A/N: I switched the names

Arakaki Taichi — Arakaki Tadashi

Tagawa Tadashi — Tagawa Taichi

Chapter 2: Pls no…

As I walked through the streets in my uniform, I looked at the different people that walked in the same direction. Some of them had the same uniform, others wore something different.

My first day of school, huh?

They say High School can be one of the best times of your life. But, really, it depends on what the person does in high school. Get a girlfriend? Awesome. Make friends? Nice. Do drugs? Spectacular. Knocked up a girlfriend? Congratulations. Point is, it all comes down to what they actually do.

Not that I did any drugs, or at least, not that I remember. I sure hope I didn't. That aside, I was a little worried about my interaction with others. My social skills aren't the best, and some people tend to laugh at what I say. Not sure if that's a good thing, but if I say something that makes people laugh, then I'll take it.

People looking…

Diversity is one reason why ridicule exists. People tend to look at something or someone they don't understand with a scornful eye. Is that why people change to match those around them? Maybe it was, or maybe they just had similar interests. There wasn't really a way to tell unless you were perceptive or gathered the answer from the person themselves.

My thoughts were interrupted when I accidentally bumped into someone. I heard a grunt from the said person, though the grunt was more of a surprised one than an annoyed grunt.

I stopped walking, and the person did the same. We both stared at each other and stayed quiet. Weird, thought he would say something, but that never happened. I decided to apologize to ward off any awkward feeling that could potentially plague the atmosphere.

With a small bow, I offered my apology to the person I bumped into. This said person wore the same uniform and looked to be a teenage boy. Couldn't be any older than I was. He had short-medium black hair with a strand of hair sticking upwards and a pair of the most lifeless eyes I've seen in my entire life on earth.

God damn, you look fucked

It was a good thing I didn't say those thoughts out loud. It would've turned awkward. I can't imagine bumping into a person with an apology offered along the lines of "God damn, you look fucked.". Needless to say, I didn't want that and I'm sure he didn't either. After what seemed like an eternity of staring and silence, he muttered his own at apology.

"Sorry…" It was almost inaudible, but hey, not trying to be a bitch about it.

I gave another bow, and decided to go my own way. Despite running into him, it was apparently dismissed by the object wrapped around my eyes. It was too easy to tell. People aren't very welcoming of something different. They usually approach such things with caution and fear. I'm not surprised. If some guy bumped into you by accident, and that said person happened to have his eyes covered in bandages, wouldn't you consider it to be witchcraft? I sure would.

After what seemed like a long duration of walking, I finally arrived at the school gates. It wasn't anything fancy, but it wasn't underwhelming either. Seemed like a pretty big area. Got three to four story buildings, a wing dedicated to sports activities, and a bunch of other areas. I decided to enter the building and approach what looked like the bulletin board. I began scanning through the lists in search of my name.

Found it

Tagawa Taichi, class 2-F. Great, got my class information out. I just need to find the class and get a seat. Only problem is, I don't know where this class is. I began looking around for any possible sign that could help me in my search. I had the feeling there'd be one, if there weren't any, then I don't know how the students could navigate through this school.

Oh, over there

I spotted a few signs above the doorway of another room that read "2-A". Bingo, that solves the case. Being lost in the first day is only gonna make me look like an ass. Even though I'm already one to begin with.

Guess I should go this way

With every bit of confidence I could pull from my ass, I started walking down the hallway. But it wasn't without trouble. Students loitered around the hallways engaging in idle chatter. Only problem was, I somehow interrupted their conversations. Some of the said students began trailing off in their previous sentences and turned to look at me. I got the feeling I knew why they'd stare at me like that. Really, there's only one reason why they'd do what they did.

Why am I not surprised..?

I sighed and continued walking through the corridor. I was half expecting it, though I didn't know why I did. It should've been fully expected that I'd get majority of the students to act like this. Maybe I've grown accustomed to this sort of thing to forget about it. It does make sense to forget a factor when it comes to a new environment.

Come on, Taichi. Why does this even come out as surprising?

I stopped my stroll in front of a doorway as I looked up at the sign. It read "2-F" all over it. No doubt my classroom. I didn't know why, but it took me quite a while to grab the handle of the doorway and unseal the gateway to hell, or in this, the classroom.

"Ah, you must be the new student," a voice spoke up, interrupting my action. I turned to the source of the voice, which happened to be behind me. My sight was greeted by a middle-aged teacher with lengthy black hair, wearing a lab coat. When my face came to her view, she looked slightly surprised at what she saw, but quickly brushed it off and donned a smile on her face.

"What's your name?" She asked in a friendly and welcoming manner.

"Tagawa Taichi, sensei," I replied, bowing my head to show respect. Though my tone was a little monotone, making my action a bit of a stretch.

"Pleased to meet you! I'm Hiratsuka Shizuka, I will be your homeroom and Modern Japanese teacher." She replied, "come on in, class is about to start. Go ahead and pick any of the empty seats."

Simple, might as well sit in the back

I followed her into the class, and pairs of eyes were on us. That was the last thing I wanted; a portion of the class staring right at me.

"Alright, everyone, classes start soon. We have a new student with us, today!" Hiratsuka-sensei announced, gesturing towards me.

Scratch that, this is the last thing I wanted. Everyone turned their heads to the source of the voice and feasted their eyes on two individuals. Honestly, it felt more like one individual. You see a teacher everyday, but a new student was something people also wanted to see.

Oh. Mah. Gawd.

My body just went stiff and I froze, the feeling of nervousness crept up to my mind as I scanned and tried to decipher the reactions my classmates were presenting.

