As Yamikuro stepped in, he immediately noticed the lounge's unique carpet pattern.
There were a bunch of couches on his left, computers on his right, and stairs at the end of the lounge in front of him.
On top of that, people were walking around. Only two of them.
Kaminari started pointing with his finger.
"The one with brown hair and glasses is Cedar Beaumont."
Cedar nodded and rushed upstairs.
"And the one with red hair... and the weird haircut is Rye Ginfay."
The front of his hair was cut at a sharp angle, tilted slightly to one side as if he didn't care to tame it. The sides were longer, falling just on his ears, while the back was grown out, giving him a wild appearance.
But Rye froze when he saw Yamikuro inspect him.
"Who's that?" He asked.
Kaminari turned his head back and forth between them.
"This is Yamikuro Asaki, a new student."
Rye scratched his chin.
"There's something... different about you."
Yamikuro turned his head in confusion towards Kaminari, but that's when he felt a breeze on his neck.
Rye was suddenly behind him.
"You have no control over your powers."
Yamikuro jumped from being startled.
"How did you get behind me?!"
Rye raised his hands.
"S-sorry, I wasn't planning on hurting you or anything."
Rye then lowered his hands and reached his right hand in front of himself.
"I know Kaminari introduced us to each other already, but I'm Rye Ginfay."
Yamikuro didn't think much about it and also raised his hand.
"I'm Yamikuro Asaki."
They shook hands with each other.
But that's when Yamikuro felt something stick to his hand.
Rye stared intensely into his eyes.
Yamikuro didn't make a scene of it when he noticed a sticky note was stuck to his palm.
Yamikuro wanted to question it, but after reading it, he remained quiet. There was something Rye knew.
"Be wary of those around you. -Rye
P.S. Don't alarm Kaminari or anyone about this, let it stay between us."
Yamikuro raised his head, and Rye was somehow sitting on the couch-or actually, he lay on it, his feet sticking over the edge.
He seemed to be reading some magazine.
Kaminari raised his eyebrow.
"Dude, you okay?"
Yamikuro slipped his hand into his pocket.
"I'm fine. It's just that... this guy is sort of weird."
Kaminari laughed a little.
"You'll get used to it... kinda."
Now was the time to get introduced to Cedar- where was he?
"Um... Where's the other guy... Cedar, I think it was." Yamikuro asked.
Kaminari shrugged.
"Idontknow, he most likely got ready for his part-time job. He left while you stared at Rye."
"Anyway, let me show you to your room, and then we can come back down here."
Kaminari started walking, and Yamikuro had no choice but to follow.
They walked up the carpet-covered stairs and reached the second floor.
Kaminari started thinking.
"Yours should be at the end of the hallway, next to my room."
Yamikuro walked ahead, Kaminari following him this time.
"Bytheway, don't blame me if it isn't your room and it's someone else's."
Yamikuro stopped.
"No, hold on. You told me you knew where my room was."
After some silence, Kaminari sighed.
"Yeah, fine, that's your room, I'm sure of it."
They reached the door.
The sun shone into their eyes from the window next to them. There were curtains over the window, but they were see-through.
Yamikuro put his ear next to the door.
Silence.
Only his heartbeat was heard.
But then-
Bang!
Yamikuro fell through the door, stumbling into the room.
Kaminari burst out laughing.
"There's- There's no one in here. It's your room, dude!"
He was right; the room was completely vacant. Even the bed didn't have covers over it.
Yamikuro whispered.
"You're an idiot. Isabella was right."
Kaminari calmed down almost immediately.
"Wait, I'm sorry, I just thought I'd play a prank on you- I wasn't actually sure it was yours until we reached it."
Yamikuro let out a sigh, dropping his bag on the floor.
He decided to look around a little bit more.
The walls were painted white, the floor didn't have carpet on it, instead, the floor was made of wooden planks.
There was a closet next to him on his right.
There was also a mirror, a mini-fridge, and a small TV.
"Feel free to chill here till evening. Cedar and his brother will meet us in the lounge later to celebrate your arrival orwhatever." Kaminari leaned against the wall.
Yamikuro nodded.
"I think I'll do my homework."
Kaminari squinted his eyes.
"Homework, huh. Well, enjoy that, I guess."
The evening fell fast, and Yamikuro finished his homework, which he hated doing.
He hoped deep down that Kaminari wouldn't start begging him for homework answers. But that was most likely inevitable.
As soon as he finished packing stuff for tomorrow, someone knocked on his door.
"Yo, you didn't fall asleep or anything, right?"
Yamikuro cleared his throat after not saying a word for roughly four hours.
Of course, he did slack off for quite some time. Just looking out the window, lying on his bed, or sketching stuff into his notebook.
"No, I'm awake."
"Oh, good. Everyone is downstairs, so if you're ready, come down."
Yamikuro felt slightly nervous.
What if he didn't match well with Cedar or his brother?
He just had to make himself presentable and less stiff.
If he were as outgoing as Kaminari, maybe they'd like him.
No point in overthinking, he just had to walk downstairs and meet them, as friends.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, Yamikuro opened the door and started walking.
When he stepped into the lounge, he saw four people sitting on the couches.
"Hello," Yamikuro said, his voice slightly shaky.
One of them stood up, most likely Cedar's brother.
He had medium hair, and it was pink, instantly standing out from the rest. He wore a scarf and a coat. It was May, so him wearing that was slightly strange.
He was also a year older than the rest of them.
"Yamikuro, right?"
Yamikuro nodded as he walked up to them.
"I'm Angel, pronounced as 'Anhel'. I'm Cedar's brother, not sure if you two have met yet."
Yamikuro sat down next to Kaminari.
There were three couches placed around the wide table.
Cedar sat next to Angel, while Rye sat alone, his back hunched, resting his hands on his knees.
"We haven't met yet, actually."
Cedar laughed a little.
"I was in a hurry to work, so I didn't have time to get to know Yamikuro. Kaminari went ahead and introduced me to him instead."
Angel chuckled, hearing that.
"Introductions aside, should we do something tonight?"
"I got the cards ready," Rye said, throwing a pack on the table, almost as if he took it out of thin air.
Yamikuro wanted to say something, but instead he looked around with his mouth open and a raised eyebrow.
No one else seemed to find it strange.
Angel grabbed the cards and started shuffling them.
Kaminari hopped off the couch and turned on some music.
"You know how to play, right?" Angel asked, turning towards Yamikuro.
"I think I do."
In response, Angel nodded. "Let's start then."
They played and laughed the entire evening until nightfall, enjoying each other's company.
From just bonding over cards, Yamikuro felt like they'd been friends for years already.
And Yamikuro, despite being new, had already found a place among them, a bond that might one day either save or shatter him.