DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KUROSHITSUJI (BLACK BUTLER), BIG WINDUP OR DURARARA! But I do own my OC's. And Please be prepared for some of the characters from their shows to act a little OOC. :P Enjoy & HAPPY READING!

Title: The Shy Bud

Chapter One:

First Day of School Jitters ~ Meeting A Michaelis

Akira Heiwajima was never really the type of girl who liked to be "out there". She was more of the quiet and to herself type. She didn't have many friends because she was always so close to her 2 eldest brothers and felt that was more than enough. But today all of that may change. It's her first day starting as a 9th grader and she's feeling a little skittish.

Akira let out a long sigh and stared at herself in the mirror, hazel-green eyes staring back at her. "Okay, Akira, pull yourself together. Today is your first day of high school; you're a freshman. There's no need to panic or feel nervous. Maybe no one will talk to you." She looked down ponderously, after realizing what she had just said. "What am I saying? I want to make friends...don't I?" She looked back up to her reflection as if the girl in the mirror would answer back. She wasn't at all surprised when she didn't.

Suddenly, a knock was heard outside her bedroom door and a woman with long brown hair and eyes to match walked in. "Sweetheart?" The woman gasped a little. "Oh, you're already up?"

Akira smiled. "Yeah, mom, I'm up. I was so nervous I could barely stay asleep." Her mother, Yuki, smiled at her and placed her hands on Akira's shoulders. They both turned to look at their reflections in the mirror together.

"Darling, you have nothing to be nervous about. You are a wonderful person with many wonderful and beautiful characteristics," Akira's mother said encouragingly, hugging her daughter around the shoulders. "But sweetheart," She turned away from the mirror and looked Akira in the eyes. "This is a new school year that will be filled with many new classes, teachers and also students. Promise me that you'll try your best and make some new friends this time, okay?"

Akira loved her mother so very much. The last thing she ever wanted to do was disappoint her, even if she was scared out of her mind. Akira smiled a little and held her mothers hands. "Mom, I'm going to try. I promise."

Her mother gave another kind smile and pulled Akira in for a real hug. "I'm glad to hear it. I love you so much, sweetheart." Akira let all her muscles relax in her mother's arms. Oh, how she loved to be in her mother's arms. They were so warm and inviting. "And I love you more, Mom. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I just wanted to be the first person to see you wearing your new uniform," Akira's mom said excitedly. Akira blinked twice at her mother.

"Uh, mom...I'm not wearing my uniform yet."

Her mother laughed. "I know, dear, because it's right here." She held up her daughters new uniform and winked. "Now, let's try it on, shall we?"

Akira's face turned a bright red as she pushed her dear mother out of her bedroom. "M-Mom! No, I wanna get dressed by myself. I'll be down soon."

"Okay, honey! I guess I can wait a little while longer... I can't wait! Oh! I better get the camera ready." Akira could have sworn she heard her mother squeal in joy.

Closing the door behind her, Akira leaned her back on her white wooden door, sighed and slid down onto her floor. Thinking to herself, she giggled. 'Oh, mom.'

After taking a warm 30 minute shower, it was now time for Akira's big dress up. She has to now go from a middle school girl to a high school freshman with just one swap of clothes. She stared at her new uniform on the hanger as if having an intense stare down tournament with it. She was ready for the big change.

With a deep breath, Akira took her uniform and put it on. She decided to put it on while not looking in the mirror just yet. She wanted it all to come together. "O-Okay, I-I think I'm ready to see now." Gradually, Akira walked in front of her tall stand up mirror with her eyes closed. Then she slowly opened one eye and then the other, until she could fully see herself. She let out a soft squeak, her cheeks grasping a cherry hint of red.

"Th-This is..." Her new uniform consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt with a red bow around her neck, a red and black plaid mini skirt, and beige long-sleeved sweater to go over her shirt. She was so cute in her new uniform! And she even felt so. "...me?" She brushed her light brown hair down to her upper back and let it hang loosely. She put a blue hair band on and few cute hair clips.

