Thank you to the people who reviewed and all the people who are reading this. You make me exceptionally happy.

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Chapter 2

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Leaves drifted aimlessly from their strong branches to litter the floor. Pretty soon, it'd be winter and snow would be falling instead of the leaves. A tap on the shoulder brought her back to the classroom and she looked at the piece of paper between her fingers.

"A project?" she asked the girl who handed her the paper. The teacher didn't expect much from her. Even if she was smart, it wasn't genius and she certainly wasn't much in their eyes except as the girl with potential and nowhere to go. It didn't surprise her. A lot of students already knew where they were going. She didn't. The girl smiled down at her.

"It's a group project. If you don't mind me asking, would you like to join my group?" the girl asked. If she remembered correctly, the girl was Tanabe Kanako. The teachers adored her and many of the other students as well. Why the hell was she talking to a plain-Jane like her? Atsuko blinked in surprise.

"It's fine, but who else will join the group besides the two of us?"

"Well, we need five people. With you, we have four. I'll just ask my friend from the other class period to join our group if he hasn't already gotten nabbed," she said with a giggle. Atsuko merely nodded, watching as the girl walked back to her desk near the front before sighing and cleaning her glasses.

After the initial invitation, she had gotten a phone call from Kanako saying her friend had accepted and to meet her at the school gates so they could go plan somewhere. Though she had to wonder why they couldn't just do it in the library (it was a history class, after all), she had gone to the gates like she'd been asked, and of course, she'd been early. Shutting her eyes, she listened to the sounds of the cars driving past. The sound of fast-approaching heels brought her away.

"Ijiri-san!" Kanako cried out as her chestnut locks batted at her face. The heels of her boots clacked as she ran and against her side, her purse knocked against her hip.

"Tanabe-san," she greeted with a small polite bow and when she raised her head, the faint scent of cigarettes and cologne captured her senses. Raising her eyes up, she noticed reddish-brown tendrils floating on the wind, and when she lowered her gaze to the lighter in his hands, a cigarette dangling from his lips, she knew it was him.