CHAPTER TWO – FIRST DAY FLUTTER (NatSuke)

Daisuke looked around the classroom, wondering what was in store for the first day of school. He was slightly resentful that he had to be separated from his friends for the second year in a row. Kenta and Naoki were in 3-C, while he was stuck all alone in 3-D just like he had been stuck in 2-B the year before. Though he had a few other familiar faces in 3-D with him, like Tatsuo, Mika and Yusuke, it was not the same without his best friends. He stared out of one of the classroom's windows and heaved an exasperated sigh.

The clock seemed to tick by ever so slowly, as it always did on a Monday. Daisuke grumbled further at the thought that he had arrived too early in class—more than half an hour early, to be exact; half of the class had not even arrived yet, and though Naoki had arrived around the same time he did, he was in his classroom already while Kenta was not even at school yet, so he had no one else to go to at the moment conveniently. To pass the time, Daisuke decided to just take out his sketch pad and continue the drawing he had been working on last night—fan art of a certain visual novel game called Space Tales.

As he stared at the image on his sketch pad, Daisuke mused that he was at least getting better again at drawing. He had put off drawing for three months, and a few nights ago, when he started sketching again, the feel of a pencil in his hand seemed alien to him. Nevertheless, he had dug deep and practiced once more, determined to once again showcase his art online to his friends even as he tore off page after page of failed sketches. In complete silence, he took up his mechanical pencil and sketched away. It did not take long before everything around him seemed to vanish, as it always did whenever he was focused on drawing.

He was close to finishing his sketch when he broke off from his drawing trance to check the time. The classroom's wall clock showed ten minutes before 9 A.M., indicating that the bell would soon ring to start off their first class. Daisuke decided to put a few more details into his sketch before putting it away. As he reached down the side of his chair for his backpack to grab one of his HB pencils, he glanced sideways and saw something that caught his eye.

A manga book was sitting atop the armrest of the chair next to his, along with a pink backpack. Daisuke mused that perhaps someone had chosen the seat next to him while he had been busy drawing. Being a fan of manga and anime in general, Daisuke glanced at the book curiously. Among all the manga issues he had seen, this particular book seemed unfamiliar to him, which was surprising considering how many manga series he knew from browsing a lot online. He set down his sketch pad on his chair's armrest and looked around, wondering who it belonged to. When no one seemed to approach the chair or anything, Daisuke picked up the book and took a curious look at its cover.

Parfait Girls. Daisuke frowned thoughtfully. As he had surmised, he had never seen this manga before. The cover and title seemed blunt enough, though; there was an overabundance of hearts and various shades of pink, with four girls in colorful attire striking animated feminine poses as they held trays laden with cupcakes and cookies. Typically shoujo, he mused.

"Hey!"

A girl's high-pitched voice startled Daisuke. For a moment, he wondered whether the manga had come to life and was suddenly speaking. He looked wildly around and saw exactly who it was that had called out to him: a girl with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She was short, with a petite frame that gave her a very young appearance. Her most glaring feature was her short bright pink hair, which was tied in small twin tails with thin red ribbons, and a red bow-shaped clip that adorned her bangs. Her eyes were almost as starkly pink as her hair, and while that was remarkable in itself, the way they were glaring at Daisuke made him feel slightly intimidated.

"What are you doing with my manga?" the girl asked crossly.

"Your manga?" Daisuke asked absently.

The girl let out an angry sigh and snatched the book away from Daisuke's hands. Daisuke was startled once again, this time by the girl's very direct approach. "You don't go touching what's not yours, alright?" she said irritably. "Just because it's there on the chair doesn't mean you get to take it!"

Taken aback by this, Daisuke frowned. "H-Hey, I wasn't gonna take it, alright?" he retorted. "I was just taking a look at it!"

With a huff, the girl picked up her backpack—which was almost as pink as her hair—and stowed the book away quickly. "Well, d-don't, okay?" she hissed. Daisuke saw that she was starting to blush for some reason. "Jeez, I just leave my chair for five seconds and someone's already snooping around my stuff. . ."

