Summary: Okazaki Ushio has only met her father a total of three times in her life. The first time...well, she was born. The second time, he locked himself in her mother's old bedroom and refused to take even the slightest glance at his daughter. The third time, he stopped by long enough to hand her a small, useless toy robot. He means nothing to her. And she never expected to mean anything to him.

A/N: Hi there, everyone! It's been a while since I've decided to write on Fanfiction. My last story was written two years ago... which, clearly, is a very long time. Hopefully, my ability to write hasn't completely withered into nothingness at this point...so, I guess it's worth a shot writing this...

I'm a huge fan of Clannad, I finished watching the show about a year ago, and I finally decided to write my first story for the show! As you can probably tell from the summary, this story completely disregards one of (I think) the most important aspects of Clannad After Story. So, if that didn't happen, then...what did?

I wanted to get this out sooner, but school, the College Board, life, and the Legend of Korra distracted me from doing so...hehe...

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the strange things my mind has decided to do to the world of Clannad!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the sadness/beauty/awesomeness that is Clannad. I do, however, own two little extra characters that you will see in this chapter, and I cherish all of the angst and awesome times they will experience in this story. (^_^)

Pushed and Pulled

Chapter One: Different

"Time?"

"3:10."

"Okay. Five more minutes until showtime."

The cluster of green bushes was conveniently located on the right side of the long path leading to Hikarizaka High School's front door. It was the perfect place to take a quick nap, seek shelter from the sun, and potentially watch over a large, silver bucket swinging dangerously over the school's front door, tied to a long flagpole. No one else could see it; the majority of the students were in the middle of their last-period classes, and those that weren't were skipping, spending their class period lounging on the grass in full-view. The only students who actually saw the bucket- and knew full well why it was there in the first place- were hiding behind said convenient bush, their hushed voices barely carried by the warm spring air.

"I told you, we have ten minutes," a softer voice answered, sighing at the other's anxiety. "The first group of students usually doesn't start walking out until around 3:20."

Suddenly, a boy's head with black hair and bright, violet eyes popped out of the bushes, surveying the surrounding area. "Okay, fine. Ten minutes," he whispered. "But we got everything set, right?"

"Yes, Naoto. Everything's set. You saw me put the bucket over the door. It's perfectly placed, I made sure. Stop asking."

"You got the spray on you just in case things go wrong?" he muttered.

"Yes. We've got the spray, the plan's all set," the second muttered, giving one of the cans of blue silly string an extra shake for good measure. "Stop worrying about this, and stop looking at the front door," the person whispered angrily as the boy's head was quickly jerked back down. "If someone from council decides to start patrolling the area and sees a head poke in and out of the freaking bushes, they're going to get suspicious and walk over here." A girl's head with long, brown hair and browner eyes popped out as soon as those words were spoken.

"Hypocrite," Naoto chuckled.

"Shut up," she hissed. "I'm just making sure no one's walking by."

Naoto sighed as he leaned against one of the thicker branches of the bush, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know," he whispered, "this whole thing is suddenly becoming...a little less exciting."

The girl turned her head towards him. "Why do you say that? Even after all the effort we put into this?"

"I mean, setting everything up was fun and all," he replied, "but...Ushio, what if...what if we get caught?"

Ushio smiled. "We didn't get caught when we were tying that bucket over the door, and my grandparents didn't see me putting all that stuff in it." At this, she rubbed her hands together; they still felt uncomfortably sticky from the candy bread her grandmother attempted to make earlier that morning...bread that was deemed perfect material for their plan. "And if we could get this far, we'll be able to do this without a problem," she said with an encouraging smile. "We've done it before, right?"

Naoto simply shrugged his shoulders. "Why are we doing this again?" he asked.

Ushio turned around to lay down in the soft grass, pulling up some of the blades and examining them as she tried to come up with an acceptable answer. "Because, my dear Naoto," she finally began in a serious voice, "I feel that the education of this school, compared to others around the country, is nothing but a pile of garbage, and therefore deserves to be defamed with a tangible representation of what it is."

"And, in short, you're bored."

"Terribly," Ushio groaned as she slowly rolled onto her stomach. "Why are we even here? Everyone knows that as soon as finals week ends, there's this really awkward two-week limbo where teachers don't teach anything because they're not allowed to assign new material until all their exams have been graded and turned in. And we're just stuck here. And it sucks. And I need something interesting to do. And there was no time to come up with anything too extravagant."

