Chapter 1

Monday Morning, April 20th

"Minase..." A sweet voice called my name from out of the darkness, but I paid it no mind.

I loved sleeping. Curled up in my bed, floating through a tranquil other-world devoid of any responsibility. Like a fetus bathing in its amniotic ignorance, dreaming not of love or riches or fame. I felt safe in that place and content to be nothing more than a heart beating by the grace of random chance. It was a perfect existence for someone like me, but not everyone would agree.

" ... Minase?" She poked at my shoulder. I refused to move.

This was my favorite time of the day, when you wake up and without even opening your eyes, roll over to sleep some more. But more often than not, my plans are ruined by a devil masquerading as an angel. Like a vampire, she's not going to stop until every last drop of tranquility is consumed by her evil desire to get me out of bed. Of course, if it wasn't for her, I'd probably never make it to school at all. I guess that's what you would call a necessary evil.

"Minase!"

Only one person could be so annoying that early in the day. Her name was Kurumi Imari, my personal tormentor and next door neighbor. If it wasn't for her, my life would have been perfect. I could have stayed in bed all day.

"Oh! What am I going to do with you?"

"You could try being a little quieter," I suggested.

"What? You're awake and you're just laying there like a lump?"

"Ouch! Hey! Stop it!" I opened my eyes and rubbed my forehead where she'd hit me. Not a real punch, but a pretty good slap all the same.

"I see you're awake," Imari said, bending over my bed and smiling down at me. Her aqua-green eyes twinkled and only a girl like her could find such abuse amusing.

"Are you some kind of sadist?" I wondered. "What did you do that for?"

"Because it's time to wake up," she replied. "Come on! Get out of bed. I can't believe anyone sleeps as much as you do."

"Get your hands off me," I said, shrugging away from her. "I can get out of bed by myself."

"Obviously you can't," she retorted, but Imari did step back. Crossing her arms impatiently over her breasts like a policewoman.

She wore her school uniform, as one would expect. Her white blouse had probably been starched, the creases looked so perfect. Imari's red skirt was precisely hemmed to mid-thigh, pleated with just enough flounce to show off the white panties underneath if she wasn't careful. She wore dark cover-alls with brass buttons, which didn't cover all that much. Dark nylon stockings and the same school tie every other student wore. It wasn't a bad uniform, in my opinion. Kind of sexy in a way, and fastidious Imari always looked nice in hers.

"What are looking at?" she wondered, biting her lip and looking down at herself. "Do I have a stain? Did I spill something?"

"Huh?" I shrugged. "I was just thinking how much sexier you would look in a shorter skirt."

"Excuse me?" Imari stared at me for several seconds. "You pervert! Stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?" I waved my hand at her. "You're right anyway. Nobody wants to see those skinny legs."

"You!" She hit me again, this time slugging me in the shoulder.

"Yeoow!"

"Get dressed. You don't even have time for breakfast now."

"What a nag," I sighed, rubbing my shoulder.

She turned around while I dressed, standing near my desk and looking out the bedroom window. I suppose most girls would have gone to another room, but not Imari. Most girls wouldn't come by a boy's house every morning just to wake him either. She did it for me though and the reason why wasn't complicated -- We'd been best friends since childhood.

After my father had taken a job promotion in another city, I'd been able to finally escape my overbearing parents and move in with my big sister, Yukiko. That's when Imari had promised to look out for me, especially when it came to my studies. She'd always been a good student and her diligence annoyed me almost as much as her eagerness, but we were still best friends.

I dressed in my uniform quickly, not wanting to test Imari's mood much more than I already had. She could be a pussycat until angered, and then she turned into a real tiger. We enjoyed teasing each other, although sometimes she liked to hit me a little too much. Maybe all girls are like that, because my sister was the same way. She loved to tease, but couldn't take much in return without making a fist.

"Are you almost ready?" Imari asked. "Can I turn around? Minase? Where did you go?"

"What?" I yelled. "I'm in the bathroom."

"There's no time to take a bath!"

"Can I brush my teeth?" I wondered, shaking my head as she peeked around the open door. I held up my toothbrush and she frowned.

"You should be more like your sister," she decided, which was something Imari said almost everyday. Yukiko got up early because she had a part-time job before her classes at the university started. Better her than me, I always said.

"Nmmph umph mmph emph!" I retorted around the froth filling my mouth.

"Whatever," Imari sighed. "Just hurry up."

All in all it was a pretty typical morning for us and we actually left my house a bit earlier than usual. Not that Imari would ever admit it. So far as she was concerned, I was always making her late for something.

We walked to school as it wasn't very far away, only ten minutes or so. The Kanagawa Preparatory Academy wasn't a large school, but its name carried a lot of prestige. The students were mostly eighteen and nineteen years old, high school graduates who would move on to a real university after two years at Kanagawa. They came from all walks of life. Those from modest families were usually on a scholarship, a few students were considered wealthy, and most of us fit somewhere in the middle. All in all, it wasn't very different from any other college prep school in Japan and like many of my classmates, I just wanted to hurry up and graduate. Imari loved school, not me.

"Isn't it wonderful to be walking to school on such a fine day?" she asked.

Imari could be a little dense sometimes and I ignored her. Most guys would be embarrassed walking with a girl, but I was pretty used to it. Being so early, there weren't a lot of people around to see us anyway.

"I just love walking in the morning," she continued. "Don't you?"

"No," I answered gruffly, and then yawned to make my point.

"Are you still tired?"

"Not at all," I said, but then I had to yawn for real. Imari thought I was faking.

"You're ridiculous," she sighed. "Forget it!"

"It was just a yawn," I told her, but she didn't want to hear it. We were nearly at the school anyway.

"Hey! Do you want to buy me a bean cake?"

