Entrance ceremonies were supposed to be framed by a reasonably cute pink colour, but this year spring had been surprisingly stingy with its gifts. The sakura wouldn't bloom for another week.

Now, if Wakayama Noriko had been as starry eyed as the air heads around her she might have missed the absent stunning scenery more. But then, if she had been she wouldn't have been Wakayama Noriko.

Entrance ceremonies were supposed to be an occasion where you got your class assignation, listened to some canned clichés dressed up as speeches and got a good look at your home room and your class. In this aspect her first day of senior high was a resounding success.

Entrance ceremonies, alas, were also occasions where she had to drag around her good for nothing younger twin brother. Wakayama Ryu. Wakayama Stupid Idiot Ryu. And add a 'kun' to that. Of course it was a love hate relationship, but the never ending stream of girls trying to hang out with him certainly pulled the scales closer to the hate-region.

Well, senior high meant a new and unknown school and maybe just maybe…

You can't be serious!

Some of the less scatter-brained girls from Noriko's middle school had apparently managed to pass their entrance exams here. Now they were in a heated argument with a bunch of girls Noriko didn't recognize. And the reason for their quarrel had climbed the rooftop of the walkway and was playing out his antics as usual.

“You there! Get down immediately!” And here come the teachers.

Noriko watched Ryu vault down from the roof, one nimble hand gripping the supports while he gracefully sailed through the air just to land like a cat. Then he grinned at her like saying: “Did you see that sis?” That idiot grin made it hard for her to stay angry at her twin brother for any amount of time and it was the main reason he broke hearts left and right without actually doing anything wrong. Ryu, grow up some day!

He would be scolded by the teachers later, and the girls would continue their quarrel about who had seen him first, and then they'd start coming to her for advice and then, then… And then Noriko would spend another three years as 'Ryu's little sister', a popular attachment to her younger brother. Sometimes thought of as cute but never a girl anyone would dare to approach for real due to her status as the 'little sister' of the daredevil Ryu. And of course he had to have grown so tall so this time around there would be absolutely no end to the admirers.

She sighed and was about to run to her brother to help the teachers scold him when a shadow passed her from behind.

What?

Trousers too short, white socks in cheap loafers, shirt too tight and yet the sleeves were too long. Even the school blazer seemed to disagree with him. A pair of glasses were firmly planted beneath hair that seemed to be glued to his head. He hadn't managed to get his tie correct either. No matter if he had wanted to get it right or deliberately wanted to have it the cool style – it just hung badly around his neck crowning the overall picture.

Geek squad just got a new member.

Despite all this his hunched back couldn't entirely hide how tall he was, way taller than Ryu. And there was something strange with his hair as well, an oddly off-black shine. Why would a geek dye his hair, and who in this universe would dye it almost black? Hadn't she seen him somewhere before?

The shadow passed, stumbled clumsily over his own feet, regained balance and shuffled towards the gates. He won't have an easy time making friends. But there's something familiar…

“...Noriko!”

Eh?

“Noriko, teachers want a word with me. Could you help me out?”

“Help you out? Idiot, stupid! You deserve getting your face chewed off. Idiot! Stupid!”

The sakura continued its absence of blooming, Ryu got his arse handed to him by the teachers and Wakayama Noriko turned on her feet and left the school-yard.

***

A week flew by with students settling into early groups of what promised to be friendship later. Noriko was as usual drawn into a larger cluster of boys and girls. They came from several classes rather than just their own. It was all Ryu's fault. Normal people got normal friends – she got a premium seat to the spectacle that was Ryu's personal fan-club.

The boys were the usual mix of people who either admired Ryu too much to stay far from him or were too wary of a superior rival to chance staying away. The girls, well, the girls.

Girls usually came in three types. Those who had yet to confess to Ryu, those who had already been turned down but found his easy-going friendship attractive enough to stay around anyway and those who really should have been born boys, and thus followed Ryu for the usual reasons of admiration or rivalry.

That had always been true and it stayed true for one week.

Then Ageruman Kuritina happened.

She happened the usual way. Teacher kept the door open, mumbled something watered out about a new student who had been sick since school began and asked the new student to introduce herself.

Enter Ageruman-san.

Silence.

Exit any 'usual way'.

“I'm Christina Agerman.”

Silence.

“I'm from Sweden but have lived in Japan for a year.”

Silence.

“If you find my Japanese poor I'm grateful for help.”

Nuclear detonation.

Ageruman-san was, what a foreign businessman would have said, well proportioned. And blond, a rich, golden blond falling over her shoulders and behind most of her back, with strands so fine they almost rode the non-existent wind in the classroom. And tall, as tall as Ryu.

To complete the archetype of a stunning northern beauty she had eyes so blue you could drown in them. If you were a boy. Noriko corrected herself: if you were a human being or possibly anything even remotely related to the primates.

By now their teacher finally understood that she had invited an enemy of at least half the human population into the classroom – and the desire of the other half, and made a half-hearted attempt to restore order.

It was half hearted, Noriko noted sullenly, because the teacher already showed less interest in her students than in protecting the male teaching staff. Probably because she had her fiancée there. Speaking of whom, he had already arrived on the scene to find out what the commotion was all about. And he showed no more resistance to the angelic apparition than any of the other boys in class.

Ryu included.

“She's beautiful!”

“Wanna date me?”

“Whoa, a foreigner!”

“Taller than most boys!”

For a week there had been a centre of attention around Ryu even during lessons. Now Noriko could feel how it dissolved and moved between the benches towards the black board. Where Ageruman-san stood, effortlessly substituting for Venus de Milo even though she wore an unmodified regulation school uniform.

Ageruman-san could most likely have dressed up entirely from a 100 yen shop and still ride roughshod over all rivals straight out of a fashion house.

Life just wasn't fair.

The new centre of attraction moved to the windows and took her chair at the least popular of all spots. Window, front. Always seen by the teacher yet isolated. Well, Noriko realized, that bench would become a whole lot more popular until the next seating change.

Then Noriko noticed a minor commotion just before Ageruman-san sat down. The girl in the seat behind her rose, and then the two of them exchanged very unladylike hugs.

“Same school, same class and neighbour desks. This is the best!”

“Ko-chan! I'm so happy!”

The teacher's voice cut though the pandemonium. “Seats, take your seats and be silent!”

And with that the last addition to their class started her year. And everything changed.