"I wasn't snooping," Daisuke replied patiently. "I'm sorry, okay? B-Besides, are you . . . are y-you . . . ?"

"Am I what?" The girl narrowed her pink eyes dangerously.

"Are you . . . er, in 3-D as well?" Daisuke had asked such a question based on two factors: again, he had never seen the girl anywhere before, and her small size made him instinctively assume that she was from a lower year.

The girl's eyes widened. "Of c-course I'm in 3-D!" she sputtered furiously. "Why the heck would I be in this classroom if I wasn't, you idiot?!"

Holy heck, she's feisty. "Alright, alright," Daisuke replied calmly. "In all honesty, I don't think I've ever seen you before in the other classes. That's why . . . well, that's why I had to ask, basically. I'm, um . . . I'm really sorry if I offended you or anything."

He privately wondered why he was even apologizing for such a trivial and honest mistake on his part. Others would have simply snapped back at the girl's attitude with even more vitriol, but then again, that was not what he was about. A few of their classmates were starting to glance at them, and he guessed that their looks were somehow contributing to the girl's ire, so he decided to defuse the situation before it escalated any further.

Thankfully, the girl's expression softened a little, though she was still frowning—and blushing, for that matter. "Well, it's alright," she remarked. "I haven't seen you before, either."

"I guess it's our first time being classmates, then?" Daisuke guessed.

"Yeah, I guess. . ."

With that, the girl moved next to her chair. She looked once more at Daisuke. "I'm sitting here, if you don't mind," she stated.

"It's fine," said Daisuke. Their classes were not that strict when it came to seating arrangements, and any seat a student picked for the first day of school would likely be their seat for the rest of the year. It's not like me saying otherwise will force her to go someplace else.

He looked at the girl curiously. "Would you be able to see up front from back here, though?"

The girl narrowed her eyes once more. "If you don't want me to sit here, then—"

"Ah, no!" said Daisuke quickly. "It's really alright with me. I mean, no one's picked that seat yet, so it's fine. It's just that . . . well, you're a bit, ah . . ."

For a moment, he couldn't bring himself to speak the word "short," not while facing someone with such a temper. The girl, however, seemed to have guessed his thoughts on her own, and she snapped once more. "I know I'm short, but I can see from way back here perfectly fine!"

"Okay, okay!" Daisuke cried out. "The seat's all yours!"

With that, the girl sat down in a huff, placing her backpack on her right side—and a good distance away from him. Daisuke sighed. If this girl was going to be his seatmate for the rest of the year, it would be a very long school year indeed. To ease his mind about things, he decided to get on with his sketch before time was up. He had not gone too far into continuing when the girl spoke up again—this time, with an awed tone.

"Y-You drew that?"

Daisuke looked up and saw that she was leaning towards his chair and peering interestedly at his drawing. She no longer looked angry, and the flush had receded from her cheeks. Surprised, Daisuke only managed to reply, "Um . . . Yes."

The girl opened her mouth again, as if to continue speaking, but instead she decided to simply sit back down in silence. Out of the corner of his eye, Daisuke noticed her sneaking side glances at his drawing every once in a while.

He decided to break the ice a little. "The reason I took a look at your manga was . . . well, I read manga too."

The girl suddenly shifted gears. "You do?"

Daisuke looked and saw that her eyes seemed to have lit up. Instead of a sour expression, she looked positively surprised. "Well, yeah," he replied. "I mean, it's why I draw fan art like this, you know?"

"What manga is that from?" the girl asked.

"Oh, it's not from a manga," replied Daisuke. "It's from the Space Tales VN. Are you familiar with that?"

The girl frowned, thinking. "Not really . . . I don't play VN's that much."

Daisuke shrugged. "That's alright. Anyway, yeah, this is just fan art from that, though I also draw fan art based on my favorite manga and anime."

With a nod, the girl looked away again, and silence fell. After a few moments of this, Daisuke spoke up to break it. "Er . . . I just realized that, um . . . if we're going to be both classmates and seatmates, I should at least know your name."

The girl suddenly looked startled, as if she had just been asked a really private question. She huffed, looking away from Daisuke's drawing and pouting her lips a little. "I'm N-Natsuki Fujisawa," she mumbled.

