"The recuperation of reiki should be happening today…"
Kazuki looked out of the window from his seat in the classroom. As the wind blew, pink petals fell from the cherry trees, fluttering down to the ground beneath. The spring breeze was lulling, carrying a feeling of tranquillity with it.
Today was the 2nd of April, the second day of school. To Kazuki, it was a momentous day.
Suddenly, the lunch bell rang.
With a series of "class dismissed" and a clamor of conversations and footsteps, the whole building shook like there was an earthquake. In Japan, students either brought their bento from home or bought their food from the school cafeteria.
Kazuki lifted the samurai sword that was placed on the desk. The samurai sword was what he called it; in reality, a wooden sword was a more accurate representation.
The entire scabbard was dull and had no pattern engraved on it. The gap between the hilt and the scabbard was practically non-existent when sheathed. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like any other ordinary wooden sword.
The whole class fell silent when Kazuki stood up.
After seeing that he left the classroom, many students let out a collective sigh of relief.
In the hallway, many students, regardless of gender, would retreat to the walls once they saw him. Fear would creep into their eyes, followed by their diverted gaze to the floor.
He ignored it all and went straight to the cafeteria. As he entered the view of the cafeteria, he squinted and could read a notice that was plastered onto the glass door.
'To celebrate Sakura Kyu's Back-To-School, half price for Special Grilled Fish today, while stock lasts.'
His steps momentarily sped up.
As soon as he entered the cafeteria, he saw the queue. His expression turned helpless, he hoped that the grilled fish would still be in stock.
Kazuki looked for the shortest queue and began lining up.
One student who was standing in front of Kazuki almost yelped when he turned around to see Kazuki's impassive face. He looked as if he'd seen a monster, frozen in fear.
He then pulled his friend in front of him to the next lane, his head down all the way.
"Kazuya, what are you–" as the student who had suddenly been dragged away questioned her friend, her anger and demands melted away when she saw six-foot-two Kazuki.
Timidly, she followed her friend to the next lane and queued up from the start again.
The commotion at the back drew the attention of those in the front. One by one, the students held their breath as they turned and caught sight of Kazuki. All of them lowered their heads and didn't dare to return his gaze.
The freshmen who were new to the school were confused but realized that something was off. As they saw their seniors' changing lanes, they followed suit. Still, this didn't stop them from peeking at Kazuki with confusion in their eyes.
Some of the braver, more curious students, began to ask questions. However, the seniors clammed their mouths' shut, amplifying the sense of terror.
Everyone left that lane, leaving only Kazuki to himself.
This wasn't new to Kazuki.
The chef behind the window saw this and couldn't help but laugh, she asked, "Kazuki, what would you like to order?"
"Grilled fish."
"Sure. Oh right, you can have an extra piece of grilled meat for just an additional 150 yen."
Kazuki counted his savings, but politely declined the offer, "I'm good."
150 yen wasn't much, but a man who was able to resist such temptation was considered a strong one.
Although the grilled fish set wasn't very filling, it was sufficient.
"Fuyuno, hurry! There's no one queueing here."
"Really? Are you sure this isn't the line for people with special needs?"
The two female students, wearing the Sakura Kyu Academy uniform, joined the line behind Kazuki.
While waiting, Kazuki could hear everything that was being whispered by the two girls stood behind him.
"Fuyuno! Look… the person in front of you is so weird. Why is he holding a samurai sword? Is he a Kendo member?"
Furuhashi Fuyuno, puzzled over the empty lane, switched her attention to the wooden sword in Kazuki's hand after catching Komuro Jun's words. It got her curious as well.
Clueless, she shook her head and whispered, "We shouldn't gossip about others, it's rude. Besides, Kendo members use Shinai."
Komuro Jun bashfully stuck her tongue out.
After Kazuki left with his tray, Fuyuno came to the window began her order, "Excuse me, I would like a set of double grilled meat with extra pork chop and roast pork."
The chef couldn't take her eyes off the girl. She couldn't believe how beautiful she was.
