Chasing Daydreams Episode 1: "Who are you?" Mornings. If there was one time of the day that Shinji had to name as his least favorite, he'd name mornings on the spot. It wasn't so much that sunrise hurt his eyes, or that the sounds of life waking up outside bothered him. No, he hated mornings because it featured that unpleasant transistion from sleep to wakefulness. "OHHHHH, SHIN-CHAN!!!!!!" Case in point. The door burst open, the doorknob punching a hole into the wall before shuddering to a halt. Mariko Yamazaki thrust her head into his room, a bright and rather vacant smile lighting her face. "It's time for you to get up, Shin- chan! You wouldn't want to be late for your first day at your new school, do you?" "....Mmh?" She beamed down at her only child's question. "It's 7:00 AM, dear. Enough time for you to eat breakfast if you hurry!" "....Mmh." "I know you do. Now be good and hurry downstairs, okay?" Mariko closed the door with another 'bang' as she went back to her happy happy work. Shinji slowly sat up in bed, crossing his legs together as he tried to brush off the last cobwebs of sleep from his mind. *I really really wish I knew how Mom can be so... lively in the mornings. I haven't found any trace of drugs in their room yet. Wish the old man had an answer.* Stretching to his full height, Shinji stood up, trying to work the kinks out of his back, before shuffling over to the closet. The Harukazi school uniform was a basic white shirt and black pants, thankfully. His last school required the male students to wear blue shirts with plaid pants. Not pleasant to look at, but still better than the orange and pink combo the girls had. He shuddered as he pulled out the uniform, deciding that bad memories were best left alone. Shinji came out of his room fully dressed, feeling slightly irritated by the twinge in his back that he hadn't been able to remove. He headed down toward the dining room, butterflies dancing in his stomach at the thought of the day ahead. A year ago, his dad had taken a chance, retired from his old job and started his own engineering consulting service with the family's savings. Much to everyone's surprise it had taken off immediately, and the old man promptly latched onto the idea of buying a house in a better part of town, a dream that was completed a week ago. Of course, the fulfilment of that dream required Shinji going to a new school, something that was somewhat detestable, since he had barely learned to tolerate the people at his old high school. Still, his father wanted nothing more than a better life for his wife and son, something Shinji would never fault him for. A new school was just the price to pay, one that he could deal with. He nodded at his father, who was already sitting at the table, an open newspaper lying next to his cereal bowl. Toshio Yamazaki calmly regarded his only child, his lined face and silvering hair showing Shinji what his own future would look like. "Well Shinji, are you prepared for your first day at Harukazi High?" Shinji shrugged, methodically eating the cereal his mother put in front of him. "It can't be any worse than my old school. I should get along fine." Shaking his head, his father closed the newspaper. "You're going to have to do more than just 'get along', Shinji. I've heard some things about Harukazi from some of the people I give consultations to." "Oh? Like what?" "Well, the teachers there are supposed to be... mmm, unique. I'm not sure if that means they're strict or not, but you're going to have to do more than coast along, like you could in your old school." Toshio folded his hands together, watching his son. "The dean there is reportedly focused on excellence, and the parents who've met him are impressed." "I'm smart. I can handle myself well. It's going to be fine." "You say that, but I'm not convinced. Your grades have always been decent, but you've never been pressed before. This time..." Shinji sighed, "This time, I'll have to work harder. I'll be fine, dad. I do know what I'm doing." A frown touched Toshio's lips as he reopened his paper. "Very well, but for your sake, I hope you're correct." *I wonder if that was a threat.* Shinji grimaced a little bit, then returned to his breakfast, wondering about his father's words. A hand tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Say, Shin-chan?" "Yes, mom?" "How long will it take you to walk to your school now?" *Oh no, please don't say you want to walk me to school.* "Um, about 10 minutes, though I guess I'll leave at quarter til today, so that I can find a decent seat for the dean's welcoming speech. Why?" "Shouldn't you have left 5 mintues ago then?" "Huh?" Shinji's head snapped toward the clock. 