The new school year just started at Shinkenji. Chinen, a new student is worried that he would not make any new friends. After all, he does not have his own element, nor is he very confident that he will obtain one.  

He was admitted to the school after he discovered that elements existed from watching a fight. Normal people do not have any idea that such powers existed, so to keep those who discover them, they are admitted to the school. Luckily, not that many people do find out.

The uniform given to him was white in color with blue borders. He found that his blazer seemed to be one size too small, but he could still wear it.

The school grounds were fairly large, in fact, much larger than Chinen had expected.  Toppling around the hallways, he found himself in the “non-gifted” section of the school. He sat down at an empty seat and looked around. In the back corner, there was a quiet girl already sitting there. What caught his attention about the girl is that she had a strange thick, black bangle on her hand.

Meanwhile, another boy approached him.

“Are you new around here? I haven’t seen you before.” The boy questioned.

Chinen stood up. “I’m a new student this year.  My name is Chinen Yuri.”

The boy held out his hand. “Nice to meet you!  I’m Nakajima Yuto. Just call me Yuto. Since you’re new, I can give you a tour around the buildings that we’ll be having lessons in.”

Chinen nodded. “Thank you very much in advance!”

The other students filed in quickly after the bell rang. All the classes during the morning were all introductions to the courses. Chinen did not find it any different than regular school, except for that one timeslot during the afternoon which had the title of “Elements”.

Yuto peered over Chinen’s shoulder. “Oh, that class? You’ll find out soon. Come on, its lunch break. I’ll show you around.”

As the two exited the room, Chinen could feel a chill down his spine. He was almost certain that the girl was staring at him from behind.   

When they were outside the building, Chinen whispered his question to Yuto. “Who’s that girl sitting at the back of the classroom?”
Yuto shrugged. “I don’t really have a clue. I think her name is Ayaka though. She seems really unapproachable.  No one in our class has ever spoken to her, nor has she spoken to anyone either. I’d suggest that you shouldn’t talk to her either. “

“Okay.” Chinen agreed almost immediately.

Yuto stopped in front of a black gate. “You see the buildings beyond the gate over there? Those buildings are restricted to elemental users. They aren’t allowed on our side and we’re not allowed on their side.”

“Wait. So once a non-gifted student finds out their element, they’re not allowed to come back to this side? What about their friends?”  Chinen asked.

“I never did see an elemental user who was originally a non-gifted student come back to this side. However, there is a rumour on our side about how they can come back. An elemental user can come to this side only when he or she temporarily is stripped of the element. We don’t know how that works though.” Yuto replied. “Only the student council president is allowed on both sides without stripping away his powers.”

Staring at the far away buildings in awe, Chinen wondered if he would ever be allowed to go to the other side.

At the end of the tour, Yuto led Chinen to where the “Elements” class was held. It was a large room, similar to a gymnasium without all the sports equipment.  The ceiling was about three storeys high and voices echoed through the air when they spoke.

The instructor handed each of them a card. Chinen noticed that each card design was a little different. His card had a blank design, but Yuto’s card had a bright green vine border.

“Oh, you didn’t get an elemental card this time. That’s okay. You see mine? It has the element of nature. Look here!”

Yuto held out his left hand to the ground in front of him, while his left hand grasped the card. Almost instantly, the ground cracked and out sprung a small yellow flower.

“Dandelion!” Chinen shouted in amazement.

Yuto bent down. “I don’t think it’s a dandelion though, but that’s not the point. You see how these cards work now? It’s sort of like ‘borrowing’ the element for a while. It’s not as powerful as the actual user, but it is fun nonetheless! Wouldn’t it be cool to have our own powers instead?”

Chinen smiled. “It sure would! I guess I’ll just have to wait until the next class to try it out!”

He watched other students play around with their cards. Ayaka was seen on the bleachers staring at the side windows.

=====

Chinen had a few hours after classes ended before he could move into the dorms, so he decided to browse around the school grounds again.

“Please stop it!” A boy cried.

Chinen looked over the fence that was the border of the two sectors of the school. A younger boy without a uniform was running away from two older guys. Those guys were wearing black, rock-style (or, it could be borderline visual kei) clothes. The boy tripped over himself and tumbled on the soil.

“Please don’t hurt me.” He pleaded.

“We won’t hurt you if you do as we tell you too!” The shorter of the guys replied.

“I don’t want to do it!” The boy resisted.

“Well then, I guess we’ll have to do things our way then.” The shorter guy lifted up his hand.

Chinen could not take it any longer. “Hey!” he yelled, “Pick on someone your own size!”

The short guy paused and noticed Chinen. He swung his arm towards Chinen and flicked his hand. A swirling flow of frozen water came hurling towards Chinen, who was struck by terror at this point.

Chinen tried to move, but his legs would not budge. It was not even the end of the first day at Shinkenji.