Halcyon

Chapter 1: Forward Momentum

I found myself awake, stolen from my dreams by the droning of an alarm clock's buzz. I lifted myself to an upright position, clicking the reset button on my alarm almost subconsciously. My room was illuminated by the warm, morning glow of spring, although my vision was too blurred at the moment to enjoy it fully. I started my third year yesterday on a calm footnote, and there was little that could come between the good streak I've gotten started. At least, until I noticed the time that read on my clock:

07:17

My state of fatigue vanished in an instant. I flung the covers off of me as my brain kicked both itself and my body into third gear. I raced from one side of my room to the other to get myself ready, a process I would have started nearly half an hour ago. I tripped over myself plenty of times in the process in my panic-driven effort to be punctual. To almost anyone else, this probably wasn't a big deal, but since I was working towards graduation without a scholarship, I decided I wouldn't fall into bad habits like truancy. So this was an anxiety spike I did not need.

"Alright, uniform is on," I began talking to myself, something I only do in certain situations. "Now, where is my bag?"

My bag, it held all of my homework, all of my textbooks. Effectively, it was a student's lifeblood, and I misplaced it. No, I knew exactly where it was actually. I opened my door, albeit not too quietly since I wasn't thinking straight, and rushed over to the one place I knew to look: the room of Sunohara Youhei. Without a second thought, I snapped the door open and scanned the surroundings for my bookbag. I found it propped up against the kotatsu in the center of the room. Once I had my bag, I hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind me. Once I reached the landing and put my shoes on, I bolted out of the entrance and began my morning commute.

Now that I was on my way to school properly, I was a little bit calmer, though I was still tense. I felt each breath that I drew and blew, trying desperately to maintain a tempo to keep my stamina going. Why did I sleep through the alarm? I've never slept through it before, what changed that? Did I go to bed a little too late? No, that couldn't be the case, I was in bed by 9 last night. Maybe my alarm malfunctioned? No, it was working when I woke up. Maybe, I just slept in-

"Izumo! Look out!"

As I turned to investigate the voice, a sudden impact took me off my feet. Thanks to my train of thought having an 80-20 split of "get to school on time" and "internally monologue," I couldn't tell what it was that hit me until it was too late. After a short distance in midair, I landed on the pavement, while hearing the screeching of tires.

I groaned shortly after hitting the ground. "Damn... that hurt…"

"Yo! G'morning!" The voice which belonged to my assailant was...

"Good morning, Kyou," I forcibly uttered as I sat myself up, patting dust off of my jacket. "Well actually, maybe not a good morning..."

She laughed nervously as a response. "Sorry about that! This bike is pretty tricky getting used to and all!"

"That's your biggest concern?!" I angrily thought to myself, but didn't dare say out loud. Kyou Fujibayashi has been a good friend of mine since our first year. As such, I knew her temper was on a hair trigger, and her ability to avoid getting chewed out was amazing to say the least.

She flipped the kickstand for the bike and walked over to me, outstretching her hand. "C'mon, you don't wanna be late, do ya?"

"Are you going to give me a ride?"

"Unfortunately, this thing only really fits one."

I sigh and grab her hand, feeling pain in my ankle as I'm lifted to my feet. "Ouch!" I barely hobbled to a stable stance.

"Izumo, are you okay?" She worriedly asked.

"Well, considering what just happened," I began, "are you really surprised that, at the very least, my ankle is probably sprained?"

"I can do without the sarcasm, Izumo," Kyou deadpanned.

I sighed again. "Thanks for not leaving me on the ground, at least."

"Can you get to school on your own?"

"Not on time, but yeah, I can."

"That's fine, at least you have a reason for being late."

"Is this really a legitimate reason?"

She hopped back onto her bike and flicked the kickstand up. "Not really, but don't say a word to anyone! You know how uppity the school is with bikes!" She revs the scooter, and is off without another word, leaving me to shamble to school.

"Well, that's one way to start a Monday…" I thought as I began limping to school. As I continued at my slow pace, I couldn't help but think about the scene that just played out. Kyou learning to drive was one thing that worried me, but having experienced her carelessness firsthand makes me fear for the wellbeing of the town, both utility poles and pedestrians alike.

I ended up only missing homeroom and first period, much to my relief. What wasn't a relief was the sudden revelation that just occurred to me: I had forgotten my wallet in my rush out the door. To make matters worse, this revelation came at lunch, on an empty stomach. I contemplated what to do as I sat at my desk. I could just not eat lunch today, it isn't like I haven't done it before. But I didn't eat breakfast, so if I skip lunch I'll be even more hungry than I am right now.

As I continued to have another internal monologue, my train of thought was interrupted by a different familiar voice. "Yo!"

