My first day... Again?

Natsume flails out of bed, waking up in a cold sweat as he tosses his covers away with little success. His phone's alarm played the dreadfully annoying ringtone that assaulted his ears, which didn't help his dire situation at all. Once Natsume had finally settled down, he turned off the alarm, sat up, and looked around his room: searching for nothing.

Everything's fine he thought to himself as he let out a sigh of relief, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead and landing on his pyjama bottoms. Everything is as it should be. He was never one to let nightmares get to him; Natsume was well aware his nightmare was nothing more than that, and he was even more aware that the memory would soon be forgotten too.

 Seeing sunlight shine through his curtains, the warm beam of light beating on his skin helped settle him down. Getting out of bed Natsume opened them up, pulling the handle of his window to let some fresh air into the room.

Being wide awake after his nightmare, Natsume strides down the stairs and quickly makes his way to the kitchen where he pours himself a bowl of cereal - just as he did the day before. Natsume shovelled each spoonful into his mouth as quickly as he could, contrary to his expression, Natsume was excited for his second day. He imagined how giddy with excitement Ike would be too, Natsume didn't want to waste any time getting to the bus stop. Despite how annoying he was, Natsume knew he was going to get on well with him throughout the rest of the school year.

Tossing his bowl and spoon into the sink, Natsume hurries back upstairs quickly taking a shower and getting dressed before rushing out the door. Natsume shot across every street and every road recklessly, nearly being hit by multiple cars on his way to the bus stop alone.

Natsume begins to slow down as the bus stop reaches his view and he realises that Ike was nowhere to be seen. He got so excited and forgot that Ike hadn't even arrived yet - In fact, he was so early that he was the only one at the bus stop.

Natsume struggled to find a way to pass the time. He couldn't sit still with the excitement flowing through him, he felt more energised than ever before. He sat on the bench, but in only a few minutes found himself sitting upside down with his blood flowing to his head and making him dizzy. After a few minutes, he found himself running back and forth, to and from the local convenience store but quickly got bored of it. Eventually, when people did start arriving at the bus stop, he started trying to make polite conversation with people.

Natsume had finally exhausted anything he could have done while he waited, so instead, he just stood like everyone else, tapping his foot impatiently. Ike had to be there soon, it's not like Natsume arrived that much earlier.

About an hour passes and finally, in the distance Natsume sees Ike jogging his way to the bus stop. Ike stops next to Natsume, still facing towards the road as if he didn't even realise he was there.

"Good morning, Ike." Natsume finally says, trying to start a conversation with him. But the brown-haired boy just ignores him. Natsume repeats himself, only to get the same response. Did he do something to piss Ike off? Why was he ignoring him?

"Ike? You okay?" Natsume asks, causing Ike to finally recognise that he was talking to him.

"Uhh, yeah I'm fine!" Ike panics, looking around, seemingly shocked that Natsume was talking to him. Eventually, Ike scans him up and down, almost analysing him. "First day at school too, right?" Ike questions in return, but the way he asked it didn't exactly sit right with Natsume...

"You mean second day?" Ike cocks an eyebrow at Natsume's statement. It was clear that Ike was trying to think of a reason that Natsume would have mistaken it for being their second day, a lightbulb formed over his head.

"Oh! You came to check the place out beforehand? Pretty ingenious if you ask me." Ike responds, completely missing the mark. Both boys stand in silence for a short moment, before Ike continues the conversation. "So, what did you enrol for?"

"Take a wild guess." Natsume challenged Ike, he wasn't expecting him to get it wrong. Natsume assumed that Ike would choose his own course first. Being put on the spot like that made Ike even more nervous, a bead of sweat was almost visible trickling down his forehead.

"Painting?"

"Bingo."

And Natsume was right, but despite this, he had a fear deep in his heart that Ike didn't just forget about the previous day, and that he didn't just have a strong case of Deja vu. The only apparent reason Ike trusted Natsume was that they were wearing the same uniform, and Natsume couldn't have known his name if it was a false memory. Natsume felt the rocky start - or rather a rocky restart - between Ike and himself made it harder for them to talk to each other.

"We're in the same class by the way. If you get lost, let me know." Natsume offers, though it felt bizarre offering to help a friend who thought that they'd only just met, and Natsume still didn't understand why that was the case. Ike nodded in response with a smile, kicking dirt under his shoe.

