"I'm Tomoya Okazaki, It's nice to meet you all and I hope we get along well" I bow to the class and a small ripple of applause flows through the room. Yesterday was uneventful and today, Monday, I start classes. My fellow classmates seem friendly enough and I'm sure they'll be welcoming.

There's only one familiar face that I can see. It's the dark blue haired girl with the glasses from the cafeteria. She's looking straight at me with an analytical expression. Is she trying to remember me or is she measuring up my personality? At first glance, she seems like a logical type but maybe there's more to her than meets the eye?

Nurse told me to keep the sling on to prevent my arm from being dead weight. It'll be annoying to have to wear it all the time but I guess it's better than having my arm dangle without any indication that it's dead. There are a few students here in similar situations… obvious markers for their faults.

"Take a seat next to Miss Hakamichi, if you please Mister Okazaki" the teacher brings me out of my thoughts and points to an empty seat next to the girl from the cafeteria. The seat is next to the window too. So her last name is Hakamichi… that's an interesting family name. I walk towards Hakamichi and bow to her quickly before taking my seat. I'm a little uncomfortable, I have to admit, I have no idea how to communicate with her. What do I do? Do I try to make gestures and make myself look like an idiot? I'm pretty sure she'd hate passing notes to me as a method of communication.

The lesson gets on the way with Japanese. I don't really have that much of a problem with this particular subject, it is my native language after all, I just can't seem to find the drive to immerse myself in these kinds of lessons. I end up looking out at the window with my slim work laptop open on the desk in front of me. I only half pay attention to the class so I don't catch most of the content. Before I know it I feel someone tap my shoulder. I turn my head to find Hakamichi standing right beside my desk with her arms folded. Her face tells me she's a little irritated but what did I do. She reaches over to her desk and picks up her text book and note book up. She jots something in her notebook and then shoves it before my eyes. Group work time so stop spacing out!

(Oh… guess I must have missed that part)

I quickly nod and she fetches her chair and plops herself down on it. She wants to work with me? I don't have a problem with that but doesn't she have other friends in the class to work with?" She passes me another note. I'm Shizune Hakamichi, nice to meet you. This is the first time I've had to introduce myself through writing it down. I type up on the laptop [Tomoya Okazaki, it's nice to meet you too]

I guess she's caught on to my lack of writing skills and now switches to using my laptop to type up what she wants to say.

[I take it that arm was your writing arm?]

[Yeah, that's why I have this laptop]

[I assume that you got that disability recently?]

She asks a lot of questions for someone who's deaf and probably mute. I don't really want to talk about my fight with dad and she probably wouldn't want to read it either. And I think we need to get on with our work…

[Don't we have work to do, Hakamichi?]

She suddenly lets out a silent gasp. Has she only just remembered? But then she frowns for some unknown reason.

[Just call me Shizune, I don't mind.]

This is one weird experience. Having a conversation through a computer word processor is just flat out strange to me. Especially because the person I'm having a conversation with is just sitting two feet away from me. I look at the assignment we have been given. It seems fairly simple but I really don't want to do it. It's a writing task, we have to describe our partner as creatively as we can. Actually, this could be pretty fun.

Shizune has already begun her passage because she is writing with blazing speed on her notebook. Wow… she must know what she's going to write about me. I try peeking at what she's writing but I can't see, she's blocking her work from my view. Let's have a little fun.

*Scene Break*

I'm actually very proud of my work, I've depicted Shizune as a sound mage who has the ability to remove all sound from the area by vibrating the air to such a frequency that it is inaudible to human ears. It's not a very useful type of magic when it comes to battle but it's great for support and sneak attacks.

Shizune covers her mouth and a silent giggle escapes her lips. Well she likes it at least. I was worried she'd take it the wrong way and think I'm trying to insult her.

[You're very creative Tomoya] She types onto my laptop. Since when did I let her use my first name? I smile at her and she returns the favour. Something has been bugging me though

[Does writing everything you want to say bother you?] This gives her pause and she doesn't type anything for a few minutes.

[Yes, it's frustrating. But it's my only method of communication with other students. Being Class Representative requires me to talk with my students a lot. It's a lot to write up]

(So she is the Class Rep)

That's got to be rough. I'm surprised that the school doesn't have a translator for her, she must know sign language, this is a specialist school after all. Maybe I should ask.

[Haven't you been offer a translator?]