"And...that's why we're hiding underneath a bush."

"Yep. Pretty much."

Suddenly, a loud, obnoxious voice echoed throughout the courtyard, sending the two friends into a state of panic. "Get to class!" a girl barked. "All of you, get back into the building immediately!" All of the other students lounging on the courtyard grass jumped up in fear and ran towards the side door of the school building, desperately attempting to make sure their faces were not clearly seen by the person rapidly approaching.

"Crap," Ushio hissed. "Quick, see if you can slide in!" she said frantically as she tugged on Naoto's arm, trying to push herself further into the prickly branches.

"Wait, stop moving!" he whispered, grabbing onto her arm and forcing her to stay still. "She's getting closer."

The sound of shoes stomping against the ground made the two friends wince as a female student walked over to their hiding place. She stood directly in front of their position, and from his spot underneath a branch, Naoto could see everything- the black hair, blue eyes, pink bow, and signature scowl of the school's Student Council president.

Ushio and Naoto shared an annoyed, anxious look as she quickly surveyed the area, looking around for any remaining students. When she didn't find any, the president sighed deeply and sat down crosslegged right in front of their bush, resting an elbow on her knee and her heavy head in her palm. Ushio twitched as she watched the president sit down right in front of her face.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I'd actually hate one of my own policies," the Student Council head muttered sadly. "The fact that I have to take time out of my study period just to scream at the same delinquents every day is...ugh!" she squealed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I hate every single one of them! The same, stupid people are always skipping the same, stupid period and literally sitting in the same, stupid places out here, and that freshman kid Daishi is so new to this whole hide-from-the-president thing that he hides in the freaking bathroom. Who hides in the bathroom every single day?" she ranted angrily. "Stupid Hida thinks 'Oh, no Prez, I didn't get a lunch period today' is a good enough excuse to skip, and..." She paused, quickly running through the list of names and faces she ran into frequently and counting on her fingers. "That leaves...huh. Didn't see Adachi and Okazaki today."

Naoto winced at the mention of their names and glanced down at Ushio, who quickly glared at him. "Be cool," she mouthed. "Say one word, and we're dead."

"Those two are actually ridiculous," the president said angrily. "Okazaki's the worst, but I hate her stupid little friend, too..."

"Stupid-little-friend is not too fond of you, either," Naoto whispered lowly. Ushio quickly elbowed him in the stomach roughly, immediately silencing him.

"Those two get away with every single thing they do," she continued, malice lining her voice. "And every time I try to prove it, Hamada-sensei's just like, 'Not enough proof, Fujibayashi, you never have enough proof, stop making false accusations or I'll strip you of your position, meh, meh, meh!' " she said in a mocking, raspy voice and waving her finger around. Ushio smiled a little bit at the girl's impression...but immediately wiped the smile off of her face when she remembered how much trouble the student would get her into.

"I swear, one of these days, I'm going to destroy the both of them," she growled. "Make them pay for all of the embarrassment I've had to go through just to get them a day of detention..." The president sighed again as she tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear. "Mom never told me the job would be this hard," she groaned. "You get to establish new rules and make sure certain policies are carried out, which is cool, I guess, but...no one ever really...listens to you at all..."

She quickly checked her wristwatch and stood up again, dusting off her skirt. "Better start getting ready for today's meeting," she muttered as she began to walk away.

Naoto clutched his chest in relief, breathing heavily as he tried to regain his composure. "Oh God," he said nervously, "we're dead. We are absolutely dead."

"No, we're not-"

"Stop. Stop talking," Naoto hissed, pointing an accusing finger in front of her eyes. "We're screwed. You can't deny that."

"Why are you so worried?" Ushio laughed. "Everything will be perfectly fine. Everyone else left, Prez is gone, and no one is going to catch us," she assured him. "Have I ever been wrong? Honestly, have I?"

"Well...well, no, but-"

A high pitched, ear piercing scream suddenly cut Naoto off. He quickly popped his head out of the bushes again and looked towards the sound of the noise; the silver pail, which was swaying over the door two seconds ago, was turned over on the top stairs, and the Student Council president, who was clean and preppy two seconds ago, was drenched and covered in garbage.

Naoto merely stared at the front door. "Ushio."

"What? What's wrong?" she said worriedly. "What's happening?"

"We hit Fujibayashi."

"We...what?" Ushio whispered in complete shock. "No. No we didn't. You're kidding."

