Author's Notes:

Katawa Shoujo is owned by Four Leaf Studios. I do not own a single thing. This is a non-profit fan-made story. Viewer Discretion is not generally advised.

Tenshi: Seeing another great review has encouraged my to write even more! Thank you for the lovely review and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. All right, let's not waste any more time!

Lunch with Naomi and Natsume, meeting the Nurse, and meeting a hallmate. Time for some socializing.


The bell rings and wakes me from my slumber. Oh God, I feel like crap. I guess you should never go to sleep in a classroom... with no air condition... during the summer... with heavy clothing on... you get the point. I wipe the sleep from my eyes and yawn softly.

At least Naomi was kind enough to let me borrow her second pencil, so the work got done fast. The class—besides me, Natsume, and Naomi—go to turn in their work. We ended up finishing our work second, with Hisao's group being the first. I mean, they were like a damn powerhouse. 15 minutes after getting the assignment, all finished. A new record, in my opinion.

It's lunch now right? I guess I would go to eat, but I have no idea where the cafeteria is, and there's no way that I'll be going through the school of fish outside. Funny how everyone starts to pour out immediately after the bell, especially since Mutou looked like he was about to announce something to the class as well, standing up to get the class' attention. He shakes his head dismissively and sits back down. Can't blame him, many of the students in my old school would do the same thing.

I was about to go on an inner monologue about the students in my old school, but it would be as interesting as hearing about the importance of knee-pads while skateboarding. I deeply sigh and lean on my hand to see who is left in the class. Seems as though Hisao and his new friends have already left, and that girl with the burn scars hasn't come back yet. In fact, seemingly everyone has already left, except for the girl sitting next to me, the girl with the knee brace—who is also sleeping—and the girl with the prosthetic legs. Well, of course, there's me.

"Yo, Tai~!" Oh, who could also forget that Naomi was here? I turn my head to her voice and it seems that Natsume is sticking by her side. I wonder how she does it.

"Yo. What is it?" I ask, raising my hand casually as my sign of a greeting. I guess I'm a little out of it since my vision goes a little blurry for a second. I pinch the bridge of my nose to see that Natsume is looking observantly at me. I quickly avert my gaze to the delightful blonde.

"You going to lunch or are you just going to stay here?" You know, staying here couldn't be that bad; I've had a few days without lunch before, so I could handle it. But I'm never one to turn down a maiden's request. Or in this case, Naomi's request. Bleh, low blow.

"Sure, why not?" I say as I stand up from my seat. Dang, that could have been the perfect chance at a witty remark. Guess I'm too tired to even care now. Naomi raises an eyebrow in confusion and her smile turns to a frown quickly. What the hell? What did I say?

"Who said you were eating with us?" She says. Oh, so that's how it's gonna be. I guess I made an obviously unamused face because Naomi's frown quickly turns into a smile as she can't hold back her laughter.

"Pfffhh! Hahahaha~!" Oh, I'm so glad you got a kick out of that. I turn to Natsume to see her reaction, and she simply just looks at her with an inquisitive look. I can't tell if she's simply confused or if that's just her normal face. She looks at me with the same expression. God, her face is really difficult to read. But then again, she is a girl, and reading into a girl's mind is like looking for needle in a haystack. "Haha- you should have seen... the look on your face!" Naomi pants as she's clenching at her stomach. I turn my head to see my remaining classmates' reactions; the blue haired girl is still sleeping, and the girl with prosthetic legs and the girl that was sitting next to me have already left. Mutou is still there and I can tell that he is watching in the corner of his eye as he reads his papers.

"Yeah, I know I'm beautiful, now are we going to each lunch or what?" I say as I turn back to Naomi with a smug look on my face, managing to slip in a sarcastic remark. She seems to compose herself as she straightens her back from arching forward due to her laughter.

"Okay, okay." Naomi says before heading to the door. "This way then." I follow along, grabbing my hat before I forget, and Natsume follows behind.

The hallway is practically empty. Guess a lot of people are hungry. Well, it's not 'ghost-town' empty, like how it was when I was getting to class, but we didn't see anybody until we were nearing what I could guess was the cafeteria.

We take our place in the line. I knew it, this place does get quite crowded during lunch. Not to mention it's really noisy too. I usually like it when it's quiet, gives me time to think and ponder life's mysteries. Natsume poking my shoulder interrupts my train of thought. Wait, when did she get in front of me? She moves to the side so Naomi could talk to me.

"I was thinking that we can get something to go and show you around the school. That okay?" She shouts, trying to overpower the loud chatter so I can hear her. It manages to get to my ears and I nod in agreement. Her face lights up and she gives a slight grin. "Sweet." She turns forward to face the lunch line and we wait until we can get our food.


