Have you ever been told, or heard of the myth about the cherry tree behind Akademi High? They say that, if you truly love someone and confess to them underneath the tree on a Friday evening, they are bound to accept your confession. No one knows who started the myth, but nowadays, people say that it was started by the infamous blackmailer named "Info-chan." There isn't much to say about her. Nobody knows her real name, or if she even exists, for that matter. For all we know, she could be a myth herself! However, if she does exist, then she could be the perpetrator of starting the Cherry Tree myth. Many students have tried to see if the myth was true, and many have succeeded in winning over their crush. Yet, there isn't much evidence to fully prove if it's true. It could've just been an attraction they both had for each other.

But what if the myth was true? What if the Cherry Tree behind Akademi High really did have some strange, mystical lore behind its powers? Does that mean that anybody can confess to anyone, no matter who they are or how different they are from each other, and there will be an ever-lasting nexus of love between them? It sounds inconceivable for just a tree to have such powers, I know. Even so, you know what they say: Never judge a book by its cover. And for those who take personalities for granted...

Never. Judge. A person. By. Appearance.

The cold, misty air brushes against my skin. Having no effect on me, I watch my breath fly away into the early morning. A girl standing next to me yawns, as a big white cloud escapes from her and into the world. It's almost hypnotizing, really. Too bad it doesn't matter. It's probably polluting the Earth as we speak.

My mom was born in Japan, but my dad moved here from America around sometime in high school. So I guess that makes me Japanese American. I speak more English rather than Japanese. Does that make me weird?

I hear an engine roaring in the distance. Soon enough, a big yellow bus comes flying down the street and stops in front of us all. The doors open, and the driver looks at us with a glare. I don't blame him. It feels like I'm teleporting, as I suddenly find myself snap awake from my imagination. We've somehow already made it to our destination—school. Another boring day awaits.

I really don't know how to feel at this point. Am I happy? Am I sad? I don't feel like either of those emotions. Emotions... what a mysterious addition to the homo sapien. For someone to go from feeling joy, without a worry in the world, to feeling sad, and out of hope when they find out a loved one has passed. Is it possible to live without emotions? Would you just feel empty inside all the time? Is this what... life feels like? Is this depression?

I'm not one to judge others with depression, but to me, the difference between being sad and depressed is... the difference between weather and climate. Others would disagree, but if you've suddenly lost interest in the happy feeling you were embracing... isn't that called depression? Whatever the science is, it better have a solution soon. I don't think I can go on much longer without feeling happy every once in a while. My ponytail sways back and forth as I inspect the people around me. People with earphones in. People with exhaustion from the night before. People who have better things in mind instead of this. Am I any different?

The bus parks in a spot and the front row people stand up and walk outside, with the second and third row following. I go along and follow the fifth row. I glance around as I walk. Acting like zombies, everyone follows in a single file line. I've never noticed it before, but it feels like the world is a lot more gloomy in contrast to when I was young.

...Actually, never mind. Nothing has changed. Being a kid was the worst time of all. It stinks that I remember it so clearly.

"Hey, Ayano!" Shouts a young girl, about the age of eight years. I turn my head to look at her, without smiling. "Did your parents finally abandon you?" She asks, her hands on her hips. I glance around the playground. My mom is talking to a friend of hers, and my dad is nowhere to be seen. I lightly shake my head "no." The other girl glares at me.

"You think you're so special? I bet your parents don't even get paid enough for you to even look happy!" She booms, as she flips a couple strands of hair and posing. Huh? What does money have anything to do with the kind of person I am? Do I need to have money to have friends? Do I need a personality to be called "somebody"? Am I just a fraud? A nobody?

Suddenly, the taller girl lunges forward and grabs my shoulders. I look up into her face. She stares me down until her friends join her. They all join in and drag me over to the sandbox, each person grabbing one limb. I'm suddenly lifted up from the floor, and I notice I'm being carried like servants would with a King's throne. Except, I wasn't the King. I was the throne. Without thinking, I start screaming and flailing around, trying to escape. The girls toss me onto the sand, as I land with a thud.

"What's wrong, you gonna cry? You gonna cry, you little freak? Is that what you are, a wuss? You're a wuss, aren't ya?" The older girl says, as her friend join in with laughter. Grains of sand gather on my white, floral shirt. I look up, seeing the girls hovering over me, and dark clouds coming over. "See you later, weirdo." the girl states, as she and her crew wander off back home, leaving me in the sandbox. Rain starts pouring down, and soon mix with the sand, creating a disgusting substance—with me in it. The droplets also fall onto my face, as I watch the girls march away in pride.

