Ken alighted from the car after briefly saying goodbye to his mother. During the entire car ride she had been asking if he really was okay to go to school today, probably because of how weirdly he had been acting this morning.
Thankfully, he managed to convince her to let him go.
‘If I remember correctly, I should be in class 3-C this year along with Daichi.’ He thought to himself, moving past the large bulletin board and heading towards the gym.
As it was the first day of the new school year, everyone was required to assemble for the opening ceremony. Due to his antics this morning, he was a little late even though his mom had dropped him off at the school.
Therefore there were only a few students like him who were rushing towards the gym to avoid being tardy.
Ken made haste towards the gym.
When he arrived, he experienced an immense feeling of nostalgia. Seeing the hundreds of students all lined up in their respective class lines whispering to each other and fidgeting around impatiently.
Mr. Tanaka turned around to see Ken standing in the doorway and looking dazed. He tried a few times to wave him down and get his attention as the ceremony was about to start, however he was like a deer in the headlights.
“Ken, quickly get to your class. The ceremony is about to start.” Mr. Tanaka walked up to him, snapping him out of his reverie.
“Ah. Sorry sir!” Ken mumbled, quickly scurrying off to his class line.
He had not expected to be filled with such a sense of nostalgia upon arriving in the gym. Only now did everything feel real. In fact, he had been worrying all this time that this was just a dream, or perhaps he was in a coma in real life.
However, the feeling he experienced upon walking into the opening ceremony finally hammered it home. This was real!
***
The ceremony was typical, covering the same things that they did every year. Most of the students had switched off their brains merely 2 minutes after it had started.
Ken too had been off in his own world.
After the ceremony had finished, the students dispersed, returning to their new classrooms. As Ken walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor, a couple of boys saw him and called out, making their way over.
“Ken! Looks like we’re not in the same class again this year.”
The teenager had somewhat of a bowl cut and narrow eyes, however despite that, he was friendly and approachable. He was relatively short, even for a middle schooler.
Ken’s eyes lit up in recognition. The teenager was Keisuke Chiba, he played short stop and was one of the lead-off batters for his baseball team in middle school.
He let out a small smile and shook his head, “We’ll see each other at club activities anyway.”
“Eh, I thought you’d be just as upset as me. We’ve been classmates since Elementary school.” Keisuke said, feigning sadness.
“Pfft. You’re just upset you won’t be able to copy my English homework.” Ken said, laughing out loud.
“Tsk I got found out.” Keisuke chuckled in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head.
Keisuke was a good friend in his past life, however Ken had pushed everyone away after his shoulder injury. Daichi was the only one of his friends who had continued to keep in contact, even after being pushed away.
As soon as his thoughts moved to Daichi, he suddenly appeared in front of him, about to walk into the classroom. Ken called out his name, stopping him in his place.
Daichi Suzuki was a stocky kid with wide shoulders, although he was only average height right now, he would go through a growth spurt in high school. Some other kids would make fun of him due to his immature face and odd build, calling him baby face and even fatso.
Daichi paused for a moment and took one look at them before walking into the classroom, leaving Ken to blink in confusion.
‘Did he just ignore me?’ he thought inwardly, not knowing how to react.
“Dude, did you know that guy?” Keisuke asked him, tilting his head in confusion.
“Ah, no. I must have got the wrong person.” Ken answered a moment later.
“I have to head to class, I’ll see you at club this afternoon.” He hurriedly said, heading through the open classroom door.
“That was weird.” Keisuke said, before shaking his head. Teenagers were resilient when it came to these kinds of matters. As long as it didn’t effect them personally, they were happy to ignore things.
Ken on the other hand had placed his bag in the lockers and made his way over to his seat, his mind trying to piece together what had just happened. He had a few minutes before class was scheduled to start, so he let his mind wander.
His homeroom teacher finally arrived, prompting everyone to quiet down.
“Students, please calm down. I know it’s the first day of school today but please save some energy for the rest of the year. Now that you are all seniors, you will have the added pressure of Entrance exams for high school.”
The class let out a groan in response, eliciting a chuckle from Ken. Mr. Tanaka on the other hand, shook his head after hearing the lamenting of the children.
“Just wait till you become adults, these silly little exams will feel like a walk in the park. I remember…” The teacher then began to ramble on, speaking about his experiences after graduating university.
Instantly, the class lost interest, choosing to chat with each other instead.
“Hey, I heard there was a new kid starting today.”
“Oh? A transfer student?”
“I hope it’s a cute boy”
“No no, it’s going to be a beautiful girl. I know it”