Yasuda Asahi had come to learn within a minute of meeting his seatmate that she was, in the kindest way possible, strange. Strange as in when he first set his things down in the desk next to hers, she was sorting through a pile of cherry blossom petals that seemed to have erupted from out of nowhere from pinkest to whitest with strange accuracy and speed. Strange in as soon as she finished she picked out the pinkest of the bunch and was going to tuck it into her sleeve pocket before looking at him and placing it on his desk instead.
“You look like you need it more than I do.” She had said solemnly, pretty green eyes looking at him with pity.
“Oh, um, thanks?”
“You’ll figure things out eventually, keep at it.”
And then she picked up the second pinkest of the petals and tucked it into her sleeve before gathering the rest of the petals to stuff her pockets with, as if she hadn’t just dropped an emotional bomb on him despite not even knowing his name yet and left him to deal with whatever nuclear fallout was left behind while she returned to whatever little world she had created.
He didn’t learn her name until self-introductions.
—————
Kumagai Hanami couldn’t help but feel that her new seatmate was having a rough time. She could practically hear the gears turning behind his gray eyes, hidden by rimless glasses and too long black bangs. And he looked so gloomy too, like something had sucked all the life out of him.
Looking down at her assortment of good luck petals from bright vibrant pink to a milky sort of white, she counted them out again. There were about 91 petals to last her through the spring season, one for each day to be tucked away somewhere on her person for some good pink luck. But she could tell he needed a bit more luck than she did.
She plucked up the pinkest of the bunch, the one with the most luck, and placed it onto the center of his desk. “You look like you need it more than I do.”
He blinked at the petal in silence for a bit before looking at me, obviously confused. “Oh, um, thanks?”
“You’ll figure things out eventually, keep at it.”
And left things at that, returning to her pile of lucky petals.
—————
Chinen Airi, as the homeroom teacher for Class 1-1, had seen and met many interesting students in her time. The first day of classes often wasn’t very different from each year but somehow she felt like she had somehow lucked out in the character department with her class for the next three years.
“Hello, I’m Kumagai Hanami. My hobbies are gardening and making dioramas.” The daughter of a famous impressionist painter.
“Yasuda Asahi, my hobby’s photography.” An up and coming photography prodigy.
“Hi, hi! I’m Nagasawa Sayuri, I play tuba! Let’s have a fun year!” A girl who should’ve been on a fast track to the best music school in the country.
“Good morning. Uesugi Itsuki, I intend to join the drama club.” The son of a famed kabuki family.
“... Hashiguchi Nara. I enjoy fashion.” The displaced scion of a disowned heir.
“Yo. I’m Takahashi Kaito, um… I guess I can make tea.” And a delinquent looking cafe part-timer.
At least there was no way the next three years wouldn’t be eventful.
