Here we are! The Chronicles of Scout-Chan, chapter one!
Writing the opening chapter was exciting! But it also marks the start of what is probably going to be one of my longest projects! Ha! But hopefully, I'll gain interest along the way! Any feedback you guys give me will DEFINITELY help keep me motivated!
There will be a fair amount of references to Japanese culture, including using Japanese phrases in English sentences, and a HUGE bunch of anime sterotypes, especially from the magical girl genre. Please note; this is meant to be a work of satire, so try not to take it too seriously! I was NOT intending to be racist or offensive (in a serious way) when writing this!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy chapter one!
It was early morning in the happy and peaceful town of Suijin, and it so happened to be the first day of a new semester for the students of the local high school.
Scout-chan, however, was oblivious to it. After her alarm clock had gone off for the fifth time that morning, the young school girl felt the only necessary step was to take that noisy piece of junk and throw it at a wall.
Not too long after that, her mother poked her head around the door, having heard the loud crash. The smell of breakfast wafted through Scout's room as she tiptoed in, apron on and spatula in hand. "Scout-chan! Wake up! Or you'll be late for school." When she didn't get a reply, the woman traipsed in, letting out a huge sigh. "Scout-chan!"
"Mmph... five more minutes, Ma..." The lump under the blankets shifted slightly, Scout's voice coming out as muffled.
"Scout-chan!" Her tone was jovial, but had an edge to it that made her irritation fairly clear. "I said, get up, now, dear!"
There was no response from Scout except for a grumble.
A large red vain appeared over her mother's head, tightening the fist that held the spatula. Try as she might, she couldn't her Scout to wake up and leave; so now, she'd have to make her lazy daughter get up... by force! "Grr... You better get up... right... NOW!" She leapt forward and in a flash, smacked the lump with the metal of the spatula, hard!
"OW!"
"Up you get! Up, up, UP!" With each yell, she brought it down, harder, slapping her daughter without any mercy. "Come on, you lazy girl! You're already an underachiever! Don't start off this year the same way! How you even passed the entrance exam is beyond me!"
"Alright, alright! I'm gettin' up!" Scout-chan flung the bed sheet off of herself, rubbing her eyes and giving her mother a tired glare. She got out of bed, and stretched, grumbling under her breath as she moved her messy bed-hair out of her eyes. "What time even IS it...?"
Her mom didn't reply, only offering Scout the clock that she'd picked up off the floor. Scout-chan took it from her, staring down at the cracked face to check the time, "...AH! HOLY CRAP, I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"
In a flash, she was pushing past her mother to get to the bathroom, practically a blur. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"
"I tried..." Ma rolled her eyes, straightening her hair as she walked down the flight of stairs. "Be sure to grab some breakfast before you make your way out!"
After getting washed up, out of her purple Crit-O-Cola pyjamas and into her school uniform, Scout-chan took the time to do up her hair before running down the stairs, adorable little school bag in hand. "Gonna be late, gonna be SO freakin' late!"
She bustled into the kitchen, snatched up a piece of toast, and shoved it into her face, keeping it between her teeth as she got to the doorway, tossed off her slippers and changed into a pair of shoes.
"Have a good day!" Scout's Ma cheerfully called out, waving her daughter out the door.
"Ittekimasu!"
The door slammed behind her, and off she went. Petals from the pastel pink trees overhead blew through the wind, the grey concrete of the side-walk speckled with them. Spring was in the air, that much was clear. The sakura petals were freakin' everywhere!
The last bite of toast was finished, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. As she ran down the street, soft, girlish music began to play, and an inner monologue narrated by Scout began...
"Konichiwa! The name's Scout-chan! I'm just a normal high school student- I'm lazier than most girls my age, and kind of a dumbass when it comes to acadmemical stuff, but I'm good at sports and adorable as fuck. Hell, just look at me- look at my skirt, I rock this goddamn skirt. Yeah!"
