sweet little: Of course, I remember you! You were with me on the first story since chapter one! I hope you're liking this version of the story! I'm having fun! Good to see you again!

November 9th, 2014

12:30PM

"Oi, Hyuuga."

Isamu was busy munching on his delicious lunch prepared by his aunt Aoi when he heard an annoying voice trying to get his attention. He looked up from his bento box and his crimson eyes met dull, brown ones.

"What?" Isamu prompted, slightly annoyed and confused. But then he recognized the boy, wasn't he the one from his class? That asked where he lived?

Isamu then noticed two other boys, one was too large on the waist for his own age and the other was taller than anyone at this school, he raised his short eyebrows, intrigued.

"You have to leave this table, new kid, this is where my friends and I sit. Beat it, or else." The boy, seemingly the leader of the group, threatened with a cocky grin.

Isamu looked straight ahead with a tired expression and sighed, frustrated, "There's more tables here, you can sit anywhere else." He calmly told him, trying to be as nice as possible.

But the boy visibly became angry, "This is my table, get out!" he raised his voice as his arm reached for him, then he grabbed Isamu's shirt by the collar and pulled him up, they were now face-to-face.

The boy glared at the new student, trying to look superior but Isamu merely stared at him, blankly. The other students around them seemed to be finally noticing the commotion.

"I'm not leaving this table." Isamu deadpanned, not bothered at all with all the attention he was receiving.

The boy's eye twisted at his answer, and even more angrily, he raised his fist in the air, ready to strike. That got everyone in the cafeteria to start shouting 'FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!' Even the friends of this short-tempered boy looked excited.

'Oh, give me a break', Isamu thought. If he got in trouble on his first day, again, his father would be very disappointed in him.

"Let him go, Arata!" some kid shouted between the crowd of children surrounding the two.

Isamu and Arata looked at where it came from, both looking surprised.

But the bully recovered quickly when he realized who he was, he rolled his brown eyes, annoyed, "Go away Yukihira, or you're next."

Kenshin approached them even more, silencing everyone who wanted a good fight scene, "I said, leave him alone!" the brunette shouted again, not looking scared at all by the threat.

Arata smirked and complied, letting go of Isamu's now wrinkled shirt. The raven-haired boy stared at Kenshin expressionlessly, trying to figure him out. He recognized the brunette, he was one of the kids that didn't ask him any questions.

Kenshin was eating his lunch with Ran when noticed that the new kid was having trouble with the school's bully, and he couldn't let Isamu have a terrible first day. So, he decided to step in.

"Kenshin stop! Arata, you too!"

Isamu looked at the girl who came right behind Kenshin, standing next to him with a nervous expression. He recognized her too, she was seemed interested in a book about mythical sea creatures while his classmates bombarded Isamu with questions when Narumi left.

"Oh, shut up Sakura! Go read a book or something!" Arata growled at her, walking fast and brutally pushing her away from the chaos, making her whimper when she fell on the floor.

Some students gasped in horror, others snickered.

Isamu cringed at her, feeling bad. He was starting to feel like he should do something now, but before he could even open his mouth to dissipate the situation, he saw Kenshin's blurry figure colliding with Arata, he only had time to dodge the two boys as they started fighting each other, throwing sloppy punches here and there.

Isamu was shocked, it happened so fast. All he could do was watch, dumbfounded.

Well, damn.

Cheering and cries when a fight finally started occurred and Ran immediately shook off her pain from being pushed and quickly ran out of the cafeteria to find a teacher, quickly.

She was lucky to find Narumi already on his way there, apparently a janitor had warned him of the possible fight and the blonde wanted to get there before violence started – he was too late. Calming down a crying Ran, he held her hand and the two made their way to the cafeteria.

Narumi was quick to separate the two angry boys from each other, and the other children quickly scattered not wanting to be in trouble. Isamu however, stayed still.

"Children calm down!" the teacher exclaimed, trying to get hold of them as they struggled.

"Let me go!" Arata's face was covered with bruises, his lower lip was busted but there was no sign of blood in it. He growled and tried to swing at Kenshin again, but Narumi was faster to stop him.

Kenshin's hair was messy, messier than usual, and his cheek had a small scratch. Apart from that, the amethyst eyed boy merely glared furiously at the bully.

When the two were calmer and seemed like the finally stopped trying to attack each other, Narumi sighed deeply as he stared disappointedly at them.

"Now, who started?" Narumi asked sternly.

"HE DID IT!" Arata immediately accused, pointing at Isamu who as just been watching.

The accused boy just raised an eyebrow, unaffected.

Narumi looked at the new student and then confusedly at Arata, "But then, why were you fighting Kenshin?"

"He was being a big, ugly bully!" Kenshin quickly explained.

"Liar!" Arata yelled.

"Alright!" Narumi raised his voice, "Can anyone here tell me what truly happened?" he looked around the cafeteria, and the students that once had been surrounding the fight didn't even look at him in the eye.

