I released a sigh. I didn't understand why I was thinking about such things right now but chose to not waste any more of my energy on such useless thoughts.
After the entrance ceremony, I went looking for my classroom and soon found it. Class 1-D.
Opening the door, I roughly skimmed over the classroom with my eyes. Surprisingly, there weren't many people here yet. Some of my soon-to-be classmates turned their heads to me without saying anything, before looking away again.
At least most of them did.
Suddenly, I felt a shiver crawling down my spine. I quickly turned around to see where it was coming from, but there was nothing behind me. I didn't know from which direction the feeling came, but I had guessed that it came from behind me, as there was no reason why I would feel that way inside my classroom.
"...seems like I imagined it."
Closing my eyes, I massaged my forehead. I should probably get more sleep. 2 Hours doesn't seem to be enough for me.
After releasing a sigh, I opened my eyes again and went searching for my place. The seats were marked with nameplates, so it didn't take me too long to find my seat.
One row in front of the protagonist's corner seat. Seems like the role of the protagonist was already taken.
Right behind my seat, a handsome boy with brown hair and eyes was located, scanning the room with his empty-looking eyes. Without even realizing it, I forgot to sit down, staring at the boy as if it was the purpose of my life.
"...do I have something on my face?"
He asked after a while, seemingly noticing my staring. I shook my head in response, before averting my gaze.
"No...it's just your eyes."
"My eyes?"
"They seem so...empty?"
It was something that wasn't obvious to many people, but I recognized that look all too well. Although it wasn't exactly the same look, it was similar enough.
"...I see."
Noticing his weirded-out expression, I shook my head. I didn't intend to say that, but the words just slipped out of my mouth.
"I'm sorry, I probably said something weird."
Telling someone their eyes were empty probably wasn't something many people would say at their first meeting. At least that never happened in any of those novels I've read.
"No, it's okay." The boy shook his head as he talked in his monotone voice. "I am Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Nice to meet you."
A sudden self-introduction? Well, that was unexpected.
"...Sia. Sia Hirano. It's nice to meet you too."
"You, from before...!"
Our conversation was interrupted by the voice of a girl. I glanced to the side, spotting a girl with long black hair and gradient red eyes. Judging by the way she carried herself alone, I could already guess that she was an arrogant person.
How bothersome.
"Hahh..."
I could hear how Ayanokoji responded with a deep sigh, as he noticed the presence of the black-haired girl.
"That's a heavy sigh, even though the school semester hasn't even started yet. I feel like sighing after meeting you again."
It seemed like they forgot about me.
It seemed like meanwhile, the classroom gradually started to fill up, as the noises inside the room gradually started to get louder.
Without me noticing it, small groups already started to form slowly. I only realized that when I looked around the classroom.
Well, that was certainly faster than expected. I knew that it wouldn't take that long for groups to form but we were here for barely an hour and they already started forming. That's what I would call a speedrun.
"Is she your friend?"
I turned back to Ayanokoji, as I heard the voice of the girl saying something to me.
"No, we met each other only just now. Though she seems much nicer than you."
"Hmph. It was too much of me to expect you to befriend someone with that attitude of yours."
Listening in to the conversation again, I raised an eyebrow, I would argue that getting along with Ayanokoji would be much easier than getting along with that girl.
Judging by the flow of the conversation, I guessed that Ayanokoji wanted to form some friendships, but wasn't able to. I wonder...should I at least try to befriend him? I have nothing to lose after all and it might be an interesting experience.
"...I would gladly be your friend if you want to."
"Oh?" Ayanokoji's expression didn't change, but people tend to use oh as a sound of surprise, which is why it is reasonable to assume that he was surprised. "It seems like I didn't completely fail at making friends."
The girl looked at me for a split second, before turning her attention back to Ayanokoji.
"Good for you."
Then the bell rang and almost at the same time, a woman wearing a suit walked into the classroom, almost completely silencing it.