Chapter 1: Rise

The alarm clock sounds, it's time for school. Shido Ayukon opens his eyes, staring at the ceiling, and he sighs.. "Another day of hell.." he utters under his breath. Taborn Academy... it's your usual school, you have your popular ones, your geeks, your jocks, your normal ones.. well I guess you can't say your normal ones, we'll say the outsiders... they sit back and deal with the work in front of them, not getting into any gossip or drama, sure you have your small group of friends but that's about it. Isshiki has his 2 friends, well 3 if you wanna count his little sister. You have the semi-popular baseball player Hachi Riki and Yuri Aashi... the science and conspiracy-loving freak! Then you have Haru Ayukon.. his sister, only a grade below him but a very popular one in the school, she tends to ignore Shido in the school but during the day and night she's always around him! And she is definitely annoying! But she's a good girl, she's honest and caring, but.. the reason why she's popular? She's a idol, for the school. Yup, an idol, she dreams of being in a group with professionals one day.

Shido sits up, realizing he has a blanket wrapped around his body, he's curious as to how this happened, he always sleeps with no blanket. He shrugs it off and walks his way to his drawer, getting a new change of clothes and walking to the restroom, he notices the small heart shaped crystal at his feet, okay now he's really curious, it's only him and his little sister that live here, and he knows this isn't her possession... a memory, flashes into his mind.. the gentle touch of a female, the warm feeling he got when she smiled... but it disappears... he shrugs it off once again, thinking he might've been having memories of a dream, and that the heart shaped jewelry was probably just left over from when his mom left some time ago, and maybe his sister got ahold of it, he gets a towel, and proceeds to walk into the restroom, he's already wasted enough time, time to shower and get prepared for another day of school.

Chapter 2: The First Morning

Monday, August 25th, 2022 | 5:45 AM

Shido has already woken up, it's been an odd morning but it's something he's used to, he grabs his clothes and hops in the shower, he thinks about a nice chocolate bunny for a weird reason, oh well, he won't have any reason to get one anyways, and Valentines did end a while ago, it's September Shido! He turns the faucet off and begins to dry off, and as he put his school uniform on he thought, another day, another torturous day. He began his walk outside to the train, that would take him to the school and then back. He sees Hachi and flashes a wave to him, before greeting each other once they board the train. "So, how was the festival?" Shido asked, meaning the festival that brought together his entire team for the county sports celebration, as they celebrated yet another winning season. "It was oddly encouraging, but we had lots of fun! How about you, how's your sister doing?" He asked, this took a train (haha) of thought for Isshiki, you see Sakura has been having a lot of weird dreams lately, mostly about mother.. he frowned, he missed his mother too. "She's been doing great!" Shido replied, hesitant and unsure of whether he was being completely honest.

The train finally stopped at the school, the crowd of students exit and start walking the pathway to the huge 3 story building, one of the most popular schools yet still an ordinary one, whatever you'd like to call ordinary I guess.. it gets a lot of popularity because of the Idols. Shido didn't really enjoy Idols growing up, but once his sister started doing it, he began to grow a feeling of a 'Well okay, I can deal with this', but he supported it because of his little sister, he'd do anything for her, even if she gives him a blind eye in school when she sees or hears about him. So quick to turn a blind eye yet so reliant on her big brother away from school...

Once they entered the building, the bell rang throughout the school and echoed through the long crowded hallways.. Shido glanced over, and spots a girl, who is sitting down on a wooden bench, he guessed it was because she was waiting until the traffic of students calmed down, but he realized, who she was... one of the most popular girls in the school and in the idol world, she is the lead idol singer for the group in the school, and she's also a member of a professional idol group outside of school. She's a very successful student.. but why Shido thought, why is she sitting there alone, she's not even getting noticed by anyone else... the most popular student.. Riku Yukiaura, a role model for most. She noticed his eyes staring in her direction and looked away, before looking once again. Shido was shoved into a crowd and unable to get back to say anything to her, oh man he thought, what a great thing to happen now.. she's probably creeped out now, he thought.

