Chapter 2: First day of school, kinda nervous?
The sound of my alarm clock wakes me up at a prompt six o'clock—a present also lovingly given to me by my new guardian when we had been shopping after a month of settling into my new home. Taking my time, I slowly rose and stretched out my arms, letting out a small yawn.
Right. I have school today.
Shuffling off, I neatly made the bed and walked to the bathroom to do my morning routine. Amusement came out of nowhere when I was in the middle of thought while brushing my teeth.
How should I proceed?
Maintaining a high position in class seemed draining, but being dead last would garner some form of negative attention. It didn't take much thinking to strive for an average grade, but I'll have to fluctuate my grades a bit to appear normal.
I spat out the excess and gargled some water. Cupping my hands with water, I washed my face and used a towel to dry. After I finished, I observed my features in the mirror. The bathroom back at the orphanage didn't have one, so it felt a bit disorienting seeing someone else instead of my regular old mug. I still remember how my reaction was the first night here. A blush darkened the tips of my ears; it was not something I was proud of. The first thought my mind came up with was,
"Good lord, he's terrifyingly pretty."
Warm caramel skin and pitch-black choppy hair greeted me as well as perpetually half-lidded eyes. There was the usual baby fat that added more charm to the delicate jaw and pointed nose, and a beauty mark under each hooded eye lined with impossibly long and thick lashes. Surprisingly, my irises seem to be of varying shades of red; the colors, crystalline and reflecting much light, drew immediate attention to them. The bright but somehow dark colors shone out from my skin tone
The more I look at Chikao's face, the more I can't help but be deterred from looking at myself. This was causing all different types of dysphoria to bloom in my mind from how different I looked, reminding me that this wasn't my body anymore. My original body was of different ethnicity, tall, and catered to lighter tones. I had grey eyes and dirty blonde hair I usually braided to the side or put in a bun during rush hour
However, while it is very pretty, it's not going to help my position at all. Maybe I could buy some contacts? I'm sure Fushiguro-san wouldn't mind buying some for me; a dark brown would do just fine.
("Just look at him! It's obvious she cheated, the whore! That dirty skin and hair are blatant signs, and look at those disgusting eyes Naoko-san! He looks like a demon." A woman whispered behind her hand in the corner of the party.
Gentle hands lifted me in a secure hold, the owner's smooth baritone soothing my cries. "Don't worry about it Chi-Chi, they don't understand anything."
"I'm sorry my sweet clementine." A woman's face smiled down at me as she cupped my cheek, her skin fair skin contrasting against mine, while her eyes were a light brown. "I had hoped that those fools would hold back such talk around children."
An old man that looked similar to the lady before ruffled my hair. "Chi-chan, my boy, did you know your parents named you after one of our ancestors?"
"Really?"
He chuckled at the young voice. "Sure did. It's uncommon to see that shade of skin in the family, but it happens, and it's even rarer for red eyes to make an appearance. Those exact shades, however," Tilting my chin up, he gave a kind smile. "Are the only ones that can match up to the original. Why—I'd say you'd be the spitting image of your namesake."
"Really? Who was he, Jii-chan?"
"Who was he?" My grandfather repeated with a grin, "Well, he—")
Brushing my bangs back over my eyes and putting my glasses on, I walked out of the bathroom towards my drawers and pulled out my uniform. Luckily, the preschool had a pretty simple one, consisting of a large white-collared blue smock, black shorts, and a yellow bucket hat.
Slipping them on, I grabbed my student pin and black bookbag and went down to the dining room. The moment I stepped inside, strong arms lifted me up and twirled me around in the air, causing me to freeze in surprise.
A squeal filled the room.
"CHIIII-CHIIII! You look so cuuuuuute!."
Seeing that it was just Fushiguro-san, I nodded and hesitated a minute, contemplating my next words, and greeted him. "Ohayo Oji-chan. How are you?"
He didn't respond back as usual, and I was shocked when he started crying. All of a sudden, he rubbed our cheeks together, his tears wetting my face.
"You called me Oji-chan today Chi-Chi! I'm so glad!" He blubbered out.
Too uncomfortable with the situation, I could only stiffly nod. "Un."
