Face The Music (A Saimatsu Story)

Book Shopping

- Kaede Akamatsu's POV-

"Kaede, have you finished unpacking?" my mom yells up the stairs. We'd just finished moving into a new house in a new town, and were almost done getting all of our things out.

"Yes, mom!" I yell, just finishing up setting up my bedroom. 

"Alright. Don't forget, you have to go book shopping for Hope's Peak Academy today, too," my mom shouts. Oh, right. I forgot about that. Even though it was the middle of the school year for the Ultimates at Hope's Peak, I was accepted when I moved to town as the Ultimate Pianist. I don't know how good my piano playing is, everyone says it's really good but I don't think it's anything special. I'm still in my pajamas, so I'll take care of that first. I just throw on a light blue short-ish shirt and a light purple skirt and comb out my blonde hair, clipping it back. Then I run downstairs as fast as I can, phone and wallet in hand, and head outside.

The town was much more beautiful than I remembered it. It was early spring, and just starting to get warm out, and the trees were in bloom, the birds singing. I slowly strolled beneath the falling blooms coming off of the trees, enjoying their sweet scent. When I got to the town square, I felt peaceful. But not for long. Once I got into the bookstore, it was chaos. People were pushing everyone else to get to their mid-year books, there was yelling, and it was really overwhelming. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around, startled.

"Hello. My name is Maki Harukawa. I take it you're going to Hope's Peak too?" a girl said to me. She had brown hair and red eyes. She looked very mysterious. 

"Y-yeah. My name is Kaede Akamatsu. I'm the Ultimate Pianist! Nice to meet you!" I tell her, smiling. Suddenly, two boys walk up to her, one smiling and one looking very uncomfortable.

"Hey Makiroll! Who's the new girl?" The smiling one, a boy with spiky purple hair asked. "My name's Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!" 

"Oh, I'm Kaede Akamatsu," I tell him with a smile.

"Shuichi, are you gonna talk, or are you just gonna stand there?" the smiling boy asked the uncomfortable-looking one.

"I'm- I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable... you know what? I should just- go..." I say, not wanting to ruin their shopping trip. Just as I'm walking out, the uncomfortable looking boy grabs my arm.

"Wait..." he said, his head turned down, "You can stay. You aren't a bother at all." His black cap was covering his eyes, but across his cheeks was a blush. 

"If- if you're sure..." I say, wanting to make sure I could stay.

"Of course," Maki said. 

"So... we have our books picked out, let's find the books you need," Kaito says.