"ALLY, GET UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!" My mother screeched from downstairs.

I jolted out of bed, suddenly wide awake, letting out a few curse words as I ran about the room, picking up my uniform - a sailor suit.

After pulling my shirt and disgustingly short skirt on, I ran down the staircase, bag in hand, quickly grabbing a piece of toast that was already prepared by my lovely and amazing mother, before sprinting out the door. I only lived a few blocks away from my new school, and I've walked past it dozens of times within the past two weeks I've lived here, so getting lost wasn't the problem, but being late was.

"BRINGGGGGG" By then I was already in the classroom, gasping for air, so happy that I made it on time.

"You must be one of the new students I presume?" The teacher spoke from her seat at her desk.

"Ah, hai!" I squeaked out, suddenly shy.

Out of no where I received an encouraging pat on the back, "Hey, there's no need to be so shy Ally!"

I looked down over my shoulder to meet the smiling face of my best friend, Rika. I soon felt myself relax as I gazed into her diamond colored eyes. They were so pale that one could mistake them for white, although if you looked deeply enough it would be clear that they were not white, but a very pale blue.

I felt myself smile back at her before turning back to the teacher, "My name is Hitomi-sensei, and I will be your new homeroom teacher. Would you two like to introduce yourselves to the rest of the class please?" She asked but we both truly knew it wasn't a question, but more of a command.

"Sure! My name is Rika Jansen and I am 15 years old! I was born and raised in Holland up until I was 3, in which I had moved to Japan and have been living here ever since. It's really nice to meet you!" She looked towards me expectantly before I let out a soft sigh and turned towards the class.

I cleared my throat, "My name's Allison Romano…and ano… I'm half American and half Italian but I have lived in Japan my entire life," I bowed while solemnly uttering, "Please take care of me."

Hitomi-sensei clasped her hands together with a smile, "Okay, that was great! Now if any of you have any questions, ask them on your break! Romano-san, you sit next to Momiji-san. And you, Jansen-san… you can sit in the back row behind Fujimoto-san."

We stared questioningly at her, having absolutely no idea who she had told us to sit next to. She returned our gaze with a furrowed brow before her eyes grew in realization as she let out a laugh, "Oh! Gomen, gomen. I forgot that you were new students for a second there! Silly me! Momiji-san and Fujimoto-san, please raise your hands so that these two know where to sit."

Two hands raised in the air, and as soon as I found my seat, I nearly ran to the chair after being the center of attention for so long. I walked to my seat slowly before tossing my bag on the floor and sitting in the chair abruptly with a thud, letting out yet another sigh while looking directly to the front of the classroom not wanting to make any eye contact with the dozens of pairs of eyes contemplating my every move.

I closed my eyes while slumping forward in my chair, wishing that for the love of god, the teacher would start with the lesson already so that people would stop watching me.

'I just hope this day will end really soon…'


- LUNCH TIME -

As soon as I left the P.E. locker rooms, I went straight to the cafeteria to scan the crowds for Rika, knowing with her parents busy schedule and her own carelessness, she would most likely be buying lunch today. Frustrated after looking for about 15 minutes I let out a groan in complete and utter annoyance.

"ALLYYYYY!" Suddenly I was nearly tackled to the ground by my shorter companion from behind as I gave out a yelp in surprise.

The moment she let go of me I quickly turned around to glare down at her and ranted exasperatedly, "Rika! Where the hell have you been?! I've been waiting for you the entire time! Now we aren't even going to have time to eat lunch!"

She smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry, A-chan… but at least I just got my lunch so now we can go eat!"

I sighed looking off to the side, forgiving her, "Whatever. I guess it's fine…"

Her eyes widened in remembrance of something, "Oh yeah! Momiji-kun from our homeroom invited us to go eat lunch with him and Hatsuharu-kun… that's okay right?"

A small smile made way to my face, "Mmm…yeah."

'Maybe, this time... I think it'll be okay to try...once more.'

"RIKA-CHAN! YOU TWO ARE STILL COMING TO EAT WITH US RIGHT?" A loud voice shouted from across the cafeteria.

I turned my head to see a short blonde kid making his way over to us, along with a kid with bleach white hair and black roots. 'Wow… he really looks like a girl… and he's so small too… barely taller than Rika… So weird… I wonder how old he is?… And that other guy too… his hair is so cool… I wonder how he made it like that…'

Snapping me out of my train of thought, Rika grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the two, us meeting each other halfway across the room.

