Chapter II

As we entered the store I noticed how big this place was.

“Woah, this store is massive,” I said aloud.

“Yeah, this is probably the biggest convenience store in the area,” Kojima told me.

We went to the personal care aisle and picked up a shampoo bottle.

“Alright, that’s all I need. By the way, when we get back to my place you ought to shower too,

basketball works up a heavy sweat. Don’t wanna stink on your first day am I right?” Kojima explained.

“Oh no it’s fine really,” I added.

“You sure?” Kojima said again in concern.

“Nah I have something better than a shower!” I replied with a smirk.

“Huh and what’s that?” Kojima asked.

I pulled out of my pocket a designer fragrance.

“Tada!” I said excitedly.

“Just a couple of sprays and I’m sure to get all the ladies!” I started spraying the cologne on myself.

“I think you’re spraying… a bit… too much,” Kojima said while coughing.

“Nah trust me, the ladies love it! This stuff ain’t cheap you know,” I said out loud.

“What’s that awful smell?” I heard a voice behind me.

“Huh?” I looked over embarrassed.

In front of me were two girls in high school uniforms, one with long black hair and deep purple eyes,

and the other with shoulder-length brunette hair and crimson-colored eyes.

image [https://i.imgur.com/HN4SpFN.jpg]

“I can assure you you're not pulling any ‘ladies’ with that,” the black-haired girl said coldly.

I was in shock, to think I’d be embarrassed like this.

“Hey, it’s not like it’s for you!” I clapped back at her, but she simply ignored me.

“How’s it hangin’ Kojima,” said the black-haired girl.

“Judging from your uniforms I guess you guys got into Sakura too huh,” Kojima said calmly.

“Yup sure did,” the black-haired girl said with the brunette nodding in agreement.

“Well that’s nice, I guess all of us here are going there then,” Kojima announced.

“Woah even Mr. Smelly over here?” said the black-haired girl antagonizing me.

“Hey, I don’t smell! This cologne costs 56,000 yen I’ll have you know,” I said in a cocky manner.

“You better get a refund because you definitely got scammed,” the girl replied smirking at me.

“Why you—”

“So whatcha guys doin' here?” Kojima asked, breaking the tension.

“Oh we’re just having some girly time before school ya know,” said the black-haired girl.

“Wow sounds fun,” Kojima said somewhat sarcastically.

“Yup, anyway Kojima who is this guy? Why are you hanging around with a smelly like him?” the black-haired girl said offensively.

“Oh, he’s just a random dude from the—”

I cut Kojima off right there.

I pulled him back and took the lead.

“I'm his best friend I’ll have you know!” I said blatantly at the girls.

“Known him since we were in kindergarten uh huh,”

“Really? So you guys went to junior high together?” The black-haired asked,

“That’s right we’re totally pals right Koji?” I said trying to sound cool.

“That’s a lie,” the black-haired girl announced.

“We all went to the same junior high and I’ve never seen your face before,” the girl said confidently.

“I, uh”

I was stunned and didn’t know what to say. Now I just sound like a lying asshole.

Kojima stepped in

“You don’t have to lie about that Sugahara,”

“But it’s true he’s a good friend of mine,” Kojima said with a poker face.

“Woah good going!” I thought to myself.

“Hm really? Well, I guess we can leave it at that,” the black-haired girl said.

“Let’s go Aiya,” said the black-haired girl.

“Okay, see ya Koji!” The brunette-haired girl finally said a word.

However, I noticed that girl looking a me frequently. Dang, do I really stink that bad? This cologne should be top-notch.

“I’ll head to the bathroom real quick, you can start checking out,” I told Kojima.

“Sounds good,” he replied.

I headed over to the corner of the store where the restrooms were.

As I was walking something caught my eye.

It was a new basketball on the shelf.

I went into the restroom and did my business.

“Man, that girl was such a bitch, I swear,” thinking to myself.

After that, I decided to buy the basketball.

There was a clerk right beside me so I checked out right there. “That will be 4,000 yen,” the clerk said.

