On a rainy day in April, a boy with black spectacles whose name is Hitori Yume exited a hospital.

“Ahh, it's pouring! The one day I didn’t bring my umbrella, ha….,” I let out a sigh as I approach a nearby bench in front of the hospital entrance.

With that in the way, I am free to do whatever I want from now on right? Then what is it that I want to do right now?……

Maybe I can try becoming a normal student for once?…. Yes, that’s it! I will become a normal student this year, well for starters I need to enroll in a high school, do I have to pay for education?

With a brief idea in my head, I take out my phone that has a huge crack on the screen protector. As I scroll the internet for the requirements to enroll in a high school, to my surprise, I found out that the fees are quite expensive at the private high school near my apartment that I’ve been longing to go to.

“Ah, this is it, the high school that I’ve been dreaming of attending….,” I said to myself with a glimmering look in my eyes.

Damn, the fees are high…

“It seems that I need to take a part-time job…. maybe two….FOR THE SAKE OF A NORMAL HIGH SCHOOL LIFE!!!!”, Without thinking twice, I shouted with a determined face filled with motivations,

but at the same time got scolded by the hospital’s security guard for being too loud near the hospital.

As the rain stopped, I got up from the bench and started walking to the nearby train station while my head is filled with cliched scenarios of high school animes that I love to binge-watch at night on my phone.

Scenarios of hanging out with friends, getting scolded by the teachers, school festivals, sports festivals, and so on. Those are what it means to become a high schooler, I guess? But the reality is often disappointing...

As I arrive at the train station, the announcement on departing of the train made me snap out of my daydream. The doors are about to close, without a moment to spare, I immediately go into a sprint towards the train.

“Uwahh… that was a close one,” I uttered while desperately catching my breath.

As I stand while holding onto a handrail, I looked around the train observing people’s behavior talking and laughing with their friends. This sight which I consider a blessing got me fired up that even flames are visible in my eyes with a clenched fist held to my chest. This excitement to experience those situations can also be seen leaking out of my body in the form of a flame-like aura.

A few days have passed and I successfully enrolled in the private high school despite not having enough documents, the school’s staffs were kind enough to dig out every necessary document from who-knows-where.

The registration was fairly simple but the problem that I had is a few essential stuff was missing, unfortunately, I don’t understand a single thing they said about them, but they were quite good in their work filling up the holes so I can register there, such nice people.

In Hitori’s apartment.

My apartment doesn’t have a bedroom and only a bathroom, the kitchen, bedroom, living room are combined in a very small space. There’s a small desk with a few framed pictures on it in the corner of the room beside my bed. The condition of this apartment also seems like it could fall apart anytime…erk.

“All is set, this is the starting point of my high school life, clothes ready, books ready, Yosh! I’m fired!”

I stared at the calendar which had been marked on certain dates with a black marker that is hanged on the wall across my bed.

“I got a part-time job at a bookstore nearby, the pay’s quite good so I think I’ll manage to pay the school fees with it alone, hopefully, it works out ”

After doing a bit of cleaning in my apartment I decided to take a nice view of the night before going to bed, sitting on the rusty stairs.

Gazing at the stars that are visible in the sky while the cool breeze blew upon my slightly curly hairs feels refreshing as always.

“Who knew that I’m allowed to have a normal school life….,” I said to myself, slightly surprised and at the same time joyous.

Later in the morning, the digital alarm clock that Hitori set up to wake him up at 7.30 a.m. shows the time at 7.25 a.m., but it seems like he is already up and awake, smartly in his new high school uniform and ready to go to school.

Whoa, I look pretty good in this uniform,

The mirror seems to be honest to itself, a high school uniform is undoubtedly charming in its own way.

I still can’t believe I got to wear one of these, my black glasses and hair seems like a perfect match for this black and gray colored uniform, maybe I was meant to wear this uniform all along?

Posing in the mirror-like in the animes sure looks cool as hell! As I turned around I noticed the clock, my heartbeat increased as if I was about to run in a 100-meter sprint.

The clock shows 8.10 a.m…I’m gonna be LATE!!!

“This is bad, this is not what I imagined my first day of high school to be!!,” I shouted while sprinting to school carrying my bag under my armpits.

The time required to arrive at the school from here is about 20 minutes as I calculated before, if I run as fast as I can, it will reduce the duration by at least 10 minutes. Yosh! Let's go!

Fortunately, I had already prepared for things like this that might happen, not to brag but I’ve seen my share of animes to predict any events that might happen, hehe, but this confidence doesn’t actually convince me at all…

I continued sprinted to school as it was some kind of marathon while being greeted by the neighbors.

The neighbors here are nice to me, especially the small kid that always hangs around in front of my apartment.

As I sprint towards the gate of the school, I was stopped by a student that seemed to be some kind of prefect in front of the gate, when I turned my head to look at the person, a girl with long silky rose golden hair that is styled in a twin tail, her eyes are blue similar to that of the sky appeared before my eyes.

“Please refrain from running in the school if you still value your ability to walk,” she informed, or precisely threaten me to stop running.

