Chapter 002: Colors (1)

Black's POV

I could hear a knock on my door as I just finished fixing my bed. "Black, breakfast is ready downstairs." My aunt said. "I'll be back tonight."

"Take care, Aunt Autumn." I replied. 

Autumn Vera, or Aunt Autumn as I call her, is my aunt that took me in after both my mom and dad passed away. She's a very kind person that agreed to take care of me despite not even talking properly with her before. 

Right now, our relationship isn't so bad. We've been becoming closer, but it's still a bit hard for me to fully open up to her. Don't get me wrong. I'm very grateful to her, but after years of closing myself off from everyone, it's not easy to open up again. 

I finished getting ready for school, so I went down to have breakfast. As usual, Aunt Autumn made one of her odd flavoured pancakes. It was purple this time, which was a lot better than the green pancakes she made last time. It tasted like ube, which is a purple yam that we got from my grandmother yesterday. 

To be honest, despite receiving so much stuff from her, I've actually never met my grandmother. Ever since that accident, the thought of passing by the same place where my mother died... It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

Today's the first semester of my second year in high school. I wouldn't say school is uncomfortable, but it's very lonely. Aunt Autumn insisted that I just get homeschooled, but I still wanted to experience living like a normal student, even if I didn't have any friends.

To be honest, making friends was never really part of my priorities. I wanted to go to the same school my dad graduated from. 

Before I lost my vision of colors, my dad used to teach me how to paint. He was a famous artist that used to go on business trips all around the world to showcase his art, but the day I couldn't see colors anymore, he stopped. I'm not going to his alma mater because I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I'm going there for my self satisfaction. I regret not being able to learn more about his hobby, and I blame myself for cutting his dream short, so this is all to relieve myself of these negative emotions. I have nothing I want to do with my life anyway, so I'm not losing anything. 

After I finished eating, I brushed my teeth and headed to the door. Before leaving, I turned around and looked at the empty, colorless house. Everytime Aunt Autumn leaves, so do the colors. Without her, my life is just grey. 

Ever since that day in the hospital, I could somehow see colors around Aunt Autumn. It's a little hard to explain, but she's like a candle that gives off colors instead of light. I don't even remember the last time I could see colors before that day, but it's still such a relief that the possibility of being able to see them is still there. 

My school was only a few minutes away from our home, roughly a five minute walk. Aunt Autumn offered to drive me to school everyday, but she's already done so much for me. I feel like I shouldn't bother her with something as trivial as this. 

As I was walking on my way to school, I noticed something on the ground. I bent down to pick it up.

It was a wallet. 

I opened it to see if I can find information about the owner, and there it was, an ID card. The wallet belonged to a person called Lilac Innocencia. Coincidentally, she was also a student from my new school. 

Jeez, losing their wallet on the first day, I feel sorry for her. 

When I got to school, I immediately went to the girl's class to find her. It's been years since the last time I attended a proper school, and it still feels just as suffocating.

It really isn't comfortable being surrounded by such a colorless world. For other people, this kind of environment is supposed to be lively, but it just feels dead to me. I feel like there's an invisible barrier separating me from everyone else, and it's a barrier I can't and won't pass. 

I finally got to the girl's class and peeked inside.

"Do you need something?" One of the students asked as he appeared from behind me. 

"I'm looking for this girl." I replied as I showed him the ID card. "This is her class, right?"

"Oh, that's her over there." He pointed at a crowd of girls that were talking. In the middle was the girl, Lilac, laughing softly. She noticed me and tilted her head. "Lilac, this guy's looking for you." The guy called for her. 

The girl tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she walked towards us, and as she drew closer, I noticed how the colors surrounding her started to change. Just like Aunt Autumn, the colors around her were warm colors, but with a red-ish, purple tint to them. 

She had long, black hair tied into low pigtails that hung in front of her shoulders. She had a very slender figure accompanied with a soft expression on her face. Her eyes were a little droopy and had a light pink color to them. 

"Can I help you?" She asked as the guy from before left us alone.

"Ah, y-yeah." I tried to get my words out as I handed her ID card to her. "I think you dropped this."

Her expression brightened as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks so much!" She took it and smiled lightly. "I thought I wouldn't get it back."

