Chapter One
Come Hell or High Water
"Ohh... sh-t!" I murmured, staring at myself in a mirror. I had forgotten momentarily that Japan schools have uniforms- I was wearing a long blue skirt and long-sleeved jacket over a white shirt. I despised skirts, but luckily, I had gotten the last long skirt in my size.
"Ohayou!" A lady that worked at the front desk smiled. "Here's your schedule. Head to the student council room in a few minutes so that someone can show you around."
"Thanks." I was going to head to the student council room immediately, if I didn't see a cluster of boys around a single boy.
"Hey, whitey, who you lookin' for? Punk, get out of our school!" One guy cried angrily at a boy, who was sitting on the ground. Surprisingly, he had white hair and black roots, and looked younger than the boy, who seemed to be the leader of the crew, who was yelling at him. The two other boys had gotten a bucket, filled with something that I couldn't define from my view, were heading to white-head. The older boy was kicking at white-head, keeping him down so he couldn't fight back or run away. Oddly, though, he didn't look as though he wanted to do either, his expression was blank.
I couldn't just stand there! I ran over to the older boy, and pushed him, sending him flying into his buddies. The bucket flew out of their hands, and, of course, the mystery gunk inside of the bucket landed on me, the bucket knocking me on the head before landing beside me. In the process of helping white-head, I had fallen to my knees, and was now shivering. The gunk was sticky and cold, and it was all over me. Parting my hair that was now in my face, I stood up quickly and ran away, hoping that white-head didn't see me and the bullies didn't continue to abuse whitey.
I hurried back to the room where I had gotten my uniform, and, remorsefully grasped a new one. Of course, this one had a mini skirt, the one piece of clothing I despised, and feared greatly on my coming to Japan. Cleaning myself up a bit, I put on my new uniform and headed quickly to the student council room. Damm-t! My first day, and I'm already late!
Gasping, I opened the student council room. Only one member was still there- he had silver hair, and pale white skin. He was cute, but he seemed frusterated. Probably with me, I thought miserably.
Suddenly, fear overwhelmed me. If I told him my name was Cayla, he would notice that I'm not from here. I took a deep breath, thought quickly, and called out to him. "Hello?"
The boy turned around, smiling. "Hello. You must be the new student. I'm Yuki Sohma." Yuki bowed to me, and I quickly bowed in return.
"I'm Chiya Kamida." The name felt odd on my tongue, but the lie had begun. There was no turning back now.
"Kamida-san, welcome to our high school. Come, I'll shw you around." Yuki showed me my possible classrooms, which were far larger than my American classes- those held about thirty, at most, while these classes held thirty, at least. He also showed me the home economics class, which I never had in America, and the lunch room. The food smelt delicious, yet foreign. "Gym class is outside. I hope you enjoy running." Yuki laughed.
"Eh." I shrugged. "Thanks for showing me the school." I smiled.
"Of course! I would head to your homeroom now, school will start soon." Yuki waved before heading off.
Glancing at my schedule, my homeroom class was 1-D. My schedule, except for home ec, didn't show the other classroom numbers. Confused, I just decided to play along. I walked quickly to my classroom, and sat in the far corner. I was feeling uncomfortably shy. I could feel my heart pounding. The bell rang, startling me, and students began to pour into the room. Checking my schedule, I mentally noted that Japanese Language was first, and Math was second. Math I was looking forward to... Japanese Language? Not so much.
Japanese Language was slow, seeing as the writing of the language was symbols, which I had never done before. English was my first language and Spanish was my second, but despite my foreign language knowledge, Japanese was severely different from both, and very hard, since I had next to no prior knowledge except for "konnichiwa." Math and English went by quickly, seeing as those two subjects were my best in America. Biology was alright. Only then did I realize that, for three hours- three classes- I had stayed in the same classroom, with the same students. Rather, it was the teachers that moved from classroom to classroom. Lunch was afterwards, which I was dreading.
