Scene Two: Unidentifiable Food Stuffs

"It's the cafeteria~~!"

A grasp of the obvious never seems to loosen for Misha. She yelled that at the top of her current volume, so probably everyone there heard her. I look at the menus and see the full scope of dietary plans this school support. Every calorie and carb is documented on the menu. This helps those with prescribed daily intake make decisions for what they need to eat during the meal.

Now who has the firm grip obviousness?

[Hey, Shizune. What kinds of extracurricular activities are here?]

She looks at me with a cold, analytical stare documenting my movements as she ponders what to sign in response. I feel bad because I've heard her beautiful voice before and, yet, she can't experience the music and sounds I want her to encounter.

[Well, now that you mention it…]

"There's always Student Council~, Zacchan! You already know us, so~ you can join and all of us can have a great time~~! Please, Zacchan~! Please join up!"

"While your enthusiasm is duly noted Misha, I can't help but feel as if you both have a biased towards me joining Student Council. Meh, plus it's too early to join a club. I was wondering if there is a requirement to join a club at this school."

The lunch bell signals the end to our break and we return to class. The rest of the day passes uneventfully and ask Shizune and Misha for a quick tour. They show me to my real destination, the nurse dorm, and I thank them as they retire to their quarters.

Scene Three: Spoon Man

I walk into the room after being ushered in. I spy a young man who is wearing white overcoat typing overly long and complicated lists of documentations and files. He turns to me with a smile noting my presence.

"Hello there."

"Hello. My name's Tamaki Zakuri. I was told to visit you after school."

"Ah! Yes! Tamaki, have a seat and we'll begin."

"So it says here you have cardiac arrhythmia, over forty percent of your body is covered in scar tissue, missing right leg and are partially blind."

"Yes, sir."

"You can just call me nurse. Everyone seems to. Now, I have your meds, here."

He handed me a box full of medications. I've been taking them for eight years, and they have been streamlined, but they just seem the multiply every time I get a refill.

"So, it's been, what? Eight years? How are you today on your first day at Yamaku? Everything going according to plan?"

"So far, yeah. It's been a cool day. Met a few people and make two new friends, I guess."

"That's good. If you ever need advice I'll be here. I'm sure you have a need to rest so I'll let you go to your room."

I find myself at room, with my hand on the knob.

Scene Four…

As I slowly turn the key to unlock room 122, I sense a disturbing figure breathing down my neck. This shadow is preparing to pounce on me at any moment, its hands ready to grip and slash me.

…It's Your Neighbor, Kenji!

"Who are you?!"

A boy with a Gryffindor color-coded scarf and huge, round spectacles greets me with a massive scowl.

"Well?"

"I guess I'm your neighbor. Name's Tamaki Zakuri. Pleasure to m…"

"Oh! Sup dude! My name's Kenji. I wouldn't head in there if I were you. I saw an older fellow walk in there. He looked like a real feminist follower. He probably planted a trap in there to capture you and convert you, and, if you're their target, that means I'm next!"

So not only is he a Daniel Radcliff look-a-like, but a conspiracy theorist. And he looks like an expert. Great.

"Watch your back, man. These feminists are everywhere, even stooping so low as to ensnare men to do their bidding! Those witches! And they be trippin' if they think they can indoctrinate me! You hear me you indoctrinating, stooping witches! You'll never get me."

"Hey, Kenji. Are you alright, bro? You look worse than a cherry in summer."

He looks at me with a face of wrinkled, red, sweat covered pain. Kind of creepy. Again.

"Sorry. Feminists set me off."

"Yeah, I noticed. Look that was my dad. And I know that he is not a member of the dastardly feminist Nazis. He's a member of the Japanese Conservative Party."

"Oh. Alright. See yah, man. Gotta do some super covert recon stuff. Catch yah later!"

He must be at least partially blind. Either that or this conversation was entirely conducted towards the wall opposite of me. Even I'm not that blind. I mean, I can barely see out of my right eye, but come ON.

