Hello! ¡Hola! Salut! and all that. (Yay I'm trilingual!)
If you've read Bienvenue en France, Nagisa! and now you're reading this, I'm trying to write TamaoxNagisa stories and YayaxTsubomi stories separately (that sentence did not make any sense). I thought it would be fun to establish how Yaya and Tsubomi met. This is taking place during Tsubomi's first year and Yaya's third — when the series was set. I'll try to keep the events right, but I might edit a few. The rating may change in the future.
Oh, and before I start, since Yaya and Tsubomi are in choir and I'm a choir/band geek I'll probably be injecting lots of music terminology. I'll explain what they mean. Here's two that are mentioned in the first chapter:
Rest: A rest is a moment of silence where you don't play or sing. A rest can range in length from one beat to infinite bars if the arranger so wants it to last that long.
Fermata: You can find a fermata over a note or a rest. When you see a fermata over a rest, for example, that means you should remain quiet until the director indicates that the fermata has ended. Basically, just hold a note or a rest for as long as the director wants. I know my choir director likes to be cruel and make you hold a high E for forty-five seconds as a joke lol.
COMING TO TERMS
Chapter One
This One Girl…
Her heart still racing from the fun she had outside, twelve-year-old Okuwaka Tsubomi lined up with the rest of her fifth grade class. She shook her head disdainfully as the geriatric recess staff struggled to round up some insubordinate fourth graders. An upperclassman should know better than to disobey recess staff. How will this look to the kindergarteners?
An early March breeze gently set Tsubomi's roseate locks aloft. Behind her, she heard a giggle, felt something — or someone — catch her hair. She turned to face her grinning friend, Suzuki George.
"Gah! You were playing in the dirt!" she protested. She jerked back, then cried out as George inadvertently held on.
"Gomenasai," he apologized, releasing her hair. "I was playing baseball with Sousuke-kun and Sato-kun and all them. Why didn't you join us?"
"Because I'm a lady, and ladies don't play baseball." Tsubomi turned her nose up and flipped a stray lock behind her shoulder — her most ladylike pose.
"Hitomi-chan played baseball with us."
"Well, then I guess she's not a lady."
"You're no fun," he teased.
"Am too," she retorted, bristling.
"Are not."
"Am too."
"Are not."
"Am too."
"Are too."
"Am not — wait…"
"Hah!"
---
Kusanagi-sensei stood patiently as all thirty students of her class rushed in noisily, laughing and squealing. Some of the more obedient students found their desks immediately and sat down. But most of the class just stood and chatted.
"Sit down, boys and girls," she ordered.
A few kids did as they were told.
Tsubomi rolled her golden eyes and turned in her seat impatiently. "C'mon, just sit down!"
Eventually everybody was seated. Some people glared at the pinkette. Some muttered insults, one among them being "bossy boots" (an insult she had been hearing since she was six).
Kusanagi-sensei quickly walked to her desk and retrieved three big envelopes.
"For those students who took the Astraea Hill entrance exams in December, your results are in. When I call you up, you may come up here to, uh, accept your envelope…Okay?...Okay…" An eyebrow raised curiously, Kusanagi-sensei turned the first envelope over. "Chiharu-san."
Tsubomi was practically on the edge of her chair. She herself took the exams just before Christmas break. Now she knew she had been accepted to one of the three schools. They wouldn't send a ginormous envelope just for a letter telling her she wasn't accepted, would they?
"Minako-san," Kusanagi-sensei called.
The pinkette watched as shy Minako made her way to the front. She fervently hoped she'd go to Spica. True, it wasn't the most prestigious school of the trio (Miator was), but it had something Miator didn't…So hung up on what Spica had over Miator was the wee fifth grader that she nearly missed it when Kusanagi-sensei called her name. Tsubomi leaped up, nearly tripping over her desk. Throwing a quick glare in the laughing George's direction, she pranced up to accept her envelope.
"I understand this is exciting," the teacher said dully, "but please do not tear up your envelopes in the middle of class. They will have to wait until later." She glanced meaningfully at Chiharu, who then ceased her tearing and looked down, ears red.
Minako pouted as she reluctantly pulled out her spelling book. "That's so mean of her," she whispered to Tsubomi and Chiharu.
"Yeah," Chiharu agreed sullenly.
Tsubomi shrugged. "I'm patient. I can wait to open my envelope."
But her fingers inched closer to the said envelope.
---
To say that Tsubomi was excited to get home was the understatement of the year, possibly even the millennium. She was so eager that she hopped on her bike, forgot to unlock it, and sent herself sprawling in the dirt, giving George another reason to laugh at her.
"Laugh, I nearly died," she growled as he helped her up.
"Don't you look so ladylike," he smirked.
"Shut up."
