Circuits & Veins

Circuits & Veins- Chapter 1

        I was never a scientist. I was never an engineer or a chemist; I never enjoyed working with beakers and test tubes or conducting experiments. It was all far too dull for someone like me, who instead was preoccupied with ideals like victory and willpower. Ever since I was little, I had pursued true strength above all else, so I was the last boy you ever would have caught giving something like science even a moment of consideration.

        So why?

        Why me, of all people?

        Why did I become so obsessed with a robot boy?

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        "Syo-Chan!"

        "...Huh...?" Slowly but steadily, my eyelids were pried open by the sound of my roommate's iconic cheery voice.

        "Good morning, Syo-Chan! You can't stay in bed all day!" As my groggy vision began to come in to focus, it settled on the tall figure of Natsuki, my roommate and childhood friend, who was looming over me with a wide grin. Once it had sunk in, I jolted back in surprise, suddenly all too awake.

        "N-N-Natsuki! Get off me, will you!? I'm awake!" I cried out angrily, my cheeks graced with a slight blush.

        "Haha! You're so cute when you're half-asleep, Syo-Chan!" He remarked, his silly grin ever present. I scowled bitterly, partly over being labeled as cute, and partly overly being woken up so rudely. What was he doing up this early anyway!?

        "...Be quiet. Both of you are far too noisy." My scowl deepened. That's right- recently, the two of us had gained another roommate. Normally, he was nothing but our cold and reserved upperclassman, but right now, he was the bane of my morning. QUARTET NIGHT's youngest member, Ai Mikaze, was currently embracing his consistent habit of ordering us around without even glancing away from his desktop computer.

        "Oi, whose fault is it that we're up at this hour anyway!?" I retorted defensively. He ignored me, only continuing to type away at a breathtaking speed. I couldn't help but let out a sigh. All of QUARTET NIGHT's members seemed to be stuck up in one way or another, but this guy could quite possibly be the worst of them all. He's always tried to boss me around just because he's a more-experienced idol than Natsuki or I, and the aura of cockiness doesn't even end there. He takes up half of the room with his belongings and forces me into a corner, and if that wasn't enough, he's bound the two of us to a suffocatingly tight schedule that includes waking up no later than 5:00 AM. I'm aware that it could be worse, and I might even be able to put up with all that- if that was the full extent of these annoyances. But unfortunately, none of those things are even the worst part. What pisses me off most about the guy is that no matter what, he never shows any emotion to either of us. He never shares his thoughts or feelings, and his face is the most unreadable I've ever seen. A face like that... just the thought is enough to make me tremble with frustration.

        "Oi! Are you gonna explain yourself or what!?" I shout, jolting upright. Again, nothing. Of course not.

        "That's enough shouting. It's 5:02, which means that according to the schedule, it's time to get dressed." Without another word, he made his way over to a place where he could change privately.

        "That jerk..."  I muttered through gritted teeth as I lifted my shirt up over my head.

        "He really pisses me off!" In contrast to me, who was reveling in my own bad mood, Natsuki was his usual, carefree self. His ever-wide smile was proof that he didn't seem to mind Ai's behavior at all.

        "You shouldn't say such things about our upperclassman! I think his schedule is very detailed and artistic," He pointed out, fastening his uniform firmly. I let out yet another sigh, parting my hair with a red clip while the other three were stationed securely in my mouth.

        "I guess that's one way to put it. But if you asked me, I would just say it's freakin' sadistic!" Just as the last hair clip was securely fastened, I heard the sound of a door clicking behind me. Quickly turning around so as to confirm my fearful suspicion, my eyes locked on the figure of a tall boy with blue hair- none other than our "sadistic" upperclassman himself.

        "C-Crap! He totally heard me!" My nervous thoughts were written all over my face. But before I had a chance to conjure up some unconvincing excuse, he spoke.

        "Sadistic? You must be joking," He stated in monotone, his face bearing no signs of a reaction.

        "I don't possess any unnecessary qualities as carnal as sadism." For a minute, there was a short but awkward silence where even Natsuki didn't speak.

        "It's 5:08. Move on to the next item on the schedule." And just as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished back through the door from which he came. Natsuki gave me a quick look, but I glared in the other direction, avoiding his gaze.

        "I get it, I get it! Come on, just hurry up or he'll lecture us again..." And thus we proceeded on to fulfill his schedule with no further objections- just like we had the day before. Another day passed, and another. And once again, the two of us willingly went along with whatever he told us to do. Every time I grumbled, all it took was one look or comment from Natsuki to shut me up. I understood- more or less, anyways. He was our upperclassman, and knew more about the idol industry than we did. We were supposed to respect him, and if we followed his advice, we would someday become better idols. That was what I was told, anyway. But the more days I spent under that quiet tyrant, the less any of that made sense. Just what was he trying to teach us, anyway!? Discipline? What the hell does any of that matter!? An idol's job is to make people smile, and connect with them through music. But what does he do? He shuts himself off every second of every day, only existing as a silhouette of a person, as if he were somehow hollow. He's my roommate, but I don't even know a thing about him! How can he expect someone to follow him or learn from him when he acts so distant that I can't even tell what he's feeling? A life like that that is meaningless, and that's the very last thing an idol's life should be.

        Needless to say, it was only a short amount of time before I was at my wit's end with these constricting circumstances. At one point, I stopped and thought: "Is this how life is going to be like at Saotome Academy from now on? Are Natsuki and I going to be stuck following this jerk's instructions to the letter, without so much as a thank you or any sort of praise in return?" No. I'm not going to live a life like that. I had made up my mind. Forget the fact that he's my upperclassman- someone needed to teach that jerk a lesson. And it was going to be me.