I mean—who wouldn't after a whole month of hounding and blatant hints.
His crying suddenly turned to wails. "JI-CHAN'S SO SORRY HE COULDN'T SEND YOU OFF ON YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! IT'S ALL MINA-CHAN'S FAULT YOU KNOW. I'LL BE ABLE TO GO ON THE SECOND DAY THOUGH, SO OJI-CHAN'S SOOOOOO HAPPY!"
"...Okay."
Quickly, he seated me down on a cushion with no signs of his previous tears and encouraged me to eat as much as I could, leaving with a kiss to the head and a quick goodbye before heading out the door.
Poking his head back in, he reminded me in his normal voice, "Remember, Yuu-chan's a bit slow at catching up, so you might have to wait a while before she picks you up. If she doesn't come by in twenty minutes though, call her, okay?"
Seeing me nod, he blew me kisses and rushed off. I could only wave him goodbye when he stepped out the door, confused at what just happened.
He sure is strange. But there's no denying he's a good father.
Looking down at the food, I sweatdropped at the number of dishes he made. There was a bowl of miso soup with tofu and another bowl of rice in front of me. To the left, there was a plate of fried mackerel and sausages; to the right were plates of other fried things like tamagoyaki and pickled salads. On the other side was a setup similar to mine barring a plate of toasts.
I should probably start now. Looking at the wall clock I was relieved there was plenty of time to eat. Giving thanks for the food, I picked up my chopsticks and picked up a piece of unagi, and ate it.
...
...
...
Quick as a whip, I shoved another in my mouth.
Ji-chan's a GOD.
At first, I had been skeptical of being able to finish all of this, but after I took a bite, there was no doubt.
Each bite was delicious: the tamagoyaki wasn't too sweet; the unagi was perfectly grilled; the soup was light; the salad fresh.
It was perfect.
After finishing my last bite of rice, I took my plates and cleaned up. Checking the time again, I realized it was almost time to go and Yuu-san still hasn't come down yet.
Should I check on her?
Walking up the stairs and down the hall to her room, I gave a light knock. "Yuu-san? Are you ready for school yet?"
*SNORE*
Holy shit that was scary.
That sounded like the love child of a chainsaw and a lawnmower raised by a field tractor.
Honing in my ears, I could hear the dampened sound of multiple alarms ringing. Was this a regular thing? My hand twisted the doorknob open and walked in. I didn't want to be late on the first day, so waking her up was the only option.
Sorry for the intrusion Yuu-san.
On the bed was the aforementioned Yuu-san, arms and legs spread out like a starfish; practically dead to the world.
Silently walking over to her, I placed my hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.
By the ninth shake, her eyelids started to flutter. The moment she gained coherency, she startled out of her bed and crashed on the floor.
Sighing, I clicked the alarm to stop and helped her up, tugging her to her bathroom.
"Yuu-san, you should probably get ready for school now. We only have half an hour and the train takes fifteen minutes. The walk to my building takes six with your own taking an additional five."
Lifting a hand to rub her eyes, she let me tug. After a few seconds, her head whipped to her clock.
"Oh my god, I'm gonna be late!" She shrieked in horror.
In a blur of color, she ran in and out of the bathroom in a flash, noticeably more put together and dressed (I'll need to take some notes), took her bag, and dragged me out of her room.
Suddenly we were in the dining room where she shoveled food down her throat (an unholy image I can never unsee no matter what) and then out the door, my hat, bookbag, and shoes suddenly put on. Luckily, I already had my identification pin on so we didn't need to search for that.
Stopping outside of our house, she glanced down at me with a considering look in her eyes. I blinked in confusion as she hoisted me on her back. The confusion then turned into apprehension as she bent in a crouch that I've seen runners in a race do.
"Ah, Yuu-san, what are you—" Before I could finish my sentence, she hulled ass to the train station.
Despite being busy holding onto her shoulders for my life, I couldn't help but admire the speed she ran at. The scenery was a blur as Yuu sped through the streets. She was pretty strong too; her arms were defined and showed no strain while hulling a literal four-year-old child without a sweat.
I wonder if she does weightlifting.
"Whew. Made it in time!"
