Chapter1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll never forget those years.
Not for as long as I live.
They were the two years that would turn out to be the most important of my life. My last two years of high school. Up until then, life had been pretty boring for me. I'd get up, go to school, do some work, come home, find some way to keep myself occupied until it was finaly time for sleep. My life bored me to no end. But little did I know, that that was about to change, as was my life.
I still remember to this day, looking up at the Legendary Clock Tower of Kirameki High on the first day of school, my Junior year. I was so bored the previous night that I couldn't stand being awake any longer and went to bed two hours early, thus waking up and heading off to school, timed appropriately with my retiring the previous night. "Two hours?" I thought. "Why the heck did I come to school two hours early? What am I going to do until class starts?" I was rather upset at myself for pulling a stunt like this. I looked around, trying to find something to do. I didn't bring anything with me but the essentials for school, so I didn't already have any means of keeping myself amused until class. I saw a building on he other side of campus and made the best decision I made that whole day. "I like to read... guess I'll go find something at the library" and headed off in that direction.
I stood outside of the building, looking at the sign that proudly announced to all the world that this building was the Kirameki High School Media Center. The low angle of the sun at 5 AM gave the place a sort of peaceful ambience that just wasn't there the rest of the day. After I was finished admiring the view, I finally opened the door and walked in.
No sooner had I placed my first step on the floor than a green-haired girl with a stack of books in her arms appeared not a foot in front of me, seemingly from nowhere at all. She gave a small shriek as we collided, not too forceful, but hard enough to upset and topple her stack of precariously balanced hardbacks.
I was horrified at what I had just done. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you ok?" I practically begged the question. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little startled, that's all" she said, looking down at the books I had carelessly bulldozed from her arms. "Here, let me help you with those", I said, crouching down to pick up some books and place them into a small stack in my hand as she did the same. "Thank you very..." she said as she looked up at me and paused. "... much", she finished slightly afterwards. I looked up at her and froze instantly. "Green..." I whispered to myself as I stared into her big, beautifl eyes. Green eyes. They were the most incredible shade of green I had ever seen in my life. I actually became unaware of the passage of time or even my own existence as I lost myself in those eyes. Apparently I had been staring for a little too long, because her face started to turn red. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I looked away quickly, turning several of my own shades of red myself. I quietly resumed collecting the fallen books.
When all the books were reclaimed and we had both stood up, I said, stuttering only slightly, "Would... would you like me to... to carry some of these for you?" "Yes," she said softly, "Yes, I would. Thank you." She smiled and turned to lead the way, and we walked together in silence, she always one step ahead of me. She turned to me and said "I hope you don't mind, I need to go to my locker." "Not at all," I assured her, and we headed off towards the junior locker area. We got to her locker, and she opened it. "Here, give me those" she said as she took three books off the top of my stack and turned to put them in her locker. As she was puting them in, I saw 6 other books in there with them. Romance novels, I thought to myself. She reads romance novels. Wondering why I found this interesting, I snapped out of it just in time as she closed and locked her locker. "Thanks for waiting" she said with a smile when she turned back around. "No problem. None at all" I said, and we continued our journey once again.
With both of our burdens lessened, walking around with her became that much more pleasurable. Where as before I was walking one step behind her, I no found that even though my pace had lessened, I was actually walking directly beside her. I didn't mind at all.
We eventually ended up back in front of the clock tower, after walking what seemed like all the way around campus. She sat down on the ground right in front of it, and, following her instruction, I did the same, catching the time in the monolitchic chronograph as I did. An hour and a half left. Well, what better place to spend it than here, I thought to myself, stealing a glance at the girl next to me. She really was very beautiful. There were plenty of good-looking girls in this school, I knew that from experience, but this one did something to me. There was a strange feeling inside of me... like a hand had a hold on my throat... squeezing slightly, yet firmly. Like I was being choked. The strange thing about it was... it didn't bother me at all.
While I was dumbly pondering this, she looked up at me. "I never caught your name", she said. "Oh, I'm sorry... I'm Keisuke. Keisuke Aomizu.", I spilled out embarassingly. I never was very good at keeping my composure when girls were around. She smiled. "It's very nice to meet you, Keisuke. I'm Mio Kisaragi.", she said, holding out her hand. I took it hesitantly, wondering which extreme tempreature my hand was at this moment. Probably cold and clammy, I thought.
