Live to the Fullest

Pairing: Souji x Bashou

Genre: Drama/Romance

Disclaimer: I do not own Senran Kagura or any of its characters.

Author's Note: So, I decided to do another one since…well…I'm all over the place. Hehe~! Let me know if you want more of this. Enjoy~!

"Okay, everyone!" the homeroom teacher says. "Today, we're having a new student in class today. "She hasn't been coming to Hebijo Academy lately in the past, but now she's here with us now. Come and introduce yourself, Bashou-san~"

"Ummmm…Sensei?" one of the girls says raising their hand. "No one's here?"

The female teacher turns around and realizes that the new student disappeared. "EH!? B-Bashou-san? Where did you go?"

The green haired girl, Bashou, clutches her bag while shaking in fear under the teacher's desk. Due to her extremely shy personality, she can't get herself to face the rest of the class. It's too much for her to bear. The teacher keeps on searching until she pokes her head under the desk. Bashou flinches as she whimpers. She doesn't have a choice, really. She gets up from the desk and stands in front of the class.

"Now then, please introduce yourself," the teacher says.

Bashou struggles to stand up straight, let alone hold on to her bag any longer. She absolutely hates crowds, especially when going in front of them and introducing herself like this. However, this IS her first day in Hebijo Girls' Academy, so…she should at least say her name.

"I-I'm Ba-" Before she can finish, she hears the doors slide open and the others turn to see who it is.

A girl with long blonde hair and rudy red eyes appears before them smiling. The teacher frowns as she puts her hands on her hips.

"You're late, Souji-san," she says. "Bashou-san was just introducing herself just now."

"Bashou-san?" Souji says as she eyes the shy girl.

The greenette slowly turns toward the blonde as she walks toward her. Souji looks up and down a couple times, leans closer to her to get a better look. Bashou trembles in fear thinking, "Wh-who is this person?" The blonde backs away a step and closes her eyes.

"Yeah…she's definitely not as good looking as I am," she says with a giggle.

Bashou whimpers while the students were laughing. It's her first day and already she's being offended by this blonde girl? She feels that she'll never make it out alive.

**Later**

"Ibuki-chan!" Bashou glomps her best friend so suddenly. "I'm so glad you're in the same class!"

"Hey, hey, take it easy~" the sandy blonde girl says as she gently pushes her away. "I'm just glad you don't have to repeat a year."

Bashou just nods.

"But it's very unfortunate," Ibuki continues. "You've been teased so much that you had shut yourself in your room in the past."

"Y-yeah…" the greenette says. "But…w-well…I wanted to start over…get a fresh start…"

"How are your studies?"

"I was home schooled, so…I guess it's okay," Bashou replies. She then feels an unlikely presence next to her. She is getting an unweary feeling that Souji is just staring at her intensely.

"What's the matter, Souji?" Ibuki asks.

"Ah, nothing," Souji says as she picks up a mirror from her bag and looks at her reflection. "Just can't believe there are more girls that are…not as beautiful as I am."

"You keep saying that…" Ibuki sweat drops.

"However," the blonde puts down the mirror and faces Bashou. "I keep wondering what I should call you."

"Bashou-san is fine," Ibuki says.

Souji rubs her chin in thought, humming to herself. Then, when it hits her, she jumps off the chair and points her finger at the greenette. "BA-CHAN!"

"Ba-chan?" Bashou repeats.

"That's what I'll call you from now on~!" Souji says. "You're adorable, so points for cuteness goes to you~"

"Souji, you're all over the place…" one of her classmates says.

Bashou slumps down on her chair, blushing. She cannot believe this girl. One minute she tells her she's not beautiful and the next, she tells her that she's cute. What is with that girl?

As the day goes by, Bashou is not so lucky. First off, Bashou is being ignored most of the time while Souji gets all the popularity. Second, she comes to find out that Souji is actually lazy and sleeps during class. And then, in the middle of class, Souji just goes and eats an early lunch instead of paying attention in class. Bashou takes notice and sweat drops. How can she deal with someone sitting next to her who has behavior like that?

Souji takes notice and Bashou trembles in fear, wondering if she's going to tell on her. However, the blonde grabs her arm and feeds one of her food to her. After pulling away, Souji giggles as she winks at her.

"Now you're my accomplice~" she says.

