A/N: Another...well, partly Haru-centric chapter! I suppose I should warn you that there's strong language in this bit too, so watch out :P
Also, I feel this story's going to go on for a long time...it's chapter 9 and I haven't even got into the more interesting juicy stuff! This is very fun to write though, so there's betting I'll finish it eventually. So, enjoy and feel free to review, I love hearing from you all! 3
"Isn't it a lovely day? The sun's out and the birds are singing! I thought it was going to rain today, too!" the small blonde smiled brightly up at his taller companion, his usual good mood practically shining through from his face.
Hatsuharu just nodded and tucked his hands into the pockets of his black uniform. He didn't feel like talking much today, even though he would probably catch the rabbit's contagious happiness. The nightmare, however diluted from his being awake, was still there whirling around his mind as if it were on spin cycle. It was bugging him like a gnat. He'd have to see Tamiko again, to warn her about it. Then again, the Mimicker would probably scoff at his petty excuse of a warning and think he was even more like a child than she already thought. Though…she had said how mature he was… but all the same, he couldn't imagine her being the type to take dreams and nightmares seriously. Knowing her if she had a nightmare, she probably woke up and shrugged it off. It was just how she was. Despite this, he was still a little concerned. He made a mental note to catch either Yuki or Kyo in the corridors (preferably Yuki seeing as how famously he got along with the cat) and ask if he could go round theirs, even for a little while. Tamiko wouldn't exactly go anywhere; she had nowhere to go. And if she went to the main house then she was stupid.
"Haru?" Momiji looked a little worried, his face falling at his friend's neutral expression. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Uh?" He shook himself like a dog ridding itself of water and shrugged carelessly at his friend's question. "I'm fine. Just not had much of a good night's sleep, that's all."
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"Not particularly." He cast his eyes down at Momiji, who still looked worried. "Don't worry about me, I'm just a little tired. And also", he looked up at the sky with a sigh, "I wanted it to rain today."
"You…wanted it to rain?" Momiji laughed. "Why did you want it to rain?"
He didn't answer, just shrugged again. In all honesty, he wanted it to rain because he liked it. He was one of the few people who did. When the others would practically trip over each other in their haste to get sheltered from a downpour, he was content to stand in it for hours, even though he usually always got a cold as a result. He always thought of it as refreshing, though when he voiced this he would have a few 'you're such a freak' looks in return. Maybe he was a freak. It would be a change from being called dumb or stupid.
He stopped at the sight of three figures making their way towards them- or at least, they were travelling in the same direction as them. He could easily identify them as the fireball Kyo and the perfect Yuki, the girl in the middle being the pretty and intelligent Miss Honda. He didn't react when Momiji, spotting them too, rushed from his side like a bullet from a gun towards the trio, namely Tohru, and leaving him in the dust. He was too mentally drained from the nightmare to make much of an effort, even if it was Yuki. Or at least, that was what he kept telling himself. He just meandered slowly over and watched as Momiji swung from Tohru's neck like a grinning monkey with a cocked eyebrow and without much comment.
"Hello, Haru." Yuki greeted hesitantly, as though he was anticipating Hatsuharu's welcome. Well, Hatsuharu thought to himself, he wasn't going to disappoint.
Though instead of tugging at his clothing, which was his usual greeting, he did something else entirely. He engulfed the older boy in his arms with a soft and affectionate mumble of "Yuki", laying his head on his shoulder. "It has been too long." He added in a husky voice.
"Haru, it was a day ago since you last saw me. Please let go, you're constricting me." Yuki complained, wriggling free of his younger cousin's grip.
Hatsuharu reluctantly removed his arms from around Yuki. "Shall we walk to school together?"
"We already are." Yuki pointed out, stepping out of Hatsuharu's hugging range.
The ox said nothing in reply as the group set off in the direction of the steadily looming high school. A small amount of casual chatter was thrown around between them, mostly Tohru and Momiji being the ones who started them. Tohru was the one who brought Hatsuharu back down to earth. "So how have you been Hatsuharu?"
He blinked down at her, as though for a moment he'd forgotten his own name. "Huh?"
"Jeez Haru, you space out more than she does, and that's something!" Kyo snapped, rolling his eyes.
Hatsuharu ignored him. "I've been...okay."
"Was your weekend fun?"
"I've had better. It was pretty uneventful, 'til the Mimicker swanned in." He chanced a glance at her. "Speaking of her, how is your little visitor?"
He waited with baited breath, but he needn't have bothered. "Oh, Tamiko's good! She's feeling a lot better now, I think the tablet Hatori gave her worked, please thank him from her!"
Hatsuharu smiled. "No. Because I know Tamiko wouldn't thank him."
"Oh no, she's a nice person and very grateful! I'm sure she'd thank Hato-"
"You don't know her." He cut in, and to the other's shock there was an underlying coldness to his words.
