Blossoms of The Forgotten Day Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Read chapter 2 of Blossoms of The Forgotten Day by Simply No One on NovelPedia.

I rushed to class, my shoes slapping against the corridor floor. For once, I arrived before the teacher. My lungs burned. I moved toward my desk at the back, near the window. As I passed the middle row, a voice cut through the noise. "Yo, what is up, Feelingless Tape Recorder. Late again?" Shoyo Sakamura. I clenched my fist but did not turn around. He was not exactly wrong, and I was used to these nicknames by now. "Look who is talking," a sharp voice answered from the front. Haruki. "The living error who cannot even spell his own name. It is Shoyo Sakamura, not Shojo Sakura." The class erupted. Shoyo's face went red. He shoved past me, heading for Haruki. I caught his shoulder before he got there. He shook me off and turned, his eyes narrowing. "Look who is getting out of his shell today." Then Asahi appeared behind me. Tall, with an athletic build, my friend since first grade. Shoyo clocked him and backed down with a grunt. I slid into my seat. Asahi sat beside me. Haruki in front. I stared out at the falling sakura petals. "You know you should stop picking fights," I said to Haruki. My voice was low. "Asahi and I will not always be there." She turned, irritated. "Hah? And where would you two be without me? Who do you think I said that for? You will not even stand up for yourself, you dummy." "I know," I said. "But you do not need to do it every time. There are more people here than you have replies for." "Exactly," she shot back, her tone caught somewhere between annoyance and concern. "That is why you should go out there and shut them up yourself." "I cannot," I whispered. I turned back to the window. "I just cannot play it anymore." The classroom door slid open. Mr. Shouto, our teacher, walked in. We stood. "Good morning, teacher." As we sat, someone else followed him through the door. My heart stopped. It was her. The girl from the gate. Mr. Shouto gestured toward her. "Class, we have a new student. Her family just moved from Shibuya." She offered a small, bright smile. "Good morning. I am Haruka. I hope we can all be good friends." My heart hammered against my ribs. Mr. Shouto asked her to take the empty seat beside Haruki. With every step she took, the sound of her shoes on the wooden floor echoed the frantic rhythm in my chest. That rhythm was finally interrupted by the noise of chalk on the green board as Mr. Shouto wrote the date: 7 February 2018. He began the lesson. The impact of music in our life. I could not focus. My eyes kept going back to her. I tried pulling my attention toward the window, toward the endless fall of pink petals. As each one fell, my heartbeat slowed with it. And before I knew it, my mind wandered somewhere of its own. What is music? Is it just poetry? A person screaming their feelings without words? Or is it just another rigid subject where you have to master the timing, like everything else? The recess bell broke through it. I pulled out my lunch. "Haruki. Asahi. Roof?" Asahi nodded. Haruki waved us off. "Go on, I will catch up." On the roof I bought a bitter black coffee from the vending machine. Asahi got an orange juice. "Really? In this weather?" I asked. "Vitamin C, man. It keeps me going. Way better than that black poison you drink." We leaned against the fence and ate in comfortable silence. Then Haruki arrived. And she was with her. Haruka. My heart hammered again. The sandwich slipped from my fingers and fell back into the lunchbox. "Guys, guess what," Haruki announced, practically glowing. "Her name, Haruka, and mine, Haruki, are both related to spring. Is that not amazing?" Asahi grinned. "It took you half the day to figure that out? That is why I always say you should think of something besides football. I would not even be surprised if your brain is just empty air." A small laugh escaped me. And from Haruka too. A light, musical sound. Haruki's face went the color of a red cherry. "You are such a jerk." She kicked Asahi's shin. "Ow. It was not even that bad." Then Haruka's eyes