Morning sunlight stretched across the long streets of the town, slipping between buildings and power lines before finally reaching the gates of Higashiyama Boys' High School.
Students slowly filled the campus.
Some were laughing loudly with their friends.
Others dragged their feet, still half-asleep from waking up too early.
A few sat on the stairs, finishing their breakfast from convenience store wrappers.
It was just another ordinary morning.
Inside the main building, the hallway smelled faintly of floor polish and chalk dust. Shoes echoed softly against the wooden floors as students walked toward their classrooms.
Second floor. Class 2-B.
Near the windows at the back of the room, a boy quietly sat at his desk.
His name was Jin Ito.
He rested his chin on one hand while the other lazily flipped through the pages of a textbook he wasn't really reading. Outside the window, the branches of a cherry blossom tree swayed gently in the breeze.
Petals drifted past the glass like small pink snowflakes.
Jin watched them silently.
From the outside, he looked like any other student.
Black hair.
Clean uniform.
Calm eyes.
Nothing about him stood out.
But if someone had known him a few years ago, they would have struggled to recognize him.
Back then, Jin had golden hair that reached his neck, with piercings in both ears that glinted under streetlights. His eyes had carried a sharp, dangerous glare that made people step aside without thinking.
He had been loud.
Violent.
Feared.
Now those things were gone.
The gold hair had been cut and dyed back to black.
The piercings had been removed.
Even his expression had softened.
These days, Jin looked… normal.
And that was exactly how he wanted it.
A loud laugh suddenly burst from the front of the classroom.
"Oi, you idiot! That's not how you draw muscles!"
Jin didn't even look up.
A group of boys had gathered around one desk, arguing over a notebook that apparently contained a poorly drawn superhero.
One of them held up the page proudly.
"Look! This is the ultimate warrior!"
The drawing showed a stick figure with
extremely large arms and a tiny head.
Another student stared at it.
"…Why does he look like a sausage?"
The room erupted with laughter.
Someone tossed an eraser across the room.
It bounced off a desk and hit another student in the shoulder.
"HEY!"
"Who threw that?!"
"Not me!"
"Liar!"
The noise slowly grew louder as more
students joined in the chaos.
Jin let out a quiet sigh.
He turned another page of his book.
He had learned something important after coming to high school.
Sometimes the best way to survive the day…
…was simply not getting involved.
A chair suddenly scraped loudly across the floor.
Two boys stood face-to-face near the center of the classroom.
"You took my seat!"
"It's not your seat!"
"I sit here every day!"
"Well today I sit here!"
More students began gathering around them like an audience watching a boxing match.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Someone even started banging a desk like a drum.
Jin finally lifted his eyes from his book.
He stared at the scene quietly for a few seconds.
Then he leaned back slightly in his chair.
"…Seriously?" he muttered under his breath.
The argument grew louder.
A pencil flew across the room.
A notebook followed.
Within seconds, the classroom that had once been peaceful had turned into complete chaos.
Jin closed his book slowly.
Outside the window, cherry blossom petals continued drifting peacefully through the air.
Inside the classroom…
A war had begun.
Jin rested his head against the back of his chair and looked at the ceiling.
"…It's going to be a long day."