She loved the way everything looked on her, it made her feel older. She giggled and fell back onto her bed. "Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought." Akira sat up and started putting on her white below-the-knee socks, before glancing at her light blue alarm clock. "Alright, it's 7:30 now and school starts at 8:15 so I should hurry if I wanna finish my breakfast in enough time." With that being said, she grabbed her green school jacket and her blue and white crossbody messenger bag and opened her door slowly, peeking out. 'O-Oh, no,' she thought shakily. 'Now I'm starting to get a little scared. Wh-What if everyone thinks I look silly? M-Maybe I shouldn't go downstairs. Instead maybe I could sneak out the window...maybe?'

"No," she said aloud, holding her clenched fist up, determined. "I have to do this. I can't be like this forever...right?" Shakily, she walked out of her bedroom and into the hallway. "O-Okay, so far so good." Then she made her way to the steps, taking one trembling step and mistakenly tripped over her own two feet. With a loud scream, poor Akira went sliding down her carpeted steps all the way down and fell onto her bottom.

"A-Am I dead...?" She opened her eyes and realized that she was perfectly fine. Although, she doesn't remember feeling her bottom making contact with the floor.

"N-No, but I might be," a muffled voice said underneath her. She gasped lightly and looked down to see one of her older brothers, being sat on underneath her. She got off of his back and said, "Ka-Kasu-Nii?! I-I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Kasuka laughed, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm alright. But what about you? You came shooting down the steps like you were trying to learn how to fly or something." Akira giggled softly as they both stood up.

"O-Oh, well I'm still really sorry," Akira apologized again. Kasuka placed his hand on her head and smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said. "But you better be careful or else the next time someone will end up falling on you." Akira gasped. Kasuka grinned. "That's right. There's an old tale about a girl, about your age, who kept falling down on things, but one day someone fell on top of her. And the legend says that the next person who fell on her ended up being her best friend for life. So who knows? Maybe someone will fall on you and they'll be your best friend. Cool story, huh?"

Akira nodded, thoughtfully. 'Your best friend...for life, huh?'

"Alright, you all don't wanna be late on your first day of school so let's get out the door, shall we?" Yuki cheerfully said, to her children as they stood by the front door getting ready to leave.

Kasuka grinned up at his mother as he was putting on his shoes. "Yeah, unlike last time when I got up so late and the school doors were already locked. I had to climb through one of the open windows. It was so funny!" Yuki frowned and put her hands on her hips.

"Kasuka, I don't find that funny one bit. It was your first day of high school and when I told you to go to sleep, you stayed up watching some movie. That's why you were so late."

Kasuka's face lit up with joy. "Oh yeah! I remember that! It wasn't just some movie though, mom. It was an action packed, PG13 thriller, "When Evil Gets Punched". It was so awesome!"

"Kasuka..." Yuki gave him a stern look like "Don't make me come over there and show you what a real punch is like" kind of look. He chuckled nervously and smiled apologetically. There was one thing that he or anyone wouldn't ever try and that was to make Yuki Heiwajima angry. She can be quite scary, that's for sure. So you might want to think twice about ever crossing her.

Akira smiled at her brother getting scolded, but what about her other brother? She turned to her mother. "Um, mom where's-" Suddenly, a hand was on top of her head. She looked up and saw exactly who she was looking for.

"Shizuo!" Kasuka exclaimed happily, a big grin on his face. Akira looked up and said absentmindedly, "Shizu-Nii?" The blonde haired older brother smirked and said, "What's up, guys?"

Yuki pouted. "Oh, Shizuo there you are. You missed a really nice breakfast." Shizuo ran a hand through his slightly unruly blonde hair and said, "Sorry about that. I thought I could get an extra couple of minutes of sleep before I left for school." Kasuka snickered.

