Disclaimer: I do not own Suikoden or any of the characters presented in this story. I do not own the world, setting, or any of the places. This story is purely for enjoyment and I am not receiving any monetary gain for it.
A Story About Us is a school-life story about a group of friends growing up in a place constantly in fear that it was their turn for war. It goes through the trials and tribulations of growing teenagers with feelings and relationships. This is an AU-ish Suikoden II. Harmonia and Highland Territories are at war, and not the Jowston Alliance although it follows the same time period. Setting in Greenhill, following a young girl, Elora from Harmonia moving to Greenhill City to get away from the war and continue her studies. Some modern aspects, some traditional. The year is 459. If anybody knows anything about Suikoden II, is that the Dunan Unification War begins in 460. I fully intend on that happening. Parts of my story is completely made up to fit my view for this story, so bear with me as I get everything situated. Some things wont make sense to you, but please read this as a fanfiction and not a "Wow, everything is so off here." Thank you.
Chapter 1 Small Fish; Big Pond
Being the new kid at school was never easy, but coming into high school as the new kid and as a sophomore brought on its own challenges and could prove to be especially difficult. Luckily for her, she was moving to a city that allied with hers (for now) and would at least have something in common with these other people. She was from a land far up north in the Harmonian Territory, a land she had lived her entire life and wasn't well acclimated to uprooting her whole self and moving far away from her friends and family. But that was Elora's reality. As Highland raged war on her home country, her parent's had no other choice but to ship her off to live with her Aunt Leona in Greenhill, a town that boasted it's academy.
"Elora, hun, are you ready?" Her Aunt Leona called from downstairs. "Honey, if you don't hurry, we will be late. Just remember, it's everyone's first day, don't be too nervous!" What her aunt failed to understand was that compared to Harmonia, this place was small enough to fit in the palms of whatever God rules this land.
Elora ran a comb quickly through her long brown hair, and tied it up in a ribbon, staring at herself in the mirror before letting out a sigh and heading down the stairs. "I know, Lea," She called from the top, "But, it's the second year in this school, and so everyone already has friends, and here I am not knowing anyone." Her aunt laughed as she stumbled down the stairs, slightly, catching herself before it became a fall.
"You have been here all summer, sweetie. You could have made a better effort at going and meeting new people." She stated as she headed for the door. "Is that what you are going to wear?" She asked, suggestively.
"What's wrong with it?" Elora looked at her clothes, wearing simply some jeans and a form fitting top, not really caring about first impressions. But, Elora knew she was right about getting out and meeting people, but she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge that she needed friends. They could never be what her friends were back home. She shrugged her shoulders and followed her Aunt out into the beautiful sunny morning.
"Nothing, honey. Just thought you would put a little more effort into your appearance today, but I think it suits you." Leona stated, giggling, which in turn made Elora let out a chuckle as well.
They walked the short distance to the academy from the Inn that Leona not only owned, but it was also where they called home. Elora stopped and looked at the flowers and greenery, which were very different from her homeland. "Do you have your schedule?" Questioned Leona, breaking Elora's trance on the differences between this new land, and the one many miles away from here.
"Yes I do." She replied respectively.
"Riou!" A young voice called to a dark haired boy at his locker. Riou could hear footsteps coming closer to him and he looked to the direction of the voice, smiling as he saw who it was coming to greet him.
"Hey, Futch. You're here early. For once." Riou shot him a grin. "Who's your homeroom this year?" He asked as the bell rang and shut his locker, tucking his loose paper into his binder.
He could tell Fucth wasn't happy with it because his playful attitude was switched with more of a pout. "I got Mr. Yamamoto. What about you, Ri?" He asked, shuffling his feet.
"Looks like I will see you there. A lot of us got him, so it shouldn't be too bad." Riou grinned again and patted his friend on the shoulder. "It will be a good year, I can feel it."
They were about five minutes early for class, and stood outside with the rest of their friends. Riou was relieved to see Kinnison, Nanami, and Millie all standing by the door. "Hey guys! Glad to see we are all in the same homeroom again." He hugged his sister Nanami, and although she is a year older than him, she got held back in elementary school. "You left the house early, sis, what's up? We usually walk to school together." She hugged him back tightly and patted his head.
"I just.. Had someone to meet with is all, can we make a rain-check for tomorrow?" She asked as their teacher began letting them into the classroom. He nodded, smiling.
"Hey, Riou. You signing up to race again this year?" Kinnison asked. Knowing full-well what Riou's answer was going to be. "We can make varsity this year, as long as you've got an egg?"
"Of course, man." Riou said. "I found one this summer, and Coach Humphery took a look at it. It should be ready by Fall. I'm actually pretty excited about it." He said, following Kinnison into the classroom and standing near the back with the rest of the students.
"Me too." Was all Kinnison said, thinking on his own plans to race.
