Disclaimer: I own NOTHING except for this plot and a couple of unfamiliar
characters. For those of you who might be confused, I only own Rumi's last
name. She is introduced in the very VERY beginning of the movie as the one
who wrote the card to Chihiro. Rumi is, I mean. I don't know her last name,
so I made it up. Also, Sensei is Japanese for teacher or doctor. And the
Japanese talk to each other by their family names unless they're really
close, or so I gather. P.S. I'll do a double post of chapters if anybody
can guess the character names I stole from a different anime show. ^_~
Chapter Started: 5/1/04 Chapter Finished: 5/1/03 .
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right after the last chapter
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He walked quickly, and she had trouble keeping up with him, especially on the stairs. Finally, after what seemed like forever later, they stopped gasping at a door at the end of a hallway. Next to it was a large window, and Chihiro wished she could look out it without seeing only a bright white sky with clouds.
"This is it," Hiroshi said when she had caught her breath. "remember what I said about talking - and here's a tip for you: school, nobody likes the new kids. So keep your head down, and your eyes down, and only speak to the teacher if you're spoken to. Is that clear?"
was he playing the game on and off?
"Yes it is, Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro said, dropping her head. No problem - she liked the floor. It was very pretty.
Hiroshi knocked once on the door, then opened it. it was a fairly large room, and there were around twenty students all in desks, which were in neat rows. The teacher, a young woman that looked almost as though she were maybe a couple of years older than Hiroshi, sat at a large desk in front of the class. Everybody looked up as they entered, and Chihiro quickly lowered her head. She'd seen enough to instantly like the teacher, though.
She was very pretty; her eyes were a sparkling light blue, and her hair was down to her waist, a sparkling golden hue. She smiled prettily, and after telling the class quietly to get back to work, she stood up and shook hands with Hiroshi.
"This is my sister, Ogino Chihiro," he said. "she's new here. I'm terribly sorry she's entering so late in the year. And day."
"Oh, it's quite all right, Mr., uh...?"
"Hiroshi." He said quickly.
"Mr. Ogino Hiroshi," she said, smiling prettily again. "thank you, very much. I'm certain that we can get Miss Ogino Chihiro settled in." she looked at Chihiro and smiled, kneeling. "my, what a beautiful young lady," she said. "and you look very young. How old are you?"
Chihiro looked quickly at Hiroshi. He nodded. She looked back at the teacher and smiled a little bit.
"I'm gonna be six in one more week," she said in almost a whisper, or mumble. She knew that nobody in the class had heard her, and could see the teacher straining to hear her as well.
"My!" she said, eyes flying open. "then there must be a mistake. The kindergarten is on the first floor, dears."
"No," Hiroshi explained. "she started talking at an earlier age than usual, and ended up getting legally tutored for kindergarten during the earlier part of her life. It's been a big mess, and a lot of social engineering was used on my father's part, but now she's starting first grade. Pay no mind to her age."
"Well," the teacher looked back at Chihiro. "in that case, welcome to our class, Miss Ogino! It's almost recess, so would you mind staying here with me so that we can get you caught up?"
"No Sensei, I don't mind," she whispered, carefully adjusting her foot.
Hiroshi coughed and bowed. "It's been a pleasure," he said. "be good, Chihiro. I'll pick you up in the front."
And he left, closing the door softly behind him. Immediately, the class began to whisper, and the teacher looked up and arched an eyebrow at them. They all shut up.
"Now, class; we have a new student. Her name is Ogino Chihiro. Miss Ogino, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?"
"No Sensei," Chihiro whispered.
The teacher frowned slightly. "Alright, then. Your seat is the one in the back, there, between Miss Watabe Rumi and Miss Yonai Juri. Wave, girls, so she knows where to sit!"
A girl with medium black hair and crystal-blue flecked eyes waved at Chihiro madly, and the other, a blond with bored gray eyes flicked a wrist. Nervously, Chihiro took the seat between them and pulled her backpack onto her lap, wishing that everybody would stop staring at her. Silently, she thanked all that was mighty for putting her in the back.
"Children," Sensei said. "pay attention. Now-" she was cut off, however, by a loud bell that made Chihiro jump three feet up in the air. Luckily, however, everybody was rushing to get out the door loudly, so this went unnoticed. Except by the two girls next to her.
"Geeze Ogino, chill," the bored girl, Yonai (Juri) said, getting up and leaving as well.
"You seem a bit jumpy," Watabe (Rumi) noted. But she didn't get up and leave. Chihiro wished she would. Once the halls were quiet once more, and sounds of screams and laughter could be heard from outside on the playground, Sensei walked back to Chihiro and Rumi.
"Miss Watabe, don't you want to go to recess?"
"No thank you, Sensei. I'd rather help Ogino. I know what it's like being new and all."
"Ah." The teacher smiled at her, then turned kindly to Chihiro, who sunk down in her seat. "Miss Ogino, first I would like to let you know what the rules are: no screaming, hitting, or cheating, understand?"
"Yes Sensei." Would the teacher play the game with her? God, Chihiro hoped not. She had wanted to use school as a way to escape as well, not have some lovely teacher take up where Hiroshi left off.
"Good. I'll have Miss Watabe show you around and where your locker is, and the rules in more detail. Now, what I want to focus on right now is what you know; I don't want you to fall behind if you've been home-schooled - so young! - and started so late in the year. First, can you sing your ABC's for me?"
"Sing?" Chihiro repeated dumbly, examining one of her pencils. It was a sparkly one that said 'Chihiro' on it in lovely, glittery colors.
"Well, say, then."