"I can tell. Man, you look so crusty." Shizuo turned and glared at his younger brother, making Kasuka yelp and stop laughing immediately.

"Anyway," Shizuo began opening the front door. "Let's go now. It's starting to get late. See you later, mom." Yuki smiled and waved.

"Bye, honey. I'll see you all later on." She giggled.

"'Kay! Buh-Bye, mom!" Kasuka said, grinning as usual and running out the door. Akira smiled and waved timidly at her mother. "See you later, mom." Yuki took her daughters hand and pulled her in for another hug.

"Have a nice day, sweetheart. Remember our promise?" Akira smiled and nodded. "Okay, pay attention all of you and be careful," were Yuki's last words as the three siblings got inside Shizuo's car.

Shizuo fixed his rear-view mirror and started the car. "Alright, guys, buckle up. And when I say that I really mean you, Kasuka." Kasuka pretended to gasp.

"Shizuo, I'm appalled. I always buckle my seat-belt, right baby sis?" Kasuka looked back at Akira, since he was sitting in the passenger seat and she was in the back.

Akira smiled apologetically at her brother. "Gomen, Kasu-Nii, but he's right. You always forget to put your seat belt on." Kasuka sighed and spun back around in his seat with a pout.

Shizuo smirked and drove off. Akira took a deep breathe and looked out the window, thinking to herself, 'Ready or not high school life, here I come.'

The ride to school didn't take as long as she would have hoped, especially since she was the first person to be dropped off. Kasuka and Shizuo attended Raira Academy, a private school not too far from her Nakashima High.

Kasuka turned around and grinned at her, "Ready?" Akira gulped. She hated this! Why did she have to be separated from her brothers like this?

Shizuo got out of the car and opened the door for his little sister. Akira hesitantly got out and looked at the huge school before her. She then felt a pat on her head. She looked up in Shizuo's eyes. "Have a nice day, Aki. I'll see you later, alright?" Akira tried her best to smile and said, "O-Okay. See you later, I guess."

As they were driving off, Kasuka stuck his head out the window and shouted, "Buh-Bye, Aki-ki! Have a great time!" He was getting ready to say more, until Shizuo complained, "Kasuka, get back inside the car! You're being dangerous again."

Akira wished she could only be sitting in the back seat of the car, but she had to go to school. It was a definite must.

Walking up the pavement, the school seemed to be getting larger and larger with every step she took. All of the students were walking around, doing their own thing. She took a deep breathe before opening the door and walking into the school. She scrambled for her assignment paper that said where her shoe locker was. '25' it read.

'25... 25.. 25.. Ah, here it is. Locker number 25.' Akira went along almost all of the lockers until she realized that they were all in numeral order. She blushed in embarrassment. 'Way to go, Akira. The day didn't even start and you're already acting like a dumb middle schooler.'

Changing her outside school shoes into inside ones, she closed her locker and looked down at her new footwear. 'These are actually kinda cuter than the normal brown school shoes.' The inside school shoes were plain white one-strap-across with a red back and blue ones for boys. 'Now it's time for the Opening Ceremony, I think.' Akira followed the signs that pointed to where the Auditorium was. It was a huge room with lots of chairs and a big stage. She gulped nervously at the big stage. 'I sure hope that I won't be going up there anytime soon.'

Before she knew it, the Opening Ceremony was over. The principal stood on stage and spoke about how it's a new school year full of new beginnings and he expects every student to give it their all and work hard. One of the teachers also passed out a sheet of paper to all of the students. It was a schedule of classes, where your classroom was and your seating assignment.

Akira found her classroom, Class 1-A. The 1 stood for 9th graders, it being their first year of high school and the 'A' meant your grade average. Akira was a straight A student. She stood by the closed door of her new classroom and held her hand on her heart nervously. 'Go on, Akira. Go inside your new classroom, already.'

Suddenly, a voice broke into her thoughts. "Uh, excuse me?" Akira gasped and looked into chocolate brown eyes. The boy beside her chuckled a little.

