“- Kazuo, let’s go look at the class board. “

“- Oh, sure. “ Mabuchi takes the lead towards the board. When they reach it there is already some students there after the opening ceremony.

“- Look! We’re in the same class again Kazuo. “

“- So I'm not getting rid of you then? “ Kazuo says as he takes a look for himself. He looks down the list of names until he finds his name. The name just above his seemed familiar for a second and Kazuo takes a good look at it while he searches his mind.

“- Hayami Haruka, isn’t that the girl from this morning, I heard her friend call her by that. “ Mabuchi says as he had noticed Kazuo looking at the name.

“- Ah, yes, looks like we are in the same class, hopefully we’ll be okay. “ Kazuo mutters.

“- She can’t be that scary, it’s not like she’s a delinquent. “

“- You’re right, she just annoyed me, shall we head for the classroom? “ Kazuo says as he pushes the bad mood away.

“- Let’s. “ Mabuchi swings his bag over his shoulder as they head for the stairs. They reached the level which their classroom was at and started walking down the hall. To the front left of them was the teacher's office clearly marked with a sign, the classroom should be just past that. As Kazuo and Mabuchi walks past the teacher’s office they hear a loud voice muffled from inside the room.

“- Jesus, someone’s already in trouble it seems. “ Kazuo states. They stop as the loud rant continues.

“- Wait, don’t tell me you wanna know about this drama to? “ Kazuo says after a look on Mabuchi’s face made him realize.

“- Nah, it's fine, I just thought it might be the Haruka girl in trouble, but something doesn’t add up. “ Mabuchi looks at Kazuo.

“- We only have one female teacher and I just saw her by the staircase and that’s a female voice right? “ Kazuo looks disturbed.

“- Don’t tell me she’s yelling at the teachers as well… “ Kazuo says as he realizes his probable fate. Suddenly the rant stops and loud footsteps could be heard coming from inside the room.

“- I’ve had enough! “ The sliding doors slams open and out comes Haruka with her friend tailing behind.

“- Huh!? It’s the suspicious guys again! “ She says with her hair freely swinging about. She still had one hand on the door as she stood in the door opening.

“- No, Haruka, you can’t just yell at people. “ Her friend says with a worried face. The friend looks at Kazuo and Mabuchi with a smile as she steps in front of Haruka.

“- I'm very sorry for this, she isn’t always like this she can just get a bit emotional sometimes. “

“- I’m Kayano by the way and this is Haruka, nice to meet you “ She continues with her beautiful and charming smile. Her hair was blonde and she had it set up in a fancy style. Her eyes were blue but in contrast to her friend they were calm and somehow captivating. Kazuo looked over at Mabuchi and noticed he was staring.

“- Oh, I understand, eheh… I’m Kazuo and this here is Mabuchi, nice to meet you as well “ Kazuo nudges Mabuchi with his elbow to make him snap out of his stare.

“- Sooo, did you get in trouble for what happened this morning? “ Kazuo says with a forced, unnatural smile. Mabuchi looks at him in disbelief as he recovers from Kayano’s charm.

“- Oh, yeah, it is nothing thought- “ Kayano almost seemed to hide a giggle as she looks at Kazuo.

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“- Hey! it’s actually a big deal, I didn’t think I was going to hard on him! He was a filthy groper and deserves punishment! “ Haruka suddenly blurts out from behind Kayano’s back.

“- Yes yes Haruka, let’s go to the classroom now, okey? “Kayano turns towards the boys once more and smiles again.

“- See you around~ “

“- Oh, yes, see you... “ It finally seemed like Mabuchi was back to his normal state. The two girls walk of to the classroom.

“- Holy hell, she was quite attractive, wasn’t she? “ Mabuchi says when they’re to themselves.

“- And you as well, it feels like I’ve discovered more things about you today than I ever have combined. “ Mabuchi looks baffled.

“- Well, I suddenly had to cover for you it seemed. “ Kazuo always felt a bit uncomfortable expressing himself to people. He mostly choose the laidback approach to social interaction. Actually, he choose the laidback approach to almost everything and is pretty carefree about most things.

