Cherry Blossoms

There she stood, under those pink trees known as cherry blossoms with their dazzlingly bright pink hue. At that moment, I was starstruck. It was a typical day on my way to school when I caught sight of her awestucking beauty. The scene unfolded before me, as her stunning pink hair frolicked about in the gentle spring breeze.

The scene became even stranger when I realized that the majestic beauty before me was wearing my school uniform. I have never seen her before, I wonder who she is.

My name is Kenji Sato and I am currently a second-year student at Hikari Academy. Until recently, Hikari Academy was exclusively attended by female students. However, this was not because it was an all-girls school, but rather due to the incredibly high academic standards for admission. Today marks a significant milestone as I become the first male student to ever attend this esteemed institution. Needless to say, I am feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension.

As for me, I must admit that I fit the stereotype of a "pretty boy" commonly seen in most shoujo manga. When it comes to my appearance, I have blonde hair, which for some reason unbeknownst to me, makes me seem like some exotic creature to everyone in Japan back in France it was nothing more than commonplace. But I digress. I'm not proud of this aspect of my looks, but I have to accept it since I am half-European. Throughout my life, I have always been popular with girls, despite having no interest in pursuing romantic relationships..

I arrived at school for orientation, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness. Being surrounded by only girls was a new experience for me, but I knew it was a necessary step to achieve my goal. After all, this was the best academy in Japan. As I entered the auditorium where the orientation was taking place, I couldn't help but feel the weight of being the only male in a sea of students. I could practically hear my heartbeat.

A seemingly middle-aged woman walked up to the podium. Everyone stood up from their chairs and saluted her as she walked up. On the left of her, there seemed to be about ten students, which I'm assuming is the student council. There were also about seven adults on her right. I'm guessing that's the faculty.

She spoke up, in a loud demanding voice.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to Hikari Academy. I am Eiko Takahashi, your principal. Please feel free to call me Eiko. Congratulations on reaching the top academy in Japan. As you may have realized, this is not an ordinary school. It fosters fierce competition, and you must strive to keep up. Out of the thousand students here, only one hundred will be able to attend. For the next month, you will all participate in a training camp, and those with the highest grades will earn a spot at the academy. Further details will be provided if you pass the preliminary test. Today is a monumental moment in our academy's history, as we welcome our first male student!. Please come forward.” She finishes her long-winded speech, leaving me with no time to process the news. Oh boy, Here goes nothing.

I walked through the ocean of students surrounding me, all watching me with curious eyes. I could especially feel the gaze of student council members as if they were looking down upon me. With each step I took towards the podium I could feel my heartbeat getting louder and louder.

I reached the podium, and everyone's full attention fell upon me. I started to say something only for the mic to have not been turned on.

The crowd bursted out into laughter. I had a feeling of restfulness come upon me. At the very least it broke through the ice of the awkward almost freezing atmosphere of before.

I turned on the mic and began to speak for real this time.

“Yo. My name is Kenji Sato. Feel free to call me Kenji. Looking forward to working with you all.” I finish this short but concise speech with a bow. I'm greeted by awkward claps as I walk back to my chair.

“Yes! Thank you for that Kenji, now moving along. The people to the left of me are the student council, the ones to beat. To my right are the faculty members, however, you will only be able to meet these people if you pass the test. Go outside and ride the buses to your testing area. Good luck to all of you. Study hard and you're guaranteed to get in!

So, we all do as we are instructed and ride the bus to our temporary school. I feel conflicted about the arising events. They never said anything about another test, I already worked my but off to get through the first one. However, I suppose this is why it's regarded as the best school in Japan. Who knows, maybe I’ll even find love at this new school! As this thought popped into my mind I audibly burst out into laughter. Yeah right.

We arrived at our temporary school, it was nothing fancy, just your typical Japanese school. A group of three girls came up to me. All with black hair, very pretty I might add.

“Um, k-kenji was it?” One of the girls speaks up in a timid voice.

“Yeah, that's my name. What's up?”

“Um, well the three of us were wondering if um just maybe you would like to hang out after school?” She says with a slight blush on her face. Jeez, my good looks are really a curse sometimes.

“Oh I would but I need to help my mom unpack. We just moved here after all. We used to live in France. Maybe some other time?” This wasn't exactly a lie, still a convenient excuse to get out of a pointless date.

“Wow! That is so cool! Of course, no worries!”

My family is very worried about me. That I’ll never have a partner. I don't see it as such a big deal but oh well. Ever since I can remember I have never felt love for anything or anyone. I'm not particularly interested in any hobbies, subjects, or really anything to do with life. I'm kind of just a robotic existence I suppose you could say. Even my goal in life is stolen from someone else. I don't think I will ever feel love for a human being. I’d be happy if I did but I'm very doubtful about it. My parents have even taken me to the doctor, ha! It's whatever.

We arrived in our class for the day, and the teacher came and told us all to come up and give an introduction, I already gave one in front of the entire student body, so they skipped over me. One by one people went up to introduce themselves, they all exercised great care, after all the first impression is most important.

“Crap, crap!”

“I’m gonna be late at this point!”

A young girl was running as fast as she could through the school halls to get to her class.

“Alright, everyone! Introductions complet-”

BOOM

A young girl came crashing through the door as the teacher was about to wrap things up. It was the same beautiful pink-haired girl from earlier. Talk about a first impression.

“Hello everyone hehe! My name is Sakura Tanaka! Feel free to call me Sakura, sorrrryyy I was almost late! I look forward to working with you all!!!” She talked with very exaggerated faces and poses, and her manner of speech was also very odd. Nonetheless, hearing her sweet voice took me into another world the first time I heard it. I felt like I was floating through space, and her voice was the lifeline that brought me back to Earth. She has very adorable mannerisms it seems. I Wonder where she's from.

After class, the beautiful pink-haired girl approached me.

“Hey, kenjiiiii!!! You’re really the first boy here?? That's amazing! Say, would you like to go out with me?”

“No thanks.” I replied with an exasperated look. That's disappointing, I thought at the very least we could have been friends. Why does everyone have to be so fixated on love?! Whatever, I'm going home.

I will never ever have a Sakura Heart.