Khaos Wars

Chapter 1 - A fool's mistake

The clock rang and signaled for the students at Miyazaki High School that lunch break had started. It only took a few seconds for the halls to be flooded by busy teenagers heading to the cafeteria. Chattering, giggling and eager, loud footsteps on wooden floor could be heard resonating through the building. Most classrooms were almost empty, but students who brought lunch from home stayed behind to eat it there. The faint sound of raindrops delicately and rapidly hammering on the windows surrounded them, making a pleasant sound.

Koizumi Aika sat at her desk on the first row of class 2-A, her hand supporting her heavy head and her feet dangling back and forth a centimeter above the floor. Her fingers felt cold against her cheek; have they still not fixed the heater? Thick, waist long, ash green hair gently fell around her like a waterfall. She had tied up a small part of it on her left side so that it wouldn't get it the way. Her bottle green eyes were barely open, emphasizing her bored expression. Until now she had been staring out into oblivion, but then decided to eventually shift her gaze at the papers that had been laying untouched in front of her for the past hour; pencils and erasers scattered around them. Like usual. She brushed away some residue from some of the erasers that had been covering the title of a page: "Essay: Japanese 14.11" it said.

Aika straightened up a bit and picked up one of the pencils, ready to write something. It was about time she pulled herself together. Her grades had been suffering because of her recently slacking off.

But no matter how hard she tried to focus her mind felt empty. It felt as if her thoughts laid scattered around in her head and she couldn't gather them. She sat there like paralyzed, with the pencil in her hand, for a solid minute until her stomach reminded her with a light growl that lunchtime would be over soon. The abrupt sound had taken her back to reality and she realized how hungry she had become. She reached for her bag and grabbed her grey, metal lunchbox. Inside lied a single sandwich with some cheese and ham on it. Her lunch was always that: a regular, boring sandwich.

Aika took her first bite. The hard and crusty bread instantly dried up her mouth. The cheese and ham themselves tasted pretty good, or at least good enough. It wasn't particularly enjoyable, but it made the hunger go away so it served its purpose.

All of a sudden she heard a loud noise coming from the back of the classroom. She turned around to get a look even though she already had her suspicions. Only one person would make such a big scene of getting up from their seat.

Moriyama Emiko strode across the room with her back straightened and her head held up high. Her carnation pink hair was put up in two poofy, perfect pigtails that gently bounced with each step. As she walked by the air around her filled up with a delicate flowery aroma. Everyone followed her with their gaze as if in a trance when she passed them by. Aika shifted her focus back to the paper and took a big munch of her sandwich. She had seen this scene with Emiko a million times before and every time it annoyed her more than the last. Just as meaningless each time.

"Hey" a sweet and friendly female voice broke the silence. The voice's owner walked a few more steps and positioned herself in front of Aika's desk. At that moment the strong scent of roses hit her, and with that she knew it couldn't be anyone other than Moriyama Emiko. Aika couldn't be bothered with people right now, much less her, so she stared at her in silence for a second, expecting her to turn around to a friend. But Emiko didn't budge and send a warm smile in Aika's direction. Her big, pink eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"You need anything, class pres.?" Aika stared confused at Emiko.
"So, I was heading to the cafeteria and I wondered if you would like to come with me? I could use some company". Emiko started twirling some of the hair from one of her pigtails around. How strange, Aika could only recall having seen her do that once: when she wanted the teacher to delay an upcoming math test. How come Emiko always got everything she wanted? It was such an odd observation, but for some reason it had stuck with her.

Aika questioned if her hearing had gone bad. No way had Emiko, the queen of the school, just invited her to hang out. The room burst out in gossipy whispering. "Why would Moriyama-san ask her?" "Koizumi is so boring." "I'm way more fun to be with!"
"Why me?" Aika ignored them and answerd Emiko.
"I simply wanted to get to know you better". Aika noticed Emiko peeked at her sandwich with a hint of pity.
"My treat." Aika didn't know whether to feel flattered or offended. Either way she didn't want the attention that came with being Emiko's friend.

Aika quickly glanced over at the onlookers. They still closely observed their every move. A small, disheartened sigh escaped her lips and she returned to her tired, disinterested position. Her head once again rested against the palm of her hand, but this time her eyes wandered around the room.
"Hmmm, I'm not sure. But it sure sounds like there are more than enough people who would gladly take you up on your offer". She purposely said the last part a bit louder to make sure the crowd could hear her clearly. The passive aggressiveness in her voice was evident. One by one everybody started flocking around Emiko. Ridiculous, just like flies swarming around a light. Aika packed her bag and left.