You know, even if I wasn't going to walk around the school, I still wouldn't have chosen the lunch for today; they were serving some kind of ramen with shrimp in it. I wouldn't mind the ramen if the tempura was separate, but no, they just had to mix it with the soup. For a school that helps students with disabilities, you'd think they be a little open-minded about the food they serve. Screw my allergies. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't complain as much, it is my first day after all.

So instead of getting the ramen, we opted on getting the sweet bread. At least, I think it's sweet. It's got a strawberry drawing on the wrapper and it looks a little pinkish. What if it's shrimp flavor? God, that doesn't even sound appetizing. But then again, that's my taste.

I follow the dastardly duo out of the cafeteria and into the courtyard. There are a few students eating their home lunches on the grass. Can't really call it 'home' lunch since we're in a boarding school, but whatever. After getting the damned wrapper off, I finally take a bite out of the bread. Hm, strawberry, probably could have guessed that. Well, at least it's sweet.

Naomi fumbles around with her bread, still struggling to get the wrapper open, and Natsume is taking small bites from her own. Her differently colored eyes constantly dart in different directions, periodically to me and Naomi. Would she please stop doing that? It's starting to make me feel a little self-conscious. But Naomi doesn't seem to notice since she's still trying to rip the wrapper.

"This... damn... thing!" She grunts as she attempts to rip it open on each word. The inside of my mind wants me to laugh at her feeble attempts, but the nicer side of my takes over as I extend my hand out.

"Let me see that." I say. She looks at me, and then to my hand. Her surprised expression makes me feel a little amused. She doesn't say anything as she places the bread on my hand. I give her my bread before attempting to open this damn thing. I tug on two opposite sides and begin pulling. Damn, why do they always make these things hard to open? If a student that had only one arm wanted to eat this then they're in for a bad time. It's like a pickle jar. After a few sharp tugs, I finally manage to open it. Feeling victorious, I hand it back to her.

"Thanks, Tai~!" She happily thanks, closing her eyes and giving a slight nod in appreciation. She eagerly takes the bread and gives back my lunch before munching on her own. It kind of reminds me of when you would buy a little kid ice cream. Kind of cute. I guess everyone's just a kid at heart.

We go around the school, looking at the different areas of the campus. Of course, Naomi is the one who basically acts like a tour guide; the only time Natsume would speak was when Naomi started the stumble or trail off. There were a few conversations that the two would star in, but I always find myself not saying anything. We go around and tour the school, with Naomi's superb guidance, for about ten minutes. I'm not sure how long we have lunch for. From what Naomi said, we have a while. Not exactly helpful. Guess we'll just have to wait it out.


We make our way back to the class buildings. We have already finished our lunch and thrown it away, so Naomi's just skipping ahead, and Natsume and I are forced to follow before she gets herself hurt.

"She's quite energetic, isn't she?" I say, almost in a chuckle. Naomi isn't within earshot and she's greeting other students as they pass by, so she shouldn't be able to hear our conversation. Natsume turns to me with a slight grin on her face.

"Yeah, she's always been like this since we were children." She responds nostalgically. Could have guessed they were childhood friends. From the way they act around each other, they could almost be perceived as sisters. I wonder how they met.

"She's always been like this?" I ask jokingly, pointing my finger at Naomi, who seems to be trying to reach out towards a butterfly. I expected a laugh, or even a giggle, but she just responds with sigh.

"Yep. Can't remember a time when she hasn't." Natsume says, with the same nostalgic grin on her face. Must have been good times. It makes me remember my childhood. Ugh, I don't want to remember 'her' again. The new one seems to appeal enough to me. Heh, 'the new one'; it sounds like I'm replacing her now.

Before I could respond, Naomi quickly walks to us, hunched forward in exhaustion probably. She went and tired herself out in this hot weather. I wonder if she does this often. If so, Natsume is probably always on watch 24/7.

"Whew, all this guiding and walking has gotten me thirsty!" Naomi announces to us, brushing a bit of sweat off of her forehead. Who even says that anymore? Sounds like something out of a movie or a cartoon. Oh well, either way I know what this means.

"I'm getting a little parched, I guess." I suggest. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be the pack mule regardless. "Is there a water fountain nearby?"

"A water fountain? I don't even think we have one of those." Thanks Naomi, that should have been really helpful to say during the tour. Also, what kind of school doesn't give kids free water?! What kind of blasphemy is this?! Do you want us to die?! "Instead, we have soda machines." Whoa, wait what?

"Soda machines? You mean like, with actual soda?" I ask.

"Uh, yeah. What else would there be?" Oh Naomi, you have no idea.