Eventually, the bus arrives and the two boys board, sitting next to each other as they did last time. Natsume couldn't wave away the sense of Deja Vu that he was getting, he was thinking about it so much that he started to feel nauseous. Every moment he spent with Ike, every moment spend thinking about the potential excuses was met with this dreadful feeling. Natsume knew deep down that everything he had experienced the previous day did, in fact, happen.

"I heard that teachers throw a party at the end of each month to celebrate each student's achievements." Ike gleams as though it had been the first time he had stated this rumour to Natsume.

"Maybe your right, I haven't heard anything about that." Natsume responds, changing his answer. There was a little bit of him that was curious about what would happen if he changed something as small as an answer. This was one of those times when he wanted to experiment.

"Yeah, I hope I'm right." Ike smiles warmly, kicking his feet like a child that has been promised candy. It was almost endearing to see him so happy at something so trivial, and seeing Ike happy made Natsume happy too. "What do you think our classmates will be like?" Ike continues, not seeming as nervous as Natsume remembered.

"I think they'll be pretty nice. Though I haven't met any of them personally." Natsume lied partially. Truth be told, Natsume didn't know any of them other than Ike that well. "I'm sure we'll all get along in our own ways." Ike smiled in response to Natsume's attempt to comfort him.

"I think so too. I'm normally great with people, so I shouldn't have any problems making friends." Ike boasts, placing his fists on his hips and puffing his chest out like a superhero. Natsume nods acknowledging Ike's confidence in himself.

"You know, I've heard they're going to make us stand in front of the class and introduce ourselves."

"Is that so..." Ike frowns, Natsume knew how much Ike hated presentations. It would be wrong to think that Natsume had no ulterior intentions behind telling him this now, he just wanted to put Ike down a peg or two to keep him humble. "I hope they're pretty lenient on that..."

"They'll understand." Natsume lies again. "You'll just need to talk to Mr. Aoi, I'm sure he'll understand."

The bus reaches its stop and the doors open to the gargantuan building yet again. Peering over to Ike, Natsume sees his awe-struck face making his heart sink - Ike really hadn't been here before - now Natsume had to pretend that he didn't know everything that was going to happen, which was easier said than done.

Natsume guides Ike to their classroom, and just as Natsume was about to open the door Ike barges past him into the room. All eyes were on him and yet he seemed unphased by all of the attention. Natsume, on the other hand, felt second-hand embarrassment, he had somehow forgotten that this was something Ike was going to do.

"Ayyyyy! Good morning everyone!" Ike announces, doing a couple of twirls as he makes his way to the middle of the room before striking a pose. Natsume, on the other hand, made his way to his desk and plopped himself on the seat, laying his head on the desk. 

"Oh c'mon Natsume, don't be a buzzkill now." Ike laughs as he's now the centre of attention. "At least say hi to everyone, it's the least you could do." Ike frowns, letting out a sigh of pity for the boy who tried to sleep as soon as he sat down.

"Morning everyone." Natsume sat up to say, looking around the room as Ike had moved all the attention from himself to Natsume.

"Good morning!"

"Yo."

"Nice to meet you."

Voices rang out around the class, giving Natsume a warm, fluttering feeling in his stomach. It felt nice. Even though he wanted to smile, his face wouldn't budge. Natsume decided not to put his head back down, instead, he decided to peer around the class to see what everyone was doing.

It was only natural to see Ike getting along with everyone, chatting away to his heart's content with his fellow classmates. Minori was in the group that Ike was talking to, she seemed very involved in the conversation which didn't surprise Natsume too much, she seemed to be able to read the room well. Kanata and Uno were - as expected - together, talking to Ryuji and his cohorts. It was hard to imagine either group being separated from one another. 

Natsume lay his head back down on the desk. Waiting was all he could think to do, from the moment he plopped his head on the desk to the moment Aoi walked through the door, Natsume believed he could predict the events between them. It didn't take long before the first event; Ike introducing Kanata, Uno, and Minori to him.

Natsume lifted his head to meet with the four standing before him. Just like before, Minori is the first to make their move. Holding out her hand, expecting a handshake. Natsume speaks first, not wanting to seem rude to her this time around.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Natsume." He said, trying his hardest not to sound as blunt as last time. Minori raises a brow in response.

