"Seriously?" I muttered, staring at the seating chart on the whiteboard like it had personally betrayed me.
"Yo, Akiyo—what's wrong?" said Natsumi, leaning in from behind me. Her glasses were fogged up from the rush to school.
"Guess who I'm sitting next to?" I pointed at the chart.
She squinted. "...No freaking way. Zay Harukawa?"
I gave her a flat look. "Yup. Winter project part two, apparently."
"Girl, that's a blessing."
"More like a side quest I didn't accept."
A couple of students turned to look at us, whispering things like "Isn't that the quiet girl from Class A?" or "She sat next to Zay last year too, right?"
I ignored them and headed inside.
Classroom 2-B looked the same as every other year. Bright windows. Dusty corners. Desks shoved around like musical chairs until the teacher yelled at us. I slipped into the back row, dropping my bag onto the floor with a soft thud.
Zay was already there, slouched in his chair like he'd teleported in from a dream he didn't like. His red eyes glanced at me for half a second, then flicked back out the window.
"Morning," I said, just because we weren't strangers.
"...Yo."
His voice was low. Still sleepy. Still unreadable.
I nodded and unpacked my notebook, flipping to a clean page.
Nothing dramatic. Just normal. Or as normal as it gets sitting next to Zay "Unbothered Until He's Not" Harukawa.
More students filtered in. Conversations bubbled up everywhere.
"Hey, did you hear what class Kiro got into?"
"Yeah, he's in 2-B too!"
"No way, that means—wait—is Ryusuke in here too?"
Sure enough, moments later, Kiro Yamakaze strolled in like a breeze in human form, white hair practically glowing under the fluorescent lights. A few girls gasped—actually gasped—and started whispering.
Ryusuke Endo followed right after, holding a melon soda and somehow still looking like he'd fought a dragon on the way here.
They nodded toward Zay, then casually took seats further up front.
"Settle down, everyone," came a loud voice. "No snacks during homeroom, Endo."
Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Kanda, walked in with a clipboard and the energy of someone who really didn't want to be awake. "I'll start with roll call and then go over the class rules. You've all been here a year already. Don't make me repeat myself."
"Ryusuke Endo?"
"Here."
"Akiyo Nakahara?"
"Here."
"Zay Harukawa?"
Zay raised two fingers without looking.
A few girls in the front row giggled.
Natsumi passed by my desk and whispered, "You're living the fanfic dream."
I rolled my eyes. "If this is a fanfic, it's the kind with no plot and too much awkward silence."
Zay snorted quietly beside me.
...Okay, fair. That was kind of funny.