A/N: It's time for another scout centered story, but instead of Raimon this time the main location is a school somewhere in Okinawa. I couldn't take Captain away from the sea... That would be mean to the king of the seven seas!
You weren't like this all the time. The boy I knew was insecure and a real coward.
It was the first day of school. When the first new friendships are formed and the first prejudices toward new classmates are made. It starts the creation of closed groups what usually leave out the weakest or most different links from the chain of friends. The process almost always begins with the short introductions. What really was on stake here was the delusive first impression and Kabutenji managed to screw it up on his first try. Apart from him, almost everyone had been able to create a good or somewhat satisfying introduction taking their favourite hobbies, family members, animals and dogs into accounting. But when he got there, standing in front of the class, the only words he could utter to the bored crowd was:
"I- I love penguins!" he stammered rather uncertainly as if he wasn't sure what he should say to them even after hearing almost twelve beautiful example.
Unfortunately this fact impressed a very minimal part of the class. Yet some people already started giggling and whispered "piddling penguin" amongst number of other jokes.
"If you want penguin then go to the Zoo. They're extinct on Okinawa. You're a little lost, no?" shouted someone from the back row, but the teacher immediately had him shut up when she threw a piercing glare at him.
"First I thought you had some kind of aberration for walking like that, but you've only imitated the penguins" said the next, then the third joined in and the class started swarming at him. At that time Kabutenji lost all control over his introduction and without a proper closing, he walked back to his seat as if it were the only safe place for him. His only desire was to escape right after the end of class so he could forget his failing.
In the distance a pair of brown eyes followed him as he hurried back to his seat and right after Kabutenji sat down, that person started poking him with a pen. Kabutenji only turned at the umpteenth attempt and finally paid attention to the unfamiliar feeling in his back.
"Hey, hey! Do you like king or emperor penguins?" asked the dark haired boy in a pretty normal tone. His voice was free from ill feelings and only betrayed mere curiosity.
Kabutenji hasn't answered. For him this was just one of the negative comments. It never occurred to him that the curious smile was truly genuine. When the boy called Kurosawa Kenta went out to introduce himself, he caused a big surprise for him and the whole class. The boy's glare almost froze the atmosphere in the class, making even the slightest breaths audible. He said his name and some background information, but before he went back to his seat he threw one last comment to the class:
"Be the way, I love penguins too."
At this sentence he directly looked at Kabutenji.
That was the final word. Kabutenji made a vow that he will never talk to the kid named Kurosawa. No. he won't speak either of his classmate. He wondered if his parents would allow him to transfer to a new school. For some reason he felt that there is a really long year ahead of him.
"Come on! Why did you have to ruin it?" whined the boy sitting next to Kurosawa while punching him in the arm. He still waited for his introduction, but it seemed he had planned out his whole speech. "Now it will be half as much fun teasing that scaredy cat!"
"So?" asked back Kurosawa with a serious expression. "What's so funny and weird in liking penguins? Care to tell me?"
"It's..." he hesitated. The boy had to think really hard about a reason. "Just imagine how funny would be his expression!"
"Saruwatari. Shut up."
"But if I die of boredom because of you-"
Kabutenji listened to their conservation in disbelief then suddenly the conversation was stopped by a huge thud. The class turned around as one person to observe the events, but they must've missed something because Kurosawa was sitting there as if nothing had happened, while Saruwatari rested his head on the table while moaning in pain. The teacher asked them if everything was alright at their desk. Kurosawa just nodded with an empty expression.
After they weren't in focus anymore the dark-haired boy remarked quietly:
"If you're bored, find yourself a hobby, but leave others out of it."
Kurosawa's presence was like a demon's in the tiny classroom and this made Kabutenji more worried like the rest of his classmates. He was sure, it's enough to turn his back once and he gets a nice kitchen knife into it. Or Kurosawa will cut his throat.
Distance. Yes, he has to keep the respectable distance.
The only question is: How? They're sitting way to close for that.
A/N: I hope you liked it and you'll keep following this silly story. As always reviews are welcomed and highly appreciated.