"Ushio, I swear, I'm not joking, she's freaking out, and we hit her. Look."

Ushio hesitantly pushed aside a few of the branches to see half the student body gathering around the president, who hid her face in her hands. One of the students reached out an arm to comfort her, but she quickly swatted his hand away in anger. "Don't touch me!" she shrieked. "Did you do this?"

"W-What?" he stammered. "No, of course not, I was in class-"

"Who the hell did this?"

"Oh my gosh!" Ushio laughed softly, watching the president scream furiously at the other students and the school principal as tears rolled down her cheeks. "We got her! Oh, this makes my day so much better! Where's my phone?" She dug through her skirt pocket to find her cellphone, but frowned as Naoto slapped the phone out of her hands. "What'd you do that for? This is the perfect angle for a shot-"

"Ushio," Naoto growled, "we have to get out of here. Fujibayashi's gonna start looking around to find out who did this, and the only people missing from the school building right now are the two of us. We're screwed."

"Look at her, she's so broken right now!" Ushio exclaimed defiantly, pointing at the angry, sobbing girl. "Like she's going to clearly remember that she didn't see us around-"

"Ushio, we have to find a way back into that building. Now."

She sighed heavily and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. "Fine, let's see what we can do," she muttered as she tried to shimmy her way out of her small, cramped spot in the bushes. "Um, Naoto?" she said as she switched to using her arms to drag herself out, "I think I'm...stuck."

"Really?" Naoto groaned as he grabbed hold of her arms. "I don't even know why you thought you would be able to fit in there perfectly," he said, tugging roughly.

"Well, I had to find a way to...wait. Adachi Naoto, are you calling me fat?"

"Shut up and at least help me pull you out!"

The Student Council president suddenly stopped her yelling and listened carefully to what she immediately recognized as the rustling of leaves; she knew it wasn't a windy day at all. The president glanced around the school's courtyard, trying to figure out where exactly the noise was coming from.

"Fujibayashi, is something else the matter?" the school principal asked warily as he watched her blue eyes focus on a single bush that was moving violently.

"Someone's in the bushes," she growled ferociously as she quickly ran down the main stairs and towards the hiding place. She frowned as she heard annoyed whispers from its branches, and violently pulled them apart.

Lying on the ground, desperately trying to free themselves, looking up at her with nervous smiles and waves, were none other than the two students the president hated the most.

"ADACHI! OKAZAKI!"

Okazaki Ushio had been stuck in this kind of situation more times than she could count.

There was that Earth Day incident earlier this year, when she and her best friend broke into Hikarizaka High School late at night, filled at least a hundred dollars worth of plastic cups with water, and covered each and every single hallway with them. At least half of the students walked around with their legs completely drenched by the end of the day, and the school's Earth Club was pretty furious about the cups.

Then there was that time when Naoto convinced her to mess around with the juice fountains in the cafeteria until they squirted fruit juice on anyone who decided to press any of the buttons. Half the students walked around with shirts soaked in fruit punch that day, which Ushio found absolutely hilarious. The two of them almost got caught for doing it because they laughed too hard when people got hit with juice.

There was their very first project together in November of freshman year, when they spray painted all of the shoe lockers. This one was a bit harder to cover up; they had to make sure they sprayed their own lockers too, so they wouldn't be considered suspects. Writing South High School in bright red letters on the front door of the school building helped too.

And then there were all the things Ushio did before she became friends with Naoto: hacking into the school's online grade book and changing everyone's marks to Fs the day before report cards were to be mailed (again, this was hard to cover up, because she had to change her straight As too), replaced the school nurse's supply of medication with TicTacs (funny, but it took too much effort, honestly), and covered the principal's fancy Porsche with silly string (Ushio was new at the whole "let's piss people off" thing, so is wasn't as complicated compared to the others; it was mediocre, but successful nonetheless).

This one was completely different from the others, though. For one thing, they got caught...they never got caught before.

They had been brought into the principal's office multiple times for small misdemeanors, like coming into school out of uniform or frequently cutting class, as well as for accusations of school pranks. The problem was, as much as the administration knew that Ushio and Naoto were the ones that carried them out, they never had any concrete proof to suspend them. This time, they had proof because they got caught.

Now that she thought about it though, hiding behind the bushes was probably a bad decision on her part.

