Friends! Friends?

When we came back from the assembly, I didn't notice much of a difference within my classroom. Everyone returned to their seats and fell back into their usual silence.
Wow. Wasn't that a waste of time?
Nothing changed right away, but who knows how things were going in the other first-year classrooms? We weren't acting buddy-buddy with each other as we were in the gym, but there was one thing that played out differently. At dismissal when it was time to go home, a boy in my class said goodbye to everyone out of nowhere. Normally, we would just walk out of the room without a word. We always greeted each other in the morning but never said bye when it was time to leave. By the end of the day, we stopped pretending and ignored everything else that wasn't a priority.
So when the boy said goodbye, I didn't know what was going to happen. To my surprise, my classmates said it back to him, and then to each other. Their parting words spread contagiously throughout the classroom and soon everyone was on board. I had never seen such an occurrence among my classmates. I didn't know what to do, so I simply slipped out of the room and went home.

In the days following the assembly, a transformation began taking shape. 
Whenever I entered my classroom, I noticed the atmosphere felt a lot brighter than it was before. It was like the curtains were finally opened in a dark room. As I walked to my seat, I heard my classmates having small conversations with each other. They talked about little things like the weather, what shows they were watching on TV, a random thing they saw, and so on. And when one of our teachers would enter the room, the chatter would continue but gradually come to a halt. Sometimes a slight chuckle would sneak in just before instruction began.
And it didn't stop there.
In-between breaks and lunchtime, the students' voices now seemed to bounce off the walls compared to the silent whispers that came before. Some of my classmates even leave the room during breaks to hang out with friends from other classes. This only proved that the same developments were most likely happening in the other first-year classrooms as well.

On one occasion, Yukimura approached me during lunchtime and asked me to join her. I hadn't spoken to her since the assembly, so naturally it was unexpected.

"Nagato, would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Huh? You want…me?" Confused, I pointed to myself just to make sure she had the right person.

"Yeah. Do you remember our team members from the assembly? Shinohara, Ikebana, Yozakura, and Mitsuru… We're all going to eat lunch together. We thought you should join us too. The group wouldn't be complete without you."

"Oh…"

I was practically speechless. How was I supposed to react to someone saying that without me, they didn't feel whole? It was like a declaration of friendship right then and there. I was taken aback by those sentiments. In a normal setting, at a school that wasn't Kentō Academy, I may have just accepted their feelings and that could have been the start of something beautiful. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in myself to do that. I just couldn't commit to hanging out with them, not when the future was uncertain. During the assembly, I had to bear through it all and cooperate with them. But there was no telling how long the effects of the assembly would last. I didn't want to form any relationships that would fall apart in a short time. Give it a week tops. But I couldn't say any of that to Yukimura. It was better to just let her down gently.

"That's…kind of you, but I can't. I need this time to study."

"Oh. I see…"

Yukimura turned away from me and looked outside the window. To study, huh? Sure, that's it. I lied straight to her face, but what else was I going to say? No one wants to hear that they're being avoided by someone. Regardless of whether she caught on to it, I was already feeling guilty. I'm sure they had good intentions. But I just had to go be the bad guy and shoot them down.

"We'll be on the roof if you change your mind." Yukimura then turned away from my desk and left. 

She didn't push hard when I declined her offer. She accepted it and that was that. Maybe that was her way of giving up on me. Sure she said some nice things, but she'd probably be better off without me anyway. At least the others wanted to give the whole friendship thing a try. Me? I was firmly rooted in my beliefs. I couldn't take any risks.

The rest of the week went by with different variations of the same events. Everyone greeted each other, talked about something new, and went off to hang out with their friends. Some students from outside our class even came to hang out.
I didn't join them.
I mostly kept to myself and spent my breaks reading textbooks, or getting a headstart on my homework. And believe me, it wasn't just Yukimura who tried to get me on their side. The rest of my classmates would occasionally invite me to have lunch with them or ask if I had any plans after school. I know they were trying to be nice, but I still turned everyone down.

"Nagato, come have lunch with us!" They would wave.

"Sorry, but I can't. Thanks for asking though.

"Nagato, you should join our study session after class. We're also heading out to the arcade later if you want to come with us."

"No thanks. I'm already caught up with my studies."

"Aw! Can't you at least come and help the rest of us out?"

"Sorry."

"Nagato, want to walk home with us?"

"I can't. We live in opposite directions."

Either I told white lies or flat out rejected their requests. 
The answer was always no.
They probably looked at me like I didn't have any friends and pitied me. But I honestly couldn't care less. I didn't need their sympathy. And yet, I always worried about standing out. I wanted to go with the flow, so it wouldn't draw attention to myself. At this rate, I might cave in again.

The students seem committed to keeping their friendships now, but who's to say this isn't just a fad? How do I know all that effort the students are putting into their newfound friendships won't go down the drain later on? It's so easy for everyone to just tear down their walls, but I can't seem to get on board. Somehow, I feel like I need to keep my guard up even more now.

The end of the week was near, and the surprises weren't over just yet. Like any other day, I came to school, went to class, took notes, and studied. Everyone chatting and spending time together happened in the background while I ignored it all. It was impressive how they could keep it up for this long, but it only made me grow warier that it was going to end soon. At the end of the day, I packed my books as usual and left my chair. My intent was to head straight home. But before I could even step out into the hallway, I was stopped. Or rather, I was flagged down by a certain group of people. 

"There he is!" A familiar voice said.

"It's Nagato!" A young boy pointed to me.

"Nagato, over here!" A pink-haired girl flailed her arms as she tried to get my attention.

'What do you mean over here? You're standing right in front of me blocking the door.'

