The Family You Choose
By Bashfulglowfly
Chapter One
"La la la! High School Girls! High School Girls! La la la!"
"Minako! Will you stop!" growled Makoto. "You sound like that pervert from 'Fruits Basket'!"
Minako just laughed and jumped on Makoto's back, hugging her neck. "You should be happy, happy, happy like me! We did it! We made it into high school!"
Ami laughed softly. "I take it you had doubts."
Minako grinned, let go of Makoto and wrapped an arm around Ami's shoulders. "No doubts about you! I knew you would make it. Makoto and I…well let's say it was a bit iffy there for awhile."
Makoto grinned. "I wasn't worried…not about making into high school. But I was worried what Ami would do to me if I didn't. Becoming an ice cube would not be fun."
Ami gasped. "I would never do that to you!"
Minako and Makoto laughed and both hugged their delicate sister. "We know." Said Minako. "And Rei made it too." Their fiery friend went to a private school that made it somewhat easier for its students to advance.
As the girls got closer to their new school, the sidewalks became crowded with other students heading in the same direction.
"Do you think that we'll be in the same class?" asked Makoto.
Ami shook her head. "Don't hold your breath. The chances of the three of us being in the same class are slim."
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The three girls gazed at the board holding the class assignments. Minako looked at the other two. "The chances of being in the same class are not that slim apparently."
Ami was clearly shocked. "I have to say that I'm honestly surprised." She looked at her friends. "But I'm happy."
Makoto grinned back. "So am I!"
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The three girls settled into seats along with several others. Ami and Makoto recognized a couple of students from their middle school and Minako recognized one from hers.
"What do you think of the guys in our class so far?" Whispered Makoto.
Minako sniffed. "Nothing to write a song about."
Makoto blinked confusedly while Ami covered her eyes and shook her head.
"Is this seat taken?" came a breathless voice.
The girls turned to look. The new voice was a girl with blonde hair twisted up into two buns on either side of her head and long ponytails trailing down to her knees.
Ami spoke first. "No, it isn't."
"Oh good." The girl plopped down into the seat with a sigh. She looked at the three friends with enormous blue eyes. "I didn't think I was going to make it! There is so much more traffic here than back home." She giggled. "Of course, pretty much everywhere has more traffic than back home!"
"Where are you from?" asked Makoto.
"Nanae, Hokkaido." Came the reply.
"Where's that?" asked Minako.
"Um, near Hakodate." The girl replied. "Oh, I'm Tsukino Usagi!"
Minako smiled. "I'm Aino Minako and this is Kino Makoto and Mizuno Ami." The other two girls raised their hands at their names.
"Nice to meet you." Said Usagi.
Minako grinned. "I'm sure we'll be come good friends in no time at all!" Ami and Makoto looked at her with surprise but then they also nodded.
Usagi nodded back. She started to reply but just then the teacher entered the classroom. "Rise! Bow! Good Morning!"
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Usagi sat down next to Makoto. "Thank you for inviting me to have lunch with you." She looked around and smiled. "It's nice to be able to eat outside! It's so much warmer here than it is back home!"
"Why did you come to Tokyo, Usagi? It seems like an awfully long ways to come just to attend a public high school." Asked Ami.
Usagi looked down at her bento and poked at it then picked up a bite and ate it slowly. It was obvious to the other girls that she was a bit upset. "My parents thought that it would be good for me to live in Tokyo. That I would grow up and stop daydreaming." She said slowly. "They thought that I would have a better chance to meet a husband here. So, I was sent here to live with my uncle. My mother's brother."
Minako placed her hand gently on Usagi's arm. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "You feel like you're being punished, aren't you. Because you've been sent from everything and everyone that you know."
Usagi smiled tremulously and nodded. "It's difficult. I've never been outside of Nanae except for class trips. And never off Hokkaido. I don't want to be a bother to my uncle since he was kind enough to agree to let me live with him."
"Is your uncle nice? Is he treating you well?" asked Ami.
"Oh, he's very nice." Said Usagi. "He's an astrologer."
Ami frowned. "He's a fortune teller?"
Usagi shook her head, hair flying. "No, sorry, I used the wrong word. He's an astronomer! He studies the stars. He graduated from Keio University two years ago." She grinned. "Fortunately he doesn't get mad at me when I say he's an astrologer. He says that in ancient times being an astrologer was a honorable position in royal courts."
Minako looked at her. "Wait, he's your uncle and he graduated from Keio two years ago?"
Usagi nodded. "He's much younger than my mother. Thirteen years. He was a surprise."
Minako laughed. "I guess so!"
"What does the rest of your family do?" Asked Makoto.
Usagi looked down again and poked at the ground. "My parents own and run the local newspaper. My brother is going to a private school in Sapporo."
Ami frowned again. "Your brother is going to a private school in Sapporo but you're going to a public school here?"
Usagi didn't look at her and shrugged one shoulder. "It was my father's decision."
Before the other girls could ask any more questions, the bell rang and they had to run back to class.