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⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈．

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⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ June 11th, 20XX
　　　　　　　— early morning.

Sayaka looked around the school's first floor hall as she entered the school. She had to find the registry location to properly register, according to Lala. This was so weird to her though. Why did she have to go to school exactly? It wasn't very clear to her to begin with, and to make it more confusing she had to register. She didn't even want to be here. As she saw some girls walking by, she decided to ask them for help.

"Excuse me?"

The small group turned to her with confusion, staring. Sayaka stared back, waiting for them to acknowledge her words. The air was thick with how awkward this was, but Sayaka didn't seem to notice.

".....what? " one of the girls asked with slight annoyance in her tone.

"Where is the registration area? I am new here and I was told that I have to go there."

The pack looked Sayaka up and down. She... went here? They felt she looked skanky at best. They all held back some giggles at her appearance, before one said, "upstairs on the second floor. Take a left when you get there."

"Oh! Thank you very much." Sayaka beamed cheerfully as offered to shake their hands. They refused the offer by walking away and starting to laugh. Sayaka's joyfulness faded as her eyebrows narrowed, watching them leave while not understanding the reason for their laughter. Alas, she ignored it, and followed their instructions. Seemingly wandering around before being stopped by a teacher in a yellow shirt and denim skirt.

"Excuse me ...are you lost?" the teacher asked.

"Oh, no. I was told that the registration area was here. I am supposed to be attending the school starting today?"

The teacher sighed. "It's not here. You need to see the principle. Tomorrow, you and your guardian should have come to get registered to start on Monday."

"... Guardian?" Sayaka questioned, leaving the teacher confused. Was guardian like her parent?

With another sigh, the teacher said, "I'll help you now I suppose. Follow me."

———— 📌

"Ah, so you're the new student," a fat man in a tan suit questioned as he eyed the girl. "Thank you for bringing her here Ms. Kawakami. I will take it from here."

With a nod, the teacher left the room, and the principal continued to speak.

"We got notified of your arrival a day ago. My name is Principle Kobayakawa,” the man introduced before continuing, “since we were unable to prepare your schedule in full, and we do not have school on Sundays, you will start class on Monday Morning."

"Why?" Sayaka asked.

"Um..." Kobayakawa didn't realy have an answer himself, so he gave the best one he could provide, "That's just how the schedule is."

There was some silence again, before he continued on.

"You'll be in Mr. Ushimaru's class this year. He is also the social science teacher, so you'll have him for that class as well." he then provided her two sets of uniforms, one with a blazer and turtleneck and the other with a short sleeved collared shirt. There was also a school bag, which she could put her books and binders in.

Sayaka looked at the new clothes and said, "I do not need more clothes. Thank you."

"You're required to wear them though. These are the school uniforms for summer and fall."

"But I will not. I like my shirt."

The man sighed. He knew some students wore their own shirts, like Sakamoto, but generally it was students who still wore their blazers over it.

"Okay. Well, you have to wear the blazer skirt provided at the very least. It's the school uniform and there are rules here."

"Oh... well, okay." Sayaka wasn't about to argue over this, and she didn't mind the skirt.

"Anyways... school is about to begin, so remember to come back on Monday at this time. Surely your parents will remind you."

Again with the parents thing... Sayaka didn't say anything, but nodded and left the campus. She'd return in a couple days for her first day of school.

————— 📌

From the moment Sayaka introduced herself, giggles, whispers, and gossip ran loose. She was incredibly formal, compared to everyone else's more casual demeanor. Ushimaru took note of that, but personally had no interest in trying to make the kids welcome her openly and kindly. It wasn't something he tended to do. Any time Sayaka waved to say hello to groups of students, the flocks departed. Even the punkish boy with blond hair scurried away when she said hello, and he seemed as much of an outcast as she did! She didn't really understand why this was happening. It made her ...sad.

Was something wrong with her?

Her thoughts were disrupted when the kind voice of a person spoke to her.

"Hi there, you're the new girl right?"

Sayaka looked over to see a red haired girl wearing a yellow sweater.  This girl also had a red bow in her hair ... It seemed weird, considering her hair was also red. But could Sayaka really judge?

" Oh, um .. yes..." Sayaka answered.

"I'm Kasumi Yoshizawa," The girl in the yellow sweater bowing to her upper classman before holding out a hand for her to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

Sayaka was hesitant, but shook her hand. The bell then rang, indicating that the break period was over. Kasumi said her goodbyes before heading down the steps to the first year classes, whilst Sayaka watched her leave. Kasumi was a first year..? Interesting.

The rest of the day would pan out as a normal school day: Classes, work, learning.

Sayaka didn't really understand the subjects of history and learning a new language, but they were required according to Principle Kobayakawa, and she wouldn't complain about it. And when school was out, Kasumi was waiting outside the school for Sayaka.

"Kasumi... you are waiting for someone?"

"Yes, you. I wanted to know if you'd like to go with me to Kichijoji?"

Sayaka looked puzzled, and Kasumi caught on that perhaps this meant the older girl didn't know the place? She did look different from many of the other students, so if she was a foreign exchange student or something, that made sense.

"I think... I think for today I will pass... " Sayaka responded almost sheepishly. She was a bit embarrassed to not know what this place was, but she also didn't get the right kind of vibe from Kasumi. She was friendly but... something was off. "I just need to settle into my new home. I am... uh... not from around here, so I am not quite settled in yet."

Kasumi blinked once, taking in some of what was said. Though disappointed, she was still understanding of the situation. So she nodded and said, "Next time I have a break in my schedule I'll take you. We'll have so much fun, I can just feel it!"

With that, the ribboned girl said goodbye to Sayaka and left. Sayaka watched each step until the first year was out of view before walking home.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.

A white door opened to reveal a white room.

Blank, with minimal amounts of furniture.

There was a couch, the kitchen area with its utensils, and the balcony. The apartment was on the very top floor .... Or well, that's what Sayaka assumed. It wasn't the penthouse, but she didn't know those existed, or if this complex even had one.

The living room was blank because she had no idea what to do with it. It wasn't out of inspiration or the lack there of — she genuinely hadn't a clue what this room was supposed to be for.

With a sigh, the girl drops her school bag to the ground and heads to one of the other rooms, her bedroom. It was currently just as plain as the living space, for the same reason. But she knew she wanted to do something with this room in particular...

Just not... now.
She'd figure it out later.
She was too exhausted to figure it out right now though.
School was... weird.
Why was it tiring?
And this place had nothing to do anyways...
Now she regretted not going out with Kasumi, despite the vibe.

This was how Sayaka spent her days for about a week or two.

School.
Home.
Contemplating things.
Then regret about how she went about her day.

She'd go to sleep with the regret, but disregard it the following mornings.
She didn't understand why she felt bad for not hanging around someone who rubbed her the wrong way.