"Hanako-chan"
"HANAKO-CHAN"
"You must not....die here"
"I won't allow that!!"
A blonde-haired girl seems to be bleeding and losing consciousness as she looks at a weirdly-dressed samurai who's tending to her deep wounds
"HANAKO-SAN!!"
Still bleeding and losing consciousness, another person appears, a brown-haired boy who also seems to be bleeding profusely and appears to be crying.
"Hanako-san, Hanako-san
I'm sorry
I-….I …..I didn't mean to
to do this, I'm sorry"
The blonde-haired girl looked up, and finally….
"HANAKO-SAN!!"
————————-
"Present Day"
————————-
Blue eyes opened hazily and tiredly as it lacked any focus. Their owner seemed to be confused and sleepy as she slowly sat in an upright slouched position.
She observed her room in her half awoken state. Something felt wrong, she just couldn't figure out what it was.
'What was that? That dream…it felt so real. I really thought I died.' She thought, her thought process jumbled up as she blinked slowly.
After a long moment of scrambled thought, she gave up.
'Forget it. I'll figure it out later.'
She got off the bed and made her way to her bathroom to wash her face. The cold water would wake her up fully as was her usual schedule.
She still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong but she ignored it. She splashed water on her face as the traces of sleep washed off with the water.
She dried her face with a towel and walked back into her room. She took a sit on the side of the bed. She reached for her phone on the stand beside the bed when she froze as her eyes landed on the object that laid on it.
There her alarm clock sat as still and unassuming as usual but this time it seemed very imposing and scary.
"I'm late!!!" She screamed as her alarm clock displayed the time to be 7:45am instead of the 7:00am that she planned to wake.
Without wasting time, she rushed into the bathroom to freshen up, and as she reaches for the toothbrush and paste, she looks into the mirror, flabbergasted, as she saw a face which was not hers, a face she had seen from her dream
"Hanako-san…"
A sudden voice calls out to her as she slowly stretches out her hand in shock to touch the mirror. "HANAKO!!, BREAKFAST IS READY AND YOURE LATE FOR SCHOOL" Her ever-loving mother shouted.
She jumps in and out of the shower to take a quick scrub, wears her uniform, packs her bag and rushes downstairs to see her her best friend and neighbour all dressed up, Sakura Emi, also having breakfast at her house.
"Have you seen the scoop of the day? And have you done the project work?" Sakura Emi whispers as Hanako sits to eat her Pancakes.
Hanako was about to reply, but her brother cuts in to pat her on the head as he greets her a good morning. She then continues to converse with Emi, but Emi wasn't listening. She was lost in thought, thinking about Hanako's brother, Akemi Shoto, who she had a very obvious crush on.
[8:00am]
Hanako quickly stood up, got her bag and left the house with Emi, as they continued their conversation on their way to school.
They get to the front of their school, Tokyo Metropolitan High School. The Nostalgia, the start of a new term, the chance to start a new social life, the feeling of having new people all around you.
Despite the fact that Hanako had a phobia for crowds, even worse if they were strangers, she still enjoyed the feeling. They get into their new classes and settle down. The classes are being broken down into A to E for the freshmen, and luckily for them, they got put in the same class.
Students in the class all get to know each other as they introduce themselves, but Hanako and Emi just sit there, with the belief that they are all they need, and there's no need to socialize.
[3:00pm]
7 hours past and the bell rings, signifying the end of classes, and without a moment to waste, Emi grabs Hanako and runs outside to see another schoolmate waiting for them.
"Hanako-san, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Hiroshi Ren"
"Boy- Boyfriend? I- I thought" Hanako says in confusion as she doubted the fact that they are best friends.
"I met Ren on an online dating app over the summer and we've been dating ever since, and at the time, his parents thought it was time to change his school, since his other school wasn't in his favor, so we thought it was a good opportunity" Emi says as she locks eyes with Ren
They all head to the famous restaurant to celebrate their first day in their second level and also the first time Emi and Ren.
They all have a seat and converse as they wait for the food they have ordered.
"Have you guys heard of the legends of the Balladeer Of Celestia" said Ren with an almost dulcet tone.
Hanako and Emi looked at Ren with all uncertainty, puzzled at what he said. He then brings out an old dusty book which had most of its pages torn off, he opens the book and turns it towards them to read.
"The legend says that.....whoever performs this ritual...….shall summon forth...a warrior???…into their world???….." Emi reads out loud.
Ren lets them know of his plan to summon a warrior or even two, Hanako is all in, but Emi isn't.
"Don't you think it's too dangerous, it'll most definitely cost us our lives" Emi yells, as the whole restaurant has their eyes on her.
Emi, furious because they didn't listen to her, storms out of the restaurant and heads home.
Ren and Hanako discuss the time they meet tonight.
[9:30pm]
Hanako and Ren arrive at the Tokyo Metropolitan High School
They head to a class, spread out the chairs and table to leave a big circle in the middle, then prepare for the ritual.
Hanako slits her wrist and pours blood into a gold cup, Ren chants the summoning words along with Hanako
The classroom starts to shake, the ritual symbols on the ground glows, then suddenly dims.
"Huh? Did it work? No one here?" Hanako says.
"I suppose not, something must have gone wrong with the ritual" says Ren while inspecting the ritual symbols.
"Or it's just fake" - Hanako
They both clean up, rearrange the class and leave in disappointment.
[Meanwhile, the ritual symbols in the classroom glows once again]
[Next Day]
It's 8 in the morning, as Hanako wakes up only to see a white haired man in her room.wearing a white robe.
Shocked as Hanako is, left speechless.
"Master ? Is that you ? I wasn't sure up till now, but I came into being not long ago and tracked the only scent I could perceive, it led me here, after hours of speculating, we both have the same marks on our left arm" Shinsuke says whilst still looking at Hanako, head to toe.
"Master? Speculating...?" Hanako's face lights up, realising what he had done.
She throws a tantrum , unable to forget the fact that a grown man, not to forget, one she had never met before, scan her body, whilst she was asleep.
Minutes after throwing a tantrum, she finally calms down.
"So….you mean "I" summoned you?" Hanako says.
"I suppose so Master" Shinsuke whispers.
"Well, we'll figure it later, as for now, My name is Akemi Hanako, a school girl you harassed while she was sleeping" Hanako murmurs, silently waiting for Shinsuke's reply.
"And my name is Nakamura Shinsuke, a samurai you didn't let sleep and summoned him to do your evil lady biddings" Shinsuke says.
[they both look at each other and smile.]