Wow, I really thought I wouldn't get this posted today!! It is evening where I am as I post this so that's why i say that. Last chapter, we met a few curious characters that may have caught your attention. What'll happen on Ritsuko's first day of school in Crysolia? Let's find out and please enjoy!
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Waking up early was nothing new to me. I usually woke up early to meet with my teacher either to practice any techniques or work on mathematics or language.

I just couldn't find the motivation to get out of bed because of how late I went to sleep last night. I groaned, burying my head in my pillow, wishing Maiko would stop knocking at my door and calling.

"Ritsuko!! Ritsuko, it's morning." Hadn't I locked the door, she probably would have come in and dragged me out of my room. "Be quiet!" I whined, pulling my covers over my head and curling up in bed.

The banging only got louder as if she heard me. I let out a loud moan and rolled out of bed, hurrying to the door. I yanked it open and yawned, "I'm up! I'm up!!"

Maiko was still in her pajamas to my surprise. She wore little yellow polka dotted shorts with a matching shirt, a little pink ribbon complimenting it. Her hair was loose and wavy, reaching down below her shoulders. "Good! Can't miss school on your first day!"

"It's 7 o'clock, Maiko. I still have an hour." Maiko didn't mind my complaints, "Just get ready. You want to eat breakfast, right?" I rubbed my eye, "I was gonna make something real quick, yeah. I don't think it'd take me 30 minutes to make some toast!"

"Shh!" A voice shushed. The door to the apartment next to mine opened showing a half awake neighbor, Ms. Ikeda. She was a middle aged woman who I saw rarely. She did greet me when I first came, though.

She rubbed her eyes, "Please keep it down, girls, you're going to wake up the whole complex." Maiko and I looked at each other and bowed in apology. "Pardon us." We said.

Ms. Ikeda smiled and closed the door to her apartment. "Now, will you just let me sleep some more?" I begged.

"Well, you should get ready soon." I leaned against the door frame and gestured at her, "You aren't even dressed either. I'll get ready when you are." Maiko put out her hand, "Alright!" And ran up to her apartment.

I figured this ought to give me a bit of time to sleep some more. I locked my door, collapsed into my bed and sighed.

About 20 minutes later, I was ready to get everything ready. I got out of bed and felt much better. I put a slice of bread in the toaster. I opened the door just in time to see Maiko come to me.

"I'm ready!" She was wearing her uniform, basically the same as mine but she wore a red bow instead of a tie. She wore high white socks going an inch above her knees and small black flats. Her pigtails came back into play.

Chuckling at her, I said, "Good. I'll be ready in just a few minutes." Maiko nodded and put her finger up, like I noticed she did constantly, and chimed, "I'll be right here waiting for you and Akito, he's getting ready too." I remembered Akito and started closing my door, "Okay, let me change." I went into my room and found my uniform hung up on my closet door.

I grabbed the uniform and changed into it, buttoning my coat up 3 buttons. I slipped on some black thigh high socks and put some dark brown flats. I examined myself in the skirt and thought it looked good on me.

Maiko came through the door, startling me a little. "Hey Ritsuko, Akito is ready! I'm gonna go grab our lunches, I'll be right back!" She hollered from the entrance. I turned around and walked toward my vanity mirror, trying to pin part of my hair up into a ponytail with a pin and one hair accessory, a chopstick. "Sounds good!"

I heard footsteps coming into the room. "U-uh hey, Ritsuko." I looked over my shoulder and saw Akito in a long black sleeved uniform with two red stripes on the collar. He was buttoning the neck of his uniform. I blushed, "Akito, nice to see you again."

Akito fixed the cuffs on his shirt and nodded, "You too." I continued doing my hair and held a pin in my mouth. "Is Maiko still mad at you over that thing yesterday?" Akito shrugged, "She forgives and forgets quickly." I grabbed the pin from between my teeth and tried to focus on what I was doing.

"Well that's good." Akito asked, "Do you have any siblings? " I strained, trying to pin the right strand of hair, "No. I was an only child. I'm not selfish or rude, though, like most kids that don't have siblings." Akito shook his head, "No, you're actually very sweet and polite." I stiffened up, stopping what I was doing and looking at him from the mirror.

I blushed a little and turned around, looking at Akito face to face. "You really think-" I dropped the pin in my hair and my ponytail fell. I groaned a little, looking down at the pin in defeat. I crouched down and went to pick it up. "Sorry, I just can't get this right. I was saying-" I was stopped by Akito grabbing my hand and grabbing the pin from it.

