3 Things that Don’t Change

After changing his shoes with uwabaki (indoor shoes) in the locker room, a certain golden brown-haired teen slowly walked through the hallway with wary eyes. His head turned to the left and right, up and down, looking around his surrounding. In a way, his behavior was vaguely reminiscent of a spy infiltrating some dangerous place, or a thief trying to steal some treasure.

Some students passing-by couldn't help but glance curiously at him, wondering silently what he was doing or why he did that. Yet, none of them was curious enough to ask him about it.

He wasn't acting funny. He didn't act it out of thinking someone following him around or looking for something or someone either. He did it simply for his own good (and by extension, other people around him too). He just didn't want to let his guard down; he needed to be cautious of his surrounding. That was because every time he came to school—

BAM!

"Ouch!" Izumi cried out of reflect.

—while seemed unlikely, something unexpected tended to happen to him.

Just like what had happened. The door to the left side abruptly threw opened right on his face when he merely walked by it. The sudden noise attracted the people around the area, eliciting some chuckles from them.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" a feminine voice drifted into his ears afterward.

Massaging his aching forehead, the brown eyed-boy looked up and saw a female student appearing behind the door. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was the one who opened the door. It didn't hurt him that badly, at least his nose didn't bleed, and yet she looked very guilty.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" the girl said while bowing repeatedly.

"I-it's okay," he replied then continued heading to his classroom.

Opening the door of class 1-A, he carefully stepped inside before closing the door behind him. The bustling atmosphere in the room just a moment ago was fading slowly and turning into an awkward silence. Somehow his classmates' attention was solely on him, despite some of them trying their best not to look at him. It made him feeling a bit unnerved.

'What's going on? Is there something on my face?' Izumi wondered silently.

"G-good morning," he greeted in a meek voice.

"Good morning," replied a few of his classmates.

Deciding not to think too much about it, Izumi went to his desk in the second row from the back next to the windows. As he struggled ignoring his classmates' stares and occasional whispers, he failed to notice something on the ground. It was a pencil that had been rolling down to the floor, making a small 'clack' sound, and rolling again before finally settled down—

THUD!

—right on Izumi's path as if waiting for him. Waiting to ambush him.

The pencil caused Izumi to trip and fall down face first to the ground with a loud thud. Subsequently, his classmates started to laugh. Laughing at him, not with him. And it seemed no one intended to help him standing up from the hard marble floor.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The sound of the bell indicating the start of the lesson could be heard. A few moments later the door opened once again, however none of the occupants of the room noticed it as they were still busy laughing. This time it was a man in their forties.

Kato-sensei, a math teacher and the homeroom teacher of class 1-A, went in and let his gaze wandered around the classroom wordlessly. His students were still busy laughing over something. Then, he sighed when spotting one of his students on the floor—the cause of the uproar. It wasn't bullying. As unbelievable as it sounded, it was purely an accident. He knew it because he had seen himself before, when something like this had happened to the same student.

The teacher cleared his throat, gaining his students' attention. Silence descended into the room as everyone stopped laughing immediately.

"Yoshinaga," Kato-sensei said, "get up quickly and go back to your seat."

"Y-yes, Sensei," Izumi responded.

After that the teen got to his feet and dusted himself off the dirt. As he took on his seat by the window, he could still feel some of his classmates' stares at him, making him heaved out a sigh. He sunk slightly in his seat and lowered his head to hide his face. It wasn't the first time it happened yet it was still embarrassing as ever.

'Calm down, Izumi, you only had a bad day. That's all.' he said to reassure himself.

Yes, today was really a bad day for Yoshinaga Izumi even though it was still in the morning. That's why he hoped it wouldn't escalate into a worse day than it already had.

***

After a long and tiring morning, finally it was lunch break. Something the students of Nanazono High School had been waiting for. Once their teachers left, they filled out of the classrooms immediately, heading to the cafeteria on the first floor.

There wasn't any rule that they had to eat there. There wasn't any rule saying they shouldn't bring food from outside, whether it was a homemade bento or not. It was simply because the food served there was so delicious and cheap. Everyday the cafeteria had a different set of menus and all of them were so popular among the student body that it was always sold out.

