The very first day walking into Kunigigaoka, I was nervous.

My father had always had such high expectations of me, influencing my decisions all throughout primary school, and now, it was finally my turn to face him.

I'd been to the school on many occasions, but with the bustle of people moving through corridors and across the front lawns, the whole place seemed so much more... intimidating.

I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts from my mind.

This is where I finally get to show my father what I can do.

My next step was slightly more confident, growing more and more so with each step as I thought about these things.

The welcoming assembly was all rather standard. The principal didn't even make an appearance in the end, though it was said he would be coming around to the individual classes later in the day.

Slacker.

I was in the A-class for my first year. Not that I had expected anything less after the amount I had been working.

But my ideas of various first-impressions I had been thinking up for myself all shattered like glass upon walking in the door to the classroom.

There, at the front of the room, was my father.

The same slacker who hadn't even bothered to show up at the assembly was, of course, coming to my class first.

"Good morning students," he spoke as everyone took their seats. "I am Asano Gakuho, the principal of this school. I apologise for my absence at the assembly, there was an urgent matter that arose."

Snake-like eyes scanned the room, pausing for a brief moment as they passed me, a small smile escaping his lips.

He started speaking again. "I hope this year will be full of great achievements for all classes, A through D. Of course, I will be expecting a great year from class A like we have seen in the past. Remain diligent with your studies, and remember," there was a slight pause as we felt the air turn cold. "Slacking off is not an option".

The class was left in a stunned silence as the man exited the room, offering a small nod as thanks to the class on the way out. The atmosphere was tense, like we had been threatened rather than encouraged. I, of course, was used to this and stood strong amongst my classmates.

A small voice spoke up from my right.

"Is he always that intimidating?"

It was barely above a whisper. I found myself turning to look at a small brown-haired girl. She looked younger than me, with her long curly hair pulled back into a half-ponytail. Obviously, she was not Japanese.

She must have felt me staring, since she looked up to meet my gaze. Hazel eyes full of curiosity, however, the glint of fear was still evident in her expression. The moment was broken when the door slid open once again, revealing the man who was no doubt our home-room teacher. There was a quick hello, before he called upon the students one by one to make their introductions.

Of course with my last name, I was one of the first to be called.

"Asano Gakushuu. Pleased to meet you."

Simple and effective, no more questions were asked as the roll continued down the line. I zoned out temporarily before being startled by the sound of wood scraping coming from my right, followed by something falling.

The girl who'd spoken earlier stood up in a panic, picking up the fallen chair from the floor.

She must have knocked it over when trying to stand up. How uncoordinated.

"S-sorry," she stuttered slightly, her face becoming bright red and contrasting against her light hair to make it even more obvious. "My name is Akiza Matsuoka, I moved here from England early last year. Pleased to meet you."

The last sentence was very rushed, and she quickly sat down again, her loose hair falling over her face as she stared down at her desk.

What a strange girl.

===

Our first day was drawing to a close. I was starting to get a feel for the classrooms and the way the school worked, and had already started planning how I could start taking power in the system, much like my father.

I'd debated whether to stay at school or not due to my father being here, but decided against it and headed for the train station. Kids were filtering out the school gate, making their ways towards various destinations. Left was the train station, so I began my walk.

Waiting on the platform for the trains' arrival was quite boring by myself, I discovered after being there a few minutes. I switched to  watching people to cure my boredom temporarily, but they were all so dull.

Until a figure caught my eye.

The same girl from my class was walking my direction, obviously to where there were less people around. She passed me, stopping a few metres behind to wait.

She was shuffling around on her feet, before walking forward to tap on my shoulder.

"Um, this is the train that goes to the housing districts, not the city, right?" She asked. There were a few pauses in her sentence, like she couldn't figure out what to say.

When I didn't respond, her face began to change colour again, like before in the classroom.

"S-sorry, I mess up my Japanese sometimes, did that sentence make sense?"

I shook my head quickly.

"No, it's not that. The train I'm waiting for goes to the housing district. To go to the city you have to be on the other side of the tracks"

She seemed relieved.

"Thank you" she said, before turning to stand farther away again. I caught her shoulder as she spun, taking her by surprise.

"You're new to this area then?" I inquired. "You moved to Japan last year; where did you live before this?"

The brunette was a bit taken aback by my question.

"I was in Osaka before this, but moved here less than a year later. I'm in an apartment at the moment until we find a house".

I nodded so she knew I'd understood her.

"I'm Asano Gakushuu," I re-introduced, putting out my hand as a greeting.

She returned the handshake. "Akiza Matsuoka."

The sound of the approaching train marked a pause in our conversation. We quickly boarded, and I managed to snatch a seat, putting my bag to hold the seat next to me while I waited for the girl to push her was through the crowd. I beckoned her over and she seemed thankful.

