01: Introductions
"We're here." The driver parked across the street from a pair of open gates. Another man who was sitting in the front passenger's seat, opened the door and stepped out to see the scenery before him. Just passed the gates, a road with cherry blossom trees on each side lead to a tall, old looking building. The man walked over towards the back seat of the car and opened the door.
"How long are you going to sit there?" The man asked. Inside, sat a young man looking down at his knees while his whole body tensed up.
"...I don't want to go there."
"Now, now we've been through this. It's going to be just fine." The man reassured. Though there was a slight irritation in his tone. "Kazuma..." The young man looked up at him even though his bangs were covering his eyes. By the sound of the man's voice, Kazuma knew not to push his luck with him. The man always seemed so calm and collective, but there was always this strange, disturbing, and tense aura around him that always bothered the young man. It didn't help that he was always wearing that half-mask of his either which only made him more intimidating.
Reluctantly, Kazuma finally got out of the car with his belongings and looked at the area.
"I just don't understand why I have to continue my studies here. I was doing fine with only you teaching me."
"Yes, that is true. But books alone won't get you very far in life. You could be the smartest person in the world but it would all simply go to waste if you don't know how to blend in with society." The man started walking with Kazuma following.
"Please Relius, this is ridiculous. I can't believe you're actually making me do this..."
"Just think of this as another lesson from me. You'll get a good amount of data from this I promise you." He smirked even though Kazuma was still annoyed by the whole thing.
After meeting with the staff and getting through to the arrangements, Relius and Kazuma ended up in a room in the boys dormitory building. The room was small and didn't have much other than the necessities. A single bed was placed against the wall with a window next to the head of it followed by a desk which was in front of the window.
"You'll be staying here for the year." He looked over to Kazuma who was looking down to the floor. Even though Relius couldn't see much of his face, he knew the young man was quite upset about his situation. "I know you're upset, but you have to learn how to cope with people eventually. Once you know how to do that, then you're ready to be on your own."
"I can be on my own without them as well." The two remained silent for a bit until Relius turned around and headed for the door.
"I'll be expecting great results from you. And not just in your classes. I know you'll do fine in that. Until next time then." The masked man walked out leaving Kazuma alone in his room.
"...A whole year huh..." He sighed and brought his bag over to his bed.
After he unpacked, Kazuma sat at his desk and looked out the window. The school was placed on a mountain surrounded by trees and lush grass so the view was quite appealing to the eye. And the scent in the air wasn't so bad either.
"At least the area here is nice..." Kazuma closed his eyes for a bit enjoying the gentle breeze that came. But there was a strange sound that caught him off guard.
Ring
Kazuma looked ahead deeper into the forest. "This sound... Is it coming from there?" His curiosity got the better of him. But thankfully, he had the day off since he had just arrived on campus. So he decided to do a bit of exploring and figure out just where that sound was coming from.
He continued walking further deep into the forest hoping to hear that sound again. It had stopped once he got outside. But, he knew it was coming from here. He didn't know why he was so persistent, but he wanted to find out what that sound was. It was very strange to him. Almost as if it was calling him.
Ring
'There it is again.' The sound came back. And from it, Kazuma was able to tell which direction it was coming from. He walked a bit more towards it until his foot got caught in a vine causing him to fall flat on his face. 'This is why I prefer to stay indoors...' He thought as he sighed in frustration. He pushed his body up from the ground only to come to a sudden pause as his eyes came into view of something very fascinating. Right in front of him was a stone tablet with a strange marking engraved on it. He reached his hand out and grabbed it before getting back on his feet. The marking was in the shape of an eight but in the middle showed what appeared to be the head of a snake biting it's own tail. "How interesting... I wonder if someone dropped it?" He looked around to see if there was anyone near. But there was no sign of anyone. "Well...I guess I'll hold onto this for a while. I don't think anyone will miss it. It looked like it was abandoned anyway." He took it upon himself to claim the tablet before he went back to the dorms.
Back in his room, Kazuma laid back on his bed examining the stone tablet in his hand. It probably wouldn't seem like much to others, but he was quite taken by it.
"Eternity... At least if I remember correctly, that's what this image means. A never-ending cycle of death and rebirth."
"Aren't you the smart one."
"!?" Kazuma turned his head and saw a man sitting on the chair by his desk. His sudden appearance made him jump from his bed and move back against the wall. "W-Who are you!? When did you get in here!?"
"Relax. I'm not going to do anything to you. Not unless you piss me off that is..." He chuckled as he watched the young man tremble in fear. "Does that little piece of rock interest you that much?" His golden eyes peeped out from the hood covering his face and stared at the tablet Kazuma was still holding.
"It..." Kazuma hesitated to speak. "It did grab my attention... Y-You still haven't answered my question." He watched the man's golden eyes stare back at him. They were so menacing he couldn't help but feel like he was going to be killed if he so much as breathed the wrong way.
"Don't you know it's rude to ask for someone's name when you don't even introduce yourself first?" The atmosphere suddenly seemed more tense for Kazuma. The hooded figure just sighed in annoyance by the sight though. "Hey kid...I thought I said relax. You're starting to make me nervous."
"W-Well, what do you expect? You just suddenly appeared and you expect me to 'relax'?" Then a thought came to mind. "Oh, I get it... You must have sneaked in here while I was out. This must be some kind of traditional prank this school has for new students."
"...Huh?" The man was confused. Just what was this little twerp talking about? "Kid...I don't know what you're getting at but, I can assure you this isn't some kind of...'traditional prank'."
"And now you're going to try and make it seem like I'm crazy... You people might think this is all fun, but you're actually just being nothing but a real burden to me."
"..." Is this kid really stupid? The man wondered. "You know...I'm not even gonna try explaining this to you. I'll just let you figure it out I suppose." And within a blink of an eye, the man disappeared.