"Oh." Chihiro spoke as quickly as she could, trying not to part her lips or look up. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z."
"Okay, then. I'm going to give you a couple of papers. One is going to test your reading skills and the other your math skills. Can you do them for me? don't help her, Miss Watabe."
"I won't," Rumi said innocently.
Chihiro took two papers, and Sensei sharpened her name pencil for her. For a second, she just admired the tip of the lead, then set her backpack between her feet and leaned over the math paper.
Then the reading paper.
She handed them back to Sensei, who looked over them. "we'll have to work on your subtracting, but otherwise I think your pretty fit." She smiled warmly. "I have a little rule in my class; and that is that the first month of school, the papers don't count for a grade. So you don't have any to make up. We're just doing drills right now, exercising what you learned in kindergarten and trying to find out where you are." She paused. "well, now that we've got that done, Miss Watabe, would you take Miss Ogino to her locker? I think that the two of you might have to share one until I can find an empty one." She handed Rumi a piece of paper - a big sticker - after writing something in big black letters down on it.
"No problem, Sensei," Rumi said. She got up. "follow me, Ogino. I'll tell you all about the social ranks of this here wanna-be school." Chihiro followed her out into the hall while Sensei laughed. She became painfully aware of how Rumi was taller than she was.
"This here," Rumi said, stopping at a locked in the middle of the hall that had a big sticker on it that said 'Watabe Rumi' on it. she took the sticker Sensei had handed her and stuck it on right under her name. It read 'Ogino Chihiro.'
Rumi opened the locker up, and took Chihiro's backpack from her, hanging it up. She then opened it and took out the Kleenex box and all her other things and shoved them in Chihiro's hands, then closed the locker and began talking a mile a minute while they made their way back to the classroom.
"We as first graders don't have to worry about life in a social outlook until we get in third grade; but as first graders, we are still dominant over kindergartners, and if you make friends with a third grader or older student - especially a sixth grader - then you're all gold. The school is so big because they were going to put the seventh, eighth, and ninth graders in this building too, and they are; they're going to move them in in a few days, or so I've gathered."
Sensei was gone.
Rumi marched over to Chihiro's desk and opened it, putting all of her stuff in and organizing it carefully. Then she went back and forth between a book case and put different books and/or paper workbooks in as well before closing it once more. She took Chihiro's Kleenex box and put it on a Kleenex-filled shelf on the other side of the room.
"The kids you want to avoid are the sixth graders all together, some fifth graders, and a few forth graders. The third graders ignore us, and the second graders are in the same boat as we are. Select persons you don't want to meet alone in a dark alleyway is a second grader named Yakuta Hiro and his brother Yakuta Ikki. Their friend is Aida Isao, and the only first grader in their little ring is Yonai Juri. She's a brat, and I feel sorry for you cause you have to sit next to her."
There was a long moment of silence.
"Any questions?"
"...No."
"Why don't you talk or look up?"
"...Because... I'm a very bad girl."
Rumi stared at her. "Excuse me?"
Well, technically it wasn't an order. So Chihiro didn't answer.
"Weird," Rumi said after a while.
"Anyway, avoid the bigger kids, and avoid the Yakuta brothers, Aida, and Yonai. Otherwise, come to me if you have a problem, or my older sister. She's a fifth grader, and her name is Watabe Makoto. We all look the same, you know, bluish white eyes, Black hair? I have an eighth grader sister who's going to be coming with the junior high, and she's Watabe Rei. Rei's hair is about to her waist, though, and it's straight if not a little poofy. Makoto's hair is a little curly, and it comes to her elbows. She's always got it braided into two braids behind her shoulders or in a fluffy- curly pony tail, and she has these professional little glasses. She's very cool looking. I also"
she wrinkled her nose
"-have a twin. Her name is Watabe Minako, but she lives with HER father, so her "Real" NAME is Aino Minako. I recommend you don't play around her. She's in a different first-grade class. She's a terrible baka, so steer clear from her, 'kay? Right. So, now you know who to avoid and who you can ask for help, so... any questions?"
"......... No."
"O... kay..."
Rumi stared at Chihiro, and she sat down at her desk, carefully examining the wood it was made out of. Polished and painted. Pretty. She wished Rumi would stop staring at her.
"Watabe-sama?" she whispered softly. Rumi jumped at being addressed as 'Sama'. She blinked. "Yes, Ogino? And you don't need to call me Watabe- sama. Just Watabe."
"Will you please stop staring at me? I don't want people to stare."
It took Rumi a moment to translate this. "Oh. You're shy. Okay, I understand; I'll make sure nobody stares at you, though it will be difficult."
"...Why?"
"Because, well, quite frankly, uh, you're..." Rumi searched for the right word. "different," she said at last. "and everybody likes to stare at different people."
"Is different bad?"
"No, of course not!"
"...Oh."
The bell rang just as Sensei walked back in. "Oh, Ladies," she said as the halls became loud with shouting kids. "do you understand things a little better, feel more at home, Miss Ogino?"
"Yes Sensei."
The class began filling up, and when the hall finally quieted down, it was another ten minutes before the class calmed down. Another bell rang (Chihiro didn't jump) and Sensei closed the door. "Now," she said. I've got some more drills for you kids, okay? Take one and pass it back. You can talk, too, if you want. Read when you're done."
Immediately, the class began to talk to each other as they got to work on their drills. Chihiro struggled with it, and was just halfway through when Yonai, Juri, leaned over and poked Chihiro slightly in the side with her pencil. Chihiro jumped and winced, almost looking up at the girl.
"Hey," Juri said. "is there something up with your neck? Look up at me already!"
