AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello readers! It's me, E, again. (Yes, I realize I never caught up with that Kuroshitsuji fic. I'm sorry. It was a huge endeavor...it's still on my list but not a priority as of now. I think I'd better become a little more mature before attempting it again. I promise I'll be better with this one since I'm already several chapters ahead in writing it hehe).

ANYWAYS: here I am again with Lonely, Once, a story centered around Igarashi Tora and my OC, Mizuhara Akako! I really liked his character in Maid Sama! so I'm here to give him a good match :) As you might've guessed, we're going to take it slow in terms of romantic developments with this one. The characters need time to develop and realize things and yada yada yada. Only the beginning will be slow, I promise. Once it gets rolling it'll go pretty fast.

A note on the setting: This story is set, of course, in modern day Japan (specifically, Tokyo, although there will be some traveling going on later) and I try my very best to make the setting believable and true-to-life as possible. Which brings me to the character names: in the story you will see them spelled out as last name/first name; for example, Igarashi Tora instead of the westernized Tora Igarashi. You'll also notice that the characters won't refer to each other by first names, since that is a bit intimate among classmates. I'll leave some notes on some of lingo they use at the end of the chapter, plus some chapter extras.

So! I hope you enjoy this story. If you do, hmu with a follow, a fav, and a review. If you don't, hmu all the same lol ;). Without further ado, here is Chapter One of Lonely, Once.

Chapter One: A Rapid Succession (Part I)

Miyabigaoka was called a school, but it was a luxury roost first and a place of learning second. If you froze everyone on the campus at any given school day, it would look something like this: The chef team and waitstaff would be urgently bustling around to prepare gourmet lunches served in the lofty cafeteria on the second floor, the horses would be cantering freely in the lush fields by the school stables, and the teachers might be lightly bantering in the top-floor lounge, sipping at their expensive imported coffee.

The sheer size of the building was a manifestation the grandeur that only the rich appreciated, and the interior was no different: there were polished white marble tiles and high, pointed windows; and the classrooms were so ostentatiously large that it was often difficult to hear the lecture sometimes at the front of the room. But that was how it was, because the rich were hardly ever practical. This was a school where students where family surnames carried enormous weight because it mattered how influential your parents were, where the wealthy heirs of the Tokyo elite could show off their inheritance just by showing up in class.

In short it was a school Mizuhara Akako absolutely hated. The students were the worst, even worse than the high pointy windows and the huge stables — because they didn't seem to know a single damn thing about gratuity. They were always bragging about their new yachts their father had bought, the latest gadgets they owned, taking everything for granted, acting like they owned everything, and such and such. She knew most of them hadn't even come by money through honest means, that their parents had wormed their way up the hierarchy, secretly sliding other people's money into their pockets….It was enough to make her dread every moment she spent inside the school.

She only endured it because as soon as she graduated, she was going to become a prosecutor — and her years at Miyabigaoka would help her learn all the dirty little secrets of the elite Japanese corporations. It was the most beautiful irony, using such a wealthy institution as her means to deprive them of their fraudulence. There was a larger story around her ambitions, one that involved complications around family matters….but she didn't like to think about it much since it made her angry.

Today, Akako sat at a solitary table in the cafeteria. Around the tables there was a loud chatter of students milling about, talking animatedly with their friends and classmates as they took a break from their studies.

She was alone though. She'd never had friends to talk to, either. Not that she wanted any—especially not any attending Miyabigaoka. She didn't think she could stand talking to one of the rich freaks for even a second. After transferring here from her old school, she barely spoke to anyone at all unless it was to answer a teacher's question in class. Since then, she'd had quite the reputation of being a loner, and no one seemed to bother to try and talk to her, which was how she preferred it.

In fact, as a general rule, most people at this school seemed to avoid her after just passing a glance at her. Akako knew she had always looked intimidating, what with her dark eyes, long, glossy, black hair, and her forever-unchanging indifferent expression. Whatever the case, she'd given up both looking and being friendly a long time ago, and the rest of the world appeared to have done the same to her.

As she bent down to take a bite of her lunch, she heard a gaggle of girls passing by her table, whispering about her in not-so-discreet tones:

"Hey, isn't that the Mizuhara girl from Class 1?"

"Yeah, that's her….she looks kinda….scary…"

"I heard her dad is a big CEO…."

"No, that can't be, 'cause she's a scholarship student…."

The girls' voices faded as they walked away from her table. Akako pretended not to have heard them and continued with her lunch, her face still void of emotion. She was used to the constant gossip about her by now, and she found she didn't mind all that much. It didn't do any her real harm, after all, and so long as the other students left her alone, she was much inclined to do the same.

Just then another voice, louder than the girls', sounded from behind her.

"Hey, newbie," a boy drawled in an unpleasant, arrogant-sounding voice.

