Chapter Text
Ash and Shorter were both sitting at a place behind the school where no one goes to, smoking some cigarettes. Heck, no teacher or student goes to that area; so the duo made it their secret spot and did whatever they want there.
Ash reached for the lighter, as Shorter was already taking some drags. Smoke both filled their lungs, as the blonde already lit his cig.
Both of them were facing eachother, one leg straight with one leg bent, and with Shorter sitting against the school wall.
The purple-haired boy chuckled a bit after releasing some smoke, realizing something. "You know, I can't believe we're doing this on the first day of school." Shorter said, looking at Ash through his sunglasses, who had his cigarette between his index and middle finger.
"It was your idea." mumbled Ash, taking a drag.
"Yeah, but I guess intrusive thoughts won."
"That's not what intrusive thoughts are."
"Sorry, IQ of 180."
"Fuck off,"
The two boys continued sitting in silence, waiting for the right time to extinguish their cigs and go back inside the school. They were probably wondering what was going on inside eachother's minds right now.
"What if there's a new student?" the purple-haired boy asked out of nowhere.
"So what?" the American asked, but this peaked his curiosity.
"I dunno. Would you want them to be your new friend?"
"Dunno. Depends."
"'Kay."
They both continued to sit down, not seeming like they wanted to let go of their cigarettes. These teenagers would have very raspy voices in the future; friends and relatives say the same thing. Just kidding. None of their relatives know that they smoke.
"I think the bell's about to ring." muttered Ash. And speak of the devil, the bell did ring. The two then stood up and finally put out their cigarettes, then going back inside the school to split up and go to their designated classrooms.
The duo has been in this school's elementary center since forever, so they know their way around here.
The classroom was as talkative as ever just like last year, and the year before that, and so on; just like Ash describes. He entered the classroom, backpack strap slung over his shoulder as he kept his head low. Some students turned to look, whispering on about stuff that was probably about the blonde, but he couldn't care less.
Ash sat down, waiting for the class to start. He knew that this first day of school would be like no other, and he kept repeating to himself to just wait for a year to pass by—even when it just started.
The boy rested his chin on one palm, staring at the window into space. This is what he did every time, and some other classmates observed that.
The teacher, a tall man with glasses and hair styled into a low ponytail, then walked in and started the lesson/introduction.
Ash was silently tapping his fingers against the wooden table as a habit, not really paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying since it was only the first day of school and he had stock knowledge.
As Ash was continuing his habit, the door opened in a quick motion and everyone turned to the sound, including the teacher and him.
There stood an Asian boy at the doorway with an awkward expression. A new student..? Ash thought. Dang, Shorter beat him to it.
"Uhm.. sorry for being late." the boy straightened, slightly bowing his head. The whole class exchanged glances due to his slight bow, which Ash found unusual. No one typically did that action in these areas.
The teacher, Mr. Varishikov, cleared his throat and excused it. "It's alright. Just introduce yourself. You're new here, yes?" he asked, the foreigner staring through his glasses.
"Uh, yes." the boy with the mop of black hair turned to face the class, who looked like he was trying not to set his gaze on the floor. "Hello, my name is Eiji Okumura and I am from Japan. Please take care of me." he said, doing that slight bow once again.
The class then erupted into hi's and hello's, with a look of surprise on the teacher's face. Eiji, huh.. Ash thought, turning back to the window to stare into space again. The name was unfamiliar and unique-sounding to him.
"You can go sit over there." Mr. Varishikov instructed, pointing to an empty seat which was.. right next to Ash. The blonde gulped.
The raven-haired boy nodded, keeping his head low as he walked towards his designated seat. Ash tried to not take a glance at the new guy, which kinda led to him accidentally eavesdropping on some whispers like "His accent's thick", "He looks cute", "Is he really a senior?" and such.
Ash couldn't help but agree with some of the conversations. Eiji was fairly cute.
As soon as the new guy sat down near Ash, he turned away shyly nervously, an awkward bead of sweat forming which Eiji couldn't see in his point of view/angle. Shit, shit, shit. You're Ash Lynx, remember? So why are you getting all worked up on some new student who's probably not gonna be on your mind later? Ash cursed at himself.
He couldn't seem to figure out why his heart was pounding so hard in his chest. Usually, he's not like this around new people. So why now?
It was the end of class now, and people were already moving on to their second class. There were only two people left inside the classroom now, with Eiji, the new guy, still putting his stuff inside his bag. Some jingle sounds of Ash's small keychains on his bag made some sounds as he stood up, which reached Eiji's ears and caused his head to turn.
