(June 2)
I wake up to the sound of a shrill whistle. I still feel groggy and tired. What time is it...? Oh, wait, Yuuma said that the day starts at 7 am... That's not too bad, but I'm more used to sleeping in. I'm not the best with mornings, but who is? If you claim you're a morning person, you have to be an alien.

I slip down the ladder attached to the bunk bed. It looks like Kentaro refuses to get up. He's still in bed and even has his pillow over his head. Hey, won't he get punished if he's late...? Well... Not my problem! Yuuma may be lenient since it's our first day anyway.

I head to the bathroom and open the door. Gin and I startle each other. He's standing at the mirror, putting his mask back on. Could I have seen him without the mask!? Gin quickly pushes past me, out of the bathroom. He's too on edge, I'll never see what's under that mask... I thought for a moment it was a fashion choice, but seeing him hurriedly cover his face with it, that can't be the case. If he's so secretive, I can't help but want to make him take the mask off.

I go to the mirror and wash my face in the sink. I look up. I have dark black hair, pink eyes, and black studs in my ears. Water drips from my chin and from the ends of my bangs. I look a little tired. If you asked if I cared about my appearance, I'd say I care about it to some degree. I care more about my actions than the way I look though. I've got to act like a good boy during my sentence so I can finish when the year is up. I can't let anything keep me here longer than necessary.

I finish up in the bathroom. My clothes are just a casual black t-shirt and pajama shorts. It's summer so I don't want to wear anything that'll make me die from the heat. Yuuma didn't say if we had to wear anything specific. I'll be lazy and just go to the cafeteria like this.

I leave Kentaro as he's still in bed and I don't see Gin anywhere. He probably already went ahead to the cafeteria. I head there myself. When I get there, I see Yuuma is passing out clothes.

Gin receives them as if he's a statue frozen in place. Matsu stares at the clothes and tries to look at the pile from different angles even though it's in his arms. Hisashi looks excited about receiving new clothes and compliments the color.

"Good morning, Akiara," Yuuma greets me. He starts handing me outfits and I have to put my arms out to hold all of it. "This is your spring and summer uniform, this is your fall and winter uniform, there are extra pairs of each, and you can have your pick of tennis shoes on the counter."

I'm a bit surprised about being bombarded like this as soon as I walk in. But I walk over to the counter to look at the shoes. They're basically the same shoes but in different colors. I take a dark pink pair. Then Yuuma tells me to go change into the summer uniform so I go back to my cabin.

Kentaro is finally getting up and looks confused at the pile of clothes in my arms. I smile to reply. "Counselor Yuuma is giving us our uniforms. You should hurry over to the cafeteria now."

He stands up and scratches his head. "Alright..." is all he says. He enters the bathroom for a moment before leaving. I wait until he leaves.

I change into the summer uniform. It's a navy blue, collared shirt with brown shorts. We provide our own socks and mine are black. I put on the pink shoes too. It's a decent and comfortable uniform. But huh? What's this sewn onto the left side of the shirt? I look closer in the mirror. It's a pink badge, like a badge you'd get as a boy scout. And in the circular badge is an animal. It's a...

I freeze. How does Yuuma know about this animal...? It's such a bizarre animal that you wouldn't even think to make a badge of it for someone. Unless he knew my supposed favorite animal... You can barely tell what it is since it's just a pink outline, but I know all too well. It's the world's happiest animal, the quokka.

I cover the badge with my hand. My expression is complicated in the mirror. Even though I couldn't bring the stuffed animal with me...which was of a quokka...the animal and the memories attached to it still haunt me. I really have to deal with a quokka sewn onto my shirt for a whole year...? Every time I see it in the mirror, I think my heart will hurt a little. This camp will be torture after all.

I don't understand what Yuuma is trying to get at... Is he doing this on purpose...? Well, I guess it's not like he knows my real feelings towards this animal... He could have seen the stuffed animal I tried to bring. Or maybe when he asked my parents about my favorite animal, they said a quokka. I have no idea if they even know that though... Not like they pay any attention to their child. Either way, I guess it's not Yuuma's fault. When asked about my favorite animal, I'd probably say a quokka anyway. It's a conditioned response at this point. I don't have an attachment to any other animals anyway.