"In my previous school, they had these soda machines, with a big soda ad on it and everything. But instead of being smart and putting actual soda in there, they replaced it all with bottled water!" I explain to her. Just as I hoped, she laughed. I'm not sure if it was how strongly I delivered it or if she's laughing at the pain of betrayal I had felt.

"Hahaha! Wow, haha... that must suck." She says, trying to compose herself. It was loud enough to catch a few of the students' attention, but I disregard their questioning stares. Besides, Natsume's stare is enough.

"Yeah, anyways, where's the soda machine?" I ask. Natsume gives me the directions and the money to buy the drinks. I walk inside the building and can't help but feel how lonely and quiet it is without them. It's only day one and I'm starting to feel comfortable. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.


"C'mon you..." I slip in the yen for about the twelfth time. The damn machine keeps spitting it out, complaining that it's creased on the edges. Of course, the damn thing spits it out again. "Fucking bitch goof!" I snap, slamming my fist on it. A little too vulgar for me, even though I said it. But I mean really, how much more straight can you get than this? Do you want me to freaking iron it out for you too? Rubbing the corners one last time, I put it back in. This time, it doesn't spit it back out.

"Thank you!" I say frustratedly, tossing my arms up in annoyance. I punch in strawberry soda for Naomi, coffee for Natsume, and melon juice for me. I never knew they had coffee in beverage machines. You learn something new everyday. All three of the cans pop out to the pick-up slot. Being the homosapien that I am, I can't carry all three of the cold cans in my hands, so I stack them. So now I have to make my way back and keep watching the drinks so they don't fall.

It isn't too far, but the hallway is quite narrow, not to mention there's a sharp turn. Who designed this part of the building? The quiet atmosphere heightens the sound of metal banging on the floor. There's no construction happening so it could be from a person with a prosthetic limb or something. Maybe it's that Indian girl from my class.

The sound starts off faint but seems to increase gradually. All right, I know going through the turn would be the worse possible choice, so I should start backing up.

"Whoa!" I softly say as my soda can tower falls, the top can falling forward and, of course, to the turn. Crap. I don't want an unsuspecting victim to trip on behalf of my stupidity, so I chase after the can. It rolls far but I'm able to catch up with-

"Oof!" Something rams into my chest at a sudden speed. The force of the impact causes me to lose my balance immediately and fall to the ground, not to mention that I happened to hit my head on it. Ouch, pain. The pain fills my lower area, around my pancreas. Ugh, it just had to be there huh?! What did the doctor say not to do, besides overexercising? Getting hit in the pancreas, right?

Agh! Great, now the pain is rising! It's as if fire was pouring out of my guts and into my skin. I grit my teeth to hold back any screams that might escape my mouth. Take a few breaths. In through the nostrils, out through the mouth. I can bear through this, be a man! After a minute, the pain starts to fade. Whew, I almost thought I reopened my wound. I open my eyes and lean on my arms to sit up. It seems I found out who the perpetrator is.

"Hey, you all right?" She asks worriedly, bending over to look at me. The first thing I notice is that her legs are gone; now the only things that took their place are prosthetic legs. But it's not like the one that the Indian girl had. Huh, I didn't know that there were different types of prosthetic legs for different things.

But besides her obvious disability, I notice that she is a small girl—probably older though—with peach colored hair. Her hair is styled in twintails. She's also wearing different clothes from our regular uniforms. Maybe it's for P.E. Certainly looks that way, with the panty-like undergarments and the white t-shirt. I should probably stop looking already.

"Yeah, I'm g-gh!" I grunt as I try to get up, but my pancreas let's out another jolt of pain and it manages to get a reaction out of me. My arm gets weak and I barely catch myself from falling on my back. With speed-like reflexes, she rushes over to pick me up. I don't put up a struggle as she goes to sling my arm over her shoulder.

"Come on, I'll take you to the nurse." She says as she starts to lift me up. At this point my mind kicks into a dazed mode since I can't really think. I just turn my head side-to-side, observing the area. My feet walk in synch with twintails' as she starts walking down the hallway. The image of the soda cans separated in the hallway is in my peripherals. Man, what a waste.


Almost halfway to the nurse's office I break away from the girl's support. My pancreas is now at ease, with the occasional soreness from the collision. She hit pretty hard too, like almost rivaling a speed of a car on the highway. If she had been larger, I probably could have died. Good thing that most of the girls here are slender. At least, I hope most of them are.

We reach the nurse's office in silence, probably not wanting to discuss anything until we both find out we're okay. Well, I'm not one for starting conversations so maybe that's it. But still, I don't feel like talking now. I open the door and let her in first. I follow after and enter into a completely different room. Apart from the nurse's building, which is dim and gritty, this room is completely bright and sterile.

