Going into 5th grade would've been hell for me. At least, that's what I believed. I never thought that I didn't have to put up with anyone anymore, and I could be myself. I tried to do this, but it never worked. I was bullied, ignored, and beat, because of the people in my family. They're yakuza, and they're feared. But the kids at my school? They didn't care. They took me as a fool, and made an example of me, just because of my family name.

The group of bullies targeted my friend, Shu, after a bit of time, because he associated with me. I never knew about this until I saw him getting harassed outside of school. I didn't know what happened, I didn't know what I did. All I remember is those kids ended up hospitalized. I didn't realize that then and there, everything in my life would change drastically.

Trial And Error

Chapter 1

"Shit, shit!" I shouted as I ran down the street, clutching my bag so it wouldn't fall off my back. I had woken up to late again; it was the second time this week. I set my alarm for 6:30 AM, but always missed it. I reached the school and checked my wristwatch. I saw that it only read 6:45.

"Wait, what?" I said, dumbfounded. "Ah, I'm such an idiot! The time change!" I'd forgotten that last night, the clocks had set back an hour, but I didn't set back my phone! My watch was automatic, I know that, but dammit. I just ran to school an hour before it started!

"Well, no sense in going back home." I sighed, and began to walk to the little coffee shop on the side of the road.

I'd been in Japan for about 4 years now, and was in my first year of high school. I'd been in this town for my entire time here, so I knew the streets like the back of my hand. I arrived at the coffee shop, sat down, and paid my ¥200. I sat down in one of the two person tables and waited for my coffee to arrive, while taking in the view of the city. This place was built at the top of a little hill, and inside, you could see most of the city through the windows. The shop itself was also a rare sight for most people, since it had a type of Romanesque architecture, which we don't see all to often in Japan. After my coffee arrived, I checked my watch, and it read 7:00.

"Still got half an hour… well, I guess I should head to the classroom. Could get some work done, actually." And with that, I left my tip on the table and walked out, wishing the employees a good day.

As I walking on the road, I thought I heard something on the other side of the brick wall that sat on the road. I looked over, but disregarded it, and kept walking.

POV Change

"Crap! I'm gonna be late! I shouldn't have overslept!" a particular girl with long, blonde hair with the ends tipped red, yelled as she ran towards her school. She was a beautiful girl, with deep blue eyes, standing just over 5' 3". She was wearing the Bonyari High school uniform, and was sporting a red bow in her hair. She checked her phone and saw that it read 7:35. Shit! If I wanna get there fast, I've gotta move! She thought to herself. She then slung her bag over her shoulder and began to cartwheel and flip to gain some momentum. After she gained enough speed, she jumped over the brick wall that was next to the road, but noticed that someone was walking on that road. And that she was about to land on him!

POV Change (Raku)

I looked up at the wall again and felt something hard hit me in the face. I was then taken down onto the ground, blood flaring out of my nose, and landed on my chest. I figured out that the thing that hit me in the face was a knee, and it was a girl's knee, at that. I tried to get up, but couldn't move. It felt like someone was on top of me, so I decided to stay put.

"Ow, that hurt!" the girl said while rubbing her head. She pushed down on my back, popping it, and got up.

"Sorry, I was in a rush! You can hate me for this!" she shouted, while picking up her bag. "So~rry!" she then sprinted off out of my field of view.

"W-what the hell was that?" I said, still lying on my stomach. "This day is going to suck. I can feel it." And with that, I managed to get up, grab my bag, and finish my interrupted peaceful walk to school.

Walking into the building, I instantly locked eyes with my homeroom teacher, Ms. Kyoko. I waved at her, with her doing the same back. She then yelled, "I've never seen you here early, Ichijou! This is new!" I chuckled, and walked to my locker to get my shoes. Then I left for class. I got to my classroom door and slid it open, and instantly, my best friend, Shu, shot up to greet me.

"Hey, Raku! U-uoh?! What the hell happened to your face?!