Ash wanted to grab his bag accessories, throw them on the ground and stomp them for catching Eiji's attention as he tried to akwardly leave.
"Ah, wait!" with the last sound of a zipper, Eiji followed after Ash.
"What is your name?" Ash heard from behind him, and turned around for both pair of eyes to meet. Ash could see Eiji's eyes widen slightly upon seeing his green eyes up close—the same reaction of any other person after staring at Ash's eyes for the first time.
A simple "...Ash." was all Ash could say, and he left the classroom quickly, embarassed.
At the same time, he hopes that Eiji won't judge his food keychains fron behind. Well, he has to show his love for shrimp avocado salads.
Well, forget it. It's nothing special. Ash thought.
A while later, it was already lunch. Ash had already found a table in the cafeteria and was waiting for Shorter while reading 'The Catcher in the Rye' after texting him. Incredible that he can read through the cafeteria noise.
Sh0rt3r⚡: wanna ssiit tgt at luncch??
Ashlynx🐆: okay
Sh0rt3r⚡: lets invtee the n.ew kid.. eiji, right? i heerd
Ashlynx🐆: yes
Sh0rt3r⚡: gez put some watte r on thoos dri tezts
Ashlynx🐆: ...
Ash almost lost 90 of his IQ due to Shorter's typing.
A while later, Ash felt the table vibrate, which was a sign that Shorter and Eiji already sat down. He didn't look up from his book just yet, only when someone would speak.
And as if on command, Eiji spoke. "It's you again." he muttered. Ash then looked up from his book and glanced at Shorter first, who was giving an encouraging grin to talk to the new kid which he eye-rolled internally at and then looked at Eiji.
A simple “Yeah.” was all Ash could mutter, then he set his book aside and pulled out his own lunch. He hopes he didn't sound too dry, he only said that out of akwardness. Atleast a single-word answer is okay, right? Ash thought.
Soon, they all started to eat their own lunch. Silence filled their table (Ash likes the silence), just faint chewing sounds coming from the mohawk bastard, which Ash described him as. Sometimes Shorter would eat quietly, sometimes he wouldn’t; and Ash was gonna stitch his mouth to make him go back to his quiet side.
As they were all eating in peace, Eiji decided to spark up a conversation. "So, Ash.. I saw your keychains. I like them."
Ash perked up, not expecting Eiji to talk to him. "Uhm.. thanks." he replied, blinking. He talked to me!! So I have to do the same! A nervous Ash thought. "Also, your Jansport has nice accessories too."
Ash was talking about the Chiikawa plush keychain and the fish keychain that was hanging onto Eiji’s bag. He thought his bag accessories were random.. and cute.
As they were making eye contact right now, Ash could swear that he’s seeing sparkles in Eiji's eyes. This guy really was unique.
“Oh, thank you so much.” Eiji smiled, and God damn, if Ash said that what Eiji did just now wasn’t the cutest thing he ever saw throughout his 16 years of life, he’d be lying. He suddenly felt his heart pounding in his chest.
Who knew Ash would actually want to continue talking to the new kid?
Ash decided to try and keep the conversation going. “Actually, I bought a Converse bag for it to match my shoes." exclaimed the blonde, folding his arms on the table and leaning in more from across.
Eiji’s smile widened, but before he could respond, some students started to approach their table, specifically going to Eiji, and started asking him random questions.
Ash watched in silence as he saw Eiji gaining more spark in his eyes while talking to the other people. He was now tired of life. Eventually, the American started to pack up his lunch and was about to stand up.
With Eiji still distracted, Shorter started to speak up. “Hey, don’t you wanna wait for him to finish?” he suggested, but Ash just shrugged. Ash wanted to say 'No' instead of shrugging, but he thought that would be too impatient of him.
Well, he's already being impatient right now, so what's the difference?
Ash wanted to get out as soon as possible. But for what reason? He didn't know too. “Well, he’s occupied, so… Oh, and uh, look at the time! Lunch is almost ending.” the boy sputtered, pointing to his wrist with an imaginary watch on it. He earned a concerned look from Shorter.
"But there’s still plenty of time left?" Shorter asked, confused as he tilted his head a bit.
Ash bit his lip, browsing through his ‘Folder of Excuses’ folder inside his brain and couldn’t seem to find a good excuse. Damn this folder.. the blonde thought.
"Doesn’t matter. Uh, bye!” Ash waved and scampered off.
He left as quickly as he can, and after exiting the cafeteria, he leaned against a nearby wall next to the two-way door.
What is going on with me? Ash thought.