One week of happiness flew by quickly. Today marked a new start to Shouichi's high school debut in Kurohashi, Japan. The pretty boy woke up earlier than usual. He started by preparing a tuna sandwich for his lunch and then two omelettes over rice (omurice) for breakfast. One for his sleepy head of a mother and one for himself. The young man was already dressed up in a Seihei uniform with a wrist sweatband on his left hand, which he used to cover up a distinct scar.
"Gooood morning! Shouichi-kun." Yoko came down from upstairs rubbing her eyes. She let out a yawn and covered her mouth as she headed toward the kitchen table. The lady of the house wore a white gown-like pyjama and her black hair appeared to be a bit messy.
"Hi! Good morning, Yoko-san! Are you ready for breakfast? Please take a seat." Shouichi pointed to the dining table.
"Huh?... Wow! Did you make me breakfast?... Thank you so much, my sweet Shou." Yoko spoke with appreciation and excitement. It did seem like she was fully awake now. Shouichi eagerly put two dishes on the table.
"Thanks for the meal, I'm digging in now!" Yoko-san said aloud. "That's a cute thing, Japanese people do." Shouichi smiled and thought.
"Ah, my! Delicious! Shou-kun, you are a Masterchef!" Yoko-san took a bite and complimented him without chewing.
"I'm happy you love it, Yoko-san." He was flattered.
"My dear, you shouldn't prepare a meal for me, every day. I should be the one taking care of you, you know?" Yoko added in a serious tone then smiled gently.
"Hahaha, I was just early today and got nothing better to do. Don't worry about it, Mom. I won't be taking your job." He replied lightheartedly.
After a while, they finished their meal and Shouichi was ready to leave for school.
"See you, Yoko-san. I'll be off now." He announced before closing the front door.
Shouichi noticed a dark jet-black head popping out from the fence. He immediately figured out that it was "Morimura Ayane-san!" He greeted her while opening a mandoor.
The gorgeous young lady, dressed in a high school uniform, a black blazer jacket, and a purple bow, appeared overly feminine which added beauty and overwhelming cuteness to her character. Shouichi subconsciously compared this diva to a foxy girl in a boyish costume he met last week.
"Weirdo!..." Ayane blushed a little when Shouichi appeared dazed by her radiant beauty.
"Say something, would you?" She continued to press with a shy smile.
"Ah! My bad, my bad, I was just thinking you look so, um, lady-like today. Haha." Shouichi clarified and laughed it off.
"Umm, why are you at my house today, Morimura-san?" Shouichi asked her out of curiosity.
"This!" Ayane said, pulling out a book from her bag and handing it to him.
"The Lady killer! You finished it already?" Shouichi asked with a surprised expression. She nodded in participation.
"Thanks, Morimura-san." He said as he received the book with care.
"Just call me by my first name, um, Ayane is fine… Let me know what you think when you finish, okay?" Ayane added and glanced away. It looked like she wanted to say something else so Shouichi waited patiently.
"Umm… I apologised for our first encounter. I didn't intend to call you a shorty or anything…" Ayane spoke up and bowed slightly with grace, her face remained cold as ice.
"Hey! I already forgot about all that, Haha. Ayane-chan, it's alright, it's alright." Shouichi forgave her immediately. Ayane initially seemed ice-cold toward strangers, but once you got to know her, she revealed herself to be a kind and considerate person.
"Now that I say my piece, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not asking you to walk to school with me or anything." Ayane started to yap about something but meant something else. Shouichi figured she often did that when she felt either uncomfortable, flattered or embarrassed.
"Wait? Wait? Wait? I wasn't gonna do that." Shouichi retaliated.
"Then see you! Shou-i-chi-kun" Ayane said out loud almost like a shout and dashed away. "Did I piss her off somehow? I truly don't understand women." Shouichi contemplated disorientedly, nudging his temple with his thumb.
The morning air was refreshing and chilly. Shouichi walked along a clean narrow street, then into the main road. The traffic was as lively as ever during peak hours like this. The closer he got to the school, the louder and busier the street became.
"The school must have been close by. There are a lot of students here despite being a small town." Shouichi remarked internally. He saw the excitement in the crowd as friends and lovers were eagerly chatting over frivolous topics. As he walked through the school gates and onto the campus, he quickly noticed a large crowd gathered around the announcement boards.
"That's prolly the class list. Thank goodness, I've already known my class number from the invitation letter." Shouichi walked past the school board and went upstairs to his class. The hanging sign above his head read "Class 2-1". This must be it. Shouichi opened a door.
