"Um..m-m-my... name is Marilyn Yamashita." My voice went all high-pitched as I struggled to use what little English I learnt in primary school to introduce myself to the class. Everything in Melbourne was so much different to back in Sendai...the weather was so cold, people weren't as friendly and I knew no one here. Thirty pairs of eyes stared back at me, the 'new girl' from Japan. I didn't want to be the 'new girl'. Why did my dad have to bring everyone over to Melbourne, just because he wanted to open a branch in Australia? He could have just opened another branch in Miyagi somewhere. What was so bad about Miyagi? oh, right he said 'there were more options in Australia'

"Ooh..she said the 's' word!' I'm going to dob on her!" The minute I said my last name people started whispering. What was so bad about it?

"yeah, she's going to get in big trouble with Miss Laurence!"

"Big big trouble! oooh!"

"She said the 's' word. My mummy said people who speak like that are bad."

"ooh! I'm not going to talk to her, cos I don't wanna be bad like her."

Still standing at the front of the class, I desperately kept my smile on my face and timidly followed the teacher's finger to the chair all the way in the back. "The naughty chair' because that was the only one left for me to use, as soon as I sat on the chair everyone in class surrounded me chanting 'Marilyn is a bad girl, she said the 's' word."


With a high pitched gasp, I woke up sweating slightly, I always had nightmares like this whenever I was about to transfer to a new school; which thanks to my overly ambitious dad's business expansions was every 2 or 3 years. I shuddered to myself trying to shake the bad memories of Primary school away and stared with shock at my room. Well, nothing can beat Cabramatta in terms of craziness. My shrine to Kakihara Tetsuya and Shoya were missing along with the 5000 or so cheki which should have been plastered all over my room. There was only a pile of cardboard boxes and suitcases.

Ohh... I completely forgot, it had only been one day and a half since I had moved to Iwatobi from Sendai so boxes of my belongings were still stacked up in neat piles against the wall. It had been so hectic that I hadn't fully unpacked...and it was the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Silently screaming to myself I attacked the box that my Mum had thoughtfully labelled 'S. Uniform' and changed into the uniform inside.

I didn't even bother fixing up my hair as I rushed downstairs (almost falling) and grabbed my pre-packed school bag. As I expected, everybody had cruelly left me behind. Again. There was a note pinned to the toaster


"Mari! I would have tried to wake you up but I had to go help your father at the office. Lunch is on the counter. If Dan leaves you behind he'll get a beating do the dishes instead. I'm making lau for dinner."

-Mama


But kaa-chan, he left me behind again! I sigh and peek out the window juuust in case my idiot twin is standing outside. As I peer outside, the familiar chimes from 'Cassis' play and I check my phone.

Danny: Currently at the Iwatobi High School Office. I'm leaving in exactly 10 minutes. Your choice.

me: Danny! You asshole!

Danny: Well, this asshole's going to leave you in 9 minutes and 35 seconds.

me: ;_;

Danny: You're wasting precious time. Whatever.

Defeated, I had no choice but to use my last resort. Quickly hitting the contact labelled as ' Kou-nii' I swing my backpack over my shoulder and start running out to the front gate. "Nii-chan? I'm late for school. Dan-nii left me again...uhhh...yes?.. You were helping tou-chan near the client's building thing yeah?...can you please drive me?...pretty please?"

Minutes later, Koudai nii-chan shows up on his motorbike and yells at me over the motor "Jou-chan! Hop on!" he tosses me a helmet and places my backpack in the space behind the front as I leap on and hug him from the back. "So! this is your 5th school right jou-chan?" He yells over the sound of the motor and laughs "Man, your dad...how many company branches does he have now? Isn't it like 2 in Australia, 4 here and 1 in Hong Kong?"

" wow! you remembered! and!Yes! it is! It sucks!" He speeds up and turns right so I hug him tighter to avoid falling off the back "and stop calling me Jou-chan! Call me Eiya!" Several people walking on the streets stare at us and whisper to themselves. Probably because Koudai nii-chan looks like a yakuza. Not that they're very far off though.

"Ok, it's fine Koudai nii-chan. I'll walk the rest of the way." A street before reaching Iwatobi Kokou, I nudge him on the shoulder and wait until he brakes on the side of the road. "Aww come on, I'll take you right to the gate. I don't mind."

"Nah, it's ok." I toss him the helmet which he catches and throws me my backpack "I kinda don't want a repeat of school #4 again...thanks nii-chan! Tell everyone and Uncle I said hi!"