He had a somewhat sly grin on his face while saying that, signifying he thought it was funny. I'll kick him for that later.

"It was nothing. I just tripped and fell." I really didn't want to make a scene with this, since Shu would do that just to annoy me.

"Oh, I think we both know that's not the ca~se! C'mon, tell me, tell me!" He looked at me with a faked serious expression. I finally broke under the pressure of him nagging me about it, and told him.

"Fine, fine. On my way here a girl jumped over the wall on the side of the road, and hit me in the face," I finished with a sigh. "Happy now?"

"O~h, a girl was it? LU~CKY!"

"Wait, how? Wha-"

I was confused to say the least. I didn't know someone nearly breaking your nose was considered lucky to him. Wait. Maybe he's a masochist?

"Wait, she kneed you, so she was like a street basher, right?"

Never mind. Scratch that idea.
"How would I know? All I do know is that this hurts." I pointed to my bloodied nose, and when I touched it, I could feel the pain. That girl got me good.

"Ichijou! What happened!?" I instantly froze when I heard that voice. I looked over Shu and saw her. She had short, brown hair, and it looked as if it was silk. She stood at about 5'2", and had the appearance of an angel. Her name was Kosaki Onodera.

"N-nothing! It was just an accident!" I said, trying to hide the blush on my face. I was too nervous to talk to her. Yes, I know, it's weird that I'm awkward around girls. Fight me.

With irritation in her voice, she said "Oh, sure! Just an accident! That's why your nose is bleeding, right?" She was about to say something else, but moved away the instant she noticed that our faces were right by each other. Her face instantly flushed, and she looked away from me.

"S-Sorry. I know! I'll g-get you a band aid." She pulled out her bag and rummaged through it, and pulled out a little blue box. Opening the box, she pulled out a little white bandage. "Here we go. Ichijou, come here."

"N-No, it's not that big a' deal."

"Oh, yes it is! That could get infected, you know!"

After a few minutes of resisting, I gave in to the pressure, and let her put the band aid on my nose. Holy crap, I thought. She's so close! I could smell the perfume she put on this morning, and it smelled good. After she pulled away, she smiled at me, and walked back to her seat.

"You should head to your seat, Ichijou. Class is about to start." Mrs. Kyoko had just walked in, but I didn't notice her at all. I felt like I was above Cloud Nine, and walked over to my seat with the biggest smile on my face. I didn't even listen to Ms. Kyoko's daily lecture; I didn't care. I merely closed my eyes and smiled brightly ever since Onodera got close to me.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down. Today we have a new transfer student." She looked outside and waived her hand, signaling to enter the classroom. "You can come in, now." After Ms. Kyoko finished her sentence, the classroom door slid open, and in walked in a girl.

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhh!" all the boys shouted, including Shu. I wouldn't have expected less from him. I was wondering why everyone was so astonished, so I decided to open my eyes, and when I laid eyes on the new transfer, I was completely taken aback. She had long blonde hair with red tips, a red bow tied in the top, and had one of the cutest faces I'd seen. But something irked me about her. She looks familiar… Why though? I was on this thought throughout her entire explanation, trying to remember who this girl was.

"Hello! I'm Chitoge Kirisaki. I'm a transfer student from America, but I speak fluent Japanese. I hope we can all get along this year!"

Another roar of shouts erupted from the classroom, mostly from the boys, but from some of the girls too. I didn't say anything; I was still stuck on trying to figure out who she was.

"Okay, Kirisaki. You can sit next to Ichijou. Ichijou, raise your hand."

I raised my hand, and she started to walk over to me. I was racking my brain for an answer, but when I really thought about it, I instantly knew who she was.

"Hey! You're the person who kneed me this morning!"

Everyone in the classroom instantly looked at me once I yelled. To be honest, I didn't realize I yelled at all. Huh. Anger, maybe? Or maybe it was spite? Well, who knows.

