1st day of classes, 6.30 a.m.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka
It was the third day of school for the new first graders. Yesterday was a Sunday, thus it was a holiday. So, today is the first day of courses for the first year. In addition, the second and third years will be returning to school after their spring vacation. So it will be a little more frenetic and vibrant than the first day's mood in the school building, which will be operating at full capacity now.
I awoke at 6:30 a.m. It is rather late in comparison to the time I typically get up in the morning. But now that I'm at this institution, rising up earlier in the morning is no longer necessary. I made my bed and performed some moderate workout before making myself some breakfast.
Now, I'm not a very good cook; not during my education nor at the mansion where I spent a year of my life, I was taught how to cook. So the best I can manage is an omelette and some toast. I took a shower and changed into my uniform after I finished preparing and eating breakfast.
I can't get over how excited I feel when I wear these.
So this will be my new "morning ritual," from now on, considering that I never get lazy enough to do it.
I arrived at school a little earlier than usual, simply out of habit. There were a few pupils in the classroom when I arrived. I walked over to my seat and sat down. Horikita hadn't come yet, so her seat was unoccupied. Looking out the window, I noticed the arriving first-year students joking and giggling. Some were in groups, while others were alone. But there was one emotion that everyone shared. the emotion of "hope," the hope of being admitted into this institution, of having a fulfilling high school life, of having assured job, of having a bright future, and so on.
Someone came up to me while I was thinking.
"Yo, Ayanokouji, you sure are an early bird," a familiar voice rang in my ear.
"How are you doing, Sudou?" I inquired, attempting to be casual with him.
"Oh, I am fine. What about you?" He inquired.
"Same here," I said.
I suddenly realised I had no idea what to say after that. According to the rules of conversation, it is important to go back and forth to continue the conversation. Short responses may also cut the discussion short and finally stop it.
Now I was racking my brains for questions to ask him in order to keep this discussion going. But nothing came to mind. At last, I took a gamble and started talking to him about the first day's incident.
"That day at the convenience store was something right, Sudou," I said.
This was my first attempt at striking up a conversation with someone. Previously, Ichinose and Kushida usually began the discussion, however Horikita simply ignored me anytime I tried to talk to her.
"Yeah, you are right. Those seniors were jerks. If you and Ichinose hadn't been there, I would have pounded their asses until they apologised while grovelling their faces in the dirt." Sudou demonstrated his muscles.
He's a true musclehead, isn't he? So, I guess I just have to tell him what Ichinose discovered, or he'll be in big trouble someday.
"I don't think you should've done that, Sudou, even if someone was not there to stop you," I said.
"What exactly are you talking about? I'm not a wuss. Understand that, Ayanokouji," he remarked, slightly annoyed.
What the hell?
One of my phrases was enough to irritate him. His rage issues are more worse than I had anticipated. If I want to have a fruitful talk with him, I need to be serious but approachable.
"I didn't mean it like that, Sudou," I explained.
"So, what exactly did you mean?" In his former tone, he inquired.
"You know, Ichinose discovered several security cameras in front of the convenience shop after you left yesterday." I informed him.
"Yeah. What's the big deal about some security cameras?" He questioned me, entirely oblivious to what I was implying.
"You see, if you had attacked them there, they might have used the film from those cameras to file a complaint against you, or even worse, blackmailed you for your points." I explained to him.
"What exactly did you say? What would they have done?" He inquired.
"Ah, I mean, this is simply an idea Ichinose devised. You just make sure you don't get into any more trouble, and yeah, she requested me to tell you this as well," I told him.
"Wait, she did that? Well, I think I've got to thank her for that in that case. Thank you for telling me that, Ayanokouji," he remarked to me.
Wait a minute.
I've really begun casually conversing with him. Does that make him my friend? I don't think so. I still don't have his contact information, and Internet-sensei advised me that having other people's contact information, or any other method to reach them, is essential for developing a friendship. Ichinose did the same to me, therefore I believe I must follow in her footsteps.
So I should ask for his contact information next, right?
Yes, it would be ideal. Okay, here goes nothing.
"Oh, Sudo, do you want to share contact information with me?" I questioned him and showed him my phone, exactly as Ichinose had done on the first day.
"Here," he said, showing me his phone, and we exchanged contact information.
"Are you going to sit here all day and look out the window?" Sudo inquired.
"Um... Yeah. Does that pose a problem?" I responded.
"Nah, that's not a problem, but..." he said.
"But..." I inquired.
"Ahhh, come with me; I'll introduce you to some guys," he added, gripping my shoulder and forcing me to stand.
What?
Is he the same guy who was speaking with me a moment ago?
I gave him an affirmative response since I had no reason to deny him and it would help me in both of my missions.
"Uh, okay, fine," I said, and I followed him.
