Chapter One
Monday, April 12
Voices around him, a mixture of eclectic tones and words chosen specifically to express the feelings of annoyance and dread that accompanied the day.
He felt someone push him from behind. Some idiots roughhousing or more likely, first years trying to appear cool. It was a typical and predictable action yet still it warranted many to stop and stare, chuckling and unintentionally condoning their behavior.
He frowned and took a step forward as the person in front of him moved out of the way, expressing deep relief at their newfound information. Routinely, he stuck his finger at the top of the "S" list and ran it down, whispering the names under his breath. "Saiji, Saigo, Saju…" he peered closer, his eyes narrowing. Then he found it, just another black stain on the long roll of white.
Sakamoto Takeshi, classroom 2-C.
He heard a loud ringing as soon as his eyes lifted from the paper. "Crap, the warning bell…" he realized. The catalyst that would stimulate an ongoing rush toward the class listings on the bulletin board. Quickly scooting to the side to avoid getting crushed, Takeshi heard the slam of something, or in this case someone, hitting the bulletin board flat. He guessed it was face first.
He didn't bother to stick around and watch. He'd seen enough crowd hysteria on television.
Takeshi gripped the handle of his suitcase tightly as he hurried up the stairs to the second year floor. "I should still have some time…" he thought anxiously. The warning bell rang approximately five minutes before the school day started. He only wasted about a minute climbing up the stairs. That left him four minutes. Plenty of time to find his classroom and take a seat before all the good ones got hoarded.
His eyes shot up to the right corner of every door, scanning for the white sign that acted as a label for the room the door directed to. "Okay, 2-C, there it is." Takeshi thought in relief as his eyes caught the telltale sign. With his free hand he grabbed the handle of the door that he stopped in front of and slid it open hastily. It made a scraping sound then a bang as it hit the wall adjacent. Hopefully no one heard that.
Walking in cautiously as if the place was booby trapped, Takeshi surveyed the room like a general surveying the warfield. Most of the desks were already taken, he saw that, but it was mostly in the back though so Takeshi paid it no mind. Choosing a desk was an art form. It took a precise eye to locate a desk where one would be able to have an ample view of the chalkboard yet still maintain a fair distance from the teacher. He looked around carefully for a moment before settling for a desk in the far left side of the room, right next to the window. Perfect, exactly around the middle of the classroom and not in direct sight of the teacher. It would do.
After looking out to admire the view of the track, Takeshi set his suitcase on his desk and with both thumbs, flicked the latches open. He pushed the top up and set the bars on the sides straight so it would remain up. Blanks faces of paper met his, pens neatly organized in the corner. It would be a while before it was cluttered with notebooks and folders, pens shoved into anywhere they could fit as he left in the rush of the bell. Takeshi admired the undisturbed sight for a while, double checking at the same time to see if he had left anything at home.
"Oh, Takeshi-san?" He heard a voice ask, soft and friendly like. He glanced over quickly to whomever it was who said his name. His eyes immediately glazed over, his throat becoming dry.
With her long blonde hair kept together by a sash tied around her head like a headband, her brown eyes stared at him inquisitively. He noted that her hair spilled over her shoulders like a deluge onto the front of her school uniform which Takeshi saw was neatly worn and nicely fitted. There was no mistaking it; no one else could manage to acquire such an air of refinement. Meet Student Council Vice-President, Akira Chiyoko.
She set her purse down one seat up from the desk directly across from his and turned her back to fix her belongings, giving Takeshi enough time to get composed. When Akira turned her back around to look at him, he was ready, like a warrior geared for battle. His weapons: past experience and small talk.
"Oh, hey there, Akira-san!" Takeshi greeted, "So it looks like we're classmates this year, huh?"
Akira took her seat, tucking her pleated skirt under her legs, "I would think so, seeing how we're both here." She chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand lightly. Takeshi laughed along with her, mostly to appear polite, and didn't stop until she had. "Did you have a nice break?" Akira asked as soon as she was finished.
Takeshi shrugged. "It was alright…nothing special…" He answered, attempting to appear indifferent. He looked back at her expectantly, "How about you? Do anything special over break?"
"Not really…" Akira replied a bit sadly, "Just prepping for that big homecoming assembly tomorrow…" Her eyes suddenly lit up with the spark of a new idea, "Oh, speaking of which, are you going to be in Student Council again this year?"
"Not sure." Takeshi answered with a small smile, "I'm thinking of concentrating more on my studies this year…though I'm sure you won't have to worry about that…" he added jokingly.
Akira frowned playfully, "Now what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're a complete genius, Akira-chan!" A boy said, jumping over the chair in front of him to take the desk behind Akira. He looked around smugly as he hooked his backpack on the side of the desk and took a seat, "Huh, snagged it before anyone else did. I'm surprised this seat wasn't taken yet, considering present company." He grinned playfully at Akira and ran a hand through his spiked brown hair.
"Satoshi-san!" Akira said in surprise.
