Tanihara Kohei's Story

Kohei woke up very early in the morning. The sun had not yet fully arisen in the sky. He hit his alarm clock, eyes drowsy. Kohei slowly slid out of bed and went into his bathroom to shower. He made himself a nice breakfast full of protein after the shower. It was time for his morning jog. His morning routine made him feel refreshed after its completion. He loved to follow up with yoga and then getting dressed for school.

Kohei had just started attending Tokyo Private Academy. He liked the curriculum of the school and loved the athletics program. He headed out for school, grabbed his bike and sped off. He liked the morning time, it was pleasant to see and feel the sunshine. The neighbors that kohei cycled past all bowed and waved at him, old and young people alike. They all knew of his success in the Olympics and could tell by his school uniform which prestigious school he attended so he was to be respected. Kohei was humbled by such attention and respect however it also made him nervous. He hoped that at the very least he truly earned such respect from others rather than being elitist. He hated that sort of thing.

As Kohei reached the school he began to park his bike at the school bike racks, however an attendant swiftly stopped him saying, “Allow me please! You shouldn’t have to do such a thing. Please sir, allow me to take care of your vehicle as you proceed to class.” Kohei hadn’t gotten used to such special treatment and frankly he didn’t like it. He gave a deep bow, which startled the attendant, and continued inside the building past the garden. The other students ogled and awed at him as he walked the halls. He didn’t care for the separation of the “elite” students from the others. He smiled and greeted those who spoke and bowed to him.

Kohei walked the halls to class trailing behind Rina and Kyoya. He was still new to the school and he remembered the two from his class a day ago. “If I follow them I’ll find the class.” Kohei said to himself quietly at he trailed the couple. “Gosh, he’s quite clingy isn’t he? Perhaps that’s love for you.” Kohei giggled to himself. However Rina seemed a bit detached in Kohei’s eyes. He shook his head quickly to snap out of that train of thought. He didn’t like to pry into the business of others unless he considered himself close to them, and he had barely meet Rina and Kyoya outside of his initial class introduction.

Kohei entered the class room and gave a slight bow to his peers. He quickly scanned the room for an empty seat to sit in. There was one by Masato, who sat alone by the window. The sun shined in the classroom and landed on Masato illuminating his pale skin and highlighted hair. Kohei stood gazing at Masato for a brief moment with a smile. Masato paid him no attention as he was busy looking out of the window, his cheek resting in the palm of his hand. Kohei heard the teacher approaching the classroom and realized he had better clear the doorway. He shifted through the class and took his seat next to Masato.

“Good morning, Shi Hoon-san!” Kohei said in slightly nervous manner.

Masato turned to Kohei and said in a very polite manner of speech, “You are Tanihara-san right? Good morning.” Masato smiled slightly at Kohei, he hadn’t yet figured Kohei out.

“Right, I’m Tanihara.” Kohei replied with a chuckle. Masato smiled a little more brightly at Kohei, Kohei’s energy seemed to be a tad infectious.

Miss Tomoya walked into the classroom, placed papers on her desk and addressed the students. "Um welcome to my class, I had some due now's for you guys.. umm.. where did I put it?" she said searching through her papers. Kohei turned his attention to the teacher. He felt that Miss Tomoya seemed to be a bit disorganized which was somewhat strange to him. However he got focused and prepped himself for the beginning of the lecture.

Ishida smiled as he turned in his seat to face his friends, smiling brightly, "China? Oh It was great! Plenty of pretty girls, and lots of fine attractions!" He looked to everyone in the room, seeing the other Kobayashi girls, he turned back to Rina, "Rina? I had no clue your sisters were in this class as well!" He smiled and shook Rina's hand, "Oh and, congratulations on your number 2 spot! Your parents must be so proud!" Ishida toned his smile down slightly as he looked to Kyoya, who looked back to him almost annoyed. He let go of Rina's hand, smiling wider, "Oh what a dedicated boyfriend you have Rina," Ishida smiled sincerly, "But it seems I still haven't said hello to your sisters."

He moved over a few desks sitting besides Makimi, Kenji on the other end, who seemed to be in a bad mood, Ishida touched Makimi's arm, smiling, "Maki! How are you! It seems I haven't seen you in a while." Maki turned to him, blushing, causing Ishida to laugh, "Aw, Is mean old Kenji bothering you? That's alright, It's not just you, he acts that horrid way with everyone." He grinned hoping for a reaction, he even went to the extent of wrapping an arm around her and patting her knee. He looked over to Kenji grinning, "Tsk Tsk, see this is how you should treat a lady. Your way is sure to repel them." He grinned before letting Makimi out of his grasp, "Well, Maki, I'll probaly stop by your house later just to, you know, hang out."

