[A/n]: Uh, I just realized that I made a little blip on the last chapter- sorry! She had just turned 11, not 10.
Reviews:
GlaresThatKill: That's what I was going for :) Don't worry, she won't be like that for very long. Promise *Cough cough * ends this chapter *Cough cough*. Well, I'm glad I can portray my characters properly!
Chapter Eight
School Days - Part Two
XXX
I scanned my classroom during a self-study period.
Looking around now, it was obvious that I was isolated. All the other girls in my class went off in a circle and chatted, occasionally looking over at someone and giggling, some not interacting with me only because they didn't want to get isolated too. I caught a few apologetic glances from a few of them. The boys had almost as much interest in me as I had in them, which is to say, none. A few of them looked a little curious about me, but none of them came over and talked to me.
"Does it bother you?" Shiori questioned, twisting around to look at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. "The whole class ignoring you," She clarified. "Does it bother you?" I shrugged, pretty much indifferent about it.
"Not really," I answered, looking back down on the math that we were supposed to be doing. I finished it a little while ago, so I had nothing to do while Shiori just opted not to do it. "You do realize that's for marks, right?"
"Yeah, so what?" She groaned, looking bored out of her mind. "I'm not too worried about my marks."
"What if I go to a completely different middle school?"
"Huh?"
"What if I apply to a different middle school than you and you don't get in because your marks are too low?" She blinked, then quietly turned around and started doing our homework. "Good girl," I smirked.
XXX
"It's just so boring," I complained to Tsukasa from the couch. "I already learned all that stuff… Oh my Geoffrey, it's been three years since I've come here." I realized slapping a hand over my face.
"Three years?" Tsukasa looked intrigued at my choice of wording.
"Yeah," I glanced over at the brown haired man. "I came here when this body was eight and I was twelve. So, that means that technically I'm fifteen right around now."
"I see…"
"I don't feel like I'm fifteen though," I continued, swinging my legs up onto the top of the couch, flipping myself upside down. "I feel like I'm still around twelve."
"It makes sense. You've been living for fifteen years, but you yourself are twelve." He hummed. He was right. It made sense, in an odd way. "I also noticed that you seem to say something along the lines of "menu" sometimes?" He changed the topic, watching me.
"Yep." I agreed, dangling off the side of the couch, being careful not to hit the table which held cake and tea. "This world is a game. I can pause the world, I can use an inventory, maps, abilities and stuff." He looked fascinated. "You're level three, by the way."
"Such an interesting ability… Does everyone have a level above their head?" I nodded.
"They have a level, name, if I know it, a gauge showing how they feel, and whether they're an enemy, ally, or friend."
"What does it say above my head?" I pulled myself up and looked above his head where a floating green gauge was.
"Amakawa Tsukasa, level three, friend/ally. You're currently feeling healthy and happy." I stated. "It only gives me general moods like angry, sad, sick, and happy."
"What can you do with your inventory?" Instead of answering him, I decided to show him instead.
"Inventory- slot 4." Instantly, the clothes on my body changed from a t-shirt and jeans to a love sleeved shirt and a skirt with leggings. "Inventory- apple." An apple appeared in my right hand out of nowhere. I held it up to Tsukasa. "I can't carry anything like a fridge though," I commented, remembering what happened before. "It gives me an error message." I tapped the apple twice with my right hand and it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Fascinating…" He looked like he wanted to ask one more question.
"What?"
"What's that song you always hum?"
"Oh, those songs are from a group call Rajaton. They're kind of an acapella group," I explained, grinning. "The one I hummed is called Sydan Ei Vasta. It's about a someone wondering if they've finally found "the one", but the heart won't answer. Hiilja, hiilja, vaasta, vaasta. Heart, heart, answer, answer. I also like the Butterfly one, I sing it to Ami when she doesn't fall asleep."
"I like it," He smiled at me before looking back down at his paperwork. "Do you want to do this for me?"
"No way," I scoffed.
XXX
Almost two years later, Aki's life was still generally the same. Get up, clean, eat, go to school, train, go to Tsukasa, go home, eat, shower, sleep, and repeat. There were a few thing in between like Ami learning to walk and talk (She'd become a major diva), going to an amusement park, seeing her cousins and her aunt and uncle- that happened a lot more now since they moved closer to them- and they had finally moved into the new house that her parents had wanted.
It wasn't too far away from everything since they were still in the same neighbourhood, and they were closer to Yuji and Akira. Much closer. Right next door closer.
There was definitely an escalation with the bullying, it was just as Shiori had said. Ripped up notes, milk in her locker, tacks in her shoes, death threats. It was almost amusing to the green haired girl, if only Shiori hadn't gotten involved as well. She had calmed down a bit the past year and had wormed her way into Aki's life. Actually, forced was a better word.
