Fikush-ON!

Ch. 6: Beginning High School

I can't remember what just happened. It was dark, I felt like I was floating in the air. As I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by water. Looking down, I saw nothing but darkness. Looking up, I saw light shining on the water's surface. But suddenly, I started to drown. I couldn't breathe, I felt anxious. I was kicking my feet, trying to swim to the surface. The water was thick, almost as if I were swimming in honey. Against all odds I managed to get to the surface. The light blinded me as I was gasping for air. Soon, however, the light moved away, as if it was nothing but a lamp.

As I looked around, I noticed the body of water I was currently in was actually a circular pool of some kind, coped with stone tiles. I climbed out of the pool, noticing that my clothes weren't soaked at all. I looked around for a bit more, and found the light that blinded me earlier. Actually, it was a light orb. A green light orb. I started walking towards it. My walking turned into a jog, and soon I found myself sprinting as fast as I could. The green light orb, however, wasn't getting any closer. Instead, it let out a flash of light, blinding me completely.

I opened my eyes, and saw my room's ceiling. So it was just a dream. My awakening was caused by someone opening the curtains. I rolled over to my side and closed my eyes, trying to get back to sleep. However, someone started shaking me. At first I thought it might've been my sister or one of my parents. To my surprise, it was actually my big brother.

"Wake up, man. You don't want to be late on the first day."

Why the hell did my brother care so much about me being late? I raised my head and noticed my school uniform hanging from the closet's handle. Ah, it's my first day at high school. No wonder my brother bothered to wake me up. I sat on the edge of my bed and stretched a bit, while my brother left the room.

"Get dressed up and come downstairs," he said before closing the door.

I scratched my head as I walked over to the school uniform. It consisted of navy blue jacket, white shirt, gray pants, and a red tie. Pretty basic, in other words. I got dressed up, and admired my new uniform for a bit, before heading downstairs. I grabbed myself a cup of coffee, and joined my brother at the living room couch.

"So, you're a senior now, right?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yup, and you're a freshie."

After noticing my confused expression, he snickered and explained: "Freshie means freshman."

"Oh, wow. You came up with that all by yourself?" I muttered unamused, and sipped my coffee.

One light breakfast later, I grabbed my new schoolbag, and we were ready to head off. I felt a bit excited as we walked together towards the high school. I glanced at my brother, who didn't care to button up his shirt and had tucked his school bag under his armpit.

Sugimoto Daichi, 17 years old. He's my big brother now and forever, no matter whether I like it or not. He can be a bit stubborn at times, but I've got used to it. He's the only one I've never beaten in a fight. After all, he's taller and more fit than me. He's also skilled at sports, which would be hard to believe, since he's just lazing around during his free time.

The distance from my home to the high school was a bit under two kilometers. The amount of other students grew the closer we got. Soon I recognized two dudes from the group of students: Tadaaki and Ichiro. I waved my brother goodbye, ran up to the duo, and we continued on to the school.

Soon we stood in front of Kasumimashita High School. Its front yard hard stone tile paths going here and there, edged with bushes and other kinds of greenery, with a fountain in the middle of it. There also were some trees and benches here and there. The gray building itself resembled a crooked letter H from above, with the middle part being two stories tall and the rest being three. We looked around in awe as we walked towards the school's main doors.

We were directed into the school's auditorium, which was located right across from the main doors. I spent the next 20 minutes listening to the principal's monologue about the new school year and so on. I already felt like taking a nap. After the speech, we walked to the second floor of the east wing, where our classroom was located. The room was filled with rows of decades-old desks, so it was nothing special, really. My desk was located in the middle of the window row. I got tired of teacher's speech almost instantly, and only pretended to listen while gazing out of the window.

After the classes ended, my friends and I decided to explore the school a bit. The school's lobby, however, was filled with students handing out flyers and outright begging the other freshmen to join their clubs. We tried to ignore them, since there's no way we'd join any clubs. We, however, got swarmed. I thought I was about to die, when a hand appeared from amongst the students, grabbing my sleeve, and pulled me out to safety, Tadaaki and Ichiro following right behind me.

"You poor thing, they'll eat you alive out there," my brother Daichi said as he let go of my sleeve.

I folded my arms. "Let me guess: you also want us to join some club, right?"

Daichi scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Well, yeah. But this club is a lot different than others. No need for athletic nor musical skills. Follow me, and I'll show you."

My friends and I looked at each other, and decided to go along with my brother. He led us to the back of the west wing, and opened a small door. Behind it were stairs leading down.

"A basement? Are we even allowed to go there?" I asked.

"Just trust me," my brother answered, and started walking down the stairs.

The stairs led to a dimly lit hallway, filled with doors leading to storage rooms and whatnot. My brother walked to the end of the hallway and opened the door on the right. As we peeked inside, we were left open-mouthed; our eyes were met with a cozy looking room, with wooden floor and walls painted dark brown. One of the many small windows located near the ceiling was open, making the room's air a lot fresher than back in hallway.

Three ragged couches sat in the middle of the room, arranged around a coffee table. Right across from it was a large CRT TV, accompanied by numerous old game consoles and VCR players. Right next to it was a huge shelf, holding different kinds of books, boxes, CD cases and whatnot. There also was a stereo system, which was currently blasting a rock song from 90's. In the back of the room was a small kitchen of some kind, with a fridge and everything, and next to it a table and some chairs. This fucking place rocked!

There was one student sitting at the table, and two others laying on the couches. They didn't seem to pay any mind when my brother opened the door. However, they jumped right on their feet when they saw us.

"Daichi, you brought us some freshies!" one of the students shouted.

"The future of the club is ensured!" another one whooped, throwing his hands in the air.

We stepped inside, taking a closer look around. I turned to my brother.

"So, what's—"

"Coffee Club," my brother answered, cutting my sentence short.

"This is a Coffee Club. As the name states, we drink coffee and hang out here."

The student, who was sitting at the table, stepped forward, adjusting his glasses.

He told us a story: "Coffee Club was founded by an unknown student approximately seven or eight years ago, his name being lost in history. He was exploring around the school's basement, when he happened to find this room. It was used as a temporary staffroom a long time ago when the school building was being renovated. Due to his discovery, he got an idea and decided to form a club. Obviously, 'Hanging out Club' wouldn't be accepted, he decided to make it a Coffee Club, since he liked coffee. As the time went on, this student decided to actually make the club more coffee orientated, and started reviewing different kinds of coffees and coffee recipes."

He pointed at a single, blue notebook laying in the shelf. Assuming it actually is eight years old, it's in surprisingly good condition.

"So, now you know that this club is about drinking coffee and hanging out. What do you say, you want to join?" he asked us.

All the other club members, my brother included, leaned towards us. My friends and I glanced at each other, and nodded. We didn't know anything better than hanging out. And coffee. We liked coffee.