Chapter 1- Class 2-5 and Ranmaru

"I wish there was a longer route," said the driver, who usually takes the long route to enjoy the scenery of the places and frequently changes it. "I will just switch it up next time."

Before getting off the bus, I decided to greet him as my usual morning routine follows. "Thanks, Mr. Minato"

"See you later, Akane," he said, waving after we got off before going off to park it.

He is a middle-aged man who enjoys nature and its blessings. He was my mum's junior back when she was in high school. The reason he works here is that he has nothing to do in his spare time. What I mean by that is that even I don't know; only he and his higher-ups know what he does for a job.

*****

When we got to school, we headed to our lockers to drop off and pick up stuff before heading to our class. Eren and Hinata headed to their class- Class 2-7 - which is the technical and vocational class, Honoka went to hers - Class 2-1 - which is the science class, while Kaoru and I went to Class 2-5, which is the art and humanities class.

In our class, most people had come, that's considering the fact that we came late due to the multiple detours our bus took. Nishino's seat was smack in the middle of the front row, while I sat in the back one chair away from the window, and the person separating me from the window was the most annoying person in the class and the most hated, Ranmaru, sorry, Yumaru Kazuma.

Kazuma is his real name, but we all started calling him Ranmaru in middle school, most likely second year or early third year.  He usually causes trouble in class and gets into fights like he was born a delinquent; the sorry part is that he does not stand out in anything; it almost feels like he has some plan no one else knows.

"Morning, Ran," I said enthusiastically as I walked over to my seat.

"Oh...morning, Akane," he said dully, as he replied to my cheerful greeting.

*****

In Class 2-5, we all share one goal, and that is to spread our art or create a solid stand in the world. We all have our various versions of art that we love and want to make better in our own way. For some, it is abstract art, others through philosophy, some literature, like Kaoru and many others, only Ranmaru and I have something different from the rest, and that is to create manga.

Ever since I was a kid, I grew up reading manga, novels and watching anime, so my love for the game naturally came. I already knew the pros and cons of doing it, but the thought of having my shoujo and others getting popular is what kept pushing me.

For Ran, it was all a mystery; no one knew. His manga was always too tragic, and no manga he had written was enjoyable for children; all of them had some R-rated content, NSFW content, whatever you call it. The art style majorly focuses on this content, from the violence and gore, to the explicit mature themes, and the sexual content, too much usage of strong language and many more.

Everything in his manga contradicts his observable personality, excluding his trouble-making side, in real life. Either way, right now we are having History class, specifically World History class, and this is the only class he actually calms down in aside from Art class.

*****

"You know, maybe Ranmaru just loves history," said Honoka, whose face was buried in a Math III textbook.

We were currently having lunch in the cafeteria, and the five of us were back together. "You don't get me," I said as I put my chopsticks back in my soba and put my elbows on the table, put my hands under my chin and looked at Honoka, who was right in front of me.

"He is a dangerous one. Allegedly!" I said in a serious tone before changing to a way lighter tone, contradicting my former tone and spread my hands like I had just surrendered from an interrogation.

On our table, I sat between Eren and Hinata, opposite me was Honoka, and on her right was Kaoru.

"The guy is scary; he keeps having this dark presence around him." Kaoru said, "I don't know whether it's just me, but his manga seems to realistic."

"What do you mean?" asked Hinata

"Well his drawings look like... life drawings, you know drawing from life."

"It's not only you, i also noticed it, and not to mention it is usually in the gory and violent scenes." I chipped in.

Forgetting that we left the cafeteria soon after and went back to our respective classes, soon enough I was to be caught up in a wind I never thought I would end up in.