I didn't do it for you.

The school courtyard was buzzing with students as they all tried to find their names on the bulletin board. Some laughed, some groaned, and some just stood quietly trying to find their name.

One stood out among the rest.

Despite the cold, he wasn’t wearing his jacket but holding it in his hand.

The wind bit at exposed skin, sharp and lingering.

Many clutched their jackets tighter, he didn’t.

His dark brown hair stood in uneven spikes, swaying slightly in the wind.

– Isn’t he cold? Why isn’t he wearing his jacket? – some voices could be heard.

His ears showed a slight hint of movement at the voices around him and his dark, brown eyes revealed a hint of annoyance.

– Why do you give a shit? – he thought, although he didn’t let anything show.

At last, he found his name.

“Takemura Eiji, class 1-B”.

It looked unusual in kanji.

It wasn’t like back home.

– But this is home now, right? – he thought.

Suddenly, Eiji felt a gaze on the back of his head.

When he turned around he was face to face with a girl with a familiar feeling.

He stood there for a second, he and the girl were both staring into each other’s eyes, slightly dazed.

Eiji then shook his head and got out of the girl's way.

– Sorry, you must have wanted to see the board but couldn’t because of me. – he said in a friendlier voice, adjusting his collar with a fake smile.

– Oh, it’s nothing… – the girl said looking down, her face turning slightly red.

Eiji turned around, the smile disappearing from his face. He headed towards the gymnasium while still pondering the identity of the girl.

– Who could she be? I haven’t met anyone besides Masato and those two guys the other day. – he thought while teachers were calling out instructions, guiding the new first-years into neat lines.

The gymnasium echoed with the creak of folding chairs and the shuffle of polished shoes. Eiji also sat down, being surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

– It’s a shame Masato got sick and couldn’t come… Luckily we’re in the same class, let’s just hope we didn’t get seats assigned next to each other, that would be catastrophic. – Eiji was still lost in thought when everyone was clapping and the opening ceremony was over.

Teachers then guided the students into their respective classrooms. Eiji also arrived at his classroom and was pleasantly surprised to see that he got assigned a seat in the middle row of the classroom, by the window.

– Not too bad, but could be a bit more in the back though…. – he thought.

Eiji sat down, putting his jacket on the desk. He started tapping on his desk while looking out the window, his ears slightly twitching whenever someone entered the classroom.

Then, she entered. The girl he met outside was in the same class as him.

Eiji didn’t notice her at first, only when she sat down beside him did he glance over.

She quickly noticed him, as she was about to glance at him too. She gave him a shy smile and Eiji looked away.

– What’s up with her? – he still couldn’t figure out who the girl was, even though she felt so familiar. – Whatever…

The door slid open. The homeroom teacher stepped in, clipboard in hand. Eiji barely registered it before names started echoing through the room.

After a while, it was Eiji’s turn.

He stood up and said with a friendly voice and a fake smile.

– Hello everyone! My name is Takemura Eiji. I hope we can all have a good year!

After his introduction, some voices could be heard.

– Doesn’t he look kinda like a foreigner?

– Yeah, what’s that about?

He just sat down calmly without saying anything. His lips even curled up slightly.

– You’re going to have to come up with something better to get a reaction out of me… I just need to lay low and get through high school. – he thought.

When he sat down he calmly resumed looking out the window, ignoring the remarks of his classmates.

After a while, she also stood up.

– Hey everyone! My name is Araki Yuuka. Please take care of me!

She sat back down, while glancing slightly at Eiji.

He was looking out the window, feeling her gaze but deciding to ignore it.

– Araki Yuuka, so that’s her name… not like I’ll be able to remember it, or anyone else’s names…

But before class ended, Eiji heard another familiar voice.

– Hello, I’m Furuya Dai. Nice to meet you.

Eiji looked at him and quickly remembered why he also felt familiar.

– He was the guy there that day! And behind him is the other one! – the realization hit Eiji suddenly.

But at least he finally understood.

A memory started appearing in his head.

