Not the usual start

“Oh great, another miss.”

Koshiro Koike got up from his chair and properly threw another one of his drafts into the trash, which was already filled to the brim.

“Apparently I’m no good for basketball either... not that I didn't know that.” brooded him, after heaving a deep sigh of disappointment. He remembered the basketball games in junior high, where some of the more athletic students didn’t want him ruining the games.

“Koike? I heard he’s pretty bad at sports.”

“He calls himself a writer, an author, but I’ve heard it’s just plagiarism.”

“An author, huh? So what? Does he want to play basketball for the upgrade? From pens to balls?”

“Hahahahaha, that’s probably how it is, don’t you see how he’s always with Furukawa-kun? I pity him, having to stay with this weirdo.”

Those were the words whispered behind his back at that time, and now some of them were etched in Koshiro’s thoughts.

“Pen, huh? Who uses that to write a novel? I prefer to use pencils.” (Although this didn’t prevent him from throwing his drafts into the trash) “They definitely didn’t know what they were talking about. Although…”

He closed his eyes while holding his chin.

“Yaoi is kinda popular, right? Maybe a novel about boys holding their balls could go we…WAIT A MINUTE.” Koshiro jumped back with his own words and held his head, “When did I start considering joining the cultured side of the industry??!”

At that moment, as if called by the sound of feet hitting the floor, a black cat entered the room, growling: “Hey useless human, if you’re going to wake me, at least be ready to give me food.” 

“Oh, good morning Scar, I’m sorry I waked you.” Koshiro looked at the cat.

“Whatever just don’t forget to get ready for school.” the female cat named Scar turned around, leaving Koshiro alone in his room again.

“You’re right, it’s almost time.” the boy let go of his head.

While getting ready to go to school, Koshiro reflected on the name of the cat Scar. She was named after a character from a movie he liked when young, and not just because she had a huge scar across one of her mesmerizing light-blue eyes. He didn’t remember the details of it now but was pretty sure it was an animated one, brought by his parents from a trip to another country.

“It’s been a long time since I watched it, maybe I should look for that movie later...”

***

“Here you go, enjoy it.” said Koshiro after leaving the food Scar required. The black cat meowed in satisfaction with the generous quantity while the human walked to the front door and changed his shoes. “I’m off then” uttered him before going out.

It was Koshiro’s second day in High school, but it felt like the first one, not only because the day before was only about the opening ceremonies, but also because he wasn’t really awake most of the time. Today his usual routine would probably start, he headed to a bakery nearby. It was a five-minute walk from his house and, from there, a twenty-minute walk to his high school (going through the shortest path and with a bit of luck).

Arriving at the bakery, Koshiro was promptly greeted by the man in charge, Fujimori. The one working there today was an acquaintance of Koshiro’s family, he was the second son of the owner, and was there, helping out in his mid-twenties. After talking briefly about how their families were doing, the boy ordered his breakfast and left the place.

Following the end of his short breakfast, the boy started his way to Obaka High while pondering whether or not the lack of dialog inside the bakery was for the best: “It was a good opportunity to have a glimpse at my family and life, but maybe it’s good to keep it at that. It’s not like there were no hints.”

***

Koshiro's quiet journey came to an end when he sighted his destination: Obaka High, a High school considered to be amongst the worst of the district, which was quite ironic considering the fact that it was on the way to Akabo High, the one considered the best of the area. You could even see some of their students around Obaka, giving scornful laughs.

The infamous reputation of Obaka came from its students and staff, they were all considered eccentric and crazy people having only the purpose to entertain outsiders. In truth, one had to be rejected by every other high school to end up there, which meant one should be really dumb. And Koshiro was dumb, not because his grades were subpar, but because he deliberately chose to enroll there, all because of a so-called “inspiration” he was looking for, and for that, the day before was no good: all perfectly normal for an anime-like high school.

“Well, it’s the classic High school setup, it is sure to give me at least a love story to write about, even though it probably won’t be mine.” the boy murmured to himself.

“Hey, Koike-san, Good morning!” his first step into school territory was met with a sudden greeting.

“Good morning, Hirata-san.” Koshiro turned to his left to see a guy waving at him with a smile on his face. “Good morning, Yasutake-san.” the boy tried to greet the girl hiding behind Kazuhiko Hirata.

“G-Good m-morning K-Koike-san” stammered the girl.

“Hey, Erity-chan, there’s no need to act like that. It’s Koike-san, you know him.”

“G-Good m-morning, Koike-san…” the girl mumbled with her eyes fixed on the ground.

“I’m sorry for this Koike-san, but she’s a bit nervous about our first day.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“Hey, did you see that all three of us are in the same class? Very lucky of us, right?!”

“It looks like a convenience for the script.”Koshiro diverted his gaze, "Oh, yeah, very lucky..."

“I hope you’re feeling better than yesterday, our youth is about to start for real now.” Hirata smiled.

"'Our'? Are you really including me in that one?" “Yeah…”

“Either way, let’s hurry, homeroom is about to start.”

The three high schoolers ran into the school building, managing to arrive at class 1-C with some time to spare. Right behind them was their homeroom teacher Sumiye Suto, with her long red hair, dark coat, and suit.

“Good morning Koshiro-kun! I hope you don’t fall asleep today.” the woman smiled at Koshiro.

“I guess here should be 'Koike-san', right Sum… Suto-Sensei?”

“C’mon Koshiro!" Sumiye pouted, "You don’t know which school you entered? This shouldn’t surprise you and calling me by my last name is making your sister sad.”

“Wait, is she your sister?” Hirata interrupted.

“Aaah.” Koshiro sighed, "No."

“That’s no good, Koshiro-kun!” the teacher frowned in fake disapproval. She then trudged to the front of the class. “T-Take your seats! I don’t really care where, although it would be better if Koshiro stayed close to me.”

“Ugh." Koshiro smacked his head, "You truly are shameless when you're like that.”

It was a bit odd choosing his own seat. Koshiro didn’t want to stay completely isolated from the class (he needed to observe the craziness of it all) and staying too close to that teacher was dangerous. He decided to settle with a seat in the middle of the row beside the window (attending loud requests from Hirata and quiet ones from Yasutake).

The room was practically full, and the class was about to start when two more students arrived. One of the girls crossing the door drew all gazes of the room, her dark-blue hair, lasting until the very end of her back and, obviously, fluttering with the wind (it’s an important character introduction we’re talking about) enthralled the eyes of many.

“Fake.” was the first thing that popped into Koshiro's mind, “I’m pretty sure her hair shouldn’t sway so much, it isn’t so windy! Besides, some of the other character introductions deserved more love.”

With the nonsensical complaining and apparent indifferent opinion towards the beautiful girl, the boy stared at her, but something was off.

“Is she staring at me? Did we just lock eyes?” Yes, their eyes met, and neither of them diverted the gaze, “Is it really okay to have this happen this way? Shouldn't we be under a cherry blossom or something like that? Can a romantic story start this way?” Nah, not really.

The girl charged towards Koshiro with amazing speed. The heart of the boy was beating furiously… but it wasn’t because of shame or a lovey-dovey thing. It was dread.

“Shit!” Koshiro tried to avoid the strike, but when he cursed, his body was already flying off the second-floor window.