The Orientation

In a blink of an eye, it has exactly been four weeks since the first time Sakura arrived at Tokyo.

Looking at the full-length mirror that was hanging on the door of her apartment, Sakura can't help but notice that she mostly inherited her looks from her mother who is actually a Flipino than her Japanese father.

With one last twirl and a push on her glasses, her black plaid skirt inches above her knee. She decided earlier to pair it with a long-sleeved white lettuce-trimmed top and plain white sneakers to complete her chic look.

At least, in this way, she doesn't look way too introverted in front of other students even with her glasses on.

It has been perfectly hot by the time Sakura leaves through the door. The apartment she rented is four stations away from her school, so she would need to move fast or else she will end up late for the 6 am trip.

By the time she gets off the train and arrives at Tokyo Station, Sakura doubled her pace and almost ran towards the intersection road where the others were waiting for the traffic light to signify the crossing sign.

While they all wait for it, Sakura spotted someone familiar to her while she kept on tugging at her skirt that she is now complaining of how short it is and how she regrets wearing it in the first place.

Those thick tousled jet black hair and an outstanding amount of height that let him enter their basketball team with her jerk ex-boyfriend back in high school, could it be…

"Mori Ken?" she accidentally blurted out his name but regretted it afterward.

Even though they were surrounded by other students, Sakura noticed the guy's head that was about to look in her direction right when the crossing sign turned green. Just then, Sakura crossed over to the other side of the road in no time.

By the time Sakura decided to look for him again, he was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, she convinced herself it must have been her imagination.

Looking convinced, Sakura then decided to continue walking until such time that she finally reached the gates of one of the most prestigious schools here in Tokyo: Hirosaki University.

She held her head up high and can't help but be fascinated by the looks of the campus ground alone of how wide it is packed with different types of students like her.

And among the freshman students who were lucky to be invited by this school to be part of their institution, she scored the second-highest score in the previous national universal test.

Now she wonders who placed first, or what school that student went to.

"Miss, are you alright?"

Her silence was suddenly interrupted by a guy's voice. Sakura's head then jerked as it turned towards the direction of the person who spoke to her, only to find herself up against a guy with auburn hair that was curling to the sides.

His blue eyes stared at her with such intensity, but they also displayed friendliness with his friendly grin that was framed by a set of perfect white teeth.

And before she could let herself totally doze off in front of this seemingly hot guy in front of her, Sakura forced herself back to reality.

"Y-yes, I am totally fine, thanks for asking," she replied to him as politely as she could.

"That's great. Earlier, I've been seeing you staring at the gates and not entering the school grounds, I thought you--"

"I said I'm fine," Sakura repeated, this time she doesn't mean to sound a little bit rude to the guy who did nothing to her.

"Okay, if you say so."

They were about to part ways, with her going to the left side and the guy going to the right along with other students here when he noticed Sakura going to the opposite direction. His eyebrows were drawn together upon seeing her this way

"You are a freshman student, right?" he asked once again, making Sakura stop in her tracks and turned to look at him once more.

"Yes," she replied. But then she pauses for a moment and asks herself how the heck did the guy know in the first place.

But nah… that must only be out of pure luck, she thought to herself.

"You know we have an orientation, right?" By the time their gazes met, the guy raised one eyebrow at her.

Oh, right. The orientation. Sakura almost forgot about it and was about to head towards the student affairs office to meet with the student affairs director to talk about her scholarship.

"Yeah, pfft." Sakura pretended as if she hadn't forgotten about it and went with the guy going to their school gymnasium.

But then she also realized that this annoying guy on her first day of school is also a freshman student like her.

"I'm Alan. Alan Yamaguchi, a business management student."

Sakura just started wondering who this guy was when he introduced himself out of the blue. And she felt it was only polite for her to do the same.

"H-Hayashi Sakura is my name. I-I'm an accounting student"

Their conversation ended when they got to the gym and joined the other incoming freshmen. To Sakura's surprise, she found a company and sat next to the stranger.

Truly, this guy is too friendly for a stranger like her…

It was then when the program started, and the school director of Hirosaki University- a tall, masculine guy in his suit and slacks-- appeared on stage and welcomed each new face of the school with his warm speech.

But what surprised Sakura are the things that will happen next…

"I am well pleased to know as well that the person who got the highest score during the national universal test decided to join us in our humble institution…" the school director announced at the end of his speech, which caused some of the students here to create a fuss about it.

Even Sakura is also dying to know who it was.

"I'd like to welcome here on stage to give his short introductory speech, Mr. Mori Ken from St. Therese High."

All students applauded as the newly-called student presented himself on stage with a nonchalant expression plastered on his face. All except Sakura, who's too bewildered to move her hands to clap.

The stranger from earlier sitting beside her immediately sensed the girl being like this and began to be curious about her right away.

"No…" Sakura whispered to herself as her eyes widened in Ken's direction.

"This can't be happening."