As soon as my hand touched hers, I was startled at the feel of her skin. It was cool, very smooth, and very soft. It was one of those felings you just don't want to lose. I also noticed my heart trying to pulse its way up my throat like a squid. What's going on with me, I thought. I'd talked to a few girls before, this had never happened... What's wrong with me?
"So, Keisuke," she said, snapping me out of my reverie, "what classes are you taking this semester?" I suddenly realized I hadn't gone in over break to pick up my new schedule. Oh well, I thought to myself, lots of kids forget to get their schedules. that's wh they pass them out in homeroom on the first day. But where's my homeroom? The situation was getting stickier by the minute. "I don't know," I finally admitted. She laughed, "Oh, well I guess you'll find out soon enough, won't you?" I grinned sheepishly and nodded. She continued her interrogation, "Who's your homeroom teacher?" I again admitted my complete ineptitude. "Ah, well. Let's go find out! Can't have you wandering the halls wondering where to go on the first day." She said with a chuckle.
We got up and headed over to the announcement board, where there was a list with the names of every student enrolled in Kirameki High and their homeroom teacher for that year. We both started searching for my name, both of us wondering why they sorted by class number instead of alphabetically by name. Who knows their class number on the first day? Isn't that what this board is for? Ah well. The school's done so many other things we studens couldn't understand. This was nothing when added to all those. We looked for a good solid five minutes before she finally found my name. "Found you! Aomizu Keisuke, homeroom teacher, Ashitasentou. Ah! Kyoko-sensei! I know her! She's very nice, You'll like her." I thanked Mio for helping me, and the second we got back to where we were sitting, the bell rang.
"Well, I have to get going," we both said at the same time, and laughed similarly when we caught it. "I'll see you later, ok?" she said as she walked away to her class. "Allright, see you!" I said, and hurried over to my homeroom class.
Chapter 2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll never forget those years.
Not for as long as I live.
They were the two years that would turn out to be the most important of my life. My last two years of high school. Up until then, life had been pretty boring for me. I'd get up, go to school, do some work, come home, find some way to keep myself occupied until it was finaly time for sleep. My life bored me to no end. But little did I know, that that was about to change, as was my life.
I still remember to this day, looking up at the Legendary Clock Tower of Kirameki High on the first day of school, my Junior year. I was so bored the previous night that I couldn't stand being awake any longer and went to bed two hours early, thus waking up and heading off to school, timed appropriately with my retiring the previous night. "Two hours?" I thought. "Why the heck did I come to school two hours early? What am I going to do until class starts?" I was rather upset at myself for pulling a stunt like this. I looked around, trying to find something to do. I didn't bring anything with me but the essentials for school, so I didn't already have any means of keeping myself amused until class. I saw a building on he other side of campus and made the best decision I made that whole day. "I like to read... guess I'll go find something at the library" and headed off in that direction.
I stood outside of the building, looking at the sign that proudly announced to all the world that this building was the Kirameki High School Media Center. The low angle of the sun at 5 AM gave the place a sort of peaceful ambience that just wasn't there the rest of the day. After I was finished admiring the view, I finally opened the door and walked in.
No sooner had I placed my first step on the floor than a green-haired girl with a stack of books in her arms appeared not a foot in front of me, seemingly from nowhere at all. She gave a small shriek as we collided, not too forceful, but hard enough to upset and topple her stack of precariously balanced hardbacks.
I was horrified at what I had just done. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you ok?" I practically begged the question. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little startled, that's all" she said, looking down at the books I had carelessly bulldozed from her arms. "Here, let me help you with those", I said, crouching down to pick up some books and place them into a small stack in my hand as she did the same. "Thank you very..." she said as she looked up at me and paused. "... much", she finished slightly afterwards. I looked up at her and froze instantly. "Green..." I whispered to myself as I stared into her big, beautifl eyes. Green eyes. They were the most incredible shade of green I had ever seen in my life. I actually became unaware of the passage of time or even my own existence as I lost myself in those eyes. Apparently I had been staring for a little too long, because her face started to turn red. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I looked away quickly, turning several of my own shades of red myself. I quietly resumed collecting the fallen books.
