".... And die a thousand death without the love of Romeo." The teacher recited
from a book he held in one hand. He made his way up and down the isles as he
read, slamming his ruler upon students' desks and fingers who appeared to be
going off into their own dream world that didn't consist of Romeo and Juliet.
Yui Hongo glanced in the direction of her long-time best friend Miaka, who, as
always, was asleep. Honestly...always in English Class. She thought bitterly. The
class was advanced, teaching those who excelled in English the older forms of the
language. Miaka.... had somehow managed to slip into the class roster.
She slipped her foot out from under her desk and nudged Miaka's ankle as the
teacher passed her desk on the other side, his back facing her momentarily. Miaka
only let out an unhappy grunt and scooted her legs away from her. Yui quickly
withdrew her leg back under her desk as the teacher turned and began making his
way down the isle.
Yui hid her face in one hand and groaned inwardly as the teacher stopped right at
Miaka's desk and leaned down, staring at her sleeping head. He held his book in the
air with one hand and prodded her neck with the ruler.
"Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?" the teacher said loudly into Miaka's ear,
prodding her with the ruler again. She shifted in her seat slightly, and then began to
giggle. "Yuki-san." The teacher said in a stern tone.
"Not here Taka!!! IYAAAA!!!!!!" Miaka squealed, throwing her hands into the air, then
back down to hug herself. In the process, she managed to uppercut the teacher, who
stumbled backwards into the students' desk behind Yui. Miaka's eyes popped open a
second later, and she looked at Yui in utter confusion.
Yui still had her face hidden in one hand, and the stunned faces of the rest of the
class stared back at her. The teacher lay Ko'd on the floor, the student up in his
chair on one leg, frozen in his dodge to get away.
"You did it again Miaka." Yui moaned, not looking at her. Miaka blinked a few times,
then put a hand behind her head and began to giggle hysterically.
"I guess a day can't truly begin without it." She giggled, looking to the ceiling
innocently.
-------------------------
"I hope this school won't be too much of a switch from your American school Rain-
San. You shouldn't have too much trouble fitting in." The dean of students stated
professionally, leading someone down the hall towards classroom 11-C. Miaka tried
her best to turn her head and see who was coming with him, without knocking the
chalkboard eraser off her head, or disturbing the two full buckets of water in her
hands. The dean stopped in front of Miaka, tsked, and then knocked on the classroom
door. The teacher answered it a second later, two wads of Kleenex shoved into his
nostrils, and a large knot forming on his chin. The dean glanced disapprovingly at Miaka
again, and then conversed with the teacher in a low voice. Miaka leaned forward
slowly, the eraser trembling on her head, straining to see around the dean's body.
She caught a glimpse of an American girl sporting straight brown hair that ended at her
shoulders, before the eraser decided to slip off of her head and into the bucket she held
in her right hand with a loud 'plunk'. Both the dean and the teacher stopped talking to stare
at her. Miaka sheepishly set the bucket down, pulled out the wet eraser, and stuck it back
on her head. She picked up the bucket again, and fought the urge to wince against the
stream of chalky water that was beginning to trail down her face.
The teacher stepped to the side and allowed the dean to lead the girl inside. She had her
shoulders hunched, clutching her books tightly to her chest, and stared at the floor. She
was obviously very, very uncomfortable.
This was a strange day indeed...it wasn't every day an Exchange student came to Yotsubadai
from America.
-----------------------------------------------
Rain was not entirely happy on the inside. She was a runaway at best, and strangely enough,
had never had a home to run away from. But the social workers back home had labeled her
as a "runaway", so that's what she told anyone who inquired about her past.
She ate lunch that afternoon in the corner of the classroom, all alone, from a brown paper
bag. She'd glance up every now and then at the other girls eating from cute little boxes with
chopsticks, the boxes being filled with rice, tempura, or other "cute" foods. Then she'd glance
down back at her lunch and wince inwardly. She was set up in student housing by the
American Embassy, and the sponsor foster family back in America, but she hadn't been
taught out to make a bento before hand, and her refrigerator was filled with foods from
home. Sighing heavily, she re-wrapped her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and placed it
back in her brown paper sack, which was shoved into the nearest garbage can a moment
later. She sat back down in her chair, propped her elbow on the sill of the window, and
rested her head upon her hand.
