The roar of a heavy engine stirred Keegan Shiro from his peaceful nap, becoming painfully aware of his surroundings, he opened his uncovered eye. Aghhh my friggen neck. How long have I been asleep? He questioned in his mind as he observed the near-empty bus and its surroundings; reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone and checking the time.
12:48pm.
Shit. First day of being in a school in a while. And I'm already severely late. I shouldn't have waited so long to actually pack my stuff. Dumbass. Scolding himself mentally, he slides the device back into his pocket.
The rather outdated bus slowly made its way through the seemingly quiet town. Keegan surveyed the passing sights in hope of spotting a couple of locations of interest but was unable to distinguish anything noteworthy. His attention is redirected as the bus turns, beginning to ascend a hill.
A large collection of buildings dot the tip of the hill. So. That's gotta be it. Yamaku academy. My new home for now. Home doesn't hold much meaning anyhow. A concept in life to justify being sequestered with "loved ones'. There's really no- Keegan's thoughts are interrupted by the bus slowly coming to a halt. He looks up to see the grand-esque gate and the buildings kept behind it.
Keegan got up with a heavy sigh, still uncomfortable with the idea of attending Yamaku. Quickly gathering his bag and notebook, cramming the latter into the former; he headed to the front, stepping off the bus.
The first thing that caught his attention was the short, petite, dark-haired girl nervously standing in front of the gate. Huh. No uniform? Check. Looking uncomfortable? Check. A possible sense of overwhelming depression? Yikes. Kinda projecting there. The point at hand, she looks like a new transfer. Doesn't look like anything is outwardly wrong with her. Damn. I was hoping for a smoke before I had to start dealing with this place.
Fuck it. Last chance, I might get for a while. Probably should see what the problem is though. Keegan concludes as he fishes his cigarette pack out of his pocket.
He pulls out one of the sticks of tobacco, promptly placing it between his lips as he attempts to fish out his lighter.
The bus then made its presence known as it started back down the hill, the sound of the brakes causing the girl to turn around, facing him with her alluring magenta eyes.
Woah.
The two noticed each other at this point.
"Uhh.. yo." Keegan greets, simply.
The girl looked put off by the sudden appearance of a one-eyed stranger. Yeesh. I'm really not digging the fact I'm gonna have to put up with looks like that for a lifetime.
"Tck. I know, it's gross to look at it. Whatever." Keegan replies to himself hastily, lighting his cigarette and turning away.
He takes a long initial drag in an attempt to wash the bad taste the look left in his mouth.
"It's not…! S-sorry." She apologizes as she stares at the ground.
It's not her fault. The reaction still stung though.
He looks back at her. "As I said, it's whatever. I was used to those kinds of looks even before I lost my eye. The perks of having one of 'those' faces."
Keegan's cracks at self-deprecating humour seem to put her at ease as she giggles slightly.
He grins ever so slightly at his joke not falling flat.
"I'm… new." She admits the obvious.
Resist the shitty dad joke.
Resist the shitty dad joke.
Resist the shitty dad joke.
Resist the shitty dad joke.
"Me too."
"R-really!? Are you a first-year?" She asks with some excitement. Probably at the prospect of not wandering the grounds and classes alone.
"Really. And nah, I'm a third-year."
"O-oh.." She says, losing what little excitement was present in her voice.
The 'old' me would call it quits here. I got her to liven up once, that would've been enough. However. I'm onto the next chapter of my new life and so, new me! For a little while anyway. So what the hell. Time to prod like any normie would do.
"What's wrong?"
Flawless.
"Someone was supposed to be here ... but he's… not…" The girl trails off.
Ah. She seems really depressed her supposed person isn't here. It's kinda a dick move to put this girl through something like this on her own. Transferring to a new school would mess with anyone, let alone transferring to a school that caters to disabled students. That takes some adjustment. Probably more than just 'some'. Isn't that exactly the kind of situation you're supposed to be supported by your family or something? As Keegan ponders the correct situation for 'family support', a simple solution crosses his mind.
"I could…. go with you. Figure out where our classes are and all that." He suggests as he takes another drag from his burning cigarette.
She perks up slightly. "You…. could?"