***

The clock turned 8:20 in the morning. Aika ambled along the sidewalk with her earpods in while listening to music, humbling along comfortably while enjoying the fresh morning air.

She passed the big iron gate in front of the schoolyard, successfully avoiding all the puddles on the ground left by yesterday's rain.

"Koizumi-san!" Did someone call her name? She pulled out one of her earpods and turned around. Emiko stood behind her, just as lively as last time. The unexpected encounter took her by surprise, she startled and accidently stepped right into a water puddle.

"What a coincidence. Do you always come to school this early?" Emiko rested most of her weight on her left leg, looking at Aika with the most innocent smile she had ever seen.
"I do... but aren't you usually inside by now?" Aika glanced down at her iPod to check the clock. After having confirmed the hour, her eyes moved back up to Emiko, who once again did the hair-twirling thing. A familiar bracelet on Emiko's right arm caught her attention. Pink, with a white translucent crystal button in the middle.

Aika instantly felt her heart sink, uneasiness in her stomach and her eyes lost their light. So that is why Emiko so eagerly tried to get close to her. It all made sense now. She had to get away from Emiko as fast as possible; she wanted no part in her plans. Again, Aika got absorbed into her own world and worries. Through her blurred vision she could see that Emiko's lips were moving, but couldn't nor wanted to hear what she had to say. Even the music from her iPod turned muffled in her mind.

Out of the blue a warm, rough hand tapped her shoulder.
"Koizumi-san, class has already started. I have to give you detention again". The teacher was standing in front of her, giving her a stern stare. It had taken her a moment to realize that everyone had gone inside, including Emiko. For some reason her left foot felt freezing cold. This whole time she didn't step out of the puddle and her entire shoe and sock were drenched in water.

***

The hallway appeared empty as Aika left detention. Of course, why would anyone stay here this late? Honestly, it scared her a little bit: the way everything felt so hollow and abandoned. Like everyone forgot this place existed once they went home and everything left was an ever-crawling emptiness. This was something she never got used to; and it only got worse each time.

It all got to her and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. With rapid steps she hurried over to her locker. Putting away the books she didn't need, she slammed the locker shut, turned the key and pulled it out of the keyhole.

Muted echo from footsteps further down the hallway resonated behind her. Apparently someone else still roamed around on this floor.

But the sound got eerier as it drew nearer. Maybe she started to get paranoid, but it almost sounded like they were coming closer and closer. Aika resisted the urge to turn around and check, probably just someone late for the train... or something. She took a deep breath and continued with heavier steps, slightly trembling this time. Her pulse grew faster. She could swear she sensed a faint smell, which seemed to become stronger by the second. Aika started to walk faster, but she couldn't shake the smell off, it was following her.

The delicate smell of roses surrounded her.

"KOIZUMI-SAN!" Aika let out an involuntary gasp of surprise. Things had already taken a turn for the worse. Resistantly, she turned around. Emiko's bright and peppy demeanor had completely vanished; her usually sparkling eyes now radiated pure anger. Aika stepped back with one foot, but couldn't move any further. She tried to say something to Emiko, but the words got mixed up and she stumbled around them. Emiko grabbed Aika's arm and forcefully tried to drag her away.

"You're coming with me!"
"That hurts, let go of me!" Aika yelled and tried to pull away from Emiko's tight grip. It felt like a thousand needles simultaneously poked her skin. Emiko quickly pulled down Aika's sleeve to reveal a green bracelet, identical to her own pink one. Aika's whole body started shaking uncontrollably. She gathered up all of her strength and managed to escape Emiko's grasp. A striking pulsation in her arm suppressed her upcoming scream. She put her other hand on the hurting area to ease the pain.

"The whole human race is at stake here! Don't you care if we all get annihilated! IS THIS A GAME TO YOU!?" Emiko's voice got louder with every sentence. Her rage had turned into fury and it showed in her every aspect. She came across as so angry that trying to reason with her seemed pointless. Aika didn't know what else to do so she sat off running. She knew it was cowardly, but what other choice did she have?
"YOU FOOL! YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS!" A loud bang from the lockers chased Aika down the hallway. She didn't dare turn around.

The flawless Moriyama Emiko that everyone adored and admired terrified her.