Tuesday, April 7th

The Dorm

Kaz literally smacked the alarm off on his clock, his face still in his pillow in attempt to block out the morning light. He didn't sleep so well last night, the thoughts of what happened during and after that infamous time haunting his mind. All those failed first impressions... But today was a new day, right?

As if the alarm wasn't enough, a loud knock came a minute later. The boy groaned into his pillow, not happy with the constant reminders of needing to 'get up'. Couldn't he just have a few more minutes? A little time to compose himself?

"It's Yukari!" He lifted his head up a bit. "Are you awake, Kaz?" She sounded up and ready to go.

"Well... Kind of." Kazuo pushed himself up and swung out of bed, trying to shake off what grogginess was still there... which was a lot.

"Are you dressed yet?"

"If you mean my uniform? No. I'm still in my night stuff..." The door opened, Yukari peeking in. "Whoa! Hey, I didn't say you could open the door! What if I didn't wear much?"

A small smirk crossed the girl's face. "You seemed too modest to do that, anyway."

"Oh, so I'm that much of an easy read?"

"In a way." Kaz just rolled his eyes. Whether that was true or not, he was going to drop the subject. "But anyway, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you and Minako-san to school."

An amused chuckle escaped Kaz. "I appreciate the idea, but it's not entirely necessary."

"Oh? So you don't want to be escorted?"

"Now, I didn't say that! I mean, it would be nice to have some company on my first day, after all." Now he mentally kicked himself. Sudden defensiveness is sudden.

"Alright then. I'll head upstairs and get Minako."

Kaz nodded. "Okay. I'll meet you in the lobby."

Without another word, Yukari left his room and closed the door behind her. Though since he was up, Kaz had no choice but to get dressed. No excuse for laziness by this point... if at any. Still, he opened up his closet and pulled out the uniform, putting each piece on at his own pace. By the time he was done, he took a look in the mirror. Once he put on his glasses, Kaz was a little surprised. He looked... pretty good in it, actually. He was honestly worried it would make him looked overdressed, though the reflection proved him wrong.

"Lookin' sharp, Kujikawa," he complimented to himself. Now, if only he had some muscle underneath the look...

That was a topic for another time, however. Right now, he had to hurry down to the door and meet the girls. Wouldn't be much of a gentleman if he kept them waiting, would he? Down one flight of spiral stairs and the girls immediately came into view right in front of the door, but they wasted no time as the three left the dorms. The only chatter going on was between the girls, Yukari telling Minako what all she needed to know while she was here.

Monorail car

"We have to take the monorail to get there. Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?"

Yukari kept the explanation going while the three was on said monorail. In the few days Kaz has used this form of transportation, he still has yet to get used to it. The feeling was amazing. It wasn't like a subway or a train.

"This is my favorite part... when it feels like-"

"Like you're gliding over the sea..." Kaz came in, unintentionally finishing the sentence for her.

"Hey, how did you know I was going to say that?"

Kaz shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that's how I feel."

Minako let out a laugh while Yukari rolled her eyes, though not hiding a smile. Kaz laughed a little himself, shaking his head. He really did feel that way, given how the ride felt. Sure, there were a few bumps, but the sight of all that water was awesome. Were it not for the occasional pole passing by, he honestly would have thought they were riding on air.

"Anyway, our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. From there, we walk." Minako nodded to Yukari. "Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island?"

"Not until recently, no," Minako admited.

"The island is man-made," Kaz came in. "The school is built right in the middle of it all. The sight of it is pretty impressive, really."

"Speaking of which, you can see it now!"

Minako and Kaz both followed Yukari's gaze as the school came into view. It was just as Kazuo remembered it, but still amazing none the less. Glancing at the new girl, the first year could see her surprise and awe in her eyes even if the rest of her face didn't make it all that obvious. He had to admit, she was pretty composed.

Gekkoukan High

As the three reached the school grounds, it made Kaz feel the school must have tripled in size from when they last saw it on the monorail. He knew it was big, but after finally getting so close, it put a few private schools he knew of to shame.