Chihiro didn't say anything, just pulled her knees up and took her drills paper, working on it on her hand. Juri scowled.
"Answer me when I talk to you!"
Chihiro ignored her.
"Ogino, I'm warning you!"
Could nine be subtracted from seven? Should Chihiro switch them around? Her tutor had told her that calculators switched them around.
"Baka!"
Had Juri just said something? Must have been Chihiro's imagination. She gave up on actually working on the problem and guessed; three. When all else fails, put a three.
"Ogino!" Juri reached out and pulled sharply on Chihiro's ponytail. It wasn't enough to hurt, so Chihiro didn't cry out. But she did look up sharply at Juri and throw her feet down. She set her drills worksheet down, never breaking eye contact with Juri. She set her pencil down, focusing shrewdly on the top bridge of Juri's nose, never blinking once or wavering her eye-point. She then slowly, ever so agonizingly slowly, turned around so that she was sitting sideways in her seat. Juri looked severely freaked out and turned her head away. "Whatever," she snapped.
Chihiro looked back down and continued her drills. However, Rumi had seen the whole thing and whooped, thumping Chihiro on the back. Chihiro winced, and leaned forward. It wasn't that easy.
"Go Ogino!" Rumi said. "way to beat Yonai without even moving or saying anything!" those that heard either clapped sarcastically or whistled, then went back to their games. Sensei told the class to calm down, and told Rumi, Juri, and Chihiro not to fight.
So Chihiro had just gotten her drills worksheet done (a lot of the answers were Three... hmm...) and sat down, able to finally focus on if Rumi had reopened any wounds. She had come dangerously close to one.
"Okay, class!" Sensei said, standing up. Everybody grew quiet. "lunch time! Line up quietly, and I'll take you down early!"
There was a mad stampede to get to the door, and after five minutes of shouting, fighting, and everything else like that, the class was lined up. Cautiously, Chihiro stood and joined the line in the very back.
"Be quiet, now," Sensei said as she handed out white cards to each of them. Lunch passes. Chihiro clutched hers to her chest, only just aware of the fact that she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch the day before.
As they marched out into the hall, she examined her feet. They went down stairs to the first floor, and Chihiro was quite worn out when they stopped at two big double-doors that said 'MPR' in big red letters. Sensei pushed them open just as a bell rang, and doors banged open, and all first and second graders ran to line. Chihiro and her class were first, of course.
Five minutes later, almost Chihiro's turn, and another bell rang, sending off all the third and fourth graders, along with the sixth graders.
Finally, Chihiro looked up to an old lady wearing a white cap, apron, and plastic gloves. She handed the white lunch pass to her, and took a tray in return. She was no very, very aware of the fact that she was probably the shortest one in the room. After loading up, she walked out to the room ,and paused. It was very, very, very bog, and had tables and chairs everywhere. Kids who had brought lunches from home were already spread out, and Chihiro suddenly realized she had no one or any place to sit. And it's pretty hard to find a place to sit when holding one's try with one hand and clutching ones shirt tightly in the other, staring at one's feet with no "empty, empty, empty" tables around.
"Hey! Ogino! Over here!" Rumi's voice called, barely over the babble. Chihiro forced herself to look up and to her left, where Rumi sta with another girl at a small round table under a window. Rumi was waving madly to a seat next to her. Relief washed over Chihiro, and she walked quickly over to her, sitting in the beckoned chair.
"Hey, Ogino, welcome to our table!" the girl said. "you must be the new kid Rumi-chan here was telling me about. Until you find a clique of your own, you are more than welcome to sit with us." She extended a hand and shook Chihiro's lightly yet firmly. "and I am certain that Rumi-chan has told you about me, but just in case she hasn't, my name is Watabe Makoto. But you can call me Mako-chan."
Chihiro flushed. The only other person she'd called 'san' or 'chan' was her mother/father. She felt she had to return the favor, somehow.
"You can call me Chihiro," she said softly so that both Rumi and Mako-chan leaned forward to hear her better. "both of you can."
"Chihiro? Very pretty name," Makoto said with a grin. "and you must call Rumi-chan... Rumi-chan. 'kay?"
"Yeah, call me Rumi-chan! 'kay?"
"Okay Rumi-sam - Rumi-chan."
Makoto laughed. "did you almost call Rumi "Rumi-sama"? wow. You must come from a strange background." She laughed again, then dug into some yellowish goop as did Rumi. Chihiro stared at hers and wondered if she was really desperate enough to eat this stuff. Then she realized something - Rumi and Makoto might be her friends! Maybe she could stay the week at their house! But those thoughts didn't stop her from being hungry.
Makoto looked up. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked. silently, Chihiro nodded, still keeping her head bowed.
"Oh, I understand. First day nerves. Don't worry, food will help! Eat up!" she looked across the room and waved a hand. "Hey, Mina-chan! Come on over!"
a girl came over and sat next to Chihiro. She looked exactly like Rumi, except her hair was longer and put into a pony tail at her neck. Also, her eyes weren't crystal-blue flecked, they were more just regular blue. This was hardly noticeable. This must have been Minako Aino, Rumi's twin sister.
"Hey, Mina, it's been a while! How're ya doing little sister?" asked Makoto.
"Oh, it's been hectic, with step-mother and all. She and our father are THE most modestly challenged couple on the face of this planet! say, how's mom and Rei-chan doing? It really has been too long."
"I'm happy for your step-mother and father," Rumi said coldly. "our *real* mother went into labor last night, and our step-father is with her. Rei- chan is watching Mako-chan and I."
