Tomorrow is an exciting day.
I, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, am a 16 year-old boy who's entering his first year of high school.
I've lived what I think most people would call a normal childhood. For as long as I remember, my parents have taken extremely good care of me, raised me to be a good person, as well as encouraged me to do well in school. As I am an only child, they gave me their attention all the time, making sure I was doing okay. I will forever be grateful for them. I know they have worked really hard to be able to afford to live in relatively comfortable conditions.
As a result, I've always done well in school. Well, that might be an understatement. The truth is I've always been one of the top students in my year, always doing well in exams. I'm quite academically gifted, if I do say so myself. I've never been the type to study day and night for an exam, but I've always gotten great marks. Those who do study all night might be jealous of me but hey, the world was always unfair.
Not to make them more jealous, but I'm also physically gifted, in more ways than one.
Of course, what I mean is that I'm good at running, swimming, and many other sports. I mean, what else could I have meant?
Although I'm good at many things, I can't say that I'm passionated about anything. The things I do are more like hobbies than anything. I mean, I guess I play video games with my friends in my free time? Is that a passion? Well, I suppose I do read mangas and light novels, play chess, and sleep. Sometimes I hang out with my friends outside, or even go to fireworks festivals with pretty girls if I'm lucky.
It's a pretty good life if you ask me.
On a more serious note, I'm really excited to be starting high school. First of all, many of my friends are attending this school with me. Second of all, this school is one of, if not the best in the prefecture. Third of all, this period is what many would call the golden years of youth, where you enjoy your high school life to the fullest, before heading off to go to university, potentially leaving behind your friends and family.
The thought of that makes me a bit sad. That's why I will do my best to enjoy my high school life. These three years will be the best years of my life! I will make new friends, get a pretty girlfriend, maybe even join a club.
After all, I have all the time in the world.
Well, that's what I thought up until recently.
Recently, my parents suggested I should consider get a part-time job. After turning 16 in October, I could legally work part-time, meaning I could start bringing money to the family. Although our family had enough money to live, we were by no means rich. Our good living conditions were thanks to the hard work of both my parents. That is why I decided to help them by getting a part-time job myself.
After searching online for potential part-time jobs and doing interviews, I finally landed a part-time job at a bookstore close to the center of Tokyo that was a fifteen-minute bike ride away from our house. My parents were delighted after I told them I got the job. Making them proud made me happy.
Unfortunately, this meant that I had less free time, but I wasn't complaining. After all, the decision to get a part-time job was mine in the end. It wasn't the end of the world. It just meant I had less time to play video games with the gang, Eiichiro, Shiro and Takuya, hang out with Ichika, Nanase and Yuki, or go to Arisu's house to play chess.
On the other hand though, my part-time job was actually quite fun. Rearranging the books, helping the customers find what they need, working as a cashier, it was basically like a real-life video game to me. Not only that, there was this female senior of mine at work who had many shifts in common with me. She would help me if I had trouble with anything. Although she often likes to tease me, she is a caring senior.
In other words, I'm really happy with my life at the moment.
Right now, I'm eating dinner with my mom and dad in the living room of our house. We lived in a peaceful neighborhood. There were plenty of parks nearby, as well as a train station that was only few minutes away. Although I rarely take the train, having a train station nearby was a great convenience. I usually take the bike wherever I go, especially if it's a short distance, but this will change starting tomorrow. That is because the school I'm going to, ANHS, had its own train station, which made going there extremely convenient for me. I only had to walk a few minutes, take any train that heads in the direction of ANHS, and that was that.
"Are you ready for tomorrow, Kiyo?" my mom asked me, "Did you prepare your bag? Is your uniform clean?"
"Mika, I think he's old enough to take care of himself," my dad reassured her as he chuckled.
"Hey, don't say that! I don't want to see my little Kiyo grow up so fast!"
"Don't worry Mom, I'm all prepared for the big day tomorrow," I also reassured her as I nodded confidently.
"Also, it's only the first day," I added, "There isn't much I can prepare for. I just hope I'm in the same class as my friends."
"Well, even if you're not with them, you could always meet them during lunch, or even make new friends," Dad said. He was also a cool and collected person, I admired that about him.
"I hope you're in the same class as Arisu-chan!" Mom cried out.