I snap out of my imagination, the old memory fading away. I suddenly find myself at my locker, as others around me start putting items inside the small compartments. Going along with the rest of the crowd, I gather my books, put everything away and head into the courtyard and sit on a bench, away from the rest of the chatty people. There isn't much to do out here...maybe read, but that's about it.

Every once in a while, I glance up at the circle of girls. My legs are glued together, as I try to make myself as small as possible, going into a slouch position. How do they make friends so quickly? How does someone do that without being considered weird, or odd?

Feeling my hands wrap around each other on my lap, I tense up, making me feel a little safer for myself. This is just my way of making me feel a little better. I'm not sad, nor depressed, you know. If anything, I would die to know what either of those feels like. For years, I've been putting on a show to hide my abnormal condition. The truth is... I can't feel emotions. Insane, I know, but it's true, and I have no idea why I can't. Mom has been very supportive of it, though, so I'm thankful for her.

Dad, however, was crushed by the truth. He's the reason why I pretend to act normal. To look happy, sad, angry, confused, disgusted, scared... I just can't stand to see my dad look so miserable. Everything is okay now, though. Dad is in America on a business trip.

Looking up, I watch as the group of girls transition over to the group of boys and shake hands with each other. Then, I see a bunch of people with red bands around their arms go around with a clipboard.

A tough boy with a bandana, a sweet girl with a cooking bonnet, a melancholy boy with blue glasses, a haughty girl with pink rose stockings, a sporty blonde-haired girl with her jacket around her waist, a distraught girl with a book, an elegant girl with a big flower decorating her hair, a white-haired boy with an omnipotent glint, a raven-haired girl with velvet streaks, a nerdy boy with headphones, and a blonde gentleman with a high definition camera in hand. Remembering the pamphlet I was mailed a month before, I realize that these are club leaders.

A lot of the girls sign up for the cooking club, and I watch as many other homogenous people join one club. I almost force myself to stand up ,but keep still. Joining a club would probably be my first mistake of the year. No thank you.

Then, the sporty one locks onto me and starts marching over. Widening my eyes in panic, I quickly rehearse what I'll say when she talks to me.

"Hey there! You interested in sports?" she asks, smiling warmly at me with pronounced care, while patiently waiting for my response. The way she smiled could brighten anyone's day, and she seemed the type of person who would treat any bad situation with pure optimism. Meeting her, you probably couldn't keep your eyes off of her, unable to not look away from her cute figure. She wasn't just cute, but she was pretty. Pretty in a strange, subtle way, but also expressing her sense of self-defense as she proudly showed off her muscles.

Her legs were glowing with the same sense of honor, and her sports goggles shouted it even louder. I, myself, couldn't stop looking at her gorgeous blue eyes, making me feel a little insecure about my boring, gray ones. Without her noticing, my breath goes a faster pace but quickly evens out. I release my hands and let them hold on to the curved ends of the bench, as my legs bend and have my feet on their toes. Opening my mouth to speak, I uncomfortably move my head side to side, contemplating my impending response.

I crack a small sound. "Well..." I begin, taking a deep breath. Honestly, I don't want to join any club, especially not the Sports Club. "It's nice of you to offer, but..." the last letter trails off and goes quiet.

"We have track, swimming, softball, baseball..." she says, listing the number of sports that are available. "If you don't feel comfortable right now, that's okay! You can meet us outside after school every day to sign up if you feel like it. If you can't find us, just ask one of the staff for help. Say you're looking for Asu Rito." she says, with a smile.

"Who's that?" I ask, speaking a bit louder.

"Me, silly!" she responds, in a cheerful way. "Have a nice day at school!" she ends, walking away to recruit more members. That was close. Asu seems like a nice girl, I'll give her that. There's no way I could pretend to be that cheerful to anyone. Props to her. After a few more minutes of sitting and watching others join clubs, while I decline the others, we all hear a bell ring. Time for class. Picking up my schedule from a student council member, I go to 2-1, the first classroom on the second floor. Being hampered by others struggling to get through, I struggle to get inside the door. Automatically, I sit in the way back in the middle, as a girl with green pigtails sits next to me on my left and a green-haired boy to my right. They're almost identical...

We all wait for another good five minutes before the teacher eventually walks in. Introducing herself, I learn her name is Ms. Fuka. She explains the rules of the classroom, when we have to clean up, get ready for clubs and whatnot, all that useless junk. Ms. Fuka was a very serious woman, someone who would make you scared of even interrupting her when she was talking. Of course, that's what schools expect from faculty; to be stern, but also helpful and kind in some weird, twisted way. The logic doesn't make sense in the beginning, but it eventually does sometime in the middle.