Scene Five: A New Home

I set out my medication on the night stand, carefully settling each bottle as if they were a china doll. I sort out my night's medication, and devour them, making a soured face as I consume the handful. A sharp pain emanates from throat and I take a sip of water to assuage the fury of agony in my throat. I could breathe fire right now. No matter how many times I take these medicines, it gets worse with each new med.

A throbbing headache engulfs my cephalic region. My God! This pain is never ending, but I'll have to deal with it. I have dealt with it for years. I take off my right leg prosthetic and wash the amputated region with a wet cloth. Leaning back I let out a loud sigh.

So, this is my new life as a student of Yamaku academy.

My thoughts are back to that Hanako girl. She was kind of cute in her own way. But what really drew my attention was her scars. She's like a mirror image of me. Which is interesting, because, up 'til now, I was the only special case I knew about. First day of school and I've already got girls on my mind. I don't even know her, but…

With a sigh, I rest my head on the pillow. Tomorrow I'll definitely redecorated these sterile walls. But, with better judgment, I get up, lock the door, strip to my boxers, put the clothes into a bin in my closet, shut off the light, and drift off into the Fade.

Scene Six: A Bad Memory

"He's flat-lining! Get me a pace-maker and a damn tourniquet on that leg!"

"Half his body is burnt. He's losing blood at an accelerated rate! We may lose him!"

"Damn it, don't talk like that! It's our job to believe that we can save him!"

"Y-yes, sir."

"His mother and sister aren't going to make it. They took the brunt of the collision, but we may be able to save him!"

"Hold on, Zakuri. We'll get you there safely."

Is this…

…what death is, mommy?

Karin?

Mom! Karin!

"MOM! KARIN!"

Shit!

These nightmares haunt me more and more frequently. I thought I was over my ghosts, that if I learned to let go, I might be able to move on. But my subconscious had a different plan in the works. So many bad thoughts and pains rush to me in a single second and are gone before my body can adjust to it.

In a dripping sweat and heat corroded condition, I look at the clock. Its only 2:00 a.m. I place my heavy head on the cloud-like pillow. I don't pity myself, but, instead, curse my body's weaknesses. My heart is heavy, my eyelids are twenty pound weights, my body numb, and my head is sweltering and swollen. I rest for the next few hours, recovering from the episode. I'm strong enough to survive this. I've been through worse.

I look back to discover that it's suddenly 5:00 a.m. and I'm feeling better than I did those few hours ago. It feels as if it were only a nightmare with another, as if it were a torturous cycle of agony.

Scene Seven: A New Dawn

It appears I'm the only one up this early, seeing as I'm the only who appears to be alive and awake in the building. I enter the shower and set it to cold. I need it, considering what a crazy first night I had.

As I dry off, I get a look at myself in the mirror.

This… face doesn't feel like its mine. This body doesn't feel like its mine. I sometimes question who I am. But I realize that it's futile to ponder such pessimistic thoughts and banish them from my being. These self-made demons will not rule me.

Now or ever. I know who I am. I AM Tamaki Zakuri. Not a fountain well of despair and pity. I am me, and no one can take that away. Even if my appearance may change.

I walk out of the bathroom and into my room. I don't have to be at school just yet, so I decide to pack my things and just meander through the grounds. The serenity of the layout clams my anxiety. My guess was correct then. Looking at the barely risen sun fills my heart with a comfort I haven't felt in years. Finding such beauty in a dark place only increases my resolve and gives me the reason to try again. I feel alive once again. Breaking away from this uplifting light, I look at my watch a see that class begins in forty-five minutes, and, with a new spring in my step, I make haste to Room 3-3.

The place is all but deserted. Only a few students are here. A girl missing one of her hands steps in my direction and introduces herself. She's wearing a boy's uniform shirt and tie instead of the normal blouse. And, despite how much I try to be a gentleman, I continuously notice how tight it looks on her figure. She's probably a sports nerd. She's exceptionally cute. Man, I gotta get my new priorities straight!

"Yo! I'm Miki. You're Zakuri, right?"