"Mornin'!" A girl greeted them as she passed by. Not only a big school, but a friendly welcome. The boy was feeling at home here already.

"Morning!" Yukari responded back while the two transfers just waved. "Well, here we are... Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here!" The way Yukari ended it with such a big smile gave the welcome the girl that passed by seem completely insignificant. If anything, Kaz was glad to be in such good company.

Once inside the school, the first year took in the sights as quickly as he could. Clean, organized, lockers were reflective, and the atmosphere was lively.

"You two are okay from here, right?" Kaz nodded his head, confident that he could navigate the place. Minako even gave a nod of similar enthusiasm. "Then you should go see your homeroom teachers first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left." The girl in pink pointed out the location. "And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?"

"A couple," Kaz came in, raising his hand. "One, where's the list for classes?"

Yukari turned around and pointed to a series of boards on the wall. "You can find that out over there." Then turned back, ready for the other question.

"Okay, cool. Now two... Why so professional?"

"Huh?" The girl genuinely looked caught off guard. Kaz smirked, glad to be getting the reaction he wanted. "Kaz, you know this is how I usually act."

"Do I? I've only been here for a few days, you know." Yukari simply sighed. 'Score one for me!'

"Whatever. Just... go find your class."

'Then again... maybe I hit a nerve.'

Kazuo said nothing more as he walked over to the board, searching for his name amongst the hundreds of others. "Dou... Hasewa... Yamagishi... Wait, did I- Oh, it's organized differently... And it's second years instead of first years. Wrong list!" He kept his voice barely above a whisper, but it still caught some nearby kid's attention, the likely question being why Kaz was talking to himself. "Here we are... Class G."

"Hey, Kaz... Why are you wearing your P.E. Uniform!?"

The first year jumped, making him looked around. "Wait, what?"

"School just started!" Pinpointing the voice, it seemed he wasn't the person being talked to. Sure, enough, there was a guy in gym attire. "You really oughtta find somewhere to change into some normal clothes!"

"Ehh, I guess..." The guy finally met eye contact with the girl yelling at him, making him back up a step. "Okay, okay, fine. Quit glaring at me like that..."

"Aren't you being just a tad overbearing?" Kazuo asked as he walked over to the two.

The girl, however, turned and gave the same glare, which held the same amount of power to stop Kaz in his tracks. Dang, that was scary looking! If she was just irritated now, the first year would hate to see her when she's angry.

"No! Kaz is clueless without me around." She's even blunt as a club.

"Geez, Yuko, I'm standing right here!" The 'Kaz' in question stated.

"But it's true. You probably don't even know where the homerooms are posted." There was a moment of silence as the gym guy glanced away. "... Kaz, are you serious!? It's right over there!"

Kazuo dodged out of the way as Yuko pointed past him to the same boards he was at just a second ago. "For the record, I already asked the question to someone." The first year had to admit, this whole two Kaz's thing was getting confusing.

"No, not you. You're not Kaz."

"Uh, yes... I am."

Yuko's face didn't show one of amusement, to say the least. "Seriously, I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"And I'm not joking. Everyone who knows me calls me Kaz. My full name is Kazuo."

"Kazuo?" The other guy named Kaz smiled before letting out a laugh. "That's actually kind of cool. Name's Kazushi."

Kazuo nodded. "Oh! So that would explain the shortened version. Well, nice to meet you, 'Kaz'."

"Same to you, 'Kaz'."

The two boys started laughing, leaving Yuko to rub her forehead. "Great, now there's two of them..."

After a while, Kaz left to two alone to have their spat and find his teacher. If he remembered correctly, from the entrance he needed to take a left to find the office. Sure enough, the information was spot on and he entered, finding a few people inside.

"My, I didn't expect both students to come by so quickly."

Kaz looked over to see one of the teachers walking up to him, files in hand. Short light brown hair, dark eyes, and dressed in a typical teacher fashion for a woman. Not that he had anything against it, though. It just showed how mature the lady was.

"I assume your the other transfer student?"

Kaz nodded. "Yes, I am. I was told it would be best for me to find my homeroom teacher."

