This is my first proper KND fic so I hope it doesn't go too bad :)
Nigel Uno stood in front of the packed class, only a few eyes were on him, most of the students were quickly scribbling away, trying to make their essay deadline, some were staring out of the window while others carved their name's into their desk. As his eyes trailed across the many blank faces, one stuck out to him the most. A slender, bright eyed Asian girl was sat closest to the window. Her waist long, shimmering, black hair was held back by a light green headband which matched her oversized green jumper. On her bottom half she wore a black pleated skirt and knee high, white, lace socks with small black pumps. She was gazing out of the window dreamily, a soft smile on her light pink lips. The teacher pointed at a seat beside the girl, gesturing for Nigel to sit down.
Nigel felt butterflies bounce against his stomach as it slowly dawned on him who this girl was. "Nigel Uno." He tried to smile, holding out his hand. He knew what was coming, but he had to hope.
The girl snapped her head towards him, eyes sparkling with excitement. "I'm Kuki Sanban." She'd forgotten him. The sound of her voice took Nigel aback, it was less high pitched than he remembered, but still had that innocent tone that always got her what she wanted. Nigel was surprised that she sat by herself. Kuki had always had a sweet, loveable quality about her, now her teenage looks should have made her a constant fly trap for all the boys in school. Now that Nigel noticed, everyone was situated quite far away from her, no one looked at her, smiled or talked. "You don't have to sit next to me if you don't want to, Nigel. I won't get upset." She gave him a genuine smile.
"Why wouldn't I want to sit beside you?" Nigel asked, curious.
Kuki gave a small laugh. "The same reason everyone else avoids me." Nigel stared blankly. "I'm a bit of a freak." Her smile stayed put on her face as she explained, it stayed while the girls at the back of the class laughed at her and the boys threw paper at her. It even stayed while she stood up to leave and one boy stuck his foot out so she tripped.
Nigel grabbed her arm just as she was about to hit the floor and steadied her. "Thank you, Nigel."
The pair travelled to lunch together, Nigel watched as his old friend blocked out the whispers and taunts from other student who passed them. They sat down at an empty table at the back of the cafeteria. Nigel placed his lunch down and began to unwrap his sandwiches when he noticed Kuki wasn't eating. "Did you forget your lunch? I have some extra money if you want to lend it." He reached down for his rucksack but stopped when Kuki waved her hand out.
"No, no." She gazed at the table, her eyes fixed on the dents and groves. "My mom has me on a diet plan so I eat when I get home."
Nigel frowned. "But you don't need to lose any weight."
"It's a healthy eating plan." She said simply. Kuki didn't talk much during lunch, instead she played with her fingertips and now and again smiled into the distance. Nigel frowned thinking of the old Kuki. He used to beg for peace and quiet when he was around her, now he found himself wishing to hear her babble on about Rainbow Monkeys or Numbuh 4. Wally, now he guessed. Nigel lifted his bald head higher, searching for any of his other old team mates. He couldn't see anyone. Then a swish of red hair caught his eye. The girl turned around, she was glaring for a moment, Nigel guessed she was arguing with one of her friends. He smiled as he saw a flash in her eyes. The Irish teen made her way over, her short orange shirt clinging to her lily white thighs. Kuki lifted her head up for the first time that lunch to acknowledge Fanny Fulbright 's arrival.
"Hello, Nigel." She raised her eyebrows, smiling from the corner of her mouth. Numbuh 86 remembered him, which could only mean one of two things. She was either part of the Teens Next Door, or she had turned traitor and joined the Ninjas. Nigel didn't have to guess, it was obvious Fanny could never go against the Kids Next Door.
"Fanny." He said curtly, nodding in her direction.
Kuki tilted her head to the side, letting her black locks slide to dangling position. "You two know each other?"
"I guess you could say we're old friends." Numbuh 86's Irish tongue pronounced her words hard, she hadn't changed much. "I see you've made friends with Kuki here. Good choice, you don't want to get caught up with some of the other kids this school has to offer." There was something about her expression that worried Nigel. It was like she was warning him about something, without being too direct. Or even slightly direct for that matter. "Well I've gotta dash, it was nice catching up." Fanny smirked before spinning on her heel and taking off to rejoin her friends.
"What was that about?" Kuki giggled, her cheeks bunching up to her eyes. She really was incredibly cute.