"Right. Well, that's all." I turned around and waved my hand. 

"H-Hey, wait!" She grabbed my other hand. "What's your name?"

"Black. Black Vera."

"Thank you for returning my wallet, Black." She smiled softly again. "How can I repay you?"

"No need. I don't want anything from you." I shook her hand off. "I'll be going now."

That scared me. How can that girl just get colors out of nowhere? It doesn't make any sense. It's too much to be a coincidence. I picked up her wallet, looked for her to give it back to her, and it just so happened that I could see colors around her. After years of literally not meeting anyone with colors, I meet her on my first day here? I won't just accept it so easily. There has to be some kind of catch to this. 

I'm sorry, Lilac Innocencia, but this will be the first and last time we'll ever talk to each other. 

I made my way back to my class and took a seat. I put my earbuds on and played some music. This way, nobody will come and talk to me. 

Everybody here already had their own friend groups. Well, it's expected considering they've been together since they were first years. I'm practically invisible in their eyes, but I don't mind. It just makes my life easier. 

Since it was our first day, it was pretty calm. Just small lectures, then some time to mingle with our classmates.

When lunchtime arrived, our homeroom teacher told me to check out the clubs if I had any time. I didn't really plan on joining any clubs, so it's not like it would matter if I checked them out or not, but I can't say I wasn't curious.

I figured I should at least just check them out. I'll just watch from afar, but not interact with anyone. 

My next destination was the light music club. As I made my way there, the students around me started to lessen. The club room was really far from the main building, so it was really quiet. Somehow, it's comforting.

When I was getting near, I started to hear the distant strumming of a guitar. I followed it, and it led me exactly to the light music club. 

The song being strummed didn't really sound familiar to me. Well, I don't really know much about music in the first place, but it somehow sounded sad. 

I knocked on the door, then opened it. I peeked inside and saw a male student strumming his guitar. It didn't seem like he heard me. 

He had this peaceful expression on his face as he smiled lightly. He looked like he was really enjoying what he was doing. 

He finished his song and let out a sigh of relief as he turned to my direction. He had a look of shock on his face, then it shifted into one of anger as he glared at me. It was a huge contrast to the expression he had while playing his guitar earlier. 

"The hell do you want?" He asked with a threatening voice as he stood up and placed his guitar on his seat. 

Suddenly, just like with that Lilac girl from earlier, the colors around him started to change from monochrome into a mixture of warm colors, exactly like Aunt Autumn's

He had short, messy, auburn hair with a part of his bangs tied back in a small ponytail using a clip. He had a black piercing on his left ear and sharp, blood red eyes. He was wearing a plain black shirt while his uniform coat was draped over his seat.

He gave off a very unapproachable aura. I unconsciously started to take a step back as he drew closer to me. "Hey, answer me." He said. "What the hell do you want?"

"I was told to check out the clubs." I replied as I discreetly grabbed the doorknob. 

"Really? Well, there's nothing to see here then." He turned around and walked back to his seat. "Take the light music club off your list."

"What? Why?"

"This isn't a club anymore. Lock the door on your way out."

Because of that mess, lunch break ended before I could even check out the other clubs. The light music club was the farthest from my classroom, and yet it was near the top of the list our homeroom teacher gave me. 

When I got back to our class, the teacher arrived at the same time. I took my seat as he began teaching. 

That guy from earlier was scary, but I'm a bit relieved that he wasn't like that girl, Lilac. He didn't seem like he wanted to get involved with me, but that isn't a problem. I don't think I want to involve myself with him either. 

As I was having my daydream, the teacher paired us up because of an activity he wanted to do. My partner sat next to me and listened to the instructions. He wasn't even attempting small talk. He looked very uncomfortable, and frankly, I found it funny.

After our teacher finished explaining the instructions, he left us to do the activity ourselves. 

"What do we do?" I asked as I grabbed my pen. 

"Ah, w-wait!" He exclaimed, but immediately covered his mouth. "Sorry, that was too loud. I just wanted to ask your name. You're the new transfer student, right? We should get along."

I looked at him, and as if it was planned, colors started developing around him too. 

"I'm White Reinheit." He introduced himself as he put his hand out for a handshake. "What about you?"