The first thing that greeted Katsumi as he began to wake up was the cool hardwood floor of his apartment. A sensation that had unfortunately become increasingly familiar to him. As he began to pick himself up, a rustling came from the living room.

Katsumi lazily turned his head towards the source of the noise—he discerned the silhouette of someone on the couch.

"Mornin' sleepy-head," the silhouette said.

"...Nara? When did you get here?"

"Oh man, you really got messed up last night."

"...I don’t remember a thing."

The night prior, as almost every other night, Nara Takagi had come over. A girl Katsumi had only known for a little over a year now, yet, she practically lived in his apartment. Katsumi never intends on drinking with her as often as he does, but Nara always has a different idea in mind.

He slowly reached around for his cellphone, which he found under the nearby chair. When he pressed the power button to check the time.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me…"

"Hm? What’s up?" Nara sounded uninterested in her response.

More rustling came from the living room and Nara was now standing by the balcony-door curtains. They were graciously preventing the sun's light from entering the apartment, but with one swift motion, she threw them open.

The sun’s light flooded into the apartment, reaching almost every corner of it. The rays streaming in illuminated countless dust particles floating aimlessly through the air—along with the mess that was the apartment. Various bottles were scattered across the living room and kitchen along with a plethora of used dishes and empty food containers.

"Ahh~ What a beautiful mornin’. Wouldn’t ya’ agree, Katsumi?"

Nara angled her head towards him, flashing a wide grin.

"This was a terrible night for you to come over."

“Why’s that?"

“You're kidding... It’s the first day of the semester…”

"And why does that matter to me?”

"It matters to me."

"By the way, it’s the second day already, first day was yesterday. You slept right through it."

"Why didn’t you think to wake me up...?"

"Ya’ just looked so cute while gettin’ your beauty sleep. I couldn’t."

"..."

"It’s all good, we’d already be bout’ two hours late to our first class anyway. So why worry ‘bout it now? There’s always tomorrow."

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Katsumi didn't bother trying to argue back anymore, recognizing that Nara had firmly made up her mind. Instead, he began heading towards his bedroom to get ready.

As he did, it felt as if all the surrounding air weighed down on him. His movements were staggered and almost couldn't stay balanced. However, he managed to make it to his bedroom without only falling over once.

Katsumi’s room contrasted greatly with the kitchen and living room. Someone seeing his apartment would expect an equally disheveled bedroom, however, the truth was quite the opposite. Entering and flicking the light switch, it revealed a surprisingly well-kept and organized room. For most of Katsumi’s life, the idea of a clean living space leads to a better mental state was something he stood by. This idea was quickly deteriorated over the last few months though, as the messy lifestyle of Nara Takagi had encroached on his apartment.

This left the one place she wasn’t allowed in as a bastion of Katsumi’s old way of cleanliness.

A bed was placed in the back right corner of the room, nicely made with unwrinkled sheets and blankets. A waist-high bookcase filled with an assortment of textbooks, binders, and other books of various sizes was situated adjacent to the bed, along with a desk that had a laptop and a bit of miscellaneous clutter on it. The laptop had a sticker that read Kashiwa University on it.

He went directly to the bed, where he stripped and hurriedly changed into some clothes that were scattered on it.

Quickly stepping back out into the living room, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask Nara one last time if she’d come—but her answer remained the same.

"Just feels like a waste of time, ya’know? Like, imagine the looks everyone's gonna give ya' when yer’ two hours late. I mean, come on, that’d be terrible."

Nara was now sprawled out on his couch, looking more than comfortable with her choice.

"...The least you can do is put some clothes on. You look like a mess.”

“It’s not like I’m gonna be goin’ out today, who cares.”

image [https://i.imgur.com/nihvt7V.png]

I keep giving in to her… Two days ago I knew classes were starting yet I still got hammered with her. We could’ve drank on the weekend but we— Katsumi rubbed his face trying to collect his thoughts. I have to stop drinking on weekdays. It should be easy.

Katsumi navigated to the front door, where he slipped on his shoes. He looked back into the apartment and again tried to reason with the unreasonable Nara. He drew in a deep breath followed-up by a satisfied exhale. A late-morning breeze blew on him, catching his black hair as he looked out onto the street below.

His apartment was situated in the Kashiwanoha Park City Campus—a cluster of modern high-rise apartments, businesses, and restaurants located near Kashiwa University’s campus. It was about a fifteen minute walk from where a majority of classes were held, making it a premium location for students of financially inclined families to stay while attending the university.

Katsumi was aware he got incredibly lucky being able to stay there, rather than having to live in a dorm with a random roommate. This fact left a lingering feeling of guilt inside him because of how he treated the apartment.

After about ten minutes of on-and-off jogging, he arrived at the main campus and was now standing in front of the classroom door. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Nara was right—this feeling sucked.

With a drawn-out sigh, he slid the door open. Instantly being greeted with the gazes of almost everyone in the classroom, including the professor.

"Nice of you to finally join us… Murakami, is it?"

"I–I’m sorry…."

The professor, Hasegawa-sensei stared at him for a moment, then pointed to an empty seat in the back-middle of the classroom. "Go sit down."

Katsumi turned his attention to the seat Hasegawa-sensei pointed at, it neighbored a girl with short black hair. Almost instantly, he vaguely recognized her, adding to his embarrassment.

Do I know her? This is terrible… I think we might’ve gone to high school or some cram school together…

After this bit of hesitation, he moved to his seat.

"M-morning…" Katsumi whispered to try and break the tension as he set his backpack down.

The girl gave him a vacant look as she pushed some hair behind her ear. She quickly redirected her attention towards the front of the classroom.

Katsumi followed suit and slouched in his seat.