Chapter 01: New School, New Friends
Small feet fell against the padded floor, quietly heading towards the main room. A girl around the age of 10, bandages wrapping around her left eye, and others around her body was walking done the hall. She could hear screaming and crying from the room.
One green eye peaked around the corner, hesitant to enter, having been told by the adults, ones she'd never meet before, to stay in bed, to stay away from her mother. But the girl didn't listen, she wanted her mother. She was confused and in pain, and her mother always had helped before.
Seeing her mother on the floor, crumpled into a ball, she was immediately worried, and foolishly called out-
"Mother?" the dark eyes of her mother, filled with tears and wide with a crazy look shot up to look at her daughter. The girl walked around the corner fully, taking a few hesitant steps towards the woman "Mother? What wrong? Where's father? And big brother?" she asked, not knowing what everyone was so sad about, not knowing why her mother was crying.
"It's-" her mother began, standing up on wobbly legs, and walking towards the girl "IT"S ALL YOUR FAULT!" she slapped the girl on the cheek, causing the girl to slam against the wall, crying out "DAISUKE! JIRO! THERE BOTH DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" Tears leaked from the frightened girls eyes
"M-mother! N-n-noo! Daddy and big brother a-aren't dead!" cried out the frightened little girl, not knowing what was going on "They were just here! We were going to get-"
"YES THEY ARE!" the woman hit her again, the crazed look becoming wilder "JIRO IS DEAD!" she sobbed out, hands ringing into her hair "AND DAISUKE! OH MY BEAUTIFUL BOY! MY BABY BOY!" she focused her eyes back on the girl who was cowering in the corner. Several adults in the room were now holding onto her, incase she attacked the girl again "MY BABY IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"
The girl shook her head, tears falling down quickly not really understanding but also getting in at the same time. "N-no! It's not my fault!" she looked around at the adults, none of whom would look her in the eye "IT'S NOT MY FAULT! IT'S NOT MY FAULT! IT'S NO-"
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" a girl cried out, sitting up quickly in what was suppose to be a bed. It was the same girl from before, only now, a few years older. Tears were falling from her eyes, the same way they were many years ago. "It's not my fault!" she muttered, still half asleep as she brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "It's not my fault!" she muttered again, only to be shaken from her thoughts by a cruel voice
"Wake up!" there was banging on the dingy door, threatening it to fall apart "Wake up ya trash! Your gonna be late! And I'm not taking your piece of shit ass to school if you are!" foot steps were heard leading away from the door.
The girl, now fully awake, quickly wiped her eyes, and gently smacked herself on the cheeks, wincing when she hit a slight bruise, to snap herself out of it.
" Okay Ishi! Now is not the time to start remembering things like that!" the girl stepped out of the small child sized mat, one from when she was still 10, much smaller than she was and well worn. She looked around the her small 'room', which was in fact the closet all the way at the end of her house, it was only big enough for her mat, and two boxes. One for her clothes and another that held everything else and acted like a desk at times.
Ishi pulled out her new school's uniform. It was navy blue, designed like any other school uniform, only Ishi had chosen to go with the medium length skirt instead of the shortest one, knowing her mother wouldn't think kindly of the extra short skirt. Ishi was starting high school today, at Kaibara High School, she would be a freshman, and like every other year " I wont have any friends" she mumbled, pulling on the uniform, and looked in the small mirror on the wall.
Dull forest green eyes stared back, with red colored bangs hanging in front of the left one. A lightly shaded bruise on her upper left cheek also stared back. Ishi just sighed and pulled her long red hair into a ponytail, obviously, leaving her bangs out. She was still staring at herself when she heard the door slam, and a car driving off.
"Good bye to you to Mother" she said quietly, but then sighed again before grabbing her bag and heading out, Not even bothering to stop and get food, knowing her mother would find out and get angry at her for taking food she didn't ask or pay for.
Ishi looked up at the school building from the gates. There was signs welcoming the new 1st years and returning students, and pointing them were to go. Parents were all around, having come with their children to attend their opening ceremony. 'I doubt mother will show up, even though I told her about it' Ishi thought, as she made her way to the auditorium. She past several students on the way there, all which gave her curious looks, maybe about her hair and eyes, which she chose to ignore.
Ishi sighed leaning back in the chair for a moment, the Principal was done speaking, along with the student body president, who looked a little unstable, they were now supposed to make there way to their classroom for the rest of the day. She glanced down at her info packet they passed out at the door on the way in.
Ishi Yoshida
Freshman Class 1B
Homeroom Teacher- Kaido, Tori
'I better get going' thought Ishi, standing up, the info packet and her bag in her hands 'I don't want to get in trouble on the first day'. Ishi made her way towards her classroom, which was on the first floor along with all the other 1st year classrooms, the second years being on the next floor, and the 3rd years on the last one, almost like any other normal school.