Her eyes sparkled like obsidian, her skin fair as jade, she had a long nose, a small mouth, her hair was neatly cut and arranged to the sides of her face with tidy bangs on her forehead, with the rest of her long hair draped behind her back.
With the dark navy uniform, she looked even more attractive, slender and elegant.
It seems as though the female students of Sakura Kyu from this term are of high caliber. The boys are in luck.
As Fuyuno and Komuro Jun took their trays and looked around, they noticed that the cafeteria was packed.
Even though there were sporadic spaces in-between, they were all only enough for a single person.
"Fuyuno, there's space over there."
Fuyuno looked to the direction Komuro Jun was pointing at. Her eyes lit up as she noticed a four-seat table in the center of the cafeteria with only one seat occupied.
Although Fuyuno thought it was weird that everyone was intentionally avoiding that spot, she put that thought aside and went straight for that table, afraid that the seats would soon be taken as well.
"Hi there, is this seat taken?" Fuyuno politely asked when she got to the table. She noticed a wooden sword on the table and realized that it was the same boy that queued in front of her.
"It's taken."
She paused as she was just about to sit down. She was just asking out of politeness, but she knew that the seats weren't taken.
Both of the girls began to worry as they noticed more people were coming in for lunch. There was no other space that could fit two people, and they didn't want to sit separately.
"Hey, there aren't many seats left. Could we just have our meal here for now? Once your friends are here, we'll leave."
Kazuki raised his head and glanced at Fuyuno, his eyes widened at the sight of the mountain of meat on her tray; the aroma of grilled beef, pork chop and roast pork lingered in his nose. He hesitated, then nodded.
He ordered grilled fish but eating it with the aroma of all the meat and pork, he could pretend that he was having that for lunch instead.
This girl sure can eat a lot…
As Fuyuno sat, she could feel the gazes of people around her, making her feel uncomfortable. There were a lot of spaces here, but why was everyone avoiding this spot?
People would instead squeeze in the crowd than come here, she pondered.
Weird.
"Ladies, how are you?"
Suddenly, a frivolous voice disrupted Fuyuno's train of thought.
Komuro Jun and Fuyuno raised their heads at the same time as a student with yellow-dyed hair put his tray on their table. He acted as though they were familiar with each other and sat right next to Kazuki.
Once seated, the yellow-haired boy stared at Fuyuno without blinking. Marveling, he couldn't believe that he'd found such a beautiful girl in the cafeteria on the second day of school.
This girl is mine!
"I bet you are a freshman, gorgeous. I happen to be a freshman too. It is fate that we could meet in such a crowded place. We should be friends?"
Fuyuno frowned. She looked at the inexplicably talkative yellow-haired boy with distaste.
"Is he your friend?" Fuyuno's line of sight went to Kazuki. He mentioned that the seats were taken. Is this yellow-haired boy one of his friends?
Kazuki wasn't the most good-looking, but he was well-groomed, presentable, and pleasing to the eye. Fuyuno couldn't understand how he could be friends with this frivolous yellow-haired boy.
I suppose that you can't judge a book by its cover.
The yellow-haired boy smirked, hooked his arm around Kazuki's shoulder and said, "Oh yeah, we've been best friends since middle school." As he said this, Yellow-Haired looked at Kazuki in a threatening manner.
"Really?" Fuyuno saw a hint of helplessness in Kazuki. She knew that they weren't friends and had only asked, hoping that Kazuki would be her scapegoat out of this situation.
She wanted to walk away with her tray, but the cafeteria was already packed, and there was no way she would give up her lunch.
Seeing Fuyuno's distress and Yellow-Hair's glare, Kazuki swallowed his food and said, "Yeah, we're friends. We've known each other since middle school."
When she heard that, Fuyuno was disappointed, but she didn't blame him.
It was rare for students to have the guts to confront a bully. Most would succumb to the delinquent's abuse of power.
Yellow-Hair patted Kazuki on the shoulder with satisfaction, showing that he was happy with his answer.
And since we're friends, I should have no problem borrowing some money from him in the future.
"Ichiro!"
