Astria glanced over herself in the mirror in the hallway outside of her room before placing her hands on her waist and sighing. "Yep. Today is going to suck." If she didn't know before, she certainly felt it was obvious now, just looking at her reflection and what she considered to be the highest atrocity adorning her body at that moment.
She had on a starched, white short sleeved blouse, complete with a tiny plaid tie at the collar, simple in its layout and rested lightly against the upper part of her chest. The matching dark skirt was crisscrossed in white, navy blue and forest green plaid and rested just above her knees. The lower half of her body was sheathed in white knee high socks with a lone green stripe at the top, with her feet wearing plain brown loafers. In all reality, there were worse uniforms than the one DeCastis High required of its students, but Astria certainly preferred not having to wear one at all.
And while she was dreaming, she certainly would prefer not having to go to school at all. She would have been perfectly content to sleep in past noon as she was prone to do for the entire summer, and sometime when she decided to regain consciousness watch more Sailormoon. Wait, I don't have to do that anymore! I have my own talking cat that I get to drill for the secrets of the Sailormoon universe! Astria brightened over that, although a thought that closely followed made her grin falter on her face. Underneath the stiff collar of her uniform, she could make out the silver of the necklace that held the magical pendant that allowed her to transform into Sailor Star. There were still so many questions that she had to ask... yet kept forgetting in favor of other things that didn't apply to her being a Sailor Senshi. Not to mention that a part of her brain, albeit tucked away safely in its depths, was seriously doubting that all of this was actually real. Every time Astria thought back on the events of the last afternoon, her head would spin and she'd make herself think about something else. Unfortunately, high school wasn't much of an appealing option to focus her energy on, despite it being the most immediate event in her life that morning.
"Why are you still here?" Twilight's voice sang from a small crack in the bedroom that belonged to the newly christened high school student. Astria shook off the cobwebs of her thoughts and looked down at the feline that had stuck her head curiously out of the doorway and was peering back up at her. "Right now, don't you have 5 minutes to get to school?"
Astria blinked at her for a moment before her hazel eyes widened and she checked her wristwatch quickly. "What? Where the heck did the time go! I could have sworn it was only 7:15!"
"It was... twenty minutes ago." Twilight answered plainly, increasing the panic in the brunette's gaze. "How much time did you spend peering at yourself in that mirror?"
"I dunno! I just know it didn't feel like twenty minutes!" Astria retorted, stepping over Twilight as she rushed back into her room to gather her schoolbag and last minute things that she felt she could throw haphazardly into its depths. "God, I'm going to be late for my first day of snob school. That'll give something for them to talk about, wouldn't it?" She checked her watch again and tsked. "Well, in any case... I guess I'm going to have to pull a Usagi in order to make it to class on time, as long as I leave right this minute."
Twilight blinked at her a couple of times before comprehending the meaning of that statement. "Oh. Well, in that case, you should get there in plenty of time." A sly look passed over the cat's face. "That is, if you don't cause an accident on the way there."
Deciding to ignore the snide remark, Astria galloped down the flights of stairs, rushing past the kitchen where her mother was putting a plate of blueberry muffins on the counter. "MOM, I'M GONE!"
"Without breakfast?" Mrs. Benton called out, returning to the sink with a smile.
Footsteps stopped just shy of reaching the front door before they resounded back to the kitchen and paused just long enough for Mrs. Benton to know that Astria had snagged at least one muffin off of the plate. "IMMMFF GNFF NFFF!"
A few minutes later, a couple of the neighbors who were also up and about for whatever reason at that time in the morning was able to see a young girl fly out of the front door of a house with a muffin in her teeth. She paused long enough to readjust the strap of her messenger bag before darting quickly across the lawn - something that was generally frowned upon in her division - and sprinting down the sidewalk at an alarming pace. To Astria's benefit, she knew exactly how to "pull a Usagi", as she had coined it. Back in her much more obsessive days, she had literally practiced sprinting to school even if she wasn't anywhere near late, just to get her stamina up to what she thought the Bunny of the Moon must have had in order to get to school in the anime. Astria supposed it was just her luck, or lack thereof, that she would find herself in the position to actually put those "skills" to use.
