snow-clad spring

chapter 1

"The next one will be our last song. Thank you everyone! This was Coffee Awakenings!"

The sound of cheers and clapping from a number of people can be heard as I rode my bike on the way to class. There's a park with an outdoor stage on my left, where a number of people were sitting on benches, watching the people on stage. A band seems to be performing.

"Ah, is this one of those bands from the students here?" I asked myself, still biking while trying to eat the piece of toast on my mouth, trying to get a quick glimpse of the already ending performance.

Enthralled by the music they were playing, I slowly listened and stopped the bike without realizing it. The lead vocalist, singing on the top of her lungs filled with absolute emotion, while the other band members played wholeheartedly, seeming to be in a state of flow. They were having the time of their lives, despite the audience not being that many. 

Feeling the beat of the drums and the captivating melodies from the guitar strumming, the appealing and satisfying tunes being plucked from the bass, assisted by the elegantly played keyboard, it made me think about how good they are, and it also made me wonder how my college life is going to be. And, upon that thought, another one came to me all off a sudden:

"Oh shit! I'm gonna be late for my first class!" I said, panicking. I quickly finished eating what remains of my bread, then started to pedal again, moving faster than usual after checking the time on my watch.

A couple of minutes went by and I finally arrived at the building I was supposed to be at, the Benzaiten building. Excitedly, and anxiously, I locked my bike and immediately went to the room I was supposed to go to for my first class.

I ran past the student lounge on the first floor up to the fourth floor of the building, where the class I'm supposed to be at is. As I finally reached it, I stopped to take a quick breath as I opened the classroom door.

The room was wide. The windows were covered with blackout curtains on either side of the room. Tables and chairs were arranged from the bottom and all the way up to the back, just like what you'd see in arenas. A long whiteboard can be seen out in the front, with what seems like a projector and a projector screen. An empty desk seems to be in the middle of it, but there's nobody there yet.

"Nice!" I whispered to myself. "I'm not yet late for class... somehow."

As I look around a bit more, I could see students that were already grouped on different seats. Great.

I don't know anyone and I can't seem to find anyone I can be friends with immediately. I don't know which programs they're in or what their schedules are, and it also feels too late to ask. Plus, I never was the type to start conversations to begin with. I don't know what things people like nowadays.

Walking from the door of the room, I sit on the 2nd to the last row, a little bit in the middle, with nobody else near me. I quickly got my bag off my right shoulder, following the black guitar bag I had on my back. I sat there, thinking about my regrets due to waking up late in the morning on my very first day of school.

"Hey," I flinched, as some guy called me. "You alright? It's only the first class and you look tired already."

"Yeah, I- I am." I stuttered, trying to answer him as normally as I could.

I turned my back to see a guy with flat red hair and light blue eyes who only appeared there just now, looking at me with a wide smile on his face.

"Oh. I guess technically around this time the lecture should've started like 15 minutes ago! Haha!" He chuckled.

"Yeah. I had to run as fast as I could."

"Oh! Well, you should get up earlier next time. Although, I was actually a little bit late myself, so who am I to speak, huh? But at least we're lucky the professor isn't here yet!"

"Yeah."

"So what's your name?"

"Chiba Yukito."

"Chiba-kun. Alright. My name's Takeda Masahiro. But you can just call me Hiro. Nice to meet ya!"

"Nice to meet you too, uhm Take-"

"Hiro!"

"Hiro. -san."

"Hiro is fine!"

"Ah, sorry! Hiro then!"

"There we go!"

While talking with this guy who seems to be very stubborn, a tall man wearing a shirt and tie enters the room.

"Okay class", he said as he walked on his way to the table in the middle. "Sorry I was a bit late."

"Yikes! I think that's the professor. I gotta go back to my seat with the other guys now! It was nice meeting you tho, I'll see you again later maybe after class okay?" Hiro asked as he tapped on my shoulder, quickly getting up on the seat he was currently on to move to the rows up front, joining a bunch of other people.

Without getting the chance to say anything back to him, my mind went to thinking about the professor. It was really good to know that I wasn't really that late, since he came shortly after my arrival. I then started to pull myself together and listen to what he had to say.

"Okay class, let's get started!"

A few hours went by and the first class was already over. I didn't really get to talk to anyone, let alone Hiro, as he already went outside with I assume are his friends from high school or something. Frustrated with myself, I decided to just go to my next class.

While locating the next classroom I was supposed to go, I got to see different buildings and rooms. It seems like this is how things work here. You go to different rooms per class, which aren't always in the same building. After the next few classes, I noticed that I got to see a whole lot of people, some I met in my other classes earlier, some not.

As the first day of classes ended, I decided to go take a quick look around the entire campus a bit more, enjoying this new experience for me. I also thought of going to the park where I saw that band this morning. I rode my bike on my way there.

Once I arrived, I got out of my bike, bringing it with me as I slowly went to the park. Obviously, the set, the audience, and that band wasn't there anymore.

'It was to be expected. I came back here after literally hours.' I thought. 'They probably went to their own classes after that, and are back on their dormitories or something.'

Frustrated with myself, again, I lied down on the grass. I left my bike beside me together with my two bags, with the guitar bag empty as I got its contents out and decided to play a quick little song to relax with.

The beautiful, orange sky enveloped the area as I went on playing on my guitar, looking at the surroundings and the people. Some students were on the stairs, eating, hanging out with friends, reading, doing their own thing. Seeing them felt like I was finally off of the very not normal life I had. Today was a good day.

Do note the "was" on the previous sentence.