Haha, I would have updated earlier but I lost the use of my computer for a while, so no internet and no writing! Here's Chapter Two! Note that some of it seems to be from Rikku's perspective, as I wanted to try and do a different character every so often to keep it interesting.

Chapter Two

Welcome to Weirdness

The sun was shining through the window of Tidus' room when he awoke, and he rose from his pillow slowly, yawning and stretching his arms. His alarm clock beeped loudly so he smacked it hard to turn it off. Yawning again, he slid out of bed and began to get changed.

The scene was similar in Rikku's room, except her alarm began to blast out J-Pop at six-thirty and she was dancing around to it while getting ready until Brother got up to drive her to school. He entered her room, shouting something at her that she couldn't really make out. Brother muttered quite a lot, and most people didn't really understand him the majority of the time. She picked up her bag and skipped out of her room, heading down to his car.

Around ten minutes later, they arrived outside her cousins' house and she beeped the horn, much to Brother's annoyance. She seemed to step on people's feet a lot, getting in their way and generally being a nuisance, but her friends did their best to see past that.

"Hurry it up, will ya?" she bellowed, hanging her head out of the car, "We gotta go pick up someone else, too!"

Tidus and Shuyin exited the house in a hurry, trying to save themselves the embarrassment of being screamed at in the street by Rikku.

"Okay, okay, we're coming!" Tidus chuckled. Shuyin followed him towards the car, but stopped when he saw Lenne a little further down the road, walking on her own.

"Hey, guys, I think I'm gonna walk... I'll catch up with you later, yeah?"

"Uh, okay," his younger brother said softly, hopping into the back seat of Brother's car. "Hey, man."

Brother responded with some inaudible muttering and pulled out of their driveway, heading in the opposite direction of the school. Rikku slouched down in her seat, letting the bright sunlight pouring through the windscreen wash over her face.

"Wait, shouldn't we be going the other way?" he asked, tilting his head. He suddenly remembered Rikku had said they were picking someone else up, and assumed that's where they were going.

"Yeah, we gotta go pick up Gippal first. He's one of Brother's friends, a year older than us," she grinned, before turning back towards the sun. Brother grumbled something at her, but she elbowed him hard. "Shut up, I want a tan!"

They got outside a mechanic's place downtown when a blonde teen came out, black bandage covering one of his eyes. He had a white tank top on, and it showed that he clearly worked out a lot. Hopping into the back, he high-fived brother and turned to Tidus.

"And who are you?" he smirked.

Rikku leaned over the back of her seat and punched his chest lightly. "Be nice! This is our cousin, Tidus."

"Oh right," Gippal laughed, high-fiving Tidus as well. "My name's Gippal. A friend of these two is a friend of mine, ya see."

Tidus smiled, nodding nervously as Brother drove them to the school. Arriving in the parking lot soon after, the three of them stepped out of the car, waving to Brother as he drove off quickly.

"Man, he drives a little fast," Tidus commented, breathing a sigh of relief now that he was out of the car.

"Yeah, it's probably why he's always bringing it into the shop," Gippal laughed, "He's lucky I do his stuff for half price."

Rikku laughed, "You should be charging double. After all, it takes you twice as long with only one eye."

Gippal pushed her lightly, laughing. "I should really get going. See you later, Cid's girl."

Rikku shouted at him as he walked off. "I have a name, y'know!"

The two cousins were approached suddenly by two pale figures, one with long black braids and another with silver, spiky hair. The taller girl, the one with the braids, wore a long black dress and way more belts than she needed to. Both girls dressed rather differently to most people in Luca, actually... odd, seeing as they wore a lot of black and leather while the heat was too much for even Rikku sometimes.

"Hey!" she grinned, patting Tidus hard on the back. "Tidus, meet Lulu and Paine. Lulu said she'll show you around before the assembly in the audotorium if you like... me and Paine have some stuff to catch up on."

Tidus was about to protest, but Rikku had darted off around the corner before he had a chance. He turned to the tall, gothic girl and smiled weakly. "Hi... I'm Tidus."

Lulu smiled, crossing her arms slowly. "Hello. I'm Lulu... don't worry, I don't bite."

Tidus laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Haha, sorry. I guess I was just taken back a little by your style."

Lulu smiled, "That's what everyone says. So, you're new around here, huh?"

Tidus began to walk with her towards one of the buildings, "Yeah, moved here just yesterday, actually."

Lulu nodded, "So I guess you've not had a chance to see Luca yet. It's a nice place, I'm sure you'll like it just fine. The people... can be nice. Some you won't get on with, but that's just life."

