Chapter One
I quietly slide open the door to the classoom, my heart racing and a knot in my stomach. Of course, everyone looks to see who's entering.
"Kou!"
An excited Gon runs up to me and jumps on me with open arms, and I instantly calm down.
"It's been a whole two days since I've seen you!" he cheers, tugging on my blazer. I laugh, following him back to the desks he already picked out for us. I set my bag down and look out the window to the left. The clouds are bright white and slowly rolling past. I look back to Gon, who is already peeking into his lunch box.
"What did you bring on this special day?" I sarcastically ask, turning in my chair to face him. He opens up the lid.
"Gyoza," he grins. I lean over and look in. Six large dumplings are tightly crammed in the box.
"Gyoza? That's all you brought? Not even rice?"
"Just gyoza."
Gon snaps the lid shut with a very satisfied face.
"Mito-san spoils you too much," I scoff, pushing my hair back over my shoulders. His flashes his teeth, and starts dancing around in his seat.
"I can't wait to see who our teacher is this year," he says, eyes darting around the room from face to face. I pull out my schedule and find the homeroom teacher's name.
"Mi-fu-ne. What do you think they'll be like?"
"Mean!"
"I sure hope not. We had enough meanness from mister what's-his-face last year."
The chatter of the students quickly hushes as a rather short woman enters the room. Her dark brown hair is pulled tightly into a perfect bun that rests on the back of her head, and hot pink reading glasses rest on the collar of her daisy-patterned shirt. She looks at us with a smile and draws in a short breath.
"Good morning, students," she greets in a mellow tone, "My name is Ms. Mifune. I'm your homeroom teacher for this year. I do hope we can all get along."
I glance at Gon and give him a look, to which he nods. So far, she doesn't seem bad.
"Now, before we get started, I–"
Before she can finish her sentence, the door slams open, and a tall boy with snow-white hair trudges in, skateboard in hand. He makes his way to the back of the classroom, throws his things on the empty desk next to Gon, and slumps down in the chair with a grimace plastered on his pale little face. The whole classroom is dead silent.
"...As I was saying," Ms. Mifune continues seconds later, clearly startled, "I would like for us to introduce ourselves by saying our names."
"Miss, we're in high school now. No one cares," a girl in front calls out. Mifune eyes her, clears her throat, and calmly places her hands on her desk.
"I said I would like for us to introduce ourselves by saying our names," she, quite unexpectedly, hisses through her teeth with an annoyed smile. She arrived less than five minutes ago and is already going insane.
We start going around the room with everyone saying their names in dry, monotone voices. The line gets to Snow White, who I've so far dubbed, who's messing with his pencil. He looks up, and meets Mifune's glare.
"Your name, boy who has already wrecked havoc in my classroom."
"I barely did crap," he says, rolling his eyes. She glares at him longer, and sighs, looking to Gon. Just as Gon opens his mouth, the boy sits up in his chair and speaks.
"Killua Zoldyck."
Everyone's heads are turned to look at him. He continues fiddling with his pencil.
Killua? That's strange. Snow White fits much better.
Mifune clears her throat again. The eyes are returned to her for just a moment, and then find their way to Gon.
"Gon Freecss! Nice to meet you!" he chirps, waving his hand. Giggles erupt all around, and die down as the attention falls on me.
"Uh..."
My heart is pounding as a million eyes stare at me.
"Your name, miss," Mifune says, tapping her pen.
"R-Right, um... K-Kou Kitano," I squeeze out, my face burning. Some chuckles escape, and I feel like hiding. Mifune nods, and diligently writes my name down on her clipboard, looking over her list. The classroom begins to quietly buzz as she waves for free time. I see Gon turn to me out of the corner of my eye, so I do the same.
"What do you think? She seems pretty scary!" he says, scratching the back of his neck.
"I like her," I shrug, swinging my legs back and worth. I peek behind Gon.
"What about Snow White over there?" I quietly whisper, leaning in, my eyes flashing to and from their faces.
"Snow White? You mean him?" he blurts out like a complete idiot, pointing behind him. Of course, the boy looks, with a very irritated scowl.