"Hey, she's YOUR step-mother too!" Minako snapped. "Rumi, why do you hate me so much for wanting to live with daddy?"
"I don't hate you." Rumi replied, her tone now icy. Not wanting to interrupt, but beginning to get scared from Rumi's tone of voice, Chihiro coughed a little.
"My momma's gonna have a baby, too," she said softly.
"Oh really?" asked Rumi brightly.
"Congratulations," Minako told her.
"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Makoto asked.
Chihiro shook her head, startled from all the attention she was getting. "No, she hasn't told us. Wants it to be a surprise. She's," Chihiro paused. "she's in the hospital, too, with my daddy. They're gonna be there the rest of the week."
"The rest of the week?" Minako asked.
Chihiro nodded. "My daddy said it was something like a miscarriage, but not to worry. So I won't."
"What's a miscarriage?" Rumi asked.
"Ditto," Minako put in.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Makoto broke in. her voice held a note of sympathy.
Chihiro took a deep breath, realizing that this would be her only chance.
"My brother, Hiroshi, is taking care of me," she said, rising her voice a little bit. She was quaking slightly at what she was about to say - if they rejected her, then Hiroshi would most definitely find out, and he would kill her for sure. "and he's really very busy and stressed out all of the time. He... I do not think that he... um... likes me very much." She glanced up quickly, then went back to examining the many colors of her glob. "No," she whispered. What was she doing? Just because she called them Rumi-chan and Mako-chan didn't mean that they were her friends. She grabbed her tray.
"Never mind," she said, and took off.
"Wait, Chihiro!" Rumi called.
"Leave her be," Makoto ordered.
"Who was that?" Minako asked.
"Shut up!" snapped Rumi.
Chihiro dumped her tray, and wandered out into the halls. She knew she was supposed to go outside, but she didn't want to face so many kids. So she went back up to her classroom, not getting lost, surprisingly. Sensei was there, with a steaming mug on her desk. She looked up and smiled at Chihiro as she walked in.
"Miss Ogino! Why aren't you outside? did you eat lunch?"
Chihiro shook her head, sitting at her seat gingerly.
"Are you feeling well? Aren't you hungry?"
Chihiro nodded, then shook her head.
"You must be hungry. In all of my years as an experience as a first-grade teacher, I've noticed that all first graders could eat a horse any time any day." She stood and took a small package out of her purse. Chihiro focused on her hands, folded on her desk. She noticed a dark bruise on her wrist, and a lighter one on her other. In fact, the darker bruised one went all the way up her arm. Chihiro yanked the sleeves of her shirt down and twisted her fingers in the bottom of her shirt, biting her lip.
Back to staring at her desk.
She jumped when she felt Sensei's presence above her, and looked up quickly before looking down again. Was she in trouble? "Miss Ogino, you do seem a bit jumpy," Sensei said.
"Please, Sensei, call me Chihiro," Chihiro whispered. Sensei seemed a bit surprised at this. "Chihiro," she said. "well, thank you, I guess I will. Here, eat this. I understand if the sight of the cafeteria food makes you sick." She gently tipped Chihiro's chin up a little bit and took one of her hands, placing a rice ball in it, then taking her other hand and placing a dumpling in it.
"I know they aren't exactly kings' food, but I've been surviving on them, so I guess they won't kill you. go on, eat them." She smiled kindly, warmly. "I'd share my coffee with you too, but I think it might make you a bit too hyper." Chihiro smiled a little back, but caught herself, and quickly looked down again. After staring at the foods in her hands for a moment, hunger finally won over, and she devoured the rice ball first, then the dumpling.
"My, you were hungry," Sensei noted. "have you been starving yourself? When was the last time you ate?"
"Lunch yesterday," Chihiro murmured, realizing that her shirt sleeves were a bit too short. She twisted her fingers in the bottom of her shirt again.
"Why? Didn't you eat dinner or breakfast?"
Chihiro shook her head.
"Why not? What were you doing last night?"
"Sleeping," Chihiro answered truthfully. No way was anybody going to find out about her and Hiroshi.
"What were you doing this morning?"
"sleeping." Ah! Inspiration for a lie! "I never woke up from my nap the other day and I slept in this morning. That's why I was late." inwardly, Chihiro gave herself a pat on the back. Nobody could lie as smoothly as her!
"Oh. You must have been tired."
"I was."
"Why? Did you stay up the night before?"
Chihiro suddenly thought of something and sat up straight in her chair, shivering fearfully. "Are you," she squeaked in the tiniest of vooices, cleared her throat, then continued in her tiny, quiet voice, "are you playing the game with me?"
"the game? What's that?" Sensei asked, shocking at the change of subject. "how do you play?"
"You ask a question and I answer the right way," Chihiro answered. Dur. Didn't this woman know anything?
"What if you answer the wrong way?"
"Then I get punished."
"Punished?!?" Sensei leapt to her feet, then sat down on Chihiro's desk. "I mean, punished," she said blandly. "Have you played this game often?"
"Oh yes."
"Do you answer the right way?"
"Not at first. but now I know all of the answers."
"You play with the same answers?"
"Mostly the same. See," Chihiro froze, then looked up. "you don't know how to play the game?"
"Chihiro," she said, reaching out and gently cupping Chihiro's cheek. "in games, you're not supposed to get punished if you lose."
"You're not?"
"No. that's bad."
"Bad?"
"Yes. Bad."
"Then... what do you do if you lose?"
"You go home with a lesson learned." Sensei paused and frowned at Chihiro, who quickly ducked her head again. "what kind of punishment?" she asked. Chihiro shrugged slightly, scared of her growing tone.