She ignored more of the looks she was getting, choosing to look at the floor as she walked, used to people looking at her. She dodged everyone, many girls who were standing by the staircase next to her classroom, it led to the second floor. They were probably waiting for this "Prince Yuki' all the older girls were giggling about. She just went into the class room.
Kaido-sensei was already in the class room, directing students who weren't outside waiting for a look at 'Prince Yuki' or talking to friends, to their seats. Ishi took a moment while another student was talking to the teacher, to actually look at said teacher. He had shoulder length brown hair, warm laughing blue eyes framed with silver glasses. He was at least six foot compared to Ishi's 5 feet , you could tell he was a looker. In fact many of the girls already in the class were looking at with hearts in their eyes, he couldn't have been older than twenty-six.
"Hello!" Ishi blinked as Kaido-sensei turned towards her smiling big, he was finished talking to the other student, who was now blushing heading back towards her friends who pounced on her wanting info about the cute teacher. "Can I help you?" he asked, Ishi nodded
" I'm Ishi Yoshida, I am in this class" she answered in a calm, almost bored voice. The man blinked more looking at his list of students.
"Yep! You are!" he said still grinning "So this is your classroom, and your seat will be…." he looked around the room, thinking of a good seat "right over there!" he pointed over to a chair next to a window, second from the back. Ishi nodded
"Arigato Sensei" she said and began walking over, but Kaido stopped her
"Wait!" she turned back to face the man, he was smiling, not the complete grin, the big grin having fallen off his face "I'm Tori Kaido, and if you need anything I'm here to help" he gave her a slight bow. Ishi just blinked before slowly giving a bow to him, a little confused by the cheerful man.
"Hai, arigato Kaido-sensei" and she walked to her seat.
Ishi just stared out of the window, waiting for all the students to come so class could start, she wouldn't pay much attention then either. She saw no point, you never really learn much on the first day.
"Hallo!" Ishi blinked as someone beside her began talking, to her. Ishi looked away from the window, to stare at the voice who addressed her, in what she thought was German or another foreign language. It was a boy, with a wide cute grin. He had light blonde hair, honey eyes that matched the color his hair. He was short, but he was a freshman so it was to be expected. He had piercings, but that wasn't what was weird about him. He appeared to be wearing the girls uniform, only he was wearing shorts instead of a skirt.
'It actually looks right on him' thought Ishi, but she shook the thought from her mind. She noticed another boy was standing right behind him, his grey eyes looking bored. The boy had two toned hair, the top was white, while his roots were black, He was wearing the boys uniform, only he left several buttons undone, and had a lot of necklaces and multiple piercings.
"Um…Hello?" she answered back, unsure if they were really talking to her.
" I'm Momiji Sohma, and this is Hatsuharu Sohma" he introduced himself and pointed to the boy behind him "but everyone just calls him Haru" Ishi nodded, still confused, she forgot to introduce herself back "who are you?" he asked, staring at her curiously. Ishi gave a slight gasp, before talking
"Sorry" she said in her quite, dull voice "I'm Ishi Yoshida" Momiji grinned again
"It's great to meet you Ishi-chan!" Ishi blinked at him a little surprised that he called her by her first name, though she did prefer it that way, she hadn't told him that yet though.
"Yeah" said Haru
"um… you to" replied Ishi, still a little unsure, she didn't really know how to talk to people, let alone boys.
She noticed that Momiji took a seat next to her, while Haru had taken one behind her. She also took notice that the classroom was almost full. 'I must have been looking out the window for a while' she thought.
"Hey Ishi-chan?" she was once again knocked out of her thoughts by Momiji's voice. She stared back at him with her dull eyes, but no one would tell that because they were always like that.
"yes Sohma-san?" she asked, he seemed surprised by what she called him, and was about to answer her when Kaido-sensei call for attention.
"Alright!" he grinned at us all, causing several girls to giggled, he didn't take any notice. " I now we're all excited to be in high school and back with friends, or even happy to make new friends, but I need to take attendance and then I got an assignment I want you all to do." he began to take roll.
"….and Yoshida, Ishi" She raised her hand, her name being last on the list. She heard several whispers around the room.
"Look at her hair!" was heard and along with
"I bet it's fake, she just wants attention!" She chose to ignore them, and also the looks she was getting, not even noticing that Momiji was also looking at her with a slight frown.
