Senji struggled to find any words to say to the girl. He didn't even know her name. Finding himself locked into her gaze he had to break the ice somehow. She seemed rather curious about him considering the current circumstances. He swallowed hard, lifting a hand then awkwardly waving to her.

"H-hey there." He stammered. "Yeah uh... Yeah I am." He felt a lump in his throat as he spoke. The girl tilted her head slightly to the left.

"I see." She murmured, studying him closely. He felt his personal space was being breached by this random yet familiar girl.

"Um... Can I like, help you?"

The girl stood firmly, gazing straight into his eyes. Sweat was beading his forehead. His heart was pounding inside his chest.

"What's your name?" She asked directly.

His eyes widened. He wondered just what was up with this girl. Was that all she wanted? A simple question to answer. No other way out of this he thought.

"S-Senji. Senji Kamura." He was surprised she didn't already catch wind of his name being spoken as it was already known to several students.

"Huh. Senji? I... Quite like that name."

"Oh? W..well I... You're standing quite close uh... I don't even know you or your name."

The girl took a few steps back, bowing to him then rising back up. Her eyes were almost hypnotizing to him.

"We have a few classes together. You'll be seeing me around, Senji. Thank you for telling me your name." She began to walk away but stopped, turning around and giving him one last gaze. "Ayame." After that name escaped her mouth, the girl walked away, vanishing around the corner. Senji scratched his head in confusion at that encounter. But he did finally get a name to match the eyes constantly fixated on his mind ever since yesterday leaving the school after registration. He regained his composure and headed for the exit. He did not see her upon leaving the school, assuming she had already left.

"I am so happy for you! You're already making friends!" Hinaka said in a cheerful tone with her hands cupped together over a hot stove with a pot of noodles steaming. "So when do I get to meet them??"

"I.. I don't know. Maybe once they're more comfortable around me." Senji murmured sitting at the kitchen table.

"Right right of course. You know, it's not easy adjusting to a new school. So to hear you making friends on your first day just brings me joy."

"Thanks, mom. I think I'll be alright adjusting to this place in due time."

Hinaka loaded their plates with noodles covered in sauces mixed with various vegetable toppings and set them down, joining Senji at the table. He began to dig into the food. Just like his father, he always savored his mother's cooking. It was her first time cooking since they had moved in as the days spent unpacking had exhausted her so they were just eating takeout every day. It felt nice to have her cooking once again. He talked to her about his classes, his first impressions on the teachers and how his overall day had been. The only part he left out was meeting the strange girl. He didn't feel it was worth mentioning right now and would rather keep it to himself. Senji had dated a few girls during his time in middle and early high school years but they never truly developed beyond just hanging out together. She already seemed to have her curiosity peaked when he mentioned Kanako. In his mind, she must've seemed quite eager for him to potentially find a girlfriend in this new town. Both his mother and father were guilty of setting expectations for him to carry on their bloodline as the only child. But he would rather not think about his uncertain future right now and instead focus solely on his studies and building trust within his newly acquired social circle of Kaito, Aoi and Daiki.

After dinner Senji went to seclude himself in his room for the remainder of the night. He was too invested in the current manga series he was reading to play his Nintendo or check the television stations and memorize every channel that appealed to him. The manga followed a group of teenagers who are fated to slay a demon that tore through Hell into the real world and started creating chaos. To his surprise it's themes were deeper then it's simple premise and narrative which is what had him hooked. He continued to read until it was time for bed.

Drifting into sleep, Senji opened his eyes and found himself in an empty school hallway. The hallways resembled his old school back in Tokyo. Feeling full consciousness of his body, he began to wander around for what felt like hours. Every classroom, the lunch room, the offices and staff rooms were empty with the doors all closed. He could feel his heart beating with anxiety.

"I never liked empty hallways... They terrify me."

He began to hear his own thoughts while he wandered towards what appeared to be doors leading to the courtyard walkways. As he reached a hand out the doors opened on their own. Across the walkway was the doors to the gym, which had also opened. Anxious he pressed on until he found himself entering the large gym. However, this time it wasn't completely empty. Standing in the middle of the gym were five students all in uniform staring down at the floor. He was confused but walked towards them. Suddenly their heads shot up to stare at him. He felt his entire body freeze. The students all resembled his friends from back in Tokyo. Three boys and two girls. Their eye colors, hair and faces were spot on.

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"Why did you have to leave Senji?"

"This sucks dude. You were my best friend... Now we can't hang out anymore..."

"You were the only one who talked to me until you introduced your friends to me. Shame you had to go..."

"Goddamn it! Not you too..."

"I'm sorry the illness took your father away... Now you have to be taken from us? Life really is unfair."

Each of them spoke directly to Senji, pointing their fingers up at him. Senji began to freak out. Cupping his ears he dropped to his knees desperate to deafen their words. But it was no use. Their words repeated in his head. He began to scream. Scream until it was all over.