"Just... nothing bad," she murmured.
"How bad?"
"Not bad."
"Painful?"
"......... Uh," how was she supposed to answer that? "No. of course not."
"Do the punishments leave marks?"
Chihiro buried her hands deeper into her shirt. "Sometimes."
"What kind of marks? Red ones? Purple, blue, black ones?"
"...Sometimes."
"Do the marks hurt?"
Trick QUESTION! Chihiro had been ready for that. "No." she lied.
"Are you lying?"
"No." she lied. She paused. "Why are you so interested? It's not like my family abuses me or anything." Chihiro thought after that.
Abuse? Was Hiroshi abusing her? She thought back, casting about her mind for an explanation. Finally, she found one. No. she was a bad girl.
The bell rang, and the halls filled, and the class room filled. "Thank you, Sensei," Chihiro whispered as she went back to the front of the class.
Chihiro managed to keep quiet the rest of the day, and avoid all others. When Hiroshi picked her up, he had her change back to her other clothes, then dropped her off at the house with just a little verbal communications. Immediately, Chihiro set off for the forest.
She needed her friends.
Her best friend.
Kohaku River.
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A/N: okay, I'm not sure if that's good or not. *Scratches head* heh. Oh well.
Chapter Started: 5/1/04 Chapter Finished: 5/1/03 .
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right after the last chapter
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He walked quickly, and she had trouble keeping up with him, especially on the stairs. Finally, after what seemed like forever later, they stopped gasping at a door at the end of a hallway. Next to it was a large window, and Chihiro wished she could look out it without seeing only a bright white sky with clouds.
"This is it," Hiroshi said when she had caught her breath. "remember what I said about talking - and here's a tip for you: school, nobody likes the new kids. So keep your head down, and your eyes down, and only speak to the teacher if you're spoken to. Is that clear?"
was he playing the game on and off?
"Yes it is, Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro said, dropping her head. No problem - she liked the floor. It was very pretty.
Hiroshi knocked once on the door, then opened it. it was a fairly large room, and there were around twenty students all in desks, which were in neat rows. The teacher, a young woman that looked almost as though she were maybe a couple of years older than Hiroshi, sat at a large desk in front of the class. Everybody looked up as they entered, and Chihiro quickly lowered her head. She'd seen enough to instantly like the teacher, though.
She was very pretty; her eyes were a sparkling light blue, and her hair was down to her waist, a sparkling golden hue. She smiled prettily, and after telling the class quietly to get back to work, she stood up and shook hands with Hiroshi.
"This is my sister, Ogino Chihiro," he said. "she's new here. I'm terribly sorry she's entering so late in the year. And day."
"Oh, it's quite all right, Mr., uh...?"
"Hiroshi." He said quickly.
"Mr. Ogino Hiroshi," she said, smiling prettily again. "thank you, very much. I'm certain that we can get Miss Ogino Chihiro settled in." she looked at Chihiro and smiled, kneeling. "my, what a beautiful young lady," she said. "and you look very young. How old are you?"
Chihiro looked quickly at Hiroshi. He nodded. She looked back at the teacher and smiled a little bit.
"I'm gonna be six in one more week," she said in almost a whisper, or mumble. She knew that nobody in the class had heard her, and could see the teacher straining to hear her as well.
"My!" she said, eyes flying open. "then there must be a mistake. The kindergarten is on the first floor, dears."
"No," Hiroshi explained. "she started talking at an earlier age than usual, and ended up getting legally tutored for kindergarten during the earlier part of her life. It's been a big mess, and a lot of social engineering was used on my father's part, but now she's starting first grade. Pay no mind to her age."
"Well," the teacher looked back at Chihiro. "in that case, welcome to our class, Miss Ogino! It's almost recess, so would you mind staying here with me so that we can get you caught up?"
"No Sensei, I don't mind," she whispered, carefully adjusting her foot.
Hiroshi coughed and bowed. "It's been a pleasure," he said. "be good, Chihiro. I'll pick you up in the front."
And he left, closing the door softly behind him. Immediately, the class began to whisper, and the teacher looked up and arched an eyebrow at them. They all shut up.
"Now, class; we have a new student. Her name is Ogino Chihiro. Miss Ogino, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?"
"No Sensei," Chihiro whispered.
The teacher frowned slightly. "Alright, then. Your seat is the one in the back, there, between Miss Watabe Rumi and Miss Yonai Juri. Wave, girls, so she knows where to sit!"
A girl with medium black hair and crystal-blue flecked eyes waved at Chihiro madly, and the other, a blond with bored gray eyes flicked a wrist. Nervously, Chihiro took the seat between them and pulled her backpack onto her lap, wishing that everybody would stop staring at her. Silently, she thanked all that was mighty for putting her in the back.
"Children," Sensei said. "pay attention. Now-" she was cut off, however, by a loud bell that made Chihiro jump three feet up in the air. Luckily, however, everybody was rushing to get out the door loudly, so this went unnoticed. Except by the two girls next to her.
"Geeze Ogino, chill," the bored girl, Yonai (Juri) said, getting up and leaving as well.
"You seem a bit jumpy," Watabe (Rumi) noted. But she didn't get up and leave. Chihiro wished she would. Once the halls were quiet once more, and sounds of screams and laughter could be heard from outside on the playground, Sensei walked back to Chihiro and Rumi.
"Miss Watabe, don't you want to go to recess?"
"No thank you, Sensei. I'd rather help Ogino. I know what it's like being new and all."
"Ah." The teacher smiled at her, then turned kindly to Chihiro, who sunk down in her seat. "Miss Ogino, first I would like to let you know what the rules are: no screaming, hitting, or cheating, understand?"
