First Day of School ②

After the entrance ceremony have ended, I was on my way to the general studies buildings where we 1st-year students were supposed to go when the media starts to surround me and swarmed me as a result… Ah heck, for goodness sake…

[Nakamura-san! Can you tell us how you managed to perfect the hardest exam within Greater East Asia?]

[Nakamura-san! Can you provide us with some details on how you managed to overcome the odds!?]

[Nakamura-san!]

[Nakamura-san!]

[Nakamura-san!]

[Sorry everyone! The kid’s not comfortable answering your questions!]

[Indeed, just move away from him now!]

Suddenly, two female voices passed through the noisy voices that the media was doing in which, there were 4 students who immediately surrounded me as they escorted me along with the two female students away from the media far enough for them to catch them off guard.

When I realized who was with me at the time… Two boys and 4 girls was with me by this time which two of them I knew a while ago.

[Are you okay, Nakamura-kun?]

[Umu… Thank you for the save there, Miyamoto-san…]

[How about me, Nakamura-kun?]

When Mayumi-san said that, I chuckled a little bit before replying.

[Of course, thank you as well and to everyone.]

I bowed to everyone for a little bit in which the only male student aside from me and Miyamoto-san then replied to us.

[You're welcome, Nakamura-kun. It’s some usual occurrences when there’s a big event in the campus. By the way, my name’s Shiki. Hayase Shiki from the Disciplinary Committee.]

[Indeed, thank you for the save there, Shiki-kun.]

[No problem, Obon-kun. Just doing my job, pretty much.]

Miyamoto-san and Shiki-san are currently discussing something else after that in which the others then started introducing themselves.

[I’m Momosuzu Kurumi. I’m Shiki’s Vice President within the Disciplinary Committee and a 3rd Year student, same as him too. It’s nice to meet you, Nakamura-san.]

[I’m Kanagawa Mimi, a member of the Committee. Nice to meet you, kouhai. I’m a 2nd Year student]

[H-Hello… I’m T-Tatsumaki Iishina… A-Also a member… 2nd Year student… I-It’s nice to meet you…]

The three girls from the Disciplinary Committee introduced themselves to me. When Iishina-san’s introduction ended, Miyamoto-san and Shiki-san also ended their conversation in which Shiki-san then responded.

[Anyways, Nakamura-kun. Do you know the way towards the General Studies Building?]

[Yeah, I memorized the map that I had a few days back.]

[That’s good to know… We should get going now, everyone.]

[Thank you again, everyone.]

[Don’t worry about it, Nakamura-kun.]

[I’ll see you later on the Student Council Room, Nakamura-san.]

I thanked everyone again as everyone else waved their hands back. In order to memorize their identities…

Well, I’ll just stick to their hair. Both Miyamoto-san and Shiki-san had black hair, Mayumi-san has her ponytail-worn dark blue eyes, Iishina-san has a memorable dark green straight hair, Mimi-san has a dark red hair worn by some twin tails, and Kurumi-san having a dark brown curly hair. I guess I memorized all of them now…

Anyways, as I went inside the building, I can see some activity in the hallways adjacent to each classroom on the first floor. I guess it’s to be expected for the first-year classrooms.

When I started to walk my way towards the classroom of S Class, some people around me started gossiping while the others looked like they were looking at me with idolizing eyes in mind… Urgh… I really hate being caught up in attention…

When I arrived at the front of the classroom for S Class, there wasn’t actually anyone who was in the front which is quite a change. I guess it’s to be expected for the top section, I presume?

When I slide the door open, I can see everyone inside the classroom which I think would be quite normal, to begin with. There are some chit chats and there were already friend groups forming as well.

It’s better not to disturb the status quo inside it so I immediately tried to be as careful as possible in order to not be caught up by my classmates as I went to the seat near the window which is still vacant.

When I arrived there, I also noticed that there were three girls who was near that seat as well with one of them seating beside the vacant seat by the window. And so, I just tried my best to be as careful as possible by asking politely.

[Good morning… May I sit on that seat since it’s vacant?]

If it goes with the anime logic, I would’ve expected a lot of stuff to happen. Mainly related to my seat mate probably be someone who’s got an attitude or something resembling that but…

[Good morning too. Sure sure… There’s no one sitting here.]

[Alright by me. Good morning.]

[Same here. Good morning as well.]

It’s real life, so it’s quite the opposite. The girls here were pretty kind as they’ve gave way for me to reach my seat. After a few moments, everyone started sitting down in their seats which included the two girls who were talking to the girl who was sitting beside me.

Apparently, our class advisor just arrived in front of the class and I felt somewhat familiar with the tone of his voice.

