Blue light flashed into my glasses. Its light which was once dimmed now glared into my eyes.

I looked away, shifting my chair over to the right. The only light source inside my room was the computer and the sunlight briefly passing through the curtains.

Peering over from the computer, I rapidly blinked in the face of the computer light, with my eyes slowly getting comfortable with the light despite the almost burning sensation I had.

I hovered my mouse, reigniting the bright light of my computer. ‘A sudden increase in Flu cases across the country’, a news article claimed. It seemed quite odd.

The question was wrapped around my head as I thought for a moment. However, the issue got out of my head since there wasn’t much to think about.

A knock emitted through the door, prompting me to look over.

“Come in” I responded, pulling the curtains from my only window away while the door swung open, “Good morning sensei”

Megumi Sakura. The type of sweet teacher who would let you get away with screwing up formalities and calling her “Megu-nee” all of the time. Sakura boasted her long, straight, lavender hair alongside her constant blushing which tends to make me assume she was a former student.

“Good morning Tanaka-kun,” Sakura responded with her soft and gentle voice.

Her face was in awe at the awards and special items I boasted on the walls including a nostalgic picture of me during my middle school years. Although, I wish that I had replaced it with something better.

“How may I help you?” I placed my hand on the table.

Sakura reached for the notebook she was holding, placing it down on the table. After a moment, she slid it over to my side.

“Just the usual housekeeping work so don’t get too worried”

“You usually come over during the afternoon, so it was best to assume it was urgent," I said while giving a quick scan over the book.

“Not really,” Sakura chuckled.

“Is it work-related?”

“Of course. Specifically the Horticulture Club”

“Well, what seems to be the issue?”

“I talked with Mio-san yesterday about an issue she’s been having recently which I won’t disclose"

I leaned forward, keeping silent. Mio had always been a leader for the Horticulture Club, but also capable of wrestling with my ideas which sometimes made me regret choosing her in the first place.

“I think it’s best to alleviate some work off of her for the time being, since she’ll be absent for two weeks”

“Should we meet with her in the afternoon?”

“Of course. Try not to scare Mio-san off”

“Alright. After school, we’ll meet up at the Horticulture Club Room. I’ll bring Mio-san over”

“Got it”

“On the subject of leadership, do you want someone else on the job for it?”

“How about Miyako-san? She can lead"

Sakura smiled, almost trying to look confident with her choice.

“I agree she is capable, but doesn’t have that level of motivation by the looks of it”

Although I should probably cut her some slack since my entire job revolved around giving more ‘autonomy’ to the student leadership.

“Really? I’ve always seen her engage in the usual Horticulture activities"

“She’s been a bit slow and dull when I was watching her. Not to blame anyone of course, but that’s just the pressure of schoolwork"

“Who do you suggest then?”

“How about Wakasa Yuuri-san?”

“Sure! I’ll go tell her"

I didn’t mind the fact that Sakura was easily swayed in the moment, although what I found surprising was the fact that she was mindful of Mio’s grades going down.

“Thank you" I politely smiled.

“It’s no problem Tanaka-kun” Sakura reciprocated my smile, “Mio’s been quite the bright kid, so it seems unfair to let her take the burden of the work"

“Agreed”

We stopped for a moment throughout the conversation. It was plain obvious we couldn’t think of anything to discuss. Sakura was one of the only few people who had understood and respected my solitude.

My mind started to fiddle with the possibilities over at the Dando port, making me stare straight at my screen.

“Tanaka-kun?” Sakura said in a loud voice.

“Yes?”

“I asked you earlier if everything was alright”

“Sorry Sensei, I’m just thinking about something”

I’ll admit, she blends in every social environment.

“Something about Mio-san?” Sakura slowly leaned over while trying to avoid looking at my computer.

“Just… just something happening around here. Although I’d attribute that to just me caring about the wrong things in life"

“Is that so? What seems to be bothering you?”

“Just what’s happening at Dando port. Exactly why our delivery was delayed"

“Well that’s a shame. I live quite close to it but it seemed quite peaceful” Sakura looked outside the window.

“Sometimes you can’t have a day like this without something big happening"

“Agreed. Remember a few weeks back?”

“That was indeed quite the show they put on"

Sakura giggled at my remark while I sat in silence, taking a glance at the clock.