He went to his seat, put his bag down, and greeted the boy sitting in front of him, who introduced himself yesterday as Yamauchi Haruki.
"Yo, Yamauchi," Sudou said, greeting him.
"Sudou, hello. And, uhh... are you Ayanokouji?" he murmured, curiously looking at me as though trying to recall if he had seen me anywhere before.
Hey, if you're thinking that, I can guarantee you that I've never met someone like you before today.
"Um, Yeah. Nice to meet both of you," I said to him and the boy he was speaking with.
"It's also nice to meet you, Ayanokouji." Ike was the one who welcomed me this time.
"Wait a second... I recall now. You were that guy who was with Ichinose-chan and Kushida-chan during the opening ceremony." In a nasty tone, Yamauchi inquired.
"Yeah, I was. What does it matter?" I did my best to respond to him.
"What do you mean, "What of it?" you knucklehead? Tell us how you got along with them, you jerk." He virtually sprang out of his seat and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
"Um, we were in the same bus, and those two were gracious enough to invite me to the entry ceremony." I didn't know how to respond to his query since my social skills are insufficient to say anything except the truth. I clearly chose that choice.
"Ah... I see. I see. Of course, why was I even worried about. There is no way a quiet and gloomy guy like you could have to do something with those two." Yamauchi responded that and the menacing air that had around him a moment ago had vanished.
Ouch ! That stings.
Even if I knew that every word he said was true, it wouldn't change the fact that he said all of those things there in front of my face.
"Really? Are you telling the truth?" Ike inquired, his face filled with scepticism.
"Traitors will not be tolerated, Ayanokouji," Yamauchi stated.
Who are the traitors?
"Yes," I say, "I am simply telling you the truth." With my remark, I attempted to calm those two down.
"That's great, Ayanokouji, or you will have to face the wrath of the great Yamauchi," Yamauchi said while flexing his biceps.
Oh, yes! That reminds me that he mentioned in middle school that he was an athlete, so being on his wrong side may be detrimental to my physical health. I have to be careful not to irritate him.
"Stop bothering him, you idiots." Sudou said while slapping the backs of both Ike and Yamauchi.
They then stopped chatting about me, and I thanked Sudou for his assistance in this scenario.
"So, what were you guys talking about before that moron went insane?" Sudou inquired, pointing to Yamauch as the fool.
"Ah, we were simply chatting about how amazing Keyaki Mall was," Ike explained.
"Yeah, look at this. This is the gaming system I purchased yesterday," Yamauchi added, holding out an electronic gadget.
"Eh, honestly, show me," Sudou yanked the gaming console from his grasp.
"Hey, watch out. It costs 20,000 points!" Yamauchi screamed.
WTF....
He just said 20,000? Right?
How does he manage to spend so many points on a single purchase? Is he delusory?
Okay, now relax. It's simply one buy. He still has enough points to save some if we don't achieve 100,000 points. I won't call him dumb just yet. After all, everyone was ecstatic about receiving such a significant sum of money.
"Uh, 20,000. It costs that much. Is it even worth it?" Sudou inquires after inspecting the item.
"What are you on about? This was the best they could do. I even purchased two of them. If you want to play, just come to my place." Yamauchi explained.
Did he just say he bought two of them, not one ?
"How many points do you still have?" Astounded by his spending abilities, I inquired.
He took out his phone and unlocked it from his pocket. After that, he examined his points.
"37,000 points. What about it?" He spoke lightly.
Are you serious?
This guy spent over 60,000 points in couple of days.
Okay, I'll retract my earlier statement: he's a moron. No, not just any moron; he is every type of moron that is present in the world.
"Wait, seriously? you say. You spent over 60,000 points in two days?" I inquired about him.
"What does it matter? We're going to receive 100,000 regardless next month." That's what he said to me ignoring all my comments.
Okay, well, keep thinking that.
Ichinose wanted me to inform the boys about her hypothesis of not geting 100,000 points every month, but I'm interested how they'll react when they learn the reality. I wonder how their expressions will be when their hopes of getting 100,000 points are crushed.
Is that a sadist's way of thinking?
"Oh, oh, folks, this is quite a gathering," a voice exclaimed, accompanied by two newcomers. Hondou and Miyamoto were my classmates.
"Did you find what you were looking for yesterday, Ike?" Hondou inquired of Ike.
"I certainly did. You won't believe the exquisite quality of stuff I've discovered." Ike responded.
Exceptional quality. Stuff.
Ike and Hondou were discussing something that the rest of the gang was ignorant of.
"Oh, yes. I have something to show you all," Ike stated in any case.
"Hey, Hey Ike. Are you ok with showing it to Ayanokouji?" Yamauchi shot back.
Perhaps Yamauchi was aware of what they were discussing. And.....
Why did he pick me out of the entire group?