Several people shot me weird looks as I rushed towards the office where Danny said he would be waiting for me. Sure enough, he was there, with his headphones on and leaning back against the wall like he didn't care. Actually, he probably didn't care anyway, that's Danny though, always rebelling in some way even though he was one of the top students in every school he enrolled in. He had a weird expression on his face as he looked up and down at me "...Why are you wearing my spare uniform? Geez, I know you like being the tomboy but seriously, try fit in on your first day. "

Huh? What the hell was Danny on? I followed his index finger pointed disdainfully at me and saw the beige trouser legs and then it hit me...I was clearly wearing the wrong uniform. Argh! Why didn't Koudai nii-chan say anything? Actually... that gave me an idea. "Danny, wanna make a bet?" I took a shiny 500yen coin from within my pocket and showed it to him "I bet you 500yen I can troll people into thinking I'm a guy for the day. I mean my name sounds pretty unisex so it'll work out." Danny gives a sceptical look "really Mari? The teacher will have records or something which specifies your gender. I'm 99% sure it won't work. I'm in." He gave me a flick on the forehead and headed off towards the office. "Eiya, you're a grade lower than me remember?" he purposely emphasise the 'Eiya' reminding me that yes, back in Japan my legal name is 'Eiya' yadda yadda.

"Oh no" I raise my hands in mock horror "I completely forgot, Hinata onii-chan. So could my dear onii-chan escort me to my classroom?" Danny's scowl deepens as he grabs my collar and drags me towards the faculty office, pushing the door open with his shoe.

"Good morning, we're the transfer students."


The teacher leads me to one of the classrooms and ushers me inside, at least 30 pairs of eyes stare at me as I enter the room. It's pretty much like back in Australia, expect there aren't any non-Asians, though my previous school had been 80% Asian so there wasn't much difference. Now that I think about it, the reaction when I came back to Sendai was similar. ..which means...I'm going to have to introduce myself to the class. I awkwardly write my name on the blackboard, dusting my fingers off as I finish then turn to face everyone. Thankfully, the 's' word charade won't happen here.

"Hi everyone! I'm Yamashita Ma-oops! Yamashita Eiya!" I inwardly curse myself for making the same mistake AGAIN. My legal Japanese name is Eiya, but when my family moved to Australia, my Australian legal name became Marilyn; and I'm still used to referring to myself as such. " I went to school in Australia and Sendai previously so I'm new here! Please take of care me!"

"Thanks Yamashita, you can sit at the desk there next to Hazuki." Sensei claps his hands once then points to an empty desk next to a girly looking blonde boy. He gives me a bright wave and smiles. "Hazuki, show him around after class alright?"

Oho, Sensei doesn't seem to realise I'm 'supposed' to be a girl. Guess that says a lot about the system here, not to mention 'Eiya' is a boyish name; well, according to my cousin Kaho. I guess it was a good thing Danny's spare blazer is so big and baggy it hides my figure. Hazuki nods his blonde little head energetically, making me feel somewhat worried, the friendliest people tend to be the first to betray. At least from my experience. Then again, he certainly does fit the shota archetype perfectly...I wonder if I'll be able to find all the archetypes here.

"Hi Eiya-chan!" Hazuki whispers to me "have you thought about joining any clubs yet?" I shoot him a frown "Sorry, please don't call me Eiya-chan. and no, I haven't thought about joining any. Yet." I pause and direct my attention back to the class. Studying has always been my main focus and I don't forgive people who disturb me.

"Hey Eiya-chan" I click my tongue and turn away hoping Sensei will call Hazuki out for bothering me in class. Unfortunately, he doesn't notice my plight and continues lecturing in front of the class. "What club are you planning to join?" Damn he's persistent. "Judo." I spit out the first thing that comes into my head in the hopes he'll shut up. Judo huh? That wasn't a bad idea actually. I had even taken part in interstate tournaments though I had never won higher than 2nd place.

"Aww, really" Hazuki sounds disappointed and pouts "Do we have a judo club? hmm...ah! what about the Swim Club? It'll be fun! and we need new members" he pouts and taps his fingertips together in what I assume is supposed to be an endearing gesture. I raise an eyebrow and shoot him a look of distaste, swimming? really? Sorry mate, that's the last thing I'd choose to do. Especially since it's something Dan-nii excels at and I suck at. Yay for sibling rivalry. I huff inwardly and face Hazuki with the manliest smile I can conjure "I can't swim. I'm asthmatic. Besides, judo is my LAIFU" The truth is... I'm too embarrassed to say I actually can't swim at all.