"Kiki-nee," Shouta called from the living room, "Where're my new soccer clothes?"
"I washed them and put them in your room!" She called back from the kitchen. Another development was that her mother and father had both been promoted, meaning longer hours and less time at home, making Aki into her sibling's primary care taker. Shisui had started going to university, getting a job as a school nurse at Tsukasa's school for part-time, thanks to his sister. He definitely knew how to clean up cuts and how to take care of sick kids from his time at the Dojo and with his siblings. However, this meant that he was only really home at night or on the weekends.
"Onee-tan, Onee-tan," Ami trotted into the room, holding up a drawing. "Look!" It was a drawing of what she guessed was Shisui with lots of bright colours surrounding him.
"Nice," Aki grinned at her and placed the last dish in the cupboard, quickly and efficiently wiping down the counter and draining the dirty water. "Why don't you go show Ali and Shisui-nii? I'm sure they'll love it!"
"Yeah!" She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her footsteps making loud thumping noises.
"Now," She muttered, opening the fridge, "What should I make for dinner and lunches tomorrow… Tortilla soup is good, and it makes them eat their vegetables, but I'm not sure if we have enough tomato sauce…" She let out a sigh. "I guess I'll have to go shopping again."
XXX
"Kiki," I groaned from the bed of her room, lying down next to Akira. Her room was much bigger here than it was before, and she even got a balcony! Not fair! "Do my homework for meeeeee."
"Do your own homework," She grumbled, scowling down at a drawing. "I have other things to do."
"So cold," I sighed, laying my head on Akira's stomach. "You've been so mean since Yuji left for boarding school."
"She's just lonely," Akira commented from under me. "She has no friends, after all."
"Why are you guys even here if all you're going to do is comment on my social life," She rolled her eyes, swivelling around in her chair. "Don't you have work to do, cat?"
"The project? You know I don't do those, Karma." They'd taken to calling each other odd names to try to get at each other, but neither of them seemed to care. They were a weird pair. Why Karma, you ask? Well, ever heard the saying, "Karma is a bitch"? That's what he's referring to. Mature, much?
Aki found it amusing, so she started calling him a cat due to the way he acted. I was still "Lala", for whatever reason. They never told me why they called me that, and it frustrated me. Why was I the only one out of the loop?
"Both of you, shush," I groaned, closing my eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap."
"If you want quiet, take a nap in your own room," Aki retorted cruelly. She was so mean to me.
XXX
Wow, real imaginative, I mused sarcastically, looking at the letter I'd gotten in my locker, saying along the lines of "Go die, slut," Couldn't they come up with something more unique?
Ping!
A notification popped up from Tsukasa telling me that he was going to be going out today, so I didn't need to come unless he summoned me. He would be back late.
I guess I might as well stay after school today to do some planing, I sighed and crumpled up the note, tossing it in the trash. No need to tell the others either, I don't want to worry them.
I really wished that I had told them.
XXX
I felt blood dripping from the scratches on my cheek as the group of girls slapped me and held me down. I gave no resistance since I'd been told not to use my martial arts outside of class or self-defence. I would heal once I ate again, anyway.
They had come into the classroom about half an hour after everyone had left and started to beat me up, for whatever reason. I guessed Shiori was right about it eventually escalating to this point.
"What a freak," One girl laughed, standing over me. I recognized her as one of the popular girls in school, one of the ones the boys all swooned over. "I guess she isn't as strong as the rumours say!" There was another round of laughter as I looked at them all blankly as they hit me.
"What's with that hair of hers?" Another one snickered, grabbing a fistful and tugging my head upwards. "You're so annoying, always hanging around Akira and Yuji, thinking you're so hot! I bet you were the reason he left!" I let out a dry smirk.
"Oh yeah, he totally left because I broke his heart," I muttered sarcastically, angering the girls. "If you actually listened to the teacher instead of gossiping about the latest scandal, you would know he went to boarding school, genius."
"You bitch," She glared at me and grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk behind her. She gave me an almost insane grin as she snipped them together. I suppose arguing back wasn't the best idea. "Let's see how you feel when I cut off all of that fake hair of yours!" I bit back a grunt as they flipped me over, grabbing my long ponytail and starting to cut it off. I stayed silent as a foot pressed into my back.
I wanted a haircut anyway, I reasoned, trying to stay calm. They're just doing it for free. The sound of footsteps storming down the hallway
"Aki!" Shiori slammed the door opened, taking in the scene with an expression of horror, which swiftly changed into rage. "How dare you," She seethed, storming into the room and throwing the girls off of me with a growl. "Why didn't you fight back!?" She snapped at me, clearly upset with me.
