Heyyyy! So this is my first story. It will revolve around this girl, Akari, an OC I created from the figments of my imagination. Though I also love Kou, I can relate more to having a relationship with a guy like Touma so I was drawn to him. After reading the manga, my heart shattered into pieces for Touma, which inspired this story. Here, I will give Touma somebody to loooove~

Disclaimer: I do not own Ao Haru Ride. I only own the character of Akari Ishihara and her family and backstory. If this fanfiction bears resemblance to any previously written story, I assure you that it is unintentional.

1st Year

I took one step towards the gate of my school and held my breath. Today, I'm officially a high school student. Since middle school, I guess one could say that I'm simply the wallflower type. I never really stood out. In a way, blending in suited me. Getting the attention of other people is a double-edged sword – either they end up liking you or they end up hating your guts. I had a couple of friends and they were enough for me. I got along well with everyone though I was never particularly close to anyone, not even my so-called friends. I was, in a sense, forgettable. I sort of preferred it that way. I was alone with my books and my music. But, as my family would put it, I seem to be wasting away the opportunities of my youth. And so this time, I am determined to change that.

I will move forward.

I will have friends – real friends that I trust and have fond memories with.

Maybe I'll fall in love?

-0-0-0-

Ishihara Akari, 15 years old, average height, quite skinny, brown eyes, long brown hair. Convinced that nothing absolutely special going on in here.

She walked towards the bulletin board where the class list was posted. She knew virtually no one in this new school and she wanted it that way. A fresh start, she said.

"Oh, there I am," she muttered to herself. "Oh…" she spotted her name under the Special Advanced Class list. She was surprised, considering that she was just winging the exam. She knew her parents would be proud but she was scared. Back in middle school, people from this particular class were known to be competitive. One thing that Akari hates is the constant need of her peers to compete, to outshine one another. She hoped that her new classmates would be different.

Inside the classroom, she was relieved to find that her assigned seat was next to the window, second-to-the-last row, in front of a black-haired guy who was staring out of it. Most of her new classmates already had groups of friends, except for this guy.

Gathering up her courage, she said, "Uh, ohayo"

The guy looked up at her and replied, "Ohayo."

Akari took her seat in front of him and smiled to herself. That's a start.

-0-0-0-

"Mabuchi-kun!" Akari called after the first friend she made in her class. It's already been a month and restarting her life proved to be even more difficult than she imagined. People from the Special Advanced Class were either too uptight or too busy to mingle. The only person she deemed most approachable was Mabuchi Kou.

"Oh, Ishihara, what's up?" Mabuchi replied. He was leaning on the windowsill beside his seat in their class.

"Which club did you join?" she asked, catching up with him as they changed their shoes by their lockers. "I was thinking of joining the music club but.."

"You're shy?" he said, trying to restrain his laughter. "I thought you were all about the fresh start this year?"

Akari blushed. "I'm working on it, okay?" she said, playfully punching his arm. "Ah, I remembered! I meant to tell you, I met someone the other day."

"Really?" Mabuchi replied with increasing interest.

Akari rolled her eyes. She can never really tell if Mabuchi is being sarcastic or if he really means what he says or does. "Well, I didn't really meet him.. more like I saw him in the music room.. he plays guitar." She started, wringing her fingers together in embarrassment.

Mabuchi chuckled at his friend. "You mean you stalked him."

"OH SHUT UP" Akari threw her arms in the air in defeat. "I'm not like you!"

Mabuchi smirked. "I never stalked her.. we just happen to pass each other by – "

"And she never noticed you?" Akari asked, cutting him abruptly.

He shrugged, "I guess I look different?"

"Or maybe she's just not expecting you to turn back up in her life after leaving without saying goodbye?"

He glanced at her and shrugged again. "Who cares.. it's all in the past now."

Akari snorted at that. She knew perfectly well, based on how he always seemed to avoid talking about her, that he still cared deep down. That he still wanted that girl to notice him. When they first became friends and Akari shared her mundane middle school life and her self-proclaimed mission, Mabuchi Kou started to tell her little bits and pieces about his life. She knew that he used to live in the same area. After several occasions of seeing him glare at nothing after passing by a certain girl who never seemed to recognize him, Akari couldn't help but ask him about her.

He told her that she was his first love back in middle school, before he moved to Nagasaki. He told her that he wanted to meet up with her, and he was fairly certain that she waited for him, but he wasn't able to go. Everytime he sees her or passes her by in the corridors of the school, he scowls and huffs and walks away. Being the middle child between two brothers, Akari has been accustomed to this kind of guy behavior.

"If you're going to scowl your way through the day, why not just pluck up the courage and talk to her and tell her you're back?" she told him after he grumpily walked back to class from the cafeteria where he saw her.

"You don't understand. I'm not the same person I used to be.." he kept insisting and that was her cue to drop the subject.

"Yeah.. keep saying that. Maybe tomorrow you'll believe it." Akari replied knowingly, to which she earned another glare from her friend.

"As for you, you meddlesome girl, pluck up some courage and get to know Music Room Guy and move forward instead of bothering yourself with my past." He said, sticking out her tongue at her.

Akari sighed in defeat. She continued staring out of the window even after Mabuchi left. A month in and her plan of moving forward proved to be even more difficult than expected. She just couldn't find someone whom she wants to get to know and form a real friendship with. She's fairly close enough with Mabuchi but the guy builds walls higher and stronger than the Great Wall of China. Today though, she saw something that made her heart skip a beat.

She saw him there – tall, lanky, orange hair. He doesn't look very masculine but he did look handsome. He was alone in the music room, sitting on a stool. His eyes were closed but his fingers were creating such amazing music that Akari couldn't help but linger by the door frame, careful to not be seen should he open his eyes any moment.

A blush crept to her cheeks as she saw how he smiled to himself while he played.

"Oh boy.. I think I've caught feelings." She thought.

Akari Ishihara was the daughter of renowned pianist Kazuo Ishihara. Her father exposed them to music early on, and it was no surprise that all three Ishihara siblings were naturally musically-inclined. Akari's older brother have been studying in a private music school since he was 10. Her younger brother was the same. Akari was the only one who insisted on going to a public middle school onto high school. Akari was the only girl, yet she was the most headstrong of them. However, her natural introversion led her to be just that – a wallflower. A lone wolf.

Seeing this boy playing his heart out in the stillness of the music room strengthened her resolve. She doesn't know whether it was his music or the boy himself that caused her heart to hammer like crazy – but one thing is for sure, she wants to get to know him.

Soooo how was that for an introduction? Sorry if it sucks, I promise to do better next time. Please review and tell me what to think or how I can improve my writing. Thank you! :)