Pls no…

"What happened to him?" I could hear people whispering and murmuring questions and thoughts after taking a good look at my condition. To say that I wasn't the least bit bothered would be a lie. No one wants to be the center of negative or unknown attention, and I'm no exception. Hiratsuka-sensei must have noticed the growing tension and broke the silence in the classroom.

"Alright, everyone. Go back to your seats, classes start now!" The teacher ordered, everyone obeyed and took their seats. Beside me, were two empty seats up against the wall. I decided to take the seat closest to the back of the class.

This will do

A figured passed me after I took my seat. Upon closer inspection, the said figure had short-medium black hair, a strand of hair in its rebellious stage and a pair of dead eyeballs. Gasp.

It's that guy :o

The lifeless classmate of mine took notice of me and turned to look at me. I couldn't quite tell what he was thinking. Mainly because his expression kept a straight face. It wouldn't be a stretch to say his facial expressions would stay the same in any situation he's faced with.

Stare…

I decided to break the tension between us and awkwardly wave at him.

The action broke him out of his trance and he nodded, acknowledging my existence.

"Alright, class! The cultural festival starts tomorrow! I hope you're all prepared and have everything set up." Hiratsuka-sensei called out.

Oh, cultural festival? Tomorrow?

Perks of joining midyear: past homework and assignments don't need to be made up. Second, if the school happens to be hosting an event, you don't really have to do any of the work or help anyone with anything, and third, teachers will leave you out in participation should it have any connection to the past lessons.

What a way to start my first day of school…

What… The hell…

I stared at the sheet of paper in front of me, it was an essay given to me by Hiratsuka-sensei. I turned to look at her, my expression asking for an explanation.

"Well, they wanted me to give you a grade. With the amount of work you missed, they told me the remaining assignments won't be enough to give you a decent for the year," she explained.

Cons of starting midyear: teachers can give you more work should the school deem it necessary.

"It's simply, really. You just have to look back at your previous years of school," she continued, "just don't half-ass it, like someone I know…" She trailed off at the last bit and turned to look at the person in front of me. Her eyes turned cold and her expression became hostile.

The said person was a little startled at the sudden assault.

"In my defense, you didn't present the prompt and instructions clearly. But that's only normal for someone with your age sens-" His statement was interrupted by someone slamming their hand on a desk. Specifically, my desk. The sudden impact startled both of us, indicated by us jumping in surprise.

Oh my god, this woman…

"What was that about my age, Hikigaya-kun?" Hiratsuka-sensei asked with a smile on her face. It didn't take a genius to figure out that smile was more of a threatening one than an encouraging one. I stared at both of them in fear. Was this how she interacted with her students? Or was it just this guy? Either way, I was scared shitless by this behavior.

"Nothing. I'm very sorry…" Turns out he was scared shitless as well. The middle-aged teacher turned to me with the same smile on her face. I felt the feeling of nervousness build up within me. The temperature around us apparently increased significantly. I was starting to sweat a bit from PTSD.

Hiratsuka-sensei let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of her head.

"Anyway, Tagawa-kun, there's not a lot to it. Just follow the prompt and you'll be fine, okay?" She asked in a cheerful voice, smiling at me. But deep inside, I knew I was fucked if I tried anything smart with this woman. I nodded my head vigorously. I didn't need to be told twice. I don't know about the other guy, but I plan on staying alive till I have nothing else to do in life.

Normally, I'd go outside the class and look for a spot to eat by myself. But the classroom turned out to be a valid option due to the amount of people leaving the class. I had my earphones plugged in so I could eat in peace. However, this pleasant activity didn't last due to a certain group of people who were noisy as hell.

I paused the song, which was named Dream Lantern and turned my hearing to the group at the back of the class.

"You've been spending less time with us during lunch, can't you, like, at least skip out on one period of lunch with her and hang out with us?" A voice asked, her tone sounded a little pompous and annoyed. I turned to the source of the voice and saw a blonde girl with slightly wavy hair at the front. Apparently she was questioning a friend of hers that also belonged to their circle. The defendant was a girl with shoulder length coral hair, accompanied by a bun on the side.

"Eh, well, I already planned to eat lunch with her…" The said defendant said, though she didn't seem very confident. Guess she could succumb to peer pressure easily.

Get yourself together. Talking in a tone like that won't help you

"…and I told her I'd be there after fourth period," she continued. Her tone wasn't any different from the previous statement. Well, can't exactly blame her. This sort of stuff happens all the time, and it always happens when people don't want it to.

Hmm… I need to know who these people are I thought. I didn't wanna jump to conclusions. Forming conclusions based on looks and behavior is easy, but it's not always reliable. Sure, they could be correct from time to time, but I didn't wanna risk making myself look like an ass.

I turned to the person seated in front of me.

Maybe he knows..?

I pondered a bit and tried to recall everything I knew about him. From what I've seen, he was the quiet type, occasionally sarcastic and rude. He didn't seem like the type to spend time with others. Rather contradictory to my perspective, but it didn't seem like he had a lot of friends. On the way to school, he walked by himself, and currently, he was eating lunch by himself. I tried to recall his name, and went back to what Hiratsuka-sensei said.

Hi-ki-ga-ya?

All these thoughts were purely just assumptions and are yet to be confirmed. I'd have to confirm it some other time. Maybe even talk to them, so I could decide what's true and what's not.

I decided to leave the man alone and carry on with my own business and buried the rest of the noise in class with my music by turning the volume up.

Culture Festival, please… Where are you when I need you?

A/N: If this chapter happens to be a little confusing, go ahead and PM me. I don't have a lot to do, most of the time.

If you have any questions, just go ahead and use the same method above.

Someone explain to me why Hayama says he isn't the nice guy everyone thinks he is? If you have an explanation, go ahead and PM me. I don't quite remember everything or understand everything.

There's a reference to Kimi no na wa in this chapter, too