WILD ROCK

Chapter 1 - Nostalgia

"Goodbye, Sawako-sensei."

"Goodbye, girls. Be careful on your way home."

Sawako smiled as she waved the girls goodbye. She had just dismissed her class and most of them have already gone and left, while some stayed for cleaning duty and others just sat to chat with their friends. She picked up her things from her desk and started to clean up so she could go back to the faculty room, but not before she could talk to Azusa, who was cleaning the chalkboard.

"I'll be leaving the room in your care, Azusa-chan." She said, giving the little girl, who was now a senior, a light tap on the shoulder as she looked up at her teacher. "I'm heading back to the faculty room." She continued. "I still have a lot of stuff to take care of."

Azusa nodded, smiling. "Sure, teacher. By the way, will you be going up to the music room later?"

"No, I don't think so. It looks like I'm going to be pretty busy."

"Oh. I see." Azusa said, sounding a little disappointed as she went back to erasing the writings on the board.

"Maybe tomorrow." Sawako reassured her as she left the room. She just couldn't afford to waste any more time today.

Several other students greeted her and waved her goodbye as she walked along the hallways of the second floor. After school activities have begun and most of the girls were on their way to their respective clubs.

After last year's seniors of After School Tea Time graduated, things have been completely different. They've almost completely quieted down. A new band had taken over with Azusa taking the lead, but it just wasn't as fun as it was last year. No more of Mugi's delicious tea, Yui's untroubled daydreams and ideas, Ritsu's witty comebacks, and most of all, no more Mio to torture with her amazing cosplay ideas.

Now a lot of things have changed, but some of their qualities remained in the new members of the Light Music Club. Their new drummer, Sumire Saito, and their new rhythm guitarist Ui, even knew how to make delicious tea and sweets like Mugi, while Jun, the bassist, reminded Sawako of Yui and Ritsu. Their band manager, Nao, who was also a bit shy and preferred working off-stage, reminded her a lot of Mio.

Sawako giggled just thinking about it. She was smiling as she walked. Those girls may have caused a lot of trouble, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss them.

She sat down in front of her desk and groaned at the sight: a large pile of test booklets that she still needed to check, along with various reports from the student council that she's supposed to review. After so long, she actually felt the weight of her job on her shoulders again. Last year everything was just so light and carefree that she enjoyed everything she did at school, including things like this. But now it was as if she became a decade older.

She leaned back and thought about it. Will the rest of the year feel exactly like this? If that's the case, she was probably already doomed.

But then she caught a glimpse of a photograph of her with the five members of After School Tea Time pinned on her little corkboard. They were all smiling, except for Mio, who looked embarrassed as always. Just then, she heard the sound of an electric guitar playing an E chord and letting it ring, probably for a little sound check. It was soon accompanied by another guitar, and then the drums, until eventually the entire band started playing as a whole. It must have been Azusa-chan and the others. Sawako smiled as she stared at the picture, getting back some of her cheer.

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"Yeah, thanks. Take care." Takeharu said as he waved goodbye to his friends. They were on their way to out and have a drink, while he still had to go to work. Working at a call center really had its disadvantages. He was already on his way home to leave his things so he could travel lighter to work, and he was taking the long route, passing by Sakuragaoka High. He could hear a full band playing from outside the gates and saw a few girls making their way home. Classes must have been over already.

It was his first time passing by this school since he moved to the city, and he couldn't help but stare at the main building as he walked. It looked like a nice place, plus they played good music.

"Whoa!" He shouted as he was taken aback, feeling like he just bumped into a giant wall, when in fact, he bumped into some girl who looked a little too old to be a student, so he assumed that she was one of the faculty members.

Haru managed to make her drop everything she was holding, from the textbooks to the Student Council reports. Everything was just one big mess.

He started helping her out and picked up most of the things she dropped. "I'm really sorry about that, miss." He said as he handed everything back to her. "It was my fault for not looking."

Sawako fixed her glasses and looked up at him, almost forgetting what language she spoke.

Haru was tall and pale, with short auburn hair and hazel eyes. He wore a white v-neck shirt under a black blazer and paired it with denim jeans and brown dockside shoes. He definitely knew how to dress. Sawako was speechless.

"Hey?" He called again, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her. She looked like she was puking rainbows.

"Oh, yes. Of course. I'm sorry too." Sawako said, snapping out of her little trance and taking the documents back.

He stood back up and gave her a hand so she can stand up again as well. Haru smiled and pointed up to where he thought the music was coming from. "Nah, it was all me." He said. "Do you hear that? That's what's been distracting me."

"Oh, you mean the Light Music Club?"

"Light Music Club?" Haru repeated.

"Yeah." Sawako said, fixing her glasses. "Those are my students, and I'm also the moderator of their club. They're always practicing like this."

Haru nodded and grinned. Sawako could tell how interested he was in their music. "Oh, so you are a teacher. I knew you looked too old to be a student. And I figured you weren't in uniform, so..." He noticed the weird look on her face that surfaced the moment he said 'too old'. "I mean, uh... but you look awfully young, it's almost hard to believe you're already working."

"Nice try." She giggled. "But it's all right. My girls from last year used to tease me like that too. But now they've already graduated."

"Ah, I see." He said. "Oh, and I'm being completely rude. I haven't even introduced myself yet. The name's Takeharu Sato. You can call me Haru for short." He shook her hand as he introduced himself.

"I'm Sawako. Sawako Yamanaka. It's nice to meet you, Haru." She smiled. Suddenly, the school bell rang, signalling that it was already five in the afternoon. Sawako suddenly remembered everything she still had to do. "And I still have a lot to do!" She started fixing her things. "I'm really sorry, Haru, but I'm kind of in a hurry. It was nice meeting you, and sorry again for the trouble."

"Huh? Hey, wait—!"

With that, she ran from where she was to the parking area at the far end of the street and into her car. Haru watched her as she drove away, noticing a piece of paper on the ground. It must have been hers.

He picked it up and looked at it. It was an unchecked test paper that belonged to Ui Hirasawa.

"Hirasawa?" He whispered to himself. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

Haru wanted to try and remember what it was, but he just shrugged it off and put the paper inside his satchel and started to make his way home again, with the Light Music Club still playing in the background.

He started walking again, grinning to himself as he did so. "Sawako, eh?"

Looks like he found a pretty good excuse to see her again.