Chapter 4.2: Kaito’s Disruption

The next class was chemistry. I wasn't expecting much. Same as always. That was until Kaito, the new guy, showed up.

He'd been sitting behind me in history, and he'd mentioned something about the chemistry lab being a "place to think." I'd brushed it off at the time, not really giving it much thought. But now, as I sat at my lab table, I noticed him walking toward me with a confident, almost deliberate stride.

"Kai Tanaka, right?" he said, his eyes meeting mine as he slid into the seat beside me.

"Yeah," I said, glancing up at him. "You're Kaito, right?"

He nodded. "That's me. We're partners, I guess."

I looked around. The rest of the class had already paired off, leaving us with no choice but to work together.

I didn't mind. There was something about Kaito that made me feel like I could be myself, even if it was just for a few moments.

The class started, and we began working on the experiment. As usual, I wasn't really focused on the task. But Kaito didn't seem bothered by it. He just went about the work with a quiet ease, his hands steady as he measured chemicals and carefully followed the procedure.

"You don't seem like the type to care much about grades," I said, watching as he went about his work with such focused precision.

Kaito glanced up from his beaker and shrugged. "Grades are a joke, honestly. People take them too seriously."

I raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to care about them? I mean, they determine your future, don't they?"

Kaito shook his head, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. "They don't really determine anything, Tanaka. It's just a way to keep people distracted from what really matters."

I was taken aback. I didn't know what to say. Here was someone, a total stranger, telling me that everything I'd been taught to value—the grades, the recognition, the expectations—was all a distraction.

"Then what does matter?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He looked at me for a long moment, as though considering his words carefully. "People. Their minds. What they feel, what they think. Not how well they can memorize facts or solve equations."

I wasn't sure if I agreed with him, but there was something compelling about his words. He wasn't like the other students, the ones who were all about performance. He was different, in a way I couldn't quite understand.