"Ah Emi, you're back in ample time, as usual." a young purple-haired man says with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. Is he suppose to be the nurse? Guess there's nothing wrong with that, but I've never seen a male school nurse before. Also, now I know the girl's name. Probably should have asked before, but it doesn't matter now.

"Of course, but I ran into some trouble." Twintails responds with a jubilant grin as well.

"Yeah, quite literally." I respond with a shaky sigh, since my pancreas decided it would be fun to hurt now.

"What is this, the fifth time this has happened?" The nurse says jokingly. There were four other victims? I hope none of them got sent to the hospital.

"Wow, I'm surprised you kept count." Emi says, still smiling. She's not even affected. That's just great. I'm just another accident.

"Well, I'm going to have to if I need to keep telling your supervisor about it." The nurse retaliates. Supervisor? She must be in a club. That reminds me, Naomi and Natsume were talking about clubs. They told me about them being in the newspaper club. They asked me to join and I said I'd consider it. Maybe it might be interesting. I could go after school, if I feel up to it. "Anyways," The nurse says as he straightens out his small stack of papers and sets them to the side. "I believe we have to inspect the damage." It sounds like he's treating me like a vehicle. Why don't you just pop open the hood and see if the engine's still running? Actually no, don't; that would be painful.

The nurse points me to the bed by his desk and I abide by the action. I sit down on the leather surface, placing my hands down near my side and touching the edge of it, my legs on the bed. The nurse approaches with a stethoscope.

"Please take off your shirt." The nurse says nonchalantly, with his smile still intact. Such an odd request from a man would send me running for the hills, but he's a nurse. I comply with his order. After taking off my hat, I begin to unbutton my uniform jacket, my eyes gaze upon the room. There are many different posters, ranging from fruit posters to motivationals. 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away.' Yeah, if I throw it at him.

I take off the jacket and begin to undo the shirt itself. Only now that I realize that Emi is still here. I thought she already left. She's just staring at me with a vacant look in her eyes. Makes me kind of embarrassed. Maybe she wants to stick around? Pfhh, yeah right. As if anyone would want to see you shirtless. You just showed up out of the blue, and this is no harem; no girl is going to want to go in your pants yet. I guess the nurse had noticed my staring as he turns behind him with a smirk.

"Don't worry Emi, I'll make sure to get it all on tape so you can watch it again." Oh dear god, I hope he's joking. This is not how I want to lose my virginity.

"What did I say about flirting with the people I crash into?" Emi responds, very seriously as well. Dear god, he isn't joking. This is how my life ends.

"What? I can't have a little fun?" The nurse replies. Whelp, time to say my prayers. I'm sorry I didn't pass high school, mom and dad. Emi kicks the nurse playfully. He cringes and grasps at his leg. Even though it looked light, it seems like it hurts.

"I'll be going. Sorry about the whole crashing into you thing. I'll find a way to make it up." Emi abruptly says to me.

"Huh, oh all right. See ya." I respond hastily. I guess being caught off guard can do that sort of thing. Not to mention the given situation. She then heads to the door and leaves. I don't know why, but my body unconsciously exhales and my shoulders lower in relaxation. Girls; affecting our bodies even without us knowing. The nurse chuckles at my seemingly obvious expression of relief.

"Quite a handful, isn't she?" He responds with one eye open. He then places the stethoscope onto my chest. It's cold and metallic. Guess that's to be expected. Besides, I would think it was a little jarring for it to be warm.

"You tell me; I only met her by a collision." I respond. I inhale and exhale deeply. The stethoscope moves up. I repeat. The stethoscope moves down.

"So what's your name?" The nurse says as he keeps inspecting my chest area. I breathe deeply before speaking.

"Tai Rychtoven." That name. Speaking somewhat English is relieving. But this is probably the only time I'd speak it.

"Ah, the transfer student." The nurse says. I reply with a nod. His stethoscope now moves to my back. My spine jolts a little, but it's not too much to handle. Breathe in. Breathe out. Manual breathing mode activated. "Where are you from?"

"Hawaii." I say. I almost expected myself to say it viciously, but it just came out nonchalantly. Guess I don't care much for it. At least, now that I'm here in Japan it's practically irrelevant. The checkup seems to be over as he places the stethoscope off from my back and unplugs the earpieces from his ears. I go to reach for my shirt before anything else. The nurse goes to his chair and takes some papers out. Probably my records and such. I wouldn't understand it.

By the time he's done collecting his files, I'm just finishing the last button on my jacket.

