The Odd One Out

Chapter 1.2 - First impressions

"I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Pleasure meeting you."

Those are the words I decided to say to Kushida.

Judging from her behavior and my first impressions, she seems like someone who acts friendly to others no matter what, even if she has to hide her true self. If that's truly her way of life, she isn't the worst person to tell my identity to.

"A-A-Ayanokouji... K-Kiyotaka..." Kushida muttered, seemingly shocked, as a few people who eavesdropped also heard me.

"Oh so you're the Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? What a surprise! I hope we can get along!" she continued while putting her smile back on her face.

She certainly knows how to put on a mask, I'll give her that.

"Likewise," I felt as though this was a good enough answer.

Although Kushida reacted better than I thought she would, it was not long after that the bus became quiet. I heard whispers all around me. Seems like that's the end of my peaceful yet extremely short life. There was a suffocating atmosphere inside the bus. I suddenly became the center of everyone's attention. All eyes were on me, well, excluding those of a certain blonde boy who was looking at himself in a mirror.

"Hey... is that... Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?"

"He actually looks handsome..."

"What's up with those eyes? They look... empty..."

"What is someone like him doing here?"

"Idiot, can't you see he's wearing our school's uniform?"

Luckily, it wasn't long before we arrived at the school's entrance. As I got off the bus, I could feel the eyes of the other passengers staring at me. The young boys and girls dressed in school uniform hurriedly passed through the entrance gate as I stared at the entrance of my new high school.

"Well... I'll see you around, Ayanokouji-kun!"

Seems like I've made my first acquaintance. That went... well, I guess.

This is my new school, huh?

It certainly didn't look bad. In fact, once I passed through the gate, I could see how gigantic this school really was. The Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School was a school established by the Japanese government in hopes of nurturing young graduates that will lead Japan in the future. It is known as the most prestigious high school in Japan and one can see why once they step foot inside the campus. The area of the campus was about 600,000 square meters. The school could easily be compared to a small city. One can find anything and everything at this school. From clothing stores and karaoke bars to fancy restaurants and libraries, this school clearly had it all. For the average high school student, attending this school certainly is like living the dream.

But I'm not here as an average high school student.

Right now, rumors about Ayanokouji Kiyotaka attending this school haven't spread yet, but it's only a matter of time before my name becomes known to the entirety of the student body. I walked towards the gymnasium where the entrance ceremony will take place as I felt occasional glares towards my direction.

I wish I could say that my first impression is that the people here are like normal high school students, but the truth is, I don't know what it's like to be normal. The majority of students seem to be quite excited and happy, but then again, I can only guess how they feel based on the words' definitions.

What does it mean to be normal? Does being normal mean to be average? By definition, to be average is to have no outstanding qualities nor flaws. People might describe others as smart or dumb, beautiful or ugly, interesting or boring, tall or short, etc... Being average would mean being exactly in the middle of two opposing adjectives. Hence, someone average would be someone that's neither smart nor dumb, neither beautiful nor ugly, etc... That is the definition of being average. But being normal is another issue. Is it normal for someone to score perfect 50s in entrance exams? Is it normal for someone to be perfectly average? The answer is obviously no. If you're someone who's perfectly average, you are far from the norm. So, what is it truly like to be normal?