The main hall was filled with students, all freshmen like Hitomi. And like Hitomi, each one of them had passed the tough entrance exam, and would now have the privilege of studying together for the next three years. The entrance ceremony went on, as Hitomi silently prayed for her and her friends to be in the same class.
It was time for the commencement speech. Hitomi wondered who would be the one to step on stage and do the honors. After all, the commencement speech was to be done by none other than the student that passed the entrance exam with highest scores.
Hitomi could hear the sound of shoes clicking the floor behind her get louder. She was joined by the rest of the student body as they saw who it was that walked up to the stage, although Hitomi herself was the only one that was bewildered.
It was him. The boy she had pointed out to her friends earlier that day, by mistake of course.
Coincidence? Hitomi wondered. Probably.
She was curious as to how he'd scored the best marks out every single student present there. He certainly didn't look the part of being bright and smart. Then again Hitomi knew that looks can be quite deceiving.
Thankfully he didn't eat up half the day to go through his speech. There were a few events and students were asked to head towards their classes afterwards. Even though Hitomi at first thought Kyoto Bloom would be all about being strict and elegant, it seemed she was so far having a normal high school experience. "This might actually turn out to be fun ride", Hitomi thought as she arrived with other freshmen to the notice board to find the designated class as they were instructed. Unfortunately Hitomi was going to be in a different one from her friends this year.
"*Sob sob* Why must fate be so cruel upon us three?! Whyyyyy God?!", Sumi began to weep. She was of course exaggerating. It took them a while to console their friend before the three parted ways.
"See you after school Hitomi", said Ichika waving a hand at Hitomi as she went away with Sumi still sniffling herself on Ichika's shoulder.
.
.
.
Hitomi gathered herself up, took a deep breath and entered her new class. It was quite spacious unlike the one in primary school. And there was a bigger white board, which displayed the seating arrangements for the children. Hitomi had arrived a bit early so there were only a handful of students in the classroom. She flashed her cute smile with the group of girls she went past as she went for her desk.
She was on the second table from left in the row before the last.
"What a cliché spot..." she thought.
Since there was no one she quite knew in the classroom, Hitomi was left to herself seated in her place until class was to start. She would have to make some friends eventually, which made her wonder who would be sitting beside her. That seat was still vacant.
Not much time passed as the class' gossip girl group who had already been in the classroom, approached Hitomi and began to interrogate the girl with their curious minds. Hitomi cooperated well with them, as she was (even though she wasn't quite aware of it),a lovely girl. Even some boys in the classroom had been eyeing her ever since they saw her at the welcoming ceremony. After all it is high school. Any boy or girl at this stage of life would have an abnormal amount of curiosity.
Time passed, the bell rang and class filled in with the rest of the students. For better or worse, Hitomi got to find out that her neighbor next-table was none other than the boy that did the commencement speech.
"He didn't notice it right? right?" Hitomi kept telling herself regarding the morning incident as she unintentionally kept staring at him. Suddenly his eyes turned in her direction, and then their eyes met. Hitomi was embarrassed, but gave a warm smile. He looked a bit surprised, but returned her smile with a slight nod.
"Good morning everyone!" Came a cheery voice from the door. It turned out to be their homeroom teacher. Everything worked out perfectly fine that morning, in contrast to what Hitomi mostly expected. For some reason though her neighbor seemed a bit troubled.
"Guess this won't be a bad year after all…"
.
.
.
The bell rang for lunch break. Hitomi unpacked out her lunchbox. She observed the class to see a few students doing the same thing as her. Amongst them was the boy next to her.
Well, this company is better than no company, she thought to herself as she began to eat.
"President!" squealed a girl as she approached the boy. "Can you help me with this pleeease." Of course, earlier during the homeroom session, he was appointed as the class president. And in turn Hitomi also got to know his name.
"Ah. Oh that. Sure, let me see. Fill this here, here and here. And you're done. Got it?" Ken advised the girl in an expressionless yet calm voice. It was an application form to join clubs. Of course it was something a grade schooler could fill out. It was clear as day to Hitomi that the girl was just acting so she could have a moment with him. Ken had begun a rapid rise in popularity with the girls.
"Thank youuuu", the girl smiled and ran away giggling as if de-aged ten years back.
Hitomi finished her meal and went to the washrooms. She hoped she would run into her two friends, but didn't. She thought that they were still in the cafeteria since Sumi was someone who always nibbled on the tastes of the food rather than the food itself.
The washroom was surprisingly empty.
After Hitomi was done with her business, she approached the sink to wash her hands. She proceeded to splash some water on her face too, when all of a sudden she saw something from the corner of her eye. She quickly took a glance towards the door once the water cleared off her eyes, to see if there was someone next to her. But there wasn't.
I'm really off the spectrum today, she said to herself as she blinked and turned to face the mirror. It was then that she happened to notice the unthinkable. She saw two reflections of herself. What kind of mirror is this, she thought as she kept looking at the other reflection of her. It only got worse when the reflection slowly turned its head towards the other reflection that mirrored in front of Hitomi, staring dead in her eyes. Hitomi panicked, thinking if she was hallucinating again. No way. The image was too clear for a hallucination. Hitomi splashed more water on her face, making sure some of it got in her eyes as well. She looked at the mirror once more. Only to find the other reflection gone. She could only relax for a mere few seconds when the door of the farthest stall flung open.
Hitomi jumped back, hoping to see someone appear. None did. Her mood instantly went from being anxious to being annoyed. Is someone wanting to play games with me? Even though she reached the stall, she still didn't dare to leap into it. She peeked one eye into the stall. There was something in the corner, but she couldn't make a picture of it. But it was moving. Gradually she peered into the stall, and let out a sigh.
There was no one inside.
The moving object happened to be the shadow of a tree branch that got through the small window on top of the washroom.
*BAM!*
The main door to the washroom flung open.
"Waaah!" Hitomi almost screamed her lungs out.
"Oh my, did I scare you?", said the girl that stood by the door.
"Ah no it's ok. Just got a bit startled. Ha ha"
Though Hitomi casually replied, she could feel her heart in her hand when she exited the washroom. She promised herself to take a good long nap as soon as she got home. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, the strange things that happened to Hitomi were what kept her mind occupied instead of the lessons that were taught in class.
School ended, and Hitomi was able to reunite with her friends. They shared each other's experiences in their new classrooms on the way home. Hitomi contributed the least to the conversation since she felt quite tired, even before school ended. Her only contribution were the constant yawns at the end of two to three words she uttered. Thankfully there weren't any more strange instances. That, Hitomi was glad about. As much as she knew her friends loved her, there was no way she could explain any of it to them. They would probably brush it off on her having a sleepless night anyway. Well what else was it? It was indeed her hallucination—was what she thought until that incident, which was yet to occur.
As promised the moment she got home that day, she went straight for her bed. The drowsiness took over her body and she fell into a good slumber. (Hitomi later got an ear full of scolding from her mother due to sleeping with her uniform.)
And thus ended Hitomi's first day at her new high school.
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5 pm [Same day]
On the roof top area of Kyoto Blooming Flowers High stood a lonely figure, staring at the orange evening sky, with one hand in his pocket.
"Master, you summoned me?" said a voice behind him.
"Took care of that thing?" the boy asked over his back, still looking into the distance.
"Yes master. It is all taken care of."
"Good. Proceed as I instructed."
"Yes master."
And the voice vanished.
"Sigh, what a hassle.", said the boy as he continued staring at the sky.
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