It has been a week since school started, and also a week since I decided to find the truth about my parents. Unfortunately, I have done absolutely nothing since then.

I haven't made a single friend in my class yet because I was busy isolating myself in the girls' bathroom to accomplish my daily quests without being bothered and I haven't gotten down to cracking the truth about who my parents are.

It isn't as if I'm lazy or I don't have an intent to, it's just that I don't know where to start. The guys in my class are quite boisterous and the girls in my class already formed small cliques amongst themselves. We were only one week into the semester and everyone was working fast.

I could still do one thing, however. On my table was a club application letter. In my school, there are a variety of clubs to chose from but I didn't bother about those. I already had my sights on the gaming club and that was what I wrote in my letter.

This school's gaming club wasn't just a leisure club but a serious club that participated in e-Sports competitions. Some people see it as a waste of time or a loner's life but it really isn't. I hope.

I've always wanted to join an e-Sports team but I didn't know how to nor did I know how to make one. That's why I settled for this school. They have a gaming club with participants who were serious about it, passionate even.

I finished writing my application letter and relaxed. I had time to kill so I took out my phone and started playing a little bit of NBA Live. As ironic as it seems, I do love sports and I keep up with the latest news. I don't support any team and I watch sports as a neutral just to enjoy the game and commentary.

Everything was going swell until my classmate with pink fluffy hair happened to get his eye caught by my game. I tried to ignore him but he was getting too hyper I ended up losing the match overall.

"Rats. That was unlucky!"

"Uh-huh. Can I help you?"

"Hm?"

"You've been here for six minutes talking a tad bit too loud into my ears."

"Oh! I'm so sorry about that! I just happened to see you playing NBA and I was interested, I didn't mean to affect you or anything."

"Right. So, why are you still here?"

"I noticed your application letter. You're going to the gaming club too?"

Great. I quickly grabbed the letter and crumpled it and hid it inside my blazer's pocket. I didn't really mind people knowing but I just didn't want people I was unfamiliar with getting into my business.

But he did say 'too'. Maybe he was applying as well.

"Yeah. The club does e-Sports so I was interested."

"Me too! That makes us gamer buddies!"

"Ah-hah..."

I was worried this conversation was going to get longer but thankfully, someone whom I assumed was his friend called out for him.

"Purin-san! Are you coming?"

"Ah! Yeah!"

He proceeded to run off but he stopped in his tracks to wave at me. Geez, he was a little too hyper. If we both get accepted into the club, I'd have to deal with his eagerness almost every day. I don't mean to diss people like him but he's too bright. I rather people who knew how to keep themselves in check.

Now, regarding my parents. I took out a piece of paper which was supposed to be my notes and my research but it was blank. It was completely blank albeit the few scribbles and drawings I drew on the corners of the paper. I tapped my pen onto the paper and groaned.

There was no way I was going to be able to do this. I'm not a research lab nor am I the police. How I was going to find out who my parents actually were is going to be hard, if not impossible. I was starting to feel hungry, too. It was lunch so I reached in my bag to grab my lunchbox.

But it wasn't there. I forgot to pack one last night when I was up until four in the morning playing shooting games with my friends. This meant I had to go to the cafeteria and buy food which wasn't hard. What was hard was finding seats in a packed cafeteria.

This was going to be fun.

. . . . .

Just as I expected, there are barely any seats. I was walking around mindlessly with my food tray in my hands. At this rate, I'd have to eat on the floor, I was getting desperate until someone called me out.

"Hey! You wanna sit with us?"

"Huh, me?"

"Yeah. You're that pink-haired girl from our class, right? We have got an extra seat, so just come on."

I was getting hungrier by the second so I decided to just sit with these four girls from my class. I stared at who I was sitting next to. It was spring so I was fairly surprised to see someone wearing a scarf in this weather.

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"Hey, what's your name?"

"Ah. Daromu Ashi."

"Ashi-san, huh? I'm Kanari Mizu! I sit two seats in front of you!"

Kanari Mizu is a girl with her own sense of style. It wasn't common but it still worked. Judging by her appearance, she really likes the sea life or she just finds starfish aesthetic, I guess?

"Hi, Daromu. You can call me Vi!"

I can't really say for sure but I'm assuming she's mixed. She doesn't look Japanese but at the same time she does. Her nickname's something you wouldn't really hear in Japan so I could be right.

"I'm Karrashima Hasebe Haya, I rather you call me Renza, and that's Yukiyama Mikamo!"

