COTE: Imperfectly Perfect

CH1:The Beginning

Buzz Buzz

I woke up at the sound of the alarm coming from the phone next to me.

"Good morning master Kiyotaka! I Hope you slept well last night." A middle aged man in his 40s greeted me with a smile. He was wearing a nice suit, and carrying a tray with a cup of coffee.

He put the tray on the table and sidelined the curtains.

The warm light coming from the windows illuminated the room by reflecting on the surface of the

Grand piano which I love to play.

"Good morning Matsuo San." I replied in a sleepy tone as I've just woken up.

"Looking forward for the day to begin?" He inquired, as he opened the lid of the kettle;

pouring some hot coffee in a white cup. The aroma of freshly made coffee filled the room.

"Yes, I am looking forward to it. It should be interesting." I agreed with him about the thought of today's events.

"Well we're preparing the breakfast right now, it's almost done. Please come downstairs when you are ready." He said.

I nodded, as I grabbed my towel and headed to the washroom. Matsuo San left the room, closing the door behind.

*****

After I got dressed and finished my coffee, I headed downstairs towards the dining room.

"Yo! Moring Kiyo." A tall black haired boy arrived, dressed in the same uniform as me

while trying to fix his tie.

"Morning Eiichiro." I greeted back, with no hint of enthusiasm in my voice or expressions.

"Aren't you exited?" He inquired, still trying to fix his tie knot as he sat down in front of me.

"A bit, yes." I affirmed in a not so excited tone.

"You haven't fixed your tie yet?" Matsuo San asked Eiichiro, while the cook served the breakfast.

"It's not loosening, dad." He groaned, on which Matsuo San helped him.

"Your ride is ready, Kazuma Kun is waiting at the front door." Matsuo San informed us after we finished our breakfast. At the main door Kazuma San was waiting for us, we bid farewell to Matsuo San, and sat

In the rear seats.

"Have fun there!" Matsuo San waved at us as we set off towards the bus stop. Last night, Matsuo San asked us if we would like Kazuma San to drop us at the school but Eiichiro insisted on taking a bus instead.

On our way, Eiichiro took the initiative to start the conversation. I am really glad he did, Due to my lack

Of communication skills and ideas this ride would've turn out to be a boring one.

"Kiyo, What do you think it would be like?" Eiichiro asked me, since it's my first time attending a normal

School, he wanted to know my thoughts about it, it seems.

"Judging by the school web site and its reviews, I think it there would be many restrictions." I summarized, Analyzing the outcome of the possibilities because they have strict rules that should be taken into consideration.

"No, not like that, you don't have to analyze everything, you know." He sighed, listening to my brief reply.

"If you're asking about the school, then it should be normal right?" I wondered, what else could be there?

"No, I was asking about the type of classmates we might have, or how the campus would be like." He

clarified, once again, returning back to his cheery mood.

"The campus should be beautiful, given the images on the website, but I can't say about the students though." I answered.

"Would you two like to have something? There's a convenience store just before the tunnel." Kazuma San interrupted our little exchange as we are still halfway through our destination.

"I would love to drink something. What about you Kiyo?" Eiichiro asked me, as we arrived in front

Of a small convivence store.

"A drink would be nice." I said, getting out of the car, as we entered the store, a pungent smell got

Our attention, coming from one of the shelves.

"Good Morning! How may I help you?" Behind the counter, a lady dressed in a clerk uniform, greeted us with a smile.

"Good morning, we would like to have a cola." Eiichiro said, arriving at the counter.

"Sure, would you like to drink it here, or would you like to have a bottle?" The lady asked.

"We would like to have a bottle please." Eiichiro asked the lady.

"Sure. Coming right up." She took the bottle from the fridge, and presented it to us.

"I am sorry for the smell though." She apologized, seeing our inconvenience, from the smell.

"What's smell is that?" Kazuma San inquired, while paying for the drink.

"Oh a paint can fell off the shelf, it was really hard to clean it though." She said with a wry smile.

"I bet it was hard." Eiichiro said, joining in the conversation.

"Yeah, tell me about it. It was all over the place, with that disgusting smell. It was making me lose my mind." She said messaging her forehead.

"That's what she said."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Apparently, I have been learning about public speaking and how to make a conversation a bit more interesting, one way to do it is by making the other party laugh. By doing so, the conversation will automatically get attractive and everyone will have a great time.

I practiced this before with Tsubasa and other staff, but didn't get the results I was looking for, and looking at everyone's reactions now, it seems I need to practice some more.

"Time and place Kiyo, Time and place." Eiichiro sympathized, placing his hand on my shoulder while keeping his head down.

"Sorry." I apologized and we set off to our destination.

After a Forty Five minute long ride, We finally reached the bus stop. It was deserted, but the view here was beautiful, the trees covering the pavement and a light breeze, flowing through. As I was admiring the scenery, a blue bus arrived.

Through its dark colored windows we can see that the bus is almost empty. We boarded the bus after bidding our farewell to Kazuma San, the doors closed behind as the bus departed.