The Main Protagonist is Here

“My first day of high school,” Jinnouchi Ryuusuke exclaimed as he stood in front of the school gate. A handsome boy with mid-length black hair and warm, brown eyes, anyone could say that he looked just like the protagonist of a school romance anime. He had an awe-filled smile as he looked at the tall building in front of him. A white colored, 4 story building with windows spread across each side so you can look at the outside view wherever you are in the school. Ryuusuke had been waiting for this moment ever since he graduated middle school. High school brings about many challenges, but also many new experiences and he couldn’t wait to see how his high school life will play out.

The blue sky, the nice weather, and the cherry blossom petals sweeping across the air, it was the perfect day to start his high school journey. He clutched the bag that was hanging from his shoulder and took a deep breath. “Let’s do this,” he said to himself, “Let’s have the best high school experience ever.” With those words hyping him up, he took his first steps entering the school gate and went inside. After changing shoes on the first floor near the entrance, he went upstairs to the second story, where all of the first year classes are, and found his classroom: 1-3. As he stood at the doorway, he let out another smile at the sight in front of him. Students were already gathering together, getting to know one another, and everyone didn’t seem too nervous at all. As he stepped inside the classroom, he already heard some of the female students commenting about his looks.

“Oh my, look at who just walked in,” one said.

“Ah, he’s handsome. Do you think he has a girlfriend already?”

“It’s the first day of school, I’m sure he’s single,” another pointed out.

“You don’t know, maybe he’s had one since middle school.”

Ryuusuke was used to hearing things like this at school. Despite what people thought, he was actually single and had never dated once. He did, however, have a childhood crush that is still deep within his heart. For some reason, he was never able to let it go and a part of him hoped that he’ll get to meet her again after she left him when they were children; yet, a part of him knew that she might never come back and he’d need to get over her soon. Ryuusuke found a seat near the window and looked out at the scene outside: the sun shining over the schoolyard which was filled with eager students looking forward to start the new year.

At the back of the classroom, in the middle row, sat Sakamoto Kenta who was busy reading a book. As he heard the girls fawning over Ryuusuke, he thought to himself, “Ah teenage girls will fall in love with any hot guy before getting to know him.” Unlike Ryuusuke, Kenta was a plain-looking boy with black hair and small pupils. “What does this guy even look like anyway,” he looked up from his book and once he saw Ryuusuke, a memory came to him. He was remembering what happened this morning: as he was reaching the gate of the school, he remembered Ryuusuke standing in front of it as everyone was entering the campus. “What the heck is this guy doing just standing there. Doesn’t he know this area is busy right now?”

“My first day of high school,” Ryuusuke exclaimed.

“The heck…,” Kenta thought. He stopped behind Ryuusuke as he heard him talking to himself.

Ryuusuke clutched the bag that was hanging from his shoulder and took a deep breath. “Let’s do this,” he said to himself, “Let’s have the best high school experience ever.” With those words hyping him up, he took his first steps entering the school gate and went inside.

“Was he trying to have a main character moment or something,” Kenta tried to comprehend what he just witnessed, but eventually just shrugged it off.

Back at the classroom, Kenta looked at Ryuusuke and thought, “He must be a real handful if he’s the type to act like that. But, I shouldn’t get bothered by that. I’ll just avoid those types of people and my high school life will go by normally.”

At that moment, the classroom door slid open and a young woman walked in. She stood in front of the blackboard and wrote her name on it. “Hello everyone, I am Asai-sensei, I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year.”

In unison, the class greeted her, “Hello Asai-sensei.”

“Okay, I’m going to take roll now, please answer when I call your name.” She started calling out names to which students replied when they heard theirs. After a few names, she came to one where no one answered. “Eguchi-san? Is Eguchi-san here?” After a few seconds of no answer, she concluded, “I guess she’s out today.”

The classroom door forcefully slid open, “Wait! I’m here!” A girl ran in panting. “I’m Eguchi Asuka.”

Ryuusuke let out a small gasp as he heard that name and diverted his attention to the girl standing in front of the class.

“Ah, Eguchi-san, so you are here today. It’s lucky you got here before I marked you absent,” Asai sensei said with a smile.

“Yeah, a little too lucky,” Kenta thought to himself. “And what’s with the bread crumbs and jam stain near her mouth, did she run out of her house eating bread like some anime protagonist or something?”

“Please, go sit anywhere you’d like,” Asai sensei gestured to the seating area.

Asuka bowed, “Thank you.” She started her way to her seat when she made eye contact with Ryuusuke and paused in front of the class.

“Asuka?” Ryuusuke looked at her with a mix of awe and sentiment.

Asuka returned with the same kind of look, “Ryu-Ryuusuke…”

“What’s this? What’s happening? Why are they just staring at each other? And no one in class is saying a thing; they’re all just staring at them. Even the teacher isn’t trying to break this up. Did time stop or something? No, no, no, this is real life; stuff like that doesn’t happen in real life. Sensei, please tell her to sit down and continue to do roll calls. Are you just gonna allow them to do this? Five minutes have already passed by, this is just cutting into our homeroom time. Ahh, can someone just say something already? I feel so awkward here in the silence as two people are just staring at each other,” Kenta thought to himself as he witnessed the scene.

