More Than Eventful First Day

Monday, September 10th

I was sitting in class, my spot was on the far right and all the way at the back of the classroom. It was to be expected, seating plans are usually made to organize a class so that oftentimes, the unfilled spots in a non-full class would be at the back of the class. I wasn't paying much attention to what the teacher was saying, the textbook used was a different publisher from the one I was using in my previous school, but the materials that were covered stayed fairly the same. However, since I'd already gotten through the unit that was being taught, I let my mind drift around for a bit.

There were a fair number of glances from other students, not that I blame them, a student moving in during the second semester of the school year is certainly not a sight that one sees so often, especially considering this is also in the countryside. Hell, for all I know, the amount of people who did that nationwide is probably countable on two hands. Though I didn't let it get to me, it's something I eventually learned to just ignore. It wasn't as bad as the surprised expressions people had on their faces when they first saw my hair and name.

My eyes caught sight of the novel I placed on the corner of my table, it was still a bit wet from the accident this morning. Judging by how it looked, it should be dried soon, it would leave the paper feeling all weird and I hate that feeling, but since I might not even ever read it again, I didn't mind that much.

I sighed quietly. First day of school and this happened, it must be some kind of bad omen. I recalled the conversation that went down this morning.

"Sorry, I was rushing a bit." the boy in front of me said, there was a look of panic on his slightly chubby face, actually no, his entire figure was beefy, he wasn't fat, nor was he too muscular.

My head didn't exactly register what he said, that was because the two words "A boy" were still lingering around my head. Not that I hadn't seen a guy before in my life, I just found it to be a funny coincidence that it just so happened to be the words that I didn't manage to read before a boy appeared, bumped into me, and knocked the novel out of my hand. Perhaps I was dwelling on the thought too long, the guy in front of me who had been hanging his head a bit low to show his apology, started speaking up again, still keeping that panicking tone:

"I can buy you a new one!" he then looked at the cover of my novel "This book…I have a copy of it at my home, I can bring you it tomorrow to compensate!"

He was so quick to jump to the conclusion that I didn't even manage to get any word in after he offered to buy me a new copy "I-uh, no, it's okay." I held the novel right in front of him, it was so wet that I couldn't help but feel somewhat disgusted "I'm already done with it, I'm not really a big person on books anyway so I doubt I'll re-read it ever, so it's fine. Speaking of, you've read this?"

The guy finally looked straight at me instead of hanging his head down, like he was surprised I wasn't berating him. It was probably my deadpan face and my well-toned physique that gave him the impression that I was some guy who would snap at people for something so trivial. "Yes, I've read it! It's an interesting book. Still, I'm sorry for bumping into you, I was trying to get to school a bit early because I've got something important to do so I wasn't paying attention ahead of me."

I wasn't surprised to hear that he had already read it, after all, it was one of the most popular novels right now, people are still waiting for the third volume to be published, which was said to be the final volume. Hearing that he was rushing, I didn't keep him any longer here.

"Didn't you say that you have something important to do? I think it should be best if you get going."

"Well umm, aren't you going to…never mind." He then bowed down again "Again, I'm sorry!" and then he took off.

Was he going to finish that with something along the lines of "Aren't you going to make me pay for that?"

The bell rang and it was lunchtime. I headed toward the cafeteria just to be let down by the fact that there was no cafeteria. What that meant was I had to go through the rest of the day without having something to eat. I guess I forgot to check if the school had a cafeteria or not, I could've prepared a boxed lunch at home if I had known this beforehand.

There was no cafeteria, so students were spread around the school, going to their own spots to enjoy lunch either alone or with their friends. I was about to head back to class and try to take a nap to distract myself from the hunger when I felt someone wrapping their arms around my shoulders, I was about to turn back and tell them to know what privacy means but then before I could even take a good look at their face, their loud voice assaulted my ears.

"Yo!"

How can one word have so much impact on my ears, probably because he was right next to them, and he was about as energetic as a kid who just got his monthly allowance. Before he could say anything else, I knocked his hand off my shoulders and then looked to see who it was. It was the guy at the table next to mine in class, he was quite average-looking with nothing particularly of note, except the grin he had on his face, it was the type of grin that practically spelled out "I'm just looking out for people!", which was the kind of enthusiasm I found a bit overbearing.

"You are…" I purposefully stretched out the "are…" to give a subtle hint that I didn't know who he was but the guy just ended up staring at me like he was actually expecting me to be able to say his name, so it ended up being me awkwardly running out of breath and just asked him "Sorry, who are you?" in the end.

"I'm Kyouji." He extended his hand out for a handshake, and I reluctantly accepted it, I needed friends in this new school anyway "We sit next to each other in class, I saw you walking around the school instead of eating so I was wondering if you had brought something to eat." He asked.

It was undeniable that his over-enthusiasm could be a bit too much, but at the same time, it was undeniable that he just wanted to look out for a new kid like me. I smiled and then looked at the packed lunch he had on his other hand before replying:

"Absolutely not."

We went back to our class and subsequently, our seats. Kyouji handed me an onigiri and we talked while eating our food.

"Woah, so you guys live in that house?"

"Yeah."

"It looks so big, how does it feel to live inside there?"

I was about to say that it was average, though that would come off as like I'm intentionally being arrogant and a show-off, I had to remind myself that the houses here are smaller than the ones in the cities.

