Disclaimer: I do not own any of OreImo's features such as the characters, stories, rights, etc. as they are the property of their respective owners.
Serene Days | Chapter 8: The First Day (Part 2)
Kyousuke:
Kirino's so lucky… not only does she have natural confidence, but she already knows so many people at her new school while I'm just here alone! I sighed as I walked past the gates of the university, slightly unnerved by the many new faces.
Luckily, the walk to the opening ceremony wasn't that long at all as the auditorium that's hosting it is the closest room to the entrance. I was amazed as I walked in, the room was gigantic. It looked like one of those old-school theaters but without the fancy, round balconies.
I quickly walked down the aisle and took a seat near the middle of the hall, not too close and not too far back to avoid any potential hassle. There was no one in the row yet either so it gave me a great chance to regain some composure before the ceremony began.
After calming down a bit, I looked on as the hall started to become more and more crowded. As I've read in the brochure provided, the first day for university freshmen is actually rather short, as there is only the opening ceremony for all students, a brief introduction for students in their respective majors, and finally some sort of after-party organized by the students. It was certain that I'd finish before Kirino as unluckily for her, high schoolers start actual classes on their first day.
On the subject of Kirino, I began to drift off into a daydream, pondering about what her first day at high school would be like. The daydream was going well until it was suddenly shattered as I felt someone shove my shoulder enthusiastically. I looked over to see a girl with straight, shoulder-length hair looking at me with a pout on her face.
"Uhm… how can I help you?" I stuttered, clearly confused by the situation.
My question only seemed to increase her irritation though, as she continued to look at me in disbelief. Her stare continued, most likely to see if I was pulling her leg or not by acting confused, but after some uncomfortable seconds passed, she finally realized that I genuinely had no clue what she wanted.
"Jeez, you must really be an airhead. I said hello at least three times so it kinda irked me when you continued to space out like that". She leaned back into her seat and looked at me again, this time with less annoyance.
"The name's Izumi Sayuri, nice to meet you Kousaka-kun!"
"Ah, nice to meet you... wait a second, how do you know my name?"
"Everything's on the internet nowadays silly. Did you not check your class directory in the student portal?"
I quickly pulled up my smartphone and opened the university's website and sure enough, there was a student portal button that I overlooked. I quickly tapped it and logged in using my admission password.
After accessing the student's dashboard page in the portal, I was amazed by how handy things were. There were directories, maps, schedules, and much more, it was nothing like the resources I had at high school.
"Wow, this really is useful, thanks for showing me this" I said with a smile. She replied with a smile of her own and was about to start another conversation until one of the university staff started to test their microphone on stage. It looked like they were preparing to begin the opening ceremony.
As the staff started introducing themselves and the university, I struggled to pay attention and thus, drifted off into more lucid thoughts. This time they weren't about Kirino though, instead, I reflected on how lucky I was to meet a nice and helpful person rather than someone rude or loud. I smiled and relaxed in my chair as I continued to daydream about meeting more nice people until a familiar shove to my shoulder brought me back to reality again.
"Hey, Kousaka-kun! The ceremony is already over! Jeez, daydreaming like that, do you miss your girlfriend that much?"
Embarrassed by the sudden question, I immediately recovered from my slouch in a flustered fashion. "I was not!"
After a few seconds of awkward silence, I realized the implications of my outburst. Still blushing, I watched on as her curious expression turned into a smug smile.
Izumi suddenly leaned towards me with her jet black hair close to touching my own. Her cobalt blue eyes sparkled and stared into mine. It was like she was analyzing me from my head to toe, but after a few more seconds she finally leaned back.
"Humu humu, I see. It didn't come across my mind that you'd have a girlfriend Kousaka-kun, the more you know huh?". I watched on somewhat nervously as she stood up and eyed the exit, but contrary to what I thought was going to happen next, she looked back at me and gave me a hand. "C'mon, let's go to the department orientation, we can talk about your other matters later!" A quick flash of relief washed over me as I let her help me up from my seat. I guess someone found out quicker than I anticipated but, it should be fine right..?