Rain had chosen Japan from all the other countries, simply because she liked it. Perhaps
she had been infected with the "otaku" virus that was suddenly sweeping across America,
or maybe she just liked the whole 'feel' of the country, it was hard to say. She'd been awed
after first stepping off the plane, but after entering Tokyo, she really felt the cultural
diversity sink in. She'd almost been embarrassed to even eat in front of them, afraid that
she'd hold her chopsticks the wrong way. School was even worse. There wasn't one
exchange student from anywhere else in sight. But she supposed she'd get used to it
eventually. After all, she'd been on her own most of her life.
Feeling someone's eyes boring into her temple, Rain slowly turned her head. She locked
gaze with a brown-haired girl whom the teacher referred to as "Yuki-San". Blinking once,
slowly, she stared back as intensely as Miaka was staring at her. As if suddenly
realizing that she was staring, Miaka jumped, and suddenly immersed herself in her
bento. Rain returned to staring out the window.
After class was dismissed that afternoon, while waiting for Miaka to finish cleaning
the classroom, Yui searched the hallways outside of the school for Rain. She knew the
poor girl would probably be lost, and thought it'd be nice to offer to be a tour guide.
But.... Rain was nowhere to be found.
Rain had been lost, coincidentally enough, and after a few minutes of mindless
wandering, found herself in the school library building.
It was a tall room, the library, with a half-second floor covering the farthest end of
the building. It was silent, and dark, and actually quite peaceful. Rain smiled and let
out a sigh that had been building as the day had worn on. Rain walked down the rows
of bookshelves, glancing at a book here and there, letting herself fully unwind.
She jumped as she heard a book flutter and drop to the floor several rows over. She
froze, her ears straining for any telltale noise of another occupant. She took a
tentative step towards the noise.
"Hello?" she called out in English, forgetting momentarily that the other possible
occupant may not speak it. She took another step forward, her ears still straining.
Finally satisfied that she was indeed alone after a few more minutes of silence, Rain
let the breath that she'd been holding out, and walked to the source of the noise.
An old book was laying on the floor, a few blank pages scattered around it. Rain kneeled
beside it and picked it up gently, as if the pages were made out of plate glass. She
inspected the book a few times, but found both the cover and the inside pages blank.
"Strange. Guess someone's a packrat." She murmured to herself as she picked up the
scattered pages. She straightened them and began to place them back inside the book,
when the first piece of writing caught her eye.
Squinting, not quite believing that the page that she swore had been blank now had
writing upon it, she attempted to make out the blotchy symbols. Her brow furrowing
in even greater disbelief, she shut the book and inspected the cover.
"Just what is this...?!" she breathed, her eyes widening. Upon the cover, burned into
the cracking leather binding, was kanji that read "Universe of the Four Gods." She
blinked hard, and re-focused upon the kanji, as if trying to return the book back to
its former blank state by staring.
Within the black symbols, Rain saw a speckled swirling, like gray leaves upon a black
lake. Behind the swirling, there were four beasts, fighting each other in some silent battle.
Rain squinted harder, trying to see.
A hand suddenly came down on her shoulder, and Rain screamed, jumping up and dropping
the book once more. Pages fluttered about as she pressed her back against the bookshelf.
Yui stared back at her with large eyes.
"Rain-San? Daijobu?" she asked, leaning down to gather up the scattered pages from the
book. Taking a breath, Rain leaned down and began frantically snatching up the pages.
"D-Daijobu..." she managed out, trying to calm her heart. Rain's eyes widened as she
gathered the book back together. It was blank once more. Had she been imagining the
whole thing?
Yui handed her the pages and smiled, standing up. She waited until Rain had pushed
herself to her feet before talking. "Rain-San, I was just wondering if you'd like a tour
of the school. I know how it must feel to be in a brand new place...especially one so far
away from anything familiar..." Yui said in a friendly tone. Rain blinked at her, shock
and confusion fighting for dominance in her outward expression. Yui continued to smile
"It's no problem, and it'll make things go a lot smoother for you." She continued. Rain
stared a few more moments, clutching the old book to her chest, then slowly smiled and
nodded.
"YUI-CHAN!" Miaka shouted, running up behind Yui and jumping upon her back. Yui
stumbled and fell to her knees with an "oomph", taking Miaka with her. Yui laughed
hoarsely and raised her head.
"Gomen...Miaka tends to get out of hand sometimes.." she apologized in an equally raspy
voice. Miaka stopped giggling and looked up to find a very surprised Rain standing next
to them. Miaka stood up quickly.
"Oh hi! I didn't know that you were still here Raini-Chan!" Miaka giggled, putting a hand
behind her head. Rain blinked once.
