Amaya rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She looked over and saw that it was 6:30 in the morning. The sun was just beginning to rise as she began to get everything ready. School had started up again. With the days of summer coming to an end, so did her rather redundant schedule. While many may not think the same as her, she was rather excited to get back into the busy days of school. She was ready to return to normalcy.

Changing into her new high school uniform and putting the necessities in her bag, she went downstairs. Her father was already dressed and getting ready to leave for the day. He looked up from the newspaper he was reading and offered her a smile. "Good Morning Amaya."

She nodded to him. "To you as well father," she said. "Is mom awake yet?"

"She should be coming down any moment," he said. "I saw the bento you made for today. Beautiful as every Amaya. Perhaps you should've made one for me as well." 

Taking a glass of milk and a piece of toast, Amaya began to eat her improvised breakfast. "I thought mom always made them," she replied. "I will next time, if you'd like?"

Another pair of footsteps creaked against the wooden floor as Amaya's mother walked in. "Father's kidding, dear," she said. "His bento is already made. Top shelf of the refrigerator as always."

The three exchanged further pleasantries as Amaya glanced over at the clock. She coughed quietly as she placed her glass in the sink and washed it. When she placed it on the drying rack, she bent over and picked up her bad and made for the door. "I'll be off then."

"Have a great day," her mother said before Amaya disappeared through the door.

---

The speech was the same old speech that any school would give. Do good in your academics. Join clubs. Welcome new students. It took everything for Amaya not to sigh during the speech. The principal really needed to loosen. Not that she was in any position to criticize. Even though the sea of unknown faces hadn't done anything to her, her anxiousness and paranoia was dangerously high. Her eyes had constantly looked around during the speech. 

When they were dismissed, she went over to the bulletin board and found her homeroom. "1-G," she said to herself. Before she began to head off in the direction of her classroom, she noticed a rather peculiar looking student standing off in the distance from the hustle bustle. She walked over. "You look a bit lost. Do you need help finding your class?"

The boy certainly did not look Japanese at all Amaya thought to herself. It wasn't odd to have a gaijin come to Japanese schools, but typically the majority were in the university level. No doubt the boy received weird looks from everyone else. Seeing a foreigner within a high school was rare. Another thought occurred to her. "Can ... you understand Japanese?" 

Amaya placed a hand on her hips as she shifted her glasses.