The morning sun broke through my window, streams of light glittering through, only to be obstructed by my poorly shut curtains. A soft ring was sounding from under my pillow. I reached for it without opening my eyes, and clicked the snooze button on my phone. I pulled the covers over my eyes, and groaned into the warmth. Not yet, I thought, no, not yet. Too tired.

A few moments later, the ring sounded again. My eyelids fluttered open as I reached for my cell phone again. The alarm flashing on the screen read FIRST DAY OF NEW SCHOOL with a smiley face. Everything seems exciting when you set your alarm for 7am at 3am. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes, and shut off the alarm. I guess it's time to wake up…

I sat up, and let my legs hang over the edge of the bed. The wooden floor radiated cold onto my feet, and sent a shiver up my legs and spine once contact was made. The shirt I slept in was warm and hung down to my mid thigh. The closet, and the rest of the room, was white. Moving in was work enough, painting would come later. Good thing I don't have to worry about what to wear with a uniform. The closet door creaked and groaned as I pulled it open. The uniform was simple, nothing to distract with. The brown skirt was a good fit, also coming down to almost mid-thigh, covered by the shirt I was sleeping in. I pulled the shirt over my head, pulling my navy-black hair with it, letting the length fall back down to my shoulder blades as the shirt was thrown into the hamper. I pulled my bra down from the hanger, wrapped it around my waist, and hooking it. I pull it around and pull the straps over my shoulder and adjust my breasts so I fit in the cup correctly. I stare into the floor length mirror leaning against the wall next to the closet, and examine my body.

Pinching at my thighs and my hips, I sigh. I had been fit my whole life, but I still felt like it was never enough. I ran track and watched my diet. People constantly complimented me, saying how they wish they were as thin as I was, but I said nothing. Yes, I was thin, but I wasn't happy. In the mirror, I still wasn't happy. Maybe I could join the track team at this new school, and I could maybe find my happiness and be comfortable in my skin.

I shifted my weight back to looking into the closet to pull down the white button down the shirt, slipping my arms through the sleeves. I buttoned the shirt down from the top button to the bottom, and tucked it into my skirt. I pulled black socks out from my drawers which reach up to my knees, and slide my feet into my slip on shoes. I look back into my mirror, and sigh. I reach up and pull my hair into a bun without care. Last but not least, the brand. The navy coat was staring back at me from my closet, brandishing the mark of this new school of mine. I pull it down and pull it on, and look back into the mirror once more. "Iwatobi… what the hell kind of name is that?" I whisper at my reflection.

I groan again, grab my bag full of school materials, and exit my room. Moving down the hallway at a medium pace, I can hear the scraping and clammering of sounds coming from the kitchen.

"Ah, shit! No no no no!"

I roll my eyes, and try and sneak down the stairs as quietly as possible. However, the third step from the bottom gave away my secret, and squeeked when I stepped on the soft spot. "Damn…" I whisper under my breath.

"Honey, is that you? Finally up, huh?"

I give up, and finish my descent at whatever volume I please and make my way into the kitchen. I smile at my father, who was desperately trying to cook breakfast.

"Morning," I mutter, sitting at the island in the center of the kitchen in a tall stool, "What are you attempting to cook this morning?"

"Panc-ah!" Oil splashed up from the pan, "Ugh, pancakes."

"Delicious," I smirked.

"Hey, shut up. You need something to eat before going to school," He said as he tried to flip the pancake in the air. It landed half in the pan, half hanging out, threatening to fall on the burner.

"Right, well. I think I'll be fine with an apple. Not feeling so good, anways," I grab a red apple out of a wicker basket sitting on the island in front of me.

"Nervous?" My father cooed.

"You could say that…"

He paused, and looked back at me, concern in his eyes, "Hey, you okay?"

I smiled meekly at him, "Yeah, dad, I'm fine. I'm nervous. I wish mom was here…"

He chuckled, "You say that like she's dead, honey. You know she just went on a business trip to Beijing, she'll be back in two weeks."

I rolled my eyes once more, "Yeah, yeah. But she would have made me coffee to go."

