Shopping and Making Friends
The entrance ceremony was the same, people exchanged words Of Gratitude and Ended Without Any Incident, We Were Free To Do Whatever For The Rest Of The Day.
70-80% Of Students Went to the Dormitories, While The Remaining Formed Groups and made their Way To The Cafes, While The Louder Ones Went To Karaoke. The Hustle And Bustle Quickly Died Down. I Decided To Swing By The Convenience Store On My Way To The Dorms To Buy Some Daily Necessities.
I Entered The Store And I Was Welcomed By The Extravagant Amount Of Products and Different Ingredients, There Was Different Types Of Shampoo and Beauty Necessities, Vegetables, Snacks, Premade Lunch sets, and so on, i Decided To Grab Some Ramen Along With Other Stuff. Surfing Through The Shelves And Discovering The Different Types Of Products And Its Uses, Not Gonna Lie it is kinda fun.
" Ahh?! "
As I Was Going Through The Shelves, A Girl Bumped Into Me And Fell On The Ground, As She Fell, Her Basket Fell Along With a Book She Was Reading.
" I'm Sorry, I Should've Seen Where i was Standing " I Apologized, Knowing Fully That wasn't My Fault, But Mentioning it Will make me The Bad Guy, Well That's What I've Read About.
" A-Ah, No You Don't Have To Apologize, I Was Too Immersed In My Book That i Didn't Notice Where I Was Going, Its My Fault, I'm Sorry " She Had A mid-back Length Silver Hair With Black Ribbons Tied Behind it And Light Purple-ish Eyes, She Was Beautiful.
" Its Fine, Here Let Me Help You " I Crouched And Started Grabbing Her Stuff
" Umm, Thanks" She Replied As She Started Standing up
I Collected Her Stuff Until i Reached The Book She Was Reading, It Was Wuthering Heights By Emily Bronte.
" Wuthering Heights Huh " I Muttered
" Um, Did You Perhaps Read it it ? " She Said
" Yes, Its a Excellent Book, Well Excellent is understatement, Every Book By The Bronte is a Masterpiece " I Replied (
As i said that, i Could See Her Face Beaming With Happiness And Excitement, Just Like A Child Who Got His Long-Awaited Favorite Toy, She looked like an Angel With That Smile.
<How Can Such A Cute Creature Like Her Exist ?>
" Really ? , This is The First Bronte Book I've Read, But I've Read Most Of Isaac Asimov's Collection, It Was Great did you Read it ? "
" Mhm, If Your Looking For Similar Books, You Can Check Whose Body, It Is Kinda Long But Fun Nonetheless "
" Whose Body ? By Dorothy L.Sayers Right ? I've Already Read it, It Was Great, Especially In The Middle Where He Discovers That Other People Have Powers Similar To Him, And He Tries To Win By Outsmarting Everyone, i Got So Excited When i Reached That Part, Uh um, I'm Sorry If I'm Being Weird Or Anything, Its Just That I've been Looking Forward To Have A Friend Who Shares My Hobbies Of Reading Books, Umm, I'm Shiina Hiyori From Class C, What About you ? " She Tilted Her Head A Little.
" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka Class B, Nice To Meet You Shiina " I Replied
" Hiyori " She Muttered
" Uh ? " I Said Tilting My Head A Little
" Just Call me Hiyori, I'm Used To People Call me That So Please Use My First Name "
" Alright, Hiyori You Can Call me Kiyotaka too if you want "
" Its a Deal, Kiyotaka-kun " She Said Beaming.
