Not everyone is so friendly

The big day finally arrived. As agreed upon, I found myself waiting in the lobby of Sugawara Hall at 6:30 PM on Saturday evening. The only problem was, no one else was there. Not Honoko, not Yukino, not Emi, not even Shun. Was this some kind of twisted game they all agreed to play on me?

At 6:40 PM, the elevator door opened and out walked Shun, wearing a nice casual blazer. With his blazer and nice necklace, he made me look severely under dressed. I guess wearing a t-shirt and pants wasn’t up to snuff at this school.

“Hey man!”

“Hey Shun.”

“Hope you weren’t waiting too long,” he said with a chuckle. I had been waiting since 6:30 PM, the agreed upon meeting time.

“I got here at 6:30 PM like we agreed upon in the group text. But it’s okay. You’re the first person to arrive besides me.”

Shun let out another laugh. “Come on man you’ve gotta loosen up! When girls say meet at 6:30, they don’t really mean 6:30. I bet you they’ll pop out of the elevator at 6:45, a nice and fashionable 15 minutes late.”

Who came up with these social norms anyway? Why was it fashionable to be 15 minutes late? It seemed both practical and considerate to show up at an agreed upon time. My parents were always punctual, but I guess that wasn’t true for everyone.

“Fashionably late. Got it.”

The two of us sat side by side on the couch in the lobby, watching the clock tick by. Almost exactly at the turn of the minute, the elevator door opened again, and this time Emi and Yukino emerged. 6:45 PM on the dot.

“Oh hey you guys!” Emi shouted with joy as she skipped towards us.

“Good evening,” Yukino said expressionlessly as she followed in tow.

Shun hopped off the couch and messed with his hair.

“Well hey there ladies, looking… uh, good.”

I somehow hadn’t noticed it yet but Yukino was still in her school uniform. On a Saturday. That must have been what threw Shun off his typical player attitude. Emi on the other hand was dressed in a short and potentially too revealing skirt, accompanied by a pink, oversized hoodie. It was the quintessential cute girl outfit, something you would see the main heroine wearing in a manga. Oh well, thanks to Yukino, at least I was no longer the odd man out when it came to attire.

“Nakamura, where is Hayashi?” Yukino asked.

“She went out earlier but said she would be back here in time for us to meet.”

“Oh are you worried about Hayashi?” Shun asked playfully. “That’s new from you, Yukimura.”

“I’m not worried,” she quickly and plainly retorted. “We just need her to arrive in order to stick to our schedule. A schedule which we are already behind on, thanks to Ichinose taking so long to get ready.”

Yukino was holding nothing back. I guess it didn’t take her much prep time to put on the same school uniform she wore every day. While Emi’s get up wasn’t anything earth shattering fancy, it probably did take some time to pick out the right outfit. Heck, it even took me a good 15 minutes to pick out this lackluster outfit.

“I’m sure she’ll be here soon! And sorry I took so long, I just wanted to pick out a nice outfit!”

“Well you certainly did that, Ichinose.”

“Aw stop it Shun.”

Did a comment like that really flatter Emi, or was she playing into Shun’s act? I honestly couldn’t tell. Shun took a glance at the expensive watch he was sporting on his wrist. His expression quickly changed.

“Hey guys, I know we’re supposed to be waiting for Hayashi, but maybe we should head out without her? Arata can shoot her a quick message saying to meet us at the restaurant.”

“Adachi may be right,” Yukino chimed in. “This restaurant is supposed to be one of the most popular on the island, so we don’t want to miss our reservation. I’m surprised we even got one on such short notice.”

Was this a famous restaurant or something? How did Yukino know it was so popular? I assumed most first years were in the same boat as me, blissfully ignorant to the way of life here. Perhaps not.

“Alright fineee we can go ahead without her.”

Emi looked deflated. It wasn’t often her upbeat attitude took a backseat.

As we walked out the door I pulled out my phone to send Honoko the updated details.

Yukino didn’t exaggerate about the popularity of this place. A large line had already amassed in front of the entrance by the time we arrived. The building itself exuded class. Seeing the other people in line, I was definitely under dressed, and definitely going to feel this dinner in my wallet tomorrow.

Eventually, we found ourselves at the front of the line. At that moment, Honoko made her timely appearance.

“Sorry I’m late everyone.” she said, out of breath, and a bit sweaty.

“Did you sprint here or something?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t sprint here, Nakamura. Thanks for implying I look gross though.”

That wasn’t what I was implying at all, but there was no point in putting up a fuss.

“Good evening!” The hostess said with a bright smile.

“Party of five, under Yukimura.”

The hostess scanned the tablet in her hand. Something on that tablet made her eyes widen, although I wasn’t sure what.

“Of course, Ms. Yukimura. Right this way.”

The hostess led us to a nice and spacious table located away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the restaurant. It almost seemed like some sort of VIP area. Perhaps it was the only space available? The rest of the restaurant was jam packed after all. We all sat around the table. I wound up sitting between Honoko and Yukino on one side while Shun and Emi were seated across from us. Hopefully everyone would keep it civil during dinner, or else I would be caught in the middle of a war zone, verbal or otherwise.

