Fruitful first day
There's something in the water.
It's swimming within my feet.
What happened to the summer?
A treasure I can't keep
"Argh… For fuck's sake… Is it Sunday…? Argh, I guess not" I say dejectedly as I dismiss the alarm and look at the time and date: 5:45 A.M. September the 12th, Monday
I get out of bed, my only motivation being not getting a mouthful from my parents; whom are at home today, and proceed to begin my morning routine. Take a bath, get dressed on the overly formal school uniform, eat, and wash my teeth. Activities which I keep doing regularly before grabbing the car's keys heading out to school, not without giving my parents a goodbye.
"Goodbye ma, goodbye pop. Good luck at work y'all" I say with a carefully choreographed loving tone, which they swallow entirely as I make my way to the door
"See ya Adrian! Have a nice day!" My mother says, lovingly as always. Making me feel bad for acting my feelings
However, these feelings immediately disappear, as my father; who is simply listening to the morning news briefings, doesn't even bother to wave goodbye. I simply carry on and exit the house, headed for my 'new' personal car: A white Holden Caprice. I press the button to unlock and get in, throwing my bag on the passenger seat before starting the engine, marking the school on the GPS, and setting the transmission in reverse to get out of the driveway, afterward I'm on my way to school.
You might as well be wondering who I am, so I'll lay it all out for you: I am Adrian Houser, 17-years-old, standing at six-feet-two, slightly muscular though I don't do much exercise, New Orleans native, African-American boy with a head shaved clean. Emigrated to Japan due to a sustained family feud between my family and some guys from across the street, and my father's sudden promotion on a multinational conglomerate based on Japan. I'm heading out for my first day of classes on a Japanese high school, whoop-dee-doo, I have been placed in second year due to my age, even though my scores weren't that special. I'm not planning to excel this year though, because I'm planning to return to the states as soon as I'm 18. Simply put: I don't like Japan, the culture is strange, the people are a hassle, and so is the language. I deeply miss NOLA, and I'm hoping to return soon, by any means necessary.
After a relatively quick commute; about three minutes of driving, I eventually arrive to the school. "Yūshū High" one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, the company sure didn't spare any expenses when it came to accommodating its employees and their families, not that I care about any of that. A school is a school, no matter where it is, or how expensive the tuition fees are.
I eventually reach the gates, I park my car right in front of them, shut the engine off and get out. As soon as I'm down and locking the car door, a teacher in a tracksuit scolds me.
"Hey hey hey! What are you doing?" The teacher says in Japanese to me
"Locking my car? What does it look like I'm doing?" I say as put my bag over my shoulder
"See, I can tell you are new student, so I will make clear that you cannot park your car in front of the gates, mister…"
"Houser, Houser Adrian... Then, where am I going to park it? I don't see a parking lot I can readily access"
"I see, Houser-san... Well, since all students up until now commute on foot or take public transportation, we don't have a reason to put a parking lot for students, however, since I do not own a car I can borrow you my space at the faculty parking lot, it's around the corner. And remember to tell the guard that Watanabe-sensei sent you" Watanabe elaborates
"Emmm… Thank you, I suppose…" I answer awkwardly
"Don't mention it, now hurry up. Class begins in ten minutes"
If all teachers are this nice to me then maybe studying here won't be that bad at all…
With that I nod and understanding and head back to my car aiming to do what the teacher said, after passing the guard and parking my car I headed straight into class, wasting no time. Eventually I arrived to my homeroom: Classroom 67-C.
I stepped in, wasting no time as I searched for an empty seat, finding one exactly in upper-right corner of the room. To my very dismay, as I made my way to my seat I attracted some ugly looks. Had to happen eventually, I'm the only dark-skinned boy in this goddamn room. A pint of black in a white canvas, a metaphor that describes this situation like a ring specifically designed for a finger.
Putting the looks aside, I eventually decide to pull out my phone and fidget with it for a while whilst the teacher arrives. I try to indulge in some shitposts before someone attempts to make contact with me.
"Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy~" An obviously feminine voice at my right says in a friendly-yet-fearful tone
"Uhhh… May I help you?" I answer, a bit confused and turning to the voice
The voice came from this girl with peach hair decorated with a puffy red ribbon and cerulean blue eyes. Very cute to be honest.
"Ummm, I just wanted to ask… What exactly are you?" She nonchalantly says as she puts her hands on her cheeks and lays her elbows on a neighboring desk whilst looking at me. Man she's acting so cute
"Well, I'm a person if you haven't noticed" I reply sarcastically, obviously offended by her question
"Well, that is obvious but… I was wondering about your… Skin, it's so weird seeing how dark it is"
"I'm not from here, if you haven't noticed that my accent immediately gives me away"
"So…" She scoots closer to my desk "… Are you an alien?!" She says quietly, but with a really excited tone in her voice
I just indulge on my instincts and laugh it all off. My God-Is this girl really that stupid?