“- I just couldn’t help myself, She’s an odd one thought, that Haruka girl. “

“- Very unlike you as well, yet she’s the one who forced you out of your comfort zone. “ Mabuchi continues with a little smirk on his face.

“- Stop it, what’s that supposed to mean anyways, she just get’s on my nerves... “ Kazuo looks away and Mabuchi smirks even more.

“- Let’s just go to the classroom now. “ And so they went. When they entered the classroom everyone was already there, flocking around the board trying to find out where their seat was. Kazuo took a wide glance across the classroom and noticed Haruka sitting the furthest back by the window. That spot was Kazuo’s favourite. The seat in front of her was still empty even though all seats were almost taken. Kazuo mumbled a quick prayer before he looked up at the board to see if fortune was with him or not. He then noticed that Mabuchi was no longer behind him and he was the last person standing up in the classroom. He turned around thinking that that damned seat would be open, waiting for him. To his surprise, there was no seat open and waiting for him. The person sitting in front of Haruka was Mabuchi. The homeroom teacher suddenly came into the classroom and noticed that something had gone wrong.

“- Is there a seat missing? “ He said.

“- No it seems we have an extra student. “ One of the other students said.

“- Oh that's right, we have a transfer student here today. “ The teacher pulled out a note.

“- Haruka ***, is that right? “ Haruka stood up and answered.

“- Yes, I'm new here and I didn’t see my name on the board so I just took this seat because I like it the most. “ Kazuo looked at the board and saw his name on the furthest back seat by the window. He felt a bit annoyed but didn’t want to cause a scene.

“- Okey then, would you please let me have my seat then? “ Kazuo was trying his best at a friendly expression.

“- No, I need to sit somewhere. “ She looked like she thought she was completely in the right.

“- Well, so do I. “ Kazuo’s “friendly expression” was falling apart by the second. He looked at Mabuchi who was smirking and got even more annoyed.

“- No need to fight over it. “ The teacher finally stepped in the situation.

*- Now I’ll get my seat without having to deal with this pain. * Kazuo thought.

“- Because Haruka here is new I believe that she should have the seat so that she can fit in more. “ Kazuo nearly bit his tongue off. Mabuchi was doing his best to hide his laughter and Kazuo could see Kayano sighing. What was even worse was that Haruka thought nothing was wrong and looked at him like he was an idiot. No one else said anything and just accepted this blatant abuse to happen.

“- B- but my name is on the board-. “

“- Now now Kazuo, behave like a responsible high school student and we shall get you a seat at the back of the classroom. “ Kazuo admitted defeat as no one took his side. Homeroom went by and as it was the first day, school was over. Kazuo had gotten his seat the furthest back in the classroom, all by himself. Being by himself was not something he was unused to thought. He had lived alone for almost three years now after he could no longer stay with any of his parents. He had a small apartment close to the school in a quiet neighbourhood. He was heading there now after he had left school an hour late because he had to listen to teachers about his grades. He walked up the street that he had walked down this morning and stopped by a corner store to get some food. He threw some junk food in his bag and went to pay for it. He didn’t care much for what he ate or how he slept, he just couldn’t be bothered as other things weighed him down. He stepped out of the store with his bag and saw a familiar face surrounded by light- brown hair swaying in the light breeze. Their eyes met and Kazuo saw her eyes were all red. He was shocked at first and then he realized what trouble he was in. He immediately lowered his head and turned to the right and started walking with decisive steps.

“- Hey! Wait! “ Kazuo heard her yell behind him. His face was still stunned in a nervous shock state.

*- I’m not fucking dealing with her now. * He though.

“- Stupid! Stop running, I want to ask you something! “ Her voice was cracked. Had she been crying? Kazuo had the thought in his head for a second.

*- No no no, I'm not getting involved. * He then proceeded to sprint towards the next street corner and took a detour home so he would not meet her again.