"Olivia! How was school?" I looked up to see my Uncle Shigure. He smiled at me as I walked up to him.
"It was fine, nothing exciting happened today," I shrugged as I hugged him. He hugged me back and we let go soon after. "Did you write more of your novel today?"
"Yes, I got a few more pages done. I see Yuki is still ignoring me," Shigure looked over sadly at Yuki, his younger cousin, who was walking back home alone. Yuki and I were related because he and Shigure were cousins, but I don't think there's anything to call your uncle's cousin. Yuki was like a brother to me, none the less.
"Yuki will get over it eventually, trust me," I told my Uncle as I waved goodbye to him as we parted ways. Shigure was headed to get some take-out food for tonight. I had convinced him a few nights ago to do this once Yuki and I left school so that way we wouldn't have to worry about it later. You see, Shigure isn't the best cook, but he certainly doesn't have many great recipes he could use. Yuki, well, he burns everything. The kitchen is so full of trash and other things that I can't even get in there. "Yuki! Wait up!"
"Oh, sorry, Miss French, my mind has been wandering and I seemed to have wandered with it," Yuki smiled at me.
"Yuki, for the last time, if you call me 'Miss French', I'll put a scorpion in your pants. Please, just call me Olivia," I smiled back at him as we walked home together.
"Alright, Olivia. You know I use it to show my respect for you," Yuki glanced at me.
"I know, Yuki. I appreciate it, but when you call me that it makes me feel older," I patted his arm.
"Is Shigure still oblivious as to what he did?" Yuki changed the subject. I pursed my lips together, thinking about how to answer.
"He sort of is, actually. He just knows what he said upset you, but he doesn't know why," I shrugged. Yuki just nodded, saying no more. We walked home in silence, content with our conversation, though it was short lived. The rest of the day was uneventful, as it always was. We just ate dinner, Yuki and I did our homework, and we went to bed.
"Good morning, Olivia," Shigure woke me up gently. He smiled at me once he saw my eyes open.
I smiled back, "Good morning Uncle." Shigure nodded and left, leaving me to get ready for school. I did a normal daily routine any other person would do, and went downstairs. I passed the door and saw the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Looking to the side of them, I saw the cat too. I smiled, both the cat of the Chinese Zodiac and I would love this. You see, I have a special reason for loving this cat.
"It's dry. You can take it up to your room if you would like," Shigure popped up from behind me. Nodding, I took it and put it on my windowsill. I stood there and admired it for a moment, smiling.
"Olivia, are you ready to go to school?" Yuki asked me, standing in my doorway. I nodded and grabbed my bag and we both walked downstairs.
"You were born in the year of the dog, I knew there was something I liked about you besides your pretty fa-" Shigure was saying to a girl in Yuki's and my class. He was cut of by Yuki hitting on the head with his bag.
"Please forgive my cousin, Miss Honda, he's a bit of a flirt but he's harmless. In general, it's usually best to ignore him," Yuki apologized to the girl. Oh yeah, she was Tohru Honda. Her mom died only a few months ago. What is she doing on Sohma property?
"Uncle Shigure! I thought you were better than this!" I playfully scolded him, swatting at his head.
"Ow! Ow!" Shigure whined. "What do you have in that bag, a dictionary?" Shigure looked up at Yuki once Tohru was done freaking out over 'Prince Yuki'.
"No, I have two of them," Yuki stated.
"So, you're one of Yuki's and Olivia's classmates from school. Let's start again, I'm Shigure, Yuki's older and much less violent cousin, and Olivia's uncle," Shigure raised a hand at Tohru.
"Hi! It's very nice to meet you," Tohru smiled at him.
"So what brings you to our home, Tohru?" I asked her.
"Oh, you know, I live nearby."
"You do?" Yuki asked her.
"Where at?" I added.
"Right," Tohru said and blushed awkwardly as our stares. "Okay, I think I'll just be going now, it was nice to meet you."
"Wait, Miss Honda," Yuki called. Tohru turned around and looked at him. "Why don't we walk to school together?" Tohru nodded and we were off.
"Bye Yuki! Bye Tohru! Have a great day at school! I love you Olivia! Don't get in trouble again!" Shigure waved at us.
"I love you too Uncle! I won't!" I shouted back to him. Once we were approaching the school, Yuki's fan club started...doing whatever it is they do.
"Yuki!" They shouted to try to get his attention as we passed them.
"What are you doing?!" I yelled as the girls I was working with for our cooking class messed with the stew we were making. "You don't put wasabi in stew!"
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at what I was doing!" One of them apologized. The rest of them just tried to fix it but of course it wouldn't help.
"Well, as long as the rest of you follow the recipe and don't put anything not on the list in there, it may be okay," I shrugged. I looked at the stew pot just to see one girl who was zoning out putting a fish head in it.
"Rin! No! Now we'll never pass!" Another of the girls shouted. Rin, the girl who was zoning out came back to Earth and realized what she had done.
"I am so sorry guys! I really didn't mean to do that, I don't know why I did! Maybe we can take it out?" Rin looked at me hopefully. I bit my lip, knowing how gross it would be. I picked up the ladle and put it in the stew to try and find the fish head. Eventually I found it, and of course it was staring straight at me. I screamed on instinct, as I wasn't expecting the fish's head to actually be staring at me like that. The middle of it's face was facing me, so it was very creepy.
"Miss French! What is it?" The teacher asked, alarmed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to cause a commotion. I just wasn't expecting the head to be facing me like this," I smiled.
"Oh well, no harm done," The teacher assured me, sweat dropping and backing away.
"I'm sorry, Olivia. Thank you for getting it out so calmly," Rin smiled at me. I smiled back.
"It's alright, Rin. No need to apologize, really. May I ask what's on your mind?"
"Oh!" Rin was surprised. "Well, you see, my brother is leaving for college, and I was wondering how different it would be with him not around. He and I are very close, people mistake us for twins sometimes because of how much we look alike and understand each other. He hasn't even left yet and I miss him terribly."
"I'm so sorry, Rin. That's awful," I hugged her. She hugged me back and buried her face in my shoulder. "I'm an only child, but Yuki is like a brother to me, so I can only imagine how hard this must be for you. If it helps, I'm sure your brother misses you just as much as you miss him."
"It does help, thank you Olivia," Rin pulled back and smiled at me, tucking her dark brown hair behind her ear, her red-brown eyes sparkling. "What are you doing after school tomorrow? I'd love it if you could come over to meet my brother before he leaves."
"I don't have any plans," I smiled back at her. "I would love to meet your brother."