Ju was in the bathroom, standing in front of a mirror. He looked at himself wearing his school uniform. It felt very weird not being able to wear his normal clothes to school. He sighed and headed to the kitchen.
"Look, who is all dressed up", his mother greeted him, smiling at her son like it was his wedding. "Why can't I just wear normal stuff? This uniform looks so... formal", Ju complained. But his mother, who grew up in Japan, just laughed and said, "Trust me, you'll get used to it in no time".
Her son just sighed and sat down at the table. He ate his cornflakes, wondering how his first day at high school was going to be. He would join right at the beginning of the second year. So it would be hard to make friends since everyone already knew each other and had already formed friendships. It was probably even harder for him since, even though his mother and his last name were Japanese, he had very bright blonde hair. He got them from his dad, and they were bright, even for German standards.
[Well, no point in worrying about it now.]
He stood up, brushed his teeth, and headed to school. All while ignoring his mother, who was raving about how good he looked in his uniform.
His way to school was short and only took a few minutes. Ju was relieved about this, since he still found the streets of Tokyo very confusing. The closer he got to his school, the more students wearing the same school uniform as him appeared. And the more uncomfortable he felt. All of the students were looking at him. They tried to hide it, but Ju still noticed the stares.
[No wonder. I stick out like a sore thumb.]
He hurried inside the building, trying to locate the faculty room where he was supposed to meet his new teacher. Since he couldn't find it, he asked another student about it. Ju was never so happy that his mother had taught him Japanese since he was a child. Otherwise, there was no chance he would have ever located the faculty room.
Inside, he met his new homeroom teacher, Ms. Wazuka. She was still fairly young, probably in her late twenties. Ju really had to concentrate while greeting her, since he was not used to using Japanese honorifics. But his teacher didn't say anything, so Ju just assumed that he addressed her correctly.
After talking about some boring stuff, Ms. Wazuka led her new student to his new class. A sign that said 2-B was next to the door of their destination. This also meant the moment Ju was most afraid of was about to unfold. He had to introduce himself to his new classmates.
"Please welcome our new transfer student from Germany. Julian Sato." ,his teacher introduced him. "Please introduce yourself, Sato-san."
[Here we go...]
"Hello, I'm Ju. Please take care of me", he said, while bowing down like his mother told him to.
After taking his seat at the back of the class, homeroom started. And so did his first day at a Japanese high school. During class, Ju noticed his classmates looking at him once in a while, but he had gotten used to it by now.
Dringgg!!!
The bell didn't just signal the end of the lesson but also the start of the break.
Just as Ju wanted to stand up to stretch his legs, a small group of his classmates showed up before him. The group consisted of two guys and a girl with long, dark brown hair.
"Hi, I'm Atsushi Kamoi, the class representative", the taller one of the boys said. "We are heading to the cafeteria. Do you want to join us?". Since Ju didn't have any reason to decline and making friends was one of his biggest priorities, he agreed.
The smaller guy introduced himself as Masao Iwatani. He seemed much more energetic compared to the more reserved class representative.
But most of Ju's attention was on the third member of their group. An attractive girl who introduced herself as Kyoko Hiro.
"How come you have a Japanese surname, Sato-kun?", she asked.
"Well, my mother is Japanese, and since she couldn't pronounce my dad's surname properly, he took her name after marriage,", Ju explained.
"That explains why you can already speak fluent Japanese,", the class representative, Atsushi, deduced while adjusting his glasses.
"Yes, my mother taught me, since I was young."
After getting their food (curry) from the counter, they sat down at a nearby table. After talking about random stuff for a while, Kyoko asked, "How did you feel about moving to Japan, Sato-kun? It must have been a huge change."
"Honestly, I hated it."
Masao spat out his water, laughing at Ju's honest and unexpected response. Only to receive an annoyed look from Kyoko. "What? I just didn't expect him to be so blunt about it", Masao said, still laughing.
"Well, I was very happy in Germany. I had a lot of friends, and I was able to pursue my dream,", Ju said.
"Your dream?", Kyoko asked.
"To become a professional footballer", Ju answered.
Masao started laughing again. "Well, that is the dream of most boys," he said.
"Not mine.", replied Atsushi.
"Ok, most normal boys", Masao corrected himself. "What do you even mean by that?", Atsushi replied, but he didn't receive an answer.
"Anyways, you should join me at the football club. It would be a great opportunity for you to meet new people as well", Masao suggested.
"We're meeting after school; you could try out for the team", the energetic boy continued.
[Honestly, I'll do anything that lets me play football.]
Ju agreed to join Masao after school.
Afterwards, the group returned to their classroom, and the lessons started once again.
[I don't know how I'm going to survive this....]
Ju was not used to having school until late in the afternoon. But the prospect of playing football again motivated him to survive until the end.
After school, he said goodbye to Kyoko and Atsushi and then followed Masao towards the football team's clubroom. After changing into his PE clothes, Ju took them with him in case he felt like his uniform was too uncomfortable. He and Masao walked onto the football pitch.
[Finally he felt a familiar feeling. While school was different in Japan, stepping onto a pitch was just as amazing as always.]