No Cost too Great(is what I tell myself every night)

Chapter 1: End of the Beginning

"Good morning, Nishino!"

"Good morning to you, too."

"Good morning, Senpai!"

"Thank you, good morning."

Akane Nishino greeted her classmates as she walked through the school entrance after being dropped off by her driver. It was another day of school and things were looking to be just as predictable and ordinary as the last. Making it to the locker room, she witnessed the same scene as the many days before of a boy standing in front of his locker, dropping his duffel bag onto the floor. She internally sighed and readied herself for what would inevitably come next.

"Good morning, Kageno."

If someone were to even bother comparing the boy to her she would find it insulting. Unlike Akane, his grades were unremarkably below average, as was his athleticism. If there was one word she would use to describe him, it would simply be 'mediocre'. The boy turned to look at her while he opened his locker hearing Akane's voice. He smiled at her.

"Good morning, Nishimura."

.........

"Excuse me, Kageno."

"What is it, Nishimura?

Akane kept her cool as the boy placed one of his pairs of shoes in his locker.

"My name...It isn't Nishimura."

"What?"

Akane continued smiling at him innocently while he appeared to be genuinely surprised at hearing that. Seeing that made one of her eyes twitch slightly.

"My name...It isn't Nishimura. It's-"

"Oh, hold on, I remember now."

She internally made a sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn't so hopeless after all.

"You are technically a named NPC, aren't you?"

"'Named' what?"

His response almost gave her a puzzled expression, but Akane refused to show it.

"Sorry, I'm just talking to myself. I'm pretty good at remembering the names of all the important characters. But I haven't been getting enough sleep..."

What the? Important characters? What is he even on about?

"...So I guess I got careless."

"A careless mistake, I see."

Akane nodded at the boy's words while he closed his locker and picked up his bag. If this was how he chose to remember how to say her name properly she could live with it. Before he only had what, about 3 months in class sitting next to each other to remember her name?

"That's okay, everybody makes mistakes."

"Yeah, sorry...Nishitani."

My name is not Nishitani, jerk!

"It's Nishino. My name is Akane Nishino."

She mentally facepalmed as she introduced herself once more to him, hoping she'd finally get it through that lead skull of his. He gazed at her for a few seconds after hearing that name, leading to an awkward standoff between the two that only ended when they heard the bell ring.

"Oh, well, see you later, Nishimura."

HOW DID YOU EVEN GO BACKWARDS?! IT'S NISHINO!

As he walked away from her heading to class she finally dropped her smile revealing a scornful expression. This wasn't even the thing she hated most about him. Despite making 'eye contact' with her his eyes were always just so distant, as if he was looking at something else and completely disregarding her. Not just that, but they also felt so...empty. She didn't know how to describe it, but just the way his eyes betrayed that smile he would give to her. Walking to class her mind remained fixated on his eyes wondering just what he was really thinking.