A cool spring breeze was the last gift Tamura Itsuji received from his hometown as the young man boarded the train that would take him to his new destination. Glancing out the window, Tamura Itsuji waved goodbye to his family and friends once more as he set out for quite literal new lands. The thought occurred to him, as the carriage began to slowly pull away from the platform, that this would be one of the last times he would be able to see them for the coming year. It was a melancholic feeling, one that only grew as the distance between him and that which he called "home" grew larger and larger.
With little more to do, but sit back and enjoy the music of his Sony Walkman, Tamura Itsuji soon discovered a newfound weight to his eyelids. Before long, as plains gave way to trees which gave way to roads, the young man found himself lulling into a deep sleep. Yet in his dreams, darkness soon gave way to a small murky fog. The dream itself was an odd one, although Tamura Itsuji couldn't quite place his finger on the reason why. Instead he found himself feeling rather uneasy, but at the same time the area felt like home.
Thou art I...
The voice, almost a whisper, hung in the air for a few seconds too long. Like everything else in the murky fog, something felt off. Yet somehow, the voice seemed eerily familiar, as if it had emerged from a faded memory of long ago. However, any questions Tamura Itsuji may have possessed never found the opportunity to be expressed.
Wakefulness returned to him. Itsuji stretched out his neck with a yawn, feeling the cricks fade away with every motion. A female voice rang over the speakers, its repeated announcements alerting him to his impending arrival. The strange dream was already fading from his memories, left behind in Morpheus' realm as his addled mind adjusted to the waking world.
It was the towering buildings of steel that first stole the boy's attention as he stepped onto the platform. Back home the tallest objects were the trees around him and the great mountains were always visible. Yet here in the land known as Odaiba, it appeared man had surpassed nature. Everywhere the young man looked, marvels of humanity caught his eyes, from the lights on each building, to the tall lady raising her torch, to the beautiful white bridge that joined the island back to Tokyo Bay - nothing was the same as back home.
There were no mountains in the distance. No rolling fields upon which crops grew and livestock grazed. Instead, a world of glass and steel surrounded him. The scent of nature had given way to the fumes of industry. People - waves upon waves of them - bustled through the streets, an endless horde of noise and activity. A marked departure from the gentle hum of summer cicadas and chirping birds, nothing like his quiet, lackadaisical home.
Yet the time for sight-seeing and cultural shocks would come later, as for now the boy had to find the address that school had provided him earlier. Fumbling around with his map, and whipping out his old flip-phone, Itsuji attracted a few odd looks as he tried to track down the address in his messages on his map. Eventually though, he managed to pin down the route he had to take and set off in the direction of his new home.
Thankfully it wasn't too long of a walk, and the young man soon found himself face to face with a rather nondescript apartment complex. With a quick glance at his phone to ensure this was indeed the right place, Itsuji moved on to step two of his instructions: Meet the landlady and receive his key.
His arrival had not been unexpected in the slightest. Upon his approach to the apartment's office, he found himself being swept up by a storm of enthusiasm. The landlady had been clearly waiting for him, and immediately took his on a whirlwind tour of the facilities that were on offer. Important locations (boiler, laundromat, her office) were shown to him one after another, and vital information (water usage limits, WiFi password, noise levels) were rattled into his ears with amazing detail. It was all very overwhelming to Itsuji, and he was left in a state of bewilderment until the landlady ("call me Ms. Yamashita!") finally brought him to his room, handing over the keys with an enthusiasm he was slowly beginning to get used to.
For Itsuji, who had lived all his life in a one house, his new room was another proverbial shock to his system. On the one hand, the sparse and humble abode felt significantly smaller than the house he had been raised, and yet almost paradoxically its emptiness also made it feel far larger than the busy house he had previously called home. There was no Souta running around the kitchen, no Hajime crying because Kenzo had broken her favorite toy; instead everything was oddly quiet. Itsuji wasn't sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief at the newfound peace or feel a nostalgic longing for the bustle he had grown used to.
Setting his bag down, Itsuji took note of a small piece of paper attached to the kitchen counter: a letter from his new coach.
Hey Tamura,
Hope you had a good journey, let me know if there’s any problems with your room. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at assembly, can’t wait to see you blitz the track. Speaking of which first practice is next Thursday right after school.
Best of luck!
P.S. Your uniform is hanging in the closet.