The teacher nodded herself. "Yes, that's always a good place to start. Now, I already met Miss Arisato, so you must be... Kazuo Kujikawa, correct?" It didn't even take a second for her to go into thought. "Kujikawa... I'm sure I heard that name before..."

Kaz, however, wasn't going to let her remember. "Anyway, yes, ma'am. I believe the list said I was in Class G."

Thankfully it worked as she focused on his statement. "Oh, 1-G. I'm sorry, but your teacher already started heading for his room. You'll get his name when you enter."

"Okay. Thank you Miss... uh..."

"Toriumi. I teach Composition here."

"Ms. Toriumi. Thank you, and it's was a pleasure to meet you."

"Same to you, Mr. Kujikawa." There was a slight chuckle in her voice. Apparently Kaz made a good first impression on a teacher, which relived him given his bad streak before hand.

Unfortunately, he still had to go to the auditorium for the Welcoming Assembly. Finding his class, he took the first open seat he could find, though he lost the elbow room fairly quickly. Whatever the case, as soon as the assembly started, Kaz lost interest just as fast. The Principal talked really slow... Unbearably slow. He wished he had a fast-forward button, honestly. But there was some chatter amongst the students that caught his attention.

"Hey, did you hear about the new transfer students?"

"Yeah, apparently it's a guy and a girl. Wonder if the two are related?"

"No, they're not. I saw them. Dude, the guy had both the new girl and Yukari on each arm!"

"You serious?! Is he some kind of player?"

Each comment made, Kaz sunk lower in his seat. Thankfully a teacher came in and silenced them, but did that just start here? Was such a rumor out on school grounds already? The last thing Kaz wanted was attention being drawn to himself, and especially not in this manner. He didn't want his rep to be tainted before it even started to develop.

After School

Kaz stuffed his new books in his bag while everyone around him was either talking or getting ready to leave. Other than the rumor in the assembly, nothing really went wrong and it just felt like any other first day of a new school year in Japan. At least he didn't have to stand up and introduce himself in front of the whole class. He was certain some kids would know his last name and know what it means if he said it. Of course, if the teacher calls him by that then it wouldn't matter anyway...

Closing his bag, the sound of a bunch of falling papers caught his ear as he looked to the back of the room. Sure enough, a huge mess of papers was on the floor and a girl with long dark brown hair picking them up and though some guys looked interested in helping, they kept their distance and walked on. The heck was that about? She obviously need some assistance with all that. Growling silently, Kaz stood up and headed over, picking up papers from the other end of the pile. Really... he had a feeling of deja vu in all this.

"Huh?!" Looking up, he noticed the girl was looking at him. Her brown eyes shown a fair bit of surprise that couldn't be hidden behind her black framed glasses. Not to mention a little... unease?

"It's a lot of papers to have on the first day, don't you think?" Kaz tried to keep it casual, hoping, yet again, that it'll give him a good first impression.

The girl took a second, mumbling something inaudible to Kazuo before she went back to picking up papers. "It's, uh... It's not mine..."

"Not yours?" Kaz swept up a good pile and organized them neatly. "Then why do you have them?"

"No, I mean they are mine, but... they're not..." She sounded like she had a hard time talking. "It's the... It's for the Student Council."

"Okay, I guess that makes more sense. Still, I wouldn't expect such-"

As Kaz tried to pull a few more papers in, his hand came awfully close to the girl's, making her pull back quickly with a gasp. It was his turn to freeze now, worried that he did something. What caused such an action? Was she a germaphobe? No, if that was the case then she wouldn't be on the floor like this... She just didn't like guys touching her? Maybe, considering she's been on edge ever since Kaz started to help.

"I-I'm sorry!" An apology? "I don't mean t-to offend you. I, uh- I mean... I j-just-"

"Hold it!" Kaz's voice silence her immediately, as well as catching some students' attention. He waved the others off, having them return to whatever they were doing so he could talk to the girl in front of him. "You got it backwards. I was more scared that I did something wrong to you. You didn't do anything."

