The slight cool breeze flew into the room, making the light cerulean curtains dance. A happy, nonchalant dance, their hems swaying from right to left. I felt the warm morning light falling onto my face, caressing it.
"Ogenkidei, Okaa-sannn!"
Wait, wasn't that Rin? Wait, oh yeah, we're going to school together. I shifted in my bed, bewildered, reaching out lazily with my right hand and with the right amount of half-hearted fumbling, grabbed onto my phone on the side table. I forced my weary eyes a slit open and looked at the time. It was already eight….WHAT. The relentless fog of exhaustion suddenly lifted right off my brain by sheer shock and panic, I threw my blanket off and leaped out of bed. I sprinted across the room, but my foot slipped on the blanket and I crashed unceremoniously onto the ground, toppling the small bookshelf beside my desk in the process. Great, just great, what the perfect way to start the year, nothing gets better than running late and stumbling around like a one-legged bear. As, I got up and started hurriedly rearranging the spilled contents of the shelf; books, stationery, pieces of paper scribbled with notes from third-year in middle school…the door to my room opened, and there was my mother, clad in a blouse and long pants, standing in the wooden doorway. A clean, crisp green apron, tied at the back, covered her front, and her blonde hair was clipped up towards her right ear. Her ocean blue eyes, partly hidden behind the huge stack of folded clothes she was carrying, widened with surprise.
"Oh, aren't you supposed to be in school already?" she asked, "I thought you left with Rin-chan"
"Well I guess, I woke up late…" I replied, flailing and stumbling not quite that graciously to pick up the guitar music sheets strewn all over the floor.
Oh yeah, now I remember, the previous night I was up until around two practicing songs on my guitar. That's why I woke up late this morning. Hmm, in hindsight, guess I should have expected that.
"You should be more disciplined next time," she sighed "Oh I ironed your blazer just now earlier on, you can get it downstairs in the laundry room." She continued, and closed the door.
I ran off into the bathroom to take a shower, but it was less of a shower and more of dashing past a jet of water in interests of time constraints. Rin always complains that I take a longer time than her to get ready for school, and she always ends up waiting for me, back in middle school. But maybe today she just ran out of patience and went off by herself. Afterwards, I hastily slipped on my attire and almost slid down the stairs in my rush towards the dining room. I grabbed the toast on the plate and stuffed it into my mouth, eating it, no it was more like inhaling it, as I clambered to the laundry room to put on my blazer. When my tired legs brought me there, I dumped my jersey and shorts into the open washing machine, and went to peck my mother on the cheek, just like any other morning. Oh wait, my guitar! I strapped the large casing with the guitar inside to my back, and opened the front door.
"I'll be going now!" I said, and waved to her from the door.
"Yeah, be careful!" she replied, turning around, tilting her head from the kitchen, while washing dishes.
I mounted onto my bicycle and cycled as fast as I could towards school , zipping past the Kamuis's not-at-all-humble abode, with its comparatively larger lawn and a koi pond. Our neighbour in question, Kamui Gakupo was by the pond feeding the fish, while his wife, Luka, was watering the bushes of azalea which are just beginning to flower in the early blessing the soft winds of spring bring.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kamui-san!" I greeted them, waving with one hand while the other still holding on to the handle of the bike.
Mr and Mrs Kamui looked up from what they were doing and returned my smile. Husband and wife had been our neighbours since I was like… around six I guess? Well when we were still in elementary school, they would look after Rin and I when we came back home from school since Mom and Dad would be working and they usually come back in the evening at around eight. They would dote on us as if we were their own children, and Mrs Kamui would cook for us. The couple never had any children ever since I was 6, maybe that's why they love children very much and would shower them with care and passion whenever they get the chance. I never asked them the reason for that though, on fear of being insensitive. Usually, when Rin and I go to their house after elementary school, Mr Kamui would help us with our homework while Mrs Kamui would prepare some food. Well I remember her favourite dish to cook was always takoyaki, since it was quite easy to make, she claimed, but as easy as she made it seem, none of us could make it as tasty as she did. Sometimes either of us would praise her cooking, sometimes calling it as good as a restaurant's but to this she would laugh it off and say that her cooking isn't that great. Ah, sweet memories...