He slotted the information into his mind for later. After the long journey down from Iwate, he was far too exhausted to properly handle the burdens of unpacking and settling in. With a yawning sigh, Itsuji hobbled over to his bed, dropping down onto the mattress without even changing out of his clothes. The soft fabric rose to meet his falling face, and within mere seconds, sleep once again welcomed him to its domain.
I am thou
Once more the eerie voice called out to Tamura Itsuji, but this time it was far from alone. A chorus of tiny, but distinctly inhuman, sounds of laughter seemed to echo after the words. As Itsuji spun his eyes around, he saw small specks of light circling beyond the fog, but more intriguing was the mass they were circling around. A figure stood, its details obscured by the fog, with one hand clutching a shield and the other a sword. Though it was dark and murky, Itsuji could still barely make the shape of a helmet adorning the distant figure.
From the sea of thy soul, I come ...
The eerie voice and uncanny laughter resounded once more, and Tamura Itsuji found himself being drawn towards the unknown figure. Yet his slow walk towards the being yielded no fruit as the fog seemed to leave him eternally walking forward. Each step only increased the distance of the figure by an equivalent amount. It was only the blaring sound of his alarm that snapped Itsuji’s eyes open once more and allowed the dream to fade back into the unconsciousness. The flashing red numbers indicating the time as 6 AM stirred the young boy into his morning routine, the time for idle dreams was past.
He groggily rolled over onto his back, eyes blinking away the shroud of sleep to meet the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. It took him several seconds to remember where he was. The memories of the last day of travel rapidly flowed through his neurons, reminding him that he was no longer at home, but in a faraway city, about to attend a completely new school. No, it was no longer a faraway city now; for the duration of the year, this would be his home.
Itsuji pushed himself up, tiredly pulling off the sweaty clothes that he had worn through the night. Even in a new environment, his morning ritual remained the same as always, and his body instinctively went through the motions as if it was on autopilot. The dirty clothes were clumsily discarded, the cold shower forced his mind further into wakefulness, and his teeth were brushed with little issue. By the time he was putting on his fresh uniform, his eyes were no longer drowsy, and everything had gotten a little sharper.
The necktie, however, posed a problem even for his conscious mind, and after several failed attempts at properly wearing it, Itsuji decided that his variant of the knot was probably acceptable enough for the school’s purposes. With that issue temporarily resolved, the boy began to eat breakfast, consuming a few slices of bread, a banana, and a glass of milk. He also made a mental note to grab some groceries on his way back home; there wasn’t enough pre-stocked in the fridge to truly cook a hearty dinner.
Once his meal was complete, Tamura Itsuji made his way out the apartment door, eyes glued to a map the school that had so generously provided. He wanted to say goodbye to his landlady as he was leaving, but she wasn’t present in her office, leaving him bereft of even the slightest of familiar faces on his first day in Odaiba. Thus, he found himself beginning his walk to school in silence, consulting his paper map nearly every ten steps just to make sure that he was going in the right direction.
The walk to school was an entirely new experience to him. Beyond just the new, radically different environment he was now living in, the growing number of other students appearing in his path was far more than he had envisioned, particularly when his old school barely had a fraction of the amount before him. Teenagers in black uniforms floated past, chattering to one another in indistinct tones. Itsuji felt lost, trapped within a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Still, even the knowledge that Odaiba High’s student population was many times his old one’s did not prepare him for the breath-taking sight of almost hundreds of teenagers passing through the gates. It was almost impossible to conceive, but the reality was there in front of him. He could only follow them in a daze of amazement, eyes unconsciously returning to his map to ensure he was still going the right way, and that he hadn’t gotten lost in a completely different world.
Despite his instinctive reaction to stand still and watch in bewilderment, the rushing of the crowd soon found him propelled alongside the others. On the one hand, this meant the boy didn’t need to try and track down the assembly hall, but on the other it meant he was dragged along at a pace and swarm of people he was completely unfamiliar with. There was a nary a moment for the young man to catch a breath, as he soon found himself at the front of assembled crowd alongside his fellow (and completely unknown) third years. His eyes briefly surveyed the stage, taking note of the principal, a few teachers (including his new coach) and two students who looked to be of some import.
Speaking of said important students, it was thanks to them that he realised just how out of shape his tie was. The epiphany came the moment he saw their, properly-done ties, and it immediately prompted him into action. Even when those on stage had begun their speeches, Itsuji was attempting to discreetly (and clumsily) rectify the mistake he had made earlier that morning. The words that were leaving the mouths of the speechmakers went in one ear and out the other, and he hoped that it wasn’t too important that missing out would have a negative effect on his year here. What he wanted to do most, however, was try and make sure that his tie was done up properly before anyone else noticed.