"Wait, what!? That was you!?" She looked like she was taken aback, but regained her composure and looked right at me.

"Why'd you do it? That hurt!" I was furious then. Don't really know why, but I just was.

Thinking back on that, I'm mostly angry with myself for not controlling my emotions. It was stupid, blaming her for something she couldn't have controlled. Meh. She can fight me.

Anyways, back to the story.

She looked completely pissed, and shouted, "Maybe if you weren't in the way of my landing, it wouldn't have happened!"

"Well maybe if you payed attention, you wouldn't have hit me!"

"Bleh, Beansprout!"

Beansprout?! This little-

"Gorilla Girl!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GORILLA!?"

She then instantly punched me in the stomach, and sent me back a few meters. It didn't hurt at all, but I noticed the power in the punch. Shu was right, she is a street brawler. I got back up and looked directly at her.

"Bleh, why do I have to sit next to you?" She said, scornfully tossing her bag onto her chair. She looked over her shoulder with a stank look on her face, and made it seem like she was going to say something, but stopped, and stood still for a second.

She just noticed that the temperature around Raku had dropped dramatically. No one noticed it, but there was pure hatred emanating from him.

I looked down onto the... brat in front of me and clenched my fist. It took every bone, every fiber in my body not to hit her. I regained my composure, but I still had a glare in my eyes.

No. No no no. Calm down. You insulted her, it was your fault.

I then took a deep breath and shut my eyes, trying to be rid of the violent thoughts that clouded my judgement. Glancing at her, I could by her facial expression that she was terrified.

"Uh, h-hello?" I said, trying to seem as normal as possible.

"Huh? What?"

"You were just looking at me. I'm sorry for calling you that name, but you look really scared right now. Are you all right?"

"Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry as well." Holy shit. Was that him?!

"Hey, you two! Take your seats!"

"Oh, yes ma'am!" We both said in unison, as we hurried to sit down.

As Ms. Kyoko was giving us a lecture, I sat in my seat, thinking over what just happened. That was close. Why'd I do that? I didn't know what kind of reputation she had around Kyoto, but by the way she talked, and her confidence, I could tell she had connections.

What the hell did he do?! I'm still shivering, but all he did was look at me, even if it was only for a second or two. Throughout the entire ordeal, Chitoge was the only person who felt the pressure that radiated from Raku. The ordeal only lasted a few seconds, but to her, it felt like a millennium.

"Alright, does everyone understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Ah, I didn't listen to a thing! Well, whatever. School's going to end soon, anyway. I love half-days! As I cheered this in my head, I looked over to my right where Chitoge was sitting and saw that she looked… ah… stunned, to say the least. I didn't really know what she was fussing over in her head, so I decided to talk to her.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"H-Huh? Y-yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, you just looked a bit… surprised, I guess?"

"O-oh, yeah. I was just weirded out by how the school works."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess it takes some getting used to."

"…"

"He-"

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier! I'm sorry about hitting you…"

"O-Oh. No, I should be apologizing to you. I called you a gorilla… I'm sorry."

She flashed me a smile, and stuck out her hand. I went to shake it, but she pulled it away at the last second.

"I'll forgive you, but on one condition. From now on, we're friends, alright?"

I chuckled and said, "Yeah, alright. I think I can do that." I then stuck my hand out, and this time she took it. She had a firm grip, but it wasn't that much, really. With that hit earlier, I thought she would've crushed my hand.

Holy shit! Nice grip! After screaming to herself in her mind, she let go of Raku's hand and got up to her feet.

"Well, morning lectures just ended, so we should get going now, right?" She looked down at me and gave me a toothy smile, closing her eyes.

"O-Oh, yeah, we probably should get moving. What class do you have next?"

"Uhh, Math I think?"

"Oh, awesome! I'm going there now actually. Do you need help getting there?"

"A-Are you sure? I don't want to slow you down…"

"Ah come on, what's the teacher going to do? Yell at me for helping a super cute transfer student?"

