Title: We all fall in love one day, Princess
Rating: K +
Summary: [Highschool AU] San literally bumps into Ashitaka, the new transferred student in Iron High. After such a rotten first encounter, things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.
Warnings: May contain some OOCness and a few crude words due to the context of the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) and other characters used in this story. They are owned by Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. All the copyrights associated with Princess Mononoke and other Ghibli movies belong to them. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.
And here's Chapter 2! This took waaaaaay longer than it should have, sorry. It was harder to write than the first one, and I actually started it all over again because I wasn't happy with the first version of it. And it didn't help that I was constantly changing parts of it and had to reread it a thousand times to be sure I wrote everything correctly—I'm still not sure about that, actually...
I didn't get any complaints so I assumed everyone was okay with this being in the "Normal" section. Thank you for your kind reviews! I'm glad some of you like the story so far.
Also, after doing some research—that I probably should've done earlier, shame on me—, I learned that afternoon classes in Japan are actually devoted to cultural and sportive activities. So the end of Chapter 1 is actually slightly inaccurate. Sorry for that. I won't change it though, because San flipping a table is too hilarious in my head.
Chapter 2
"San!"
Ugh… Leave me alone… I'm tired…
"San!"
Go away…
"SAN!"
San jolted upwards as her mother barged into her room unceremoniously. Her fuzzy mind, still clouded with sleep, barely registered what was going as Moro began yelling at her furiously.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SLEEPING LIKE A PIG IN A HOT TUBE! YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" The words echoed in San's head, three or four times before she finally registered what her mother had just said.
As expected, she was late. More than she'd ever been, actually. Ichi and Ni having gone without her—those jerks! They would pay…—, and her mother having refused to take her to school, as a punishment for not waking up, San had ran like the wind in a futile attempt to make it on time. She had burst in her class, startling everyone—it seemed it was now a new hobby of hers—panting out an apology, to which the teacher—who was luckily not Eboshi—had simply answered by a slightly shaken "Alright, sit down". If she'd been worrying about not getting everyone's attention, she could feel pretty relieved now. It didn't help that, in her race against time, she hadn't had any breakfast. And she couldn't remember if she'd taken her bento or not. Today… Is going to be the worse day ever…
San's assumptions soon proved to be correct. Practically every teacher who had given them homework had decided to ask her to read out what she had—or rather not—done, leading to her getting scolded in front of the whole class… Twice. And just to add insult to injury, Eboshi had decided to give them a project to work on in pairs. The project itself wasn't immensely terrible—Muromachi period was pretty interesting, actually—, but the wench had decided she would be the one making up the teams, and that god forsaken woman had decided to pair her up with Ashitaka. Of all the thirty-one students that made up her class, why did she have to choose him!
When lunch finally reared it's head, San was delighted to find out she had indeed forgotten her bento. Which meant she had to go get herself something to eat. She thought for a bit and remembered she hadn't brought any money with her. Curse everything! Curse this school! Curse her stupid self for oversleeping! And curse Ashitaka, for good measures! She banged her head onto her desk and stayed there, drowning in her misery. At least those stupid girls had for once figured out, seeing how infuriated the wolf girl was, that coming near Ashitaka was not a good idea.
"San, are you okay?" Came Nausicäa's half-worried, half-amused question. The wolf girl groaned. "Stupid question, I guess." San lifted her head up.
"Nausicäa… I think the gods hate me..."
"No, they don't. They just find the sight of your tortured soul fairly amusing." San let her head fall back onto the desk.
"I forgot my bento…"
"You too?" San lifted her head back up and send her friend a questioning gaze.
"Me too?"
"Asbel forgot his too… I was going to meet up with him in his classroom so we could share mine, and came to tell you." Nausicäa said all of this in a small voice, as if she was scared San might snap. Not that her fears were unfounded… San sighed.
"Tell him, I hate him." Nausicäa chuckled lightly. She thought for a bit before turning towards Ashitaka, who was taking out his own bento.
"Ashitaka, wanna join us for lunch?" San sent her a dejected look, while the boy blinked at her. "Asbel said he wanted to get to know you better. And that way, you can share your bento with San." The brunette girl jumped off her seat at this.
"WHAT! NO!" Ashitaka winced a bit at her outburst and Nausicäa sighed at her friend.
"Okay, then, let me rephrase that: And that way, you can share your bento with Asbel, while I share mine with San." She sent her friend an expecting look. "Better?"
"No." San said stubbornly. "I'm not going." Her stomach decided to protest with the loudest rumble it could master. Nausicäa quirked her eyebrow at this.
"You sure about that?" San's cheek reddened.