DeCastis High was not too far from her house, and was actually near the center of her rather large neighborhood. The school itself still looked as new as it once did when it was built, with glistening hallways and the windowpanes that reflected the light of the sun in a pleasing manner. The red brick that served as the motif for the outer design of the complex made the high school stand out amongst the rolling green lawns that surrounded it, along with the carefully and artfully placed floral arrangements that added color and life to the scene. The school's motto, "Compos mentis" framed the main entrance, delicately embroidered with the school colors of green and blue, but even if Astria cared or knew enough about Latin in the first place she wouldn't have taken pause to admire it. She had more pressing matters to attend to; like getting to her first class of the day without a tardy mark in the attendance books.
"Alright, where to next?" Astria breathed after removing the almost forgotten blueberry muffin from her lips and taking a crumpled piece of paper out of her bag, turning it about so she could decipher what was written on her schedule. "Man, you've got to be kidding me; the third floor? I'm going to DIE!" She whined while wiping away some of the sweat that had adhered her bangs to her forehead. Catching some of her breath back, she looked around for the staircase and bounded up the steps two at a time, weaving around the few students whom were less concerned about their attendance ratings despite it being the beginning of a new semester.
I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it... She repeated the mantra to herself in her head as most of the hallway flew by in a blur of colors, her eyes only catching the numbers and counting down the number of doorways she thought she had left before she got to the room she needed. Her messenger bag was beginning to thump painfully against the side of her leg, and she grasped a hold on the handle for extra support. Outside of the break she had given herself once she passed the threshold of the front doors, Astria ran at top speed her entire way to campus, and no matter how many times she had practiced, it was a slightly longer distance than she expected. That, and most of her anxiety was over how she was going to be accepted or rejected within her new peers, so her heart was already beating at an accelerated rate. There! Reaching her destination, Astria grasped onto the frame of the doorway and whipped herself inside.
The collision that followed was swift and painful. Seriously wondering if she had finally given meaning to the saying "seeing stars", Astria squeaked and stumbled backwards, her momentum thrown back at her so unexpectedly that she flailed about and tripped over her own feet, landing in an ungraceful heap on the tiled floor. A similar sound of flesh meeting the ground resounded as the person she had run into hit the floor as well.
Twilight hexed me. I just know it. Pushing herself up on her elbows, Astria winced at her red palms for a moment before brushing them off as best as she could, glad that her belongings had at least stayed intact. Feeling dismayed, she crawled to her feet quickly and made her way over to the person she bowled over, trying her best to ignore the slight crowd that had formed around them.
"I'm so, so sorry!" Astria blurted out, half resisting the urge to bow repeatedly, not wanting odd habits garnered directly from her addiction to anime to shine through in an already very embarrassing predicament. "I'm a clumsy crack head, and I was afraid I was going to be late, and..." Her panicked voice trailed off as she realized that the person she had hit was still on the floor, half propped up on one arm and was not acknowledging Astria's presence or her rambling apology at all. Long, shiny jet black hair sheathed the girl's face, so Astria couldn't tell what her expression could be. After what seemed like an eternity of deafening silence, Astria assumed that the girl was more physically hurt than she, so she bent down to touch her shoulder gently.
"Hey... are you alright?"
Moving quicker than Astria expected, in one fluid motion her hand was slapped away. "Don't you EVEN touch me." She seethed quietly, climbing to her feet rather effortlessly despite the circumstances. She lifted her head from its downward gaze fully, glaring Astria full in the face without remorse, causing the brunette to back up a couple of steps in complete shock. It was as if someone had doused Astria in a bucket of cold water, just by the amount of anger directed at her in that moment. The obviously East Asian beauty was perhaps an inch taller than herself, and the cascade of straight hair framed her shoulders and came to a stop at her elbows. Her bangs were straight cut severely just below her eyebrow line, giving more weight to her flawless oval face and her almond shaped brown eyes.
Astria wasn't used to having someone THIS angry at her. She was always well liked and accepted amongst her circle of friends and for the most part, her peers. She figured that today would be an experience unlike any that she could have, but she certainly wasn't expecting something like this. She didn't want to move or talk, for fear some worse fortune would become her... but she felt that if she didn't say something, then the mystery girl would continue to make her feel like crap.
