YEARS BEHIND YOU

"Does he still remember me......?"

It was the same question that kept Kyota up every night .As the darkness of the night closed in,the memories returned... along with a sharp pain in his chest. It took hours of overthinking before exhaustion finally got him.

He woke up to sun rays coming from the window ,the sun was extremely beautiful ..but none of that reached him. The ache was still there buried deep inside his heart. Kyota was so lost in thought. He lost his sense of time,when he looked at the time it was 7:45 AM.

He hurriedly caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror. Anyone could see the tiredness in his face and dark circles looking worse than yesterday. he grabbed a shirt from his wardrobe,sniffed it ,and decided it was clean enough to wear it. He grabbed his school bag and shoved his feet into the first pair of shoes he could find in the shoe rack and sprinted out the door.

HE WAS LATE FOR HIS FIRST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL

Kyota threw the classroom door open so hard it grabbed everyone's attention. Every head snapped towards him,his new classmates looking at him in stunned silence. The teacher froze, chalk still in his hand as he heard the loud noise,he turned towards the door with pure seriousness in his eyes. Nobody even dared to make noise.

" First day of highschool and you managed to be late?"the teacher said , voice travelling through the silence." Stand outside in the hallway. I'll talk to you later"

Kyota leaning on the hallway wall let out a sigh of breath, the teacher voice slowly fading away as the door closed. The silence of the hallway quickly threw him back into the thoughts he couldn't escape . The words " I don't feel the same way anymore" drifted right through his mind. As Kyota was deeply lost in his thoughts, a cold breeze of wind from the window brushed right through his face. he blinked, freezing in his position , another boy's face was barely inches away from his , Kyota stumbled back against the wall. The other boy pulled his face back, letting out a soft laugh .

"WOAH, sorry ! didn't mean to jump scare you,"the boy said, staring into his eyes. He wore his school uniform loosely, a loose tie , and a mess of his hair fell into his eyes. " Why are you standing outside ? spilled tea on the homeroom teacher ?" Haru asked Kyota.

"Hmm..Your eyes are beautiful. I'm pretty sure you've heard that before, right?" Haru said to Kyota, Staring into his eyes.

Kyota ignored him completely,but he was actually relieved, his shoulders finally dropping from tense posture. "Thank god,"Kyota rambled, leaning back against the wall. I'm only not the one who's late." Before the boy could ask more questions to Kyota,the Sharp noise of the bell shattered the silence of the hallway. Doors were flung open, and the loud noise of students instantly filled the corridor.

The boy leaned downwards, dusting off his pants. He looked up with a soft smirk in his face over the loud noise ."well,this is our chance to blend into the crowd before the teachers drag our asses to the teachers office". I'm Haru, by the way. What's your name?

"Hey..both of you,follow me"a voice comes from a distance. They both froze. The teacher was standing right In front of them ,arms crossed, thoroughly unimpressed.

Haru let out a dramatic, silent sigh, his posture saddened as he realised they just missed their chance of escape

Kyota not wanting to make his first day disaster even worse, didn't argue . Keeping his eyes glued to the floor, he quietly followed the teacher, with Haru reluctantly following them.

"Sit," the homeroom teacher said, gesturing sharply towards two chairs from his desk. The office smelled like old paper, warm dust and stale coffee. Kyota sank into the chair, his eyes glued to his own sneakers.

"You. Back here again. I'm surprised and we both know that would be a lie", the teacher said to Haru, with a hint of anger in his eyes. The teacher didn't even listen to Haru's excuse before pulling a file from the stack and riffling through the pages.

"Mr Han,at least listen to me" Haru said

"And you must be our new transfer student. Kyota",the teacher said, staring into Kyota's record file in his hand. But for a newly transferred student..?on the first day..?I expected better from a top grade student like you.

Kyota just stood there without speaking.

KYOTA...huh? a whisper came from right next to him. Kyota glanced over and saw Haru leaning towards him. "Nice to finally meet you, Kyota." Haru said,with a soft smile on his face. Kyota was annoyed by Haru's nosy behaviour.

"It doesn't matter if it's the first day, you guys will still be punished," the teacher reminded them, while standing up from his seat. "You guys will clean the classroom after school". the teacher ordered,while gesturing them to leave .

Kyota and Haru entered the classroom, where everyone greeted Kyota. But ,He directly went to an empty seat without uttering a word. The classroom smelled like papers and perfumes. Everyone thought Kyota had attitude because of his high grades. As Kyota sat down, he sensed someone staring at him. He glanced to his right and saw Haru staring at him with a huge smile on his face. At that moment,the bell rang and the class started.

....the day went on

The final bell of the day echoed through the Hallways , giving freedom to everyone else. But for Kyota and Haru, it meant it was time for their punishment . As the students chattered, packed their bags and left the classroom, the classroom became empty, leaving just two of them behind. The scent of the paper and perfume from earlier was replaced by dust and quietness.

Kyota grabbed a broom for the classroom corner, his expression remained unchanged. He began to sweep the dust between the desks.

Haru seemed unbothered by the detention . He grabbed a bucket of water and splashed onto the chalkboard and started wiping with the help of a rug. Haru would try to grab the cloth on the window and brush against Kyota , leaning towards Kyota and catching his eyes with that same unbothered smirk on his face.

"You know, if you were quick enough, we wouldn't be stuck here," Haru teased, breaking the silence. Haru just wanted to speak to him but Kyota didn't budge.

Kyota paused for a second, before continuing to sweep. He chose to ignore Haru . Kyota was used to people thinking he had attitude and not wanting to talk to him. But Haru's chaotic energy was even harder to block out than usual.

The classroom shined as they completed cleaning. The bright orange light of the sun slowly faded away as evening set in. As the golden sunlight hit Kyota's face as he packed his bags,Haru found himself staring at Kyota. WOAH, he's beautiful, the thought crossed Haru's mind.

Kyota left the classroom without even glancing back. Haru , still lost in his thoughts , snapped back to reality and hurriedly trailed behind Kyota.

When they finally reached the school gate, the quietness faded away into the cool evening air. Without a word, Kyota left . Haru still at the school gate watched Kyota slowly fading away on the street with a smile on his face.

Haru turned left and started walking towards his home.

End of chapter one.