A light in the wasteland (pt 1)

“April is the cruellest month,” Haru whispers as he walks the familiar road leading to his school. He stares at the cracks in the ground, disorganized grass blades sprouting out. Apart from the murmur of his friends chatting, which Haru conveniently ignores, the town is dead silent.

Nothing ever happens in Hanabusa.

He and his friends pass an overgrown park, rusty old industrial equipment, and a boarded-up Ryokan, where visitors once stayed in tatami-covered rooms. His friends didn’t notice, they were consumed by their cheerful conversation, looking up at the bright spring sky. Haru, however, notices everything.

“A heap of broken images,” he whispers, his friends noticing this time. Renji, the tallest of his friends, stops and turns around. His narrow eyes contact Haru’s, a soft smile appearing on his face.

“You’re reading those old books again? You’ll never get a girlfriend this way,” he said with a sarcastic tone, pulling the dreamy Haru into their conversation.

“Maybe read a book yourself once, I bet you can’t even finish the first page,” Ayaka, the only girl in the group, responded.

“Please shut up, can’t you see I am talking to Haru?” Renji said as he wrapped his arm around Haru. He turns his head closer to his friend.

“Look, man, aren’t you at least a bit excited this new school year?”

Haru stared at his friend, eyes filled with confusion.

“How is it different? Nothing will change,” he said with a sigh.

Renji pulled away and shook his head.

“This is our last year at this dump, aren’t you getting excited to finally leave this boring place? Next month is the orientation in the big city, I bet there will be stunning girls there,” he said with a big grin on his face.

“As if any of these girls would ever want to talk to such a small town loser like you,” Ayaka responded while folding her hands.

Renji pulled a comb out of the pocket of his leather jacket and adjusted his hair.

“That is why we need to level our game,” he said with a smooth glance.

Ayaka chuckled. “You are being ridiculous!”

“Aren’t you going to miss this place?” Daichi said, the last of Haru’s friends, who had been silent until now.

“Me? No way!” Renji responded, kicking an abandoned soda can lying on the street.

“Remember us having fun?” Daichi said while pointing at an old rusty swing set, the seat was broken in half. Haru thinks back on how his friends tried to make a loop. Renji pushed a dizzy Daichi harder and harder, trying to achieve the impossible. Then, from all the stress, the seat snapped, Daichi falling with his butt down on the hard pavement.

“You were so stupid then… and now,” Ayaka laughs.

Daichi toward Ayaka, rubbing her head with his knuckle.

“Please stop that, you are ruining my hair!” she exclaimed in a higher voice.

A glimpse formed on Haru’s face. His friends' cheerful antics surely lit up this otherwise dull wasteland, even though only briefly, before he hid himself back into his poetry.

X

The group of friends turned the corner and walked uphill. Haru could see the flaking roof of the wooden school building peek above the townhouses. Once built to house the youths of a bustling countryside town, it now stood mostly abandoned. All that remained were a couple dozen students ranging from middle schoolers to final year students such as Haru.

As they approached the building’s entrance, something felt different. In a sleepy town like Hanabusa, even the slightest disturbance could shake things up and cause a rippling effect. Haru narrowed his eyes, scanning the vicinity for an explanation.

Soon enough, his eyes locked on a girl standing before the school gate. She had long, flowing natural blond hair and the deepest blue eyes. She raised her hand in different positions, holding her bright pink phone.

Instantly, Haru froze. His heart started pounding. He had found a disturbance that was different from normal. Aside from television, he had never seen such a girl before.

And she looked beautiful…

Even though she wore the same uniform as all the other students, she somehow managed to make it feel modern and fashionable. Haru couldn’t help but stare at her.

Renji laid his hand on Haru’s shoulder, startling him.

“She’s stunning, isn’t she? And looks like she could use some help. Luckily, I know someone who speaks English,” he whispered teasingly into Haru’s ear.

He waved at the girl, catching her attention. Then he pushed the flustered Haru forward.

“Hello, he speak English!” Renji said with a grin on his face.

The girl’s gaze met Haru’s, a spark of energy connecting the two. There was no way out now, he had walked up to the mysterious girl and helped her.

Haru took a deep breath and walked up to her.

“G… good morning, Miss, how can I help you?” he said in an overly formal English accent.

The girl started laughing, she must not have expected a small-town Japanese guy to sound like that.

“Please stop, you’re making me chuckle. I can speak Japanese, I learned it with this app,” she said while pointing at the pink phone she waved in her hand.

Haru’s cheeks turned red as he listened to the girl’s response.

She reached out her hand and said her name.

“Mia, I come from America,” her red lips spoke in perfect Japanese.

Hesitatingly, Haru grabbed the girl's hand and shook it.

“Haru,” he responded, failing to make eye contact.

“I am struggling to get a signal, can you help me with that?”

Haru nodded.

“You can get a better signal in the courtyard. You are going to school here, aren’t you?” He responded in Japanese.

The girl grabbed his arm.

“Yes, I am, can you show me the way?”

Even though Haru was supposed to be the one guiding her, he got pulled through the gate by the girl.

“...the hyacinth girl,” Haru whispers as he follows Mia inside.

X

On the paved courtyard, Mia stared at her phone screen, and her expression changed.

“It has two bars of signal! Thank you, Haru!” she said while positioning her phone.

The phone shuttered, the screen froze, containing a selfie with both her and slightly startled Haru.

She started filming herself in the courtyard, her voice high and filled with excitement.

“Hey, my spooky squad! Guess where I am? This is Hanabusa Town School - my new stomping ground for the next month! And, uh... tell me this place doesn’t look just a little haunted? Creaky old hallways, faded windows - it’s got total ghost story vibes, right? But don’t worry, I’ve got my own ghost-hunting crew with me!"

She pans the camera to Haru and his friends.

“Say hi, guys! If anything creepy happens, they better have my back!"

Haru rubs the back of his neck, letting out a nervous chuckle. Ghost story vibes? Yeah, right. This place wasn’t haunted - just old. But then again… He glanced at a dim hallway behind Mia, where the flickering light cast a strange shadow on the wall. Maybe a bit… unreal.

Ayaka leans in, lowering her voice. “Uh… are we even allowed to film here?”

Daichi shrugs, grinning. “Come on, she’s having fun! When’s the last time anyone got this excited about our school?”

Mia puts her phone away and waves at the group of friends. “So where do I find class C-1?”

Haru tensed up at the realization she would be in the same class as them.

“Please follow us,” he told the blonde girl.

Her eyes sparkled. “Will we be in the same class? That’s awesome!”

Renji smirked at her. “Yeah, shocking, right? In a school this small, you were bound to end up with us.”