The Princess of Music

Chapter Four: Enemies

A weary looking girl slumped forward onto her desk. Her bandaged head throbbed slightly, due to her recent injury. With her eyes getting more tired by the second, she placed her head in her arms and tried to accumulate some sleep.

"Hey, Nakagawa!" A boy cheerfully slapped her around the back. Wincing, Tsukiakari slowly raised her head and with blurred eyes she made out the shape of Miyazaki Hinata. Groaning, she placed her head back into her arms and closed her eyes. "Hello Nakagawa." Another boy greeted her, but this one has a deeper voice. Let me guess, Murakami Riku is officially here. "Murakami?" Tsukiakari asked wearily.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Nothing." I guessed right. Ok... in a moment, Yoshida Tatsuya will arrive. In three...two...one...
"Nakagawa, how's your head?"
Bingo. "Alright," she said, not bothering to elaborate further.

Not wanting to be disturbed anymore, Tsukiakari raised her head and opened her eyes reluctantly. Nearly everyone had arrived, apart from... "Where's Sakura?" Tsukiakari asked, surprised.
"Sakura?" Miyazaki looked confused. "Oh, you mean Hasegawa! I don't know..."
Where did that person go? Today is the day that we will find out who will be in the ensemble!

As soon as Tsukiakari considered to leave class to find her best friend, Sakura bursted through the doorway. "Am I...am I...am I late?" she gasped, out of breath. Sitting on her seat, Sakura was surprised at the angry face Tsukiakari made. "Where, on earth, have you been?" Tsukiakari said fiercely.
"I'm sorry, I overslept," Sakura explained.
"Don't joke around, I'm your roommate for crying out loud!"
I forgot she was my roommate... Oh well. "I was out talking to the teacher, Sugawara Sensei to be more precise."
Tsukiakari raised an eyebrow. She was famous for not getting deceived by lies and dishonesty. Inside her, she was incredibly worried. Why isn't Sakura telling me the truth? I'm her best friend, she can trust me! "Please, Sakura. Where have you been?" Before she could reply, Sugawara entered the room.

"Morning class. Let's start with the register." Sugawara read the names off the list and Tsukiakari looked at Sakura. Sakura could feel the eyes of her best friend on the side of her face and she felt a shiver of coldness down her spine. I shouldn't have lied... But... Sakura glanced anxiously to Tsukiakari. Their eyes met and Sakura quickly looked away. Ah... This is getting troublesome. Scrawling something down on a sheet of paper, she then hurriedly placed it onto Tsukiakari's desk and poked Tsukiakari with her pen to catch her attention.

Tsukiakari looked around and read the note:
Tsukiakari
I am very sorry that I didn't tell you about this morning. I promise I will tell you at the end of homeroom. Later.
Picking up a pen, Tsukiakari scribbled down her response:
You have to tell me straight away though. Ok?
Chucking it to Sakura, Tsukiakari smiled inwardly. Sakura, I knew it. You really can't lie properly, can you?
Sakura gave a slight bob of the head and the two friends laughed silently in unison.

Sugawara cleared his throat. The two girls' face flushed in embarrassment and looked downwards. The rest of the class laughed.

"As I have been saying, this July, there will be music competition for this region. We will choose a group each from each year. There will be auditions to be chosen. You can choose your own groups to enter and it isn't compulsory. If you want to sign up, please collect this sheet..." Sugawara held up a form with 6 spaces on it. Sakura and Tsukiakari looked at each other and winked.

"Me and you," Sakura mouthed. "Miyazaki, Murakami, Yoshida and Kinoshita. 6 spaces, 6 people. Alright?"
Tsukiakari slowly processed the members of her group and her brain finally caught up and she couldn't believe it. "You mean, THAT Kinoshita?" she mouthed furiously. "That person with white hair who insults me every time he sees me?"
Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Who else? There isn't a Kinoshita in this school apart from him."