Chapter 1

"Izumi, breakfast is ready!" Izumi's mom called out to her from downstairs in the kitchen. "I hope you're not too busy reading manga again instead of preparing for school."

Izumi's head shot up from her new volume of her favourite shoujo manga, and she glanced at the time.

Oh my gosh! Where did the time go? She thought as she dropped her book on her bed and rushed to change into her new sailor-style school uniform with a deep red pleated skirt, white blouse, and black blazer.

It's so much softer than the middle school uniform.

Izumi tied her long brown hair up in a ponytail and stood in front of her full-length mirror. She pushed up the corners of her mouth into a smile.

This year, everything will be different. She pumped her fists into the air, kissed her grey wolf plush on her bed, and headed down for breakfast.

"Good morning, honey." Her mom kissed the top of her head and sat across the table from her.

"Thank you for the food." Izumi dug into her fish and rice, saving the miso soup for last.

"Are you excited for your first day of high school?"

Izumi froze with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth, fish slipping out of it. "I'm... not sure if I'm excited or just nervous. It's a new school with new people, but what if nothing changes, and it happens all over again?"

Her mom's brows furrowed. "You're not the same, and this area is completely different, so it won't be like before. Just let your beautiful self shine, and people will naturally flock to you."

Izumi smiled widely, exactly how she had practiced. "Like this?"

"You have a gorgeous smile, but if you have that on all day, not only will your face hurt, but people might think you're crazy."

"Mom!"

She chuckled. "I'm sorry, honey, but it's best when it comes out naturally, not when you force it."

"Yeah, yeah..." Izumi grumbled and slurped her soup.

"I'll make sure not to send soup for your lunch..."

"Hmm? Why's that?" Izumi looked up, with soup colouring the corners of her mouth.

"Because you still eat your soup like you did when you were five." Her mother reached over with a napkin and wiped Izumi's mouth.

"Oops." Izumi's cheeks tinted pink. Mental note: don't eat like a caveman when others are around.

"At least I can see you enjoy your food and appreciate it."

"Always!"

"But it also might be the reason you're late for your first day of high school."

"What?" Izumi looked at the time. "Mom, why didn't you warn me earlier?" She rushed out of the kitchen, grabbed her backpack, and bolted out of the house.

"Don't get lost!" her mom yelled, shaking her head with worry.

It should be near here. Izumi huffed, glancing down at the map on her phone again as she ran down the sidewalk.

Thud. She slammed into someone.

"Ah!" Izumi yelped as she fell back from the impact, her phone flying through the air as her arms flailed. An arm wrapped around her waist, stopping her fall.

"Got it!" another man said, catching her phone. "What a spectacular way to start the school year." He chuckled.

When Izumi didn't land on the ground, she opened her eyes to see a teenager with spiky black hair and bangs that half-covered one eye.

"Oh," she gasped, her face flushing. "Handsome..." she mumbled.

"What was that? Arg. A little help here, Yanagi!" His arm shook, still holding her up as he kept his handheld console safe in his other hand.

The blond-haired man pulled her up to her feet and held her phone out to her. "Here you go, cutie." He smiled and winked at her.

"T-thank you, and I'm sorry." Izumi bowed, clutching her phone to her chest.

"It's okay," the black-haired man said. "You weren't hurt, right?"

"Thanks to you, I'm fine." She trailed her eyes along him as she stood back up, from the chains on his pants to his earrings. Cool... Wait, are we allowed to alter the uniforms? Maybe just add-ons? Stop staring! She averted her gaze.

"Good." He nodded and checked on his game. "The electronics are fine too, so no worries."

"Please, just watch where you're going instead of your phone. Or be like Kuruma here and travel with someone who can watch out for you." Yanagi wrapped his arm around Kuruma's shoulders and chuckled. "You'd be surprised how many times I've stopped him from running into things."

"If you're that good of a lookout, why didn't you see her coming?"

"I... got distracted. Oops." Yanagi shrugged.

