Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

I awoke the following morning with the sun shining upon my face. "Ughhh..." I groaned, rolling over. I wasn't anywhere near fully rested, but I was anxious for my first day of school, and wanted to make a good first impression... So I forced myself to get out of bed, yawning sleepily.

"All I need today, really, is my uniform..." I murmured to myself, digging through my luggage for it. After laying it out on my bed, I decided to go find the bathroom and get myself cleaned up.

...

Back in my room.

A loud knock came at the door, catching me by suprise and nearly causing me to mess up while applying my makeup. "It's Yukari. Are you awake?" I looked over my face in the mirror one last time in approval, setting my black liquid eyeliner aside. "I'm up."

She opened the door and greeted me with a smile. "Good morning. Did you sleep okay? Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. Are you ready to go?"

I stood and returned the smile, grabbing my mostly-empty backpack. "Of course!"

Yukari nodded, leading the way out. "Okay! Then, let's go."

...

Inside the New City passenger train "Anehazuru"...

The monorail was packed with students heading to Gekkoukan High, this morning. Yukari and I were standing together, looking out a window. The view of the city was absolutely beautiful in comparison to what I'd seen the night before.

"We have to take the monorail to get there," Yukari explained. "Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?"

I shook my head. "I usually just walked to school, before... But, I actually really like taking the train."

Yukari smiled, gazing out at the sun's rays reflected on the water, below. "I do too. This is my favorite part... when it feels like you're gliding over the sea."

"Yeah... it's nice." I agreed with a sigh. I had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. It was too beautiful not to be.

"Our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line, by the way. From there, we walk." Yukari informed me. "Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? It's a man-made island... They built our school right in the middle."

I nodded, reflecting upon my past. "I may have been there once, many years ago... I don't remember much, though."

Yukari looked somewhat suprised. "Oh? Well, look over there... You can see it now!"

Sure enough, in the near distance, I could see the island we were heading toward. It wasn't very big, but it still looked like there was a lot of stuff crammed onto it. "This is so exciting..." I breathed, feeling a rush of adreneline begin to grow within me.

"Yeah, y'know, I think it will be fun going to school together!" Yukari chimed in.

...

At Gekkoukan High

The school was huge and beautiful. It was really well-kept. There were lots of windows, and the walkway leading to the main entrance was lined with beautiful cherry trees, all in full bloom with delicate, pink flowers.

There were lots of other students making their way to school this morning, as well. A girl stopped to greet Yukari. "Good morning!"

"Morning!" she replied with a grin. Yukari then turned to me, "Well, here we are! Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here!"

I was having trouble taking it all in. It was breath-taking. "This is beautiful...!"

Yukari laughed, opening the door for me. "Well, you haven't seen anything, yet!" We took off our shoes and put them away in the shoe lockers provided at the entrance.

"You'll be okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first." Yukari motioned to the hallway on the left-hand side of the lobby. "The faculty office is right there to the left. ...And that concludes the tour! Do you have any questions before I go?"

I considered for a moment, but decided that half of the adventure is in exploring new places and finding your own way around. "Nahh, I'll be okay. Thanks though!"

Yukari nodded, but then adopted a serious expression. "Hey... About last night... Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? ... See ya later!"

I, honestly, wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, but decided to smile as though I knew anyway. "Okay! See ya!" I watched as she took off up the stairs.

Before heading to the faculty office, I looked around the lobby a bit. I noticed that there were a lot of students standing in front of a bulletin board. I decided to see what was on it, and found several class rosters pinned up there. Briefly scanning each one for my name, I saw that I was not on any of them yet. I frowned, about to look away, when something caught my eye... there was a small, handwritten note near the bottom that read "Emiko Arisato - Class F". After scanning the roster for that class one more time, I learned that Yukari was in the same class as I.

"Yay!" I exclaimed aloud, accidentally. Several students around me looked over in confusion, and I decided that that was my cue to go visit the faculty office. I walked through the doors leading to the hallway Yukari had pointed out and found the faculty office to be the very first door on the right.

Tentatively, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. There were piles of books everywhere, and the only person present was an intelligent-looking lady wearing a light pink suit. She glanced up and approached me as I entered. "Oh, are you the new student?" She picked up a folder from one of the many file cabinets and began flipping through the pages. "Emiko Arisato... 11th grade, correct? Let's see... In 1999... That was what, ten years ago? Your parents-" she gasped, stopping mid-sentence. "I'm sorry... I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this before-hand."

"It's okay, really. I understand." I smiled at her. She set the folder down and returned a smile. "I appreciate your forgiveness. I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school!"

I bowed my head slightly. "I'm pleased to meet you."

Ms. Toriumi laughed and placed a hand over her heart. "My, aren't you polite? Girls like you should be an example for others. By the way... have you seen the classroom assignments? You're in 2-F; that's my class!"

"Great! I'm looking forward to it!" I replied, enthusiastically.

My teacher nodded, "But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me."

She held the door open for me and I followed her through the school into the auditorium, where all of the other students were gathered, waiting for the ceremony to begin. "For now, you may just sit beside me, if you like." Ms. Toriumi offered, taking a seat near the middle.

"I will, thank you." I settled into the chair next to hers and began scanning the crowd in search of Yukari. Several minutes of searching later, a short, old man with a plump figure stepped onto the stage, silencing the audience... for the most part.

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' When applied to student life, this means..."

I tuned the man out and began searching the audience again... I also could vaguely hear some students around me whispering about something...

"I heard we got a transfer student."

"Yep. I've seen her, too. She came to school with Yukari."

