A scream erupted from the young child's lips as she was slammed into the wall at full force. A large hand on her throat cut off her air supply despite how she clawed at it with her dull fingernails and kicked at the man with her short legs. He simply laughed at her struggles as her efforts slowly began to cease while her vision blurred with tears. Her head began to feel light. She couldn't breathe. He was suffocating her. Would she die this time? Would her suffering end, finally?

He let go and she collapsed on the floor, coughing and sputtering; taking deep breaths as she slowly crawled into the corner of her bedroom, curling into the fetal position.

"We never wanted you, you know. You've ruined our lives," he said as he drew closer.

The child was shaking, her eyes wide with fear as she watched him come closer for she couldn't bear to look away.

"You sucked our money out from under us!" he boomed before beginning to slash her arms and legs with his switchblade as she screamed and cried for someone to help her.

She tried her best to protect herself.

No one came.

Fumiko Matsushita woke with a start. She was in a cold sweat, and her body was shaking uncontrollably. She slowly sat up as she stared at her bare arms and legs, trying to force the trembling to calm itself, but knowing it was fruitless. The scars were still there. She touched her neck. It felt like it was burning. Had she been screaming in her sleep again?

She sighed and climbed out of bed, carefully walking to the bathroom. She dreaded what she would see in the mirror. What stared back at her was a ghostly pale face with hazel eyes that were red. They were aching from the tears she must have cried thanks to her night terror. Her dyed hair was a mess. The left half, which was a light blue, had crossed over to the side of the dark purple, which was on her right. It was knotted terribly. She must have been tossing and turning furiously in her sleep. She wished the memories would quit haunting her, but she knew they never would.

Fumiko quickly brushed out her wavy, shoulder length hair and made sure to part it in the middle while she swept her bangs to the right side. She brushed her teeth, gargled with mouthwash, put on deodorant, and opened the medicine cabinet that contained her anxiety and depression medication. She popped the pills into her mouth and swallowed without water before putting them back and closing the cabinet again, her face appearing in the mirror. She didn't look as much of a mess anymore. Her body was still shaking slightly, but it was sure to calm down. She didn't look like she was about to crack from the pressure anymore. Her eyes just needed some eye drops, but she had run out just yesterday. She'd have to buy some more after school.

Fumiko was to start her first day at Kibou High School today, and this wasn't exactly the best start. Though, what was she to expect? It was rare when her night terrors didn't make an appearance.

She exited the bathroom and opened her dresser drawers located on the opposite side of the room. She grabbed her uniform and scowled. She hated the color. Yellow complimented purple just fine, but it didn't look so great with blue. Not to mention yellow was a color that she didn't exactly like.

"Why do I have to attend this high school anyway?" she asked no one in particular.

Fumiko lived alone in her one bedroom apartment. She had recently moved back from Japan after staying overseas for the majority of her life. She barely remembered her home country, and only came back so she could become familiar with it again. Well, she also wanted to rebuild her life, but that wasn't possible considering how she didn't, technically, exist.

She sighed as she stared down at herself, especially at the short skirt. Fumiko hated skirts. She didn't like exposing her legs. They had the same scars as her arms. Unfortunately, both were exposed because it was still warm enough to wear the summer uniform. She already knew that her new classmates would ask unwanted questions.

"I could skip," she thought aloud.

She'd never go to school until the winter uniforms were released if she did. She'd fall so far behind in the curriculum that she'd never catch up. Knowing that bothered her more than what pestering she would receive if she went, so she sighed, grabbed a granola bar from the cupboard in the kitchen along with her pre-packed school bag, and headed out the door.

(…)

Fumiko arrived at the school on time and took a moment to stare while she stood at the front gate. High schools were nothing like this from where she had mostly grown up. They didn't look as fancy. If it weren't for the information that she had been given on the school before arriving, she would have thought that this was a school for high-class citizens. Needless to say, schools from overseas weren't as impressive.

People were staring at her.

"Of course they would," Fumiko muttered under her breath as she lowered her gaze. "My hair isn't natural, and it's not like I look familiar to any of them."

She sped walked through the front doors and tried to find her shoe locker. It was number 105, and it would have her name on it from what she was told.

"Excuse me…"

Fumiko looked to her right. A blonde haired girl with her hair in pigtails was standing a fair distance away from her.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Uh… my shoe locker," Fumiko responded awkwardly. "I'm a new student."

The girl smiled warmly. "Oh, I see! What number are you?"

"105."

Her eyes widened. "Wow! You're right beside Sakura's locker!"

"Who?" Fumiko asked.

"Sakura Sakurakouji. She's the most popular girl in school, and I'm her best friend. My name's Aoba Takatsu. And you are…?"

"Fumiko Matsushita," she answered.

Aoba nodded and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you!"

Fumiko stared at it, and then to the blonde's face hesitantly. She didn't like to be touched. Even a handshake bothered her.

"Uh… I don't do touching of any kind," Fumiko mumbled.

"Pardon?" Aoba asked as she retracted her hand.

"Never mind. Can you show me to my shoe locker since you seem to know where it is?"

"Yeah, sure," Aoba replied. "This way."

It turned out that Fumiko was only three rows of lockers off from her own. It wasn't so bad. It could have been worse. She could have gotten lost while trying to reach the school since the map that she was given was hard to discern.

"Sakura!" Aoba exclaimed with glee. "You're here! I've been looking for you!"

The blonde immediately left Fumiko's side and ran up to a girl with long purple hair, which was kept out of her face with a headband.

"Good morning, Aoba," the purple haired girl replied.

"Oh! That's right, we have a new student at our school!" Aoba said as she turned and pointed to Fumiko. She tried not to wrinkle her nose at the rude gesture. It wasn't like she was an animal in the zoo that was made into a spectacle.

"Nice to meet you," the purple haired girl said. "My name is Sakura Sakurakouji."

"Fumiko Matsushita," she introduced, again.

"You're shoe locker is right here, Matsushita," Aoba said cheerfully as she patted the locker directly beside Sakurakouji's.

I didn't think I was going to be that close to her, Fumiko remarked.

She nodded and opened it, seeing her indoor shoes already inside. They were brown dress shoes that resembled men's footwear if they planned to appear like a classy gentleman. It made her cringe. She actually had to wear those?

She sighed, slid her outdoor shoes off, slid the indoor ones on, and closed the locker. Today wasn't looking up.

"What class are you in, Matsushita?" Sakurakouji asked.

"Class 1-B," she answered.

"Hey, that's our class!" Aoba exclaimed with excitement.

Great… Just what I wanted, Fumiko thought.

"Would you like us to lead you there?" Sakurakouji asked.

As much as she hated to admit it, Fumiko didn't know where she was going. This school was huge, and if she went alone, she was likely to get lost. Inevitably, she'd have to go with them despite how much she really didn't want to.

"Yeah, that'd be great," she replied, trying not to sound sarcastic for once in her life.

"Great! Just follow us!" Aoba said.

Hey guys! I hope you like my first chapter of my Code Breaker fanfiction! I tried not to make the first chapter too long, so I hope I accomplished that goal.

I only started watching the anime recently, and I'm on episode 9 as of this chapter's posting; so please bare with my knowledge of the story and characters.

Anyway, please leave a review so I know what you think! Thanks for reading!