5 minutes late.

No worries, he can go faster than Google Maps. Logic? Nah, not needed here. He runs and runs ... and runs. He stops. 

"Shit. This is the wrong cafe."

He flips open his phone like it's an army knife and he's an SAS specialist. Boom. Whatsapp open. Boom. A message from his tutor. Boom-

"What are you doing? I'm right here pal."

He looks up at the now open door of the cafe.

Oh.

It is this cafe.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, essentially, you're screwed." The tutor says as he places down Shuto's latest batch of English homework.

"Well no wait, I got you, don't I Kazu?" Shuto says, looking doe-eyed up at his tutor.

Kazu flicks his silver-dyed hair to the side and picks up his rather fancy-looking iced coffee with 85 different spices from some random Brazilian mountain village infused into it. He gazes out of the large window of the cafe, watching the endless stream of Tokyo residents walk, cycle, run and drive around.

Shuto slumps in his chair. 

"English isn't the most important thing anyway Shu, don't be so hard on your-"

"SILENCE." Shuto says.

Shuto is an 18-year-old boy who is obsessed with English and specifically, England. His favourite band? Oasis. His favourite sport? Football, of course. He has a low skin fade and a swooping mash-like black hairstyle: a real hybrid hairstyle of Japan and Britain. He's a skinny boy, with freckles just below his right eye and his right eye only. He's not the tallest of boys, but he more than makes up for his lack of height with his energy. Unfortunately, he is blessed with a severe lack of something that is rather important for a human to have; IQ.

"What time does your school start today Shu?"

"Err, what day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"Oh Wednesday yeah- WEDNESDAY????"

Kazu stares unimpressed at Shuto. 

"There's a reason why I got takeaway cups, Shu."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shuto bursts through the doors of his University lecture. His first day at Uni and of course he's late. He scans the auditorium rapidly. Seat, seat, seat...

"Empty seat!"

"... sorry? Please sir if you are a member of this course I will need you to be quiet and take a seat."

Yes, he said that out loud. 

He shuffles towards the empty seat that he announced to his class. He plops his laptop and notepad onto the desk.

"Shhh. SHHH! shhh!"

He glances around. Great. Everyone is staring at him again.

"What?" Shuto shakes his head as he looks at the faces of the angry students. So many nosy buggers in this class it seems. 

He plonks himself onto his seat.

He looks to his right. Ah, no one. Nice. He puts his bag in the empty seat beside him. He looks to his left- 

A girl.

Oh no.

She's pretty.

She has a retro black hoodie on with red accents, baggy grey jeans and her black and caramel hair in a bun. But that wasn't what he noticed first. He first noticed that she has a sprinkle of freckles on her nose. That she has sweet baby pink lips. That she has hazelnut eyes that warm up the whole auditorium.  He feels his heart starting to thump quicker than normal as her eyes begin to face his direction. 

Suddenly he regrets everything that just happened. His face goes bright red. Before he can think another thought, he flips open his laptop and starts spamming the keyboard, writing down everything that the teacher says.

A chuckle.

It's from the side where she is.

"Shit shit shit shit." he thinks. She must think he's an idiot. And she'd be right. He was a massive gigantic stupid idiot.

"What's your name?" a whisper says.

Is she talking to him? He didn't want to look if she wasn't. He didn't want to look if she was. What would he even say? Why would she want to talk to him? He wasn't cute or anything, just a normal idiot.

"Psst. Laptop boy."

LAPTOP BOY?!?!

Shuto spins to face the girl.

"Laptop boy?!?! Seriously?"

He locks eyes with the girl. Her hazelnut eyes are more than that, they are a premium mocha with a swirling cream design. Her freckles pop out against her soft tanned skin. Two or three hair strands dangle in front of her round face and small nose.

"Wow. So cute..." he says softly.

"What?" she replies.

"Shit." 

He'd done it again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He sits there, alone. He watches, alone. 

This new boy is interesting. So loud. So energetic. 

He flicks his page and begins to sketch the scene beside him. A big bag on the seat. A funny boy. He seems like a fun friend to have. That girl is pretty. He better not look for long. He didn't want any attention in this situation. He watches as the pair have a moment. They chuckle as the funny boy looks sheepish.

This is like a romance anime, the alone boy thinks.

The alone boy wishes he could have the confidence of this new boy. But he could never. He is slightly chubby. He has floppy brown hair dangling down to his blue eyes. His white skin is covered in orange freckles. He is sweaty, but not from movement. He feels eyes on him, yet there are none. He senses pressure around him, but it doesn't exist. His name is Kochi. He is 18-years-old. He is half-Japanese, half-English. He is kind, but no one will know that. He has many hobbies, but he's too nervous to tell anyone about them.

He is a boy with anxiety.