"I, um..." Astria managed to choke out, her voice squeaking.
Not waiting for a response, the girl brushed coldly past her and walked off down the hall, not looking back.
Great. This is hella awkward. She absentmindedly rubbed her arms, which were oddly covered in goosebumps. She made a quick glance around her and confirmed that there was a number of people staring at her. Some of them were curious stares, others were stares of disdain, but all of them shared a common theme of shock and apprehension. Astria just kept her gaze down, cleared her throat, and slipped into the classroom with a meek look on her face, and sat down in the first available seat. Her cheeks remained red until well after the bell rang for the start of classes, and it was only in the rush of getting accustomed to her new schedule and the layout of the school in general that she had gotten over what happened that morning. She kept to herself, managing to find a locker somewhere between most of her classes, and always ended up being the odd one out during lunch and class. She didn't mind it so much when she was really supposed to be focused on what the teacher was lecturing about, but it was painful during lunch when everyone separated into their own cliques and left her to a table by herself. Astria tried to tell herself that it didn't matter, since she really didn't come to school to make friends with rich snobs, but the truth of the matter was that she was lonely. She missed her friends that she grew up around and were accustomed to, but had no way of contacting them now. The brunette was usually warm and outgoing, but ever since literally crashing into her first day, what was left of her confidence flew out of the window and she retracted into herself, not sure of her surroundings or exactly how she was supposed to act.
The only good thing was that she didn't see the girl she knocked over for the rest of the day. Astria wasn't sure if she could take another glare from her, as much as she probably deserved it. Geez, I'm such a klutz.
By the time school adjourned with the ringing of the final bell, Astria was exhausted and fully convinced that high school, at least DeCastis High, was nothing but a slave house hell bent on making her brain fall out of her ears in a goopy mess. She already had homework in half of her classes, and the other half made up for it with the sheer amount of handouts and notes that she had acquired. Knowing her luck, there'd probably be a pop quiz in a few of them the next day, and if she was smart she'd be prepared. However at the moment, she was too tired and hungry to think about anything besides collapsing in her bed and going to sleep for a few hours. Retrieving some of her things from her locker, she wandered aimlessly down one of the hallways and pushed open the door to the Girls Restroom tiredly. Astria then chose a stall and locked it behind her, pausing to rest her head against the smooth, cool surface of the door. At least the bathrooms in this place are immaculate; that's one step up from public school, seriously. She just stood there for a few moments, so tired that she almost forgot what she was doing in there in the first place, until her bladder reminded her. She then did what she had to do, and was getting ready to unlock the stall when a pair of voices drifted to her ears and gave her pause.
"Did you see that girl that bowled into Kamada today?" One of the voices asked.
Astria pulled her hand away from the door and held her breath. There was no way she was going out, now. She could stand to wait for however long it took for them to leave first.
"Yeah, half the school has either seen it or heard about it by now." Another voice piped in, chewing gum loudly. "That was just a ridiculously stupid move on her part."
The sound of water faucets being turned on echoed through the bathroom. "You know, I do kind of feel sorry for her though." The first voice noted. "I mean, she's totally new, and it shows. And how do you think you would have reacted if Kamada looked at you like that? Her eyes can freeze fire, I'm willing to bet."
"Yeah, but that's the Ice Queen for ya." After that topic had died off, they talked briefly about some of the male classmates they had crushes on, a movie they wanted to see, and a sale that was going on at A&F the upcoming weekend. Astria waited until their voices had long faded from the bathroom before slowly opening her stall door and peeking out. Kamada... that's a Japanese surname if I've ever heard one. For a moment, Astria let herself get excited over the prospect of finally meeting and being friends with someone who was Japanese until she remembered why she was hiding out in a bathroom stall in the first place. Man, she probably wants nothing to do with me, now. And I think at this point I'll be lucky to have friends at ALL the way the school apparently knows me as "New Girl Klutz".
