I do not own Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu. The story/plot/characters are owned by Minami Kanan.

Chapter 1 – Sakura's Snow

The wind howled and snow silently landed on the window. I watched a small snowflake that gently swayed towards my room, but it suddenly disappeared because of an unlikely gust that threw it off its track. I was miserable and alone, just like last year. I tried to hide it with an exterior filled with grace and false confidence, but it all fell apart as I eyed the frozen trees that sat outside of my window, taunting me, telling me to go to play with them like I used to. That was a long time ago. Tsubaki had her own life of study; she was off to high school which meant that she has even less time to spend with me.

Through the wall, I heard her bed creak. She was up. I hopped off of the mattress and put my uniform on, carefully balanced the skirt and socks so it gave off an "available" aura, and gave myself the reasons to do so. When it comes to guys, you don't want to be cheap, but you also don't want to seem taken or off-limits. Trust me on this one. Experience has never had a better poster child than me. I looked into the mirror, messed my hair up, and sprinted out the door.

When I peeked through into Tsubaki's room, I was astonished to see somebody completely different staring at the mirror. She looked beautiful. Jealousy snuck up upon me before I could've slapped it away. Before my greedy thoughts piled ever-higher into my mind, I busted through the door. Her hair and skirt had already been pushed down and she looked at me as if I were an alien that had come to abduct her.

"Tsubaki, could you please do my hair? I won't impress anybody with a bed head that is currently occupying me!" I said, gesturing to the hair that had just been freshly arranged by none other than yours truly.

"This has got to be the fiftieth time that I've told you to dry your hair before you went back to sleep. Sakura, I just don't know what to do with you," she sighed, humming the tune to her favorite commercial that constantly played on the radio. Grabbing her tools, she brushed through the thick, blonde mess that nobody would've dared to call hair.

"So, do you plan on dating anybody? High school is when a lot of people lose their, ahem, first times, if you know what I mean," I baited, eyes dancing around innocently. I felt the tension in her constant brushes rise.

"No, I intend to become the class representative. After all of the studying that I did over the summer, I'm sure I can beat whatever representative is up now," she gagged, almost as if it hurt her to admit that she didn't get the position. The tension was increasing even more. The time to change the subject had arrived, unless I wanted all of my hair to be gone.

"Are you really going to wear that to school? Like, really? You do realize that you are practically diving into social suicide, right?" I said, looking at her outfit as she continued to slave over my hair. I suppose I could've said that in a nicer way, though...

"I really don't care about what others think of me. I'd like to be known as the smart, confident one that knows what is appropriate and follows the dress code... unlike a little girl that I met the other day. What was her name? Was it Sayuri? Sakuri? Sakura? Yup, I think that was it!" chimed my sister, humming even more loudly than usual. I dropped all conversation. This old dog wasn't learning any new tricks from me.

By the time she had finished, my hair was flawless. Except for a couple of missing strands, it looked lovely. I ran to the bathroom and did my makeup, carefully dodging my eye as I applied mascara. I had made the mistake of letting mascara in once; never going back. Mascara might as well be called onion because they both make me tear up faster than I can say "ow".

I ate breakfast as fast as possible. My mother burned holes into my back because I hadn't done so well on my tests last year and I certainly did not want to hear her long lecture about how boys aren't everything. Looking at the time, I grabbed an apple, picked up my bag, and ran out the front door. I waited for a bit until I turned around to check on Tsubaki. She was gently slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Mom hugged her, waving her off with tears in her eyes. Kissing her goodbye, Tsubaki skipped out of the apartment. One of my admirers tagged along with me. As we left, I couldn't help the thoughts that flooded into my head. Where was my hug?

Any critiques are welcomed and thank you for reading!

- Leilye :)