Serendipity

III - Koi no Yokan (恋の予感)

 After a night of dinner Yousuke and Nene washed the dishes,which has become a routine for them, while the rest of the family were scattered around the house; Mr. and Mrs. Sugisaki lounged in the patio and Nene's siblings were in their rooms. They didn't speak to one another while they cleaned the dishes. Whenever Yousuke would try to have a small conversation he was immediately shut down by Nene's short responses. "Hm... it doesn't seem she's too pleased having me around." Yousuke thought to himself. "Externally she's just being courteous but inside she's not thrilled. Meh, I guess I'd feel the same thing if my dad had his friend's child stay with us and I knew nothing about them."

"So, uh....," Yousuke turned his attention to Nene, "did you get the school email?" "What?" He was puzzled when he heard the question. "What email?" "Emails were sent a few days ago to the incoming freshman class about orientation. It's going to take place in about two weeks from now." "Really?" "Yeah. They're going to give an overall lecture about the university followed by a tour of the entire campus. You're going right?" Yousuke was surprised by the revelation. "Oh, uh, yeah -- of course I'll be going. Heh, I haven't been keeping up with my inbox as of late. Thanks for the heads up!" said Yousuke. He caught a quick glimpse of Nene smiling as he directed his attention back to drying the dishes; a seldom sight he has seen since his arrival.

 It's the day of the orientation and Yousuke and Nene have just arrived at the front of the school. "Wow! The main campus is enormous!" remarked Nene. "Geez, how are we going to find where the orientation is going to take place?" "Let's just follow those people over there." Yousuke pointed to a flock of students. "They look like they're undergrads." "Okay, if you say so Yousuke." The remainder of the day and the afternoon were occupied by the orientation. Soon enough a large number of students flooded from the campus after the event. "That was interesting wasn't it?" asked Nene. "Yeah, kinda. I caught myself snoozing during the lecture and presentation but when we got on with the tour I felt completely revitalized." "Hehe, yeah, same here." said Nene.

"If only my friends were here, this could've been more entertaining."

"Oh? What universities are your friends going to?" questioned Yousuke.

"Uh...", she laughed nervously, "they're still in high school. In fact, all of them are still in high school. You see... I graduated a little earlier than them because I wanted a head start in university."

"Wait, so how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen?! Really?!" Nene nodded her head, her cheeks blushing.

"All this time I thought you were the same age as me."

"And how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen."

"Oh, then in that case, I wouldn't think it's too much of shocker. But I've also been told that I act older than my age so... I don't know where I'm going with this." Nene laughs, patting the back of her head.

"Yeah you're right; it's not a big deal to begin with. So what's with the rush to getting into university? Wouldn't it have been best to graduate high school with all of your friends? I mean, because after high school, people tend to stray from another as they pursue their own things."

"Hmm... I did take that into consideration and everyone told me to just finish high school like everyone else but I felt like it would be a waste of time. I've already had more than enough credits to graduate anyways so I just took the opportunity."

"That's pretty impressive! The high school that I went to wouldn't had allow its student to do that, even with they were geniuses."

"What high school is this?"