Fikush-ON!

Ch. 4: School Day

I woke up to a beeping sound. It was the most annoying beeping of them all: an alarm clock. It kept getting louder and louder, as I was laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. As I was stretching, the beeping just went on. I started to get irritated.

"Shut the hell up already," I muttered to my phone as I set the alarm off.

My morning routines were as followed: I got out of the bed, opened the curtains, got dressed in my gakuran, pretended to make my bed, and headed downstairs. As I was on the first step, I saw my sister coming out of her room, seemingly as tired as I was. My brother was watching TV in the living room, wearing his own school uniform. Judging from the inviting aroma, he had made some coffee, so I headed to the kitchen to get some. I needed it.

Our mother goes to work very early in the morning, so we have to make our own breakfast. Opening the fridge and using the toaster isn't really rocket science, so we'll manage. I made myself some toast and gobbled it up, at the same time glancing at the TV. As usual, it didn't broadcast anything interesting.

Quarter of an hour passed, and it was time for my sister and I to go to school. My brother had left a bit earlier, since his high school was located a bit further away than our junior high. After getting our winter attire on, we stepped out of the house and began walking, side by side. This, however, lasted only for a few minutes, until I told my sister to go on ahead. You see, I was at the usual spot where I usually meet up with my friends.

A moment later, I saw a familiar duo approaching, both chuckling while pushing each other.

"Quit fucking around, you clowns. We're supposed to be responsible young men!" I ordered them sarcastically.

After a bit of laughing, we began heading to the school.

Tadaaki still hadn't gotten a new winter coat. Instead, he was wearing two hoodies on top of each other. Ichiro, on the other hand, was the only one of us who wore a beanie, probably due to his buzz cut.

Ah, yes, Makino Ichiro. We met him at the beginning of junior high. After a certain event, he began hanging out with us, and he's been our friend ever since. Sure, he can be a bit immature at times, but I'm not one to judge.

Soon we stood in front of a three-story building. Its red coat of paint had become so faded it almost looked pink. Only three more months in this piece of shit, and we'd be free. I mean, we'd have to go high school after this, but it can't be worse that Yukinokawa Junior High. It was pretty much the only junior high in the north-east part of the town.

As we walked towards the front doors, some students on the schoolyard turned around to glare at us. Well, that's what you get for being an infamous group of delinquents, I guess. This had lasted for three whole years, so we've learned to ignore them. We pushed ourselves through the crowd and headed to our classroom. Some of our classmates were already in the class, chatting with each other. We walked to the back of the class, where our seats were, and grouped up around Ichiro's desk, continuing on talking about whatever came to mind.

I felt my pocket vibrate. I ignored it, but it kept going on, meaning that it wasn't a message, but a phone call. I didn't have a ringtone, so it always takes a while to notice if someone's calling me. I grabbed my phone, checking the small screen on the lid: Hirasawa was calling me. This early in the morning? I looked at my friends, who didn't seem to care about my phone, and continued on talking. Huh, guess I'll answer it.

I pulled my chair back a bit, and answered the call: "Yeah?"

"Good morning, Sugimoto-san. Uh, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Hirasawa asked.