1 The start of a tiresome life

When we see around us sometimes don't we question things which we know as a fact but cannot explain the exact reason?

Questions like "Why am I born as a human and not as some other species?", which feels like a very dumb question but sometimes we would have thought about that right? No?...Okay.

Actually we do not need a proper answer or what we call a logical explanation to everything because there are somethings which logic of a normal human cannot answer.

Well leaving that aside, there even are some words about which we know and freely use in our day to day life but do not have a definite meaning and we all can think of such words or to be more precise emotions or feelings.

One time a person asked someone what is the meaning of "love", he answered that it is a feeling which we cannot explain a feeling towards someone which make us hold dear to someone.

If we count that as a general meaning then why does it differ from our perspective for person to person?

When we say we love our parents or our siblings which is not quite possible, why does that word "love" have a different meaning when used for a person other than them? Why does this love convert into "romantic love"? And we all know what that means.

Well I was thinking about these things when the school bell rang and it was time for me to go home.

By the way I am Takana Itsuki, a below average high schooler with above average grades and I love thinking about such silly stuff when I am alone which is most of the time in my life.

People would call me an introvert but I call myself a superior species of homosapiens.

We humans have always lived in groups and has thus survived this far. That is what is written in our books and that is what is taught to us but just think if we humans would have survived so long all alone in a way of everyman for himself then would our perspective of life change?

If you ask me what is the meaning of life I will just say, "Well, I am not the right person to ask that question" and I mean it because till now life has not turn into a proper meaning to me.

On my way home I remembered that today was Wednesday so I could use the school piano and don't worry, I have permission for that.

I sat at the piano and started playing Moonlight Sonata first movement and then the third movement.

If you ask why not the second movement? Because no one actually plays it but I have learnt that piece just to find that I do not actually enjoy playing it that much.

I was so immersed in the music that I did not realize that someone was watching me at the door.

I heard the sound of clapping followed by someone saying, "Impressive."

I turned to see who it was and found myself looking at a girl of my age just standing at the door of the room.

She had a face that most people will consider as "attractive", she had long legs and rest of the human body parts. Female, of course.

"When someone praises a person it is normally a mere flattery or they want something form the person so which is it in your case?"

"Come on, I was genuinely praising you. I have never heard anyone in actual life who plays the piano so well."

"Okay. Bye"

"Wait aren't you being a little rude there? At least tell me your name. My name is Isogai Ine and I am from class 2-D. And who are you?"

"You are from class 2-D? No wonder you do not know me , well it's not a surprise. I am Takana Itsuki from class 2-D. So you know who I am so bye."

Then I dashed out of the room.

I have a simple moto ,"do not engage with other people because then you will end up hurt sooner or later" and sometimes in a way which will take a lot of time to coup up with.

My house is not very far from my school, Sanye High, which is a good thing so that I don't have to waste much of my energy in walking or buying a ticket for taking a bus or train.

I live alone and am very used to it. You see, my parents are always abroad due to their business and my little sister studies in middle school in our home town who comes to visit me during every break.

I entered my house and locked the door, turned on the lights and then went in my room where Gon was waiting for me.

Gon is my friend who only I can see. You can consider him as an imaginary friend but he is too real to be imaginary and he is not a ghost I guess. I don't want exorcists in the house.

He has an athletic built, wears casual T-shirt and pajama because he finds them the most comfortable and is always lying down on the floor because it is cold.

"Long day today Itsu?"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"But it 's cool. So tell me what happened today at school? Did you talk to any actual living person?"

"Yes, there was this girl who was just watching me play piano and then talked me like she knew me."

"Wow, maybe that girl like you."

"Shut up, she is a normal "nice" girl who is nice to everyone and there is no way that she likes a person like me."

"Well that is for you but not me, girls are always around me, you know."

"Oh, so they are the imaginary one's for you. Good, living in your own fantasy when I am not around."

"Hey, that hurts man. So tell me about this "nice" girl."