"Okay, fine! I'm coming!" She let out, throwing her arms out in aggravation. Nausicäa grinned victoriously before turning towards Ashitaka.
"All set, then?" He seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, before finally answering.
"I have something I need to do first." San frowned at him curiously.
The girls ended up following him. Nausicäa had insisted on it, saying that, that way, they'd go directly to Asbel's class afterwards. Ashitaka had taken a small paper bag with him. San first assumed he had something to deliver to someone, but as they started walking towards the school entrance, she finally realized what he was going to do. As she'd expected, they arrived at the bicycle sheds. Nausicäa gasped at the sight of the red elk.
"Is that…?" She trailed off, eyes glistering in amazement. "Do you actually come here ridding on his back?" Ashitaka smiled and nodded.
"His name is Yakul," he said scratching his mount's muzzle. "I was able to bring him here from my hometown." He opened the paper bag and scooped some food, presenting it to Yakul, who leaned his head and munched into the boy's hand. San felt ticked off all of a sudden.
"Why didn't you leave him there?" Her question came out more like a cold accusation. Ashitaka turned to face her. "He doesn't belong here. You should have left him where he could run around freely!" How selfish! Bringing such a beautiful creature in a place as rotten as Tatara city, only to use him as a mount and parade around like a senseless show-off.
"San… " She could hear the silent plea in Nausicäa's voice, but she didn't care. He'd better have some good arguments to explain himself, or she would punch the living daylights out of him. For a while he just stood there. A sad smile slowly appeared on his face and he turned towards Yakul.
"You're probably right." Ha! At least he had the honesty of admitting how stupid that was of him. "But Yakul wouldn't leave my side when he realized it was time for us to part. And frankly, I didn't want to leave him behind either." San was taken aback by those words. She stared at the two as Ashitaka continued to hand feed Yakul. Something steered inside of her. Guilt? Tch! Why should she feel guilty at having voiced out her opinion? It was probably just anger. She glared at her feet and saw Nausicäa give her a worried look from the corner of her eye. Stupid Ashitaka…
The walk towards Asbel's classroom was relatively tense, San frowning angrily the whole time, Nausicäa feeling a bit nervous between the two, and Ashitaka being… astonishingly calm. Seriously, what was with this guy and always being calm? It was annoying. He was annoying.
"NAUSICÄA!" San was startled out of her negative thoughts by Asbel's enthusiastic cry. Nausicäa sighed of contempt, probably glad her boyfriend had finally broken the tension of the atmosphere.
"Hey, Asbel. Sorry we took so much–Eep!" She was cut in her sentence by the boy grabbing her by the waist and swiftly scooping her off her feet before making her spin in the air, like she weighed absolutely nothing, making her laugh delightfully and providing everyone with the most syrupy sight of all. This made San sigh, though she had to admit all anger was forgotten thanks to the their cute little couple scene.
"Look at those two, being all mushy." She said with a small smirk.
"You can't blame them for being in love." San hadn't expected Ashitaka to reply. She glared at him.
"I was talking to myself." He smiled at her.
"I know." San felt her cheeks heat up slowly. Why. Did she keep. Blushing! She huffed at him. Asbel finally put Nausicäa down. She was still laughing from all the spinning, and clutched onto him to avoid tripping from her dizziness. Asbel grinned widely at the two brunettes.
"Isn't her laugh wonderful?" He said in an almost lovestruck tone. This only served to fuel Nausicäa's laughter, her cheeks taking a reddish tint. "Look how marvelous it sounds!"
"Asbel, you look like an idiot with that goofy grin of yours." San pointed out.
"You're just jealous of my undying love for life." He replied. San rolled her eyes at this.
"Asbel, about lunch," Nausicäa managed to breath out, "I'm sharing my bento with San, she forgot hers." The boy's grin disappeared in an instant.
"What!" he let out in disbelief, "B-but how am I suppose to eat then?"
"Ashitaka's going to share his with you." Asbel opened his mouth, before closing it, and opening it, and closing it again.
"Why can't he share it with San instead?" San's eye twitched. Did he really just ask that? Nausicäa sighed at her boyfriend's behavior.
"Asbel…"
"I was really looking forward to this!" he whined, "San, why won't you eat with Ashitaka?" Did he really just ask that… Again? Nausicäa looked quickly towards her friend and back to him.
"Asbel, please…"
"At least give me a valid argument!" San was about to throw out a not-so-calm comment, when her stomach decided this was it's cue to remind everyone of it's existence. There was a long silence between the four of them. "Okay, I guess that could be considered a valid argument." Asbel said in dead-serious tone. San felt her face burning up. She saw Nausicäa trying hard not to burst out laughing while Asbel grinned widely at her. She turned towards Ashitaka. He was averting her gaze, but she could see the wide smile on his face, even with his hand on his mouth. She growled under her breath. What a stupid, stupid day...
