Meet the New Girl

"Rise! Stand! Bow! Sit!"

Ashitaka "Ashi" Emishi and his friend Kaya Hishin, a brown-haired, eighteen-year-old who was rather short for her size, followed the instructions given to them by the Class Representative before their sensei took his place at his desk. "Good morning, class," he spoke up, his wizened voice reaching across the room, "before we get started with today's lesson, I would like to announce we have three new students attending Tatara University. I want you to give them a very warm welcome when they enter."

"Hey, Kaya," Ashi whispered to his friend, "did you see anyone new in the hallway after walking in?"

"Not really," she answered in a low voice, "well, at least nobody outside of the usual."

Just then the door opened and in stepped three figures. The first one was a young man somewhere in his late teens/early twenties. He had a very rugged look to him, almost like he was a member of the yakuza who lived in the woods. He had hard, golden eyes which screamed bad news to anyone who crossed him. The most prominent feature about him was his mop of silvery-white hair resting on his head. The second one to walk in was obviously his brother; same eyes, same hair, same rugged look but with a silver-white goatee growing on his chin. Finally, last but not least there was the third new student... who made Ashi's eyes widen upon first sight.

It was a girl who appeared to be a year younger than him or her brothers and she stuck out among them like a sore thumb. Like her brothers, she had a very rugged look to her but she also had a sense of beauty one would find in a wild animal. She was somewhat smaller than her brothers and, instead of silver hair, she had a mop of mud-brown hair which only came down to her neck, giving her a very boy-like appearance. She had piercing brown eyes. The most striking feature about her was her face; namely the markings on it. There were three, triangular, red marks; one in the center of her forehead and two on each cheek shaped like fangs.

One thing was for sure, all three of them seemed intimidating even when adored in school uniforms.

"Check those three out." Ashi heard his fellow students whisper.

"You think they're yakuza?"

"You wanna find out?"

"What's with that girl's face? Is she wearing war paint or somethin'?"

"Ssssh, they might hear you."

Just then, their teacher rose up and cleared his throat, "May I present our new class members; Ichii, Nii, and San Kiba."

The three new-comers bowed rather stiffly.

Kaya whispered back to Ashi, "What kind of parent names their kids after numbers?"

Ashi just shrugged.

"I believe there are some open seats... right... there." the old man pointed to a trio of empty chairs... right next to Ashitaka. The three strode up and took their seats, the girl sitting right next to Ashi.

"Now," their teacher started as he pulled out a text book, "everyone turn to page 148 and we can begin."

As they followed his instructions, Ashi couldn't help but notice the fresh, pine-like scent coming off the three.

They smell like nature. he thought as he peered from the corner of his eye as the girl and her brothers followed the text in a rather disinterested fashion. Just as he saw the girl start to glance back at him, he quickly turned his gaze back to his text and continued reading. At the same time, San narrowed her eyes at the brown-haired boy before returning to following the text. Eventually, the teacher stepped out of the classroom as lunch time rolled around as Ashi and Kaya pulled out their respective lunches.

"Damn it, San!" one of the Kiba brothers (the one with the goatee) scolded his sister, "You forgot to pack my lunch!"

"I'm sorry, but do you see a name-tag on my uniform that says 'Second Mom'?" San snarked back.

"It's kinda your fault, Nii." the second brother -Ichii- told him as he started digging into his bento.

It was the first time Ashi and Kaya heard the three siblings talk and, true enough, their voices were just as rough as their appearances. Ichii had a somewhat subdued, deep voice that seemed to fit more with a thirty-year-old man as opposed to someone in his late teens. Nii had a somewhat gravelly voice with a bit of an immature tint to it. San's voice could only be described as a Californian valley girl raised as a tomboy.

"You could at least give me your lunch, guys! Come on, I'm starving!" Nii complained.

"Again, your problem, not ours," Ichii replied, "now quit whining. People are starting to stare."

Ashitaka then looked at his lunch before deciding on a compromise. "Um, hey, one of you could share your lunch with me and I could give you mine."

San stared at the young man before her before sighing and sliding her box between herself and Ashi before taking the box away from him and placing it in front of her brother. Nii looked at the contents of the box and grimaced. "What, no venison?"

"Are you gonna eat it or not?" San growled at her brother. Nii looked at the food in front of him before shrugging and digging into it ravenously.

