Free! & Hope

HOPE 1

The world is spinning and we are still here, and now. We live our lives and have our problems like any other everyday person. But that's where we step in, to face the world and prove we have potential to make something... spectacular. For those times we've been underestimated, mistreated, betrayed, pushed away... We make those people realize that despite us being just a little different, that we are still human. And to those, who've been through the same, to give them hope when witnessing our successes no matter how many times we've fallen.

Akane Higuri was a peculiar girl with simple goals in mind, aloof as she seemed, she was still a very intelligent student in class. This being said, she'd burn herself out with homework and a side job as a waitress so she would often fall asleep in class. She lived alone with her younger sibling, Emiko, who was a happy-go-lucky and energetic girl. Like her sister, she was one of the top students of her class with many talents and good grades. They both study hard, as they were taught at a young age. At the moment, the Higuri sisters are sleeping in their rooms just an hour before school classes begin for another day. They had a couple of weeks before classes end for the summer at Iwatobi High school, and the two had major plans for the end of school with their friends to form a band. Daisuki Yamada as the lead guitarist, a girl with a tough and sassy attitude who's quite punk rock and Kurumi Fukushima as the drummer, the careless rebel with the heart of gold. Emiko was going to be bass while Akane was their lead singer. Together, they are the Resistance.

The younger sibling awoke first, as the usual, hesitant as she was about it, someone needed to in order to wake up the other and get to school. Scratching her eyes and stretching her upper limbs before standing up to brush her teeth, minutes pass until then but Akane still was asleep. The small brunette sighs softly, shuffling to her sister's bedroom and knocks the door. "Oi, Akane... are you up? We have school, in case you forgot!" She calls out, but there was no answer... Emiko knocks again, and heard a groan. "A dream?! Aghh..." She hears her older sister whine and plop to bed and giggled, opening the door only some inches. "Another dream?" The smaller girl asks, head tilting in curiosity. "Maybe... I would've sworn-" Emiko plops to her bed to tackle her and push her out of the mattress. This into which caused her older sister to grunt a little at the hit. "Come on, Aka! School today! We can't be late again..." Akane lets out an annoyed groan, rubbing her face before lightly kicking her aside and fell off the bed. "Oof! No need to get all pushy! You could've killed me!" She exaggerates with a whining tone, causing the older sibling to laugh. "Oh quit your whining, let's make breakfast and go to the train station." She spoke, standing from the comfort of warm blankets and pillows to rush towards the bathroom. "Take out the left over rice! I'm making umirice today!" Emiko's eyes lit up and smiled wide, skipping towards the fridge and got everything to make stir fry and the eggs. After getting prepared, the two head towards the train station that takes them to their school.

The slightly taller brunette spotted a small group of boys that go to the same school, one in particular capturing her attention. That student was Haruka Nanase, they met in elementary school by the many times they've bumped into each other. It was ridiculous as the matter of fact, as if fate was screaming at her for them to talk often. There was no hiding that she was in fact attracted towards the quiet boy, and the sad part was that she didn't even get the chance to become closer out of fear of getting in the way between his friends. His brunet friend, Makoto Tachibana, who takes the English class and Japanese literature with her have known her closely because of the occasions of years where they took side classes together. While heading towards their spot, the girl unintentionally staring longly at the navy haired male from a longer distance, caused her sister to giggle at her so very obvious gawking expression.

"Where the hell is this woman?" Asked a familiar voice from not too far, causing both to look aside and find their friends. "Daisuki?" They both questioned with confused looks, her and their other friend was next to her with crossed arms. "I'm surprised you got here earlier than the last hundreds of times. We were expecting you to go in late, again." Said Daisuki, her hair was jet black and short, shaved on one side. The ravenette had a distinctive look, having dark green eyes and a punk look with spiked collars and bracelets to her uniform, showing she's quite rebellious. Despite this, she's very responsible with her work. "Ohoho- Akane, did you talk to him yet?" Asked her other friend, Kurumi. She was a dark haired brunette with hazel eyes and slightly darker skin, distinctive by her chubby body. It was sad in a perspective, since while growing up she was bullied around a lot for her weight. Though Kurumi is the type to focus on things that interest her, she was always an oddball that would be distinguished away from the crowd. The brunette furrowed her brows, knowing exactly what the darker skinned girl meant judging by the tone. Kurumi and Akane were best friends since childhood, and were used to each other's company as well, knowing their habits like the back of each other's hands. "No..." A pout drew her features that caused Kurumi and Emiko to laugh, but the small brunette decides to be a little daring. Lately, she's been closer to one of the boys in the other little group. When knowing they were friends, Emiko wanted the opportunity to introduce her. She heard they were at a swim club, in which he told her a few things about. This boy in the group was Nagisa Hazuki, and they've been texting back and forth since arrival. Emiko had a plan, a bold one. In fact it was so bold, she prayed that she could survive in the aftermath. The smallest of the group stood up, waving her arms at the blonde boy from afar. He stood up immediately, blowing a kiss her way and she laughed. Emiko waved her hand as a sign for them to approach, and of course, Nagisa being well... Nagisa, have convinced them to come closer so they can talk once. Akane soon felt her cheeks heat up, looking down at her sister in disbelief. "You know them?!" She yelled out. Emiko started cackling at her expression, but nods in response. "Yeah, me and Hazuki are dating at the moment." She pointed out bluntly, crossing her arms as the bus was here. "Morning! Ah, the bus is here..." Yelled out the blonde, arms slumping forward. Feeling as if they missed the opportunity, they all jump in.