Much Ado About Everything
A Fruit's Basket Fanfic by
Amy McAteer
Chapter One
The weak spring sun shone brightly through the school library window, warming my back, and the table before me. The book I held in my hands seemed to shine a little brighter, as if compelling me not to finish it and put it back on the shelf.
I sighed. How many books had I read on the topic this year? Too many, I thought. Again I sighed. But the Native Americans were so interesting, my mind argued.
Hi, by the way. I'm Akahana, a Japanese-English student at St. Pamela's School for Young Ladies. It's a nice place, I guess. England's pretty cool, but to be honest, I preferred Tokyo. Gloucestershire countryside is a bit too quiet for my taste.
Pushing my long black hair from my shoulders, I closed my book and stretched languidly. The only other people in here, aside the librarian dozing in the corner, were a group of giggly first years, laughing over a mobile phone.
I love this room. St. Pamela's is a huge crumbling mansion way out in the sticks. There's around two thousand pupils here, and countless teachers. I'm not the only Japanese girl here, though. There's a girl named Tohru Honda, and my friend Oki. My other best friend Sato is half Japanese, like me, but the other half is Thai.
My friends don't get why I like the library. I guess I always have liked the company of a shelve of books and the silence to read them in.
The door flew open suddenly, disturbing the silence of the library. I jumped, my book flying out of my hands onto the floor. The first years squealed and looked around frantically, as if fearing Godzilla himself had broken our space.
It wasn't exactly Godzilla, but who it turned out to be was so out of place that she may well have been the lizard thing.
It was a girl. Okay, so your thinking "yes Akahana, you do go to a girl's school", but that's not why it was such a shock to see this one. For one thing, I think that perhaps I am the only person that ever comes here regularly, and for fun. But this girl's appearance was such a shock that I just sat and stared with my mouth hanging open like a fool.
She was tall, probably taller than me, and it was obvious that she wanted to emphasize her long legs. She wasn't in the standard uniform of a blue blazer, knee length skirt, white knee-high socks or black shoes, oh no. She wore a little black skirt that was definitely not to her knee (unless she bent her legs halfway up her thigh, which I highly doubted), and a black jumper with the words "Your Point Would Be…?". She also wore black ribbed tights, and purple Doc Martens.
She had an angular face, with a pointed chin and determined dark eyes. She was pale, and her lips were full and seductive. But her hair was what caught everyone's eye.
Before I go on, allow me to point out that St. P's is a very old-fashioned school. We have a rose garden, we have stables, we have a lacrosse team. We learn Latin, and our French teachers expect to be called Madame and Mademoiselle. So of course our hair has to be a normal colour! Blonde highlights are even looked down upon!
So imagine my surprise when I saw her hair! My eyes said "uh, yeah, that can't be right….. can it?" and my brain said "afraid so. It's purple". Yeah. Purple. It was a beautiful shade, mind you. It was a really deep plum colour. In fact, this was a beautiful girl. When you got over the shock of her appearance, she was altogether quite stunning. Her hair was straight, and she wore a headband at her hairline, a little like a ninja would.
She must have noticed my staring, because she frowned slightly, and made her way to where I sat. Shit! I thought. She's gonna freaking kill me! The girl came to a halt in front of me.
"Can I help you?" she asked, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow. She had an American accent, I noted.
"Um. N-no", I stuttered, feeling like an idiot. "I just…. Um…. I just haven't seen you around before, is all…" I finished lamely, ducking my head in embarrassment, feeling my face grow red. I looked up to see that her face had softened a bit.
"Oh. Okay, then" she said, and finally she smiled. Pulling up the chair opposite mine, she sat down, tossing back her purple locks. "I'm new here. My name's Cho"
"Akahana", I said, offering my hand. She took it, and I could feel a tiny grin playing across my lips. "When did you start?"
"Yesterday", Cho grinned. "I came from the Kohona Village in Japan. I went to the Naruto Academy". She said it like it wasn't a big deal, but my word it was! I didn't think that was a real place, but I had heard of people going to it from Tokyo.
"Wow!" I exclaimed excitedly. "That's incredible! Why did you leave?"
That's when she stopped smiling.
"Oh", she said, suddenly looking out the window behind me, at the shelf of books to her left, anywhere but me. "I, uh, walked out. It wasn't an expulsion, it was a case of differences. I didn't agree with a number of things the instructors taught me, and one day they just went too far for my taste, so I left".
"Oh", I said. "Well, you still went to Naruto Academy! Did you have a boyfriend? A best friend? Who were they?" I was getting ahead of myself, and I knew it. Cho laughed.
"Well my best friend was called Isamu", she started. "and my boyfriend was Kiba". She smiled as she said Kiba's name. "He's totally gorgeous. We're still dating. Well, actually, I didn't call him my boyfriend till I left. We used to be friends with 'benefits' if you get my drift" she winked.
I liked her already. And I wanted to know a lot about her and her past, and why she was here. Cho isn't like anyone I know. She's edgy, and cool, and a rebel, everything I'm not. I just knew Sato and Oki would love her.
"Come with me", I said, getting up from behind the table. Straightening out my skirt, I immediately felt like a nun with my long skirt and socks. "There's some people I want you to meet."
As we walked outside, a soft spring breeze ruffled my fringe. It's gotten warmer, I thought. Beckoning Cho to follow, I made my way toward a towering oak tree. There's always a large group of people hanging about under it's leafy branches, so myself and my friends sit a little further away.
Two girls sat in our usual place. Sato and Oki, my two best friends. Sato was small and sweet, a quiet, bespetacled girl with black hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders. She was chatting easily to the girl beside her, and flicking through music on an iPod. The girl next to her was Oki, a blonde girl with piercing blue eyes. She's really calm, and gives off the vibe that she's a hippy. It doesn't help that she plays guitar, and paints pavements and things.
They looked up as we approached, their welcoming smiles replaced with questioning looks at Cho and myself.
"Guys", I started, taking a deep breath. "This is Cho. Cho, these are Sato and Oki". Already, I knew what the girls were thinking. This girl was way different to us, perhaps too so. Maybe bringing her here was a mistake, I thought.
"Hey", Cho said brightly, a huge smile on her face. "Omigosh, where did you get your bracelet?" she exclaimed in Oki's direction.
If Oki was worried, she didn't show it. "I made it", she smiled softly, her eyes going all dreamy. Sato and I call that "going Oki-ish". "I'm glad you like it"
"I love it!" Cho squealed. Sato looked unimpressed. She hates girls who squeal, or intrude unexpectedly.
Cho turned to Sato, her head on one side, and a look of what can only be described as pure joy on her face.
"YOU", she cried suddenly, startling us all, including Oki, which is rare. I'm not sure Oki knows where she is half the time. "Are freaking ADORABLE!".
"Uh, thanks?" Sato asked, barely bothering to keep the question out of her voice. "Your hair is… unusual".
"Aw, thanks" Cho said, putting a hand to her hair. The conversation fell dead after that, and we all looked at eachother for something to say. The bell rang, and all around us, girls stood, chattering and laughing as they gathered their bags for their next classes.
"What's your next class?" I asked Cho, glad of something to say.
Cho, who had been looking like she wanted to explode throughout that silence, turned to me. "Latin", she smiled, rolling her eyes. "With Mrs Sampson".
"So do I" I said, getting up. "Follow me. See you later, girls", I waved to them, and led Cho into the crumbling house.
