Chapter Text
"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time."
- Deborah Chaskin
—
Dreaming. A series of thoughts, images and sensations occurring on one's mind as they sleep. At times, it is impossible to tell if one is dreaming or not.
Ebizo Niikura was certain that he was dreaming when he saw a blue butterfly flap by. The butterfly left a trail of dust, akin to a magical creature. It landed on Ebizo's finger before disappearing into thin air.
Looking up, he saw a clocktower form around him, covered in blue velvet. He had never seen a blue, velvet clocktower before, but he was willing to believe in it for a moment.
There was a sense of familiarity about this place, too. He felt warm. Safe. Happy. A place where he could finally be alone with his thoughts.
A blurry figure walked towards him. Once he could focus on them, he noticed that everything about them was just as odd as the room around him.
The figure was masculine - that much he could tell for sure. His clothing was entirely blue, matching the room. If that wasn't weird enough, his hair was platinum blond and his eyes were a stark yellow. Ebizo had never seen anyone like him before.
He held up a clipboard and handed it to Ebizo. His mouth was moving, saying something unknown to Ebizo.
Ebizo had a feeling that he should write his name. He did so, picking up the pen on the clipboard with care.
Once he finished writing his name, the clipboard vanished into thin air. He looked up and saw that the figure had vanished, too. The floor beneath him turned to bubbles, and-
"Sweetie, wake up! It's time for school!"
——
Ebizo woke up to his mother standing over him. She had set out his school uniform on his bed, hoping that it would wake him up.
His mother, Suzue, was already dressed. Somehow. Her green eyes were looking at Ebizo expectingly for him to get up.
"Come on! First day back," she reminded him, "You don't want to be late!"
He begrudgingly got himself out of bed, already missing his regular ripped jeans. "Has Kinuya and dad left yet?" he asked her.
"No and yes," Suzue began to explain, heading for the door. "Your father had to be called in early today... and Kinuya is just getting ready to go soon, dear. Apparently, her little friends want to go grab a coffee before school starts! Now, I told her she can't be late for-"
Ebizo drowned out his mother's droning once he heard that his father had left without a word. Ever since he had been promoted, his police work felt a constant need to pull him away. It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, and his father was supposed to have the day off.
"Get changed and come downstairs for breakfast. We can't have you missing out on the most important meal of the day!" Suzue chimed. She disappeared downstairs soon after.
He stared at his clothes and began to get dressed. His morning routine was boring, to say the least. In truth, he didn't tend to think much when doing it. He just let his brain go on auto-pilot.
When he finally made his way downstairs, his younger brother, Tasuku, was already trying to grab his mother's attention. It was his first day of elementary school. Naturally, he wasn't used to the idea of timings at all.
"Sorry, sweetie!" Suzue cried as she picked up Tasuku's shoes. It seemed as if he was being a pain today. "Will you be alright to walk? Tasuku wants his mommy to drive him to his first day in big boy school!"
Ebizo shook his head. "I'll be fine, mom. Tasuku, don't try too hard, alright? You'll have to find the energy to play later," he said, rubbing his hand through Tasuku's black hair. Now that he wasn't crying in the middle of the night, Ebizo didn't mind being the middle child as much.
"I won't, Ebizo!" Tasuku replied, stuffing a large spoonful of sugary cereal into his mouth. "I'll try to make lots of friends, too. Just like my big bro!"
He cracked a smile at his brother's antics. His innocence tended to lift the spirits of everyone in the room, even his sister's, Kinuya. Tasuku was definitely not babied by their mother in any way, as Suzue often liked to claim.
Suzue handed Ebizo a lunchbox and pointed towards the door. "Your sister left this here. Quickly run out and give it to her, will you? She's been forgetting her food a lot, lately... whereas Tasuku won't stop eating!" she giggled, attempting to lure the conversation away from Kinuya's food habits.
Nodding, Ebizo grabbed his pre-packed schoolbag. Suzue gave him a kiss for good luck before he could escape the house. Even at seventeen, she hasn't stopped doing that every day before he left the house. Tasuku laughed each and every time this happened.
He bolted out and waved Kinuya down. "Hey, wait! You forgot the lunch mom made for you!" he gasped for breath, stopping on the edge of the sidewalk. "Why are you leaving so early, anyway?"
Kinuya turned around, her dyed blonde hair being blown back by the wind. "I'm meeting up with Chieko and the girls! Didn't mom tell you?" she huffed, snatching the lunch up. "Besides, I was gonna grab lunch at school..."
"You don't have any money," Ebizo noted, tilting his head. "Was Chieko going to offer to buy you lunch?"
She bit her lip. Ebizo guessed it was from the pressure, and not from the fact that she was wearing a very short and skimpy cheerleading outfit in the wind. "Well... that's none of your business! Get to school, already!" she cried, storming away from him.
Ebizo sighed at her antics. Ever since she joined the cheerleading squad, her personality flipped completely. She even dyed her hair to match her natural blue eyes, because 'black hair and blue eyes don't go' according to her.
He looked at his watch and began to walk to school. It was the beginning of the day, and he already had a bad feeling about it.
——
When Ebizo arrived at school, he headed straight for his new homeroom. He wanted to ensure that his new friends were also in his homeroom, first of all. Last year, the majority of his close friends had moved on and went to college and such. It was a fault for relying on your mother for friends, when the only parents she knew were older kids.