Meanwhile, Ashi and San began to share from the bento. Ashi couldn't help but notice a lot of the food in her box consisted of smoked venison strips, steamed wild rice, and plants one would find in the wilderness. He also thought now would be a good time to start a conversation with the mysterious, feral beauty.

"So, I don't think we've been formally introduced," he started, "my name's Ashitaka, or just Ashi to my friends, and, you're San, right?"

San just gave him a deadpan glance before continuing to eat.

Ashi tore off a piece of venison and put it into his mouth, noting its salty, smoked taste and its tough, chewy texture.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you outdoors-people? I understand if that's none of my business, but I was just curious what with your lunch and everything, I just couldn't help but ask-"

"Look, Ashitaka, was it?" San finally spoke up, having paused from her meal.

"Or Ashi to my fri-"

"Whatever," San interrupted with a roll of her eyes, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions about me, and in the right circumstance, I would be happy to answer them. But, right now, I don't. So, here's how it's going to go; you don't ask me or my brothers anymore questions for the time being or until I am in the mood for telling you my life story, okay?"

Ashi just sighed and nodded. The two then continued sharing their meal without so much as a word between each other. Kaya, who was watching just smirked and playfully fisted her friend's shoulder. "I think she likes you~." she teased in a sing-song voice.

Really? Ashi mentally scoffed, I couldn't tell.

For the rest of the day, Ashi didn't speak one word to San. In fact, there was barely a case of interaction between him, San, or her brothers. When the school day was over, Ashi watched as San and her brothers exited the university from his and Kaya's dorm, now having shed their uniforms for more casual clothing. Ashi was currently dressed in a blue t-shirt and peach shorts sitting at his desk, while Kaya was dressed in a purple t-shirt and blue capri pants laying on her bed, her brown hair loosed and flowing while currently reading her favorite book The Mountain Lion's Wife.

"Hey, Kaya?" Ashi asked her.

"Yeah, Ashi?"

"Where do you think they live?"

Kaya shrugged, not taking her face away from her book, "Meh, I don't know. Probably in an alley, or the woods for all I care. One thing's for certain; They don't seem like the folks you would want to run into after dark."

"Oh, come on, Kaya, I don't think they're that bad."

Kaya sighed, put a book mark in the chapter she finished, and sat up in her bed, her bare feet crossed as she looked at her childhood friend with a concerned expression. "Ashitaka, I've been around people like them before," she told him, "trust me, you don't want to get yourself involved with those guys. The endings tend to be on the... messy side. Just try to stay your distance from them, alright?"

Ashi just rose an eyebrow, "I thought you said San likes me."

Kaya groaned, "I was just teasing y-" She then hardened her expression, "Look, just try to keep your distance from them, alright? Teasing Kaya's been put to bed, Serious Kaya is in the driver's seat right now. Keep a low profile around them for a while, they seem like they could give the Yakuza a run for their money. Can you do that for me?"

Ashi sighed, "Alright, Kaya, I'll try to keep my distance from them."

Kaya smiled before returning to her reading. Ashi then turned out and watched the sun descend beneath Tokyo's buildings.

"Whoo-hoo!" Nii proclaimed, "I thought that day would never end!"

"Mostly because your stomach was on overdrive today." San muttered, "Not to mention you forgot to eat breakfast."

Nii grumbled something behind his sister's back but kept walking.

"San, I was wondering," spoke up Ichii, "about that boy in class."

San groaned, "What about him?"

"What if he finds out?"

"He won't." San answered bluntly.

"But what if he does?" Ichii interjected.

"Then we'll deal with it when it happens," the youngest Kiba replied, "but right now, he doesn't suspect a thing."

Ichii shook his head with a sigh, "If you say so, San. Let's just head home. Mom's probably waiting for us."

He then turned to face his brother, the shadows of the setting sun giving him an almost feral grin, "Besides, it'll mean we get to hunt for more venison, right, Nii?"

Nii narrowed his eyes, "Oh, ha ha, it's surprising you didn't go into the comedy business."

San turned her gaze to the university and stared at it for a while, thinking about what Ichii told her. How, would they deal with that boy the moment he found out?

Oh well, San shrugged to herself, I'm sure I'll think of something. She then continued her trek home with her brothers.