Disclaimer: Nothing special, same as always. I don't know why I do this.
Keeper of the Dragon's Melody
Chapter 1
Everyone in Daisuke Niwa's class, except for Satoshi Hiwatari, was submerged in conversation, when the teacher walked into the room.
"Okay," she said with a clap of her hand, "Everyone have a seat, that includes you Saehara-kun."
Following, a couple steps behind, the teacher was a girl. She wore the normal long sleeve version of the Azumo Middle School, school uniform with knee high socks. She had black hair with side-swiped bangs that fell over one of her amber eyes. On the opposite side, of her bangs, a small braid framed her face.
"Class, I would like to introduce our new student, Himitsu Harumi(A/N)," Himitsu faced the class and bowed, "Himitsu-san, why don't you sit in the back next to Hiwatari-kun?"
Himitsu walked silently to the back of the classroom and sat down. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiwatari watched her pull out new untouched school supplies. He found this odd but he was unable to worry about it for any length of time because his attention was drawn by the sound of the teacher's voice.
"As you know, our next art unit is an instrumental music course. Most of you have already signed up for an instrument. Miyamoto-kun are you still interested in being student director?"
"Hai," replied Miyamoto.
"Saehara-kun, what will you play?"
"I'll play trombone," answered Saehara.
"Fakuda-san?'
"Alto saxophone," replied a girl with light brown braided pigtails.
"Himitsu-san, what instrument would you be interested in playing?"
"I, uh..." stammered Himitsu quietly.
"I don't need to know now. If you need time to think about it, you can talk to me at the end of the day."
"No, I..." she said timidly. "Can I play flute?"
The teacher smiled, "Of course."
After the teacher turned away, Himitsu looked down at her desk and sighed.
Throughout the day, Hiwatari continued to watch her, noting her odd behavior. Like the way she flinched when anyone addressed her, how she did anything to make her unnoticed, and how she avoided any interaction with anybody. But what he saw during lunch seemed, to him, the most interesting.
She sat silently at her desk, unmoving, with her eyes down. She had finished her lunch, or what appeared to be her lunch. Her lunch consisted of three small onigiri, which was not possibly enough to please any person with a normal appetite. Whether she was content or not did nothing to alter her position.
It seemed that he wasn't the only one to notice. The younger Harada, Risa appeared to have noticed as well. She stood from her desk and walked over, her bento in her hand.
"Himitsu-chan, aren't you still hungry," Risa asked her kindly.
"Huh?" gasped Harumi looking up at Risa.
"Here, you can have some of mine," offered Risa as she held out her lunch.
"I…uh…" stammered Harumi quietly, "I can't, thank you, but I-I can't."
"It's okay, go ahead."
After a moment of silence, Himitsu stood abruptly.
"Excuse me, I need to use the restroom," she said hastily before leaving the room.
Risa stood slightly surprised for a moment, before returning to her seat and group of friends.
The girl walked down the dark hallway, lit only by the flickering street lamps of the street below, that shown though the broken window into the trash lined hallway.
In the distance dogs howled at screeching cars, horns blared, glass shattered, and alarms whined. Even the faint echo of muffle screams sounded in the air.
She pulled a key out of her pocket. She hesitated before she inserted the key into the scratched lock. She turned the key, and the lock clicked. Slowly, she opened the apartment door. She glanced around at the dark empty apartment living room, before stepping across the threshold.
The door slammed. Strong hands grabbed her and pushed her against it. She gasped as a hand grasped her neck.
"Where have been?" demanded a voice as strong and rough as his hands.
"I…got…lost," gasped the girl. She winced in pain, as the hand's hold tightened, "I…swear…"
The man's cold eyes narrowed and his grip tightened further. She couldn't breathe.
"O…to…san," she pleaded weakly as she fought helplessly against his grip.
He glared at her, watching her suffer. He threw her to the ground where she gasped for air.
"Do what I keep you here for," he said coldly as he stared down at her. He turned, "Then I better not see your face till morning."
With that said, he left the room.
A/N: In Japan the surname is said first. Her first name is Harumi.