7:50 AM glowed back at him. His stomach dropped. "Oh..." "Language." His father warned. "...sh." He cut himself off as he ran to the front door, grabbed his case for school, pulled on his shoes, and dashed down the street. "It looks like he's going to have one of those years." Toshio noted. ******************************************************************************** Shinji sprinted down the street toward his school, thoughts whirling. *Good thing I've already walked the route a few days in advance. There won't be any embarrassing missteps for the rest of the day, I'll just get there, get in a seat, and things will go fine, yep. Just have to mantain a nice steady pace, turn left here, and there it is, a straight shot to the school. All right, I've got it made, and with time to spare.* A grin slid across his face as he slowed down to an easy walk, seeing the school looming ahead. *I think things won't be too ba..* "LOOK OUT!" Shinji's head snapped around to look down the crossing street, just long enough to see a sprinting girl throw her arms protectively over her head before she plowed into him, sending them both crashing into the ground. "Owowowowow," he muttered. He really hated people trying to run him over. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the urge to go fast, no, it was that he disapproved of people knocking him into the pavement. That was just plain rude. He pulled himself into a sitting position before opening his eyes, hoping his clothes hadn't been torn. *Wow.* In front of him was a young girl, roughly his own age, probably. Long brown hair, very cute face, couldn't see the eyes though, they were still closed. She was rubbing her... Shinji tore his eyes away, feeling the blood start to rush to his cheeks. "Uh, I'm sorry about that." "Owieowieowie... huh?" *Man, even her voice is cute.* Shinji mused. "I'm sorry about, you know, running into you like that." He slowly dragged his eyes back over, hoping that she wasn't doing anything embarrassing. "OH! It's okay, it was my fault too, for running without looking around and stuff." Her eyes were a vivid blue that Shinji had never seen before. The red cheeks though, those were a near match for his own. He slowly stood up, making sure that there weren't any linger pains, then helped her to her feet. "My name's Shinji Yamazaki, I'm a 2nd year student at Harukazi High School, though this is really my first day here." She grinned at him. "Heh, that's cool! I'm Nanami Miyamura, a 1st year student there. I hear it's a good school!" Shinji smiled back, the feeling was infectious. "I've heard it's a unique school but my old man couldn't give me any details. Can't be any worse than my last school, though. I slept through classes and made good grades." "Ohhh, so you're one of those smart kids? I had some problems with some classes, so maybe I should stick around you, ne?" Nanami latched on his arm, trying to adopt a puppy dog expression while batting her eyes at him. "Oh no, no," he laughed, "I'm not that smart, it was just that my school was that lax. It's not like I'm in the top 1% for tests, after all." She let go of his arm and took a step back. "Oh? Where are you then?" Shinji coughed a little bit, then muttered, "Top five." "HA!" Nanami threw herself back onto him. "Close enough! I am going to follow you around. Maybe your brains will rub off on me!" Shinji started laughing helplessly. This was something he didn't think would ever happen. But then, only a dumbass would protest having a cute girl hanging onto him, and he certainly wasn't a... A loud bell began to ring in distance. "OH MAN, WE'RE LATE!!!!" they screamed in unison as they broke apart and began to sprint toward the school. ******************************************************************************** "Excuse me, pardon me, sorry 'bout that..." Shinji fought his way to one of the last empty seats in the auditorium where all of the students had gathered. He had gotten seperated from Nanami in the crush as the stragglers all fought to get inside. He wasn't too worried about losing her. Shinji had gotten the impression that she would find him if she really wanted to. He smiled to himself as he sat down. She was really a nice girl, and cute to boot. "You know, that's kinda of a perverted grin there. You thinking evil thoughts?" Shinji blinked, then looked over. Another girl was sitting next to him, a questioning look on her face. She was almost as cute as Nanami, but had black hair and brown eyes similar to his own. Absorbing that information without pause, he replied, "No, can't say that I am." She sighed, a look of disappointment flashing across her face. "Too bad, those tend to be entertaining. What are you grinning about then?" "Uh, thinking about someone I met this morning. So, who are you, and why should I care?" "Hmm? Oh, I'm Megumi Tomihara, Class 2-D. I was just thinking that you came in late, and you had a perverted grin on your face, so it only makes sense