While the sky began to fade to a soft tint of coral, a small creature bounded lithely across a set of train tracks towards its destination.
With ears as long as its body and a coat of cream-colored fur, it may have looked to a passerby to be nothing more than a passing hound or a rabbit… but in reality, it was something entirely different. Within its mouth, it carried a black box that jingled with each leap it took.
I-I have to find the clock tower! If I'm late for sundown, then there will be nothing at all to prevent the next fall! Please, luck be with me tonight… Leader is counting upon me!
As the creature continued to swiftly make its way onwards, a loud ringing could be heard behind it.
Eh? What's with that odd sound…?
And no sooner had the animal stopped to contemplate had a train zoomed by, leaving no opening for it to escape. It ducked for cover, and within a few seconds of fear and dreadful sound… the train had passed over, leaving the creature unharmed. It looked backwards, closing its eyes to express some relief.
Phew… nobody told me that this world had monsters to worry about… how frightening!
000
"-March 15th-
My name is Tomoe Nishikawa, and I'm moving to a new town today!"
Those were the first words that a young lady riding on the local rails wrote as she headed to her destination, suitcase jammed between her knees as she wrote in a blank, leather-bound journal. Tomoe let out a tiny sigh- while she was great at introducing herself, she was never quite sure what to say next. Even when she was just writing things down in a plain old diary, she could never quite strike up the confidence to write about herself. After all, what if the person who ended up reading it would think badly of her for what she wrote?
Then again, perhaps that was a little out-of-the-question. It was Tomoe's diary, and with her scrutiny regarding who did and who did not get to read, stare at, or even touch her writing… it was unlikely that her little anti-stress device would ever fall into the wrong hands. She smiled, gently adjusting her hair into braids- what better way to make a good impression to her new dormmates than to look proper?
"So far, I'm sixteen years old and a second-year in high school. I'm not much of a talker, as you might understand from the fact that I prefer writing down all of these things rather than speaking to you in person! (That's not an insult, by the way…)"
Blunt. That was something about herself that certainly had to be fixed.
"Miss, would you mind moving your arm, please?" asked a gentle voice. An older man was seated to her right on the crowded train, with an older teenage girl to her left who was listening to music on a bright green MP3 player.
"Yes, o-of course!" Tomoe replied with a stammer, immediately closing the diary and scrunching her body up so that she wasn't touching either person. This elicited the attention of the older teenager, who turned to her and smiled.
"Nice shirt!" she complimented, causing Tomoe to look down at herself- she didn't really remember what she had thrown on for the long train ride. In this case, it was a… rather dorky T-shirt featuring a cartoon rabbit. She covered it up with her forearms, immediately wondering whether the girl's compliment was truthful or just sarcasm.
"We are now arriving at Yanagi City! Next train stop, arriving at Yanagi City!" said a voice over the train intercom, which made Tomoe's head to immediately shoot back up. That was her stop! This was where the next chapter of her life was going to begin!
000
Stepping off the train, Tomoe wheeled her suitcase behind her, walking along at a brisk pace. The dorm she was assigned to was supposed to be rather close to the city. As she continued up a flight of stairs and into the city's central square, she was a little shocked by the sheer amount of people walking on by. So, this was what city life was like! Looking up at the skyscrapers made her just a little dizzy, so she decided to keep her eyes forward. In the middle of the square, there was an odd art exhibit that displayed clocks of all sorts of design, just piled up on a square of concrete in the middle of a garden- grandfather clocks, modern-style wall clocks, alarm clocks, clocks shaped like animals, a sundial… all topped with an ornate model clock tower in the center. What an odd sight…
Tomoe squinted- art appreciation was a little relative, but her watch was off and she could have really used an accurate clock. After all, she needed to be over at the dorm by five in the evening. And that's when she noticed…
… That every last clock plastered to the exhibit displayed a different times. Wonderful. What was an exhibit like that even good for if it didn't even give an accurate time of day? Even the sundial was set in a direction where it didn't read accurately!
"Time is an illusion, dudette." said a college-aged man in sunglasses who stood nearby, gazing at the sculpture. "That's what this sort of thing is supposed to represent. Time… isn't even really a thing, it's just an illusion that people made up to perpetuate organization. It's, like, completely irrelevant if you think deeply enough. Go fig." he said with a lazy drawl to his voice. The girl with braided hair turned.
"Eh? I mean, um… that's neither here nor there, but do you have the time?" she asked meekly.