"You seem to be looking good, Rychtoven." He says with a smile. Man, I feel a little superior being called by my last name. Maybe it's just a formality here, but I like it. "Your heart rate's normal and your lungs seem to be doing well." He says this as he shuffles around with his papers a bit. I'm not sure if he's really looking at them or not. "Also, there's the thing about your pancreas."

"My insulinoma? What about it?" I ask. I know most of what I need from my doctors and brother, so I'm pretty sure he's just going to give me a little review.

"I'm pretty sure you've been alerted by your other doctors, but you'll need to do some exercising." There's that word, 'exercise'.

"Exercise? But I can't overexert myself." I state. The nurse opens his right eye and grins. Is that all he can do? Can he ever open both of his eyes?

"I know, but you still need to do it. There's some light exercising you can do at the swimming pool." Wow, wait what? There's a swimming pool? Well, why didn't you just say so? I could go for some cruising by the water. "Or you can run on the track with Emi." So Emi exercises as well? Guess that makes sense, considering her attire. She must be in track and field.

"Hm, I might consider it." I say. Then again, I would enjoy just staying in my room and playing on my DS. I still have to beat my Nuzlocke challenge on Platinum.

"Good!" The nurse says. He shuffles his papers some more before stopping almost abruptly. "Also, I'm pretty sure you have gotten your prescribed medications already?" I nod. "Well, if you run out, come meet me here." He shuffles a bit more before setting them down and clasping his hands in accomplishment. "That seems to be it Mr. Rychtoven; you may leave." I nod in affirmation and reach for my hat.

"Thank you, sir." I say as I head to the door.

"No problem. Stay safe. Oh, and try not to crash into anyone." He says with his jubilant smile present. He should be saying that to Emi. I leave the room and step into the hallway. It's empty. Looks like Emi did leave. She did seem to be in a hurry, you know crashing into me and all. I sigh and just put my hands in my pocket as I start to head to the classroom buildings.

The final bell of the day rings. Having English and History as the final classes of the day makes it feel like an eternity. English was easy, considering my first language was English. Unfortunately, History hasn't been much of my forte recently. Just can't understand it properly. Unlike math.


The whole class rushes out as if there was a fire. I stick around for a bit so I don't get caught up in the traffic. My eyes scan across the classroom. Naomi and Natsume are nowhere to be seen. Either they entered the crowd before I noticed, or they haven't come back. They weren't present at English, so who knows where they could be. I hope they're okay. Maybe they're searching for me, since I didn't meet back with them. Pfhh, yeah right, that's wishful thinking; people actually caring about you on the first day.

Speaking of dastardly duos, pink drills and the blue-haired bespectacled girl are making wild gestures at each other. They're so quick and fluid that it's almost unreal. Sign language, of course. I couldn't imagine doing that, it would be too hard remembering each movement. Wait a minute, Hisao's not with them. He must have hurriedly escaped from them, considering how tired he looked just conversing with them. Maybe he went to unpack his stuff. Oh crap, I should probably do that too. Hopefully, nothing in there is broken.

The door and hallway is still crowded so I just continue examining the classroom. That blue-haired girl that was sitting next to me in Mutou's class seems to be reading a rather thick and large book. The sudden flash of light that comes from the book whenever she slightly adjusts it makes me assume that it's from the lamination of a picture. Maybe it's a photo album? It's always nice to reminisce nice memories. I wish I had one of those right now.

My eyes revert back to the sign language experts, who are still signing. My mind is suggesting on talking with them, but my body won't move a muscle. Besides, if I had the will to go up to them, what would I say? Nothing comes to mind, so I just quickly give up on it. But, isn't it good to make friends on the first day? You shouldn't just stick with one group the entire time, right; expand further and meet new people? That is, if I don't meet them by crashing into them.

That Emi girl has been lurking a bit in my mind during History;What is she like? What class is she in? What does she like? What does she mean by 'making it up to me'? All these questions rattle through my mind. Ugh, I'm giving myself a headache. Maybe I'll see her tomorrow, hopefully. She seems nice and I want to know more. Maybe we could start running together. But then again, swimming does sound cool. I could check it out tomorrow.

It seems the crowd has died of and most of my classmates have left already—disregarding the blue-haired girl with the knee brace sleeping. I kind of feel like waking her up, but I'll just let her rest in peace. Besides, it has been a tiring day for all of us.


I make my way to the dorms and see a sight that I expected to be there. Right on the corner of the wall branching from the 1st level dorms to the staircase is a skid mark. Before making my way up the stairs, I see a group of guys watching television at the lounge area. They are all focused on their network—except for one guy who waves his hand lightly at me—so I don't bother on saying anything to them. As much as I would like to unwind and watch some brainwashing shows, I have some unpacking to do.