that you were doing something naughty before you ran here." She gave him a thoughtful look. "Are you sure you weren't doing anything naughty?" "What? No!" Shinji looked around, but no one was paying attention to them. "I just arrived late." "Ah well." She slumped back in her seat. "So what's your name?" "Shinji Yamazaki. I'm in class 2-B." Shinji regarded her warily. She was odd, but seemed to have settled down. Megumi looked back at him, her interest perked. "Really? I have a friend in that class this year. Her name's Reiko, you can't miss her." "Why's that?" "Her hair's blue." Shinji blinked, and opened his mouth to ask the obvious question when a middle aged man walked up to the microphone, and tapped on it a few times, notifing all of the students to shut up. The man at the podium was tall with broad shoulders, his dark suit accenting his form perfectly. Students close to the front could see dark eyes behind his glasses, as he looked over his audience. His short hair and neatly trimmed goatee only added to the aura of confidence he projected. "Students, let us begin this year. I am Dean Nushi, the head administrator at Harukazi High School. I have been entrusted by your parents to make sure that your performance here is of the highest quality possible, and I have never failed them before. This will not be the first year, young ones. I will see to that, along with your help, and that of our staff. Now, I am certain that all of you are eager to get to your classrooms, so I will keep this short. All of you here will be challenged, and I am sure that you will not disappoint me, your parents, your classmates, or yourself. Thank you." The Dean stepped back from the podium and returned to his seat, letting his staff give their introductions. Shinji quietly repeated the last lines of the Dean's speech to himself, then looked over at Megumi and said. "What kind of weird pep talk was that? What happens if we do disappoint everyone?" "I'm not sure," she shrugged, "But no one failed last year, not in the entire school. It was a bit of a shocker, but everyone's grades had improved from their old school, apparently. You know the Dean has his own fan club?" "You're kidding, right?" "Nope, there are some students here who want to be just like the Dean. The upperclassmen in the club are even trying to grow goatees, just like his." Megumi leaned back into her chair, and grinned at Shinji. "Why? Were you thinking about joining it?" "That's okay, no. I would look odd with a beard." Megumi looked at his face keenly for a few seconds, until he started to shift in his seat a little bit, then said. "That's true, I suppose. Your face wouldn't really look that good with facial hair. A goatee like the Dean's would just make you look Evil." Shinji blinked. Somehow, he actually heard the capitalization fall into place there. "Yeah... anyway, getting back to this friend of yours..." "Oh, right, right. Reiko's a sweet girl, if a little shy. I'll tell her to expect you, or something." "That's not what I..." He was cut off by the clapping as the last of the teachers stood up and introduced himself and his department. The dean took the stand again, and look out into the audience again. "Very good. Now, everyone please report to your classrooms, where you can meet your homeroom teacher, and we can get this year started in an excellent way." The Dean nodded, satisfied, and gathered his papers as the students began to get out and shuffle their way to class. Shinji stood up, and was turning toward Megumi when she grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward the exit, ignoring his reflexive protest. "C'mon, Shinji. I'll introduce you to Reiko, and you make sure you don't do anything perverted, okay?" She slid through the crowd of students like a blade, the kids unconsciously getting out of her way. *What the hell is that supposed to mean? I never do anything perverted.* Shinji grumbled to himself. *In public, anyway,* he amended. ******************************************************************************** As he was pulled through the swarming throng, he looked around at what he could see of the school itself. It looked fairly modern, large plate glass windows in the halls, fresh paint on all of the fairly wide walls. Modern, yet lifeless. He was wondering what the cafeteria and libary looked like when Megumi turned and led him into a classroom. "Here we are," she announced cheerfully. Class 2-B looked almost as sterile as the hallways did, with the walls being painted in new coats of white, and the whiteboard not showing any signs of previous use. Only the plants next to the open window gave the room any kind of life. "Oy, Reiko, I got someone for ya to meet!" A head of bright blue hair snapped up from the book it was looking at to stare at Megumi and Shinji. "Meg, shh! You're being too loud again." She focused on Shinji for a moment, then smiled at him. "How do you do? I'm Reiko Arishima." "Wow." "Pardon me?" Reiko blinked at him, confused by his reply. "Huh? Uh, I mean, I'm Shinji Yamazaki, it's, uh, nice to meet you." Shinji grinned uncertainly, a slight blush on his cheeks. *IDIOT!