Takumi felt wind blowing directly into his face. The flow knocked drops of sweat off his forehead and messed up his hair. He was running for his life. More accurately, it was for his behavioral ratings. Yet Takumi felt like he was going to die if he stopped. His knees creaked from the sudden spike in performance level. His breathing was chaotic, and he could hear his heart desperately pumping blood to keep up with the activity. Takumi, for the first time in his life, was late.

Almost out of breath, he stopped right in front of the school`s back side. Taking a few seconds to rest, he jumped for the fence wall and pulled himself up. It was easy with his impressive height, and Takumi got over the other side unscathed.

To his surprise, another student was there. The armband worn on her arm indicated that she was a member of the student committee. Startled by his sudden entrance, she took a few seconds to recognize Takumi`s face, before looking at him amusingly.

“Ara~ to think that someone has the guts to not only be late but also jumping over the school`s fence. And… you`re also a first year… students really get ahead of themselves these days, disregarding school rules like that.”

“Anou… Gomenansai. I had a little accident at home this morning, and that made me late for school…”

“Rules are rules. Now I`ll take your name and class.”

“But senpai, what are you doing here then? What about the Monday ceremony?” Takumi`s sleepy eyes became sharp.

“Hou? Nice reply. That is none of your business still.”

“Senpai, I`m not feeling very well, so I`ll say it straight: your tone makes it seem like you are playing around with me. I kinda helped you on the train the other day, so can you let me off this time?”

“Making inquiries with me too? Now you are a daring one aren`t you… Sure, I`m skipping salute so I`ll let you off.”

“Arigatou gozaimasu. That makes us even ri-”

“Oh no it doesn`t. Hehe what if you expose to everyone that a committee member had always been skipping Mondays for a year? You still have my secret desu ka? Give me some of yours too.”

(Ugh, this girl…)-Takumi grunted inside-”I wouldn`t know if you didn`t tell me… Anou… I won`t tell anyone, so you don`t need to worry”

“Give me your phone number without question, or I`ll scream for help right now” The girl ended the sentence with a devious smile.

Takumi was tired and so he went along, exchanging number with the girl. Chisato Nadeshi, which was the girl`s name, was elated after that. For Takumi, he got in class, slammed his face on the table, and slept. His mind was somewhere far away, until noon break came and the class started swapping physics homework to check answers.

It was that moment that he realized, he hadn`t been giving a damn about homework in the longest time. Panicked, Takumi looked around for help. But groups have already formed. As good looking as he is, Takumi didn`t bother socializing and was inevitably left alone. Opening the notebook, he found out another thing. Takumi did not understand a single thing he wrote there. He was in a bad spot.

Giving up, he leaned on the seat and randomly threw his gaze behind. He saw Kyoya, and also his neatly written homework book that seemed to exceed the required exercises. It was like finding water in the desert.

“Anou nee, Sougo-kun, right? Can I borrow your exercise book?”

“Sure” Kyoya replied with an emotionless face.

Later that night, having taken a shower and eaten his daily cup ramen, Takumi fired up his PC. He browsed some English novel sites, and then watched anime. As he closed his browser to play games, a piece of news caught his eye.

“Serial murders in xxx district, Tokyo? This is where I`m living right now!”

His survival instincts suddenly made him shiver, and Takumi pulled out his phone.

“Kaa-san, be sure to return at morning only ok? I`ll pick you up in case you need to go home early.”

“Mou, what`s with you today? Sure I won`t be home until morning, there is a patient needing intensive care right now. Remember to go to bed early.”

“…Hai. Oyatsumi” He answered with a feeling of relief

Bleak wind tapped on his windows while Takumi charged into the virtual battlefield, guns blazing.