"Why do people say you're a monster?"
"I think people are a little afraid to be read like a book, ya know? I'm just too good."
-
Exchange trips are scary. Being an exchange student in a giant school full of students that are much different than you...
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Tendou sang a little song as you walked up the stairs and down the hallway into the crisp air of the outdoors at night. With a little hand motion, he motioned for you to follow right by his side.
He led you away from the gym in the opposite direction of where the dorm and class building sat. "You know, I've lived here my entire life so I know a couple things. It's a little bit of a walk, but I promise we'll have a good time."
"You're from the area?" you asked as you watched him put his hands in his pocket and look up at the sky. The sidewalk was being illuminated by the street lights on the outer edge, so you could see Tendou well despite the darkness. You followed by his side, watching the ways that he moved to guide you on this unknown path as you walked.
He nodded. "Well, more so than you are, obviously. I grew up a good train-ride away, but we commonly took the train into the city. I always loved it more than the country."
"That's why you're going to school here?"
"Well, I'm here at this exact school more because of volleyball. Coach Washijo found me in middle school and had faith in me so I got the scholarship. Otherwise, I probably would be in another Sendai school at least."
"At least?" you asked, which made him look back at you.
"I can't wait to leave Miyagi," he answered, looking at the ground for a second. "I find it hard to believe that you would come here when all I want to do is leave, but I don't blame you for leaving your own home."
You smiled. "I mean, here was never going to be my forever unless something major happened while I was here and I fell in love with it here. I wanna go everywhere."
He snapped his fingers and pointed at you. "See, I just knew you thought the same way as me. I could tell."
"What was the give-away?" you asked with a little laugh.
He smiled. "I just knew, 'ya know? It wasn't even just you being the only one in art class or the foreigner or whatever. It just seemed like we would get along."
"But you still had to ask if we would be partners or enemies?"
He looked at you directly as his smile grew even wider. "Of course, I had to know what you were thinking. I didn't just want to assume you wanted a friend, but I felt like you did so it was all just confirmation."
You almost stopped in your tracks. A friend? All you had been begging for that day was a friend. Had you seemed that pitiful that he could tell you needed a friend?
His smile faltered. "Oh, I didn't mean to just insist that we were friends. I did get the sense that we were getting along pretty well—"
"Of course you're my friend," you quickly spoke up. "You're the only one that's been kind to me this entire time."