"Sure, I'm new too so I still gotta figure out what's what, yunno? And if I can help ya out, all the better." Keegan confirms, flicking the remainder of his cigarette to the middle of the pavement.
"Yeah! Ok." The girl replies with a bright smile, displaying an especially developed canine tooth.
Well. Shit. That's too sweet of a smile for someone like me. My heart. It's like a critical hit was just scored. He could do nothing but give a small smile in return. "Well, now that that's settled. Let's get a move on, yeah?"
"Yeah. And hey.. thanks."
"Don't mention it. Just doing my duty as a senior." He responds sarcastically, pushing open the almost obnoxiously large gates and proceeding into the grounds.
She shakes her head with a grin, following behind.
"Dummy…"
"I heard tha-" Keegan cuts himself off, examining the lush-looking campus grounds as the pair traverse it. It's springtime. I enjoy green. I like the look of it. But this whole place is assaulting my good eye with the friggen' colour. Why is it so apparent to me? Better yet, why is it bothering me? Maybe it's this weird feeling of disconnect from the rest of the world. It's an odd but familiar feeling. Even so, you wouldn't expect a whole school to give off the feeling. Or am I really just this uncomfortable with being here?
"Hey. About the start. I wasn't grossed out by your or anything. You just … reminded me of someone." The girl's voice brings Keegan out of his thoughts.
"No harm, no foul. I'm still uh… adjusting, you see. To everything." Keegan admits as they come up to a large building that is most centrally located.
"Me too." The girl agrees with a slight saddened tone. Hmm? Curious as to why she'd be here. She seems healthy enough.
o—o
The unknown girl takes the lead as she opens the door to the building, revealing a spacious, lively lobby; with Keegan in tow. The girl stops, with a confused look, at an intersection that connects the stairs to the other floors and corridors for the 1st floor. The flow of students going to and from the cafeteria almost encircle the two.
"Um. So where should we start?" She asks, unsure how to proceed.
"It'd be easier if there were signs or something. Ones that were easy to see, anyhow. But let's try to find your class first. Looks like we have the luck of lunch on our side too, so shouldn't be hassled for interrupting class or something." The tall new transfer explained as he looked around, still hoping to see a sign.
"Shouldn't there be a front office around?" The dark-haired girl questions.
"We mighta' passed it. All good, just need to ask for directions." Keegan reassured as he took a step backwards into the crowd, bumping into a boy with a pair of thick glasses and a scarf; grabbing his arm and moving him out of the way of any passing students in one smooth motion. The girl was mildly confused at what she just witnessed.
Shit. I just had to grab a practically blind person. "Woah. My bad, guy. I totally did not see you there." Keegan says half-heartedly, dusting off the boy's shoulder with great exaggeration.
The bewildered student takes a step back, out of Keegan's reach. "Uh. No problem. Who're you?" He questions, visibly confused.
"Ah? New arrivals. Say, would you be able to point us to the classrooms?" Keegan retorts.
The boy, with an unusual quickness, walks straight up to Keegan; mere inches from the latter's face. He begins to give the new arrival a very awkward once-over. Oh my sweet baby Jesus, what the fuck is that smell. It's like a cat died after rolling around in a tub of garlic. Keegan turns his head to the side a little; his nose picking up an odd stench.
Seemingly satisfied, he takes a step back with a smile. "Oh. Nice. what's up, dude? I'm Kenji."
I deserved that. Keegan waves his arm in front of his face, attempting to get rid of the lingering odour. "Right. I'm-" He stops mid-sentence as he notices Kenji moving in for another weird analysis, this time Keegan's temporary companion, a look of fear crossing her face.
Oh no, you don't. Out of instinct, Keegan threw his arm out between the two, catching Kenji before he got too close. Keegan gave a slow, gentle push with his one arm, resetting Kenji to where he was originally.
"As I was saying. The classrooms?" Keegan questioned, becoming slightly more irritated.
"Oh. Yeah, they go by floors. First year's classes are on the first floor, second on the second, third on the third." Kenji answers unconcerned, seemingly ignorant of his actions.
"Thanks," Keegan replies curtly, ushering his fellow new transfer away from the garlic-scented student and down the corridor.
o—o
"Well. He seems… weird." Keegan comments absent-mindedly as he examines the room numbers.