Tsubomi would get scolded tomorrow for skipping her crossing guard duty, but at the moment she plum forgot. She flew through the streets, probably pissing off some drivers, toward the simple suburbian house in which she, her parents, and her little sister Akiko lived. She didn't even bother braking as she came up the driveway. She just hopped off, the bike clattered on the pavement, and she stumbled, nearly falling. Tsubomi quickly glanced about. To her relief, nobody was around to see that. She couldn't take much more humiliation today.
"I'm ho-ome!" she cried, dashing inside. She threw down her backpack — an unusually careless gesture for Tsubomi — and flopped down on the couch.
"Aren't you bright and bushy-tailed," Mr. Okuwaka observed, grinding coffee beans for when Mrs. Okuwaka would get home from work.
"I got a response from Astraea Hill!" Tsubomi exclaimed, tearing open the envelope as Chiharu had hers.
"Really?" Mr. Okuwaka ceased his coffee grinding and loped into the living room. He was tall and heavy with neatly cropped fuchsia hair and topaz-colored eyes.
Nine-year-old Akiko arrived home then on her own bicycle. Coming into the house, she announced quizzically, "Oneechan, why weren't you frosting guard today?"
Tsubomi looked up in shock. "Oh, poo! I forgot!" She jumped up. "Should I run back there?"
"By the time you get back there everyone will have left," said Mr. Okuwaka. "And Akiko, Tsubomi is a crossing guard. There's no such thing as a frosting guard."
"There could be," Akiko insisted as Tsubomi pulled a letter from the envelope. She read it aloud.
"'Dear Okuwaka Tsubomi,'" she read, "'We thank you for showing interest in our Astraea Hill schools and for sending us your test scores. We are happy to inform you that you will be inducted into St. Spica's Class of 2012.' I GOT INTO SPICA! OH MY GOD!" she squealed. Both Akiko and Mr. Okuwaka checked their ears for blood.
Tsubomi jumped up and held her hands out to her sister. "High fives, Akiko!"
Akiko hesitantly slapped Tsubomi's hands.
"Do you know what this means?"
"That you're a dweeb?" Akiko suggested softly.
"Don't call me 'dweeb,' you scragglecat!"
"Read the rest of the letter," Mr. Okuwaka ordered.
With a huff, Tsubomi complied.
"'For more information about Spica, we suggest you log onto our website at w-w-w dot Spica Academy dot e-d-u. You may also check out the enclosed brochure. Also enclosed is a survey form; this is to match you up with a room mate in Strawberry Hall. On June 14th you are to come to Astraea Hill to register for classes. You may also take a tour of the campus. We wish you luck on your future endeavors at Astraea Hill. Congratulations. Sincerely, Minegishi Naomi, St. Spica Dean of Admissions.'"
Mr. Okuwaka clapped his hands together. "This is great, Tsubomi! We should celebrate! What would you like?"
"Coffee." The pinkette hadn't missed a beat.
Her father blinked. "Coffee?"
"Hai."
"But you hate coffee."
"I'm willing to give it another shot." Tsubomi was flipping through her Spica brochure. Her imminent future at this marvelous school left her breathless. "If I'm old enough to go to Astraea Hill, I'm old enough to drink coffee."
"Okay…" Laughing, Mr. Okuwaka added more beans to the grinder.
Tsubomi was still reading the brochure when Mrs. Okuwaka got home; her mother worked as a medical examiner. The last page featured a letter (most likely a form letter) signed by the Étoiles of Astraea Hill. There was a photograph of them — they both wore the Miator uniform, one of them had silver hair, the other had black hair. Tsubomi smirked; Spica's uniform looked so much better.
Usually Mr. and Mrs. Okuwaka took coffee together in the family room. This time Tsubomi joined them. Her mother looked confused.
"Since when do you drink coffee, Tsubomi?"
"Since I got accepted to Spica," the pinkette responded proudly.
"She wants to feel grown up," Mr. Okuwaka murmured to his wife. Then: "How is your coffee?"
Tsubomi scowled at the mug. "It's gross."
---
Because men weren't allowed on Astraea Hill's campus and Mrs. Okuwaka was busy at the lab, that left Grandma to take Tsubomi to register for classes.
"You went to boarding school, right, Grandma?" the pinkette inquired as they searched for the registration office. If the size of Astraea Hill's courtyard alone dazzled Tsubomi, the whole campus could make her faint.
"Hai. St. Catherine Academy in Saitima." Grandma sighed. "It was a fairly large school, though not like this. Tell you what, hun, you gotta be a serious walker to make it here."
"I can tell already." Tsubomi chuckled humorlessly, wincing at the pain burning in her arches.
"A school like this has its advantages, though," said Grandma. "At St. Catherine if you did something dumb the whole school found out about it like that. You'll fit in better here." She waved her brochure in front of her sweating face. "Damn it, where is that registration office?"
"I bet I could find it."
"I think we should ask somebody."
