The hallway was crowded with a sea of students, the air filled with the hum of chatter and the sound of footsteps echoing off the walls, Taro, Renn and Kenji barely made it to their class through the bustling hallways.
"We'll see you during lunch" Kenji waved his hand as he told Renn,
"Alright see ya" Renn waved his hand making his way to his class which is just beside theirs'.
Taro and Kenji entered their class, scanning the surrounding, they see some of their friends. Taro ended up on a seat in the third row leaning against the wall, with Kenji in front of him.
Sighing Taro exhaled as he sat down, "What's the problem?" Kenji asks Taro "Nothing, just thinking that I may have used up all my luck today, this is too much of a good seat".
The classroom is filled with murmur of students chatting and the sound bags being unpacked. A tall woman, long with long black hair calmly strode into the class, there was something subtle about her; despite her height her presence wasn't commanding, it wasn't until she got onto the podium that the class quieted down, but just from a glance you would know that you wouldn't want to get on her bad side.
A bright smile appeared on her face as she introduced herself "I'm miss Kana Yamada your homeroom teacher for this year, but you can call me miss Kana, nice to meet you.". Clasping her hands together she paused to think before continuing "well I'm going to skip all the formalities but, I hope I get to know you more and gain your trust going forward you can come to me about anything-" she pauses as she raises her hand to her chin looking down on the table, her eyes filled with curiosity, "hmmm, I guess you guys have already heard that enough from many teachers" she said with the intention of murmuring to herself but had mistakenly says it out loud, the class giggles a little.
"But…" she continued "you can still come to me for anything even if your boyfriend cheats on you I would give him a good beating on your behalf" she told the class with a smile.
'This may be quite an interesting year, I guess she was the new teacher some people were talking about, I guess she isn't bad at all'.
Waiting for the laughter to die down, Miss Kana continued "This may be a bit sudden but let's elect a class president and vice president" Looking at the class intently she asks "Is there anyone interested or anyone that the class would like to vote".
Naoto a tall slender boy with short brown hair raised his hand "How about Ryota, I'm sure there nothing that can go wrong with that, right?", the class was silent giving a silent agreement with him as the murmurs filled the air quietly, while Ryota was confused trying to arrange what had happened in his head, "Ryota are you ok with the position" Miss Kana as for his confirmation, "Well I guess there isn't much I can do about it, so it's alright, that's if everyone is okay with it".
"You should just become student council president while you're at it" Akihiro an average heighted boy with a sturdy build and light orange hair tells Ryota, "Hmm, probably", Ryota responds with a smile.
With Ryota's confirmation Miss Kana continued, "What about an assistant class prez", "What about Haruka?" Aya a short girl with light brown hair announced. "Me?" Haruka a girl with a curvy body, short blond hair and brown eyes responds in shock, Aya faces her with so much enthusiasm that it felt like you could see it seeping from her eyes "Of course, you would be the best person for this, your always so always so neat and organized and cool headed, I'm sure you can do it".
Although Haruka kept a straight face her ears were slightly red, embarrassed from Aya's praises, she replied, "Then I guess, I'll be the assistant prez since no one's taking up the offer".
"Really? I thought you would be like no it's such a bother" Aya said slightly surprised.
"I was never against the idea" Haruka responds, "
Oh, I see" Aya says with a bit of relief.
Miss Kana's posture visibly relaxed "Alright, so I guess that's it, what a relief I thought this would have taken longer, but I guess I shouldn't have been so worried you guys should carry out your duties well",
"No need to worry we will do our best" Ryota responds with a light smile, "Yah, of course" Haruka says in agreement with Ryota.
'I'm not too surprised both Ryota and Haruka have their charismatic personalities, and on top of that they're quite social, they get along with everyone including their seniors and juniors, I guess that's something I envy about them' Taro thought to himself resting his head on his desk.
RING! RING! RING! The bell for the first period rang, "That's it for today see ya, If you have any problems I'll be in my office" Miss Kana says as she leaves the class
Koyo Highschool, I guess you could say that its fairly popular. Starting in the school you are given seven compulsory subjects and four selective subjects which you choose according to what you want to do in college going higher the number of subjects you offer will reduce, right now I think we offer nine subjects seven compulsory subjects and two elective subjects, of course after this its only given that there would be free periods when you don't offer a particular subject
*
Akari and Saki are walking through the almost empty hallway as their voice echoed a little,
"isn't there any empty class" Saki asked with frustration, "Let's check here, they probably went for a lab class.
As they open the door the light flooding into the room suddenly illuminated the dusty air in front of them as the darkness consumed the remaining parts of the class making it hard for them to see elsewhere.
Akari moved her hand along the wall trying to find the switch "…Got it", she said in excitement as she fliped the switch, the darkness disappeared, their face filled with surprise, "Taro?" Saki voiced in confusion.
Taro raised his head from the desk with sleep clearly visible in his eyes, "…hey" he responded while stretching his arms above his head. "Hey? How are you even sleeping here it's so dark" Akari said with a bit of exasperation mixed with concern and confusion.