Daisuke smiled. "Well, nice to meet you, Natsuki. I'm Daisuke Matsuda."

Natsuki merely cast another sideway glance at Daisuke as she nodded back. "N-Nice to meet you too, I guess . . ."

Lunchtime came as a sort of relief for Daisuke after four periods of first-day boredom. As he carried his tray of food through the noisy aisles of the school cafeteria, he scouted the table where he and his best buddies usually sat. It did not take long for him to find them, as they were practically standing up and waving their arms to signal him of their location.

Kenta looked pretty much the same, his hair spiked up with hair gel and his uniform's jacket unbuttoned as always in his own sense of non-conformity; Naoki was a bit more refined-looking than Kenta, with his eyeglasses and his uniform in its proper shape and form. In the most obvious and stereotypical of ways, their looks described their attitude; Kenta was the brash and crass type, quick to anger and quick to joke about anything, while Naoki was the silent and smart one, well-versed in academics and more cultured in his dealings and conversations with anyone.

"All I wanna know right now is who rigged the class lists," Daisuke stated as he sat down with them. "I mean, really? I get carted off to another class during junior year while you two stay in the same class?"

Kenta laughed. "Can you feel it? The thought of dying from boredom, Daisuke?"

"Tell me about it," said Daisuke as he poked the salmon on his tray with his fork. "Also, freaking Math as the first period? On a Monday?"

"Ah, I wouldn't worry too much about it," said Naoki reassuringly as he stirred his bowl of miso soup. "Besides, I think it's better if Math came first rather than last. 3-A and 3-C are the only classes that have Math for their final period for at least one day of the week, based from what I saw of our schedules."

"Dammit, you shouldn't ruin our school year with bad news like that before it even starts, Naoki," Kenta groaned. "Math for a last class? They really wanna torture us, eh?"

"Hah! At least the universe is bringing balance to my misfortunes," Daisuke cried out, brandishing his plastic fork triumphantly in the air. "Feel my pain!"

"Ah, shut your trap, Daisuke," Kenta mumbled through a mouthful of rice and salmon. "You're still gonna be forever alone in 3-D."

"Why don't you go make some new friends, Daisuke?" asked Naoki. "And I think you're in the same class with Tatsuo and Yusuke, right? It can't be that bad."

"Yeah, you should really take a leaf out of Naoki's book!" Kenta interjected with a laugh. "He's already made a new friend earlier! What was her name again, Naoki?"

Naoki sighed. "Her name's Yuri Hoshino," he replied.

"Wait, I think I know her!" said Daisuke. "I think she's that . . . tall girl, right? The quiet one with the, um . . . long violet hair? Or was it purple? Anyway, I think she was my classmate last year."

"Yep, that's her," said Naoki. "She's my seatmate."

"And soon-to-be-girlfriend," Kenta joked. "You should've seen how the two of them were talking earlier before class. It was like I wasn't even there! I kept asking myself, 'Why, Naoki? Why are you ignoring your best friend all of a sudden for a girl?'"

Naoki sighed again. Daisuke frowned a little, thinking. "Don't really know much about her, though," he remarked. "I never really interacted with her that much. She's really . . . quiet."

As he spoke, the familiar sight of short pink hair passing by caught his eye. Daisuke looked sideways and saw Natsuki walk by the tables quietly, carrying a small paper bag instead of a lunch tray. She was frowning again, though Daisuke sensed that she was doing so because she was looking for a place to sit.

"That reminds me, I also met someone new today," said Daisuke. He lowered his voice a little. "She's over there, the pink-haired girl."

He nodded with his head towards Natsuki's direction. Kenta and Naoki turned around to look.

Kenta snickered. "Didn't know you were fond of petites, Daisuke."

"Real mature, Kenta," said Daisuke bluntly. "Her name is Natsuki Fujisawa, and we kinda met . . . er, accidentally." With that, he narrated his first encounter with Natsuki, putting into detail his piqued interest at her manga, her direct and almost-hostile reactions, and how quickly they changed when she began watching him draw. With every word he uttered, Naoki seemed to look more engrossed, while Kenta's smile slowly turned into a chuckle, and then into an outright burst of laughter.