"I'm not allowed to use any techniques on civilians," I answered blankly, standing up and wiping the blood off of my swollen cheek.
"It would be self-defence, you dummy!" She hissed at me in frustration. "My god, my best friend is an absolute moron!"
"Looks like we have an intruder," The ringleader of the girls giggled. "Girls!" As if they had planned this all in advance, they switched from me to Shiori, twisting her arms behind her back. "Now, Hinamori, do what we want, or Hanamura-chan gets it." Shiori let out a yelp when one of them twisted her arms back to far. "If you don't…" She gave a look to one of the girls, who punched Shiori in the gut, making her fall to her knees and cough hard. There was another punch to her face which hit her nose, blood starting to drip out of it.
"Blood…" I murmured, my eyes widening.
"Do you understand?" The girl giggled, crossing her legs as she sat on top of a desk. "Do as I say."
"You made her bleed…" The girl raised her eyebrow.
"Hah?"
"You hurt Shiori," I growled, eyes flashing with anger. "Now I hurt you." I slowly stepped towards her, making her confident facade fade.
"Y-You won't hurt me," She stuttered, trying to keep her cool. "You just said-!"
"Except in cases of self-defence," I hummed, my voice dark with anger. "Which this clearly is."
"W-W-Wait! S-Sto-!" She didn't get another word out after I punched her, sending her to the ground. The rest of the girls gasped and ran forward, attempting to get revenge for their leader who was on the floor holding her cheek and moaning in pain.
"Aki, no!"
XXX
"Alexis…?" A soft voice called from the door of the hospital room, a pair of purple eyes peeking in. Tsukasa gasped when he saw me. "Oh, no…" I smiled bitterly, looking down at my bandaged ankle. I was covered in bruises and cuts, I probably had fractured something as well.
"Haven't you heard, Tsukasa?" I choked, fighting back tears. "I'm a monster and a freak with green hair. That's why I attacked her, because I have anger issues and have dealings with gangsters." My voice completely broke, along with my attempt to clog the tears.
"Alexis, I'm sorry," He made his way over to the bed, hugging me tightly, being careful around my injuries. "If I hadn't gone out-" I shook my head, letting out a shaky breath.
"It's not your fault, it's mine for losing control," I forced a laugh, but Tsukasa didn't seem to be convinced. Not that I was okay. "I should have called a teacher or something, but when I saw them punch Shiori…" I shuddered, scared of that part of myself. I had beaten a bunch of thirteen-year-old girls with no fighting experience to a pulp, and there was no excuse for that.
"I heard you were expelled," He sat down on a stool next to the bed, grabbing my hand. "And that the girls who were bullying you two were as well." I felt a small amount of satisfaction and felt guilty that I didn't feel very bad about what I had done.
"Yeah… There were several witnesses over the years to our bullying, and plus we had evidence with the notes and stuff…"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to get you involved." He frowned at me.
"Don't ever say that." He demanded. "Don't ever say that again. As both your summoner and your friend, promise me that you'll tell me about it if it ever happens again."
"Tsukasa-"
"Promise me." I looked at him with hesitant eyes. After a moment, I nodded.
"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die." He smiled.
"Good."
XXX
Akira still wasn't talking to me.
He was still angry that Shiori and I didn't call him when we were in trouble, not that we could have anyway. We tried explaining it to him, but he wouldn't listen. Sensei was angry with me at first too, but calmed down a little after hearing what happened. The rest of the clan was in a frenzy of rage towards the girls who hurt us.
My mother and father were incredibly upset with the fact that I didn't trust them enough to tell them, Aki and Shouta already knew about it, Shisui was a little upset too. Ami had no idea what was going on, thank god. I didn't think I would be able to handle it if she started talking about it.
My uncle and aunt were completely understanding, unsurprisingly, along with Sensei's wife. I started crashing at their place instead of Akira's because I couldn't take the tension in the two houses.
On top of that, one of the girls had managed to hit my ankle with the scissors, so I couldn't actually walk properly or do anything strenuous for a few months. Not that I was going to. I also had to find a new school soon, but Tsukasa offered to take Shiori and I in his school. My parents were debating about whether or not to take it, since it'd take me away from all of my "friends". Yeah, right. The only friends I had were Akira and Shiori, one going to a new school anyway and the other who lived right beside me.
All in all, things were absolute shit.
"Have you tried apologizing?" Haru questioned, plopping down on the sofa beside me. I rolled my eyes.
