"Class, I'd like to introduce a new student." Chie-sensei announced, holding her arm around my shoulder. "Why don't say your name, dear?" She smiled at me. I nodded.

"Mii…I'm Dawn Kagami. Nice to meet you, everyone." I smiled with my eyes shut.

"Welcome to Hinamizawa, Dawn!" I heard. I looked up at the speaker in the back of the room. "I'm Sonozaki Mion! I'm the class president and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about the village!" She smiled.

A girl with orange-ish red hair stood beside her. "I'd be happy to show you around the village if you want a tour. By the way, I'm Ryuguu Rena." She closed her eyes and smiled. Two girls that looked my age stood up. "We think you'll be really happy here in the village, Dawn. I'm Furude Rika and this is Houjo Satako. She and I will play with you whenever if you want. Nippa!" The girls smiled. I saw Mion smack a boy in the head. "As a member of the Club, I order you to introduce yourself!" The boy stood. "I was going to! You don't have to smack me!!" He smiled kindly and looked at me. "I'm Maebara Keiichi. I'd be happy to give you advice if you ever need it." I bowed happily. "Thank you all. I greatly appreciate it!" I tucked my hair behind my ear as Chie-sensei told me to choose a seat. I walked contently over to Rika and Satako. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Satako looked up and smiled. "Of course not! Go ahead." I pulled the chair out, moved my brown hair out of the way, and sat down.

"Hey, Dawn, if you don't mind me asking why is your hair so long?" Mion asked, all of a sudden behind Satako. "Oh, well….um….I don't really….." I felt tears try to escape. I forced them to stop. "It's ok, Dawn-chan. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Rena said walking to me, placing hands on my shoulders in comfort. I smiled lightly then nodded.

We all talked and worked until it was time to leave. I got my bags together while the others got back into desks. I was about to walk out the door when Keiichi stopped me. "Hey, Dawn! Will stick around for just a second?" I turned around and watched as Keiichi whispered in Mion's ear. "Great! I feel the same way, Kei-chan!" She said excitedly with a thumbs up. "Kagami Dawn! You've been invited to join Sonozaki Mion's Game Club! Would you like to join??" They all looked at me, hope shining in their eyes. "I-I….." I thought about my mother's reactions to me being late then telling her I finally have friends. "I'd love to." I grinned widely. Rena pulled out a seat next to her and signaled for me to sit. I almost ran over to the seat and put my stuff down.

"Now the game we are going to play is a game we should all know! Old Geezer!" I raised my hand lightly. "I….um…have never played that…the only card game I know is 'go fish'." I blushed lightly from embarrassment. Mion blinked, but got the cards out any way. "Then that's what we'll play! We each get ten cards to start with!" She gave out cards while giving me a warning. "Just so you know, Dawn, we've used these cards so much, we pretty much have each card memorized by the scratches on the back of them." I looked at all of them in shock. "What?! Really?" Rena nodded. Satako laughed lightly. "The only other one who has yet to memorize the cards is Keiichi!" He glared at her. "It's not funny! At least I've caught on some!" I couldn't help but laugh. These people…I like them. I hope I don't screw things up again like I usually do… "Alright! Are you all ready to play?" Mion asked with a smile. We all nodded.

Half way through the game I started catching on to things. I still lost some, but at least I had begun to memorize the cards. "Dawn…" Rika said, "If you ask for a three you'll be one away from winning." She smiled happily, though she basically cheated. "Hey! Don't tell her that! Aw, why didn't you guys do this for me when I was new?!" Keiichi ranted. I smiled sorrowfully. "Sorry, Keiichi, but can I have all of the threes?" Everyone handed at least one three to me. I took mine out and set it down. I looked at the single card I held. Nine. After me was Rena. She looked at the scratch on my card, then smiled. "Eight, anyone?" Keiichi handed over an eight. Satako, who was next to Rena, looked at my scratched card. "How about one?" Rika, Mion, and Rena handed their ones over. It was like that all the way around the circle until it got to Keiichi. He glanced at my card then, with an evil smirk, asked, "Does anyone have a five?" Satako handed one over. "What?! But, Dawn's card! it's a five, isn't it?!" I shook my head lightly with a giggle. "No, but may I have anyone's nine?" I was given a nine by the confused Keiichi. I held my hands up and spread out my fingers. "I'm done. I have no more cards." We sat for ten more minutes as everyone got rid of their cards. The only person to still have a card was Keiichi. Satako laughed victoriously. "Look's like you get the swan suit again for your walk home!"

On the walk home Rika and I stayed in the back of the group. "Please, don't think I'm weird, but I feel like I know you." She said, out of the blue. I looked at her as the wind blew slightly. "That's not weird…because I feel like I know you too." Just then a strange voice spoke. "Rika, she's the one who replaced Kasumi. Dawn is Kasumi's body replacement! She doesn't have the memories, but she has part of Kasumi's soul. She may even have part of Kasumi-chan that none of us had ever seen." I looked around. "Rika…who was that?" She stopped. I glanced back and stopped as well while the others laughed and joked with Keiichi. "What? Did you hear someone?" I nodded. "It was a girl, but it wasn't any of us…" I looked Rika straight in the eye. She was thinking, with the look of shock on her face. "You can hear her in this world…" She mumbled. I cocked my head slightly. "Rika…? What are you talking about? Hear who?" She blinked a few times then smiled. "Oh, nothing, I was just thinking aloud. I'm sorry. Nippa~!" She caught up with me and we began walking again.

"Mother, I'm home!" I said loud enough for her to hear me. I slid my shoes off at the door and walked to the living room where my awaiting mother was. "Why the hell are you this late coming home?!" She shouted. I bowed out of fear, not knowing what else to do. "Gomen, mother. I made some friends at school today, and they asked me to join their club, so I did. I thought you wouldn't mind since that would leave some more free time for you." I looked up when I heard her move.

"You acually made friends? What are their mental problems?" I was use to her harshness, but this hurt more than usual for some reason. "Nothing. They're just nice people. They were the first ones in class to introduce themselves and offer a helping hand if I needed it." I moved to the side quickly as she made her way to the kitchen. "Whatever. I guess I should be happy since people aren't avoiding you like last time. Now go upstairs. I have friends coming over and I don't need you getting in the way!" I nodded. "Yes, mother. I'll be in my room if you need me."

I ran upstairs and threw my stuff across my bedroom. "Making friends and joining that club was probably the best thing to do..." I walked to my dresser. "Especially with mother starting to behave the way she used to." I looked at the almost invisible scar on my neck. I felt the pain and covered it with my hair again. "I just hope she doesn't try to cut my hair again while that drunk and furious..."


okay, so i know a few japanese words and i will end up putting them in here. like i put 'gomen' in here. gomen means im sorry if you didnt know. ^_^ please rate~!