“Asuka,” Ryuusuke said again.

“Ryuusuke,” Asuka replied.

“They’re just repeating what they said before! Can someone put an end to this,” Kenta felt annoyed.

“Eguchi-san,” Asai-sensei started.

“Finally! Thank you sensei, thank you for breaking up this awkward moment. I guess they were trying to go for something heartwarming, but it’s so awkward to witness it firsthand,” Kenta finally felt relieved.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Asuka came back to reality and went over to sit in a seat near Ryuusuke. She looked down at her desk as Ryuusuke turned back towards the window.

“Don’t just act like complete strangers if you just confirmed that you know each other,” Kenta retorted in his head.

“Sakamoto-san. Is Sakamoto-san here? Sakamoto-san,” Asai-sensei called out.

“Ah, here,” Kenta just realized his name was being called.

“Sakamoto-san, please answer the first time I call your name. We don’t want to waste time during homeroom,” Asai sensei said with a stern tone.

“Y-yes. I’m sorry,” Kenta said with a guilty expression. In his head, he realized something, “Hold on just a minute. I get in trouble for wasting 10 seconds while you were okay with those two wasting 10 minutes doing nothing but staring into each other’s eyes? What kind of teacher is this? Is it because they look like main character material and I look like a mob character? Main character privilege really is a thing,” Kenta thought as he looked coldly at Asai-sensei, Ryuusuke and Asuka.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kenta sat in the cafeteria quietly eating his lunch by himself. In front of him was a manga that kept hold of his attention ever since lunch started. “This is nice. Me with my manga, having lunch by myself.”

“OI, RYUUSUKE!!!” A loud voice called out which ruined Kenta’s concentration.

“Ah, Chisato!” Ryuusuke replied back. A boy with short brown hair and a short stature came over to Ryuusuke’s table with a tray in his hand. Ryuusuke was sitting by himself before his friend joined him. As he was having lunch, he’d hear glimpses of compliments from both male and female students calling him cool and handsome.

“No one’s even gotten to know him, yet they already know he’s cool and a good guy. Main character privilege plus halo effect; this guy is too powerful,” Kenta thought.

RYUUSUKE, RYUUSUKE! WHAT CLASS ARE YOU IN,” Chisato asked his friend.

“And why is this guy so freaking loud? Does no one else hear this? Ryuusuke, don’t your ears hurt when he’s talking close to you,” Kenta covered his ears.

“I’m in 1-3,” Ryuusuke replied.

“AH, I SEE! I’M IN 1-1. NOW I CAN GO TO YOUR CLASS TO SEE YOU DURING BREAKS THEN,” Chisato had a bright smile on his face.

“No! Please don’t come! How about Ryuusuke go to your class instead,” Kenta pleaded in his head.

“Mm, come anytime,” Ryuusuke offered with a smile.

“Nooo, this guy is seriously going to ruin my eardrums by the end of this year!”

“Ryuusuke,” Asuka came over to their table with a tray.

Ryuusuke gasped when he saw her, “Asuka.”

“Can I…sit with you,” Asuka blushed and looked away as she asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah! Sure,” Ryuusuke was blushing too as he agreed to let her.

“ASUKA!!” Another loud voice called out. This time, it was a girl’s voice.

“There’s another loud one,” Kenta had a look of despair on his face.

“Erii!” Asuka got up to hug a short girl with pigtails. Behind her was a tall, handsome guy, with a nonchalant expression on his face.”

“Asuka,” he said.

“Oi! Another over the top handsome guy you’d never see in real life!”

“Ouri!” Asuka hugged him, making Ryuusuke feel a bit jealous.

“ASUKA! WHAT CLASS ARE YOU IN,” Erii asked her friend.

“Too loud! Too loud!” Kenta covered his ears again.

“I’m in class 1-3,” Asuka replied with a smile.

“REALLY? I’M IN 1-2 WITH OURI.”

“That’s lucky that you guys got to be together. I’m kind of jealous.”

“IT’S OKAY! BOTH OF US WILL COME SEE YOU A LOT!”

“No, please not another one! I can’t imagine what the room would be like if both of them were in there together.”

“Ah, by the way. This is my childhood friend, Ryuusuke,” Asuka introduced.

“OH! HELLO, I’M KAMIMOTO ERII.”

“Hi, I'm Tsuchida Ouri.”

“Hi, and this is my friend Nishida Chisato,” Ryussuke introduced back.

“YO! SAY, YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU KNEW SOME CUTIES?”

Hearing that made both Erii and Asuka blush.

“Watch what you’re saying,” Ryuusuke scolded back.

“I’M JUST SAYING, MAYBE I SHOULD MAKE MY MOVE AND TRY TO GET A DATE WITH ONE OF THEM!”

“THERE’S NO WAY ASUKA WOULD DATE YOU, HER STANDARDS ARE TOO HIGH,” Erii argued back.

“IS THAT SO? WELL, YOU NEVER SAID THAT YOU WOULDN’T DATE ME. SO HOW ABOUT YOU AND ME START GOING OUT?”

