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Daitaro POV

I woke up with a start, and looked over at the nightstand next to my bed. My alarm clock, of course. I got out of bed, and dressed in my school uniform. I pulled on the black shirt and dark pants, the walked out of bedroom, hurrying down the stairs.

Ayaka was already awake, sitting the table and eating breakfast.

"Good morning." I said, still hurrying around to get my school bag.

"You should really try to get up earlier, you know. Your always in a rush." She responded quietly, and I laughed.

"Whatever. Wait- where are mom and dad?" I asked suddenly, looking around. They always said goodbye to us in the morning.

"They left a note." Ayaka said quietly, walking over to me and showing me a small note.

I read the note quickly. Mom and dad had left for another business trip. To America, this time. They wrote that they would be gone for about ten weeks. Ten weeks! I couldn't believe it. I sighed, but set the note down. I didn't want to be late for school.

"Whatever, lets go." I said, hurrying out the door. Ayaka followed.

We hurried to school, just like we do every morning. I started to think about the new school year would be like. It was my last year in high school, and I would be going to community college. Ayaka would be all alone in high school. I was worried about that, even though Ayaka wasn't. She never got worried, scared, or even nervous when it came to school. She got good grades, so she could probably go to any college she wants, unlike me. My grades were slightly below average, and Ayaka was a ingenious when it came to school. She didn't seem to care, though, and that confused me. Pretty much anything Ayaka does confuses me.

As I was lost in thought, I didn't noticed that a boy had just ran into Ayaka.

"Ah!" She gasped in shock, falling down. I was snapped out of my thoughts abruptly, seeing Ayaka looking flustered. I turned my gaze to the boy who ran into her.

He had light brown hair and hazel eyes, and he was looking at Ayaka in concern. I didn't recognize this guy, even though he seemed to be the same age as me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" He said hurriedly "I wasn't paying attention." He extended his hand to Ayaka. Ayaka... was blushing? No, I must be seeing things.

Ayaka shakily gabbed his hand, and he lifted her up from the ground, looking embarrassed. "My name is Hansuke, by the way." He said, smiling awkwardly.

"U-uh... M-my name is Ayaka..." Ayaka said, staring at him awkwardly, clasping her hands in front of her. What was wrong with her? Did she hit her head?

"W-well, I guess I'll see you around." The guy- Hansuke- said awkwardly, waving goodbye as he hurried in the direction of school. Ayaka stared after him.

"Ayaka? Are you okay?" I asked her in concern. She turned to look at me, and her face was red.

"I-I'm fine..." She whispered, looking away. She's not fine.

"Are you sure?" I asked doubtfully "You might have hit your head." But she wasn't listening to me anymore. She was staring in Hansuke's direction.

Hansuke was still walking, but was joined by a girl, who rushed right up to him. I recognized this girl. Her name was Sakura, and she was in my class this year. She was a nice person, but she could get mad easily. Besides that, she was loyal and considerate.

The thing she was most known for was being one of the prettiest girls in school. She had pink hair that went down to the middle of her back, and she wore a red bow on the rights side of her hair. She had light pink eyes shadow, and bright pink lips. She reminded me of the cherry blossom tree she was named after. I had a crush on her in middle school, but I got over it when I saw how aggressive she could get.

Ayaka was looking at the ground, so I couldn't see her expression. "Who... is that girl...?" I started slightly. Her voice was dark and ominous. Her hands were clenched into fist that hung by her sides.

"Um... her name is Sakura..." I couldn't think of any more to say. Ayaka was really worrying me.

"She's..." Ayaka didn't finish. She just looked up abruptly, and kept walking towards school. I hurriedly followed.

"Ayaka... are you sure your okay? Your acting strange." I said to her in concern. She kept walking without looking at me as she replied.

"Brother, you need to stop worrying." She said in her normal, quiet voice, which reassured me. "I'm fine, just a bit tired today." I wasn't sure I believed her, but I let it go. Ayaka would be fine... she always is.

We kept walking to school, not talking much, until we entered the gates.

"I'll show you where your classes are." I offered as we walked by the gates.

"Okay, thanks." She said in a brighter voice. I sighed. I hated that Ayaka had to put on act when we were at school. But it was necessary. If she didn't pretend to be normal, people would get suspicious, and suspect that there was something wrong with Ayaka. The thought made me angry. There was nothing wrong with Ayaka. She was just... different.

We walked to class, and I showed her where her classroom was. She thanked me, then walked to class. I then made my way to my class room.

"Hey, Daitaro! Where you been?" My friend, Rokuro, asked me running up to me as I sat down. He sat in the desk next to me.

"Walking my little sister to class." I said, shrugging. Rokuro nodded, he probably expected that.