"Yes Sensei." Would the teacher play the game with her? God, Chihiro hoped not. She had wanted to use school as a way to escape as well, not have some lovely teacher take up where Hiroshi left off.
"Good. I'll have Miss Watabe show you around and where your locker is, and the rules in more detail. Now, what I want to focus on right now is what you know; I don't want you to fall behind if you've been home-schooled - so young! - and started so late in the year. First, can you sing your ABC's for me?"
"Sing?" Chihiro repeated dumbly, examining one of her pencils. It was a sparkly one that said 'Chihiro' on it in lovely, glittery colors.
"Well, say, then."
"Oh." Chihiro spoke as quickly as she could, trying not to part her lips or look up. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z."
"Okay, then. I'm going to give you a couple of papers. One is going to test your reading skills and the other your math skills. Can you do them for me? don't help her, Miss Watabe."
"I won't," Rumi said innocently.
Chihiro took two papers, and Sensei sharpened her name pencil for her. For a second, she just admired the tip of the lead, then set her backpack between her feet and leaned over the math paper.
Then the reading paper.
She handed them back to Sensei, who looked over them. "we'll have to work on your subtracting, but otherwise I think your pretty fit." She smiled warmly. "I have a little rule in my class; and that is that the first month of school, the papers don't count for a grade. So you don't have any to make up. We're just doing drills right now, exercising what you learned in kindergarten and trying to find out where you are." She paused. "well, now that we've got that done, Miss Watabe, would you take Miss Ogino to her locker? I think that the two of you might have to share one until I can find an empty one." She handed Rumi a piece of paper - a big sticker - after writing something in big black letters down on it.
"No problem, Sensei," Rumi said. She got up. "follow me, Ogino. I'll tell you all about the social ranks of this here wanna-be school." Chihiro followed her out into the hall while Sensei laughed. She became painfully aware of how Rumi was taller than she was.
"This here," Rumi said, stopping at a locked in the middle of the hall that had a big sticker on it that said 'Watabe Rumi' on it. she took the sticker Sensei had handed her and stuck it on right under her name. It read 'Ogino Chihiro.'
Rumi opened the locker up, and took Chihiro's backpack from her, hanging it up. She then opened it and took out the Kleenex box and all her other things and shoved them in Chihiro's hands, then closed the locker and began talking a mile a minute while they made their way back to the classroom.
"We as first graders don't have to worry about life in a social outlook until we get in third grade; but as first graders, we are still dominant over kindergartners, and if you make friends with a third grader or older student - especially a sixth grader - then you're all gold. The school is so big because they were going to put the seventh, eighth, and ninth graders in this building too, and they are; they're going to move them in in a few days, or so I've gathered."
Sensei was gone.
Rumi marched over to Chihiro's desk and opened it, putting all of her stuff in and organizing it carefully. Then she went back and forth between a book case and put different books and/or paper workbooks in as well before closing it once more. She took Chihiro's Kleenex box and put it on a Kleenex-filled shelf on the other side of the room.
"The kids you want to avoid are the sixth graders all together, some fifth graders, and a few forth graders. The third graders ignore us, and the second graders are in the same boat as we are. Select persons you don't want to meet alone in a dark alleyway is a second grader named Yakuta Hiro and his brother Yakuta Ikki. Their friend is Aida Isao, and the only first grader in their little ring is Yonai Juri. She's a brat, and I feel sorry for you cause you have to sit next to her."
There was a long moment of silence.
"Any questions?"
"...No."
"Why don't you talk or look up?"
"...Because... I'm a very bad girl."
Rumi stared at her. "Excuse me?"
Well, technically it wasn't an order. So Chihiro didn't answer.
"Weird," Rumi said after a while.
"Anyway, avoid the bigger kids, and avoid the Yakuta brothers, Aida, and Yonai. Otherwise, come to me if you have a problem, or my older sister. She's a fifth grader, and her name is Watabe Makoto. We all look the same, you know, bluish white eyes, Black hair? I have an eighth grader sister who's going to be coming with the junior high, and she's Watabe Rei. Rei's hair is about to her waist, though, and it's straight if not a little poofy. Makoto's hair is a little curly, and it comes to her elbows. She's always got it braided into two braids behind her shoulders or in a fluffy- curly pony tail, and she has these professional little glasses. She's very cool looking. I also"
she wrinkled her nose
"-have a twin. Her name is Watabe Minako, but she lives with HER father, so her "Real" NAME is Aino Minako. I recommend you don't play around her. She's in a different first-grade class. She's a terrible baka, so steer clear from her, 'kay? Right. So, now you know who to avoid and who you can ask for help, so... any questions?"
"......... No."
"O... kay..."
Rumi stared at Chihiro, and she sat down at her desk, carefully examining the wood it was made out of. Polished and painted. Pretty. She wished Rumi would stop staring at her.
"Watabe-sama?" she whispered softly. Rumi jumped at being addressed as 'Sama'. She blinked. "Yes, Ogino? And you don't need to call me Watabe- sama. Just Watabe."
"Will you please stop staring at me? I don't want people to stare."
It took Rumi a moment to translate this. "Oh. You're shy. Okay, I understand; I'll make sure nobody stares at you, though it will be difficult."
"...Why?"
"Because, well, quite frankly, uh, you're..." Rumi searched for the right word. "different," she said at last. "and everybody likes to stare at different people."
"Is different bad?"
"No, of course not!"
"...Oh."
The bell rang just as Sensei walked back in. "Oh, Ladies," she said as the halls became loud with shouting kids. "do you understand things a little better, feel more at home, Miss Ogino?"