I glanced at the kiosk selling bean curd wrapped in small buns. We passed by it every morning and the warm scent wafted beneath my nose. I hadn't eaten breakfast and a bean cake did sound good, but if I bought her one it might become some sort of ritual for us. I could just see myself spending all my money on stupid bean cakes for Imari. What would she want next?

"Why would I want to do that?" I asked. "Come on. We're going to be late."

"You're mean!" Imari said, frowning as we walked past the kiosk without stopping.

"All right," I changed my mind and turned around. "If you're going to pout..."

"Really?" She clapped her hands and smiled, but it faltered a second later. "Hey! I wasn't pouting!"

"Do you want one or not?"

"Of course I do!"

We continued to school holding our steaming bean cakes and blowing on them between tiny bites. They tasted delicious and my stomach stopped growling, which was the important thing. Along the way, Imari continued to chat, sharing with me the gossip about our school's new doctor.

"Everybody says she's very pretty."

"Who?" I asked, licking my fingers clean. I should have bought two bean cakes just for myself.

"Dr. Kitami," Imari said. "Have you seen her?"

"No," I replied. "How pretty is she?"

"Why do you care?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. For some reason they turned more blue than green when she was outside, but most people probably wouldn't notice that.

"I'm only asking," I said. "You brought it up. There are a lot of pretty girls at school anyway. Who cares about some old nurse?"

"She's not a nurse, she's a real doctor," Imari insisted. "They say she's very young for such an important position and ... Hey! What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"You said there's a lot of pretty girls at school."

"So?" I gave her a blank look. "What's your point?"

"It's your point I'm worried about!"

"Mine? You mean..." I glanced down at the crotch of my trousers.

"Arrgh! I didn't mean that, you pervert!"

"I thought I spilled bean curd on my pants."

"You did not!"

"I really did..."

We argued the last few blocks and I have to admit that I enjoyed getting Imari wound up like that. I'd never had a girlfriend. My parents had basically forbidden me any real social life outside of school, but now that they were gone I looked forward to finding someone special. Of course, that wouldn't be easy with Imari clinging to me all the time. She'd probably scare away any girl who might be interested in me. I really didn't get her sometimes. We were best friends, true, but everybody needs a little space to grow.

She didn't have a boyfriend either. A man would have to be nuts to go out with her! Sure, Imari looked nice, but I didn't pay much attention to that. And anyway, even if a guy might be attracted to her body, as soon as she opened her big mouth he'd change his mind in a hurry. Still, if she ever did get a boyfriend it would at least get her off my back for awhile. That would be okay, right? Somehow the idea didn't make me as happy as it should have, because ... Well, who would wake me up every morning?

We passed through the open gates and saw the schoolyard empty. Soon the place would be teeming with students and a number of them were just up the street in a nearby park. Several of the sports clubs met before classes started and the vice-principal led a calisthenics class, but I couldn't see any sense in sacrificing sleep for sweat. Just before the preliminary bell, the street would be full of students catching last minute cigarettes before shuffling reluctantly through the school's gaping maw like so many lost souls bound for Hell.

Imari didn't see it that way, however; she liked school.

"It's so peaceful in the mornings," she sighed. "I can even hear the birds chirping"

"Maybe they're bats," I suggested, holding the door for her.

"Don't be rude!" She shot me a dirty look. "You always have to spoil it."

"I think we're the first ones here today," I said, looking around the shoe shelves and seeing most of them empty.

"It's nice to be early for a change," Imari cheerfully replied.

She'd already started removing her street shoes and I could only shake my head. I took mine off as well, exchanging them for my school shoes. One of the heels had gone flat and I muttered a curse as I shoved my foot into that pathetic shoe. A few other students arrived, but nobody we really knew and the place seemed very quiet. Unnaturally quiet as I was used to arriving at the last minute, usually being dragged along by Imari while she complained about my bad habits. I could never understand what was wrong with just being on time. Perhaps that's why she occasionally called me an underachiever, echoing my father's sentiment without even realizing it

Our classroom was on the third floor of a structure that had little to boast of in an aesthetic sense. It had been built in the 1950's out of poured concrete and glass. Hardly traditional, but functional the way everything else in modern Japan seemed to be. At least it stayed warm in the winter and most of the air conditioners worked in the summer. The faculty seemed much the same as the building. Our teachers were practical by nature and the curriculum focused on Western concepts in literature, philosophy, and science. That meant that we had to learn English, an irrational language at best.

Like most schools, this one also promoted extra-curricular activities and there were a number of clubs that met after school. Imari had forced me to join the Art Club with her, and then she'd made it even worse by nominating me for vice-president. She was the club's president, naturally. I didn't mind it that much, although the idea of spending my valuable free time at school was completely absurd. The only reason I'd agreed at all was because of the art teacher, Miss Takashiro.

Since she taught art, she'd become very popular with the girls. Her male students, on the other hand, found Miss Takashiro extremely attractive. I certainly didn't mind looking at her and as we passed the second floor on our way to the third, I couldn't help but peer down the empty hallway. I hoped to catch a glimpse of the sexy teacher, but her classroom door was closed. It would have been the high point of my morning. Instead, I trudged up the stairs with Imari's constant prodding to annoy me.

Imari and I shared a look as we heard voices coming from behind the closed door of our classroom. With the school so empty, especially the upper floors, even a whisper could carry a long ways.

"Is it all right?" a girl wondered, and she sounded familiar as we approached the room. Mika Ito? What would she be doing here so early?

"Sure it is. Hurry up," a second girl replied. Definitely Ayumi Murai; I'd know her squeaky voice anywhere. She and Ito were our classmates.

"Did you just hear something? Someone might be coming!"

Chapter 2 »