I looked up at the man in question. "Ah, Youhei, what brings you here?"

"Oh nothing in particular," he begins, while flashing a brown, rectangular object. "Just figured I'd return your wallet!"

My eyes widened as he handed it to me. "You- where was it?"

He smiled. "You left it in my room. Must've been in a hurry this morning."

"Yeah," I confirmed, rubbing the back of my head, "I slept in until seven-ish."

"I heard you making a racket around that time. It woke me up."

"Are you upset about-"

"Damn right I am! I was in the middle of a really good dream! Do you know how difficult it is to go back to sleep and resume a dream you woke up from?!"

"I know that feeling-"

"And you still subjected me to that kind of torment!"

I sighed for what felt like the thirtieth time today. "Where's Okazaki? You two are usually stuck like glue."

"He went ahead of me to the cafeteria," he began. "I needed to get your wallet back to ya, so how about we go down there together?"

I smiled at him as I got up from my seat. "Sure thing, Youhei. Let's go!" The both of us leave the classroom and enter a very packed hallway.

"Okay it was nowhere near this busy when I stepped outside," Youhei said in an annoyed tone. "Where did everyone come from?"

"Everyone had the same idea as us, it seems," I replied, weaving through the crowd. Youhei stayed close behind, although the chaotic stream of students made staying together nearly impossible. But somehow, by some miracle, we made it to the stairwell in one piece. The trek from the third floor to the first was almost as chaotic as traversing the halls, if not moreso. By the time we reached the cafeteria, it was packed like a concert venue. One half of the room was in line, while the other half was trying to find seats.

Youhei's eyes widened at the sight. "Gah, it's even worse here!"

"Let's just get our food and go to the courtyard." I said, turning to him for a moment.

Youhei nodded in response, and we weaseled our way into the congealed mass that was the line for the cafeteria. Since childhood, I've hated being surrounded by people, and this situation was making me incredibly anxious. We were practically shoulder to shoulder, the line becoming longer as time wore on.

After a few minutes in line, I grabbed a sandwich and waited by the door for Youhei once I had paid for my food. But with Youhei, things were never straightforward, and soon I found myself witnessing tension within the cafeteria, as a modest group of rugby jocks approached my old friend.

"Sunohara!" One of the bigger jocks announced, which cleared some space around the gathering. "How many times do we have to complain to you about waking us up early in the morning?!"

I could see sweat forming on Youhei's brow. "Ah, guys, please! I don't know what you're talking about! I was asleep this mor-"

"Do you think we're gonna fall for that crap?!" He bellowed while grabbing his collar. "I heard you stomping around!"

Crap, they think that my ruckus was Youhei. Normally, I'd chalk this up to him being a nuisance, but for a rare occasion, it wasn't his fault at all. I had to stop them before it turned messy.

"You've gotta believe me! I'm innocent!" Youhei pleaded desperately, while the jocks remained unmoved from their resolve.

I swallowed and approached the group. "Um, it's actually my fault that you all woke up early."

The man turned to me, who I recognized as my next door neighbor. "Huh? Sasaki?"

"I woke up at seven and panicked, so I wasn't very graceful with my morning routine, I'm very sorry for the disturbance."

"Now that you mention it," he began, "your door was left open this morning, wasn't it?"

I sighed in relief. "Y-yeah, I was in a real rush."

He dropped Youhei and the gathering soon dispersed into the cafeteria. Youhei didn't waste any time rejoining me. Youhei's ear to ear smile appeared, despite the fact that mere moments ago, he was petrified. "Just so you know, I totally could have taken those guys myself."

"Youhei, we both know how that would have ended," I said without hesitation, earning a startled look from Youhei.

"You have no faith in me!" He exclaimed, which prompted me to chuckle.

"By the way, Youhei, why do you drink that stuff anyways?" I pointed at his juice box. It was pink and had a peach on the front of the carton.

"It's good! Why do you think I buy it all the time?" He said, stabbing the juice box with its complementary straw.

"It's way too thick, though," I argued. "It barely goes up the straw when you're drinking it."

"That's because you don't drink it like a normal juice box," he held the carton out and lightly squeezed it as a demonstration. As he did so, a light pink substance oozed from the tip of the straw. "You squeeze the box instead of sucking on the straw!"

I grimaced at the sight. "Yuck, it reminds me of cough syrup." Youhei had very eccentric tastes growing up, but the gooey peach juice was a relatively new addition to his odd choices in food and drink.

Youhei nudged my shoulder lightly. "Come on, Izu, let's go find Okazaki."

"Right, yeah, let's go," I replied with a nod. "Mopey's around here somewhere."

He laughed as we continued on our way to the courtyard, in search of the only other delinquent this school had to offer.