"What the fuck?" Scout turned on the spot after coming to a halt, looking around the area, confusedly. Was she hearing voices now? She must not have woken up, properly.
"Today is the day, though! The day of new beginnings, changes. The sakura petals are in bloom... I hope I find true love this year, too..."
"HEY!" Scout yelled to no one, blushing furiously. "Shut up! That's- ...Who's even TALKING, anyway?!"
When she got no reply, and realized that standing around was going to make her even MORE late for school, she jumped a foot in the air, and rushed off in the direction of the building.
–
"Phew... I made it..." Scout doubled over, catching her breath.
"Scout-chan!"
Scout heard a familiar voice, and stood up to full height. At the gate she saw her best friend, Soldier, stood on her tippy-toes and waving excitedly.
"Ohayou, Solly-chan!" She called back, running to her side, grinning. "Did'ya have a good spring break?"
"I sure did, maggot!" The pair of girls turned and began walking to the entrance. "This time'a year's always fun when Uncle Merasmus comes to stay- he's pretty kooky, though. Kept babbling about some kind of a zombie uprising!"
"Oh, back from his trip, huh?" Scout looked at her friend, raising an eyebrow at that news. Wait, zombie uprising...?
"For now- but he'll be off again, soon. Says he needs to check up on the place, just in case it became some sort of a raccoon wildlife preserve in his absence! Crazy old geezer!"
"Eheh... well, you do adopt a lot of them..." Scout almost considered her uncle's worries to be legitimate with all the vermin she managed to pick up from the side of the road... "Uh, nice to know the ojii-san is doin' well, though."
"What about you?" Whilst she spoke, Soldier opened up her school bag, pulling out an apple and taking a bite out of it.
"Me? Uh, well, ya know, my bros came to stay- all seven of 'em. Bet you can imagine that the place was pretty busy!" Scout laughed. "But, it was nice to see 'em all again. Felt a lot more like home with the whole family crammed into our lil' house."
"I would some day like to have the honour of meeting your older brothers, Scout-chan!" Solly-chan insisted, spraying food everywhere as she spoke.
"I'm sure I could arrange t- wait, why? Solly, you're not about to try and date one of my brothers, are ya?!"
Solly patted her on the back (with enough force to nearly knock her over). "Why, of course! College boys are dreamy! AHAHA!"
A white sweatdrop dripped down the back of Scout's head. "Solly-chaaan..." The was a moment of silence and then... the bell rang. Scout gasped, and yelled over the familiar chimes "Oh yeah, school! C'mon, Solly, we can talk later- we can't be late for assembly!" Without hesitating, she grabbed her larger friend by the wrist, dragging her through the large double doors of the school, and to the entrance hall, hoping against hope that they'd make it in time...!
"Woah, hey! Take it easy!" Soldier cried. She let out a yell when the apple fell out from her hand, and rolled across the floor. "Scout-chan! You made me waste a good piece'a food! You better pay me back for that!"
Not too far away from the scene, unbeknownst to the both of them, a small squirrel ran down the bark of a cherry blossom tree, over to the apple, inspecting it, curiously. It took a moment or two to nibble on the snack that had been dropped, before speeding off into the building after them before the doors shut.
"Oh, thank god."
Luck seemed to be on her side, today- once she'd gotten Solly-chan to stop loudly complaining about her dropped food, the two girls managed to sneak into a large group of students bustling their way into the entrance hall, grabbing a seat and sitting down.
The place was buzzing as the hundreds of boys and girls that had gathered into the room sat and chatted. Scout eyed around the place, relaxing in her seat- Soldier had gotten out a bento box and was sneakily trying to munch on some early lunch before she was spotted.
"Settle down!"
A voice was heard over the din, and immediately, everyone in the hall was silenced. Solly quickly stuffed her food back in her bag, for even she feared the wrath of the woman who stood in front of them all.