[No, I'm fluent in sign language but I don't want a member of staff following me around all day as a medium of communicating. That has to drive anyone insane] I guess she's write but isn't that what sign language translators are paid for? I don't want to argue it though. [You avoided my question earlier…] crap I was hoping she would have forgotten

[It's a little complicated, and it's something I'd rather not talk about] She seems disappointed at this. She's a nosey one. The bell rings and we are dismissed for morning break. Great, now's my chance to scout out a good napping spot…

(There's that interest in napping again…)

I save my work and pack up my things. I bow to Shizune and head out. If I recall, there should be a library somewhere on the third floor. I head up the wooden staircase and I'm met by a corridor of doors… great, which one is the library?

I open the furthest door and I really can't believe my luck, here it is! Some students are already here in the main seating area. Most of them are doing a little studying in between classes and others are casually conversing with their friends.

I walk up to the counter and ring the bell once. It's best if I just ask where everything is… in case I get lost. A young looking man with jet black hair and stubble walks up to me with a smile.

"Good morning sir, how can I help you?" he asks politely. I try to think of something.

"I'm new here, do you have a fiction section?" he nods and points to an opening between to bookshelves.

"Just through there, there are a few bean bags there too"

(I think I've found my hide out…)

I thank the man and hurry over there with haste. Right now, it's just a recon mission for future reference. As much as I want to take a nap, I really can't skip classes on my first day here.

I round the corner of the opening and… oh… a girl? She's sitting on one of the bean bags in the corner. She's alone and reading a pretty large book.

She has long dark purple hair with a fringe that covers most of the right side of her face. I take another look and… oh my… the hidden part of her face is severely scarred, it goes down the side of her neck too. In fact I can see scars on the top part of her right hand. I can safely assume that possibly her whole right side is severely scarred too. That's awful, I dread to think what she went through to get those scars.

Thankfully she hasn't noticed me so she doesn't know that I've accidently been staring. Should I approach her? She looks immersed in the book she's holding so I don't want to interrupt.

I'm here now, so I might as well act like I'm looking for a book. I step up to a book shelf. I almost miss the quiet gasp. She must have noticed me. I take a quick peek behind me and I give a little gasp of my own. She's gone a rigid and tense. Is she bothered by my presence? She's nervously shaking and her book is slipping through her fingers very slowly. Is she having some kind of fit?

I turn to her but I don't approach. "Are you ok?" I ask her and another whimper escapes her mouth. Her shaking is getting worse and the book falls to the floor with a thump. Maybe she's having a panic attack? I take a slow step forward but no more than a step. "Hey, are you alright? Do you need me to get a nurse?"

She cowers into the bean bag and attempts to make herself as small as possible but she's still shaking. What's wrong with her? Taking another look at her, she doesn't seem to be having a panic attack… does this have something to do with her scarring? I back off and step away. Let's stay cautious here Tomoya. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you" I feel like I'm trying to talk someone out of doing something regrettable. She's not relaxing at all. What should I do?

I don't know what it is… but this girl reminds me of a violet, she's beautiful to look at but very delicate and could crumble if someone so much as touched her. The scars only add to her uniqueness. It truly makes me sad to think of what horrors she must have gone through to make her so… rigid like this. Maybe I should take a more direct approach to this. I take step forward and she suddenly stands up. She covers the right side of her face with her hand and opens her mouth to say something but it doesn't come out.

"Um… do you want me to leave?" I ask carefully but she doesn't respond. She's not moving at all, save for the shaking, I take another step. She opens her mouth again and this time some stuttering words creep their way out.

"I-I-I G-GOTTAGODOSOMETHING!" she yells and bolts for the opening in the bookshelves leaving me alone.

(That was frightening, I hope she's ok)

Should I go after her? I best not, she had that episode just by me being here. I'd only make it worse if I went after her. So why am I running after her?

(Stop Tomoya, you'll make things worse)

I don't stop. My body is taking control and my mind has been overthrown. I exit the library and I'm almost sprinting down the corridor. I can only just see her long hair bounce as she runs.

(Stop, just leave her alone!)

My body refuses and I keep running. Why am I doing this? This is stupid, she's in no state to talk to anyone… so why? She's heading down the wooden stairs and I follow. We end up in the lobby and she's on her way outside. Break is nearly over and I should probably start to go back to class. I guess this gives me a reason now, not a very good one though.

(Go to class, you can't be late on your first day!)

My mind yells and yells but my body still refuses to comply. This is only going to end badly but I still run. "Wait, please, wait up!" I yell. It's pointless though. She's probably blocked everything out until she finds a safe place to hide. If only I knew her name, maybe if I called her name she'd respond… no that's too way cliché and she doesn't strike me as that kind of girl.