The trip was about twenty minutes before she finally reached her stop.

In that time, we had barely stopped talking. I learned from our conversation that she was from a small town in England, though I had trouble pronouncing the name. She also had an older brother, and lived with him and her mother.

I had avoided the questions about myself, trying to keep my father in particular out of the conversation for as long as possible.

===

It was the second set of exams. The year was drawing to a close, and students were growing more and more agitated by the day. The exams were unmistakably harder than the ones previous, and there was a tense feeling in the air as libraries became cramped, and courtyards were packed with teenagers with their heads stuck in books.

I walked casually through the crowds of people, a feeling of complacency coming over me.

There was no way I was going to fail here. I'd been working all year, putting myself forward for every activity or club that would improve my social standing in the school. By now, I was definitely one of the most recognised and accomplished students; even winning the title of class representative.

I'm going to show him just how easily I can beat him at his own game.

I talked to Akiza most days on the way home from school on the train, something I hadn't expected. It was a break from school, where I didn't have to be the perfect model student everyone else thought me to be. She'd seen right through that.

Strolling towards the bag lockers, I caught a glimpse of the brown-haired girl talking with one of her friends; Kaori Miyazono if I remember correctly. She, like me, was the class representative for the year.

The two girls seemed to be talking over something rather serious, and I could see that Akiza was visibly distressed. Even so, I walked past. It was likely something about exams, no doubt she would tell me about it on the train.

I didn't see her on the way out the school gate after school had ended, and instead headed directly for the station.

The waiting platform was bustling as usual. Students and other civilians milling around, waiting for the train to arrive. However, there was no sign of the girl I'd been waiting for. I took one more look around, before walking to merge in with the crowd as the train approached.

Looks like she wasn't coming today.

Or the next...

... Or the one after that...

For as long as we'd known each other, she'd never missed school this many days in a row.

I caught Kaori on the way out of the classroom the next day.

"What's happened to Matsuoka-san? She's been absent almost a week now," I inquired, hoping her closest friend would be able to shed some light on the situation.

Kaori tilted her head, blonde curls falling off her shoulders. "Didn't she tell you?" She asked. "Akiza's moving again, she's taking the week off to help change houses".

That was strange. She'd been living in the apartment for so long now, I hadn't thought she'd be moving.

"No sorry, she must not have told me," I apologised. "Sorry to bother you".

I ended the conversation before any more things could be brought up.

That's not why she was looking so upset that day, is it?

Sure enough, like Kaori had said, Akiza was back at school the next week. Unluckily for her, she had returned on exam week.

We didn't have the chance to talk.

It had been nearly two weeks since she'd last caught the train, it was safe to assume that her house wasn't in this direction any more.

It felt...

Lonely.

===

That was only our first year, Asano thought.

He'd been at the hospital a number of hours. The blonde girl next to him had fallen asleep a while back after many attempts to keep herself awake. It was obvious that it was well past midnight; yet they'd still gotten no news.

Across the waiting room, the tall figure of Akiza's brother was pacing back and forth.

Did this really happen? Is she going to be okay?

So many thoughts swirled around in Asano's head, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. However, one thought kept appearing at the front of his mind, almost taunting him.

This was your fault.

Asano could still see the scene playing out in his mind.

Aki's smile when he'd called her name.

Kaori yelling

Everything going into slow-motion.

The car had cut a red light, obviously getting impatient with the busy intersection. He'd been brought in by the police, but not until facing the wrath of a certain someone's brother who'd been parked across the road.

And now they were all here.

Asano couldn't get the image out of his head.

There was so much blood

Next to him, Kaori stirred, pushing herself up from the chairs into a sitting position. Her eyes were red and she had tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Still nothing?" she mumbled quietly. "When do we get to see her?"

The second line was nothing more than a whisper.

As if someone had been listening to their conversations, the doors slid open. Someone who was presumably a doctor walked through.

Asano stood and walked over to the man, Kaori following close behind. He had already begun to talk to Naoki.

"-injuries sustained. She will be kept in hospital until she is recovered, but we can allow visitors."

The mood of the group lightened slightly. There was a small exchanging of words before the three visitors followed the doctor through the ward to a hospital room.

"This may be a little distressing if anyone would like to wait outside," the doctor stated, obviously addressing Kaori, but both teenagers shook their heads.

Naoki entered first, followed by the two others.

=====

The second year at Kunigigaoka was passing fast. I'd known Akiza for nearly a year now, and it was strange to see how much she had changed since the day she'd been crying.

Asano had changed as well. I watched him go from the class representative who'd stood alongside me to help people learn and grow, to one who manipulates people to grow in the ranks. The leader of the big 5 was how he was known now.