Hopefully he was discreet enough for that.
With little more to do, but sit back and enjoy the music of his Sony Walkman, Tamura Itsuji soon discovered a newfound weight to his eyelids. Before long, as plains gave way to trees which gave way to roads, the young man found himself lulling into a deep sleep. Yet in his dreams, darkness soon gave way to a small murky fog. The dream itself was an odd one, although Tamura Itsuji couldn't quite place his finger on the reason why. Instead he found himself feeling rather uneasy, but at the same time the area felt like home.
Thou art I...
The voice, almost a whisper, hung in the air for a few seconds too long. Like everything else in the murky fog, something felt off. Yet somehow, the voice seemed eerily familiar, as if it had emerged from a faded memory of long ago. However, any questions Tamura Itsuji may have possessed never found the opportunity to be expressed.
Wakefulness returned to him. Itsuji stretched out his neck with a yawn, feeling the cricks fade away with every motion. A female voice rang over the speakers, its repeated announcements alerting him to his impending arrival. The strange dream was already fading from his memories, left behind in Morpheus' realm as his addled mind adjusted to the waking world.
It was the towering buildings of steel that first stole the boy's attention as he stepped onto the platform. Back home the tallest objects were the trees around him and the great mountains were always visible. Yet here in the land known as Odaiba, it appeared man had surpassed nature. Everywhere the young man looked, marvels of humanity caught his eyes, from the lights on each building, to the tall lady raising her torch, to the beautiful white bridge that joined the island back to Tokyo Bay - nothing was the same as back home.
There were no mountains in the distance. No rolling fields upon which crops grew and livestock grazed. Instead, a world of glass and steel surrounded him. The scent of nature had given way to the fumes of industry. People - waves upon waves of them - bustled through the streets, an endless horde of noise and activity. A marked departure from the gentle hum of summer cicadas and chirping birds, nothing like his quiet, lackadaisical home.
Yet the time for sight-seeing and cultural shocks would come later, as for now the boy had to find the address that school had provided him earlier. Fumbling around with his map, and whipping out his old flip-phone, Itsuji attracted a few odd looks as he tried to track down the address in his messages on his map. Eventually though, he managed to pin down the route he had to take and set off in the direction of his new home.
Thankfully it wasn't too long of a walk, and the young man soon found himself face to face with a rather nondescript apartment complex. With a quick glance at his phone to ensure this was indeed the right place, Itsuji moved on to step two of his instructions: Meet the landlady and receive his key.
His arrival had not been unexpected in the slightest. Upon his approach to the apartment's office, he found himself being swept up by a storm of enthusiasm. The landlady had been clearly waiting for him, and immediately took his on a whirlwind tour of the facilities that were on offer. Important locations (boiler, laundromat, her office) were shown to him one after another, and vital information (water usage limits, WiFi password, noise levels) were rattled into his ears with amazing detail. It was all very overwhelming to Itsuji, and he was left in a state of bewilderment until the landlady ("call me Ms. Yamashita!") finally brought him to his room, handing over the keys with an enthusiasm he was slowly beginning to get used to.
For Itsuji, who had lived all his life in a one house, his new room was another proverbial shock to his system. On the one hand, the sparse and humble abode felt significantly smaller than the house he had been raised, and yet almost paradoxically its emptiness also made it feel far larger than the busy house he had previously called home. There was no Souta running around the kitchen, no Hajime crying because Kenzo had broken her favorite toy; instead everything was oddly quiet. Itsuji wasn't sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief at the newfound peace or feel a nostalgic longing for the bustle he had grown used to.
Setting his bag down, Itsuji took note of a small piece of paper attached to the kitchen counter: a letter from his new coach.
Hey Tamura,
Hope you had a good journey, let me know if there’s any problems with your room. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at assembly, can’t wait to see you blitz the track. Speaking of which first practice is next Thursday right after school.
Best of luck!
P.S. Your uniform is hanging in the closet.
He slotted the information into his mind for later. After the long journey down from Iwate, he was far too exhausted to properly handle the burdens of unpacking and settling in. With a yawning sigh, Itsuji hobbled over to his bed, dropping down onto the mattress without even changing out of his clothes. The soft fabric rose to meet his falling face, and within mere seconds, sleep once again welcomed him to its domain.