Astria was able to take her time walking out of school back to her home, since she didn't have anything in particular to do that required a deadline of sorts. She walked along the pathway that led out to different areas of the subdivision, and took idle note of the way the houses fanned out in a circular fashion around the school. Students separated or walked together down different paths, aiming towards a particular set of houses that would lead them to their own. A soft breeze rustled the trees that dotted the area, and Astria took a moment to let the wind blow through her locks. Despite it being the time when school always started, Astria loved the weather of that time of year the most. It was just dying down from the outright blaring heat of summer, but it wasn't yet autumn, and Georgia's heat was tempered by the breezes that were becoming more frequent amongst the pockets of stagnant heat.
"Astria?" Blinking, she frowned and looked around, surprised that someone actually knew her name. It wasn't until she tilted her gaze down that she saw that the culprit was Twilight, who was trotting towards her. Astria took a quick glance around to make sure nobody was in earshot before replying. "Hey, what's up? I just had the WORST day in the history of my life, ever. Well, okay... second worst day; the first worst day is the day I found out that DiC spliced the last episodes of the first season of Sailormoon into one big mockery of what it should have been." She swung her messenger bag behind her head, sighing. "It was BEYOND awful! So, this morning I was rushing into school, right? And..." Astria paused when she realized that Twilight's attention was not on the retelling of her plight, and that she was instead taking a rather quick pace in front of her. "Uh... excuse me? I'm in the middle of something?" She called out, annoyed. This is the last time I try and spill my soul to my cat. I really need to find some friends.
Twilight turned and looked back at Astria as if she had just realized she was talking. "Not now, Astria. I believe I've found one of your guardians, which is why I've met you here. If you will follow me, please." She continued her quick kitty pace along the sidewalk, leaving Astria no choice but to follow and hope that no one looking casually would think it strange that she was being led by a cat. It's alright, I guess. Things seriously can't get much worse for me right now, I'm betting.
Of course, whenever something of that sort is thought or said by anyone, it usually gets much worse.
"Her." Twilight spoke with affirmation, stopped after what seemed to Astria like a wild goose chase through parts of the neighborhood she wasn't quite familiar with. Astria blinked with confusion and followed her gaze until it rested on the back of a girl in a uniform identical to Astria's, holding a black school bag in front of her with two hands, walking primly down the sidewalk across the street. "She goes to your school."
Astria did a complete facefault, absolutely dismayed. "Are you KIDDING me? That's the girl that totally ruined my day today, if you had even stopped to listen to me talk about it earlier! Are you sure that there isn't another guardian that can take her place?"
Twilight looked up to Astria, a strange look on her face. "No one can take her place as much as anyone can take yours. Besides, it is obvious to one who can sense auras; she is one of them."
Astria was still nonplussed by the entire situation. "Oh really? Are you sure you're not picking up on the wall of cold air she puts up around herself with a glare?" She replied sarcastically.
"That too."
The brunette did another double take. "Dude, I was kidding. Unless you were too and you totally failed at sarcasm."
The brown cat sighed. "We're wasting time. Since she goes to your school, it would be best if you initiated contact."
"... no. She'll probably kill me by freezing my blood in my veins or something. That was also a joke, by the way."
"Just go do it, Astria."
Panicking, Astria threw her hands up in the air. "What the heck do you expect me to say? 'Hi, I'm the idiot that knocked you over today, and my cat thinks you're one of my sailor guardians. Oh, haven't you heard of Sailormoon? Join me now and you'll get a better uniform than what DeCastis offers you, that's for sure!'? Yeah, I'm sure that'll go over well."
"Do what you must. I'll be watching from a distance." With that, Twilight slipped away, disappearing into random foliage.
... Just what the heck is THAT supposed to mean?! Astria wanted to scream at the top of her lungs in annoyance, but that wouldn't solve anything and would probably earn her the title of schizophrenic to the remaining people that didn't already know her as Klutz. Training her hazel eyes to the sky, she took a moment to collect herself before setting across the street, butterflies emerging in her stomach as she approached the girl, careful of her pace and her steps so as not to initiate a replay of that morning's events. "Um... hello?"