"Alright class settle down" said Kaido-sensei, once he had everyone's attention again be began "As you all know, I'm your homeroom teacher for the next three years" this called for several whispers, mainly from the girls, before he continued, " I am also your Art/Music teacher though" cue for more whispers. "But now that you know that, I've got an assignment I want you to work on in pairs"
He raised his hand when everyone began talking "However, I will chose the pairs" there was several groans, Kaido-sensei just grinned " The person sitting next to you" Ishi took a quick look at Momiji " is your partner, so move your desks together"
Ishi just sat there as Momiji moved his desk next to hers. "Hallo" he whispered with a small grin, Ishi just blinked at him, not used to people actually trying to talk to her. Momiji frowned a little confused by the girls behavior and was about to say something when Kaido called for attention once again
"Now, I'll hand out an information sheet that I want your partners to fill out about you" this caused for several more groans, the kids already fearing that they would have to present them in front of the class. This made Kaido-sensei laugh "Now wait a moment, I never said you would present them, I just want you to do this to get to know each other better because" he took a breath still grinning "I've talked with your teachers, and it's agreed that the person your sitting next to will be your partner for projects and stuff throughout the year" there was once again whispers, and few groans, Kaido-sensei chose to ignore it.
'Great' thought Ishi, dreading this for more than one reason
"Now you have 10 minutes before the lunch bell, and another teacher comes in." he looked around at all of us, smiling "Begin" at once there was conversations beginning all around the class room
"SO Ishi-chan?" Momiji began "What's your favorite color?" he asked from the sheet, grinning at her waiting for the answer
Ishi sat there thinking about it, she had never really thought about having a favorite color before, but if she had to pick one it would be-
"purple" Momiji blinked actually surprised she would answer him simply, he thought she was more of a tomboy considering she wasn't giggling with a bunch of friends, and she liked such a girlie color. He giggled grinning
"Alright!" he wrote it down in the space provided, about to ask another question when Ishi beat him to it.
"What's yours?" came her quite voice
"Hmmm" Momiji thought, tapping his bunny pencil cutely against his chin "I don't really have one, I like them all" Ishi just nodded and wrote that down, as Momiji looked for another question "Ah! Ishi-chan, what's your favorite animal?" Ishi once again just blinked at him, but took less time answering because she didn't have one
"I don't have one" he seemed to deflate a little, and Ishi, actually felt guilty about making his smile disappear, for some reason she didn't like the frown on his face. " I mean, I don't have one because I like all animals" she answered somewhat in a panicked voice, you would only be able to tell difference though if you really new her. This seemed to make Momiji more happy, and he wrote that down grinning.
"what your favorite anime Sohma-san?" Momiji quickly looked at her, before laughing
"Ishi-chan, you can call me Momiji" a faint blush, barely noticeable appeared on her cheeks, she slowly nodded
"O-okay M-Momiji" she stuttered out, he grinned nodding, she continued hoping to forget this moment "What's you favorite animal M-Momiji?" she stuttered a little at his name, but hope he didn't noticed. He did notice but decided to ignore it, thinking it was cute.
"A rabbit!" he answered without hesitation, still grinning from year to ear "Their cute! wouldn't you agree Ishi?" he forgot to add the -chan, to her name. His grinned widened, if that possible, when she nodded slowly.
"Okay next question!" they continued for the rest of the questions until the lunch bell finally rang. "Yay!" Momiji stood up, after moving the desk back, stretching. "Now we can go see Tohru, right Haru?" he looked over to his cousin who just nodded. He noticed the Ishi wasn't getting out of her seat, or that she didn't have any lunch out. He smiled, deciding that she should come with them, so she could meet Tohru.
"Hey Ishi?'' Ishi jumped slightly, not expecting Momiji's face to appear before her. She thought that once this assignment was done, he would only talk to her when they had other stuff to work on. She looked towards him, his cousin standing behind looking at them both, and nodded slowly, signaling for him to go on. "Would you like to eat lunch with us? You can even meet our friend Tohru, and our cousins Yuki and Kyo!" She stared at him surprised, no one had ever asked her that before, but
"I'm sorry Momiji, but I don't have any lunch" she answered for some reason saddened that she wouldn't be able to go with them to eat lunch. 'wait! I barely know these people, and they barely know me, just because we talked doesn't mean were…..friends' she thought. Momiji frowned, but then smiled once again before grabbing onto her hand and dragging her up, out of her seat and out of the hallway and onto the stairs, Haru following all the way.
"It's okay!" he smiled back as Ishi, who had a shocked look on her face from him dragging her, and a faint blush because he was holding her hand "You can still sit with us, and become friends with everyone!"
Ishi decided to just nod and go along with this. After all, she might actually make friends this year. It already seemed that Momiji was trying to be her friend, and just maybe, maybe she'll let him.
A/N: This is my first story, so I hope it turns out alright. I will be following the manga, unless I like how they did it in the anime more. And since this is a MomijixOC story, there will obviously be my own plots, considering Fruits Basket mainly is about Tohru, Yuki and Kyo.
I also want to comment on how the schooling works. I know that the teachers change rooms, not the students, and that's how it'll be in the story. I don't, however, know how they run the classrooms and it it's not how I write it then oh well, I'm not changing it.
This is also my first time trying to write in 3rd person, so I don't know if I'm doing it right, or if I will continue to write in 3rd person, it is kinda difficult.
Please review?