Sweats started to drip down my chin inevitably,

This girl…. is something else

While bowing my head down,

“Oh, I’m so sorry if my actions are somewhat disturbing the peace of this school, I regret it and will try to avoid it in the future”

Huh? What the heck am I saying? Something’s not right here. It’s like she is exerting dominance by simply existing here. Hmm…. certainly intriguing, I’m gonna need to observe this more.

“Very well, carry on,” she told me.

Being told so, I then walked towards the shoe locker area to find my locker. It seems that this school had already assigned each locker for each student beforehand and the shoes are already inside, as expected of a hole-in-a-pocket burning private school.

“Hitori….Hitori….Hito- ah there it is,” as I searched for my locker.

After changing shoes, all the students are required to gather in the assembly hall which was split into two parts separating girls and boys to listen to a speech from the Principal which is boring as expected by everyone including the teachers, most of the students looked sleepy and some are already asleep as the Principal continues to spout nonsense, well I’m sleepy as hell too, might as well join them…

As the Principal’s tedious speech ended, the next person to walk up the rostrum is the Student Council President, the golden-rose haired twin tail, at this particular moment when she arrived at the rostrum, all the students suddenly came alive, not even a slight hint of drowsiness in everyone’s face. Except for one newly transferred student sitting in the last row, sleeping peacefully as a log.

“Boys’ last row, third from the middle! Present yourself onstage right this instance,”

A commanding voice is heard as I stay half-asleep, but all I can think about is sleeping.

Of course, I still stayed asleep for the reason that I had trouble sleeping last night but still woke up early of excitement that leads to my body shutting down just now, initiated by the sleep speech of the Principal.

“Oy, oy, wake up! Seito Kaichou is calling you,” the student sitting next to me tried to wake me up, what a nuisance.

*Seito Kaichou means Student Council President

“What do you want? I don’t have any money, dumbass,” I answered him deliriously while still being mostly asleep.

As the president’s patience wore off, she ordered a student that seems to be a student council member to drag me on to the stage, even after getting dragged on to the stage, I still showed a fatigue expression that annoyed the president. Then I was forced to stand outside in the sun until the end of the assembly, what a cruel girl.

“Ahh… I screwed up, I just can’t help but get excited to attend school as a normal student, that’s why I can’t go to sleep……so the rose gold twin tail from this morning is the student council president huh,” I said to myself while standing still in the middle of the sun, luckily the sun is not very intense today.

“You right there!”

I turned around to take a look at the person with the voice of the student council president.

“Assembly is over, u may go to your classroom,” she said and turned away heading to the school building.

“Wait, I…don’t know where my classroom is,” I said while scratching the back of my head not knowing the class.

“What is your class?”.

The rule in getting someone else’s name is to give your name first, just like in a negotiation, in order to obtain something you have to give something first, nothing’s free in this world.

“Before that, I’m Hitori Yume, third-year class 3 A, why don’t we exchange introductions first?” I said with a smiling face.

“Very well, I’m the student council president of this high school, Yagami Kori from class 3 A as well,” she said as the mild wind sways her hair creating a view of elegance.

For some unknown reason, at this very moment in my life, I think something very interesting is going to happen involving her. A vague, new, unknown feeling that is exhilarating me. It seems like life had something fun planned out for me after all.

“Then I shall escort you to our class, Kaichou,” I said politely to the president.

Without any response from the president, she proceeded to the classroom.

I continued to follow her. While on our way to the classroom, I can’t help but keep thinking about what to call her,

“Hmm…Kaichou?……Kaichou…..chan?”

Suddenly I am already lying on the ground.

“Eh? What happened,” I said in a state of confusion.

“Don’t be too familiar with me, Kaichou is what you will address me,” she said with a strict voice.

“Got it Kaichou…..chan,” as I am getting up from the floor.

Just as I was about to get up from the floor, I was once again lying on the floor while Kaichou glare at me with scary but somehow attractive beautiful eyes. This time I got up silently to avoid kissing the floor again.

This girl is pretty strong, I didn’t even notice that she tackled me twice, ouch...it still hurts...

As we walked along the hallway, I noticed that this school is quite nice, it’s very clean and the condition of the building seems to be taken care of almost flawlessly. As expected of a private school, now I can ensure that I was not wrong to enroll in this school. Although I can sense some glares pointed at me from different corners as I walked past the halls.

She suddenly stopped in front of a classroom.

“This is our classroom, I believe your seat is there,” she pointed to a seat next to the window at the back of the class.

“Where do you sit, Kaichou?”.

“Right here,” pointing at the most middle and front seat in the class.

“Ehh… but I wanna sit next to you……,” I said with a highly depressed and disappointed voice like a kid complaining, attempting to tease Kaichou.

Filled with disappointment I walked towards my seat.

A student who sits next to me attempted to approach me.

“Yo, you’re the new transfer student, right? I’m Chiba Kusuo, you can call me Chiba or Kusuo, whichever you prefer”

“Ah, Chiba it is then, Hitori Yume, nice to meet you.”