"What'd you get distracted by? Your own reflection?"

Izumi bit her lip as she held back a laugh. They must be super close... She stared at the ground, her shoulders slouching.

"Ha ha, very funny." He shook Kuruma around. "I was lost in thought, wondering if we'd end up in the same class again this year." And by a girl across the way, he thought looked interesting. "By the way, I'm Tsueno Yanagi and this is Hiroto Kuruma. We're first year students." Yanagi bowed and pulled Kuruma down with him, who was still busy with his game.

"Nice to meet you," Kuruma mumbled.

"I'm Hashito Izumi." She bowed again. "But you can call me Izumi or Izu, since I'm also a first year."

"Cool, same for us. Let's go see what class we're in."

Izumi followed them over to the lists displayed in front of the massive school, with a large crowd of students in front of them.

I knew it'd be bigger because it's in the city, but this is a bit much.

She got pushed aside as someone rushed to the front and stumbled to the side.

Who can concentrate in this mess?!

"There we are!" Yanagi said, pointing out the list for class 1-3. "And we're all together." He glanced at Izumi and smiled. "What luck!"

"You saw my name, too?"

He nodded.

"Thank you." She gave him a small bow. Tall friends come in handy. Friends... I hope they'll consider me a friend. She sighed and stepped back out of the crowd.

"What were the chances? Now, let's find our classroom." Yanagi ushered them both through the front door. "This way." He turned left.

"It's that way." Kuruma nudged his head to the right as he put his console away, afraid it would get confiscated.

"But—"

"I looked at the school map before we got here."

"Fine, you win."

Izumi glanced at all the unfamiliar students already in clusters of friends as they walked to their classroom. I guess a lot of these people know each other already from middle school nearby.

As they entered, a woman in her thirties with short black hair, wearing a white blouse and a long grey skirt, bowed to them. "Welcome. I am Miss. Nagao, your homeroom teacher. Please find your seat with your nametag listed."

The three of them bowed in greeting and found their seats. Izumi sat in the third row by the window. Beside her, Kuruma, his backpack on the desk as he hid the manga he was reading.

Oh! Her cheeks flushed. He's into manga, too? And he's going to sit next to me all year? She glanced back to see Yanagi in the fifth row, two seats behind Kuruma.

"Had to be alphabetical," Yanagi sighed and turned to the guy sitting next to him.

I should work on making friends as soon as possible.

Izumi looked around, but most of the other students had flocked to their friends from middle school. Great, alone again... Wait! Her eyes lit up. A girl with long black hair and bags under her eyes sat behind her, pulling tarot cards from an anime deck, placing them in a spread on her desk.

"Hi, I'm Hashito Izumi!"

The girl glanced up at her and smirked, surprised she bothered to introduce herself. "Moriko Shiori," the girl said and pulled another tarot card.

"What are you doing? Those look cute!" Izumi resisted the urge to pick up the cards.

Shiori's eye twitched. "Cute?" Her gothic anime deck had never been called that before.

"Totally!" They look like they could be straight out of an anime. Her eyes sparkled. "Can you do a reading for me?"

Shiori thought for a moment and collected her cards. "What do you want to ask them?"

Hmm... Her eyes landed on Kuruma. Will I have my own shoujo romance? No, I can't ask that. "How will my high school life be?"

"A bit of a broad question that will change as time continues, but for now, fine." She shuffled and set the cards in front of her. "Cut the deck twice."

Izumi followed her instructions and waited.

Shiori flipped over the first card. "The Fool."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It's about starting a new journey. Second: The Lovers."

"Oh!" Izumi gasped, her heart racing.

"Before you get overexcited, it's not always about love. It's about choice, though love can come into it. Lastly..."

"Okay, class." Miss. Nagao grabbed their attention. "I hope you've all found your seats because it's time for the entrance ceremony. Let's go."

Izumi stepped into the line for the door. Shiori looked at the last card.

"The Tower? This is going to be an interesting year." Shiori smirked and put her cards away.