The principal, Administrator-sensei, also known as Helen by other members of staff, stood centre stage. Administrator wore a purple suit jacket, a skirt and heels. She held her gaze on each of the students with a watchful eye, making absolutely sure that everyone was paying her the utmost attention. "Thank you; welcome back, students. Welcome back to Suijin Academy." She was poised and stood with the utmost confidence- it was clear that she'd delivered this same speech for a number of years. "Whether it's in academics, the creative arts, or physical fitness, Suijin Academy strives for its students to be the BEST!"
Scout stifled a yawn as the older woman continued, wanting nothing more than to be back in bed right at this moment. Before she could doze off again, she felt a tug on her sleeve. "Hm?"
"Who's that, Scout-chan?"
Scout looked to where Soldier was pointing, and noticed who she meant- a girl sat a few seats away from them in the row in front. Her long black hair was tied into pigtails- she was quietly observing Administrator-sensei as she spoke.
Scout took a moment or two to stare at her. "No idea. Is she new?"
Then, she turned around. The black haired student was wearing yellow tinted glasses, and the eyes behind them were glaring at Scout-chan, suspiciously, almost as if she knew that Scout had been watching and gossiping about her.
Scout flushed, and quickly looked in another direction, not so subtly trying to make it look like she hadn't been watching her. By the time she glanced back, the mysterious student had gone back to staring up at the stage.
Whomever she was, she seemed rather strange...
"Now, I would like to introduce you to a new teacher that's joined our ranks, this year." Sidestepping, and letting the newcomer walk to the front of the stage, Helen motioned an arm to the man in question.
"Thank you, very much." The teacher's voice was strongly accented- french, by what Scout-chan could tell, and when he spoke and smiled, there was a chorus of sighs and giggles from a fair few of the female students. "It's very nice to meet you all- I am Spy-sensei." He politely bowed. "I do hope we share a good year together."
Scout didn't say a word; too captivated was she by this new teacher. In her mind, there seemed to be a glowing aura around this man, sparkles and roses and soft, romantic music playing faintly as she kept watching him. Her hands rose to her cheeks, which were burning red, and she grinned.
Cupid's arrow had struck a bull's eye!
Solly didn't seem to share Scout's opinion, though. She leant over to Scout, and muttered "Why do we have a frog for a teacher, this year?"
"You didn't have to hit me!" Solly whined, nursing the large bump on the back of her head as the students filed out of the entrance hall. "What's your problem, Scout-chan?"
"How could ya say that about our new teacher, Solly-chan?!" Scout cried, folding her arms and glaring at her, accusingly. "Don't you got any respect for your elders, or nothin'?!"
"EH? ...Since when did YOU respect your elders?!" Soldier demanded, hands on her hips. "You never had a problem with me calling Demo-sensei a skirt twirling drunk or anything like that before!"
"Oi, I 'eard that, lassie!" Demo called, walking past and smacking Solly on the back of the head with a notebook. "Learn ta'respect yer elders, would ye?!"
"OW!" The bump grew in size, and Solly-chan winced, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "Goddamn, non-american sons of-! HEY! Scout-chan, wait up!"
Once she was at the other girl's side, Scout-chan continued berating her. "You're never gonna find a boyfriend if ya gonna act like that, Solly! Guys don't think girls who are loud and brutish and sloppy are cute!"
Soldier stopped dead- that had hurt! "NANI?! Why did you have to go there, Scout-chan? What's your beef?!"
Scout said nothing, but continued to stomp down the hall, her face starting to go red. "Just hurry up- we're gonna be late for Spy-sensei's first class!"
As they made their way down the hall, the pair were too busy arguing to notice that they were, in fact, being watched. A tiny pair of eyes peeked from around the corner, blinking, small nose and bushy tail twitching.
"It's her..." The squirrel whispered to itself, softly. "I had to take time to make sure, but it's definitely her. The chosen one."
Turning back around and leaning up against the wall, the rodent looked down, fiddling with the small tie around it's neck, and the golden charm that was attached to it. "The Magical Mercenary; Scout-chan."