For many years I had the same dream appearing from time to time. I was seeing a young lady with the hair made of gold.

In the dream she is not doing anything, she just stands in place. For minutes, for hours. But when I am about to wake up, she tells me: work hard, for my sake.

I was not the most capable of people: since the grade school I lagged behind the class in my studies, I failed to do any housework, and most importantly I could not find any friends. I understood how hard it is when you are alone.

When the dreams began, my life did not become better but… I felt as if there is a hope. I did my best until I realized that I am no longer a good-for-nothing girl. Yet, I continued working hard.

“Uuugh!” I stretched and stood up from the bed.

I checked the clock. The time was 6:30 AM.

I did the morning warm ups and went to the bathroom, before my imouto closes herself there.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Now that I was fresh and ready, I dressed and went downstairs.

“Good morning, Mother. Good morning, Father.”

“Good morning, Yuki. Have you slept well?” Mother was already cooking breakfast and cheerfully greeted me. While my Father was busy drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

“Any interesting news?” Because the table was not served yet, I started asking Father.

“Nothing of note.” He mumbled.

“Dear! At least talk to your daughter!” Father only growled.

“What’s the noise and where’s the fight?” My imouto, small child climbed downstairs.

“Good morning, Sora. Have you slept well?” I asked my imouto, who was still in her pajamas.

“I did!” She proudly said that but…

“Yuki, can you take care of the food?” Mother sighed and led my imouto upstairs. She still has to dress her up for the kindergarten.

“Of course.”

“And while you are there, make me coffee.” A voice came out from behind a newspaper.

“Yes, Father…”

I was not even surprised to see that my daily routine went as always.

After the breakfast I hurried to the school.

It was an inconspicuous high school close to the center of the city. The tuition fees are reasonable, and the teachers are good. I was happy to enroll here, and I am yet to have any regrets.

At the gates I saw the infamous checkpoint.

“Sagara-san, Nihima-san, good morning." I greeted the disciplinary committee welcoming party.

“Good morning, Minohara-san.” Sagara-san waved me her hand.

“Good morning, you know the drill.” I showed my bag to confirm that nothing illegal was there.

“Everything’s alright. See you!” Nihima-san was satisfied with the fact that I, as always, don’t carry manga or other undesired things.

“Keep up the good work!” I waved them and continued to the entrance.

Behind the glass panels of the entrance I saw somebody standing near my locker.

“Good morning, Tomo-chan.” I greeted my unexpected visitor.

“Morning, Yuki-chan.” Tomo-chan is black-haired girl with her hair tied in twin tails. While she is one of the problematic students, she is kind-hearted girl. That is why we became friends quickly. We had a lot of time to chat while she was chastised by the disciplinary committee.

“Yuki-chan, why are you so late today?” (T)

“Ha-ha~, is it not you who came here earlier?” I started changing the shoes.

“Let me look. Yeah, I’m earlier.” (T)

“Nice job.”

“Jeez, Yuki-chan, stop influencing me!” (T)

“Come on, it’s just 10 minutes!”

“It’s entire 10 minutes worth of sleep~!” I ruffled her hair and ran upstairs.

“Waaait~!” (T)

Even though I accelerated a bit, she still caught up and we continued chatting.

“How about we go to a shop after school?” (T)

“Sorry…”

“Jeez… what’s today?” (T)

“I was asked to help with a newcomer.”

“Oh, we have a reinforcement?” Tomo-chan put a fist on her palm.

“We do. I heard only the bare minimum. It is a girl and she comes today. No name, no class, nothing.”

“I got it. Any more news?” (T)

“Nothing notable…”

“Pssst, I heard that class 3-6 is being cleaned. And that there was a furniture company van near the school. Could it be there will be a new club opened?” (T)

“Lemme think… I don’t remember anything about a club opened but the council received a request to do the paperwork required for that.”

“So it’s true? Nice to know. Let’s decide on our future club~!” (T)

“Let's do so during the lunch break. I’ll be going.” We have reached the point where we usually stop chatting.

“Good luck!” We parted ways and went to our respective classrooms.