Sup loves! I feel happy now because…well I just feel happy! Maybe it's because I have so much free time now that my brother isn't around to bother me and I'm not at school so no work. Even my parents are giving me time off! Banzai!

Refer to past chapters for disclaimer details.

Of Chemistry and Fangirls

"Welcome to your first chemistry lesson this term," the man that was to be their chemistry teacher smiled. Momoko couldn't help thinking he looked like Einstein with his messy grey hair and bushy moustache. "I am Mr. Elbert (get it, it's a mixture of Albert and Einstein, I didn't get it until I reread this page)." He shuffled the papers on his desk and peered at all of them over his glasses. "Since this is our first lesson we'll start with a simple neutralization reaction, you'll be in pairs." There was a general scraping of chairs as most people rushed to grab their friends. "I'll be picking the pairs, thank you very much." He grinned. Some people groaned in response and shuffled back to their seats.

"Himeko and Ruka, Anna and Hito, Chelsea and Reiko, Gina and Saiko," he cleared his throat, "Momoko and Toby, Kaoru and Mitch, Jet and Ayumi and Drew with Miyako…" he read out the other names as everyone walked over to their partners.

"Now carefully pour the hydrochloric acid into the beaker of sodium hydroxide," the chemistry teacher said as he walked around the class. Momoko held the beaker steady as her partner poured the acid.

"You're new here right?" he asked. Momoko nodded. "I can tell, I'd remember a cute face like yours anywhere." Momoko's eyes widened slightly. To be honest she was more surprised than flattered. She wondered why she didn't feel as hyper or as excited as she normally would've. Normally by now she would have developed heart eyes and declared her love for him. She chalked it up to increased maturity.

"Oh, thank you," she flipped her ponytail off her shoulder and turned, catching sight of Ruka and Himeko. She felt herself frowning and swiftly looked away.

"That your boyfriend?" He asked, leaning against the edge of the table. He had dark blue eyes and sandy brown hair. He was actually quite cute.

"What, no!" She replied, her eyes inexorably drawn to Ruka's table. It's because I don't like Himeko, she told herself, because she's a horrible person, I do not like Ruka!

"Good," he grinned and ran a hand up her lower arm, making her jerk in surprise and nearly spill the acid she was holding. "Sorry!" He caught it, both of them hugging the beaker.

"Toby, Momoko, I'd appreciate it if we kept the love scenes until later, preferably outside my class," he took the beaker and placed it on the table. Momoko blushed and peered around for her friends. Kaoru was arguing with her partner and she looked ready to sock him in the face. Miyako was smiling and being the sweet person she was and Ayumi was pointedly ignoring her partner. He must have done something to really irritate her.

Ayumi was normally a nice person. Not a sugary, honey, caramel nice but she was usually very easy tempered.

But Chelsea was really getting on her nerves. She folded her arms and watched the way she seemed to always manage to end up beside Reiko all the time, even during P.E. She turned and jogged towards her friends. "I really want to punch someone," she said as she drew to a stop beside Miyako.

"Does this someone have dark blue hair?" Miyako teased.

"Bingo," Ayumi rolled her eyes.

Momoko grinned. "How are you guys doing with Sluts United?" Kaoru snorted with laughter.

"Sluts United?" She laughed. "That's funny." Then she folded her arms. "Anna is getting on my last nerves."

"Aw, is she flirting with your boyfriend?" Miyako teased. Kaoru growled and glared at the blonde.

"If you want to keep your hair, I suggest you stop talking," she growled. Miyako giggled and ducked behind Momoko.

"Speaking of boyfriend's Miyako, I suggest you duck," Ayumi grinned. A bunch of boys were heading for them. The P.E. lesson hadn't begun since their coach was running late. Miyako groaned and scrambled behind her friends, pulling them together like curtain.

"No, not here too!" She moaned. Her friends chuckled but were surprised when it turned out the guys weren't only there for Miyako.

They were there for them as well. There were even a few brave enough or stupid enough to risk getting punched in the gut by Kaoru.

"Momoko, do not be alarmed," Ayumi whispered. The redhead nodded dumbly, she'd never been the recipient of this much attention before and it was kind of overwhelming.

"She's not squealing, why isn't she squealing?" Miyako grabbed Momoko's shoulders. "Oh my gosh, she's been brainwashed!" She shook Momoko slightly, "what have you done with Momoko?"

"Really Miyako?" Kaoru rolled her eyes and tapped her head. "Brainwashed?"

"Look at her, she's not even responding!" The blonde insisted. Her friends peered at her curiously.

Momoko grinned at them, "I'm mature now, okay?"

"Damn right you are!" One of the boys hooted. Momoko hugged herself and edged closer to her friends. "Let's ditch this place and find somewhere private!"

"Look at those legs!"

"I wanna tap that!"

"Let's go somewhere and get personal!"

"Perverts!" Kaoru yelled.

"I expected the boys to be here," Miyako said, looking around. Ayumi shrugged.

"I know," she glared at the boys surrounding them. "I swear, if they don't move I'll go Solar Blaze."

"Relax Ayumi," Momoko soothed even though she was getting freaked out by the number of boys. She wondered how Miyako dealt with this kind of attention every single day.

"Alright, coming through," a voice yelled. Hito, Reiko, Ruka and Saiko pushed past all the boys and stood in front of the girls. "Leave our girls alone."

"Your girls?" A dark haired guy groaned.

"Are those your boyfriends?" A guy with blond hair called.