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… HAHA… HA~ An alien! That's a good one! Outstanding joke girl!" I laugh it off, at the moment thinking it was a joke
"Emm… It wasn't a joke…" She says nervously and quietly as she presses her index fingers together in embarrassment
Okay, she really is that stupid. Let's laugh at her some more!
"HAHAHAHAHA~ No girl! Not an alien at all! I'm just American!"
"Oh! American heh? I've never seen Americans like you before though"
"That's because most people that come here from home are skinny little white boys with a hard-on for anime girls. I actually came here by force" I explain, trying to get some validity out of her point
"Ahhh~! I see! So there must be plenty of neets over there in America!"
"Uhhh… Neet? What's a 'Neet'?" I ask, genuinely confused as I make air quotation marks when I say 'Neet'
"You know~ People with no social life, absorbed in anime, manga..."
"Oh! We call those 'Weebs' back at home. People obsessed with Japan to an unhealthy degree, truly the cancer of Western society"
"Well, I don't think of them as a cancer but rather people that need help…" She drifts off before having an idea "Oh! I just noticed that we never introduced ourselves! I am Sayori! Nice to meet you!" She says enthusiastically as she politely bows on her seat
"Adrian, the pleasure is mine" I reply as I make a pseudo-military salute with my index and middle fingers
As we were absorbed into our little introduction, the teacher waltzed right in. Prompting advice from Sayori.
"Oh! Akiyama-sensei just arrived! We will continue at break!" She says quietly but loud enough for me to hear as she corrects her posture
"Oh, a'ight cher" I quickly say in English (And a bit of Creole) before facing forward, looking at the teacher
So, nice teachers and cute and friendly female students so far. Maybe this won't be that bad!
The teacher gets settled in the desk, and promptly begins his work.
"Good morning students" The teacher says sternly, quickly prompting a response from the class who reply with a monotone 'Good Morning' in unison "Before we begin the class. You might have noticed that we have gotten ourselves a new, surely unique-looking student. Mr. Houser, would you mind to stand up?"
Aw shit. Here we go again.
Three boring-as-fuck classes with introductions later. It's finally lunch break, I get outta that classroom as quickly as I can and head for the bathroom. I've been basically shitting myself since halfway into Professor Akiyama's class.
Two dumps, a pair of clean hands, and a sigh of relief later. I'm on my way to the cafeteria, the place is packed to the brim, as expected of any school. People are eating, chatting left and right… Really the standard school fare. I quickly join the queue of students waiting to be attended by the cafeteria staff, and after a solid minute I get my food. Just spring rolls with iced peach tea, though I ain't a fan of sushi. I just felt this crazy need to pick the first thing I saw to be quick. I quickly look for a table, sit down, and indulge in my food.
A return to the counter for a spoon and three out of five rolls later, Sayori shows up at the table I was sitting at. With a guy making her company.
"Hiya Adrian-kun! Enjoying Japanese cuisine I see!" Sayo greets as she waves hello, bubbly as always
"Weeeell…" I swallow the roll I was done chewing "It's less of enjoying and more like peer-pressuring my body into eating it, I'm not particularly a fan of sushi"
"Awww, why is that?" She asks, genuinely disappointed with my answer
"Well, let's just say the concept of eating raw fish doesn't bode that well with this American who enjoys Crawfish Pie" I stuff another roll into my mouth "Aren't you two going to take a seat?" I ask with the roll shoved into one of my cheeks so I can speak clearly before returning to chewing
"Thought you would never ask!" She says as she motions her friend to take seat whilst taking one herself right in front of me "So, I thought you would need help settling in…"
"Uh-huh" I grumble with my mouth full
"And that's why I brought my childhood friend Mizu to help you out! He knows Yūshū High inside out! He should get you up to speed on no time!" She proudly announces and she points at Mizu; who is right next to her, with jazz hands
"Hey" He blandly says with a wave
I swallow the roll I was chewing before speaking again.
"Hey, thank you Sayori for helping me out settling in. Are you part of the student council or something?"
"Sayori?! The student council?! Ha! Don't make me laugh man. She's the clumsiest student on the entirety of Yūshū High! The council would go down in a week with such a member" Mizu quickly intervenes to make a point, and a joke
"Eh? For real?" I ask perplexed
"No kidding man"
"Then, why are you helping me out?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow and look back to Sayori, who has pressed her index fingers together in embarrassment
"Well~ You looked like an interesting person… So I thought that doing all of this would allow me to befriend you quicker…"
"Well, I don't mind this kind of treatment at all then. I needed friends in here anyway" I nonchalantly say as I grab another roll with the spoon and shove it into my mouth
"Oh! That's great to hear then! I'll do my best…" She then gazes at my food "Hey… I just noticed something…"
I perk my head up with a mouthful of sushi.
"You are eating sushi with a spoon! Don't you know some manners?!"