"Eh?" He pulled and then pushed. Nothing happened.
"Slide it… bro… like this." A male voice reverberated from behind. The young man then showed him how to open this type of door while amicably grinning at him. Shouichi eventually got a clear look at the boy.
A tall, handsome student stood there with a smug expression on his sharp features. His messy silver hair perfectly complemented his slender frame, accentuating his striking appearance, "This guy is absolutely dazzling!" Shouichi thought to himself.
"Yo! I'm Aoyama Shinji!" The tall young man introduced himself gleefully, pointing at himself with his thumb. His lavender-purple eyes strikingly gazed at Shouichi with anticipation.
"Hi! I'm Destirling Shouichi." Shouichi responded with his introduction.
"Des-tir-lingu?" Shinji tried to pronounce the name with a bit of difficulty.
"Oh, just call me 'Seito Shouichi'." Shouichi corrected himself. Destirling was his Australian name but his family name was initially Seito while on the other hand, Yoko changed her family name back to Yamamoto after the divorce.
"Umm… Are you not Japanese? I thought you were. Sorry, sorry!" Shinji's eyes lit up with enthusiasm as if he never met anyone from the outside world before.
"That's aight (alright). I'm Japanese but I'm from Australia." Shouichi explained matter-of-factly.
"Ohh! I got it now! A cool international boy!" Shinji exclaimed and gestured a pistol hand sign at him. The cheerful tall teenager definitely had his charm in abundance. They walked inside the classroom together. There were a few people already there. A thin, short boy and a chubby girl waved at them eagerly before returning to their conversation.
"Have a seat next to mine, it's empty for now," Shinji instructed, pointing at where his desk was. It was located in the middle column and last row. Shouichi put his bag on the desk and sat down obediently. They chatted for a bit over trivial stuff to pass the time. Shinji was nice, smart, and funny. On top of that, his height might be over 190 centimetres with an athletic physique. To complete his perfect character, let's throw a nice, short messy haircut with a silver hue into the mix. Despite Shinji's perfection and the short conversation they had, Shouichi felt like they were bonded already.
After a while, the classroom began to fill with students. Shouichi noticed Morimura Ayane entering through the back door. Her beautiful presence seemed to brighten the atmosphere.
"He~ya! Morimura-chan, how was your school break?" Shinji waved at her with anticipation. Simultaneously, Shouichi also smiled at her.
"Tsk!" Ayane clicked her thought, side-eye-ing at them in disgust. Then she ignored them completely like they didn't exist. Shortly after, Ayane headed to her desk next to the window and sat down. "Heheh, that's just Ayane's usual facade. I nearly forgot she was like that when we first met. " Shouichi noted internally.
"Ahem! Good Morning! Students of Class 2-1." The thin short man in his 30s stood in front of the class, signalling the students to quiet down.
"I'm Edon Takeshi, your class homeroom teacher. I'll be taking care of you all throughout this academic year. Feel free to come to me if you run into a problem, alright?" Takeshi-sensei announced with a deep-yet-clear tone.
"Most of you guys might already have been in my class before, welcome back. For those who just joined my class. Please raise your hands." The teacher inquired as he lifted his right hand. Shouichi looked around hesitantly, no one seemed to raise their hands.
"Umm…" The cute girl with round glasses put her hand up timidly, she was sitting in the 2nd row from the front. The girl had brown bop hair with full-air bangs. Reflexively, Shouichi followed, raising his hand.
"The two of you, come out to the front, please. We'll introduce you to the class." The teacher said promptly. He handed out black markers to the bop girl and Shouichi. They instinctively wrote their names on the whiteboard. "Destirling(Seito) Shouichi" and "Tomako Momo".
"Male student, you go first. " Takeshi-sensei commanded.
"Hi everyone! I'm Destirling Shouichi, but Seito Shouichi works too. I'm a transfer student from Australia. Nice to meet you all!" Shouichi introduced formally and bowed slightly. Suddenly the class filled with chatters. Shouichi figured it's indeed not common to have an overseas transfer student here.
"Quiet now!" The thin teacher yelled. The babbling toned down almost instantly.
"Your turn, Tomako-chan," Takeshi-sensei added in a much gentler voice.
"Ha..hi! I'm…I'm Tomako Momo. I'm a transfer from class 1-2. Plea-Please, be friends. I mean, Let's be friends." Momo girl was stuttering terribly. Shouichi noticed she was also heavily sweating. The petite girl bowed her head as low as possible.
