Lumi, his mother, and his little sister, Hana, have just moved to a new town in Japan. His mother had bought out a building in the town for her karaoke business, so they moved so they could be closer to it. Today's the first day of school at Yokohama High, a new world for Lumi to explore.
"Lumi, don't be late honey!" Lumi's mother shouted from down the hallway adjacent to his bedroom door.
Lumi shuffled around in his bed, rubbing the dried saliva off of his face. He sat still for a few seconds before pushing the covers off of his chest, the dust mites from the shining window next to his night stand swirled around him, a reminder that a new day is starting. He slowly got out of bed, his feet making a loud thump on his carpet. He stretched, his navy-blue t-shirt stretching out over his belly button.
He walked across his room, stepping over plushies and CD's for his mom's business before reaching his gaming chair, tucked into his desk. He pulled it out, revealing the clothes he had laying over it for school. He grabbed each piece of clothing, slipping it on. Dreary, he slipped his backpack on and opened his bedroom door.
"Mom said you're gonna be la-" Hana began before she was muffled, cut off in the middle of her sentence by a palm to the face. Lumi pushed her back against the wall to the left of them, walking past her towards the bathroom on the side of the hallway. He walked into the dark bathroom, flipping the light switch and grabbing his toothbrush casing. He opened it, wet it, grabbed his tooth brush and continued.
When he was finally ready, he walked downstairs, met by the warm embrace of his mother.
"I hope you have a good day, Lumi. I packed your lunch already!" She exclaimed, wrapping Lumi in a tight hug.
"Thanks mom, I really didn't want high school food.." Lumi replied. He hugged back, before his mom let go. He walked past the kitchen into the dining room, grabbing his lunch bag and dropping it into his backpack after a loud zip.
"Let me know if you meet any girls, yea?" His mom continued, pulling his ear with a mischievous look on her face.
Lumi sighed but couldn't help not to break a smile. "That's what I'm best at, I'll let you know!" He stated. Lumi took a glance at the digital clock on the open kitchen counter, realizing the time.
"Shoot, it's eight mom! Gotta go!" He shouted, putting his backpack back on and running out the front door without closing it behind him. The distant response of his mom sounded something along the lines of "Love you".
For a second, Lumi was going to ignore it, but instead he pulled out his cellphone during his run, navigating to his mom's contact, sending her a "love you" message. As he got closer to the school, he began seeing more and more students with their dark-blue and white uniforms. It was a new town, he didn't know anyone, and he had to adjust. But, he had one obstacle he had to deal with.
Women. Despite being a hopeless romantic, he's terrified of them. A girl from his school speaking to him would mean DEATH.
He passed many houses and sections, passing by grocery stories and gas stations, commercial buildings and neighborhoods before finally meeting a polished railed concrete staircase. There had to be around fifty to one-hundred students walking up and down the stairs, distant chatter almost deafening. Lumi took a deep breath, before walking up the stairs behind a group of girls.
He went up a few flights before being met with the front gate of the school, it was pretty and clean, showing the high prestige of the school. He locked eyes with plenty of people, but of course, he was too shy to speak. He walked through the front courtyard, passing through crowds and small friend groups.
"Seems like everyone already has a friend group.. I am a third year student so it makes sense.." Lumi thought to himself. He scanned the area, before sucking up courage to talk to someone. He was earlier than he thought, school would not be beginning classes for another fifteen minutes. After searching, he spotted a guy with a blonde bob on an awkwardly round head, sitting on a bench alone, scrolling on his laptop. He seemed rather focused, like he was searching for something.
He walked carefully over to the boy, before standing in front of him. "Hey, my name's Lumi. What's yours?". Lumi stood there, waiting for a response. Around ten seconds went by, before the boy looked up finally.
"Uh.. Do you need help with something?" He asked. Lumi's facial expression retorted out of anger before realizing he was genuinely curious.
"Did you not hear me?" Lumi asked.
The boy sat in confusion before calmly shaking his head. Lumi stood still in confusion before repeating his question.
"Hey, my name's Lumi. What's yours?" Lumi repeated, in almost a robotic and non-human fashion.
"Toma." He answered. "Nice to meet ya, I'm guessing you're new here?" He continued.
"Yeah, I just got here last week. Thought I'd make some friends around here ya know? Need someone to gossip about the girls at this school!" Lumi said, nervously chuckling before taking a peak at Toma's expression.
Dread.
"You okay man?" Lumi asked.
Toma's face was bright red, even the mention of talking to women sent him into a spiral. He sat in conflict before calming himself and sighing. He closed his laptop and stood up, still in front of Lumi.
"I'll never get married. I'm too much of a coward. Activities of that matter will never apply to a pathetic specimen like me." Toma stated, his face completely void of humor.