"Huh? What?! I just noticed that too!" Mizu perks up
"Uh? What about it?" I ask genuinely confused after forcefully swallowing the roll
"Sushi is eaten with chopsticks you silly, everyone knows that when they come to Japan! Here! Let me show you…"
This'll be a ball…
So Sayori took the opportunity of teaching me to eat with chopsticks as a chance to eat the last one of my rolls, leaving me no chance to try out eating with chopsticks by myself. Afterward Mizu showed me 'round a bit, and it's safe to say that I'm really impressed with Yūshū High. Outdoor pool, fully packed computer lab, a freakin' gym, different courts for each sport (Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, and Soccer), 200 Mbps Wi-Fi all over the campus (Although with a filter of course, but Mizu taught me to bypass it using a quick DNS change), and even a laundromat to clean up our uniforms if anything happens to them. Man, if this place had dorms I'd be sleeping here without an issue.
Of course, as with anything the lunch break had to end, and I headed onto my next class, which is Japanese… Let's just hope I don't mess it up very badly.
About four long classes later (Thankfully) sans introductions. I was off to study hall, usually this time of the day is meant for the students to reinforce their knowledge, but most of them spend the period at the computer lab playing RPGs or whatnot, but I decided to read a bit of Japanese history, because man, I do suck in that subject.
"So… The current imperial period is named… Shit, how do I pronounce this kanji…?" I mumble to myself as I struggle to read a history book in Japanese
"'Sup" A familiar voice blandly says in English
I perk my head up only to see Mizu peeking into the cubicle I'm in.
"Whassup Mizu?" I reply in my usual Louisiana accent
"Well, you've got me there, what're you doing?" He says on a heavily accented English as he approached my desk
"Tryin' to understand Japan's history from y'all viewpoint. Never thought that Pearl Harbor posed a threat to y'all sovereignty" I sarcastically reply as I place the book back on the shelf
"Hey! It was a Navy outpost wasn't it?"
"O' course it was, but if it wasn't 'cause o' the emperor's stupidity to bomb it y'all wouldn't been pulverized on the War o' the Pacific… Heck! That war wouldn't have even happened…!" I reply before signing and looking back to him "Anyway, what brings ya here?" I ask him
"Nothing in specific… Just wanted to ask a favor from you" He says nervously
"Hit me partner"
"Alright… So Sayori extended me this invitation to this club where she's the Vice-President, and I want you to come with me so I can have a bit of backup you know?"
"Ain'tcha got any friends you can ask this favor from?" I ask boldly, looking for a way out
"Emm… That's the thing, I don't any friends besides Sayori, so I was hoping you could help me out…" He says nervously, knowing what I was trying with the question
"Wow, you must've got a very boring school life… A'ight, I'll bail ya out on this one, what's the club 'bout?"
"Really?! Man thank you! I can't thank you enough…! Anyhow, the club is about English literature"
"For real? A literature club? That crap can't have more than six members, and they must be all skinny li'l nerdy otakus fawning over Sayori"
"Yeah, I'm supposing that as well so… Are you still helping me out or are you backing down?"
"I'm not partner, I gotta repay you all you've done for me on this first day" I reassure him whilst patting his back "So, when's the meeting happening?"
"In about half an hour, my teacher left early so that's why I'm here… Want to chat until the time is right?" He attempts to change the subject to ease the mood
"Sure, go right ahead"
"So… How much hentai you have downloaded?" He jokingly asks
"Oh ya asswipe…" I scoff at him whilst nudging his side
Half an hour later we're exiting the study hall because cleaning time began, we had the club appointment as an excuse to not clean that shit, and thank goodness. Mizu and I we're talking about the things we'd like on a woman on our way out.
"Man! I can't believe ya prefer thighs over tits! It's crazy!" I complain at his choice of attributes whilst chuckling a bit
"Hey, thigh jobs exist don't they…? HA!" He snaps back, also laughing with me
As we have our little laughing fest, Sayori is running down the hall, Sayori being Sayori, she crashes head on with another girl carrying a mop, adding to our laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Mizu and I laugh at Sayori's clumsiness
"I am really sorry! Let me help you out!" Sayori audibly apologizes for her misdeeds, extending a hand to the girl
"Thank you Salvato-senpai…" She then grabs Sayo's hand to get up "Next time look where are you going okay?"
"Sure, I will! See you!" She then comes running our way "Huh? So here you were! Making friends I see…! Are you ready to come with me?" She asks whilst cutely leaning forward on the tip of her shoes
"Yup, and I got you another visitor for the club! Adrian seems interested" He replies whilst glancing at me
"I never said that" I jokingly interject
"Alright then! Let's go!" She loudly says before playfully marching toward the stairwell
"How the hell she don't have a boyfriend yet?" I ask to Mizu in English
"Hang out with her often and you'll see why…" He says before being cut short by Sayori
"Hey slowpokes! The meeting will be almost over at this rate!" She says in Japanese from the stairwell
"Don't fret! We are going!" Mizu replies before following Sayori, to which I follow suit
Now, how about we meet this bunch of nerds and get it over with.