We sure did Yuu-san, we sure did.
Fixing my crooked glasses, I took a look around for some free seats in the area.
Ah. Found one.
Tugging on her skirt, I pointed my finger to two seats a few steps down the train. It didn't have any creepy people around and was just full of grannies. It was perfect.
Now we just needed to sit down.
She jumped at the sudden tug but upon seeing my fingers, Yuu's eyes followed down to where I pointed. She turned and nodded to me a bit stiffly, still a bit awkward despite the past month but more smoothly than the first time we met.
The few times she had the courage to talk to me was to ask what was for dinner, or that time when she asked me to address her as Yuu since it was awkward to tell who I was talking to because I was still addressing her father as Fushiguro-san as well. Other times, I tried to initiate a conversation, usually ending in her being dazed for some reason.
Was it rude to ask if she needed help studying for her math test I wonder?
Moving together, we made our way to the seats. I sat down on the window seat and looked out the window of the opposite side as we passed by different houses and streets. It was comfortable and quiet; all I could ever ask for in the morning honestly.
(A pale hand crawled up the glass window, making its way towards where my gaze was set at. Its milk-white arm followed with another hand joining the other as the scent of incense filled my nose. A bare shoulder then followed until wisps of white hair strands-)
Taking a brief side-eye at Yuu, I noticed she was on her phone, aggressively texting with an annoyed look on her face, left eyebrow ominously twitching.
Wonder what's up.
Changing the direction of my gaze, I looked to my bottom right, seeing a businessman being suspiciously close behind a high school girl. His small puffs of breath and pink cheeks were hard to see if you weren't looking for it but they were there. He must be used to this then; he looked too calm for it to be his first time.
(How utterly disgusting)
It was obvious the girl was a victim; the disgusted expression and shaking body were saying it all. Subtly trying to push back the hand that was feeling her up from under her skirt, she was doing her best to not cause a scene.
My eyes did a scan of her uniform, head shuffling through the local high schools in the area until a match came up.
Found you.
Taking out my phone hung from my neck, I clicked on the camera icon, turned off the flash, and aimed it at the two. Zooming in on where his hand was under her skirt, I took the picture, and just in case, I took another of his profile. Then, turning the flash setting back on, I zoomed out and took a random picture of a seat.
*CLICK*
Immediately, all attention turned to me as the sound of the camera flashing echoed through the quiet train car. This disrupted even the ministrations of the pervert.
Yuu-san seemed curious as to what I was doing and was about to open up her mouth to ask when she remembered our awkwardness. Instead, she went back to her texts.
I'll give it time.
Seeing me fiddle around with my phone as if playing around, the passengers went back to what they were doing a bit annoyed and grumbling about kids being on their phones too much; the pervert included.
Standing up, I shuffled my way through a confused Yuu's legs and gently pushed her to take my seat until she got the message. Giving her a satisfied nod, I made my way to the two.
Using my height to my advantage, my walk didn't alert the man until—
"Neh, Onee-chan."
The girl in question flinched. Looking down, she gave me a nervous smile, eyes full of unshed tears. "Y-yes? Wha-what is it?"
The pervert behind her gave an annoyed 'tsk' and stopped his motions, not willing to get caught by a child.
She looked relieved.
Giving her an innocently worried look, I tugged on the end of her blazer. "You look sick Onee-chan; Tou-tan said that sick people should rest and stay home. So you can sit in my seat, okay?"
"Oh, i-it's okay. I'm p-perfectly fine." She nervously replied. The pervert looked annoyed.
He sneered at me, annoyed by the sudden interruption. "Little boy, can't you see that you're disturbing her. Leave the young girl be now and go back to your seat." The man made a little shooing motion at me, hoping I'd scram.
Stubborn, I shook my head with a pout and continued tugging on her. "No, Onee-chan needs to sit down and rest, or else she'll get worse and spread it. Also,"
My blank gaze snapped to his own. "I wasn't talking to you ."
The man flinched and paled under my heavy look. He took a step back and stumbled over his words. Finally, when he caught his bearings, he stuck his nose up in indignation and nervousness. "What a rude little brat. I wonder what parents are teaching their children these days. No respect at all to their elders, tsk. " With that, he walked off to a different corner of the train.