"Well… A-chan said it's fine so yes! Where do you want to sit?" she gleefully responded.

"Oh, over there! That table's empty, so lets go there!" Momiji pointed.

Soon we were all seated and I began to open up my lunch container to find a small turkey sandwich cut in half. I smiled at the western styled lunch, thinking of my mom, while taking a bite.

Rika pouted, twirling a strand of her shoulder length sleek black hair between her fingertips,"You're so lucky, Ally! I wish my mom would make me lunch! Although… it probably wouldn't turn out as well as your mom's… "

I gave out a chuckle, "Rika, Elena-san's(her moms name) not THAT bad of a cook. Plus, you know she doesn't have the time in the morning to make you lunch…"

"She is a horrible cook and you know it! Remember that time a few years ago when we invited you and your parents over for dinner, right?"

I nodded and she continued, "Well before you came, she nearly burnt the house down when she tried making a roasted chicken! So we ended up just ordering food in for it instead because the whole kitchen was ruined!"

I began laughing in realization, "Oh my god! That's why you wouldn't let us in the kitchen?! That's ridiculous!"

After a few minutes I wiped the tears out of my eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Rika's embarrassed and slightly irked face before breaking out in giggles all over again.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny, you jerk!" She hissed at me as I laughed even harder unable to control myself.

"Wow! Both of you guys seem to have really interesting parents! They seem really fun!" Momiji cheered while Haru nodded in agreement.

I replied modestly scratching the back of my neck, "Well I wouldn't say that they are REALLY interesting…"

"Oh so now you're done laughing, huh?" she directed towards me, her arms crossed over her chest.

I gave out a cheesy smile to her and a nod as she began pulling on my cheeks really hard while she muttered darkly, "You piss me off so much. You're really annoying. Super annoying. Mega annoying."

I began whining as she continued pinching them harder while speaking to herself, "WAH! STOP! It hurts! It hurts!"

"You two are really close, ne? How long have you known each other?" A perky Momiji asked us

Rika paused in her tormenting, remembering that the two were here(most likely), before pulling her hands away and answering with a kind smile(as if that just didn't happen!), "Well, we met each other in the beginning of grade school… and we've been best friends ever since!"

I rubbed my still sore cheeks when I questioned out of curiosity, "Hey… Momiji-kun…. how old are you exactly? I mean… you look kind of young to already be in high school…"

Looking towards me he gave out a triumphant grin, surprising me, "I'm fifteen! Actually, just before we started school I had turned fifteen! My birthday is April 3rd!"

My jaw dropped widely in disbelief, "Wait a second… that means that… that… THAT YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME?!" I just about shouted towards the end, standing up out of my chair.

A hand was on my shoulder in an instant, pushing me back into my seat, "Ally, calm down. A lot of people are older than you, it's nothing to freak out about!"

I sighed in defeat sulking, "But… I'm always the youngest… it's not fair…"

"Really? How old are you?" The up until now, silent Hatsuharu asked.

"She's still fourteen and still will be for another… three months, is it? I mean your birthday is in July and right now it's April… so yeah, I think thats right, ne Ally-chan?" Rika looked towards me for confirmation.

I nodded a bit meekly as Momiji inquired, "But… wouldn't that mean you're still supposed to be in middle school still? How are you in high school?"

A bit bashful, I wrung my hands together, "Well, my parents put me in school early when I was little so I guess that's why…"

Rika gave out a giggle, "Plus, it isn't like they've ever had any reason to hold her back a year! I mean, she gets all A's! I just wish she would lend some of her brains to me…"

"Oh, so Ally-chan's really smart huh?" He questioned me with a soft smile.

A bit of a blush came to my cheeks at how the whole conversation turned to me as I chewed on my lip mumbling, "Well I wouldn't say that…"

Slinging her arm around my shoulders Rika cooed, "Aww, A-chan! You're too modest! And you're just SO CUTE when you are embarrassed!" She then began to glomp me.

"SHUT UP! You're so annoying! Let go of me, idiot!" I complained attempting to push her away as she held her death grip on me.

Momiji let out a laugh, "Both of you are really cute! I just want to hug you!"

Rika then let go of me looking up with sparkling eyes and fingers laced together at Momiji, "Oh, Miji-kun! Of course you can have a hug!"

