Chapter 3: Encounters

"There's going to be a new student in class, please take care of her. You can come in now." The teacher announced.

Pushing aside the door of the classroom, a girl strolled in, her expression schooled to neutrality. A black mask was worn on her face, her light green eyes scanning through every single person in the class. The intense stare sent chills down their spines. Her eyes landed on a certain blond whose hair was gelled.

Takemichi Hanagaki gulped. Why was this girl looking at him like she wanted to kill him? Also, it was weird that he had no memories of a new student joining his class in his middle school days.

The girl's braids swayed from side to side. She had taken her own sweet time to tie her hair--she had dyed silver highlights-- into Dutch braids. A complicated process it was, but the time she had.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" The teacher asked.

"Oh." The girl blinked in confusion at the question. "Celia Fukuda."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah."

Celia's eyes were fixated on a certain person, Takemichi Hanagaki. Had he leaped back in time already? Well, she supposed she could just observe his behavior.

—>

The greatest nightmare for Celia was to be in crowded places. Lunchtime was the worst, it was so cramped, and people would get shoved in the stomach by elbows. Annoyed, she quickly made her purchase, wandering around to find a seat. The word of a new student had already spread around the school. Gossip sure is scary.

And the students found their target fast. Celia winced as the eyes of the students landed on her, scrutinizing her appearance. Unbeknownst to her, the students had actually thought she was some idol-in-training and were excited to talk to her. Hushed whispers traveled with Celia as she looked for a seat. The cafeteria was quite crowded already.

This was exactly why she hates transferring schools, it would always attract attention. The schools she had previously gone to kept rejecting her because she was of "high intellect" and should be at a more "prestigious institution". In other words, the rich kids of the families and the tryhards had probably lodged complaints against her since she kept scoring As. She had to be the "new girl" every time, it sickened her to no end.

"Um, hello," A voice called out to her. Celia whipped around. Pretty was the first thought that came into her mind. Hinata Tachibana was the girl that had spoken. Takemichi Hanagaki's girlfriend. "Would you like to sit here?"

She didn't know if Celia couldn't find a seat since she kept wandering around with her tray or if she was the new girl everyone was talking about. At least, Celia looked like a nice person, albeit mysterious. "Yeah, thanks. I couldn't find a seat." Celia's light green eyes met hers. Looks like they weren't exaggerating when they mentioned that Hinata Tachibana was really too precious. Takemichi was really lucky to have met her!

Feeling nervous because of the awkward atmosphere, Hinata decided to end the silence. "Um, are you the new student?" Celia's face visibly blackened at the statement, which made Hinata hold up her hands, saying, "I'm sorry if it's sensitive, I don't mean to intrude!"

Celia waved it off, answering, "Nah, it's ok, I just get asked that question so many times, that it irritates me. I got kicked out of another school for the fifth or sixth time. That's all." Hinata's mouth was agape, whether Celia was a delinquent, she wasn't sure. What had Celia done to get kicked out that many times??

The whole lunch continued with Hinata asking Celia multiple questions, and it was decided by Hinata that they were going to be friends, not that she had objections. Though Celia did wonder whether her interference would change the plotline of the story. However, if it did, the incident back then must have already triggered something.

Even though Celia did not want to get too close, she still wanted to see the characters of Tokyo Revengers! Every fan of an anime would take the chance to do so, even if it was very dangerous. She wasn't an exception either, but she was more cautious.

Also, were Takemichi and his little gang already under the control of Kiyomasa, that annoying bastard? Celia answered absentmindedly to Hina's request. Wait, what request?

"What did you say, Hina-san?" Celia blinked.

"I was asking if you wanted to come to my house to study, I heard some of the students say you didn't know how to answer the teacher's question," Hina's statement reminded her of what had happened. Celia had been thinking about what groceries she needed to purchase in class. She didn't need to pay that much attention since she'd rather go home and study. Hence when the teacher called her to answer a question, Celia then remembered what was the last item she needed on her shopping list. Then, she embarrassed herself by yelling "cabbage" so loud she swore the class next door could hear her. Letting out a nervous chuckle, Celia agreed. Her mother wouldn't mind anyways, Celia didn't take the initiative to make friends, so most of the time, she spent her time by herself.

