I set down the fifth box I carried into the new house. My back was stiff, so I stretched for a moment, before walking back outside to carry more boxes.
"We got this, Ney-chan. You go ahead and explore your new town," one of the movers cheerfully said to me. With that, I walk away to explore.
I have a terrible sense of direction, so I wonder if I could get lost. 'Oh well,' I thought to myself. 'I can just buy a map from a nearby market.'
After a while of finding markets and other shops close to your house, I decided to give up and go back to see if the movers are done. I walk into a mini-mart and grab a map of the district, along with some Pocky.
As I was walking up to the only register, there was no one there. Being polite, I waited for somebody to come. A good ten minutes passed and a girl who seems my age ran from the door behind the desk and smiles at me. "How may I help you?"
I set down the map and the Pocky without a word. I never grew up socially, so I didn't know what the right thing was to say. She grabs the stuff and rings it up. "That'll be $9.75, please."
I dug into my pocket and pulled out my wallet, giving the girl a decent $20 American bill. She laughed and said, "American transport, huh? Well, you're pretty lucky 'cause this is one of the only shops that accept it. You should find a trader."
I nodded and grabbed the map and Pocky, turning around to leave.
"Hey, wait," the girl says. I turn around again. Her smile grows slightly bigger. "I'm Pippy Nanaimo. Which school are you transferring to?"
"Kaibara High School," I respond quietly. Pippy's smile turned into a smirk. She hopped over the counter and hugged me from behind. I shrieked, trying to pry the insane girl from me.
"We're going to be the best of friends!" she exclaims. My eyes widened. I have never heard that before, nobody even wasted his or her time being my friend.
~Flashback~
I was five when our class was playing duck-duck-goose. I watched the people with a lot of friends tag each other and run around the circle made of kindergarteners. Sometimes, people forgot to tag my head to even say 'Duck'. It was fun watching them smile. I had imagined that maybe one of the teachers would tag me, but they didn't even try.
The flashback changed to something that hasn't happened, but it seemed so realistic.
Hands sometimes moved across my head, each time saying 'Duck.' But then, a hand pushed slightly on my head, the kid behind me yelling 'Goose.' I looked up in amazement. There's a kid that looks like a young version of Pippy. Her face was pale and she had an irremovable grin. Her dark brown hair was in a ponytail, and her big blue eyes stared down at me.
She giggled. 'Catch me if you can!'
~Fin~
Pippy turned to the front of me, poking my forehead with her index finger. "Hello? Anybody home?"
I smiled at her softly. "Thank you…"
She looked at me, astonished. "For what?"
Coming back to reality, I shook my head. "It's nothing… I have to go," I stammered.
As I got to the door, Pippy grabbed my hand. "Wait," she panics. I turn to her, surprised. "I never got your name."
"Oh," I said, "My name's Ney."
And with that, I strolled out the door.
As I walked around some, I turn to a street with three roads leading onward to different streets. I reach into my pocket to pull out… nothing.
I checked my other pockets. 'Where's my map?' I thought, sighing. With pure instinct, I turned left to the road. This neighborhood seemed pretty ghetto. I turned around to choose a different street when I ran into someone. They smelt of bad B.O. and cigarettes.
"Hey guys, look!" the thing squealed. I looked up to see a group of guys who look like plain old hobos.
"Hey there, sexy. Are you lost? We can help you find your way home, just come with us," the one on the right exclaimed.
I glared, turning around to leave. I was at a loss of words. 'Who do they think they are? Stupid scum shou—' my thoughts were cut off by a hairy hand grabbing mine and pulling me back into their arms. I screamed. "Let go of me!"
The man grinned, pulling me to an unknown alleyway. It smelt like blood and garbage. As I squirmed and twitched, they started grabbing a hold of my clothes.
Gasping, I slapped the man with the bandana on. "Bitch, you're gonna pay now!"
He ripped my tank top off. I tried to run away, but there was another man out of the three behind me.
As he was pulling at my green shorts, I heard one of the men yell in pain.
I looked over to see a girl with green hair in a braid. Her dark eyes glared into the other two men's as their friend lay in pain on the ground.
"Let her go," she threatened. "Now."
"Y-yes ma'am!" they obeyed, letting go of me and dragged their friend away.

I was so scared, panting as my tank top was ripped, showing my pink bra and my shorts a little pulled down, the top of my purple underwear showing.
I wanted to run. So badly, I wanted to run. But there was something about her that made me stay. She wasn't smiling, and it wasn't because of her saving me.
"Come on, let's go fix you up," she said, reassuringly.
She took me back to her house, which wasn't far and still in the ghetto neighborhood. She gave me an extra pair of clothes, which consisted of a long blue skirt that reached me knees and a long dark blue shirt. My hair was brushed out and was put into a bun, unlike the ponytail it was in earlier.
"Are you sure that it's really okay for me to wear this?" I asked, shyly. She nodded with an awkward smile.
"It certainly doesn't fit, but it's better than what you were wearing before. Come on, I want you to meet someone." She grabbed my hand, making me jump in surprise. She lead me out the door, but right when I was about to leave, there was another boy that looked exactly like the girl, but younger.
'What?' I thought, confused.
After a long while of walking, we reached a house deep inside the woods. When I was about to ask the girl where we are, she opened the paper door thing, revealing two teenager guys, an adult guy, and a teenager girl with brown hair.
"Hana-chan, welcome!" the girl called, getting up off of the floor. She walked over to the door, just noticing me. "Oh, who is this?"
Her confused state revolves into a heartwarming smile. "This is…" 'Hana-chan' trailed off.
"I-I'm Ney Walker. Nice to meet you," I replied.

The girl laughed. "Nice to meet you, too! I'm Tohru Honda." She moved out of the way and pointed at the teenager with orange hair.
"This is Kyo Sohma," she resumed, pointing to the teenager across the low table. He had purple hair and reminded me of a girl. "This is Yuki Sohma," and last but not least, she pointed to the black haired man sitting next to Yuki Sohma. "And this is—" the man cut her off.
Somehow, he appeared right in front of you, holding his hand out with a childish smile. "I'm Shigure," he greeted.
I blinked nervously. "Nice to meet you…?"
He sat down again, gesturing for us to sit down with them. Hana-chan sat down next to me, Shigure on my left, Yuki Sohma on his left, Kyo Sohma on Yuki's left, and Tohru on Kyo Sohma's left.
"So, Ney-chan," Shigure started, smiling childish at you. "Do you go to school with Hana and Tohru-kun?"
I shrugged. "I haven't fully moved in yet…"
"Are you American?" he pressed on. 'He's like paparazzi…' I thought.
Glaring, I replied coldly. "Yes. Why?"
Your glare didn't seem to get to him. "Do you like cooking and cleaning?"
Tohru giggled.
"Yeah, I guess." I started inching away from him. In a quick movement, he got up, grabbed my hand, and shook it.
"Welcome to the family!"