[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180808/eebe0f2fdd49df2cab387decc3e89382.png[/img][/center][right][hr][color=gray][b]Tachibana Residence, Kurosuoba[/b]
April 3rd, 2018 | 6:15 AM[/color][hr][/right][indent]Kotone's alarm clock buzzed within her bedroom; its incessant beeping echoing against the walls.

It was the first day of Kotone's high school career, yet she hadn't wanted to get out of bed. By any means, Kotone was not one of the lazy sort, rather, she was quite socially inept. Growing used to new people was hard, despite how much Kotone wished to make new friends outside the select few that she already had. Often, Kotone would grow the courage to speak to random strangers in hopes of making a new friend, only to awkwardly clam up at the last second and make a skittish getaway due to her natural shyness. 

Frankly, Kotone wished she could stay in the background—and at home, but, like any good parent, her mother wasn't about to allow it.

[color=BA8A5D][b]"Alright, alright, okaasan..."[/b][/color] Kotone mumbled into her pillow, groaning as she rolled over in bed to shut off the alarm. Sitting upwards, Kotone flinched as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight now peeking through the room after her mother pulled the curtains open. It was bright, and surely warm, but for a half-awake Kotone, it also had been rather blinding. 

Rubbing her eyes, Kotone stumbled over to her mirror like a drunkard on the streets, and stared back at herself with a sleepy gaze. [color=BA8A5D][b]"Still haven't grown..."[/b][/color] Kotone uttered, slightly disappointed in her growth as she let out an exasperated sigh. It was stupid to believe childish rumors, but an average girl such as Kotone was sure to fall for them.

Readying herself for her daily routine, Kotone followed through her usual like she always did. A warm morning bath, brushing her teeth, getting dressed—all part of a typical morning routine for a high school student. Once her uniform was on, Kotone—hair tie in mouth—made sure to neatly tie back her hair into a ponytail. On a normal day, Kotone would have never bothered with tying her hair, yet her mother stressed it, especially on the first day of her daughter's high school career. 

[color=orange][b]"You must keep appearances up,"[/b][/color] Miss Tachibana often said, as if she had been a recorded answering machine message in a past life. And each time, Kotone would listen, tying her messy mop of sepia brown hair back behind her head.

Kneeling before her father's altar, Kotone spoke a few words in a rather one-sided conversation, alongside a prayer. Kotone never truly knew her father, who had died in a car accident when she was young, yet she often talked to him—or at least the picture of him. She hoped that he was watching over her, and that she was going to do him proud and make some more friends this year, although Kotone—like a parrot—would say such words year after year. 

It was like a new year's resolution that Kotone made for herself; one that would go on to never accomplish anything and lapse into the next year's resolution. [color=BA8A5D][i]One of these days,[/i][/color] Kotone thought, knowing all too well that it was likely not going to happen.

Deciding to grab breakfast on the way to school, Kotone left home once her outdoor shoes were slipped on and her mother handed her bento, now neatly packed in a cute cloth and cushioned in her schoolbag. [color=BA8A5D][b]"I'm taking off."[/b][/color] Kotone replied, waving a sleepy goodbye to her mother as she opened the front door of their family's ryokan. Unchaining her bike from the bike rack situated outside the building, Kotone pedaled off into the distance towards a nearby convenience store. Convenience store food would never beat her mother's own cooking, though Kotone wasn't on the lookout for tasty treats.

Kotone had been on the look out for old friends, hoping that she was not alone in her first year class.[/indent]