I shouted until my voice was dry

The echo reverberates in the empty air

Although there was nothing left

After the chains were removed.

Chapter 1

First Day

"Mom, I'm leaving now!" I closed the door behind me and began walking. Today marked the first day of my last year in junior high school. I should make this school year worthwhile. Most of my friends will be going to different high schools than me.
Up ahead I spotted the school gate. Haruka was there, like usual, waiting for me. And like usual, she was leaned against the gate wall, on her cellphone texting. I stopped in front of her and waited for her to notice me. When she finally looked up, her eyes grew big, and her jaw dropped like I've never seen before.

"Luka, you cut your hair!" She combed her fingers through my shoulder-length hair, as if it were the most fascinating thing she's ever seen.
"Yeah, it was getting kind of bothersome. And I wanted to start the new school year a little different. So, I cut my hair." Haruka frowned in disappointment.
"It was so long and pretty. Now I won't be able to braid or style it as much anymore... But it does look good on you." I chuckled and gave her a gentle pat on the back as we began walking toward the school entrance.
"It's fine, my hair grows really fast anyway. Let's go see if we're in the same class."
Haruka and I walked up to the class display where a crowd of students looked like herded sheep. I looked down the list of names until I spotted "Megurine", right under Class 2-B. Other names on the list were familiar, and others not so much. Regardless, I wanted this year to be the best, so hopefully I can be friends with these unfamiliar classmates.

Haruka grabbed my arm and smiled at me. Her eyes sparkled, and her grip tightened. "We're in the same class again, Luka! Let's hurry and reserve our seats! We hurried into the school. It felt like I hadn't seen school in years, despite everything looking the exact same way as it was when we left. We walked into the classroom, only a couple other students were present, just sitting at their desk in the very front.
"Luka, the back window seat is open. Let's sit beside each other." I took the the very back corner seat, right by the window. Haruka unpacked right beside me, taking out her hand mirror and checking her face and hair, like she usually does every single morning.
"So, how was your break? Did anything fun?" She asked, while taming her bangs to sweep away from her eyes. I glanced out the window and pondered. All I really did was stay home and relax. Wrote a lot of new songs and practiced on my Epiphone Dot guitar. When I wasn't at home, I went out shopping with mom.
"Uh, nothing really interesting. Just composed some new songs with Dixie." My eyes shifted to Haruka, who was pouting her lips as she was applying some baby pink lipstick.

"Dixie... Is your guitar right? Why do you call it Dixie again?" Haruka rubbed her lips together and started on her eyes. I looked forward at the blank chalkboard, and then glanced at the clock right above the board. About another 8 minutes until class is supposed to begin. I felt our conversation getting dry. It's been at least a couple months since Haruka and I talked. I tried to contact her and hang out over the break, but it seemed she always found some kind of excuse to not hang out.

"No reason, really. I just like the name." Haruka put her mirror away and looked at me with her dolled up face.
"It's a cute name. You didn't hang out with any boys or anything?" I sighed and didn't respond. I felt
like lately, people have been pressuring me to have or find a boyfriend. Yesterday when mom was making lunch, out of nowhere she just brought up the topic of love. I was sitting on the couch in the living area writing a new song, when all of a sudden, "Luka, how come you don't have a boyfriend yet?" I stopped writing and looked up at her, kind of shocked she would just blatantly ask that. "I just haven't met anyone yet..." Mom chuckled and began bringing the plates out on the table. "I'm just teasing you, Luka. It's just that, this year is your last year of junior high... And next year you will be in high school. And boys are very fierce at that time, you know. All the girls mature and then they start to flirt quickly find themselves a girlfriend, and if you had a nice boyfriend right now he would protect my Luka against those ripe high school boys! Because you're so cute and talented Luka! I don't want that to happen to you. Lately, the young kids start doing things... Things they shouldn't be doing at your age! Your dad and I started dating in our last year of junior high. And ooh, those boys would try to steal me. But, your father made it clear that I was already taken, and then no one even bothered to try to give me a love letter or confess their to me!" Mom laughed at her story as she was setting utensils on the table. "Oh those were the days!" Mom always rambled a lot. But, I didn't really mind. Mom and I are best friends. We tell each other everything. I swear she's a teenager trapped in a 37 year old body.

