1st Day At School

The buzzing sound coming from the lamps hanging on the ceiling, it was annoying, it could distract you, prevent you from focusing on your task. But for me it was different.

That buzzing noise and frequent flickering, as if the lamp threatened to die leaving us in consuming darkness only to brighten up once again, telling us to stand up and keep fighting, it was calming. After so much time that noise becomes a part of your life, your routine and it's not its presence that's bothering you, but the absence. Our orchestra always playing, just for us.

I can still remember another thing excluding that. The image of young boys and girls. We were all of the similar height and build. As of our age, we have never known and I still don't know till today. At first, there were fifty of us. Then the numbers changed to thirty, then to fifteen and lastly, just five of us remained. Although it's shame to admit, I can't recall their names. We didn't have names in the first place. Just numbers.

Sometimes I can't remember their faces clearly, sometimes they are just shadowy blurs. It scares me. I am afraid I will forget them entirely.

Oh, it's this place again. In front of me stood a boy in a grey uniform. His face was covered by shadow. Why I can't remember?

His arms are shaking. I'm sure he's saying something to me, no, he's pleading with me. Why I can't hear his voice?

He puts his arms in a fighting position. He ignores the trembling of his body. A familiar, cold voice came seemingly from every direction, saying, not, ordering us to begin. I hate that voice.

The boy rushed at me. We started fighting.

The next scene I remember involves the same boy again. This time he's lying on the floor. He's not moving. I know he's not breathing. I know he's dead. I know that because it was me who killed him.

He said something to me before he died, I know he said. Why I can't remember?!

****

*Bump*

"Oh, sorry."

The boy opened his eyes. He glanced at the girl who bumped into him and said he was fine. He massaged the back of his neck. "Damn, I'm all stiff," he mumbled.

"I didn't want to wake you up. You stayed up all night yesterday. I told you we should rest, Izumi." The boy sitting next to Izumi said, watching the outside through the bus's window.

"I know that. I was just too excited, I guess. Deep down I know you are happy too, Kyo." He glanced at his brown-haired friend and snickered.

Right now they were inside the bus they took to get to their new school. That's right, they were in High School, 1st year to be exact.

The brown-haired boy's name was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. He had brown hair put into no particular hairstyle, which he said was due to it getting a popular trend. His eyes were gold, always calm, others might think that he looked bored. Ayanokoji's voice suited his personality, it wasn't loud nor quiet, just right so you could hear him with no problems, though he tends to sound dull.

The other boy was called Miyamura Izumi. He had black hair reaching his shoulder also with no particular style. His eyes were a beautiful blue, adorned with glasses with thin frames of oval shape. His voice was nice to the ear, though sometimes he had to speak louder. Overall, most would say he looked gloomy.

Both of them were rather good-looking, though with nothing of them standing out, none would pay attention to them. They were wearing their school uniform, just like the rest of the people on the bus.

Suddenly, a commotion started at the front of the bus. Izumi saw like the pretty girl in the same uniform was trying to reason with a blond-haired boy, also a student of the same school. Even Ayanokoji started paying them attention.

It looked like the girl asked the boy to let an elderly woman sit, as he took the privileged seat. Then he started his speech of wasting his energy, how more precious it was, why should he let go of his place and why does she keep bothering just him when she could ask anyone else to let go of their seats. Hearing that the girl started looking anxious and confused.

'Damn, it's just a seat and elder woman. No need to be such a dick over it...' Thought Izumi. He looked around, wanting to see if someone is going to stand up. His eyes fell on a girl a few seats away and widen slightly. 'She's beautiful...' He simply admired the black-haired girl who read a book.

Just as he was thinking that, the girl who was fighting over the rights of elders spoke once again. "Umm, excuse me!" She started sounding uncertain, yet she continued feeling determined. "Would anyone be kind enough to change seats with this older lady, please?"

Silence answered her, everyone looked away from them. The blonde boy smirked seeing that. Seeing everyone's reaction, the girl looked sad.

"It's okay sweetheart. I can stand just fine. Thank you for your effort." The elderly woman smiled at the resigned girl.

The determination lit up once again when she saw the tired smile, but as she was about to speak again, someone stood up and raised his hand.

"Here, I don't mind if you take my seat." Everyone looked at the tall black-haired teenager with spectacles. "Sorry, Kyo." Said Izumi to Ayanokoji as he walked towards the girl and the older lady.

Ayanokoji just sighed, somehow predicting that this would happen.

"Really?! Thank you so much!" The girl excitedly took Izumi's hand and squeezed it happily with her soft palms. "You are so kind! I thought none would volunteer!" She smiled at him brightly still holding his hand, looking up at his face as he was head and a half taller than her. While he had to admit that the girl was cute and definitely his type, he awkwardly freed his hand from her grasp and just smiled wryly.

"Oh, umm, I'm sorry. I was just too happy and got carried away, haha~" She laughed awkwardly and apologized.

"It's... It's fine, don't think about it." He was quite surprised by the girl's boldness. It was his first normal interaction with the opposite sex.

'Great, I made her feel and look awkward. Way to go, Izumi...' Looking at her awkward expression he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. To avoid making the situation weird and to avoid an awkward conversation with the girl, he put in his earphones and played some music.

The girl glanced at himself a few times, fidgeting in place, having the same thoughts as Izumi. When she saw that he wasn't interested in having a conversation she sighed, feeling resigned.

A few minutes later the bus came to a stop. Izumi was the first one to leave. He decided to wait for Ayanokoji to join him, but he was pretty much at the end of the bus so it would take a moment.

"You. Do you have any interest with me?" A feminine voice directed to Izumi came from behind him.

He looked behind, only to see the same beautiful girl who was reading a book on the bus.

"Excuse me?" Asked confused Izumi. 'Did I ever speak to her? Maybe she's confusing me with someone?'

"You stared at me in the bus during that commotion in front. That's why I'm asking you, do you have any business with me?" She stared sharply at the surprised boy.

'What... What's wrong with her?' Thought Izumi. "I'm sorry if that made you uneasy. I was just trying to see if someone else is going to met go of their seat. That's all." Apologized Izumi. They started getting gathering attention, and he didn't like that. Their stares weren't friendly.

The girl squinted her eyes, measuring him from head to toes. "Then our talk is done here." She said shortly. The sudden wind blew her black hair to the side and when to put it together with her beauty and scenery, it made a stunning picture. For Izumi at least.

As she turned around to leave him, Izumi couldn't help but daze at her. He looked at her long hair from behind, her legs, and a little bit to the North...

'Come on, stop it.' He shook his head and looked away. 'You look like a creep!' While berating himself he felt a tap on his shoulder, making him jolt in place. "Uwah! O-oh, sorry Kyo. You got me startled."

"Who was that?" Ayanokoji asked looking at the leaving girl with his dull eyes, though Miyamura could tell he was worried... maybe...

"No one. She caught me watching at her and thought I had some business with her. That's all." Explained Izumi to his best friend. Well, to his only friend.

"I see." Kiyotaka nodded. "Let's go inside, the ceremony should start in a moment." He said and started walking up the stairs.

Izumi sighed and scratched the tip on his nose with the back of his palm. "Yeah, I'm coming."

And that's how their first day started. The first day of their normal life.