AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a story in progress, so some plot devices may be inconsistent and maybe things do not fit together perfectly yet. But as I progress I am editing the earlier chapters. Please give me some solid criticism that has some foundation to it. Do not tell me that you hate this and have no reason. Even if you do hate it, I’m not writing it for you. I’m writing it for me. Go ahead and hate my characters, hate my stereotypes. But maybe you’re not reading into it well enough. Things can change. People can change. Hopefully my chapters will get longer as the plot develops more. Please and thank you for reading. Please review!

Chapter One: The Train

In the land of the rising sun, where pagodas share the landscape with skyscrapers, strange events do occur. Princes fall in love with commoners; schoolgirls are whisked away to fantastic worlds, and love is found at first sight. These happenings usually occur in the realm of love. Devotion to another is the grandest feeling in the world; it can move mountains and bring one to his knees sobbing. That type of sentiment has not entered into the life of Izumi Satsue. Her life, up until our story begins, was free of that silly emotion she referred to as “infatuation”. No matter what her voice spoke, her eyes betrayed her affinity towards that noblest emotion whenever she happened to see a couple in the park or to read a book of fairytales. Satsue Izumi was a closet romantic.

Now, it just so happens that a wind of change was to blow straight through young Satsue’s life. The girl was ignorant of the changes brewing around her. Her days went by normally without any real even to record. Wake up, school, library, home, stargazing and then sleep. It was the same poor drudgery day after dreary day.

One day, however, Satsue took it upon herself to break free from her normal schedule. It was a Saturday night. Karaoke was the ideal location. She might even meet a friend there.

She noted as she walked to the train station that the stars and the moon were more brilliant than ever before. The heavenly bodies twinkled merrily against the high, dark sky. Even with the bright lights of the city, the cosmos appeared so close that Satsue yearned to reach out and catch a star. It was a passing fancy, for the whistle signaling an oncoming train made her realize she’d soon miss the train if she did not bring her head from the clouds.

The girl began to sprint towards the station, her gait resembling one who did not take well to running. But, there was no one idle enough to stop and laugh at the flailing run of Satsue. She arrived just on time to be one of the last crammed into the final car.

“Just great,” she muttered, inching as far away as she could from the other passengers. Her forehead was pressed against the cool glass and she watched avidly as the lights grew more vibrant and in number. They were almost there. Downtown was where the best karaoke bars were located.

The train slowed to a stop and the doors opened. Satsue fell to her knees as soon as her feet reached the sidewalk. No one bothered to help her up or ask about her health. They just continued on their way, either to a bar, a club or maybe even home. Who knows? No one cared to share his or her life with a stranger. Life just wasn’t like a movie. Strangers didn’t meet and fall instantly in love. Real life wasn’t a fairy tale; there were no happy endings. Satsue believed this whole-heartedly. Or so she let on. This girl was one of contradictions. She couldn’t make up her mind on what to believe in or who to believe in. This trait led to some indecisiveness on her part, which could be rather disheartening to her peers.

“Are you alright?” The voice belonged to a good-looking boy of Satsue’s age. He had sandy brown hair with red tones and red-brown eyes holding concern. His features were strong, yet slightly feminine at the same time. With pale skin and freckles, Satsue found herself attracted.

She stared at the hand he had reached out to her. Blushing, she accepted it and was pulled to her feet.

“Uh, yes, I’m fine. The same thing happens everyday to me. I’m a bit of a klutz.” Satsue giggled and scratched the back of her head. The boy was staring at her with an amused look on his face. He didn’t look annoyed or disgusted, something that was new to Satsue.

“Ah, I’ve seen you before.” He replied. By now, the train had left and the two were standing on the platform alone. The temperature had dropped. It was a cold night.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The two were quiet and the sandy-haired boy took a moment to look her over. Satsue was on the tall side of short to put it kindly. Her hair was a mess of frizzy golden-brown curls tied back into a ponytail. She had honey-coloured skin that looked smooth and soft to him. Her body was hidden beneath her layers of clothing: baggy jeans, two loose shirts and a big jacket, leaving it impossible to tell what her build was like. Her eyes were what most caught his attention. They were wide and made her look like a child. The colour was a warm brown with golden and light brown swirls in them.

