AN; A really short prologue for an idea I'm playing with. My use of the word normal is significant, in case you haven't guessed. Once again, life for Mai after Naru is gone. It might end up being AU, though. Really not sure where it's going. I never write first person, so feedback would be loved~

A lonely alarm sounds off in a tiny apartment situated off the corner of a nondescript street in Japan.

"A-Ah...It's so cold this morning!"

My eyes flutter open and take in the pale light seeping into the room. The sun isn't as bright as it usually is this time of morning. The clouds must be out..

Oh well, it's only a little disappointing. At least this gives me an excuse to stay curled up in bed for a few more minutes..Hehh..

Morning is the most pleasant time of day for me. Nothing can deter the happiness I feel when I see those first few rays of sunlight shining through the window. The chirp of the birds, the sounds of the streets coming alive once again after the eerie silence of night.

My friends say I'm a loving person. I guess it's true-I love a lot of things-and even what I don't so much, love, I can usually tolerate.

Silence is one of the few exceptions to that rule.

I suppose it didn't really become noticeable until after both of my parents passed, but now, I can't even go to sleep without a fan or the television on.

It gets sorta lonely, ya' know?

I rise out of my futon after a few sluggish minutes, dragging a blanket with me and taking notice of the sloppy mess of my sheets in my peripheral vision.

Time to start your day, Mai!

"Oh..Oooh..." I outwardly gape at the sight of my reflection.

This is the beginning of my morning routine, and it all starts with taming my violent bed-head.

I remember back when my hair was longer, when mom was alive, and she used to always comb it out for me in the morning. It makes me laugh to think of how much of a struggle the tangles put up, and the first few failed attempts at braiding...

I smile into the mirror, finally satisfied with a tamer version of my morning do', and after brushing my teeth and taking care of other morning necessities, step back out of the bathroom to grab my school uniform and eat breakfast quickly.

'Maybe it wasn't a good idea to try to do both simultaneously', I think somewhat sarcastically, hurrying down the street towards my school. Several grains of rice obnoxiously stick to my top in an odd, shapeless pattern, making me internally scowl at my own sloppiness.

I brush what I can easily see away and focus on the sidewalk I'm walking on, determined not to trip or step into anything sticky today. I'm normally not a clumsy person, at least I think so. I just have horrible luck-something any of my friends can attest to.

As I near the school my ears are graciously assaulted with the usual chatter- early morning hormones and gossipers packed together and forced to talk in order to stay warm on a chilly morning.

"Mai, Mai! Good Morning~!" I hear, and find myself slowly turning towards the east end entrance where my group of friends always wait for me in the morning.

They're smiling at me, like always. I guess I'll smile too.

We're in our last year of high school, but I swear, they haven't grown up at all. Maybe it sounds odd for me to be saying something like that, seeing as most people describe me as being warm and young-hearted. I don't know..I agree that maybe I've always been a little naive, but I'm not like them, am I?

Where did that come from?

I frown, turning out my chattering friends as I analyze my negative thoughts. My eyes automatically turn towards the remains of the old school building, still sitting collapsed off in the distance. They haven't touched it since then, too afraid that a demon will pop out and eat them, or something.

"Cheer up, Mai! Relax! You're not even smiling! You're never like this in the morning, what's wrong?" Keiko, the more perceptive one of my group of friends, quietly asks. looking me up and down critically. Though, maybe quietly is a bit of an overstatement.

"Ahh..." I rub the back of my head, grinning sheepishly at her and the rest of my friends. "Nothing's wrong. I guess I'm just a little sluggish this morning, that's all!"

That's all. I force my silly smile to stay in place, turning my head and all thoughts away from the past. That's right, it's a beautiful, lovely morning. I'm at school with my friends, going to class for once.

It's a normal day.

I can vaguely feel the bile rising in my throat at my falsely peppy thoughts, but in the end I brush that away, too.