It only felt like a minutes passed the previous night when Kota's eyes, at one point, felt revealed to the darkness of his room only to see the tranquil light of the moon shine through his window. This may be familiar moment to any who rests upon their bed only to think of what may be of the next day. In particular, students on there first day of classes never seem to go to sleep easy with thoughts and wonders of the new semester and year that is beginning to them. It was a time when new things could happen and tonight was no exception at least that is what Kota thought as his eyes grew heavier. He slowly blinked as his eyes shifted ahead looking up at the ceiling as his arms shifted up before sliding his hands underneath his pillow. He could hear the his arms moving against the cloth sheets of his bed as the fan hummed in the background. A sigh came from his mouth as he blinked once more only to once again make his thoughts setting down to focus. The boy only found the thought to be a reminder that even though he had gone through his first year and was beginning his second, nothing had changed or perhaps none that he truly noticed or wanted to acknowledge. He could give a short hum in thought wondering why he felt such a way. The young man did in fact meet new friends during his first year and did have some happy moments but were they really not enough to say that it wasn't anything new? He continued with the thought as he claimed it wasn't like anything too big happened. Other then going up a grade he felt normal as if something was missing. Kota at this point began to allow this thought and feeling slowly drift back with all the others that swam upon his mind as his eyes slowly closed hearing the fan hum as and even that to seemed to drift away and eventually go blank.

As it seemed his eyes were closed but suddenly the feeling of the atmosphere around him became peaceful and so suddenly he found himself in the local park not too far from here sitting on the swing. Kota couldn't help but look over when he heard the swing next to him moving. The screech of the chains echo'd into the boy's ear followed soon after by a cute giggle and soon after being called out by the same voice which seemed so close. His eyes finally moved down only to see a young girl swinging with a smile as her hands gripped the chains that held her swing up. Her eyes covered by the long veins of her hair. To Kota dreams such of these have occurred more then once but never was he ever able to see her face nor did it seem like his dreams ever let him ask the name. The lad could only go with it. Smiling back before having a small conversation with the girl and oddly enough it for some reason brought joy to him. Although the feeling was so familiar as if it really happened, Kota knew it was just a dream yet at the same time his mind seemed to nearly make him forget about it and he'd find himself conversing with the girl whom he did not know. Eventually the scene had changed and he found himself on the hill looking over Hasugami, a place of memory for Kota. It was one of the places that he was able to pend time with an old friend. Here he found himself moving towards the girl which then suddenly began speaking yet to Kota no words came out. It was as if he had just went completely deft. Kota could only suddenly frown and eventually felt pain in his heart as if he could hear the words the girl spoke and it only placed wounds upon his heart. His right hand rose to his heart clutching onto it, not as if he was in pain physically but as if he was being broke emotionally. Eventually the boy could feel his legs going weak as his eyes once again closed. Reopening with himself watching a car leave. He could only shake his head before suddenly hearing the sound of an irritating siren. The sound only grew from a faint sound as it became more real and it was in this moment that Kota was reminded that he was in a dream. The time his body shocked him back to reality was now as he could completely hear and feel the sheets beneath him. It was then when the boy realized he was finally awake.

Immediately the boy stretched out his arm, reaching for the machine and pressing the button upon the top, suddenly turning the alarm off. It was then when he felt his heavy eye lids slowly rise to be revealed to the morning sun. Kota could only find himself laying there as he drug his hand over his forehead to block some of the sun. A gentle sigh came from his mouth as his eyes looked up at the brightened ceiling he was looking at to what felt only minutes ago in the dark. His mind felt more at ease then it did in the night yet when he tried to remember what he dreamt, only small second pieces came in to where he couldn't even remember where he was properly. the boy sighed as boy flung his hands to his sides upon the bed before pushing himself up before propping himself up, crossing his legs with his head down. His eyes obviously heavy as any who just woke up. Kota rose his hand and scratched the top of his head before pulling the sheets from his body before lifting himself up to start his first day. Starting by going to the restroom and splashing water upon his face which was a normal thing for him to do. It never failed to wake him up. After that he immediately went to the shower where he could only think of how tiring the first day would be having to stand in the assembly and meeting his teachers. It wasn't that he disliked the free day without any homework but the day itself just seems dull. The boy sighed as he rested his arm upon the wall as he could feel the water sprinkling upon his back. The soothing sound of the water splashing upon the floor of the shower was relaxing as anything in the morning of a school day time was rushed and it had to come to an end.