Narumi sighed at the silence.

"I c-can…"

Narumi instantly smiled warmly at Ran, he could always count on the class's president, "Okay," he then turned at the three boys, "Arata, Kenshin and Isamu, follow me. You too Ran-chan." The teacher had to drag the two complaining boys.

Ran and Isamu stared at each other, and the girl sighed at him before following her teacher. Isamu walked behind her, still too shaken by what just happened. He looked behind at the table where he had been eating, where his precious lunch was being forgotten.

"All that for a stupid sitting spot," he mumbled under his breath, finishing with a 'tsk' sound.

As they walked on the hall, Ran heard him and smiled sadly at him. "I know it's witless but Arata has always been like this."

"Uh?" he looked at her, "What does witless mean?"

Her amber eyes stared at her feet, "S-Sorry, it means that it's stupid." she explained quickly.

"How do you know that word?" he asked, intrigued.

Ran scowled, "I read a l-lot of books. Didn't you hear Arata?"

Isamu did recall the stupid threat, "That's cool, do you know more things?" he offered a small smile at her.

She looked at him with a surprised expression, then she smiled back. And when she was about to respond Narumi opened the door to the principal's office.

"Go inside please, the principal wants to see you all." Narumi told the quartet with a sad frown, "I am very disappointed in you two," he said as Arata and Kenshin passed by him. At least the brunette had the decency to look ashamed, but Arata just rolled his eyes.

The four students walked inside and sat on the vacant seats in front of the principal's desk.

The man had jet-black hair and sharp, intimidating eyes. But what the children found most unsettling was his smile – it was meant to be friendly, but it came off creepy.

"Well? Who started the fight?" he asked coolly.

"HE DID! HE PUSHED RAN-CHAN AND BULLIED HYUUGA-"
"YUKIHIRA ATTACKED ME OUT OF NOWHERE!"

"Silence."

Arata and Kenshin cringed at the order. Ran stared at her own knees, mentally facepalming at her friend's behavior in front of the principal nonetheless. Isamu merely sat quietly, staring at the principal, and he decided that he didn't like him that much.

"Ah, new student. Isamu Hyuuga, correct? Getting, or causing, a fight on your first day isn't exactly… appropriate." the man said with an amused smile.

Isamu glared at him, "I didn't cause anything."

Ran thought that would be the right time to act, she timidly raised her hand and caught the principal's attention.

"Kuonji-kocho, I—"

"Sakura-san, I'm surprised to see you here. You're one of the best students of this school."

"Sir, Arata was bullying Isamu-san. Kenshin was just defending him." She explained, ignoring the cold smile Kuonji gave her. She could feel Arata's hot glare on her, but she decided to ignore it as well.

"Tattletale…" the boy mumbled under his breath.

"Really now? Did something else happened too?"

"YES! Arata pushed Ran-chan to the floor and told her mean things!" Kenshin told him quickly.

Ran confirmed this with a nod, looking at her lap again this time.

"It's true." Isamu added, still feeling bad for the girl.

Arata groaned, "You're all gonna pay for this!"

"I'll take that threat as a confession, Yoshiko-san. How about… detention after school for two weeks?" Kuonji announced with a smile.

Arata's brown eyes widened, "But—"

"And I'll inform your parents about this," the principal added, cutting off the boy's upcoming complaint.

Before Kenshin could celebrate, the principal turned to him and smiled again, "And for you, Yukihira-san, three days of detention after school. And of course, I will certainly inform your mother as well." He drawled the word 'mother' as he grinned when he said it. It was if he was excited with the prosper of talking to her.

The brunette groaned, "Noo… she's gonna kill me…"

Isamu sighed, was this creep going to talk with his father as well? He didn't want to disappoint him.

After the meeting, and ignoring Arata's threats as he left them, Kenshin, Ran and Isamu were left alone, standing in the lobby as awkward silence filled the air around them. It was when Kenshin sighed angrily and loudly was when it was broken.

"Are you okay, Ran-chan?" he asked, changing his demeanor from upset to concerned at once.

She nodded and smiled at him, "I'm fine. Are you okay too? That was quite stupid of you, you know? You should never use violence as an answer Kenshin, even if Arata did." She scolded him with a tight smile, pulling on cheek a little bit.

He grinned as he tried to push her hand away, he was used to this and he loved it.

Isamu stared at them and wondered what kind of friendship they had.

"How about you, Isamu-san, are you alright?" Ran let go of Kenshin's cheek and gave him a worried look.

He was taken aback by her soulful, amber orbs. He nodded his head quickly and returned to having a stoic expression.

She looked relieved.

"Don't mind Arata, he's always been like that. He's just a big, ugly bully that doesn't let people alone. He likes to be mean and stupid! Right, Ran-chan?" Kenshin looked expectant at her, hoping for her support.

She nodded in agreement, "He is mean Kenshin, but we shouldn't talk about people behind their backs like that. Even if he is the worst person in the world." Ran mumbled the last part, feeling slightly contradicting.