"Raini?" she asked in a quiet voice. Miaka stopped giggling again. She looked to Yui who
was just standing up.
"Did I say it wrong?" she whispered to her loudly. Yui regarded her with an annoyed look.
"Her name is Rain, Miaka, not Raini." she stated in an equally annoyed voice, rubbing her
scraped knees. Miaka put a finger to her chin and turned the name over in her head a few
times, then made a face.
"I like Raini-Chan better." She concluded, then turned to face Rain. She inspected her a
few moments, then grinned and stuck out her hand.
"I am Yuuki Miaka." She said in slurred English. Yui groaned and covered her face with
one hand. "I am please to make your donut." She grinned widely. Rain stared at her a few
seconds, then suddenly clamped her jaw shut in an attempt to swallow her laugh. The
resulting noise was something between a sneeze and a snort. Miaka lowered her hand, her
smile slowly melting off her face, and blinked. She turned to Yui. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You said, you were pleased to make me a donut." Rain giggled, translating for her. Miaka's
mouth dropped open in a small "o", then she too giggled.
"Boy, I must sound like a moron!" she said, laughing harder.
"That's because you are a moron." Yui said icily. Miaka instantly stopped laughing, her eyes
welling up with tears, and her lower lip quivering.
"Yui-Chan is so mean to me...." she sniffled. She stopped not a second after as an idea visibly
crossed her face. "HEY! Let's go shopping!" she said loudly, causing a few students to turn
and look. "What do you say Raini-Chan, you can see more of Tokyo! Plus, between me and
Yui, we know all the hot spots for clothes!" she continued, turning to a wide-eyed Rain.
"O-okay..." she said uncertainly. Miaka squealed and jumped up and down, then grabbed
Rain's arm and hauled her off campus.
"Oh wow, this will be so much fun! We'll have to stop at the cafe Taka and Keisuke work
at, because you HAVE to meet them. Well, not so much Keisuke, but you have to meet Taka..
he's my boyfriend. Do you have a boyfriend Raini-Chan?" Miaka's voice disappeared as she
led the baffled Rain down the street.
Yui sighed wearily and picked up Miaka's forgotten school bag. That poor girl, she
thought, Miaka's going to talk her deaf.
from a book he held in one hand. He made his way up and down the isles as he
read, slamming his ruler upon students' desks and fingers who appeared to be
going off into their own dream world that didn't consist of Romeo and Juliet.
Yui Hongo glanced in the direction of her long-time best friend Miaka, who, as
always, was asleep. Honestly...always in English Class. She thought bitterly. The
class was advanced, teaching those who excelled in English the older forms of the
language. Miaka.... had somehow managed to slip into the class roster.
She slipped her foot out from under her desk and nudged Miaka's ankle as the
teacher passed her desk on the other side, his back facing her momentarily. Miaka
only let out an unhappy grunt and scooted her legs away from her. Yui quickly
withdrew her leg back under her desk as the teacher turned and began making his
way down the isle.
Yui hid her face in one hand and groaned inwardly as the teacher stopped right at
Miaka's desk and leaned down, staring at her sleeping head. He held his book in the
air with one hand and prodded her neck with the ruler.
"Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?" the teacher said loudly into Miaka's ear,
prodding her with the ruler again. She shifted in her seat slightly, and then began to
giggle. "Yuki-san." The teacher said in a stern tone.
"Not here Taka!!! IYAAAA!!!!!!" Miaka squealed, throwing her hands into the air, then
back down to hug herself. In the process, she managed to uppercut the teacher, who
stumbled backwards into the students' desk behind Yui. Miaka's eyes popped open a
second later, and she looked at Yui in utter confusion.
Yui still had her face hidden in one hand, and the stunned faces of the rest of the
class stared back at her. The teacher lay Ko'd on the floor, the student up in his
chair on one leg, frozen in his dodge to get away.
"You did it again Miaka." Yui moaned, not looking at her. Miaka blinked a few times,
then put a hand behind her head and began to giggle hysterically.
"I guess a day can't truly begin without it." She giggled, looking to the ceiling
innocently.