When we got to the grounds of campus, we properly began the search for Okazaki. Our main problem wasn't so much being unable to spot Okazaki out of the crowd, rather it was that neither of us had any clue where he was. These kinds of searches weren't anything new, though they still confused me by existing at all. Especially considering that the two in question are practically joined at the hip for most of the day.

That said, Youhei was determined to find Okazaki, and I was determined to aid him in the endeavor. "Okazaki's gotta be here somewhere. Did you have any ideas, Izu?"

I shook my head. "I've got nothing; He's both hard to miss, yet so easy to lose."

"Hmm," Youhei looked deep in thought. After a few seconds, he looked towards me again. "Let's go look for him at the track oval. There's always a chance he's over there."

"Alright, let's go then," I tag along with Youhei yet again as we continue down the path. The courtyard was an intricate spider's web of pavement paths, with various inlets of greenery. Besides the various extracurriculars that the school offered, the beauty of Hikarizaka Private's campus was another, perhaps less important selling point for potential students, myself included. The hill which the school sat upon the summit of, for instance, was lush and green, although the obvious flaw was that it served as another potential obstacle for students who were running late.

In the distance, we suddenly heard a rumbling sound, followed by the distinct noise of someone revving an engine. Me and Youhei looked at one another almost in-sync. "Are they back?"

"Seems to be that way," Youhei confirmed. "Sounds like it's coming from the oval. Let's check it out!"

"Weren't we looking for Okazaki?" I asked, tilting my head.

"It's fine, he'd understand. Besides, we might find him over there!" And so, it was decided to put our search for Okazaki on hold. We picked up the pace to the track oval, arriving at a familiar sight. Delinquents from a local industrial school, swirling their bikes around in the sand. These delinquents put Okazaki and Youhei to shame in terms of both truancy and rebellion. They've been doing this since the middle of our first year, so it's been something of a tradition for them since. We found a nearby bench and decided to simply observe the bikers.

I began to unwrap my sandwich as we watched. "You'd think it would get boring for them after a while."

Youhei took another "sip" from his juice box. "They go to an industrial school, this is probably the most exciting thing by comparison."

"I guess so, maybe I just have a different outlook on what fun is."

"Yeah, you're too cautious," Youhei teased. "If you want to know what real fun is, you ought to do what I do!"

"...Getting beaten up by the rugby team-"

Youhei wasted no time interrupting me. "That's not always my fault!"

I chuckled at his defensiveness. "Yeah, but most of the time it's avoidable." I took a bite out of the sandwich. Soon, Youhei was more intrigued with the bikers than anything else.

"Man, this never gets old!" He exclaims as one of the bikers does a donut in the sand.

"Well, it sure isn't boring for him," I thought to myself.

"So, they're back again?" I recognized the voice over my right shoulder in an instant and looked towards it. Sure enough, it was Okazaki, propping himself on Youhei's head.

Youhei continued watching, oblivious for a handful of seconds. "Yeah, right on schedule for the start of the- hey, what are you doing on top of my head?!"

"Resting," Okazaki deadpanned.

"What are you, a crow?!"

"Of course not. No crow would dare try to land on your head."

As the two continued bickering, an eruption of cheers drowned out the bikes. This prompted us to look towards whoever the crowd was cheering for.

"Who's that?" Youhei asked, acting like he wasn't just flailing around.

"Whoever it is, she seems to be drawing a bigger crowd than the delinquents," I observed. She took a few steps forward onto the courtyard, her silver hair flowing in the sudden gust of wind. She then approached the delinquents in a calm but stern manner.

"Why is this happening?"

The sudden revelation that there was another person here besides Okazaki and Youhei threw me for a loop. I looked behind me and saw the person in question: It was a senior with an eccentric pair of what looked like antennae sprouting from her hair.

Okazaki sighed. "This school is one of the best in town. I guess they don't like that all too much." He began to unbutton his blazer.

"Okazaki, are you gonna get involved?" Youhei asked, looking up towards his friend.

He took his blazer off and slung it on his forearm. "It doesn't feel right to let her face off against them alone."

"You won't need to worry about Sakagami-san!" Yet another voice announced their presence. I looked over to see a junior student wearing a gym uniform.

I stopped listening to the conversation to study what was unfolding. The girl, Sakagami, stood in an authoritative stance, similar to how a teacher would stand when scolding a student. I couldn't make out anything she was saying, since she was so far away, but I could infer that she was likely reprimanding them. Despite the distance, I could see an aura in her that I'd only seen once before. She was just as, if not more terrifying than the hair-trigger-tempered girl I'd known since my first year.

"DON'T SCREW WITH US!" Bellowed one of the bikers with a particularly ugly hairstyle. The two bikes revved their engines and charged the girl.