After lunch Kuki and Nigel went to collect their things from their lockers and she showed him to the gym where the quickly got changed then regrouped. The room was filled with students, some he recognised, some he didn't, and a few he knew very well. Not that they had any idea who he was. The first person he noticed was a golden blonde girl who's hair spiralled down passed her shoulders. When Rachel noticed him looking, he received the biggest smile he'd seen all day, baring in mind that he had spent most of the morning with Kuki Sanban. She raised her hand above her head and waved, beaming. Kuki smiled softly, wrapping her arms around her waist. "If you're friends with girls like Fanny and Rachel, why have you been hanging around with me?" There was a touch of sadness to her tone which hurt Nigel.
"What do you mean? Rachel and Fanny aren't that bad." Nigel found that he sounded a little too defensive of his old superiors.
Kuki shrugged. "They're okay I guess, but they're friends are real bitches. You probably shouldn't be seen with me."
Nigel shook his head and placed his arm around Kuki, she giggled as the walked toward the P.E teacher. The teacher, Mr Kurtley, was explaining what the class were going to be doing today, however Nigel found it hard to concentrate because two voices that he recognised all too well were having a heated discussion behind him. "Could you please take those stupid goggles off for five minutes. Boy I swear you're gonna end up in the hospital again!" The girl whispered fiercely.
"Ugh calm down Abby, I can see just fine." The boy huffed. He then began to go on about how his goggles had nothing to do with his last accident. Nigel had to bite the inside of his lip so as not to chuckle, and annoyingly he felt himself welling up. The thought of those two sticking together through everything made him want to cry with happiness.
Everyone jumped as the door to the gym were flung open. "Nice of you to join us Mr Beatles." Mr Kurtley rolled his eye tapping his clipboard.
"Sure is." The Aussie mumbled, pulling his earphones out and tossing his bag, along with his iPod, to the side. Nigel's brow creased. Wally had a large black eye, the swelling was still pretty bad and he could tell it was fresh. When the ex-operative removed his trademark orange sweatshirt to revile a short sleeved orange tee, he noticed heavy bruising on his arms.
"And why are we so late, Mr Beatles?" Mr Kurtley pushed.
Wally sighed and threw his hands into his jeans pockets. "Because I had stuff to sort out. Problem?"
Mr Kurtley rolled his eyes and sighed. "Everyone, get into groups of five. We're going orienteering."
Kuki turned to Nigel sheepishly. "If you need someone to be in a group with, I'll be with you. I normally get asked last anyway so I understand if you don't want to." Nigel laughed quietly, he hated seeing Kuki like this, but he had to go along with it. The pair looked around for anyone else to be with. Rachel and Fanny had joined three other girls and were already laughing and joking on.
"Hey, Kuki." Abby called over. Nigel turned and saw the girl who was formally his best friend for the first time. She'd changed her hair a little. Instead of one big plat, it was was in thin braids tied up in a side ponytail. She still wore her red hat. Beside her stood Hoagie Gilligan. The first obvious change was his weight. There was none. He was tall and gangly, his aviators cap traded in for a plane brown one like Abby's. "Wanna be a team? You're friend can be in too." Although Abby's face was still stern from her rant with Hoagie, she looked fairly nice. Kuki practically squealed, grabbing onto Nigel's arm and pulling him towards the pair. "The name's Abby," She gave Nigel a welcoming smile. "This idiot here's Hoagie."
"Nigel." He smiled back. Nigel noted that he was improving on his poker face. He's bet his old accomplices didn't even notice the pain in his eyes when he saw that they, like the others, had no idea who he was.
"Beatles, you're with Gilligan!" Mr Kurtley snapped from the corner where he was tying up skipping ropes.
Abby smacked her hand onto her forehead. "Why is it always us who get's stuck with the train wreck, with the fighting and the skipping school and the gangs and the stealing..." She muttered quietly to herself as she wandered over to get a map and some compasses.
Hoagie watched her walk away then whipped his head back over to Kuki and Nigel. "I really don't think the guy's that bad. I mean, I wouldn't hang around with him, but it's better to be with him then against him. Especially in sports. That kid's like an Australian Usain Bolt."
"That's probably cause he's used to running away from the cops." Abby laughed, coming back over.
Wally yawned and stretched his arms above his head as he slowly made his way over. He looked Nigel up and down for a moment, then his eyes journeyed to Kuki. He snorted, "Great, I'm on a team with Kookoo Sanban, Fly Boy, Little Miss Badass and a bald kid." He folded his arms over his chest and lead the way out of the gym to the grounds.