"Everyone has the time. It's something in your mind, dudette." he replied, now gazing off into the wild blue yonder.
"… Excuse me? I-I have to be at my dorm by five o' clock!"
"You don't need the time, dudette. Nobody needs time…"
Annoyed by the college student, Tomoe continued off into the crowd, hoping that it was at least close to her planned arrival time.
000
It wasn't much longer until Tomoe noticed an apartment-like building with four floors and a balcony… that was the exact description of the dormitory that she would be staying in! A young woman with long, blonde hair stood in front of the building, clad in a monochrome school uniform. She was up on her tiptoes, waving energetically.
"Hey, Nishikawa! Is that you? Over here!"
Tomoe blinked, immediately changing course to approach the waving girl. Her suitcase bumped rhythmically over the stepping stones leading to the building. For such an urban area, Yanagi City certainly contained quite a few gardens and parks… she remembered looking at a map and noticing quite a lot of green.
"Yes, hello." she answered, striding up to her. The blonde immediately perked up, giving an introduction: "Atsuko Nakajima! It's a pleasure to meet you, Nishi-chan."
Tomoe blinked again, wondering if it was too soon for nicknames. "… Nakajima-san. It's nice to make your acquaintance…" she replied with a small smile, immediately making Atsuko beam. "Wow, you're even cuter in person with those braids! Come on, I'll show you around!" she said enthusiastically, grabbing hold of Tomoe's hand without another word.
"H-hey, I didn't say I was ready to—"
"You're going to love it here, I can already tell!"
000
And so began Tomoe's own personal "tour" of the premises, courtesy of her newly-crowned hyperactive dorm-mate.
"Here's the first floor! It's sort of the reception area of sort up front, with a couple of people running it. They're out right now, but I'm sure you'll catch a glimpse of them later. Um… the second floor is for boys, and the third floor is for girls! This is the only co-ed dorm in the entire district… m-mostly because it's kind of a spare of sorts, but I digress." explained Atsuko. "So, that about does it for descriptions! Did you want to go to your room?"
Atsuko placed a white card with a bar code into Tomoe's hand. "Here is your key! Make sure not to lose it, but if you do, don't sweat it! I have spares!"
"Th-th-thank you…" replied a quite overwhelmed Tomoe, happy to take the card key and finally get some space to herself. That was enough social interaction for a single day. She gave a thankful smile, and was about to leave, when…
"Oh, um, Nishi-chan? Could I ask a favor? I'm sorry to put you to work on your first day here, but I'd like just a little help putting the rooms together and making the beds in the female dorms… some partyers on the third floor already wrecked their whole living space, despite only being here for a week! Can you believe it? We should get it over with now, while they're all out! Come on, pretty pretty please?" Atsuko asked, making an innocent expression and clasping her hands together in front of her chest.
"…" Tomoe was silent.
"Oh, um, if you're not too fond of that kind of work, I understand! You had a long ride, you should take it easy for today!"
"… I-I'll do it!" Tomoe responded with a lick of confidence, neatly placing down her baggage and giving a small grin. "Don't worry, I can help you with chores whenever you need assistance. Nobody likes them, but we can get through it faster with two people." she suggested, leaving Atsuko a little stunned.
Talk about a delayed reaction…
000
Together, the two girls were able to tidy up the dorms. Each room was rather ornate in design, having well-made beds, clocks, study desks and a few comfy-looking chairs.
"Wow, Nishi-chan! I didn't expect you to be the proactive type! Seriously, you seemed like a meek little thing from your personal description!"
"Er… I-I'm not too proactive, really. In fact, I get nervous real easy around large groups of people. I guess that one-on-one discussions like this one are just a little easier to stomach."
"Oh. Could you tell me your star sign, then?"
"My what?"
"Your Zodiac! Like, which sign were you born underneath?"
"Huh? Um… I think it was the Year of the Dog. What about you?"
"Well, yeah. We're both second-years, so naturally we're both Dog signs under that zodiac! I meant the other one. Could you maybe tell me your birthday so I could calculate it for you? I was born on August 5th, so that makes me a Leo!" Atsuko said enthusiastically.
"Uh… the ninth of September?" asked Tomoe, a little confused by the explanation.
"Cool, you're a Virgo!"
"A what?"
"Like, a maiden. It means that you're really reliable and down to earth." she said, making fluttering motions with her hands.
"Oh, really? I thought that… that all Zodiac signs were animals. If you are a lion… and I am a maiden… what do those two things have in common, really?" asked Tomoe, sitting down on her fixed bed and retrieving a detective novel from the front pocket of her suitcase.
