Leiko Tanaka looked around the playground. Sixth graders screaming, girls chasing boys, kids going to the nurse's office because they got hurt. Those small scratches and bruises weren't as bad as the ones that Leiko had experienced. Sometimes, she wished she could go around and chase boys and squeal with laughter like the other girls did with their pink skirts, glittery hair bands and what not.
No, she thought.
I'm not going to make a fool out of myself. Not again, Leiko.
When she was in the first grade, she decided to wear a pink hair band and a light pink shirt. Her mother, as always, tried to make Leiko look... well more like the other girls. Being lonely, she decided she would try, just to fit in. Things didn't go exactly as she thought.
"What?! Leiko is wearing pink?!" she heard someone cry out loud.
"Nice pink shirt,Leiko," one of the popular girls said, "what are you going to do now? Try to dress like us?"
"I..."
"Well, you got it wrong Ms. Tanaka. We don't allow BIKE nerds in our group," the popular girly group of the school laughed and walked away leaving GoGo red and embarrassed.
From that day on, Leiko promised herself that she'd never let her mother make her dress girly. Or try to fit in. She knew that one day she would find a friend or friends who would accept her the way she was. Just Leiko Tanaka.
The girly popular group of the school walked near Leiko, and she knew that the only reason that they'd come, was to taunt her. Even five years later, sixth grader Leiko was still bothered by these dumb girls. So, she walked away, and began to run- embarrassed by her old memory. Before she could even realize what happened, Leiko felt herself hit someone accidentally and fell onto the hard concrete.
"Are you okay?" a boy's voice asked. "Here, give me your hand, and I'll walk you to the nurse's office. Your knee is bleeding."
She looked up to see a boy with big almond shaped eyes. His eyes were brown just like Leiko's favorite chocolate. His hair was jet black and straight. He looked around her age, and she realized he was in one of her classes. Robotics class, to be exact.
"I'm fine," she said, "it's just a scratch. I've had worse than these before."
"You know my brother, Hiro, would begin crying right now if he were you. We need to clean your knee so that it doesn't get infected. I have Band-Aids in my pocket," he said.
Gogo tried walking, but her arm felt like it was on fire. Wincing, she managed to get up.
"This was my fault, and I think your arm is hurt too." he said with his brown eyes focused on her.
"I'm fine," Gogo replied. She needed to woman up, and get her knee clean. She wasn't going to get help from a BOY. She was strong. What did he think she was a weak little girl? One... two... three... she tried to rise from her feet, only to fall again.
Ughhh, she thought. Now I need the help of this... dumb BOY.
"Please, let me help. I caused you to fall, and I feel bad," he said with his puppy face.
"Fine," Gogo said. She had a weakness for puppy faces and this boy seemed to somehow figure it out before she did. So,Leiko got up and obeyed.
"What's your name?" the boy asked.
"Leiko."
"Well, nice to meet you Leiko, I'm Tadashi. Tadashi Hamada. You know from the robotics class?" he greeted her as if nothing had happened.
The nurse told Gogo dislocated her arm, but she'd be fine in a couple of weeks. Her parents were called and she went to the hospital to make sure she received any treatments. The next day, Leiko went to school, and attracted more attention with her arm. Luckily, it was her left arm. If it had been her right arm, she wouldn't be able to write at all, and would have probably been stuck bored. Still lonely, Leiko went to get her lunch in the lunch line.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me help you with that," someone said as her lunch was about to fall. She turned around gratefully, and recognized the boy from the previous day. Tadashi. Tadashi Hamada from robotics class.
"You broke your arm?" he asked nervously
"Yeah," she replied," it didn't hurt though. It's only dislocated" She was afraid she'd lose the closest thing she had to a friend.
"Well, let me help you," Tadashi said as he took her lunch. Following him, Leiko realized that she'd have to sit with him.
"Leiko , meet Fred, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi..." Tadashi said as he was sitting down.
"I ONLY SPILLED ONCE GUYS. ONE TIME. IT WASN'T EVEN MY FAULT. FRED TOLD ME TO EAT IT," a boy with a green sweater replied in a frustrated tone.
"Hey, I'm Fred," a boy with brownish-blondish hair replied. Next to him were a bunch of comic books open. "I heard Tadashi broke your arm."
"No, no , no , no. That was an accident. I really didn't mean it Leiko . If I had seen you, I would have gotten out of the way," Tadashi said worriedly. His face was turning a light shade of pink.
"Umm... well speaking of arms... I'm Honey Lemon. It's very nice to meet you Leiko ," a pretty girl with long blond hair, and green eyes said, changing the subject awkwardly.
"I'm Leiko Tanaka, and it wasn't anyone's fault that I fell. I fell, it was an accident. It's over, and I'm fine."
She sat and began eating her tuna sandwich.
"So, what's your way to chill out? " Fred asked chewing with his mouth open.
"He means : what do you like to do ?" Honey Lemon translated politely.
" I like to ride my bike real fast. One time I rode it so fast that I broke my leg. My mom says that you could see my bone... they gave me omelettes at the hospital and I really liked them," Leiko replied excitedly.
""I'll name you Gogo Tomago," Fred said simply.
"Wait... so this isn't the first time you've hurt yourself accidentally?" Tadashi asked at the same time.
"Nope."
"Does it feel bad?" Wasabi asked.
Many more questions followed up, and Gogo was able to learn more about her new friends. Wasabi liked to slice things like apples... oranges and more. Fred liked comic books and wanted an invisible sandwich and the power to become a fire-breathing dragon. Honey Lemon was more interested in colors like pink. This made Gogo nervous, but she soon found out the Honey Lemon was one of the nicest girls you could ever meet. Honey was interested in.. well things like liquids that could affect an element in different ways. Tadashi wanted to help people who were sick or hurt (which would explain why he always carried Band-Aids, and helped Gogo immediately when she fell. His Aunt Cass owned the Lucky Cat Cafe, and Tadashi and his younger brother, Hiro, owned a cat named Mochi.
From that day on, Gogo never had to worry about being lonely or bullied. Her friends, Tadashi, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and Fred were always there to help her just like she was there for them. Later on, as Gogo grew up, things would change but not so dramatically. Well, at least she didn't think they would.