Anyway, today is my first day of high school, and I'm already late. Well, I decided to bring my guitar along just in case there's like club selection or auditions today. The letter from the school to my parents stated that there will be an orientation held for first years today, and I don't think much is going to happen, so maybe bringing my guitar long wouldn't be that bad. I cycled past some major junctions, bends and parks, the school was quite some distance from home, Rin told me. Maybe I should have slept earlier after all. I cycled past some houses when suddenly a girl opened the gate outwards, and the next thing I knew, my bicycle was on the floor and I grazed my cheek against the hard cemented pavement. Maybe it bled a little, it should have I guessed, nothing else can explain the burning sensation I felt on my cheek. My bag fell from the basket at the front of the bike, but other than that, nothing got broken or anything. I picked up my bag and bicycle, with my guitar case still strapped onto my back, and straightened out my blazer, when…
"Ah! I'm really sorry… Are you okay?"
I looked up to see where the soft voice came from, and saw a girl, a bit taller than me, with hair nearly exactly like Rin's, except that it was emerald green and she didn't tie it with a ribbon. She was wearing the female equivalent of my new school uniform, a slightly slimmer crimson blazer, a tartan skirt and a tie, tucked behind her blazer. Her concerned eyes were scanning me, and as soon as her gaze settled on my uniform, and saw that my blazer matched hers, her already-bright green eyes filled with sparks of happiness, and somewhat, relief. She let out a deep sigh.
"You're from the same school as me? What a relief to know I'm not the only one late. My name is Gumi Megpoid, nice meeting you! " the green-haired girl said cheerfully, extending her hand to me.
"Er… Kagamine Len. Yeah, nice meeting you too I guess?" I took her hand and shook it.
"Oh, what year are you in? I'm in the first year and today's orientation and I'm late and the worst thing is, my phone ran out of battery, and I can't find the school on the GPS. You know the way right?" she said light-heartedly, chuckling at her own statements.
I can't take it in on how she could just be so relaxed and nonchalant when I'm all tense and my feet were already getting slightly fatigued from all that intense cycling.
"Yeah, I do. I'm in the first year too. Orientation today, huh?." I said awkwardly, between curt, short breaths, searching for words to say.
"Yeah…" she replied, looking towards the ground, her hands behind her back.
There were a few seconds of awkward silence between the both of us, and only then I realised the current situation. I checked my watch on my wrist, and apparently we're already half an hour late. School starts at eight-thirty, and it's already a few minutes past nine now. I should probably be making a move now, but I guess it's not the right thing to do to leave a lost girl lagging behind, being hours late for school, or even worse, probably never going to make it to school at all, getting lost in the winding streets and alleys of the densely-populated Nagoya.
"Um, why don't you get on the back of my bike and I cycle you to school together. It'll take more time if you walk, you know." I said awkwardly, my face beginning to flush.
The next thing I know she was already hitchhiking at the back of my bike, both her hands on my shoulders, to support her weight while her feet were on the hinge of the back wheel. She thanked me excitedly, stating that she might have started walking in the direction in which I was coming from hadn't I ran into her and picked her up. I cycled as fast as I could to school, and luckily Gumi was quite light, and didn't really affect my cycling speed, as a matter of fact, I was worried at first that she might get scared, but she even insisted that I cycle faster. And at some moments, she even let go of my shoulders, and stood there behind me, without any support, her shoulder-length jade hair fluttering in the wind. After a while, she sat down, claiming she was tired of standing. She then went on non-stop about how she pulled up an all-nighter yesterday reading physics books because she was too terrified to sleep after watching horror movies earlier on. Okay, she talks a lot, even we've just met. The outgoing type, I guess.
She fell silent after a good deal of time, probably because I wasn't a really good conversation partner to begin with. I turned around the corner, and passed through a large garden. It was spring now, and the sakura blossoms were in full bloom. The soft wind blew the light pink petals into our faces, if not for us being late, I would have stopped and appreciated the serene sight of the petals falling onto the ashpalt path. But there was no time for that. The garden was decorated traditionally, with stone lanterns and azaleas. The sweet smell of grass wafted through the air. In the middle of the garden, there was a large koi pond, and a wooden pavilion, with its distinctive pointed roof built in the traditional style, stood on its banks.