I direct all my attention to Ms. Fuka the whole time she's talking, trying to make a good impression on her. Maybe I'll become one of her favorite students, and get easy As here and there with just a little bribery. It's worked in the past, how could it possibly fail now? I've always been an expert at manipulation. Hell, I've been able to get my own mother to do my chores for me! But in all seriousness, it must be my lack of consideration to others.

Maybe they felt bad enough for me since I was always bullied as a child. Even so, the people who cared about me soon faded away, making me do things for myself. And those who still stuck around for a few more years eventually left me to my own time, too. I guess it's what I deserve; controlling people shouldn't be an option. Anyways, Ms. Fuka starts us off by letting us tell the whole class our names. As we go around, I ingrain the names I hear.

Koharu,

Chojo,

Mina,

Hayato,

Kizana,

Osana,

Kokoro,

Sakyu,

and Aoi.

Looking at them all, they look like some pretty decent people to be around. It's amazing how each and every one of them has certain personalities to describe them in colorful ways.

For instance, Aoi has blue hair and an eyepatch, and judging from her white uniform, she's a student council member. Kizana, on the other hand, has stylish purple hair, tied up into twin drills, and I sometimes catch her whispering something to Kokoro, a blonde girl with a pink fringe and many girly decorations all over her, including bright pink nail polish. It doesn't take a genius to know that these two know each other a little, especially from the fact that they laugh every few seconds to each other. I suspect them of the conceited type.

Next up, Koharu and Hayato, the identical green-hairs. Koharu seems nice enough, the same with just don't seem to get along well with each other, as I hear them whisper obscenities to each other from across my seat. Mina is wearing a bandanna, so assume she must've joined the Martial Arts Club. Chojo has a fringe that's covering one of his eyes, and he's wearing a choker around his neck. I've heard of something called the Occult Club...maybe he joined that. Maybe, who knows.

Sakyu is...well, she's pretty. Gorgeous, even. The way she applies makeup is so professional, she's almost like a model. Her purple hair, a shade darker than Kizana's, matches perfectly with her cat-yellow eyes. It's almost as if she could seduce any man and have his heart in her grasp.

Lastly, Osana. Typical school girl you could find almost anywhere, except she's got the longest hair out of anyone I've ever laid my eyes on. It's bright orange, with polka-dot flower bows supporting it. On her legs, she wore the same pattern of stockings, and I could see her phone case was the same as well. Her eyes were a light mango color, complimenting the shade of her hair. She was cute in a strange way.

After we figure out each other's names, Ms. Fuka announces our next activity. We have to pair up with someone of our choice, and that will be our group partner for the rest of the year. That sounds fair to me, and I'm actually a little confused when I hear Osana and Hayato groan a little.

Ms. Fuka smiles, and lets us go around choosing someone. Kizana and Kokoro immediately pair up and stand next to each other, while Mina and Koharu do the same. Chojo and Hayato high five each other and sit in the area around Chojo's desk. Sakyu just sits around until Osana approaches her, and smiles at her in acceptance like she expected someone to ask her from the start.

That leaves only two people left—me, and Aoi. Awkwardly, I twist my head to Aoi's direction. I'm met with a spook when I see that she's already staring at me with her single eye. She keeps it this way until I tentatively stand up from my chair and walk up the aisle to sit down at the desk next to her.

"Hey," she states, in a low, unwelcoming growl. Her voice is pretty low, and her personality seems pretty judgmental about who she really is. Maybe I can unlock the secrets that lie within her somehow. Awkward, uncomfortable minutes pass before she finally speaks to me again after being given directions for our first group assignment. Aoi shifts the paper closer to her.

"Are you in any clubs?" She asks, her one eye looking at me with an unamused expression, keeping it that way until I respond.

"No, I... I wasn't interested in any of them," I reply, resting my elbows on the desk and allowing my fingers to play with each other. I was scooted to the very edge of the seat, allowing a lot more room on the chair itself. Aoi blinks and looks down at our sheet of paper and takes her pencil.

"That's quite a shame. If I were you, I would join the Martial Arts Club," She says while reading the directions at the top of the paper. I eye her for a minute, thinking that this was a bribery.

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. I applied to be a Student Council member, and Megami was kind enough to elect me. It kind of sucks, though. She approached the others, so I guess I wasn't fit enough in the first place. But now that I'm part of it, why not take it seriously, you know? I guess I just, thought it would be nice to have someone around who knew what it was like in the Martial Arts Club. It sounds thrilling just from the title. You sure you don't want to join anything?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," I say, after pausing for a heartbeat. This girl has a nice, chill presence. It feels safe to be around her like she'll protect me from anyone who tries to hurt me. But the problem was, I couldn't stop staring at her eyepatch, and so I ask the first thing that came to mind. "What happened to your eye?" I ask, but the end was cut off from an annoyed retort from Aoi.