[Good morning, S Class. My name is Morris Katsuto, and you guys can only call me Katsuto-sensei or Sensei. Nothing more, nothing less. I am your English teacher for this year. Have I made myself clear?]

[[[[[[[[[Yes, Katsuto-sensei.]]]]]]]]]]

[Ooooooh, that’s examiner-san! It was actually Katsuto-sensei!]

I thought in which when he looked around towards everyone and met his eyes with mine, he immediately smiled at me… and oh man, I know where this is going next… He smiled at me as he then told everyone…

[Now that I’ve introduced myself, I’ll let you guys introduce yourselves. Starting from our representative boy that’s on the back near the window. Stand up and introduce yourself.]

When he said those concise words, I just shuddered with chills in mind. But I don’t have a choice for now as I stood up from my seat and then introduced myself.

[Good morning everyone. My name is Nakamura Kurayami. I’m 16 years old and I’m from Shibuya.]

[What are your hobbies and dreams, young man?]

[My hobbies are studying, listening to orchestral music, watching anime, and reading manga. But I mostly use my free time for studying since I have 2 part-time jobs.]

[Ohoooo… A hard worker, huh…? And then… What’s your dream?]

[To study things more and asking more questions. Isn’t that how science and research work?]

As I said that answer, Katsuto-sensei chuckled a little bit and smiled afterwards as he responded to me.

[What a great introduction, young man! I would’ve rated you 9 out of 10 for that introduction. You may take your seat now. Next one!]

[Yes, Sensei!]

Katsuto-sensei said as I sighed in relief and got myself back into my seat. The seatmate beside me then stood up as she was called up and she starts introducing herself to everyone.

[Good morning everyone! My name is Hozomi Hitomi. I’m also 16 years old and I came from Minato. My hobbies are watching videos at NicoNico, reading a lot of fashion magazines, and drawing dresses.]

[May I assume that you want to be a fashion designer in the future?]

[Yes, Sensei! My dream is to make a lot of dresses for myself so I want to become a world-class fashion designer!]

[That’s a good dream you got there, young miss! Self-satisfaction’s a factor for success as always! You may take your seat now. Next one!]

[Yes, Sensei...!]

Katsuto-sensei exclaimed while smiling as Hitomi-san then sat down on her seat once again. So the name of my lavender-haired seat mate is Hozomi Hitomi.

With her dream of making dresses for herself, I think that she would be quite fabulous on the dress that she would design, I bet… Anyways, Katsuto-sensei spent the next 30 minutes making everyone introduce themselves.

When we were done introducing ourselves to everyone, Katsuto-sensei then stated something to everyone.

[Now that everyone has introduced themselves to each other, we’ll start with an assignment for tomorrow. I will have you all translate your own introduction to English concisely and word for word.

I’ll have you guys know that I’m a half-Japanese, half-British myself and I studied both languages as my native languages.

So any wrong pronunciation or even stressing on the word would lead to a deduction. Have I made myself clear?]

[[[[[[[[[[Yes, Sensei!]]]]]]]]]]

And we’ve already started the actual thing with a very hard assignment already… As expected of this school…

[Anyways, we still have a lot of time so you guys are open to converse with anyone here as long as it doesn’t generate too much noise. You could also work on your assignment too while you’re at it.

I’ll just stay here if you guys have any questions, or something else you want to discuss with me.]

[[[[[[[[[[Thank you, Katsuto-sensei!]]]]]]]]]]

We said as everyone then started doing their own things themselves with some even conversing one another with their own topics, while the others already starting practicing their assignments and there’s even a few who’s with Katsuto-sensei at the moment, asking him some questions.

While I was observing with everyone else for a long while, I can feel someone touching my right shoulder in which I then see Hitomi-san touching my shoulder using her index finger to poke it.

[Yes, Hozomi-san?]

[I’m impressed by how you’ve mastered the exams. I was wondering how you did it?]

[Mhmmm! It’s the same question all over again!]

I thought as I just used my poker face and responded to her.

[Ah, hahaha. I got asked that by a lot of people. To be honest, I just studied a lot. So much so that I stumbled upon the Tokyo-U’s exam questionnaire guides from the library back at Shibuya back when I was in middle school. So I read through all of it and learned on how to answer those questions.]

[W-Woah… As I expected… They were really university-level questions… How in the world would they even do that?]

As Hitomi-san’s pondering on why the administration would create the hardest exams themselves, the school bell rang with the clock in front of us pointed at 12 noon in which Katsuto-sensei then stood up and says to everyone.