Kaz got up, putting all the papers he collected on her desk in a nice, neat pile for her. The girl just stared at him as he moved, as if she was a scared puppy waiting for whatever her master ordered next... Though thinking about it, such a saying was kinda perverted in this situation. Kazuo just tried to block it out.

The male first year adjusted his glasses as he knelt down again then asked, "Am I making you uncomfortable?" There was no answer as the girl's eyes looked away. "You want me to leave?" She looked back at him, though not much of a positive answer came up. But it was enough for Kaz.

He got up, grabbed his bag, and then left the room. No need to prolong an awkward situation. However, whether it was more awkward for him or her was the main question in his mind. He just wanted to help pick some stuff up. The last girl he helped acted nothing like that. Maybe a quick objection, but not a straight up freeze to stiff posture to ending in an apologetic state. But it was still the first day. It's highly likely that he may hear something about her as the year went on.

The sky was showing its first signs of twilight when Kaz stepped outside. The day was ready to come to a close, and he was ready to welcome it. Head back to the dorm, work on some stuff in his room, then get a good night's rest. Looking down, though, he noticed his shoes were coming undone. That would bug him unless he tied it, so he knelt down and went to do just that.

"Kaz-kun!" Perfect timing as Kaz just finished tying his shoe again. Looking back, he saw two familiar, yet one discomforting face.

"Dude, I didn't think I'd see you again so soon." It was that guy with the baseball cap, Junpei, walking along side Minako.

"Didn't want you too," Kaz mumbled while pushing his glasses up.

"Man, I've heard the rumors. A lot of guys are jealous of you, Kaz."

"Oh, for the love of-" Next came the facepalm, his glass narrowly escaping the slap. "That's exactly what I was trying to avoid!"

"Come on, dude. Relax. It's just first day rumors." That smirk came up again on Junpei's face. "'Nothing to get excited over.' Am I right?"

Needless to say, Kazuo wasn't amused, and he made it known all over his face. The last thing he needed was for a guy to use his own words against him. Luckily, Minako stepped in and nudged Junpei, making him stop.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll pass eventually."

Minako's words actually calmed the first year a bit. Was it basically the same thing Junpei said? Yes, it was, but said in such a manner that didn't sound so teasing. Junpei looked like he was put on the spot, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away trying to appear as innocent as possible. In that moment, a group of people jogged by, bringing a much needed subject change.

"Whoa, check out the jocks on the run..." Both Minako and Kaz adverted their attention to them. "Hey, did anyone tell you two about the school clubs yet?" Both of them shook their heads. "Well, it's still early, but the clubs should be taking new members soon. There's boys and girls clubs so you both could sign on to something."

"Depends on what they have available," Kaz said, walking on.

Minako jogged up to his side, keeping the pace. "It sounds like a good idea, though."

"Maybe. It can give me something extra to do." Hearing an extra set of footsteps, Kaz assumed Junpei decided to walk with them. "I guess it could be a little fun as well."

"Of course it is!" Junpei chimed. "I'm not sure if I'll sign up this year, but I remember this one time..."

The three of them kept small talk while walking until they went separate ways. During the moments Junpei wasn't making fun of him, Kaz could actually tolerate his voice. Not that he would openly admit this, but maybe the first year got the wrong impression about the male second year? Of course, that had yet to be seen.

Iwatodai Dorm

"Welcome back." Mitsuru's voice was the first thing that greeted them as Kaz and Minako walked through the door. It was well taken, though.

"Hello, Senpai," Kaz stated as he closed the door behind him.

"How was your first day?"

Minako smiled. "Pretty eventful."

"I could have done without it, honestly." Kaz stood in the middle of the walkway, honestly debating whether he should sit down or not.

However, Kaz's choice of words raised Mitsuru's curiosity. "Any particular reason?"

"Just one. With all the rumors and awkward situations, it feels like I'm getting the spotlight put on me. I'm not that kind of person."

"That's understandable, though have you given thought that you may be letting you mind play on these things?"

"Based on what I've heard and experienced today? I highly doubt that."

Kaz took that as his cue to leave, making his way to the stairs. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Yukari at the dining table and nodded to her, getting a small smile from her before he just continued on. This wasn't exactly one of his better days.