She tensed. Was he talking to her?

"You there," he said again, "Sasaki, right?"

Akako exhaled the breath she was holding and resumed her lunch, but she couldn't help but keep listening as the boy continued sneeringly, "Can you get me something from the cafeteria line?"

The other boy, Sasaki, didn't reply.

"What, are you too broke to buy anything?" The first boy crowed.

What idiots, Akako thought readily. Just because you were born rich….

Another boy said aggressively, "Didn't you hear the boss? Go buy something, now!"

Sasaki, the one they were calling "newbie", mumbled something incoherently.

"Wait, Yuta, this is no ordinary student you're talking to…he's on a scholarship, isn't he?" The boy's jeering tone was unmistakable.

"Yeah….I am…." Sasaki looked down at his feet, shifting uncomfortably.

Akako clenched her jaw, freezing in her seat. Yuta and the other boy….bullying a student just because he was on a scholarship—?!

Just eat your lunch, Akako told herself sternly, shaking her head. Just ignore them….

"So go buy me some food then!" The boy's tone behind her had abruptly become aggressive.

There was a small whimper.

Ignore them, ignore them—

There was a sudden scraping sound as a chair skidded across the floor. Akako heard someone yelp in fear behind her as mean laughter erupted among a crowd of onlookers.

Akako closed her eyes tightly for a long moment, trying to block out their conversation. Why was this bothering her so much?

Suddenly the boy seized the newbie by the collar, forcing his face up.

"Listen, Okane*-boy—"

She was very annoyed now and had heard enough. She rolled her eyes and turned decisively to face the scene behind her.

"Hey!" She said loudly, slamming down her chopsticks.

Heads turned to look at her. There was quite a crowd gathered around the small table behind her, where one dark-haired boy in glasses, flanked by two other boys, had his fist raised against a trembling, scrawnier-looking boy with light orange hair and frightened eyes. Akako recognized the bully to be none other than Koganei Hirofumi, the Chess-Club President and a notorious trouble-maker. Akako had never been unfortunate enough to be on the bad end of his temper, but she'd seen what he did to people he didn't like. Now, Koganei's eyes were gleaming with malevolence as he regarded her.

"Can't anyone eat their lunch in peace anymore?" Akako demanded, scowling deeply. The boy in the chair stopped trembling and slowly turned to look at her, his eyes wide.

Whispers travelled through the crowd as people put their heads together, pointing furtively at her. She heard distinct clips of the conversation:

"Yeah, that's the one I told you about, remember? Mizuhara from Class 1!"

"I never thought she was this type of person…."

"...she was always a bit scary…."

"Oh? Who's this?" Koganei cocked a brow at her. He turned back to the boy, his face twisted in an ugly sneer. "Your girlfriend, Okane-boy?"

The other boy looked up in terror and he shook his head very slightly.

"Leave him alone." Akako had stood up now, and she was staring very intensely at Koganei, her eyes cold.

The crowd behind him oohed as Koganei sized her up like he was about to fight her; and Akako's face returned to its usual deadpan expression. Koganei let out a scoff of laughter and he rolled up his sleeves, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. It made him look like some tattle-tale schoolboy. It really was a very snotty thing to do.

"I don't know who you are, but this guy—" he gestured roughly at the other boy, "—refused to do me a simple favor. You see, I would pay for my own food, but….seeing riff-raff like this disgusts me. Penniless students who rely on other people's money don't deserve a place in Miyabigaoka."

She was glaring at him with indignation, feeling like her worst impressions about Miyabigaoka had been confirmed. But suddenly Koganei snatched up the boy's collar again, his fist raised as if he were about to hit the boy.

Terror raced through her mind as her eyes widened, her mind buzzing; and before she could stop herself, she rushed forward, grabbed Koganei's outstretched arm, and pulled him toward her forcefully; he cried out in pain and surprise as she twisted his wrist downward, throwing him to the ground. She felt a rush of satisfaction as his body hit the floor with a dull thump, knocking his glasses askew. He groaned loudly in pain.

The crowd gasped collectively as shocked whispers broke out among the students. Several people craned their heads to get a better look at the Koganei, who was moaning pitifully on the cafeteria floor.

"Look here, Koganei," Akako said loudly, in a harsh tone, as she seized Koganei by his jacket and pulled him upright, though her face was still — amazingly — quite expressionless. He looked at her with complete and utter fright in his eyes, but she had no intentions of mercy.

"You don't get to decide what 'riff-raff' is or isn't allowed in Miyabigaoka, alright? And don't act all proud about your money. You probably don't even know half of where it comes from, do you?"

"I—"

"Well, I'll tell you, Koganei. Big companies like yours? Your precious money is made by bullying other businesses into nonexistence, ruining people's lives, and you don't even think to find out. I'd be surprised that you're even worth half the digits in your bank account."