Then there was the fact that Ushio and Naoto had no real motive. The others, of course, had motives. The plastic cup prank was specifically targeted at the Earth Club, because they had gotten annoyed by their week-long impromptu speeches on saving the Earth and global warming. The juice fountains incident was aimed at the health sector of the school administration, who planned to get rid of them because they figured the juice served was too unhealthy (and goddamnit, Naoto wanted his fruit juice!). Ushio's excuse for spray painting the lockers was to show both school systems how far a school rivalry could go if students didn't realize how ridiculous they were (which was complete bull, and Ushio knew it too). Changing the grades was an attack on a certain group of teachers Ushio found repulsive because of comments made about all of their students being stupid and "incapable of achieving anything in life." And the TicTac one was supposed to show the nurse that, well, the medication she was giving out was just as useful for alleviating cramps and headaches as a TicTac.

Their pranks were never targeted towards one specific person either. Usually, they were meant for the entire school to enjoy/suffer from, or at least a group of people. This was supposed to affect at least three or four people...but no, it only ended up affecting one.

And that one person just had to be the student council president. The most influential student in the entire school. And the one girl that could easily make anyone's life a living hell for the rest of the year...

Ushio groaned as the two friends took a seat on the couch placed in front of the school principal's office. "Lovely. This is absolutely lovely," she grumbled as she slouched into her seat. "Why did it have to be her? Why her? We wouldn't even be here right now if Fujibayashi wasn't on her stupid student patrol...and I had an entirely different plan for her on graduation day next year, too," she huffed.

"Yeah, well," Naoto replied wearily, "it was bound to happen someday. I was kind of hoping that day would be right before graduation," he sighed. "That way, the principal couldn't give us detention."

"Right. Hamada-sensei's the one who will decide whether or not we'll get detention," Ushio said sarcastically. "Do you not remember how badly the Student Council wants us expelled?" she hissed.

"Oh, really?" Naoto growled back. "Well then, maybe you should've thought about that before you decided to be all, 'I'm bored, let's piss people off!'"

"Not to mention Miss Newly-Appointed Student Council President," she continued, completely ignoring Naoto's comment. "I swear, if it was legal for schools to execute their students, she would take full advantage on the both of us-"

"Wow, Okazaki," a smug voice suddenly interrupted. Appearing next to them was none other than the student council president, whose uniform and black hair were damp and dirty. She reached up to adjust the bright pink bow on the side of her head before crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't think you saw me as such a cruel person," she chuckled sarcastically, twirling a wavy strand of hair around her finger. "I'm just trying to do what's best for the school community, and if that means lobbying for your expulsion, then so be it. You can't possibly blame me for doing my job."

Naoto sighed in frustration as he looked up at the girl, his violet eyes glaring at her through a few strands of black hair hanging in front of his face. "What are you doing here? Don't you have other delinquents you need to take care of?" he spat.

The president's smile grew as she saw the boy's blatant hatred towards her. "Oh, not really," she replied lightly. "I'm just here to see all of your exciting plans to make your high school life more interesting turn around and bite you in the ass. How's it feel?" she asked, giggling as Naoto's eyes darkened. "Exhilirating? Mind-numbing? Or do you just have this dull feeling of, 'Shit, she finally got me'?"

Ushio leaned towards her friend. "I think Fujibayashi here is a bit mad that she has to buy a barrel of shampoo to get all of that garbage out of her hair," she whispered loudly, cocking an eyebrow as she watched the president's face fall.

"Listen to me, Okazaki," the president hissed threateningly. "The two of you had better be taking this little prank of yours seriously. I hope you realize that all the crap you've been pulling off for the past three years is finally about to destroy you. I'll have you know, I've already asked Hamada-sensei to expel the both of you." At this, Naoto glared angrily at his friend, who rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"It's sad though," she sighed sarcastically as she watched the frustrated moment between them. "Despite this school's high ranking, Hikarizaka has always been plagued by certain students that just can't take their work seriously. You two aren't that bad academically, yet you decided to become a part of the school's small delinquent history. But I think I always saw this coming for you, Okazaki," the president sneered as she turned towards Ushio. "I mean..." she paused as her anger was suddenly replaced with amusement. "I mean, seeing as your own father was a bit of a delinquent himself."

Naoto's eyes widened as he quickly caught on to the president's words. "Fujibayashi, stop-"

"What the hell does my dad have to do with any of this?" Ushio hissed, fisting her skirt as glared at the girl above her.

