Nada High is the fanciest coed high school in Tokyo, which is a relevant description because, as a place of very traditionalist values, Japan's fanciest high schools are gender-segregated. And it's not, really, that different from North American high schools, at least as far as Adonis can see. Except that everyone's Japanese, and a few people are throwing him some not-totally-friendly looks already.

Yeah, that's to be expected. Not that he isn't mentally cataloguing all the weird looks for later analysis, because he is totally doing that. Perhaps he should not be, but he is. Okay. Chill. Impossible to chill? Fair. Turn the dial two notches chillward, maintain a chipper and casual outward air, aaaaaand we have successfully arrived at Classroom!

If he is five minutes early there will only be two other students there.

Sounds about right.

He sits at the front; no sense making 'comprehend the teacher' any harder of a task than it has to be.

Students start to trickle in, one or two at a time, until there's a sudden gaggle with a third of the classroom all at once, and in the center of that gaggle is a boy with a cocky gaze and an easy smile whose look of surprise is replaced by one of interest once he's looked at Adonis for a full second. He says something to the people around him and then walks over to Adonis and says, "Good morning. Is it alright if I take the seat behind you?"

"Yes, that would be all right," he says. His voice is on the quiet side but he enunciates with the kind of precision you'd expect from someone who was hired to generate audio samples for a dictionary and is really giving it their all.

He drops his bag next to that seat but doesn't take it quite yet, choosing to lean against Adonis's desk, resting some of his weight on one hand. "I'm Iwasaki Yutaka. What's your name?"

"Adonis Roth," he says, a little self-consciously. His voice moves more fluidly around his own name, though he does also put in some effort to make it clear and easy to hear, which brings him back toward the dictionary direction. "I feel that I should apologize for those consonants, although they are not exactly my fault."

" —is Adonis your personal name or am I about to have to make a fool of myself trying to learn how to pronounce that consonant so that I can call you by the name?"

"Adonis is my personal name, yes. There is no need to make a fool of yourself."

"I promise you I will learn how to say it but I might need to practise it in front of a mirror a few times so as not to embarrass myself. But Adonis, were your parents prescient or merely very lucky when they chose to name you this?"

... he blushes, and is flustered enough that it takes him a second to respond. (He would be faster in English. Unaccountably, his vocabulary drills did not cover flirting. Isn't Japan supposed to be more homophobic? Apparently not if your name is Iwasaki Yutaka.)

"This is not the first time I have been asked that question but you ask it very charmingly."

He opens his mouth—

—but someone in the back calls, "Stop flirting and sit down, Iwasaki, the sensei will be here any minute."

"Careful, Kobayashi, people are going to start thinking you're jealous."

He scowls. "You got the wrong twin to be cute about."

He grins and looks at Adonis again. "Don't worry about him, he's just upset that you're prettier than him."

"In his dreams."

He glances consideringly back at Kobayashi and says, "It is true, we are all very pretty. Who can say who is prettiest? I would not dare to compete."

"Are you finally coming out for real, Iwasaki?" someone else asks.

"Can a man not platonically appreciate another man's aesthetic qualities, Kawata? Art is art," he says, turning to look at Adonis again and wink.

Tentative conclusion: homophobia is real, Iwasaki is just living on the edge.

"Art is art," he agrees, although the point is somewhat undercut by the fact that he's blushing again.

Yutaka looks like he wants to say something but, perhaps through some kind of telepathy ingrained into the minds of all Japanese high schoolers, looks over his shoulder then looks at Adonis again, lifting a finger to his lips, before going to his seat—but not sitting down.

Everyone else also goes to their seats but doesn't sit down, and everyone who was already seated stands up.

Adonis follows suit, of course.

And then the teacher walks into the classroom. "Good morning, sensei!" say all of the students in unison, bowing, to a replied "Good morning," from the teacher himself with a smaller bow. The students don't take their seats until the teacher does.

Adonis was sufficiently prepared for this eventuality that he manages to join in pretty unremarkably.

"Ah, and we have a new transfer student from the West, ah..." He furrows his brows reading Adonis's name. "Rosu Adonisu?" he tries.

"I must apologize once again for my name. It contains an objectively unreasonable consonant."

The teacher does not express an opinion about this and instead goes to, "Why don't you come out here in front and introduce yourself?"

He stands up and walks to the front of the class.

"Hello everyone!" he says, successfully projecting his normally quiet voice all the way to the back of the classroom. "My name is Adonis Roth but Rosu Adonisu is fine. I moved here last week from New York City. I look forward to meeting you all." He bows appropriately. No one is going to notice if he moves slightly too precisely because no one ever notices when he does that.

No one, he says.

"You might have some trouble catching up, but Kobayashi-san takes good notes, he can share them with you."

...he can? Oh, fine, he can. "Yes, sensei."

"Thank you very much, Kobayashi-san!"

He moves to resume his seat.

History class ensues. It probably does not match the history classes Adonis has had so far.

It absolutely does not, but do you know what's a preparation method with a really favourable derangedness to benefit ratio? Studying up on your new curriculum! He follows along pretty well, and takes notes in Japanese with handwriting that hits a careful tradeoff between speed and legibility.

