Thursday, April 18th, 2013

8:00AM, Hokusai High School Entrance

"Kiki! Good morning!" Danshiro ran up to Hokusai High's school gates, yelling out at Kikoe.

"Dan, good morning." She examined his messy hair with a particularly annoyed look donning her face. "Your brother teased you again this morning. You probably ran out before making sure your hair looked nice, right?" She sighed as she reached into her bag and grabbed out a bright pink comb. The comb was decorated with smiling chibi pandas and hearts, the antithesis to Japanese masculinity.

"You will not touch my head with that monstrosity." He reached out his palm, blocking the approaching comb.

"Don't be such a brat. You look like a delinquent with your hair right now. We're still relatively new freshmen, you know?" Kikoe spoke with a condescending tone, channeling an older sister lecturing their younger brother.

Danshiro placed his index finger and thumb on his chin, posing with a confident expression. "Maybe I want to be known as the 'Delinquent of Hokusai High.' You ever think about that?"

Kikoe chopped him on the head. "You're about as tough as a level one slime in a Dragoon Quest game."

"Hey, that hurt!" Danshiro snapped back.

"Stop being a brat already!" Kikoe grabbed his shoulder and pulled him in close. She sprayed something in his hair before combing it.

Her face is so close. Danshiro took a deep breath through his nose. Same shampoo, as always.

"There we go! You look like a decent-looking boy now."

Danshiro turned his face away, his cheeks turning red as he couldn't help but blush. "I'm a man, you know?"

Kikoe laughed at his comment. "Alright, Mr. Man. Let's get to class." Kikoe failed to notice his flushed cheeks as she turned back around toward the school entrance.

"Hey, this is a school, not a farm, right?" Utsu Kushi, Kikoe's number one tormentor, was asking her friends. They nodded in agreement with devious smiles. "I didn't know pigs were smart enough to go to school. So inspiring!"

"Oink!" Utsu's friends turned to Kikoe and snorted in tandem.

"Assholes." Danshiro whispered in response, moving toward them. Kikoe lifted out her hand, stopping him from approaching any further.

"Let it go, Dan." Kikoe lowered her head.

"But they!" Utsu and her posse had already turned around, heading into the school's entrance.

"You want to make it worse than it already is? Is that what you want?" Kikoe snapped at him, her eyes gleaming from held back tears.

"No, I'm sorry." Danshiro turned his face away.

9:30AM, Physical Education

If genies were real, I know what my first wish would be. Kikoe looked around the girl's locker room as girls were taking off their school uniforms and slipping into their bloomers.

Every single day, I have to change here and ignore the hidden glances from them. Kikoe let out a loud sigh before she pulled off her shirt. She stopped when she heard someone whisper in her ear.

"It's still a bit weird to change in front of everyone, right?" Her classmate, Reina Kawamura, had snuck up behind her. "If I'm being honest, I'm still embarrassed myself." Kikoe turned around to see her with a nervous smile on.

"Kawamura-san..."

"Don't think about it too much. Well, try not to think about it too much." Reina continued as she took off her clothes.

"Thanks, Kawamura-san." Kikoe started taking off her clothes to change.

"Anytime... Nagata-san, right?"

She's so cool! Kikoe was in awe of Reina. She appeared to be everything Kikoe wanted to be. I wish I could be like her.

"Y-Yes. I'm Nagata-san."

"Nice to meet you then." Reina did a slight bow to her, a mildly teasing gesture.

Kikoe let out a giggle. "Hey there. I got you to laugh." Reina smiled as she responded.

11:45AM, Health

The classroom was quiet except for the distinct sound of teacher writing on the chalkboard. The students all remained seated quietly, most taking notes, while others appeared to be completely distracted.

The only blessing I've gotten so far here is having Kushi-san in a different classroom. God, what a terrible high school experience it would be if we shared the same class. Kikoe shivered at the thought.

At least Dan is in the same class. Somehow, we've always ended up in the same classroom since middle school. Kikoe looked over at Danshiro, who was studiously taking notes. He's never been the brightest student, but he never gives up. Something I could probably learn from him. Danshiro noticed her stare. A slight smile formed before he returned to take notes.

Kikoe forced herself to put pen to paper, hoping her hand would magically start making the correct notes she would need for any pop quizzes. Unfortunately for her, nothing seemed to come out. Guess I'm just going to need to steal Dan's notes later.

She heard a soft thud in the classroom. Looking around, she saw Satou Kiyama and Natsuki Yamakawa staring at each other. Not going to even get involved in whatever that is.

12:30PM, Lunch

Favorite time of the day. Kikoe thought to herself as she pulled out her bento from her school bag. She bought a plain gray bento a couple years ago and, over the years, placed so many stickers on it that the original color was lost. My pride and joy.

Kikoe pushed back her chair and pulled herself up before she heard someone gasping for air. She turned her head around, quickly finding Reina with her arm wrapped around Satou in a tight chokehold. She stared for a couple seconds before Reina looked up at her and winked.

"I, uh, okay..." Kikoe fumbled her words before quickly exiting the room.

What's going on with her? Danshiro thought to himself as he exited the room, trying to catch up with her.

~~~~~~~~~~

"What's going on with you and Kawamura-san?" Danshiro and Kikoe were sitting on a bench in the school's courtyard. Kikoe looked over at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You took one look at her in the classroom and ran away."

"Did not!" Kikoe's response was swift.

Kikoe was facing Danshiro and didn't notice Utsu and her gang roll up behind her.

"Oops! Sorry it looks like I dropped your lunch." Utsu ran into Kikoe toppling her bento to the ground. Rice and pork laid sprawled out in front of her.

"You need to be careful, Piggy. Eating your own kind can get you really sick. Cannibalism is not a joke." Utsu covered her mouth as she spoke, a mischievous look donning her face.

"You bi..." Danshiro started speaking before Utsu recoiled her hand. Blood leaked out between her index finger and thumb on her left hand. Danshiro looked at the ground and saw a "Fu-Gi-Oh" card laying face down.

"Sorry! Did anyone get hurt?" A man speaking terrible Japanese with a heavy British accent ran up next to them. He crouched down and grabbed his card quickly.

"Are all you British people idiots?" Utsu chastised him.

"Only the ones brave enough to come here." His sarcastic comment coupled with his goofy smile was off-putting to Utsu. The blood had already slowed.

"Don't let it happen again or I'll make sure you get sent back to your country, transfer student." Utsu held her hand as she commanded her subordinates to follow her.

"Hey, thanks for helping." Danshiro was the first to address the foreign individual.

"Don't thank me. Just join the 'Ancient Egyptian Literature' club. By the way, my name is Martin Villainy." The British accent was thick, but Kikoe and Danshiro understood his meaning.

"Hey, uh, we'll have..." Danshiro was talking before Kikoe piped up and cut him off.

"We'll join!" Stars littered her eyes.

"Great! I just need to find a couple more members and we'll have enough to form the club. Thanks gents." Martin ran off, eager to find more members for his dream club.

"You can almost smell the tea and crumpets." Danshiro said suddenly.

"Isn't that a little racist?"

"Whatever. Let's just clean this mess up." Danshiro quickly dismissed her question. Danshiro and Kikoe crouched to the floor, picking up the mess that used to be her lunch. As they finished cleaning up, Kikoe caught sight of Shotaro in the distance.