"Yes Sensei."
The class began filling up, and when the hall finally quieted down, it was another ten minutes before the class calmed down. Another bell rang (Chihiro didn't jump) and Sensei closed the door. "Now," she said. I've got some more drills for you kids, okay? Take one and pass it back. You can talk, too, if you want. Read when you're done."
Immediately, the class began to talk to each other as they got to work on their drills. Chihiro struggled with it, and was just halfway through when Yonai, Juri, leaned over and poked Chihiro slightly in the side with her pencil. Chihiro jumped and winced, almost looking up at the girl.
"Hey," Juri said. "is there something up with your neck? Look up at me already!"
Chihiro didn't say anything, just pulled her knees up and took her drills paper, working on it on her hand. Juri scowled.
"Answer me when I talk to you!"
Chihiro ignored her.
"Ogino, I'm warning you!"
Could nine be subtracted from seven? Should Chihiro switch them around? Her tutor had told her that calculators switched them around.
"Baka!"
Had Juri just said something? Must have been Chihiro's imagination. She gave up on actually working on the problem and guessed; three. When all else fails, put a three.
"Ogino!" Juri reached out and pulled sharply on Chihiro's ponytail. It wasn't enough to hurt, so Chihiro didn't cry out. But she did look up sharply at Juri and throw her feet down. She set her drills worksheet down, never breaking eye contact with Juri. She set her pencil down, focusing shrewdly on the top bridge of Juri's nose, never blinking once or wavering her eye-point. She then slowly, ever so agonizingly slowly, turned around so that she was sitting sideways in her seat. Juri looked severely freaked out and turned her head away. "Whatever," she snapped.
Chihiro looked back down and continued her drills. However, Rumi had seen the whole thing and whooped, thumping Chihiro on the back. Chihiro winced, and leaned forward. It wasn't that easy.
"Go Ogino!" Rumi said. "way to beat Yonai without even moving or saying anything!" those that heard either clapped sarcastically or whistled, then went back to their games. Sensei told the class to calm down, and told Rumi, Juri, and Chihiro not to fight.
So Chihiro had just gotten her drills worksheet done (a lot of the answers were Three... hmm...) and sat down, able to finally focus on if Rumi had reopened any wounds. She had come dangerously close to one.
"Okay, class!" Sensei said, standing up. Everybody grew quiet. "lunch time! Line up quietly, and I'll take you down early!"
There was a mad stampede to get to the door, and after five minutes of shouting, fighting, and everything else like that, the class was lined up. Cautiously, Chihiro stood and joined the line in the very back.
"Be quiet, now," Sensei said as she handed out white cards to each of them. Lunch passes. Chihiro clutched hers to her chest, only just aware of the fact that she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch the day before.
As they marched out into the hall, she examined her feet. They went down stairs to the first floor, and Chihiro was quite worn out when they stopped at two big double-doors that said 'MPR' in big red letters. Sensei pushed them open just as a bell rang, and doors banged open, and all first and second graders ran to line. Chihiro and her class were first, of course.
Five minutes later, almost Chihiro's turn, and another bell rang, sending off all the third and fourth graders, along with the sixth graders.
Finally, Chihiro looked up to an old lady wearing a white cap, apron, and plastic gloves. She handed the white lunch pass to her, and took a tray in return. She was no very, very aware of the fact that she was probably the shortest one in the room. After loading up, she walked out to the room ,and paused. It was very, very, very bog, and had tables and chairs everywhere. Kids who had brought lunches from home were already spread out, and Chihiro suddenly realized she had no one or any place to sit. And it's pretty hard to find a place to sit when holding one's try with one hand and clutching ones shirt tightly in the other, staring at one's feet with no "empty, empty, empty" tables around.
"Hey! Ogino! Over here!" Rumi's voice called, barely over the babble. Chihiro forced herself to look up and to her left, where Rumi sta with another girl at a small round table under a window. Rumi was waving madly to a seat next to her. Relief washed over Chihiro, and she walked quickly over to her, sitting in the beckoned chair.
"Hey, Ogino, welcome to our table!" the girl said. "you must be the new kid Rumi-chan here was telling me about. Until you find a clique of your own, you are more than welcome to sit with us." She extended a hand and shook Chihiro's lightly yet firmly. "and I am certain that Rumi-chan has told you about me, but just in case she hasn't, my name is Watabe Makoto. But you can call me Mako-chan."
Chihiro flushed. The only other person she'd called 'san' or 'chan' was her mother/father. She felt she had to return the favor, somehow.
"You can call me Chihiro," she said softly so that both Rumi and Mako-chan leaned forward to hear her better. "both of you can."
"Chihiro? Very pretty name," Makoto said with a grin. "and you must call Rumi-chan... Rumi-chan. 'kay?"
"Yeah, call me Rumi-chan! 'kay?"
"Okay Rumi-sam - Rumi-chan."
Makoto laughed. "did you almost call Rumi "Rumi-sama"? wow. You must come from a strange background." She laughed again, then dug into some yellowish goop as did Rumi. Chihiro stared at hers and wondered if she was really desperate enough to eat this stuff. Then she realized something - Rumi and Makoto might be her friends! Maybe she could stay the week at their house! But those thoughts didn't stop her from being hungry.
Makoto looked up. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked. silently, Chihiro nodded, still keeping her head bowed.
"Oh, I understand. First day nerves. Don't worry, food will help! Eat up!" she looked across the room and waved a hand. "Hey, Mina-chan! Come on over!"
a girl came over and sat next to Chihiro. She looked exactly like Rumi, except her hair was longer and put into a pony tail at her neck. Also, her eyes weren't crystal-blue flecked, they were more just regular blue. This was hardly noticeable. This must have been Minako Aino, Rumi's twin sister.
