Ordinary day

A peaceful day in Kyoto, Japan… or rather, an “ordinary” one.

The sakura trees swayed gently, filling the air with a quiet warmth. A soft breeze lifted my hair slightly.

My name is Asahi Itakashi, a first-year student at Kyoto Sakura High. I just enrolled here for my own benefit.

I have black, messy hair and gray eyes—just an ordinary-looking guy. I’m wearing a simple Mao suit.

Though the uniform is pretty plain for a top-tier high school.

Still… I find it surprisingly comfortable. I’ve always had a grudge against those flashy, ridiculously expensive uniforms.

Other students walked toward the school, while I was the only one nervous about not screwing up my self-introduction.

I took a deep breath as I approached the front gate.

The moment I stepped onto school grounds, someone suddenly wrapped their arm around my neck.

My shoulders dropped as irritation kicked in.

“Yo! Forget your little inner monologue!” said a blonde-haired guy with a grin.

His name: Yuto Sakamoto.

Also known as “Ca$$o.” Ranked second among the most listened-to rapper/singer-songwriters globally. He has messy blonde hair with a braid hanging from his right ear and sharp, canine-like teeth, and crimson eyes.

He also has a tattoo on his right cheek that reads: “1600.”

His Mao suit is half-open, practically screaming, “I don’t give a flying fuck.”

Then another guy came in and slapped my back hard.

“Hey, dude!” he shouted.

A vein bulged on my forehead. “Stop doing that.” My smirk twitched.

He has orange, spiky messy hair and piercings on both ears. His name: Haruto Takanashi.

He’s known to be an absolute dumbass. I still don’t even know how—or when—he got into this school.

“Man, where are the others?” Yuto asked.

“Don’t know. Did you see them earlier?” I replied.

Yuto placed both hands behind his back in a relaxed gesture. “Nah. I don’t give a shit about what I see. In fact, I forget what I see.”

“Then why bring them up?!” I barked.

“Guys!” a voice called from behind.

A distant shout.

It was Ren and Masaki.

The white-haired guy is Ren Takahashi—short, but a looker. The red, short-haired guy is Masaki Daigaku.

“Damn it, we were late because SOME short-ass got hit on,” Masaki said, glancing at Ren with an irritated expression.

“Come on, you’re gonna say a guy like me would leave a hopeless, desperate girl hanging?” Ren replied. “That’s why you get no hoes, dude.”

Masaki slapped the back of Ren’s head. “Shut your ass up, jackass.”

“Let’s go in before the ceremony begins,” I suggested.

As we entered the ceremony hall, I sat next to two girls. One had short pink hair, and the other was tan with blonde hair—basically a gyaru.

A fat—no, huge—man with a mustache and suit walked onto the stage, fixing his tie as he adjusted the mic.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Daiki Kimura. You may call me Kimura-sensei,” he said. “We thank and congratulate you all for entering our prestigious Kyoto Sakura High.”

“Get on with it already,” the gyaru whispered, her tone full of annoyance.

I side-eyed her for a moment.

Damn… that body is dangerous. No, dammit. I can't act like a pervert on my first day!

Focus. I just want a smooth, peaceful year. But—

“Hey, dude. Let’s go karaoke with the others after this,” Haruto whispered from behind.

Seems like I can’t go a second, minute, hour, day, month, or year without some BS in my life.

“Shut up,” I replied.

“Huh?” the gyaru said, disgust on her face.

Crap. I didn’t mean her.

“The hell did you just say to me, you… ordinary, blank, gray, boring bitch?”

Yep. She went there.

“I didn’t mean you—”

“Shut up.” She turned away, crossing her arms.

I frowned, then glared at Haruto with a “look what you did, dumbass” expression.

Haruto just giggled like the idiot he is.

Jackass.

A few moments after the ceremony, I arrived at my assigned classroom—Class B-3. I slid the door open and noticed… the entire class was quiet.

Surprised, but I had a gut feeling that—

“Yo! We’re all in the same class!” Yuto shouted as the others entered behind him.

Yep. There goes the quiet atmosphere.

Still… I felt relieved. Even though I wanted a peaceful, quiet year, I couldn’t just abandon my friends for my own selfish desires.

I let out a sigh. “You guys are a handful.”

Then—

The gyaru from earlier approached us, this time with her friends. There goes my soul.

“Hey, you!” she pointed at me. “Don’t think I forgot what you said earlier. If I even catch a glimpse of you or you come near me, I’ll rip your balls off.”

“U-um… me?” I asked.

“No, the other guy,” she replied sarcastically. “Yes, you, dumbass.”

“Hey, don’t talk to my boy like that,” Haruto stepped in.

“Shut up. Nobody even mentioned your dumbass,” she shoved him aside.

“Hey!” a female voice called out.

I turned—and my eyes widened in shock. I can’t say she’s just cute… more like something I couldn’t quite describe.

It was a short girl with orange hair, wearing a cream-colored cardigan. Her brown, tea-colored eyes gave off an innocent look.

“Tch…” the gyaru clicked her tongue and turned away, crossing her arms before walking off without another word.

“U-um… thank you,” I said.

The girl immediately blushed crimson, lowering her gaze as steam practically came off her face.

“It’s no problem, Asahi-san,” she said softly.

A faint warmth spread across my face as my heart started beating faster.

“…Huh?”

“Well, I’ll be going!” she said, bowing quickly before rushing back to her seat.

Only then did I notice my friends staring at me—clearly not amused.

“So… who’s she to you, Asahi?” Yuto asked.

I froze. “I don’t know, I swear…”

“…Alright,” Yuto nodded slowly.

The rest of them walked away, but something about their gazes felt… dangerous.

Man… even with friends, I don’t feel safe.

I sat down at my seat as the school bell rang.

Then—

A jacked, bald man burst into the classroom like it was a boot camp, slamming a board onto his desk.

“Good morning, pieces of shit— I mean, lovely, smart, beautiful students! My name is Tadashi Nishimura!” he shouted.

Goddamn, he’s loud.

“My class, my rules. Simple as that. You breathe too loud—detention!”

Bullshit.

“You sneeze too loud—detention! Anything that pisses me off—DETENTION!!”

“Man, ain’t that some shit,” Yuto whispered to himself.

“Now—” he paused.

“That is all. Do whatever you guys want,” he said plainly.

That son of a bitch! He had me thinking this class was going to be serious, but it ended up being half-assed BS!

Well, at least I know this class won’t be that bad and especially worrying about introducing myself. As long as I don’t approach that THING across the room—yeah, the gyaru from earlier.

I sighed, gazing out the window, lost in thought. A sakura tree stood in the middle of the school grounds outside.

A sign that this school might not be so bad. If anything… maybe even life-changing.