After his shower and making sure he was dry, Kota got dressed in his uniform and then styled his hairstyle in his normal wild style after looking in the mirror. When the boy was finally ready he gave a smile before grabbing his student case and made his way into the hallway of the the home. He listened for only a second but not much was heard other then the sound of an old clock hanging on the wall. This was normal since his mother had to wake up early and head to the cafe but through her kindness managed to always leave food on the table ready for Kota. Once the boy got downstairs, he immediately sat down at the kitchen table and ate his breakfast at a normal pace until noticing he only had about thirty minutes to get to his school. Seeing this on the digital clock never made him feel good and at times he'd wake up with only fifteen minutes to do everything, he considered himself lucky. With that Kota lifted himself up taking his toast with him, holding it by his mouth as he locked the door with the case in left hand. Once his hand became free again, it had risen to once again hold to the toast as he turned to see his neighborhood lit up by the warm morning light. It was then when the boy finally began making his way towards his destination and the beginning of his new year.

As Kota walked down the street and got further into town, he made sure to stop by the cafe. Immediately opening the door made the bell upon the door ring and in that moment a woman who looked to be only five foot three, Light brown eyes and brown hair rose her head with a smile. She was cleaning a glass along with two college looking students who seemed to immediately go about waiting their tables for the few people that were there. The woman grinned towards Kota, setting her glass upon the bar counter over a napkin before walking around raising a finger to point at him.

"Oi! I'm surprised, Y'know I was worried you would sleep through your alarm on the first day. Especially from how you jacked up your sleep pattern during summer hehe" She said looking down observing if her son had dressed properly. Her eyes drifted onto to his waist before lifting up again to make eye contact. Her arms folded as Kota began to speak.

"Mom, you know the alarm never lets me sleep that long. Anyways, I was just coming by to check up on you" Kota said with a smile as his hand went to scratch the back of his head. He then looked around noticing there wasn't much customer's in today but that was natural due to the fact that it was around eight-fourty.

"Hehe what a good son! I am fine, you need to hurry along though. I'll be home late as you know but I'll be sure to leave you some food on the table!" She said turning around heading back to the counter. Kota smiled and nodded turning around once again placing his hand upon the latch of the door as he pushed his way out making his way into the warm sun again. Only a gentle breeze went along his face he turned to the right making his way to the crosswalk waiting for the sign to change. As he waited he noticed kids around the neighborhood walking from all directions to head towards the school's courtyard which was straight ahead. Shopkeepers were out preparing the stocks and cleaning the ground in front of their doors. Cars of course made there way through the traffic lights as well and after waiting only a minute Kota found himself walking across the street along with a couple of other civilians who just happened to be going the same way when the sign upon the machine changed.

Kota had finally made his way in and begun to walk through the courtyard until he suddenly heard a girl's voice from behind him call out to him with a smile.

"Kota! Hey!"

Kota turned with a smile, before stopping waving towards the girl. Who appeared to have red hair, oval glasses, and green eyes. She was rather small and fun sized. Along with wearing the typical uniform for females, she had two green braids in her hair. The hair length came to her shoulders. Kota often thought she was rather kind and adorable looking, always seemed to smile yet at times was very fragile. Always had a 'hello' for everyone. Kota turned back around as soon as she caught up. They always seemed to walk side by side in the courtyard if they managed to see each other but it was obvious they were just friends, especially when a familiar guy showed up.

"Yo! Boss!"

A boy with short straight black hair, fairly tall called out to Kota. The boy seemed to be jogging towards the two who stopped and waved. As soon as he caught up the three once again began walking normal pace before talking.

"Kaoru, Yuta. ready to start the new semester?" Kota had asked looking down at Kaoru who was the girl, closer to him and then lifted his head to Yuta, who yawned and stretched. The red head decided to speak first as both of her hands were upon the handle of the case.

"Yes, I worked on my garden and then went to my grandpa's farm to assist him for the summer!" She said. Kota nodded giving a simple reply that it seemed nice. Yuta seemed to nod with an agreement before speaking.

"Boss, you and Kaoru should've came with me to Okinawa City for the week! It was great. The bands, shopping and just endless fun!" Yuta said excitedly expressing himself with his hands.

"That sounds great but then I'd be like how you are now and in that mode, I would never get up from my bed" Kota said teasingly and in response the two next to him laughed. Along the way, a few girls had waved at Kota and his friends as well as a couple of guys. Eventually they found them in front of the assembly hall's door which they opened and immediately went into place standing in their class "2-B" waiting for the assembly to begin.


With only five minutes of waiting the assembly started at 9:05 exactly and only lasted fifteen to twenty minutes hearing the regular speech that it is a new year, how they wish everyone to succeed but what seemed so different was when the principal got to the last part.