Quickly, she stood up and nearly skipped over to the other side of the table to reach him. Seeing both of the boys faces freeze I knew immediately that they weren't comfortable with the situation. I hurriedly stood up and caught the back of her shirt just as she was going to hug Momiji.

"Huh? A-chan? Why did you do that?" She said confusedly looking over her shoulder to see me.

"Um… well I… uh…I thought-"

"BRINGGG!" The bell sounded, cutting off my words(or lack thereof to be more precise).

I nervously smiled, "Wow, I guess it's time to head back to class huh? See you guys!" I giggled apprehensively before hurriedly speed walking to my next class.

"Hmm… that was weird…" Haru trailed off openly.

Rika snorted in response, "You're telling me?"


- Next day at homeroom -

I entered the classroom silently with Rika at my side babbling on about something that I wasn't even paying attention to.

As soon as she caught a glimpse at the full head of light blonde hair she cheerfully called out waving, "Momiji-kun! How are you?"

He looked around to meet her gaze, acknowledging her for a moment, before turning his head off to the side as he happily continued conversation with another classmate, completely ignoring her.

Rika's expression dropped, and her hand fell down to her side, "Why… why is he not talking to us, A-chan?"

I attempted to smile reassuringly, "I bet he just didn't hear you… we can catch him at lunch later, okay?"

Rika grinned, back into her joyful mood, "Okay!"


- LUNCH TIME -

We walked around the cafeteria searching for the two boys, Momiji in particular. 'I really hope that last time was just a mistake… I really don't want Rika to get bad again… It wouldn't be fair… I know I promised to myself to protect her, so why did I let those two people in? Maybe it was a bad idea to think we started being friends…'

Suddenly I was bumped in the ribs by an extremely pointy elbow as Rika whispered hurriedly in my ear, pointing over to the two Sohma's, "Look! There they are! Let's go try and talk to them!"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, smiling at the two, "Hey! Momiji-kun! Hatsuharu-kun! Do you guys want to…" she trailed off as the two, after seeing us, swiftly walked in the opposite direction.

The grip she had on my hand went limp, her face saddened as she spoke gravely, "It happened again, huh? Is it going to always be like this? Why do they always leave us out? Are…are we really that strange? Do… do they hate me?" Her voice got shakier and cracked near the end.

"NO!" I shouted grasping both of her hands in mine tightly.

Lowering my voice I spoke, my head bowed down so that my hair covered my eyes, "We aren't strange. No one hates you. We don't need them, okay? We have each other and that's all we need. No one else."

She wrapped her arms around me, and rested her head below my shoulder, "Yeah, I know… I just wanted… I wanted people to like me for once… I'm sorry." A few tears seeped through my clothing.

I patted her head, like I always did in these situations, and soothed her, "I know… its alright now. It's okay. It's my fault… I let them come in without even suspecting they might hurt you…"

She shook her head and continued to let a few shaky sobs pass as I held her.

A few minutes passed before she let me go, drying the remains of her tears, and smiled, "I'm okay now, A-chan. I know you worry about me a lot, but really I'm fine. I promise I won't ever do THAT again, so please… don't look at me so helplessly like that… you'll make me want to cry again."

I sighed but replied dryly, "Okay, I trust you, but still it's not like you can blame me for looking out for you. But if there's a next time you do THAT… please tell me… Im begging you. I promise it'll be okay."

She nodded and spoke softly, "I'll tell you if I turn bad again, I promise."

I patted her head one more time before I pulled her down to a nearby table, passing her a bento, attempting to lighten up the mood, "Here. I got my mom to make you an extra lunch, so let's eat!"


- 4 DAYS LATER -

"ALLY-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" An animated voice called from behind me.

Turning around I closed my eyes giving out a slight sigh, expecting the person to be Rika, "Ri-ri, please don't shout wh-" I opened my eyes to find the pale eyes I was expecting to be looking into, were a rich caramel color.

"Hey! I'm not Rika-chan!" The little blonde teased at me.