From then on Izumi and I walked to the lecture hall for our specific department: Business Administration. As for why I chose this major, I never really had a focus in life in high school. I didn't really have any ambitions and so I thought I'd go with a standard course such as Liberal Arts, however, after involving myself a lot in Kirino's work like the smartphone novel and her modeling endeavors, I thought that if I got a degree in business, I could somehow help her out more.
It was when I was choosing my major that I realized getting closer to Kirino completely changed my direction in life. My past-self was bare of ambitions and motivations but now, it's significantly different. Never before was I this determined to reach an objective in life, an objective to simply be the best support for Kirino and her career. After all, without her I would just be spending my days pointlessly so, I thought it'd be nice if I could repay her and work with her in the future.
I smiled as I thought of working with Kirino, not only would I be able to safely ensure she gets her job done, we'll practically be together the entire time! As I continued my train of thought, an elbow to the rib derailed my fantasy. I looked to my left to see Izumi pouting for the second time today.
"I can't tell if you're just that big of an airhead or if you're just plain rude. How many times are you going to daydream today!?" I apologized sheepishly as she continued to pout at me. If I had been in her position, I guess would've been genuinely annoyed, however, Izumi was only dissatisfied for only a few seconds before continuing on with the conversation, as if she wasn't interrupted at all.
As the university brochure promised, we were released early after a quick introduction to the department. As I walked out of the lecture hall, I took a quick glance at my watch. There's still a lot of time before Kirino finishes, it'll probably be best if I head home for now.
As I made my way to the exit, a tap on my shoulder stopped me immediately. I turned around to see Izumi as I expected. "Hey! Are you just going to go home just like that? I heard a lot of students are planning to go to a restaurant after this, wanna come?" I noticed the sparkle in her eyes as she asked me the question, it seemed as if she was desperate...
"I'm sorry Izumi-san, I'm not really good at parties, now... if you'll excuse me" I turned my back to her and tried to comically sprint as subtly as I could out of the campus, however, I failed as she caught up to me with an irritated expression.
"Why do you keep on running away? All I want is to just hang out! You're not going to die if you hang out with me you know?" Instead of just sparkling, her eyes were practically glowing as she tried to persuade me. If I were my old self, I'd probably say 'no' once more and take my leave but, now that I know the importance of having friends, I'd be shooting myself in the foot, therefore, I had no choice but to give in.
"Alright, fine, you win Izumi-san. Where to?". As soon as I gave in, her desperate demeanor quickly vanished and was replaced by a gleeful aura. As per my personal request, she didn't take me to the freshman party but rather, a katsu restaurant where it would be just the two of us eating and talking peacefully as colleagues. I wasn't ready to meet a whole group of new people right away but, Izumi-san alone wouldn't hurt.
As we sat at the restaurant table, I was expecting some peaceful silence, however, that thought was too good to be true as I was immediately bombarded with questions about my girlfriend. My mistake back at the auditorium sparked her curiosity and now, I'm facing the consequences.
"What's her name? How old is she? What does she look like? Do you have a photo?" She was just like an excited puppy as she continued to ask many questions. Despite just meeting me today, she already seemed so comfortable talking to me about such topics. I bet she was popular back in high school, totally unlike me huh…
In response to her array of questions, I began eating solemnly in an attempt to show that I was disinterested in answering her queries. Luckily, she caught on and asked about another topic.
"So Kousaka-kun, were you popular back in high school?"
"No way, do I look like someone who'd be popular?"
Izumi took a moment to analyze me and then came up with an answer.
"I can see you being popular. After all, you look like the calm and cool type. Maybe you could've been the 'prince' of your year or something."
I chuckled a bit at that idea. "Prince? Surely you must be mistaken…"
From that point on, our conversation evolved into a much more tolerable one. From being popular to work, sports, and life, it never dawned upon me how fun it would be to talk to someone and reminisce about high school, especially since we came from different schools.
After our rather insightful chat, it was finally time to finish up and leave the restaurant. I offered to pay but Izumi-san insisted that splitting the bill was the only option so after settling that matter, we took our leave.
