"I should head to my classroom too..."
Since the bell already rang, Asaki knew that he had about two minutes left before the teacher would arrive in class. Luckily, the classroom indicated on his schedule didn't seem to be that far away.
A few steps later, he was already in front of the classroom's entrance, wide open and giving him a view of the whole class. The teacher wasn't here yet, and his favorite place not even taken.
Carefully, the young man walked to his wooden desk with a neutral expression, his cheek still burning of pain from Saori's fist. Despite him, she wasn't praticing any sort of sport at all, and yet...
She was almost as strong as him.
After all, the brown-haired girl was an absolute star here, firstly because she was surely one of the tallest and most imposing girls in Asagiri, but also because of her role: that of the student council president.
When she got elected one year ago, Asaki, like the others, didn't even know her. Everyone voted for her only because the other candidates seemed somewhat strange; like that one guy who was always looking for gold in his nose.
But it seemed like she wasn't just 'the least worst option.'
Quickly, and without the help of the actual student council, Saori managed to resolve half of the school's problems all by herself :
The new cafeteria, the school's lockers, the end of most bullying... All of these achievements were hers.
And it's only after she managed to prove to the world her superiority that she started looking for members.
Surprisingly, the first person she enlisted was Kaoru. People thought it was because his intimidating appearance and reputation were enough to prevent bullying from starting again, but Asaki never felt that way
According to him, Saori wanted the gangster to finally integrate into the school. A life where everyone only feared you was too cruel, even for Kaoru.
After Kaoru, she enrolled a bunch of popular kids and some "remind the teacher about the homework" freeks.
Surprisingly, they all seemed to be pretty kind, at least the majority of them.
Asaki, even today, never understood why she had chosen him to be the treasurer of the student council. She didn't even know him back in the day, so why him out of all people? It's not like Asaki was a math genius or especially popular, after all.
But let's get back to the classroom.
Saori was still looking at him, dead in the eyes, her magnificent blue eyes filled with a wrath that seemed ready to explode at any moment ! It was the first time she looked at him with this expression for so long, and it started to really disturb Asaki.
'It's not like it was the first "party" I ever missed. And her birthday is in June, not February...'
The pressure Saori was exerting on him finally evaporated when Mr. Drake arrived. He was Asaki's math teacher, a very kind elderly man whose calm demeanor made him one of the most liked professors in the school.
Sadly, since the past three months, Asaki started to grew really bored of school. Each day seemed like the previous, sometimes interrupted by some random events like Saori's wrath. But still the result of a terrible routine that he really hated.
Yet, Asaki always managed to stay at least a minimum interested in class, so that he could avoid studying too much at home. And so, even if hours still felt like days here, when the bell finally rang, Asaki was the first to stand up.
'I should really go apologize to her, let's not get in trouble with the president.'
Quickly preparing his apologies, Asaki turned to her seat and started to approach it. However, it seemed like Saori was really mad. Because she was already gone.
"For real ??"
Whispered Asaki, it was getting really troublesome if she wasn't even looking for apologies. But ruining his whole day for a little inconvenient wasn't the mentality of Asaki. Tomorrow was another day, after all, he could apologize whenever he wants.
'I'll text her once I'm home if I don't see her in the hallway.'
While walking through the hallways of the school, Asaki tried to notice where Saori could be as he reached the exit. But she was nowhere to be found.
'I'll wait for her to calm down, then.'
Once outside, Asaki could admire again the streets of Aldeus that were exceptionally clean. Not a single piece of garbage was visible, even on its vast pristine expanse ; the white ground was reflecting the beauty of the sun on Asaki's clothes and face, occasionally blinding him for less than a second.
Fortunately, the roads were at least black, or the car crashes would be even more troublesome than they already were.
Aware that he should really stop getting lost by the environment, Asaki walked faster and thought about what else he could do today.
'The next train is at 02:30 PM, I've got one hour left before I'll need to climb into the train. How about visiting the library ?
Asaki always was a big reader, in fact, he surely spent most of his days reading books, online as materials.
The little bell located on top of the door ringed softly when Asaki entered the building. It was a small and cozy library with a large red carpet on the ground, contrasting with the deep brown of the wooden furniture. Dozens of shelves were standing in front of him, leading to the other tip of it to a small wooden counter where an elderly man was standing.
"Hi."
Simply said Asaki with a subtle smile before going to the nearest shelf.
During 30 minutes, Asaki kept looking at the wide variety of books that the library possessed, but none seemed to be worth it. However, after a few more minutes, he finally managed to find what he was looking for.
The first volume of a very famous series of novel.
On the cover, a man wearing a diabolical mask with long white hair.
Once he paid for the novel, the student then simply headed to the train station, buying on his way a sandwich and some water to stop his thirst.
Today was a lucky day, usually, Asaki would have to stand up for the rest of the travel because of how much people were gathered here. But just a few seconds after he entered, the young man noticed two empty seats, eerily standing in a corner of the wagon.
It's with a genuine smile that the young man sat, sure that he'll spend the rest of the travel alone, in a total quietness.
However, it wasn't what fate had prepared for him…
A young man around the 20s arrived some minutes later, and even though he seemed confused about Asaki's presence, he simply sat next to him without saying any words.
But the awkward silence got quickly broke when he simply asked :
"Excuse me to bother you, but... It seems like my bag is under your seat, could you please give it to me ?"
"Huh ? Your bag ?"
After a quick glance under his seat, Asaki noticed it.
"Oh, sure."
The man's eyes sparked with a strange emotion when they met Asaki's, whom just lent him his bag with an awkward smile. He didn't know why, but Asaki really had a strange feeling about this person, as if they already met somewhere...
But it was impossible, because akin Asaki, the young man had unique features making it hard to forget him. For example, the base of his hair was as black as the night, but progressively faded to a pure white tone, exactly as pristine as the student's hair.
It's not like having white hair was really a big deal here, this man wasn't the first one Asaki noticed having this hair color. But these apparitions stayed quite rare, around one white-haired man every two months...
But Asaki decided to not care too much about the man, as he just started reading his book. Before he even noticed it, the train finally reached Kaishi's station. Marking the end of his travel here.
When he got up, Asaki looked one last time at the young man, who strangely looked at him with a deep expression. His eyes seemed... Quite red, and a single tear seemed to be running down his right cheek, not bothering the man at all.
"Farewell..."
Okay, this was sure now. This guy was definitely crazy or something. Asaki simply nodded, and then hurried getting out of the train, hoping that the man wouldn't follow him.
When Asaki finally arrived, his clock showed something around 05:00PM, and yet, the sun was already fading in the vast view of the horizon his windows could afford him.
'I'm hungry...'
After a quick shower, he went to the small kitchen of the house and started preparing his diner. To avoid the boring silence invading his thoughts, Asaki turned on the television and ate will watching some thrillers
Time passed by, and after what felt like two hours for him, it was now 11:20PM.
'Lucky that we're Friday...'
With this last thought, Asaki laid on his bed, and his consciousness slowly faded away. This day finally coming to an end...
... or rather, this is what everyone expected to happen.
Later, in the middle of the night, the silence and tranquility that seemed to reign over the night were dethroned.
As the nightmare of reality devoured the illusions of the dreams.