My life is meaningless. I'm a useless, talentless student who will never do anything with his life. My name is Tomoya Okazaki, and I am really just a piece of shit.
I'm stuck in a town full of nobodies, going to a school full of tools, and living in a home with just myself and a worthless drunk. That drunk is, naturally, my father. My mom died a long time ago in an accident, and ever since my relationship with my dad has been... strained, to say the least. Thankfully I don't spend too much time at home, I spend the majority of most nights at my friend Youhei Sunuhara's place in the boys dorm. Honestly, Sunohara is a bit of a prick most of the time, but deep in there somewhere, he's a genuinely nice guy. A dumb guy, but a nice one.
After spending most of the night at the dorm, I then head back home, my father is usually either asleep, passed out, or gone by then. I'll sleep longer than I should, then show up to class late, if at all.
I'm what you would call a delinquent, though frankly I don't give a shit what you call me. some people have tried to reform me in the past, but they all end up pissed at me and stop eventually. Teachers, old friends, some scattered adults, they all lose interest eventually. Who can blame them? It's boring here, in this life.
I woke up late as usual. For a while I simply laid in bed, contemplating whether or not to attend school that day. Eventually I decided upon the first of the two, put on my uniform and headed to school. The path was empty, with the occasional frantic student running full sprint toward the school. I took my time. I have to admit the path itself was pretty, it was a path of light grey brick, but it was framed by rows of beautiful cherry trees on both sides. It was the one place in this town that I actually liked.
The morning bell rang in the distance. The school was in sight, but my pace remained the same. I had no one to please by being there on time. The teachers had given up on me long ago. Hell, the only person who cared at all might not even be there. But nonetheless, I proceeded down the path to Hikarizaka high school.
It wasn't a particularly pretty or ugly building. It was blocky, but very clean, so all in all I can't complain about the aesthetics. It's the inside that counts right? Well the insides are filled with people just as meaningless as me. Even with their dreams, they will all live and die in this town. Maybe a select few will escape and go on to do better things, good luck to them. As for the rest of us, we have no hope, no reason.
I eventually found my first class, Modern Literature. As I entered very few looked at me as if anything was out of order. They were used to it. One girl did look my way with concern however. Her short hair was a light shade of purple, with a small hairpiece on a strand to the right of her face. Her blue eyes seemed to plead with me, "Why are you late again!? This is bad for you, you know that!" Normally I'd be very annoyed at someone expecting such things of me, but Ryou Fujibayashi was different. She was a nice girl, one of genuine good intent. She was a worrier, but she was often too shy to reprimand anyone. I suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over me, I must cause her so much trouble. I prefer it when my actions affect only me. It makes life simpler, and I don't wish to drag anyone down with me, especially not Fujibayashi. She was one of the few people I believed could make it out of here, I hope she does.
I averted my eyes from hers, I didn't need more guilt on my mind. I then turned to Sunohara. Thankfully there was no guilt to be felt in his bleached hair or blue eyes. I proceeded to take my seat in the far left corner, next to the window. "Hey, Okazaki." I turned to see Sunohara's characteristic mischievous smirk. "It looked like Fujibayashi was eyeing you up a bit there, huh?" I snorted, that was ridiculous. "Shut up Sunohara, the answer is no, I do not like her." Sunohara didn't look like he believed me. We spent a while in silence, Eventually the bell for lunch rang. I made to stand up, but Sunohara elbowed me to get my attention. "Here she comes." he whispered.
Sure enough, Fujibayashi walked up to me, the same concerned look in her eyes. "You know, Okazaki, It would be really nice if you came to school on time everyday." she tried to sound casual, but worry rang through her words. I smiled, "Who are you, the class president?" I teased. "Well... yes." Oops, I forgot about that. "Hey! Don't make her cry! Then we'll have her sister on our asses too!" Sunohara called out, he looked around frantically, as if expecting her to jump out at him. "Don't worry I'm fine. Really!" Fujibayashi said, though her tone indicated that she was not. I tried to think of something to politely wave her off, "It's ok, I'll come on time tomorrow, I promise." She frowned, dissatisfied, and pulled out a deck of cards. "What are you doing?" I asked, "Telling your fortune, it's a hobby of mine." She attempted to shuffle the cards but lost her grip. The cards flew out of her hands and fluttered everywhere. I bent down to help pick them up but Fujibayashi stopped me, she seemed deep in thought. She looked back up at me, "No you won't! It says you'll be late again! You will have a romantic encounter, lose track of time, and come to school late!" Tears began welling up in her eyes.
