"Have fun at school!"
His mother's words enthusiastically rang through the hall as Ayato put on his shoes and slipped on his coat. Before he left the house, he turned to give his parents a small smile, hoisting his bag on his shoulders and waving them as he walked out. The moment he turned around and heard the sound of the door closing and the lock turning, he dropped his smile, wearing his neutral expression instead.
Whenever his parents weren't in sight, Ayato didn't bother to continue the act. After all, the only person he was pretending to be normal for was his father. As long as he wasn't around, Ayato saw no need to please others by pretending to be normal. Still, it was his first day back at school since the summer break, and Ayato figured he'd try to keep up with the rest of his class to keep his father happy. He didn't want his parents to find out he didn't attempt to make any friends. His mother continued to nag him for not going outside enough and never bringing any people home. Although Ayato wasn't the type to socialize, he figured getting acquainted with one or two people couldn't hurt.
As he rounded the corner of his street, the high bush blocking his view from seeing any further, he was startled to find himself bumping into something hard. Before he could catch himself, Ayato lost his balance and fell to the floor, landing on his butt. As he let out a hiss of pain, he lifted his gaze, trying to make out what it was that made him fall.
There, standing before him, was an orange-haired guy wearing a surprised expression that quickly morphed into a grumpy one. Before Ayato had the time to recover, a snappy voice called out to him, taking him out of his trance.
"Watch out where you're going!" The guy called out, propping his arm on his hips. "Don't you look where you're walking before charging ahead blindly?"
Ayato had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the remark. As he attempted to sit up, he let out a grunt, lifting his arms to see them covered in scratches. Guess the fall did a bigger number on him than he thought. All kinds of tiny wounds covered his pale arms as a result of the impact, and Ayato noticed a bigger gash that was starting to bleed. As he thought over what to do, wondering if he should head to the nurse's office at school right away, a gasp caught his attention. He lifted his gaze to look at the guy before him, noticing him staring at his wounds.
His expression seemed to have changed as his face became increasingly worried, a slimmer of guilt in his eyes. "Are you alright?" The guy asked as he kneeled down, seeming to regret his previous behaviour. He reached his hand out, either to help him up or examine the damage, but Ayato swatted his hand away before he could reach him.
"I'm fine," Ayato curtly responded, turning his head away. "Can you step away? You're preventing me from getting up."
Surprised, the male nodded, "O-okay." He stood up, taking a step back, but not before extending his hand again. Feeling slightly annoyed at the situation, Ayato wanted to ignore him, but upon closer look, he noticed the other was feeling bad about everything. Reluctantly, Ayato decided it couldn't hurt to give in as he grabbed the other's hand, pulling himself up to stand upright.
As he dusted his clothes off, he noticed the other was watching him intently. A quick glance told him that he had something to say. Ayato raised his eyebrow as he looked at the male. "Are you okay? You seem pretty shaken up."
"What?" The man asked in surprise, "Oh! No, I just...It looks like it hurts." His gaze was drawn to Ayato's arms, prompting the man to turn the wounds away from his eyes. "Don't worry about it. It was an accident." Having said that, Ayato began to walk ahead, resuming his walk to school as a voice grabbed his attention.
"Wait!" The man called out, rushing after him. In an effort to stop him, he grabbed Ayato's arm, accidentally gripping onto his wounds. The sensation of pain shot through him as Ayato recoiled, pulling his arm out of the embrace as he hissed. Ayato squinted his eyes, waiting as the burning sensation washed away before glaring at the other.
"What?!" Ayato didn't mean to snap at the other as he angrily called back at him. His voice startled the other as he withdrew, unsure of himself. "Y-you should get that treated."
"I know," Ayato said, barely refraining from sighing or raising his voice. "I'll do that once I get to school, so can you let me go now?"
"School?" The other sounded surprised and looked Ayato up and down as if he were seeing him for the first time. His eyes lit up in realization as he recognized the uniform. "You go to Akademi as well?!"
Ayato was confused at the spontaneous outburst before he took a moment to look at the other properly. The orange-haired male was wearing his school's signature uniform, adorned with the logo of their emblem. In addition to the uniform, the male wore his hair in a half ponytail and touched his uniform up a bit to suit his style.