I try to calm my racing heart. Then I turn away to look at the winter uniform. It's a white shirt with a tan sweater over it and black jeans. It looks warmer than the summer uniform. The sweater also has the same pink badge. I feel the badge with my finger. It's made well. The threads feel smooth and soft. If it looks this good, I can't ask if I can take it off of my shirts, can I...? No, then everyone would get suspicious... I refuse to tell anyone my reason for wanting it off. I'll just have to deal with it. I'm forced to live with the memories of him and what he did every day. Even if the badge reminds me, those memories are always lingering in the back of my mind regardless. I can still live as usual.

I look back at the mirror. I stare for a moment. My eyes are wavering. I slap my face with both of my hands and show a confident expression in the mirror. I can't let this control me. I can't let it ruin the facade I've decided to put up while I'm here. I have to be cool, calm, and collected. I smile. Yes, that's it. A friendly smile. There's nothing behind this mask of a smile. At least that's what those losers will think. I'll be friendly but not let them too close. It's the perfect smile for that.

After regaining my composure, I put the clothes away in my bag and go back to the cafeteria. It seems like while I took about forever to change my clothes, everyone else had already changed into theirs. I'm not sure where Kentaro and Gin changed, but I don't really care.

All the uniforms are the same except for the badges, the socks, and the shoes. Hisashi wears fishnets as socks that go all the way up his legs. I don't really understand that... Are fishnets even considered socks? He also wears red shoes. His badge is red and seems to be a wolf.

Gin still wears his large coat. How can he, in this heat? He will take it off eventually, right? Right?? If not, I wonder if someone will have to force him to take it off to avoid heatstroke. Instead of shorts, he actually wears brown pants and has black socks that cover any part of his ankle that you might see. He's really dedicated to this strange look, huh...? Is he trying to make it hard to look at him because we'll just imagine how hot he might be feeling? If so, it's working. He wears green shoes and at least that doesn't make me feel hot. His badge is green and looks like a spider. I've officially labeled Gin as the weirdest guy I've ever met. Hisashi is a close second. Or maybe Matsu. Never mind, they're all weird. I give up.

Kentaro and Matsu look normal. Kentaro's socks and shoes are blue. His badge is blue and looks like...a dog, I think? It looks similar to Hisashi's wolf but it's a little different. Hisashi's wolf looks fluffier than Kentaro's dog. Matsu's socks and shoes are a mustard yellow. His badge is purple and looks like a cat.

Seems like everyone's, I assume, favorite animals are pretty normal except for Gin's... I mean who would really say a spider is their favorite? That's an arachnid, not an animal! Hahaha!

Then I remember that no one can probably tell what my animal is. No one would be able to guess it's a quokka. I guess we both lose, Gin.

After that clothing fiasco, we all take our same seats from yesterday. Yuuma stands at the counter to talk.

"I require you to wear these uniforms everyday. If you don't, it'll be seen as breaking the rules and you'll receive punishment. I've tried to make the uniforms comfortable so there shouldn't be any problems. If you require a bigger size or something to that effect, just tell me," he explains.

I guess Yuuma allowed Gin to wear pants instead of shorts... But why? I feel like that's a danger to Gin, even if it is what he wants...

"Gin," Yuuma suddenly says. "Will you be alright with those clothes?"

Right, Yuuma seems fairly kind. Of course he wouldn't just let Gin hurt himself.

Gin refuses to look at him and only nods.

"Very well... I ask you to please be careful though. It's summer and you'll get hot easily," Yuuma warns. Then he moves on. "We'll start our normal schedule today."

Wait, aren't you going to make Gin take the coat off and change into shorts!? If he passes out, I'm blaming you and Gin, Yuuma!!

Chef Ana brings our breakfast out. It's three appetizing buttermilk pancakes. There's an assortment of syrups we can use. There's regular maple, strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry. I choose the maple. I see that Hisashi chose maple, Matsu chose raspberry, Kentaro chose strawberry, and Gin chose blueberry. I wasn't really expecting someone who seems a bit flamboyant, Hisashi, to choose maple. It's classic though, I can't blame him.

When we dig into our pancakes, they're really fluffy and warm. They taste so good and I can't stop eating. I have to admit, Ana's cooking is probably the only good thing about this camp. I wonder if I can hire her as my private chef...? If I sold some of my stolen items, I think I'd have plenty of money to hire her...