She looks at him with a mix of surprise and intrigue. "I was going to say creepy and gross. Seriously. Ew."
He chuckles at her reaction. "Just be grateful you didn't have to stand an inch away from the fucking guy. It was like pepper spray for noses."
The girl giggles for a second, pausing to speak. "Yeah, that would've been worse. Thank you."
"I didn't mean litera… yeah. Don't mention it."
He stops as he finishes his sentence, just in time to avoid the door swinging into them.
A messy-haired, blue-eyed woman in a thoroughly-worn blazer steps out, holding a stack of binders and papers.
Recipe for disaster, without a doubt. Keegan judges as he steps out of the woman's path.
The tired-looking woman glances over at the two before going wide-eyed. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, I didn't see you two there!"
"Don't mention it. We... uh... she is looking for the first year's classrooms." He explains to the frazzled woman, gesturing toward his companion.
She looks at the younger woman with a warm smile.
"Oh! I see, that would make you the new transfer then? I'm your homeroom teacher and English teacher, Tonaka. Please, come in dear." Tonaka introduces herself, motioning with a free hand towards her classroom, 1-2.
"Y-yes, of course, Tonaka-sensei!" She replied with a smile, heading into the room.
Tonaka-sensei turned back to the other arrival. "That makes you Mutou's student. He's on the third floor, class 3-3."
Keegan bows, replying in English. "Appreciate it, Tonaka-sensei."
She responded in kind. "Ahh! So that makes you the international transfer. Shiro, I believe?"
He raises his head, an eyebrow raised. "You're surprisingly well informed, but yes, that would be me. Pleased to meet ya, I should head up there now before the lunch break ends."
"Tricks of the trade," she replies with a wink. "Akio sure has his hands full this year, don't let me keep you, Shiro-san."
Keegan gives another bow before starting down the corridor.
o—o
Keegan proceeded to make his way to the antique-looking stairwell leading to the upper floors. He proceeded up to the third floor, wandering down the corridor.
Examining the plaques for room numbers, Keegan finally arrived at his destination. Classroom 3-3, entering the large and pretty spacious classroom, he noticed it was mostly empty except for a girl with long, dark hair that covered a portion of her face.
The scarred girl, upon noticing Keegan, brought a partially scarred hand up to her face; effectively covering half her face. He observed that the extent of the scarring covers half her face and goes past her wrist. Jesus, how far do they go? That's pretty brutal, must've gone through some heavy stuff. I feel like shit for making her uncomfortable right now. Probably here early for the solitude, which I've sorta trampled on.
To play off intruding on the visibly startled girl, he walks over to her.
"Yo. My ba- I mean I'm sorry. Didn't mean to bother you or anything but is this Mutou-sensei's room? I'm uh.. n-new." Keegan greets in a cautious tone.
"I-It's o-ok. Yes, it i-s..." She stuttered out, looking at her feet.
"Ah. Cool. Thanks, I'm Keegan, by the way." He introduces himself, stepping towards the windows.
"N-no p-roblem, I'm Hanako…" She replied as she glances at him.
"Huh. Pretty name…" Keegan mumbled under his breath, sitting on top of one of the desks beside the window.
I don't think shy even begins to describe this chick. I'd imagine it has something to do with her scars. Self-esteem issues? People can be assholes, especially when it comes to anything outside their 'norms' or dealing with 'irregular' things. Source: me.
"Nice to meet you, Hanako."
The shy girl smiled ever-so-slightly as she replied. "Y-you too, K-keegan." AGH. My stone-like heart can only handle so much before it cracks.
He only hums softly in response as he looks out at the cloudless afternoon sky, enjoying the atmosphere.
However, this atmosphere is soon disrupted by a loud pink-haired voluptuous girl bursting into the room with the elegance of a blind rhino, causing Hanako to jump a little and sink into her chair.
The offending girl to the peace is flanked by another girl, this one equipped with glasses; and a messy-haired young man sporting a sweater vest.
"Wahahaha~!"
No possible way I can ever see that laugh getting annoying.
A/N: Seperated the intro into it's own chapter.