"Well," she began with a chuckle, "you know what they say: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Apparently, your father was one of the biggest delinquents this school's ever had. Showed up for school whenever the hell he wanted and skipped classes every single day, like it was-"

"How...how would you know anything about my father?" Ushio growled.

The president opened her mouth to speak again, but quickly snapped it shut and frowned as she noticed Ushio's angry, suspicious glare. Her blue eyes widened slightly as she realized her close slip-up, but decided to replace her frown with a pretentious grin instead. "Oh, please!" she laughed loudly. "What do you know about him? All you know is that he abandoned you from day one! Who knows?" she continued, watching with pleasure as Ushio's face slowly reddened and her fists began to shake. "He's probably in jail, or maybe homeless and living on a street corner. For all you know, he's probably dead by now-"

"I don't care about where my father is, and neither should you," Ushio barked angrily. "Stop talking about him."

"Seriously, stop," Naoto pleaded. "You're not-"

"What's wrong, Okazaki?" the president asked, her sickly sweet voice dripping with sarcasm. "Desperately trying to ignore the fact that you'll probably end up the exact same way?"

"Shut up!" Ushio suddenly screamed as she jumped up from her seat and punched her in the face. The president collapsed onto the floor, tears threatening to fall as a bruise quickly formed on her cheek. Ushio landed punch after punch on the girl's delicate face, easily pushing away the girl's flailing hands. "I am not my father! I am not my father!" she yelled as she aimed another to her stomach.

"Ushio! Ushio, stop it!" Naoto wrapped his arms around her and quickly lifted her off the ground, but was not able to prevent the girl from resorting to violent kicks.

"Get off me! Get off me!" the president sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll take it back-"

"I'm not my father!" Ushio wailed as she aimed kicks at the president's stomach, kicking harder when the girl tried to protect herself by curling up into a ball. "You think you can fucking say that and decide to take it back? I hate you! I fucking hate you!"

The principal soon emerged from his office, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of his door. "What in the world is going on here?" he yelled furiously. "Okazaki! Stop this immediately!" Ushio refused to listen to the head as she senselessly kicked the girl lying helplessly on the floor. "Do you hear me? End this at once!

"Ushio!" a stern, booming voice suddenly yelled from behind the small group of students. Ushio immediately froze as she realized who exactly that deep, threatening voice belonged to. She quickly pulled herself out of Naoto's grasp and turned around to face the man standing angrily in the hallway, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"A...Akii," Ushio mumbled, allowing her hands to fall limply at her side. "What are you doing here?" Her grandfather's furious hazel eyes forced her to look at nothing but the ground.

"Got a call from the principal," Akio replied angrily. "Said you were being ridiculous again. And clearly," he said as he glanced at the girl writhing in pain on the floor, "he wasn't lying."

Standing next to Akio was her grandmother, whose teary eyes and sniffles made Ushio's heart pang with guilt. "Ushio," she whispered sadly, a tear roling down her cheek. "Why...why would you do this?"

"S-She started it!" Ushio said defiantly as she looked into Sanae's watery eyes, pointing an accusing finger at the president. "She said I was just like-"

"Don't even try coming up with an excuse for yourself," Akio spat. "You've messed up enough."

Standing behind the two of them was a slightly younger woman, who pushed her way past the grandparents to stand in front of Naoto. "What the hell is this?" she growled. "Did you help her beat this child up?"

"No! No...Mom, I wouldn't do that!" Naoto replied desperately. "I wouldn't beat up a girl, you know that!"

"Well, apparently, there are a lot of things I don't know about you, Naoto," the woman hissed. "What's this I hear about a prank?"

The principal made his way to the president, who was sobbing silently on the hallway floor. He placed an arm on her back and helped her stand up. "Adachi," he called out. "Take Fujibayashi to the nurse immediately."

Naoto mumbled to himself before his mother grabbed his shirt. "Take her!" she yelled, pushing him towards the girl. He hesitantly put an arm on her back and picked her up, carrying the president away angrily.

"And you," the principal growled, glaring at Ushio. "You first."

If there was any place in the school Ushio knew like the back of her hand, it was the principal's office. The familiarity of the room almost felt calming to her; the weird palm tree was always perched in the right corner, the never-ending stack of papers was always piled up on a completely separate desk in the back of the room, the sun always came from the same grimy window, never cleaned. If it weren't for her grandparents standing right behind her, she would have walked into that room with complete ease.