"Are you going in or planning to stand out here the whole time?" He smiled at her kindly. Akira shook her head and bowed.

'I-I'm sorry. Pl-Please don't let me hold you up,' she was trying to say, but her words never left her mouth. The farthest they go is inside of her mind. The boy continued to smile before he slid open the door and walked in. Akira lifted her head, realizing he had already walked off. Her sad eyes watched after him. 'Why can't I be more conversable like him...?'

Akira walked inside and took her seat, which was all the way in the back row. She didn't mind, of course. She wanted every little way to not be so "out there". Looking out at the rest of the classroom, Akira felt so small. But she was. She was about 4'6" and that's pretty small for a 14 year old like herself.

"Alright, everyone get to your seats. It's time for class." A tall brown haired man with glasses walked in. He turned around to the white board and spelt out his name. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Mister Takuya Ichinose. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I will be your Grammar teacher this year." A kind smile came about under his mustache. "Oh, yes and before we get to introductions we have a new transfer student joining us today. Come on in, if you please." Everyone's eyes turned to the door as it slid open slowly.

A small girl with long, flowy black hair and amethyst eyes stepped in front of the class. "She comes to us from London, England." Mister Ichinose said. "Let's all make her feel at home, alright?" The class all agreed. "Your seat is right in the back, the only empty one in the last row." Akira's heart jumped a little. She looked to her left and saw the only empty seat in the last row. She began to panic inwardly. 'O-Oh, no. That girl seems so...so like she could be really mean. She has such a serious look on her face. And now she has to sit next to me. I'm scared!'

The girl walked and sat in the seat next to Akira, this making the little Heiwajima freeze stiffly. The girl noticed it and glanced at Akira, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, now we'll go right on ahead and move on to self-introductions," Mister Ichinose said, smiling at his new class. Every person went row by row and there were 5 rows of 6 students. Akira was getting so nervous as each row finished. It was almost her turn and she would be the first to go since she was right on the end. "Hello," a boy stood up. 'It's the boy from earlier,' Akira realized. "My name is Abe Takaya. Let's all get along this year." Akira smiled, mentally taking note of his name. "Alright, then next." Next meaning Akira.

She stood up quickly and nervously, looking around at everyone staring at her. "M-M-My...n-name is um Aki...Akira Heiwajima. N-Nice to meet everyone." And with that she sat back down, her face all red and her head dropped. Mister Ichinose smiled and said, "Very good and next." The transfer student stood up.

"Hello, my name is Victoria Michaelis and I'm sorry I couldn't introduce myself when I first came in." Victoria's voice was rather soft and sweet. Everyone expected her to have a strong English accent, but she didn't. Her accent was very light and only showed in some of her words. She curtsied and smiled. "It's very nice to meet you all. I hope we can get along just fine."

Akira was caught by surprise. She didn't even realize her mouth was hanging wide open. Her eyes only lay on Victoria. 'S-Sugoi! She wasn't scared at all.' Victoria looked at Akira and smiled ever so pleasantly. Akira smiled back. 'Maybe I was wrong about her. She seems kinda nice.'

The rest of the introductions went by fast and so everyone was now introduced. "Great, great, great. I am glad to meet you all. Now, let's move on to the subject at hand, Grammar. Let's start with the 8 parts of speech. Who can tell me the 8 parts of speech just by memory?" Most of the class was quiet. Akira knew the answer, but she didn't really want to be the first one to answer so soon. Her hand gradually tried to go up, but it was too late. Someone else already rose their hand.

"Yes, Michaelis-san." Akira looked to her right. Victoria rose her hand and said, "Let me see if I remember correctly. Um, there are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections...?" Mister Ichinose smiled and nodded. "Yes, that is correct, Michaelis-san. Well done." The entire class clapped, while Victoria smiled. Something that she seems to do naturally. Akira's shoulders deflated a little as she lowered her head sadly. 'I wanted to answer that. But I guess it was my fault because I didn't raise my hand. Why can't I speak up?!'