"Aw come on, Akira!" The boy said with a defeated scratch of his head, "We were in homeroom last year too! Just call me Satoshi or Satoshi-kun if you prefer."
Akira raised her eyebrow skeptically, "As you say, Satoshi." She said, "Oh, have you met Takeshi-san? He and I were in Student Council together last year." She turned to look at Takeshi, sideways in her seat. "Takeshi, this is Satoshi Youta…He was a classmate of mine last year as well."
"How you doing, man?" Satoshi grinned, extending a hand across the aisle. Politely, Takeshi accepted it. He immediately regretted doing so as he felt Satoshi's constrictor hold nearly crush his fingers. It was a brief second yet his fingers throbbed as he retracted his hand back onto his lap while he groaned inwardly.
"Is something the matter?" Satoshi asked, cocking his head.
"Nothing besides you crushing my hand, you dumbass." Takeshi thought spitefully. He hid his hands under the desk and shook his head. "Nope…" he said, rubbing his hand, "Nothing…"
"Cool." Satoshi nodded, "Hey did you guys hear who are homeroom teacher is this year?" he leaned forward eagerly, "It's Mr. Kimura! The new guy!"
"Ah, Kimura-sensei?" Akira asked, gaining interest, "I've heard he's very young…about twenty-eight if I'm not mistaken. He's supposed to be highly certified though…"
"Yeah, whatever." Satoshi waved her off dismissively, "Either way we still have a rookie teacher." He leaned back in his chair, snickering, "Sweet! Looks like a smooth ride all the way to summer vacation!"
"What is with this guy?" Takeshi thought to himself as he watched Satoshi fold his hands on the back of his head lazily. Everyone had heard of Satoshi, good or bad no one really specified. All that was common knowledge was that Satoshi was a demon when it came to the sport of track but not so much when it came to academics.
In layman's terms, he was the textbook "dumb jock" type and frankly, Takeshi wasn't surprised one bit.
Satoshi opened his mouth to say something again when the sliding door to the side of the front of the classroom opened. The classroom immediately became composed, students who had once been standing up and chatting now quietly seated at their desk. Takeshi eyed the door warily as a man walked in, presumably Mr. Kimura, their homeroom teacher, who Takeshi had just heard about not so long ago.
He did indeed look young like Akira had said. His sharp brown eyes shone with a type of intellectual curiosity, a sheen that told of educational naiveté and his black hair was messily arranged yet obviously fixed into looking so.
"Good morning, class!" he announced eagerly, walking up to the desk at the head of the room, "My name is Mr. Kimura and yes, the rumors are true. I am a first time teacher at Sotoguchu High School."
Takeshi heard Akira giggle. Looking over he saw Satoshi with a grin on his face, having just finished whispering something.
"Now if you haven't guessed," Takeshi's attention moved back to the teacher, "I will be your homeroom teacher for your class as well as the mathematics teacher. Here's hoping that we get along even if it's just for an hour a day." He chuckled to himself, possibly hoping that by doing so he would prompt the students into doing so as well. No one laughed.
Unfazed, Mr. Kimura continued, "So before we start class off, I'd like to introduce someone to the class. Like me, he's new to Sotoguchu so please try to make him feel at home here in class 2-C." He motioned to someone standing outside of the door and in stepped a young man, head slightly tilted downward so his whitish hair obscured his face.
"A transfer student?" Takeshi thought to himself. That was rare, considering the surrounding area. The town Sotoguchu high was located in, Wasakira, wasn't exactly one of the hotspots of Japan. Still, Takeshi himself knew that there were reasons people moved here. Reasons that they would rather not share or expect people to understand.
Mr. Kimura gestured to the boy as if displaying a museum exhibit, "Class this is Daniel Fujimo. He comes from overseas, North America to be exact." The class murmured with that newfound information. It wasn't everyday that a westerner came all the way to Japan. "Daniel, would you like to say something to the class?" Mr. Kimura offered.
Daniel had dark brown eyes, so dark that they verged on black like the color of coffee. They made him appear younger, Takeshi noted, when coupled with their large appearance and how they looked so mysterious and deep like an abyss.
"Hello…" Daniel said as way of introduction. He nodded politely but said no more, standing rigid at the front of the class. Awkwardness soon formed, palpable and suffocating as everyone wondered if that was all he had to say. Mr. Kimura, however, seemed to be completely oblivious to it.
"So Daniel, where exactly is it that you're from?" he chuckled, looking to the student eagerly. Daniel turned to look at him almost robotically, his body staying still while his head moved to face him.
"That," he began, "has no bearing on any present subject at the time." He answered monotonously. Takeshi raised an eyebrow. This transfer student was just appearing weirder and weirder as time went on. And he wasn't the only one.
"Fair enough. Everyone is entitled to their secrets." Mr. Kimura smiled as if oblivious to how completely awkward the situation was. "Now let's see if we can find you a seat." Immediately Takeshi tensed up as soon as the words escaped from his teacher's lips and slowly his eyes looked around to see if any seats around him were free.