-------------------------
"I hope this school won't be too much of a switch from your American school Rain-
San. You shouldn't have too much trouble fitting in." The dean of students stated
professionally, leading someone down the hall towards classroom 11-C. Miaka tried
her best to turn her head and see who was coming with him, without knocking the
chalkboard eraser off her head, or disturbing the two full buckets of water in her
hands. The dean stopped in front of Miaka, tsked, and then knocked on the classroom
door. The teacher answered it a second later, two wads of Kleenex shoved into his
nostrils, and a large knot forming on his chin. The dean glanced disapprovingly at Miaka
again, and then conversed with the teacher in a low voice. Miaka leaned forward
slowly, the eraser trembling on her head, straining to see around the dean's body.
She caught a glimpse of an American girl sporting straight brown hair that ended at her
shoulders, before the eraser decided to slip off of her head and into the bucket she held
in her right hand with a loud 'plunk'. Both the dean and the teacher stopped talking to stare
at her. Miaka sheepishly set the bucket down, pulled out the wet eraser, and stuck it back
on her head. She picked up the bucket again, and fought the urge to wince against the
stream of chalky water that was beginning to trail down her face.
The teacher stepped to the side and allowed the dean to lead the girl inside. She had her
shoulders hunched, clutching her books tightly to her chest, and stared at the floor. She
was obviously very, very uncomfortable.
This was a strange day indeed...it wasn't every day an Exchange student came to Yotsubadai
from America.
-----------------------------------------------
Rain was not entirely happy on the inside. She was a runaway at best, and strangely enough,
had never had a home to run away from. But the social workers back home had labeled her
as a "runaway", so that's what she told anyone who inquired about her past.
She ate lunch that afternoon in the corner of the classroom, all alone, from a brown paper
bag. She'd glance up every now and then at the other girls eating from cute little boxes with
chopsticks, the boxes being filled with rice, tempura, or other "cute" foods. Then she'd glance
down back at her lunch and wince inwardly. She was set up in student housing by the
American Embassy, and the sponsor foster family back in America, but she hadn't been
taught out to make a bento before hand, and her refrigerator was filled with foods from
home. Sighing heavily, she re-wrapped her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and placed it
back in her brown paper sack, which was shoved into the nearest garbage can a moment
later. She sat back down in her chair, propped her elbow on the sill of the window, and
rested her head upon her hand.
Rain had chosen Japan from all the other countries, simply because she liked it. Perhaps
she had been infected with the "otaku" virus that was suddenly sweeping across America,
or maybe she just liked the whole 'feel' of the country, it was hard to say. She'd been awed
after first stepping off the plane, but after entering Tokyo, she really felt the cultural
diversity sink in. She'd almost been embarrassed to even eat in front of them, afraid that
she'd hold her chopsticks the wrong way. School was even worse. There wasn't one
exchange student from anywhere else in sight. But she supposed she'd get used to it
eventually. After all, she'd been on her own most of her life.
Feeling someone's eyes boring into her temple, Rain slowly turned her head. She locked
gaze with a brown-haired girl whom the teacher referred to as "Yuki-San". Blinking once,
slowly, she stared back as intensely as Miaka was staring at her. As if suddenly
realizing that she was staring, Miaka jumped, and suddenly immersed herself in her
bento. Rain returned to staring out the window.
After class was dismissed that afternoon, while waiting for Miaka to finish cleaning
the classroom, Yui searched the hallways outside of the school for Rain. She knew the
poor girl would probably be lost, and thought it'd be nice to offer to be a tour guide.
But.... Rain was nowhere to be found.
Rain had been lost, coincidentally enough, and after a few minutes of mindless
wandering, found herself in the school library building.
It was a tall room, the library, with a half-second floor covering the farthest end of
the building. It was silent, and dark, and actually quite peaceful. Rain smiled and let
out a sigh that had been building as the day had worn on. Rain walked down the rows
of bookshelves, glancing at a book here and there, letting herself fully unwind.
She jumped as she heard a book flutter and drop to the floor several rows over. She
froze, her ears straining for any telltale noise of another occupant. She took a
tentative step towards the noise.
"Hello?" she called out in English, forgetting momentarily that the other possible
occupant may not speak it. She took another step forward, her ears still straining.
Finally satisfied that she was indeed alone after a few more minutes of silence, Rain
let the breath that she'd been holding out, and walked to the source of the noise.
An old book was laying on the floor, a few blank pages scattered around it. Rain kneeled
beside it and picked it up gently, as if the pages were made out of plate glass. She
inspected the book a few times, but found both the cover and the inside pages blank.
"Strange. Guess someone's a packrat." She murmured to herself as she picked up the
scattered pages. She straightened them and began to place them back inside the book,
when the first piece of writing caught her eye.