“My name is Izumi Satsue!” She suddenly shouted, feeling self-conscious at the attention.

“Ito Tsuin,” he replied.

“I like your name,” Satsue told him honestly.

“Thank you. Uh, I have to go. I’m meeting a friend and I’m already late.”

“Okay.” Satsue noted the guilty look on his face. Something was bothering him. Tsuin waved good-bye to her and hurried off into the crowds of Shibuya. All he left in his wake was the remaining fresh clean scent that Satsue would now always associate with him.

She strolled into the multitude of people soon after. Dodging the bumps and shoved of the scantily clad schoolgirls, overworked, but lusty businessmen and hormone enraged teenaged boys; Satsue rushed as quickly as possible to the karaoke bar her friends usually flocked to.

…

The establishment was unnamed aside from the sign that read, “Karaoke Bar”. It was newer than the others nearby and catered to teenagers. A lot of the youth spent their Saturday nights here. And it was easy to see why. The atmosphere was bright and airy and all the newest songs were available along with plenty of the older ones people loved. No alcohol was served, but the snacks and beverages were affordable prices. Because of this, the bar got a lot of business.

Satsue entered inside. It was already pretty full. She saw no one she knew. They were all from different schools.

“Great, just my luck.”

Full of despair, Satsue turned to leave. Then she heard the voice.

“Izumi Satsue-san! Join us here, we need one more person!” The voice was strained. This person wasn’t a good yeller. Satsue turned on her heel to search for the source of the voice. “Over here!” Her eyes scanned the karaoke place in vain. She couldn’t locate this person. Satsue pouted, feeling very dumb. Well, that is until she saw the arms waving desperately at her like signal flags. Arms that owned hands she had touched half an hour ago.

“Ito Tsuin…” she murmured. Satsue waved violently to him. This attracted stares from the other inhabitants. Not just normal stares, but ‘who the hell is this freak?’ stares. She shuffled sheepishly to where Tsuin was. He seemed to be with a few people. No one she had ever seen before, but they were all quite attractive. Life just wasn’t fair sometimes. Satsue waved slightly to the teens staring at her with varied expressions of interest. Raised eyebrows. Disgust. Interest. A smile. Tsuin was smiling at her; it looked to be sincere too. She smiled in return.

“Izumi-san, these are my friends. Suzuharu Megumi,” he pointed to a very pretty girl with shoulder-length wavy black hair, not a hair out of place and wide mischievous blue eyes. She looked semi-interested in Satsue. “Yamamoto Koji,” a boy with greasy looking long hair and green-brown eyes was staring at her eyebrows raised. He seemed intrigued by the fuzzyheaded girl. “And Aiba Sayuri.” This girl had perfect posture and a calculating gaze. She was nothing short of gorgeous with waist-length golden blonde hair and bewitching almond-shaped green eyes framed with long lashes. Those same eyes held revulsion at the sight of Satsue. To Sayuri, Satsue was what the cat dragged in.

“Hello, nice to meet you all,” the girl finally mustered with a wide, albeit false grin.

Silence reigned at their booth, contrasting with the noise pollution filling the room. Finally Megumi spoke up.

“Come sit by me. I want to know all about you.” She patted the empty space beside her and beckoned Satsue over. “Come Come.”

Satsue hesitantly walked over and slid into the booth. The table erupted in conversation. Sayuri was talking animatedly to Tsuin. Much to Satsue’s dismay, the two seemed very close. Sayuri had her delicate ivory hand placed lightly on Tsuin arm, giggling girlishly. Megumi and Koji had their attention on Satsue as she introduced herself.

“Uhm, I attend St. Mitsuki’s Academy. It’s a private school uptown.”

“All girls?” Koji asked her, suddenly very fascinated. The brunette shrugged with a sigh.

“Pretty much. There are about five guys and they’ve already been snagged by those vultures…” a gasp escaped her mouth and she looked up at them shocked. “I didn’t mean to say that. It just came out.”

