Hey guys! It took WAY longer than expected, but here is the 1st chapter. Don't worry about the next couple of chapters though; I've written down what I need to get more speedy updates from now on. But whatever, I'll stop boring you guys now; let's get on with the story! ^ _ ^

Arc 1 - Chapter 1:

A New Year; Kazumi Yoshida

The first thing the girl Kazumi Yoshida felt when she awoke on the first day of the new school year, was the blazing sun on her face. She groaned and hid instinctivly under her bed covers, seeking refuge from the sun's scorching, uncaring blast of heat. After a couple of minuites, she stretched her arm out from under the duvet to her bed-side table in attempt to get her alarm clock, which ironic as it may sound, did not go off and wake her up as it was designed to do. Soon enough, she got a hold of it, pulled it under the covers and was surprised to see that it was still early in the morning, and that the alarm was also still awhile away from it's dreaded 'Beeeep-Beep-Beep-Beep' alarm sound. She was not however, in a particularly great mood this fine spring morning. She hadn't gained as many hours of rest as she hoped to, due to constant fretting and worrying about the next day. Her dreams in the night prior were plagued with images of her friend and the boy that they both liked, either holding hands, each other, or even kissing each other sweetly. These dreams would last tend to last thirty minuites to hour, pausing between the 'Episodes' to allow the girl time to awake distressed, groan, sob and cry herself back to sleep before the whole process would repeat itself. It happened all night long and the girl was exausted. She hated herself for feeling so jelous, so envyous towards Shana. Both herself and she had decided on that Christmas Eve, that she had to give the couple some space and not cause a scene. Regardless of what happened to on that holiday, to Kazumi, Shana was still her friend and she would hold up her end of the promise that they both made. After all if they're positions were reversed, Shana would do the same for her, right?

Even so, Kazumi didn't want to see either of the two at the moment, least of all together. She wasn't prepared for that yet.

Taking advantage of her early awakening and not prolonging the enevitable, the girl got out of bed, headed downstairs quietly and proceeded to get ready for school. After an hour or so spent on getting ready, and after leaving a note for her family saying where she was, she left the house and continued along the familure route to her school. She shivered as she walked beside the cherry trees which were on the left side of the side-walk, again, wishing that she had bought a better Winter coat. She looked up at the little green buds which in a few months time, would be in glorious full bloom. Kazumi loved the cherry blossoms of the spring. They always reminded her of when she was little. Her family, every Spring, would participate and enjoy the annual Spring welcoming festivities that always arrived whenever the cherry trees were in bloom. Remembering least year's festival, she smiled a little at the memory.

"Ken!" Kazumi yelled that evening over the ruckus of the festival crowds, frantically searching for her little brother's distinctive red baseball cap among the hundreds of heads. She had a feeling that this was going to happen. She stopped to catch her breath.

"This is so like him; Attention seeking as usual". Kazumi though inwardly, "Didn't he know running off into a crowd of people was dangerous?"

She sighed, exacerbated with her little brother's actions. The festival had been really fun this year, despite the cherry blossoms being late bloomers. She had had great fun with her all her family, winning prizes at the game stalls, and eating candy and other various sweets and confectionary. Everything had been just about perfect until Ken decided to run off. Kazumi assumed it was to get some over-reaction from her mother who was recently returned from working away in Kyoto. Both of her parents had jobs required having to go on business trips all over Japan and this was one of the few times that they were both present for an occasion such as this. Kazumi didn't mind her parents' continual absence as much as her little brother did. Every time their Mum or Dad left on business, Ken would always get upset and kick up a fuss. Her Dad wasn't bothered as such; He would just say something along the lines of, 'Duty calls', tell one of his bad jokes (which Ken would giggle profusely at), then give one of his cocky smiles and drive off, Ken smiling and waving at his father as he disappeared down the road. Her mother on the other hand, almost made as much of a fuss as her brother did. Between the two of them, Kazumi couldn't decide which of them cried the most. She knew several occasions where her mother had postponed meetings just to stay with 'Her little Sunshine' for just a few more days. Kazumi found these predicaments both heart-warming and tiresome but had grown accustomed to these common situations. And in the case of her mother actually leaving for work, she would always promise to bring Ken back a present which would usually cheer him up, at least for a couple of hours after she had gone. The festival crowds were crammed with boys and girls around her age but didn't see anyone she recognised. She had the sudden though of asking someone if they may have seen her red-capped rascal of a brother but thought better of it. She knew she never had a good way with words. She felt that if she attempted this, as she had done on another occasion, she would end up speaking too quietly or getting flustered to her dismay, before apologising and rushing off with embarrassment showing on her face for all to see. She shook her head, getting that image out of her mind, before continuing her search as she had before.