"What?" I looked up at him, still blushing. Akito chortled, "You're still having trouble with that?" I sighed, "Yes." He looked at the pin and offered, "Here, let me try it. Maybe I can do it." All the blood in my body went up to my face.

"What?!" Akito shrugged, "I'm not perfect at doing hair, but I think I could do it. Maiko has taught me a few things here and there from watching. Besides, I think what you need is an extra set of hands to do it." I swallowed and grabbed a nearby chair. I didn't exactly want to let him do it, but at the same time I needed my hair done.

Akito grabbed the top part of my hair as I held it before and straightened it out. When he stroked my long black hair, my heart started to beat faster. I felt almost as if I was dizzy, feeling relaxed.

Maiko came in at just the right moment to see this whole scene happening. She looked so excited, almost as if she knew how I felt about Akito. He tied my hair and pinned it just right on my head. I offered him the chopstick accessory and he pressed it in, holding the ponytail tight enough.

I swore I felt just like when my mother used to style my hair. I turned red at the memory of this. I glanced up at him when he announced, "Okay, there you go." I felt the ponytail and felt satisfied with it.

"Thank you." I mumbled shyly. I didn't know how Akito heard it when it felt like it was barely a whisper. Maiko applauded as if it was a scene from a movie. Akito and I both jumped and looked at Maiko. "Bravo! Amazing hairstyling by Akito Tanaka!" She cheered

Akito growled, "Maiko, you little-" he blushed a little bit. Maiko cooed, "Aww, but you two are so cute right now."

"Cute?!" We both yelled. Akito bit his lip and crossed his arms, "I was just doing her a favor." I argued "Yeah, he was just helping me." Maiko laughed, "Hey, it's alright. I won't tell anyone."

"You had better not!" We both glared at her. Maiko decided to change the subject as her brother was close to losing his temper. "I got our lunches, Akito!" I went to my toaster and picked out my toast. "I'm ready to go." I said, taking out some strawberry jam and a butter knife.

Maiko skipped over to me and held out a small sack. "I made you one too, Ritsuko." I blinked twice in disbelief at her, "Really? For me?" Maiko nodded. "I thought since you were going to school with us now, why spend twice the money buying and making lunches. It doesn't really cost me a lot extra."

I took the sack slowly, "Wow, that's so thoughtful of you." Maiko put her hands behind her back, "Oh, it was Akito's idea!" That sentence almost made me gasp aloud. Akito thought of me. "Really?" I gazed at him.

Akito rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, "I thought since you just moved here, you probably wouldn't be packed with food." A small smile grew on my face, "Thanks, Akito." he just grinned back at me.

The three of us went to the school in our uniforms once I made my toast. I ate it on the way since we were already going to have to rush. "Hey, it's good exercise, right?" Maiko jogged and fanned herself. I took the toast out of my mouth and panted, "Why does school need to be in the middle of town?"

"At least it's not a big village and it's only in the middle." Akito joked, earning a small laugh from me. I popped the last piece of toast into my mouth and saw the school getting closer to view. "Oh, there it is!" I pointed forward.

Maiko gasped and clenched her fists excitedly, "We're still early!" She sped up a little in front of me and Akito. "I'll see you guys later! Have fun at school Ritsuko!!" She sprinted ahead into the door and ran in.

I muttered, "I'll try." Akito and I ran into the door. He was polite enough to open the door and let me go in first. I walked in, "Thanks." He panted, "No problem." The two of us walked casually down the hall trying to look for our class room. There weren't many classrooms so we found it pretty quickly.

Stopping in front of a glass window, I scrutinized my appearance. I looked like any other typical schoolgirl in this school. Something just didn't feel right. It was probably the skirt and it's length. The thigh high socks helped but I still didn't feel right in the skirt.

"Is something wrong?" Akito requested. I shook my head, "No. I'm just not used to school uniforms." He put a hand on my shoulder, making me tense up a bit. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Besides, I think you look really pretty." He blushed.

I gasped a little and blushed. I opened my mouth to speak when suddenly another voice came into the conversation. "You know you should always try to be honest, Akito." This time it was Akito's turn to tense up.

Akito turned to whoever said that, I turned around too. A young man about Akito's age stood there in the same uniform. He had reddish brown eyes that stood out to me although they were under a pair of black framed glasses. He was quite handsome, but I didn't find interest in him that way.