"Can you stop for a while?" she suddenly broke the silence.
"Uhh… Why? We're already running late!" I said to her, half-irritated.
"Please?" she pleaded.
I sighed, and decided to stop. I hope it's because of something important or something. As soon as I clenched the brakes in my fists, she hopped off the bike with a little skip, and ran towards the trees beside the pond. I had no choice but to leave my bike and bag beside the pond, leaning against a white-barked, ancient ginko tree and chased after her. She stopped beside three large cherry trees, and pointed to something, squealing. I averted my gaze to where her outstretched arm was pointing towards. Something was hiding behind the trunk of one of the cherry blossom trees. Suddenly, a small black cat peeked from behind the dark ebony trunk with large, pitiful eyes.
"Aaah! It's so cute!" she came running towards the feline giggling with excitement, her hands outstretched, as if she wanted to pick it up and cuddle it.
The cat was startled, meowing loudly and started to scurry away as fast as its four little legs could carry it. Gumi chased the terrified little cat around the pond, desperately trying to scoop up the cat, but it was too fast and agile for her. She lunged with her hands outstretched to catch the cat, which was hiding in a thicket of reeds, and…
She fell, no, more like threw herself into the clear, thigh-deep water, not at all gracefully. I ran up and caught up with her, standing at the side of the pond, the soft grass sinking beneath my feet.
"Hey! Are you okay?" I asked, worried.
She was there in the water, her clothes all soaked wet, and getting up slowly, looked at me. I extended my arm to help her up. She didn't move an inch, which made me retract my arm and put it back down to my side. Maybe she doesn't need help getting up and I'm probably scaring her. I'm just more or less a stranger to her after all, we've just met. I turned around, and began to walk away.
"Well then, we should be going now, we're already forty-five minutes la-"
The cold touch of her hand stopped me. Her hand, dripping with icy water, made contact with mine. I turned around but before I had the chance to say anything, she pulled my hand with such force, I re-enacted her predicament, falling face first into the thigh-deep water. The loud splash I made scared away the nearby fishes and they swam away in frenzied schools, their streamlined bodies squirming and pushing through the water, to get away from the violent disturbance. I tried to stand up slowly, but my heavy waterlogged clothes weighed like a ton. It was freezing cold, yet I did not notice the frost biting into my wet skin due to the sheer shock and surprise of what just hit me. I pushed myself back up to my feet, attempting to stand up. All of a sudden, my soaked shoe slipped against the mossy pond floor, and I fell into the freezing bone-biting water again.
I looked up and saw Gumi, standing like around a metre from where I was, in her drenched uniform. She saw me glaring menacingly at her, and she began to crack up.
"Oh my gosh. Are you seriously that clumsy?" she said, clutching her stomach with laughter.
I could feel my cheeks getting warmer, and I stood up. I walked up to her, bent down, and slapped the surface of the water hard, causing streams of water to splash on her. She yelped in excitement, and returned the favour by splashing water at me too. Soon enough, we began chasing each other around in that shallow icy pond, oblivious to the world around us. The only thing I could remember was the loud splashing of the water and Gumi's high-pitched excited squeals of laughter, as if she were in hysteria. So there we were, two sixteen year olds, already late on the first day of school, splashing around in a pond in the middle of a park. I couldn't remember how long we were childishly chasing each other, but the next thing I know was for sure.
I heard a rough, deliberate-sounding cough coming from behind us, and the both of us fell silent and turned around. Behind us, a blonde woman, with waist-long hair, about 30-something of age, was standing at the edge of the pond. Her arms were crossed, and anger written itself all over her stern face.
Standing beside her was a teal-haired girl, with her hair tied into two ponytails at her side. She was wearing the same blazer as us, and carrying a blue clipboard in her arms. Then it hit me. We totally forgot about school altogether.