After enough time had passed for Kazumi to start really panicking about her little brother's welfare,

A flash of red whizzed past the corner of her eye. She jilted her head to one side quickly, following the bright red colour as it charged into through the crowd of people and out of her sight. She immediately went after it, positive that it had been her little brother racing through the gaps between in the groups of people, which was perhaps some sort of game of him. It was fast whatever it was. She kept up with it as best as she could; following it from one side of the waterside all the way to near the shrine where it was the most busy, all the while calling out her brother's name. Just when she thought she had cornered him, the shape darted into an alley which lead to one of Misaki's main streets. Quickening her pace she followed after him through the dark alley, knowing that this could be her last chance at catching him. She could feel the effects of her chronic anaemia kick in, making her body feel weakened and her head feel lightheaded but told she told herself she could worry about it after she caught her little brother. As she emerged from the ally, she was blinded by a bright light which she assumed was from the lamps of the downtown festivities. She didn't stop running however as she knew she was in reach of her brother. She reached out trying to grab his collar to bring him to halt when something collide with on her right. That something was another person who also had been running at a reckless speed around the waterside area. Kazumi was knocked back by the force and landed on her shoulder. A cry escaped from her as she landed on the cold hard pavement. She realised that she must have blacked out for a split-second as when she opened her eyes, a boy was extending an arm towards her to help her up.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" The boy said his eyes full of concern.

Kazumi concluded boy looked roughly about the same age as her in the first second. He was wearing a light blue jacket and was immediately taken in by his brilliant sapphires which were hidden by a few locks of dark brown hair and his small but pleasant smile. It was at this point that Kazumi realised that she had just been staring at this boy for about seven seconds. Upon this realisation, she blushed furiously.

The boy chuckled softly at her reaction.

"Are you alright?" the boy said repeating his question.

"I-I'm OK, I'm not hurt." The timid girl replied, taking his hand blushing even more in doing so. With the stranger's help, she got to her feet.

"Oii Sakai!" A voice called to the boy from further along the street.

The voice was from another boy wearing glasses and a blue scarf.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked as he reached the pair, still holding hands. He seemed to be quite angry with his friends' recent actions.

"Oh god. Now his friend is here? Could this get any more embarrassing?" The girl cried inwardly.

"Hayato." The first boy greeted his friend with a warm smile.

"Wipe that smirk of your face Sakai." His friend retorted, a small scowl materialising on his face. "Why weren't you looking where you were going?"

The boy let go of the girl's hand and scratched the back of his head. He let out a little nervous laugh.

"Gomen gomen Hayato" He replied still smiling.

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to." Hayato said pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. He turned to girl who seemed to be spacing out.

"Sorry about him." He said softly, his scowl turning into a pleasant smile. "Are you alright, Miss…"

"Wha-" Kazumi stuttered snapping out of her daze. Again, embarrassing herself. "Umm, Yoshida. Yoshida Kazumi. I-I'm alright I'm not hurt, I was just caught off-guard that's all."

"That's relief to know." The boy with glasses sighed. He then turned to his friend, his scowl returning. "As for you-"

"Hey!" The other boy put up his hands in defence. "It wasn't on purpose, it was an accident!"

"No really, Sherlock?" Hayato retorted, sarcasm dripping from his words.

The boy named Hayato looked at his friend for a bit longer before his scowl disappeared.

"You really ought to be more careful Sakai." He said shaking his head. "Next time you could put yourself into some real trouble. You know-"

"Umm…" The girl spoke, interrupting the boy's speech before it began. "He- it's not entirely his fault. I was running around chasing after my brother and I wasn't looking where I was going either- Oh!"

Kazumi stopped mid-sentence, remembering what she was doing before her incident.

"Umm" She turned to the other boy "Did you see anyone come out of the ally before I did? Did you see where it went?"

