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Looking out of the car's fogged window, Kunikuzushi could barely tell it was day. The sky was dark and grey with clouds, it was as if the world could sense his misery in his current situation. The whole world seemed dull and grey, like someone had taken away all the colour just to spite him.
Resting his chin on his palm, indigo hair tickling his cheeks as his forehead pressed against the chilling glass, he looked lazily over the scenery that sped by.
The drab grays and muted greens were nothing short of underwhelming
His eyes wandered to the forestry landscape all around, the mist making it seem all the more unsettling. What is this? A horror movie?
He wondered how far they were from any town, or other civilization for that matter… at least forty or so minutes, maybe more. He'd given up trying to remember all the turns and roads they'd taken to get here. The road was like a winding snake with too many diverging streets to remember every name.
Just as he started to drift off into a reluctant nap —as hed decided hes been awake far too long—, the car swerved around a pothole, causing him to groan as he got jerked to the side. His head banged against the cold glass and he almost hissed at the sudden impact.
Was everything against him today?
As the car pulled into the school grounds, he felt himself shudder. This place made his previous school look like the happiest place on earth.
The gloomy building loomed over him as he exited the vehicle. It was like it was taunting him. His is dark leather suitcase was hauled out of the trunk and dropped on the cold stone of the foyer. A heavy grey fog seemed to linger all around the school grounds, making everything dull. It felt thick like smoke and seemed to almost suffocate him in its density.
He contemplated making a run for it, defying his mothers wishes and leaving this godforsaken place.
He’d be able to outrun the security, he was sure of it. He felt in his pockets, pale hands clutching around a wad of cash. He only had about £30 and his mother would probably block his card before he could withdraw any more. He didn't know how far away the nearest building aside from the school was and it was unlikely that he’d find someone driving down one of these roads that would let him hitch-hike.
And if someone did, he didn't exactly want to be the victim of a kidnapping.
So, with a grumble, he begrudgingly accepted his fate. Moping wouldn't change it… but, that didn't mean he couldn't be sour.
His violet blue eyes scanned the building, it looked solemn and dreary, sure, but not half bad. It gave off that old, European royalty kinda vibe. One he could appreciate if it had not been for the atrocious weather.
With a huff he lugged his suitcase up the stairs. He wondered where the rest of the students were, but chalked it up to him being there almost a week before term actually started.
As he wandered into the reception, he thought about how he even got here. It was such a nuisance. Just when he had started to get comfortable in his previous school his mother had to pull him out and drag him here, saying he needed fixing.
I'm fine. There’s nothing “wrong” with me! Mother doesn't actually care. She just wants a reason to leave me again. At least that's what he told himself.
The reception itself was depressing as the outside—dull, grey and lifeless. There was one receptionist, staring down at a comically large stack of papers and files, tapping away with her pen. The walls were lined with trophies and various awards, but it seemed even their shine was lost in this musty place. He could see the dust collecting on the name plates.
The receptionist barely looked up as he entered, too absorbed with her own work to take much notice of the young man approaching her.
It smells like wet wood and dust in here. Kuni observed briefly, but he couldn't think about that for too long, the receptionist's voice snapping his train of thought.
“Name?” she asked blandly, focusing more on her papers than him as he stood in front of the counter—made of a dark, slightly grey wood that looked at least a century old.
This place really has a thing for grey. Kuni thought sarcastically before he responded.
“Kunikuzushi.” he said dryly, not feeling like dealing with people right now.
He was in a rather foul mood from this all. It wasn't going to change this shitty situation, but he couldn't help it!
His eyes scanned the desk, little trinkets scattered around, a thin layer of dust coating them. Wonder who died and left these behind. He momentarily mused to himself.
“Full name.” she repeated, her tone somehow even more flat than before, snapping him out of his state of observation.
He bit back an insult, his eyes narrowing. This bitch-
“Raiden Kunikuzushi.” he grumbled with a slight frown, crossing his arms as he attempted to appear nonchalant.
His last name tasted rotten on his tongue—like something sweet that had been left too long. Something meant to be enjoyable but was now decayed and horrid.
She took a moment to type his name into the system. The clicking echoed loudly in the empty room. After a moment, She slid him a key and a paper.
“Okay, You’re in class 3A and your dorm is in the left wing, room 143.”
“Thanks.. I guess…” he mumbled, grabbing the papers with a bit more force than necessary. Turning with slacked shoulders, he was about to leave to try and find his new prison cell, when the receptionist stopped him.
“Hold on. Hand over your phone.” she called after him. He paused, then turned around again with confusion.
“What?” he asked, dumbfounded.
Why would they want my phone?
“School policy. Hand it over, and the charger too.” she insisted, holding out her hand to receive the device. With a grumble and a roll of his eyes, he took the little machine out of his pocket, watching as she turned on her chair and locked the cellphone in large wooden cupboard with many little compartments and placed the key into a drawer to her left.
He left the room with a sigh and a greater frustration than when he came in.
Guess I have to go old school… what a pain…
I’ll have to get it back later—somehow.
He began the search for his room, desperate for a nap. His eyes caught sight of the map of the facility stationed next to the reception door. Instinctively, he reached for his phone to take a photo, but groaned in annoyance as he remembered that he’d just handed it over.
He spent a solid five minutes staring at that map, trying to commit his route to the left wing to memory.
He hauled his bag up what he guessed was about a million stairs and a thousand passages before he finally reached his new room in the left wing of the school. It was all the way up on the highest —forth— floor, literally the furthest from the office.
Just my luck…
This place was massive, yet eerily empty—which did little to remedy his somber mood. Everything was old and some of the dark wooden floors in the halls creaked when he stepped on them, which just served to piss him off further.
turns out, his memory failed him and he’d gotten lost at least four times —stumbling into ancient looking and equally foul smelling classrooms that looked as if they hadn't been dusted in a decade.
His shoes barely made a sound on the floors—save for the creeks of course–, a habit he'd picked up from the years of trying to avoid his mother and younger sister in his own home.
Everything was annoyingly dimly lit and it all smelt like wet wood and dust, just like the office, much to his annoyance.
He grumbled in frustration as he thought about the year to come.
New classes, roommates he'd be forced to interact with, shitty food and never having his own room to be alone? This place was hell on earth.
In all honesty, he just hoped his new roommates weren’t some insufferable pieces of shit. He silently prayed to every deity he knew that they would be somewhat intelligent and wouldn't bother him.
Maybe, by some miracle, he'd end up in a spare dorm with no roommates… one could dream. He sighed at his own helpless wishing.