"But we could just as easily find it on our own."
Grandma didn't seem to hear her. She stopped a passing sister and got directions. Tsubomi frowned. Sure, it was easier to get directions, but she preferred trying something on her own before asking for help. That way made you more self-sufficient.
"So it's in the gymnasium," Grandma huffed, trudging along. "Like that makes any goddamn sense."
"Must be a lot of incoming first years."
"Must be…"
---
Both Grandma and Tsubomi were shocked by the two girls they found operating the sign-in table…Actually, Tsubomi was surprised by one of the girls, a jovial girl — much older than the pinkette — with long black hair down her back and sharp brown eyes. The other girl, apparently the brunette's best friend, had curly blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Welcome," said the brunette, smiling slightly. Her voice was deep and smooth as velvet. "What's your first name?"
"Okuwaka," Tsubomi responded softly.
The brunette consulted a binder laid out in front of her, murmuring, "'O'…'O'…'O'…" to herself. The pinkette noticed her shirt; it was black and said Are you down with Saintly Chorus? on it.
"Ah! Here we go!" The brunette looked right at Tsubomi, who froze awkwardly. "Your counselor's Keitase-san. Her table's on the farthest end, right by the locker room."
"You have it all figured out," Grandma chuckled conversationally.
"It just so happens we have the same counselor." The brunette was smiling at Tsubomi now. Tsubomi sensed that this elder girl had noticed her inexplicable freezing and was trying not to laugh. The pinkette tried to glare, but this seemed to amuse the brunette more; she disguised her laughing in a cough. "Erhuhuhum! Excuse me. Allergies, you know…Anyways, they assign counselors by alphabetical order. Keitase-san handles names M through O. My first name's Nanto."
"Amazing they have students running this thing," said Grandma.
For the first time Tsubomi took her eyes off this Nanto girl and glanced around. Indeed every station of registration seemed to be orchestrated by a student or two.
"It's part of being in the Key Club," Nanto nodded. "Key Club members are dedicated to community service, within and without school grounds. We operate several events, including the blood drive, drama festival, and — obviously — registration."
"You must be a very good student to participate."
The blonde girl coughed loudly.
"They have a certain standard, yes," Nanto said, rather sheepishly.
The blonde girl coughed even more loudly. Nanto glared at her.
"Okay, I just barely made the GPA requirement, Hikari," she retorted lightly, "but so did you."
"You don't see me ditching choir," the blonde, named Hikari, said quietly, giggling into her notebook.
Tsubomi frowned. Was Nanto really so reckless as to ditch classes?
"Well, we should be getting to the counselor, then," Grandma sighed, pulling Tsubomi along. "Have a nice day."
Nanto snorted. "Riiight…You guys have a good day, too." She looked at Tsubomi again, that same laughing flash in her brown eyes.
---
"Hello, there. I'm Keitase-san," a middle-aged woman with a laptop smiled.
"Oku — gyuhh, Okuwaka Tsubomi," the pinkette responded, her tongue tripping over her name. She and Grandma bowed, then seated themselves before the counselor. Keitase-san made small talk whilst her fingers trickled lightly over the keyboard — entering Tsubomi's basic information: date of birth, home address, and all that.
"Alrighty, now to create your schedule," Keitase-san said at last. She leaned her elbows on the table, her aged skin puddling on the oak. "As a first year, you don't have many options for electives, because you have to fulfill your core credits primarily. By default, you'll be enrolled in Literature 101 and Effective Writing, both of which are semester-long courses." She looked at Tsubomi. "Which would you like to take first semester?"
"Erm...what?" The pinkette's eyes had drifted toward the brunette at the sign-in table on their own accord. "Umm...Literature 101...?"
Keitase-san nodded and typed something. Then she referenced another window and said, "Your teacher recommended you for Modern World History, Geometry, and Honors Biology."
"Tsubomi's very good at math and science," Grandma nodded.
"Would you like to take those courses?"
"Hai," Tsubomi responded absently.
Keitase-san typed some more. Then: "Foreign language — French I...Okay," she sighed, leaning back. "You have one period open for an elective. What would you like to take?"
Tsubomi had to tear her gaze from Nanto, who was grinning and joking with Hikari. "Uhh...What're my options?"
"Well..." The counselor considered. "Do you like to draw? There's several open seats in the Drawing Media class."
"Mmm..." The pinkette wondered if Nanto could draw. What electives was the reckless brunette who ditched classes involved in? There was something glaringly obvious that Tsubomi was missing... "Nah. I can't draw."
"What about music? There's band, music technology..."
"Tsubomi sings in church choir," Grandma supplied.
"Would you like to be in Saintly Chorus?" Keitase-san asked the pinkette.
Are you down with Saintly Chorus? For the first time Tsubomi noticed the back of Nanto's shirt. It said: Alto I. Tsubomi smiled; she also sang alto.