The boy was also pretty tall, reaching over Akito who was already pretty big in stature. It was kind of strange to realize I didn't even hear his footsteps.

Akito relaxed a little bit and raised an eyebrow. "Who said I wasn't being honest, Mr. Hoshida?"

Mr. Hoshida, as Akito addressed him, answered picking his glasses up his face. "I didn't say that. I'm just implying that you should be more honest about your opinion."

"I think she is pretty and maybe you should just leave her alone." Akito offered politely, surprisingly, showing no anger in his voice.

"Perhaps you should reconsider what you say. Wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea." Mr. Hoshida reminded with a sharp smirk on his face.

I just had to intervene now, though my mother and father had always taught me to hold my tongue. "I'm sorry if you believe a girl like me is not attractive or 'beautiful' in your opinion." Mr. Hoshida scoffed and out a hand over his mouth. "Girls," I looked at him in uncertainty.

He seemed to notice immediately and put his hands at his sides. "Pardon for not explaining myself." He looked at me with a slightly amused expression. "It is just rare to find a girl who isn't always concerned about her appearance."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I flushed pink but kept myself from showing it. "It is also rare to find a guy who has enough courage to actually speak what he means instead of acting suspenseful and stuck up unlike you, Mr. Hoshida."

The confident look on the man's face dropped almost instantly as he looked at me with widened eyes. From the corner of my eye, I saw Akito's mouth drop open a little.

"It seems that guys like you know how to do that best instead of just actually speaking your true thoughts." I pretended to ponder to myself, putting my hand on my chin. "Just act like you're super intelligent and look down at people from your high horse and everything, you know."

This seemed to be enough to put Mr. Hoshida with no argument or comeback. Instead, he looked at me curiously, "I don't believe I've seen you around these parts. Who are you?"

I replied but still with a newfound dominance in my voice, "Ritsuko Akiyama. Not really your typical high school girl as you can see, huh?"

Akito snickered, "It seems like you've met your match, Dominic." Mr. Hoshida turned cherry red and stepped back. He left without another word. When he left, I let out a little laugh, too.

"Wow, Ritsuko, I didn't know you could do that." I shrugged, "He just acts properly educated and smart to confuse others. Make himself look better. I think just meeting someone like me, educated and intelligent as well, surprised him."

Akito looked at me almost as if he couldn't believe me. "I just decide to hold that part of me back a little. I just couldn't stand him or what he was saying. That's stereotyping."

He looked back toward our classroom and sighed, "Dominic Hoshida is a natural genius. He is really good at math and science and things like that, but I think he likes to act as if he's higher than anyone else in the class." Akito stopped to hold back a laugh. "To be honest, it was amusing to see someone ground him back to our level."

I chuckled, remembering Dominic's expression when he left. "Other than that major flaw, his curse is also a problem-" I looked up quickly at Akito and asked, "He's cursed too?"

"Too?" Akito asked quietly. Not only did I meet the cursed twins, but Mr. Hoshida was also cursed. Akito must have hadn't known I met the twins the day before. Maiko must have not told him. I nodded, "Maiko and I bumped into the Koizumi twins yesterday and she told me about them." Akito sighed, "Oh they're a whole other story."

"What's Dominic's curse?" I inquired, still wanting to know what I was dealing with. I think I let another one slip from the friendship level and right into the arch-nemesis level without even knowing it. I seriously had to start using my powers to identify!

Akito clicked his tongue and tilted his head to the side. "I don't really like to get involved in things that aren't my business. I don't really like to gossip either."

I decided not to push the subject for now. Class would start soon anyway. "Nevermind that. Let's just go into class." Akito mumbled, "Yeah." And stepped toward the entrance of our class.

As if that was supposed to make things better. Once Akito and I walked in, we came in the middle of a heated argument between one of the Koizumi twins and another boy.

"Why don't you mind your own business for once, Alexandra?" the boy growled. The twin, Alexandra, dressed in uniform with the same hairstyle I saw her in last time, stood up from her chair. "Say one more word to me and I'll get your last leg amputated!"

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So I kind of ended at a cliffhanger there, huh? Who do you think that guy was? Do you think Alexandra is a little less innocent than she let off in her first impression? What do you think of Dominic?
If you want to see more of Cry of the Flowers each week, comment below if you want me to start uploading two chapters per week! I'm ready to post chapter 4 as soon as I hear the 'yes' on that! Have a great day

ight, Reader-chan!! 💜