"Ugh, nothing!" She grunts, slamming her fist quietly on the desk while glaring at me with malice. "Nothing, God! Why do people keep asking me that?! Nothing happened, okay? It's personal!" Aoi angrily whispers, making me lean back a bit and keeping quiet. After a few seconds of staring at her dark blue hair and eyes, she sighs out of frustration and looks back down at the paper.

I don't say another word for the rest of class.

The bell rings, and Aoi instantly stands up from her seat, stuffing the assignment into a folder and storming out of class, as I just sat there watching her. Everyone else exits the room and turns to the right. Following them, I find a place decorated here and there with small, rounded tables and stools, along with two vending machines and a trash can. Recognizing a few girls, like Koharu, from this morning, I watch them all sit together at one table, as the boys do the same at the other table. Realizing I don't have anywhere to sit, I worry about what I'll do next.

The only thing I can afford is a soda from the machine, and so I pop some money in, take my drink, and head to the library. Walking down a couple halls, I slide open the door to the library and sit down at the tables. It's so peaceful in here. So quiet, so clean, so right... it's just way too bright in here. Getting an idea, I check around the room for a few seconds before performing my idea. Turning off the lights, everything goes pitch black, and I'm unable to see anything. Feeling my way around, I sit in the chair again and close my eyes, as my hands move around the cold bottle.

This is another technique I do to make myself feel better. It helps me find my happy place. Doing this, I'm able to imagine anything... imagine a life with emotions. Imagining what emotions feel like. Imagining someone to hold me and say, "I'm here for you" every day. Someone to comfort me when I act sad. Someone to hug me when I accomplish something and cry fake tears of joy. Someone who will understand me for who I truly am, and will try to help me with my condition.

...

Someone who will say, "I love you too" underneath the Cherry Tree.

Before I know it, the bell rings again, and my eyes shoot open. That's too bad. I was having a really good thought about what I could do if I ever succeed in life. My eyes have somewhat adjusted to the dark, and so I easily find my way around. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for the lights to be so bright, and I practically blind myself. My eyes water up from the reaction, and I cover my eyes the rest of the walk to class. But then, I realized...

I didn't even open my drink yet.

Sighing, I realized that I just wasted a few cents. I toss the bottle towards a trash bin, before it's caught in mid-air by someone. I stop and look back over at whoever just caught the projectile. Aoi stands there with poor posture, one hand in her pocket, and the other holding tightly onto the bottle. Her one eye pierces through me, as I questionably stare back at her. Her orbs trail down to the bottle, as she reads what flavor it is. Strawberry soda. Holding it in her grasp, she takes her other hand out from her pocket and rips off the wrapping, dropping it into the garbage. Then, she gouges out the needed tools from the cap and presses down onto the top of the marble inside the glass. In an instant moment, her hands are thrust down from added pressure, and the marble is forced down inside. Fizz bubbles inside, and she's looks back over at me.

"You gonna drink this?" Aoi asks, making the liquid rotate inside. Awaiting my response, I hesitate a bit, intimidated by her toughness and skill.

"Uh, no. You can have it," I say as I watch her drink what I paid for. She walks the rest of the way to class, finishing the drink before we enter. We sit at the previous desks, and Aoi pulls out the assignment again. This time, I help her draw out a few examples of what is needed. Finishing early, Aoi does the honors of turning in the assignment. We're left with twenty of class remaining, allowing us to do whatever we want. Ms. Fuka was nice enough to give us our homework for tonight so we could get a head start on it. Fortunately, Aoi was also willing to do homework together, and we get it done is less than ten minutes.

I and Aoi decide to wait until everyone else has finished up, and soon enough, the bell rings again. I get up from my seat and begin helping Aoi clean the windows, as Koharu and Chojo scrub the floors. Osana and Hayato polish Ms. Fuka's podium, and Kokoro helps clean the desks as Kizana and Sakyu clean the chalkboard. Mina straightens out the desks neatly, whilst helping Kokoro.

Once the classroom is all clean, everyone exits the classroom. Kizana and Kokoro say they'll see each other tomorrow, the same with Hayato and Chojo. Osana and Sakyu leave without saying a word, whilst Koharu and Mina hug one another before leaving. However, I and Aoi awkwardly stare at each other before departing. Without saying a word, I rub my arm, not knowing what to say, while Aoi glares at me with her hands tucked in her pockets. After a few seconds of staring, she turns and walks off in her sloppy, hunchback posture to the Student Council Club room. I watch as she walks away until she's out of sight.

She seems...nice...

Feedback is appreciated.