"Yes." She was down with Saintly Chorus.
The counselor printed Tsubomi's schedule, the pinkette got photos taken for her ID and the yearbook, Grandma submitted Mr. Okuwaka's check to cover fees, and they were done. As they passed the sign-in table on their way out the blonde, Hikari, inquired, "Which elective did you sign up for?"
"Uh!" Tsubomi stopped so abruptly she nearly tripped. Nanto smirked. Righting herself, the pinkette's fingers fumbled clumsily with her schedule. All of a sudden she couldn't remember what elective she was taking.
"Cuh-cuh-choir," she stuttered. Nanto's grin broadened.
"Oh! Just like us," Hikari smiled. Tsubomi noticed her shirt — it was white and depicted a four-beat rest on a staff with a fermata over the rest. Under the staff it said: Shut Up. "You'll like Takahashi-sensei. Just don't be late to class — that really gets under her skin."
"T-Takahashi?"
"The choir director." The way Nanto said that was suggestive of Tsubomi being a retard. She blushed profusely, forgetting to glare.
"Well, we'll see you in choir class, then," Hikari sighed happily. "By the way, I'm Konohana Hikari and this is Nanto Yaya."
"Charmed," Yaya said dully, focusing her brown eyes on a knot in the table wood.
"I'm, uh, Okuwaka Tsubomi." Yaya — what an unusual name, she thought, but it's pretty nice. She was only hoping to get one last shot of Yaya's hypnotic glance, and her hopes weren't in vain. Yaya looked at Tsubomi one last time as she left, causing the poor girl to trip and fall flat on her face.
"Oi, oi, you're so clumsy today," Grandma observed, helping her up.
---
The next couple weeks were unusually stressful, and not necessarily stressful in a bad way. First Tsubomi got her room assignment via mail. Her disappointment at having to live in a single dorm was quickly brushed aside in favor of anticipation for school. Then she was mailed her uniform: a white skirt, blue polo, brown bowtie, and a beige sweater with the Spica coat of arms on the breast. She was so excited to have the proud uniform right there that she wore it around the house until Mr. Okuwaka put the kibosh on that. She couldn't wait to attend Spica as a full-time student...though she knew it was no longer because of school spirit anymore so much as something else...
The only negative source of stress these days was George, who had grown unusually sullen.
"So I said, 'If Elvis were actually alive he would've certainly died during the autopsy,'" Tsubomi giggled as the two of them threw skipping stones out on a lake at a park. When George didn't laugh, she turned to see him staring at his stone. "Hey, guy...? What's wrong?"
He looked up at her, tears of anger glittering in his blue eyes. "You're abandoning me," he choked.
The pinkette blinked, then set down her stone. "Abandoning...?"
He nodded, sheepishly wiping away his tears with his fists. "You're going away to Spica, and leaving me here." He said 'Spica' in a cruel tone of voice which put Tsubomi on her defensive.
"George-kun, you knew since I took the exams in December that I'd be going away."
George stared sadly out at the lake, unable to meet his best friend's gaze. "I...I..." His cheeks reddened. "I was sort of hoping...you'd fail the exams," he admitted guiltily. "Then you'd stay here and we'd go to middle school together." He looked at Tsubomi and his tears rolled unchecked down his cheeks. "I don't know how I'm gonna make it through without you."
"I'll miss you, too," Tsubomi sighed. She realized that with all her excitement for Spica she'd failed to notice how sad it was making George. Now she felt like a real jerk. She pulled out her handkerchief (it's ladylike to carry one, after all) and mopped away his tears. "But we can stay in contact. Write letters...Do you have access to the Internet? My parents are giving me a laptop with wireless connection to take with me to Astraea Hill. We could email each other. And I can visit you during the holidays."
This seemed to brighten his mood a little. "I'd like that," he nodded.
"Good." She smiled, withdrawing her handkerchief once she saw George had stopped crying.
He looked down shyly, and she noticed him making his hand into a fist. She could understand him being frustrated.
"Tsubomi-chan," he blurted loudly, almost urgently.
"Yeah?"
"I...kind of want to tell you something."
"Okay," she nodded, leaning forward. He seemed surprised by this gesture, then smiled, blushing a little.
"I, uh, I...I like you, Tsubomi. A lot," he added more confidently. "I just wanted to tell you before you go...And I wanted to do this..."
Tsubomi gave a startled squeak as George kissed her on the cheek. She froze as he hesitated a bit before withdrawing hastily. His face was as red as a tomato. He seemed to want to say something. Instead he turned tail and ran away, hiding his face in his hands.
Yep, that's chapter one (my mind's not all here today).
If you liked it leave a review ^^
NEXT CHAPTER: Tsubomi's singing isn't quite up to par with the other choir members. So she gets some private lessons from Yaya-senpai lol.