Narrators? POV:
'If I may, I'd like to pose an interesting question: "Are all human beings truly equal?" These days everywhere you go, there's talk about the fight for equality. As a wise man once said, "Heaven does not create one person above or below another." People like to throw his words around. That's not the whole quote. It goes on to say that "... while we are all equal at birth, pretty soon, things begin to change. Academic efforts is what sets some people apart to rise above the others."'
'At any rate, humans change over time based on their actions. Truth be told, at the end of the day. Equality is just a fantasy and most of us go through life denying the fact we live in a meritocracy.'
As I was going through my monologue, there was a sudden noise interrupting it, catching the attention of myself, and some others on the bus. The source was from a boy that had dark brown hair and the same uniform as me. A school uniform.
Dark brown hair boys POV:
As I was admiring the scenery as the bus was moving, it stopped at a city hall, where a protest was occurring. Most of the signs were regarding equality, with text 'equality for all' 'everyone is equal!' and other such text plastered on all the signs. I continued to read all of them one by one before coming across one that caught my attention. In doing so I gasped, which was loud enough to disturb the peace in the bus.
Most of the bus had turned their gazes towards me, including the guy next to me, and the girl across from us with long black hair. The guy next to the girl had his head laid back with the girl covering him. I felt like he reminded me of someone I used to know in my childhood. I dismissed the thought immediately as there was no way he could have been the same person. I kept staring for a few moments before taking my eyes off from his direction, turning my gaze to the guy next to me opening my mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." I apologized to him.
He only kept staring at me before speaking. "It's fine. I'm curious as to why?" Once he asked me that question, my eyes widened a little before responding back. "One of the signs said 'All of us are made equal by God'". His emotionless face didn't change but I could tell he was intrigued by me. Almost like he was thinking about the same topic. "Oh? What is your opinion on the topic?" he asked. "My opinion?" I asked back hesitantly. He nodded.
"I guess my opinion would be that no one is truly born equal. If we were, then there wouldn't be 'geniuses' and 'average' people. It's because of human nature that we have separate social positions and a hierarchy. To be born human means to be unequal and if you ask me, if people or rather humans are truly equal, my answer would be no. No matter how people sugarcoat it, inequality will never go away as long as we humans exist. Of course no human is perfect, even the word 'perfect' is a human concept. No matter how one person looks at it, they themselves are not the best. There will always be someone better than you, whether it be sports, academic ability, being a better social person or just in any category." I felt the air become slightly heavier, once I mentioned the word 'perfect'.
I finished as I turned my gaze a little to the girl with black hair sitting next to the sleeping guy with black hair I swore I knew, looking at me before quickly turning to her book again.
"Well, that's just my opinion on the matter. My names Satoru Yuuji, it seems we are going to the same school, hope to get along?" I stuck my hand out, as he took it and introduced himself. "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, pleased to meet you Satoru." "Likewise, Ayanokoji-kun." Right then, a commotion had started, taking both Ayanokojis and my attention.
Black hair boys POV:
As I was sleeping peacefully, a commotion woke me up. "Umm, excuse me sir? Would you be willing to give up your seat?" A girl had spoken to someone. I opened my eyes to observe the situation. A young girl, with beige hair, and with the same school issued uniform as most of the people on this bus had on. She was talking to a boy with the same uniform as all of us, sitting in one of the priority seats. "That is a priority seat after all. So it'd only be right for you to let this older woman sit there." She finished. "My, my, you're a pretty girl. I understand that this is priority seating honey, but there is no law forcing me to give it up. You think I should have to stand up just because I'm still young?" the blonde guy chuckled before continuing. "What a bunch of ageist nonsense. Sure I'm younger than her, but standing uses way more energy than sitting. Tell me, why must I sacrifice my health for this lady's sake?" "Because you'd be contributing to the greater good of humanity. Just take a look at her, she's having trouble staying upright." the girl pushed back. "I have zero interest in contributing to the greater good. Anyway, there are plenty of other jerks on this bus who could give up their seats. Furthermore, I don't see much difference between a priority seat and a regular one, so ask someone else to be the hero." the girl turned her attention away from the blonde guy to the entire bus.
"Excuse me! Would anyone on this bus be willing to give up their seat to this sweet old lady?" A majority of people on the bus turned away from the situation, in order for their seat not to be taken. 'Such hypocrites, though I am one myself' I thought to myself. Moments passed before someone finally spoke up. "Um, you can have mine." A lady behind me stood up, letting the old lady take her seat.
Ayanokoji Kiyotakas POV:
As the beige girl put out her statement to the entire bus, I looked towards the girl across from me who met my gaze for a second as we both understood we shared the same thought. She had long black hair, reading a book called 'Crime and Punishment' and had the same uniform as most people here. Moments passed before a woman behind her gave up her seat to the old lady. Not for a second did the girl ever glance at the situation but kept to the book she was reading.