Room 110. 2nd floor, 1st room. Odd, I know, but that's how the system works apparently. It isn't too much of a hassle since it's closest to the stairs. I stand in front of my door and take a deep breath. I don't know why, I'm just tired. Before I attempt unlocking the door, I always turn the handle to jerk it back forth for about three times. It's usually for if I forget to lock the door, but now it's become a usual routine. After the third turn and yank, I finally reach for my keys. As I go to my keys, I hear a door opening from behind me. The sounds is enough to distract me as I just completely ignore my door and turn around.

A male teenager with short and unkempt dark brown hair is leaning on his frame. His arms are folded and his legs are crossed. He's wearing a casual white t-shirt and baggy jeans that have a few tiny rips by the shin. His green eyes flicker and a smirk appears on his face. This guy better not be gay or else I'm running for cover.

"Heard ya' making quite a bit of a rustle." He says, the smirk on his face now replaced with a questioning look. Makes me feel a little put-off, but I always answer when asked, even though he wasn't technically asking a question.

"A little tradition I like to do. Just a habit before opening locked doors." I say, twirling the keys on my finger. His face turns from inquisitive to a look of realization. Must have remembered something.

"Wait, you're that new kid that just transferred." Wow, I'm surprised that he even knew. I guess there hasn't been many transfers recently. Odd, considering this is a school for the physically disabled.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Now it's my turn to return the questioning look. He straightens up from his leaning and a joking smile appears on his face.

"Because I could hear you running and banging into everything on your way up." He says it calmly, but I can still hear a chuckle as he states his sentence. Wait, he was able to hear that? Then that means he skipped out on class. Maybe he's just a senior and has his credits to graduate. At least, I think that's how the system in this school—or even country—works.

"Wait, you were here all morning?" I ask him.

"Well, not all morning, but I was here to hear you charging through as if you were a bull in a china shop." He responds. Nice simile and expression you got there, pal. I would continue on why he wasn't in class at the morning, but he quickly changes the topic. "Oh, but where are my manners?" He steps out from his door frame and into the hallway. "My name's Hanato Wazuka. Now hit me." He says as he points to his face. Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" I ask in surprise. Such an odd and sudden request. The subconscious of my mind tells me it's a trap. What if I get in trouble from knocking this guy out? I don't even know his disability; he could brittle bones or something.

"You heard me; punch me in the face." He says again, leaning a bit forward so I can get a clean shot. I take a step back. All right, this is starting to get weird.

"Look, I'm not punching you." I say, raising my hands up defensively. Hanato flashes a competitive grin before raising his eyebrow. What trick does this guy have up his sleeve.

"Oh, I didn't know my new hallmate was a bitch." He murmurs as he straightens. He says it loud enough for me to hear it though.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I ask rhetorically. There's no mistake that he just provoked me. Intentionally at that. But I may as well see how he responds.

"So you're disability is deafness? I guess..." He mocks. I can feel my hand curl up to a fist... and release. There's no way I'm going to punch this guy. It would only cause more trouble. Just a few words should probably get him off my back.

"Yep, can't hear a thing!" I jest as I slightly lift my arms up and quickly back down. Just play it cool and he'll just stop eventually.

"I feel sorry for you. No balls AND deaf?" He jeers yet again. This guy will never give up. My face subconsciously creeps a sinister grin and my right eye does a small twitch. Nearing the pressure cooker. My arm unnervingly shuffles around my pocket a bit. Just some idling will keep it from wanting to hit him. "What's wrong? You have a disability in your arm too? Or have you been wanking off too much?" All right, that's it.

Normally, I wouldn't get defensive on masturbation, but I think I've had about enough of this. Just so I can end it, I immediately give a heavy jab right into Hanato's cheek. He stumbles back a bit and holds the door frame with one hand while the other just lies limp. I can feel my heavy breathing coming out of my nostrils, and that my body is heaving. Hanato doesn't waste a second as he comes right back up with the same competitive smile on his face.

"Come on! Is that all you've got?" He challenges yet again, his arms up as if to say 'Come at me, bro!' Oh, you'll get what's coming to you. "My little sister could h-gh!" I don't give him any time to finish his taunt as I give him a sharp punch to his nose. He only takes a step back and only covers his nose for a second before returning to his original position. "Scratch that, my plants could hit better than you!"

Another punch delivered to his face and he has the same reaction. It's kind of nice, venting all this stress I had. Though I do feel a little bad about-ah who am I kidding; he asked for it practically! His nose is now bleeding and his nose seems to be out of it's usual position. Damn, I think I broke it. I guess I still got a little force in me.

