How My Life Was Ruined

002: New Encounters

"I am Kageyama Kage. I look forward to my time here." I bowed slightly and gave my introduction which earned different reactions from different people. Some people were clapping good-naturedly, some weren't the least bit interested, some girls were squeaking for some reason and some boys were glaring at me, not because of me, but because of the girl's reactions. Ah, the stereotypes.

"Kageyama, you will sit on the last seat of the middle row." I slowly made my way towards the seat that the homeroom teacher was pointing to and sat down.

There was a boy in front of me and two girls on either side.

"Nice to meet ya'. I am Yamamoto Haruto." The boy in front greeted me frivolously.

"As I mentioned earlier, I am Kageyama Kage. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Kageyama-kun. I am Nakamura Yui!" The girl on my right followed suit and greeted me. I was about to greet her in response instinctively but managed to hold it in somehow. I just nodded slowly acknowledging her greeting.

The one on my left hadn't moved an inch much less greet me. Not that I cared anyway.

"You guys. You can talk with him all you want during recess so let's start the class already!"

Makoto Maki, the homeroom teacher, clapped her hands twice to center everyone's attention to her.

I rested my chin on my hands and stared outside. Maki was teaching something but my mind was somewhere else.

"!"

Here it comes again.

The same nauseating feeling.

Almost as if I am losing consciousness.

The darkness looming all over.

This feeling of lack of sense.

This utter loath for the world around me.

This absolute aversion towards myself more than anyone and anything.

It almost felt like I could puke anytime.

"....geyama-kun."

I feel like someone is calling my name. As if. I thought. Then I heard it again. Over and over again.

"Kageayama-kun. Kageyama-kun! Maki-sensei has been calling you."

"Huh?" I came back to my senses. Nakamura Yui, was it? She was calling me over and over again and pointing in front of the classroom. There I saw Maki standing with her hands on her hips and she was glaring at me.

"Pay attention in the class, Kageyama. I won't let you off the hook just because it's your first day here."

"I am sorry. Please continue." I said. She continued to glare at me for a while before continuing the class.

After the class ended, I saw that many students had turned their attention towards me. They must want to talk to me. Although I thought, it was a pain in the ass I readied myself to face the barrage of questions.

"Kageyama-kun, why did you transfer this late?" A girl asked me. She was leaning towards me with her hands on my desk.

"Because of my parent's work," I replied trying to be as calm as possible.

"You have such long hair. It's so pretty." Another girl said with her hands clasped together.

"Hmm? Why are you hiding one of your eyes with your hair?" A girl asked with her hands on her chin. She was looking curiously at me.

"Eh? I am not particularly hiding it."

I was handling the barrage of questions and was praying intently for it to be over soon.

"Now, now, everyone. Calm down!" It seems like my prayer was heard.

After Nakamura Yui spoke from behind the group of girls, "You shouldn't bother him like this on the very first day. We will have lots of opportunities to talk with him. Isn't that right?" Everyone then looked at me and apologized.

"Sorry, Kageyama. I got carried away."

"I am sorry as well, Kageyama-kun." Before long, everyone went to their respective seats talking or rather gossiping about something.

"As I have introduced myself earlier, I am Nakamura Yui. I am also the class representative. So ask me if you need anything."

"Got it. Thanks for earlier."

"It's nothing." She smiled gently at me and started taking out books for the next period. The stupidly good-natured type? I wondered.

I heaved a sigh after being saved from the questioning.

"Seems like you are popular from the very first day," Right after I sat down on my seat, Yamamoto spoke without turning to look at me.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or was it sarcasm?"

"It's both," He laughed lightly. "But, well, must be nice being popular. You might get a girlfriend or two soon enough."

Yamamoto Haruto. I had no way of knowing what kind of guy he was. But he was at least frank. I decided to be frank in my response as well, "I don't want to be popular. And getting a girlfriend is out of the question. Not gonna happen."

Yamamoto turned around to look at me for the first time since we had started talking. "I didn't expect that answer." He voiced his surprise.

"Is that so." I chuckled.

"But I think you are fairly popular as well," I said looking at his features. He had a good physique with a nicely toned body. His facial features were handsome. There were without a doubt many girls aiming for him as well.

"You could say that," He said indifferently.