The desk in front of him was empty. "Please not in front of me. Please not in front of me!"
"Ah, you can sit in front of…" Mr. Kimura looked at his roll sheet, "Sakamoto-san. Sakamoto-san, would you please raise your hand?" He asked, eyes lifting. All around Takeshi could visibly sense the other classmate's stares, either amused or pitying. With a sigh, he raised his hand barely above the top of his head, arm brushing the fringe of his orange hair.
"There you go, Fujimo. The desk right in the middle there." Mr. Kimura decided to point over to where the desk was, as if enough attention wasn't put on Takeshi already. Daniel nodded and slowly made his way over to the desk as if in a funeral procession, with slow and dreary movements.
With an increasing feeling of discomfort, Takeshi watched as Daniel sat down in front of him and placed his suitcase on the desk. Not wanting to appear rude, Takeshi leaned forward to whisper something.
"Glad that's over with, huh? I was the transfer student last year. I know how it is." He noticed that Daniel still continued to face forward, "So, yeah, welcome to Sotoguchu. I'm Takeshi."
He waited for Daniel to respond back while listening to the taps of chalk against the blackboard as Mr. Kimura began to write out his course description. Suddenly, Daniel turned around silently to face him. His dark brown eyes stared intensely at him, seeming to grow in size as the boy focused on Takeshi.
"Hey, are you okay?" Takeshi asked tentatively.
"I am." Daniel answered, still facing him.
"Well, why don't you say anything back?"
"Because," Daniel replied stoically, probing Takeshi with his eyes, "there's nothing to say."
The conversation ended there as Daniel turned back around. Takeshi felt bewildered and disoriented at the same time as if in a dark room where the lights instantly turned on. Looking at the boy in front of him, a sense of intimidation overcame him as he forced himself to divert his attention to the board.
"Weirdo…"
The rest of the day proceeded as did every first day of school. It was mostly a day of getting to know the teachers, what to expect, and catching up with friends. Soon Takeshi found it was the end of the day and frankly, he was glad the day went without anything out of the ordinary. Despite Daniel, that is.
As the final bell rang, Takeshi took silent breaths as Daniel got up and left his seat. As soon as the boy had passed through the door way with the sliding doors shutting behind him, Takeshi heaved with a deep exhale.
"So how is it sitting behind the transfer student?"
Takeshi looked to his right to see Satoshi grinning at him, leaning against his seat with his backpack already slung over his shoulder.
"It's…ah, alright I guess." Takeshi lied.
"Huh, yeah right. Everyone knows that kid is nuts, man. Better keep your distance or you'll catch it too."
"Now that's just mean." Akira got up from her seat, already having packed up her things, "Fujimo-san is probably just very shy."
"Or a nutcase." Satoshi suggested.
Akira shot him a disapproving look, "Maybe you should try to be nicer to the transfer student instead of creating outrageous conspiracy theories about him…"
"It was a joke, Akira." Satoshi said, rubbing his head.
"Well, it wasn't a very nice one. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hurry now." Akira hurried off in the direction of the door, clutching her purse underneath her arm.
"Where are you going in such a rush, Akira-san?" Takeshi called after her.
"I have to get to the-"Akira reached for the door handle only for it to slide in front of her. A young man appeared in the doorway, attempting to enter into the room at the same time Akira was about to leave it.
"Ah Akira, I was just looking for you." The young man at the door said.
"Oh, Mr. President!" Akira gasped and took a few steps back to allow the young man into the room, "What are you doing here? I was just about to head to the student council room myself!"
"I figured it would be faster to just come to your classroom." The young man looked around the classroom until his eyes locked with Takeshi's. "Oh Takeshi, you're in this class too?" he asked in genuine surprise.
Takeshi approached the pair with Satoshi following after him, "It's good to see you again Makoto-senpai." He nodded, smiling, "Congratulations on being elected student council president by the way."
"Aww…really it was nothing." Makoto blushed. He shook his head, his dirty blonde hair ruffling around him.
Satoshi pointed, "Oh so you're the student council president, Makoto Atsumi!" he said in realization, "I totally voted for you last year just so you know!"
"Thanks, that means a lot." Makoto nodded gratefully, "So what was it about my platform that convinced you?"
"Oh, I just picked your name at random." Satoshi shrugged.
"Then why even vote in the first place?" Takeshi asked in disbelief.
"To make sure Akira was elected as vice-president." From the way Satoshi said it, that reason could have possibly been the prime motivator for many things he did. One of Akira's eyebrows arched as she inched closer to the door.
"You're so silly, Satoshi…" she said with a shake of her head. She turned to look at Makoto, "Shall we be going?"
"Sure. It was nice meeting you two." Makoto waved as both he and Akira left the classroom, discussing about the homecoming rally that would happen tomorrow. Takeshi and Satoshi followed the pair and after a farewell said mostly out of politeness, Takeshi headed for home.
Neither of them noticed the boy lurking in the hall after them, his dark brown eyes focused on Takeshi from the shadows.
