Chapter song - Social Stamina by ROSIE

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Second period; Science. Shu had quite a clear idea about the lesson. His parents had homeschooled him when they were in those trips, away from all the schools and had no way of connecting him to a educational institution. He loved his dad's fun lessons, mom's descriptive methods of teaching. Everything was easy and fun those days. He stared at his blank notebook, looking through the finely ruled pages, his pen making black ink patches across them.

The teacher had his back turned to the class. Hardly anyone in the class was paying attention to the formulas he was writing down on the black board. Some of the girls in the corner of the class were passing notes. Aoi, the male who bumped into him and volunteered on showing him around was snoring so loud that Shu wondered the teacher was purposefully ignoring him. He turned back to the black board and started jotting down the formulas neatly on his page. If he promised Zac he's going to start anew and stop moping around, he might just as well give a try.

The bell rang loudly, it's shrill sound echoing through the school. Lunch. Students poured out to the freedom of the hallways — all of them in groups of two and three. Shu zipped his bag. The class was empty except for a few students aligning their desks together to eat their packed lunches. "I can call you Shu, right?"

Shu turned to the shorter male standing by his side. "Uh, sure" He slung the backpack over his shoulder.

"You can call me Valt" He said, offering his hand. Shu took it and gave him a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you Valt" Shu smiled feeling relief wash over him. He really didn't want to go searching the cafateria alone and he was starting to wonder if Valt had forgotten how he had promised the teacher he'd show him around.

"Kurenai Shu" Another person joined them, his firm voice stopping the pair on their tracks. "I'm your class president" He said, giving his chin a little dip. Shu mirrored the motion. He pushed back his glasses, resettling them on top of his nose. His dark eyes peering at him curiously behind them. "Nanase Natsu" He introduced himself. "A pleasure to meet you"

"Likewise" Shu replied. The male nodded, placing a hardcover book on his table — the cover designed with music notes, in the bottom corner was a blank space to write the owner's name.

"That's your music notebook provided by the school" He fished out a badge, similar to the one the whole class was wearing —a single music note connected to the English letter E, gold in colour. "This is our class badge. Student's class is identified by this"

Shu accepted it and pinned it on his tie like everyone else had done. "Okay.Thank you"

"Welcome to Class E" He finally said, his firm expression falling off as a friendly smile took it's place. "Valt will show you around. Feel free to come to me if you have any questions"

"Okay" If everyone was this friendly, he wouldn't have a hard time, Shu found himself thinking.

The president went to join several other students waiting by the classroom door for him. The pack of males walked out of the room with their hushed voices carrying away the little sound the classroom had. "Let's go!" Valt cheered, leading him to the door. "I have a lot to show you"

They passed students, carrying juice boxes and bread in their hands. Some leaning against the glass windows, talking among eachother. Valt stopped by the line of lockers in the side of the hall. The grey long metal boxes —some decorated with stickers and name tags, stood aligned crowding the side of the white tiled corridor. "Do you have the number of yours?" Valt asked. He was pointing at one of the lockers, decorated with light brown stickers of bread and a piece of paper read, Valt Aoi in messy handwriting. "That's mine! I hope yours is close by"

Sadly, it wasn't. Shu's locker was in the farthest corner of the hall, in between two lockers — one devoid of life, there was not a single sense of personality attached to it, the other decorated with soccer balls and no name tag. "This is mine" Shu said, pulling out the key from his pocket. He opened the clean, dust-free locker. The emptiness staring back at him. "Wow" Shu blurted out, "This looks so sad"

Valt chuckled, "Wait" He pulled out another sticker of bread. This time, it was round bun with coloured pink sugar scattered on top of it —Shu's favourite kind. Valt reached out and slapped the sticker on the inside of the locker door. "There! It looks better now"

Shu stared for a second, an effortless smile blooming over his face. He really liked this person and the way he could easily cheer him up. "Thank you" Shu chuckled, "It does look better"

Valt gave him a triumphant grin in return, "Right!"

Shu locked the door and the pair departed from the lockers. They walked along, Valt pointing out all the important places. "This is the library" He said, peering into a large room with shelves from the ceiling to the floor. Rows and rows of books stacked on them, divided by the genre and the language they were written. It was quiet except for a few students by the desks in the reading area. The receptionist didn't even acknowledge them as they walked through the shelves. Shu randomly plucked a book and flipped through the pages. This is a place he would be coming a lot.