"Hah, you call that a punch?! I can't even feel it!" He taunts yet again. I'm about to throw another punch, but something dawns upon me. What the hell am I doing? Am I seriously starting a fight on my first day? Well I can't really call it a fight since he's not hitting back. In fact, why isn't he hitting back? This all seems rather odd. I lower my fists and turn my hand around so my palm is facing up.

"Dude, your nose is broken." I say as I point to his face. He looks down at the area, surprised. Why's he surprised? If anything, he should be cringing in pain. Instead of showing any signs of pain or worry, he just simply covers his nose with both his hands and—judging by the sounds of cracking and his gestures—fixes his nose. What the hell is up with this dude?

"Ah, just a flesh wound. Come on!" He says as he bounces back and forth, beckoning competitively. Yeah, I think I'm done. I don't want to be suspended from breaking this guy's bones. But, by the way he's acting, he's just practically begging for it.

My eyes flash around, trying to find some escape to this. No one to the left. Wonder what they're doing. They're probably at the lounge. Still have yet to meet them. I hope it doesn't end up like this meeting. Maybe they do this for all the new hallmates? If so, that's a pretty stupid welcoming. There's no way in the hell that this is some kind of formality.

My eyes quickly dart to the right as I see someone at the stairwell. Thank God, it's Hisao. He's looking at us with a confused expression. Gee, I wonder how long he's been standing there. By his expression, he looks as though he just got here. Maybe he can help be my ticket out of here.

"Oh, hey Hisao!" I call out to him. He's surprised by my acknowledgment of him, and so is Hanato. Good.

"Oh, uh, hey." He responds back. He seems rather unsocial today, at least with me. I would take offense by it, but it's probably because of this given situation. "You two okay?"

"Huh, oh yeah we're fine; just having a simple chat with my hallmate that's all." I respond back. I don't know why I'm trying to hold up this 'nothing is wrong' act. He's already been here long enough to know what was happening.

"Name's Hanato." Hanato says as he holds up his hand nonchalantly. His sudden greeting kind of catches me off guard and worries me. He better not ask Hisao to punch in the face. I don't want him to go through that whole mess.

"Hisao, Hisao Nakai." He formally bows. Now this is a formal greeting, now asking someone for a duel. Cough cough Hanato cough cough. "You two seem busy, so I'm gonna up to my room." He says as he points to the stairs behind him.

"All right." I nod, "See ya later." And with that, Hisao leaves. Now Hanato and I are left by ourselves. At least Hisao was able divert our previous situation, so now Hanato seems to have calmed down. But now I think it's time to ask a question that has been sitting in my mind.

"So, what was that all about? The whole me hitting you thing?" I ask. He gives me a grin, probably glad that I asked him this question.

"Just to test what ticks you off." He explains. If he just wanted to know, he could have just asked. But I guess this way you get to see the ugly side of people. "And I have to say, you've made it farther than most others. It was quite entertaining." Oh, now you're speaking in high elegance? How quaint.

"So you've done this to other people." I conclude. He nods and gives a bigger grin, as if in amusement. I can only guess that those people are my other hallmates.

"Yeah, they mostly start wailing once I hit the 'bitch' part." He says. I can't help but snicker. But then, another thought hit me.

"How did you take all those hits? I mean, I even broke your nose. Most people would be running to the nurse's office."

"Ah, I should probably explain." He says. He leans up against the wall and I place my back on the one behind me. "You know how when you get hurt, it's because of how your nerves react to it, right?" I nod in response. "Yeah well, my nerves aren't like that. It's a genetic disability; my nerves don't respond properly. So when I get hurt, I don't feel it."

"So that's why you didn't even notice when I dislocated your nose." I state. He nods in confirmation. I take this new piece of information into account and store it somewhere into my brain. Wow, a disability where you can't feel any pain. I wonder how it must feel. Like, is it just pain or does it affect your whole sense of touch. That would suck. Without that feeling, how would you even know if you're alive?

"What about you?" Hanato's question catches me off-guard and I look at him in confusion. "Why are you in this school?" The question is basically a kinder way of saying, 'What's your disability?' I guess I should phrase it like that from now on.

"Uh, insulinoma." I say. I realize that I am speaking in medical jargon and decide to explain. "My pancreas secretes insulin, which lowers my blood sugar. Which, in turn, may cause me to have a blackout or seizure." I don't bother to tell him about the whole 'cancer' thing, seeing as how grim his expression is.

"Is it curable?" He asks. This time he asks it in seriousness, without his sinister sneer. I simply shake my head, and he lowers his head. He seems rather sorrow about the whole situation, until he gives out a forced chuckle. "I guess we have something in common." Dark.