Hours passed by, and the dismissal bell rung out, Shido made his way to the exit before getting pushed out of the way by a upper class men, and Shido didn't let up either, he stood back up, and continued to walk the way to the exit, he was thinking about doing something but there was a whole group of them, he wouldn't stand a chance.

He made it out of the door, and saw that he missed the first train, so he stood at the stop, waiting for the second one, but while he was standing there he noticed her.. Riku Yukiaura, standing close by him, waiting for the train as well, he saw people behind her giggling and laughing, and shocked that she of all people would be around these parts, he thought of it as a weird mindset, she's probably always taken a train, so what is so different here? I don't know he thought, then the upper class men in the group from earlier came up from behind him and put his arm around her, and tried to signalize for her to follow, which she refused and pushed him away, she seemed afraid almost, but she held her composure and looked him in the eyes and said, "Who are you?!" angrily, she was scary right now, at what first seemed like a scared expression turned into a evil look, she was pissed... and Shido had to do something. So he did, he tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey buddy, I wouldn't be doing that to someone you don't even correlate with, if you keep being an asshole, and invading her personal space, I will not hesitate to call the authorities. Or, we can handle this on our own ground, because people like you really piss me off." He said, firmly with anger built up from earlier. The guy started to backed off, and walked away as if he was too good for them.

She looked into Isshiki's eyes, "Why? I was gonna have it handled ya know..." She said, and Shido shot back with the "Sure you did, but I wasn't about to let a guy disrespect a beautiful Senpai like you." He replied, grinning. She smirked, "Okay, whatever." Her remarks were sassy, but he wasn't in the wrong here, she was a very beautiful Senpai, long black hair, beautiful blue eyes and a very thin body with rather large ******, if you needed to know. They approached the entrance of the second train, and found seats oddly next to eachother.. and the ride home began.

Chapter 3: Time That I’ve Spent

Tuesday, August 26th, 2022 | 6:00AM

Shido wakes up, and looks forward to going to his classes, which is unusual for him but he is interested in her, and he wants to know more about her. Riku Yukiaura, the lead idol singer of the school and a member of a professional idol group, why was she sitting alone that day? Wouldn't she have better things to do, like talk with her friends or something? Maybe Shido was giving it too much thought, maybe she was just waiting for the crowds of students to die down before leaving to go to her classes.

On the train, Shido notices that Hachi isn't on board today, or so it seems. That's unusual he thought, there hasn't been a day since Junior High he's taken another way to school, maybe he's ill? Shido takes his phone out and rings Hachi's phone, but he didn't answer, so maybe he overslept. But, that's still not right! Hachi has not missed a single day to oversleeping. So he called Yuri, she didn't answer either. He shrugged it off for now, but he'll continue to try and find out what's going on once school ends.

As he is walking in the crowd, he sees her again, alone. This time, he approaches her and taps just ever so slightly on her shoulder, she looks back with a face that he remembers from yesterday, during the scuffle with the upper class men. She notices that it's him, and her expression changes, "What are you doing? Don't you have a class to be attending soon?" She says, walking with him now, she takes a seat at the wooden bench from yesterday, and he does as well. He replies, "Well, I couldn't help but notice you were walking alone, it's quite weird for someone as popular as you to be walking with no one else.." She glances at him for a second before looking away, there were still crowds entering the school. "It's been this way, I believe people out of my Idol group are too afraid to approach me. So why is it you that shows no fear when doing so?" She asked. He smiled, and looked back at her. "Because, you haven't given me a reason to be scared of you, I don't know about the rest of the people here but, you're just an ordinary person to me. Just because you're so popular doesn't change that you're a normal person too." The bell rings, and Shido stands up, "Well, it was nice sitting down with you, now it's something I can boast about, walking with a beautiful Senpai like you!" He said, jokingly. She smirked, "You'd better not, I'll be forced to give you that reason to fear me if you do." She said, sounding as serious as ever but it was quite obvious she was joking with him.