At the end of the class Kobayashi shows up by his desk. "Yo. I'm Kobayashi Toshiki."

"'Yo'? Is that how you introduce yourself to someone new, 'yo'?"

"It is my utmost delight to make your acquaintance, Rosu-san."

"It is my utmost delight to make your acquaintance as well, Kobayashi-san!"

"So you need notes? I don't know what kindsa notes you need to match America, is it 'all of 'em'?"

Okay, how far toward Normal are we turning the dial on this one? He flicks a glance at Iwasaki. Fuck it, we ball.

"I have some thoughts on that," he says modestly, and there follows a briskly efficient comprehensive rundown of which classes he's studied up on and by how much and where his biggest gaps are. He's basically fine in math because math is math, but he would be most grateful for notes in literature and history, with particular attention to...

"Right. I'll. Look over 'em and see what I can do."

"Oh, now I suddenly wish I were as good a student as Kobayashi so it would be me who would get the opportunity to gaze upon your fair visage some more..."

"Thank you very much," he says to Kobayashi, trying not to let Iwasaki make him blush again.

There's a group of students in the hallway out of which comes one girl to stick her head into their homeroom and say, "Iwasaki!"

Kobayashi grabs Iwasaki by the ear and starts pulling him towards the exit. "Your posse's getting impatient, Iwasaki."

"Owowowow that's so unnecessary—" he says, but he follows.

Oh boy, the situationship alarms are blaring. He ignores them in favour of putting away his history notes and getting out the binder reserved for math.

A couple of minutes later, Kobayashi shows back up and pulls up a chair from the desk next to his and drags it in front of his desk with its back to him, then sits on it facing him, hugging the back of the chair. "Huh. Iwasaki wasn't lying, you are hot."

Situationship alarms getting increasingly aggressive and discordant, especially since he's pretty sure this is the twin he heard mentioned earlier.

"He does seem to spend a lot of time platonically appreciating my aesthetic qualities."

"He's got good taste. I'd know." He extends his hand. "Kobayashi Akira, the more youthful and attractive twin, at your service."

He shakes it. "Adonis Roth, but Rosu Adonisu is fine. Nearly every language on Earth gets by without a 'th' sound; it is we Germanics who are wrong."

"Adonis Roth," he says, pronouncing the 'th' just fine. "That's a pretty name."

"Thank you! I cannot take credit for it."

He's being flirted with. Why is he being flirted with? Again? What is Kobayashi Akira's position in this social and emotional minefield? Help.

"No, sometimes the blessings of the gods just happen to us, but we must do the best we can with them anyway."

"I do try to do the best I can with what I am given."

"D'you have a pen?"

"I do have a pen!" He gets one out, with a certain degree of well-concealed trepidation.

When he accepts Adonis's pen he keeps hold of Adonis's hand, uncaps the pen with his teeth, then writes his number on a corner of Adonis's hand. "We don't share homeroom, but maybe you'll give me the time of day anyway," he says, before returning the pen and pushing himself to his feet.

Getting out a pen was a strategic error!!!! Why are the boys at this high school like this!!!

"It was good to meet you, Kobayashi-san," he says, his precise diction never wavering even in the throes of gay panic.

"Likewise, Roth-san," he says, pushing the chair back towards its desk and running back off to his own homeroom while the rest his Adonis's starts trickling back in.

Well! That just happened!

Math class, please save him from whatever the fuck that was.

Iwasaki took the seat behind Adonis so when he trickles back in that's where he goes. "I see you got the Akira treatment," he observes as he takes his seat.

"I am told that sometimes the blessings of the gods just happen to us. It seems that sometimes Kobayashi Akira-san just happens to us as well."

"He is a bit of a whirlwind."

"Has he happened to you before?"

"Little old me? Why, I can't imagine why you'd think my relationship with Akira is anything but that of childhood friends. But if anyone had happened to anyone else, I would be the one who'd have happened to him, not the other way around."

"I see, I see. Japanese high school truly is very different from American high school. I must study very carefully to catch up on everything a good student should know." He pulls out a pocket notebook and writes something down in it.

"Oh I think I can definitely teach you that a lot better than Toshiki could, if you're ever looking for a private tutor."

"But Kobayashi-san takes such good notes! What could be left for Iwasaki-sensei to teach me?" he asks, truly the picture of innocence in every way. Listen he knows he should stop flirting with these boys but they keep giving him such good opportunities to use words recreationally.

Before Iwasaki can respond to that the students start standing up to greet their maths teacher.

Adonis puts his pocket notebook away as he stands.

The maths teacher doesn't ask him to introduce himself since he already did that but she also suggests that he borrow notes from Kobayashi Toshiki if there's any content he needs.

Sure, why not, he loves being voluntold to do things.

The reward for a job well done. (He doesn't say this aloud, because he can't figure out how to get the phrasing right.)

And then break again. "D'you wanna come out here with us? I can introduce you to everyone."

"That would be very kind of you."

"Oh, no, I'm actually quite selfish, but I'm glad you think so."

Can't accuse him of being a heartbreaker, he can't call the right idiom to mind. How to respond? Maybe he should try being slightly normal? Absolutely not, completely out of the question.

"Selfish? I see, I see." He pulls out his pocket notebook and makes another note.