Black hair boys POV:
Although I agree with the blonde man, the way he spoke about it was too harsh. He is right about 'what is the difference between a priority seat and a regular one'. If we talk about the greater good for humanity then equality would be the best. Although, having priority seats wouldn't be equality. If we had true equality, then everyone, no matter of age, race, height, weight, and the disabled, we would all get treated the same. Considering the seats in a bus, it would be first come first serve in an equal society. But as it stands now, society is nowhere near equal no matter how you look at it.
As the bus reached the school, everyone with the schools uniform started to get off. As I walked out and started to climb the stairs, I felt an aura from my past. I dug deep into my mind, dissecting every piece of information I held, trying to figure out the source of this feeling. A voice suddenly broke me out of my trance. "Hey, you!" moments passed before the feminine voice continued. "I noticed you staring at me on the bus earlier. Why was that?" The girl sitting next to me was talking to a brown haired boy. I stopped walking to listen in on their interaction. The boy showed no emotion but given the time he took to respond he seemed… stunned? "Oh. I'm sorry. I was curious, cause, well, you didn't want to give up your seat either. I was wondering if, like me, you'd rather stay out of it." The girl scoffed before answering him. "I'm nothing like you. In my case, I stayed silent as a matter of principle." She waited a few moments before continuing. "If that is all, goodbye." She then walked up the stairs towards the school leaving him in the dust. Me and the boy locked eyes for a couple of seconds before we both walked up the stairs to this Elite school.
Today is the first day of school and all first years would be attending the Entrance Ceremony. Every new first year student headed to the auditorium where the Ceremony would be held. I walked to my assigned seat and waited for it to start. The room was soon filled with students moments after with the volume being at its highest. As it started getting quieter and quieter, the lights dimmed down. 'I guess it's finally starting' I thought to myself, looking at the dimmed lights. The beginning was mostly about class schedules, school rules, and expectations of us first years. It was mainly all the basic stuff.
"And now, a few words from The Student Council President." A girl with purple hair with her hair tied into two buns spoke before scooting away to make room for the star coming on stage, which is notably The Student Council President. "Thank you for the introduction. I am Horikita Manabu. Newcomers, as a representative of the upperclassmen and your Student Council President, I extend a warm welcome to you all. As I am sure all of you are aware, our school is known for its prestige distinction on all fronts and boasts impeccable employment and college entry rates across the board. We take pride in this. In fact, it's our school's number one priority. We all work together to uphold the standard of excellence. Now, you are a part of that too. We expect greatness from all of you and we know you are capable. Access here is entirely based on merit. So you alone control your path" A couple of people applauded the man, with most people looking like they were sleeping, or not paying attention.
Ayanokoji Kiyotakas POV:
As The Student Council President was giving his speech out to the first years, I started looking around to see who was in my class. Since there were four groups huddled, I assumed with there being four classes at this school, this group I was currently in would be my class. Class 1-D. I saw some familiar faces, one being Satoru, the blonde guy that declined to give up his seat, the girl who started the commotion on the bus. There was also the girl who stopped me at the front of the school entrance. 'We're even in the same class?' thinking to myself as I noticed something strange. As The Student Council President was giving his speech, she was slightly shaking, showing a serious face and intensely staring at The President. I shrugged it off as it was none of my business but couldn't help being curious.
Satoru Yuujis POV:
"This is super boring." I muttered to myself, looking around to see who was in my class and the other classes. I looked at everyone from the other classes first.
Looking at us from The Student Council Presidents POV, in the far right the most noticeable auras were from a somewhat tall bald male who seemed laid back but calm and collected and a short, disabled with a cane female with lilac hair color giving off assertiveness and cockiness. They would most likely be Class 1-A.
Next closest to us, being Class 1-B the most noticeable were a female with apricot peach hair color giving off an aura of only kindness, with the next one being a male with violet hair color with calm and collected aura. The same as the Class 1-A male.
Next would be Class 1-C having two males, one with magenta colored hair giving off a cocky, assertiveness and troublemaker aura while the other one seemed to have a neutral aura. A black male with little hair who seemed to be a foreign, from America nevertheless.
I then looked towards those in my own class. I saw the blonde guy from the bus, the beige colored hair girl, and the girl with long black hair as well as Ayanokoji. I kept glancing at people till my eyes met him. I had found him. The guy that was sleeping on the bus.
I finally understood why I felt like I recognized him. It was because I did. He was the exact same kid I knew since being a little kid. Fumio Shiro was his name, we were best friends all throughout childhood, although we went to different Junior High Schools for certain reasons, we never kept contact, hence the disconnection between each other with the reasons being the same. I knew for a fact that this class… No, this school was going to be interesting with him attending here, especially with him being in my class.
~ 2248 Words ~