Chitoge blushed madly at this comment. S-Super c-cute?! Does he really think that?! While Chitoge was having a battle of emotions inside her head, Raku stood there looking at her with a questioning expression. Uhh… I won't ask. Well, might as well head to class.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"H-Huh? Oh, y-yeah! Totally!"

"Alright, come one." I then grabbed her by the hand and began to walk out of the classroom.

"H-Huh!? Hey, what are you doing?" Chitoge shouted. Her face donned a whole new hue of red, and she was struggling to speak in sentences.

"Oh? Well we're going the same class, so I thought I'd help you get there. What's wrong?"

"Y-Your hand…"

"Hm? Oh, that." I could definitely feel a small blush creep onto my face. I didn't even realize that he had grabbed her hand, and quickly let go of it.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"N-No, it's okay. You just surprised me, is all." She said, trying her best to look casual, even though she knew she was blushing awfully.

Putting aside the weird conversation, Kirisaki fluffed her skirt, and looked back up at me.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!"

As we were walking down the hallway I noticed that I kept getting dirty looks from other guys, from both the freshman class and the sophomore class. I brushed it off as just a feeling, but everywhere I went, I kept getting those glares.

What the hell… Did I do something to them? I thought in my head. I didn't realize that we had reached the Math classroom, so Chitoge had to tug on my shirt to snap me back into reality.

"Hey, Ichijou~, anyone home?" She asked. She had a confused grin on her face, so I thought I said something without realizing it.

"Huh? Oh, did you say something? Sorry I kind of… zoned out?"

"No, I just thought that we should've passed the class by now, so..."

"Hm? Oh yeah, our class is to our right."

As we walked into the class, I felt like something was off. I looked around the classroom and saw what was bothering me. Every single boy had the same glare as the boys outside. I was skeptical at first, but decided to brush it off. Besides, they couldn't do anything about it.

The day went on pretty quickly since it was a half-day, and the moment we heard the bell, we all rushed out of the classroom. I was on the bottom floor by the shoe lockers when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Kirisaki with an envelope in her hand.

"Hey Ichijou!"

"Hey, Kirisaki. What's up?"

"Uh, w-well I uh, um, I wanted to pay you back for helping me out earlier, so, um h-here you g-go…" She handed me the envelope, and when I grabbed, it was a bit heavy.

"Can I ask what it is?"

"I-It's money… I didn't know what to get you, s-so that's what I came up with…"

Heh. This girl...

"No. I'm not going to take money from you."

"B-But how am I supposed to pay you back then?"

"I never said you had to pay me back."

"Well, I thought that I troubled you, s-so I wanted to make it up to you…"

"Look, I helped you out because I wanted too, not because I had to. So take you money and put it away, alright?"

"Bu-"

"Ahp pahp pahp pahp. No 'buts'. You didn't trouble me at all, so I won't accept the money, alright?"

"Are you sure?"

I then flashed a smile at her."Positive." Her face flushed a new hue of red at this action, which really confused me. I was going to ask if she was okay, but she turned around and began to walk away before I could say anything.

"O-Okay, well, s-see you tomorrow." She said, stumbling on her words. She nearly tripped walking out of the school.

After I said goodbye to Kirisaki, I began to walk down the street, and decided to walk through an alleyway, just to save some time. Hm. Never thought I'd be walking through this place. The alley was dark, with cracked bricks on the floor, and a broken pipe leaning against a wall. I heard footsteps from the other end of the alley, but I brushed off and kept walking. Then I felt something hit me in my right leg, and it was hard. I fell onto my knee, and when I tried to stand back up, a fist came flying at my face. It connected, and I fell onto the ground, holding my nose with my hand. I was up against the wall, and had nowhere to go. When I opened my eyes, there were 3 people, all of them guys, towering over me, with hatred evident in their eyes.

"Why you? Why did she, out of everyone, choose you?"

To be continued in Chapter 2...