"Damn, Daisuke, you really do know how to leave a good first impression!" he said, clapping Daisuke's shoulder. Daisuke glowered at him.

"Well, I don't think I know who she is," said Naoki, straightening his glasses. "But she appears to be, ah . . . quite a girl."

"Tell me about it." Daisuke let out a sigh. "It's not every day that a person practically screams and yells at you the first time you two meet."

As he said so, he glanced around to see where Natsuki had gone. Apart from watching him sketch with interest bordering on awe, Natsuki had kept quiet for the first half of the day. She did not even cast another glance at Daisuke as classes wore on, nor did she turn to talk to him or anyone else in between classes. Instead, she merely sat in her chair and scribbled on one of her notebooks.

"Ooh, scouting for her now, eh, Daisuke?" said Kenta.

"Kenta, I swear, if you don't stop talking about it like that, I'll—"

"Hi, guys!"

Daisuke, Kenta and Naoki all looked up. Almost immediately, Kenta shut himself up and looked away when he saw who was speaking. "Oh, hello, Monika!" said Naoki politely.

He and Daisuke caught each other's eyes, and the temptation to burst out laughing seemed almost impossible to quell. In their group, Monika Steinbeck was known for two things—for being one of the prettiest and smartest girls in the entire school, and for being Kenta's biggest crush ever since the two of them became classmates during freshman year. Kenta began scratching his head nervously, keen on avoiding Monika's glance. It was all for naught, however, when Monika began speaking again.

"I just wanted to ask Kenta if he's free later," she said cheerfully, her green eyes almost twinkling. "I need a bit of help moving some stuff from the storeroom on our floor, and well, um . . . I don't know who else to turn to."

Thank you, Monika. The instinct to laugh almost broke Daisuke as he looked at Kenta, whose ears turned red. Kenta was easily one of the largest boys in their year; it somehow made sense for Monika to ask for help from him, though why she chose to approach him out of nowhere like this, Daisuke could not guess.

"Well, I dunno about Kenta here," he said, grinning knowingly as he nodded over at Kenta. "Are you free later, Kenta?"

Kenta mumbled indistinctly back, still not bearing to look up. Fearing that Monika might find his gesture disrespectful, Daisuke kicked at his shins from under their cafeteria table. Kenta looked up with a start, yelling quickly, "Y-Yes! I'm free later!"

"Great!" Monika flashed him a sweet smile. "I'll see you later outside your classroom, alright?"

"Ah, n-no!" Kenta cried out, flustered. "I'll just meet you at y-yours!"

"Oh! Well, if you say so," said Monika jauntily. "See you later!"

Daisuke and Naoki waited until Monika was out of earshot before they started laughing. Kenta looked grumpily at them. "Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who's really good at first impressions," Daisuke stated. "Monika must've really liked you as a classmate, Kenta!"

"Well, if you don't count him stuttering and tripping over his own two feet whenever she passes by," said Naoki amusedly.

"Alright, alright, you two had your fun," Kenta grumbled. "Let's just carry on before I knock both your heads off. . ."

The three of them finished eating with around twenty minutes to spare before classes resumed. Daisuke decided to go back to class early in order to finalize his sketch, while Kenta and Naoki made their way back to their classroom as well. The hallway was rather noisy, with some students talking loudly from inside and outside their respective classrooms. As Daisuke walked through the school hallway, he stopped when he saw a most curious sight.

Natsuki was sitting alone on a staircase. She was not looking at anything or anyone in particular as she nibbled rather slowly on a sandwich. Rather surprised at this, Daisuke decided to approach her.

"Hello," he called out as he drew nearer.

Startled, Natsuki looked up. The surprise did not linger for long on her face, however. "Oh, it's you," she muttered.

"What are you doing here all alone?" asked Daisuke.

"Eating," Natsuki replied curtly. "And I was just finishing up. Excuse me."