"Haru, calm down. You can't turn Black on us now, we're almost at school." Yuki said soothingly, touching his shoulder lightly.
"I'm not turning Black, I'm just irritated. I know her."
Kyo snorted. "You sound like a sulky child. We all know her, get over it."
Hatsuharu flinched as though Kyo had hit him. Maybe he was right- maybe he was childish. But he couldn't help it; even when he was little, he had felt that he knew Tamiko, really knew her, more than the others did. Yuki had been a favourite, he understood that, but he was sure that both he and Kyo were a close, tied second. But only he knew when she was upset or sad; like when her smiles were painful and her good-feeling was forced. Yeah, only he knew about that. He felt kinda special about that. The talent had stayed with age, too. He could tell when Yuki felt down or when Shigure was up to something he shouldn't. And when he'd seen her again. He knew that she was hurting, but she was too proud to show it.
The feeling stayed with him throughout the day, and as he sat in home room with his head resting lazily on the desk in front of him he was completely oblivious to the frantic tugging on his shoulder from Momiji. "What?" He finally said, raising his head.
"Come look, come look! There's a fight outside in the corridor! We should go stop them before they get in trouble!" the smaller boy cried, his eyes larger than dinner plates.
Hatsuharu shook his head and slunk it back down onto his desk. "It's their fight, let them be. It's not our place to intrude on their disagreement."
"But Haruuu." The rabbit whinged, "We need to or one of them could get really hurt! What if one of them dies?!"
He sighed. Momiji needed to learn to calm down and not take things to the extreme. Although, he wouldn't get any peace from his cousin until he went and at least looked at whatever was going on. So, with a shrug and a grunt as he heaved himself up from the chair, he wandered over to the door of home room. Huh. He should have known it was a big fight, seeing as all of his fellow pupils had vacated their classrooms to watch intently. "What's going on then?" he stated boredly, folding his arms and staring the people in front of him down.
He didn't need anyone to tell him. He soon found out.
"...dare speak to me like that again you jumped-up little twirp and you'll get what's coming to you, got that?! I don't stand by and let people hurl shit at me, especially from an insignificant maggot such as yourself!"
"Don't call me that! You're such a hypocrite, yelling at me for calling you names and throwing them right back at me!"
"At least mine are fucking imaginative, yours were just lame!"
Hatsuharu, being one of the taller first-years, peered over the top of his classmate's heads to spot the bickering pair. They were both boys, no surprise there, and one had cropped purple hair that was definitely against the dress code. That one was obviously the stronger of the two, for he was holding the other up against the wall by his collar with an expression on his face to rival the Hulk. The other didn't look too afraid, just slightly perplexed as to how he'd got to be on the losing side in the first place.
"Ooh, that's a new student isn't it?" Hatsuharu heard a girl whisper to her friend.
"Yeah, he's gotta be, I haven't seen hair like that before!" her friend giggled.
"I bet he's a Yankee. He could run in a gang, I bet."
"I'd let him join mine." Hatsuharu recognised the voice of Arisa Uotani, one of Tohru's friends, hide a hint of admiration. She was stood relatively near him, so he could hone in on her voice pretty easily. "He's pretty good, ain't he? Although, picking fights in school is a bit stupid." She smirked and swept away, bored already with the scene before her.
"Hey", Hatsuharu called over the noise of students clamouring to get a view of the spectacle, "Quit fighting or you'll get yourself messed up. Not to mention you'll probably be excluded before your first day actually starts."
The purple haired boy turned around and searched out the voice. "Hatsuharu?"
He blinked as the entirety of the other boy's face was revealed to him.
Oh my God.
It wasn't some random Yankee yob. It was Tamiko, in a boy's uniform. He couldn't mistake those scars anywhere. Her curves were subtly hidden beneath the solid-black uniform, and she even wore the pure white tie knotted loosely around her neck. He noted that she was also wearing a black T-shirt underneath the jacket to stop any form of cleavage showing through. It was extremely awkward to see her wearing boy's clothing, but then when he thought about it she wore trousers anyway. And with her short hair, he couldn't imagine her in the girl's uniform. He bet with a smirk that Tamiko would refuse to wear a dress to her own wedding if she could. She dropped her opponent's shirt instantly, causing him to scowl at her and storm off in the opposite direction, pushing through the considerably large crowd gathered there by now. "Hatsuharu?" she said again, a frown appearing on her face. She hadn't seen him.
He raised a hand and waved it lightly. "I'm over here."
Completely ignoring the fact that there was a wall of about 6 strong students between them she just strode through it, pushing and elbowing her way to where he stood with a blank expression on his face. The girls surrounding them muttered things like 'Yankees are so violent' and 'Ooh, Haru knows him, maybe they're friends!'He raised an eyebrow at her. "You sure know how to cause a scene."