I am thou
Once more the eerie voice called out to Tamura Itsuji, but this time it was far from alone. A chorus of tiny, but distinctly inhuman, sounds of laughter seemed to echo after the words. As Itsuji spun his eyes around, he saw small specks of light circling beyond the fog, but more intriguing was the mass they were circling around. A figure stood, its details obscured by the fog, with one hand clutching a shield and the other a sword. Though it was dark and murky, Itsuji could still barely make the shape of a helmet adorning the distant figure.
From the sea of thy soul, I come ...
The eerie voice and uncanny laughter resounded once more, and Tamura Itsuji found himself being drawn towards the unknown figure. Yet his slow walk towards the being yielded no fruit as the fog seemed to leave him eternally walking forward. Each step only increased the distance of the figure by an equivalent amount. It was only the blaring sound of his alarm that snapped Itsuji’s eyes open once more and allowed the dream to fade back into the unconsciousness. The flashing red numbers indicating the time as 6 AM stirred the young boy into his morning routine, the time for idle dreams was past.
He groggily rolled over onto his back, eyes blinking away the shroud of sleep to meet the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. It took him several seconds to remember where he was. The memories of the last day of travel rapidly flowed through his neurons, reminding him that he was no longer at home, but in a faraway city, about to attend a completely new school. No, it was no longer a faraway city now; for the duration of the year, this would be his home.
Itsuji pushed himself up, tiredly pulling off the sweaty clothes that he had worn through the night. Even in a new environment, his morning ritual remained the same as always, and his body instinctively went through the motions as if it was on autopilot. The dirty clothes were clumsily discarded, the cold shower forced his mind further into wakefulness, and his teeth were brushed with little issue. By the time he was putting on his fresh uniform, his eyes were no longer drowsy, and everything had gotten a little sharper.
The necktie, however, posed a problem even for his conscious mind, and after several failed attempts at properly wearing it, Itsuji decided that his variant of the knot was probably acceptable enough for the school’s purposes. With that issue temporarily resolved, the boy began to eat breakfast, consuming a few slices of bread, a banana, and a glass of milk. He also made a mental note to grab some groceries on his way back home; there wasn’t enough pre-stocked in the fridge to truly cook a hearty dinner.
Once his meal was complete, Tamura Itsuji made his way out the apartment door, eyes glued to a map the school that had so generously provided. He wanted to say goodbye to his landlady as he was leaving, but she wasn’t present in her office, leaving him bereft of even the slightest of familiar faces on his first day in Odaiba. Thus, he found himself beginning his walk to school in silence, consulting his paper map nearly every ten steps just to make sure that he was going in the right direction.
The walk to school was an entirely new experience to him. Beyond just the new, radically different environment he was now living in, the growing number of other students appearing in his path was far more than he had envisioned, particularly when his old school barely had a fraction of the amount before him. Teenagers in black uniforms floated past, chattering to one another in indistinct tones. Itsuji felt lost, trapped within a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Still, even the knowledge that Odaiba High’s student population was many times his old one’s did not prepare him for the breath-taking sight of almost hundreds of teenagers passing through the gates. It was almost impossible to conceive, but the reality was there in front of him. He could only follow them in a daze of amazement, eyes unconsciously returning to his map to ensure he was still going the right way, and that he hadn’t gotten lost in a completely different world.
Despite his instinctive reaction to stand still and watch in bewilderment, the rushing of the crowd soon found him propelled alongside the others. On the one hand, this meant the boy didn’t need to try and track down the assembly hall, but on the other it meant he was dragged along at a pace and swarm of people he was completely unfamiliar with. There was a nary a moment for the young man to catch a breath, as he soon found himself at the front of assembled crowd alongside his fellow (and completely unknown) third years. His eyes briefly surveyed the stage, taking note of the principal, a few teachers (including his new coach) and two students who looked to be of some import.
Speaking of said important students, it was thanks to them that he realised just how out of shape his tie was. The epiphany came the moment he saw their, properly-done ties, and it immediately prompted him into action. Even when those on stage had begun their speeches, Itsuji was attempting to discreetly (and clumsily) rectify the mistake he had made earlier that morning. The words that were leaving the mouths of the speechmakers went in one ear and out the other, and he hoped that it wasn’t too important that missing out would have a negative effect on his year here. What he wanted to do most, however, was try and make sure that his tie was done up properly before anyone else noticed.
Hopefully he was discreet enough for that.