They walked to the roof, San grumbling and cussing under her breath the whole time. She was at least consoled by the fact Nausicäa's bento was relatively tasty. The red-head had probably made it herself. Nausicäa always had a second pair of chopsticks with her. She lend them to Asbel, who had started worrying about having to eat with the same chopsticks as Ashitaka. San had snickered at this, a wide sneer on her face, making Nausicäa laugh and embarrassing the boys—or at least, Asbel. She couldn't really tell if Ashitaka was embarrassed or just amused.
"This is really good," Asbel sighed in contentment as he ate. "You should really praise your mother for this."
"My parents are actually still in my hometown." Asbel blinked at the brunette boy's words.
"Then who made this?" His eyes widened suddenly and he gasped loudly. "YOU?" Ashitaka coughed out a small laughter at the other's reaction.
"No. At least, not today. It was my sister's turn to cook."
"You have a sister?" San let out before she could really stop herself. Crap. Now it looked as if she was interested in his stupid life. Asbel let out a theatrical gasp.
"San! Did you just speak to Ashitaka?" He said in feigned shock. San merely huffed at him.
"Asbel, leave her alone," Nausicäa said in amusement, "So, you have a sister, then." Ashitaka nodded.
"Her name is Kaya. She was a bit upset about leaving home, but now she really enjoys her new school."
"Her new school?" Asbel inquired, "You mean she's not in Highschool?"
"No. She's in her second year of Junior Highschool. It's not very far from here so I take her there and pick her up in the evening."
"I see…" Nausicäa frowned thoughtfully. "But… if your parents aren't in Tatara, where are you two staying?"
"At a friend's house." He said simply. San blinked before frowning at him. What was with the short reply? He'd just brag along about his sister, and now he was being secretive? She glared suspiciously.
"Say, since you're new here, I'm guessing you probably got a tour around the different school clubs yesterday, right?" Asbel said all of a sudden.
"Ah, yes. The kyudo club seems interesting." Ashitaka said a bit absent-mindedly.
"Kyudo? You mean archery? Wow, you're an archer?" Asbel gasped in disbelief.
"It's sort of a family tradition." Ashitaka replied with a smile. Nausicäa and Asbel let out twin "Aaah!"s at the news, while San rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm in the mechanic club!" Asbel let out with a grin. "I wanted Nausicäa to join, but she ended up going to the botany club with San." At the mention of her name, San's eye twitched. Did he have to give the guy so much information? She growled under her breath again. Asbel frowned at her. "San, do you really have to act so grumpy?"
"Leave me alone." She snapped. Asbel sighed before turning toward the other boy.
"Don't worry," he told him. "She's not always like this. It's probably just a phase."
San felt her temper boil inside of her and unable to stop herself, she let out the coldest words she'd ever uttered, in a venomous tone that scared even her.
"I never knew hate was a phase."
The silence that followed was suffocating. San suddenly wished she hadn't said that. But what had been done, had been done. 'Never regret. It's useless. Keep your head up and deal with the consequences.' That's what her mother always said. San always followed Moro's motto. But this time, for some reason, she couldn't possibly do so. How could she? After saying something so utterly odious? She couldn't. So she didn't. She lowered her head and glared at her feet, full of self-loathing and fury. She wanted someone to say something, Asbel to cough out awkwardly like he usually did and change the subject, Nausicäa to say something about San not meaning what she'd said like she usually did… But no one moved. No one spoke. And San just wished she could disappear.
The rest of the day felt heavy to the girl. She hadn't lifted her head to look at anyone, though as she and Nausicäa entered the botany club, her frown slowly turned into a blank stare. Nausicäa hadn't said a word to her. The brunette saw her friend sometimes turning towards her and opening her mouth to say something, before closing it again and going back to whatever she was doing, bitting her lower lip—something she only did when she felt distressed or pained. San felt like a jerk.
"I'm sorry." Nausicäa turned to look at her friend as she all but whispered out her apology. San wasn't looking at her, not wanting to risk herself.
"It's not me you should apologies to." The red-head said calmly, with no trace of anger or accusation. San tensed up a bit before letting her shoulder slouch.
"I can't do it." She looked up to her friend. Nausicäa smiled at her.