I, on the other hand, had already walked off hand in hand with the obviously traumatized girl the moment he opened his mouth.
Leading her to our seats, I gripped her clammy and shaky hand in a secure grip and sat her down. She needed the support.
Yuu-san looked up from her phone, took a look at her, and immediately began to mother-hen her.
"Shit. Are you alright? Did someone do something to you? Are you hurt? Did they touch you?
Observant. A good trait to have.
As they continued talking, it was obvious she was calming down. No longer stuttering or averting eye contact from Yuu; she even gave a smile or two.
Time passed and we finally came to the next stop. Seeing her get up reluctantly, I held her hand and walked her over, mindful of the incoming riders. Walking with me, she looked surprised and a bit sheepish, giving an awkward smile. She probably forgot about me when conversing with Yuu-san.
It's okay. That happens, she was put under a stressed situation after all.
"Ne, Onee-chan." Startled, she turned to face me. "You go to Fumizuki High, right?"
Surprised, she nodded. "Y-yes, I do. How did you know?"
I waved that off. "Not important."
"What-" She sputtered, taken back by the stark difference in personality. The innocently worried little boy was no more, instead, what stood in front of her was a blank-looking child without a tone of emotion in his voice. It was as if he were just reciting a line from a script, one that she fell for straight from the beginning.
"This stop is yours right?" I deadpanned. She nodded after checking the blinking letters on the overhead screen. "Don't make any statements until your parents arrive."
"What?" She yelped in surprise. Too late to be confused now, little lady.
Promptly shoving her out of the train towards the direction of the two officers I saw earlier, I gave a little wave. "Bye Train onee-chan."
A bit flabbergasted, she could only wave her hand in return.
"Pardon us, but is your name Tanaka Nanako?"
Letting out a squeak, she whipped herself around to see two police officers. The one who spoke, smiled at her gently as if handling a spooked animal while his partner had a welcoming face that calmed her down.
"Y-yes, that's me." She nervously replied, confused as to why these men were talking to her.
"My name is Officer Sato and this is my partner, Officer Takahashi. We were notified by an anonymous tipper that you were being sexually harassed on the train you were previously riding on, as well as sent pictures as evidence." He explained. His partner chimed in after him.
"We were wondering if you could come down to the station with us to make a statement for charges. He's already been detained, so all we need is your consent to explain what happened."
Shocked, the strange little boy's words flashed through her mind.
"Don't make any statements until your parents arrive."
"U-um," she stuttered, her eyes flickering from their faces to the floor. "Can I...can I call my parents first?"
With a relieved look on their faces, they nodded their heads.
"Of course." Officer Sato assured her, "Do you want to call them right now, or when we reach the station?"
"Right now, please
As the doors closed, my finger petted a little black blob curled up in my hand. Its playful chirps, similar to a baby bird to its mother.
How pitiful. I'm barely stable enough to take care of a pet rock.
Carefully, I placed him in the large sleeves of my smock. The bright white feathers from where my fingertips touched receded into the black shapeless mass it was before under the cover of my sleeves, all unnoticed by me. The little blob was hanging on the girl's shoulder and immediately latched on to me the moment I held her hand. It became clingy and refused to let go, clutching onto my fingers in stubbornness.
It was kind of cute.
I walked back to my seat and sat still for the stop after the next under the furtive glances of a suspicious Yuu-san.
Finally, our stop came, and we stepped out on the platform. Briskly as the first, she hauled me onto her back again, my hand automatically holding onto my glasses, and sprinted off like a bullet. My bucket hat was barely hanging onto my neck as she ran and was dangerously close to falling off.
May the gods help me.
Authors note:
Chi-Chi hasn't made much progress regarding his relationship with Yuu so far. Mind you, Chi-Chi was a pediatrician in his past life, meaning he mostly dealt with young children and teens. He usually connects with them by helping them out with homework or advice in life, so he's used to giving out help. However, it's normal to be weirded out when a literal four-year-old starts spewing up facts and equations for statistic, as well as explaining a math problem that even the smartest student in their class got wrong step-by-step, getting it right on the first try as well.