"Furukawa Akio-san, Furukawa Sanae-san," the principal said to the grandparents as they walked into the room. "Thank you for being here today at such short notice."

Akio grunted. "We really didn't expect ourselves to be here, to be honest," he grumbled as he glared at his grandaughter. Ushio frowned back, easily counter attacking Akio's cold look.

"Please, take a seat," the principal offered as he gestured to the three seats placed in front of his desk. He sighed heavily as he took his seat behind it, lacing his fingers together on its surface. "Okazaki," he began tiredly as the small family sat uncomfortably, "what month are we in right now?"

Ushio frowned at the simplicity of the question. "Uh...March," she answered slowly.

"And how many months, out of the ten that make up the school year, have we gone through so far?"

"Seven."

"And during these seven months, how many times have you been reported to my office?"

Ushio's frown deepened. "Lots."

The principal stood up from his desk and walked over to the opposite side of the room, where a group of tall drawers stood. He opened one of them and fished through its contents for a moment, until he found what he was looking for: a manila folder stuffed with thick sheets of paper. He walked back to his desk and opened the folder, and Ushio recognized the picture pasted on the first page, the long, messy hair, unruly bangs, and goofy smile that belonged to her. The folder was a paper copy of her permanent record.

"Thirty-seven times."

She looked up from her school photo to glance at the principal. "What?"

"Ushio, pay attention," Sanae hissed softly, forcing her to look the man in the eye.

"You have been in my office exactly thirty-seven times this year," the principal clarified. "This time makes thirty-eight. And honestly, I'm hoping this is the last."

Akio laughed gruffly. "Right," he growled sarcastically. "Knowing this kid, this is definitely the last time she'll do something stupid."

"What I desperately want to know," the principal continued as he flipped through multiple pages of the records, "is why you insist on doing these things whenever you want, when you know you're going to get in serious trouble for them. Punching another student in the face, spraying the school lockers at night, putting cups all over the hallways-"

"Hey," Ushio barked. "Why the hell is that information in my records-"

"Oh, save it," Akio snapped. "We all know you and your friend did them. Stop thinking you can just get away with this." Ushio winced at her grandfater's harsh tone, and couldn't find the power to direct another angry glare at him again.

"Your granddaughter's a fantastic student," the principal said as he turned to Akio and Sanae, "as you should already know. She's receiving straight As in all of her classes, and the teachers love her when she's not skipping their classes or pulling pranks on her classmates. The boys varsity baseball team has been harassing Ushio to join since last season, and...well, I was going to schedule another meeting with you to discuss this, but now that you're here, I should probably give this to you." He opened another drawer underneath his desk and pulled out an envelope. 'Hikarizaka High School, c/o Ushio Okazaki' was written on the front. He handed the envelope to Ushio. "Open it. Read it out loud."

"What...what is this?" she asked suspiciously.

"It's a letter from that American university summer program we helped you apply to," he said. "Because the majority of the information they received was from the high school, they sent this letter to us. Open it."

Ushio hesitantly grabbed the envelope from him and ripped the top open to find a short letter inside. "Dear Ushio Okazaki," she began softly, quickly reading through the letter, "This year's applicant pool for our research program has been a competitive one; hundreds of students from 31 countries and thousands more from all fifty states here in the US applied for two hundred spots. Needless to say, the application process was very grueling for us." She sighed heavily and dropped the letter back onto the desk. "Why are you making me read this?" she muttered. "This is what every school starts with so that their applicants don't get all depressed when they find out they weren't accepted. Can't you just tell me that?"

"Keep reading," the principal said with a small smile.

Ushio groaned and picked up the letter again. "However, we are happy to inform you that you...have been...accepted...to Charles University's international summer science research program...I got accepted?" she whispered happily, clutching it to her chest. "I actually got accepted?"

"There's more," he answered. "Keep going."

"Not only have you been accepted into our program, but your academic records are so strong that we have awarded you first prize for our Charles Research Scholarship; your family owes us no tuition whatsoever!" Ushio exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

"Oh, Ushio, I'm so proud of you!" Sanae said as she gave her granddaughter a tight hug. "I knew you could do it!"

Akio allowed himself to smile and gave Ushio a few claps on the back. "That's my girl," he chuckled softly. Ushio's smile grew as she felt her grandfather's approving hand on her back.

"That's the good news," the principal said, his small smile suddenly disappearing. "The bad news is..." He gently took the letter out of Ushio's hands, stuffed it back into the envelope, and put it back into his desk drawer.