It was a few weeks before, when he had just barely arrived in Japan. On his way to the grocery store, he spotted three people ahead, two guys and a girl. One of the guys was a bit shorter and had a rougher appearance. The taller one stood to the side with a complicated expression.

– Come on, you’re sure you don’t want to come with us? – the shorter one told the girl.

– I’m sorry, but no… – the girl said with an uncomfortable expression.

– Just leave her alone, Dai. She seems uncomfortable… – the taller one said, looking at his friend with pity in his eyes.

The shorter one now had a desperate expression, but he grabbed the girl’s hand.

– Come on, you’ll have fun!

– Dai, I think that’s crossing a … – the taller guy said but got interrupted.

Eiji grabbed the shorter one’s hand and looked him in the eyes with a determined expression.

– Can’t you see that she’s uncomfortable? I think you should let go.

Under the pressure of Eiji’s gaze he let go.

– What’s it to you, huh? – he said, pulling his hand out of Eiji’s grab.

– Nothing, I got the desired effect. – Eiji said, turning around and leaving. – You should apologize, however. – he added without turning back.

The shorter one had a confused expression, he felt like he was toyed with, not even having a chance to retort. He looked at Eiji with anger in his eyes and rushed towards him.

– I think I’m alright without doing that!

Eiji’s ears flickered and a smirk formed on his face.

– So that’s what you want to do, huh. – he thought.

After the shorter guy travelled two steps he reached Eiji and tried to punch him in the back of the head. At that moment Eiji leaned forward and grabbed his hand, throwing him forward.

The guy fell on the ground in front of Eiji. He had a shocked expression, he didn’t expect to end up in that situation. Eiji reaches his hand out.

– You might have crossed a line there, but I’ll forgive you, alright? Just apologize to her and we can forget this whole deal. – he said.

The guy was still dazed from the fall and from Eiji’s demeanor, but didn’t say anything. He took Eiji’s hand and stood up. He then went over to the girl who was still standing in place, having witnessed everything.

– Hey… What I did before, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable…

– It’s… alright… You didn’t do anything much… – the girl said awkwardly.

– You happy now? – the shorter guy would turn to Eiji but he was already a few meters away.

– Let’s just go, Dai. – the taller one said then turned to the girl. – I’m also sorry for not stopping him.

The bell rang, sharp and sudden, pulling Eiji out of the memory like a snapped thread. Now he also remembered the identity of the girl.

– She was there that day, huh… And the four of us are all in the same class… What are the odds… – Eiji pondered.

People around him were talking, already forming friendships or meeting childhood friends. He was the only one sitting in his seat quietly.

Then, the voice of someone calling his name entered his ears.

– Hello! You’re Takemura-kun, right? – it was that girl, Araki Yuuka.

– Yeah, and you are? – Eiji forgot her name.

– I’m Araki Yuuka, how did you forget my name so fast? – she said smiling.

– What do you want? – Eiji said indifferently.

– I just wanted to thank you for that day. You really helped me out there! - she said shyly.

– No need to thank me. I didn’t do it for you.

– Then why did you? – she leaned closer to Eiji, with a curious expression.

Eiji leaned back, he was startled by Yuuka’s closeness.

– Anyone would have done that. – he said, standing up. – Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go home.

He had already started leaving when he heard Yuuka’s voice from behind.

– Still, I’m glad you did.

When Eiji glanced back he saw Yuuka smiling at him.

His face got slightly red and he turned around.

– Whatever, bye.

– See you tomorrow, Takemura-kun!

He stepped into the hallway, paused, and let the silence settle around him.

– Damn, she’s… something… – he thought.

Author’s note:

Hey guys!

Firstly, thank you all for reading the first chapter of my novel or as I’d say in Hungarian, köszönöm minden olvasónak a figyelmet! This story is something deeply personal to me, and I hope it resonates with readers from different cultures and backgrounds.

Secondly, you might’ve noticed that the dialogue is formatted with dashes instead of quotation marks. That’s a stylistic choice inspired by Hungarian literature, and I use it to make the novel feel more authentic, both to my roots and to the tone of the story.

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and I’ll see you in the next one!

With lots of passion, 
𐲖𐲉 LE