“Anyways, I’ll see you in class,” I said with a quick smile, breaking the silence.

“See you then Tanaka-kun,” Sakura said as she walked towards the door.

“And by the way, Sakura-sensei…”

“Hm?” Sakura turned over

“Thanks for trying to help Mio-san. It’s not easy for me to work with her nowadays"

“No problem”

I sat down looking at my desktop as the door slid shut. The conversation was a bit meaningless except for handling the issue of Mio.

Placing my hand over the power button, I stood up, putting my dark green school blazer over. Even though we had just gotten out of the ‘dreaded’ winter season, I was still bound to the expectation of having it over me.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I’ll admit, becoming the Council President feels like a drag. But I’ve compensated for it through the fact that this school holds the theme of ‘autonomy’ for their students since Megurigaoka High School is a village in their eyes.

I only needed the role of School Council to increase my chances of getting into a university while just testing out my skills at the cost of my social life.

You can think of me negatively, but in my defense, if you cared about your future, wouldn’t you try to set yourself up for better chances? After all, I’ll only be in this role for a year. It wouldn’t hurt.

With the sign “3C” marked on top of the door, I turned to my left, entering the room. The sight of students all huddled around in their small groups had given me ease and distraction from the events.

“Good morning Tanaka-kun” almost everyone said with smiles on their faces.

“Good morning everyone" I responded.

As I sat down in the corner of the room, the sight of the classroom with its students scattered around in their small ‘friend groups’ at every section.

While unzipping my bag, I had come to the unfortunate conclusion that I remained alone, almost as if I was an unintentional magnet for anyone asking me out for the afternoon. Fortunately, I managed to take advantage of the homework placed inside.

The strategy seemed to work as usual. As I continued going through the worksheets, I started to notice the students all leave the room one by one, with giggles and quiet chatter among them.

Only me and some girl sleeping a few tables away from me were in the room. She wore a blue colored skirt which contradicted the popular green type that most students wore.

I nonetheless continued with my work.

The quiet was almost perfect. Except for the girl’s light snoring and breathing that echoed across the classroom, I had nothing to distract me for now.

With my phone in my hand, I continued to scroll through the articles in front of me. There hadn’t been many updates, yet. The feeling of obscurity over something like this keeps me on the edge of my seat.

Was it an actual riot? A strike? Some commotion? I’ve tended to think of the most extreme and random scenarios and possibilities in my head.

Looking to the right, I noticed the girl’s eyes focused on me.

I looked at my phone’s reflection. Did I do something weird? I looked away for a moment, staring at my reflection on the glass, before looking back.

“Good morning Ryu-kun” Yuki waved at me, her small hat tipping over.

“Morning Takeya-san”

Yuki Takeya stood up for a moment, a smile on her face. She pretty much filled the checklist of a sort of immature yet cheerful girl.

It wasn’t easy to always talk with her, especially due to her naive and almost oblivious personality she had over anything. Although, even when paired with her childish traits, she had never annoyed me or anyone else.

“Did class already end?” Her curious yet worried voice echoed across the room as she looked around.

“You would’ve woken up by then. Everybody else is interested in something else"

I placed my pen down on the paper, my gaze shifting between Yuki and the outside.

“It feels like I’ve slept longer than usual"

“Not to sound weird, but is it because you usually take the 7:15 bus rather than the 8:00 one?”

“How did you know Ryu-kun?” Yuki leaned her face close to me.

“I used to notice you entering the Teshio District Bus Stop last year. It’s not like I live in the school” I said with an amused smirk over my face.

“You still remember that moment?” Yuki sheepishly smiled.

“It’s something I’ve remembered for a quick laugh, to say the least. I do like the sense of naivety you have”

I looked outside for a moment, noticing a small group of students surrounding an individual.

“It’s good I’ve gotten over my motion sickness in public transport" I muttered to myself

“What’s that?” Yuki asked.

Do I need to answer?

“Just getting sick while in a moving vehicle"

“Ah” Yuki nodded.

I stared outside the window, noticing the crowd getting larger with a teacher rushing over to drag the vomiting boy out of my sight.

“So Ryu-kun. What do you usually do in your spare time?”

Yuki leaned towards me again, raising one of her legs as a way to balance herself while she planted her hands on my table.

“Why do you ask?”

Yuki shrugged before continuing her gaze at me.

