It was now the start of the year 2110, the 1st of January. I was currently fourteen, and would be fifteen later this year, after which I'd be able to undergo the Awakening Procedure.

Although, that was far from the main focus on my mind these days. At home, my father made me go through martial arts training almost every single day after school and on the weekends, while school was...well, you can probably imagine how it's going. Not well, that's for sure.

​​

I barely had any respite whatsoever, I was bullied at school, my free time was almost nonexistent thanks to the unreal amounts of training my father had signed me up for and I effectively had no time for my hobbies at all. To say that I was stressed out these days would be an understatement of some magnitude.

Today was the start of a new school semester, specifically the start of my first year of high school. Do I have a new year's resolution? No, I never bothered with that stuff, that crap doesn't actually make a difference, not to me anyway.

I had arrived early to nab the back corner seat by the window before anyone else could, as I did every single semester, any other spot would make it too difficult to get through the year. The rest of my classmates soon arrived, occupying the remaining seats. Looks like there were two unoccupied spots...the seat in front of me and the one next to me. Works for me.

I put in my earphones as the others began chatting amongst themselves, tapping on my I-Watch to bring up the holo-screen. I opened my music app and shuffled my playlist before resting my head on my folded arms on the desk with a stifled yawn.

Waking up early had it's consequences, and I was definitely not a morning person...I suppose that emphasizes just how important it was to me that I get this particular seat in the classroom. My feet were on the ground, and...I could feel someone walking towards my desk. The faint thud of their footsteps, growing closer and closer...

I got a really bad feeling and quickly got up, planting my feet and extending my legs to slide back on my chair. Woah, it's a good thing I did that when I did.

A cup of coffee was on my desk, having been dropped there by the person who had been walking over, Tairo Najimi. The hot liquid was all over my desk, and some had splashed down onto my legs, seeping through my trousers onto my skin. I took off my earphones and glared at him.

"Oops, my bad...my hand slipped," Smirked Tairo, before holding out his hand, "That's ten CredPoints for the drink, by the way."

I see, he must've 'accidentally tripped' or something while coincidentally walking by my desk, and spilt his hot drink. If I hadn't slid back in time, the back of my head and neck would be burnt right now...I can ignore condescending remarks with no problem at all, I had long since gotten used to them, but this had me more than a little pissed off. Hm, the cup was lying on its side on my desk, and not all the coffee had spilt out of it...

"Huh, that's some expensive coffee...but I don't think that's necessary, look...," I gestured to the cup, before swiftly grabbing it and swinging it up at his face, "There's still some left in the cup."

He began to step back in alarm, but some of the coffee splashed onto his eyes, causing him to stumble back and fall down. Since so much of it had already spilt out, the bit that I splashed at him was barely lukewarm, so he was just fine.

"You...you bastard-!"

"Oops, my bad...my hand slipped," I remarked with a deadpan expression, before putting my earphones back in.

Before he could do or say anything else, the homeroom teacher for this class showed up, instructing everyone to take their seats. He then introduced a new student, a girl named Bytra Lichood who had transferred here from a school in the West Quadrant. She had brown hair that grew past her eyebrows in front and down to her shoulders in the back, green eyes and a fair complexion. She looked fidgety and shy...well, not a strange reaction for someone in an unfamiliar environment.

She was assigned the seat in front of me...great, can't wait to see how the others in this class warn her about what a horrible person I am. After an uneventful first half of the day came to an end, it was lunch break.

"Hi, um...nice to m-meet you, what's y-your name?" Bytra asked with a friendly and slightly nervous smile, turning back to face me.

Huh, she seemed like she was forcing herself to step out of her comfort zone, I don't think she's used to starting conversations, especially with strangers. Either way, I definitely wasn't used to this, someone talking to me normally at school, it was kinda weird...

"Oh, uh...It's Kilzachs."

"Kilzachs, huh...I h-hope we can, um, get along-," She began, sounding a bit robotic almost as if she'd rehearsed it or something, before being interrupted as my other classmates surrounded her and began talking to her.

Guess that's my cue to leave. I quietly got up, grabbing my food and heading up to the rooftop.

People rarely ever came up here for some reason, as a result, it wasn't that well-maintained so the floor wasn't clean enough to sit on, but I was fine with standing while eating. Plus, the breeze up here and, of course, the lack of other people, were two factors that were just irresistible to me. The breeze was artificial, of course. Just like with the artificial sunlight, the Sanctuary had built-in weather generators, we even got fake rain at certain times during the year.

I leaned against the fence and ate my food while watching some cat videos online on my holo-screen. I finished eating and glanced at the time...hm, still over five minutes left, and I'm in absolutely no rush whatsoever.

