Hurr hurr chapter 2 :P

Chapter 2: The Doormat Coups D'etat

Breathe air you're not used to, tread floors you don't fall through
Make waves...
You crash a symbol hard
Follow no one, always play the wrong card

"I'll Hold My Breath"- Ellie Goulding

To say Tsuruga Ren was shocked and appalled by his first day of teaching his Freshmen High school class, would be a invariable understatement. He was downright bewildered.

What on earth had he done to warrant such downright contempt from the girl, he'd no idea, but one thing was for sure from her parting look.

She was out for blood. And the poor greenhorn teacher was positive that wasn't implying "cola" like his incorrigible co-worker was convinced. The handsome twenty-three year old mused silently over his entire lesson, and anything he might've done to provoke her to think poorly of him.

Ren's train of thought was suddenly cut short as the soft murmur of his friend's voice talking into the desk phone, suddenly became frantic, rising in volume.

"Ahhh, what was that Fuwa-san? No, no she attended as regular today, why? She did what? Has her mother been contacted? She, no ma'am, I don't know. Yes. I'll be sure to. Thank you.- Haaaah?"

The bespectacled man sighed heavily into his hands before, taking down a few notes on a sticky pad and rising from his seat, running a hand through his hair in a clear show of frustration. Rightfully concerned, Ren lifted an eyebrow in acquiescence to listen to the man's issue. When that didn't work, seeing as the older man floundered between two invisible choices, he out right asked.

"What happened Yashiro-san?"

A moment more of hesitation, then-

"Ahhh, it seems our top student has just vacated from her current place of residence, and her "guardians" seem to be in a panic."

"Her parent's you mean?"

"No, she had a mother, but…" Yukihito Yashiro was fickle when needed, and almost always with student information. Ren guessed it went along with the whole school counselor thing- they had to be Confidential as Yashiro had once said.

Accepting the somewhat rousing statement, Ren pressed on.

"And so? What are we to do now?" Yashiro gave him a look for that. he smiled a bit sheepishly and reworded the statement.

"What course of action do we take?" He asked in a more sincere tone, and Yashiro sighed heavily. Somehow Ren couldn't help feeling bad for the poor man, he'd had a bad day sure, but Yashiro-san was at odds with a possible missing person. He searched the older man's face as he ran his hands through the mess of ash brown hair repetitively and resorted to sitting back down with a huff.

"Nothing."

Now that was shocking, coming from this man's mouth.

He was always doing something in regards to helping- whether it be student or parent. The guy just had a calling for it, or at least that's how it seemed to Ren since graduate school, when the two had roomed together briefly.

To say that he could do nothing, in such a situation where not only the parent's were worried, but there was the possibility of the students livelihood in danger, was probably agonizing for the man.

Ren could see it in his posture as well when the phone conversation had started- Yashiro knew this girl and the familiarity with her was clearly causing the worry to escalate. So then why could he do nothi-

"Her mother isn't currently present in her life, but she granted partial custody to the Fuwa's in part because the couple plan's to eventually bring her into the family through marriage. However the conditions only stipulate their authority over her in case of legal consent and schooling. There is nothing on her living arrangements."

Ren gazed on, half in recognition of the wordy explanation, but in total loss of the point of the conversation. Yashiro stared hard into the fogged glass of the faculty work room, and let out a breath before clarifying.

"Meaning, that she doesn't care where her daughter is, so long as she is not bothering her with anything. She has been informed that the girl is missing from her home, but is not concerned so long as she is attending school." His gaze hardened over at the end of his explanation and he fished around in his pocket for something.

Pulling forth a packet of cigarettes, Yukihito strode over to the window, slamming it open, causing the poor glass to rattle in its pane with the threat to shatter. Lighting up the innocent fag, the thirty one year old took a long suffering drag of the poor thing before spitting out the smoke as he huffed again in irritation.