—>

"Good evening, Hina-san. I bought some desserts." Celia passed the desserts she had purchased on the way to Hina's house.

"Let' s start!" Hina announced enthusiastically, bringing out the assessment books and textbooks. Celia swallowed her saliva, even if she scored straight As, but that didn't mean she liked studying. She was the kind of person who would rush everything before an examination but had a photographic memory so she scored well.

Several minutes later.

"Ah, Celia, you don't have to do that question, I haven't solved it either." Celia was already halfway through her own solution, so she held up a hand to motion to Hina as she was attempting it. Hina moved over to see Celia attempt the question. The swift strokes, the confidence she held, and the calm expression on Celia's face made Hina think that Celia was an ethereal being sent from the Heavens to bless everyone.

"Hina-san, I'm done." Celia waved her hand at her face, but Hina couldn't seem to hear her. "Hina-san!"

Hina let out a loud gasp, flushing red when she realized she had been staring at Celia for a while. As she ran through the solution Celia had given her, a puzzled look befell her face. Why had everybody said Celia was dumb, she was the exact opposite! She had met a genius! Seeing the perplexed look on Hina's face, Celia told her what was going through her own mind when she yelled "cabbage" in class. A snort broke the silence after Celia finished her story. A bewildered look was stuck on Celia's face as she gaped at Hina, horrified.

Hina burst into giggles, tears forming at the side of her eyes. Celia went on to explain how she had been kicked out of the schools she had been to, speaking shit about the bratty tryhards and so on animatedly.

Soon, the study session had turned into a "laughing" session.

—>

"Celia! This is my younger brother, Naoto! Naoto, this is Celia, a new student!" Hina introduced the two to each other.

Celia waved, usually, she didn't like little kids, but Naoto was an exception. He looked adorable as he waved back. As she made a trip to the toilet, she heard Takemichi's name and what sounded like "he had saved me from bullies". Guess that meant that he was in the future then. Not that he'd see anything good. Celia wondered what it would feel like to time leap. Also, that meant she had only arrived after he had left. Her timing was very off.

A touch screen suddenly popped up in front of her, causing her to yelp in surprise. A robotic voice sounded in her mind, Does the user want to travel to the future? A yes and no option button was below the panel. Celia was befuddled, it definitely wasn't like this for the other time leapers! Tapping "no", she decided she'll explore this another day.

—>

Hina strode out of her kitchen--asking the two who were separated by a big, fat gap if they wanted apples--an apple in her hand.

"Green apples?" Celia questioned, and Hina blinked. She was pretty sure she was holding red apples.

Naoto turned to the big sister he had just met. "Those are red apples."

Celia sweatdropped, oh dear. "Oops, sorry. I can't differentiate between red and green, I'm colorblind." The Tachibana siblings stiffened, their mouths forming an "O" shape.

"It's alright. I don't really care." She winced at the expressions on their faces.

They were not convinced.

—>

Meanwhile, in the future, where Takemichi is working his butt off by demon police officer Naoto Tachibana.

"Naoto…What if there was a new student who joined my class but I don't remember her joining at all? Like there's totally no memories."Takemichi asked abruptly.

"Does it happen to be a girl called Celia Fukuda?" Naoto queried.

"How did you know?!"His slouching position turned upright as he turned towards Naoto.

Naoto answered, "She was at my sister's house that night you told me my sister and I were going to die. And if you are going to ask where she is now, I don't have an answer to your question. She disappeared entirely like her existence had been wiped off the planet."

"In fact, I feel that Miss Fukuda is quite a mysterious person, even though she was rather close to my sister. One possible theory is that she's another time leaper but of a different sort. If she's in the past, then her physical body will only be in the past and not the future. Vice versa."

"If possible, try to get closer to her. She might be of help."

And soon after, Takemichi leaped back in time to the present.