"So, Luka. If you find a boy this year, and if he's kind and smart and appreciates you, go and get him!" I sighed heavily and picked up on continuing to write my song. I wasn't really concerned about love, or boyfriends, or just relationships in general. Whenever it happened, it happened. I did have a few guys confess their love to me in the years before. But they weren't people I was entirely interested in. I felt bad, but do I really need a boyfriend?
"Mom, I think I'll be fine." Mom walked over to the couch, ladle in hand, and gave me unexpected hug. She kissed my head and held me tighter.
"I know, sweetie. I'm just worried you is all." She released me and looked into my eyes with a gentle smile. "High school is tough. Drama can happen, people change. I just hope there will be someone to be there for you always and support you. You like to be alone a lot, so I was just concerned for my baby." I looked the other way, not knowing what to say. I was planning on going to a high school with a special music program, a little farther from my zoned school. So, not a lot of my friends would be there.

About a couple minutes before class began, everyone started to shuffle in. The teacher came shortly after them, holding a few folders and books. The teacher was tall, quite young looking, with slicked back jet black hair and a few stubbles of hair on his chin. His face was calm as he was organizing his folders at his desk. I could tell some of the girls in the class were infatuated with him. They probably thought he was handsome, being young and having the kind of build he had. Almost every desk was filled by the time class began. There was an empty seat in front of mine, but I found it to be better so no one would block my view.
The teacher picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name. It read "Nishimura."

"Good morning everyone, I'm Nishimura. Now, I expect all of you to do well in my class, get along, and do your work." His tone was very staunt. It felt like I was in some kind of boot camp. Haruka whispered my name to get my attention. I turned my head to see her face with a big smile, and her eyes looking somewhat suspicious. "He's kinda cute, isn't he?" I shrugged my shoulders and looked forward again. Mr. Nishimura took role. All went well until he called out the name "Megurine." The moment I was about to call out, the classroom door opened, catching everyone's attention from what they were already doing.

A boy stood out there and looked up at the teacher. The boy had jet black short hair that neatly rested on the back of his neck. Stray bangs covered his forehead. His skin was very fair, his figure tall and thin. I had never seen him before. His face was straight, and his eyes were filled with worry as he stared at Mr. Nishimura. With a heavy sigh and straight posture, Mr. Nishimura looked at the boy and whispered a distinguishable "hmph".

"You're late. And who might you be?" The boy glanced down out of what I guess was either embarrassment or thinking. His eyes traced back up to Mr. Nishimura.

"Sorry, sir. I'm Kasai." Mr. Nishimura looked down at his attendance paper. He mumbled a few names before finding the last name "Kasai".
"Ah, Kasai, Ryota. Kind of bad to be late on the first day, huh? Go take a seat please." Ryota briefly looked around. I noticed how the desk in front of me was open. Ryota walked over to the empty desk in front of me and quickly settled himself in. He released a heavy sigh and looked out the window to the left of us. He seemed really annoyed, or maybe even somber. He held his hand against his chin to hold up his head, and gazed out the window in silence. I looked back up at the teacher and followed the lesson.

When break came around, everyone moved their desks near each other to eat their lunches. Haruka motioned me over. I stood up, picked up my desk, and gently put it down by Haruka's. I took my lunch box out and opened the lid. Dad made curry. The smell was tempting and made my mouth water. Dad's cooking was always what I considered top notch. He's always been like that, actually. Mom cooks sometimes, but is still learning not to burn some foods. She feels that because she's the woman, she has to be the one to make the delicious meals, even though she's always been somewhat of a complete amateur. I grabbed my chopsticks and began eating. Haruka sat there staring off in the distance, expressionless and quiet.
"Aren't you hungry?" I asked. Her eyes looked back at me and her lips slightly pouted.