I swept my blonde curls back into a messy ponytail, getting ready for our PE lesson. Looking in the mirror, I could see the bleached parts were starting to grow out, revealing my natural dark brown colour at the roots.

I'd need to dye that again.

I saw Akiza sitting in the corner of the change rooms, still fully clothed in her normal uniform.

"Aki-chaaan, you're going to be late" I called to her as I approached.

She put her head down.

"This class is so embarrassing, the uniform is horrible! What I'd give for the guys' pants instead of those damn shorts" she complained. "Not to mention I'm crap at everything!"

I sighed.

"You say this every time Aki-chan, but you have to do it anyways, you know."

"I know," she pouted. "But I still hate it."

====

We sat in the classroom during lunch.

"Ne Aki-chan, it's coming up to that time again, isn't it?" I asked quietly.

"You mean the lovely visit to see that asshole?" She bit into her sandwich. "This weekend".

I pitied her, having to see her father after everything. She'd told me about it last year, just before she moved.

"Remember, talk to me if you need to vent. We don't exactly need a repeat of last time," I warned.

"That was like a year ago, Kaori-san. I won't cry any more because of him."

She seemed to want to end the conversation. I racked my brains before thinking of something else to talk about.

"Soooo," I leant over. "When did you last see Asano-kun?"

Aki mumbled something I couldn't understand.

I sighed. "Japanese please?"

"The last time we had a conversation was early this year. He's been ignoring me with all of his 'got to beat my father' business," she laughed. "What does he think he's trying to prove? It's all a bit dumb if you ask me. Not to mention all the stupid rivalries with that Karma Akabane kid."

I shrugged. "Don't you want to prove your father wrong at the best of times? You're just like him, Aki-chan."

"I am not like that idiot."

"You just don't want to admit it."

She stuffed her face with the remains of her sandwich.

"Can't you go pester him for once then?" She complained.

And with the ring of a bell, lunch came to an end.

=========

The girl lay on the bed, head resting on the pillow with her short hair splayed around.

"Aki-chan," Kaori mumbled. "This isn't fair."

She stood behind the two boys. Naoki was the first to approach, sucking in his breath at the sight of his younger sister.

Kaori crept past Asano's side to stand at the foot of the bed.

She was covered in grazes. The standard hospital gown she was wearing made the whole thing look like the movies. Except, normally the movies don't show what real injuries look like.

Her left arm was bandaged, the one that had first hit the pavement. It didn't appear to be broken, but the bandages were stained a slightly pink colour and continued down past the sleeve of the dress. The left side of her face had also suffered grazes from the impact, and she had patches covering her cheek and forehead.

The right side of her body was also bandaged, but not as much as the left.

Why have we been waiting for hours when she doesn't even have a broken arm?!

"As you can see," the doctor began. "She has suffered rather large abrasions (grazes) to the left side of her body. It's easy to assume that is the side that first hit the pavement," he pointed to parts of his own body as reference. "Her arms and legs were affected most due to her clothing, but she will have quite large bruises on her ribs as well due to the impact."

The doctor sighed. "She narrowly avoided broken ribs, and has sustained only minor injuries to her back and neck, though she will not be able to participate in any activities like PE or dance for a while. There are two things we are concerned about, however."

The atmosphere had been relieved up till that point. Kaori felt Asano stiffen next to her.

"There is evidence of a concussion, as well as a rather large laceration on her side." The doctor pulled the blankets down to her hips and Naoki tensed. Through the thin fabric of the hospital gown, you could see evidence of the thick bandages around the right side of her waist.

That would be the cause of all the blood, Asano thought.

"We have administered stitches, but it was difficult." He spoke. "The cause of the wound appears to be smashed glass, most likely the phone she was carrying in her pocket at the collision."

There was a slight stirring from the girl on the bed, attracting the attention of her visitors. Her eyes squeezed tight before opening slowly, coming into focus the world around her. She vaguely saw the outlines of people, and could feel nothing but a throbbing pain throughout her body. The voices of the people speaking were nothing more than a blur, though she felt like she recognised them. There was a tube above her vision, and she followed it down to the drip in her arm.

A second passed before the first words were spoken.

"... I hate needles"

Added a really great song from the movie "Your Name" just because I felt like it

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it is over 3000 words this time xD

I had a lot of fun writing this and hope you can give me some feedback.

Tags for the people who have stuck with this story so far; go give them a follow and read their stories :)

Era-Vera

Karu-KarN

Loki-Roki

KyasarinYuriko

TheMikki

TheInfernalCelestria (my fabulous editor with a great AssClass fanfic that will hopefully be published soon)

I know I am missing some, but my Wattpad is being stupid and I can't seem to tag them.

Thank you to everyone who has kept reading, and I will try to update soon!