The World Ends With You

Chapter 1: Redux

NAMI HAD HER wavy orange hair freely draping over her face as she sat upright on her bed, trying to sense what time it was. It currently was the first day of school and she was not sure if she had her alarm set the night before. She yawned and stretched a bit before she stood up gently, as a deafening voice blared all the way from the other side of the door.

"Nami! Are you up?!"

"Yeah I am, now."

"Well hurry up, will ya?!"

Nami winced then glanced at the screen of her phone, on the desk, which was flashing for some reason. She cussed when she realised what time it was as she stood up and raced to the shower. She did this, of course, with her sister scolding her with all might. Not that she minded it.

She didn't get enough time to enjoy the warm water prickling against her skin; she barely had the shower itself. The next thing she knew was her and her sister waiting at the stop for their bus.

"Seriously, it's our first day back and you didn't even set an alarm?"

Nami turned to her sister, who was sporting the same uniform except that she had the blazer on rather than the vest sweater Nami was wearing. "You know I hate early mornings."

A strong gust of wind brushed against their fronts, making them pat down their skirts to keep it from flipping up. That would be embarrassing. Moments later, their bus finally arrived and they hopped on.

Since it was the last bus for the morning, the streets were already filled with students from different schools, wearing different colours and styles of uniforms. There were even some who had no extra layer over their shirts, which Nami found to be amusing in the current weather that day.

"Looks like the staff got busy last week," the blue haired sister pointed out, her gaze fixed on the banner hanging on the front of the school which read 'WELCOME BACK'. There were even balloons and confetti and whatnot scattered everywhere, Nami had trouble identifying if it was just a welcoming banner or a party that was barely over.

"Nojiko!" she exclaimed and pulled her sister back by the arm.

Nojiko turned to Nami with furrowed brows. "What the hell?!"

"Watch out, man..." she huffed and gestured towards the running students from their direction. "You were almost hit."

"Thanks," Nojiko chuckled and regained her composure. "so, are you waiting outside or you wanna go in? We still have a couple of minutes before the bell..."

Would she wait? Nami thought about how long those two years have been, without seeing nor talking to her friends. She wondered how much they've grown...then it struck her; fifteen minutes for eight of her friends to arrive after her? Now that's impossible.

Leaving her sister in the great halls of the school, Nami headed to the cafeteria where students were reuniting with their own sets of friends. She sat by the bar counter and asked the lady for a cold brew of coffee. Leaning her head on one hand, she threw a side glance at the people near her. She wasn't anxious. She worried, if anything.

Nami felt an arm fling around her shoulders. "I don't think I've seen you before,"

The voice was raspy and not student-like, the orange haired girl flinched upon hearing.

"You're alone, aren't ya? Why don't you come with us? Or rather, have a drink with me? I like coffee too, you know."

This time, Nami turned around to face him and his arm dropped to his side. "I'm not having a drink with you." How ever misleading that was, she didn't mind. All she wanted was to shrug off the creepy guy from her.