The Other Half On The Second Floor

Chapter Four

Before opening the door to reach the stairs, Kaito grabs my hand and turns me around, he leans in and gives me a small kiss. He gives me a cheeky smile, "finally, I got you."

I feel my face burn slightly, "H-hey! At least warn me."

He laughs, "alright, I will." He walks me back to my classroom and we depart once again until school is done with. When I sit down, I get this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. That message left a bad taste in my mouth. I wasn't sure why however, I mean that text was rather odd, but instead of me worrying that it was a kidnapper of some sort, I felt on edge, it was a similar feeling to when Nanase asked me to meet him at the park on the day he confessed.

What was more odd was my teacher's sudden announcement. Before she started class, she gave us the news. "A new student will be joining us next week. I'm letting you all know ahead of time, please treat them with your utmost respect and help them out in any way you can."

This new information immediately became the talk of the class. People gossiped about the unknown student, making assumptions as to how they'd be like. They were excited that someone new was joining us, maybe they were already bored of everyone here. Me on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to this. A new student, so what? I was a new kid here too, and maybe people were excited like this before I arrived, but were disappointed when they saw a dull boy. Class continued as always, Friday was somewhat close to being finished. I looked over at the window, the trees were rustling slightly and the sun was shining gently in the clear blue sky. My concerns were calmed by this view. The sun was finally able to shine outside of those gloomy clouds. It really was possible.

As I continued sketching in my small notepad, I felt a small poke on my back, a pencil poke to be exact. I turn around, only to see a young boy with light eyes staring at me, about to jab me yet again.

"Uh, do you need something?" I whisper.

"No, just bored. You're Eiichi, right?" He continues stabbing me with the pencil, lighter this time.

"Yeah, you're...?"

"Daisuke Eiji, can't even remember my name, huh?" He still hadn't made eye contact with me. His scruffy black hair went well with his light brown eyes.

"Well, we've never spoken before. You're the student who won first place in that art contest last year, right? It was pretty good."

This statement finally grasped his attention, he stops his poking and finally looks at me. "Yeah, you remembered. Thanks. I draw for fun, but my family encouraged me to enter the contest, I'm glad I did."

I turned back around so the teacher wouldn't notice Daisuke and I speaking, "You should consider joining the art club. I bet you'd be able to learn more about art and share new ideas as well."

"Nah, not for me. I work solo. I get my own ideas and learn from myself or professionals, not mere students who join clubs to make friends."

"I see." I continue drawing my tiny sketchpad when I feel eyes on me from behind- Daisuke was looking at me.

"You draw, too?" he was standing up slightly to look over my shoulder.

"Sometimes. I'm not as experienced as you, but it's fun sorta."

There was a sudden chime, the class was over. We were instructed to go to the field next. I stand up and shove my stuff into my schoolbag. Daisuke stood up and went up to me. "So, what do you think about the new student?"

His random question caught me by surprise, "Uh, I mean, I don't really have an opinion. You?"

"I don't know, I don't really care. But I heard the newbie's from Shinjuku. Of course it could just be another rumor."

What? Shinjuku? The news of the possibility had me staggered for a bit. This student may be from one of the nearby schools to where I attended junior high. "Oh, really? That's interesting." was all I could manage to say.

Daisuke began walking off to the changing room, "Yeah, well anyway, I'll see you around, it was nice meeting you, Eiichi."

"Yeah, see you."