Now it was my turn to act surprised, "So you don't like being the center of attention as well."

"Yes. It's troublesome." His voice carried slight irritation.

"We are the same then," I said.

"Might be." He smiled.

I had noticed that the girl on my left was watching me this whole time. Did she need something from me?

I turned to look at her. Our eyes met and she immediately got up from her seat then headed out of the classroom.

What the...?

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Noticing that I was suddenly silent, Yamamoto turned around again and found me looking at the door from which the girl had just left.

"Let me give you a piece of friendly advice." His tone was serious. "Keep your distance from that woman."

"Why?" I asked.

"You will know soon enough."

I was curious and was about to dig in more when the teacher for the next period arrived and I missed my chance. But even if I had asked him, I doubt he would have told me anyway. The girl didn't return for the second period.

After the classes were over, I made my way to the building just opposite to the school building.

It was a four-story building in a rectangular shape with one face missing. That was the entrance.

It was the school dorm which I will be living in as of today.

The first floor was the cafeteria. There were numerous tables scattered around. The place was nice and tidy. There were some people who were having lunch or snacks right now.

The second floor was the boy's dormitory and one floor up was the girl's dormitory. The idea that boys and girls were living in the same dorm didn't abode well with me. But I had no right to complain. But there will definitely be some steamy things happening here and there.

There was an elevator as well. Using the elevator for going just one or two floors up was something I didn't understand. I preferred taking the stairs instead. Taking the stairs, I reached the second floor. My room was on the very corner of the right-wing of the building.

I inserted the key card and opened the door. The room was 12-by-19 feet. That meant I had about 228 square feet of living space to myself. The dorm was equipped with a bed, a cabinet, a study table, an attached bathroom, and kitchen space as well. The only thing I had to bring with me was my personal belongings that weren't much, to begin with.

I preferred to shower in the evening. So I took a shower while listening to some music. I brewed some coffee and browsed the internet.

"The fifth volume of the second year will be coming out this October? I can't wait to read." It was my favorite novel series so I made sure to be updated about it every day.

At around 7 pm, I went down for dinner.

The dinner-time was from 6 pm to 7 pm. You could eat at any time between the one-hour window. It would be crowded at the beginning and I wanted to avoid that. Although there were bound to be few people the crowd will be significantly less at this time.

I went to the counter and looked through the items. Here, the dinner items were placed in front of the counter and students were free to pick whatever they want to eat. I put together a simple meal set and sat at an empty seat.

The dishes here were good for a dorm. The vegetables were well cooked and the soup tasted delicious as well. The main attraction was of course the tender and juicy meat.

Feeling satisfied with the dinner, I washed the plates and returned them to the shelf on the right side of the counter.

There was a roof in this dorm and it was open. Normally, the rooftop would be a prohibited zone but here in this dorm, the roof was open all the time. One could go at any time, even during the night.

Deciding to check the roof, I took the stairs. I passed the second floor and was going up towards the third floor when I noticed another student was waking up ahead of me.

I recognized him. He was a third-year student who had transferred today together with me. We had had a short talk this morning when coming to school.

Maybe he wanted to go to the roof as well?

Being fellow new students here there were sure to be things only we could talk about. I increased my pace to catch up to him but stopped when I saw him go straight to the girl's dorm and not up the stairs.

"I see. That's what's going on." Since boys and girls of adolescence were living in the same dorm, it wouldn't be strange. But, getting it to witness this on my first day here was unexpected.

Wait.

Just then another thought occurred to me. First day?

He was a new student here, like me. How could he go to the girl's room on his very first day? Did he manage to woo a girl and ask for the deed on the very first day? I don't think that was possible but if it was true then he was one hell of a player. Or maybe he was acquainted before coming here.

I was about to ignore him and climb up the stairs when I saw a door opening. Then came a girl who seductively coiled her hands around the boy's neck and pulled him inside. Then came the sound of the door closing softly.

I went up the stairs and opened the door to the rooftop.

The rooftop was spacious and immediately I was greeted by the night breeze. Even though it was night, I could tell that there were few flower pots around.

I put my hand on the veranda as I gazed upon the night view of Tokyo. It was literally glittering.

Enjoying the gentle breeze my thoughts wandered to what Yamamoto had said earlier in class today.

Keep your distance from that woman.

I get it now.