One girl raises her hand. "Sensei! Souji-san and Bashou-san are eating lunch together!"

Bashou blushes furiously, covering her mouth with her hands. The female teacher just turns to them.

"Heh, I didn't know you two were in that kind of relationship," she says.

"Ah…i-it's not like that at all…" Bashou tries to protest.

"Please stop…" Souji says, deadpanning.

Bashou sighs heavily. It's her first day and all she wants is just a peaceful, quiet life.

**Lunch Time**

"Eh? What do you mean you don't like her?" Ibuki asks after swallowing her food. "She's so pretty and popular with the girls. Sure she can be selfish at times, but she's not a bad person."

"That's why I don't like her…" Bashou says. "People start gathering because SHE'S here." She lets out another sigh. "They even talk to me just because I sit next to her."

Ibuki frowns. "Why don't you be friends with everyone?" When her best friend doesn't say anything, she slams her hands on the table with a serious expression on her face. "Listen, Bashou! This is your chance to cure your shyness! We've been together since kindergarten, but we might go our separate ways in the future. What are you gonna do when that happens, Bashou?"

Bashou starts to well up in tears, whimpering. "Ahh….I…I…I don't want that! I want us to be together!"

"Hey, hey, I'm only talking about the possibility," Ibuki says. "Don't cry. Anyways, someday, you might find a person you like. You won't find love if you're afraid of making friends." The sandy-blonde smiles. "It'll be okay. Souji makes a lot of friends. I think you'll have more friends if you get along with Souji."

Bashou ponders on this as the two head back to class. When they arrive, they see Souji interacting with her classmates, talking and laughing. Ibuki puts both hands on her shy friend's shoulders.

"You can do it!" she encourages.

Bashou swallows hard and stands up straight. "U-um!"

Souji hears this and turns her head towards the shy girl. "Oh, hey Ba-chan! Nice to see you again~"

"Ba-chan, huh?" one of her classmates snickers. "That's her nickname?"

"I can name her however I like!" Souji presses.

"Yeah, yeah~" one of her classmates say.

Bashou just stands there, staring at the girls talking. She is still too shy to even face the beautiful girl. However, she wonders if she'll ever get along with her. This is so troublesome for her. She's too different from other people. While she is so shy and timid, Souji is beautiful and popular. It's like she's very distant from her.

In their next class, Souji notices that she doesn't have a textbook with her. "You didn't bring it?"

Bashou shakes her head.

"Hehe! Don't worry. I don't have it either~"

The greenette sweat drops. What is she supposed to do now?

"Hey, hey! Lucky for us, one of our classmates let me borrow one of hers~" Souji says as she holds up the textbook. Bashou rolls her eyes.

While they were taking notes, Bashou is a blushing mess. She can't believe they are sitting this close to each other while sharing a textbook. She is having a hard time taking notes too and keeps on stealing glances towards Souji. Is it because of her beauty? Souji's hand is moving with her pencil, but…is she really taking notes?

Suddenly, she feels Souji tap her shoulder and point her end of pencil at the paper. It's a cute kitten head, making the greenette blush and cover her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.

"Oh~? I can draw something like this, you know," Souji gives it another try, which makes Bashou giggle.

"That one is not a cat~!" she says.

The teacher takes notice and tells the two. "Hey, stop flirting over there!"

"Ah…you're probably jealous~" Souji laughs and the class joins in. She then turns toward the shy girl. "So you can laugh in front of me, too? All I heard is that you smile in front of Ibuki. Well…that's good to know." She then points her pencil at the shy girl. "Oi, Ba-chan. For the start, laughing is a good thing. That's what I believe." She winks at her.

Bashou's expression softens as her eyes slowly look down at the floor. Sure she laughed, but now that she thinks about it, would she be able to do that for the rest of the school year?

**Later**

"Alrighty then~!" Ibuki cheers. "Tell me: how was your first day~?"

Bashou doesn't say anything. Her eyes are glued to the floor, which makes Ibuki's cheerful expression fade.

"Ah…I guess you're tired. But! I'm sure tomorrow will be fun!"

"Hey, Ibuki-chan, we'll be late for club activities."

"Okay!" The brunette turns toward the green haired girl. "So sorry! I gotta go. I'm sorry we can't go home together."

"N-no…that's okay," Bashou replies. "Try your best during club activities."

