A warm gust of spring wind breezes through the town of Numazu, carrying the scent of the nearby sea. The previous season's cold air had been completely forgotten as people begin their daily activities. Shops are opening, buses are traveling, and people are moving. The sakura trees are in full bloom, and some people take this opportunity to enjoy themselves. Whether it's by having a picnic at the park, watching the trees through a window in a homely café, or by confessing to a loved one with pink petals scattered around them, laughter and joy is in the air for Numazu and the nearby towns.

The sound of an alarm clock blares through the silence, but it was a few minutes too late. The only person inside the room is already wide awake, turning off the alarm before opening the curtains. Sunlight fills the dark room, brightening the person's mood considerably. She sees other people her age walking towards the local high school, walking and chatting with their friends. Turning around, she comes face-to-face with the reason of her excitement.

Hanging in front of her drawer, there is a simple sailor uniform. The clothing is plain white, with gray-colored cuffs. The matching skirt has the opposite color scheme, being mostly gray except for a single white line near the bottom of the fabric. And to top it all off, a simple yellow ribbon rests around the collar, completing the uniform. Smiling to herself, she checks her schedule one last time before rushing out of her bedroom.

Today is the day that I, You Watanabe, go full steam ahead to the future!

Her preparations pass in a blur of energy. Before she even realizes it fully, she's finished with her bath and is putting on her new uniform. Having already seen her friend wear the ribbon herself, she knows how to put it on with ease. Rushing downstairs, she enjoys the breakfast her mother had prepared for her. Once she's done, she places the dirty plate in the sink, before running out of the house with her bag slung over her shoulder. She greets the people she meets on her journey, her smile never wavering as she gets on a bus heading towards Uchiura.

You struggles to stay still, buzzing with excitement as she watches the passing scenery. She's seen them many times before, but that doesn't stop her from staring out of the window with her optimism showing on her face. Today is the first day of the new school year, and she'll be starting in Uranohoshi. The same school that her childhood friends, Chika and Kanan, go to. To be fair, her relationship with Kanan isn't as close as it used to be, but they're definitely still good friends. And Chika has been her best friend ever since the two met, and she's confident that wouldn't change.

That doesn't stop her from feeling bad about their other friend, though. Kanan has mentioned being lonely a few times, even when Chika joined her last year in Uranohoshi. And she had stopped going to school for the last few months, if Chika was to be believed. She would be in the diving shop whenever they visited her, and she'd say that she couldn't go to school because her father got injured, but that still doesn't explain the part about her being lonely. Eventually, the bus stops near an inn, and You quickly gets off. She convinces herself that thinking too much about it now wouldn't help. She'll just visit her again once she has some free time.

Looking straight ahead, You walks towards the entrance of the inn, noticing that not many people are currently occupying it.

"Pardon the intrusion…."

"Ah, You-chan, hey there."

Looking around the guest area, she notices one of Chika's sisters lounging around. The family's dog, Shiitake, is walking around her. The dog stops as You walks into the inn, barking while wagging its tail happily. You happily pats the dog, before refocusing her attention on the older Takami.

"Is Chika-cha-"

"In her room. Make sure to remind her not to be late."

Quickly nodding her head, she barely takes a few steps before Chika's sister looks at her.

"Oh, and there's already someone else in there with Chika. She's a friend from their school."

You stops dead in her tracks at those words. Her confusion and curiosity rising as she wonders who might want to visit Chika. Suddenly, she realizes the other friend they have that also goes to their school, and she can feel her curiosity turning into a mix of anger and jealousy.

Why is Kanan visiting Chika so early in the morning? And why wasn't I invited? And why so suddenly?

Storming towards Chika's room with all kinds of questions on her mind, she opens the entrance before quickly realizing why she wasn't invited. Standing near the bed is her long-time childhood friend Chika Takami, doing some kind of pose that she doesn't understand. And standing slightly away from her is a girl wearing the same Uranohoshi uniform, glancing between her phone and the orange-hair standing in front of her. Unlike her first thought, however, that girl is definitely not Kanan. Her long hair, jet-black and completely straight is different compared to Kanan's ponytail. Rather than Kanan's purple eyes, the eyes of this girl are a vivid green, similar to emeralds. In fact, she's not even from the same year as Kanan, if her red ribbon is any indication.

"Oh, You-chan!"

Her attention snaps back towards the girl she actually recognizes, who is now running towards her. Already anticipating what's about to come, she doesn't even stumble when Chika leaps in for a hug.