"Well… I-I dunno, really!" Atsuko replied. "I just find the things that they say about your personality to be really cool!"
"'Cool' or not, I doubt that something as universal as a birth date could really quite predict the type of personality that one would end up—"
"I think that you're cool, Nishi-chan!"
"…"
That was enough to shut Tomoe up for fear of maybe crushing her dorm-mate's dreams.
"So, Nishi-chan… are you really from Okinawa?"
"That's correct. Did you read my entire profile? I'm flattered… and perhaps a little… mm…" Tomoe bit her tongue to prevent her from saying anything cynical.
"Awesome! I only get to go to the beach once a year- living by the ocean all the time must be pretty exciting! Are you going to miss it?"
"Somewhat. You have to remember, I'll only be here for one y-… I-I mean… I'm just a transfer student, not a resident. My parents are working overseas, so they decided to up and send me off t-… to so kindly send me to an academy to help prep me for university years."
"You mean Ikegami, right?"
"… Y-yes. I… I am at the right dorm, correct? Ikegami Academy? School for the gifted? Home of the best-ranked culture clubs in the nation?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. I go to Ikegami Academy, too. It's just that some of the other students here also happen to attend other schools. Like I said, it's totally a spare. No budget!"
"Oh. N-never mind my worries, then." said Tomoe under her breath, happy that this meant her first day wasn't a total disaster. She grinned a little, laying back. "If I can assist you with anything else here in regards to chores and all… you can just say so."
"Whoa, now that's a can-do attitude!" Atsuko replied, giving a little fist pump in celebration. Tomoe wondered why that was- had Atsuko perhaps gotten a bit fed up with being left to do chores on her own all the time? That wasn't very fair of the other dorm-mates, even if they may have been busy.
Well, I suppose I should be a helpful bird for this Cinderella girl… thought Tomoe, closing her eyes.
"You must be totally bushed after such a long train journey. Want me to start making dinner so that you can head in and get a good rest for tomorrow?" asked Atsuko, once again drawing the other girl's attention.
"Oh, um… a meal. Right." murmured Tomoe, realizing that she had forgotten to stop for lunch at any point. She could feel her stomach growl. "Could I perhaps help you along with that, too?"
"Oh, of course, ye-" began Atsuko, but she stopped in the middle of the phrase as her eyes narrowed, looking over Tomoe.
"Hmm? What's the matter?"
Atsuko cocked her head to the side. "Oh, um… it's nothing. I just don't really get a 'chef's air' about you is all. No offense!"
Tomoe froze, shocked that Atsuko could tell something so personal from a glance. "Huh? That… that's completely unfounded! I-I can cook!"
"Really? You just don't… strike me as the type who is particularly talented in the kitchen."
"N-no, I swear, I can—"
"It's all right, Nishi-chan. You can do it next time, okay? I just, like… um… I have a recipe prepared for tonight! It's… um… g-grilled salmon."
"Anyone can grill fish." stated Tomoe matter-of-factly.
"Not the way my granddaddy could!" exclaimed Atsuko, her abruptness making it clear that the conversation was over. She bolted out of the room… apparently to get some salmon grilling. Go figure.
000
After a lengthy dinner that went over with some light conversation (the other dorm residents hadn't seemed to have arrived back just yet), Tomoe returned to her new room, opening the window. A clothesline complete with uniforms fluttering around could be seen right above her, as she noticed the pretty sunset with lavender clouds. It seemed like a view that would fit perfectly into a postcard snapshot.
In fact…
Tomoe grabbed her smartphone from within her handbag, unlocking it and pointing it towards the open view.
"Say cheese, new life~." she mused, before taking a photograph of the lovely sundown. While she had yet to unpack her real camera, a phone picture would do for the time being. Looking to see how it came out, she smiled- besides a few arbitrary things like concentrating and styling hair, Tomoe's greatest talent was probably her eye for photography. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder, but she hoped that many of her snapped scenes could bring people a smile or two. How better to start off her new life than to take a picture on her first day?
She shut her window before reclining on her bed.
000
"No! Has sundown… already arrived? N-not again! At this rate, the Night Watch will have already-!"
"What have we here? An outsider from another world…? Problematic children such as you should be locked up!"
"N-no, please! I need to go…!"
000
(Thank you so much for reading! If you would be so kind as to leave a review, criticism or comment, I would deeply appreciate it! Ciao until next chapter!)