Just as Yellow-Hair attempted to speak, a voice came from behind him. He turned toward the sound, and his eyes lit up, "You guys came just in time. Let me introduce my new friends to you all."
Two people approached. One lanky, one plump. Walking side by side, the contrast between them was apparent.
The lanky student turned, and his line of sight instantly fell upon Fuyuno. In a blink of an eye, it was as if he was shot by Cupid's arrow.
Is this real? How can there be such a beautiful girl?
Fear crept into Komuro Jun's eyes, and she couldn't swallow her food. She whispered, "Isn't Sakura Kyu supposed to be a disciplined school? Why are there so many delinquents?"
Fuyuno was disgusted, looking around, she hoped that someone would help her out of this situation.
Soon, she noticed that the entire cafeteria had been hushed for some time now, with everyone's attention on her table.
All of them were focused on the three delinquents.
"Chief!"
Before Fuyuno could react, the table was surrounded by roughly seven to eight boys. Each with military hair, well-built, and full of spirit. They stood in sequence and bowed their heads with respect.
Yellow-Hair was puzzled, but as he looked at the boys surrounding them, he didn't even dare to make a sound.
Both boys, the lanky and the plump, noticed the change of atmosphere in the cafeteria. Their trays were still in hand as they exchanged glances, unsure whether to leave or stay.
Chief? Who are they calling chief?, Komuro Jun and Fuyuno were bewildered.
"You're all here."
Kazuki, who had just finished his food, stood and smiled, "Perfect. Let me introduce my best friend from middle school… whom I just met a moment ago."
He patted yellowed-hair on the shoulder while saying it. "What was your name again?" he cheerfully added.
"My–my name is Ichiro Kudo…" Yellow-Hair swallowed. He was not stupid, he must've poked the wrong bear.
"What about you two?" Kazuki looked at the other two.
"Uh, I'm Kato Yoshina."
"I'm Haruki Koike."
Both of Ichiro's friends were trembling. They hated Ichiro Kudo for this, pulling them into trouble for provoking a delinquent club of Sakura Kyu.
"Keisuke, Teruichi and the others have graduated, correct?"
"Yes, Head of Department. Elder Teruichi and the others have successfully been admitted into the university of their choice." Eguchi Keisuke, reverently looked at Kazuki, face filled with gratitude, "This is all thanks to your skillful teaching and guidance."
The rest of the group was also looking at Kazuki with admiration, eyes shining with mutual agreement.
Kazuki pointed to Ichiro Kudo, "Since they've graduated, let's have these three take their spots. Train them well, design a training plan, and I will inspect the progress every month."
"These few days, you'll all have to work hard as there are many new students. Patrol the school and look out for other dregs from the middle school. If there's any, bring them into the club as well. If they refuse, teach them a lesson while there's no one watching."
"Yes, chief!" the boys shouted in unison.
Fuyuno was stunned.
"Alright, take them away," said Kazuki. Then, he added, "Oh yeah, take them to the barber to remove their hair dye. Unacceptable. Cut the hair as well. Wouldn't it be unbearable to have such long hair in the Summer?"
"Yes, chief!"
"Remember, bangs must be above the eyebrows, ears must be unobstructed and visible from front, no sideburns and the hair at the back mustn't pass the neckline."
"Noted!"
"Go now, there's still some time left before classes resume."
Keisuke waved his hand, and the boys split into groups. With two people in each group, they marched to Yellow-Hair and his gang, cornering them.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Bastard! Don't touch me! I haven't finished eating!"
"Go away, I want to eat my lunch!"
"Don't come near me! You bastards, or else I'll report you to the principal!"
Yellow-Hair and his gang made a ruckus. They were trying to act tough, but their expressions of panic betrayed them. Within minutes, they were taken out of the cafeteria.
Many freshmen were deterred. Seeing the fear in everyone's eyes, Kazuki smiled with satisfaction. Then, with his samurai sword and tray in each hand, he walked away.
Following the departure of Kazuki, noises gradually began to fill the cafeteria again.
Exchanging glances, Komuro Jun, and Fuyuno could see the curiosity in each other's eyes.