* His mind screamed. He didn't mean to blurt out 'wow', it was just the first thing that came to mind when he saw her. He didn't expect her hair color to match her eye color like that, and she was wearing glasses too? 'Wow' didn't begin to cover it. She slowly nodded at him. "Of... course." Beside her, Megumi looked at Shinji with a dubious expression on her face. "You're defintely thinking something perverted there." He sighed, "What is with your fascination with perverts?" "I dunno. Something to pass the time?" Shinji slowly nodded, now convinced that she was at least partly insane. That didn't bother him as much as one would think, though. He'd been called worse, often by some of his old teachers. Reiko rubbed her forehead, saying, "Meg, what would we ever do without you?" "I'm not sure, but I'm glad we don't have to find out," Megumi replied, grinning. "Anyway, I need to get to my own homeroom, so I'll see ya at lunch, Reiko. Shinji, I know what you're thinking. Stop it." "Hey!" Reiko smiled fondly as Megumi skipped off. "She's a tad... different, but she means well." "... Right." Shinji muttered, watching her leave. "Well, take any seat that's not occupied. Our teacher will probably reassign seats once she gets here, so don't get too attached to it, okay?" Reiko turned her smile on him, and he nodded blankly, not trusting himself to speak in the face of that. He glanced around, seeing a likely spot that was still empty. The fact that it gave him a clear view of Reiko had absolutely nothing to do it with. Or maybe it had absolutely everything to do with it, he wasn't quite sure. Between Nanami, Reiko, and even Megumi, his mind was starting to go on cuteness overload. Fortunately, Megumi's seeming obession with perverts helped to ground his more extreme thoughts somewhat. He had just settled into his seat when a quiet voice quietly said, "Reiko is kind of cute, isn't she?" Shinji tore his eyes away from Reiko and looked over at the guy next to him. At least, he assumed it was a guy. With the slicked back hair, those deep eyes, and those pouty lips, he was disturbingly pretty. Only the bass in his voice gave definte evidence that he was merely bishounen. The fellow continued to talk, "Yeah, she's nice looking, but I like Megumi much more. She's got that fiesty spunk to her." He gave Shinji a searching look. "You seem to be on pretty good terms with both of them. How about you give a guy a hand when you make your move on Reiko?" Before Shinji could even start to formulate a reply, a mousy, flat-chested girl behind them leaned forward and said, "Man, didn't Megumi give you a kick square in the family heritage when you asked her out last year?" He coughed, embarrassed. "That was an accident on my part. It'll never happen again, just you watch." "Excuse me." Both sets of eyes swiveled toward Shinji. "Who the hell are you two?" The girl flipped a light brown bang out of her eyes, and replied, "Oh, I'm Makoto Shizumara, and this sad, deluded fool is Eiji Namura." "Feh, you listen well, Makoto. Megumi's heart will be mine this year." She rolled her eyes. "Suuure it will." She looked at Shinji and asked him, "How much you want to bet that he'll get kicked in the balls again?" Shinji smiled at the question, and looked over at Eiji. "Answer me honestly, Eiji. Do you often think perverted thoughts about Megumi?" He cocked his head, uncertain where Shinji was going with this. "Well, sure, what guy wouldn't? You did see those..." "He's either getting kicked at least twice this week, or he might get further than we think." Shinji interupted, turning back toward Makoto. "Megumi seems to have this weird thing about blatant perverts." "Hey!" The door slid open, and a young woman dressed in a neat buisness suit strolled inside. Reiko stood up to lead the class in the traditional greeting, but was waved back down by their new teacher. "Oh, don't worry about doing that for me. I don't like standing on ceremony if I can get away with it, especially the boring stuffy ones that no one can remember anything about the day after." She grinned, "I'm your homeroom and math teacher, Misaka Himekawa, and this is my first day here. And to celebrate that, we're not going to do the same boring introductions that everyone else does. Just too-too boring." The room was silent for a long moment, then Reiko quietly asked, "So, what are we going to do then?" A bottle landed onto the top of Misaka's desk with a dull thunk, and there was a gleam in the teacher's eye. "We're going to have a party."