"I'm on a diet, remember?" I ate a few pieces of meat and kept exchanging glances between my food and her face.
"If you're hungry, you should eat. You look fine anyway." Haruka sighed while continuing to look past me with uninterested eyes.
"I'm fine. But thanks for the offer though. I gained a few kilos." Haruka's tone was dry. It kind of bothers me how vain she is. She's constantly taking out that mirror and looking at her face, messing with her hair, weighing herself every day, and basically trying to maintain a prim and proper figure. I guess some girls are like that. And for Haruka, she's always been like that.

While the conversation between Haruka and I grew increasingly quiet and awkward, and everyone in the class talked about their own things with their own friends, I heard a faint noise coming from somewhere. I heard muffled instrumentals coming from the wall. I looked around trying to find that faint noise. Until I turned around and saw Ryota with his head down, all alone with some headphones on. I felt kind of bad looking at him. It was obvious he was already having a bad day with how the morning started, but I wondered if he was feeling lonely?
"Hey, Haruka. Is that boy over there new? Have you ever seen him before?" Haruka turned her head in his direction and looked back at me with what it appeared to be a worried face.

"I think he was actually a student in our school a couple years ago. But I never really talked to him." Haruka was kind of vague in that answer. But I guess he really wasn't a new student.
The day continued on. After break we had class, then PE, then another class and so on. When it was time to go home, Haruka and I walked up until we reached the gate. We both went at opposite directions.

"Take care, Luka. See you tomorrow." She said casually. I waved as she turned around and began walking home. She rushed up to a few other girls ahead of her, walking alongside them. Haruka was friends with a lot of people in our school. I wish I had the same social level as her. If I got to know more people, I wouldn't be walking home alone all the time.

The weather was clear and kind of breezy. I did my usual routine walking home. I took my ipod out and plugged my earphones in. I scrolled through a few of my favorite music artists until I found the song of my choice. On the way home I always listened to music. I always found it relaxing to just listen to some nice music after a long day of school. The sound of acoustic guitar strings blocked out the sound of passing cars and chattering people. Music brought my mind to ease. Sometimes, depending on the track that's playing in my ipod, I look at the scenery around me and gain inspiration for writing a new song. The one I'm currently writing is about a woman who's angry at a man she's been with for awhile. But the man is disloyal, and as a response, the woman wants to threaten and get away from the man, yet at the same time she can't let go of the love she already put into him. I got the inspiration from when I was walking home from getting new guitar strings for Dixie last summer. I was approaching a newly opened hotel when all of a sudden, a frantic woman comes running out of the hotel and stopping at the curb of the street, yelling into her phone something along the lines of
"If I find you with another woman, I won't forgive you! Where are you? Why are you doing this? Our anniversary is next month, isn't it?!" While that was happening I was listening to my ipod on a dramatic piano piece on low volume. The music and the scene went well together, and that's how I usually got inspiration to compose and write my own songs. But for this song, I named Rip Release; It's been taking me awhile to finish it. I've been trying to find the right lyrics and get the right strings to play on Dixie. I'll definitely get it done this week.

I arrived home feeling a bit tired and overwhelmed about the school day. Things seemed easy, the teachers weren't so bad. But I did promise myself that I would make this year the best. So far, I haven't met or talked to anyone else outside of my own friends from the last years, and I mainly got criticisms over my cut hair than compliments from my friends. I took out my homework, finished that in an hour, took a shower and then headed to bed when it got dark.
As I drifted off to sleep, I heard the voices and saw images from today playing in my head. To where Haruka was waiting at the gate for me, when I amazingly ran a mile in PE without feeling too tired, and then... Ryota standing at the door when he first came in. That image only lasted for a couple seconds. I drifted off to sleep to await another day.