"Don't call me Snow White," he mutters, staring directly at me, "Didn't you hear my name, moron?"
My face becomes hot again, and I punch Gon's arm.
"You talk too loudly, you idiot!" I scold, quickly turning around in my seat so I completely face the window.
How mortifying... Gon's such an imbecile...
I hear snickering from behind, and look over my shoulder ever so slightly. It's Snow White, laughing to himself.
"H-Hey, sh-shut up..." I stutter, in a small voice of embarrassment. He looks up at me with bright blue eyes, illuminated by the sunlight behind me. Gon shifts awkwardly in his seat.
"Did you just tell me to shut up?"
"...Y-Yeah? And?" I say a bit louder, gaining a sliver of confidence. Gon moves his chair back.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" Snow White hisses, pointing his finger at me.
"Um..."
My tiny, tiny burst of confidence is immediately squandered by his powerful voice.
"You're talking to a Zoldyck, one of the most richest, powerful families in the world. I suggest you keep your stupid mouth shut," he says, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat. Defeated, I awkwardly look away and out of the window, up at the clouds that still slowly move past.
A rich snob isn't someone we want to associate with anyways...
Gon, clearly uncomfortable, softly chuckles, and pulls out origami paper from his book bag. I start absently doodling on my notebook, looking nowhere but down.
"...What're you making?" I hear from my right.
The princess speaks.
"Eheh, well, I've just started learning how to do this, so I'm just making a basic crane," Gon explains. I listen as he loudly folds his paper.
"My butler taught me how to make a butterfly, but that's all."
"You have a butler? That's cool!"
"Yeah, he's pretty great..."
They start chatting away together. I dig my pencil into my paper and create harsh lines, until I finally just scribble in circles. I place my pencil down with a heavy sigh and rest my chin on the palm of my hand. In my peripheral vision, I can see them smiling and I can hear them laughing. I tune it all out and get lost in my thoughts.
Everyone likes Gon and Gon likes everyone.
Gon and I met the first day of middle school.
I still remember him wandering around aimlessly like a dumbass.
"Um... Are you lost?"
"Yeah, eh... I'm looking for room 2A!"
"Oh, that's my homeroom, too. I'll take you there. Uh, if that's okay..."
"Yeah! Thanks!"
And we've been two odd best friends ever since. He's sweet, naive, serious when it's important and goofy when you need a smile, and I liked that about him. He's got two things in mind; his next snack or meal and his dad, who no one's seen since Gon was born. I try not to ask about it, but it's hard not to be curious. Gon's simple, and I like simple people. I've had too much complication in my life. He's refreshing.
...Which is why it irks me to listen to him getting along so well with that annoying rich kid. I can already tell he's complicated, if not extremely.
"Kou!"
Suddenly, I whip around. Gon wears a huge grin on his face, and it seems Snow White has disappeared.
"Killua is so cool!" he exclaims, "We're going to hang out during lunch. He said he'd teach me how to skateboard!"
"That's... That's really great, Gon. I'm glad you made a new friend," I say, forcing out as much enthusiasm as I can. He tilts his head to the side.
"Is something wrong?"
"No! –Uh, no. No, nothing's wrong. It's all good."
"...Oh, okay! You're going to hang out with us, right?"
He looks at me with his puppy dog eyes. The guilt trip is always his go-to method.
"Uh, s-sure..."
Bad idea... It's going to be so uncomfortable...
"Yay! It'll be so much fun!"
"Gon... Did you not hear how he spoke to me just a couple of minutes ago?" I mutter, eyeing him.
"Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean it. You just didn't know!"
"I don't see why it has to matter where he comes from. He doesn't have to be so rude... And you didn't even back me up! You just let him yell at me!"
"I-I'm sorry, Kou..." he quietly says with a face of slight confusion. The bell rings, and everything becomes louder and louder. He stands up, and starts to gather his things.
"I'll see you at lunch!"
He waves, turns and starts walking away.
He usually waits for me.
I sluggishly pack up my things.
No, you're totally over-analyzing this. He's your best friend. No one is changing that. Not on my watch.
I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Thank you for reading!