Tears filled her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away, hoping that noone noticed her moment of weakness. A moment later the bell rang and after several seconds, she was gone, out in the school yard, climbing a cherry blossom tree. This tree, called Sakura, was her only friend in this huge, cursed school. Rin tried adapting to the lifestyle of people surrounding her, but all her attempts turned out wasted, since despite her hard work, nobody around wanted to accept her into their group. Screw cliques, the girl had trouble finding even one, single person, that would not act like Rin walked around the school with some horrible disease. As if that wasn't enough, all the students set themselves against her, and behaved like complete idiots: they wouldn't leave her in peace with their mean comments about her clothes, grades, job, or even her hair color. As if it was her fault, that she couldn't afford Gold Momotaro jeans. She also wasn't the best at schoolwork, and being a klutz didn't help her with getting any pleasant job either, which forced her to hop around from one place to another. Rin remembered when she first walked into the classroom in her blond pony tails. Constant whispering reached her ears, and Rin almost befriended a couple of girls, whose hair glistened with various colors, starting with reddish brown, and ending on light blue highlights. The girls' interest in her hair passed though, when they found out that the flashy yellow, which they fell in love with, was Rin's natural hair color, and the poor girl was incapable of sharing with them the name of the hair dye which would give them a similar effect. As if it was her fault, that her great-great-grandpa was European and genes decided to prove that in her generation. Both her parents looked very much Japanese. Same with her cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. But she had to be born with blond hair. When she was younger, kids, as well as adults, loved it. It wasn't a clear memory though, and Rin couldn't remember the day, when all this changed. When, exactly, did she become the laughingstock of the entire school?
Ah, yes. That's right. It happened on the same day that her mother took over the title of the school principal.
Rin was proud of her mom. The woman was a wonderful parent, as well as a teacher. Unfortunately, because of her sudden job change, Rin lost the trust of her "friends", who were convinced that her mom's position was the only reason for which a student as bad as Rin still wasn't expelled. Maybe there's some truth in it, Rin thought. I'm bad at practically every subject, and if not for the fact that my mom works in this school, I wouldn't be here. Such thoughts went through Rin's head while she sat, tired from the crying, in her Sakura, inside her white-and-pink palace. It was the only big tree around, but Rin recently convinced her mom to allow her to plant more of them around the school grounds. In several years, when Rin will be in college already, the students of Hanabira Koukou will be a part of a school, which finally grew up to serve its name (Hanabira = flower petals). Rin got enveloped by dreams, about an alley overgrown with Sakura trees, blooming with white and pink flowers. The alley led to a pair of huge doors, behind which a new, much brighter, and friendlier school was built. With a smile on her face, Rin pushed the door. She expected to enter a room full of happy students, meeting with friends before class starts. Yet, she found only one person there: a boy standing with his back facing her. The boy giggled when he heard that she has entered, and folded his hands behind his back, waiting patiently for her to approach him. Rin, hesitating slightly, headed in his direction. Her rubber sneakers didn't make a sound when she toddled slowly on the clean floor. The girl stopped right behind the boy, and held out her hand, to grab his, and turn him around. The break ended with the ring of a bell, and Rin sighed, not satisfied with her unfinished fantasy. She often daydreamed, considering her life to be absolutely uninteresting. Only in dreams was she able to create a world in which she wanted to live. Rin jumped off the tree, and started unwillingly back toward the school building.
The last class of the day, meaning P.E., began in the usual way: Rin changed in the locker room, and went by herself down the stairs, into the gym. As she entered, one of the girls "accidentally" threw a basketball at her. Rin caught the ball, before it managed to hit her head. True, Rin was a big oaf, but even she knew how to catch a ball heading at her face, after so many failing attempts to do so. The smile disappeared off the culprit's face, and the girl turned around without a word, searching for a different ball. Rin sighed and walked over to the baskets, playing by herself for the next half an hour.
