Author's Note: OC characters belong to MissWriteress16

Chapter 01

"Chizuru, hurry up or we'll be late!" A voice called.
"I'm coming!" The said young girl hurried to put the last of her school supplies in her school bag and then made a quick check on her hair and school uniform in the mirror that rested against her bedroom wall before heading downstairs to where her big sister,Yukiko, was waiting with her arms crossed in front of the door. Yukiko had her hair in a braid and was sporting a yellow vest over a white blouse, a red necktie, a grey skirt, white knee-high socks and brown shoes. Chizuru had her hair in a low side ponytail and was wearing a blue blazer over a yellow sweater and a white blouse with same skirt, necktie, socks, and shoes as her sister.

"Sorry, Yuki-neechan" Chizuru apologized.

The older girl just shook her head and smiled at Chizuru as she opened the door and motioned her out. The sun greeted the two young women as they walked out of their apartment building and headed down the street toward Hakuo Academy. Anyone who walked past them wouldn't think that they were sisters, with Yukiko being tall and having ice blue hair and green eyes while Chizuru was petite and had brown hair and brown eyes. And it was true that they weren't actually related; Yukiko had been adopted into the Yukimura family when she was three but to Chizuru and her twin brother Kaoru, she was as much as part of the family as they were.

"Yuki-neechan, you don't have to walk with me to school every day," Chizuru said modestly.

"Of course I do! As your big sister, it'd be irresponsible if I didn't make sure you showed up for school on time," Yukiko said.

"You're so reliable," Chizuru said with a smile. "Whenever I'm with you, I feel like nothing bad will ever happen. I'm lucky to have you."
Yukiko smiled. "It's a big sister's duty to protect her little sister. Besides, if I didn't look after you, how would I ever be able face Oka-san?"

Chizuru's face suddenly fell at the mention of their mother. Things just hadn't been the same for their family ever since she got sick and passed away a few years back. Her relationship with Kaoru and her father Kodo suffered the most, especially after she and Yukiko decided to move out and live on their own. . She knew it would kill her mother to have the family separated but she didn't know what else to do. Living with her father only seemed to make things worse between them, as he was always working and barely had time for his children and when he wasn't, they'd spend most of their time arguing with each other. Finally Chizuru decided she couldn't take it anymore and left with Yukiko. Her father allowed it as he saw there was no help for it and neither did Chizuru. Kaoru had tried to convince her to stay but to no avail and now the two barely spoke to each other, even though they went to the same school. Chizuru sighed; she hoped one day she would be able to clear things up with her father and brother, if possible. She knew it was what her mother would have wanted .

Seeing the look on her sister's face, Yukiko guessed Chizuru's thoughts, patted her shoulder and offered a small smile. "It'll be alright; come on, let's go!"
Chizuru nodded and followed Yukiko as the older girl turned the corner onto the street where the Hakuo Academy building stood. As the two girls drew closer to the front gate, they spotted their friend, Aya Abe, among the other students walking slowly with her head lowered as her bright red hair partially covered her face. She was wearing her usual school attire which consisted of a yellow sweater over a white blouse with the same skirt, shoes, and socks as Chizuru and Yukiko. She also wore her hair in a ponytail.

"Good morning, Aya-senpai!" Chizuru greeted the older girl in a cheerful manner.

"Good morning, Aya-chan," Yukiko said with a smile.
Aya lifted her head and looked at the two with sullen gold eyes.

"Good morning, Chizuru-chan, Yuki-chan," she greeted.

"What's wrong?" Chizuru asked as she noticed that her friend's glum expression. "You don't look so good."

Aya looked down. "...I was dumped."

"Eh!?" Both girls cried out. Aya had been dating a boy named Masahiro Soto, who was a second year at Shiho Academy. They had been together for a little more than a year.

"No way! Soto-kun broke up with you?" Chizuru said in disbelief.
"That's right, " Aya said glumly.
"But why?" Yukiko asked. "It always seemed like you two were perfect together.

"That's what I thought," Aya said as the three of them walked through the front gate. "I guess he must have thought we were drifting apart since we hardly see each other anymore. But why doesn't matter, it's over."