I pulled out my debit card and paid for it. Then I went back to Kojima since he was probably waiting for me.

“Picked something up yourself huh,” Kojima said when I arrived.

“Yup just some personal stuff,” I replied.

The bag was black so he couldn’t see what was in it. He didn’t ask any further questions and we started heading out.

As we were heading back to his place we had some small talk.

About life, girls, and even some basketball stuff.

“Those girls were rude, especially that black-haired girl!” I told him.

“Oh yeah. Her names Haruno,” Kojima told me.

“She can be a stick in the mud but once you get to know her she’s pretty chill,” he added.

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“Woah really? Doesn’t seem like it,” I replied.

“Yup, the other girl, Kinoshita is also a really chill girl. They were pretty much the only girls I talked to in junior high,” Kojima added.

“Huh, really? So was one of them your girlfriend?” I asked teasing him.

“... Um just no,” he replied, not appreciating my joke.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” he asked me.

“Me? Huh well not right now,” I said.

With that, I had a brief thought about my childhood.

Kojima was a very relaxed person, seemly nice, but also has an off vibe. Sort of soulless in a way. As if he’s not interested in anything just living in his own world paying no mind to the outside world.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Kojima asked me.

“Huh, what is it?” I replied

“You don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to know why you were sleeping on that park bench.” “Did you not have a place to stay?” he continued.

I was shocked that he would ask me, especially after what I just thought about him, but I guess every human gets a strike of curiosity.

“Well hm, I just moved out here and had no place to stay. I was supposed to stay with my uncle but I decided to wait a while before I went to him. Kind of a weirdo I guess,” I replied to Kojima.

“Well I think it’s best that you get to him soon. Sakura’s a pretty intense private school, you’ll need a place to get homework done,” Kojima said somewhat caringly.

“Yeah I guess you're right, I was planning on going today anyways,” I said

“That’s good” Kojima replied.

We arrived at his house, It was sort of small and run down along with all the other houses nearby.

It was more of a ground complex than a house. The units were tightly built together and it seems like the bike racks were shared with the community. Kojima locked up his bike and opened the door. “So, are any of your parents home?” I asked.

“Nah, my dad’s a no-show, and my mom is only here sometimes,” Kojima replied.

“Oh man that’s tough I’m sorry,” I said trying to be sympathetic.

“No it’s fine, I’ve grown up pretty accustomed to it,” he replied assuringly.

The house was more like one big bedroom with a bathroom and kitchen on the side.

“I’ll hop in the shower first, after that, you can go,” Kojima said to me.

“No it’s fine really,” I added.

“No I insist, I don’t want my “friend” to smell bad the first day,” he said jokingly with a slight smile.

That’s the first time I’ve seen any sign of emotion from him.

He locked the door and I heard the water start.

I just waited there on the chair adjacent to the bathroom door.

I opened my phone and scrolled on social media for a bit.

After about 8 minutes Kojima came out with his school uniform on.

The boy's uniforms were a nice navy color.

It was well-fitted and tailored to the person.

I went to the shower next. As I was showering I had a brilliant idea. After finishing up, I took the basketball I just bought put it in the counter sink, and wrote a thank you card to Kojima.

“Job well done,” I said to myself.

Right then and there the power turned off and I was just standing in the tub still naked and confused.

Three seconds later the power came back on.

“Sorry, the power does that sometimes,” I heard Kojima shout from the other room.

I put on my school uniform and dried my hair off. The uniform really is nice,

after all, Sakura High is a prestige college prep school that’s quite hard to get into.

I exited the bathroom and left behind the basketball with the note.

“It’s 7:45, we should start heading out,” Kojima said.

“Sounds good,” I chimed.

“By the way, you’re not planning on bringing that gigantic backpack are you?” Kojima commented.

“Well I have a smaller backpack inside but I don’t know where I can leave the big one,” I replied.

“You can leave it here and pick it up after school,” Kojima told me.