Waking up in cold sweat at the crack of dawn, Senji was breathing heavily. He checked his surroundings to find himself back in his room. Relieved for the nightmare to be over, he felt the urge to use the bathroom. It was still a few hours before he would have to head to school. He didn't dream again, instead sleeping rather restlessly.

"Got to... Stay awake. Damn it..." Senji muttered to himself quietly during social studies class. He was struggling to stay awake during the lecture being given by the gray-haired older woman with glasses standing next to the projector, Missus Kazuko.

"-As you know during the nineteen-eighties, in many of these small social circles rumors would spread to various neighborhoods where gangs would reside. If a certain individual who was the target of the rumor was found they most likely would be captured and beaten up for information or even killed." Kazuko rambled on and would continue to do so for the remainder of the period.

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Standing outside leaning against the wall was Kaito and Daiki. He slapped Senji's arm to get his attention. Senji turned to face him. He nodded his head then motioned for him to follow. Senji nodded back and walked with the two of them.

"Sheesh you still look tired as hell. Kazuko's classes tend to put everyone to sleep so her lecture definitely didn't help." Daiki said.

"That old fart just needs to retire already. She's the oldest teacher in the school yet can still talk for a fucking hour straight. Ridiculous." Kaito groaned. Senji quietly nodded in agreement unable to even form a a proper response. "Don't worry. I know how we can wake you up. Check it out up there. Teacher's lounge. They got coffee."

"Why don't we just hit up the vending machines outside? They got canned coffee drinks."

"Those are fine but he needs the real good shit the teachers drink on the regular."

"B-but I've never had real coffee..." Senji said.

Kaito peeked through the door just slightly ajar to get a look. He opened it further to see the lounge was empty. A smirk across his face he led the two of them inside and towards the coffee machine on the counter next to the microwave and vending machines. He grabbed three of the foam cups then filled all of them with coffee straight from the pot. Kaito and Daiki bumped their cups together and took drinks. Senji looked down at the cup then up at them.

"We shouldn't even be in here but..." He murmured.

"Eh who cares? Just drink up dude. I promise you it'll help you wake up and get through the rest of the day." Kaito reassured him.

Senji sighed and took a sip. He coughed. His mouth and tongue began to burn. Never tasting straight black coffee, he grabbed sugar and creamer to pour into the cup and stirred it with a straw. Kaito and Daiki snickered.

"Don't like it black huh? Fair enough. You said you never had real coffee? Yet you knew to grab the creamer and sugar." Daiki stated.

"I..I saw my father drink coffee before. He once told me that if I had it and didn't like it black, to add this stuff to make it sweeter."

"Oh. Gotcha' dude."

Kaito peeked out from inside the teachers lounge. The hallway was mostly empty aside from some students chatting with one another. He gave them a thumbs up. The three of them left the room nonchalantly with smiles on their faces. Senji felt relieved and more awake after finally having finished his coffee. He was surprised not a single teacher had gone into the room while they were in there.

Senji managed to make it through the rest of the day with his mind alert and body fueled by the caffeine from earlier driving him to stay focused. He didn't manage to find the time to talk to the strange girl, Ayame, during the classes he shared. He was unsure if she would approach him again or if she wanted him to come to her. Anxious on what the possibilities were, he didn't dwell on it and went straight out the front doors to his bike. As he rode on his way home he happened to notice an older couple standing on their front porch glaring at him with innocent smiles on their face. He waved at them while riding by. They both simply nodded. It was quite refreshing to see more friendly faces in a town that's been suffering from these disappearances.

Turning onto his street Senji was almost home. Before he would arrive, just a couple houses away he noticed someone in the distance causing him to stop riding. Several houses down he noticed two girls still in uniform leaving the front lawn and heading down the street opposite of his direction. Both of them had long hair from what he could make out but was unable to tell who they were. He assumed they must've just been two friends who decided to go for a walk. It was the middle of Spring. The weather was cool and calming. Perfect for taking strolls. He just shrugged it off and rode home, ready to retire for the evening.

Taking a break from reading his manga, Senji decided to instead finally find some television channels he could enjoy. Since Nakamura was much smaller then the vast expansive metropolis that was Tokyo, the channels were much more limited here. A couple cartoon channels, a local news network, a home shopping channel for various products and a history channel. Senji had found his entertainment channels and wrote them down on a sticky note, placing it on his desk.

Senji's room was small. He had a bed, a small closet, television set, chair and desk with bookshelves for his manga, and a dresser and two shelves with various action figures in dynamic poses. He had a couple band posters and a single poster for his favorite manga series Heart of Sin, featuring two attractive protagonists, one male wielding a sword and female holding a pistol, with their backs against each other and an army of hideous demons in the background with a terrifying demon overlord looming over everyone.

This was Senji's haven. His safe space. The room wasn't as spacious and open as his old room but cozy enough to cope with the smaller house they had moved into. He would spend the rest of the night watching cartoons until it was time to sleep. He would have to make a decision regarding the mysterious Ayame. He came to a conclusion before drifting off to sleep. He was going to find her in the morning before classes and talk to her himself.