"Of course, you can." No, she couldn't. Not after what she'd said. "I'm sure he's not angry at you or anything. But he probably feels a bit hurt. If you don't tell him, it'll just make things harder between you two." San sighed inwardly. Nausicäa was right. The two of them sat next to each other in class and were working partners on a school project. She was going to see him everyday and if she didn't fix what she'd done, it would all end up being a burden for both of them.
"…I'll do it." Nausicäa smiled at her friend and whispered a small 'Good luck.'
The last bell finally rang. San started stressing out as she walked towards where she thought—she'd asked some guy, but she had no proof he was a reliable person—was the archery club. Nausicäa had insisted she should go alone, or else it would seem too forced, but frankly, San really wished she'd accompanied her. At least all the way to club. Crap. Why am I doing this, again?
It turned out the guy who'd given her directions was a reliable person after all. She wasn't sure whether to feel happy or not about that. She fidgeted nervously in front of the club entrance. Should she knock, or just go in? No, she should knock. But what would she say? Ugh, she should've thought about it! Maybe she could still coward out of this… No, no, no, no! She said she'd do this! She couldn't back down now! Just do it, already!
San squeaked and jumped back as the door was suddenly opened by a club member. He didn't see her, too busy cracking out jokes with a friend. She stood still, petrified as they walked past her, some other boys following suit, noticing her but not really making much of her presence—though she did get a few confused glances. San wondered if she should go in. Yes. No.
"Hey, can I help you?" She snapped out of her thoughts as a rather tall boy—probably a senior—waved his hand in front of her face. She felt her face heat up and her brain started racing, trying to figure out she should do.
"Ashitaka," she blurted out. "I–I'm looking for Ashitaka." The boy blinked at her before letting out a silent 'Ah!'.
"The new kid, right?" A grin slowly started to creep on his face. "Don't worry, I'll get him for ya!" He said in a so-this-is-how-it-is tone. He pocked his head inside the clubroom. "Hey, new kid! Someone for ya! It's a girl~!" A choir of whistles, laughter and witty comments erupted from inside, and San felt herself go pale.
Oh, hell no! Gods! No! Ah! Crap! Wha-Why! There was no way she could possibly face him after this! And apologize, in front of guys she didn't even know, but were probably sure she had a thing for him? No. No, no, no, no, no. San's mind started running faster. What should she do? She couldn't do this! What should she do! Run! RUN! Her instinct screamed. And she did just that. She dashed off before Ashitaka even got to the door, ignoring the 'Hey!' that was thrown after her. She ran and ran and ran, only stopping when she arrived at the school entrance. She panted, still shacking from the rush of adrenaline, before cursing at herself.
"Idiot! Why did you run away!" She stomped her foot angrily. She was so stupid! So stupid! So stupid! A snort-like sound pulled her out of her self-loathing. Just a bit ahead of her, Yakul was staring at her calmly under his bike shed. San felt herself run towards him. She took his head in her hands, letting her school bag fall at her feet, before softly pressing her forehead onto Yakul's.
"Yakul… I said something terrible to your master and I can't bring myself to apologize." She said in a whisper. Yakul let out a soft puff of air.
San felt herself ease up and smiled, closing her eyes. Things were so much easier with animals. Yakul suddenly moved his head out of her grasp and looked up towards the school. While the movement itself had been rather slow, San hadn't expected the warmth to disappear. She looked up towards him before looking in the direction he was facing.
Ashitaka was standing not so far from them. San felt her whole body tense up. For a while, the boy stood there staring at her before starting to walk towards them. San's heart started racing as her mind tried to figure out she should do. She felt the urge to run away, but found she couldn't move. Ashitaka got closer and closer, until just a few feet separated them. San's mind suddenly decided it couldn't help her, so her impulsive side blurted out the first thought it came across.
"Why are you so weird?" Wha–No! She was supposed to be apologizing, not making things worse! "Yesterday you said the cheesiest thing I'd ever heard. How could you think something like that when all I've been doing is being a complete jerk towards you?" Why was she telling him this? San wanted to shut herself up, but the words just spilled out on their own. "I don't get you. I don't understand how the hell your thinking works! How can you–How could you–I–" San squeezed her eyes shut and started clutching her head between her hands, trying to stop the constant flow of thoughts from rushing around. This was all so confusing.
"Is this why you hate me so much?" San's gaze snapped back to Ashitaka as he spoke calmly. "Because I'm confusing you?" San opened her mouth to say something before closing it again. Her face scrunched up into a frown.
"I… don't… know…" She said hesitantly, hating herself for showing so much uncertainty. San never showed this side of her to anyone, except Nausicäa or her mother. She groaned. "I'm not even sure I hate you! I'm just angry! You make me angry!" She exclaimed, maybe a bit too loudly, but she didn't care anymore.