He turned, looking to other student he hadn't recognized, he walked up to Kohei smiling, he sat in the seat beside him smiling, "Hello, I'm Tsukimori Ishida, are you new to this school? I feel I've seen your face somewhere..."

Kohei looked up slightly surprised as Ishida approached him smiling. He glanced over at Masato for a second before completely engaging Ishida in order to spark a three way conversation but Masato seemed to quickly avert his eyes and disengage. Kohei was a little confused with Masato’s reaction but swiftly averted his attention back to Ishida.

"Hello, I'm Tsukimori Ishida, are you new to this school? I feel I've seen your face somewhere..." Ishida said greeted Kohei.

Kohei smiled, “Ah… yes I’m new here. I’m Tanihara Kohei. It’s nice to meet you Tsukimori-san! I’m a gymnast so you might have seen me on TV. I represented Japan in the last Olympic games.”Kohei chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. “I feel so cocky saying that! I don’t mean to be. Please forgive how that how sounded. I don’t have many friends outside of the gymnastics team at this school. Are you involved in any sports Tsukimori-san?” Kohei asked with a bright smile.

Masato averted his eyes from Kohei as Ishida approached. He wasn’t very close with some of his peers. Masato didn’t have an issue with Ishida in particular. Ishida was generally friendly. However, the other students were less social with him. Masato was still treated like an outsider on occasion by some of the other high ranking students. He was honestly surprised that Kohei spoke to him. He thought Kohei was cute in an innocent minded guy kind of way. However he was sure that Kohei was straight and was most likely just being friendly.

He listened in as Kohei and Ishida spoke. Kohei was really humble. “I didn’t know he was a gymnast. No wonder he looks so fit and muscular. Ishida and Kohei looked somewhat cute together.” Masato thought quietly to himself. He checked his vibrating cell phone and it was a text from Abe Hiroshi. It read, “See you tonight Masato-kun. Oh and I have a surprise for you to look forward to.” Masato was a little surprised. He sat in anticipation wondering what Hiroshi was planning.

Ishida smiled brightly, "Yes, of course! I remember watching you with my father! No need to be sorry, you were really very good, it was quite impressive!" Now he scratched the back of his head, "I've played a few sports, but I've never really been any good at them." He grinned, "My true assets are in the classroom, hence my being here." he finished by gesturing to the classroom.
He looked back to Kohei, "Well, since your new here, I could show you around, and tell you about a few of your classmates." He said looking around the classroom, pointing to and listing off the names of their classmates, as well as their ranking and small facts about them. "Ryota Kenji, Rank 1, really his father pays for his rank, not to mention he has bad temper. Then sitting next to him is Kobayashi Makimi, Rank 6, she's really nice, if you ever need anything you could always go to her, or me of course. She and her two sisters are in this class too, smart family... See that girl texting? She's Kobayashi Yuki, Rank 4, also nice, kinda distracted by her boyfriend, some college guy. Then over there is Kobayashi Rina, Rank 2, she is pretty... confident. She's dating Akami Kyoya, Rank 7, he's usually level headed and such. And sitting next to Kyoya is his best friend, Akihira Shino, Rank 5, nice enough guy." He smiled again to Kohei, pointing to Masato, "And finally, he is Shi Hoon Masato, Rank 8, nice and sunny personality. Though you might already know that, you two were talking earlier, right? Or was that my imagination?"

((hope you guys don't mind me 'introducing' everyone, if you don't like it i will edit it))

Kohei

“Wow, thank you for the compliment! I try my best.” Kohei blushed. “So have you tried your hand at gymnastics? You never know you might be good at it.” Kohei continued on with a light chuckle. “I would love a tour. This school is way bigger than my last high school!” Kohei said in reply to Ishida’s offer. After Ishida’s introduction of their peers and the mention of Shi Hoon Masato, Kohei began to blush faintly. He replied almost in a stutter, “Ah… y-yes! Oh wait a sec, I should say no, no you weren’t imagining things earlier. We were talking. Shi Hoon-san seemed pretty nice so I introduced myself to him. He is a pretty warm personality.” Kohei said as he glanced over at Masato.

Kohei turned to Masato, who was looking at his cell phone, and then looked back at Ishida with a bright smile. “Hey Tsukimori-san, Shi Hoon-san, we should exchange numbers and hang out sometime. What do you say guys?”

Masato

Masato was surprised to hear him mentioned in their conversation. He looked up for a split second and quickly turned his eyes to his phone. After Kohei addressed the two, Masato looked up as if he was suddenly snapped out of a trance. “Did you say something Tanihara-san?” Masato smiled innocently. He looked up at Ishida and spoke, “Ah, good morning Tsukimori san!”