Of course, not everyone got tempted by the food. There were still students who preferred to bring their own food. Unofficially, they were called the bento group—Izumi was one of them and he usually would eat his bento in the classroom. Their reason for it was quite simple as well: they didn't want to go to the cafeteria.

(Additionally, the other group was called cafeteria group.)

"I don't want to go in there…," muttered Izumi quietly, unenthusiastically.

Currently he was doing nothing but standing in front of a double bar door. He wouldn't be here in the first place if he didn't forget to bring his lunchbox with him this morning. And now, he was regretting every second of it.

'Haah… It can't be helped, can it?'

With that thought and a deep sigh, he prepared himself before entering the battlefield mundanely known as cafeteria. His hand pushed the door open, and…

…he was greeted with something that could only be described as chaotic.

Actually the room was rather spacious, maybe as large as the auditorium, with long tables and chairs being set in orderly fashion. It could possibly accommodate all the students of the school. Big windows with the view of the garden outside were on one side of the wall, providing natural light onto the room. Delicious aroma promising of equally delicious food was floating in the air, rousing anyone's appetite, whoever happened to smell it.

Everything gave the impression that it was a moderately nice and relaxing place.

That being said… It was very noisy; it was a wonder if one could hear their own voice.

Bustling with activity like usual during lunch period, people could be seen walking around with their trays of food to get their seats or to switch seats with the others. Some students could be seen eating in pairs while others in groups, and the rest were eating alone in silence. From all over the place, the sound of their conversations about pointless things could be heard overlapping with the clattering of utensils against dishes.

Furthermore there was a long queue of students in the counter that made people think it was faster if they just bought their lunch from convenience store nearby. It was a normal and expected sight that happened everyday—it was one of the reasons bento group didn't want to go there. After all, this was the kind of lunchtime rush in Nanazono High School cafeteria.

'And it's only the tip of the iceberg,' the golden brown-haired boy remarked inwardly.

Remembering certain event that had happened before when he ate there and gazing at the chaotic cafeteria he was in, he couldn't help but to feel discouraged. Until the undoubtedly smell of delicious curry wafted in the air, making his stomach growled in hunger and his mouth watered. It reminded him again that he had no other choice.

With absolute reluctant, Izumi moved towards the counter and stood behind the line of students.

"All right, everyone! The curry is sold out!" announced the woman behind the counter all of sudden. Her voice was loud enough to subdue all the other noises.

"EHH!!" shouted the students in protest.

"Don't worry, don't worry. There are still the breads and sandwiches," she assured with a warm smile. "But if you don't get them soon, they'll be sold out."

A second after she said that, the students began shouting their orders.

'First come, first served' was the common rule in this cafeteria. Everyone in that school knew that and accepted it since the first day of their freshmen year. No one dared to break it. However, once the main menu was sold out, the rule changed into 'survival in the fittest'. It could no longer be called a cafeteria but a fierce battlefield. And, of course, everyone knew that too and followed it accordingly.

So, it wasn't something unusual when, unlike before, the students didn't line up orderly nor didn't have any patient to wait around any longer. This was the last chance for them to get the food, after all. It was inevitable that they became even more rowdy and noisy, pushing and shoving each other as they trying to get what they wanted first.

'It's more like in the jungle instead of cafeteria,' Izumi commented in his head.

At a time like this he really hoped there was another rule about the noise and the order. That way, a lot of students from 'cafeteria group' would feel more comfortable with the place and maybe those from 'bento group' would stop avoiding it like a plague.

Less than two minutes later the woman behind the counter took out the sign 'SOLD OUT' and put it on the counter. The crowd dispersed immediately, leaving the room with their lunch.

"Eh? Sold out?" Izumi asked softly, his eyes focused on the sign.

"Yes. Sorry, kid," the woman replied kindly, "Try again tomorrow."

"Tomorrow I won't come here."

"Ah? Is that so?" she responded lightly. Her casual tone suggested that it wasn't the first time she heard it. Apparently it was normal a student decided not to come ever again to the cafeteria.

"Tomorrow I'll make sure I won't forget my lunch."

