**Author's Note at bottom**
Chapter 2 - A Newly Formed Trio
4.2.05, 1:53 PM
It's free period, and Kousuke is ranting about baseball. I'm sitting next to him under a tree in the school courtyard. The whole campus looks so much more welcoming with the cherry blossoms and the warm sunshine. I lean back on my hands and let my head flop back, too. My short, dark hair blows nicely against my face.
"And then, in the next inning, you won't believe it, he-" His voice kind of starts to fade out. I occasionally say "mhmm" or "yeah". He's so excited that he doesn't even notice I'm not really paying attention.
"Hey, Makoto," he suddenly says, an urgent tone in his voice.
"Hm?"
"Have you seen that guy around before?"
Reluctant to sit up properly, I just say, "Uh, who?"
"That one over there. Will you actually look?"
I launch my body forward so that my arms are wrapped around my knees. And that's when his presence hits me like a train. His hair that is almost ocher red in the spring sunlight. His sharp brown eyes that say he's alone, but not lonely. His tall, lean figure and the lax way he walks, his head tilting slightly to the side, his hands stuffed in his pockets, the edges of his untucked shirt crinkling around his wrists.
"No idea," I say, a bit dumbfounded. I feel like I saw him the day before during our enrollment ceremony, maybe just a glimpse of his hair... at any rate, he seems familiar.
"Transfer student, I guess. Look at his hair! You think it's dyed?"
I frown. "Don't think so."
"Should I bring him over here? Looks like he doesn't know anyone at this school."
"Since when were you so sociable?" I tease.
"Aw, shut up." Kousuke pushes himself up off the grass and walks over to the new guy. I see their mouths moving, and then they walk towards me. I get up.
"Hey, Makoto, this is Mamiya Chiaki. Mamiya-kun, Konno Makoto."
We bow our heads slightly to each other. "Nice to meet you, Mamiya-kun," I say without really looking at him. I'm not great at meeting new people.
"Same goes for you, Konno-san."
"Wanna sit?" Kousuke asks. We all sit on the grass, and Kousuke goes straight to asking, "Where are you from?"
Mamiya-kun doesn't look at him and says, "Far away. You've probably never heard of it."
"Is it in Japan?"
"Yeah."
"Oh..." For a moment, all we hear is the sound of other students horsing around and a breeze rustling through the trees.
I spit out to break the silence, "I like your hair!"
Mamiya-kun glances at me. Kousuke's eyes widen, and a smirk starts to play across his face. I'll punch him later.
"Thanks." Mamiya-kun just looks up at the sky, but he's smiling.
Kousuke turns to him and says, "Careful about some guys around here. They don't like people who stand out too much."
Mamiya-kun just shrugs. "I can manage."
"Hey, if you're not doing anything this afternoon, wanna come to the baseball field with Makoto and me? We usually play catch for a bit before going home.
Looking surprised, Mamiya-kun turns his head to Kousuke, then to me. Then, he smiles and says, "Why not?"
"Kousuke, you aren't usually so..."
"So what?"
We're in English class, and the teacher has his back turned, furiously writing on the blackboard.
"Outgoing."
Mamiya-kun is sitting in the back of the class, staring absentmindedly out the window. I turn back to Kousuke and whisper, "Why are you sociable today? Finally making friends?" Teasing Kousuke is so fun, especially because of his principles. He doesn't like goofing off in class. He looks up at the teacher, then back at me, light annoyance apparent in his eyes. He satisfies himself with pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose instead and working on taking notes. I suppress a giggle and look down at my own notebook, which, as of now, has nothing written on the page it is open to.
The bell rings. "Alright, class, your big test is coming up soon, so study up!"
The class groans as we pack up. Our English teacher marches out of the classroom looking delighted, and Kousuke and I migrate towards Mamiya-kun.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah." He slings his bag over one shoulder, holding it by the straps, and we exit the room. "Lead the way."
I take the front of our trio as Kousuke and Mamiya-kun talk.
"You're pretty studious, aren't you?" Mamiya-kun says.
"Top of the grade," Kousuke says proudly.
I can feel Mamiya-kun's eyes on me. "How about you, Konno-san?"
When I don't answer, Kousuke laughs and says, "Let's just say she's no competition for me."
I whirl around to whip out a comeback when Mamiya-kun walks right into me. He catches me right before I hit the floor and helps me regain my balance.
"Sorry," I say, trying to avoid looking at him.
"No, I'm sorry, I should've seen where I was going." I quickly turn around and throw over my shoulder at Kousuke,
"He's only top of the grade because he doesn't have any friends."
"What?!" he chokes out. I smile. "I have just as many friends as you do!"
I look at Kousuke, careful to keep walking. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
Kousuke faces Mamiya-kun and asks, "Who do you think has more friends, me or that little squirt?"
Mamiya-kun doesn't hesitate for a moment and says bluntly, "That little squirt." I break down laughing, and Kousuke looks so irritated that all I can think about is how much I need a camera.
"Hey, Mamiya-kun, you're not getting away with this just because you're the new kid," Kousuke shouts over us. That's when I realize Mamiya-kun is laughing, too. "You either, Makoto!"
"I'm so scared!" I taunt, and I run ahead.
"Oi!" Kousuke yells, and the three of us dash down the hallway, together.
**Author's Note**
I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.
Eep flashback! The reason I put the dates and times is because I will be doing this often... jumping back and forth in time I mean. I hope you find it useful!
Thank you for the views and continued support! I welcome criticism, just please be gentle. I'm new at this.
BTW, this is an updated version of the chapter... you may notice I moved this to a month after the date in the original chapter for accuracy (to time flashbacks better, I did some intense researching on the Japanese academic school year and decided April was better for this... ) so yeah. There you have it!