"Get up! G-Get-...UP!" it seemed to be a voice, calling her out within the darkness.

???

Although the voice was hazy and distant at first, it gradually drew closer becoming clearer every second. For every breath she drew in, the source got closer.

But...who is it?

After a while, she received a light smack at the back of her head. Surprised, she jolted up awake from her deep slumber. It took another few seconds for her to regain her senses. As she blinked a few times, she heard someone sigh beside her, revealing a sense of relief.

"Finally! you're awake...The math teacher is here, hurry up!" the words originated from someone who had a thin voice. The tone was soft and delicate which contrasted highly with frequency of the call.

Turning my gaze towards the source, I saw a figure staring at me with head tilted a bit to the side. Long eyelashes streaming down her eyes, hair tied up to a ponytail. Her lips were thin and glossy going well together with the bright doe eyes. These eyes reflected pureness, her appearance serene and elegant.

"Eh...It's you, Satou?"

"Did you forget already?! You told me to wake you up when the class starts."

"Ah right, I must be out of my mind. Thank you for waking me up."

"You! don't worry about that! I'm concerned about you, are you okay??"

"Jeez, you worry too much. I'm fine."

"Pull yourself together, will you? It's the first day of our sophomore year and you're already lazing out!" Satou urged in displeasure, her face growing into a frown.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Morika Satou, my bench mate, has been my friend ever since the beginning of my middle school. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but she always appears to be talking in exclamations. The classmates think that it is too tiresome to call her 'Morika', so as they start becoming closer to her, the length of the name gets reduced to 'Mika'. While there are people who still address her by 'Satou'. I, myself, am one of them.

Well, I'm aware of the fact that it might seem strange for me to not call her on the first name basis, and I've also been asked countless times about this matter. I tend to avoid answering such questions because the answer itself isn't definite. The reasons are quite simple. First, Satou's older than me by a year. Second, altering someone's name without the latter's permission is disrespectful. Third, there had been times where I tried addressing her as 'Morika', but she would take me for someone she wants to avoid. As we have grown overtly familiar with our addresses anything that doesn't match to it is inevitably ignored. In this way, we kept missing each other and I decided to drop it. If I sum up her personality, she's bright, outgoing, always by surrounded by people. With us being childhood friends and her being the older one, she has always been looking out for me. Well, most of the 'taking care' consists of her, nagging me about little things. That aside, she's someone I really look up to. Suppose her casted into a shoujo manga, I bet she'd make a perfect female lead!

"Okay, okay I was in the wrong...I was in the wrong. I'll try to have fun this year."

And that was,

clearly a lie.

From kindergarten, up until now, there hasn't been a year where I've actually had fun, enjoyed being at school, interacting with the classmates, studying. Nothing while attending school has kept me entertained. I like to indulge myself by reading books, that's basically the only hobby I have. Now, don't start making assumptions of me not having any friends. I do! I have Satou! She's all I need!! The world is a dangerous place and I need to conserve my energy for the unprecedented events.

Even so, after getting into high school, Satou joined the school committee, and she has been engaged in club activities a lot since then. Not to mention, she was appointed as the class representative as of today, meaning, I wouldn't even be able to share a meal with her...sighs...

Just two more years and that'll be all, I need to get through this somehow.

"You better!! And, I forgot to mention. The homeroom teacher has asked to submit club application forms in the span of a week."

"But it's the first day, how are they asking for it already? Can't I choose the 'go home' club like last year?"

"Many of our classmates joined clubs in their first year. Here, I thought you had already decided on a club. Joining a club is mandatory! You cannot back out this time, heh." she replied, smiling refreshingly.

I was baffled by that very statement. "Me? Decide on a club? Where did you get that thought fr-"

"The literature club! I think it's well suited for you. The club doesn't have many members and most of them are third years." she replied with a little hum.

"No, like I said I don't-"

"It's decided then! I'll let the club president know about it. I'll get the application form for you!" Satou said as she hurried out of the classroom door.

"Huh- Wait!! Satou!"

Why did she ask me about it, if she was going to decide it all by herself. The boat I've sailed all along, on still spring waters, it's...

drowning...ah.....

I want to cry.