Lunch time came up quick and the school day was half way through. Akira walked along the long halls of her school. 'Why is this school so big?' That's when she spotted a way to get outside. 'Ah, yes! There's a way to get outside.' Akira ran through the door and finally made it outside in the courtyard. There were a lot of students walking around, some eating lunch and others just relaxing and talking.

'I'll sit right here,' Akira said in her mind as she sat on the soft grass under a tree. 'It's so nice here. I'm glad I found it.' Suddenly, she heard a breaking of a tree branch and looked up. She had no time to react and a person came falling down on her.

Akira looked up into big, amethyst eyes. "Oh, dear! Are you alright?" Victoria got up off of Akira, a few scratches on her beautiful pale skin. Akira looked at Victoria really surprised. The poor English girl began to panic, light tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Please tell me you are alright. I hope I didn't hurt you." Akira's surprised expression melted into a soft smile.

"Don't worry, Michaelis-san. I'm fine," Akira actually said this time. Victoria smiled and took Akira's hand, helping her up.

"I'm glad that I didn't hurt you. You are probably wondering what I was doing up in a tree like that? Well, I was trying to help this baby bird. I found it on the ground unharmed, thank goodness, but I figured it must have fallen from its nest; its home. I wanted to help so I tried climbing the tree to get it back where it belonged. Pretty silly of me, huh?" Victoria stuck her tongue out.

Akira shook her head and held Victoria's hands, "No, not at all. I thought that was very brave of you. You did a good thing."

Victoria smiled at Akira. "You know, I'm very happy to know that you talk, Heiwajima-san. When I first saw you in class I thought you weren't the type to talk much because you hardly spoke during class and even in little breaks in between classes you wouldn't say a word." Akira was shocked herself. She could talk to new people without stuttering.

Akira nodded and looked down, blushing. "Y-Yeah...I-I'm not a very talkative person and I don't really stand out much. But..." She bowed her head and continued, "But I hope that we can be friends."

It was silent, until Akira felt a hand on her head and she looked up at the smiling face of her new friend. "I would be delighted to be your friend, Heiwajima-san." Both girls looked at each other then Akira began to giggle.

"Michaelis-san, I'm more worried about you than myself. You have little scratches on your face." Victoria blinked twice and took out her sparkly, pink heart- shaped mirror.

"Oh, goodness gracious, you're absolutely right." She sighed and put her mirror away. "My father isn't going to like this. He can be a little overprotective sometimes."

"Really? My older brothers are like that too," Akira said with a giggle. "I can take you to the school's Infirmary if you'd like." Victoria smiled.

"Thank you. I would very most appreciate that."

Akira took Victoria's hand and they both began to walk back into school. "Oh, and Heiwajima-san?" Victoria said, making Akira look at her. "You don't have to call me by my last name. I'm not entirely sure how things go around here, but what I do know is that you add -san at the end of a person's name for like respect, right?" Akira nodded. "Right, so you don't have to call me with such formality. Victoria would be just fine."

Akira beamed. "Okay, same here. You don't have to call me Heiwajima-san either. Let's start over." Akira bowed her head in respect. "My name is Akira Heiwajima. It's nice to meet you."

Victoria giggled and curtsied. "Yes, and my name is Victoria Michaelis. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

Both girls looked at each other again and began to laugh.

'I didn't expect for any of this to happen today. I wasn't expecting to meet a Michaelis and become her friend. I didn't think I was going to make any friends this year for that matter. Kasu-Nii was right. My best friend did fall on me this time. And hopefully just like the legend says, "We'll be friends for a lifetime".'

Aw, I sure hope y'all enjoyed this 1st chapter as much as I had fun making it. :D Please feel free to Read&Review. I'd sure appreciate it. Chapter 2 will be up soon, but until then please stay tuned. Xx Bubblii-MiiChuu