“It’s alright. Girls can be a real trip sometimes,” Megumi confessed. She very pointedly shot a sideways glance at Sayuri who was whispering in Tsuin’s ear. “Some just can’t take a hint,” she muttered. Satsue flushed, feeling very envious. She hadn’t heard Megumi’s words or noticed the pained, but patient look on Tsuin’s face.

“A-anyway. I’m sixteen. I’m a Taurus. Uhm…” Satsue prattled along telling them all she could think of. The two sat engrossed in her words. Satsue was a wonder to watch as she went off on a tangent. Her hands fluttered aimlessly to vainly try to explain a part of a story or a word. Her features were very readable and expressed virtually all of her lexis.

Tsuin too was staring at the chirping girl as she rambled. Sayuri didn’t know what just happened. Tsuin has seemed totally into her and then just seemed to stop paying attention. Instead, he was focused intently on the plain girl he met on a train about five minutes ago.

“Happy meals are a godsend for me. I order and eat one about once a week…”

“Obviously…” muttered Sayuri. However, everyone heard, just like she meant it. Megumi and Koji laughed goodheartedly at Satsue, who reddened. Her mouth was frowning and her bottom lip quivered. The freckled Tsuin glared openly at the blonde beside him but said nothing.

“Uh…” began Satsue, searching her mind for a bona fide reason for a sudden departure. She glanced at her watch and badly faked a gasp. “Oh dear! Look at the time! I have to go!” Her words were said mechanically, in the way of someone who wasn’t good at lying. She had no one fooled, except for Tsuin.

“Really? Oh, okay. Hey, can I give you my number?” he queried. Satsue had stood up, ready to bolt from the bar, but vacillated at his unanticipated inquiry. She fished around in her jeans pockets and handed her silver phone to him.

“S-sure…do you want my number too?” “Can I have your number too?” They had spoken at the same time but the meaning came across. Tsuin nodded and furnished his phone. It was red and covered in what looked to be science diagrams.

“God Tsuin, that’s the nerdiest phone I’ve ever seen. Cell diagrams?” teased Megumi, eyes flashing.

The boy in question chuckled. “I guess. I like it though.” He finished his number entry and quickly took a photo of himself while Satsue was trying to comprehend his phone.

“Eh…oh dear…I think I accidentally erased a few numbers,” she murmured, growing red.

“That’s okay. Is your number in there?” Tsuin accepted his phone back.

“I think so.” She wrung her hands nervously and waited patiently as Tsuin scrolled through his contacts. A smirk grew on his face and he laughed to himself. He wouldn’t divulge the numbers that were erased.

“Would you like me to walk you to the train station? It’s really dark outside.” He seemed like the person who was very caring even to people he just met. Satsue shook her head and smiled.

“I’ll be fine. The train station isn’t very far. But thanks anyway.”

“Can I get your picture for my caller-id then?”

“No. I don’t like getting my picture taken.” Satsue wasn’t about to explain the reason. Why would she unload her self-confidence problems on total strangers? They didn’t care. And she didn’t want to seem desperate for compliments.

“Good choice,” Sayuri said, just as loudly as before. Megumi and Koji simply nodded uninterestedly. To them, cracking two jokes about someone’s appearance, even if indirectly was a little extreme considering that person hadn’t done anything to her.

“Thanks,” muttered Satsue, turning to leave. “Good bye.”

“See you around?!” The four friends watched with mixed thoughts as she moved towards the exit. Her departure would have been perfectly poised if she hadn’t tripped over the carpet and ran into the door. Most of the inhabitants saw and laughed. Of course, Sayuri was the loudest.

Tsuin frowned. What was Sayuri’s problem? She had just met Satsue and was already all defensive and condescending. It was getting really aggravating to be around her all the time.

Sayuri hated that girl. She was invading her space. She would force Satsue out of her life and out of Tsuin’s life. Tsuin was hers. He belonged to Sayuri. Or at least he had.

Megumi and Koji exchanged dark looks. They knew Tsuin hadn’t been interested in any other girls for sometime. And this Izumi Satsue had piqued his interest. She seemed nice enough. They wanted Tsuin to be happy.

Outside, beneath the night sky, Satsue stood breathless blocks away. She had run from the karaoke place after her klutzy moment. What a horrid last impression.