"You see I don't have anything right now so I came here to sleep, I left the light off cuz it was better and people won't come in but…" he then paused and looked at them "but it doesn't matter anymore I've probably slept enough so I'm not feeling sleepy anymore, probably".
Akari's eyes twinkled as she smirked at him "Really, you're not sleepy",
"Mmmhmm" he noded while yawning.
Akari and Saki sat down in front of him with a sparkle in her eyes she started at him "There this funny thing that happened get this like we went out for this event…"
'She really talks a lot like she would never want to stop, not like I can complain but I'm actually very happy that we're still so close after what had happened, I guess we're even closer now' he conversed in his mind, as his dark cloudy eyes stared at her a mild smile playing on his lips.
"Taro? Taro are you listening" she calls out his name as he was half way lost in his thought.
"…Yah" he replied a moment later
"Tell Saki that I've grown taller" she told Taro like a little girl complaining to her parent.
"Well, I guess you've grown, but your still quite short you know" He told Akari with a little smile spread across his face contrasting his dull eyes.
"But I'm sure you're not much taller than me, we're like basically the same height",
Taro looked at her confused on whether to be surprised or disappointed "I really don't know where you get your ideas from" he gently got up and stood beside her.
"Huh?" everything happened so fast that she paused for a moment, a bit late to react to what just happened. she was so surprised by how taller Taro was.
Taro looked down at her face still smiling "I guess you really are short".
"Shut it" Akari replied, her cheeks a bit red as her face scrunched up in a pout, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed as she looked away from him. She gently looked back at him "Come to think of it I never really noticed that you were this tall even though I've seen a lot". She spoke while Taro took his seat "I don't know, how should I" he casually replied, not much longer the bell rang.
Taro's posture slumped as he put his head on the table not wanting to hear the bell. Saki turned to Akari, "We should better rush to class" she said as she placed her hand on Akari's shoulder, "Yeah you're right I guess we should be going" she turned to Taro with a more serious face "You should better go to class too", Taro shrieked a little as he feels a shiver down his spine sensing how serious she was, "Yes, yes don't worry I will go, not like I have a choice" he answered her casually.
"Ok see you during lunch", "mmhmm, see you" Saki replied with a wave as she and Akari left the class.
"We should also tell Mei; she didn't come early today" Saki said.
"Yah that's true, she said that she's been hooked on this book" Akari replied a moment after.
"Are you for real she should really adjust her sleep schedule"
Their voiced disappeared into the hallways as they continued their conversation. Taro stood up, took a deep breath and exhaled "time for class" he said with his usual dull expression, as he left the class a short, small girl spotted him with a determined expression on her face, as she held her sketch book close to her chest.
*
The door opened as and closed, "I'm home" Taro said as he pulled off his shoes, shortly after, he walked into his living room, the house setting was a mixture of a modern and traditional Japanese home. The warm glow of the TV illuminated the cozy living room as a short young girl laid down on the couch, her long chestnut hair flowing down her back, her sleeveless top clung lightly where it met the fabric of the couch, and her dolphin shorts wrinkled at the hips from how loosely she draped herself there. Slowly sitting up, she paused the anime as she heard his voice. Her brown eyes rich and deep like coffee sparkled with excitement as she saw Taro, "Welcome back" Hanae said in her small gentle voice with a smile on her face. "Hey" Taro replied as he pats her head "I'm going to change then prepare dinner"
"What's for dinner" Hanae eagerly asked
Flashing a warm smile he replied "Whatever you want"
without wasting anytime, he made his way upstairs to his room.
*
The oil sizzled in the pan as the breaded beef was placed on it, Taro was almost sone preparing dinner and Hanae had arranged the dishes on the dinning.
Taro carefully arranged the Tonkatsu, steaming hot rice, and shredded green cabbage on fine china plates. A small bowl of miso soup sat alongside it emitting a gentle aroma. Hanae took a spoon, her face relaxed with a warm smile making it obvious that she enjoyed the food.
"So how was school today" Hanae asked her brother waiting to hear his response,
"I guess it was ok nothing particularly interesting happened, just like every other day in school:" Taro replied then continued eating.
Pouting having not been satisfied her dear brother's answer she continued "That's boring, well today we had chemistry and Akane tried mixing…and…" She continued the conversation with her brother till they finished dinner, It was just the two of them but they couldn't have been happier.
*
Taro dried his hair with a towel exiting the bathroom into his room, he laid on his bed looking at his phone, there was a text opened "mom" with the last message received being "I should be back in a few months".
Staring at the ceiling he murmured "A few months… I guess its ok, today has been stressful I should better go to bed" turning off the lights he slipped into his blanket, as he turned his gaze met the three guitars laying at the corner of his room, he felt a dull tug in his chest and a faint crease formed between his brows "Well sorry ive been really busy ill come back soon". closing his eyes the cold night welcomed him to sleep.