Heading to lunch, not a soul spoke to me. I didn't really mind, though, since I was foreign. Could they tell? Did it show? I skipped the lunch line, ym anxiety making my stomach churn, and veered away from where the students seemed to throng. Though I wanted to make new friends, I felt embarassed, I felt as though everyone could tell I was a foreigner, so they avoided me. But could any nation truly hate foreigners like that?
I tried to work on my Japanese Language homework, but struggled to the point that I was on the verge of tears. I packed my Japanese Language homework into my bag, and placed my head on the table. The table was cool, refreshing to my flushed face. Squeezing my eyes shut, I was mentally begging myself not to start crying.
"Uhm, excuse me?" A soft voice asked, prodding me gently on the shoulder.
My head shot up, and my body jerked with it. My sudden reaction seemed to startle the girl, as she bowed several times and seemed quite frantic.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! I was just wondering if you were alright and why you were sitting all alone and..." She trailed off, then blushed ferociously, bowing again. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tohru Honda."
I smiled. "I know, you're in my class."
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! Oh, now I feel like a fool, not remembering your name, and not greeting you right away." Tohru's emotions were never far from the surface, and she instantly seemed crestfallen.
"You're not a fool." I contradicted, feeling odd since I was sitting and she was standing. "I'm Chiya Kamida."
"Chiya-san, won't you come and sit with me and my friends? I'm sure they'll all be glad to meet you!" Tohru exclaimed smiling, waiting.
I blinked and faltered. A chance to make friends! Unsure still of my foreignty, I ignored the claws attempting feverously to pull me into isolation. "I'd love to!" I grasped my bag and followed Tohru to a table not far from my own. All of the kids there were in my class, but knew the name of only one- Yuki Sohma, the boy who had shown me around the school.
"That's Kyo Sohma-kun, Yuki Sohma-kun, Saki Hanajima-chan, and Arisa Uotani-chan." Tohru smiled, finished with introductions.
"Nice to see you again, Kamida-san." Yuki smiled, patting to seat between him and Tohru.
"Thanks," I nodded toward the chair, and sat down. "You, too."
"Yo, Chiya, aren't you in our class?" Kyo asked.
"Obviously, Orangey." Arisa turned to me. "Nice to meet ya, you can call me Uo. That's Hana."
"They're the yankee and freak of our school." Kyo spat. "Besides that d-mn rat, Yuki."
"Shut up, you stupid cat." Yuki snapped in his quiet tone.
"You wanna go?" Kyo antagonized, standing up.
"P-please don't-" Tohru pleaded.
"Yo! You two, chill. Jeex, you'd think that if a new doll came to join us, you two would be a bit more kind for a little while!" Uo exclaimed.
"I thought that girls were flowers, not dolls?" Kyo grumbled, sitting down.
"Kamida-san, pay no attention to Kyo over there." Yuki turned to me. "What part of the district do you live in?"
"Uhh, near here... I, uh, don't know the name, though. Still too new with the area." I hated lying, and I hated liars, so, consequently, I hated myself. So why couldn't I stop? Why did the words fall so easily from my mouth, then burn my ears with disgrace?
"Well, once you know, let us know!" Uo exclaimed, winking at me.
"Yes, that way... we can raid your refrigerator." Hana murmured in her emotionless tone.
"Off to class!" Tohru exclaimed as she popped up in unison with the bell ringing.
The day crawled by faster than I expected- the worst of the classes were over. I waved goodbye to my supposedly new friends, and left school. I'm not sure where I was headed, since I had no place to stay at, here in Japan. My home is back in America. Now where do I stay?
Since I had no home, I decided to just walk around. Japan was beautiful in the springtime- the sakura's- cherry blossoms, were in full bloom. They made my heart swell with warm emotion.
-Yuki's POV-
"She pushed Ruu like he was nothing! She's my hero." Haru murmured. His voice was emotionless, but his eyes were sparkling.
