Shiro Ryūme

       I got out of the shower and went back to my room. It’s a sunny day outside, which is good because I need it to be. A whole cloudy or rainy day getting interfering would have already soured my mood the moment I woke up.

        I opened the door to my…very disorganized room

        “Huh. Guess I didn’t notice it when I woke up. I got way too much stuff all over the floor.”

        Books, clothes, old homework assignments that were probably 50% complete and 50% forgotten about. Sometimes doing all this stuff can be such a hassle, but I do like keeping my room clean since its less of an eyesore so I quickly picked up all the stuff off the floor and shoved them into any free space I could.

        “There we go! Floor is clean! Now I can move freely without stubbing my toe on a hardcover book.”

        I then turned around and looked at myself in the mirror next to my window. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me…but I felt like there was a difference in my appearance for some reason.

        My hair color still resembled that of fresh Purple Wisteria, not to mention my hairstyle, though generic and slightly messy, was still obviously the same

        My bangs still reached just above my eyelids. My eyes were still a bright mix of cyan and sky blue.

        “…I have to be sick. Only sick people make weird assumptions like that.”

        I sighed and walked over to my closet next to my bed. I opened it and took out the crimson uniform.

        “No wrinkles, stains…perfection!”

        I set it down on my bed. I like my uniform perfectly clean and ready for the next day. Laundry and Ironing are guilty pleasures of mine, don’t make fun of me!

        I then grabbed my black dress pants along with my navy-blue tie, both squeaky clean and perfectly neat as well. I put on my outfit in swift succession. It’s pretty much a routine at this point. I turned back around, and I looked at myself in the mirror again, licking my palm and pushing down a stray hair that was just standing up in the back.

        “Alright…looks good enough.”

        I made sure to grab everything, so I was ready. Got my bag that was lying on the side of my bed. I made sure to grab my textbooks…except my history one, I figured i’d just leave it considering class today most likely wouldn’t involve using our textbooks. I was pretty much ready to go. I tend to leave most of the minor things like extra pencils and notebooks in my bag already.

        “Oh crap. My I.D. Card. I need that!”

        I looked around and saw it sitting on my desk. I picked it up and inspected it for any damages. Nope. Still good.

Ichiban High School Identification Card:

Student Name: Shiro Ryūme

Age: 16

Height: 173 cm

Weight: 67 kgs

Card Number: 45217

Card Balance: ¥16386

        “Yup. That’s me all right.”

        I looked around a bit more.

        Room was clean. Check.

        I got all my stuff ready for school. Check.

        Made sure I look decent enough for today? Check.

        After seeing that I was pretty much all set to leave, I checked the time again to see when I should be on my way.

        “6:36 AM…”

        I didn’t have to leave the house till at least 7:10 since it’s a 5-minute walk from here to the train station and a 25–30-minute train ride to Shibuya Station…which means…

        “I still have time to grind! Think I’ll load up some Magic Tower and solo a couple dungeons so I can pull for new loot!”

        I went ahead and turned on my PC and booted up Magic Tower, a live service gacha game that eats at my money every time I play it because i’m so addicted.

        Oh yeah, I guess I haven’t fully introduced myself so here we go. My name is Shiro Ryūme. I am a 16-year-old boy who lives in Shinjuku City in the Tokyo Prefecture. I go to Ichiban High School, which is one of the top-ranking schools in all of Japan, I just so happened to get a free ride there through a scholarship, lucky me. Though, it’s not really all that cracked up to be due to the fact that I don’t exactly have any friends there, well not anymore at least. Technically…I have been alone for a good while now.

        It’s not something I exactly enjoy talking about, but I think I can at least give a general summary of what I mean by “being alone for a good while.”

-

        It was now 7:05 and I began to make my way downstairs. I was sulking due to the fact that I had over 65 pulls and I didn’t get any new rare loot for my character, just basic food, items, and other crap that I could’ve sold in the in-game shop for 500+ gold.

        Before I head out the door, I turn toward an empty room…well, not exactly empty. In this room is the Butsudan. The butsudan was custom-made…for my parents. I walked over and stopped in front of the altar, looking at the pictures of my mother and father sitting there with all the flowers and decorations brought from other family, their friends, neighbors, etc.

        My mother…people say I look just like her, and I could see it, haha. She had long hair with the same purple wisteria color that I have. She had a soft looking face along with her bright blue eyes and a big bright smile that always made me feel happy whenever I was down. She was also very hardworking and always provided as much as she can so that we were always able to live a happy, easy life. I always admired that about her…

        My father. He was a bit of a more relaxed person. He had messy, jet-black hair, but he surprisingly always looked cleaned up, along with his amber colored eyes and his stupid chin beard, it never looked good on him, heh. He was the type to give me life advice and always tried to understand and participate the things I loved. He was a good and honest person that I looked up too as well.

        I honestly couldn’t tell you what happened to them. It all happened 2 years ago as well. I had just gotten home from school. They left me a note saying they would be out for a while and would be back soon, leaving me my dinner wrapped in foil on the kitchen counter. I waited, thinking about when I should do my homework. I then got the call at 7:30 PM by my grandparents, saying they had passed away in a car accident…

        “Hey mom, dad. How are you?”

        I kneeled in front of the altar, smiling softly at the pictures of them. Even though they had passed away, I was happy to still be able to see them, even if it’s just through an old picture.

        “Guess what, today, the solar eclipse is happening, and apparently, it’ll be one of those that turn the whole sky dark! Pretty cool, huh? …I wish you guys were here to see it too…”

……………..

        “Well, I would chat for longer but I gotta head out now. I’ll be sure to record a video of how it goes down and I’ll show you guys when I get back home!”

        I stood up, grabbing my backpack and putting my shoes on, and headed for the front door.

        “I’m off!”

        I closed the door behind me and sighed.

        I looked up at the bright sunny sky, it was a beautiful day out. I always preferred my skies to have clouds in them, makes the world much more full of life rather than a dull, empty blue sky. Just cause I hate cloudy days doesn’t mean I dislike clouds in the sky. And besides, they were spaced out enough and a decent enough size that it wouldn’t interfere with the solar eclipse.

        “Now then…time to go.”

        I began my walk to Shinjuku Station, my mind still thinking about the solar eclipse event in school.

        I definitely was not about to miss out on this event!