We Continued Shopping While Talking About Books, Hiyori Seems So Passionate About Them, Apparently She Has A Collection Of Books That She Carries With Her Around, Its Weird But Nonetheless, Fun,
<I Guess Having Common Interest is Also Part Of Friendship>
As We Were Walking, i Noticed Something Weird, Hiyori Seems That She Noticed It Too, a Table In The Corner Of The Store Which Has Bunch Of Necessities On It, But There Was One Big Difference
" Free ? " Asked Hiyori
" Maybe Its For The People Who Burned All Their Points ? "
" How Is That Possible ? "
" I Don't Know "
I Went Closer To The Table And Noticed The Label " 3 Items Per Month " , These Were Different Than The Items On The Rest Of The Store, Some Daily Necessities like Toothbrushes etc. I Grabbed 3 Items And Put It On My Basket
" The School Is Very Lenient Isn't it ? "
" Yeah, 100.000 yen Per Month Seems Abit Too mush For Highschool Students, Even If Its A Government Sponsored School, Its Still excessiv- "
" Hey Shut It, Just Wait A Sec, Im Looking For it "
A Sudden Loud Voice Came From The Counter, Apparently a dispute Between two Young Men Glaring At Each Other, I Approached The Ill-Tempered Face Student Who Had A Fierce Red Hair And Intense Eyes, He Had An Intimidating Presence, Enough To Stop People From the Line To Step up Or Complain
" What's Going on Here ? " I Asked
" Huh? Who Are you ? " The Red Haired Guy Glared At Me, He Was Under The Mistake That i Was An Enemy
" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka From Class B, I Just Wanted To Check Because You Look Like You're in Trouble " My Explanation Seemed To Calm Him Down Abit
" I Forgot My Student ID Card, I Forgot That It Works As Our Credit Card From Now On " He Said Lowering His Head A Bit
He Putted He Noodle Cups Aside And Started Walking Back, Probably The Dorms Where He Forgot His ID
" I Can Pay For You If You Want, Walking Back To The Dorms To Get Back Seems Like a Pain, I Don't Mind " The Store Wasn't That Far From The Dorms, However, By The Time He Gets Back It Would be A Big Line of Students Buying Lunch
" Yeah its Annoying Thanks Man " He Genuinely Thanked Me, Well Feels Nice
As He Got Back I Swept The ID In The Scanner, The Cashier Confirmed The Purchase By A Nod
" Its no Problem, Uuuh " I Tilted My Head Abit
" Sudou, Sudou Ken, That's My Name "
" Nice To Meet You Sudou, I'm Ayanokouji, And This is Shiina Hiyori " Hiyori Gave him a Smile
" Nice To Meet You Ayanokouji, Shiina Here- "
Sudou Handed Me One Of his Cup Noodles " This is The Least i Can Do " Since Any Protest Would Get me nowhere , i Accepted , Walked Towards The Hot Water Dispense And Filled By Cup, Then Walked To The Bench Where Sudou Was And Sat Down Beside Him.
i Took A Sip Of My Ramen, It Was Good, The Flavors Complimented Eachother, And The Noodles itself Wasn't Bad, Although Abit Patty And Not Healthy Too, But It Was Delicious
Apparently, Hiyori Found Something amusing as I Could Hear Her Giggling Abit, I Looked At Her " is there something Wrong Hiyori ? " I Asked
" Oh No, its Just That You Look Like A Little Child When You eat Your Food Kiyotaka-kun , It Was Abit Amusing " She Said With a Giggle
" I See "
I Took Another Sip of My Noodles, Then Sudou Came Closer to My Ear And Whispered " You're On First Name Basis Already, Is She Your Girlfriend ? "
" No, We're Just Friends Who Share The Same Interest, She Asked me To Call Her By Her First Name Because She's Used to it " I Whispered Back
Hiyori Was Looking At Us With A Confused Expression, Before She Could Say Anything, Three Figures Approached Us, They Look Like They Are Upperclassmen, They Seem To Have Came Out From the store and Were Carrying Noodle Cups Aswell
" Hey, You Guys First Years ? This Is Our Spot " Said One Of Them
" Who Are You ? I Was Already Here, You're In The Way, Get Lost " Barked Sudou
" You Hear This Guy ? ' Get Lost ' He Says, What A Cocky First Year Punk "
The Three Laughed At Sudou, As He Shot up, Slamming His Noodle Cup On The Ground, Hiyori Got abit Nervous As She Kept Her Distance, She Then Looked At Me With A Worried Expression. I Gave Her a Nod, Which Eased Her abit.
" 'First Year Punk' Huh ? You're Trying To Make Fun of me Huh ? " Sudou Had An Extremely-Short Fuse, At This Rate, I Would Have to Intervene
" Chill Out, We Are Just Claiming Our Spot, After All We Are Second Years, So You Should Respect Your Upperclassmen,
<"Kohai " > said one them provocatively.
" You Got Alot Of Guts Asshole, I'll Beat The Shi-" Before He Could Keep Going i Grabbed His Shoulder To Stop Him
" Calm Down Sudou, Its Clear That They Are Trying to Provoke you, There is A Security Camera Nearby so if you Attack Them, You'll Be In Trouble " I Said
" But-"
" Hoh, Seems Like This Guy Has Some Brain cells in his Head, Not Bad, Are you Perhaps In Class A ? Or Maybe Class B ? " Said One Of Them.