Lumi couldn't help but to break a laugh.
"Listen man, I'm the same way. My mom is opening up a karaoke spot not far from the school. If you help out, maybe it'll be easier for us?" Lumi asked.
Immediately, Toma grabbed Lumi's hands in desperation. Tears ran down his face, his eyes doughing as much as possible. "You'd… really do that for me?".
"Yeah man, of course.. We could use more hands on deck!" Lumi cheered.
"You're truly an angel from the heavens.." Toma quaked. He let go of Lumi's hands and readjusted his round glasses, sniffling and wiping his tears. It's almost like his calm and reserved attitude completely cracked by the mere mention of having a chance at love, something completely unknown in a world like his.
"Im gonna go get my schedule at the front office. I'll see you later, yea?" Lumi declared, sprinting backwards.
Toma nodded, his figure slowly disappearing behind the pillars of the front door. When Lumi entered the warmth of the building, he turned around to face the inside, shaking his head.
"Now where could the front office be.." Lumi looked around, the time before the first bell ticking down. After minutes of looking, he found a crowd of students at the front office, receiving a paper and an ID. He stood in the crowd, waiting to finally reach the front desk. After a while, he eventually was next in line.
"Last name?"
"Hoshino."
The woman at the front desk seemed to be around his age surprisingly, likely a student council member. She had dark hair tied in a bun and hazel eyes with their own distinct hue. After just a few seconds of typing, the printer to the right of her began working. Eventually, a black and white sheet of paper printed out of it. She then rolled her chair back to the front of the desk, looking down into the glove department below her. She shuffled her hand in plenty of cards before pulling out his ID.
She handed both the paper and ID to Lumi, a warm smile wrapped around her face. Lumi grabbed both and nodded. As he walked off, he looked through his schedule and his ID, trying to grasp the information in his mind.
Period 1: Modern Japanese Literature
Period 2: Mathematics II
Period 3: World History
Period 4: English Communication
Period 5: Art I
Period 6: P.E.
While slowly walking through the halls, the ring of the morning bell finally rang. Lumi tripped, almost dropping his schedule. He ran through the halls to his homeroom, passing by groups of people doing the same. The longer he ran, the quieter and emptier the hallways became. After only around twenty seconds, he finally reached his class, seeing his teacher holding a clipboard, marking off students. Turns out, he wasn't the only one late. Three other students walked in right before Lumi.
"Late Mr. Hoshino?" The teacher asked. The first thing Lumi noticed was the bald head of the teacher and his scrunchy gray beard.
"Sorry about that, it's my first day.." Lumi answered.
"Yeah, it's everyone's first day. Go sit." The teacher shot back.
The entire class erupted in snickers and chuckles, hearing the teacher's sarcastic remark. Lumi miserably walked into the classroom, before seeing a horrific sight.
The only open seat was next to a girl.
Lumi stood in absolute terror, trying to not make it seem like he'd already spotted the seat. The girl who sat next to the open seat was writing in her notebook, a smile across her face from the teacher's joke. She had short red hair with a star sticker on her forehead, her hair had a cultural golden pin in it and a necklace of the same style. Lumi began to take slow and steady steps to his seat, until eventually he stood right next to the desk. It was next to a window, the morning sun peeping through the glass, a flower pot right under the window seal, absorbing the sun's heat radiance.
He sat, placing his bag next to his desk. His face was bright red for the majority of the class, taking a peak at her every now and then. Time went by, the work was at a minimum as students spent the class doing get-to-know-me assignments. The class had just about a few minutes left before ending, that was until something utterly devastating occurred.
"Your name is Loomi right? How do I spell that? Lew-Mi? Luemi.. Hmm" The girl babbered. Her books and papers were already tucked into her bag and she had just wanted to speak to him before class ended. Students were already getting up, Lumi and her being one of the only ones still seated. She faced him, sitting sideways on her chair.
Lumi stood still in utter shock, unable to breathe or move. He slowly finished putting his books into his bag, before zipping it shut and standing up. He debated walking away, but he couldn't let his first impression falter that easily.
"It's Lumi. Lu-mi." He corrected. His face got redder and redder, trying his best to avoid eye contact. He stood up, directly in front of the window, the girl looking up at him from her desk.
"Nice to meet you, Lumi! My name is Emi." She comforted. "You look tired.. Up all night?" She continued. She stood up from her desk and wrapped her bag around her back, still facing Lumi.
"Yeah, actually.. I-I-uhh.." He stuttered, immediately feeling regret in his interaction. "I was helping my mom unpack for her karaoke business, so I was up for a lot longer than I thought.." He folded. He fully expected to look up from his pity and see her walking off, or something rather.. Dismissive.