After some time, Rin realized that something wasn't right. Nobody ever bothered talking to her, even the coach paid no attention to her. However this time, shooting another basket, Rin felt awkward. She had a weird feeling that someone was watching her. Not wanting to look anyone in the eyes, the girl turned her head slightly toward the rest of the class, at the same time dribbling with the ball back towards the basket. Nobody seemed to notice her, when suddenly her eyes landed on something she didn't expect at all: a boy she never saw before entered the room, led by no other but the principal herself, Rin's mom. The kid looked around the room, and nodded, while the woman explained something to him. After a moment the coach joined them, and they talked together, probably about the students, since he constantly pointed people out. It seemed that he was complimenting them, because the boy listened to him attentively with a big smile on his face, still nodding. Rin tilted her head a bit, observing the boy in detail. He looked... maybe not familiar, but Rin felt like she had thought about this before: who was he? She shivered, when the boy glanced at her.
Red from embarrassment that she looked at him, Rin quickly turned away. She had the impression that he stood there for a couple more minutes, listening to the coach's monologue, and glancing at her every instant, but she didn't have enough courage to look at him again.
After gym (which, by the way, often looked like this: the class played together, while she stood on the side; the teacher never had anything against this set up) Rin quickly changed back into long pants. Lucky, that the school didn't require students to wear uniforms. Actually, the uniforms of Hanabira Koukou were so expensive, that only the richest could afford them. Rin was one of those people, but nothing in the world could make her wear a skirt in front of the class. At him, no problem. In school though, she faced such jerks every day, that she decided not to risk it. She didn't want to hear any comments about her legs.
Rin returned home three hours later than usually, because she was so deep in thought, that she forgot about the dangers of students from class 1D. The class was full of the worst kids Rin has ever met, so naturally when she passed their room (most students stayed after school for detention), they started baring their teeth at her, like some cannibals. This of course was not a problem, but for some reason, Rin was so pissed (probably at herself, for allowing herself to let a tear or two slip) that she decided not to let them act like idiots. She stood in front of their classroom door, gave each of them her best murderous look, then stuck out her tongue and yelled:
"All idiots, this way please!"
Of course, being the idiots they were, the whole gang of boys, as well as girls, threw themselves after her, growling in anger, and yelling the ugliest insults Rin could only imagine. She ran through the hallways, with the entire class on her tail. Some teachers she passed would glance at her momentarily, as if to make sure that it was only Rin running away from a group of teenage murderers, and they didn't actually miss a fire alarm or something. After some time though, taking flight stopped amusing her, but the kids didn't get bored yet; they slowed down a bit, but continued following her, ready to rip her to pieces. Careful not to let panic take over, Rin focused on running away safely. Somewhere here, there must be a place where they wouldn't find her... Rin was a good runner, and with a little speed-up, she could lose them. The problem was that they would continue searching for her until they got bored, even if she did disappear. And so hiding was unavoidable in this situation. Rin sped up a bit, looking around. There were plenty of rooms that were never used by anyone. Unfortunately, because of this exact reason, it would be easy to find her, so she went on running, until her legs took her into the school yard. The whole gang of delinquents followed her out.
Think, Rin, think. Where can you hide?
Places such as bushed or her lovely Sakura weren't priorities on her list of hiding places. After all, it had to be a place from which she would be able to run as easily, in case they did find her. The surroundings didn't look too good. What was worse, the group of students started catching up with her, with dangerous speed. Not seeing a different option, Rin turned right behind a building, and climbed a ladder up onto the school roof. There were garbage cans next to the ladder. Taking it off her head, Rin dropped her beloved bow down onto one of the open, overflowing trash cans. With a bit of luck, the crazies will think, that that was where she was hiding and, too disgusted to look through the garbage, will return to class, leaving her alone. Rin didn't dare watch them from the top, in case they noticed her. Instead, she walked to the middle of the flat roof, where no one from the bottom would notice her. The plan seemed okay. If they realized where she was, and started climbing the ladder, Rin would run away down the ladder on the opposite side, and from there, they'd have no chance to catch up with her.