Ren was lost to the despair of his friend, unsure of how to diffuse the bomb he'd seemed to unknowingly trip over. He needn't have worried though as his friend turned to him in sudden excitement. A look of epiphany gracing his features.

"Ah, That's right! Ren, she's in your class. Tell me did you notice anything abnormal about her this morning?" The faithful look of concern painted the bespectacled man's face and Ren politely, although bluntly informed him of his lack of information.

"Yashiro-san, I must know her name before you ask me questions about her." He deadpanned as the older man laughed lightly and instead turned away from him ruffling through papers on his desk until he procured a single though bulky folder.

Handing it to Ren, he shook his head slightly in mock disapproval.

"Really Ren, I'd thought you'd do your homework. Or at least make an attempt at learning your students."

"Yashiro-san, I just began, literally this is my first day if you weren't aware." Yashiro laughed aloud at the peevish tick in his eyebrow result of the teasing.

"Hai, hai. No matter, the file there is hers, and no it isn't because of her trouble record rather the opposite. She's quite the all-star player in terms of academia, though it isn't all she's got quite a track-record proverbial and literal. She ran best in her district all three years of middle school, and was supposed to be joining the track team here, but oddly enough she hasn't shown up all week for the tryouts. As well as her sports record in her extensive list of side jobs, though she was prohibited, she received a special work permit under the consent of her principal in middle school that transferred here. All of that seems already pretty ridiculous for a first year in high school, but on top of that she's seemed to have been nominated four times consecutively as a top choice for the foreign exchange program connect with an American College scholarship association, since she took her TOEIC in her first year of middle school and scored well above proficiency, since then it-"

The explanation of the no doubt amazing girl's academic career went on, but Ren zoned out completely at the mention of the girls English speaking capabilities. Something from Yashiro's earlier conversation seemed to meander through his thoughts in a clear sign that he was on the verge of realizing something.

"-what was that Fuwa-san?-"

"-she's in your class."

"-she took her TOEIC in her first year of middle school and scored well above proficiency."

Ren's eyes widened as the brief memory of fiery gold boring into his eyes flashed across his thoughts and suddenly it all clicked. He groaned, throwing his head back in earnest displeasure.

-anything he might've done to provoke her to think poorly of him

Provoked…

"Mogami-san. I do hope my lesson is sufficient to holding your attention. I do understand you simply find Fuwa-kun's track …"

Her eyes had gone completely cold right after that statement,rather than provoked, Ren would rather say he might've stomped- furiously, over all of her landmines.

Shit, I'm already bad at this.

"Ren, Ren! What the hell are you sighing over?"

Ignoring Yashiro, in favor of confirming his own suspicion Ren flipped open the extensive file and smack dab, on the first page of her information sheet was a picture. The glimmer of her golden orbs shone happily in the school photo, her sailor uniform, worn so contentedly that she seemed to have, not a care in the world. So different from the hazed out anger that swirled in the molten orbs from the other day. So much so that at first, with one glance, he was convinced and relieved that they couldn't have been the same person, but the second glimpse of that one of a kind eye color and Yashiro's next words obliterated any of his peace of mind.

"Ren. Seriously so, do you know if anything seemed strange about her. About Mogami-kun?" He inquired worriedly, and Ren let out a long suffering sigh for the second time.

He REALLY wasn't good at this.

I mused curiously at the turn of events that had occurred today, as I happily ate the specially cooked meal compliment of the Taisho. Forgive my earlier antics, but truly you must sympathize with the stressed out teen mind. It does very scary things sometimes. Like allow you to place death threats on your poor innocent teacher's.

Yup, scary shit.

I slapped a palm to my forehead in deliberation of my earlier actions. Sure I was in a terrible mood, but Christ I considered bowing in reverence of the man who'd not taken any evasive action as of yet- like filing a charge or getting me expelled. I sighed again. The week had been less eventful as it had rode on and adjusting to a life as a homeless teen was just about as stressful as one would think it to be.