“Woah you're such a nice guy, Kojima,” I said with a laugh.

“It’s no problem I mean I’m just looking out for my future teammate,” he replied.

“Wait, teammate?” I said confused.

“You’re joining the basketball team are you not?” Kojima asked.

At this school, it’s required to join an extracurricular.

“Hmm well I’m not too sure yet honestly,” I replied.

A slight brief silence filled the room.

“It would be a waste of talent if you don’t, if you ask me,” said Kojima disappointingly.

More silence occurred.

“I mean—”

“Sorry I didn’t wanna make it awkward, I wasn’t being nice just because I thought you were joining the team. I would’ve let you shower here and stuff regardless,” Kojima cutting me off and reassuring me.

“Thanks, man I appreciate it,” I replied.

We headed off to school now.

“I usually take my bike but I’ll show you the route to the subway today,” Kojima told me.

“Man you’re such a lifesaver,” I replied.

The subway was packed and sure enough many people were high schoolers.

The ride itself was only about 5 minutes.

It’s 8:00 now and we started heading to the main building.

“Man, the scenery here is nice!” I said amazed.

The trees blossomed with bright pink, the pathway was clean and everything seemed just about perfect. Along the path on my right was a glistening lake. The water shimmered in the sun and reflected a beautiful cast of light on the cliff edge.

image [https://i.imgur.com/uwSEbw2.jpg]

The first thing we had to do before homeroom was an introductory assembly.

It was still 15 minutes away as we walked into the building.

“So this is high school huh,” I thought to myself.

I looked beside me and it seemed I lost Kojima.

It was just me now.

I walked up to the vending machine and picked up an iced tea drink, paying with my debit card.

The assembly was just about to start, and it was getting hectic. As I stood up from getting my drink, some big guy ran super fast and bumped into me, almost knocking me down. “Sorry!!!” he exclaimed while still running ahead.

The assembly began and I sat in a middle row.

The assembly was a simple introduction to the code, policy, and ethics of the school.

I practically almost slept through the entire thing.

After that, the bell rang and everyone headed to their homeroom class.

I sat beside the window on the left side in the middle row.

As people were filling the room I noticed those two girls from the convenience store.

“Oh great, we’re in the same class,” I quietly said to myself sarcastically. We were in class 5E and this would be my homeroom class for the rest of high school.

When the bell rang, the teacher got all of our attention.

“Good morning everyone! My name is Sato Hana, but you students can call me Sato-Sensei!”

“We’ll start with class introductions, starting from the top left to right and so on,” the teacher explained.

We started introducing our names and something about ourselves.

“My name is Tsukuba Kano, I play soccer…”

“My name is … I’m looking forward to studying with you all!”

With all my classmates introducing themselves, I wondered what I should say.

Sure enough, my turn came pretty soon after.

I stood up straight and started speaking.

“My name is Sugahara Oda, I look forward to befriending all of you guys and I want us to all have a great high school experience together, thank you!”

I sat back down.

Simple but not out of line

I think what I said was probably the best I could do for now.

“That Sugahara guy is pretty cute huh,”

“Sorta yeah,” I heard a few whispers from the back of the room.

Man, these girls need to talk quieter, I mean I’m literally right here, geez.

We went through the rest of my row but at the end, that girl from before stood up.

“My name is Haruno Kaori, I’m happy to meet you all and look forward to studying with you all.” It was the black-haired girl.

Then to her right was the brunette girl who stood up next.

“Hello everyone, my name is Kinoshita Aiya! I totally, look forward to meeting all of you guys! I am happy and grateful to be here!” she said ending with a smile.

Our introductions kept going and soon ended.

Sato-Sensei handed out some packets and we started first period, which was English.

After a few hours of classes, the bell rang, signaling lunch to start.

Some kids started to eat lunch in the room while others left.

I stood up and exited the room.

As I left I bumped into Kojima.

“So how’s it goin’? I asked him.

“Doin’ well, how’s class so far?” he replied.