She let go of his jacket and he slumped back down like a bag of sand. He stayed on the ground, breathing hard, accepting his loss in the fight. Koganei's friends had dropped to the ground also, attending to him while eyeing Akako warily. She returned their stares with impassive eyes, as if daring them to take her on. They looked away quickly and returned their attention to their boss.

Meanwhile, people from the crowd seemed to have lost interest in the fight, and they began to dissipate into their respective cliques, talking fervently amongst themselves. Akako heard her name mentioned several times in various conversations, but she didn't bother to listen this time.

She looked back at the orange-haired boy, who was staring openly at her with a mixture of awe and fear. She struggled for a moment with her thoughts, then made a split-second decision; suddenly, she grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him out of his chair, walking at a fast pace out of the cafeteria.

"Wha—"

"Come on."

"But—"

"Just come on!" Akako pulled more urgently on his wrist, slightly impatient. She lead him out into the hallway and turned a corner into a deserted corridor. She stopped walking, peered around the corridor to make sure there were no stragglers from the cafeteria, then wheeled around to face the boy.

Up close, she could see that he had round, umber-colored eyes, a pale face, and smooth, milky, skin. His hair was soft like a baby's and wavy, a pinkish-orange color that reminded her of a peach, and it was a little disheveled from the skirmish in the cafeteria. He was skinny, and only just barely taller than her; and from the way he slouched slightly and wouldn't quite meet her eyes, Akako guessed that he, too, was a little fearful of her.

"You're Sasaki, right?"

His eyes flicked up to hers. He swallowed and said, "Y-yeah. Sasaki Haruto, Class 3."

"And you're a scholarship student, aren't you?"

He nodded and mumbled something she couldn't hear.

"You're new to this school?"

He nodded again.

"Listen, newbie—sorry, I meant Sasaki—you should be more careful around here. Those kids back there, they've got it in for you."

Sasaki stared at her, wide-eyed and serious like a deer caught in headlights. "Is it because I was accepted here on a scholarship?"

"Mhmm," Akako nodded knowingly. Poor boy, she thought. Obviously doesn't know a thing about these people here…."Scholarship students are treated like dirt in Miyabigaoka, just because we don't have money. So steer clear of Koganei next time, okay?

"Are you a scholarship student too?"

Akako faltered, taken off-guard. Why was he suddenly asking her this? She paused before saying, "Um...yeah, I am."

"That's why you're helping me, right?" Sasaki gave a small, shy smile.

Akako wanted to say, 'Those bastards really pissed me off and I wanted to rip their heads off,' but she thought this might scare the boy. Instead she blinked and said reticently, "I guess."

"Thanks."

"Anyways, just remember for the future, stay away from those people."

"Okay." Sasaki nodded vigorously, his eyes serious.

Akako inclined her head in affirmation. "Alright," she said, pausing to check the time on her phone. It was eleven forty-five; her next class would be starting in a few minutes. She turned to leave. "I've got to go now," she said finally. "Stay safe, kid." She began walking down the hallway.

"Wait!"

Akako spun around.

"What's your name?" Sasaki asked, his umber eyes round as ever.

"Mizuhara. Mizuhara Akako."

"See you around then, Mizuhara-san!" Sasaki's face broke out into a spectacular smile. The effect was transforming; his eyes were sparkling, his face radiant; he didn't seem so much like the scared, unconfident boy he was a minute ago.

Akako didn't smile back, but her gaze was a little warmer when she said, "Bye." And she turned around again, walking briskly down the corridor.

"Wait, Mizuhara-san!" Sasaki called abruptly, as if he'd just remembered something.

"What?" Akako whipped around to face him yet again, now beginning to feel a little irritated.

"Um…." Sasaki suddenly looked abashed, smiling shyly at the floor. "Can I….can I sit with you tomorrow at lunch?"

Akako had not expected this in the least. "Oh….um…." She hoped Sasaki wouldn't expect her to be his friend; she certainly didn't want the burden of a friend, especially not at Miyabigaoka — but then she saw Sasaki's hopeful expression, his bright eyes lit with expectation — so she sighed inwardly and hastily said, "Sure, Sasaki."

"Okay!" Sasaki's splitting grin returned. "See you tomorrow, Mizuhara-san! And thanks for helping me out today!" He bowed respectfully and waved her goodbye as Akako disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

END OF CHAPTER

*okane means money in Japanese. Essentially, they were calling him "money-boy".

extras:
Akako: "I'd be surprised that you're even worth half the digits in your bank account."
Koganei: So...I guess that means I'm a 10/10 then?
Akako: Shut up.
Tora: Shut up.

LMAO I don't know if I should continue these or not XD

Hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a fav/follow/review ;)

06/21/17 first draft.

Revised 09/17/17

Revised 01/18/2021