"Oh, sure." The boy answered right away, "Little boy, about 'so' tall?"

The boy put hand to his waist, judging the height of the figure he saw just a few minutes ago.

"He was wearing bright red baseball cap. He headed up that way." The boy finished pointing to further down the road and away from the festival crowds.

"That's him!" Kazumi exclaimed and then sighed, relived that she knew here he had went.

"Sorry but, who were you looking for?" The boy with blue eyes asked.

"My little brother; He tends to run off like this to get my parents attention."

The boys chuckled at this girl's predicament finding it funny.

"H-Hey, it's not that funny!" she pouted.

"Well…" the boy then paused before giving another smile. "It is a little."

The girl blushed again at the boy. She couldn't quite get her head round how he was having this effect on her.

"Umm, anyway," Kazumi mumbled, trying to gather her thoughts so that she could speak. "Thank you for that."

She gave the boys a little bow, unintentionally giving them a clear shot of her cleavage as her yukata had loosened a little prior to her fall earlier. The two boys both blushed a little and averted their eyes, trying to spare the kind girl anymore embarrassment.

"It's nothing really." the two boys said in unison, both looking a little embarrassed.

The girl giggled at the two of them, unaware of what she just did.

"No really, thank you for-"

It was then that the girl was interrupted by the familiar jingle of her ringtone. She apologised to the boys and then answered the call.

"…"

"…Right…right, OK Dad. Thanks see you back at the house."

The girl looked back at to two boys again who were waiting for her to finish up her call.

"My Mum found my brother." Kazumi explained, "And my Dad decided to just call it a night so I guess we are all heading home now."

"Will you be alright getting home in the dark?" the boy asked concerned. His friend Hayato also showing facial signs of concern as well.

"Wh-wha!" Her face turned scarlet once again.

"Having a fuss made out of you by two boys is one thing, but having them walk you home in the dark!" Kazumi wailed internally. She didn't know how much more excitement she could take.

"I-I uhh." The timid girl looked down at her feet, trying to hide her blushes.

The boys tried to stifle a chuckle, abused at her reaction.

"I-I can get home from fine from here thanks." Kazumi mumbled

"Alright then." Hayato smiled, "We need to get back to the festival anyway. Take care Yoshida Kazumi-san."

"Thank you." Kazumi replied, giving another little bow. "You take care too Hayato-kun."

The boy gave a little wave and then turned and began walking back down the road; the other boy however gave a cocky smile before apologising and heading after his friend.

"Wait." The girl said, "What is your name?"

The boy turned round to face her once more. He gave another smile.

"It's Sakai, Sakai Yuji." He replied.

And at that point the fire-works display began to start. It was a cliché type of scene that someone could have written in a cheap romance novel, but at that moment the girl could feel a sudden connection to this boy because of the moment that they shared. She smiled back at him.

"His hands were so warm…" Kazumi dreamed, staring at the glorious firework display.

Kazumi looked back up at the cherry trees and gave a little sigh. She had realised during her reminiscing that maybe that night was when she started to become interested in him. She could help but give a little thought to that boy, Sakai Yuji, before going to sleep that very night, wishing that she could see him again someday. In that final week of the holidays, she couldn't stop thinking about him and when it came to actually getting into high school, she couldn't believe her luck or perhaps her misfortune; she was unable to tell the difference in her new predicament. The boys that she met that night were indeed not only in her school but her very class as well! She couldn't remember that day too well for some reason, but she could remember during fourth period; she looked over her shoulder checking that it was really him and ended up catching his eye. She recalled breaking eye contact immediately, surprised and a little embarrassed. She really didn't expect to see him to be in any of her classes. Thankfully, neither he nor Ike had mentioned the night of the festival to their classmates, to which she breathed a sigh of relief. It was the last thing that she wanted; lots of unneeded attention and teasing. She had enough of that at middle school. She never tried speaking about that night with the two boys in question and neither did they with her. She assumed that they might have simply forgotten about their first encounter. Her frown materialised at the thought. Her mood darkened as she approached the school campus. Old memories of last year crept into her mind: Getting nervous as she walked up to the entrance for the first time, her declaration of her love for Yuji behind the school, discovering the truth about the world…

The School, as it was early in the morning, seemed pretty much abandoned. Not a single student was in the building which made her feel as if she was the only person in the world. It was ridiculous to think like that; to get lonely from such a typical situation, but the girl couldn't help it. She bit her lip and tried to calm down, knowing her emotions were going into overdrive again making her think such depressing thoughts. Kazumi slid open the door to her classroom and looked in.