"Well I do not know but she may be totally your type if.."

"If?"

"You really want me to complete my sentence?"

"Okay sorry, I know I am an imaginary friend of yours, you do not have to rub it in my face and please stop teasing me."

"Why shouldn't I? You will be the only person I can tease you know."

"Ya, because of your motto."

"You get it right .So now let me go and make dinner."

"You were the one who came here."

"IT'S BECAUSE THIS IS MY HOUSE AND YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY ROOM!"

Then I went to make dinner, and I am actually good at it. At least the food matches my taste.

The next morning I woke up and the first thing I saw was Gon lying on the floor, something he normally does when he has nothing to do.

It is normal for me to see him just lying on the floor first thing in the morning. I went to the bathroom, took a bath, made some quick toast for breakfast and my lunch and head off to school.

When I was at the school gate a strange thing happened.

Someone who was not a teacher called out my name.

I did not bother to look around but then that person came in front of me.

She was out of breath most probably because she was running.

"Remember me?"

"No. Bye."

"Hey, you are being very rude you know. You really do not remember me? I am Isogai Ine remember? Good morning by the way"

"Okay, good morning. Bye."

"Hey, why are you ignoring me?"

"I am not. I talked to you so logically I did not ignore you."

"No, you are ignoring me. Do you hate me or something like that?"

"Its time for class so I have to go and I do not hate you but I also do not like you so bye."

I always try to brush people aside so that I do not need to talk much with them and they do not bother me again.

Well sometimes I am just called an obnoxious person but if that is how they see it then let them be.

I have to deal with bullies every now and then but it also stopped soon as they noticed that nothing affected me at all.

To be fare it actually does not affect me, I honestly sympathize for such low-life creatures who does not have anything else but to butt into someone else's life.

The school bell rang and homeroom period started and everything went fine with me completely submerged in our science book.

Yes, you can call me nerd but I do not mind at all because I do not care about what people think about me, because it is not like they are the one who will shape my future for me. No one is that generous in the reality.

During lunch time I took my lunch and went to my favorite spot in the entire school.

The music room.

I sat there as I heard the masterpieces of Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and other famous composers were playing in the room's speaker.

I was sitting there quietly eating my lunch when I found out I was not alone.

When I was about to leave I saw that there was a girl in the opposite corner of the room.

Luckily she did not notice me and I walked towards the classroom when I heard she say,

"Wait."

I turned around and after looking at her for five more seconds I realized that she is the same girl I met at the school gate. I just could not remember her name.

Look, I don't have a bad memory, as a matter of fact I have an awesome memory. It is one of some more skills I can boast about. I just remember the names of those people who will play an important role in my life, like the teachers at the school.

"You know who I am right. So tell me what is your problem? Why do you ignore me a lot?"

"First of all, I forgot who you are and second of all I did not ignore you, see, I am talking to you right now."

"That does not count", she said with an annoyed face.

"What a drag", I said to myself.

"Like I said you are ignoring me and tell me do you have some kind of problem with me?"

"Why would I have a problem with someone I do not even know."

"Well you do know me I am Isogai Ine, the girl whom you met yesterday in this room and today at the front gate."

"I only know that you exist nothing more, so don't say that I know you. You also know that I exist nothing more. Also lunch break is almost over I am heading to class and do not talk to me ever again."

I said that and walked away from the room hoping that she will never talk to me.

See when people talk there is a chance that they will know more about the person and unconsciously they will become attached to that person in some way or other.

So it is best to not to talk to anyone, being on my own and let everyone hate me so that I will not have a tough time with handling them. Just let them think I am a worthless guy.

The rest of the school time went peacefully. As I entered my house I saw Gon just standing at the entrance with a grin on his face.

"What, why are you grinning?"

"Nothing much just thinking, who is that girl at the entrance of the house?"

I turned around to find Isogai standing at the entrance of the house just looking at me.

"So this is where you live."

"Are you a stalker?"

"What? Me? A stalker?"