"You and your mother and your caffeine. I'm not feeding your addiction," He pointed the spatula at me over his shoulder as he turned back to the now burning pancakes, "Shi-!"

"Okay, well I'm leaving… now," I took a bite from the apple and slung my bag over my shoulder.

"Bye, honey. Don't get lost, I don't have time to look for you!" He called out.

I roll my eyes once more. I swear they'll get stuck up there if I keep doing that. I stick the apple in my mouth long enough to open the door, step outside, and close it behind me. I bite, tearing a piece of apple flesh away, and grabbed the apple. Some of the juice dropped to the ground. The sun was already warm, the rays warming my skin. But only second later the wind danced against my bare legs and I was chilled. Spring, my ass. Looking up and down the street, I take another bite of the apple, slurping up some of the juice, and begin to head in the direction of the school.

Some of the trees along the path had begun to blossom, but most were still pretty bare, the black limbs reaching for the sky. Every step I took, the back of my shoes would slide off my heel and slap onto the pavement of the sidewalk, adding more sound with every step. I quickly became embarrassed even though there was no one in sight that could hear it. I tried to walk slower to see if I could prevent it. It quieted it some, but the effect was still there. I need to buy better shoes after school.

Another and another bite, and the apple was finished. I looked around for a trashcan. I walked slower, to see if I could find one down a side street. After another block, I found one on the corner. I sped up to throw away the already rotting core.

"Haru, wake up!"

Someone was yelling in the open window near the trash can. I stopped, immediately caught off guard by the sudden yelling. I looked up towards the window and saw it was too tall to see me unless the people inside looked down towards the street. But I could see nobody near the window, just heard more sounds.

"Haru… wake… it's time… late!" Every other word, or so it seemed, was too quiet to be heard.

I started to walk closer to the window, before I realized how weird that was. That was when I heard a second voice.

"Haru-chaaaaaan! Wake uuuuup!" The voice seemed much younger than the other, and somewhat whiney. But probably because they were whining at whoever this was they were trying to wake up.

I soon realized I had somehow made it right under the window. Come on, stop being nosey. Go to school. I walked away, back towards the corner just to turn it and continue walking down the sidewalk. Again, my shoes would constantly slip off and back on, clacking on the pavement, so I slowed my pace. Stupid shoes…

Immediately, someone was in front of me, as if they had tripped down the stairs. They snapped right back into a standing position before falling to the ground.

"Mako-chan, don't push!" He called out to the side street. He pouted and stamped his foot on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Nagisa! I didn't mean to!" A taller boy rushed over, checking over the smaller, blonde boy, "Are you okay?"

The blonde boy, who I now assumed was named Nagi-something, crossed his arms and huffed, "Yeah, I'm fine."
The other boy sighed, "That's good. Now come on, we need to get to school."

They began to walk in my same direction, somehow still not noticing me. I had just noticed I was holding my breath, and let it out quietly.

Both of them looked over at me, and they're eyes grew large.

The blonde boy ran up to me, "I'm so sorry! Did I almost hit you?" His eyes looked like they were beginning to well up with tears.

I stammered and shook my head from side to side, "N-no, I'm fine, you didn't hit me."

"Ah, good. Okay!" He smiled while the other boy approached.

"I'm sorry about Nagisa. I'm Makoto, are you new to Iwatobi?" He held out his hand.

I reached out, before pulling it back quickly, "How do you know I'm going to Iwatobi?"

He smiled, "The emblem on your jacket…?"

My face grew hot with embarrassment, "Oh, right," I extended my arm again, and he took my hand in his, and we shook, "I'm—"

"Nagisa, Makoto, let's go," Another boy stepped down from the stairs and looked right over at me. His cyan eyes were cold and sharp. I was immediately silenced as he gasped, "Oh, sorry… I didn't know you were there…"

"Ah, Haru," Makoto turned to smile at him, "Come meet, um, I'm sorry, I missed your name. What was it, again?"

My lips moved with no sound as I tried to collect my thoughts.

"Misaki, my name is Misaki Ishimaru."