I couldn't believe those guys were here. It was none other than my teammates from the assembly: Ikebana, Shinohara, Yozakura, and Mitsuru. Yukimura was also standing with them. Maybe I shouldn't have been so shocked by this. Yukimura was hanging out with them after all and tried inviting me to join them. With everyone so eager to stay in touch, it was only a matter of time before they sought me out. Although seeing them all again was sudden, I can't say I was too thrilled. My first instinct was to ask them to give me some space.

"Ah… Could you…move, please? Other people need to get by, you know."

The gang darted glances past my shoulder and realized that I was still standing on the border between my classroom and the hall. They awkwardly exchanged glances with each other and then back to me. After that, they began apologizing all at once as they moved to the side.

"Oh, right."

"Yeah sure."

"Sorry."

"We weren't thinking."

Once that order of business was out of the way, they got to the matter at hand.

"Nagato, have you made any plans this weekend? We want you to come with us to the mall tomorrow." Mitsuru began.

"Yeah, man. It's gonna be fun! We haven't been able to see each other lately. And we eat lunch on the roof, but you never come to join us. I know it's only been a few days since we got to know each other, but we still hardly know anything about you." Yozakura said.

"Yozakura's right. We still have much to learn about each other, but we already think of you as a friend. We only hope that you'll come around eventually. Please give us a chance." Yukimura added.

"Yeah! Don't be a party pooper, Shuusuke!" Ikebana teased.

"Well, what if I don't even show up to the occasion? You can't call me a party pooper if I'm not present to ruin the mood… And I never permitted you to call me by my first name!"

I was impressed that she remembered my first name in such a short time, but that didn't mean she was allowed to use it whenever she pleased. Despite my protest, she wasn't going to respect my wishes.

"But…I feel so close to you right now! Shuusuke! Shuusuke!"

"Shuusuke! Shuusuke!"

Ikebana began chanting my name and the others happily followed suit, causing me to blush. Sure I could excuse Shinohara for this kind of behavior, but why did they all have to act so childish?

As they kept shouting my name over and over, the rest of my classmates walked past us. I could hear them giggling to themselves and gossiping with each other in the distance. I couldn't be any more embarrassed.

"Oh, it looks like Nagato has some friends after all!" I heard one say.

"Haha! Guess we were worried for nothing." Another laughed.

I looked down the hall at my classmates who were leaving and back at my so-called "friends" who were stopping me from going home. Was it really as they said? My classmates were…"worried" about me?

I guess everybody was.

They repeatedly attempted to hang out with me in the days after the assembly. And once they saw some students who appeared to be friends of mine, they were relieved. I didn't know they cared so much. I didn't know it wasn't just my teammates who were thinking of me. But why would they? I just didn't get it.

"Um, Nagato? About what you just said earlier… Do you plan on not showing up tomorrow?" Shinohara asked.

The chanting suddenly came to a stop. Everyone frowned at the possibility that this attempt to recruit me back into their circle could end in another failure. I was just trying to keep up with Ikebana's banter, but that didn't mean I had reached a decision so soon. Still, I couldn't drag this out any further. If I kept pushing them away, that would probably make me look like a real jerk. Their hearts were in the right place, yeah? So, is it really that difficult to just give them a chance?

"No, that's not it. I'll… I'll go. Tomorrow at the mall, right? Just give me a time and I'll be there."

Wide grins slowly crept back onto their faces. The gang turned to each other once more before cheering out loud.

"Yay!"

"We did it!"

"Alright! Nagato's gonna hang out with us."

Once that was settled, they had to figure out a way for us to stay connected.

"Thanks, Nagato. We'll call you later." Mitsuru said.

I didn't see how that was going to be possible since I've never given my phone number to anyone, especially not to them. Yukimura picked up on this quickly and stated the fact to the others.

"But wait, we don't have his number!"

"Yeah, you're right."

"So, let's all give him our numbers! Phones out, everybody!"

"Okay!"

Ikebana issued the command. And just like that, they reached into their pockets and bags for their cell phones all at once. What's with these guys? Were they just naturally in sync with each other or something?

"Can't I just go home? Write it on a piece of paper and call it a day."

"No!” Everyone shouted in unison.

Geez, now they're angry? They're so unreadable!

"This is the first step to becoming friends with us." Mitsuru said.

"Yeah! This is your initiation, Shuusuke." Ikebana stared deeply into my eyes.

"What!?"

'Initiation?' 

When you put it like that, it sounds like some kind of rite of passage.

When everyone finally had their phones out, they flipped their screens towards me. All of them had their contact lists open, ready to add my name to the pile.

"Okay Shuusuke, start punching in those digits and get your phone ready! Hey wait, you don't even have it out yet."

"Uh…I'm not sure I wanna hand out my number just yet. You're moving too fast for me."

I tried backing away from them so I could get out of there. I wasn't giving them my number, but I still had to come up with a time for tomorrow. At least they would know when to expect me.

"Noon sounds like a good time to meet up at the mall, yeah? Let's just do that, okay?"

I scooted back further and further. In the end, I wasn't able to distance myself very far before Ikebana noticed I was trying to escape.

"He's getting away! After him!" Ikebana yelled.

They couldn't resist a chase. Before I knew it, we were sprinting down the halls. Well, at least I wasn't. I was speed walking as fast as I could. It was better to avoid running so you wouldn't have to hear the hall monitor screaming at you. Speed walking could only get me so far while trying to outmaneuver a pack of determined hunters.

The situation was difficult enough and the sound of their wholehearted laughter catching up behind me was even more baffling. Just what did they see in me to chase me down the hallway for my phone number? I swear I don't get this whole friendship thing. Maybe it'll all make sense once this weekend is over… Or maybe it won't.