After breakfast, we leave the cafeteria. Yuuma takes us to a patch of grass for our workout. He says that we'll start with an easy workout and it'll get harder as the days pass. I don't exercise often, but I wouldn't mind getting in shape.

The workout leaves me sweaty and tired. Even though Yuuma said it was easy, it was still a bit rough for me... I'm definitely out of shape. I'm still young so I thought it didn't matter. But if I'm this out of shape, then I should probably be a little concerned... Something else concerns me too. Gin worked out in his large coat and warm clothes. He looks like he's going to pass out. Can someone rip that coat off of him!?

Matsu looks a bit tired even though he's usually all over the place. I can't help but feel like it's the first time exercising like this for most of us. Kentaro kept up well though. His arms do look muscular... And his legs too... I wonder how'd he look under that shirt...? No, no, no, I sound like Hisashi!! Speaking of Hisashi, he surprisingly looks alright. He's sweating like all of us, but he keeps a perfect smile on his face. He won't surpass my amazing smile, will he...?

Yuuma lets us shower and take a short break. Gin is quick to get into a stall to shower. He goes in with his clothes on. I'm appalled by his incredible dedication. It's the first day but I'm already tired of this pathetic display. No one cares about seeing your skin. But if you're this crazy about covering yourself, then we will start to care. Not like I can say that though...

I catch a glimpse of Kentaro shirtless and I almost get a nosebleed. It's everything I could have imagined... I want to rub my hand along his abs... No, keep it together, Akiara! You'll be the same as that pervert if you don't! Hisashi hasn't done or said too much after yesterday, but I've seen and felt his lingering eyes on all of us. It makes me shiver.

We change into clean uniforms. Yuuma tells us that Officer Tamiyo will pick up our laundry and wash it in a timely manner. I'm glad I don't have to do my laundry for a while. Well, I guess I wasn't only doing my laundry, I was cleaning my parents' too. If I didn't, they'd wear the same things, stains and all, and make fools of themselves... Not that they don't do that regardless.

Next on the schedule is meditation. We have to go for a whole hour. It felt easy for the first 5 minutes. Then I got a bit restless. At 30 minutes, everyone else was extremely restless too. Yuuma was like a statue in front of us, cross-legged on the floor. 

When we started, we all cleared away the tables in the cafeteria and sat on the floor. The floor is a little uncomfortable. I wonder if I can ask for a blanket or a pillow to sit on instead.

After that, we had lunch. I was pretty hungry, especially after working out. Food kept popping up when I was trying to clear my mind for meditation. Ana brought out an array of different sandwiches and fruit cups. We could take our pick of what kinds we wanted. I grabbed a ham sandwich and a fruit cup. I ate and was at peace.

Then eventually we had our first lesson from Yuuma. He started out with the history of criminology and how some people were considered to be criminals based on their traits, like if they had black hair and a cold demeanor. Of course that wasn't very practical or scientific. Criminology has evolved since then.

I found the lesson interesting and when we asked questions, Yuuma answered each of us. Maybe this won't get boring like I was wondering about after hearing the word "lesson." 

After that came the bonding activity. This seems like the hard part to me. I'll be forced to interact with the others. But this may also be where I can show just how well-mannered I am. Yuuma won't think twice about letting me finish my sentence peacefully. I'm confident in my ability to get through this, as long as the others cooperate.

Yuuma pairs us up and says we'll rotate partners every week. Since there's an odd number of criminals, Yuuma will be paired up with one of us too. This week, I'm paired up with Gin. Of course it has to be the weirdest guy...

There's a moment of hesitation after Yuuma tells us to start the activity, which is drawing. We get time to draw whatever we want. We at least have to put effort into it and can work with each other if needed. This activity is just to encourage us to talk to each other.

Since no one moves, I stand up and go sit by Gin, my partner. That helps everyone else move too. Kentaro sits across from Matsu, and Yuuma sits across from Hisashi once everyone else is seated. I decide to sit next to Gin instead of across from him. He retreats farther into the corner when I sit down.

There's paper, pencils, and colored pencils at each table. Gin cautiously grabs a piece of paper and a pencil. I grab the same. I have no idea if there'll be any talking with Gin. He hasn't said a word this whole time anyway. He only answers by shaking his head or nodding. If something can't be answered that way, he freezes up. Luckily Yuuma hasn't asked him very much, and the others haven't talked to him in the first place. I wonder if I should even attempt to say anything...?