"Yamashita? is something the matter?" Sensei stops talking and everybody in class turns to stare at me. I smile casually back and gesture towards a somewhat baffled Hazuki "Ah sensei, Hazuki-san here was just asking for help since he wasn't paying attention to what you said."

Everyone starts laughing and strangely Hazuki is laughing along with everybody else. That's one optimistic kid.

"Ne, ne Eiya-chan! Come join us for lunch!" As soon as the lunch bell goes Hazuki clamps onto my hand like a leech and starts dragging me with him. "Rei-chan!" Hazuki-san nudges the taller blue haired boy in front of him and points enthusiastically at me.

"Eiya-chan,this is Rei-chan!" he gestures to the serious looking bespectacled blue haired boy sitting diagonally from me. "...megane-kun!" I exclaim without thinking and point my finger at his glinting glasses. The blue haired deadpans at me and pushes his glasses up. "I'm Ryuugazaki Rei. Not 'Megane-kun'

"My bad. Sorry Ryuugazaki-san. I'm Yamashita Eiya." I smile and wave "I'd really prefer NOT to be called Eiya-chan or to be asked to join the swim club. Other than that! Nice to meet chu!"

"Nagisa...you're trying to force Yamashita-san to join? It may have worked with me but it won't be the same for everyone else." Ryuugazaki-san pushes his glasses up and sighs as he begins to pile up his books. "So Yamashita-san, whereabouts did you use to attend school?"

I walk slightly next to him trying to figure out how to get rid of Hazuki who is still clinging to my arm. " Kinbaku Gakuen at Sendai, up until the beginning of this year at least." I stop talking hoping that he won't go into detail about why I had to transfer. "So uh, where do you guys normally eat lunch? I'll just chill with you if that's ok."

"Yeah! it's fine! We sit by the pool!" Hazuki perks up and begins dragging me along "Ne, Rei-chan! Eiya-chan has a girly name just like us! Isn't that fate? So, Eiya-chan should join the sw-"

"NO." I cut him off quickly and sigh. Well, things could be worse I guess? At least Megane-kun , sorry Ryuugazaki-san is normal enough. and just as gullible as everybody else.


"Looky! It's the pool! ah! Over here! Gou-chan!" He has a grip of iron and I don't want a torn blazer so I have no choice but to follow the DEMON towards the pool.

"It's not Gou!It's KOU!" A pretty girl with a purple-red ponytail pouts at Onizuki with an adorable frown on her face runs up to us with her face puffed up in anger. Then she notices me trying to inch out of my blazer and make a run for it. "Ah! Who are you?"

"...Yo. I'm Yamashita Eiya. So uh, Could you tell your boyfriend to unhand me?" I'm not sure what to call the girl ,she looks like Danny's type though. Cute and feminine. She turns red and glares at me with her hands fisted at her sides "he's NOT my boyfriend!...oh! I haven't seen you before? are you new?"

Cute AND dim-witted. The perfect shoujo heroine. I nod and laugh "Yeah, I'm new here. Just transferred this morning. I WOULD have enrolled at the beginning of the year but some stuff came up back home and I ended up coming in the middle of the year. So, who are you?"

"I see! I'm Matsuoka Gou! The manager for the Swim Club! I'm also a first year like you!" Gou or Kou beams at me and inches closer "So...Yamashita-san..have you joined any clubs yet? You're a tall guy so it'd be great!"

As if they are in sync, Onizuki appears and mimics Matsuoka's pleading gestures. "Come on Yamashita-san! You should join the swim club!" It'll be fun!"

"Sorry, I'm already planning on joining the judo club...or kendo club.. thanks anyway.. I gotta er go find my brother now." I wave him away and try to leave, but Nagisa wraps his arms around my waist forcing me to stop "Noo! Eiya-chan! Join the Swim team! At least try it out for one day!"

"Rgh! I said I won't join you guys already!" I grab his wrists, wrenching them away from me and throw him over my shoulder to frighten him a little. "and...DON'T CALL ME EIYA-CHAN! oh shit..." before I know it, Hazuki is flying through the air with shock on his face. Straight to the pool.

Everyone just watches as he lands smack in the middle of the pool, gasps for breath and bobs slightly on the surface brushing his hair out of his eyes. Then everyone turns to look back at me.

Uh. Ooops.?


and that's the end of chapter 1! Read and review to get cookies~ Cookies made with loooove!

Mireiku-chan out!