Ushio frowned. "Why can't I keep the letter?" she asked. "It's my letter, why can't I keep it?"

"Because, Okazaki," he began, "the school administration has decided not to let you accept the scholarship."

"W-What?" she growled. "I won that scholarship! You can't just decide that I can't have it! Why are you not letting me take it?"

"I'm sorry," Sanae spoke up sternly, "but I have to agree with Ushio here. My granddaughter worked incredibly hard to secure that scholarship. The fact that you're telling us all of a sudden that after all that work, she can't have it..."

The principal sighed again and looked the student right in the eyes. "It's a...it's a compromise," he said. "You see, the amount of misdemeanors both you and your friend Adachi carried out make the both of you eligible for a two-week long suspension," he explained. "The fact that you punched Fujibayashi, however, automatically makes you eligible for expulsion."

Ushio's eyes widened fearfully at the sound of the word. There were so many words that sounded so much better than that. Detention. Cleanup duty. Suspension. Expulsion made her feel like the biggest idiot in the world for allowing herself to get caught.

"As you probably already know," he continued, "Fujibayashi and the Student Council have been dying to see both you and Adachi expelled from the school. And the truth is, you both deserve it. However..." The principal paused, giving Ushio a sympathetic look. "You simply have too much potential for me to allow the Council to do that."

At this, Ushio slowly looked up at the principal in shock. "You...really think that?" she answered quietly.

"So, as a compromise, I am giving Adachi two weeks of suspension, and you a month. The deadline for accepted Charles University applicants to respond is two weeks after you return, but you will not be allowed to write back to the university until two days before the due date, which leaves you just enough time to reply to their letter. However, if you commit just one- and I mean it, Okazaki," he growled, "just one misdemeanor during that two week period, I will personally make sure that you do not receive that scholarship and that you are expelled. Do I make myself clear?"

Ushio roughly pushed her chair back and bowed deeply towards the principal, making him and her grandparents jump. "T-Thank you so much, Hamada-sensei!" she exclaimed happily, ignoring the intense stares from her grandparents.

The principal simply frowned back. "See you in a month, Okazaki. Bring Adachi in."

The trip back home from Hikarizaka High School every day was always long for Ushio, but the walk back after the meeting was purely, horrifyingly long. The fact that Naoto was still trapped in the principal's office made the walk boring. The fact that she was forced to walk back home with her frustrated, angry grandparents made it worse. And the fact that the walk was made up of nothing but absolute silence between the three of them made it just plain wrong.

Ushio took a quick glance at her grandmother, who was looking anxiously at the steep path around them as they made the trek downhill. She made uncomfortable, worried sounds as she glanced around, as if something important was missing. Ushio hated the look on Sanae's face and looked instead at her grandfather, who was staring back at her angrily. They both grunted and quickly turned away from each other.

"This place has changed so much over the years," Sanae whispered softly, breaking the uncomfortable silence as she continued glancing around at the bare hill.

"Hmm, really?" Ushio replied, completely uninterested in anything her grandmother was saying.

Sanae picked up on Ushio's tone and smiled at her lack of care. "Yes, it has. Years ago, when your mother attended this school, this entire hill was covered in sakura trees. They were...absolutely beautiful," she answered, sighing at the fond memory. "Of course, the community wanted to get rid of them back then, too, but one student worked tirelessly to make sure they stayed up. But...I guess the sanitation department got tired of cleaning up all of the leaves, so they cut them down around the time you were born. So many things..." She frowned again. "Stores and hospitals and fancy restaurants have been popping up everywhere nowadays. Half the park was turned into a mini-mall...do you know that feeling?" she asked Ushio, smiling as she turned to her again. "That feeling of just wanting to completely rewind time, to go back to the old days? Sometimes I wish I could do that. Just to see the trees back on this hill again, and-" Sanae quickly cut herself off and widened her weak smile. "Things like that."

The silence between the three of them returned and was not broken until Akio cleared his throat loudly, attracting Ushio's attention. His granddaughter looked up at him with large, anxious eyes. "Congratulations," he muttered deeply. "On the scholarship, that is."

Ushio gave him a small smile. "Thanks," she said softly. "I didn't really think I would get it, though..."

"Yeah, well," he growled softly, "me neither."

"Akio," Sanae hissed. "Don't say things like that."