The girl stopped in mid-walk and turned to see who was addressing her. Astria automatically tensed the moment her eyes met her own, even though they didn't quite hold the same hostility that she was met with that morning. The girl's brown eyes looked her up and down once, and narrowed slightly. "Oh, it's you." She said flatly, turning back and continuing her pace without another word of acknowledgement.
"Ah, wait!" Astria bit down her pride and called after her again. "I, umm... I never got the chance to properly apologize for today..."
"Apology accepted." The same flat tone greeted her before she had a chance to formulate much of anything, and this time she didn't even turn to look at her. She simply kept walking.
She is DEFINITELY not making this easy. Steeling herself, Astria rushed forward until she was at a closer distance behind her. "So, umm... what's your name?" She tried, hoping she didn't sound as awkward as she was feeling. The Asian girl kept walking, and for a moment Astria was wondering if she even heard at all until the response filtered back to her ears. "Nicole."
"Nicole? Oh... that's pretty." Astria said lamely, although it wasn't entirely a lie. "My name is Astria. I live, uh, in this neighborhood."
"As does everyone else who goes to DeCastis." The girl now known as Nicole Kamada replied, still not looking back at the girl who was going to such great lengths to have a conversation with her.
"That... would be correct, yes." Astria fought the urge to facepalm at her obvious lack of conversational skills. "So... umm... what do you like to do?"
A pause. "Excuse me?"
Astria put on the breaks before she slammed into Nicole's back. "Like... as in hobbies or whatever you do in your spare time?" She explained further.
A sigh was heard, and Nicole turned around again, her black hair flowing around her elegantly. "Why are you talking to me?"
A couple of responses to that simple question went through Astria's mind at the moment, including but not limited to those of, because my cat told me to, because you're Japanese and it's about time I broadened my horizons, I'm trying to save face so I don't become the school laughingstock, because you actually seem like an interesting person when you're not glaring at me, and all that got her was a blank look on her face as she tried to shuffle through what would be the most appropriate response. Finally, Astria just shook her head slightly and sighed herself, deciding to be as direct as possible. "Look, it's hard to explain. I guess the best way to put it is to say that I have something to give you, and running around in circles like this isn't getting us anywhere. I don't really know what else to do."
The gaze in Nicole's eyes was replaced by a look of surprise, but that was also carefully hidden beneath a neutral expression. "Something to give me?" She repeated, her voice losing its flat tone and being hinted by curiosity and more than a bit of suspicion. "Why would you have anything to give me? You didn't know me before today."
Maybe I should have continued us running around in circles. "Well... it's... complicated, to say the least. I'm going to sound so crazy explaining it to you... but that's okay. It can't be avoided, really." Astria shifted from foot to foot. "It'd help if we were somewhere less out in the open, though. Do you mind coming over to my house for a bit, maybe?" She crossed her fingers behind her back and looked as open as possible back at Nicole, hoping that the girl would accept her invitation and make her task a bit easier.
Nicole studied Astria's face carefully, looking for any sign of falsity in her expression. Finally, her gaze rested on Astria's hazel eyes, and her brows furrowed slightly as she conceded with herself. "Alright. You've got me curious."
Astria seriously had to stop herself from jumping and squealing in a strange combination of relief and elation. "Okay, then, just follow me!" She said, not being able to hide the happiness in her tone of voice as she turned back in the direction they had come from, going along a route that would lead to Astria's house. "Thank you so much, honestly."
Nicole blinked once at Astria, not really sure what to think of her yet. "For what?"
"For giving me a chance." She said simply, catching out of the corner of her eye a light brown blur that she knew was Twilight. "I expected you to blow me off."
The Asian girl just blinked and nodded slightly, not saying anything. The rest of the walk back to Astria's house wasn't too long and was silent, although not uncomfortably so. Although it didn't seem like much, Astria could tell that it took a lot for Nicole to give her the benefit of the doubt. She just seemed like one of the types of people who were naturally wary of everything and everyone, simply by the way she defensively held herself. It made Astria feel bad for her, even though she would never say it aloud. Nicole also didn't seem like the kind of person to take pity well, either.
"MOM, I'M HOME!" Astria called out upon her entrance into the foyer. Nicole peeked in for a moment before stepping inside, waiting until Astria closed the door behind them to bend down and slip off her shoes and place them near the doorway. She looked up as she realized that Astria was at the foot of her staircase, her head tilted in wonder. "What?" Nicole said defensively, not being able to hold off an edge to her tone.