Exiting the library, they wandered back to the hallway of their class. Valt pointed at the farthest class from them. It was completely empty. Not a soul inside. "This is Class A. Everyone should be at the cafateria"

"That's Class B" Valt said, there were few students still inside. Valt peered into the classroom and waved at one of the students. A male with black hair and matching black eyes. His pale face clearing upon the sight of Valt. "Daigo!" He cheered, waving both his hands now. The male walked upto the classroom door.

"You're late" He said, eyes briefly shifting to Shu.

"I was showing him around!" Valt turned to him, "Shu, this is Kurogami Daina, we call him Daigo though, and Daigo, this is Kurenai Shu"

"You are the new student?"

Shu nodded, "That's me"

"We all eat in the cafateria together. There's two more for our friend group" Valt explained. "Honcho and Ken should be at the cafateria by now. They are from Class C" He pointed at the neighbouring classroom to Daigo's. "Let's go to Cafateria then"

Shu followed the two males, easily fitting in their conversation, passing their daily complains about the lessons and the teachers. He wondered if he was barging in, pushing himself to this tight knit group. Ah well, if it come to that, he'll just quietly back off.

His eyes shifted back to Kurogami, he was around the same height as Valt — both shorter than him. His pale face contrasted widely against his dark locks, adjusted to place using a deep red bandana. He had piercings, Shu noticed for the first time, two silver studs on each ear. In fact, lots of the students wore jewellery. None of the teachers seemed to mind it either.

The cafateria was in a separate building. While walking there Valt showed him the massive gymnasium and the auditorium — two seperate buildings opposite the tennis courts and the outdoor stadiums. The dorm buildings were in the far back, Valt explained and the first floor of the building their classrooms had the studios. They were not allowed on the other floors except the ground floor and the first floor, seniors' classes and studios were there.

This school was like a whole village itself, Shu thought staring at the space, the greenery and the garden. It was simply exquisite. The cafeteria was crowded with students bustling about. Empty paper cups on tables. Girls leaning over tables, their high ponytails bouncing as they talked with excited tones. They passed tables with guys, shining hair and attractive faces as they laughed out loud to silly jokes. High school life, Shu thought,picking up a tray and choosing something to eat.

The sweet spicy aroma of fried chicken mixed with the rich scent of vegetable soup invited them along. There was no line and the staff was generous. They did pay a considerable portion of money for the food, it was inevitable they were made by good chefs. Shu picked a strawberry milk juice box from the vending machine and followed Valt and Daigo to a table. It was not empty— in fact none of the tables were. All of them were at least half-filled with students.

"Honcho!" Valt called out to the blonde sitting on the table as he placed the tray across from him. "Shu," He said, gesturing to the seat beside the long glass window beside him, giving a clear view of the sea —waves, curled in white froth crashing against the golden brown sand. "You can sit here!"

Shu replied with a nod, grateful Valt never seemed to forget his existence which he thought was likely due to his quiet nature. Daigo sat on the other side of Valt greeting another ravenette. His eyes —green as the deep waters of a lake, stared at him with inquisitive wonder. "Guys, this is Kurenai Shu! He's the new student of our class and he's super pretty"

Shu wasn't ready for the last part, he wasn't quite sure why he added that either. The blonde snorted, "That's our Valt" He said, "Name's Kiyama Rantarou, you can call me Honcho and this guy here is Midorikawa Kensuke, he goes by Ken"

"Don't forget us Honcho" A voice said drawing his attention. Shu turned to see two puppets — brown and blue, in each of his hands. "I'm Keru" The blue puppet introduced. Shu watched in wonder how Ken's mouth didn't move. It was as if the puppets were really talking. "I'm Besu," The other said. "We're people too," Besu said with a crest-fallen face.

Honcho reached out and patted the puppet with a grin, "Right, right. Sorry 'bout that"

Shu nodded, "Nice to meet you guys" His eyes were trained on the puppets, his fingers itching to touch them.

"So, you're in Class E?"

"Yes" Shu pressed his lips together. Without teasing, the blonde looked interested. He watched as he scooped the last of his food to his mouth and pulled out a lollipop from his blazer pocket — the buttons undone and his tie was loosely hanging around his neck. He popped it into his mouth.

"Let me take a wild guess and say none of your family members are musicians"

Shu looked impressed, "How'd you know?"

"Simple logic" He shrugged, "Most of the people in Class E neither have parents who are musicians nor they have the initial education of music taught to them by a professional. But still, the judge board at interviews see you guys as unpolished gems and recruit"

"Oh, so your parents-"

Honcho was already shaking his head. "My dad is a cop, mom's a nurse. But I was in the music club at middle school and elementary" He grinned, "That's how I learned the drums"

Valt chomped down on his chicken, "He's super good at it! You should see him play. He goes boom, baam and whoosh!"

