Ayumu straigthened her peach colored dress, rebuttoned the pink cardigan that hid the slivers called "straps" that held the light cloth over her delicate frame. She twirled a strand of her silky brown hair around her finger, watching the rolling scenery out the window of the bus. Three suitcases stacked in a tower format were placed in the seat next to her, and as pleasant as Ayumu's thoughts were like a summer day, the glances of the town Hinamizawa that she caught were the same. Hinamizawa seemed like the perfect place for Ayumu; it was small and in the country, with nice people and nice festivals. It wasn't too far from Tokyo, either, so it wouldn't be too much effort to visit her friends who lived close by. Like Chiyo and Tomo. Kagura. Everyone.

The bus slid to a stop at a white sign marked with blue circles and green squares, the three lines of text written in English and Kanji. Ayumu fished out twenty yen from her pocket and gathered her luggage. One of the bags went over her shoulder, the next she held like a regular school bag, the last she dragged behind her, for it had a pair of wheels. She slipped the driver her yen and thanked him quickly before stepping off the bus. A fresh scent of flowers greeted her, as well as the buzz of Higurashi cicadas in the trees.

"So nice," Ayumu mused. She pulled a folded map from her pocket and headed for the closest phone booth, only a few paces from the bus stop itself. She left her luggage just outside the glass box of the booth, then dialed the quick number to the man who sold her the house, just by the school.

Ayumu had tried her hardest at her old school, but no matter what she just couldn't pull through. Her parents suggested retrying her second semester somewhere quieter. What other place to go than Hinamizawa? She bought a house, enrolled at the school, and soon she would be trying to gradute from highschool and start college. If things turned out well, she might be able to go to college and not move. If it worked out.

"Hello? Sokoni-san? Yes, this is Ayumu," she said into the reciever. "Ah, the key is under the rock by the porch? Okay, thank you. Goodbye, Sokoni-san."

The call ended, giving her a monotone buzz as the signal to hang up. She did so, making sure it went back into place with a click. She retrieved her bags and continued up the road, a determined look on her face as she looked for her house.

Then she saw it—a petite rose garden was in the front, lined with speckled rocks. It was only one story, but it was shrouded by large trees and the main structure was of wood. She retrieved the key from under the rock closest to the porch and unlocked the door. Once inside, the key went in her pocket and she set the suitcases down in the stout front hall. She milled about aimlessly, and happily realized that Sokoni-san had put all of her things too big to put on a bus filled with other people into the house like she'd ask.

If they can't put 'em on buses, how do they carry them? Maybe they use some sort of new way of traveling...perhaps by elephant.

"Oh, I missed you, Mister Bed," Ayumu smiled, throwing herself heavily onto the matress with a soft thud. She rolled over onto her stomach and hugged her pillow before drifting off into a calm sleep. That is, before she realized:

Can I cook?

The next morning, she found herself jumping at the sound of her plugged in alarm clock blaring at her. The echoes seemed to fill her room, and she quickly hit the 'dismiss' button. Begrudgingly, she got out of the bed and patted the sheets down, making sure they were flat. She let out a yawn and went into the hall.

"Okaa-san, I'm ready for breakfast...good morning..."

She rubbed her eyes and sat down at the small dining room table.

Ayumu had never known that silence was a sound before. It settled in her house like dew on grass each dawn, and with painful realization she remembered.

"Oh, that's right. I'm alone now," Ayumu said to herself. "I guess I better get dressed."

I don't have a uniform yet, so I might as well get into my old one.

Ayumu stubbed her toe when leaving the dining room, and shortly after almost fell flat on her face after tripping on her own bags in the hallway. She unzipped the top one, knowing it was for clothes, and tugged out her old blue school uniform. She also tugged out her toothpaste and toothbrush, followed by her comb. Still in the hall, she slipped out of her dress and jacket and changed. She left the old clothes where they were and drifted to the bathroom.

"Sparkly," she muttered, noticing that everything had a clean look. The words 'never been used' came to her mind and she grinned like a fox. In front of the mirror, she was able to smooth her hair down, but it still seemed too drab. Too drab for the new town. She brushed her teeth as she pondered what she could do to change it up. She spit, rinsed, and put her daily toiletries on a small shelf by the mirror.

"I got it," she announced. "I'll pull it back!"

She padded back to the clothes bag and grabbed a scarf. Once in the mirror's view, she fashioned the black scarf into a bow, and tied it at the top of her head. She clapped three times for her victory and decided breakfast didn't matter. If she didn't find the school soon, she'd be late. She slipped on her pink jacket and shoes before skipping out the door.

Then she skipped back into the house, grabbed all of her school books and stuffed them into her old school bag, and went back outside.

She locked the door and started the semi-long walk to the one room school house.

She had a feeling this morning's routine would become the norm very soon.

"Good morning, Kasuma-san," the teacher greeted. Her short hair was almost teale, bright blue eyes scanning over the bubbly air head who was currently wandering Land of the Seven Lollipop Slug People.

Yes, this did happen often.

"My name is Rumiko Chie-sensei, I teach all grades. I hear you need to repeat the second semester of your last year in highschool?" Chie-sensei asked, hands folding over her pristine white dress. "I can help you with any subjects."