Chiba with the weird body gestures,

“Hitori, it seems like fate has brought us together in this journey of the last year of high school, let us together unravel the secrets of the cosmos to achieve true happiness in this stage of our liv-,”

The air surrounding us suddenly become denser, Chiba froze in action while sweats dripping from his chin, what is this feeling of excitement in my chest? I should have known, Chiba’s loud voice has attracted a being across the realm that hunts down peace disturbances. As soon as I knew it, Chiba is already outside the class holding buckets of water while squatting, it seems like this situation is quite normal almost as if they already knew what kind of punishment they will get for their actions that are deemed wrong by Kaichou without even being told. What an exhilarating progression.

The class door opened slowly, a person dressed as a teacher then entered the class, probably the homeroom teacher without even bother to ask about Chiba outside the classroom.

“Hello class, it’s me again….Ishizaki Nomura-chan, your homeroom teacher for this year….again,” the fairly young teacher introduced herself in front of the class, with a lazy and sleepy face.

“Again?” I wondered.

“Oh, we have a new transfer student this year, Hitori Yume-kun, would you please introduce yourself to the class?”

Upon hearing the request, I immediately stood up and walked towards the front of the class

“I’m Hitori Yume, nice to meet you all,” I said after writing my name on the blackboard.

“Eh, another average person?”, “nothing changes”, “ why can't we even get a decent-looking guy?”, “so boring….” “seems like we got another trouble” timid voices of the students can be heard.

Meanwhile, the voices continue to be heard, I just kept smiling and walked towards my seat. The voices slowly disappeared as I sat down.

What was that? Is this what introducing yourself in class is like? The voices, I can’t understand the meaning behind those words, or I just didn't want to understand them... Do the students here hate me? Am I a nuisance taking up space in this wonderful school? For now, I’ll just observe.

“So I guess, do you all still want to keep the same class roles as last year’s?” sensei asked the class.

“Yes!!” the majority of the class answered.

Hmm... I guess students here don’t change classes when they advance each year. That explains why sensei said ‘again’.

After Ishizaki-sensei took the class attendance, she left and Chiba also entered the class straight to his seat right beside me. His body looks quite exhausted while he lay his head on the table.

The first period started and everything seemed normal. Or so I thought, upon closer inspection of the situation, it seems like the teacher kept on making a slightly displeased expression each time his head turned towards me. What is this? Am I some kind of criminal in this school? I continued to ignore it while focusing on the subject.

It’s recess….but

“Haaah, this morning was a mess, I even forgot to bring my lunch, I guess I had to fill this stomach with water then,” I said to myself while getting up from my seat.

Slowly walking out of the class, I then proceed on filling up this stomach with water at the nearest water fountain.

As I was drinking, I can’t help but notice other students staring at me with a disgusted face, even if they hide it, the expression is strong enough for me to recognize.

This almost dark intent, I am somewhat used to it, so even the smallest intent is easily recognized. Well, not that I mind about it though. It is somewhat predictable considering this is a private school, of course, the students are elites, and there will be some student that despise low living standard people like me.

Without thinking about it more than I need to, I proceeded to class ignoring the other students.

On my way to class, I noticed that Kaichou is scolding the students that were running in the hall, well…I’m not sure if she even said anything, but the students look so terrified while apologizing profusely and walked away trembling.

“Whew, what a scary lady you are,” I approached her.

She looked at me for a second and ignored me as if I don’t even exist here, she then left the area.

What an awkward encounter, how do I approach her? I want to know more about this scary, or rather interesting person.

As I walked passes the hallway, my eyes observing the hallway found a notice board.

“A notice board? Oh, these are some nice clubs, archery, swimming, even anime! Hell yeah! Wait what’s this, recruiting members for student council?” something interesting had caught my attention.

“Maybe this will work….. I’ve decided,” my eyes glimmered with hope.

“So the interview will be held in a week,” what kind of interview?

Wanting to know more, I then proceeded to the Student Council Room and in the room, a person is visible enjoying his tea peacefully.

“Sorry to interrupt, where do I apply for the recruit for Student Council?” I asked politely.

The guy immediately stood up putting his tea on the table and came rushing towards me.

“It can’t be,” the guy said while appeared to be surprised.

Huh?

As he approached me,

“Are you serious about this?! Are you some kind of hero?! Please tell me you’re real!!” the guy came to me jerking his tears off.

Eh? What the hell? This guy looks like someone who had just come out from a torture session based on his expressions.

He calmed down after a while and explained to me the whole situation afterward.

“Oh, so the notice was for you to find a replacement in your position, but no one came to apply, and no interview is being held because of that,” I said after hearing the explanation.

“So what’s the position?”

“Vice President,” he said with a straight smiling face.

……. The room became silent for a while.

“Wha- what do you mean?” I faked a smile which is obvious and asked if the guy was joking.

“You’re the new Vice President, congratulations! Goodbye, and good luck!” the guy said and immediately exited the room.

I was left with a very confusing situation alone, still sitting in the chair.

“I didn’t expect to carry a huge burden like this……well it’s going to be challenging that’s for sure, plus I get to observe Kaichou,”

Taking on a huge responsibility like this is not quite my style, I guess it won’t hurt trying something new, does it?

“Wait why was he crying and what did he mean by 'good luck'?” left me to wonder in confusion.