Chapter 1

When I first noticed Katsura-san at Sakakino Academy's opening ceremony at the start of April, I had no idea at the time that the fates were conspiring to screw me over! It was my first year in high school; now I know in hindsight, that I was happy and carefree, although at the time I thought my life was boring and angst-ridden. I guess I am what you would call average looking, spiky brown hair, light brown eyes and light skin; not handsome, not ugly. I'm not into sports, or clubs, and I don't get As on my report cards. The charcoal suits that the boys wear look baggy on me. I don't have any qualities that would catch a girl's eye.

I can remember like it was yesterday the girl of my dreams looking at the new school we both would be attending. She was short with long flowing black hair, expressive rusty red eyes and creamy white skin; her school uniform was nearly completely black, except for the white ruffles and red bow. She was also the most well-endowed first year that I had ever seen! To complete the scene, even the cherry trees were in bloom, and I remember thinking to myself that this would be the year I'd finally score a babe! Stupid fool that I was, I forgot the falling flower petals also were a symbol of death as well as spring.

"Makoto!"

I could see my bud, Sawanaga Taisuke running up to me. Reluctantly I tore my eyes away from the busty and pretty bookworm I was drooling over. I pulled off my headphones, "'Sup, Taisuke?"

Taisuke was gangly and homely, with a skinny face, and an unruly mop of light brown hair. We had been running into constant trouble together since elementary school. His mug was plastered with a huge grin, and it was actually a relief to get some distraction from my boiling hormones. "Makoto, we're in class 1-3 together! It's gonna be a great year!"

"Yeah, sure."

Taisuke's brown eyes widened with excitement, "I'm gonna get laid this year for sure!"

I'm sure he wasn't amused when I burst out laughing, but I swear, I couldn't help it!

"You a-hole," my best friend railed as he punched my backpack. He soon regained his composure, such as it was. I was truly in awe that there was a boy in my class that was more of a horndog than me!

I flashed a wry smile, "I bet my mp3 player that you won't!"

He scrunched up his nose, "You're on. I bet my phone I will!"

"I don't want that piece of crap. I'd rather have your 'How to Score with Women' book."

"It's 'How to Succeed with Women', dumbass!" Taisuke crossed his arms in annoyance, "Why don't you think I can do it?"

I yawned, "You're too obvious and obnoxious. Chicks hate slobbery lechers like you." It was the truth; poor, deluded Taisuke with his frontal assault style of romance had no subtlety with girls.

"Like you're not a perv yourself!"

I smirked, "So?"

"Have you asked one out, coward?"

I cringed a bit at his crack, as it cut a little too close to the bone. "I will when I find someone I like."

He shook his head, "Always looking at the merch and never buying. The girl I have my sights on this year is that bodacious babe over there!" My eyes followed the direction of his thumb. He was pointing right at Katsura-san! "I'm sure that the crimson thread of fate binds our pinkie's together! You'll see!"

The assembly bell rang as I sighed, "Crimson thread, whatever. Good luck dude." He winked to me as we parted ways.

…

The whole first term was pretty dull, all in all. I sat in room 1-3, day after day as a variety of droning teachers tried to educate me. I had the aisle seat on the hallway side of the class, stuck next to Kuroda-san, a hyper, annoying airhead with a ridiculous looped hairdo. I don't really know why but she disliked me for some reason, so we didn't chat much. She spent most of her free time with her friends in class, while I was off daydreaming in my own world, or chatting with Taisuke about our futile seduction ploys.

Every morning, I saw my precious Katsura-san from class 1-4 get on the train one stop down the line from my apartment. Her neighborhood, Haramidai, is a really posh part of the city of Haramihama with all the fanciest single family homes, so her folks must be loaded! She was never in her train seat without her trusty paperback; she must have gone through at least a dozen thick books before the trimester ended. I was kind of curious why she didn't ever talk to anyone else on the train. Of course I'm a stupid hypocrite for thinking that, since I was doing the same thing! I walled out the world with my headphones and stole glances at her whenever I thought she wasn't looking. Now that I think of it, Taisuke was right, I was a coward. I find a girl I like, and I spent my time pining from afar.

I spent the summer break dragging my kid sister Itaru around the town, the beaches, and frequently to Radish, her favorite restaurant. I saw some of my classmates around, and we hung out and went to the beach. Of course the only girl I took to the summer festival was Itaru-chan. I really wish that I had had Taisuke's dating book then, because I sure didn't have any clue how to get a girl's attention. I made a few halfhearted plays, and got zip for my efforts.

The very first day of the second term at the end of summer was when it all went to hell. Looking back, I can only describe the experience as a waking nightmare. At the Academy station platform after school, I spied Katsura-san with nose in her book out standing alone. I vowed for this term that I would finally put the moves on my crush, and I had overheard Kuroda telling her girlfriends about a lucky charm that involved snapping a secret picture of the person you liked and setting it as a background on the phone screen; if no one saw it for three weeks, you'd be destined as items. Total BS, of course. Still, what did I have to lose? I slyly flipped out my camera phone and zoomed on her face. I couldn't get the shot without some dopy salaryman with a newspaper half blocking the view, but I was ready to hit the trigger. The next thing I know, I saw my classmate, a brassy busybody from my class named Saionji shove Katsura off the platform edge right as the train arrived!

I can't remember now what my scream sounded like, that first time; the screech of squealing brakes and the sickening thud must have drowned it out. All I can clearly remember was that I got the shot of the train right after it ran over Katsura-san!