Ever since Mihashi had moved to Nishiura, he always knew he was different. The kids surrounding him, they were locals, they grew up here, they knew how to conform. But he knew he couldn't conform, he knew he couldn't be the normal high school student. His once blonde hair was died black and there was a piercing in his lip and two in his ears. He was still too young to get a tattoo, but as soon as he was old enough, he would have that tattoo and keep adding from there.

It was the normal time his bus came around to pick him up and it was three weeks into his new school year at his new school and he still didn't have any friends, nor did anyone want to approach him. He didn't fit into the category of "normal" and so whenever he climbed onto the bus, everyone shied away from him. He didn't really care, though, he could handle being alone, he always had.

So again and again he would find his normal seat, which had been left untouched since he sat there for the first time, hunkered down into the seat, popped in some earbuds and watched the scenery pass by. He left a yawn slip by and a rub of his eyes and before he knew it, the bus was arriving at school. As per usual, he would let all of the other passengers pass by his seat before he got up and walked out, slinging his bag over one shoulder.

He knew people were looking at him, every single time he walked into the school, the same eyes would look up for their daily routines to watch him walk to his own locker. He didn't make eye contact, he acted disinterested, but today already felt different.

He could feel the pull and push of the dial when he turned it one way or the next to make sure he got to the right numbers at the right time. As soon as the locker was open and he was digging in his bag to find the right things to put away, someone leaned onto the locker next to his. They didn't attempt to open the locker, they just leaned and looked at him. His eyes looked up from his bag and at the boy next to him instead.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together, confused that someone, after three weeks, no doubt, was finally acting like he existed. This guy had red-brown eyes and dark brown hair, freckles dotting across his nose. He seemed normal, well the norm for this high school anyways.

"What's your name, new kid?" he asked with a grin on his face. It was pure, one could tell. Mihashi was able to see that the boy wasn't playing with him, he was genuinely looking forward to the other answering his question.

"Mihashi. Ren Mihashi," he answered, still looking confusedly at the other, "what's your name, old kid?" he retorted.

"Yuuichiro Tajima," he answered right away with a nod of his head, "does your face always look like that or are you more punk than I thought?"

Mihashi was taken aback, he was completely confused at the other teenager standing before him. Why was he asking so many questions and why was he suddenly interested in him now?

"I'm fairly punk," he answered. Suddenly the anxious feeling he had thought he got rid of came back. He found out he liked to be invisible, he liked to be ignored by his peers. His eyes narrowed when Tajima started to laugh. So they were both even when it came to retorts, Tajima liked that.

"Wanna start a band?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, waiting for the immediate turn down. But he didn't immediately turn him down, oh no, Mihashi paused and thought about, he didn't just jump to conclusions. A thoughtful expression rooted itself on his features before he braced himself against the door of his still open locker.

"A band," he said instead of just speaking his answer. Tajima was nodding his head quickly and a little bounce was added to his waiting posture, a bottom lip bitten in anticipation whilst a smirk found itself onto Mihashi's lips and he nodded his head, "I'd like that."

"Awesome!" he almost yelled and Mihashi had to flinch away from him for fear of going deaf, "okay, so I'm the drummer, do you sing, play any instruments?" he asked excitedly, almost unable to control it.

"I can sing and play guitar," he answered with a nod of his head and a cross of his arms. Tajima gasped, pushing his shoulder slightly, not hard enough to hurt him.

"No shit, dude?!" he asked excitedly, a small bounce and a laugh, "that's awesome!"

Mihashi laughed and shook his head, "do we have any other band members yet?" he inquired, finally packing his bag enough to have all his things and walking with the other to their respective homerooms. Tajima shook his head.

"Not yet, I'm still working on that. We're looking for a bassist and hopefully another guitar and then we'll have our band!"

Mihashi chuckled and smiled for the first time since moving here, "see you later, man," he started to turn into his homeroom. Tajima waved and ran off to his own.

Mihashi was in a band, he was…he was in a band. Holy shit. He tried to put the band thing in the back of his mind while school was in session, but he couldn't seem to push it back so it wasn't distracting him. By the time lunch rolled around, he saw Tajima waving at him from across the room. He offered a slight wave and headed over.

The other had a lot of friends, he hadn't even met the others before, hell he didn't remember seeing any of them either in the hallways. Tentatively he sat down next to his only friend, Tajima and let him introduce.

"Okay, so everyone knows the new kid, Mihashi," Tajima ruffled his head and he ducked his head with a chuckle and then after that, he went on to introduce the other six people. There was Izumi, Sakaeguchi, Nishihiro, Suyama, Oki and Mizutani. Instantly Sakaeguchi started talking to Mihashi and they fell into an easy friendship. When their conversation came to an end, Mihashi looked around.

There were two people sitting by themselves at two different tables. Who were they and why were they sitting alone? Now that he had some friends, he was feeling friendlier. He reached over and slapped Tajima on the arm, stopping his fast talking to look at the newest member, "why don't we go and make more friends?" Mihashi asked with a smirk.

"I thought you'd never ask," he answered and the both of them got up and walked over to the two souls sitting by themselves, away from everyone.