"What is she doing?! She's gonna be-"

And then, it was over in a flash. Two bikes laid on the ground, with three delinquents down for the count. I glanced to the side, and saw Okazaki and Youhei agape at the display, and soon, I found myself mimicking them.

"Interesting," Youhei remarked unenthusiastically.

Unlike Youhei, my intrigue was through the roof. "That's all you have to say? That was incredible!"

"It was impressive, that's undeniable. But it seemed to be too impressive. Like it shouldn't have been that amazing."

"Hearing you be critical over anything worries me," I deadpan.

"What do you mean?"

I pondered for a moment before responding. "No, it's nothing. I'll tell you later."

I look back to the field, where Sakagami was dragging the bikers away. These guys were hardened delinquents- they had the capacity to become violent. In fact, there was one instance of that happening last year. Yet this girl had made mincemeat out of them in the blink of an eye.

"I'll have time to think about it later. I should finish my food before lunch ends…"

A few hours passed me by, and before I knew it I was standing outside of my part-time job. The sun was still high enough in the sky to illuminate the urban world around me, though calling this place urban was a stretch even by my standards. Sure there were elements of urbanization, but much of Hikarizaka held onto its small town feeling that I adored back home. One of the most urban places in this city was its train station, which served as a hub for the community.

My job is at a small corner shop just a few hundred meters from the station itself. I'm not allowed to work many hours, and my schedule is sporadic, meaning I could have three shifts one week, and one shift the next. The reasoning for this is because, as a student, I wasn't technically allowed to have a job, since the school forbade it. It mainly serves as a personal time sink, and as a way to make a personal income so I'm not entirely dependent on a monthly inheritance.

I began my commute to the dorms, passing by sparsely spread utility poles. The street lamps hadn't kicked on yet since the sun was still plenty bright as is. But I knew they'd be on later, glowing a pale yellow to imitate the sun for a few hours. Normally, I would be walking in relative darkness, but they let me go home early, which was good for me since I was bored out of my mind.

Soon enough, I found myself at the steps to the dorms. I was hesitant as I approached the door, expecting another stampede to flatten me. After waiting for a moment, I finally entered the building, being greeted by a familiar face. "Hello, Misae-san."

The dorm mother, Misae Sagara, looked up from her task, which seemed to be sweeping from the looks of it. "Ah, Sasaki, good evening!"

The overall silence of the landing was disconcerting. "Where is everyone?"

"They're in their rooms," Misae began, "before that, they were giving Sunohara a piece of their minds in regard to his music."

"Well, that isn't very surprising," I reaffirmed with a chuckle. I slid out of my shoes and placed them on the nearby shoe rack.

Misae then gave me an inquisitive look, with her free hand on her hip. "You're aware that you left your door open this morning, yes?"

I gave a nervous laugh. "I was in a real bind to get to school on time."

"It's fine, just be more cautious next time," she reassured with a smile, returning to her sweeping. I moved past her, turning left down the corridor until I reached the door across from me. I yawned and opened the door, revealing the messy interior of Youhei's room, a sight I'd grown accustomed to. Youhei was at the kotatsu in the center of the room, with Okazaki across from him.

"Hey, guys," I began.

The two looked up at me, with Youhei beginning the greetings. "Yo, Izu! Good to see you!"

Okazaki followed suit. "Hey, Sasaki."

I stepped over the refuse that peppered Youhei's floor and sat down at the kotatsu. "Man, today was boring."

"Huh, I forgot you worked today," Youhei commented, looking up momentarily.

I give an uneasy laugh, rubbing the back of my neck again. "I don't blame you, I kinda forgot, too."

"Sasaki being late? That's a first," Okazaki jabbed harmlessly.

"I-I must've slept through it and hit the snooze button," I explained awkwardly.

"I knew my truant way's would rub off on you, Izu!" My faux blond friend confided, a hearty smile spreading from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yet I still got to class before the noon bell."

"I think he'll have to be late more than once to be on our level of truancy, Sunohara," Okazaki deadpanned.

I set my bag down beside me. "You two have your delinquent ways, I'm just, well, me."

"Yet you still hang out with us, specifically that blond troublemaker-"

Youhei immediately retorted. "You're just as bad as me!"

"Well, at least I show up to class before noon."

"Why are you both making fun of me for that?!"

Me and Okazaki gave a slight chuckle, but were interrupted by a thump from the wall to our left. "Keep it down!" This outburst sent Youhei ducking under his kotatsu with a high-pitched squeal.

To anyone else, this would be an odd sight, but this was simply how my life is: friends in high school, killing time and boredom with one stone.

And something made me feel like it was going to get weirder than this. That this year in particular was going to leave a large imprint on me.