"You have all endured so much and we're proud of you. Know to all of you, this is a time of change, when you figure out what life has in store for you. This semester will be different and perhaps you will meet with fate. Every step of the way leads some where and each of you are on the right path."

Although that had been meant for everyone, it made Kota feel as if he could exclude everyone from the room as if he was sitting down in his chair and the principal was speaking directly towards him. The boy blinked as the quote went through his head only to regain sense when the assembly was over. Yuta and Kaoru decided to go on ahead to check with old club mates as Yuta just sat there for awhile letting everyone clear only to watch everyone clear the hall to get to their home-room.

When Maemi awoke that morning, she saw nothing more than a deep, bloody orange and tasted nothing but the remnants of a nightmare. Her breath still rose and fell quickly in her throat, her hands still clutched at crumpled bedsheets, and she was wrapped up like an autumn moth in the comforter, feet bound by a night’s worth of worries. As she laid there, staring up at the ceiling as though looking at it long enough would make it dissolve and return her to the world of sweet dreams and bitter nightmares, she caught her breath and steeled her mind. Today was the day she returned.

It was almost laughable, the way she put it, but to Maemi’s sleep-soaked mind, the matter was all too grave. She shed the sheets, and she didn’t bother making them, instead drifting into the bathroom the moment her feet hit the floor. She was caught in that early-morning trance: sticky eyes, stiff limbs, and the remnants of sleep still caught in her joints made for a long and painful journey from her bedroom to the bathroom across the apartment. Her bare feet hardly made a sound over the carpet, the colorless thing worn dull and hardened by time and the countless footsteps that had passed over it before. Had she cared to contemplate it, Maemi, perhaps, would have been fascinated by all the stories the worn carpet might hold.

At six in the morning, though, Maemi was in no mood to think.

It wasn’t particularly early; in fact, since she now lived in a smaller town with a nearby school, she had more time to sleep in during the school year. Just coming off break, however, when she’d slept until ten o’clock in the morning, the contrast was stark. Her eyes stung and burned when she flicked on the bathroom light, and it took her a moment to adjust before she could fumble for a comb and run it through her hair. Thankfully, the humidity near the seaside kept the static-laced hairs, still mussed from tossing and turning at night, from sticking to her face. Her frizz, on the other hand, was acting up. She’d be braiding her hair today.

That in mind, Maemi ran herself a hot shower. She gave the ancient thing a moment to heat up while she shed the shirt and the shorts she’d worn to bed and grabbed a bottle of her stronger conditioner from the cabinet next to the sink. This time, Maemi did care to fold her clothes and leave them neatly by the door alongside her towel. The simple actions of turning on the lights and combing her hair had been enough to wake her up at least halfway even if the quickly-accumulating steam was doing its best to put her to sleep again. By the time the first drops of water hit her back, however, her eyes had lost their sticky coating, and she was aware enough to feel the twisting feeling that had crept into her stomach.

She tried to ignore it as she rubbed the shampoo into her hair, but by the time she’d finished putting in the conditioner, it had turned into something almost overwhelming. Maemi wasn’t sure why the sudden nervousness had attacked so suddenly, but whatever the reason, she didn’t like the thought of it. As if nightmares the night before hadn’t been enough, the sickness in her stomach had made itself at home that morning. Why now? Why today? She supposed it was the day itself that was making her nervous.

She really wished the feeling would go away.

Maemi flattened her palms against the wall and let the water run down her back. Rivulet streaked down her skin, her hair, her fingertips and fell to the floor in a neverending flurry of tiny droplets throwing their suicidal bodies into the basin below. She took deep breaths, slow ones, to calm herself down. She could feel the roiling in her stomach slowing some, but what she was doing was nowhere near as effective as she needed it to be. She was on the verge of having a mental breakdown on the first day of school. Something— though she didn’t know what— was very wrong.

The last few days had been a harrowing affair. The weekend before, Maemi and her mother had packed all they owned into three suitcases, picked up, and left. The plastic dishes as well as the cheap furniture had been left behind, as they’d sold it to the new occupants knowing they wouldn’t be able to take it with them. Neither Maemi nor her mother owned anything of particular value other than perhaps a laptop computer and some jewelry. It wasn’t that money was particularly tight; the women just didn’t buy things they didn’t deem necessary. Maemi had stuffed the entire contents of her closet into her suitcase along with her desk lamp and the few books that wouldn’t fit inside the biggest suitcase. Her mother’s library was hardly the largest of things, so they’d brought that along, as well. But that was all.