"Empty." She stated out loud to herself.

She entered the classroom and closed the door, the sound of it shutting echoing throughout the entire second floor. She walked over her seat, sat down and looked at the clock above the blackboard on the far side of the classroom.

7:03, the clock read.

Kazumi stared at the clock stupefied. She couldn't believe how early she arrived at school considering how classes start at 8:30, afterthe New Year assembly of course. It was at this point she realised how tired she was. Her body responded, yawning as if to agree with her brain. Soon, the girl found herself struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Maybe I'll just sleep for a couple of minutes." Kazumi decided

The girl gave another yawn then folded her arms then rested her head upon them. She then out the window and out towards the cherry trees until she drifted off into her dreams.

"Kazumi, how come you're looking so blue?" the cheerful girl asked.

The shy girl looked up from her lunch to her friend on her right. She tried giving a little smile.

"I'm not sad." She replied, trying to reassure her. "I'm just a little anxious, that's all."

The friend tilted her head slightly and pouted.

"Come on Kazumi," She rolled her eyes in exaggeration. "It's easy to tell that your thinking and you've always been at telling lies."

"Well thanks for making me feel better." Kazumi pouted and returned to looking at her half-eaten lunch.

The two friends were silent for a few moments. The only sounds were from the chattering for some other students and the occasional chirping of some nearby birds. Again it was Kazumi's friend who brock the silence.

"So…" She began. "What's got you so down anyway?"

"It's just that…" the girl paused mid-sentence, clearly having trouble putting what she was feeling into words. She fidgeted with the ribbon that was tied on the left side of her hair.

"…That everything is changing?" The girl finished for her.

The timid girl nodded and looked towards the sky. A tiny smile appeared on her lips.

"I wish we didn't have to grow-up." She began "I wish we could stay like this forever. Here at this school; it's finally gotten easier and much more fun than before. I feel like I don't have that weight on my shoulder weighing me down like a few weeks ago."

She looked down from the sky to the ground, her hair falling over her eyes.

"And now, it's all going to change again." A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye travelled down her cheek.

She felt an arm get put round her shoulder and pull her closer to her friend.

"Hey, come on now." The girl said softly, but with strength in her voice. "Isn't change what you wanted? I remember you practically praying for something new to happen. Isn't that was graduating from Middle-School to High-School all about?"

Kazumi nodded her head. Her friend smiled widely again and rubbed her friend's head in a gesture of affection.

"Then what are you crying for you weird-o?" The girl laughed, her voice filled with good nature.

"Wha-?" the timid girl stammered. "I-I don't know really."

"You just getting sentimental because it's our final week here?" the girl asked

The girl nodded again.

"Well as far as I can see you've got nothing to worry about: You've got good grades, a really nice personality… and you've got huge boobies!" the girl burst into hysterics after shouting the last part. The timid girl jumped away from her friends prying hands in defence.

"B-Be quiet ******!" The girl yelled back at her friend, who was now rolling around on the floor still laughing.

After a while, the prankster managed to gain control of herself and calmed down.. She gave a contented sigh, took one look up at to look at the timid girl's face which was beetroot red and exploded into hysterics once more.

"Come on!" Kazumi objected crossing her arms over her chest, "It's not that funny!"

Eventually the girl managed to get her friend under control and sitting beside her again. They sat side by side, just watching the little birds that flew by in the sky.

"Anyway," the friend spoke, continuing their conversation from earlier. "As for your worries about high-school; I'm going where you're going, so you have to worry about being alone."

The shy girl turned to look at her friend, her eyes much more energetic and full of life than before. Her friend looked at her with a questioning look before it turned into a cocky smile.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that to you last week; I'm going to Misaki Municipal High as well!"

"I'm so glad." The shy girl smiled, "I'm so happy you are going there as well. Thank you."

"Hey, don't worry about it." The friend replied, "I can't just let you go there without knowing anyone and besides you really fun to be around."

