After finishing his breakfast, Tsubasa promptly donned his school uniform. He looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his coat, which was a dark blue color with white long sleeves underneath. His pants were of the same color as his coat, completing the uniform.
As he glanced over at his bedside table, he noticed his glass container, which held the glasses given to him by his late father. Despite constantly being in a fight, Tsubasa made sure to wear his glasses every day.
Upon descending the stairs, he was greeted by Aiko, who scowled upon seeing how sloppily his necktie was tied.
"You don't plan on going to school looking like that, do you?" she asked.
Tsubasa shrugged, "It's fine, isn't it? It's not like anyone at school will care."
Aiko sighed, then approached Tsubasa. She straightened out his necktie and fixed the knot that was messily done, "If you don't fix your appearance, how can people approach you? You're a handsome young man, and you should present yourself well."
"It's not that I want them to approach me or anything. Actually, I prefer if they don't."
"You're still talking like that?" Aiko sighed. "You should at least give people the chance to get to know you. You can't keep shutting everyone out. If you keep behaving this way, you'll be alone forever."
Tsubasa remained silent, but he couldn't help but think that being alone forever wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He enjoyed the perks of not having anyone intrude on his personal space. He didn't voice this thought out loud, but it seemed that Aiko had seen right through him.
"If you choose to live alone, then no one will be there to help you when you need it. Is that what you want?"
Once again, Tsubasa remained silent. He just found another benefit of being alone - not having anyone interfere in his business.
After fixing his tie, Aiko placed her hands on his shoulders and made eye contact with him. "Behave yourself at school, okay?" she said.
Tsubasa pulled away and headed towards the door, eager to escape the conversation. He knew that Aiko meant well, but he didn't want to hear her lecture him about his antisocial tendencies.
Aiko now turned her attention to her two-year-old son, who was crawling on the floor. Tsubasa didn't bother to glance at them, nor did he listen to what Aiko was saying to her son. He just went straight to the door.
Once outside, Tsubasa took a deep breath and let it out like a sigh. "First day of school, huh," he mumbled to himself as he put his earphones on his ears and started to walk.
Aiko followed him to the door and watched him leave with a heavy heart. "I just hope he makes some friends," she said to herself as she closed the door and turned back to her son.
***
It took Tsubasa half an hour to reach the train station, and by the time he arrived, it was already 8 A.M. Despite being pressed for time, Tsubasa wasn't in a hurry. He seemed to be entertaining the idea of being late on his first day of school, rather than being worried about it.
Without a care in the world, he strolled towards a small bench, where he found a girl dressed in the same uniform as him already seated. He took a seat beside her and waited.
As time passed, a train finally arrived at the station, prompting many people to rush towards the doors in an attempt to board it. It became apparent that a lot of individuals would be late for their school or work if they failed to catch this particular train.
Unlike the others, Tsubasa didn't bother to stand up from his seat to get in. The prospect of being late held no fear for him. Instead, he decided to wait for the next train, which was less crowded than the one that had just arrived. He believed that waiting a little longer for an emptier train was the right thing to do.
As he waited, he caught sight of the girl sitting next to him, who had remained in her place despite the throng of people boarding the train. He was surprised that she hadn't left yet.
"Miss, aren't you going to be late at this point?" Tsubasa asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the girl sitting beside him.
However, he wasn't too concerned about her being late, he simply wanted her to disappear as soon as possible. To outsiders, they might have appeared to be a couple having a fight since they were sitting together but not speaking.
The girl responded without looking at Tsubasa, "What about you? Aren't you going to be late?"
"I don't care if I'm late, but what about you? You seem like a good student, is it okay for you to be this late?"
"I'm fine with it. Actually, I was even considering skipping school altogether."
Tsubasa thought to himself, 'This girl must have a few screws loose.'
"You were thinking something really rude, weren't you?" the girl accused him.
Tsubasa didn't respond and instead waited for the train patiently, feeling a bit awkward after the girl's comment.
After waiting for half an hour, another train finally arrived, but both the girl and Tsubasa remained seated on the bench, seemingly engaged in a challenge of wills. It was as if they were challenging each other, each determined not to be the first one to stand up.
Tsubasa, however, was not amused by this game and eventually gave in by standing up and making his way towards the train.
'What's with that girl?' he thought to himself.
When he turned his head to look at her, he was surprised to find that she was no longer there.
"You're going to be late if you keep wasting time like that," the girl's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts as she appeared in front of him.
As they boarded the train, only two seats remained. Tsubasa didn't want to sit next to the girl again, so he attempted to leave. Unfortunately for him, the pneumatic doors wheezed shut before he could even turn around.
He sighed and resigned himself to his fate, saying, "...After you, miss."
"Oh? How gentlemanly of you. I didn't expect that," the girl replied before taking the seat next to the window. Tsubasa then sat down next to her.
The train resumed its journey towards its destination, and the girl swiftly retrieved a book from her backpack. It was titled 'The Shining,' written by a renowned author whom Tsubasa was familiar with. [1]
As the train moved forward, both Tsubasa and the girl remained quiet. The girl was engrossed in her book, while Tsubasa had his earphones on, listening to music. They both felt that talking to each other was unnecessary, despite the fact that they were on their way to the same school.
After a while, the train pulled into a station close to their school, and Tsubasa disembarked first, followed by the girl who walked five feet away from him while reading her book.
Tsubasa couldn't help but secretly hope that she would bump into someone or a pole as she walked and read at the same time.
The girl looked up and caught Tsubasa staring at her, asking, "Did you just think of something impolite?"
Taken aback, Tsubasa responded, "...Are you a mind reader?"
The two of them kept walking, maintaining a distance of five feet between them.
***
They arrived at school at 8:50, which was twenty minutes after the scheduled start of the opening ceremony that would end at 9. Tsubasa disliked the ceremony and decided to skip it by going elsewhere.
The girl also seemed to have the same idea and walked away from the gymnasium. He didn't mind where she was going, but he wondered why she was following him.
"Why are you following me?" he asked the girl.
"I'm sorry? What do you mean?" she replied, looking up from her book.
"I mean, why are you walking behind me?"
The girl seemed confused. "Can't I go where I want to go? Is that a problem?"
"No, it's not a problem, but why are you going this way?
"Because that's where I want to go," the girl explained.
Tsubasa sighed, "I see. In that case, I'll go this way," and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction of where he was originally heading.
Tsubasa passed by the girl without bothering to look at her even once, and continued walking until he found what he was looking for. During his junior high days, he always hung out in places like this alone but never felt lonely. He relished being by himself.
He pushed open the unlocked door and found himself on the rooftop. As expected, no one was there since the opening ceremony was taking place in the gymnasium, and most students were either attending it or chatting with their friends elsewhere. Tsubasa enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and decided to claim this spot as his new hangout. He took a deep breath, did some light stretching, and gazed up at the sky, which was unusually blue with no clouds.
While observing the sky, he noticed a tiny dot that was barely visible. It was so small that it was impossible to see even if he squinted his eyes. It was like a tiny splash of ink on a clean white canvas.
Tsubasa squinted his eyes even more, then he finally realized what it was.
"...A bird?"
The school bell rang, signaling the start of classes, but Tsubasa chose to stay on the rooftop alone for a little while longer.
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[1] Stephen King's novel