A day before the entrance ceremony for Kanto Gakuin Junior & Senior High School, a random question presents itself in his mind for the first time.
'What makes someone fall for another?'
Sasaki Haru, a recently made fresh middle school graduate, knew that this was in fact a rhetorical question he'd unwillingly concocted to get his mind off a certain rejection.
Something which scarred him ever since he'd received it on their final day of middle school.
"Will you go out with me!" He laughed aloud in mockery of himself, his little brother downstairs overhears this and a loathing expression gets slathered over his face, 'he's finally gone crazy...'
Sasaki Haru's plan was perfect.
It was springtime and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, sakura petals cascaded around them from atop trees that stood sparsely in between each other in a straight line, Haru had asked her to the back of the gymnasium where they now stood facing each other.
He awkwardly shifted his feet, his face flushed a heated bright red.
Haru looked up and was immediately disappointed, this girl wore the same expression as she always had, because unbeknownst to him she has been through this same scenario many times.
'I'm still more special right? I chose to do this at the end of the year, even planned it and prepared myself a month in advance!' He thought this at the time, and although he knew rejection was a likely chance, still held out hope.
What could he have possibly not been prepared for?
The complete dismantling of his impression on this girl and the utter annihilation of his feelings towards her.
"I'm sorry, you're not my type at all and I have a boyfriend and we've been secretly dating for a month now. He's waiting for me at the gate and probably won't like me being here any longer so I have to go, don't tell anyone yeah?"
Her condescending tone near the end nearly broke him.
Sasaki Haru now stands alone, behind the gymnasium, in this moment a gut wrenching feeling etched itself into his mind.
Haru knew what was to come, the ridicule, isolation and a shocking realization of the reality of the world he lives in. He doesn't belong in her world, nowhere near it.
He turns around as a group of students run away laughing amongst each other. 'So that's all it was, wasn't it?'
A single tear falls to the floor.
'I'm just here to fuel your happy youthful memories, something you'll think back on and cherish as the joyous years of your youth alongside friends.'
He stares at the intoxicating look on their faces, mouths wide open as if in celebration, smiles all around. Any unrelated person would think they'd just been enjoying spending time together before moving onto high school.
Not Sasaki Haru, because he knew the truth of it all, the high school life that awaited him would be nothing but a dull hell.
Back in the present, he lays on his bed, the time is 6 PM.
As the sun begins to set outside his window, it casts a light orange hue around the neighborhood and illuminates his room through the window.
Haru has burrowed his face into his white feather filled pillow whilst clutching its sides in a vice grip. A knock arrives on his bedroom door, "nii-san! Mom's calling you down for dinner!"
"Tell her I'll be a bit late today..." He lazily replies with his head now turned sideways on the pillow.
He hears his little brother run down the stairs as his room darkens.
Soon he hears light footsteps running up the stairs and to his door again, followed by another knock, "mom says if you don't come down right now she's gonna take away your laptop!"
Reluctantly he decides to climb out of bed and walks over to the door, along the way he flicks on the light switch before turning the handle.
The door swings towards Haru and he sees his little brother standing there, looking at him with a confused expression.
Haru speaks with a relaxed and slow pace, "Botan, please tell mom it's not good to threaten people."
"But you do it all the time?" The honesty of this ten year old child hits him right where it hurts, "w-well see the thing is, right? It's okay when I do it because I know how to do it properl-" He gags for a moment before correcting himself, 'because I know how to do it in moderation."
"What's moderation?" Botan replies, the genuine confusion in his voice causes Haru to feel taken aback, "never mind, let's just go down, yea?"
Botan nods as he follows Haru downstairs.
They walk through a modernish living room and head towards the kitchen, where their mother stands in front of the inner counter, a white porcelain bowl of steaming rice and a shamoji (rice scooper) in her hands.
She speaks with a gentle, sweet voice, "took you long enough, your father will be home late today so let's eat first alright?" She places the scooper in a holder beside the rice cooker and closes the lid, it clicks shut.
A light orange wooden dining table is placed squarely beside the outer wooden counter, the inner counter is mainly constructed out of cultured marble, whilst both countertops are made of the same marble.
On the table there are two bowls of freshly cooked rice, Haru's little brother goes beside their mother behind the counter, he opens a drawer and comes running back to the dining table with three pairs of chopsticks.
He places one pair on the side opposite Haru and two pairs on his side, their mother walks around the wooden counter towards the dining table.
"Also Haru~ Could you come down by yourself next time?" She says as she places a third bowl in front of him.
The tone she takes with him causes him to cringe inside, he proceeds to awkwardly pull out one of the chairs beside the wooden counter and sits down whilst tiredly sighing.
His mother changes to a more authoritative tone, "are you ignoring me? That's not a good thing to do Haru."
In his mind he wants to tell her, 'leave me alone!' Or, 'I responded with my body language!' However this would be very bad for him if he did, so he says, "my bad, I'll try to get up earlier next time..."