As Ayato realized he was conversing with a fellow student from his school, the other seemed to have put the puzzle pieces together as well. "That's good! I- I mean, that means I'll be kind enough to bring you to the nurse's office, and then we're even. Understood?"
The man exclaimed the last part as he pointed his finger at Ayato, his cheeks turning pink. Figuring he didn't have a choice, as the man looked guilty enough, Ayato nodded. He was going to the office anyway. Might as well bring a student along.
"Fine," Ayato agreed, "Let's just go already."
"Okay!" The other seemed fired up now, rushing to get to school before gasping in realization. "Wait! We have to wait for my friend. He should be here any minute now."
Ayato stopped as he looked at the other, the stinging sensation of his wounds increasing. He sighed and clasped his face. "When is he coming?"
"S-soon!" the orange-haired man stuttered, looking around frantically. As if on cue, another person emerged from around the corner, and Ayato was surprised to see another student from their school. This person, however, had softer features and appeared more calm, with black hair and black eyes.
He waved at them, and as he neared them, he looked at Ayato with a smile, surprised to see someone else.
"Hey, Osano. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"
The question seemed to have struck Osano with silence, who struggled to come up with an answer. Saving him the pity, Ayato gave a small bow. "My name's Ayato Aishi."
"Nice to meet you, Aishi-kun. I'm Taro Yamada." Taro introduced himself with a smile.
Ayato nodded, "You too, Yamada-kun."
Osana had been watching the entire interaction in silence before both heads turned to him, startling him. "H-hey Taro, where were you? You're late!" the orange-haired man reminded him as the other chuckled, scratching his face. "Sorry. Mom was packing some lunch, and before I knew it, I was running late. I tried to get here as fast as possible."
"We should get going if we don't want to be late for school," Ayato commented as Taro nodded. "You're right, let's not waste time standing around and go."
"You're one to talk," Osana grumbled as the three started walking together in the direction of the school. As they were walking, Taro turned to Osana. "How did you guys meet? I don't remember hearing about Aishi-kun before."
Osana struggled, "Well, I-."
"We just met," Ayato interrupted him, catching Osano's gaze. "We were walking in the same direction and noticed we were from the same school."
"I see," Taro nodded before smiling. "Well, I guess it's always nice to meet new people. Normally, it's just Osano and me. But if you don't mind, you can join us from now on and walk to school." Taro shifted his gaze to look at Osano, startling the other. "What do you think, Osano?"
"S-sure," The other agreed, blushing. "But don't expect me to wait up for any of you if you're late again."
"Sure, Osano," Taro chuckled, and Ayato shrugged, turning his gaze to face the road ahead of them. As the other two began conversing about a random subject, Ayato let his thoughts wander. He hadn't considered it until now, but it seemed that he was meeting new people on the first day of school already. Since Taro invited him to walk to school together, that must mean they were becoming friendly at the very least.
Somehow, that brought a sense of relief to Ayano, knowing he didn't have to lie about that aspect to his dad. Before they knew it, the three had reached the school gates, thankfully finding them open. As they switched their shoes and headed up the stairs, talking all the while, Ayato was surprised to find them walking together to the same class.
"You're in class 3B too, Aishi-kun?" Taro asked in surprise, facing the other, who nodded. "It seems so."
"That means we're classmates!" Osano chimed in as he turned to Ayato. "Prepare to see a lot more of me these days." He proudly stated.
Ayato simply nodded as he put his bag down on his usual seat, ignoring Osano's insistent staring. Eventually, he decided to oblige the other by sparing him a glance and raising an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong?"
"The nurse's office," Osano remarked. "Remember? We said we'd go together once we reached school."
In all honesty, Ayato had forgotten about that by the time they reached school, the pain had subsided in the meantime. Glancing at his wounds, he shrugged. "It's fine. It doesn't hurt anymore. I'll get them treated at home."
"No!" Osano exclaimed, catching Ayano's attention. "What if it gets infected? We should go now before the teacher arrives. After that, I won't nag you about it."
"You're hurt?" Taro sounded in surprise as he glanced at the others.
As Ayato looked at the two, he sighed, reluctantly giving in. Today, he was putting in more effort than he usually did.
"Okay, let's go." His words caused Osano's face to lit up as the boy nodded, "Alright! We'll be back soon, Taro!" Osano called out as the two left, leaving Taro in confusion as he watched them leave.