‘STUPID! I HAVE HIGH STANDARDS TOO AND RIGHT NOW YOU DON’T MEET ANY OF THEM. IF ANYTHING, YOU’RE THE TOTAL OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANT!”

“IF THEY’RE TOO HIGH, YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE CONTENT WITH THE SINGLE LIFE YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW! NO GUY WANTS TO DATE SOMEONE SO PICKY!”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY? ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE AN ENEMY OUT OF ME?”

“This is torture!!!! Both of their voices together are creating some kind of harmony that makes you want to rip your ears off! Were both of them born with natural amplifiers in their bodies? Why are they so loud when they’re inside and no one is complaining about it either! Everyone’s just acting like this is normal. I feel bad for their friends who are experiencing this right near them. I don’t need to imagine what a room with both of them will be like cause I’m living through it right now!” Kenta quickly got up from his seat, grabbed his bag and book, and left the cafeteria. He let out a sigh as soon as he was in the hallway. “Ugh, even in here, I could hear them loud and clear,” he thought. “How can I expect a normal life when these people are around,” he whined and unwillingly walked back to class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 Week Later

Sakamoto Kenta walked downstairs to the first floor of the school where the shoe lockers were. As he was changing his shoes, he was disappointed by the week he endured. “Everyday, pure screaming every morning, every break time, every lunch period, and after school.”

Flashback

“HEY, RYUUSUKE! LET’S GO TO LUNCH!” Chisato would call out to his friend during lunch everyday.

“ASUKA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING AFTER SCHOOL? I KNOW A FUN PLACE WE COULD GO TO!” Erii would come to their class after school to meet with Asuka.

Flashback End

Kenta cringed at the thought that he would have to get used to this until the end of the academic year. “Maybe next year will be better,” he tried to cheer himself up. As he was changing his shoes, he heard footsteps coming down too.

“Good practice today, Ouri,” Ryuusuke and Ouri had just come from basketball practice and were getting ready to leave for home. “Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ryuusuke was about to leave until Ouri stopped him.

“Chisato,” Ouri started.

Ryuusuke turned around with a curious look, “Hm?”

“What is this? What’s going on?” Kenta was also curious as to what was going to happen.

“I’m just going to come out and ask you, but…are you in love with Asuka,” Ouri blurted out, which made Ryuusuke gasp.

“Oh crap, I can’t leave now. This won’t just cause embarrassment for them, but it’ll also be awkward for me. I mean, it’s kind of interesting so I kind of want to listen but I shouldn’t be eavesdropping like this,” Kenta regretted being there at that moment.

Chisato was quiet for a moment until he quietly replied, “I-I guess…”

“Well, do you or not?” Ouri questioned again.

“I-I said I gues–”

“If you truly love her, then say it with all of your heart! Do you love her or not?!” Ouri raised his voice.

“I do! Yes, I love her!”

“Seriously, what’s going on! Are they going to start a rivalry or something? Is the other guy in love with her too? And what’s with the dramatic atmosphere?”

Ouri smirked, “That makes you my rival then.”

“I KNEW IT! I MEAN IT WAS KIND OF PREDICTABLE BUT STILL!”

“I’ve been in love with Asuka ever since we met. We’d always play together in the rose garden back at home. I could tell from the way you look at her whenever we go out to karaoke, or eat together, or the time we planned that trip to the hot springs, that you’re in love with her, because that’s how I would always look at her.” Ryuusuke told Chisato.

“Just a minute, just how close did they get within a week? And when did they have the time to do all of that? Or maybe it’s my life that’s actually empty,” Kenta was starting to feel bad for himself.

“Why does it matter if I like her anyway? We can both like her,” Chisato replied back.

“You don’t seem to understand,” Ouri scowled. “We can both like her as much as we want but in the end, she’ll have to choose one of us. So, I’m going to make sure that she chooses me in the end!”

“That’s exactly what the second lead always says! Instead of trying to chase her, just start preparing yourself for rejection now! Your utmost confidence will soon be crushed!”

Chisato let out a small grunt of frustration, “Are you only getting close to me for her sake?”

Ouri smirked, “Maybe I am or maybe I’m not.”

“What exactly does that even mean?” Kenta was frustrated with that weird reply.

“Just don’t get in my way,” Ouri walked past Chisato who was looking at the ground with anger.

Chisato clenched his fist, “I really thought…we were friends.”

“Oi, is this guy starting a monologue,” Kenta was waiting for Chisato to leave so he could safely exit school.

“I really thought he wanted to be friends with me. I thought I was going to have the best high school life ever. But now, it’s all going downhill.”

“Is one guy lying to you that serious? Just forget him! You have like three other people in your group and the whole school is literally in love with you. Just make new friends! Don’t be so dramatic about it!”

“But if that’s how it is. I won’t back down either. I’m going to give my all to show Asuke that I really care for her!” Chisato walked out of school with a determined look as he faced the sky.

Kenta let out a sigh of relief as he was in the clear to leave the school. “Seriously, what’s wrong with some of these students? They really need to snap back into reality,” he said as he walked into the orange sunset to head home.