Tomako Momo was a delicate girl with a petite physique. Her shy and gentle demeanour had a natural charm that could easily captivate people. Shouichi noticed that her lovely, large eyes carried a subtle orange hue beneath the round glasses she wore.
"Ummm…" Shouichi could see her white semi-translucent undershirt hanging down by gravity. It exposed her fair, dewy skin, he couldn't help but swallow a big gulp of saliva to mend his nerves. Momo caught his stare and looked at him ponderingly. Shortly after, she raised her head and fixed her glass, acting like nothing happened. Shouichi immediately averted his entire head, blushing.
"That was unintentional. Damn my eyes!" Shouichi cursed to himself.
The teacher signalled them to get back to their seats and the first session began shortly after.
Before Shouichi realised it was already noon. The bell alarm went off and the chatter was getting louder almost instantaneously. Unexpectedly, the classmates gathered around his desk with anticipation.
"How was it like to live in Australia?"
"I'm so jealous!"
"My mom took me to Syndey when I was 6… I wanted to go back ever since."
Shouichi was bombarded with questions from his classmates. After a while, the interest sort of died down, and people were getting back to their desks to have lunch.
"Hey!" Ayane whispered as she tapped Shouichi's shoulder, signalling him to follow her outside. Her expression was cold and distanced, unlike this morning when they met in front of his house. Shouichi glanced at Shinji with puzzlement. The handsome boy waved him off. In response, Shouichi nodded, grabbed his lunchbox, and followed Ayane out of the classroom.
Ayane and Shouichi walked in a pair. He couldn't help but notice prying eyes filled with jealousy as though he had committed such a hideous crime on his first day, "Well, she must have been popular like Yoko-san claimed." He noted.
They walked upstairs to the rooftop of the building. The sign clearly stated "Access Restriction - Authorised personnel only."
"Umm… Ayane-chan, are we really allowed to go up there?" Shouichi hesitated.
"Of course! We are." Ayane spoke up excitedly as she pulled out a key, and unlocked the door.
The rooftop was peaceful and quiet with a great view of the small town. At first glance, it appeared empty and clean, with a high metal fence surrounding the edges. A soft, gentle breeze blew past the two students, creating a cool and refreshing atmosphere. They decided to sit on the floor under a shade; Ayane sat so close to Shouichi that her shoulder gently brushed against his.
"I just hate the crowd. You owe me a favour now 'cause I help getting you out of those pests." Ayane claimed while pointing her finger at him. Shouichi realised that this was the first time he saw her smile since morning. "I wonder why she would act cold in the class… I guess she's just a weird nerd who is socially awkward."
"Ouch! That hurts. What was that for?!" Shouichi yelped as he suddenly got pinched on his upper arm.
"I've seen what you did in front of the class. Try to be slick, ain't you, Mr. Pervert?" Ayane interrogated him, her brows furrowed into a frown, Shouichi wasn't sure how serious she'd make it to be.
"I'm soooorry. It's never intended, my eyes slipped." He made an excuse, pleading for her forgiveness.
"I've already agreed with Yoko-san to look after you at school. But you made yourself a pervert on your first introduction… My, my… The eyes are up here, perv!" Ayane scolded him while gesturing by pointing two fingers to her dazzling purple eyes.
"Got it! My boss lady! I'll do better next time!" He pleaded formally. Ayane was feeling so satisfied that she started to beam again. She must love to boss him around.
"Thanks for bringing me out. To be honest with you, it's quite overwhelming for me today…" Shouichi opened up to her while simultaneously chowing on his tuna sandwich.
"This place is so peaceful. I hope my life can be at peace like this forever. You really did me a solid. Haha." Shouichi continued and smiled at her foxy face.
"Don't mention it… Also, your lunch sucks. That's definitely not Yoko's cooking, right?" Ayane commented with a condescending tone, pointing at his poor man's sandwich. "That's Ayane for you… she's as harsh as ever." He remarked in his mind.
"Haha, I tried to pack my own today. " Shouichi confessed, keeping a happy face.
"Here! Say aaaaahhhh." Ayane said out of the blue. Unexpectedly, Ayane fed him one of her egg rolls with her chopsticks.
"Is~is that an indirect kiss?" Shouichi thought to himself, his cheeks reddening slightly at the idea. Still, he complied. The taste was delightful, a perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness.
For the rest of the afternoon, the couple stayed at Ayane's secret spot, their laughter echoing through the air, brimming with joy and bliss.