Thank God, for my hospitable employer's who'd offered me lodgings in their upstairs guest bedroom in exchange for my work. I took a little bit of relief in the compassion of other's. They truly were kind. Kind enough to take pity on my poor, unappreciative, dangerous, uncute self.

I cried out miserably, throwing myself at the feet of the poor old Taisho, who'd been cursed with my unfortunate burdensome presence. My tears must've threatened to soak into the floorboards with how quickly he removed me from the ground, giving me a half-hearted grunt of disapproval before disappearing to the kitchen.

I gazed on tearfully as I heard a brief amount of shuffling and things being moved about, before he reemerged with a plump daikon and a clothed object. He motioned me forward and I reluctantly moved to stand next to him.

As soon as I was in range he offered the clothed object to me and I stared in befuddlement. He smiled tentatively to urge me to take the object and I readily complied feeling the familiar weight and balance of a knife. I looked up in shock as he nodded the small smile still lighting his features. Without a word, he handed me the daikon in a silent order to practice what would take my mind off of my problems, and ruffled my hair slightly jostling a few unwilling tears from my eyes, before leaving to join the Okami-san in rest.

I shook my tears off as they came, working through my own pain as I glided the knife resolutely around the vegetable shaving off a perfect width with every rotation as I dully recalled where I'd learned this talent.

"Kyoko-chan, you are so good at this, but you will have to practice harder to become the Okami one day."

"Kyoko-chan this is amazing. You are not far off."

"Kyoko-chan you will no doubt be perfect."

Perfect.

If I had been perfect, things would be different.

I wouldn't be alone.

I paused and glanced down in disappointment to see the beautiful, yet excessive cabbage I'd made.

It was never enough.

I was never enough-

No, no, NO! I'd decided that none of that mattered anymore. What was important was my life now. I still had time and now I had my free will on my side.

I had no idea what to do now, but I was positive that change was a definite start. I needed this, a way out of my empty existence. Steeling my resolve to start anew I reached across the counter of the kitchen and retrieved my bag. The supplies already packed safely into my duffle, I packed away the giant garnish and cleaned the countertop and the knife carefully, taking great care to refold the cloth neatly over the precious metal before ascending the stairs.

Standing in front of the mirror of the upstairs bathroom I huffed at the pale image before me. I seemed so slight and even ghostly with my unkept hair falling haphazardly around my face. Clenching my teeth as a form of toughening myself for my next action I repeated to my own reflection as I ruffled in the bag for all the supplies I'd splurged my Idiot-fund on. Successfully procuring the hair scissors I'd bought I took a deep breath and repeated a mantra with each snip.

"You will apologize to Tsuruga-sensei, he did nothing wrong to you."

Snip snip

"You will not make other classmates cry for revenge against things they are not at fault for. That is petty"

Snip snip

"You will hate that idiot Shotarou for the rest of his miserable existence!"

SNIPSNIPSNIPSNIPSNIPSNIP

"You will not be controlled."

Snip Snip Snip

"You will be strong."

Snip

"You will not… love. Ever. Again."

Snipsnip Snip. Snip. Snip.

"You will live for yourself."

Snip

"And you will be…happy."

Snip

A slight feeling of moisture graced my left cheek but I ignored it in favor of surveying my new hair with a smile. It was much lighter, and it would be so in more than one way when the night was through.

I gazed cheerfully at the box marked "Peroxide Bleach" and grinned into my own reflection.

I would apologize to my homeroom teacher tomorrow, and I'd even bow like a good student for my rude behavior.

And then after that,

I would start my plan to overcome this hurdle God had thrown me.

I'd overtake that idiot, in every sense possible.

And reap my revenge.

Watch out, Mogami Kyoko is no doormat, she's one pissed off revolutionist.

And Fuwa Shotarou was the corrupt figurehead I'd overthrow. Even if it meant making myself a martyr.

please review to let me know you're all still reading the story, it'd be appreciated 3