New Beginnings
The first morning of college came under a pale blue sky and brought about a strange sensation as if something were about to begin even though no one was really ready for it. The campus was already full of first-year students, parents, seniors, professors and staff members walking from one building to another. In the auditorium there were new uniforms, new bags, strange faces and nervous conversations. For hundreds of students this was the opening page of a completely new phase in their lives and among them there were four who had no perception that their lives would later become linked, since at that moment they were no more than strangers standing somewhere on the vast campus.
In the crowd there was Haruto Kisaragi, a quiet boy who kept a little distance from all the others. He had dark, rather disordered hair and always put his hands in his pockets when he felt uncomfortable. Even though the other students were busy introducing themselves to their classmates, laughing with old school friends who had happened to go to the same college, or taking photographs with their parents, Haruto just watched. He wasn't especially interested in speaking to anyone. It wasn't that he disliked people; he just never knew what to say to them.
Haruto had always felt more at ease when he was on his own, but the years after his parents' divorce had greatly increased this tendency. The divorce took place several years ago, when he was still young and had thought that his parents would always remain together. He eventually gave up asking why they couldn't live together any longer, since each explanation seemed only to lead to another question. At present he lives with his mother while his father lives elsewhere, and though neither of his parents treated him badly, the family as it had been in his childhood no longer exists. Haruto had come to accept this situation without ever truly becoming at ease with it. As time went on, his quiet nature became more pronounced. He wasn't continually sad nor did he dislike his life, but there was often a dull emptiness within him which made even exciting things seem far away.
While sitting in with the first-year students at the matriculation ceremony, Haruto quietly listened to the speeches given by the professors. All the people nearby appeared to be excited about their new lives, whereas he simply thought to himself about what actually changes for a person in college. There would be new classes, new teachers, and new surroundings. Maybe there would also be new people, though he wasn't certain that he wanted to meet them. Yet, as his eyes moved towards the large auditorium stage, there was a small idea somewhere in him that this place might be different from all that had come before. He had no idea how that could happen and certainly didn't expect anything special. For the moment, all he wanted was to make it through his first day.
A few meters away, another first-year student was having a completely different experience. Aoi Tachibana looked as though she could not stand still at all. She had bright eyes, a cheerful look, and a natural smile that always came over her when she spoke. Even though she had only just arrived, she had already introduced herself to a number of people. She was easy to talk to, laughed out loud, and showed no concern at the fact that nearly everybody nearby was a stranger. Whenever someone made eye contact with her, it was very likely that she would smile at them before they had a chance to look away.
Aoi was a person capable of becoming at ease in strange places very swiftly. She enjoyed talking to people, enjoyed listening to their stories, and had a practically limitless amount of energy. Despite the nervous atmosphere that surrounded the matriculation ceremony, she could not be put off by the excitement. She kept scanning the auditorium with curiosity, trying to work out which department each person was from and picturing all the people she might meet in the coming years. College did not frighten her; it was a vast and entirely unexplored world, and she wanted to see all of it.
Her joy wasn't merely acted out either. Aoi truly took pleasure in small things; she would smile at a funny announcement and noticed when someone was having difficulty carrying too many items. The awkward silence that occurred before the ceremony started also amused her. She always had the habit of spotting something interesting no matter where she went. Although she was sitting among hundreds of students she did not know, she felt entirely at home even though she didn't know any of them. She didn't know who Haruto Kisaragi was and Haruto had no idea that she existed. Their seats were not close to one another and their lives had not yet intersected.
Meanwhile, Mizuki Hanamori was already showing her presence around the campus. Mizuki was also a very extroverted girl, though her personality was a bit different from Aoi's. She was cheerful, easy to read, and had a natural interest in all the people around her. It was a habit of hers to talk using her whole body, moving her hands in a dramatic way whenever she was telling a story and reacting to ordinary events as if they were fascinating. Soon after arriving on campus she had already commented on another student's keychain, asked a person where the auditorium was, and begun to talk to a girl who was standing by.
Mizuki enjoyed meeting people and didn't mind if they were quiet, loud, awkward, serious, or entirely odd since she thought that everyone had some interesting qualities. When she went to college she had just hoped to make a lot of memories and, if possible, also make many friends. In the morning she took photographs of the campus, sent them to her family and excitedly discussed how huge everything looked. The prospect of spending the next few years at such a place inspired her true enthusiasm.
At the ceremony Mizuki sat with the students from her department and at times murmured some comments to those next to her. Although she made an effort to act properly each time a professor looked in their direction, her smile soon came back again. She did not know Haruto or Aoi. Indeed, she did not know the fourth person whose story had started that same morning.
The fourth person was Renji Kurosawa. Renji was altogether unlike the other three in terms of his atmosphere; he was relaxed, attentive and appeared to derive pleasure from nearly everything that was going on. He had a carefree look about him and a natural ability to make sarcastic comments without actually making anyone feel truly uncomfortable. Before the ceremony even started, he had already begun exchanging jokes with two students who were seated beside him, even though he had only just met them a few minutes earlier.
Renji was the kind of person capable of turning a normal situation into a joke. Whenever a professor's microphone produced a strange sound, he would quietly copy the noise. Though his sense of humour wasn't very loud, it always appeared at the right moment. Under his playful exterior there was someone who took more notice of people than he seemed to. He observed people's expressions, their awkward silences, and the slight changes in their moods, even when he acted as if he wasn't paying any attention.
Renji, unlike Haruto, appeared to be entirely at ease among strangers; although unlike both Aoi and Mizuki he was not desperately eager to make new friends, he would gladly talk if someone addressed him and could quite easily amuse himself if no one did. For him, college was just another place where he could experience new things and maybe gather a few stories to make fun of later.
At last, the matriculation ceremony started and the four students were sitting in four separate parts of the huge auditorium, having no knowledge of each other. Haruto listened in silence, Aoi looked at the stage with keen curiosity, Mizuki sometimes found it hard to prevent herself from laughing at her own whispered remarks, and Renji watched the disorder going on around him with a smile.
All of them were first-year students, and they were all about to start this odd phase of life. All of them were surrounded by hundreds of people whom they had never met before.
And they all didn't know that, even though they had carried on with their individual lives after the introductory remarks and formal speeches on their first day, those lives were gradually approaching the same outcome.
