First Encounters

My life is so cruel… I don’t have any friends and my grades are trash… I thought I’d get used to the harsh high school life eventually, but I’m already in my second year, and I’m still suffering… I came up here to the ledge of the school rooftop, but I was never actually gonna jump off. I just wanted to see what it was like in the movies. It’s quiet and peaceful. The view of the night sky is nice from up here. I really—

“Are you gonna jump?” A monotone voice interrupts the words in my head. I trace the voice to my left. It’s a girl sitting on the ledge next to me, dangling her legs out while watching the nightlife and buildings below us. I didn't notice she had been here.

“H- hey, be careful- what if you fall-??” I stutter, surprised by her sudden appearance.

“You were gonna jump though.” She looks up at me, with a blank expression on her face, but even though her face seems blank, her eyes are eagerly gazing into mine. She seems bored, as she sucks on her lollipop and her headphones blasting music.

“No I wasn’t. Where’d you get that idea?” I scoff and hop off the ledge back onto the roof.

“Everyone who comes up here jumps.” The girl turns her head back to watch the city below us again. Her face went from blank to some sort of melancholy. I stand there silently behind her, just staring at her back. All I can really see is her silhouette and her bright red headphones. I couldn’t see her very well in the darkness of the night.

“Oh. Sorry.” I scratch my head. The girl just continues to gaze down at the city, and I just continue to watch her quietly. After about a minute, she jumps down the ledge too.

“You’re weird. Aren’t you gonna ask for my name or something?” She turns and faces me, with the same bored look she’s had. Now that we’re standing on the same level, she’s pretty short. Maybe half a foot shorter than me.

“O- oh.” I clear my throat. “Hi, I’m Aoi Katsuki. What’s your name?” I awkwardly hold out my hand for a handshake.

“Not telling.” She disregards my question and my handshake, and snickers a bit. She takes the lollipop out of her mouth and puts it in my extended hand. “Aoi Katsuki, I’m sure we’ll see each other around.” The girl smirks, stuffs her hands in her pockets, and strolls out the roof and down the stairs. “What the heck, that’s such a girly name…heh.” She mutters right before she disappears from my sight.

I stand there, confused, with her lollipop in my hand. What just happened? Who was she, and what was she doing? That was the most awkward moment of my life. My mind is full of unanswered questions. I shake my head to bring back my senses, and I run to the stairs in hopes of asking her all my questions. “Wait! Who are you?!” But she was already gone.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning, I walk into the classroom and slump onto my chair. My head plops onto the desk, and my brown bangs hang over my tired eyes. I couldn’t get any sleep last night, thinking about the mysterious girl on the roof.

“Aoi Katsuki, I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”

The girl’s words last night. Will I actually see her again?

There’s quite a commotion outside in the hallway. What’s going on? Mr. Inoue, the teacher, arrives at the classroom.

“Hey, get in your classrooms. Class is about to start.” He scolds the students in the hallway, and brings them inside. “Let’s take attendance, and we can start class.”

The first few periods of the day go smoothly, except for the fact that I’m still sleepy. Throughout the morning though, there’s one thing I couldn’t help but notice that was blazing around the school. New gossip about one of the first years. It’s probably what was causing everyone to gather in the hallway earlier today too. During the break period, I meet up in the cafeteria with my only friend- a first year by the name of Tsukasa Hiirasagi. He works part-time with me at Boba Fans.

Tsukasa is the complete opposite of me. He’s clumsy, like the kind of guy who would forget to zip his fly after using the toilet. He’s got short blonde hair and a pretty strong physique. Tsukasa’s only in his 1st year, but he manages to pull all the girls in the years above his with his looks and his peppy personality. As I said, he’s the complete opposite of me. Me, Aoi Katsuki, the quiet awkward dude. Brown hair up to my shoulders and bangs hanging over my face, 5’11 but no muscle, and I don’t have social skills. I don’t have anything going for me, except for my eyes. My eyes are just the common color- dark brown. But according to Tsukasa, in the dark, it glitters a hazel color and it looks like the starry sky from countryside-Hokkaido.

“Did you hear about the new girl?” Tsukasa excitedly scooches towards me as we sit and snack on our bread together.

“Is that what’s been buzzing through the school the whole morning?” I pretend to sound interested.