Well, she’d put her laptop in her backpack along with her headphones and a number of other trivial things to make the hours-long train ride less of a nightmare, but aside from that, she’d taken few belongings. For the first time in years, they bought new towels and replaced their cheap dishes with a set slightly nicer than the ones they’d owned before. A family of two didn’t need much. One trip to the supermarket had been enough to leave them needing nothing more than a bigger cooking pot and furniture. With that, Maemi had lived the past few days in a barren room trying to find ways to hang the curtains to make it look a little less empty.

Maemi drew the towel around her. It felt strange— she’d grown used to the old ones she’d had at home. Having something so... fluffy felt odd. She wondered if it’d wear off in a week. That was the way it tended to go with new things. It was like the shipbuilder’s dilemma: at what point did something stop being new and start becoming old? Worn down? Or was nothing ever new at all, and was it all just a construct of the human imagination?

She shut herself up, dried herself off, and wrapped the towel around her body before picking up her nightclothes and heading back to her room. She could hear the tea kettle whistling from the kitchen behind her, but she didn’t turn and look lest she stop and drip all over the floor. It was cold, anyway, since her mother had run the fan all night to cool the place down. Were they not on a strict budget for buying new things for the apartment, Maemi would have suggested they get another one to strategically cool the place instead of just blasting it at night. Buying brand new furniture, though, however long-overdue, was going to be pricey no matter how they put it.

Maemi threw the towel on the yet-unmade bed, quick to change into her one matching set of underwear before the chill started to seep into her skin more than it already had. She wasn’t the most superstitious of people, but she couldn’t help feeling as though it was somehow luckier to match. She didn’t consider it for long, though, before she was tucking the hem of her shirt into the waist of her uniform and slipping on her socks and shoes. Despite the heat and humidity outside, the air bit her wet skin inside. The sun still had yet to warm the room, as she’d left the curtains drawn and the window shut during the night— an old habit from her days in the city. She supposed the air wasn’t as poisonous out here as it was there. After dabbing away the circles under her eyes that came with a terrible night’s sleep, Maemi played a bit with her makeup and pulled her hair half-dry into a pair of pigtailed braids. It wasn’t long before she’d made her way back out of her room and into the kitchen, where her mother waited with toast, a plate of eggs, and the kind of smile only a mother could let spread across her face on days like this.

Seeing her mother lightened Maemi’s mood significantly, and after a brief hug, she felt almost normal again.

“It was hot last night, wasn’t it?” Maemi’s mother remarked offhandedly. Maemi nodded in agreement, though she begged to differ— with the fan at full power running all night long, it’d hardly been an inferno. “Ah, but it’s good to be back. The weather here’s great for citrus. I used to have the most amazing orange tree— do you remember?”

She smiled at the memory of the orange tree they’d grown out in the farthest reaches of the apartment complex’s spare land when she was younger. It had been out by the dumpster, so it was hardly a landmark worth stopping by and bothering to remember, but the fruit it produced had tasted so sweet with just the right amount of sour.

“Of course I do,” Maemi replied after a beat. “I wonder if it’s still there.”
“Mm, probably not. Not in that dump.” her mother tossed back through a mouthful of toast. “And I mean that in a very literal sense.” The two women broke out into a brief moment of laughter.
“Still, it must be worth checking. I doubt anyone there would have taken the time to remove the corpse even after it died.”
“After eight years? If the weather hasn’t gotten to it, the animals would’ve torn it apart.”
“Good point. But there are a lot of things I’d do to taste that fruit again, and I’m not above stopping by anyways, even if all I do get to see is a corpse.”
“On the off-chance there is still something there, make sure to bring some home for me. Those oranges would go well with dinner.”
“Are we having something special for dinner?”
Maemi’s mother winked. “Well, it was supposed to be a surprise.”
“Oh? Really? What is it?” Maemi was about to say more, but with a glint of mischief in her eye, her mother shooed away from the table before she could say anything more.
“Oh, just get going, you! Or you’re going to be late!”

***

Arriving at the school gates, Maemi was once again gripped with the sense of dread that had haunted her as she’d been washing her hair. A far cry from the comforting sanctuary of her quiet albeit empty home, she was surrounded by gleeful voices greeting each other again after a long while of being pulled apart. It was everything she’d expected: old friends greeting one another after too many days apart, girls standing in clusters and giggling and gossiping before they were pulled apart by more important matters, and boys being just as loud and rambunctious as ever. The incoming students milled about or got to know one another, and the ones who kept to themselves did what was expected of them. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so she supposed she shouldn’t feel so nervous.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling, and it was beginning to annoy her.

