Chapter 1 - Budding Flowers
Daylight wasn't quite breaking over Ohtori Academy. In fact, the sky still held the pre-dawn gloom that was welcomed mostly by masochists and joggers, or perhaps masochistic joggers.
The young lady who went through her morning routine was neither. She awoke, cleaned up, and changed into the Ohtori Academy school uniform, complete with puffy shoulders and short, pleated blue skirt. A few strokes with a brush and a handy elastic had tamed her brown locks from a shoulder-length mess to a tight, high ponytail.
Shaking off the remaining drowsiness, she strapped on an apron and went to the small kitchenette. Within minutes, almost everything was ready, with the exception of her sleeping roommate.
Wakaba Shinohara had counted her blessings that her roommate was also her best friend. She would not have adapted well to the single life, and anything more than a double dorm would have felt crowded. However, since she knew her roommate's habits well, there wasn't terribly much conflict between them.
She paused before the bedroom door, wondering if she should knock. Wakaba knew that she would most likely be dead to the world, maybe dreaming one of those vivid dreams that didn't quite make sense.
She felt merciful today, but just a little. She would wake Lillian up in five minutes when the food was ready. Besides, she wasn't about to condemn her friend to the horrors of the dining hall.
The young blonde teen was dreaming. The images cascaded before her, in no particular order. Men in knightly armor rode on horses, ready for battle. Swords clashed and shields sparked as the call to battle was answered. Surrounding her were her most trusted companions.
She couldn't remember their names, nor could she see their faces. But they were back to back, and their bearing indicated that they had been through many such battles.
This image of battle faded, replaced by a scene of domestic tranquility. It was a low kitchen table, full of breakfast foods. She was struck by how wonderful everything smelled, even the miso soup.
Wait, she asked herself, can you really smell in dreams?
She opened one eye and was rewarded with a bowl of miso soup just under her chin. Said bowl was being held by a slender, very feminine hand. She opened her other eye and saw the owner of that hand, an attractive young woman with her brown hair tied into a tight ponytail. She looked amused.
"G'mrng Wakaba," she mumbled, her green eyes fuzzy with sleep.
"Good morning," Wakaba greeted her. "I was debating whether or not to trust the alarm, but I think this works better. Breakfast is going to be on the table, just as soon as you get cleaned up." With that, she placed the soup out of reach and thrust a cup and toothbrush into her friend's hands. "Come on, Lily. You don't want to be late for the first day of class and kendo team tryouts, do you?"
Lily stretched and ran her fingers through her pale, back-length blonde hair. It hung straight down, except for one incongruous cluster that sprung out in front like an antenna. Accepting the mug and toothbrush, she noticed the time.
"It's barely 5:30!" Lily protested. "Not even the birds are up this early!"
"You're not going back to bed now, are you?" Wakaba asked. She arched an eyebrow and Lily sighed.
"Fine, fine..." the blonde said weakly. She put the cup and toothbrush on the nightstand next to her and stretched. Satisfied for the moment that she wasn't going to just burrow underneath the covers, she swung her legs off the bed and gently scratched the head of a lion plush doll.
"Did Mr. Gao give you any good dreams last night?" Wakaba asked, also scratching the little lion. It had been a gift from Lily's parents, and the little toy was probably as old as Lily herself. Lily joked that Mr. Gao was her dream protector.
"I'm not sure if they were `good' dreams," Lily replied vaguely. "There were a lot of knights and swords and battles and stuff like that. It's all a jumble. Maybe I'll feel better after I clean up a bit." With that, Lily retreated to the bathroom.
Wakaba sighed and laid breakfast on the table. She wondered if it was her fate to be the relatively mature one. Lily was your average girl, a little flighty, but kind and loyal.
Well, okay, in one case, Wakaba could be just as flighty as any girl her age had a right to be. There was just something inherently cool about one of her other friends. She was honest, forthright, and definitely willing to speak her mind. Wakaba had to respect that. There was, however, another person that just bypassed her usual, level-headed defenses.
Almost surreptitiously, she felt in her skirt pocket for the letter she'd written last night. She couldn't have done it while Lily was still awake. She wondered why, of all the handsome males in Ohtori Academy, she was attracted to Kyouichi Saionji. There were rumors that he was a total jerk, royally messed up, and had an ego the size of a mountain. That didn't mean that he didn't have any good qualities. For one thing, he was certainly easy on the eyes, and she could tell that he had his own rules. She just never could figure out what rules he played by, and trying to unwrap that arrogant enigma of a man made her heart beat a bit faster.
Her musings were interrupted as Lily emerged from the bathroom in her school uniform. Not for the first time, the blonde fiddled with the hem of her skirt, uncomfortable with the length-or, in fact, the lack thereof. She'd cleaned up, and pulled her hair into a high, full ponytail tied with a black bowtie ribbon. Long bangs framed an attractive face, although the effect was marred by the faint circles under her eyes.
"Do you feel any better?" Wakaba asked.
Lily made a face. "Hungry. Food. Now, please."
Wakaba suppressed a chuckle. Even when Lily was tired and hungry, and monosyllabic, she was still polite. She guided her friend to the kitchen table with a smile.
Ten minutes later, Lily wiped her mouth with a napkin as she surveyed the remains of her breakfast. Wakaba just shook her head and cleared off enough dishes for three people. For some odd reason, Lily always seemed to eat enough for two, and yet remained slender and petite.
"I wish I could bottle your appetite and your metabolism," Wakaba joked. "I'd make a fortune."
The blonde blushed and bowed her head slightly. "I always eat food that tastes good," she said quietly.
"Thanks for the compliment." Wakaba put on some gloves and started cleaning up. "I'm so glad that I learned to cook."
"So am I." Lily looked around. "Have you seen my kendo gear?"
"It's in the big bag to the left of the door. Your school books are in the small bag next to it. And before you ask whether we can go together, I'm afraid that I have to take care of something on my own..." Even as she said it, she knew it was a mistake.
The antenna-like hair twitched slightly as Lily raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to try to ambush Tenjou this morning, are you?"
"I'm not going to ambush her. I'm just going to give her a little hug."
"Your `little hugs' are done after a long run," Lily pointed out. "What do you see in her, anyway? I mean, I think that she seems nice, but nothing I'd go crazy for."
"What are you talking about? She's only athletic, smart, insanely cool, and she doesn't mind being different."
"So...you're lusting after her?"
Wakaba held up a finger and tried to say something. Her mouth was wide open for five seconds before she turned away, a blush evident on her cheeks.
"Don't you have a kendo club meeting to go to?" Wakaba asked, flustered.
Lily sighed and smiled. Then she came up behind Wakaba and gave her a gentle hug. The brunette blinked, then bowed her head.
"It's okay, Wakaba," Lily said gently. "You're my best friend, no matter which way you swing."
"That's reassuring," the brunette mumbled. "Go on, get going. You don't want Saionji to work you over, do you?"
Lily released her friend and hefted the duffel and her school bag. She may have been petite, but there was definitely some muscle in those slender limbs of hers. With one last uncertain look, she went out for her club practice.
