CHAPTER TWO

Tomoko did not live on a particularly busy street, but still close enough to a larger intersection so that she should have been able to hear the industrial indistinct of honking, revving, and coming and going automobiles.

But she did not.

This was usually the first thing Tomoko heard as she left the house. If, for whatever reason, things were quieter than usual, the next noise she usually heard was any random pair of stray cats (there were quite a few of them in this town) going at it.

But she didn't hear their mewling, either.

It was at this point that Tomoko began to feel like something might be…wrong.

The school-girl stopped in her tracks and looked around.

"Weird…where is everyone…"

At this close proximity to the school Tomoko should have encountered at least one other fellow student going the same way as she.

As per how her day was going thus far, she seemed to be alone in the town.

Tomoko's concern slowly began to turn from mild wonder to moderate worry.

Regardless, she continued on until she arrived at the main gates of her new High School. A stately, if not imposing and institutional brick border surrounded the perimeter of the school's grounds. The iron gate had been opened so that the students could enter.

Tomoko stood at the gate like a yellow-clad statue, looking up at it, her uniform dress billowing in the light summer breeze.

The gate was a metaphorical and literal crossroads in her life. It was the last barrier to be overcome before becoming a genuine HSG.

Boundaries would be breached.

Hormones and passions would run wild.

Walls just like this one would eventually come crumbling down.

"I have a feeling that today is gonna be alright…" Mused the youth as she tightened her backpack straps and crossed the threshold into her new high-school life.

She had almost forgotten about how weird her walk there had been.