One situation she didn't predict.
The gang of idiots suddenly decided to use their rusty brains.
"Hey, Kagamine!" Someone called from the bottom. Rin closed her eyes and despite herself, started praying. Please, please, don't let them find me here...
"Kagamine, get down here! You can't sit there all night!"
"Yeah, your mom... I mean, the principal will be worried!" Someone else yelled, pronouncing these words with obvious disgust. A bit irritated, Rin almost considered the option to get down there and beat up their ugly faces, but quickly decided that she stood no chance against the entire class. Trembling, she walked up to the ladder on the north side, which she had climbed up earlier. Half of class 1D waited for her there. She didn't have to check to know that the other half of the brats waited for her on the south side, ready to choke her. For some reason though, nobody climbed up to her. Maybe they thought this was fun.
Rin sat down on the roof, feeling the cool, autumn wind hit her face. She waited. And waited. Every once in a while, she would check if maybe the kids got bored waiting for her. Every time she approached the ladder, the students jumped up in joy, expecting her to come down to them. Each time though, they faced disappointment, which they expressed with loud "boo!'s". One thing Rin noticed easily: every time she glanced down, there were less of them. Soon, she told herself, soon they will all get tired and leave for home.
About 7:30 pm, Rin stuck her head out again, and looked at the ground from the roof. By the ladder stood only one boy, smiling in a way that sent shivers down her spine. She nervously walked up to the southern ladder, where a boy and girl waited for her. So there were three of them. Alright. It could work.
Letting out shallow breaths, Rin returned to the northern side. One kid she could take care of. To the boy's amazement, she started her way down. The guy called his friends. Well, crap. Rin hurried up, and standing a couple of rungs above the boy's head, leaped over him and landed painfully on the ground. Limping slightly, she headed for the school gate. She had to return home. This joke went on for too long, for her tastes.
But the three annoying idiots wouldn't leave her alone. Two boys and one girl still ran after her, wanting to teach her a lesson, no matter what. Honestly, maybe she deserved it? No, no, they started this! Convinced that she was doing the right thing, Rin continued her escape, this time through the streets of Yokohama. Her house wasn't too far, but she couldn't allow the idiots to find out where she lived. Knowing the amount of free time they spent on torturing kids, they surely would find a moment to ruin her life every time she would leave the house.
So she ran, turning involuntarily into the street she lived on. She couldn't stop in front of her house, though, so she prepared herself to pass it and keep running. In front of a house right next to her own, stood a boy with bright yellow hair, similar to hers. He held a garden hose in his hands, with which he watered the grass. Hearing the murderous yells of the three kids, he turned his head in their direction. Rin met his gaze, and swallowed hard. The setting sun reflected in his light blue eyes. They were the same eyes that watched her during P.E. class.
The boy seemed surprised at this sight. Well, who wouldn't be! Rin, red-faced from exhaustion as well as shame, pulled her eyes away from his face with difficulty, which made her blush even more. Running in his direction, she glanced at his delicate hands, gripping the hose handle. In one moment, she realized though that one of those hands let go of the handle, and pointed with a finger at the side entrance next to his house, which led to his back yard. Rin moved her gaze back to his face, and some kind of understanding passed between them: or actually, Rin had hoped it was some sort of an understanding, because she really didn't want to do something stupid again.
The boy's house was the last one on the block, so Rin quickly turned right, then again, into the alley behind his house. Before she disappeared in the shadows, with the corner of her eye, she noticed the blond boy jump in front of her pursuers and spray them with water, stopping them for a couple of seconds. That's how much time Rin had to hop over the back gate and into the boy's yard. She immediately hid behind the garage, and listened to the group of chasers pass the yard and continue quickly down the alley, swearing at the blonde. Rin took a deep breath and stood up slowly. The boy, which a moment ago practically saved her life, was already walking towards her.