"Yes, otherwise why are you following me?"

"I am not following you I live next door."

"Okay, nice to meet my new neighbor."

"I have been living there since I was born. Did you just move here?"

"Yes, two years ago since I started high school. I hope I will not be of any trouble to you and the other neighbors."

I said that and was about to close the door when she asked,

"Do you live here alone?"

I was about to say why do you care but I understood she is not the type of person who will end the conversation quickly if I said that. She will just keep asking.

"Yes, I do live alone so, bye."

Then I closed the gate and went in my room and lay on the bed.

"Man, is that the girl you were talking about Itsu?"

"Yes she is that girl."

"How did a girl like her talk to you?"

"I do not know and don't want to know she is just another annoying person in my peaceful life."

"Bro, if I would be a real person I would have just asked her out to."

"And get rejected."

"Hey, we do not know that for sure."

"Ya, sure."

Then I sat at my piano in the room opposite of mine and started playing. If you think then why do I play the school piano on Wednesdays?

It is because I don't why but it is more fun playing that one even though mine is more expensive. Well looks like expensive is not supposed to be always better.

I was playing when the bell rang which was weird as I did not order anything online.

I went to the door in thinking that it were the salesmen who came.

I opened the door and Isogai said, "Hello"

Then I closed the door and she rang the bell again number of times.

"It is not good to close the door on someone when you just see them."

I looked and saw that she had a pot in her hands.

"I just made some dinner for you because you live all alone so..."

"I told you to not talk to me then why did you do this."

"Well you never said that I could not make dinner for my neighbor who is also in my class."

I thought that I could invite her in and that as only I can see Gon I would talk to him normally and make her think that I am some kind of weird person and then she can leave me.

A perfect plan. I know I am awesome.

"Well, thank you why don't you come in."

"Wait, what? A second ago you told me not to talk to you."

"Yes, sorry about that. Just think that I am impressed by your thoughtfulness."

I told her to wait in my room and when I placed the pot on the table I went back to my room.

"So what do you think?"

"Well it is clean for a boy's room."

"I am boy not a wild animal. By the way did you meet Gon?"

"Who?"

"Gon, he is my friend who lives here, sorry I forgot to mention that before. He is right there."

I said that and pointed at Gon and he was also surprised.

"Bro what are you doing?"

"Come on man don't be shy you said you want to meet the girl I talked to yesterday."

"I am sorry Takana-kun but where is this Gon I cannot see him."

"He is right there Isogai-san."

"Where?"

"There, can't you see him?"

"Wait is your friend a ghost? Are you a spirit medium?"

"No, he is not a ghost. Don't be silly, ghosts do not exist. Go on Gon, say hi."

I saw Isogai's face as she was in shock of what was going on. She stood up and said that she was leaving.

"Why? You have not met Gon properly?"

"Sorry something important came up."

"Okay."

Then she dashed out of the house.

"Problem solved", I said to myself.

Gon came behind me with a confused look on his face.

"Dude what was that? You know I am your imaginary friend then why did you talk to her about me like I was real."

"Well it was a part of my plan to stop her from talking to me."

"Why?"

"Because I do not want to get involved with people you know that."

"Fine but if I were in your place, I wouldn't have done that."

"Well, you and I are from different worlds so we cannot do anything about it."

Then I had my dinner which was delicious. She sure has some skills. After that I studied till midnight and then went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and continued with my daily routine.

When I was about to leave the house the doorbell rang.

Opened the door and saw Isogai standing right in front of me.

"Good morning, Takana-kun."

"Why are you here Isogai-san?"

"So that we can walk to school together."

"Okay, whatever I don't want to get late to school."

I couldn't understand that. Why is she still interacting with me? If she was a normal girl and can understand what I am saying she would have stopped by now. Wait is something wrong with her?

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"I told you to not talk to me then why are you still doing it."

"You see Takana-kun after I met you I started to realize your presence was non-existent in our classroom and I noticed you did not talk to anyone in the entire school except for the teachers."