Hours passed, Shido noticed that Hachi & Yuri were not here today, he was quite confused as to why, but he said to himself that he'd find out. On his way to the exit of the school, he was searching through the crowds for Haru, maybe she knows about the whereabouts, but.. she either wasn't here either or she had already gotten to the train somehow. He purposely missed the first stop, to see Riku again, and he did. She was there, waiting for the second train. He flashed a wave at her, she ignored it. He walked up to the stop and waited for the train as well. "Hey." She said, making up for the wave she didn't give back. He looked back at her, "Hello, Riku." She looks at him with a curious expression, but she doesn't say anything about it. "There's something I'd like to talk about, and you seem like the only person that would believe me." She requested a time, to talk. "Sure, but what is it about?" He replied, as they boarded the second train, and sat in the same seats as yesterday. "It seems as if people aren't noticing me anymore, like I went out to the grocery store and they acted like they didn't see me in the checkout. And earlier I was in class, but I didn't receive any papers or any explanation as to why." She told him, and he was confused at first. "Are you sure it wasn't just in your head?" He said, she looked away with that same angry expression. "Forget it." She said, in a frustratingly different tone. "Fine... I know little stories about what you're saying but it's something to do with quantum physics. I learned about it in my classes a while back. But people disappearing is just a myth, so hopefully you see why you confused me there." He said, after a long pause. "Can we talk more about it somewhere else then, I want to show you something." She said.

Well here we are, 7PM and Shido & Riku are walking to Shido's home. She showed him that not even the people in stores saw her, or on the streets. He believed her now, and he was determined to figure this out for her.

He was forgetting something, it's his birthday today, he's turned 17. While Riku was a grade above him.

They entered the home and— a loud trumpet like noise blared out and the lights flickered on. He didn't even get a second to think before he saw them. Hachi, Yuri and Haru. All chanting happy birthday. His expression was now slanted, he seemed so confused , why would they miss school just to surprise him? So does this mean he kept them waiting for 4 hours? He chuckled a bit, "Um.. guys, how long have you been waiting for me?" They all laughed and then they saw Riku, and were even more shocked than him when he entered the house. "Am I dreaming or are you walking into this house with THEE Riku Yukiaura?" Yuri said, this was pretty much the entire thought process of those 3. She had a reason though, "I came here for one reason, and that's to help him study. You see I saw him all droopy in the hallways and he was so lonely that I thought I'd be the nice person that I am and help him with his work. Got it? So get your mind out of the gutter." She said, firmly and in a serious but scary tone.

Hours passed, Riku went home after helping herself to a piece of cake, and explaining more of the situation to Shido. Shido wasn't able to sleep that night, he's been brainstorming and trying to figure out what's really happening. He's developing a feeling that he hasn't felt before, he loves this girl, and he'll do anything to try and help her.

Chapter 4: Feelings that I have

Wednesday, August 27th, 2022 | 3:46PM

The alarm clock sounds, but Shido was prepared and already shut it off before it even got to the second beep. He yawned, and sat down on his bed, oddly enough he found himself dosing off, all he could think about was her. Hours passed, and he woke up to his sister on his lap, shouting at him for skipping school. Isshiki was a little upset because he hasn't missed a single day of school since his elementary years. He finally placed his hands on her shoulders and stared at her. "Haru, I understand. Can you please get off of me?" He asked, he was quite tired of her acting like this at home or anywhere else but at school she ignored him, she's grown up now, but she's still acting like a child. "What? Are you getting aroused from your little sister?!" She asked, placing her hand over her mouth and giggling as if she had said something forbidden. "Wh- what?! No, I could never get that feeling from you!" Shido yelled out, the expression on Haru' face changed into an obviously fake frown. "Awh, are you calling me ugly, disgusting and stupid?" She said back to him, before starting to bounce, trying to piss him off. "I- I was never calling you those words, you're a beautiful girl, but you're my sister, Riku. Can you stop now? I'll go out and get you your favorite sweets." He said, before standing up and launching her onto the couch, laughing. "A- Hey! You idiot!" She yelled out at him, before sitting up on the couch. "Maybe I can settle for that offer." She said, so Shido walked to his bedroom and as he was getting ready to put on new clothes, he heard a bell ring from the living area, so he threw on his pair of boxers and ran to the door, he opened it ever so slightly, "No, I don't want your ne- oh, come in." He said, before realizing that it was Riku.