The moment was broken by the loud ringing of the school bell however. The students quickly finished their lunches and then headed up to class racing each other along the corridors and hallways in a race against the school faculty to get to class on time. On the third floor she could have sworn someone was calling her name. She paused to listen. The voice was familiar and was getting louder and louder, calling out to her. The voice seemed to bounce off the walls and windows, coming from all directions at once. In an instant she knew who the voice belonged to.

The girl opened her eyes.

"Yoshida-san," the voice spoke softly lightly. She felt someone shake her shoulder, in an attempt to awaken the sleeping beauty from her slumber.

The girl groaned and looked to the left. Before her was Ike Hayato. In an instant, she recalled that Ike had confessed to her on that Christmas Eve and that she hadn't returned his feelings.

"Ike-kun." She murmured sleepily, acknowledging his presence.

"Umm, Yoshida-san," The boy began. "Class should be starting soon."

"Wha-"

Kazumi lifted her heavy head and looked at the clock. It read 8:02. She groaned and put her head on the desk, uncaring of what her classmate thought about her. She was too tired to really care at that moment.

"How can an entire hour just disappear in the blink of an eye? It's so unfair, and I still don't feel any better…" The girl complained inwardly.

"Yoshida-san, I think you should maybe go the infirmary; you don't look that well." The boy frowned.

It was at this point that she turned her head on the desk to look at him directly. She blinked twice trying to get her eyes to wake up before trying to sit up straight at her desk. During these actions, Ike managed to get a glimpse of her eyes which were slightly blood-shot. The boy's eyes widened at this image.

"Yoshida-san, forgive me for asking but how much sleep did you manage to get last night?" the boy asked politely, genuine concern reflecting in his eyes.

"Umm… not much." Kazumi answered, most likely not thinking about the implications of the question.

The girl sat there for a minute not saying anything; she simply spaced-out, seemingly too tired to think properly.

"She looks so drained, not like she was the last time I saw her. Christmas Eve…"

"Umm, Yoshida-san-"

"Actually Ike-kun," the girl spoke still rubbing her eyes, "I think I will go to the infirmary." She did her best to give him a smile to settle his doubts.

The boy opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come to him. He wished to talk about the night and to give her another chance with him now that Sakai was out of the picture but he stopped himself. If you took a single glance at the girl you could tell that she had more pressing problems to think about right now. So until then, until Kazumi got over Yuji, he would still his tongue.

"Do you want me to come with you to the infirmary?" he asked trying to be helpful.

"…No, I can get to there by myself thanks." She said getting up from her desk. She smiled at him as she made her way to the door, trying to look natural and not cause him anymore concern for her. She knew that she would have to talk to Ike eventually but now was not the time; she could barely even think for her drowsiness never mind discuss Ike's feelings for her. Besides, there was something about her dream right there that bothered her.

For the life of her, she could not remember her friend's name or face and she felt terrible because of it. Kazumi treasured her friends dearly and couldn't believe that she could forget someone that easily. It was almost as if there was a shadow being cast over that part of her own memories, memories of Junior High. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts, but to no avail; the face would always escape her. She sighed as she walked along the corridor which led to the far end of the school. She guessed that it was only natural for her to not want to remember anything from junior high. She hadn't any fond memories of that place and had decided to leave it all in the past. As she stood in the doorway of the infirmary and went over to the pleasantries with the nurse, she remembered having a conversation with that same friend, only vaguely though

About leaving everything from those gloomy years in the past.

Girl felt a sudden jolt of pain in the back of her head which caused her to stoop and clutch it in a natural reflex to somehow stop the pain. Images flashed before her eyes about that friend from the past. Some happy, some sad, but all the while, the face escaped her. And then, the pain vanished as mysteriously as it came and the images faded with it. She felt her other hand be taken and Kazumi look up to the nurse who looked at her with deep concern in her eyes. She asked questions about her health, medical history and all those things that people ask you if you are at a hospital. The nurse concluded that due to lack of sleep, her chronic anaemia was having an effect on her causing hallucinations and headaches. She immediately sent Kazumi to one of the two medical beds in the room to get some sleep. Kazumi didn't object but asked about how this would affect her school work. The nurse just smiled and said, "Your own health is more important right now."

The sleepy girl did as she was told and as soon as she lay down in that bed, she was drawn into a deep sleep. Her dreams were filled with Yuji. And again she cried quietly, and pitifully.