"What did she look like? Did you get a name?" I asked. Hatsuharu was telling me about how a girl, a stranger, had helped him when he was getting bullied as he came to visit me. He was often made fun of because of his black and white hair, and no one believed us when we said it was his natural hair. How could we tell them it was because he was the cow of the zodiac?
"I didn't get a name, she just quickly ran away afterward." Haru shook his head. "I couldn't even thank her. All I noticed was that she had short hair."
"Really..?" Suddenly, Kamida-san's face came to mind. She said she had gotten into a sticky situation, as her reason for being late to the student council room. Would she help a stranger? I couldn't know for sure.
"She looked cute, even with slime on her." Haru stated, then looked away nervously. Did he think I was going to tell Rin?
"But nothing to my beautiful Rin. A piee of dirt on the sidewalk." Haru kicked at a sandpile, then stopped. We were in front of the Sohma main estate gate.
"That's not nice." I murmured. It had to be Chiya he was talking about, she was the kind of shy girl to run away. She also had short brown hair, and it made sense since she was late. "What if you met this girl? 'Thanks for taking my serving of goo, but you're as ugly as dirt.'" I shook my head, ready to leave Hatsuharu with his stupid obsession with Rin. Being with Shigure would be better than this.
"I said she was cute, just... nothing compared to Rin." Haru countered.
"You can't compare girls to Rin. Rin isn't the only girl in the world." I sighed, and started walking. "I'm heading to Shigure's, I'll see you later."
Haru waved, then headed into the Main Estate.
-Chiya's POV-
The night was long, and now I was mentally and physically exhausted. But, now it's morning, and school would start in an hour or so. I was going to use the school's shower and washer machine.
...With my morning ritual started, I left for class. As I was about to walk in, Tohru popped out. "Tohru!"
"Chiya-chan!" Tohru cried happily. "What're you doing here so early?"
Suddenly, a great weight overwhelmed me. Another lie, another lie. No, I can't tell another lie. My face flushed red, and I swallowed hard. Tohru tilted her head to the side, confused. "Chiya-chan?"
Crap. "Uhh.. Well, it's kind of a long story..." Did Tohru care to know?
"Is something wrong? You can tell me!" Tohru exclaimed, her confusion turned to worry.
"I'm... not from Japan. I'm from America. So I don't have a place to stay, so I just came to school because I have nothing else to do." I shrugged. My secret was out. But could I trust Tohru, right?
"America? B-but, you name! A-and you're homeless? But your parents?" Tohru stammered.
I sighed. "An alias. And yeah, I'm homeless. That's what I get for running away from home."
"No! I'll find you a place to stay! Just give me a few days!" Tohru declared, determined.
"No, Tohru, that's fine-"
"I will! I promise!"
"Honda-san, Kamida-san, good morning." Yuki smiled.
"Yuki-kun! Good morning!" Tohru bowed. "How was the student council meeting?"
"Good, thanks."
My head throbbed in tune with my aching heart. I brushed past Yuki and Tohru into the classroom, and then they followed. I took my seat, blushing, and Yuki sat next to me.
-Tohru's POV-
"Yuki-kun, what if you knew something that was supposed to be a secret, but involves someone's well being?" I asked, walking between Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun to Shigure-san's.
"You should tell someone." Yuki-kun nodded.
Kyo-kun merely scowled.
"Why? Is someone in trouble?" Yuki-kun asked.
I promise!
Oh, why did I make such a large promise? A promise, I'm not even sure I can fulfill? We walked into Shigure-san's, and I headed quickly to Shigure-san. "Shigure-san?" I asked, unable to control my shaking voice.
"Tohru-kun?" Shigure-san mocked my questioning tone.
"My friend doesn't have a place to stay and I was hoping, since I have a big bedroom, that she could stay here? I-I mean if Akito-san approves!" I stumbled over my words.
