Garden of the Abandoned

Chapter 1

     "Look at me."

     Numerous colours such as red, yellow, orange and blue decorated the broad sky. The clouds were also painted red, as if they were cotton balls stained in paint.

     Birds chirped and sang as they flew to their homes, ready for a good night's rest. The school was now almost devoid of its students, as most of them had already gone home. Only few of those who had club activities remained.

     Leaves, flowers and the like swayed with the gentle breeze, which carried their scent to the remaining inhabitants. Suddenly a stronger but shorter gust of wind blew, followed by the cheer and laughter of numerous children.

     A child in the middle gave the loudest laugh and made a swift swing of his arms. Another gust of wind came, and the children cheered again.

     From the inside of the school building, a girl whose eye colour matched the sky's watched the group of children with a stoic, unreadable face and wide, empty eyes. Her eyes remained on the boy whose quirk could control the wind. Neither the scent of the flowers, nor the laughter of the children seemed to have any effect on her. She continued to watch silently.

     "Hey, who's that girl?" asked one girl whose club activities ended.

     "Haven't seen her before. A transfer student?" said another.

     "I don't know. She creeps me out. Let's go."

     The subject of the gossip either did not hear them, or pretended not to. She finally took her eyes off the scenery before her, and walked out of the school building.

     Ah, yes. Just another ordinary day for everyone.

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     The sky was dark. The sun was nowhere to be seen. Dark clouds filled the sky, and the sky looked as if it was going to crumble down upon the earth.

     The sound of water droplets hitting every surface with intense wrath overwhelmed the atmosphere. Any other kind of sound would be drowned in the rain and vanish away.

     That was fine.

     The scent of the earth sprung forward. Not that she minded.

     Raindrops hit her skin, very much like arrows piercing through the air. One difference would be that the rain wasn't killing her.

     It hurt. But that was fine.

     She slowly moved her tiny body forward. The additional weight that her damp clothes, shoes and schoolbag did not help her move forward in the slightest. She felt no warmth.

     The girl stopped when she saw some yellow flowers in a garden of some random house. Her small hand instinctively went to the worn-out yellow flower-shaped hairpin that she wore above her left ear. Dull red eyes lingered on the flowers.

     Yes, that was indeed very fine.

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     "You're....?" Inasa stared at the girl standing in front of him with a quizzical expression.

     "Sorako," the girl turned her gaze up from the ground to his face. "I'm Mabayui Sorako."

     "My name's Inasa! Nice to meet you!" The boy puffed out his chest as he grinned.

     "Inasa, who are you talking to?"

     A voice from inside the house, seemingly from upstairs, roared out to the two standing at the door. That voice was capable of driving the sound of rain temporarily. Yes, temporarily.