Tidus nodded, "Yeah, me and my brother got into a few fights at our last school-"

"Brother?" Lulu said, leading him into the cafeteria. "I remember Rikku mentioning two cousins, but I thought your brother was older..."

"Oh, right," Tidus grinned, "He's only a year older than me. He's going here, too."

Lulu stopped, looking around the large area. "I expect I'll see him around, then. We might be in some classes together... I'm a year older than you too."

Tidus looked around, "I'm guessing this is the cafeteria."

"Yeah," she laughed, shaking her head, "Sorry... I forgot about showing you around. Yes, this is the cafeteria. Through those doors there is the audotorium, and back around the corner there is the main building where all your classes will be. The gym's across the other side of the field, see..."

They continued the conversation a little longer before they were approached by a guy slightly shorter than Tidus, with very tan skin and bright white hair. He approached Lulu and gave her a hug. "Hi, Lulu!"

She smiled softly, nodding towards Tidus. "This is one of Rikku's cousins, Baralai. His name's Tidus."

"Nice to meet you!" he smiled, extending his hand for Tidus to shake. "I'm Baralai... well, Baralai Bevelle, to be formal."

Tidus laughed, "There's no need for all that, right?"

Shuyin and Lenne had just made their way onto school property, taking longer due to the fact that they were walking and had been in conversation the whole way there.

"So you lived by the sea all this time and never learned how to surf?" the blonde asked, carrying one of her textbooks for her while she looked through her bag for her folded-up timetable.

"No," she laughed, "It's funny, actually. I always planned to learn, but never got around to it. I always loved the thought of doing it. How about you, do you surf?"

Shuyin nodded, "Been doing it for years, actually. I could always teach you if you like. How about this weekend?"

Lenne looked delighted at his suggestion. She nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds great! I'll bring Yuna's board and everything, don't worry about that."

"Wow, Lenne," a deep male voice chuckled, "That's rare. Normally you're a half hour early for class, and today you barely made it in in time for the assembly. Am I looking at the same person, here?"

"Yes, Mr. Nooj," she smiled, "Don't worry, I'm never late to Biology! This is Shuyin, I guess we got a little slow walking here while we were chatting."

"Oh, you're the biology teacher?" Shuyin asked, looking the man up and down, noticing his aritificial arm and leg.

"Yes. I used to be a surgeon, before the accident," he grinned, flexing the robotic hand he now had, "Technology's come a long way, now, but I still can't go performing surgery with this."

Shuyin nodded a little awkwardly and he and Lenne entered the already-filled audotorium. "Don't worry," she whispered to him, "You get used to the hand thing."

Looking around, Lenne spotted Yuna sat fairly close to where they were standing, and she had a few empty seats next to them. They quickly took them as the room began to get really packed, and Shuyin felt someone tapping on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw two redheads, one of whom he recognized. "Yo, Shuyin!" grinned Chappu, pointing to the guy sat next to him. "This is my brother, Wakka. Do you know where Tidus is? He keeps going on at me about meeting him."

Wakka turned and punched Chappu hard in the shoulder, "Shut up, ya? I never said that."

Chappu smirked and looked ahead as the speech from the principal was about to begin. "Not what I heard!"

A tall, pale woman tapped the microphone three times slowly, signalling that she was about to start. Long, silver wavy hair flowed down from her head to her ankles, and she wore a fairly casual outfit, jeans with a white t-shirt and a cream jacket, complete with six-inch heels.

"She doesn't look very... principal-ish," Tidus remarked, turning to Lulu.

"Don't worry," Rikku winked, poking him from the row behind, "She's okay. She's quite cool, you know."

It was then that Miss Yunalesca began her opening speech, clearing her throat before she started to speak.

"To all those returning to these academic halls, I welcome you back! And to all who start their journeys here today, I wish you luck! You're going to need it is all I can say. I hope you learn here everything and anything you will need in life, for that is the true meaning of your education. Not to learn algebra, or study world history, but to learn life. It's that simple."

"Man, theatrical much?" Tidus said, turning to Baralai on his left.

"Yeah, she teaches drama too," he nodded, "She's a good teacher, though. Don't be put off by the weirdness."

"So, to conclude," Yunalesca finished, "Classes begin after lunch. Until then, feel free to relax in here or outside. Enjoy your day, impressionable young minds!"

Everyone began to get up and leave, and it was then that Tidus bumped into someone, a guy not much taller than himself. All he saw before he fell backwards was a blue headband and bright red hair...

So sorry for the late update, it's honestly taken me so long to put together! Review if you liked it.

~Soul