"Well, who is this 'friend?'" Shigure-san asked, Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun within listening distance.
"Chiya Kamida-chan." I whispered. Would she be mad at me for giving her name? She has to be able to live here!
"Ooo, a second flower! I'd love to have her here!" Shigure grasped his jacket and headed for the door.
"Ehh? Where are you going?" I cried, following him.
"To ask Akito." Shigure answered, before disappearing.
-Chiya's POV-
The trees were covered in sakura blossoms, beautiful, even in the dark. The trees themselves were what frightened me, what with their long arm-like branches, and bony-fingers pointing toward the sky. The tree trunk was shadowed, the blossoms lightened by the moon. The pain of the fingernails they were, and the only reason I didn't hide at night.
The stores, however, were dark and empty, the whole street giving off an eerie, ominous feeling. Nobody else was outside, of course, the sane people were sleeping. Others would be working closer to the center of the city... However this is a town, and most people had the same work schedule. Everything was silent, except for my footsteps. I ganced up at the sky, staring at the moon, the only other thing alone as me.
"Chiya-chan, spectacular news! You can stay with the Sohma's and I!" Tohru exclaimed happily.
"W-what?" Horror seeped through me. Sohma? This is terrible! All I owned was my school uniform!
"Yes! You and I can cook together, clean together, shop together! Plus, Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun will be there, too! You'll get to meet Shigure-san, and all the other Sohma's! They're splendid, I promise!" Tohru semed so happy...
"Tohru, I'm so happy. But... I don't own anything except for my school uniform!" If I told her my runaway secret, I guess I could tell her anything.
"That's okay. Hana or I could probably find something will fit you." Uo wrapped her arm around my shoulder as she was speaking.
"That's too much!" I waved my hands in rejection.
"No, it's the least we could do. 'Sides, you won't want to wear your school uniform all the time." Uo shrugged.
"Do you enjoy black?" Hana asked.
"Hanajima-san, Uotani-san, Jonda-san, Kamida-san, in class!" The teacher called, sending us scurrying into the classroom, taking our usual seats.
"Welcome to the Sohma family, Kamida-san!" Yuki said, leaning toward me.
"T-thanks, Yuki-k-kun." I stammered, trying out the tag.
He merely smiled in return.
"Won't you eat lunch?" Yuki asked me.
"It's good." Tohru reassured me.
My face turned tomato red. "I'll pass." I whispered.
Suddenly, food was in my mouth, chopsticks sticking out, Kyo sitting right next to me.
I choked down the food, and quickly whiped my mouth. "K-Kyo!" My face turned brighter. Kyo and I never really talked, so I was startled that he had rammed food down my throat.
"Stupid cat, she could've choked. Learn to be gentler with women." Yuki narrowed his eyes.
"She better get used to me." Kyo snorted.
The food had tasted good, though it was forced, and I didn't know what it was called. Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru, were my new house members. In a matter of hours, I'd be living with them for.. who knows how long.
"You can come to my place first, then head to the Prince's place." Uo shrugged.
"Prince?" Never heard that nickname before...
"Prince Yuki. He has his own fan club, you know." Uo nodded toward Yuki.
"Don't mention that to her." Yuki looked at the table.
I smiled, even though my stomach was full of butterflies.
"Are you happy?" Tohru asked, as Hana, Uo, herself and myself headed for Uo's.
"I just feel... like Uo is too much. But... I am happy to go and live with you and the Sohma's." My heart fluttered, though. I had to remember that it was not my rightful place. I set myself a goal: to get a job and earn enough money so I could get my own place and no longer be a burden to the Sohmas!
"How about this?" Uo held out an outfit of red and black, while Hana held out an outfit of black and white. Only now had I begun to realize what a gift my jeans were, and how much I was going to long for them over the years. But, of all the mini skirts I had seen, these were by far the best.
"They're both very cute." I nodded, before both outfits were thrusted towards me.
"Take it!" Uo exclaimed, searching yet again through her closet.