"W-What do you mean?" Ushio asked, confused by her grandfather's annoyance. "Why would you think that?"

"Ignore him, Shio-chan," she said. "He's just being-"

"Weren't you the one that was all for this? You're the one that stayed up late with me every night while I finished all those essays and all those application requirements and all those phone interviews, just to help me get in! Why would you say that?"

"Why didn't you tell me the baseball team was trying to recruit you?" he asked, fury rising in his own voice.

Ushio groaned. "Why the hell are you changing topics on me?"

"Answer me," he spat back.

"Akii, it's the boy's varsity baseball team," she sighed. "For one thing, they're boys. And they're a varsity team. I can't compete with that! I'd never make it past tryouts!"

"So, what, now you're saying that everything I've taught you over the years is useless?" Akio shouted. "That all the techniques I taught you and all those hours we spent practicing and everything I've done for you has been completely useless?"

"W...What?" Ushio yelled back. "What are you even trying to say? Why are you getting all mad at me just because I don't want to join some stupid baseball team?"

"Stop it, you two!" Sanae barked. "Stop this arguing right now-"

"I'm not mad at you for not trying out!" Akio barked, completely ignoring Sanae's pleas, his face becoming redder as he glared at his granddaughter.

"Then what the hell are you mad at me for?" Ushio screamed, turning to fully meet Akio's furious glare. "Pick something and stick with it! Are you mad at me for getting the scholarship, or for not playing a stupid sport?"

Akio suddenly picked Ushio up off the ground, roughly grabbing her by her shoulders. "Look at you!" he hissed. "You have everything. Brains, the best education in the city, athletic ability. And you're just throwing it all away, like it means nothing to you at all! You almost just got expelled! I never thought you would actually stoop this low! It's like you actually have fun pissing people off! What's the point, Ushio?" he asked, his voice lowering to a menacing whisper. "What are you actually trying to prove? That you're different?"

Ushio's frown hardened. "I am different-"

"No, you're not! You're not!" Akio placed her roughly back down on the ground, tightening his grip on her arms. "People look at you, and they see your mother. But everything I see underneath that is your father. And it's disgusting."

"Akio!" Sanae suddenly shrieked, promptly slapping her husband in the face. "How dare you tell her something like that! How dare you! How could you?" she yelled, tears threatening to fall.

Ushio looked into her grandfather's face, her eyes widening as she looked straight into the the disappointment and pure hatred clear in his hazel eyes. She shoved his arms away from her and backed away in fear of his eyes, the possibility of the words he could say next-

"You...you hate me," she suddenly whispered before Akio could speak again. His eyes softened as the words came out of her mouth, and Ushio recognized something else hidden within them: hatred, still the same burning hatred, but not towards her. Sadness, but also not aimed at Ushio. They were emotions that, in his eyes, looked as if they were targeted towards something else, someone else, something not there but was still despised by him, whether it was there or not. Akio never answered.

Ushio quickly turned around and ran down the hill, ignoring Sanae's frantic calls to return, ignoring the burning in her throat, and trying her best to forget the look of her grandfather's eyes branded in her mind.

A/N: So...promise you won't hate me for the way I've written Ushio? I've always had this strange idea that if we saw her grow a little bit older in the show, she would have eventually turned into a Nagisa-looking Tomoya. Maybe not this bad, but something slightly like it. And I figured if you remove the parents from the picture for a longer period of time and add a sprinkle of confusion and teenage angst, you get...well, this strange mess of a character.

I hope you guys don't mind my little addition of characters, either. I thought really hard about adding Naoto and Ms. Second-Generation Fujibayashi, but in the end, I figured I'm going to have a lot of fun writing about them! I won't delve too deep into their stories until much later, though.

Fun fact #1: My character Naoto is based off of a character actually shown in Clannad! I don't know why exactly, but I was rewatching a few episodes of Clannad the other day, and I came across episode 23, and there is this group of three guys that walks into Furukawa Bakery halfway through the episode. And I looked at the first guy that walked in, pictured him with violet eyes, and BOOM. Inspiration for Naoto.

Fun fact #2: I got the title of this story from a little song that I like right now called 'Pushed and Pulled' by Lucy Schwartz, and I thought the chorus of the song fits pretty well with the rest of my story.

I also promise that my chapters will not be as long as this one is! It's just that I wanted to get so many things out there that I didn't want to add to the second chapter (which I am very excited for!).

THANKS FOR READING!

~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)