"I guess it does feel spacious, we actually have 2 spare rooms and my family is planning on turning one of them into a storage room."

Kyouji's eyes lit up, what I was describing must be something he hadn't seen before. Can't blame him, I'd react the same if I had never been to the big cities.

"If you want, you can come over this weekend. As a thank you for the onigiri today."

"Really? I mean it's just an onigiri so you didn't have to do this much."

I could tell Kyouji was really interested in the house, a small part of me was inviting him over out of formality as a repayment for the food, but I was grateful for the onigiri, nothing is worse than the feeling of having to go through the rest of the school day while feeling hungry.

"I don't mind. And my family certainly won't mind, on the contrary, they would be very happy and would end up saying something like 'We're so glad that you've already made some friends.' I know my mom would."

Kyouji pondered as if it was a decision that would severely changes the course of his life, then he nodded "Yeah, I'll be there. Sorry to bother you!"

I waved my hand slightly and dismissed it, saying it was no big deal.

"Oh, we have some clubs at the school if you're interested in joining any of them. I'm in the track and field club. We often train on Wednesday and Friday. Though even on days we don't have club practice, I still run around the track to improve my endurance. I'm aiming to become an athlete star!"

The topic of clubs had come up after I asked Kyouji what he would do after school. I didn't join any clubs back in the schools I studied in, this is because the places my family had stayed at offered so many activities that I couldn't find the need to do clubs.

"What clubs do you guys have?"

"There are quite a few of them, I can't remember them all. There is a list posted at the main hall that you can look at after school."

"I guess I'll check it out later."

We talked for a bit longer, it was just bantering but at least that means I've made friends with one person. The bell rang right soon after before class yet again continued. Classes were pretty much the same before lunch, I was spacing out for most of them because they were all things I've learned already. Once the bell which signaled the day had ended rang, we all stood up and got dismissed, Kyouji was offering to accompany me home since it was raining so he wouldn't do any practice, but I told him I would just spend a bit of time checking the clubs that were active today out and that I have my umbrella with me.

I made my way toward the main hall and while students were flocking out of the building with their umbrellas, I was standing there looking at the different clubs. There was the book club, the poetry club, the bonsai club, the tea club, the track and field club, the art club, and the movie club.

"Wait, none of these clubs operate on Monday." Kyouji probably wasn't aware of this since he's only in one club "Guess I'll head home, not that there's anything to do."

The rain outside was creating a light shroud of fog again, it was pretty chilly, I shivered for a bit before reaching for the side pocket of my backpack to grab my umbrella.

"Ok…" I had left my umbrella at home.

I didn't bring my phone to school so I can't call my parent, we weren't allowed to bring them to school anyway. I could run to the teacher's lounge and asked them to contact my parents but since I didn't want to make such an impression on my first day, I decided to just sit there at the entrance and wait for the rain to pass.

After around half an hour, the rain was still pouring, as I was about to cave in and go ask the teachers for help, a girl appeared next to me with an umbrella over my head saying in a cold but cool voice "Do you need it?"

Her appearance was so sudden that I was experiencing a minor heart attack but at least I suppressed the screaming down. "Won't you need it?" I asked, noticing that she was holding a canvas under her arm.

"Of course, I will, but since I will go past your place. I can at least drop you off."

The very moment she said that, red flags were being waved around inside my head. Who is this person? Why does she know where I live?

"Calm down," She said, but her deadpan voice didn't help, and it was about to break my deadpan face "I sit in front of you in class. I also ate my lunch there and caught snippets of your conversation involuntarily. I was discussing something with our art teacher after school so that's why I'm still here."

"Oh." I muttered, seriously, what's up with the people here? If Kyouji was too energetic, then this girl right in front of me was on the opposite side of the spectrum. It felt like a cliché almost.

"So?"

"Well, uh, sure. Thank you. I can hold the umbrella for you." I offered, it would be weird to let her hold the umbrella after offering to help me, not even considering the fact that she was keeping a canvas on her too.

"No worries, it's fine."

It kind of damaged my ego as a guy, but if I pestered her to give me the umbrella, it would break that image even more. So, I stayed silent and just walked with her.

Once we reached my place, she looked at the house, and just like Kyouji, I could tell she was also interested in it, albeit she was more subtle with her reaction. Learning to pick up people's reactions toward things was something I naturally learned from interacting with so many people from many different places.

Though, I can't just invite her to my place. First, I'm a guy. Second, I don't know her. In fact, I didn't even notice she existed until she offered to help, she was so unnoticeable in class that she just completely slipped off my mind despite being right in front of me. Third, I can only invite her over on the weekend, which is the same time as Kyouji.

"Can I come over this weekend too? I want to know what it's like inside."

I took a moment to process what she had just said, is this girl for real? She had some guts to ask something like that.

"You know…I think you should use a bit more common sense." I said, but as if what I said went completely over her head, she just looked at me, still waiting for an answer "I mean, you can come over if you want, that's up to your choice."

In all honesty, her look was stressing me out. With that said, she just left me an "I see." and then left the place.

I entered my place, shouting "I'm home." before taking off my shoes and going up to my room. I took a nice hot shower before changing into my casual clothing. That was when I realized I just invited a girl over to my place whose name I didn't even know yet.