In a few minutes, during which Osano led them, the two had reached the nurse's office. As they stood before the door, Ayato took the time to take in the sight. It was a plain-looking door with a health poster plastered on it, talking about some tips for a healthy lifestyle. As Osano knocked on the door, a voice answered back from inside.
"Come in." The voice invited them, and Osano opened the door.
As the two stepped in, Ayato looked around, noticing that the room looked like a standard nurse's office. However, there was one difference that set it apart from any normal nurse's office. The room seemed to have a hint of pink in its decoration, some places more subtler than others, like the sheets on the bed and the colour of the walls. Not only that but as Ayato let his eyes wander, he saw that a lot of medical instruments were lying around, from syringes to bandages.
He figured that having a bunch of dangerous tools lying out in the open was clumsy before realizing that the nurse was just as clumsy.
"What can I help you guys with?" The nurse asked as he stepped forward. Ayato glanced aside to see a pink-haired male dressed in a standard nurse uniform. The older man kindly smiled at them as he walked towards them, not noticing a set of bandages lying around on the floor. His face turned shocked as he tumbled to the floor, unable to catch himself as his feet strung up.
"Watch out!" Ayato called out, pushing Osano aside and reaching his arms out. As he collided with the impact, Ayato fell backwards for the second time that day, landing on his sore butt as he sat on the floor. Ayato grit his teeth through the pain, opening his eyes to stare directly into the eyes of the nurse lying on him.
Thankfully, Ayato took most of the impact, and the nurse looked at him in surprise and shock. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" the nurse pushed himself off Ayato, panicking. "I'm always so clumsy. Are you alright?"
"I...I'm fine." Ayano managed to utter as he grasped his arms. This prompted the nurse to grab his arms, shifting them to get a better look at the wounds. "Did this happen before? It must hurt a lot now. Here, let's get you treated."
As the nurse instructed him to sit on the bed while he went to gather supplies, Osano rushed to Ayato. "Aishi-kun, are you okay? That looked like it hurt."
Osano's face twisted into an expression of worry, and Ayato brushed it off. "I'm fine."
Seeing that he didn't believe him, Ayato feigned a smile. "It's cool, okay? Besides, I'll get treated right now, so I'll feel better in no time."
"Even so..." Osano uttered hopelessly.
"Don't stress yourself too much!" the nurse called out as he joined the two, placing his supplies on a trolley next to him. "I'll get you fixed and feeling better in no time!" He made quick work on his arms, starting with the disinfection of his wounds. As the nurse continued bandaging his arms, Ayato glanced at Osano. "You should get back to class. Otherwise, you're going to be late."
"But what about you?" Osano asked in worry.
"I'll be there before you know it. One of us has to let the teacher know anyway," Ayato hinted.
Osana hesitantly agreed, "Then...I'll let the teacher know."
"Alright."
"Meet you for lunch? You need to be there!" Osana insisted.
Ayato nodded, "Yeah, yeah, now go before Yamada-kun has to be the one explaining my absence."
Hearing those words, Osano nodded and left the room, not before waving the two off. As Ayato watched him go, he heard the nurse giggling beside him. With a questioning look, he turned to the male tending to his wounds.
"What a nice friend you got," the nurse commented with a smile. "It's nice to have people who care about you."
As Ayato took in the nurse's expression, he nodded. "I suppose."
"Also, I don't think we've met before," The nurse continued as he wrapped the bandages. Ayato nodded, and the nurse introduced himself. "I'm Mujo Kina."
"Mujo Kina. Kina-san." Ayato let the name roll around on his tongue. "My name is Ayato Aishi."
"Well, Aishi-san," Mujo began as he finished bandaging his wounds. "That should be alright for now. Make sure you don't scratch your wounds. There's a really bad gash there that was harder to cover up, but you should heal in no time."
"Thank you," Ayato nodded as he pulled his sleeves down, hoping to cover up. As Mujo began to clean up, Ayato stood and bowed before making his way out of the office.
"Come back soon, alright? I need to be able to check your wounds to see if they heal well." The nurse informed, and Ayato gave a nod.
As he made his way to class, he quietly sat back in his place, ignoring the looks of the others as the teacher continued his lecture. Thinking back to the events of the day, something told Ayato that the coming days would be different from the ones before the summer break.