Miraculously, dinner seemed to go off without a hitch. There was no yelling, arguing, or anything of the sort. It almost felt like, we were all friends? We spent most of the time talking about our respective first weeks on the island, but small talk was a big first step towards forming stronger bonds. After finishing our meals and paying our checks, the five of us left the restaurant ready to spend some time in the city exploring.

“Man that dinner was amazing,” Shun said as he lifted his hands behind his head.

“I am sooo full!”

“That really was great. I have to give you props, Yukimura, you picked a great place.”

“Thank you, Hayashi.”

“I did feel a bit under dressed, especially sitting in a fancy back room like that.”

Shun threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close as we walked stride for stride.

“Take it easy man, you’re looking great.”

There was something encouraging about having a friend like Shun. He was the ultimate confidence man.

Emi sped up ahead of the pack and gave a nice twirl before facing back towards us.

“So where are we off to now?”

“I know there’s a joint arcade and karaoke bar not too far away,” Shun chimed in. Seriously, when did everyone find the time to learn the layout of the island? Other than briefly looking at the school provided map, I was completely in the dark.

“I’m not much of a gamer but that still sounds fun,” Honoko said.

We quickly found ourselves in agreement. The group leisurely made it’s way through the lively city streets.

The Spot was a fitting name for this place. The high rise building found itself almost perfectly in the center of town, and it was packed. Students and staff members alike lined each street corner. It honestly felt like I was back in downtown Tokyo.

Honoko looked the building up and down. “Wow, this place is massive.”

“Is this really just an arcade and karaoke bar?” I asked.

“Sure it,” Shun replied. “The arcade takes up the bottom 10 or so levels and the karaoke bar is the rest. They have so many games and stuff here man.”

I could tell that Shun was excited. I guess he fancied himself a gamer. Yukino, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable for once.

“This place seems a little too big for my liking. But since the rest of the group wants to be here it’s fine.”

Well, at least Yukino was honest. It was commendable, in a sense, to go along with the rest of the group. I played my fair share of games growing up before becoming completely engrossed by magic, so an arcade would have me feeling right at home.

“Shall we?”

Shun’s question was rhetorical. Before anyone could even answer, he was off running inside.

The bright lights and loud music were overwhelming. Students occupied every free space, leaving barely any walking room. By all means, The Spot appeared to be the central hangout on all of Apex Island. I had trouble keeping track of everyone in the sea of endless students.

“You doing okay, man?”

“Yeah I’m fine!” I shouted back. It felt like shouting was the only way Shun would even here me.

As we made our rounds through the arcade section I spotted every game under the sun. Classic arcade games, modern video games, virtual reality games, classic tabletop games such as air hockey, and more. If I didn’t have to study excessive hours to hide my lack of magic, I could envision myself wasting many hours here. It’s amazing the older students are able to attend school successfully with attractions like this around.

“Hey let’s play Foosball!”

Before anyone could retort, Emi grabbed Shun and Yukino by their clothes and dragged them towards a now vacated Foosball table. I slowly followed behind accompanied by Honoko.

“We can play two against two!” Emi continued. “I wanna play with Yukino first!”

Emi pulled Yukino onto her side of the table. There was no getting out of it now.

My Foosball skills were not up to snuff, so I needed an excuse to not participate.

“Hayashi, you can play with Shun first. I am going to grab something to drink, does anyone want anything?”

My four acquaintances eyed each other. Did they think they could communicate telepathically?

“Yeah man, if you go to the counter by the front they should sell these giant pitchers of refrigerated tea. They’re pretty cheap too!”

“That sounds super refreshing!”

Shun and Emi were in agreement at least.

“Tea is fine.”

“I’m good with tea, Nakamura.”

Well, the group somehow arrived at a consensus. Maybe they could communicate through telepathy after all. Emi threw the Foosball into play on the table, so I took my leave.

Navigating through the crowd without a group was even more difficult. At least when I had a large group around me, people idling by would typically move out of the way. They paid no such respect to a loner like me. Eventually, I reached the front counter.

“Hi there, can I get something for you?”

The man working behind the counter greeted me right away. I studied the menu quickly trying to spot the tea.

“Yeah can I get a pitcher of the milk tea please?”

“Sure thing, ¥1000. You have your phone on you?”

Of course I had my phone on me, almost everyone conducted transactions by phone now. And on the island, everything transaction was made simple using the Apex app. I held out my phone and let the man scan it.

“I’ll have the pitcher out in a minute.”

The man hurried to the other end of the counter to take more orders. I stepped away from the counter in search of more open space. Eventually, the man retreated into a back room. While searching for a place to stand around, I was bumped by another student running by. I stumbled into a group of people loitering by the counter, knocking directly into the back of one person.

“Sorry about that I-”

“What the hell.” he said as he turned to face me. Upon seeing his face I instantly recognized him, with his black hair parted over his right eye. It was my classmate, Ryu Takanashi, the top ranked freshmen in the entire school. My best bet was to apologize and clear things up, I didn’t need to make anyone mad, especially him.

“Sorry Takanashi, I just got-”

“You’re Nakamura, right?”

