Chapter 1: First Day

Rhena Yokanowa, a freshmen at Gojishki High School. Today was her first day of high school. None of her friends took the entrance exams for this school, so she was on her own.

Some friends you turned out to be. She thought sourly, gripping her pack strap tighter.

She held her breath and walked through the doors. It was amazing! Inside the school, there were over at least 40 some students mingling near the doors, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Trying to stay small and unnoticed, Rhena slipped in between the crowds of people.

“Hey! Watch it freshmen!” Someone snapped as Rhena bumped into him.

“Sorry.” She mumbled.

She heard him shout something, but ignored the comment and quickened her pace. Upon reaching her locker, Rhena dropped her pack. It swung open with ease. She took out her schoolbooks and laid them on the shelves.

She skimmed over the rest of the sheet before running to her first two classes. Stuffing them in a small shoulder pack, Rhena went up the closest stairs to the upper floor. To her surprise, there were plenty of students hanging around a large space between left corridor and the right. While looking at her schedule, she didn’t notice a large group of boys headed her way.

“Ow!” She bumped into a hard chest, her items scattering everywhere.

Huffing, she glared at the floor. A hand magically appeared in front of her face. Confused, she grabbed the hand. With a mighty jerk, Rhena was pulled up to emerald eyes.

“Sorry about that.” he apologized.

“…thanks.” Rhena grumbled, her polite manners kicking in.

Before the auburn teen was able to reply, Rhena had picked up her belongings. However, she forgot her silver book. Rumors spread through the crowd like wildfire.

“Who was that, Kino?” Haruken pointed his index finger in the direction Rhena left.

“I have no idea, probably a freshmen.” Kino shrugged his shoulders, still managing to look poised.

Shonkuu took on a thoughtful expression, “Now I remember! She’s that clumsy freshmen that bumped into me earlier!” Gasps erupted from the crowd.

“Don’t judge her before you know her.” Sahiko scolded.

“Not to mention, your personality could use a few tweaks. No wonder you’re never able to keep a girlfriend!” Kino frowned.

“It shouldn’t matter anyway; she’s a freshmen!” Shonkuu shot back.

Kino grew angry, “You were a freshmen once too!”

“Kino’s right!” Sahiko snapped, “How would you feel if someone said that to your face?”

“Gimmie and break, guys!” Shonkuu raised his hands in defense, “I’m not in a good mood today!”

Kino and Sahiko backed down and sighed, rubbing their temples, a habit that had formed since they were children. The crowd dispersed, noticing that the shouting match was over. They went back to their groups, tittering about the new gossip.

Well done on first impressions! She grumpily thought. She slid into a seat, took out a black spiral notebook, and started scribbling notes.

“Hello!” A friendly voice called.

Rhena nearly jumped out of her seat. She looked up to see a small, petite woman around her forties smiling at her.

“Welcome to Algebra!” She greeted, holding out her hand.

Rhena took her hand, giving a firm shake, “Nice to meet you Mrs. …”

“Meji!” The teacher finished enthusiastically.

Rhena graced the teacher with a smile. Somehow, the teacher made her want to smile. The teacher chuckled. In response, Rhena slightly cocked her eyebrow to show she was curious.

“You’re a sweet child. We don’t find many students with that kind of quality anymore. I thought they went out with my generation.”

“…thanks.” she stuttered.

“No need to be shy.” Mrs. Meji patted her head in a comforting manner.

Rhena shook her head. The older woman’s eyes glinted with understanding. She shuffled over to her desk. Coming back with a clipboard in her hands, she pointed to the desk behind Rhena, claiming it as her assigned seat. Rhena obediently complied, moving her things to the desk behind her.

Black Notebook:

Things could have gone better for my first day at schoolSo far, I’ve managed to bump into two popular upperclassmen; they didn’t seem very nice. One of them yelled at me, and the other, well, he helped me up. I walked away as fast as I could after that encounter.I hope that I never see anyone of those boys again.

Mrs. Meji is very nice and reminds me a lot of my ’s a bittersweet feeling ever since mom passed away… It seems my fellow classmates are starting to file into the room. Until next time!

Haruken shook his head at his friends’ behaviors, all because of a silly incident! A glitter caught his eye. He picked up the curious object, sunlight splaying across the silver covering. It was a small spiral, decorated by a ruby dragon with a golden eye. Shuchiteki Doragon was written on the inside cover.

Haruken walked over to Kino, and tapped on him on the shoulder, “Hey Kino? I think she left this behind.”

Kino took the book and started to flip through the pages. Now, Kino wasn’t your everyday diary-reader, he just wanted to see if he could learn her name or address. It would be hard to return the notebook if he didn’t know, right? Kino flipped to the front page and began reading…

Silver Notebook:

What you seek is what you’ll find, underneath the sky when one is blind. If one stumbles, to the watery grave he’ll go. Be alert, danger lurks in places unknown. Head towards the rising light, be aware. Enter the darkness, if you dare. In a green haven, mother will show the way. Stay on guard, there may be decay…

Kino slammed the notebook shut, “Alright! Let’s find the owner of this book. But first… Shounkuu!”

“Yeah?” he answered with dread.

“Look up ‘Shuchiteki Doragon’. I’ll hold onto the notebook for safekeeping. We’ll meet here after school.” Kino ordered.

Shounkuu groaned. He hated research. He hated doing favors for freshmen. He hated research and freshmen put together. Sahiko and Haruken simply grinned. After, the boys split up and raced to their classrooms, hoping they weren’t late for their first class.

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Fixed this chapter so it wasn’t nearly as bad.