Project: Chikara

A young woman draped in a shadowy cloak enters through a passage. She created this hole by pounding through an vast endless glass wall so she could come and go as she please. Her excitement which was evident along with thoughts of being with her beloved allowed her to continue on the tunnel that she was sure didn't take this long to walk into. At the end on the passage, she stepped down a platform of blackness where each step sent ripples as though she was walking on a puddle. She continued with the thought of going to the only source of light on this world her excitement intensified. Upon reaching the glow of an orb containing a view of trillions of miniature galaxies, she was left dumbfounded at the absence of her beloved.

"Yukki?"

Part I

Chapter 1

First day of high school, huh?

"Want me to come on the opening ceremony?"

Mrs. Gasai asked her daughter, probably for the twentieth time.
"It's high school, Mama. Parents don't come to high school entrance ceremonies." Yuno Gasai, replied for also about the twentieth time. "It'll be embarrassing."

The girl with her long light pink hair covered her face for dramatic effect.
"Ah well, but I wish I could've seen you give your speech."

Schools naturally choose the representative of the freshmen from the topnotcher of its entrance exam. Incidentally, Yuno scored the highest and was made to do the tradition of speaking for her entire batch.

Yuno offered her mother a smile.

"I'll be fine. See you later, Mama."

It'll take her a fifteen minute walk and another ten minute in J.R. to her new school.

Chikara High looked seemingly ordinary from the outside but it doesn't change the fact that it is one of the leading college preparatory schools in the whole country. It had the type of entrance exam where a student would either get high marks or fail miserably, getting a score near the passing cut-off is said to be rare. The test was constructed in such a way.

The uniform wasn't different from that sailor outfit she usually wear in middle school, only this was darker shade of blue. The boys wore the all-black gakuran.

The all-purpose auditorium was filled with these colors when the ceremony is about to start. Yuno failed to locate her friends, Hinata and Mao. So instead, she took a seat besides Kousaka-kun. Not that he's a bad company but the guy tends to be really obnoxious at times.

"Gasai! Good luck on your speech.: She tried to be a bit friendly. Well, it's not like she had to try, she could consider him as a friend.

"Thanks."

Kousaka was a bit of a thick-headed idiot but she guess he came from a well-off family. He could enter Chikara as he could afford all the tutors he needed.

Her unimportant musings regarding Kousaka was interrupted when the ceremony moved on to the speeches.

"Now, let's hear it from Gasai Yuno-san representing this year's freshmen." And there was a collective clapping. Yuno calmed herself down with a deep breath. She stood up and willed herself towards the mike.

Yuno immediately started when she got a hold of the equipment.

"Thank you, um- As it would usually go- The freshmen will do their best in giving their greatest effort to live up to the name of the school. We all hope for a wonderful term to start out our high school lives. Hmm.. I don't want to drag this on so... Yes, thank you, Mr. School Chairman, teachers, parents (if there are any), and fellow students. We leave ourselves, the freshmen, to your care."

Yuno let out the extra air she was holding as claps started to be heard throughout. She'll never get used to this.

It might really because of being adopted by the Gasai. She didn't know the reason but it was happening again. Students started glancing at her way. It could just be because she gave a speech earlier. But her mother always told her it was that passive confidence she had picked up from her father. Not to mention, she seem to be popular to the boys. She found this out herself while being confessed to here and there, only to reject all of them. Well, partly because she had her eyes on somebody else, but mostly because she was forbidden from dating anyone until she graduates from middle school. The excuse is still excisable.

"Gasai-san looks so cute, doesn't she?"

She heard this line in different version from different guys, sometimes girls. Another thing, she learned to ignore.

She proceeded to her new classroom and took a seat in the front, wondering where her friends' classes are.

"Yuno-chan!" That familiar sing-song voice answered half of her question. Mao proceeded to give her a hug. A couple of girls Mao befriended followed her.

"You're acquainted with Gasai-san, huh, Nosaka-san?"

"Yep, we went to Umesato together."

"Mao, where's Hinata?" Yuno asked because usually when there is Mao, there is Hinata.

"Hmph, I'm kind of angry with Hinata. She's in a different class."

"Right. Really?" Mao continued to rant so she diverted to the other girls who can't seem to comment to join the conversation.

"Nice to meet you girls, I'm Yuno Gasai. You probably saw me earlier." Yuno kind of forgotten how to make friends but appearing friendly always does the trick. Easy enough. She only needed Hinata and Mao-chan as her closest friends, really. But somehow she seems to attract attention even though she's not aware of it, a silent charisma that her mother would say she picked up from her father.

Yuno bid goodbye a bit to her new acquaintances and decided to go outside. Socializing could be a bit tiring. She was told that this school takes it easy on its first week, so students walking around the school isn't uncommon.

Walking around aimlessly, she encountered a familiar face and those bright blue eyes, wearing her new school's black gakuran.

What is he doing here?

That night Yuno looked through her closet to find her other phone. Seeing that boy was a pleasant surprise for her.