"W-What the...?" Did he really just vanish? Kazuma wasted no time getting off from his bed and quickly opened the door to his room. He looked outside to see if maybe he can see someone running or simply walking away from his door. But there was no one. The hallway was quite dead actually. He went back inside locking the door behind him and stood in shock for a moment. "What the heck just happened?"
"Alright everyone settle down." The classroom quickly got into their seats upon hearing the teacher's request. A long pink-haired woman walked towards her desk while following behind her, was a young man with green hair wearing the same uniform as the rest of them. The students were all whispering to each other upon seeing him. And Kazuma heard every bit of what they were saying.
"I'm guessing he's the new guy everyone was talking about."
"Aww it's a dude?"
"Yeah I'm disappointed too. This school has way too many sausages as it is..."
"I wonder if he's cute?"
"You can't really see his face with all that green hair in the way." Kazuma couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed by them. 'Don't they care that I could hear them? They could at least have the decency to wait til I'm not around if they want to talk about me so badly...' He stood in front of the class waiting to be introduced.
"Before we get the day started, I'd like to introduce you all to a new student." The woman looked over to him signaling him to make his introduction.
"...H-Hello. I'm Kazuma Kuvaru." Silence. He looked over to the teacher and saw her yellow eyes still staring at him as if she wanted him to say more about himself. "Uh... N-Nice to meet...you?" He scratched the back of his head feeling rather uncomfortable. 'I don't like being in the spotlight...This is so stupid.' He thought to himself.
'So he's the quiet type huh? I already know he's gonna have a hard time here...' The woman sighed. "Anyway... Let's all do our best to make him feel comfortable. Kazuma, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask any of the students here or myself."
"Right... Thank you Miss Konoe."
"Not a problem. Now... Where to place you..." She looked around the classroom to find an empty seat. Fortunately, there was one left. "Trinity." Responding to the name, a girl amongst the students quickly replied while adjusting her glasses.
"Yes?"
"That seat isn't taken is it?" The girl looked over to her right recalling if anyone was assigned there.
"Umm...I don't think so. If I remember correctly, he transferred out about a week ago."
"So then it's settled." She looked back at Kazuma. "You'll be assigned there starting today. Now go take your seat so we can begin the class." Kazuma went on ahead to his seat while hearing more whispers coming from the students in the classroom.
"He seems a bit awkward."
"You can't judge him just yet. He just got here you know."
"I don't think he's gonna last very long here."
"Yeah. He seems kind of fragile." They went on and on until he got to his desk and took his seat.
'Just focus on the classwork. They're so annoying though...' He told himself.
"Hello." The girl with the glasses surprised him a bit. "I'm Trinity Glassfield." Kazuma just looked at her through his bangs. He didn't know what to say other than a simple "Hello". Which even that he had trouble saying.
"I can see you're a little shy aren't you." She smiled at him which made him feel uncomfortable.
'This girl... Why does she seem so...' He looked away from her feeling at a loss for words. Trinity was able to sense the awkwardness coming from him so she decided to leave him alone for now and pay attention to the class.
Lunch hour finally came and all the students throughout the building scattered about doing their own thing. One of the girls in the classroom got up from her seat and stretched out her arms before walking over to Trinity.
"Today seems so long doesn't it? I thought lunch would never come."
"I guess it only feels that way for you. Since you're so eager to see him after all." Trinity giggled catching the other girl off guard.
"H-Hey, not so loud!" The girl peaked over her shoulder to see their teacher gathering her paperwork from her desk. "You know how my sister feels about him. She doesn't like him at all."
"I'm sorry Celica. I was just teasing you." Trinity looked over to Kazuma who was also gathering his things. "Hey, would you like to spend the lunch break with us?" She asked hoping he would agree. Kazuma just looked over to her surprised by what she said. He wasn't the only one however as the girl named Celica looked at Trinity in surprise as well.
"I..." Again, he was at a loss for words. 'What should I do?' Truthfully, he wanted to get away from everyone and find someplace secluded from the rest of the students. But, remembering the whole reason why he's in this school in the first place, he knew he should probably take this chance to 'collect data' as Relius calls it.
Kazuma suddenly made eye contact with Celica. Even though he didn't know the girl personally, he already knew he wasn't going to like this girl at all. And from what he felt from her, he knew she didn't like him either.
"And what's going on over here?" Breaking the sudden tension in the atmosphere, Miss Konoe appeared wondering what was going on.
"Nothing much. I was just inviting Kazuma to join us for lunch."
"The new kid eh?"
"Will you be joining us as well?" Trinity asked.
"Unfortunately, no. I have to meet up with the rest of the staff for some meeting or whatever... I sometimes wonder why I became a teacher in the first place." She looked over to Kazuma who was looking away from the others.
"...I'm sorry but I don't think I feel like joining you today. Excuse me." He quickly walked away from the trio leaving Trinity slightly disappointed.
"What's up with him?" Konoe asked as she watched him leave the room.
"There's something...off about him."
"Celica?" Konoe turned her gaze back to the young girl wondering what she meant.
"He's just shy. I'm pretty sure he's a nice person once we get to know him." Out of the three, Trinity seemed to be the only one who was willing to give Kazuma the benefit of a doubt. Konoe didn't really care much either way but if Celica sensed there was something wrong, she wasn't going to doubt her. She was her younger sister after all. And from her experience, Celica's feelings about things were almost never wrong. Almost being the key word. Because, no matter what Celica said about a certain man she was crushing on, Konoe could not stand him. Why is an older guy hanging around her little sister anyway? He had to be some kind of pervert. He had to be. The thought of him was just making her blood boil so she decided to quit procrastinating and head over to the faculty office.
"I'll see you girls later."
