Chapter 1

First period, as it turned out, was not a good place to take a nap. Suzuki Kyuusei thought this as he was rudely awakened from a dream by his teacher.

"...Suzuki." the teacher of the class, Mr. Satoru, shook him gently.

"Huhrhrrrmm." Kyuusei snuggled his head further into his arm pillow, hoping to get away from the big bad lesson.

"Suzuki!" Mr. Satoru shook Kyuusei roughly enough to dislodge his head from his arm .

"Hrm!" startled, Kyuusei stood up and paid attention. "Yes, sensei!"

"I realize that the material is boring, but please make an effort to not sleep during the lesson."

"My bad. Sorry, sensei." sitting down, Kyuusei could see a couple of people snickering out of the corner of his eye. Pointedly not putting his head back down, Kyuusei took out his notebook and tried to pay attention.

"Right, where were we? Ah, yes..."

The rest of the class passed by without much happening. After the class ended, Kyuusei met up with a friend of his in the hallway. "Yo. Suuuuzuuuukyuunn. I heard you had a little nappy-poo during class?"

Kyuusei sighed. Iwa Hayama, his close friend since they were toddlers, always seemed to insist on calling him "Suzukyun" for whatever reason. When questioned, Iwa always said"Because you're so cute, bro!" Kyuusei decided to respond with a nickname similar in kind. "Hi, Iwayama. How'd you know I fell asleep during class? Isn't your first period on the other side of the building?"

"Don't worry about it. Anyway. Iwayama? Really? Where'd that come from?" Iwa chuckled.

"Man, I don't...uh...know..." Kyuusei trailed off and looked down the hall just as a majestic figure came floating by.

"What's wrong with...you?" Iwa also fell victim to this figure who seemed to command the gaze of every student in the hallway. This figure was none other than Niwade Hanami, president of the student council, captain of the archery club, and who had received nothing but top marks throughout high school.

Kyuusei couldn't help but gawk as she glided past. The hallway went completely silent. She said nothing, and yet seemed to radiate an energy that made everyone feel as if she was a cut above the mass of onlookers in the hallway. Hanami did not stop in her levitating, almost ghostlike way of moving down the hallway, offering nary a glance to the people staring at her.

Weird, despite it being summer, Kyuusei noticed, Hanami was wearing long sleeves, as opposed to the shorter sleeves that most other students wore during this time of the year. Before he could ponder this any longer, the bell rang, snapping the students in the hallway out of their stupors and sending them to their next classes.

Iwa, who shared the next class with Kyuusei, nudged his friend. "Hey, uh...you see that?"

"See what?"

"You know what, man! You and I both saw the Pres!" Iwa sat down at his desk. He lowered his voice. "You...know if she's single?"

"Aw, come on, dude. No way." Kyuusei looked over and smiled. "You can't be serious."

"Nah, I'm just joking. Besides, the Pres is too pure for something as lewd as holding hands."

"Whoa now, holding hands?! Let's calm down over here, my man."

"Oh, my dear Suzukyun, let's hold hands and walk on the beach~" Iwa put on a high pitched voice.

"W-What?! Shouldn't we wait until marriage?!" Kyuusei made his face look as shocked as possible but was unable to stop a few giggles from escaping. The pair's small chuckles escalated into full-blown, unadulterated laughter. They didn't stop until a sharp warning from their teacher quieted them down.

Soon, the bell signaling the end of the day rang out, and all the students went their respective ways home. However, because of his slumber incident earlier in the day, Kyuusei had to stay later and do some extra assignments. Looking out of the window, he could see the archery club practicing. Squinting, he could make out the figure of Hanami, poised to let an arrow fly.

Spurred by a sudden desire to head down and watch, Kyuusei hurried his way through the assignments and turned them in to his teacher. "Sorry again, Sensei. Won't happen again."

"Mmmm. I'm sure." Mr. Satoru responded without looking up. "I'm sure you have somewhere to be, so I won't keep you. Go off and do whatever it is that you kids do."

"Thanks."

Running off, Kyuusei navigated his way to the building where the archery club was situated, but he couldn't find a way to get inside. Circling the building, he found that he could watch from behind a fence. Granted, the view wasn't excellent, but it got the job done. Respectfully not saying a word, Kyuusei sat and watched. Arrow after arrow, each one left the bow and hit its target.

Unbeknownst to Kyuusei, however, Hanami did not experience the same satisfaction that her spectators did. Each twang of the bow made her twitch, and every time the bowstring hit the bracer it caused her a flash of pain. Nobody noticed her flinching; they all seemed to be focused on the target, where the arrow was going to strike. Finishing her quiver, she placed her bow down with a heavy sigh of relief.

"Did you see how great those shots were?" whispered one of the first-years to another. "That's the Captain for you!" Hanami turned and gave them a cheery smile. The first-years squealed.

"I've got to head off now. Great practice, everyone! See you tomorrow!" Hanami smiled and waved, heading off to the changing rooms.

Anxiously, Hanami went around and checked if there was anyone around. There wasn't. She stood in front of one of the mirrors and began disrobing. Slowly, carefully, she removed her top. Once her arms were visible, she stopped and stared into the mirror.

Lightly going over her arms using her fingertips, Hanami traced over the scarring. Hidden from everyone else behind long sleeves, scars could be found stretching from just above her wrist to slightly below the elbow. Some were more faded than others, and some were more recent. Reaching into one of her pockets, she took out a small blade. Closing her eyes, she made a couple of incisions on each arm. New, fresh cuts overlapped the old, and blood began to run down her arms and to her fingers. She inhaled, and shakily exhaled.

Hanami looked into the mirror and made eye contact with her reflection. She inhaled. She exhaled.

And then she cried.