"I doubt that saying 'whoops, I accidentally beat ten or so girls to a pulp, sorry!' will get me out of this mess," I muttered, watching the news. He tousled my hair, now a lot shorter thanks to those girls. It was barely reaching my shoulders and had become a curly mess now that it didn't have the weight to hold it down.
"I meant, why don't you apologize for not telling them?"
"Why would I tell them?" I glanced over at him. "They would only make the entire thing worse and piss the girls all off even more."
"Such a pessimistic kid," He teased, grinning at me. "I wonder who you got that from."
"Maybe my biological parents?" He raised his eyebrows.
"They told you that you were adopted?"
"No," I shook my head. "I have a different skin colour, eye colour, I have green hair for god's sake, height, body type, Ali and I were born six months before Shouta, and I found adoption papers in their room. Plus they got all twitchy when I mentioned how close our birthdays were."
"Aren't you a regular Sherlock," He chuckled, sending an amused glance to Nadeshiko, who had walked into the room on that note.
"They're feeling worried, Aki-chan," She sighed, giving me a small smile. "They're worried that you don't trust them and that something might happen again."
"Well, I don't trust them," I answered bluntly, making both of them blink. "And I'll make sure to control my temper next time."
"Why don't you trust them?" Nadeshiko sat down on the other side of me, looking curious.
"They haven't given me a reason to. They lied about where I came from, they constantly forget to do their housework, they always forget about me when I try to ask something, and they're never at home anyway." I started, getting annoyed. "They like to pretend that I'm still the same person I was before the crash, when I'm obviously not, and they don't ask my opinion on anything."
"They love you, Aki, and they just want the best for you."
"I know that," I huffed, sending an annoyed glance at him. "They want the best for me, but they can't do that pretending that the car crash never happened. I'm not their little girl, and I haven't been since after that car crash."
"Maybe so…" Nadeshiko consented, "But don't you love them too?" I stared at her for a moment, thinking it over.
"…I don't know."
XXX
"Haru, is she going to be alright?" Nadeshiko fretted, having gotten a lot closer to the girl over the past few years. She originally thought she was cold but she now saw that she cared deeply for her family, even if she didn't see it.
"Yeah," He smiled at his wife, having just come home from driving Aki back to her house. "She's a strong girl, she'll be fine."
XXX
Dinner was another awkward encounter, especially since Akira's family came as well. I generally just stayed near Ali and Shouta, the only two in my family who weren't angry with me. Shisui wasn't bad, and neither was my teacher, but they weren't sure how to handle this situation.
Everyone sat in silence, quietly eating their food. I could feel Hana, who was sitting beside me start to get worked up.
"Oh, all of you are just so frustrating!" I didn't expect her to shout at the top of her lungs. "So what, she didn't want to tell you that she was in trouble? Isn't it because she didn't want you to get worried and screw it all up?" She gave me a pointed look. I didn't expect her to be so right to the point either. "Why don't you all 'pologize and make up?"
"Uh, Hana-san, your accent is coming out," My mother interjected weakly.
"I don't care!"
"Oh god," I groaned, catching her attention.
"And you," She turned and poked me in the chest, "Why didn't you call for help?"
"Because you'd all screw up and make it even worse," I answered honestly, making my parents twitch guiltily.
"Acceptable!"
"…Seriously?" Shouta gaped at her.
"Akira!" Her son looked up with a "hmm?" "Why are you so mean towards Aki-chan lately?"
"Huh?"
"You haven't talked to her in weeks, and she's even stopped coming over!" She exclaimed, her brows furrowed. "You finally make a friend and you're scaring her away."
"I have othe-!"
"Are you really going to chase away your childhood friend because she didn't call you? What it she didn't have her phone?" His eyes widened in realization, finally. "All of you are being ridiculous. So what, she screwed up a little, but she did it for a friend!" There was a round of apologies towards me, when Hana sent me a look. "You too."
"Sorry for not telling you guys," I muttered, poking a piece of broccoli on my plate with my fork.
"Now we're all good, and no more of this stupid tension, got it?" I laughed and grinned at the blonde woman beside me.
"Who needs conflict resolution when we have Hana-san?" She puffed her chest out proudly, making all the kids giggle.
"That's right!"
"Oh no, don't start this again," Sensei groaned.
"You got a problem, Shinji? Maybe you should get your wife to solve it!"
"I should be in the government," Hana declared, earning a loud burst of laughter from everyone in the room.
With that, an incredibly long month after the incident, everything was resolved.
XXX
[A/n]: Went a little dark there, but that's pretty much the end of the back story. The next chapter will be the start of Aki's adventures!
Thanks for reading! All criticism is appreciated!