"You have wonderful taste." Hana commented.
By the end of Uo's search, I had recieved five new outfits. This would by far get me through the week, and sent me deep down into Uo's eternal gratitude.
"Thank you, Uo, again!" I cried, as she literally pushed me out the door.
"Don't mention it. Now you two, get out of here!" Hana and Uo waved at us from Uo's door. Now, off to the Sohma's, Tohru and I headed off.
The walk was majorily silent, though I could tell Tohru was trying to find something to say from her occasionally opening her mouth, to her suddenly blushing. I didn't mind the silence, though, I was actually quite used to it. The one time I could let my thoughts over take me, as if I were alone.
"This way!" Tohru led through the forest, down a path, and, miracuously found the house. I felt my face flush- it was larger than my house, and far more beautiful.
Tohru took off her shoes and slipped into the house. "We're home!" Tohru giggled, as if the thought of saying 'we' amused her. Did she never come home with Kyo or Yuki?
Sliding off my own shoes, I followed Tohru inside. Tohru led me upstairs to our room, so i could drop my large load of clothing. "Blah! I'll fold those later." Lazy and a procrastinator.
"Yuki-kun? Kyo-kun? Shi-" Tohru was calling off the boys' names, as Yuki slid into view.
"Kamida-san! Welcome!" Yuki smiled warmly at me before saying hello to Tohru, as well.
I should have said something like: "Thank you for letting me live in your house," or, "What a beautiful house you have!" or even, "It's good to see you again, Yuki-kun." But, no, although a dozen different phrases came to mind, I could only smile and blush, and not say a word.
"Where are Shigure-san and Kyo-kun?" Tohru asked.
"Shigure is out getting groceries. He figured that since you were coming home late, he'd postpone being lazy and worthless for a little while and actually do something helpful. That stupid cat is out doing something stupid, though I don't know what." Yuki stuck his nose in the air, as if merely talking about Kyo was enough to put him in a bad mood. Why did they dislike each other so much?
Tohru flinched after Yuki explained. "N-now, Shigure-san isn't worthless, and Kyo-kun isn't stupid!" Tohru seemed to have a kinder rapport with Shigure and Kyo than Yuki did. But, then again, Yuki was related to them...
"I'm ho-ome!" Someone sung.
"Welcome home, Shigure-san!" Tohru cried, as she raced downstairs to greet him.
Yuki turned to me. "Brace yourself. It's time to meet Shigure."
I smiled, and headed downstairs. Though Yuki seemed quite serious, I couldn't help but find it funny. I stopped, though, at the end of the stairs. Shigure was younger than I thought he would be- and just as attractive as Yuki or Kyo. Kyo, who had also come in with Shigure, was giving me evil daggers. His glare forced me to blush, and my need to disppear came along with it, so I stepped into the corner of the front wall of the house that met the wall of the stairs. The shadows brought nominal comfort.
Yuki, noticing my bizarre reaction, turned toward Kyo, and smacked him across the face. "Will you stop that? You're making Kamida-san feel uncomfortable." Though his words were meant to appease me, Yuki only made me feel words. I had started a commotion.
"She should feel uncomfortable- she's not wanted here, she's an outsider." Kyo scowled. Though I had told myself that those words were true, they still bore scars into my heart.
"Kyo-kun, don't say those things!" Tohru cried.
"Don't you dare be so rude to Kamida-san. Remember that you are far more unwanted than she is." Yuki snapped, right in Kyo's face.
"I haven't even met her yet!" Shigure whined.
Yuki grasped my hand, and pulled me forward. "This is Chiya Kamida-san." He smiled at me.
"Hiding in the shadows, are we? Well, no need to hide, I'm Shigure Sohma! I'm so happy to take yet another beauti-" Before Shigure could finish, both Yuki and Kyo smacked him in the back of the head. My hands flew to cover my mouth in shock. What was he going to say that was so bad?