"Uh…no," the girls blushed.

"But we will be, "the boys smirked and winked, then they glared back at the other guys. "Now leave them alone." There was a short pause in which all the boys seemed to struggle between walking away or staying to duke it out. Until they took in the boys' builds and the fact that they were taller than they were and skulked off angrily.

"Um…thank you," the girls offered, blushing.

"Miyako, how do you deal with that every day?" Momoko asked.

"I don't know," the blonde shrugged, "I just do."

"Teach me your ways oh wise one," Kaoru raised her eyes heavenward. The boys laughed.

"Aren't you glad we rescued you?" Ruka asked, arching an eyebrow at Momoko. She blushed slightly.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered. When the boys came closer the girls stepped back. "Not that thankful!" Momoko blushed even more. The boys grinned and grabbed them around their waists and slapped their butts, causing the girls to retaliate by judo flipping them on the ground.

"So mean," they grinned. The girls blushed and ran away leaving the boys thinking, oh yeah, they so want us.

Ayumi poked around in the chemistry lab by herself. She had planned to go look for Reiko but then she spotted a subject topic in chemistry she wanted to ask Mr. Elbert about. "Mr. Elbert?"

"Ah, Ms. Watashira," the man smiled at her. "I wanted to ask you something!" He rooted through the papers on his desk and produced a yellow and blue leaflet. "The Misaki Science Competition is coming up," he handed her the paper. "I've heard a lot about how bright you are."

"Oh, um, thank you!" She blushed and read the leaflet. The blood drained from her face. "No…"

"Ms. Watashira?" His voice sounded concerned. Ayumi turned and bolted from the room, barging past people blindly.

"Ayumi!" She ran past her friends, she couldn't stop; the memories she'd tried to push down came flooding through her mind.

Flashback: Six years ago

Nine year old Ayumi skipped home from school with her mother. The small, skinny girl bounced up and down happily and her curls bounced with her. Around her, snow fell and made a carpet of thick white slush all over. She picked up a handful and let it slip through her gloves. "Mama, Mama I was chosen to be Mary in the play!" She chirped and grabbed her mother's hand. The young woman smiled down at her daughter and squeezed her hand.

"That's fantastic princess," she leaned down and kissed the top of her hair. "I'm proud of you, and your dad will be too once you tell him."

"I hope both you and daddy can come and watch me," she commented, twirling and letting her yellow scarf flutter. "I can't wait to tell daddy!" She caught sight of their large mansion with her dad's car parked in front of it. "Daddy!" She squealed and ran inside, not stopping to wonder why her dad was back home now when he usually came home much later.

"Ayumi," she heard her mom call but she pushed the door open and ran inside. It was dark, the lights were out.

"Daddy, guess what!" She called as she ran to her dad's study, "I'm going to be Mary in our school play!" She burst in. Someone cursed and the light came on. She stared at her dad, another woman was sitting kissing him and they were in a position even she knew was inappropriate. "Daddy, who's that?"

A strangled gasp came from behind her and Ayumi looked back at her mom. There was a wild look in her eyes, she looked like she was about to die. Her eyes were so full of pain. "Paul…" the name was nothing but a whispered croak, "how could you…?" Ayumi hugged her mother, her arms wrapped around her mother's waist. She suddenly felt frailer, smaller.

"Daddy, who's that, why is mommy crying?" She yelled."What's going on?" her voice was lost as her world came down in front of her as the two people she loved the most in the world began to fight.

A year later

Ten year old Ayumi sat silently. The courtroom was filled with people, she shifted closer to her mom and hugged her. "Mama, I'm scared," she whispered. Her mother wrapped her arms around her.

"Don't worry princess, they'll never take you away from me," she whispered against her hair. The judge came forward and pounded his gavel. Time seemed to speed up for Ayumi. She watched dumbly as her mom and father were questioned, as the two lawyers battled it out. Then she was called up to speak.

"Ayumi Shirayuki…" the judge began.

"Watashira, your honour," she interrupted. "My name is Ayumi Watashira, my mom's maiden name." The courtroom filled with whispers. The judge frowned but shrugged.

"Ayumi Watashira," he started again. "How old are you?"

"Ten, your honour," her voice was loud and clear. Her face was an emotionless mask.

"You realize you have a choice in who you decide to stay with," he asked. She nodded.

"Yes, your honour," she raised her chin, "I want to stay with my mom, Ms. Watashira."

"If I may, your honour," her father's lawyer looked at the judge for permission. He nodded. "Your mother can't provide for you," the lawyer said. She glared at him, her large golden eyes hardened.

"It's my choice, and I want to stay with my mom," she looked back at her mother. Then she glared at her dad. "I'm staying with her." Time blurred again, whispers, arguments, rants. She looked over at her father when he stormed over to them.

"Fine Kotone, keep the brat, I don't care," he hissed. "She'd just remind me of you anyway," he turned and walked away. Ayumi felt her mother enclose her in a hug and felt her cry into her hair. Ayumi's arms came around her and she promised herself she'd be strong.

Strong for her mother, whatever came.

Wow, I feel so…sad. I have a friend whose parents are divorced but she still gets to see him. Anyway, now I have to go downstairs and hug my parents tightly and then watch Happy Feet 2 for the fifth time this week.

I wanted Ayumi to have some tragic past because it will feature in some other chapter and ultimately at the end when they fight Him.

Read and review all!

-BlackGothicPrincess