Astria just smiled. "Sorry, it's just pretty cool to me that you removed your shoes before coming in. I don't think anyone has ever done that in this house... except for the time I came in with mud all over me. Then I wasn't even allowed past the foyer with clothes on, really."
Nicole cracked a miniscule grin, an image of Astria appearing in her mind covered from head to toe in dirt. "It's fine. It's a habit from my household, so I do it automatically whenever I go to someone else's house. It's respectful, just in case."
"Japanese custom, am I right?" The brunette smiled brighter as Nicole's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Don't worry, I'm a bit of a geek, but I assure that I wash regularly and have a life outside of my anime... for the most part. Either or, don't be alarmed; there's no creepy otaku living around here." She started up the stairs then. "Come on! My Mom's out for the moment, so we have the place to ourselves for right now. But I do want to show off my comfy room. It is THE best room in the house, if do say so myself."
Nicole followed the girl up the stairs, still not entirely sure of what to think of Astria, yet not being able to help herself and her curiosity. There was something about Astria that just caused people to be intrigued, without exuding a mysterious or elegant air. She couldn't pin it down, exactly, however; because Astria was just a normal girl with an apparent gift for bowling over people on her first day of school. There wasn't much on the surface that was extraordinary... but the more Nicole tried to put her finger on it, the more it seemed that she was looking far too much into things. There isn't always a trap door to things, she mused to herself as she walked into the bright bedroom. "You certainly do enjoy your Sailormoon, don't you?" She noted, her eyes glancing over the tall stand-alone rack that held the entire TV series on DVD, as well as the movies and the manga that was definitely out of print.
Astria spun around, an excited twinkle in her eye. "Oh, yes I do. It's my one vice I'll proudly admit to having." She moved her head slightly to the side, giving her hazel eyes a sly look. "How familiar are you with the series?"
Nicole shrugged. "I know of it, of course, and I watched the show as a child. I'm not a fangirl by far, but I get the general idea. Magical girls in skirts. Not much to it." She studied Astria curiously as she sat down on the edge of her bed, not really being able to see what the look on her face was supposed to mean. Don't tell me I offended her because I don't waste my time watching outdated anime.
"Hmm... well, that will make this easier." Astria finally replied, a finger resting on her chin. Her eyes drifted away from the girl standing in the center of the room to a spot beyond her, back towards the doorway. "I guess this is your cue, Twilight."
A/N: Yay for author's notes at the bottom! Well, this chapter certainly saw some changes from the original. For one, Nicole's last name used to be "Kawaja", back when I was completely ignorant of anything Japanese and thought that for a name that came off of the top of my head sounded cool and close enough. Of course, after taking a year and a half's worth of Japanese courses in college years later told me how stupid that last name sounded. Now that I'm rewriting it, I figured I'd redo the name so it's actually, ya know, an credible Japanese surname. Not to mention Nicole's introduction, outside of the collision at the beginning of school, was a completely different approach.
Also, the high school used to be called "LeeAnn". It's a combination of the last name of my middle school best friend, and the second part of my full hyphenated first name. So... it has meaning, and a part of me was sad to see it go... but it just sounded too corny for me, so I renamed it DeCastis. It's derived from the Greek word "dikastis", meaning "justice". Also, the Latin motto of the high school means "of sound mind and judgment". As you can probably tell, I'm an undercover lover of Greek and Latin languages, even though I've never formally studied them. Perhaps that's for the best though, since I'm on my 3rd year studying Mandarin Chinese and I swear I don't get anywhere some days. D:
I also have never been to Atlanta, Georgia. It was the city, for whatever reason, that I decided would be the center of the events in this fiction. It's been too long for me to remember why I chose a city that I've never been to, but just consider this a mini-disclaimer: if it's not accurate to real Atlanta, don't blame me too much. I'm using creative freedom, here.
I'm really having fun re-writing this thing, seriously. I don't think I mind at all having to balance two fics at once, even though I usually totally don't do something like this, lol!