“Well, I do Karate, Art… Violin… and… uh…”

Her face lit up as I mentioned Art, ignorant that I couldn’t list another hobby other than the two.

“Ooh! What do you draw?” Yuki leaned towards me.

“I tend to draw the city and people often. Although I’ve once drawn a dog before”

“Can I see it?”

“No”

“Aw” Yuki pouted before looking back at the hallway.

“Maybe next week” I smiled knowing that I’d probably forget to bring the painting.

I’ve already quit art class during my beginning years of High School and tend to art as a way to pass the time, mainly taking advantage of my creative bankruptcy to fill the hour.

“Are you in any clubs, Ryu?”

“Although School Presidents are allowed to join a club, I’d rather not for the sake of avoiding bias”

“So you also do Karate?”

“Mhm”

“So that means you can take on twenty armed guys then!” Yuki looked at me with awe, mimicking a karate chop in the air.

“That’s not how it works Takeya-san”

“Really?”

It was silly of me to think she was joking.

“Of course...”

The conversation slowed down as I stood close to the table, noticing the large crowd outside the field making their way inside the school. As I looked back, Yuki tapped her left foot on the floor while looking down at her table.

“I wish I could try Karate, but I am usually busy with my friends…” Yuki rested her head over her hand, staring at the roof.

“That’s a shame. Good thing I manage my school schedules…”

“Do you have any friends Ryu?”

Yuki’s eyes looked up at me while her face remained tilted towards the ground. I couldn’t help but fiddle with my hair while trying to select my words.

“Yea…” I responded while keeping the usual polite yet ingenuine smile.

“I don’t see you often with others"

“Well… it’s because I have a lot of things to do in this school"

The bell rang across the school, its soft tune making us look over at the loudspeaker.

“It’s going to be nice to see our test results tomorrow"

Yuki raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, it's tomorrow?”

“They take a few days to mark. Besides, a Friday always warrants us delivering our results for us to review”

“I’m willing to bet that I passed" Yuki’s eyes glimmered, with her confidence being almost unmatched compared to mine.

“It’s almost impossible to fail Sakura-sensei’s tests. I hope you did pass"

“You say as if you have no confidence in me" Yuki made a small pouty face.

“Oh no, I do have confidence in you. It’s just that there’s always that slim chance"

Yuki is not entirely slow-witted and could easily catch up to us in academics if she puts in the effort.

“Well you passed, right?”

“Always"

As I continued to pack my bags, I noticed a student with considerably short purple hair run towards Yuki, prompting me to focus on other matters in the meantime.

“Hi Yuzumara-san”

I briefly turned over. Yuzumara had a sort of punk-like demeanor due to her hairstyle alongside the choker over her neck.

“Hey Yuki”

“What took you so long?”

“Sorry, had a commotion by the field so it was hard for me to get through to class”

“It’s alright!”

I felt like I was going to get roped into this conversation one way or another

“Talking to the Pres eh?”

“Good morning Yuzumara-san” I turned over, giving a small wave.

“Morning Ryu-san”

It sounded childish to have something trivial like this, but I always hated being called ‘Ryu-san’. I had no real reason why.

“We were talking about how Ryu does Karate”

“Is that so? Does that mean he can take on a whole gang?”

They are completely parallel to each other despite their appearances.

“I asked him that, and he just said no”

“Aw”

“I don’t think anybody could take on twenty guys in a fight at once” I slid my notebook open.

“That makes sense,” Yuzumara shrugged, “Anyways Yuki, do you wanna meet up at the Tron Mall this weekend?”

“Of course! Where do you wanna go?”

“Mmmm, I don’t know”

“How about some shopping around there?”

“No problem with that. Same time as usual?”

“Yep! I’ll see you there!”

“Bye,”

Yuzumara waved her hand toward Yuki before leaving the class.

“Anyways, Takeya-san, I think we need to prepare for class"

“Aw. I’ll talk with you later then" Yuki gave a small wave before sitting down.

I took a glance outside at where the commotion once lay at the track field. Only a few latecomers from the entrance. We only had a few minutes before class officially started, yet I couldn’t bother spending any more time trying to sustain a conversation.

I glanced over at Yuki, who seemed to exchange glances back at me before giving a small wave. I waved back nonetheless, before looking back at my phone.