A stabbing pain comes across my back and it feels like my skin is being torn. What's happening? "AHGH!" My wound is opening up and I can feel the stiches carving their way out. The pain becomes too much and my legs buckle and I feel the world slow down as I fall to the ground. I knew this was a bad idea. My wound hasn't healed properly yet and the strain from the running has opened it again. I hear a girl's voice call my name. It seems familiar… I can't see who it is though. I'm lying face first on the footpath. I feel the blood escape from my wound.

(At least you won't make things worse with her)

*Scene Break*

"Well you aren't too bright, are you?" Nurse asks in that irritating jovial tone of his. It was stupid to chase after that girl but for some reason my body just went for it. Even now, as my stiches get redone, I'm still confused as to why I went after her when she obviously didn't want me too. Nurse hasn't asked me why I was running like that yet. "So why were you running like that?" Crap… might as well tell him, there's no use evading the question

"I was chasing a girl that had something like a panic attack. I was in the library and I found a girl with what looked like burn scars. She seemed to get really scared when she realised I was there…" I explain. I wince in pain one last time before Nurse finishes with the stitches. He takes off his latex gloves and dumps them in a medical disposal bin. He walks to the front of me and has a stern look on his face.

"Did this girl have long, dark purple hair?" he asks and I nod. He probably knows who she is and what's wrong with her. He nods too. "That was Miss Hanako Ikezawa, she suffers from severe Social Anxiety and becomes very scared and timid when in the presence of another person. It wasn't wise to chase after her Tomoya. She would have had a complete breakdown if you caught her"

That's pretty bad. I mentally kick myself for running after her. "Yeah, I had a hunch that it was a bad idea… my body just acted on its own without my mind's consent" Nurse looks pretty serious. I've quickly learnt to associate that with something pretty big. If I meet her again… I'd better play my cards right, I really don't want to trigger another episode like today. I hear a knock on the door and the voice from earlier speaks up

"Are you done in there?" Where have I heard that voice from?

"Yeah, come in" Nurse says with some of the cheerful tone returning. The door swings open and the first two things I see are the crutches. Oh it's Kaori, she must have found me on the ground and went to get help. I didn't lose consciousness but I didn't see her around when I was lifted up off the ground by a nurse. "Hello again Tomoya" she says as she hobbles into the room. Her hair has been let down and she's dressed in her school uniform. I guess she doesn't always use her wheel chair.

"He should be fine but I think it's best if he takes the rest of the day off. Kaori, be a deer and deliver this to class 1-2" He hands Kaori a scrap of paper that I assume is a note to excuse me from class. I feel terrible. She must have enough problems getting around. Now she has to play courier for my sake. I'm starting to feel a little useless…

"Ok, thanks for patching him up!" she says and then hobbles off and out of the room. Today turned out to be a real blow out.

*Scene Break*

It's that dream again. I'm standing in the darkness but this time I'm not holding a basketball. I'm not holding anything at all. I see a figure of a girl standing somewhere in the distances. She has her back to me but I can tell who it is by that dark purple hair. I lift my left arm up and grab at the void in front of me. Why is she here, in my dreams? I only met her today, why am I dreaming about her? I start to run towards her. I try to call her name but it won't come out. I reach her but as soon as I touch her she turns into a fading cloud of smoke.

I feel heat on my back so I turn around. My vision is met be a roaring fire that shows no sign of stopping. I try to shade my eyes from the glare of the bright orange and red flames. What's going on? Amongst the flames I can make out a lone figure… standing there… watching me. It's her! Hanako! I try with all my might to yell her name but I can't. My voice has failed me. I don't understand… what does this mean?

I'm rooted to the spot and the fire is coming closer. It burns, I can't take this!

(Wake up)

I desperately try to run away but I can't. Move Tomoya! The fire has almost engulfed me and the heat is too much to bear!

(Wake up!)

It's no use, the fire swallows me whole and I'm taken to oblivion. It burns… it hurts… oh god it hurts… I see the figure of Hanako again. She doesn't do anything… only watches me. It's only a matter of time until I am returned to the earth.

(WAKE UP!)

A/N

Hello once again. I shouldn't need to repeat myself, so yeah, let me know if I got anything wrong and yadda yadda yadda.

I've decided to keep Kaori on as a regular character, I'm developing her story as we speak. Thanks for reading!