"Nice to meet you too! I'm Minori." She responds, shrugging off Natsume's monotonous voice. At least she's not angry at me this time Natsume thinks to himself. He wanted to try and keep to her good side, but that wasn't who intrigued Natsume the most right now.

Natsume turned his head to Kanata and held out his hand. "You're Kanata, right? I've heard good things about you." Natsume lied, while he wasn't particularly fond of Kanata there was no mistaking that he was a hard person to forget.

"That's right. I'm Kanata Nagatsuki. I'm glad you've heard good things about me" Kanata blushes as he turns away, embarrassed and yet he somehow maintains a cocky smirk. It was immediately clear to Natsume that the path to his good side was through his ego, which was pretty easy if you knew what buttons to push.

"And this is Uno, my girlfriend!" Kanata continues, completely unprompted as he pulls the shorter girl closer to him. Her face flushes a bright red, only giving Natsume a coy wave in response.

"Dating for about a year, that's what you told me I think." Ike butts in, to both Kanata and Natsume's delight. Holding a conversation with Kanata was about as productive as talking to a telemarketer, there was nothing meaningful being said and they likely didn't care about what you were saying. Kanata nods, confirming Ike's thought.

The group of 5 continued talking, Natsume being involved in the conversation through various points. His peers seemed interested in his home life, which to Natsume was a little hard to explain. Natsume had never really known his parents, that wasn't to say he had a bad relationship with them, they were just distant.

The other four just repeated what he already knew about them. Kanata was a part of the paranormal society, and both He and Minori had stayed in Osaka for almost their whole lives. Although, this time Ike had no problems sharing as much information as he possibly could. He had probably gone through his whole life story within 5 minutes. Contrary to Ike, Uno was reluctant to share anything about herself, Natsume shrugged this off as just her being shy.

Around 15 minutes had passed: Natsume must have been completely absorbed in the conversation because the next thing he heard was the door slamming open and the dark blue-haired man, Aoi came prancing through the door and spinning on the seat behind his desk.

Aoi does his typical introduction in his usual melodic tone. "Helloooo everybody! I am Aoi, your teacher for the year!" The volume of Aoi's voice made Kanata jump, which seemed odd as Natsume would have expected Uno to be the one startled by a shout. Without instruction, everybody standing returned to their desks, facing the Blue-haired man at the front.

Aoi swivels back and forth on his chair, just as he did previously. His eyes scanned the room, however, when his eyes landed on Natsume, their eyes locked in a stare down for what felt like an eternity. Natsume could feel his heart pounding against his chest, it was a miracle that it didn't make an audible thud every time his heart beats.

Eventually, his eyes passed him and moved on to the rest of the class. But Aoi's stare had cursed Natsume's heart and wouldn't let go of him, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off.

"Alrighty then! How about we introduce ourselves." Aoi states, hopping off his seat and babbling his same monologue just as he did last time. This time Natsume couldn't be bothered standing in front of the class.

"Absolutely not." Natsume countered, pushing his chair back and standing boldly, despite his nerves. Ike sunk into his seat letting out a big sigh, obviously relieved that Natsume was on his side.

"I second that. We've already had the chance to meet everyone due to you being tardy! May we skip the formalities?" Kanata agrees, with a finger pointed to Aoi. With both Kanata and him standing up against his-

"Nope." Aoi scoffs. Natsume, stunned at Aoi's bluntness, sinks back down into his seat almost looking disappointed. He places a hand on his shoulder consoling Natsume as Ike begins to sob. Natsume turns around to look at Kanata who is sulking in his seat. "does anyone want to volunteer before I pick someone myself?"

Letting out a sigh of disappointment, Natsume walks to the front of the class and repeats a summary of himself the extent of which was just his name and where he came from. Natsume didn't want to bring up his apparent predicament, he thought it could have just been a serious case of Deja vu, although that was mostly him reasoning with himself.

He quickly returned to his desk, before Kanata took his place at the front just as he did the day prior. Even down to the point where Aoi interrupted him for taking too long. And after Kanata came Minori. Natsume managed to avoid her wrath by staying awake instead of sleeping this time.

He noticed that when she wasn't focused on him drooling on the desk, Minori seemed a million times more confident. She paced around the room as though she was a manager keeping tabs on all of her employees, she seemed very professional.