"It's so great to see you again! We haven't seen each since you left with your dad. I can't believe you'll be going to the same school as me."

You laughs a bit as the pair finally break off the embrace, and glances at the other girl in the room. Chika's sudden movement had drawn the girl's attention to You, and she bows slightly. Nervously, You does the same, albeit awkwardly. Chika, who had been watching her friends' interaction, giggles softly.

"Come on, don't be like that! I've already told you about each other, you're not complete strangers."

The dark-haired girl straightens her body, nodding in Chika's direction before facing You again.

"Yes, although this is still our first real meeting. It's a pleasure to meet you, Watanabe-san."

Her words come out as cool, calm, and maybe slightly intimidating. You's anxiety begins to peak when she realizes that she doesn't know who the girl is. Chika had probably talked about her a few times. It wasn't her fault that her childhood friend has made so many friends in a year, that she struggled to remember all of them. However, as she focuses on the girl's features, she begins putting the pieces together. An incredibly close friend Chika made in her first year, a cool persona, and dark hair. You snaps her fingers as she remembers who the girl is.

"Ah, you're Tsushima-san, right?"

The girl's previously cool expression had turned into one of terror upon hearing those words. Chika was laughing so loudly that she was close to tears, and You can feel her face burning up in shame as she observes their reactions. Because apparently, this isn't Tsushima-san. Whoops.

"Y-You-chan…." Her friend forces out between bouts of laughter "T-this is Dia-chan. I told you about her before."

Oh, that's also told me about her. You gives the girl, Dia, a small smile in an attempt to salvage her impression of You, which doesn't seem to be working out considering the glare she's giving her way.

"S-sorry. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kurosawa-san."

For what felt like a few tense hours, Dia just stares at her silently, looking for any signs that You could be joking. However, she eventually realized that the apology was sincere, and gives a small grunt of acknowledgement.

"Apology accepted, Watanabe-san."

Chika, after having recovered most of her composure, grins brightly before pulling both girls in for a hug "Don't be so stiff with each other! Dia-chan, you're fine with just Dia, right? You, you too right?" She asks, waiting for confirmation. You nods her head dumbly, not quite used to calling an upperclassman with only their first name unless it's Chika or Kanan, but she can manage. Dia also nods her head, and Chika's "Great! You, just remember not to call her Yoshiko, alright?"

Her cheeks turn red again at being reminded of her slip-up, wishing that she could turn back time to stop her past self from embarrassing herself. But Dia is laughing softly and smiling, and she has to admit that it puts a smile on her face as well.

However, the happy moment is interrupted by a soft gasp from Dia, Following her gaze, You immediately pales as her eyes land on the clock in Chika's room.

"We're gonna be late!" Dia practically screams, and it achieves the desired effect. Chika gets two bags and hands one of them to Dia, and the trio run out of the inn, attracting the attention of Chika's sister. They barely pay attention to her words as they see the bus leaving from the stop, and they run towards it while begging for the driver to stop.

What a way to start your first day.


"I've made a mistake. I've made a huge mistake. What kind of upperclassman am I? What kind of role model am I for Ruby?"

You lets out a small sigh as she hears Dia continuing to mutter things under her breath. They had been fortunate enough to be seen by the driver, and it's not like anyone cared much that the three students got on the bus despite being slightly late. And since they were currently on the bus, that meant they weren't going to be late to school. In fact, they were probably going to arrive a few minutes early, so everything should fine, right?

Dead wrong. It sounded like Dia was having some kind of crisis at the thought that she wasn't going to be the first to arrive to class. Although the last part of her sentence managed to pique You's interest slightly (who's Ruby?), it wasn't enough to get rid of her slight annoyance for the dark-haired girl. Meanwhile, sitting next to her and on the opposite side of the spectrum, Chika was just happy that they managed to get on the bus. Sure, she's happy that they're going to arrive on time, but You's willing to bet that Chika wouldn't be that bothered if she actually was late.

How did these two become friends anyway? The question had appeared on her mind when Chika first told her of the new friend she made, Dia. You knew from the excited explanation Chika gave her that the two couldn't be more different, but somehow it worked out.

"-on the bus today?"

"Huh?" Realizing that she had been distracted, she quickly turns towards Chika "What did you say?"

"I said, did you see someone with our uniform on the bus today?"

Trying to recall the people she had seen on the bus, You shakes her head "No. I can't really remember everyone, but there wasn't anyone wearing our uniform sitting near me."