"H-hi!"

Huh?

I glanced over, to see the new girl, Bytra, standing in front of me with a nervous smile, though she was trying to hide it.

"Uh...hi?"

What was she doing here? There's no way that the others hadn't already told her about what a monster I was or whatever. Huh, my awkward and somewhat uneasy response seemed to ease her nerves a bit...not sure how I feel about that.

"What's with that cautious look, I won't bite," She said with a slight giggle while walking towards me.

Maybe eased more than just a bit...

"Oh, well I, uh...I guess I'm just not used to being spoken to normally. You just caught me off guard is all."

"Hehe, sorry about that, didn't mean to spook you! If you don't mind me asking...why are you up here all by yourself?"

Huh, she didn't seem to be asking that out of spite or anything, it seemed like she was genuinely asking. And my awkwardness had definitely put her at ease, guess the whole thing about calming down when you see someone who's worse off than you was true. My social skills were pretty terrible, far worse than hers, and her tensions definitely eased dramatically when she realized that.

"Isn't it obvious...I don't have any friends," I shrugged indifferently.

"W-wow, I've never heard anyone admit something like that so bluntly," She replied with an awkward smile.

"It's no big deal if you just think of it as stating a fact, if something seems troublesome, I just simplify it in my head."

Okay, maybe I'm saying too much. It's just...I hadn't had a normal conversation with someone my age in so long that-...well, not that this is exactly a normal conversation.

"Huh, that's pretty deep."

No, not really...

I decided to ask her the burning question that had been on my mind the moment she showed up at the rooftop.

"Hey...why are you here anyway, I have no doubt that you've already heard the rumors about me, yeah?"

"O-oh, uh...well, yeah, I did. But, um...I've learnt to never judge a person based on what other people say about them, I prefer to get to know someone before making up my own mind about what kind of a person they are," She replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, before adding with a slightly dark look in her eyes, "And besides, you can't always trust rumors."

Huh...people like that really existed in real life? She was so...open-minded and understanding, no one else ever gave me so much as the benefit of the doubt even when I told them my side of the story, with the exception of my sister...well, that's assuming that this girl was being genuine. It'd be nice if she was, but for now, I'll remain skeptical.

"I...see," I mumbled in response, unsure what else to say.

"Do y-you, um, mind if I ask you about that...you don't seem like, um, the type who would do something so cruel and brutal."

Hm...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to humor her, doesn't make a difference if she doesn't believe me, what's one more person who disliked me?

And so, I told her what happened, that I came across those girls beating down on the dog, and I responded by beating them down in return.

"Maybe that wasn't the best way to go about it, but...I don't regret it, and if I find myself in a similar situation, there's a good chance that I'd respond in a similar manner," I concluded with a shrug...go on, give me that look of disbelief that I'm so used to, it won't surprise me, I'm ready for it.

She was silent for a bit, and I was unable to read her expression...

"Well...I don't think you did anything wrong at all. It's a shame that everyone thinks you're lying, you deserve better than that."

"You actually...believe me?"

"Hey, now, no need to look so surprised, you might make me think that you were lying after all," She said with a teasing smile.

"Sorry, I...I'm just not used to this. In fact, it's kind of a first for me," I replied awkwardly, averting my gaze.

"You've really had it tough, haven't you...alright, I've decided! Let's be friends!" She suggested eagerly.

That kinda...came out of nowhere. Was she really that good a person? It was a little hard to believe...

"Uh...I don't know, you'll probably ruin you reputation-."

"No, I won't, and even if I do...it's no big deal! So, come on, let's be friends!"

I resisted a bit more, but she didn't back down at all, and eventually...I gave in.

"Fine, fine, I get it already...if you insist that much on friend-zoning me, I suppose that's fine by me."

She stared at me in surprise before bursting out in laughter.

"Hey, now, your sense of humor isn't bad...though your delivery and timing could use some work," She giggled, wiping away a tear.

"Yeah, well-...oh, that's the bell."

"Sure is, let's go back to class, 'kay?"

"You go on ahead. Seriously, if you're seen hanging out with me, you'll probably be treated-."

"It's fine, don't worry about it! In fact, maybe I can help convince the others that the rumors about you aren't true, you never know. Stop being so paranoid, and let's go, Kilzachs!" She encouraged me, grabbing my hand and pulling me along with her, ignoring my half-hearted protests.

Hearing someone say my name at school was weird, I don't think anyone has ever used it excluding homeroom teachers when taking attendance, not for a long time, anyway.

This all happened so fast, and the simple fact of it was only just starting to sink in. No way, even if I was taking this whole situation with a grain of salt...did I just make a friend?

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