She shrugged. "The kid was annoying. He called me a vulgar word because I brushed past him. I needed to teach him a lesson." She sighed theatrically, something he'd seen Shigure do so many times, as she added, "Honestly, the youth of today are so rude compared to how we were."
"I'm sure you were all angels." Hatsuharu replied calmly.
"Wait...aren't you interested in why I'm here wearing the boy's uniform?"
"Nothing really surprises me. Although", he said, considering, "the boy's uniform is a surprise, I have to admit."
"It was the only one I could get hold of. It's Shigure's." She shuddered lightly. "I made him wash it first, which is why I'm a little late."
Hatsuharu cracked a smile. "I don't blame you."
"Tamiko?!" Oh yeah. He forgot Momiji was there. The teenager launched himself at her with shining eyes. "What a surprise!"
Tamiko had to step back once Momiji collided with her, and to Hatsuharu's relief neither transformed. She laughed and looked down at him, hugging him in return for the collision. "Well, I'm glad I'm a good surprise." She squinted at him. "Heyy, you got the girl's uniform on. We're both screwy."
Momiji laughed. "I always wear this! It looks better on me!"
"I bet it does." She turned back to Hatsuharu. "So, what's the verdict? Does the black suit me?"
"Huh?" He stared at her as she prised herself free of Momiji and twirled playfully. "Oh...it looks good on you." He tried, cringing at how stupid and dazed he sounded.
"I guess that's the best compliment I'll get." She said, grinning to show she was joking. Resting an arm on his shoulder, she added, "C'mon, let's go see the others. I bet my little ruckus probably disturbed their home room as much as it did yours."
Hatsuharu nodded- he had to admit he was shocked no teachers had come out of their classrooms yelling the odds at her. Then realising Tamiko didn't know the direction of his older cousins' home room, he set off at an unsure pace. Momiji's certainty made up for his feelings when the smaller boy broke into a jog in his excitement to see the others, despite having seen them already this morning. Hatsuharu just shook his head and noticed that Tamiko's arm didn't leave his shoulder.
*~*
She was pretty impressed with herself, if she said so herself. Her plan had gone without much of a hitch. Granted, the mouthy student was an extra thing thrown in, but hey, variety gave it flavour. She'd known the minute Shigure had given her the sly look that he was up to something.
"Oh, I know where you can get a uniform from...I still have mine from high school."
"That's gross, Shigure. I'm not going to wear your clothes, not in a million...wait, why do you still have it?"
"It could come in handy some day, y'know?" He'd tipped her a wink as he'd said that, and Tamiko had known that his intentions were anything but innocent.
"You sick bastard!"
As a result, she'd left the house with a comparatively battered Shigure waving her off. "Make sure you check out all the pretty high school girls for me!" he called merrily. Sicko. Even after being hit by her, he was still ever the pervert. He couldn't stop himself. She supposed it was just in his blood. She was also kinda surprised at Hatsuharu's reaction. The boy didn't seem at all fazed by the fact she was dressed as a boy, but Shigure had said one word of sense at least as she had been reluctantly changing into his uniform; 'Well, you would have more questions raised if you went as a girl than as a boy, Tamiko. Especially with that Yankee-style haircut of yours and those gawdy necklaces.'
It was true, but it hadn't stopped her biting back.
'Hey, I'm not a Yankee just because my hair's short, you ass! And my choker's not a necklace, it's a symbol!'
Shigure had then been hit for a second time thanks to his overlarge gob. She wondered if he was just a masochistic kind of person.
She had been surprised at Hatsuharu's reaction though. She knew he was very laid-back and liberal, but even she expected there to be a bit of surprise clear in his expression. But there had been nothing- no true emotion had been shown by him, he'd just accepted...she imagined she's be able to streak past him without provoking any response to speak of. Still, it was kind of nice to have that feeling of acceptance. Their relaxed amble was taking them slowly along the corridor in their search for the other Sohmas, and she finally removed her arm from his shoulder and preceded to saunter alongside him, and to those who were passing by it looked as though she was a very cocky and flirtatious boy. In fact, the snippets of conversation she managed to catch seemed to verify the point, causing her to let out a wide grin.
"Is he really a Yankee?"
"Ooh, he looks so tough and hardcore! Did you see his scars?"
"I wonder if he'll join a team or group?"
"Idiot, if he's a Yankee he'll be too busy beating the crap out of someone."
"He's nice though. He so totally has the whole 'bad boy' gimmick going on!
"I bet he could show us a good time!"
Just to taunt them, and to inflate her ego even further, she tucked her hands in her pockets in the most manly pose she could succeed in doing and tossed her head back with a brooding, bored expression. "Hello ladies." She rumbled in a thick, masculine voice that reminded Hatsuharu briefly of one of the voices he knew from the Sohma compound. As a result of her greeting, the girls blushed bright red and giggled amongst themselves. The boys merely looked awkwardly happy to see her. Tamiko turned to Hatsuharu and laughed herself, feeling almost proud of herself. "I couldn't help it! They're such saps!" she snorted through her laughter.