There was a short silence where San felt herself stiffening slowly again. She wanted to scream or at least break something. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, clutching her fist.
"San…" She felt a shiver run down her spine at how softly he called her name, but refused to ease up. He put his hands on her shoulder gently, as if he was scared she'd break up if he did so too quickly. "San… Look at me…" The tone he used sounded more like he was trying to comfort her, rather than giving her an order. San tentatively opened her eyes and looked into his grey ones. "If my presence bothers you, I won't insist. We don't have to be friends if you're not comfortable with it being that way. We can just be classmates. Just tell me what you want." He said, his expression so calm, yet so serious.
What she wanted? What did she want? Did she want them to be friends or not? She frowned pensively, staring at her feet, before looking back up to the boy.
"I don't know what I want." She said, confusion written all over her face.
Ashitaka blinked at her before a wide smile started forming on his face. He brought a hand to his mouth and lowered his head. San saw his shoulders shaking up and down, and she slowly realized…
"Are you… laughing?" She asked, dumbfounded. She was so taken aback she forgot she should probably be mad at him for that. The boy coughed out a laugh before looking at her, trying to hide his amusement the best he could.
"I'm sorry," he said in a chuckle. "But that was weird." San stared blankly at him. "It seems you're as confusing to me as I am to you." He grinned in an almost sheepish fashion and San couldn't help but think he looked… kind of… cute…
She expected herself to suddenly go into an anger fit at the boy again, like all the other times she'd started getting girly thoughts. But surprisingly, she didn't. Instead, she just grinned back at him. Everything suddenly seemed so silly. She felt like laughing at herself.
"OI! SAN!" The two brunettes jumped at the sudden cry. Ichi and Ni were walking towards them, grinning maliciously. San's eyes narrowed and she let out a wolf-like growl. Ashitaka glanced at her quickly before looking back towards the twins as they got to their level.
"Eh, you two seem to be getting along quite well." Ni said in that nagging tone he always used to tease his sister.
"You eventually woke up, I see." Ichi commented with a smirk. Before any of them had time to comprehend what was happening, San grabbed them by the collar of their shirts and viciously slammed their heads together. They let out twin yelps of pain, nearly tripping backwards as she released their shirts, and glared at her.
"The hell was that for!" They hissed in union.
"YOU JERKS LEFT WITHOUT ME!" She bellowed angrily.
"We were going to be late." Groaned Ni.
"You could've at least woken me up!" She shot back at him.
"Mother said we shouldn't." Ichi said almost blankly, rubbing his sore head. San growled under her breath.
"So this is the guy, then?" Ni said as he stared towards Ashitaka, who wasn't sure how to react to the current situation.
"Stop saying that like he's not there!" San said angrily.
"Why not?" Ichi shrugged. "We always do it with you."
"No, you don't!"
"Yes, we do. You just tend to start yelling like a banshee to prove your existence."
"I should kick you in the face!"
"She's adorable, isn't she?" Ni said smirking at Ashitaka.
"SHUT IT, BUTTFACE!"
"So sweet…" The twins said in union. San felt the urge to strangle them both. Ashitaka chuckled lightly, catching everyone's attention.
"Ah, I'm sorry," he said with a half-amused, half-embarrassed smile. "I should get going, I need to pick up my little sister."
"Is she as adorable as ours?"
"NI! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ashitaka laughed a bit at San's outburst, but didn't answer the question. Yakul leaned his head to the side, presenting one of his horns. Ashitaka grabbed it and the elk yanked him up so he could get on his back.
"I'll be seeing you tomorrow then, San." He told her, to which she reflexively nodded. He bowed goodbye to the twins and patted Yakul's side to signal him they were leaving. The two of the them trotted away, and San let out a sigh. She wasn't sure what she was sighing about, though. She glared at her brothers.
"I hate you guys so much." She said. They merely snickered at her, feeling awfully proud of themselves.
"Well, you don't seem to hate that guy so much." Ni commented. San was about to yell something back at him when she suddenly remembered what she was originally supposed to have done.
"Oh noooo!" she moaned. "I forgot to apologize." The twins exchange confused glances.
"Apologize for what?" They asked in union. San gasped loudly, making them jump a bit. "What?"
"I forgot to ask him about the History project!"
Author's Notes: Hahaha! Lame ending once again~! I hope no one's feeling deceived by this chapter...
I feel like I made Asbel a bit OOC, but oh well... I haven't got much to say... Hopefully, the next chapter will be easier to write.
If there are any mistakes, grammar errors or such, feel free to point them out. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Any advice, ideas or just comment on the story or my writing is very much welcomed.