Contrary to Minori's demeanour, Ike was shivering as though he was in the Arctic. It was clear to Natsume that Ike knew he'd have to stand up sooner or later. Natsume decided not to push him this time.

Once Minori sat back down, Uno - trembling almost as much as Ike - stood in front of the class. She twirls her hair around her finger as she takes a deep breath, preparing to speak. Natsume sits up a little more, not recalling Uno's presentation, she didn't say much before that.

"I am Uno Suzuki." her voice wavers as the words leave her mouth. "I live here in Osaka where I work part-time as a waitress." The way Uno speaks makes Natsume's heart skip a beat somehow, almost as if he felt like something bad was going to happen to her as she stood there.

"I hope we can all be friends!" Uno smiles before quickly dashing back to Kanata's side with her hands covering her flushed face. Kanata embraces the short, blue-haired girl: praising her for her confidence.

Ike grabs Natsume, Shaking him back and forth causing his eyes to spin. Natsume - responding to Ike's outburst - slaps him across the face, causing a red mark to form on his cheek. Ike, now well-grounded in reality, lets go of Natsume's shoulders.

"S-sorry, I don't know what came over me." Ike laments, rubbing his reddened cheek. Ike stands up and walks to the front of the classroom where he leans into Aoi's ear, whispering something that only he and their teacher can hear.

Groaning, Aoi sends Ike back to his desk, sparing him from the torture that awaited him. The blue-haired teacher was seldom merciful, or at least that's how Natsume imagined him to be.

Plopping back down next to Natsume, Ike let out a deep sigh of relief. Alas, Natsume could still see Ike's chest rising and falling faster than his own. Natsume wanted to help him but decided it would be best to let him calm down by himself.

Despite Natsume wanting to help, others didn't think quite think the same way as he did. Ryuji suddenly jolted up eyeing Aoi with a death stare that couldn't even threaten a lamb. Natsume thought Ryuji's attempt at being intimidating was laughable.

"Hey! How come Ike gets a pass just because he's a coward!" he rages, marching to the front of the classroom, grabbing Aoi by the collar and pulling him so close you'd think Ryuji was looking for a kiss. "Act like a god damn teacher for once!"

Aoi, not feeling threatened by him at all, gently pushes him away. Chuckling his frequent, hair-raising chuckle. Without missing a beat, Natsume had chills down his spine despite his stoic face saying that nothing was wrong.

"My my, on the offensive today aren't we?" Aoi grins as Ryuji melts back down into his seat. "How about you go next then, Ryuji? Show me that you aren't a coward like Ike." Ryuji twiddles his fingers a little bit before sinking further into his seat, looking away from Aoi.

"I'm right here you know..." Ike furrows his brow as he is ignored by everyone else.

"Nevermind..." Ryuji groans, now so far down his seat that he might as well be sitting on the floor. Natsume turns to look at Ryuji, who just so happens to be eyeing him also. The two boys lock their gazes for a moment before Natsume turns back to face the front of the classroom.

"Well then, if we're not feeling like it I suppose we can skip the formalities. How unfortunate..." Aoi laments, stroking his chin as if there was a beard there. Natsume took note of Aoi's apparent merciful nature. This put him at ease slightly, though the tight knot in his stomach and the flutter in his heart persisted.

"Hmm... If there are no introductions to be made I think I can let you all out." he grins, eyeing Ryuji as though he's in big trouble for disrupting the class. Natsume wasn't willing to stick around to find out. "Alright, you're all dismissed."

"Alright! It's lunchtime. C'mon, we'll grab something and chat for a bit." Ike beams his usual bright smile. His enthusiasm for the school was endearing and almost contagious. Natsume felt as though it might be interesting inviting another classmate to join Ike and him for lunch.

"Minori." Natsume states, grabbing the girl's attention "Want to join us?" The sudden invitation clearly came as a surprise to her, she gave Natsume a warm smile and a nod, accepting the invitation.

"Sure, I'd be happy to!" Minori skips over to Natsume, wrapping her arm around his, causing him to flinch. Ike pouts a little bit, turning away and storming out the door as he waits for Natsume. "Jeez, jealous much? Alright, lets go." She smiles again mocking Ike as Natsume guides his friends to the cafe they ate at the day prior.