Although at first I didn't want to see anything coming from them, especially because of their introduction to the whole class, But after that statement from Yamauchi, I just have to find out what that thing is they want to show us.
"Yeah! Show us," Sudo said enthusiastically.
Ike then picked up his bag and took a bundle of books from it. Well, it appears that these two have some enjoyable pastimes as well. And Ike had spent his points on something productive.
"These are the most recent stuff available in the school," Ike explained.
"Huh, let me see what it is," Sudo said, picking one of the books.
I could see the book's cover now that it was out of the bag. It wasn't a literary or cerebral fiction, but rather a book of another type. Perhaps they are what you call, a gravure publications, which are quite popular among teens. On the cover, there were pictures of Ladi.......
"What on earth is this? Who on earth brought anything like this into school?" Sudo yelled, tossing the magazine.
His shout drew the entire class's attention. The class, which was previously vacant, has mysteriously filled with pupils.
And they're all gazing this way, which made me uneasy. What was more unsettling were the females' looks that our group was drawing.
Because, now that the magazine was out in the open, the contents were apparent to the girls in the class, and when they saw that, they looked at us as if we were scums-
-not just any scum, but the worst scum in the world.
After this new development there was just one question in my mind- What prompted me to accept Sudou's invitation?
The girls who were staring at us inexplicably were cursing us in perfect unison. At one point, I counted 11 of them saying "Die perverts" at once. In the midst of all of this, I noticed Kushida casting anxious glances our way.
She is indeed an angel, isn't she?
But now that I think about it, this scenario is pretty horrible. Despite my desire to make friends with this group, my motives have changed drastically in matter of seconds. But if I'm going to get dragged into this mess without doing anything, I have to do something, or else I'll be labelled a "pervert" for the rest of my high school career.
Just as I was about to attempt suicide as a result of the guilt I was experiencing. A speaker interrupted the class and drastically altered the atmosphere. The females who had been staring at us continually focused their undivided attention to the voice.
"Hello, everyone, and good morning," Ikeman Hirata, the class's favourite, remarked.
Just as bees are drawn to flowers. The girls' attention was entirely concentrated on Hirata. I recognised my opportunity and quickly exited the scene. Following that, I noticed Hirata being overwhelmed by the class's female population. I made a mental pledge to myself as I looked at him.
Hirata, you are my hero. I will be eternally grateful to you.
After that, I made another promise to myself: I would stay as far away from Ike and Yamauchi as possible.
People are similar to stained-glass windows. When the sun shines, they glitter and shine, but when the darkness falls, their real beauty is shown only if there is a light from inside.
Sudou's initial reaction demonstrates that, unlike the two of them, he is not a complete degenerate. If there is a light within this hot-headed "friend" of mine, I should try to uncover it for both of our sakes in this different environment.
So I decided I needed to do something to keep him from being involved with them. I patted his shoulder and indicated with my head towards my seat, inviting him to follow me. He picked up on my cues and willingly followed me.
"What were those fools thinking when they brought something like that into the school? I expected a manga or anything along those lines, but it was a filthy porn magazine. They're insane," Sudou added.
Manga ?
"Sudou, calm down. Well, at least we were able to get away from there." I responded.
"I think you're correct," he responded.
"If we hadn't, girls may have drilled a hole in our skulls with simply glares," I told him.
"Yeah yeah, look at those cretins acting as if nothing happened." Sudou saw the group of guys who appeared untouched by the event.
"It seems you have actually made some friends, huh." A voice interrupted my discourse, and the owner of the voice sat next to me without looking at us.
"Good morning, Horikita," I answered, dismissing her remark about my social life.
"Good morning," she said back.
"Well, I guess I'll have to go now," Sudou replied, realising that we couldn't continue our chat near Horikita.
"All well, see you later," I said.
My talk with Sudou came to an end, and he returned to his seat.
After that I went to my seat and sighed and thought about the activities I have done today and after arriving in this school in general, while looking out of window. I have met several kind of people which was totally new to me, yet it was a joyful experience.
Now, I can't say that all these meetings were joyful or advantageous to me, but just meeting people my age was enough for me. This is just one of those different aspects of society I wished to witnessed.
-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-
After some minutes, Chabashira came, and the classes for the first year officially started.
We spent the most of our time going through course goals. Many of the pupils were apparently astonished, if not little disappointed, by how truly kind and welcoming the teachers at this school appeared.
Sudou had already made a spectacle of himself by sleeping for the most of the lesson. I expected the professors to notice, but they showed no evidence of doing so. After all, it was up to each individual student whether or not to listen in class. I wondered whether this was how teachers usually engaged with kids after they finished obligatory school.
I absorbed in the casual environment, and before I knew it, it was noon. Students rose up and walked away with their new friends, vanishing from view. As I watched them, I couldn't help but feel a little envy. Unfortunately,
"How pitiful."