His mother chimes in, "that's good!" Whilst smiling widely at him as she takes her own seat in front of him, Haru imagines himself clicking his tongue, because she would hear it if he really did.
'I don't actually mean it you dum-' He catches himself about to curse someone he shouldn't.
Although his mother had a carefree and lax attitude, seeming as if she acted purely on instinct, a strange feeling arises in his chest whenever he'd try to think anything negative about her.
Credit where credit is due, she still cared for him, something he tries to deny with all his being.
Haru looks down at the time on his phone's lock screen, '6:15 PM' He immediately guesses that his father wouldn't be back until 8 PM.
After dinner he checks on the time again, '6:59 PM'
The hour hand on a wall clock above the TV in the living room reaches 7 PM.
Haru decides to return to his room and continue sulking under the sheets, he makes it halfway up the stairs when the doorbell dings, he hears the handle of the front door turn down and the door opens outward.
His father steps backwards through the door with his hands outstretched in front of him, he shakes droplets of water off a translucent white umbrella before placing it on an umbrella stand beside the entrance.
Afterwards he loosens his neatly folded blue tie, with his coat hung over his right arm.
Haru's mother welcomes him and takes the coat off his arm before directing him towards the kitchen, "Haru! Get your dad a drink from the fridge please!" She yelled loudly as if he were already in his room.
Feeling slightly lightheaded, Haru walks back into the kitchen, behind the outer counter and squats down before a small gray fridge.
The door swings open and a wide array of juice drinks flashes their fancy labels at him, 'dad's addiction is getting worse.'
He reaches his arm in and digs out a plastic bottle with the name 'SonBird' on it, apparently it's orange juice. Haru hears the rice cooker open beside him and he looks up, his little brother stands on a stool whilst scooping out a helping of rice into a bowl.
His father now sits at the dining table as his little brother serves him the bowl of rice, "thank you Botan." He pats Botan on the shoulder before he runs off into the living room.
"Haru, could you fetch me a SonBird from the fridge, it should be at the back of the second row."
With the cold juice in hand, Haru carefully leans over the front counter.
"Thank you..." His father stretches his right arm to receive the drink.
Haru kicks the fridge closed with a foot and starts to walk back to his room again, until...
"Hey Haru! Wanna play some games with me after I bathe?"
He knew his father hardly ever got home early, so this was a rare opportunity.
"I'm good, not feeling it today..." His voice is low and his tone almost sounds sad, "oh... Then I guess there's nothing we can do about that." His father turns back around on his chair, "Botan, wanna play some games with dad later?"
Haru finally reaches his bedroom door and stops his hand on the handle when his mother comes up from behind, "Haru, we have something to tell you, could you come down now?"
He felt as if the universe itself were dead set on preventing him from entering his room, he sighs deeply in his mind, "let me turn off the light first then."
Upon flipping back the light switch, he walks back to the living room where his father and little brother were playing on a console connected to the TV.
The screen is split in half as they race through a track in little karts, his mother stands at the dining table, her hands on the underside of one of the chairs. He knows that his mother has a liking towards the dramatic, so he stares at her adjusting her posture whilst wondering what she could be up to now.
Eventually Haru moves over and sits down on the couch alongside Botan and their father.
"Okay Botan, it's late and you should go to sleep now okay?" Their father strokes Botan's hair, "mm, okay..." Botan reluctantly agrees and heads off upstairs.
He turns off the console and sits back down beside Haru.
Meanwhile Haru's mother seemed to finally be satisfied with her posture and lifts the chair over to the living room. She places it in front of the glass coffee table, with her back facing the TV, a ceiling fan right over our heads spins rapidly.
She sucks in air before her expression changes, seeming as if she'd changed character.
"Oioioi~ You!" She rudely yet also carefully, plants her feet on the rectangular coffee table in between them, her arms were crossed but now she points an index finger at Haru.
"We've been ordered to send you off to prison you scoundrel!" His mother laughs strangely as if she were mimicking an actor.
"That's right Haru-san, or should I say... You pitiable fiend!" His father plays along with her.
'Am I in some sort of interrogation...?' Haru feels as if the vibe they emitted was off somehow, but he puts this matter aside.
"Prison? What do you mean by that?"
His mother suddenly becomes serious, dropping the act completely. "I and your father have been discussing this lately... And we think it would benefit you to learn how to be more independent! Isn't that right darling?" His father now has his arms crossed and eyes closed, clearly not realizing the drama was over.
'Hold on this wasn't what she wrote on the script...' He opens his eyes and sees his wife staring at him, obviously holding back a laugh, he looks away as he feels his face start to heat up.
"Well yea... That's about the gist of it, yup."
His mother regains her composure and looks back at Haru, "so we've secured you a dorm room in Kanto Gakuin High School, yay!" This news is much to Haru's dismay.
Haru knows his past crush lives in that very same dormitory, it only has four floors so he knows there's a quarter chance of ending up on the same floor as her.
For obvious reasons he needn't say aloud, this may be the beginning of the end.