Maemi scouted out an empty chair chair in the slowly-filling ocean of the things and sat herself down as she tried her best not to make eye contact with any of the other students. Her row began to fill, and she murmured a few ‘hellos,’ but by the time the assembly was ready to start she’d become engrossed in the novel she’d brought with her that morning. When the lights in the auditorium dimmed, she stowed the book back in her bag.

The presentation wasn’t particularly interesting, but Maemi caught a few odd words at the end. Though she ended up disregarding them, they weren’t helping her feelings of dread. By that point, she was beginning to wonder if she’d gotten an upset stomach. Was the water here bad?

When the opening address was finished, the students began to clear out and sort themselves into their respective classes. Maemi had spaced out a bit during the talk, much to her own shame— ever speaker deserved her attention, and it was hardly fair not to be paying attention when she should— and it wasn't until at least three quarters of the student body had left that she noticed anything had happened. She grabbed for her bag and sifted through it in an attempt to track down her schedule, but she turned up empty-handed.

Desperately, she grabbed for the pockets. Surely, her schedule had to be in there? But there was nothing. She knew she was in Class 1-C, but aside from that, she knew nothing of the school. She hadn't at all bothered to memorize classroom numbers or even names. She picked over her backpack one more time for the schedule, but nothing turned up. She stood, slowly, and made her way to the inside of the school, following the students who'd lagged behind in the auditorium to the main part of the school. Usually, the classrooms were labeled, so she'd be able to find it easily enough.

Right?

But the system was somewhat different from the one she was used to, and all Maemi ended up was lost, wandering the halls like an idiot, not even knowing where she'd started off. She couldn't be lost. She just couldn't be. Not on her first day of school. She was such a moron. How could she have lost her schedule?

Wandering was all Maemi could do at the moment, so she kept doing that in the hopes she'd stumble upon something at least mildly useful. It was almost time for class, and there she was, lost in the halls like a complete idiot. Even if she'd wanted to ask someone for help, the halls were quickly emptying.

Not that she'd wanted to talk to anyone in the first place.

Kota could hear the kids voices lessening as more of the children exited the hall. His back was leaned against his chair as his arm hung over the top, relaxed as his fingers were perched over next nearest seat. He sighed figuring he'd have to get up in only seconds a few seconds due to the fact that he would be late if he was to fool around. This only made him shake his head as he noticed just how tired he was. It felt like only minutes ago that he was awake and ready to start his day. As Kota completed shaking his head, it had stopped in an angle looking towards the exit and it was then when he noticed a girl walking out of the room. His eyes widened as if he had just seen a ghost but he didn't understand why. The boy lifted himself up in that moment and was going to walk up to her but she had already left the room in that moment. He rose his hand to his forehead.

"Jeez… Just what was I thinking.. I wouldn't have the slightest clue to what I would've said anyways…" Kota spoke softly out loud. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his schedule that claimed where his home-room of 2-B would be held. He looked down and noticed it would be on the second floor, not far from his classroom of last year. The boy then grabbed his suitcase from the ground and began walking in a calm pace. There wasn't too much of a rush if there weren't any stops. Just walk at a normal pace and you'll be fine or so he thought.

Kota had once again passed by the courtyard before entering the main class building. A lot of the students had made there way into the classrooms by this point and if you were to look through the windows you would see most of them sitting over there desk socializing, making new friends, talking with each other before there school lives once again began. Kota walked with his case behind him only to bring his right hand to his mouth as he yawned. It began to become so quiet to where he could hear his footsteps on the first floor as he made his way to the stairs only to of course hear people going up the stairs themselves. This of course didn't mean the halls were empty. Only a few staff members and students were there however as kota began to turn towards the stairs he noticed one of them stood out. He once again paused as he saw the same girl that he noticed in the gym. Kota observed as the girl seemed to be looking for her class. It showed signs that she had to be new and didn't know her way around. He then called out to her.

"H-hey! Do you by chance need help?" He said slightly loud as he began stepping towards her as he arms went down to his side. He then smiled to not show how exhausted he was or to give off any false vibes. Some of the teachers smiled seeing the boy help out as others didn't care. His eyes did go to a near by digital clock that had been hanging off the wall to make sure he had time. Yet at this point the question had been asked and there was no backing out. A few minutes was all they had left.

"If you want, I can take you to your room - Hopefully we'll have good timing" He spoke in a rather calm yet worried tone as he placed his left hand on his hip as he looked up at the clock standing still only to give arms length space between them. It was than when the warning bell had rung. A sign that they definitely needed to go where they should, however there was no way he'd just leave the girl like this. Besides his teacher would be nice on the first day… or so he hoped.