"Thanks!" Ibuki starts to turn and leave, but stops midway and turns back. "Bashou, are you coming tomorrow?"

The greenette nods and waves her hand. "Mm-hmm!"

Ibuki nods as well. "Take care~"

Bashou waves good-bye and heads to her shoe locker to change her shoes. Just then, she hears some other girls behind her waving, "See ya, Ba-chan!" This signals her to stand up, turn around and wave them back.

They remember my name in just one day, she thinks. And they call me "Ba-chan". She then remembers what Ibuki said to her earlier.

"I think you'll have more friends if you get along with Souji~" she told her.

Bashou exits the school after thinking back. She thought Souji was rude and noisy. However, as the school day went by, the greenette is starting to change her mind about her. And speak of the devil, here she is, in front of her from about 10 feet away, walking with some other girls. Bashou finds herself staring at the blonde's back until Souji stops and turns toward her, making her jump in surprise. But all Souji does is put two fingers on both sides of mouth and create a smile on her face. This signals Bashou to do the same thing. The blonde nods happily and waves her good-bye while turning to leave. Light wind blows as Bashou lowers her hands, watching the blonde's distance become farther away while staring at her beautiful hair swaying gracefully. Then, the shy girl's mouth curves into a small, cute smile, blushing a little. She'll definitely see everyone, including Souji tomorrow.

**Next Day**

Bashou stands there in front of the board. She is reading who is doing class duties today and it turns out that she and Souji are doing it. She clutches the book to her chest with a blush and a smile and heads to her seat. Shortly after sitting down, Ibuki walks over to greet her.

"Morning, Bashou~!" she says.

"Ah….good morning, Ibuki-chan!" Bashou greets back.

"Hmmm? Did something happen? You look kinda happy today."

"Y-you think so?"

"Yo~!" a familiar voice greets from their right.

"Ah, morning Souji!" Ibuki greets back.

Souji looks at Bashou while the shy greenette turns to her. "G-good…" But before she can finish, one of her classmates cut her off by one girl talking to Souji.

"Souji! Look at this!" she says as she shows the blonde a book.

Ibuki notices a disappointed expression on Bashou's face. "Bashou? Ah! You two are doing the class duties together, right? It'll be a chance for you to talk!"

Bashou looks at the log and then nods. There is still a chance and she can't let it go to waste.

**Later**

4th period is about to start and already Souji is asleep. Bashou glances at the blonde as she looks back at the log. I'll fill in the class journal, then, she thinks.

"Hey, she woke up!" one of her classmates exclaim.

The blonde sits up and yawns while adorably wiping one eye.

"You sleep too much, Souji!" another classmate says.

The female teacher walks in and notices the blackboard hasn't been erased. "Hey, no one cleaned the blackboard. Who's doing class duties?"

"S-sorry!" Bashou immediately jumps out of her chair.

"Class duties?" Souji questions.

The shy greenette turns and nods as the blonde just smiles.

"Good luck, Ba-chan~"

She opens her mouth to say something, but is too embarrassed to say it. Or rather, she's too shy to even talk. Instead, she shuts her eyes tightly and runs toward the board. She mentally yells at herself for not speaking up, saying that THEY were both doing class duties together.

"Ah, Ba-chan!" Souji calls.

Bashou doesn't listen as she grabs the eraser.

"Your panties are showing!"

By the time she heard Souji say that, she freezes and drops the eraser. Strangely, her back of her long skirt has somehow been cut to where her white panties are. And when Souji mentioned it, she remembers running to school this morning and having her skirt caught in one of the branches on a bush. It was clumsy of her yes, but it was her fault for not waking up in time.

"O-oh!" Ibuki chimes in. "I wear these ones too!"

But it doesn't help as the whole class hears Souji giggling and Bashou takes notice.

"Ba-chan! Wearing panties like this…it's just too much~!" she laughs.

The green haired girl's eyes brim with tears as her body shakes and her face is red from embarrassment. She can't help it. She thought her life is going to be better in this school, but due to her shyness and what happened right now, she doesn't know if she'll survive the whole year like this. In an instant, she runs out of the classroom, one arm on her eyes to keep her tears from falling any more. Souji gasps and decides to go after her.