Daisuke could not help but notice that half of the sandwich she had been eating was still unfinished even as she stowed it away in the small paper bag he had seen her carrying. Nevertheless, he decided not to mention so, fearing an unwarranted outburst. "Well, um, I guess I must've disturbed you or something . . . I'm sorry."

With that, Daisuke turned away, but Natsuki's voice stopped him all of a sudden. "Why did you even come here, anyway?" she asked.

Daisuke looked back at her. "Well, it's just kinda weird . . . I mean, why aren't you having lunch in the cafeteria?"

Natsuki frowned. "It's . . . It's none of your b-business. . ."

"Well, maybe," said Daisuke with a shrug. "But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't eat here or anywhere else. It's just that—"

"Just w-what?" asked Natsuki in a defensive tone.

Daisuke paused for a moment, wondering whether he should be more honest with his reply or if he should just take the casual way out and leave without elaborating much. Just then, an idea flickered inside his head. Knowing he would only have a few seconds to decide on it before Natsuki overrode him and left, he decided to get on with it.

"Stay there, if it's alright with you. I'll be right back."

With that, Daisuke quickly ran to their classroom, snatched his sketch pad, mechanical pencil and eraser from his backpack, and ran all the way back to the staircase where Natsuki was. Though he half-expected her to be gone by the time he returned, Daisuke was surprised to see her still standing there.

"What are you doing?" asked Natsuki, her brow furrowed quizzically.

"Well, if you want, you can watch me draw," replied Daisuke. "I mean, there's still a few minutes left before classes resume, so if you, um . . . if you wanna stay here, I'd be glad to accompany you."

Privately, he was wondering exactly what made him think about such an idea. In a way, he somehow felt that it was the right thing to do, to keep her company. But he could also feel how sudden and even awkward it all was, and it seemed that Natsuki herself also thought so, judging from how her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You're a very weird guy," she muttered.

"Well, everyone has their quirks," said Daisuke with a casual smile. "You like manga; I like manga. You like eating alone; I like drawing while someone's watching."

That last part was a lie, though. Daisuke always felt nervous whenever someone would pass by and cast glances on whatever he was drawing. It was even worse at home, when his sister Hiroko would often tease him about his sketches, especially when they were of the various female characters that he liked in the manga issues that he read online and on paperback. He could not bring himself to say so in front of Natsuki, however, especially since she might think that her watching him draw earlier was wrong. The last thing he wanted right now was an outburst from her while they were out of the classroom, where people would see and hear clearly.

As if to prove his point, Daisuke sat down next to the spot where she was sitting, careful not to block the staircase. Still frowning, Natsuki moved out of his way and simply stood a few steps above him. As he opened his sketch pad, Daisuke said, "If you wanna leave, I understand. I'll just be here drawing until the bell rings."

And with that, he was sketching away, putting in the finishing touches on the sketch he had been working so hard on. He did not turn around to look, nor did he speak up after everything had gone quiet. If she leaves, it's alright. It's not like it's my business to force her to stay.

Quietly, carefully, Natsuki sat down behind him. Though Daisuke could not see her do so, he heard her sit down, and he also knew from the fact that Natsuki did not go down the stairs and pass him by. After a few moments of silence, Daisuke heard silent bites and chews behind him, and he smiled a little when he realized that Natsuki had resumed eating.

"You know . . . you're really good at that," she said after few minutes.

Daisuke chuckled. "Thanks. Though I wouldn't call myself good because I don't even put color in my art," he replied. "It's not as polished as most of the digital art stuff you see online."

"Don't you know how to color?" asked Natsuki.

"With sketches like this one? No," Daisuke admitted. "I'll need to trace everything out with a pen or a marker before I can start coloring, otherwise the pencil marks will just look blurred out. But the tracing part itself is already tough enough."

"Why don't you try it more often? M-Maybe practice does make perfect."

"Oh, believe me; I tried a few times before. I've actually ruined a few of my sketches simply because I couldn't trace carefully enough. If I'm gonna practice, I guess I should be doing it with doodles first instead of near-finished sketches."

