There Might Not Be a Tomorrow

The New Student

     The next day started off the same as usual: smashing alarm clocks, existential contemplation, dragging oneself to the washroom, slump down to breakfast, and Yuusuke's antics in the morning. School had already begun yet the homeroom teacher was nowhere to be seen. But it didn't matter to the students as it gave them more time to chatter and gossip amongst themselves before being completely silent when class begins. Twenty minutes after the morning bell rang, the teacher came into the room with a student. Thump! went the door as it slid from one side to the other. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards the doorway. "Good morning, kids!" "Good morning, Ms. Yamamoto!" greeted the students. "Ah...sorry for not being punctual but we have a new student joining the class. His name is Godai Tendou. Please give a quick introduction about yourself, if you may." The name suddenly struck Moa. "Tendou? Tendou? Is it the same guy I bumped into yesterday? He looks so different in school uniform.""Please to meet to meet you, classmates. My name is Godai Tendou and I'm originally from Hokkaido previously attending Sapporo Minami High School." "Well put. You can take the empty seat next you Ryutaro--Ryutaro, raise your hand! Ah, that guy right over there."

     When it was free-time during class, everyone moved around to their respective groups of friends and hung out for the allotted time, however, Tendou sat by himself away from the other students keeping to himself. Out of the random commotions of voices trying to talk over each other, Yuusuke thought it would be a better idea to just walk up to the new student and ask him to join his group. "Excuse me, young man. Um--hi, I'm Souji Yuusuke--feel free to call me Yuusuke. I wanted to ask if you would like to join me and my group of friends over there. It can be tough being the new guy since everyone ostracizes you like a plague-ridden cadaver so I thought it'd be best to make your first day more comforting by joining us. You wanna join?" After a quick thought, Tendou agreed to join Yuusuke. "Yeah...I'd love that. Thank you for your kindness." "Aah don't mention it. We're friends!" With a confused look on Tendou's face, "Friends? Already?" "Well sure. I mean--yeah, we're strangers right now but we're friends. We're more 'strangers' than 'friends' now but we'll become more as 'friends' than 'strangers' over time. You get me?" Pretending to follow along with Yuusuke's logic, Tendou politely nodded his head in agreement. 

     "Alright low-lives, I have captured us a new friend! Tendou, let me introduce them to you starting with this person to my left and work my way around to the right. This is Naomi, the empathizer of the group. Next to her is Ayumi, the incredibly emotional of the group--" "I'm not that emotional" "Hahahaa~~oh yes you are--" "That is Tsukasa, the 'tough guy' of the group. Don't worry, if you get into a fight and you need back up, he's your man. Next to him is Masahiro, we like to call him Masala sometimes because he loves Indian food. In fact, he likes many foreign cuisines, so if you wanna feel exotic he knows the places. Okay, where we're we--ah yes, that's Natsumi. She's the intellectual of this group so if you want help--and by 'help' I mean 'cheat' she can hook you up with the intel. Next to her is Samantha and Morgan our dubbed 'Yin Yang lovers' and also gaijin friends. Why 'Yin Yang lovers'? Because well, he's black...and she's white...and they're together so...yeah--Yin Yang lovers. Hopefully you're not offended 'cause they're not. Moving on, we got Moa, the pervert of the group--legend states that she intentionally bumps into people, preferably cute girls, to 'cup a feel' and afterwards, pretends to brush it off as an accident." "You're full of it, you know that Yuusuke?" Moa interrupted. "No I'm not. You emotionally scarred Ayumi by physically violating her and making her your plaything. You dragged her into our circle of friends against her indomitable will." "Hey! I can't help it if she looks delicious and her skin is soft and smooth--and--and her body mesmerizes me to have my way with her. She's asking for it!" "Don't sweat it Tendou, this is just our inside joke. She's actually a nice and courteous person once you get to know her. And after her you have me, Souji Yuusuke, the 'soul collector' of the group. And with that, feel free to join us and have a good time 'cause school is gonna suck the life out of you." "Wow,um, thank you...for accepting me into your group. I'm already starting to feel welcomed."

     Before they knew it, school ended and they were all getting ready to pack up and go home. They all met up at the front gate as usual and headed home. One by one, the group was picked apart like the pedals of a flower when people play that "love me or love me not" game. First one to deviate from the group was Tsukasa. Next ones to go were Morgan and Samantha, followed by Natsumi and Ayumi, Masahiro and Naomi, only leaving Moa, Yuusuke, and Tendou as the remaining three. Moa parted ways with Yuusuke and Tendou once they reached her house. As they were walking Yuusuke saw this as an opportune time to get to know more about the new student. 

"So where do you live, Tendou?"

"My mom and I moved to Kyoto."

"Eh? Kyoto?! I see. So why did you guys move? Tired of Hokkaido's harsh winters?"

"Um...not exactly. Personally, I enjoyed the cold weather. It's quite soothing, actually--therapeutic, if I may say so myself. But we moved to Kyoto because my parents' divorce didn't end too well. You know--money problems. He was drinking more often which led to him being more physical and abusive towards my mom."

"Oh no...is she okay? She doesn't have any scars or bruises does she?"

"No scars. She did get bruises however. My dad was intelligent in the way he hurt my mom. He would hit her in places where people won't be able to see like her shoulder blades, shoulders, upper thighs, you know--places that people don't expose too much of. She's a very strong woman to have put up with that for years--"

"Years?!! How long? Poor thing."

"It was only about three and a half years so it was still manageable since we didn't fall too deep into the rabbit hole of domestic abuse. And because of that she divorced him...but...he kept on harassing us and sending her death threats even when we moved half way across Hokkaido. So to get rid of him completely, we moved to Kyoto without telling anyone except for family members who we were close with and knew would never give up our location." Tendou, then, paused for a moment.

"But I can't help the fact that I was the cause of it. The money problems were caused by me. I ruined this family because of me." Tears began to trickle down his face. Souji tried to comfort him by rubbing his back.

"Hey now, it wasn't your fault. Divorce is a great misfortune that people who love each other can ever face. And it's an even greater misfortune when people succumb to heavy emotions, blinding them of the glue that bonded them together in the first place. Money problems affect everyone regardless of how rich or how poor they are. You had no part in that matter."

"I did. I did...I did." Tendou begins to bawl his eyes out as he tried to control the waterworks. Yuusuke embraced him, placing Tendou's head on his shoulder and letting the sad soul pour out his emotions. When he was able to compose himself he released himself from Yuusuke.

"I'm-I'm sorry for acting like this; it's not right."

"No, no it's fine. It's natural to relieve ourselves from our feelings every now and then. It'd be unnatural to just keep them hidden and pent up only to self-destruct from the inside. I won't think less of you for crying in front of me."

"I'm sorry about this. I can walk home from here. Alone."

"You sure? I don't mind walking you to your train stop."

"No, I'll be okay. Have a good night, Yuusuke. I'm grateful for your benevolence." With those as his final words Tendou walked away, leaving Yuusuke with himself to walk home.