She didn't look offended when she heard that, instead she smiled. "Bento group's really a bunch of determined kids. Never give up that easily," she said before going to the kitchen.

Meanwhile Izumi was still standing near the counter. He couldn't believe that it was sold out right when it was his turn to order. It couldn't be help, he supposed, it was always like this. With a sigh he stepped away and turned around to leave the place. In that moment—

CRASH!

—suddenly there was a sound of something crashed into the floor.

"Ah," uttered Izumi as he looked at the mess he had just done.

A plate and a glass were shattered into pieces from the impact while the utensils along with a tray were fine. The curry and orange juice splattered everywhere near his feet. All of these certainly weren't his. These belonged to a male student whom Izumi had run into. And that person was currently standing before him and staring at him. Izumi glanced up to look at the face of the student and instantly regretted it.

"I-I'm sorry, Yamada-senpai," he apologized right away.

It was Yamada Taichi.

He was a second year and the captain of the karate club. He had short, dark hair and black eyes. He was fairly good-looking and popular among the girls. Sadly, it was also a common knowledge that the young man was one of the bullies in this school. Just because he felt he was stronger than the others he tended to ordering around the other club members (especially the male ones) and even the other male students (especially the underclassmen).

Moreover, he was the leader of the three bullies Izumi encountered this morning.

"Yo-shi-na-ga," Yamada spelled his name in a threatening tone.

"I'm so sorry, Yamada-senpai," repeated Izumi.

"Look what you've done!" barked the upperclassman angrily.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"And what? Sorry? Sorry you say?" he said in a sarcasm tone of voice. "Say that to my lunch!"

The golden brown-haired boy bowed his head in shame. Unlike this morning, this time it was really his fault for not being careful. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Sorry won't fix this! How are you going to take responsibility for this!? HUH!?"

Uncomfortable atmosphere settled in the suddenly noiseless cafeteria. The other students who were enjoying their lunch started to stare irritably to where Yamada and Izumi stood, annoyed at the unnecessary noise they made—or more like what Yamada made. And yet, no one said a word to stop Yamada or called him out of it, or simply interrupted him, or even to try to get involved. Majority of them were pretending not to notice anything, as usual.

It was understandable; they didn't to get into any trouble. Who knew what Yamada would do to them if they tried to step in.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," said Yamada all of sudden. "I heard you beat up my underlings this morning. And now you dared to ruin my lunch. What's this? Are you trying to mock me? Or are you trying to prove something?" he asked. "You sure have guts for a wimp."

'What!?'

A pair of brown eyes widened in shock after hearing his senior's words.

No, no, no! He wasn't the one who beat them up! He was the victim—the one they bullied. The one who did beat them was Mikami Kyousuke. He was merely a witness! How come there was that kind of rumor? Where did Yamada hear it from? Or more like, did someone else see it and misunderstand it? And…that someone was also the one who spreading the false rumor?

If so, then he needed to clear it up.

Shaking his head rapidly, Izumi denied it. "N-no, I wasn't—"

"Wasn't what?" interrupted Yamada, "Are you trying to get away from the responsibility now?"

"It's not like that."

"Do you really think you could get away that easily?"

"No, it's not like—"

"Sorry won't cut it. You're going to pay for what you had done."

Sensing that it was a hopeless battle, Izumi stopped trying to explain himself. Instead, he carefully stepped back bit by bit. His instinct told him to get away from there quickly. Glancing at the door of the cafeteria, he considered the distance between where he was standing to it. It was around fifteen meters at best. Although he wasn't a fast runner if he had the head start perhaps he could do it.

Now, what he needed was the right moment to execute his plan.

He paid attention to Yamada's movement and… The moment when Yamada had his attention somewhere else, Izumi made a dash to the door. And he managed to get out of the room.

Noticing his escape, the leader of the bullies came after him. "Get back here, you coward!" he shouted angrily. "Stop running! Get back here!"

For some reason Izumi began to feel like a mouse being chased around by an angry cat.

…Or, a cat being hunted down a mad human for an unreasonable reason.

"How could something like this happen?" bemoaned Izumi.

It might be a bit too much to ask for a peaceful day.

The day just kept getting worse…