Renza also looks mixed and she looks like she has a knack for... knitting? Her sweater looks handmade and she gives me the vibe of someone who looks like they knit. I can't say much about Yukiyama since she hasn't spoken yet but she seems like she gets cold easily due to her wearing a sweater in spring.

"Fancy seeing 'ya here, Daromu. Usually you're in class so why did you suddenly come out?"

"Ah... I forgot my lunchbox at home so I had to come here."

"I get you!" Renza started to join in the conversation, "I forgot my lunchbox on the first day so I came here but since I met these three I decided to join them from now on!"'

"How about you join us during lunch, Ashi-san?" Kanari started to suggest. I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't mind having company but what would we even talk about? I spend all my time on video games, I don't think we have that in common. I also can't just bring up that I'm searching for my parents out of the blue.

"Sure?"

"That's great!

Now, the problem I often face whenever I'm with my friends is we barely had anything in common to talk about, but these girls already had stories set up for a discussion and I just sat there while eating my food. I groaned silently as the four of them, three, if you exclude Yukiyama, yapping about.

"My dad brought me out to watch that new movie last night. It was grand!"

"Lucky! My parents haven't moved into Japan yet so I don't have the chance to watch it."

"Funnily enough, I have two tickets to watch it today. You wanna come, Vi?"

"Really? Kanari? Thanks!"

The only person who wasn't talking was Yukiyama. I stared at her and she seemed lost in thought. I don't know if she was shy or anything I just assume she wasn't into the conversation as much.

"What about you? Yukiyama-san? You doing anything soon?"

"Um... I'm going to practice after school."

"What about you? Ashi-san?"

Obviously, my response was going to be average and half-assed because I don't do much after school since I don't have any school duties yet so I just responded with the same answer I used every time.

"Depends on my mood."

"Hey Ashi," Vi started to control the tempo of the conversation, "I think I live nearby your house since I saw you along the way. Isn't that apartment a bit too cramped for your family?"

"I live alone."

"You do?" For some reason, Renza's eyes literally sparkled and I'm not even talking metaphorically.

"Why don't your parents live with you?"

"Um. They live overseas?" My response was extremely shaky and unsure but at least I could count on my tone to make it seem like I knew what I was talking about and in all fairness, it wasn't technically a lie since it was what I've been told.

"Yep. They live overseas so they got me my own apartment."

"I've always wanted to live alone, it seems like a carefree life."

Um, no. Vi, you do not want to live alone. The rent is unbearable for me and the bills skyrockets randomly. Leaving alone is as stressful as trying to salvage a win with only a few HP points left.

"Anyways, have you guys thought of what club to join? I'm kinda on the fence between athletics and the tennis team."

"I'd choose photography, maybe. I have a lot of cats at home so I usually take pictures of them to put on my wall."

"I still haven't decided yet. I don't know if I have time for club activities since I have to help work at the aquarium. What about you, Yukiyama?"

Yukiyama stopped staring off into space and snapped back into reality. She seemed out of it but I guess that's natural when you doze off in the middle of a conversation.

"I... I'm busy so I don't think I'll join one."

"Y'sure? Club activities are the highlight of your youth, you know?"

"I would but, my schedule is jammed pack so I can't really make time."

"Ah shucks. What about you, Ashi?"

"I'm still deciding."

I lied because if experience helps, I've seen students get made fun of for having a certain interest in something. Obviously, I'd have to be skeptical of people and I can't exactly trust them with-

"Hey, it's you! Remember to submit the gaming club application!"

The guy from earlier walked past our table and just told everybody there which club I was joining. Rats. There goes my foolproof trusting plan.

"Nevermind, I lied. I'm going to the gaming club."

. . . . .

To be fair, things didn't go as bad as I thought they'd be. I guess nobody really cares about your interests in high school as Vi just asked if I wanted to follow her group to karaoke tomorrow. I accepted because I have nothing to do and living alone gets lonely sometimes.

I left the classroom and headed to the gaming club at the far end of the hallway on the top floor and I bumped into the guy who came from the left.

"There you are! I was wondering if you were gonna come."

"I was talking to someone."

My mind sort of switched off when I suddenly thought about my parents and I hadn't realized until I walked straight into the wall at the end of the hallways.

"Agh- dammit!"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine." I waved off the guy as I knocked on the door.

The door opened and a member came out.

"Um, I'd- We'd like to submit our club application."