Lumi looked up with utter shock, Emi's breath caught in her throat. "Your mom owns a karaoke business!!?? Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh!!" She yelled, attracting the exiting students. "You totally have to let me be your first customer, me and my friends always do karaoke at home.. An entire place for it would be so cool!!" She exclaimed, slightly jumping up and down from excitement, screeching through her teeth.
Lumi began to calm his nerves, using the nature of his mothers business to help communicate easier. Almost like a barrier that removes emotion and replaces it with sales. "Of course, I'll make sure to let you know." Lumi added, forcing a smile.
Emi quickly bowed at the waist before quickly scurrying out of the classroom along with her friends who were waiting in the hallway, just outside the classroom for her. Lumi put his backpack on and walked into the hallway, preparing for first period. Walking to his next class, Lumi thought to himself. "She seemed to have been popular.. The word about my moms business may spread!" He began to get excited, a smile immediately inviting itself onto his face.
Suddenly, a group of guys running through the hallway stopped at Lumi. Each guy seemed to have spoken in unison, each looking almost exactly the same with obnoxiously large glasses and bad haircuts.
"You're the new guy right? Dude, PLEASE join the manga club, we're rapidly losing members, it's getting really bad man you have to help us.." They all shouted at exactly the same time.
"I wonder why…" Lumi thought to himself, examining each of their looks and behaviour. Lumi reset himself, looking each of them in the eye. "Sure, I'll join your group." Lumi stated.
The group howled, one of them pulling out a business card, aggressively placing it onto Lumi's chest. "You can get all of our details on it. Make sure you come during club activities!" He barked, the group immediately scattering, all going to their respective classes.
The day was quiet and peaceful, no new friends or interests, until lunch. Lumi walked outside into the loud courtyard, students sitting on benches under the beautiful trees, people chasing each other, and more. The environment was undoubtedly an upgrade from his last school, where the majority of people were doing drugs, fighting, or other mischievous activities. Lumi walked for just a few steps, until a familiar face appeared right in front of him.
"Toma?" Lumi questioned. Toma was on all fours, out of breath after running through the courtyard to find Lumi. "You alright? Have you been… running?" Lumi continued to inquire.
Toma's breath began to stabilize slowly, carefully standing up on his two feet. "I was just .. just trying .. to find you because I wanted to ask .." He repeatedly struggled to catch his breath before being able to finish his sentence. "When .. am I starting the karaoke job?" He concluded.
"Oh, yeah. I can bring you by the building once school is over, my mom spends all of her time tidying up the place. It's basically finished, she just needs to get it approved and checked for cleanliness." Lumi answered.
Suddenly, Toma put his hand to his forehead, saluting. "I AM the perfect man for the job! No doubt at all!" He shouted.
"Yeah, alright.. Wanna sit? My legs are killing me." Lumi continued. The two sat together at lunch, discussing various topics among anime, video games, and karaoke. Lumi shared an interest with his mother, singing. He always loved to sing with his mom and little sister, those random karaoke nights, that passion of karaoke and singing was the reason why his mom passed down the business, Melody's Echo. His grandma was never able to start the business before she passed, so now it's up to them to fulfill it.
As the day went on, Lumi continued the rest of his classes until the final bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. Large crowds of students filled the halls, girls holding hands with their boyfriends, guys walking with their friends, clubs separating into small groups, and more.
"I should go find that manga club I was invited to." Lumi thought to himself, standing in the center of the shoe locker entrance. He walked to a nearby bench, placing his bag on top of it, opening it and searching through his papers to find the business card he mindlessly dropped in it. Eventually, he pulled the business card out, mentioning the room number for the club. "Room 207, got it." Lumi zipped his bag up, putting it on his back and walking backwards before bumping into something behind him. He quickly turned around, horror slowly rising.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You wasted my boba all over my uniform!" A girl yelled. She had long chestnut colored hair, most of it curled up, the tips fading into a darker brown. Her uniform was completely soaked with a brown liquid, her boba cup almost completely crushed, the rest of the drink splattered all over her uniform. "And you're the new kid right? Yeah, not surprised you can't even figure out basic instructions, EUGH." She barked, storming off into the courtyard. The hallway was pitch quiet as she was speaking, obviously holding weight in her voice. Lumi stood in complete awe, watching her walk away in silence.
"Im.. sorry.." He muttered, finally spitting words out, but it was already too late. He had possibly already made an enemy, by just bumping into someone. He sighed, looking around to see the dozens of people staring at him in horror. He quickly bowed multiple times as a sign of apology to the people around him, simply for causing a disturbance. He ran back into the main hallway where the classes are, heading to his club room.
The walk was mortifying, thinking about the absolutely rancid facial expression she held, like she was looking at filth, right in front of her. He walked and walked, until he finally reached the room. The door was closed, but you could hear slight chatter already making itself known. He slowly slid the door to the side, entering the room.