Squinting, not quite believing that the page that she swore had been blank now had
writing upon it, she attempted to make out the blotchy symbols. Her brow furrowing
in even greater disbelief, she shut the book and inspected the cover.
"Just what is this...?!" she breathed, her eyes widening. Upon the cover, burned into
the cracking leather binding, was kanji that read "Universe of the Four Gods." She
blinked hard, and re-focused upon the kanji, as if trying to return the book back to
its former blank state by staring.
Within the black symbols, Rain saw a speckled swirling, like gray leaves upon a black
lake. Behind the swirling, there were four beasts, fighting each other in some silent battle.
Rain squinted harder, trying to see.
A hand suddenly came down on her shoulder, and Rain screamed, jumping up and dropping
the book once more. Pages fluttered about as she pressed her back against the bookshelf.
Yui stared back at her with large eyes.
"Rain-San? Daijobu?" she asked, leaning down to gather up the scattered pages from the
book. Taking a breath, Rain leaned down and began frantically snatching up the pages.
"D-Daijobu..." she managed out, trying to calm her heart. Rain's eyes widened as she
gathered the book back together. It was blank once more. Had she been imagining the
whole thing?
Yui handed her the pages and smiled, standing up. She waited until Rain had pushed
herself to her feet before talking. "Rain-San, I was just wondering if you'd like a tour
of the school. I know how it must feel to be in a brand new place...especially one so far
away from anything familiar..." Yui said in a friendly tone. Rain blinked at her, shock
and confusion fighting for dominance in her outward expression. Yui continued to smile
"It's no problem, and it'll make things go a lot smoother for you." She continued. Rain
stared a few more moments, clutching the old book to her chest, then slowly smiled and
nodded.
"YUI-CHAN!" Miaka shouted, running up behind Yui and jumping upon her back. Yui
stumbled and fell to her knees with an "oomph", taking Miaka with her. Yui laughed
hoarsely and raised her head.
"Gomen...Miaka tends to get out of hand sometimes.." she apologized in an equally raspy
voice. Miaka stopped giggling and looked up to find a very surprised Rain standing next
to them. Miaka stood up quickly.
"Oh hi! I didn't know that you were still here Raini-Chan!" Miaka giggled, putting a hand
behind her head. Rain blinked once.
"Raini?" she asked in a quiet voice. Miaka stopped giggling again. She looked to Yui who
was just standing up.
"Did I say it wrong?" she whispered to her loudly. Yui regarded her with an annoyed look.
"Her name is Rain, Miaka, not Raini." she stated in an equally annoyed voice, rubbing her
scraped knees. Miaka put a finger to her chin and turned the name over in her head a few
times, then made a face.
"I like Raini-Chan better." She concluded, then turned to face Rain. She inspected her a
few moments, then grinned and stuck out her hand.
"I am Yuuki Miaka." She said in slurred English. Yui groaned and covered her face with
one hand. "I am please to make your donut." She grinned widely. Rain stared at her a few
seconds, then suddenly clamped her jaw shut in an attempt to swallow her laugh. The
resulting noise was something between a sneeze and a snort. Miaka lowered her hand, her
smile slowly melting off her face, and blinked. She turned to Yui. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You said, you were pleased to make me a donut." Rain giggled, translating for her. Miaka's
mouth dropped open in a small "o", then she too giggled.
"Boy, I must sound like a moron!" she said, laughing harder.
"That's because you are a moron." Yui said icily. Miaka instantly stopped laughing, her eyes
welling up with tears, and her lower lip quivering.
"Yui-Chan is so mean to me...." she sniffled. She stopped not a second after as an idea visibly
crossed her face. "HEY! Let's go shopping!" she said loudly, causing a few students to turn
and look. "What do you say Raini-Chan, you can see more of Tokyo! Plus, between me and
Yui, we know all the hot spots for clothes!" she continued, turning to a wide-eyed Rain.
"O-okay..." she said uncertainly. Miaka squealed and jumped up and down, then grabbed
Rain's arm and hauled her off campus.
"Oh wow, this will be so much fun! We'll have to stop at the cafe Taka and Keisuke work
at, because you HAVE to meet them. Well, not so much Keisuke, but you have to meet Taka..
he's my boyfriend. Do you have a boyfriend Raini-Chan?" Miaka's voice disappeared as she
led the baffled Rain down the street.
Yui sighed wearily and picked up Miaka's forgotten school bag. That poor girl, she
thought, Miaka's going to talk her deaf.