<Class A And B ?>
" Ey 'You Red Haired Moron' Are You Perhaps in Class D ? " Said One Of Them
" Yeah, And What 'bout it "
The Three Of Them Looked At Eachother Before Laughing Hysterically
" AHHAHAHA , I KNEW IT , IT WAS A DEAD GIVEAWAY "
" HE IS FROM THE DEFECTIVE CLASS AHAHAHA "
" AHAHAHA You Poor Thing, Don't Worry, Since You'll Experience Hell Soon Enough, I'll let you off the hook "
<Experience Hell ?>
The Three Of Them Turned Their Backs To Us, And Started Walking Away.
" Heh Wai-" Sudou Barked As One Of Them Turned And Called Out To Me
" Hey, You Brown Haired Kid, Don't Hang Out With That Guy, For your Own Sake, This is Just A Friendly Advice From Your Senpais " He Said As He Cracked Into A Laugh And Walked Away
" Aaaah DAMN IT-" Sudou Couldn't Hide His Frustrations, Kicked A Trash Bin As He Walked Away.
I Looked Towards Hiyori To See Her, She Noticed My Gaze And Gave me A Smile, But It Was a Comforting One, I Looked Back Towards The Trash Bin And Started Fixing it
After I Gathered The Trash i Walked With Hiyori Towards The Dorms
She Didn't Say A Word And Sat Silence The Whole Time, None of Her Previous Enthusiasm Can Be Found, i Decided To Strike Up A Conversation.
" Did you notice ? " She Turned Towards me And Tilted Her Head
" Notice What ? "
" The Reaction Of Those Upperclassmen When they Heard That he is From Class D "
" Oh Yeah, Their Attitudes Took A Major Turn upon Hearing That, It makes Me Uneasy "
Seems Like This School is more than it lets on, We Might Be In a Disaster if We Weren't Careful, I Need To Talk To Ichinose About This
" As A Friend i'll offer you some advice, Don't Carelessly Spend your Points, We Might be in for a Rude Awakening if we aren't careful " i Offered
" Yeah, Thanks Kiyotaka-Kun " I Glanced To See An Anxious Hiyori, From Her Facial Expression I Can Tell That She Is Worried About The Others, What A Good Girl.
" You Don't Have To Worry, I"m Sure We'll be Just Fine "
We Arrived At The Dorms And Went To The Reception Desk, I Received A Keycard For Room 401 and Handbook Containing Information About The Dorm's Rules, I Quickly Flipped Through The Pages Memorizing The Important Details, Like Basic Rules And Time For Garbage Disposal, There is also Notes On Not Wasting Electricity And Water and So On.
" So They Don't Place Restrictions On Electricity And Gas Use ? " Said Hiyori
" This School Is Very Lenient Isn't it ? I Assumed They Would Deduct points For The Costs " I Responded " This School Really Went For Great Lengths To Make The Perfect System, Although I Doubt Spoiled Students Would Turn To Great Adults, This Is Too Good To Be True "
I Said As I Climbed The Elevator With Hiyori, I Pressed The Fourth Floor, Meanwhile Hiyori Pressed The Seventh
From Everything I've Seen So Far, I Couldn't Help But Doubt This Generosity, 100.000 Points Per Month For 480 Students In The Entire School, Which Results Into 48 Million Monthly, What Merit Could The School Gain From This ?
The Elevator Reached The Fourth Floor As I Stepped Out I Turned To Look At Hiyori
" I've Had Fun Today Hiyori, It was Very Nice Meeting You, Do You Want To Exchange Contact Information " I Suggested
" Yes, I Would Like That Very Mush Kiyotaka-kun " She Said With An Angelic Smile
I And Hiyori Exchanged Contact Info Before Bidding Farewell To Each Other Other, I Walked Towards The Door Which Had 401 Sign On It, And Swept The Keycard On The Handle Opening It.
My Room Was Nice, It Was About Eight Tatami Wide, Also This Is The First Time I Lived Alone, Without Having Any Eyes On Me.
I Went And Laid On My Bed. Pondering About What Happened Today, Is This Freedom ? If It Is Then It Was Nice, I'm Looking Forward To Living With You Freedom-chan.
Today i Got For The First Time a Girl's Contact Info, I've Made Some Friends And Didn't End up as an Outcast, I Got Excited By The Thought Of It, I Would Enjoy Being in Class B, And Around The People i met in the next Three Years, I Will Get To Experience Many Things. Taste Many Foods And Enjoy Having My Freedom Outside