[It’s free time after class, so feel free to socialize with everyone else in this school, to go around the school, or to go home as well. That’s all for now class. See you tomorrow and make sure to do your assignment.]

As he said that, he immediately left the class with everyone else packing their belongings even though I myself have not brought anything up for today’s occasion. Hitomi-san then asked me.

[Are you free this lunch, Nakamura-kun?]

[I’m sorry if I have to decline that invitation right now. I have been invited to have lunch at the Student Council building.]

[Oho…? Is that so? That’s unfortunate…]

[I was planning to decline their invitation on joining the Student Council anyways since it’s not my strong-point to do some school service. Anyways, where are you going next?]

[Ah… Me, Isuzu, and Shion would go to the mall inside the campus for lunch and spend time there. I was thinking if you would like to follow us there after lunch?

Though we would probably be doing a lot of looking around and stuff like that… Is that alright as well?]

Hitomi-san said as she’s inviting me with her friends to the mall. I still have time before night when it’s time for my work so I’m fine with accepting the invitation. As a matter of fact, I may need to buy some things for the house as well, I guess…

[Sure, let’s meet up after lunch.]

[That’s good to know. I’ll wait for you later. See you later, Nakamura-kun.]

[See you later as well, Hitomi-san.]

She said to me with a bit of a warm smile as she and her friends left the room. When I left the classroom closed, I immediately then went outside the building on my way to the Student Council building.

On my way to that building, I came across a vending machine that sells pre-packed lunch of many varieties for around 750 yen per packet.

[Ohoooo… Something like this looks really delicious as long as I have a microwave near me, huh…?]

I muttered to myself as I took out my 1,000-yen bill and chose the rice with chicken karaage with a sealed teriyaki sauce, vegetable coleslaw, and white rice as well inside it.

When the vending machine accepted the money bill, the vending machine immediately pushed the chicken karaage pre-packed bento box to the button as I took the bento out from the vending machine.

Before I could even turn my body around, a voice suddenly spoke to me from behind my body.

[Chicken karaage for 750 yen, huh… It packs a lot of nutrients even within a single bento box. Good choice for you.]

[Eh?]

I immediately jolted away from the voice behind me as I turned my head around to see someone who has a black hair and is actually a lot taller than me by a whole 10 or so centimeters high with a patch different from both mine and the second year ones… Is he a 3rd Year student?

[Sorry for startling you, kouhai-kun. I didn’t mean to scare you.]

[No, I’m fine… Are you going to use the machine?]

[Yeah, I’ll use it too. I would also order the same one as you did since it’s my favorite.]

[Ah, is that so? That’s good to know… I’ll have to get going now since I was on my way to the Student Council.]

[Alright, have a fun lunch dude.]

[Same to you too.]

I said to him as I turned around and made my way towards the Student Council building while waving my hand goodbye to that unknown tall student. I’ll have to ask his name later when I meet him again.

As when I arrived at the front of the Student Council building, I noticed that the building itself is just a single-floored building. When I entered the building, it was quite quiet for something like this building itself.

When I arrived at the front of the student council office, I knocked the door first. I then heard the door clicking and closing and I was met with a girl who has hair near its tips coated with a blonde color. She then asked me…

[State your name, please?]

[Nakamura Kurayami.]

[Understood, please proceed inside.]

[Thank you…]

I said as when I opened the door, I can see a huge oval table with the surroundings actually being organized and tidied up as well. Miyamoto then stood up and approached me as he welcomed me to the visit.

[Welcome, Nakamura-kun! I’m happy that you’ve considered joining us for lunch! I hope we’ll have a great conversation while we’re eating.]

[Same here, thank you for inviting me as well…]

I said to everyone including the one who opened the door to the room in which the blonde-hair-tipped girl got back on his seat alongside Miyamoto-san who’s the president of the student council which he sits on his seat while I then sat on one of the vacant seats to also eat my lunch here.

[Chicken karaage, huh…? That’s a delicious lunch you have there, Nakamura-san.]

[The same goes for yours too, Miyamoto-san. That’s some impressive cooking skill you got there.]

[I’m quite proud of it, hahaha!]

[Also, do you have a microwave here, Miyamoto-san?]

[Unnn. We do have one here. Are you reheating it?]

[Yeah, I’ll have to reheat it. I know how to do stuff myself.]

I said as I put my pre-packet bento inside the microwave and let it run for a few minutes.

While that was happening, the two of us exchanged each other’s compliments while also talking towards the other current student council members about school and stuff. And then, Miyamoto-san then asked me the question that he was inviting me for.

[Nakamura-kun, would you like to join the Student Council for this year?]

And by this time around, I’m already certain about my answer as well.