"I'm sorry, Aya-senpai," Chizuru comforted her friend.
Aya gave her a shaky smile. "It's okay, Chizuru-chan, I probably should've expected it wouldn't turn well, with us going to different schools and all. No matter how much I liked Masahiro or how great we were together..." she sniffed . "Or how sad I am to lose him...I..I think I need to be alone for a minute, excuse me!" And with that, she ran inside the school.

"Poor Aya-chan," Yukiko said as she watched her friend leave.

"Yo! Chizu-chan, Yukiko-senpai, good morning!" A cheerful voice called out. Chizuru and Yukiko turned and smiled at the sight of their friends, Nanako and Reina Kimura along with Heisuke Toudou. The two sisters wore the same skirt, socks and shoes as their friends, with Nanako wearing a yellow open-face sweater over a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up and Reina wearing a blue blazer over a white blouse with a necktie, and had her dark blue hair pulled away from her face with a headband.

"Good morning, Nanako-chan," Chizuru said.
"Good morning, Nanako-san , Reina-san, Toudou-san," said Yukiko.
"Good morning," Reina said.
" 'Morning," Heisuke said.
"Huh? Shouldn't you be at kendo practice this morning, Heisuke-kun?" Chizuru asked the young man. Heisuke scratched his head and looked down. "Well, the thing is..."

Nanako poked his head with her finger. "This chowderhead fell asleep playing video games, forgot to set his alarm, and woke up too late. Honestly, when will you learn?"

"I get it, ok? I won't game late at night anymore," Heisuke said as he waved Nanako's hand away. "You don't need to beat it into me, Nana-chan."

"Is that so?" Nanako said with a smirk. "Well, I guess some things do get through that thick skull of yours."

"Shut up! You're a slow learner yourself, Nana-chan!" Heisuke said sharply.
"Huh? What was that?" Nanako said with grim expression as she cracked her knuckles. Heisuke gulped. "Um, well...oh, right! I just remembered that Hajime-kun wanted to see me about something. So I'll be going; see you guys later!" He said before running off.

"Hey, get back here!" Nanako cried before chasing after him.

The three remaining girls chuckled as they watched their friends go. "They never change, do they?" Yukiko asked Reina.

Reina shook her head. "No. Even though they've known each other for years, Heisuke-kun's really the only one who can bring out this side of Nanako, and she's the only one who can strike fear in his heart,".

"Yet they still remain close friends," Chizuru said. Before anything else could happen, the school bell rang.

"Ah, time for class," Reina said and headed inside the building followed closely by her two friends. The three girls said their good-byes as they headed toward their homeroom classes. Chizuru, being a first year, was in class 1-1 along with Nanako while Yukiko was in class 2-2 and Reina in class 2-1 along with Aya and Heisuke.

Chizuru opened the door and cheerfully greeted her classmates before taking her seat by the window. Nanako came in just after she did and took her seat on the left next to Chizuru.

"Did you catch up to Heisuke-kun?" Her friend asked.

Nanak shook her head. "He disappeared from me when he took a right down the front hall. But it doesn't matter, I'll catch him later on. No doubt he thinks he can outsmart me but he can't, not for long anyway."

Chizuru giggled and was cut short by the sound of someone snoring behind her. She and Nanako turned and saw Ryunosuke Ibuki with his head on his desk, sound asleep.

Nanako rolled her eyes. "That Ibuki, so carefree; someone really needs to discipline him."

"Someone like you, you mean?" Chizuru giggled.

"I was actually thinking someone like Aya-Senpai. You know how stern she can be," Nanako said.

"True, but I think Aya-Senpai might be emotionally fragile for awhile. She and Soto-kun broke up," Chizuru said.

"Seriously!? Oh, man, and they seemed like such a good match, too" Nanako said sympathetically.

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Chizuru agreed. "But I guess Soto-kun thought otherwise."
The two girls were silenced as the sound of the classroom door opening and shutting. Their homeroom teacher, Sanosuke Harada, entered the room and greeted the class with his usual charming smile.

"Alright, settle down, everyone," he said. "Class has begun; everyone sit down so that we can take roll."

And so began another day at Hakuo Academy.