As soon as he walked in, he heard a boy cry out his name. It was oddly high pitched for a seventeen year old. Immediately, he knew the owner of said voice.
It was a boy that was in his homeroom last year - Koichi Ichizou. He was infamous throughout the school, mostly because of his traits matching a toddler's than a teenager's. His mother had even phoned in to ask if he could be excused from the dress code, just so he could wear a sweater she knitted for him. If he wasn't talking, he was definitely sucking on the pacifier tied around his neck.
"Looks like we're in the same class again, Ebizo!" Koichi exclaimed, bouncing up and down on his chair. "What are the odds?"
Ebizo took a seat next to Koichi. Maybe this year would be the year that he finally grew out of his baby habits. He could hope.
"This is Akoto," Koichi continued, gesturing to a black-haired girl behind them. "She's new here. So be nice to her, okay?"
"Nice to meet you," Ebizo smiled as he nodded in Akoto's direction. "Did you move here recently? I haven't seen you around before..."
Akoto shook her head. "No, I've lived in Jansaai all my life. I was home schooled before, though... maybe that's why I haven't seen you before...?"
He couldn't help but frown. Even if Akoto was home schooled, Jansaai was a small town. Everyone knew each other, to some extent. Even Koichi didn't seem to know her, and he spent most of his time outside.
"I ran into Akoto this morning," explained Koichi, "She was walking all alone, so my parents said that she could walk with us! She's gonna meet us everyday from now on-"
"I never actually agreed to that, Koichi," frowned Akoto, "But... it does sound nice. It certainly makes the walk to school more exciting..."
Koichi clapped his hands in excitement. He had already managed to make a friend sooner than Ebizo. It was definitely going to become a competition at some point, and Ebizo would be forced to participate.
"Who's our homeroom teacher?" Akoto asked, leaning back against her chair. "Um... actually, you'd best describe them to me instead of just saying their name. I don't know anyone here, so-"
"I read on the board that it was Mr. Haraki," Ebizo glanced over at the door. He was running late. "He's, uh... he was off a lot last year. I'm surprised he's still got a job here."
"He's super nice, though!" chirped Koichi, "He got a lot softer once he had a kid. It's so sweet - he even keeps a photo album of his daughter on his desk!"
As Koichi was going over their new homeroom teacher, he arrived, fashionably late. His eyes were tired. But then again, this was the first day. Everyone's eyes were tired. His tie was a little disheveled too, but Ebizo let that slide.
"Good morning, class," Mr. Haraki introduced himself, slumping down onto his chair. "I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year. I'm pretty relaxed, so just... respect me, and I'll respect you, okay?"
There was a murmur of agreement in the class. Akoto had a small smile on her face. Koichi was practically bouncing out of his seat.
"Today is pretty simple," he continued, "We'll be going over what's expected of you this year and such. Normal classes will start tomorrow."
Ebizo spent the rest of the time drowning out what he was saying. His stomach was practically demanding a buffet by the time lunch had rolled around.
When the bell went, Ebizo waved goodbye to Koichi and Akoto. Apparently Koichi was going to show Akoto the school properly. He didn't want to tag along as the awkward third wheel, so he headed for his locker to grab some change
However, this was a school. School drama seemed to follow him everyday and everywhere. The drama for lunch was regarding the year's bully, an awful boy by the name of Shinsui. Ebizo had tried to avoid him last year, but something inside of him couldn't let him allow Shinsui to continue his harassment.
For today, his target was a blonde haired girl that Ebizo had never seen before. She looked like she was of western descent, which made her stand out more than usual in a small town.
Shinsui placed both of his arms besides the girl, trapping her. "You know, if you're going to move here from America, the least you could do is learn our language," he snarled at the girl, "Your Japanese is terrible! You might as well go back to elementary school, sweet cheeks."
The girl held her books close to her chest. She didn't say anything, instead preferring to stare off into the distance.
Ebizo sighed and walked up to the two. "Hey, Shinsui, cut that out. She's learning, okay? It's really hard to learn a new language like that," he told him.
Shinsui let go of the trapped girl and scoffed. "Get out of here, Ebizo. Why can't you just stay out of other people's business? It's what you were best at last year, wasn't it?"
"No," he shook his head, "You stay out of her business. She's new here, and she doesn't need you picking on her like this. Why don't you find your girlfriend or something? It looks like she's leaving you."
He looked over at a group of blonde girls and huffed. "It's because you ruined it! Now they need some more entertainment. Thanks a lot, Ebizo... I'll get you back for this," he glared at the two, storming away.
The girl looked at Ebizo and smiled. "Thank you. It was very kind of you to do that for me... my, um, Japanese is okay. I promise!"
"It's okay," he held out his hand, "I'm Ebizo. Ebizo Niikura. You moved here from America, right? What's your name?"
"Aurora Lumiosa," the girl, Aurora, replied, shaking his hand. "You're the first boy that's asked for my name without trying to flirt with me... it's, um, refreshing."
Ebizo gestured to the canteen. "You hungry? Let's go get some food. You can meet my other friends, too. It's better than being alone."
Aurora nodded. "It is... ah, this would be my first time getting Japanese canteen food... point out the nice things for me, will you?"
The two of them smiled at each other and walked towards the canteen. Unknown to them at the time, it was this interaction that set off a chain of events that changed their lives forever.