Elora heard the bell ring and gave her aunt a quick hug. "I will meet you at the inn after school." She called after they gave their goodbye's and looked at her schedule for her first class. 'Room 409, Mr. Yamamoto, Homeroom' She read silently and trekked up the stairs into the large, multi-story building. "It sure is beautiful here." She whispered to no-one in particular.
"CLAANNGG~ CLAANNGG" The warning bell rang throughout the halls, and Elora quickly walked down the halls and, surprisingly, easily found her homeroom. According to her "Welcome to New Leaf Academy" brochure, the Homeroom is where everyone prepares for the schools upcoming events and parties as a class. They often hold contests per class to help boost energy of the students throughout the day. She wondered what the first event was going to be, Homeroom on the first day seemed kind of pointless to her.
She walked in, and for a moment, all eyes seemed to be on her. She knew this area was much smaller than hers, but even in a large academy, she guessed that they didn't get many new students. She stood at the back with the rest of them, waiting patiently for her name to be called. Elora de Fontaine, even her name made her stand out. Patience wasn't an aspect of life Elora quite had down, especially considering she was a zebra in the lions den. She began to get nervous, but the new attention was, thankfully, wearing off.
"Elora." Mr. Yamamoto called out after everyone else had been seated. She nodded her head up towards him. "Welcome to New Leaf, it is very refreshing to see new faces around here." He said, warmly. "Kinnison, will you raise your hand, please?" He pointed to a handsome boy in green and red. "Elora, you can sit with Kinnison and his group."
Elora went over and sat down, cheeks flushed. "Hi, everyone." She said, quietly. And they all bustled with excitement over her.
They all waved to her, and began introducing themselves. A pale girl in blue introduced herself first. She seemed to be bustling with energy, and looked like she came from a richer part of the neighborhood, which isn't much to say the least, it costs a fortune to come here. "Elora? My name is Millie. It's nice to meet you."
"And it seems like we were coerced into meeting, I'm Kinnison." Kinnison, she committed to memory. "That's Riou, over there and his sister Nanami in the pink." Kinnison said for them. "To their left is Futch, captain of the Riding Team."
"It's nice to meet you." They all said in unison. She could feel the boy, Riou, staring at her. She looked up to him smiling at her, his cheeks were red.
"Sorry about everyone." The boy who was staring at her said calmly. 'Riou, right? Is that his name?' "We have become so used to all of the students here, considering we rarely get new ones, so when someone new comes, everyone tends to get excited." He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and gave a closed eyed smile towards her, and she smiled back.
"Okay class, settle down." The teacher began. "This year we have a lot of events to cover. If you think homeroom is simply a class to get last nights homework done in, we can talk with the counselor about getting you transferred." This guy is no joke. "These next couple of weeks are crucial in making sure that we all get into the back to school flow. And that starts with the Back to School festival, and dance. Our classroom got picked for choosing the themes of both. I'd like you all to brainstorm in your table groups to choose what you think would be the best theme." He closed, waving us off to work on our own. It seemed pretty busy here already for this being the first day.
"The festival is in three weeks." Nanami stated. "The dance is the following night. It should be fun." She giggled, recollecting last years' festival.
"Elora," Riou began. "Did your other school have festival's?" He asked, seemingly curious as to what her old school was like.
The brown eyed girl shook her head no. "My old school was very traditional. Go to school, go home and study." She stated matter-of-factly. "It wasn't very fun."
The group settled down, with minor chit-chat for the rest of homeroom until the bell rang. "Please hand in your group papers before leaving. Thank you." Mr. Yamamoto took the papers from each group as they walked out of the door.
Riou was waiting for Elora as she walked out behind the group. "Do you need help finding your next class?" He asked her sweetly.
"Ah, I have Ms. Apple? For history?" Elora said, holding up her class schedule.
"Me too! She's really nice. In fact, a lot of teachers here are." He said, and they began walking.
Elora sighed as the school day came to a close. She would have liked spending a little bit more time with her new group of friends, but she didn't have any classes with them during the later hours of the day. She put any of her unwanted papers and books into her locker, and began to close it. "Oh, shoot..." She said, opening it again, forgetting something.
Bang! She opened it a little too hard, hitting someone as they were walking by. She turned, fully ready to apologize. But the boy seemed disinterested in anything she had to say. "Watch where you are opening that, next time, will ya? Seriously the nerve of some people." A young man dressed in all red stood before her, holding his cheek as if she had done some serious damage.
"You saw me standing here, there is plenty of hallway space, you should have went around me, considering you would have run into me anyway." She stated and began to walk away.
"You worthless little..- Don't you know who you're talking to?" Elora shook her head and continued walking. So much for getting through the day without any conflict. She sighed and headed down the path, hoping tomorrow would be better.
And that's it for chapter one, please R&R and stay tuned for the next chapter. :3