Under the Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 1.

- Haino High School, Tokyo, Japan -

On warm spring days, I used to go out, and I appreciated the soft weather after the long and cold winter. Maybe it was just me that felt that way, but spring really filled up my energy bar after winter had passed. I got to feel the sun on my skin, and I didn't have to layer myself in tons of clothes anymore.

I was a hopeless romantic. All day long, I spent my time thinking about sweet things to do with a significant other. But in reality, I had 0% dating experience.

As I was daydreaming, I felt someone or something poking me and I was forced to focus back on reality. I turned to my right and my friend, Haru, was looking at me.

Haru, one of my closest friends, was someone you would call a goddess. She was extremely gorgeous, she had a fit and slim body, and her blue-dyed short hair suited her face perfectly like the last piece of a big puzzle. What had I done in my past life to deserve such an amazing person as a friend?

"What?" I asked her.

"You're daydreaming again." She started saying. "You should focus during history, it's your worst class. If you keep it up like this, you're going to fail."

I sighed. It was true that I wasn't good at history, and I should have focused but whenever I tried to, my eyes got heavy and my brain flew to another dimension, thinking about more important things, like what I should eat for dinner.

"I'm trying my best, really." I replied.

Haru put her attention back to the teacher and I tried to do the same. The hour passed slowly and it was hard to concentrate. When the bell finally rang, I left out the most relieved breath.

It was lunchtime and I couldn't wait to eat lunch. I informed Haru that I would go buy a drink and that she could go to our usual sitting place without me first. I went to the school's canteen and bought iced tea.

Our usual sitting place is under a cherry tree near the entrance gate. It was the prettiest tree out of all and gave lots of shadow for warm days. When I arrived, Haru already started her meal.

"What did you bring today?" I asked while I sat down next to her on the grass.

"Just the usual: rice with salmon and veggies." She replies in between chews. "And you?"

I proudly opened my lunchbox to show her. "Panda-decorated rice balls with sausages and eggs!"

She looked impressed. "Wow, you leveled up your cooking!"

We laughed and I started eating. A part of me was proud of accomplishing this but another part of me was sad that I have destroyed my best masterpiece. But better to eat the aesthetic than to starve because of it.

Since school had just started a few weeks ago, we talked about all the new faces that came this year. There were many cute students that were already making a name for themselves because of their appearance. I sadly haven't gotten the chance to talk to any new students yet.

After we finished eating, Haru told me she needed to help her club in writing the school's newspaper and went off. So I was sitting alone under this beautiful cherry tree. I looked up and saw the sun shining between its branches.

The cherry blossoms were blooming to their fullest across the whole country that time around. I wished I could walk through the streets covered by trees with someone special. But the relationships wouldn't quite come to me. Not that I was complaining, the single life was relaxing in its own way, but having someone that held your hand or cuddled with you would have been nice, right?