Hatsuharu raised a brow at her. She could see he wasn't exactly happy with her, like a parent disappointed in a child, and her laughter soon died. "You were mimicking Hatori's voice, weren't you? Back when he was a teenager. I knew I recognised it." He said softly.
She froze. Why did he have to bring him up again? Could she go one day without hearing his name uttered by anyone? Her eyes narrowed and she replied coldly, "I can mimic voices as well as forms. It's a lot more difficult, it requires a lot of time being spent with the individual concerned for it to work for me."
"You spent a lot of time with Ayame and Shigure too." He looked genuinely interested now. "Can you mimic them?"
"With practise. Hatori, I just...he's the easiest. Because I was so close."
He considered this for a while as they walked. "That means you'll be able to mimic my voice soon enough." He stated.
She raised an eyebrow, all coldness melted away. "Oh yeah, and what does that mean?"
"It means I'll be seeing you a lot more. I want to be friends with you. So you can speak in my voice." It was a statement, not a request. He'd said it so simply and plainly that she smirked at him. He had to be kidding. No fifteen year old would want to hang around with someone like her. She was way too much of a bad influence. But, if he really wanted to...
"You strike a hard bargain there Sohma. You can be friends with me. So long as you don't call me 'senpai' or anything like you do with Shigure, 'kay?"
He then gave her a genuine smile. "Okay." As they walked, he turned to her and said, "By the way, do you think you could come back to the Sohma compound? I'm sure my place is far quieter than yours."
"Well, I dunno, it could prove a little difficu-"
"What the hell are you wearing?!" Tamiko, to her own horror, jumped in surprise at the yell. Who the hell thought it was okay to yell at her?! She soon got the answer. Kyo had just wandered out of his home room and spotted her. He looked utterly blank. She could tell he was totally speechless. His maroon eyes were focused only on her, and his mouth was fixed on the hanging open pose.
"Ah great." She muttered to herself, regaining her composure after her embarrassing reaction and walked over to him with complete serenity. "Hello Kyo, nice weather we're having huh?"
"What are you wearing that for?! Why are you dressed like a student?! Why are you here?!" he shot at her, his hands moulding into fists at his sides.
"Aw Kyo-Kyo, I never thought you cared." Tamiko said calmly, smirking at him despite his anger. "I'm here because I thought it'd be interesting. I'm dressed like a student because, duh, I am a student, well that's what this place thinks. And I am dressed like this because I wanted more variety."
"Is this some idea of a sick joke? I have enough of you at home!"
Tamiko rolled her eyes. "Oh please Kyo, don't flatter me any more than you are now." She answered sarcastically.
"Shut up!" he roared.
"Don't speak to your senpai like that, or it'll be the last thing you do." She stated with such acidic calm that Kyo took a step back. "Like it or not, I am wearing the boy's uniform and I am staying here. Get over it." His eyes began to weaken against hers, so she added, "Anyway, I thought you'd want me around. I thought you liked me."
"I...I do like you." Kyo managed to say through gritted teeth.
Tamiko smiled. He was fun to play with. So easy to wind up, and so so easy to push over the egde. Not that she liked practising that... "Where are the others?"
"Tohru's inside chatting to her friends, that Yankee and the psychic. As for that damn rat, he's gone to do some student council stuff." He shrugged carelessly. Looking past her, he realised who else was with her. "Oh, hey Haru. Hey Momiji."
"Heya Kyo! Did you say Tohru was in there? I wanna go see her! Me me me!!"
"Oh no you don't, lovrer boy." Kyo said bluntly, grabbing hold of the scruff of Momiji's uniform before he could rush into his homeroom. "Leave her alone."
"Someone's protective of Miss Honda." Hatsuharu observed, cocking an eyebrow as he watched them with the same calm expression he usually held.
Kyo gaped at him and began to splutter a response, but as he did so, he stupidly let go of Momiji's collar. "Yay!" the boy cried, diving through the door in search of Tohru. The three of them heard a crash, cries of 'Momiji, are you okay?!' and Tohru's blabbering as she fussed around him.
Tamiko took one glance at Hatsuharu and said, "Wanna go for a walk?" She was tired of just wandering aimlessly through the halls when she hadn't even been assigned a home room yet. High schools needed to sort out their priorities; if she was an actual student and not an imposter, she would have so got her parents to sue them.
He offered her a small smile. "Sounds good." He looked at Kyo then. "Go look after him with your wife. I'm going walking with Tamiko."
"Wh-what?! My wife?! Why are you calling her my wife for, you dumb cow, she's nothing like a wife!!"Kyo yelled after them, but neither of them really looked around as they walked away.