I blushed and sank down into my seat a bit, embarrassed that I was already the talk of the school... A teacher several rows in front of me turned around to where the gossiping was coming from and glared at some students behind me. "I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Ms. Toriumi's class..."

Ms. Toriumi shifted in her seat to face the students. "Shhh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"

The talking ceased for the time being, but I had a feeling that people weren't going to stop gossiping about me anytime soon...

...

After School

My first day of school at Gekkoukan High had been a success. I was just packing my things back into my backpack when a classmate approached me.

"'Sup, dude!"

I glanced over to the right to see a boy smiling at me. He was wearing a baseball cap. "Oh...! Hi!" I replied, returning the smile. He laughed, cheerfully. "You look like a deer in headlights."

I laughed a little, realizing he was probably right. "What's your name?"

He looked suprised for some reason. "Me? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid... So I thought I'd check up on you, make sure you weren't freaking out on your first day."

I'm shy by nature, but I was so relieved that someone had spoken to me. I was eager to make new friends. "Oh, well thank you very much! My name is Emiko Arisato. It's nice to meet you, too."

At that moment, Yukari approached us, looking agitated. "At it again, huh? Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn't hit on?" she sighed, shaking her head. "Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"Oh no! He wasn't bothering me at all!" I reassured them. Yukari didn't look convinced, though. "If you say so... Anyway, some coincidence that we'd be in the same homeroom, huh?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I know!"

She smiled. "Funny, huh?"

"Um, hello? Did you forget I'm in this class too? C'mon, lemme in on the fun!" Junpei seemed to resent being left out of the conversation. "By the way, do you guys know each other? I heard you two came to school together this morning. A couple of cuties like you, walking side by side... The whole class was buzzing about you!" I blushed, "Really...?"

Yukari, however, scoffed. "Ugh... Could you just cut it out? I hate dealing with rumors like that... I mean, I'm used to it, but she just got here, you know? Don't you feel bad, spreading rumors like that? ... Well, I've gotta go take care of some archery team stuff. Don't try anything funny, you got that, Junpei?" She walked off without waiting for a response.

I was speechless; I had no idea Yukari could be so cold... Junpei frowned, "What is she, your nanny...? Well, just to clear something up, I seriously didn't come over here to hit on your or anything."

I looked at him, kindly. "Oh, I never thought you did! That was all her." The smile returned to Junpei's face, "Well, good! If you ever have a problem, you can tell your ol' pal Junpei about it!"

"I'll be sure to remember that." I replied, sincerely.

"Cool. Well, I'll be seeing you around, then!" He picked up his books and left the classroom after waving goodbye.

... Since Yukari was at a club meeting, I decided to try and make it back to the dorm alone. On my way out, though, Junpei caught up with me and persuaded me into letting him walk me back to the dorm. I figured it was for the best, anyway, since the chances that I'd get lost on my own were pretty decent. We chatted a bit along the way.

"Woah, check out the jocks on their run..." Junpei laughed. "Hey, did anyone tell you about the school clubs yet?"

"Oh? No... not yet." I replied, fiddling with my mp3 player.

"Girls can join too, so why not do it if you're interested?" Junpei suggested. "You'd be joining as a new member, though, so you won't be able to apply for a little while."

"Oh cool, well, thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check 'em out once I get the chance."

I wondered what sort of clubs were available at my new school... I truly hoped there would be a choir of some sort I could join... I've always loved singing.

Thanks to Junpei, I successfully made it back to the dorm - and before midnight, tonight. I was pretty satisfied with my first day at school. I'd already managed to catch everyone's attention, and possibly make a couple of friends in my class.

That Evening...

I closed the door of the dormitory behind me and signed in at the front desk. Mitsuru, who was reading on one of the couches in the lobby, glanced up from her book to greet me. "Welcome back."

"Oh, thanks!" I replied, deciding to wander around the lobby a bit. I hadn't gotten a chance to really look at anything last night, due to the circumstances. There were lots of places to sit... couches, armchairs, a big dinner table, and even a bar with some stools. Yukari was seated at the big table by herself, so I decided to sit beside her for a moment.

"Hey, Yukari." She looked up at me with a grin, "Oh, hi. What're you doing?"

"I'm just looking around, really." I replied. She surveyed the lobby for a moment. "Well, there's not much to see... You're probably pretty tired, huh? Maybe you should go to bed early tonight."

She was right... I was pretty beat. Plus, I still needed to get my stuff unpacked. "Yeah, you've got a point. Thanks again for showing me around today! I'm gonna go to my room, now, so... I'll see you tomorrow."

"Anytime! See ya!"

I made my way up the stairs to the third floor and entered my room with every intention of unpacking and organizing my belongings... however, like last night, my knees weakened at the sight of my bed, and I just barely managed to change into pajamas before falling into it and drifting off...

Later, at the dormitory lounge...

A young man walks down the stairs as Mitsuru is reading a book. "I'm going out for a bit," he informs her as he passes by.

She glances up at him. "...Hm?"

He stops walking and turns to face her. "Have you seen the newspapers lately?"

"...I know," Mitsuru sighs and sets her book aside. "People who've had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome... I've seen it in the news quite often lately. They say it's due to stress, but..."

The young man smirks, "Yeah, right. It has to be THEM. Otherwise, it's not worth my time..."

"You have a one-track mind..." Mitsuru shakes her head. "Will you be okay on your own?"

"Don't worry. I'm just getting a little practice," he replies, turning and walking out of the dorm. The door clicks shut behind him.

Mitsuru picks her book back up and sighs. "This isn't a game, Akihiko..."