As if on cue, a large textbook came flying at my head at high speed, a sure sign of her sister, Kyou Fujibayashi. Her long purple hair swung around her as she stormed into the room, her purple eyes full of malice. "Tomoya Okazaki you stay the hell away from my sister!" She grabbed me by the tie and yelled at my face, "If you were picking on my sister I am going to kill you!" Honestly, I believe she would. Ryou stepped in between us, "No sister it's ok he wasn't doing anything!" I couldn't help but notice how close she was to me, but I attempted to focus and back up the argument, "Yeah we were just talking!" Kyou seemed to calm down, "Oh, alright then." she attempted to step back but slipped on one of Ryou's cards, landing hard on her backside. I averted my eyes, knowing full well what just became exposed. Kyou blushed deep red and got up, swearing. "Goddamn, so you were telling fortunes again Ryou?" Ryou blushed an even deeper shade of red. "Yes, I was." she sounded somewhat ashamed. Kyou smirked, "Well, spill it Okazaki, what's gonna happen to you?" I considered making up some fantastical destiny for myself, but I realized that and the real prediction would be just as likely. "Apparently I'm going to have some kind of romantic encounter." Kyou's smirk became an almost Grinchy smile. "What's up with that face?" I asked. "Never you mind, good luck with your 'encounter' lover boy." Kyou made air quotes with her fingers as she said that. She laughed a witch like laugh and walked off.
Ryou hung her head, "Sorry about that Okazaki, my sister gets a little too overprotective at times." I smiled, "It's alright, as long as I can still dodge those textbooks it's fine." Ryou giggled, and then blushed again. This family sure seems to do a lot of blushing. "Hey, Okazaki." Her shy voice was just a faint whisper, "Would you like to have lunch with me?" She looked up at me, like a puppy seeking attention. I was slightly taken aback, This is kind of sudden, but why the hell not? "Sure." I responded. Her eyes lit up, just like a puppies. "Ok, follow me!" She exclaimed.
She led me to a mostly empty courtyard. A couple of trees framed by well-trimmed bushes acted as a centerpiece to the yard. Around the bushes there was a circular stone bench, and upon it sat Kyou Fujibayashi. Instinctively I got ready to duck. However, Kyou only smiled. She seemed to be in a good mood for now. kyou even waved to us, as we approached. "Hey Ryou! Okazaki! Come sit!" Ryou ran over an sat next to Kyou, motioning for me to follow. I sat next to the sisters cautiously, they were being unusually nice to me. We all engaged in some awkward small talk for a while, but we were interrupted as a group of juniors ran past us excitedly. "This should be interesting!" one of them shouted. Curious, I got up ands started to follow them. "Okazaki!" Ryou called out to me. I turned, she had stood up, with a miserable look in her eyes. "What?" I called back. She lowered her gaze to her feet. "Nothing." she said, sounding defeated. I proceeded to run back in the direction of the juniors.
As I heard the sound of... revving engines? They had run to the stands of the baseball field. A small crowd had gathered, in it I spotted a blonde head cheering. Sunohara. I ran over to him. "What's going on?" He simply pointed to the field. To bikers were riding around on motorbikes on it, kicking up sand as they drove. A silver haired girl I didn't recognize was walking toward them. "This is gonna be great!" he exclaimed. "Sunohara! What's happening!" I asked again, louder this time. "It's an attack upon us! These rival students have come to dethrone us from our pedestal of greatness." That's Sunohara, dramatic as always. I pointed to the girl. "What is she doing?" Sunohara squinted to see, "I don't know, I'd guess she's going to scold them or something." I can't let her just get beaten up there alone, I should help. I began to take off my jacket and walk toward the field. "Are you gonna try to help her?" Sunohara sounded surprised. I sighed, "I can't just sit back and watch." "She doesn't need any help you know." I turned to my right to see a group of underclassmen, by the looks of them just having come from gym class. "That's Tomoyo Sakagami, she can handle this." one of them said. "Huh?" I hadn't heard this name before. "Don't you know her?" another underclassmen chimed in, "She transferred here as a junior. She's really super strong!" Yet another underclassmen turned and spoke, "Yeah, if you butt in you'll only get in her way." "But she's outnumbered, those guys will eat her alive out there!" I shouted.
It was too late. The bikers charged, the one on right yelling as he did so. In less than a second, all men were dismounted and one of the bikes destroyed, with Tomoyo Sakagami unscathed. "Holy balls!" Sunohara yelled, mature as always. I was astonished, this girl really is something.