When silence stretched between them once more, Daisuke decided to ask, "Why are you eating here of all places? Why not in the cafeteria? I mean, some students eat their packed lunches there as well, you know?"

Natsuki paused before answering. Her voice had a defensive edge to it. "I don't f-feel like eating there."

"Can I at least ask why not?" Daisuke inquired.

She sighed, as if she was getting irritated at his questions. "Well, I'm j-just used to eating alone, okay?"

"Don't you have any friends?"

A longer pause stretched before Natsuki mumbled back, "N-Not that many. . ."

"Hmm. Okay then." Daisuke did not want to assume that Natsuki didn't have too many friends because of her attitude; rather, he thought that it was because she did not have a lot of friends that she acted so sharply and warily. He slowed down the strokes he was making on the sketch pad as he said, "Well, I also don't have a lot of friends. I mean, of course I know some of the people in class, but my best buddies, they're in 3-C. Really sucks."

"I see . . ." Natsuki mumbled.

Not much of a talker yet, I see. Then again, we only just met. "But still, it's never too late to meet new people, you know? I mean, you're a new face for me, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't try to at least get to know you better. I mean, we are seatmates and classmates, after all. . ."

Natsuki sighed. Daisuke heard her crumple up her lunch bag behind him. "Y-Yeah, I guess you're right. . ."

At that moment, the first school bell rang, signaling the students across the school to return to their classrooms before the second and final bell. Almost immediately, students began filing into the corridors as they made their way back to their respective classrooms. Daisuke put his mechanical pencil into his jacket's pocket and closed his sketch pad as he got up. Behind him, Natsuki stood up as well.

"Tell you what," said Daisuke. "If you like, I can come over here every time after I eat lunch, and I'll keep you company if you want. You can eat and watch while I draw."

Natsuki furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Well, it's just a friendly invitation," he replied. "I mean, I dunno about you, but it's kinda better than eating alone and in silence, right? And it sure beats spending the rest of lunchtime in the classroom. Besides, I haven't even asked you yet about a few things."

"W-What few things?" Natsuki looked wary again.

"About manga and anime," said Daisuke with a grin. "I'm gonna be honest, I feel like I'm part of a dying breed of manga lovers in this school. Kenta and Naoki may be my best friends, but they're not exactly manga aficionados. Naoki's more of a technical reader, while I still wonder sometimes how Kenta can read."

Natsuki still looked defensive, but Daisuke could swear that he saw the corners of her mouth crinkle for a moment, as if she would smile at his quip. When she looked at him directly in the eyes, however, her face remained serious. "Why are you doing this?" she asked quietly.

Why indeed? Though Daisuke had explained his reasons earlier, he wondered if Natsuki would indeed take them as they were. Still, he found nothing else to state, and somehow he felt that his reasons were true enough. "Well, like I said, think of it as a friendly gesture from a classmate. It may sound weird or sudden, but, well . . . I'll let you be the judge of that. If you don't want to, though, I totally understand. Anyway, I'll see you back at the classroom."

And with that, Daisuke turned and joined the throng of other students in the school corridors. He did not hear Natsuki follow behind him, nor did he hear her even call out a reply to his words. He shrugged it off and decided to simply get on with the rest of the day as he reentered the 3-D classroom. He sat back down in his chair and perused the art on his sketch pad one more time, rubbing out a few wayward lines and details with his eraser.

Natsuki entered the classroom around a minute after he did. Daisuke cast a glance at her and saw that she was avoiding looking at him again. She sat down stiffly and began fiddling with her hands. Letting her be, Daisuke closed his sketch pad and started stowing it away in his backpack. As he did so, he heard Natsuki speak.

"S-Same time, same place . . . ?"

Surprised, Daisuke looked up at her. Natsuki was still fidgeting in her seat, her pink eyes seemingly displaying both conflict and determination. Every few seconds, she would look at Daisuke and quickly turn away when she would see him still gazing at her, as if she could not bear to make eye contact with him for more than a second. Daisuke had expected her to refuse, or at the very least leave his invitation unanswered.

He smiled. "I'll bring some of my manga along."

Maybe Kenta was right. Maybe he was actually good at making first impressions.