"Hm? Oh! Yes, thank you, Chie-sensei," Ayumu said, snapping back into reality.

They entered the classroom, which was about half the size of her old one. A few islands of desks were formed here and there, many students of different ages seated together and chattering. Chie-sensei wrote Ayumu's full name in Kanji on the chalkboard behind them. Ayumu bowed deeply.

"My name is Ayumu Kasuga, but you can all call me Osaka. Eveyone else did," she introduced herself. "It's very nice to meet ya."

"We got a new desk in yesterday, just for you, Ayumu," Chie-sensei told her. "Pull up anywhere, it's good to make friends. Don't be shy, okay?"

"Roger that, ma'am," Ayumu said, giving a salute. Before she sat in the desk, she pulled it up to the closest group to her left, a group of two girls and a boy who seemed to be eagerly talking about playing games and penalties.

A girl with vivid green hair talked estaticly. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail, swaying with every word. She wore a white shirt with pink bands near the ends of the sleeves, a yellow vest over it, offering formality, and a long pink skirt. A red tie topped the attire off. Her energy reminded her of Tomo, yet more realistic about things.

The second girl had shoulder length brown hair, bright blue eyes going back and forth from the greenette to the boy, as if each thing they side were the ball in a tennis match. She wore an average blue sailor styled uniform. Occasionally, she would add a quick, "Hau, hau" or "I wonder, I wonder?"

Lastly, the boy had shaggy brown hair. He wore a white button up shirt over a red t-shirt, and black denim jeans. He continued to add comments that only made the greenette angrier. Finally they burst into laughter, but Ayumu still had no idea what they were talking about.

She gave up and pulled out her math book, which seemed to be the same the brunette was working in. She started to work on a problem, but instead got bored and started to draw doodles of a flying Chiyo pulling a little cat-frog hybrid by the tail over the ocean.

"Hey, you're Osaka, right?" the greenette asked, looking over at Ayumu.

"Yup, I am," Ayumu nodded.

"I'm Mion Sonozaki, class president! This here is Rena Ryuuguu and her boyfriend, Keiichi Maebara," the greenette replied, smiling.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Keiichi argued.

"I'm sorry, Kei-kun, I didn't realize you were such a woman," Mion joked. "Shall we call you Kei-chan now, in honor of the gender bend?"

"Haha, very funny," Keiichi replied bluntly. "She's not my girlfriend!"

Rena looked past the fighting duo. "Hello, Osa-chan," she said softly. "Rena is Rena."

"Rena. That's a nice name," Ayumu commented.

"So, are you good at anything?" Rena asked, head tilting slightly.

"I play recorder..."

"That's nice—" Rena began.

"...just not very well. Oh! I can draw."

"Can I see some of your-"

"Also not very well," Ayumu shrugged.

"Oh."

"I guess I'm good at yawning. And I can solve those funny riddles, the ones with the plays on words? Though I don't know how you would write a play about words. I mean, you write a play with words not about them. But I'm not good at sports, and I can't study very well, and I suck at jump rope," Ayumu rambled.

"I see," Rena said, understanding. "Well, if you ever want to join our club, just ask Mi-chan, okay? Feel free to come!"

"What do you do?" Ayumu wondered.

"Um, let's see if I can remember correctly. We 'try to counter the increasingly complicating actions of society through either prosperity or adversity,'" Rena recited.

"Oh, I get it. So you play games?"

"Exactly."

As the last students poured from the room, Mion and Rena pushed together a few desks to make a slightly long table. When everyone was seated in their place, Mion slammed her fist on her desk to get order.

"Okay, everybody! We have a new member pending to join our club," Mion stated. "Her name is Ayumu Kasuga, or Osa-chan."

Ayumu waved slightly.

"Whaddaya think?" Mion grinned.

"I agree whole heartedly," Rena said optimistically.

"Sure, why not? I'd like to be the one who gets a break from most penalties," Keiichi said.

A very young blonde chuckled, revealing a fang. Her expression was much like Kagura's. She was making it clear she would not lose a game easy. "More competition for me!"

"Basically," a violet haired girl the same age began, "Satoko and I both agree. Nippah!"

"Awesome! Good job, Osa-chan," Mion exclaimed. "You made it through, unanimous."

"Hee hee, it's nice to be here...so, what game are we going to play?" Ayumu inquired.

"We're going to play Ultimate Mancala!" Mion said, spreading out three mancala boards and stacking them in an odd fashion. As Rena ran her through the rules (which were much more complex than the Mancala Ayumu was used to), Mion began dividing the marbles amongst the depressions with Rika at her side.

"Bring it on, no way I'm getting in last," Keiichi said.

"Don't be so sure," Satoko smirked, and let out that triumphant chuckle once more. "Ohohoho!"

Ayumu's face darkened, and a smile perked her lips, eyes wide as if she were about to tell a scary story. "Don't reside your confidence in experience," she said, and her hand hovered over a depression of marbles. They clicked as she picked them up and as she slowly began to unravel her finely constructed plan. "Fufufu!"