Chapter 2 - If Only I Had Known

Ah, looks like I lost myself in daydreaming again.

It's been happening a lot lately where I just lose myself and start to relive past memories in my head.

What a blunder of a person I am.

Well, those are just memories anyways.

They are simply just past events that the human mind remembers.

However...

Why does my heart hurt when I remember that girl?

It's been a long time since I've thought of her, but only fragments of my memories remain of that time.

Wait, what was that girl's name again?

How could I forget the name of someone so dear...

Her hair as well...

It was an exotic color, but I truly forgot what it was.

"..."

Frustrated with myself, I laid my head down on my desk.

Please, let the class start already.

I want to forget these feelings in my heart.

"Hey, Haruto? Are you okay?"

An angelic voice comes from behind me as I try my best to swallow these painful feelings.

"Ah, Sakura. I'm just a little bit sleepy," I lied.

Turning around to face the person talking to me, I faced one of the only friends that I actually enjoy talking to.

This existence was none other than the cheerful and kind girl, Sakura Satou.

A short statured brown-haired girl with modest proportions that was also the same age as me.

I've known her ever since I moved to this area six years ago.

Due to us living right next to each other, we were good friends and had a good relationship with each other's families.

Often, our parents would host a get-together between both families just for fun, but I obviously knew the intent behind the party.

Sakura's parents and my parents were trying to get me and her together.

In other words, they wanted the two of us to date.

Ha, what a joke.

A pathetic person like me dating such a cute and homely person like her?

I'd have a greater chance of winning the lottery.

Sometimes I think about what would happen if we seriously started dating, but I always dismiss them soon after as just pure delusions.

There's no way she would like someone like me, I'm sure of it.

A frown appeared on Sakura's cute face once she realized the truth behind my sleepiness.

"You stayed up all night playing video games again, huh?" She reprimanded.

I frowned as a result of her finding out. "Geh, you found out?"

"Of course I would," Sakura nodded. "I know almost everything when it comes to you."

"Stalker," I muttered.

An even cuter pouting expression appeared on Sakura's face after I had muttered a retort to her weird stalker-ish statement.

"T-that's not true!" Sakura stammered. "I just look at you a lot..."

"Oi, I'm going to misunderstand if you say something that vague," I scolded, with my hands holding my head.

That girl really needs to think about what she says sometimes.

You should never say something that vague to a teenage boy.

For some reason, she was looking at me with a faint blush on her face.

"I wouldn't mind it if you misunderstood," Sakura muttered.

I saw Sakura's lips move and heard some faint whispers come from her mouth, but my ears were unable to pick up what she had said.

Tilting my head quizzically, I became quite interested in what she had said. "Did you say something?" I asked.

Vehemently shaking her head, Sakura's face began to turn an even brighter shade of red. "N-nope, nothing at all!"

What a weird girl...

It's fine though, I'm a little bit weird myself.

As I pondered this thought inside my head, the door to the classroom slid open.

"Alright, please settle down. Class is about to begin," the teacher said.

As per usual, the homeroom teacher walked into the classroom at exactly the time the class started.

With a gentle smile on his face, the teacher addressed the class with an obvious layer of genuinity.

"I hope everyone had a great summer break, because I definitely did!" He cheerfully laughed.

Our homeroom teacher was a cheerful man who always had a smile plastered onto his face, which was a true mystery since it was too early in the morning to be this emotional.

He was a bit boisterous, but truly fun to watch and listen to.

I thought he was going to end his little pre-class discussion as per usual, but he did something that I didn't expect.

"Before we begin today, I have someone to introduce you folks to," the teacher said. "Please come in, Miss Shirakawa."

As soon as he said that, the door to the classroom opened once again.

However, this time it was a high school girl that entered the classroom rather than a middle-aged male teacher.

"Everyone, please meet your newest fellow student, Shizuku Shirakawa."

With the teacher's introduction, the girl flashed a bright smile to everyone in the classroom.

Everyone was enamored with the girl's beautiful features and was immediately intrigued.

Not me though.

I was intrigued for a different reason.

Because that girl was the same one that I saw this morning.

"Hello everyone, my name is Shizuku Shirakawa. I hope to be able to be friends with all of you."

The second that she had entered this room, I wish that I had known that my life would radically change as a result of her influence.

Maybe then, I would've been able to prepare for this rocky future just a little bit better.