Back in the courtyard, Kyou and Ryou still sat at the stone base of the tree. Kyou appeared to be comforting Ryou about something, but as they saw me approach they immediately stopped and simply sat quietly. It was suspicious, but I decided not to pry into it. "What was that whole thing about?" Ryou asked, refusing to look up from her shoes "A couple of bikers got beaten up by some girl named Sakagami." I replied. "Oh. Ok." No, I'm too curious now, I have to pry. "Whats wrong?" Ryou finally looked up at me, but just as quickly looked away. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I looked over at Kyou giving me an I'll kill you look and decided not to pry any the bell for the next class rang.
English, completely unnecessary for me as I probably won't ever leave this town, let alone this country. I looked out the window and my mind started to drift. I wonder what was wrong with Ryou? Was it something to do with me? And who is this Tomoyo girl? Why haven't I heard of her before?
My contemplation was suddenly interrupted I felt a small ball of paper hit my face. I turned to Sunohara, the obvious culprit. "Psst, Okazaki! Come with me after this class!" I sighed and turned back toward the window. Ultimately, I knew I would follow him. Although often humiliating or stupid, time spent with Sunohara was almost always interesting. Of course, it's not like I had anything better to do either.
After the class Sunohara dragged me around the hallways until finding a familiar face. The silver-haired girl from the baseball field. I stepped back, better to keep my distance on this one. I more or less zoned out for the discussion, only returning my attention when Sakagami slammed her foot into Sunohara's chest, sending him flying backwards. "And don't come back again." Was all she said before she turned and walked away. "Damn her!" Sunohara exclaimed, sobbing on the ground.
Unfortunately the rest of the day was uneventful. The classes dragged on for an eternity. As usual, I paid no attention. Finally the day ended. I decided to relax in my usual post school day spot. A patch of grass under the shade of a tree near the exit from the school. I laid down the shade of the tree and closed my eyes, hoping to clear my mind from the events of today. My head was spinning, and I wasn't very sure why. Today hadn't been particularly strange or eventful, but nonetheless I couldn't shake a feeling of dread.
"Okazaki!" Once again my thoughts were interrupted. I opened my eyes and sat up. It was Ryou. "Oh, hey Fujibayashi." I smiled, I was glad to see her. She was a well needed break from the chaos of some other people. We sat together there for a while. Unfortunately I had little to offer in the ways of conversation. But I was happy to listen, even if she was just talking about her day. But as with every single moment of peace that day, it too was interrupted.
"What are you two lovers up two?" It was Kyou, naturally. Both my and Ryou's face turned the shade of Beni shōga. "No! That's not it at all Kyou we were just talking!" Ryou insisted. Kyou cocked her head to the side, and smirked. "Talking huh? Alone? In the romantic shade of a tree?" "Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked of her, my face still burning red. "Not really." Kyou replied. "It's getting late though." Kyou turned to address Ryou, "If you come home tonight missing clothing or not at all, then I will kill Tomoya." "Hey! I'm right here!" I said indignantly, "We won't do anything! It's not like that!" Ryou joined in. Kyou turned her back on us. "My statement stands." she said as she walked away.
Ryou turned back to me, "Sorry about that, my sister is kind of suspicious of you." "Why? What did I do?" I asked, surprised. "I don't know." And there she goes, looking at her shoes. Must be a nervous tic or something. I smiled. She's kinda cute actually... Wait what!? I shook the thought from my mind. Looking up, I saw that the sun had already set. "It's late. We should probably get going." Ryou looked up. "Yeah, we should. Who knows what Kyou will do if you go out with me too late." Ryou gasped, as if unaware that she had spoken, and wishing she hadn't been. Confused as usual, I let the strangeness of her actions pass. We both got up and went our separate ways. I decided to take the long way home. I probably wouldn't even end up home anyways. I'd slept on park benches before just to avoid my father. But I felt no need for such extremities tonight. Maybe I'd call up Sunohara and we could have a night on the town, steal a little sake and make some bombs* with soda. Or maybe you could be a good boy for one night. I thought to myself. But what fun is that?
*(Sake bombs are made by combining sake with beer generally, but also have been often mixed with high caffeine drinks such as soda or red bull.)
A/N: Just in case anyone cares, just because I have published a new fanfic doesn't mean I am abandoning my previous project, Getsumen No Ushiro. I actually intended to make this a short or a one-shot. A simple exercise to help me work at combining my introspectives with humor, purely for the purpose of helping me with Getsumen, but it flourished into a much larger concept, and I had to do it credit. Hope you guys enjoy!
-Der Sensenmann