"Because I do not need to talk to anyone except them."

"At first I thought you were afraid to talk to people of your age or maybe hated them. But when I saw you yesterday I was sure that you wanted to make friends but don't have the courage to talk to others."

"Well that back fired", I told myself.

When we were near the gate of the school I started hearing people whispering to each other. I could tell what they were saying.

"Who is that guy with Isogai-san?". "Why is she with that dimwit?", and so on.

I really hate being the center of attention of other people's gossip and it was really annoying.

Even when I entered the class and sat on my seat, I could feel people's eyes on me and I still could not understand why that was happening?

The thing is I never paid attention to my classmates at all. Who is famous who is not, who is the rough and tough one and who is the weak one. None of that ever mattered to me, what mattered to me was me and myself.

The school was a complete nightmare, again and again Isogai would come to my seat and try to start a conversation with me, sometime it is about school work sometimes, about classical music which was the one I enjoyed and sometimes just random stuff.

It was time for our lunch break, I was about to leave the classroom when Isogai said,

"Wait for me Takana-kun, let's eat our lunch together."

There goes my only peaceful time in school which I thought I could enjoy, and now even that is a part of Isogai's mission "annoy Takana-kun as much as possible."

When we were in the music room she took a chair and sat next to me, now she is even invading my personal space.

"Is this a new type of bullying?"

"Why do you think so?"

"Leave that. Just tell me, why are you doing all this?"

"I am doing this so that you can be more comfortable to talk to people of our age."

"And what good will it do to me?"

"You will have friends and real ones and you will never be alone in the class and will be happy."

"And what makes you think that I was not happy with my life?"

"Well because you did not have any friends and life without friends is not very fun."

"If your point is only related to fun then I was having plenty of fun in my life. And honestly right now, this is really annoying. Let me rephrase it you are very annoying."

"What?"

"Remember when you asked me if I hate you or not, well here is my answer, you are very pushy and I hate pushy people, in short I hate you. So please, I do not want your sympathy."

With that I stepped out of the room without looking at Isogai because I knew, if looked back she would take it in another sense and would not stop annoying me.

The rest of the day went normally without Isogai coming to my seat and talking to me and when the school bell rang I was about to leave my seat when a group of boys surrounded me and told me to come with them.

I knew this was not good news.

"So, tell me Takana what is your relation with Isogai-chan?"

"She is a bully and I am her target."

"This is no place for jokes, tell me, why is she talking to you all of a sudden?"

"That is a question even I could not find an answer of."

"Now listen here--"

"What are you all doing?"

I looked behind the boy and saw Isogai standing there.

"Nothing Isogai-chan we were just asking him something related to maths, he is really good in it."

"Oh is that so?"

"Yes, ok thank you Takana-kun for your help. Lets go guys."

As they were leaving they said one last thing to me in a lower voice, "Stay away from her."

"Who were they Takana-kun?"

"Your fan club."

"What?I do not have any fan club."

"And they do not make one with you knowing."

"That is not possible why would there be a fan club for me?"

"Why can't it? Just look at yourself."

"Wait did you just compliment me?"

"I just stated a fact, but you can take it in anyway you want, I am no one to say in it."

"Okay, so let's go."

"Where?"

"Home."

"You really are a difficult person to deal with."

"Whatever. I don't care anyway, I have taken quit quite an interest in you."

"Why? Also I told you that I hate you so why are you still talking to me?"

"Because I know there is something that you are hiding and I want to find that out. Maybe that is the reason why you always try to be alone."

This time hearing her did not annoy me, I don't know why but I smiled a bit.

"I would like to see you try."

"Hey that is the first time that you ever smiled in front of me."

"Enough talking let's head home it is getting late."

"Yes, let's go."

While we were walking back home I thought to myself when was the last time I smiled in front of another student of our school? It feels like an eternity since I last smiled in front of other students. Why is that I smiled now? That maybe a question whose answer I may never be able to find, but what is the harm in trying.