“Pretty good I think, except for that fact that—”

“Hey, Kojima!” yelled Kinoshita, the brunette girl from earlier, who is also in my class now. Kojima and I were standing in the doorway, where he walked in to greet them and I followed.

“What class are you in Kojima?” Kinoshita asked.

“4C right next door” Kojima replied.

“Why don’t we have lunch together?” Haruno, the black-haired girl said.

“Hmm, well why not, I’ll go grab my lunch,” Kojima replied.

“Hey smelly boy go grab us some drinks,” Haruno asked me.

“Hey, I have a name you know!” I screamed back.

“Besides I don’t even stink, what are you even on about.” I followed.

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. I don’t smell that cologne scent anymore. What should I call you now then?” she continued.

“Uh, how about my name? Duh,” I snapped back.

“Huh? Your name… let’s see… it was…” Haruno said, pretending to not know my name.

“Sugahara right?” Kinoshita chimed in.

“Sugahara huh? Yeah, I guess that was what it was. Well, chop-chop buddy, we need some drinks pronto, I’ll take a coke.” Haruno said demandingly.

“Can you get me a Thai tea also Sugahara? Thanks!” Kinoshita added.

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied.

I left the room again and went towards the vending machine from earlier.

At least that Kinoshita girl seems nice, but Haruno? What a pain in the ass, seriously.

As I got to the vending machine, I pulled out my wallet to get my debit card.

However, something was wrong. It looked as though I had lost it.

“Dammit, no way I lost my card!” I rambled to myself.

I thought back to where I could've lost it and remembered I last used it at this vending machine.

Now that I think about it, I never recalled ever putting it back in my wallet.

That means that…

It was that guy that bumped into me! Damn, I must have dropped it somewhere here.

I looked frantically around the vending machine but to no avail. By now, I had spent around 10 minutes looking for it so I just bought the drinks with some spare change and headed back.

When I was back in the classroom, I saw Kojima sitting next to Haruno and Kinoshita with his lunch. I gave the two girls their drinks and I even got one for Kojima and myself.

“You didn't have to,” Kojima told me, but I insisted.

“It's fine, hopefully you like the grape soda, If not I can switch this cola with you,” I said.

“Nah grapes great, actually, it’s one of my favorites,” he said to me assuringly.

I sat down next to Kojima and cracked open my soda. It was the only item on the lunch menu for me today.

“You're not going to get lunch?” Kojima asked me concerningly.

“Nah, not enough time,” I replied

“Plus I lost my debit card this morning, so I wouldn’t have a means to pay,” I added.

“A debit card? Hey, I think I know where you could find it!” said Kinoshita excitedly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, there's an Instagram account for our school lost and found. I remember seeing a story saying they found a debit card or something,” Kinoshita explained.

“Woah that's great!” I remarked.

“You can probably go pick it up after school, I think that’s the only time they let people in,” Haruno added.

“Wow I can't believe you said something useful for once,” I told her sarcastically.

“Shut up stinky! Now that I think about it, that cologne scent is still lingering,” she remarked.

Lunch was about to end soon and I finished my drink. Being hungry of course, my stomach started to growl.

“Wait hold on,” Kinoshita said.

She opened her backpack and brought out a wrapped dessert.

“I know this isn't that much, but hope it helps!” Kinoshita said insistingly.

“Woah, thanks so much! I owe you one!” I said to Kinoshita.

Usually, I would decline, but I genuinely might starve to death before school ends.

Kinoshita took out a paper towel and gave me the dessert.

“Don’t get too close to him Aiya. You’ll catch some disease.” Haruno teased at me.

I looked at her with a face full of attitude.

Still though, I forgot how nice it was to be in school.

After all, I didn’t get to finish a large portion of my last year in junior high.

I was only able to move up to high school because of my initial high grades and test scores.

It was nice to be interacting with people again.

The bell rang and it was time to get back to class.

The rest of the day was pretty easy, but also boring. Mainly just more introductory concepts and such.

When the final bell rang, I immediately headed downstairs towards the lost and found.