Again, Isamu watched the two as they talked, and then he realized that they had been the first two people to actually treat him nicely since he's arrived. Heck, they even stood up for him.

He guessed he just made two friends.

"Hey, do you want to be my friends?" he bluntly asked the two.

Kenshin and Ran stopped bickering and stared at him with shock. Then, they felt as if sparkles had exploded around them as Isamu stared, feeling slightly timid now.

The brunette grinned widely, and Ran smiled shyly.

"Of course!"

"Yes!"

Isamu genuinely smiled at them, "Thanks for back then… by the way."

"No biggie! I just couldn't watch that monkey hurt someone innocent." Kenshin stated proudly, giving them a pose.

Ran couldn't help but to giggle, "You're acting like you're some kind of hero."

"That's… stupid." Isamu teased with a smirk.

"HEY! NO, IT'S NOT! Super-heroes are awesome!" Kenshin exclaimed in defense of himself, his cheeks were rosier as the two chuckled at him.

The school's bell suddenly rang, and the three headed inside their classroom together.

"Ran, do you like super-heroes?" Isamu suddenly asked as he sat on his seat that he had chosen, which was on her left.

No one ever chose to sit next to her.

Ran thought for a while, and then she replied with a smile, "No."

He nodded, trying to swallow down any curiosity.

Soon the class started, and Serina-sensei was about to begin her lecture, and then he heard her whisper:

"I like villains more."

Isamu glanced at her, surprised, "Why?"

"They're mostly misjudged. Some of them are born because they have a tragic past and they probably have suffered more than the hero has. Villains never get love and it makes me happy when they're able to redeem themselves in the end." Ran had a soft look on her face as she stared at the blackboard.

Isamu was instantly fascinated by her; how could she be so mature? He smiled without anyone noticing it and then he glanced over at Kenshin, whom was balancing his pencil under his nose, bored at the lesson already.

The raven-haired kept his smile and started paying attention to the class.

3:33PM

"Why didn't you fight back?"

Isamu frowned, he had just walked inside his father's car and the first thing he heard was that. School was over, and everyone was going home, Isamu managed to say goodbye to Kenshin and Ran before they parted ways.

"Because it was stupid." He deadpanned as he placed his seatbelt on.

Natsume turned over on his seat and gave his son a mild, stern look, "Good boy. Now, the principal sounded like a creep, is he a creep?"

"I don't like him." His son shrugged his shoulders and looked out of the window.

This time, Natsume Hyuuga smiled. He turned back and turned on the engine, starting to drive off the curb into the road, "Yeah, I didn't like his voice. How was school, son?"

Isamu pondered for a minute before speaking, "I… made two possible friends. One of them was the boy who stood up for me and the other is his best friend." He said as his crimson eyes kept glued onto the window.

"Names?" Natsume asked, feeling slightly hopeful.

"Uh, Kenshin Yukihira and Ran, uh…" he furrowed his eyebrows for a moment, confused and lost, "Oh, I forgot her last name." he mumbled.

"You sound disappointed, it's surprising to see you taking a liking to a girl. Is she cute?" Natsume teased with a smirk.

"Dad… what?" Isamu have his father a weird look, making the man chuckle.

"Never mind son, you'll understand when you're older."

"I am older! I'm a big boy! Auntie Aoi told me so!" he grunted, crossing his arms.

Natsume almost snickered when he saw his son pout through the rear mirror.

"Sure, you are. And what about this Kenshin boy?" he prompted, curious about this kid who'd stood up for his son.

"He seems okay… he started hitting Arata because he hurt Ran, so I guess he's a good friend." Isamu wanted to admit that what Kenshin did had been really cool, but he felt too embarrassed to say it out loud.

Natsume smiled though, knowing his son more than anyone else. The twenty-eight-year-old divorcee only hoped that this was the beginning of a friendship. For the sake of his own son.

After yawning, Isamu opened his mouth to add another thing, "He also thinks he's a stupid-hero—I mean, super-hero." He grinned at his own joke, and Natsume couldn't help to grin as well.

A/N: So, I have a few things to say:

This story started in the month of November;
Isamu is 1 year and four months older than Kenshin and 1 year and one month older than Ran.
Ran is three months older than Kenshin.

Class:

Akemi Chihiro;
Arata Yoshiko;
Ayumi Kotone;
Chieko Kamiko;
Daiki Takara;
Daisuke Shiori;
Fumiko Izanami;
Haru Sachiko;
Hideaki Noriko;
Isamu Hyuuga;
Keiko Hitomi;
Kenshin Yukihira;
Kazuhiko Moriko;
Manabu Masami;
Miho Chiyoko;
Nana Bunko;
Ran Sakura;
Takumi Kiyoko;
Yumi Ayaka;

A/N in 2018: Phew! I'm not deleting that above since it's good information on the age difference between the children! Hope you liked this chapter!