The whispering noises were drowned out as the door to the classroom opened. Every head turned.
We have a new student to-day, class, said the teacher, clearing her throat. Please be respectful."
Ryuzi opened the door and entered, his shoulders rigid with a dozen inquisitive looks. Black hair fell above his piercing eyes which he kept low, not wanting to be stared at.
Please introduce yourself, said the teacher.
Ryuzi put his hands into his pockets. Ryuzi Takeda, he said, in a flat, low voice.
A beat of silence passed. The teacher grinned too broadly. "Alright, thank you. You may sit at the window, by Suki.
The whispers started before he reached his desk as he walked slowly down the aisle.
"Whoa, he looks scary."
"Kind of hot, though."
"Bet he's trouble."
They were all disregarded by Ryuzi, and he sank down into the vacant chair and allowed his bag to fall and drag heavily upon the table. His head bowed down to his clasped arms as though he were already weary of the world.
The boy who sat next him leaned over with all the sunshine and bright eyes.
"Hi! I'm Suki. Nice to meet you!"
Ryuzi didn't move. His eyes remained closed, his face turned to an angle.
"..."
"Hey, you must be tired, right?" Suki continued cheerfully. No problem, I will wake you up in case sensei calls on you. That's what friends are for."
"...We're not friends." Before Ryuzi could prevent them the words were spoken. His voice was stinging like a razor.
There was an awkward silence of a second. Some of the students suppressed their laughter and whispered to themselves.
But Suki instead of sulking, grinned even more. "Not yet."
Ryuzi's brows furrowed. Not yet? What the hell...
The lesson droned on. Ryuzi stood looking through the window and got bored, as the teacher wrote on the board. Suki continued to look at him with glances, forcing a smile each time Ryuzi caught him.
At break a tall boy with messy brown hair leaned over the desk of Suki. "Yo, Suki. Already New guy is giving you the cold shoulder?
Kenji, stop teasing, said a girl with colored streaks in her hair--Aoi, ever quick of tongue.
Suki shrugged with a laugh. "It's fine! He'll come around."
Kenji smirked. "You sure? He appears to consume human beings like breakfast.
I do, I do, Ryuzi said without raising his eyes.
Kenji froze. "Uh--what?"
Ryuzi looked lazily up, his face inexpressible. "...Kidding."
The silence stretched. Aoi snorted, breaking it. "Damn, scary and sarcastic. I kind of like him."
Suki leaned closer, chin on his palm, over Ryuzi. "See? They're warming up already."
Ryuzi shot him a side glance. "You talk too much."
"And you don't talk enough."
As the bell sounded Suki picked up his books. Hey, would you like to eat lunch with me?
"No."
"Cool, I'll sit with you then."
Ryuzi's head turned slowly. "...That's not what I said."
"Exactly," Suki said with a wink. "You didn't say no to me sitting. Just to eating."
Kenji whistled. "He's got you there, Ice Prince."
Ryuzi heaved a sigh, and scratched his hair. "This school's full of idiots."
But when Suki sat down beside him at lunch anyway, prattling about nothing at all--the weather, the cafeteria food, how his sister Rika had eaten his pudding that morning--Ryuzi found himself listening against his will. He made no reply, nor did he rise to walk away.
At the Takeda home that night, Ayumi prepared the table and Daichi was scrolling through his phone. "How was school?" she asked gently.
Ryuzi shrugged. "Fine."
"Did you meet anyone?"
"No." He stabbed at his rice.
The lips of Ayumi parted, like they are going to talk more, but Daichi talked first. "Good. Focus on your studies. Friends can wait."
Ryuzi's chopsticks stilled. He put them down, his appetite dead. "May I be excused?"
Daichi glanced up, frowning. "...Already?"
"I'm done." Ryuzi walked out of the table without seeking permission.
Ayumi followed him with a barely whispering voice. "He did meet someone. I can see it in his eyes."
Daichi dropped his phone with a divided look. "...Then why doesn't he tell us?"
Ryuzi sat on his bed, re-enacting a nonsense, the first words he had ever heard, in his head--Not yet.--and, something new to him in a long time, the corner of his mouth lifted up before he threw his face into his pillow.