Re:Live 1 - Dreams That Come True
The school day ended, and the dismissal bell at Otonokizaka Academy chimed serenely. At the signal, the students filed out of the classrooms, chattering casually about various odds and ends. It was a warm spring day, but the cherry blossoms had already scattered from their trees and away in the wind.
Summer was drawing near.
As the hallways of the school filled steadily with talking and footsteps, a young adolescent male stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. He sat upright and looked around. The room was mostly empty, with only the grand piano in front of him standing out. The young man pressed one of the keys gently, causing a soft timbre to ring out sweetly throughout the room.
The young man clasped his forehead as a sharp sting coursed through. He took a deep breath and endured as the pain dwindled away. A drop of sweat trickled down the side of his head, which he quickly wiped away.
"Where am I?" he asked himself, looking around as he brushed his light brown hair out of his eyes. "Rather..." He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking carefully, "who am I?"
The young man walked over to the window and gazed outside. There was a consistent flow of students leaving the school from the main entrance, and even with the windows closed, he could tell the wind was blowing firmly, as the trees were swaying every now and then.
"Excuse me, who might you be?" a voice asked from the door behind the young man.
A teacher peered in from the door as the young man turned around, stumbling over his words. He took a breath and tried to remember at least his name, when, -
"Ah, Manager-san!" a girl exclaimed from behind the teacher. She hopped past her and stepped closer to the young man with a smile on her face.
She had soft ginger hair that seemed to soften under the fluorescent lights. A long portion of it was tied up into a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, and it hung loosely against the right side of her head.
"Manager, you said, Honoka-san?" the teacher asked.
The young man grimaced subtly, unsure of how the situation would play out.
Honoka nodded and explained, "Yup, he's helping us with our practices!"
"Ah, your, school idol club," the teacher said. She turned to the young man and introduced herself, "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Kyoko Sasahara, and as you can tell, I'm a teacher here." As Sasahara-sensei brushed her sleek black hair behind her shoulders, she asked, "And you are?"
The young man suddenly widened his eyes, as if he saw a bowl of rice fly out from the ground, but quickly recomposed himself.
"Hotaka," the young man answered with a gentle bow. "I'm Hotaka Kiimu."