"Well Kousaka-kun, it was nice meeting you! I'll see you tomorrow! Oh, and be sure to tell me about your girlfriend when you feel like it ok?" and with that leaving message, Izumi skipped towards the horizon. What an interesting person…perhaps my university life won't be so boring after all…
Kirino:
With the chime of the school bell, my first day of high school was officially over. I sighed as I recalled the many things that happened today from Naoki-kun's extreme clumsiness to the weird encounter with Okada-kun. My sigh wasn't one of annoyance though but it was a weird feeling of yearning that I couldn't really describe. It was a feeling that felt like 'finally'. I wonder if Kyousuke has felt like this before… would he understand what I'm talking about? I kept on pondering how I would tell Kyousuke about today as I exited the school. I kept on imagining the scenario over and over until my two friends suddenly shook me out of it.
"Earth to Kirino! Earth to Kirino! Jeez, it's not like you to be daydreaming at this time and place of day…". I turned around to see Kanoko displeased as Ayase giggled to herself. I apologized meekly and laughed it off as we walked to the shoe lockers. As I was putting my indoor shoes back into the shoe locker, a rather tall-looking figure approached me.
"That sleek, orange hair, there's no mistaking it, you're Kirino-san aren't you?"
Confused, I looked at the man who had approached me so suddenly. He had medium-length gray hair and glasses, although it was difficult to see his eyes past the lens.
"Y-yes, I'm Kirino, who are you?"
Upon hearing me confirm my identity, the enigmatic man adjusted his glasses and smiled.
"My identity you ask? I'm Miura Gennosuke, the president of this school's Game Research club, and based on what I've been told, you have a place to be!"
Miura-san then walked into the school hallway and beckoned for me to follow after him. His sudden introduction was very peculiar, but what he said about me having a place to be intrigued me.
He's the president of the Game Research club huh...That's the club Kyousuke used to be in!
I turned around to Ayase and Kanoko and told them to go home without me as I changed back into my indoor shoes and followed him. The president seems pretty old, I wonder if he's a third-year or… wait, actually… didn't Kyousuke say he was his senior?
After trying to remember what Kyousuke had said about Miura-san, I noticed that the person in question suddenly made a stop in front of me and entered the room on the left. I looked at the sign near the door and sure enough, this was the Games Research clubroom.
I entered and was immediately amazed by the sight I was treated to. The left and right walls had shelves populated with numerous games, figurines, and books, all related to games, especially some I even played before. In awe, I scurried to the nearest shelf full of eroge to witness the large range of games in store.
"Hmm, exactly as Kyousuke told me, I see you are quite the fan of eroge Kirino-san, as to be expected! After all, your passion for eroge made your brother borrow a bike from me to desperately pedal back home to you!"
"Oh, so that's how he got back on time, I never knew!" I said, with a hint of bashfulness after I realized I might've been a bit too passionate when I rushed towards the eroge. At first, I was rather skeptical about this guy, but after knowing that Kyousuke was friends with him and even relied on him, I felt much more comfortable talking to him. After all, it seemed like he really wanted to talk to me too.
With a gleam in his glasses, Miura-san pointed to a particular game in the vast collection of eroge but before he could talk, the clubroom's door swung open. I spun around to see two people enter the club.
"Miura-san, I thought we agreed to go meet Kirino-san together! Why didn't you wait for us? We've been searching for you all around the school!"
Standing at the door was a rather short man with short, black hair accompanied by Sena. If they're standing together like that, then, this man must be…
"Kirino-chan! Nice to see you here!" Sena came over and gave me a quick hug. She then proceeded to beckon the man behind her to come forward. "By the way, this is Makabe Kaede, the new president of the Games Research club and my boyfriend!"
Puzzled by Sena's introduction of her boyfriend as the president of the club, I turned around to Miura-san who looked the other way in response. Does this club have two presidents... is that a thing?
"Miura-san… judging by your reaction, you probably told Kirino-san that you were still the president right? I'd appreciate it if you could stop spreading false information, I even remember texting you to not make these kinds of jokes" sighed Makabe-san.