I'm not sure if his disability is fatal as mine. Maybe it's like his nerves just stop working altogether. He doesn't bother to explain it and I don't bother to answer. It's probably for the best.

"Anyways, I'm supposed to be meeting with someone in town." Hanato says as he pops off from the wall and starts to the stairs. "I'll see you later." He says as he still looks at me and waves.

"All right. See ya." I wave back. I stop watching him after a few seconds of him disappearing down the staircase. I sigh, do my little routine with the doorknob, and enter my room. "Ahhh, what a d-woah!" I scream as I almost trip from my luggage. I quickly grasp on the wardrobe that is conveniently there to keep me from falling. I guess that's what I get for just throwing my things in here.

I close my door and drag my luggage over to the center of the room. The room's not half-bad. There's a bed, desk, lamp, clock, wardrobe, and even a little mini-fridge. I open it to see what's in it and there's a few juice boxes in there. They seem to be far from the expiration date, so I just let it be.

I open my big luggage that almost tripped me and tried to give me a concussion. My clothes are in there, following with my laptop and charger, and most of my school supplies. Oh, and Akira's present. There's quite a lot of clothes I packed in, since I'm basically not allowed back in Hawaii practically. I put them in my wardrobe, almost having to stuff one drawer since there was no more left over space. It didn't shut perfectly, so you can see the bits of clothing poking out from it. Eh, I'll fix it later.

Next I move onto my carry-on luggage. I put most of my luxuries in here, like my hand-held games, computer games, some of my light school supplies, Japanese pocket dictionaries, a lot of things. I take my time to organize it. Wine goes in waaay back in the fridge; laptop goes on the desk, plugged at all times; hand-helds stay on the desk with the laptop; school supplies stay on the desk as well; Japanese dictionaries and medications stay in the drawer nearest to the bed.

What time is it now? I almost go to reach for my pocket watch until I remember there's a clock in my room. About 3, almost. I'm practically finished with unpacking, so I lay in my bed for awhile—not before placing my hat down on my desk. Ugh, what a day. For a first day, quite a lot happened. I wonder if every day is going to be eventful like this. I'm not going to be cynical, but that would be very tiring. I might enjoy it in here. Heh, it's like one of those school animes.

My eyes blink heavily. Fatigue is starting to wash over me. Hm, I wonder how Natsume and Naomi are doing. They haven't been back since lunch. I wonder if they're looking for me. Heh, yeah right; that's just wishful thinking. If anything, they probably ditched you to do their own thing. I wouldn't be surprised though, Naomi seems to be the one who would always take advantage of time.

Another heavy blink. I wonder who those girls Hisao is hanging with. He seemed quite overwhelmed when talking to them, even though one of them can't talk. That reminds me, I haven't talked with anyone else. Well, except for Emi. I've practically been observing everything, getting to know these people. Even through these observations, I'm not sure how to adapt. I guess I should just be me. That's what my dad used to say.


...brring...

Huh what? My eyes slowly open, the dirt on my crevices trying to keep them shut. I move my head to the side and I'm greeted with a blurry vision. After a few moments, it subsides and I look to my desk where my phone is. I try to reach out to it, but it's too far away. Maybe if I concentrate hard enough, I can use the force!

Shit. Looks like I'm going to have to get up and do it myself. I lift my off from my bed a sluggishly get my phone. I sit back on my bed and flip the phone open. It's a text. From Isaac.

"Hey bro, how's your new school so far? The law business here is kind of confusing, but Akira helped show me around. Speaking of Akira, here's her phone number:" I go to turn on my light—which burns my corneas by the way—and take out a post-it note that was already on my desk. I don;t remember putting it there, but I don't complain. I write the number down and set it as a new contact.

I don't bother on sending Isaac a reply, since I'm too groggy to formulate an actual message. Geez, what time is it now? I check my phone's clock and it reads 9:05. I look out my window it surely is dark outside. I would go to take a nice stroll, but I'm afraid that I might get lost and never find my way back. So instead, I reach for my DS and play some Pokémon.

I mindlessly grind my Kirlia until it's almost level 30. Gardevoir will be mine! What, what time is it? I glance at the clock and it's almost nearing 12. Crap, I need to go to bed soon. After gaining level 30, I save and shut off the game. I still realize that I'm wearing my uniform and decide to undress and put it in the hamper next to the wardrobe. I get a comfy t-shirt and sweatpants out from the wardrobe and equip them.

Getting under the covers, I recall today's events. So these are the cards you give me, Life? Fine I'll play your game.

I call.


Tenshi: I apologize for the long delay, school's been quite a problem recently, but that's not really an excuse, is it? No, I've just been playing too much Minesweeper. My apologies. Read and review, and tell me what you think.

Tenshi: Until next time!