When all the books were reclaimed and we had both stood up, I said, stuttering only slightly, "Would... would you like me to... to carry some of these for you?" "Yes," she said softly, "Yes, I would. Thank you." She smiled and turned to lead the way, and we walked together in silence, she always one step ahead of me. She turned to me and said "I hope you don't mind, I need to go to my locker." "Not at all," I assured her, and we headed off towards the junior locker area. We got to her locker, and she opened it. "Here, give me those" she said as she took three books off the top of my stack and turned to put them in her locker. As she was puting them in, I saw 6 other books in there with them. Romance novels, I thought to myself. She reads romance novels. Wondering why I found this interesting, I snapped out of it just in time as she closed and locked her locker. "Thanks for waiting" she said with a smile when she turned back around. "No problem. None at all" I said, and we continued our journey once again.
With both of our burdens lessened, walking around with her became that much more pleasurable. Where as before I was walking one step behind her, I no found that even though my pace had lessened, I was actually walking directly beside her. I didn't mind at all.
We eventually ended up back in front of the clock tower, after walking what seemed like all the way around campus. She sat down on the ground right in front of it, and, following her instruction, I did the same, catching the time in the monolitchic chronograph as I did. An hour and a half left. Well, what better place to spend it than here, I thought to myself, stealing a glance at the girl next to me. She really was very beautiful. There were plenty of good-looking girls in this school, I knew that from experience, but this one did something to me. There was a strange feeling inside of me... like a hand had a hold on my throat... squeezing slightly, yet firmly. Like I was being choked. The strange thing about it was... it didn't bother me at all.
While I was dumbly pondering this, she looked up at me. "I never caught your name", she said. "Oh, I'm sorry... I'm Keisuke. Keisuke Aomizu.", I spilled out embarassingly. I never was very good at keeping my composure when girls were around. She smiled. "It's very nice to meet you, Keisuke. I'm Mio Kisaragi.", she said, holding out her hand. I took it hesitantly, wondering which extreme tempreature my hand was at this moment. Probably cold and clammy, I thought.
As soon as my hand touched hers, I was startled at the feel of her skin. It was cool, very smooth, and very soft. It was one of those felings you just don't want to lose. I also noticed my heart trying to pulse its way up my throat like a squid. What's going on with me, I thought. I'd talked to a few girls before, this had never happened... What's wrong with me?
"So, Keisuke," she said, snapping me out of my reverie, "what classes are you taking this semester?" I suddenly realized I hadn't gone in over break to pick up my new schedule. Oh well, I thought to myself, lots of kids forget to get their schedules. that's wh they pass them out in homeroom on the first day. But where's my homeroom? The situation was getting stickier by the minute. "I don't know," I finally admitted. She laughed, "Oh, well I guess you'll find out soon enough, won't you?" I grinned sheepishly and nodded. She continued her interrogation, "Who's your homeroom teacher?" I again admitted my complete ineptitude. "Ah, well. Let's go find out! Can't have you wandering the halls wondering where to go on the first day." She said with a chuckle.
We got up and headed over to the announcement board, where there was a list with the names of every student enrolled in Kirameki High and their homeroom teacher for that year. We both started searching for my name, both of us wondering why they sorted by class number instead of alphabetically by name. Who knows their class number on the first day? Isn't that what this board is for? Ah well. The school's done so many other things we studens couldn't understand. This was nothing when added to all those. We looked for a good solid five minutes before she finally found my name. "Found you! Aomizu Keisuke, homeroom teacher, Ashitasentou. Ah! Kyoko-sensei! I know her! She's very nice, You'll like her." I thanked Mio for helping me, and the second we got back to where we were sitting, the bell rang.
"Well, I have to get going," we both said at the same time, and laughed similarly when we caught it. "I'll see you later, ok?" she said as she walked away to her class. "Allright, see you!" I said, and hurried over to my homeroom class.
Chapter 2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------