“I am…”

He laughed at my confirmation. It was a toxic, yet somehow menacing laugh. I felt the hairs stand on the back of my neck.

“Hey Iwasaki, get a load of this guy.”

Another distinct and recognizable male student in the group surrounding Ryu came over. It was none other than Hikari Iwasaki, the fifth ranked student in Class 1-A. He stood out thanks to his bright, white hair. It was a color I had never seen before, until coming to this school. It was almost blinding.

“What’s up, Takanashi?”

His voice was smooth, soothing in a sense. It was a stark contrast to the deep, gruff voice and demeanor of Ryu. These two really got along?

“This is our classmate, Nakamura. He just made me spill my drink.”

Ryu placed a now empty cup on the table beside him. I glanced down to the floor and noticed a pool of tea forming by his feet. This didn’t look good for me.

“That’s a bummer,” Iwasaki said. “If you let the staff know I’m sure they’ll give you another tea.”

It was a diplomatic response. Perhaps Iwasaki was trying to diffuse the situation? For my sake, I hoped he was.

“That’s all you have to say? I’m disappointed. I think we need to teach Nakamura here to watch where he’s going.”

Sora Sonzaki, Shun’s playboy but not so friendly roommate came forward. I hadn’t spotted him at first.

“I’ve seen this guy around my roommate, Adachi, quite a bit,” he said. “He’s got to be a loser.”

“He’s ranked like 14th in the class,” Ryu added. “So I guess he’s weak and a loser. I mean, he’s here all by himself.”

I knew nothing about Hikari Iwasaki, but he looked a bit uncomfortable during this whole exchange as far as I could tell. Ryu on the other hand was filled with a confidence and assertiveness fitting of a student ranked number one. He placed his finger directly in the center of my chest.

“You don’t want to get on my bad side, got it?”

I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t trying to get on his bad side. I got bumped into him, it was out of my control.

“Oh there you are Nakamura!” The joyous, feminine shout was so loud I could hear it even from a distance. I turned around to see Emi hustling straight towards me. “You were taking so long with the drinks we thought you might have left us!”

Lagging behind Emi was Shun, Honoko, and Yukino. Did they all really come looking for me?

Sora and Ryu both had a look of shock. “Ichinose, you’re really hanging out with this guys?” Sonozaki asked.

“The rest of you are with this guy too?” Ryu asked as the rest of the group arrived behind Emi.

“Sure are!” Emi responded enthusiastically. “Do you guys want to join us?”

She really was too friendly. If she knew the context of my “discussion” with Ryu, Sora, and Hikari, maybe she would have sung a different tune.

“How about you three fine ladies come with us,” Sora said full of confidence. “You can leave the two class clowns behind.”

I was unsure what to say, I had never been in a situation like this before. Throughout middle school I had avoided any of this petty and pointless drama.

“No thank you,” Yukino replied coldly. “I’m not interested in associating people who can’t show even the most basic respect to others.”

“Watch your mouth, Yukimura,” Ryu growled, the increasing anger in his voice apparent. “You may be ranked second in the class, but that means there’s one student above you. And guess who that is.”

“Our ranks at this point in time are simply arbitrary metrics assigned to us by the school. We will see who ranks at the top by years end.”

“You have nothing to say for yourself?” Ryu directed towards me. “Are you just going to hide behind your highly ranked friends and let them do the talking? Coward.”

All I could do was look towards the floor. In my peripheral visions I noticed a small flickering light. A small and growing flame danced above the palm of Honoko’s hand. She didn’t want to talk things out, and it seemed like she was ready for a fight.

“Hey kids, what’s going on over here.”

Some adult arrived to the stand off between our two groups. An employee of The Spot?

“Oh, hello Ms. Tanaka,” Hikari said with a bright smile.

“I’ve been watching this little spat unfold from across the way for a while now,” she continued. “It’s a Saturday night, go enjoy yourselves and stop trying to ruin your night. You don’t want things to escalate and you all get punished, do you? I may work for the School of Alchemy, but I can still report you all.”

“Understood,” Yukino responded. “Our apologies ma’am.”

“Thank you. Now get going everyone.”

Ms. Tanaka shot daggers towards Ryu and his group. With no chance to continue the conversation, they all dispersed. I was now left surrounded by the group I came with, and Ms. Tanaka. As we tried to leave she stopped us.

“Now hold on just a second you five. I didn’t want to say anything in front of them, but you better watch yourselves as well.” She pointed directly at Honoko. “I saw you conjure that flame, you know it’s against the rules to use magic off school grounds. It’s the first week of school so I’m feeling generous and won’t officially write you up, but don’t let it happen again.”

A look of guilt washed over Honoko’s face. Whether it was for breaking the rules in the first place or just getting caught, I wasn’t sure.

“It won’t happen again. Sorry.”

And with that, Ms. Tanaka left. The group enjoyed the rest of a long night full of fun, games, and karaoke. I was overjoyed that everyone stood up for me, but even so, after my confrontation with Ryu, it was difficult to fully immerse myself the rest of the evening. I couldn’t help but feel as though I just made the worst kind of enemy.