Only one person had recognised how I was feeling, and she responded to my anguish with mocking laughter.
"What? What's so pitiful?" I inquired.
"I'd want someone to invite me. I'd like to eat with someone! Your ideas are open like a book," Horikita observed.
"But you're also alone, aren't you? Have you ever had the same thought? Or do you intend to stay here for three years without making a single friend?" I explained to her.
"That's correct; I like to be alone." She responded swiftly and without hesitating. It sounded like she was being truthful. "Why don't you quit worrying about me and focus on yourself? After all, I am not the one whose friends have abandoned him."
"Well, I..."
I remained mute since I had nothing to say in response to her remark. Hirata requested someone to accompany him to the cafeteria for lunch, and as I was about to raise my hand, females began to congregate around Hirata one by one, and I lowered my hand. Ichinose was seen joining his gang; I can't blame her; after all, Hirata is one of those all-around excellent men.
Kushida went to lunch with her own group of friends. Sudou, on the other hand, left class as soon as the bell rang. So, even though he was alone, he didn't have to go through what I was going through.
In this school, I had three friends, and none of them invited me, even though I knew it was my fault for not acting first, and now I'm sitting here alone.
"What a tragedy."
Horikita, who had seen my failure to join Hirata's group earlier, mocked me. I chose to ignore her professionally harmful statements rather than confront her.
But then it dawned on me.
She is looking forward to my invitation, isn't she?
What a circuitous way to appeal! Horikita does have a charming side, after all.
It's unavoidable; I'll assume I'll be the guy here and take the initiative.
"Would you want to join me for lunch, Horikita?" I inquired of her.
"I refuse," she stated flatly.
An instantaneous rejection, huh...? I guess I was way off the mark on that one.
After that, I sat down at my desk and pretended to sleep to keep her from remarking on my sorry state any more. In my brain, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 played, music that portrayed the impression of humanity escaping pursuing monsters and the despair that comes at the end of the world. It was the ideal complement at the time.
"Don't you think it's horrible to sleep in broad daylight and ignore your surroundings?" Horikita added another comment.
Huh, that was not Horikita. It was a familiar voice, but I didn't expect to hear it just now.
I raised my head to see who was speaking and was surprised with a lovely face with two stunning blue orbs hanging over my face. When I raised my head, the gap between us shrank to a few inches.
'Too Close'
After that, Ichinose went back and said, "Wakey, wakey, Ayanokouji-kun. It's time to rise and shine." She said that in a childish manner.
There were some male students in the class. When Ichinose said those words, everyone's attention was drawn to us. I sensed killing intent coming from my male classmates, who clearly wanted to score on Ichinose.
Before I could comprehend what was going on, her face was again near to mine, attempting to determine whether or not I was truly asleep. She groaned and resumed chatting after getting some distance between our faces.
The killing intent from earlier just increased tenfold.
"Just wake up now. How could you fall asleep in only minutes?" She stated.
In her beautiful voice, she begged me to wake up, although I was not truly asleep.
But wait a minute....
What exactly is she doing here?
Didn't she went with Hirata's group?
"Ichinose, what are you doing here?" I inquired of her.
"Well, I was going to the cafeteria with my friends. Would you mind joining me and my friends?" She stated.
Wasn't she already on her way to the cafeteria? Don't tell me she returned to invite me. If this is the case,
She truly is a goddess.
In this moment, every word she spoke was echoing in my soul. Her lips was like a spring of ecstasy.
If I hadn't had greater emotional control, I would have yelled this line to the top of my lungs. Well, I should answer her and don't let her keep hanging without a response.
"Ahh, sure, sure. I don't have anything scheduled anyhow," I told her.
"Alright! That's fantastic." She stated it enthusiastically, a big smile on her face.
Ichinose invited Horikita to join us for lunch while I was thanking the gods for such a wonderful friend and wiping my imaginary tears. Horikita graciously declined, and went to her own business. She seemed irritated as she glanced at me.
Is she upset because I accepted Ichinose's offer and she now has to have lunch alone?
My, my, aren't you adorable, Horikita?
If I could, I would have given her the most smug smile she had seen in her whole life.
I made my way to the cafeteria with Ichinose after giving Horikita one more look, which resulted in her twitching her eyelids. Ichinose told me about her suspicions about the generosity teachers were showing during the class and its connection to our points, to which I gave some of my comments. We had some small chat along the way after that brief debate, and I think the stroll with her was pleasurable, to say the least.
-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-
Author Notes
Words : 3,886 words
Characters : 21,507 characters
See ya, in next week's episodes of
𝕴𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝕳𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖎
𝕽𝖔𝖚𝖙𝖊 𝕯
Until then, sayonara.