Bashou runs into the girls' restroom and slams the stall closed. She then backs away toward the wall, curls up into a ball and sobs. But it doesn't last long as she hears a knock on the door.

"Come out, Ba-chan," Souji calls. "Everyone's looking for you!"

Bashou hugs her knees tighter as more tears fall from her eyes. "I shouldn't have come to school…"

Souji gasps and for once, stops to listen to every word she says.

"I-I'm not someone that can easily laugh everything off like you…"

Souji grits her teeth, angry for what the shy girl is saying. "Don't you say that!"

Bashou gasps from Souji's shouting.

"Don't say that you won't come anymore!" the blonde continues. "Even though someone is finally sitting next to me…I have always been in that seat. Sure I am selfish and a narcissist, but I do care! Listen, Ba-chan….you should have told me you had class duties-"

Before Souji can finish, the door opens, revealing the greenette with her head hanging down and her body shaking a little.

"B-Ba-chan?" the blonde reaches a hand out but the shy girl starts speaking, making her stop.

"I-I've been teased quite a lot at my previous school…" she sobs. "S-so I've been so…so scared of even coming to school because people would do the same thing…" She buries her head in her hands as her shoulders shake and hiccups were heard from the crying.

Souji puts on a serious expression as she takes a couple steps closer. "You can be scared either because it's familiar or unfamiliar."

Bashou slowly lifts her head up and looks at the blonde with her tears still falling.

"All you have to do is get used to it if you're unfamiliar," the blonde continues. Then, she smiles. "It's easy, right?"

The green haired girl sniffles and plunges herself towards Souji's chest, hugging her. Souji returns the embrace, stroking her hair gently while closing her eyes with a smile still on her face. Bashou realizes that after being teased and shutting herself from everyone, she was the one who created a barrier on herself. She made a decision to never talk to anyone again and trust anyone.

"Bashou!" Ibuki calls from their right. She has finally found her friend and runs over to hug her. "I found you! Where did you go!?"

"So sorry, Ibuki-chan…" Bashou says softly.

"Hey, everyone!" one classmate calls. "We found Ba-chan!"

Every student comes running as Ibuki and Bashou pull away, noticing everyone coming. The ash brunette smiles at her friend.

"Now then, how about we go back to the classroom?" Ibuki says.

Souji rolls her eyes. "Going back would be kind of boring." She heads over towards one of the entrances and opens the door. "Especially when it looks so good outside~"

Bashou gasps softly as she sees snow falling. Looking around her, everyone pretty much agrees. So they decide to head outside, not minding the cold at all. While everyone plays around in the snow, Ibuki and Bashou makes some snow bunnies together when all of a sudden, someone calls out her name.

"Ba-chan!" a snowball is thrown at her face. The one who threw it is a girl with long red hair and violet eyes. The shy girl just stays frozen in place as the redhead giggles. "Not expecting it are you?"

Then…as snow falls from her face, Bashou lets out a small giggle then bursts into laughter. "Hahaha! It's so cold~!"

The redhead's smile widens and gestures toward herself. "Alright. Listen, Ba-chan, the name's Ashiya! I'm in your class, but you better watch out! I can throw pretty hard~!"

"No, stoooop~!" Bashou can't help but laugh as she tries to run for it but bumps into Souji.

Both of them turn toward each other and the blonde just laughs, taking a handful of snow and tries to throw it at the shy girl. She realizes that even though she had a bad past, Souji taught her something special: to live to the fullest, enjoying life as long as she can because chances are…a miracle might happen and this miracle…happened right in front of her. And Bashou…is finally happy.

**Later**

"Mou….I forgot my textbook again…" Bashou groans. The shy girl looks back at the blonde. She knows she can do this. Courage is on her side. She stands up and finally speaks up. "Ah…Sou….Sou-chan! D-do you have a textbook?"

Souji is found sleeping again and the shy girl just sighs as she sits back down. Who knows when she'll wake up? However, she hears a hum from Souji and looks over to notice her holding up the book under her arm. And when she looks closer, the blonde's head is turned slightly. Her smile is showing a bit.

"Here, Ba-chan~" she says softly.

Bashou blushes as she takes it and turns away. She realizes another thing while being in this school: she likes Souji.

A/N: Let me know what you all think of this! Long and detailed reviews are very much appreciated. I worked very hard on this one!

Have a nice day~!