Riku observed the room, and looked over at Shido, realizing his lack of clothing. "Do you always walk around in your underwear outside of school or did I catch you in the middle of something?" She said, with a smirk. "Man, today has been filled with people having their minds in the gutter." He said, with a blank expression. "So anyways, I wanna talk to you. Can you put some clothes on and then invite me to your room?" She asked. "Geez, you don't have to sound so formal."

An hour passed, it was 5PM.

"So you're telling me that you're disappearing from existence?" He asked, with a serious tone.

"That's the only reason I can think of, maybe the world hates me." She said, thinking out loud. "Nothing could hate you, you can have anything that you want." He said, looking at her in the eyes. "I thought I wanted to disappear, people look up to me too much.. what if I fail? Maybe it'd be better if I didn't e—" She was cut off by him. "No, don't ever say that again. You need to exist, people love you, they look up to you for who you are, and what you do. One fail will only get them even more inspiration, because that's how you learn from your mistakes, your failures make you a better person in the end. Just don't say it ever again, I.. I'd do anything to make you happy! and I'm sure everyone else feels that way as well! There was a moment of silence. "I'm sorry." She said, realizing that it made him quite upset. "I love my job, being an idol is what I love to do. I'm stupid to get lost in that train of thought, you made me realize that just now, I do deserve to be here, for my fans, my family and my friends." She said, smiling now. "I have a question Senpai." He said. "Ask me." She replied. "Am I your friend? Be honest, no lying here.. Because to me, you're my best friend, you're a real friend." He said, now awaiting an answer. "You really are such a fool Shido... of course you're my friend. Sure we have our differences, and yeah we only met 2 days ago, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my friend, from the very beginning it was meant to be." She said, giggling with a beautiful smile. He was happy, he felt a different kind of happiness around her. A special kind of happiness. Love, it was love. He loved her. "How about we go out?" He asked, smiling. "Where to?" She questioned. "Why not a mall?" He said, both of them nodding their heads in agreement.

7:34PM

As they walked throughout the large building, they had already ate and bought small souvenirs. They stopped at a jewelry store on the way home, and she spotted a heart necklace that was made of crystals. It was a lot of yen, but he ended up making the purchase, anything for her, he said in his head.

9:30PM

"What an eventful day." He said, standing by his door. "Yes, I enjoyed it. People actually recognize me now, but that's fine. Rumors may spread though so I hope you can handle it." She said, before his strong reply, "If it's about me and you, then there's no problem." She blushed when he said that, oh how beautiful she looked when she was flustered he thought. She started to tear up, and fell into his arms, hugging him. He embraced her. "Thank you... thank you so much." She said, her voice cracking and tears were falling. "Don't mention it, anything for a beautiful Senpai like you." He said, before she started to giggle. That made her laugh, knowing he really will do anything. He took out the necklace, and put it around her neck, smiling. "Goodnight Riku, I'll see you around in school tomorrow? How about we have lunch together?" He asked, she smiled at the idea. "Sure, let's do it in Class 5-B?" She asked, and he nodded. They shared one more warm embrace before splitting up, her house was merely feet apart from his.

His sister was waiting on the couch with an angry expression, her hand out. "Where are my sponge cakes?" She asked, and he handed the bag to her, that contained sponge cakes and a small fruit juice pouch. He headed to his room, and laid down, dozing off into the night.