“Yeah, she’s really petite and cute. She’s like the tsundere in an anime. She’s in my class, but you’d love her. ” Tsukasa snickers.

“I doubt that.” The only person on my mind right now is the you-know-who from last night.

Just then, a short girl passes quickly by our table. Maybe half a foot shorter than me. She went by fast like a blurry streak, and in the streak were the following colors: black and dark burgundy from her hair, gray and yellow from her uniform, and a speck of a bright red something. Seconds later, she was followed by a big crowd of curious and screaming students. I follow them with my eyes, lowkey judging those students~

“Aoi-kun, Aoi-kun, that was her!! The tsundere girl with the red headphones!” Tsukasa jumps at me with starry eyes. “Ah, she’s so tiny and cute~”

“Oh, that’s great.” I sarcastically reply, but then I realize what Tsukasa just said. I mutter to myself, “Red headphones…?” The girl from the roof… she had bright red headphones…

“Aoi-kun? Aoi-kun~” Tsukasa waves in front of my face. I was lost contemplating the mysterious red headphones when Tsukasa brought me back to my senses. “The bell will ring soon. Let’s go.” He grunts as he stands up. I do the same.

“The new girl with the headphones… What's her name?” I ask Tsukasa this final question before we part for our classes again.

“Aki Shirasawa, or something like that.” The bell rings. “K, I gotta head to my class. Bye, Aoi-kun!” He smiles at me and waves goodbye. He’s got a pretty smile.

I nod farewell and I watch him go down the stairs to his next class. I take a second to think about the red headphones again, then leave too. Aki Shirasawa, huh? What if, coincidentally, she was the girl who…

I can’t focus very well for the rest of the day. Instead of linear equations, poem structures, and medieval shogunates, my mind is filled with last night’s occurrences, red headphones and the name Aki Shirasawa.

Why am I so focused on that girl anyways? Maybe it’s because that situation was the strangest and most awkward night I had ever experienced. This is weird. I just wanna go home and sleep…

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

I don’t get to go home and sleep after school, because I’ve got my Boba Fans shift today.

Good God, I’ve never felt more exhausted. I want to go home~

Boba Fans is one of the most popular boba places here in the heart of Osaka. The building stands out with its giant, life-sized boba statue on the roof. When you walk in, you’re met with high-quality and aesthetic tables and chairs, the smell of freshly brewed tea, and old music no one’s ever heard.

When I arrived at the boba place, Tsukasa was already on his shift at the cashier. I wave to him as I head to the back to change. Once I get ready, I sigh and reluctantly start out to take orders. It’s a casual day, not too busy. I do my job efficiently but in a robotic manner- a monotonous voice, bare eyes, repetitive movement- the usual thing. The only time that I look up is when I get chances to talk to Tsukasa working at the cashier next to me.

He started working here about a month after I started, which was almost half a year ago. We’ve been friends since then. When he came in for his first day, we were already talking with each other. I found out he went to my school, and we quickly became friends. We’re completely different, but somehow we’re besties now. Opposites attract, I guess.

Anyways, the sun started going down, and it was getting late. Around 8, I take my last customer. I finally make my way to change and leave, but a customer from the tables calls out to me.

“Excuse me,” The customer tries to get my attention, but I turn my head to her, brush her off, and say, “Sorry, I’m off work.” When I see the customer though, my eyes widen a bit, and my mouth opens slightly. The feeling of surprise made the exhaustion leave me.

“Oh- you-” Shocked, I point at the customer, who was sitting at her table sipping on her boba. She tilts her head, puzzled at my reaction to her.

Her feet reached the floor, but it was only thanks to her tall brown platform boots. Without them, she must be pretty short. She’s in her school uniform: a gray skirt, a gray top with long-sleeves that hang somewhat loose, and a perfectly tied yellow ribbon around her white collar. This was also the girls uniform of my school.

She had long black hair and dyed dark red tips. Her eyes were a mesmerizing shade of maroon, and were topped by long lashes which looked even longer due to her mascara. She wore what looked like weighed tons of stylish silver jewelry around her neck, wrists, and ears. Her hair was decorated with many bobby pins and small clips, but the one thing about her that immediately caught my eyes:

Her bright red headphones.