"That does sound awesome" Shu pushed his food back and forth. Maybe he should just drink his strawberry milk.

"And Valt here" Honcho said, sighing. "Magnificent talent but stagefright"

"He literally froze" Keru added, "Like the iceberg that hit the titanic froze"

Valt sheepishly grinned, "At least I got in"

"Can give you the credit for that," Daigo smiled. He didn't seem to be the talkative type either.

"Did you guys know each other before high school?" Shu asked, hesitating. The bond they had seemed far-fetched and Shu didn't think it was just a mere relationship created in a week.

"Yeah" It was Besu who answered. "We went to middle school together and hung out at Valt's mom's bakery! Those days were so fun"

"Your mom has a bakery?"

Valt nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! My mom makes the best bread."

"It isn't the bakery round the corner is it? The one overlooking the beach and the park?"

"You know it!? That's the one!"

That one bakery he had been visiting to get away from the gloom of his house. The one with the cheery owner, her kind eyes always following him as he stirred his hot cocoa idly staring into the beach for hours. It was surprising how people met, the world was indeed a small place. The bakery had become his happy place, his comfort bubble when there was no one around to break his thoughts. "I visit it at least three time a week" Shu said, "I didn't know the owner has a son"

"That's weird" Valt knitted his brows together, "I haven't seen you"

"I moved here a couple of months earlier, '' Shu explained, "I came to live with my cousin. That's probably why we've never met"

"That makes sense," Honcho said, "Valt knows practically everyone around here. Even some students in the Class A"

"The big shots" Keru dramatically added to his sentence.

"That's not fair! You know them too!"

Honcho sighed miserably, "Ah yes, that one spoiled goldilocks, Wakiya Komurasaki"

"They're always fighting," Besu said, "We used to go to the same middle school. Those two used to be in the same class but after coming here we didn't talk much with him"

"Class A is a different league" Daigo finished his meal and popped open his bottle of orange juice. "They hang out together and some Class B students hang out with them. They're like the bigshots in the school"

Shu's eyes wandered into a group of students in the opposite corner. All of them huddled around one another — girls with bright pink hair clips and expensive jewellery, boys with slick hair and crystal clear skin , passing stories and jokes. They didn't look much different from the rest of them except for the Chanel bags and luxurious shoes. "Don't we have the next class with them?" Shu asked.

"We do!" Valt said in glee, "They say it's because we're so bad they are making Class A and E take classes together. It's fun though. They get so mad quickly"

Honcho cheered him on, "That's right! Give them hell. And after school today, we can all go to your mom's bakery and give a welcome party for Shu. How does that sound?"

Shu tilted his head, "It's okay, you don't have to"

But they didn't seem like they were taking suggestions. Valt jumped up, already pumped by the idea. "Yes! That's fantastic. Mom will love Shu. Oh wait" He sat back down, "She already knows you"

"That's right" Shu took a sip of his strawberry milk — ah, it was heaven. "I think she will remember me"

"She will! My mom remembers all the customers. She's terrific" Valt said, gushing. Shu thought back to his own. His mom. The one with white locks and red eyes. The one who was strikingly similar to him. The one who put him to bed and sang him lullabies until he fell asleep. He missed her.

"It's settled then" Daigo said, listening to the bell. He stood, "See you guys by the gate"

They agreed and parted their ways. Valt and Shu walked into the boys' locker room to change into gym clothes. On the left side of the jersey an E was embroidered — it was like everything had to remind the students of the class they were in. The pair walked into the gym. Half of their class was already in, talking in corners waiting for the teacher to arrive. Everything was going smoothly. None of the students were interested in him, and that was more than okay. He had found a small group he could fit in.

The gymnasium was massive, the floor polished that it was glistening, reflecting the white beams of the bulbs. Shu let his eyes wander out of boredom when someone — a familiar voice caught his ear, "Kurenai Shu?"

Shu didn't need to turn to see who it was. He knew the foriegn pronunciation. The added mockery in the words. It had been quite a few months until he last saw her. But he didn't know she was attending this same school. "Hello, Edna," Shu said, a forced smile on his lips.

The blonde girl stood, her white slender arms crossed over her chest. Her sapphire eyes squinting as if he was a moth stumbling upon a light. He should've known the smooth day till now was the calm before the storm.

And the storm was brewing right in front of him in the appearance of Kurogane Edna staring down at him like a pest. It seemed like both had questions. Big ones.