Rokuro has been my friend since grade school, and he was one of the few friends who didn't think I was stupid for spending so much time with my little sister. Rokuro was the oldest of six kids, so he was pretty understanding when it came to siblings. Rokuro was extremely funny, and that was his reputation. He was the class clown and proud of it.

Even though he has been my friends since we were kids, he still didn't know much about Ayaka. He wasn't very observant, or maybe he just wasn't curious. He has know Ayaka before she started putting on an act for her peers, but even back then he didn't see anything wrong with Ayaka. I was grateful for that.

He propped his feet on his desk, then smirked at me.

"You know, next year Ayaka will be alone in this school. Maybe it's time for your sister to get a social life." Rokuro grinned at me, and I laughed. If it had been anyone else, I would have gotten defensive, but I knew Rokuro. He just thought my sister was shy, nothing more.

"Like I haven't already thought of that." I said, with a sigh "Doesn't matter, though. Who needs a social life when you can get into any college you want?" I laughed at him. Rokuro wasn't very clever when it came to school work.

"Pfft! Who needs college when you have a social life? On that note; if you want to get into a college, I suggest you get your books before class starts." He said, laughing. I looked near my feet, and realized I had forgotten my bag. I rushed up to my teacher, and asked to be excused. She nodded, and told me to hurry.

I hurried down the stairs, but stopped at the bottom of the stairs, seeing Ayaka. She was standing behind the lockers, peering out from behind the wall. She... was watching someone. I walked closer, and saw that she was watching Hansuke! The boy we met this morning.

Hansuke was staring a rectangular piece of paper, frustration on his face. His hazel eyes burned with annoyance, as he glared at the paper. I recognized that paper; it was the paper they gave to the new students, and it was a miniature map of the school. He must be lost.

I walked up behind Ayaka, and tapped her on the shoulder. She whipped around, and her face flickered between different expressions. Fear, shock, anger, annoyance, then settled on her normally blank expression.

"Brother? What are you doing here?!" Her voice sounded angry, and I jumped slightly. I had never heard her speak to me, or anyone, in this way. She watched my expression, then sighed quietly. "Sorry, big brother, you surprised me.

"Ayaka?Are you feeling alright? Your acting strange... and your blushing! Ayaka, whats wrong?" I asked her, panicking. This was odd behavior. Stalking an upperclassman, yelling at me, blushing-!

"Big brother, look at me." I turned my gaze back to her, and she looked normal. Her blush was gone, and so was any emotion on her face. "Stop freaking out. I'm just tired today, I'm fine." She said in her quiet voice, which reassured me, but I was still doubtful.

"Ayaka... are you skipping class?" I asked her, suspicions tinged my voice, causing Ayaka to look slightly defensive.

"Brother, why would I do that? I just came down here to retrieve my homework, but I became sidetracked when I saw Hansuke. I was debating on helping him find his classroom, or returning to my own, right when you showed up. I'm assuming that you will help him?"

Her quiet, emotionless voice reassured greatly, but I still had a nagging feeling that she wasn't telling the true. I pushed the thought aside.

"Oh, that makes sense... Sorry for doubting you, Ayaka." I said, with an apologetic bow of my head. She shrugged dismissively, walked over to her locker to pull out her homework, then walked upstairs with a slight wave of goodbye. I waved, too. Then I turned to Hansuke.

"Need some help, Hansuke-san?" I asked him politely, walking up.

"Yeah, kinda." He said with an embarrassed laugh "I kinda lost my way. I'm supposed to be in class 3-12. Do you know where that might be?" He asked awkwardly, brushing his light brown hair out of his eyes.

"I'm heading there right now, actually." I said "I'll show you the way." I rushed over to my locker, grabbing my book bag, then turned back to Hansuke. "Okay, lets go." I said, laughing slightly. I led the way upstairs, with Hansuke following.

"Uh... your Ayaka's brother, right? I never got your name." He said.

"Oh, yes. My name is Daitaro. Ayaka's my little sister." I said "You new around here?" I quickly changed the subject, as I didn't really like to talk about Ayaka.

"Yeah, I just moved here. You and your sister are the first people I have met so far." He laughed lightly.

Before I could respond, I saw what looked like a flash of black hair out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head but there was no one there. I shook my head slightly, and kept walking, and we soon reached the classroom. We walked in, and I explained to my teacher that Hansuke was new to the class. She nodded dismissively, hurriedly gesturing for us to take our seats.

When the school day was finally over, I walked outside the school, and waited for Ayaka by the school gates.

She met up with me quickly, and we made our way home. Ayaka didn't do anything out of the ordinary for the rest of the night, so I told myself that she must be fine. I sighed, lying down in my bed. I wonder what tomorrow will be like...


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