Author's notes:

Hakuouki SSL has the premise that Chizuru is the only girl in Hakuou Academy as it recently went from being a boys' school to a co-ed school. The female characters in SSL (Sen for example) belong to another school, but are friends of Chizuru. While I find that premise amusing and would support the game if they localize it, I thought it was quite unrealistic… So in this story, the school is co-ed and had always been co-ed!

I've decided on the overarching plot, but not who to ship Chizuru with, so let's go on this ride together!

As always, reviews appreciated!

"What kind of woman would choose to stay here?"

She felt happiness well up inside of her at his words; the voice was teasing, but she could see kindness – and even what she could only dare hope was a flicker of fondness – in the man's sly, green eyes. There were a number of other men gathered around her, broad smiles gracing their features. For some reason, she couldn't quite make out what they were saying; although they were close enough to touch, it was like they were having this conversation underwater, and their voices sounded hollow and distant.

Regardless, she found herself nodding, as if making a promise with them…

"Chizuru!"

She groaned softly, pulling her blanket over her head.

"Chi-zu-" She felt someone pull the blanket off her with so much force that she was almost thrown off her bed, "-ru! Come on, it's time to wake up!"

That startled her enough to wake her for good. Still disoriented from being so rudely awoken, she slowly sat up, opening an eye as she yawned; since her father was out of the country for a medical conference in the Netherlands, there was only one other person who had the keys to her house… Besides, even when her father was around, he would never wake her up in such a manner. He was always gentle, and never loud or in a hurry.

The person currently waking her up though… He was the exact opposite, and she couldn't help but think that he must be having fun, taking revenge for all the times she woke him up roughly in the morning.

However, their situations were different; she might take some time to get up, but he would never wake up if she tried to be gentle!

"It's not like you to be late, Chizuru," Heisuke-kun sighed, sounding only mildly apologetic for his actions as he released her blanket, letting it fall back on her bed. From her bedside table, he took a hold of her phone. He fidgeted with it, sighing again as he showed her the screen; her vision was still a little hazy, and the screen was a tad too bright to look at for long, but she could make out a number of missed calls and text messages, "I texted you and when you didn't reply, I tried calling several times. Geez… I thought that you might be too sick to get out of bed and had rushed over, but you were only oversleeping! I'm usually the one sleeping in on a school da-"

He stopped abruptly, and leaned in way too close, his eyes squinted as he scrutinized her face. Instinctively, she leaned back and away, but her childhood friend had other ideas; he had a firm but gentle grip on her cheek to hold her in place.

"Say, Chizuru. Were you crying?"

"Huh?"

He had freed her after taking a good look at her face, and she quickly touched her own face, surprised that her skin felt moist and slightly sticky. She frowned, and looked down at her pillow, finding one side of it wet.

"Did you have a nightmare? I'm glad I woke you up then!"

"Ah, no… That's not…" She pursed her lips as she pushed herself off her bed; did she have a nightmare? She could remember dreaming last night, but it didn't feel like she had a nightmare. Instead, as she tried to recall the dream, she felt a sudden, dull ache in her chest.

"No? Hm, I see… That's good then," His frown remained for a few seconds when he noticed the brief flicker of pain that appeared on her face. When she looked like she was back to her usual self, he flashed her a toothy grin, "Or could it be that you were drooling in your sleep?"

"W-what?! Heisuke-kun!"

The boy laughed, and she felt the heat creeping up her cheeks.

He was about to say something else when he looked slightly alarmed, as if he had just remembered something important. He then proceeded to stare at the hand that was on her face just a minute ago, looking like he had never seen his own hand before. He examined it, turning it over as he muttered something to himself under his breath. Since he was considerate enough not to turn on the lights in her room – lest she be blinded upon waking up – it was still rather dark in her room. However, from the light filtering in from the corridor – where the lights had been turned on – she thought she saw the edge of his ears turn a brilliant shade of red.

"A-ANYWAY!" He stuck one hand out, finger pointed at her as he yelled so loudly and suddenly that whatever sleepiness she had was effectively scared out of her, "What are you doing! We're going to be late for your first day in school! I mean, I'm always late so I'm used to it, but you were the one who suggested for us to meet up early because you thought that I was going to make you late… And now you're just sitting there in a daze!"

… First day of school? What is he saying? She's been attending Shimabara High School since-

Her eyes widened, finally understanding what he was trying to tell her; today was her official first day at Hakuou Academy. It was a private school, but had a good reputation, and was affiliated to the esteemed Hakuou University – although it would cost more to attend than the public school she was in, her father had decided that her education was worth it… It hadn't been her decision, and she felt rather down about having to leave behind her friends at Shimabara High, but she knew that her father had her best interests in mind.

In the end, it was Heisuke-kun who cheered her up, and got her slightly excited about the transfer.

"You're going to make lots of new friends, Chizuru!" He had said, pumping a fist in the air when she first told him the news, "So don't be too upset! Oh, and I'll make sure that nobody dares to bully you! If anyone dares to make you cry, I will find them and whack them upside down for you. We can also eat lunch together, if you like! It will be like when we were in Junior High. It'll be fun!"

While she was still sad about the transfer, she was now also looking forward to it. Since they were young children, his optimism always had a positive effect on her. He was like her sun, there to dry her tears and warm the cockles of her heart whenever she felt down and out… She often teased him about acting like a child despite being one year older than her, but he could also be an adult when the situation called for it.

She considered him one of her closest friends.

Right now though, Heisuke-kun looked a little too pleased at her 'eureka' moment, his hands linked together behind his head as he grinned at her. If he was looking so smug about it, she must be making quite the surprised and horrified expression…

"You're terrible, Heisuke-kun! Why couldn't you have said that first?!" She grabbed her pillow and flung it at his face before dashing off to her bathroom to get ready, ignoring his indignant cries at being assaulted out of the blue.

She would have just enough time to take a quick shower, although shampooing her hair would have to wait until she was home from school.