I blinked, shocked to see Momiji there. 'What is he doing? I thought he didn't like us… not that I blame him… I mean, he hasn't talked to us once ever since lunch on our first day, he ignored Rika too…He hurt her… I wonder… does he want something? What other reason is there for him to be here? No one else has talked to us either… but that's okay. It was like that at our other schools too, especially now it's hard because all of the groups and cliques here are formed… We're fine on our own, as long as we have each other… We don't need anyone else. As long as there's Mom and Rika, everything will be okay… So why is it that… him coming to greet me makes me happy… even if it's so obvious it's not because we're friends… Do I really long for people to like me that much? When did I start wanting to get my hopes up for things like this?…' I shook my head, 'No. I don't care whether he likes me or not. It doesn't matter… I shouldn't have to depend on others… I already have two people who really care for me, and that's more than enough. He probably doesn't even know how much he hurt Rika. He probably wouldn't even care either, if he did know.'

"Ano… do you want something?" I decided to ask.

His light eye brows furrowed together, "No… why would I?"

"But we aren't friends, are we? So why else would you come here if it wasn't for something?" I questioned a bit bitterly, arms crossed over my chest.

He stood stunned, "Why would you think that?" He paused changing to a smile, "Of course we're friends! I don't want anything from you…"

I rolled my eyes before I replied sarcastically, a bit peeved, "Well, sorry! I didn't know friends ignored each other and made people feel like shit about themselves!"

A confused expression took over his face, "What… what are you talking about?"

I rubbed my temples with my fingertips, "Look, every time Rika tried to talk to you, both you, you and that Hatsuharu-kun, you completely ignored her!" I looked at him angrily, clenching my fists, suppressing myself from screaming and speaking instead in a dead serious tone, eyes down cast, "How do you think it made her feel? Everyone ignoring you, and leaving you as an outcast… is something you'd probably never understand! She thinks everyone hates her! You…. you don't even know how much it hurts her to see people reject her… It tears her apart inside!"

He stood aghast, speechless while I continued, looking up speaking directly to him, "After everything she's been through, she doesn't need something like this. I was so stupid to think I could let people in again. I can't let her get hurt anymore… So just… just leave us alone! I don't want to get her hopes up and let her down again! I can't do it!"

As soon as I spoke out in to the open I turned around and began to storm off. Hearing footsteps behind me, I picked up the pace to a fast walk, to a jog, and then into a full on sprint down the school hallways.

"HEY! WAIT, PLEASE! I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING! AT LEAST LET ME DO THAT!" Momiji hollered from behind me.

I came to a sudden halt at the school's front gate and turned around to see him bent over panting, trying to catch his breath.

"Wow", He said between breaths, "You're really fast…"

"I used to be on track a few years back," I explained with a slight shrug.

Finally able to speak he stood up, "I was going to say… that I'm really sorry we did that. We didn't mean to, it's just that… we needed to take more precautions, I guess you could say?" He sort of asked himself towards the end, shaking his head he gave out a bright smile towards me, "Anyways… we really want to make it up to you, and I'm sorry we didn't realize it earlier that we offended you. I promise to apologize to Rika-chan too… so can we still be friends?"

My eyes widened in absolute shock, my mouth not able to come up with any words. 'He… he apologized… no one… no one's ever said sorry… no one has ever wanted us to be friends to this extent… Just what do I say? Can I really trust him? Is it okay… I- I don't know… what to do…'

A voice to the left of us pulled me from my thoughts, "Hai. We can still be friends. I-I would be really happy if we could do that."

Turning my neck, I breathed out at the site of the girl, "Rika…"

She wiped the tears off with her sleeve, before walking up and grabbing Momiji's hands in her tiny ones, "I… I want to be friends with you, Momiji."

Momiji smiled in relief and spoke, "I'm sorry for ignoring you…I promise I won't hurt you, the both of you." His eyes trailed over to me.

The corners of my lips turned up a bit and I spoke twiddling my hands together, "I guess it would be fun to be friends too…"

Two arms wrapped around me and I found that Rika was the one embracing me, as she whispered, "Thank you"

A bit confused I looked at her questioningly as she pulled away but she just smiled back in return. 'Thank you? Thank you, for what? I don't understand…'

"Momiji-kun! How about us three go get some ice cream or something? It could be fun!"

His childlike eyes widened in excitement, "Totally, Rika-chan! It'll be super fun! Oh, I know the perfect place! Come on, let's go!" He quickly grabbed our hands before dragging us along into the streets.

'I really hope that this time... no one will get hurt... I think... I think this time, we might have actually found friends!'


DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET!

PLEASE REVIEW! I PLAN TO UPDATE REALLY SOON! KEEP TUNED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TWO NEW GIRLS AND THEIR STORIES!