The Ayanokoji family and the Sakayanagi family were close. After all, Arisu's dad is a great friend of mine, and her mom gets along really well with mine. It wasn't rare for them to come over or for us to go to their house for dinner.
"Speaking of Arisu-chan, her dad is the chairman of the school, so he should know the class arrangements, perhaps you can ask her if he told her the classes," Dad joked.
"I doubt he would tell her that though, he takes his work seriously and is a real professional," he added.
"By the way, do you need me to make your lunch tomorrow, Kiyo?" Mom asked me.
"There's no need, Mom, it's only the first day, like I said. It will only be ceremonies and an hour or two of homeroom. The day will end around noon. That being said, I might go eat lunch with some friends after, I'll let you know."
"No worries, your father and I will only comeback in the late afternoon as usual anyway, so do as you wish."
We continued chatting and slowly finished eating the delicious dinner my mom prepared. We then watched TV for a bit. Well, it was only my parents who were watching TV. I was playing around with my phone while they watched the news channel. I saw that I had received few messages from the boys.
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THE BOYS
Anyone wanna game tonight? At like 8:15 ish?
7:47PM [Eiichiro]
I'm down
7:49 PM [Shiro]
Count me in
7:50 PM [Takuya]
Nice, what about you Kiyo? Please say yes
7:52 PM [Eiichiro]
I guess I have to carry you guys again
I'm jumping on the game after I take my shower
8:01 PM [You]
Nice
8:02 PM [Shiro]
Nice
8:03 PM [Takuya]
Nice
8:03 PM [Eiichiro]
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I quickly took my shower, brushed my teeth, and then head to my room.
"Don't stay up too late playing games, Kiyo!" Mom cried out from the living room.
"I won't! Good night Mom and Dad!" I cried back before heading closing the door to my room and turned on my PC.
Putting on my headphones that had a built-in microphone functionality, I opened LINE on my PC. My friends were already in a call, it seemed like they were waiting for me.
"Sup," I casually said when I joined the call.
"Yo Kiyo."
"Let's go, the squad is complete."
"What games do you guys want to play?"
"The new Cry of Duty dropped a few days ago, anyone want to try it? It's on the Ybox Game Pass."
Naturally, as fellow gamers, we all had the Ybox PC Game Pass.
"I'm down, let's do that."
Collectively, we agreed to test out the new Cry of Duty that came out recently. The game was unsurprisingly similar to previous versions, the only major difference being the map and some game modes and the new ranking system. The game mechanics didn't change much either, I still had a high K/D ratio, compared to Eiichiro who's kind of trash at these FPS games.
"New game, same Eiichiro," Shiro sighed as Eiichiro died again.
"Hey, leave me alone, I'm still getting used to the brand new game mechanics!" he made up a lame excuse that even he knew wouldn't pass.
"You guys ready for school tomorrow?" Takuya asked.
"I'm so hyped, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight," Eiichiro said.
"Same, I hope high school will be fun," I agreed.
"I hope we're in the same class, what about you Takuya? You're entering your last year of middle school, how do you feel?"
Indeed, Takuya was one year younger than us. The reason we became close friends with him was that he was in the video games club in middle school with Shiro. Slowly, he started hanging out with us and playing games with us. Before we knew it, he became a part of our gaming squad.
"It's not going to be the same without you guys around, I'll have to wait one year to be with you guys again," he said with a tone of sadness.
"Well, at least we'll still be able to play games together."
"Yeah, don't get too lonely, you should make some new friends, friends your age," Shiro chuckled.
"Well, I guess I'll have no choice," Takuya admitted.
Our casual conversation continued on as we played game after game. Before we knew it, it was almost midnight.
"Crap, it's this late already?"
"Let's stop here for today guys."
"Alright."
"See you tomorrow, Eiichiro and Shiro. As for you, Takuya, good luck," I greeted them goodbye and we all logged off the game and ended the call.
These were the little moments I loved about the days of my peaceful life. Whether it be gaming with the boys, walking home with classmates, playing chess with Arisu, exchanging banter with Yuki, eating dinner with my parents, or laying in my bed reading books.
Tomorrow though, I will start my high school life. It's an exciting new start.
I sure hope tomorrow goes well, I thought to myself as I started dozing off.
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Author's Notes:
This marks the end of the prologue. I hope you liked it!
Thanks for reading!