"Yeah. Pleasure to meet you, Miki. So, what's up?"

"Just wanted to meet the new guy in person. I heard your introduction yesterday. So, you parkour? That. Is. Awesome."

"Well, I think it's really fun and the wicked moves are really awesome."

"You also play instruments? What kinds?"

"My first real love was guitar. My dad plays as a hobby, but I hope to play professionally. It's our thing, ya know. I can also play piano, sax, trombone, and drums."

"You should totally gig in this school from time to time. You said two members go here, right? So! You guys should totally do a show for the festival."

"Festival?"

"Yeah, it's in two weeks. It's this thing the school puts on for the community around it. Everyone gets together and plays games, eats good food, and has a totally awesome time with everyone else. It's like a come together for this town and our school. We're on a mountain so that makes it even cooler."

"Heh, I see what you did there. I'll think about it, sure. It was cool meeting you, Miki."

"Even better for me, cutie."

God, it's like she wants me to fail miserably in front of everyone. She's cute, but so incredibly blunt and teasing. What an interesting girl. She has a smile of the Cheshire. Creepy and cute.

I take a seat as more and more students pour in from wherever they arrived from. Including the dynamic duo.

[You are early, Zakuri.]

"Wow, Zacchan! You're here earlier than we usually are~! You make us look kind of bad~!"

"Kind of?"

"Only slightly~!"

"Perish the thought. I had a rough morning. So I decided to walk around the grounds as the sun was rising, and that put me in a better mood."

They both look at me with worry, and I can't help but feel slightly guilty for putting them on edge this early.

"But, look. I'm fine really. Thanks for your concern. Truly, I'll be fine."

Shizune, ever ready with a reversal of topics, took the opportunity to ask a question that has been, obviously, bothering her.

[Have you thought about joining Student Council?]

"No, sorry, but since it is only the second day, I haven't really thought about joining a club. I don't even have my room in the way I'd like to yet."

She and Misha both accept this honest apology with smiling faces. Really caking on the cuteness today. GAH! There I go again. What's wrong with me?

They take their seats beside me, and, before I know it, my attention's thrown at the door. I see a timid, rabbit-like figure walk through the door. I can't help but feel like I'm staring, but Hanako is very enrapturing right now.

She maneuvers to her seat in the back, and, with that, she's the last to appear for class.

Except of course, Mutou isn't present yet.

"Hey, girls. Do you know where Mutou is?"

They both shake their heads in odd, synchronized fashion.

[He's like this from time to time.]

"He sometimes walks in in the middle of a lecture that he starts when he enters the third floor stairwell. Weird~!"

"… so, if you were to stand on an event horizon of a black hole, it would be a real life third-person perspective, because…"

My God! Astronomical and quantum physics? As if normal sciences weren't fickle enough. This is going to be an interesting class.

And so, it really wasn't. Mutou's wind was kicked out of his sails pretty early on, so he just switched to the "Big Book of Science Worksheets, Volume VI, Extended Copy; 5th Edition" and pulled from a section that dealt with our current material. He sometimes seems so miserable to me.

As the school day began its close, I ask the Dynamic Ultimate Tag-Team Ultra Duo if there might be library on campus. They say yes, but, not long after, they're after me about a position on student council. Again. I have to let them do easy, and say that it's still too early to make such an important decision. I had to practically bat them away!

Descending to the second floor, I make an earth-shattering revelation. This school's floors are an exact carbon copy of each other. Obviously to make navigation much easier, but this is almost my biggest fear; that everything is a replaced copy of the original item. Oh! That wasn't the revelation. I actually realized that I don't know the way to the library. Oh well. Looks like I'll have to play 'Eannie-Meannie-Miney-Moe' with the doors. This one doesn't look so bad.

I swing open the door slowly to a beautiful figure calmly sitting with incredible posture and wavy, long, blonde hair.

"Hello, there. Would you care for a cup tea?"

She asks this simple question with such politeness and innocence.

"I would certainly love a cup, Blondie."

"My, my! Zakuri! It's so wonderful to hear your voice again!"