The statement seems to have woken up Dia from her stupor, and she lets out a sigh "…I hope Yoshiko isn't late." She grumbles. Before You can ask any questions, the bus finally stops near their school. Chika suddenly jumps out of her seat, and runs straight out of the bus. You is no stranger to seeing Chika like that during their middle school, and judging from Dia's composed expression, she's also seen her fair share. Standing up from her seat, she looks back at You "Wata-…You-san, let's go. You don't want to be late to your first day in high school."

I'm pretty sure we're not going to be late. You thinks to herself. She can even see other people, both upperclassmen and freshmen outside of the gate. But considering that Dia had already panicked from almost missing the bus, she keeps that thought to herself as she follows Dia towards the school grounds. The school itself isn't too interesting, since she had seen it before. Instead, You focuses on the other people near her. She observes the other first years, hoping that she can befriend as many of them as possible. However, she occasionally glances at the girls wearing green ribbons, the third years, hoping to see the familiar face of Kanan.

Dia is also looking around at the other students, but it doesn't take her long to find what she's looking for. You almost loses the older girl as she maneuvers through the clumps of students, eventually stopping near the entrance to the large building. There, she sees Chika clinging to a girl with dark blue hair styled into a side bun. She's another second year, but she has a feeling that she'll be seeing her a lot anyways. After all, she's probably another one of Chika's friends.

"Yoshiko-chan! Were you waiting for us?" Chika asks her excitedly, while Dia just looks annoyed. You just assumes that it's the normal expression she has "You two! We'll be late, hurry up." She says, before looking back at You "We'll be going now You-san. I hope to see you soon."

"Yeah! See you soon You-chan!" Chika waves her hand excitedly while dragging Yoshiko into the school. Dia rushes after them, leaving You alone outside of the building. She feels more than a little disappointed that her last childhood friend can't be here as well, but she'll have to get over it.

Still, she feels a bit lonely right now, without any of her friends. It feels a bit like middle school, when she was left behind by Kanan and Chika while they went to Uranohoshi, but worse since she doesn't know anyone else.

Well, plenty of time to change that later.

You notices a girl with a green ribbon walking out of the building with a megaphone, and after a brief introduction as the student council vice-president, she asks the first-years to head towards the auditorium immediately. Once she walks back into the building, the other students begin talking among themselves again. The second and third years begin heading towards their respective classes, while the first years head towards the auditorium. You takes this chance to socialize with the others, gossiping about local rumors and sharing hobbies. The girls are nice to her, and she feels like she can get along with them, but she doesn't feel the same connection with them as she does with Chika and Kanan. That much is obvious by how she can't stop thinking about them even when neither of them are here.

Snap out of it! You're going to be just fine without them.


"And now, a message from out student council president."

You lets out a whimper at the words, burying her face in her hands as she waits for the formalities to end. Having sat down in the auditorium for over an hour, You can say without a doubt that she's not fine. In fact, she was close to passing out from boredom. She doesn't want to be mean, but Uranohoshi isn't really *that* interesting, at least compared to the school near her home in Numazu, and that's just the unfortunate truth. It was close to the beach, and you can see Mt. Fuji from here, but its main selling point is that its one of the only high schools in the area.

She wants to do something fun, something new and different. She wants to go on an adventure with her friends, maybe try out some new clubs and win a few more diving competitions. But when the school is a no-name in a rural area, she's not sure how many competitions they'll be invited to. She had been near obsessed to the idea of attending the same school as her childhood friends, that she barely looked at the clubs during the open house.

She can see it now. She knows *exactly* what's going to happen during these next three years. She'll join the swim team, and she'll compete occasionally, but that might be it. Next year, Kanan's going to leave her for university, and the year after Chika's going to do the same. Then she'll go to university, and there goes her last chance of having fun with her friends. It makes her want to cry. She hasn't seen Kanan in so long, and she feels like she's drifting away from Chika when they got separated last year. But Chika was able to make new friends. She has Tsushima-san and Dia, while You has no one else. She was the reliable, cool upperclassman last year with a lot of friends, and she still enjoys talking with her old classmates. But most of them were her neighbors, and it doesn't matter how close they were. They weren't going to risk their future by going to Uranohoshi, and You doesn't hold it against them.

"Good morning, new students."

However, just as she's about to go deeper into her own thoughts, a voice forces her to look up. A voice she hasn't heard in a while, and a face she hasn't seen in even longer. She feels happy and stunned at the same time. Because standing right there on the podium with a smile on her face, is her long-time friend, swimming rival, and now upperclassman, Matsuura Kanan.