"Well aside from that, welcome Kirino! Your brother has told me a lot about you, and because of that, I intended to bring you to the club today, in hopes of you joining of course! There's a recruitment fair for freshmen tomorrow but, I haven't really finished my game for the recruits yet…"
"Which is why you're here today, ahead of time!" said Miura-san, who cut off his club mate to much of his annoyance. "Well as you probably know, I'm not the president, heck, I'm not even a student here anymore, but I wanted to meet you today which is why I decided to visit as an alumnus!"
After some more rounds of introductions about the club members and the club itself, I had a fun time talking to Makabe-san and the others about the games everyone here made and played. There was a lot of insightful discussion about RPGs and even eroges, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is such a nice club, I wonder if Kyousuke had this much fun…
After a significant amount of time passed, I realized I should be on my way, thus, I said goodbye to all the club members and left the clubroom and then, the campus. In the end, I asked them if they could wait for an answer regarding my joining since I wanted to check whether there would be any conflict with the track and field schedule first. After all, it would be pretty scummy if I did join but couldn't show up because of other planned commitments…
Upon leaving school, I immediately walked straight to the train station instead of walking the normal way home. Since I already told my parents, I was free to go visit Kyousuke today, after all, I wanted to tell him all about my first high school experiences. I didn't tell them about my other reasons though...
After riding the train past a few stations followed by a bit of walking, I finally reached Kyousuke's apartment building, however, before I could walk in, a familiar hand to the wrist stopped me from doing so.
I turned around surprised to see Okada-kun, huffing and panting with his back hunched and his other hand on his knee. It looked like he'd just ran a marathon. "Sorry, I didn't mean to suddenly stop you but… I've been meaning to ask you something since earlier today… by any chance are you the-"
Before he could finish though, he was interrupted yet again by a familiar sound of someone calling my first name which grabbed my attention immediately. I looked over my classmate's shoulder to see Kyousuke walking down the path, seemingly bewildered to see Okada-kun next to me. He stopped, and asked in a surprised tone:
"You… what are you doing here?"
AN: It's been over a year since the first chapter of Serene Days came out, and 315 days since I last published the latest short, but finally, finally... a new chapter has arrived! Firstly, I would like to apologize for my latest author's note on the first short as I said that this chapter would come out in July. Well, that was about eight months ago, so I sincerely apologize for being heavily off schedule. I decided that I probably shouldn't make promises like that anymore regarding the release of chapters and so, because of factors such as busy work in real life and interest in other projects, I probably cannot guarantee when another chapter will come out. What I do want to say though, is that although I may have lost a little bit of passion and the original drive I had with Serene Days, after reading it all over again, I still have future chapters planned out in detail and I still want to keep on writing and completing this fanfiction, so whatever date that will be, I hope that I can stay true to my word and finish this story.
I do want to say though that I have another project coming up on this website's sister site: FictionPress, and I'm going to have to divide my time and attention to that project as well. That combined with real-life stuff will probably mean another lengthy wait for Chapter 9 or another release. I'm hoping I don't take another eight months to publish another chapter, but after what happened, I don't want to guarantee something and let you all down again, therefore, I hope you can all continue to stay interested in Serene Days and stay tuned for Chapter 9 when it comes out! For those who have stuck by Serene Days since I first started it a year ago and are reading this right now, I thank you so much for staying in tune with the story and even though it may be a tough task, I sincerely hope you'll continue to look forward to more of Serene Days! For any newer readers, also know that I appreciate you a lot as well for reading Serene Days regardless of how long you've been interested in the story and I hope you also continue to look forward to more Serene Days! I'll do my very best to make the future chapters worth the wait!
PS: I've been working on this Chapter little by little during my eight months of inactivity but despite that, I'm probably still a little rusty so if you see any errors, I'd appreciate it if you can leave a review so that I know about it and can get to fixing it! Also, I'm always open to suggestions or just general comments in the reviews, it always makes my day when someone comments on my work or suggests some improvements as not only does it potentially make Serene Days and my writing better, but I thoroughly enjoy these types of interactions and knowing what you, the readers, think.