"Hey, Mina, it's been a while! How're ya doing little sister?" asked Makoto.
"Oh, it's been hectic, with step-mother and all. She and our father are THE most modestly challenged couple on the face of this planet! say, how's mom and Rei-chan doing? It really has been too long."
"I'm happy for your step-mother and father," Rumi said coldly. "our *real* mother went into labor last night, and our step-father is with her. Rei- chan is watching Mako-chan and I."
"Hey, she's YOUR step-mother too!" Minako snapped. "Rumi, why do you hate me so much for wanting to live with daddy?"
"I don't hate you." Rumi replied, her tone now icy. Not wanting to interrupt, but beginning to get scared from Rumi's tone of voice, Chihiro coughed a little.
"My momma's gonna have a baby, too," she said softly.
"Oh really?" asked Rumi brightly.
"Congratulations," Minako told her.
"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Makoto asked.
Chihiro shook her head, startled from all the attention she was getting. "No, she hasn't told us. Wants it to be a surprise. She's," Chihiro paused. "she's in the hospital, too, with my daddy. They're gonna be there the rest of the week."
"The rest of the week?" Minako asked.
Chihiro nodded. "My daddy said it was something like a miscarriage, but not to worry. So I won't."
"What's a miscarriage?" Rumi asked.
"Ditto," Minako put in.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Makoto broke in. her voice held a note of sympathy.
Chihiro took a deep breath, realizing that this would be her only chance.
"My brother, Hiroshi, is taking care of me," she said, rising her voice a little bit. She was quaking slightly at what she was about to say - if they rejected her, then Hiroshi would most definitely find out, and he would kill her for sure. "and he's really very busy and stressed out all of the time. He... I do not think that he... um... likes me very much." She glanced up quickly, then went back to examining the many colors of her glob. "No," she whispered. What was she doing? Just because she called them Rumi-chan and Mako-chan didn't mean that they were her friends. She grabbed her tray.
"Never mind," she said, and took off.
"Wait, Chihiro!" Rumi called.
"Leave her be," Makoto ordered.
"Who was that?" Minako asked.
"Shut up!" snapped Rumi.
Chihiro dumped her tray, and wandered out into the halls. She knew she was supposed to go outside, but she didn't want to face so many kids. So she went back up to her classroom, not getting lost, surprisingly. Sensei was there, with a steaming mug on her desk. She looked up and smiled at Chihiro as she walked in.
"Miss Ogino! Why aren't you outside? did you eat lunch?"
Chihiro shook her head, sitting at her seat gingerly.
"Are you feeling well? Aren't you hungry?"
Chihiro nodded, then shook her head.
"You must be hungry. In all of my years as an experience as a first-grade teacher, I've noticed that all first graders could eat a horse any time any day." She stood and took a small package out of her purse. Chihiro focused on her hands, folded on her desk. She noticed a dark bruise on her wrist, and a lighter one on her other. In fact, the darker bruised one went all the way up her arm. Chihiro yanked the sleeves of her shirt down and twisted her fingers in the bottom of her shirt, biting her lip.
Back to staring at her desk.
She jumped when she felt Sensei's presence above her, and looked up quickly before looking down again. Was she in trouble? "Miss Ogino, you do seem a bit jumpy," Sensei said.
"Please, Sensei, call me Chihiro," Chihiro whispered. Sensei seemed a bit surprised at this. "Chihiro," she said. "well, thank you, I guess I will. Here, eat this. I understand if the sight of the cafeteria food makes you sick." She gently tipped Chihiro's chin up a little bit and took one of her hands, placing a rice ball in it, then taking her other hand and placing a dumpling in it.
"I know they aren't exactly kings' food, but I've been surviving on them, so I guess they won't kill you. go on, eat them." She smiled kindly, warmly. "I'd share my coffee with you too, but I think it might make you a bit too hyper." Chihiro smiled a little back, but caught herself, and quickly looked down again. After staring at the foods in her hands for a moment, hunger finally won over, and she devoured the rice ball first, then the dumpling.
"My, you were hungry," Sensei noted. "have you been starving yourself? When was the last time you ate?"
"Lunch yesterday," Chihiro murmured, realizing that her shirt sleeves were a bit too short. She twisted her fingers in the bottom of her shirt again.
"Why? Didn't you eat dinner or breakfast?"
Chihiro shook her head.
"Why not? What were you doing last night?"
"Sleeping," Chihiro answered truthfully. No way was anybody going to find out about her and Hiroshi.
"What were you doing this morning?"
"sleeping." Ah! Inspiration for a lie! "I never woke up from my nap the other day and I slept in this morning. That's why I was late." inwardly, Chihiro gave herself a pat on the back. Nobody could lie as smoothly as her!
"Oh. You must have been tired."
"I was."
"Why? Did you stay up the night before?"
Chihiro suddenly thought of something and sat up straight in her chair, shivering fearfully. "Are you," she squeaked in the tiniest of vooices, cleared her throat, then continued in her tiny, quiet voice, "are you playing the game with me?"
"the game? What's that?" Sensei asked, shocking at the change of subject. "how do you play?"
"You ask a question and I answer the right way," Chihiro answered. Dur. Didn't this woman know anything?
"What if you answer the wrong way?"
"Then I get punished."
"Punished?!?" Sensei leapt to her feet, then sat down on Chihiro's desk. "I mean, punished," she said blandly. "Have you played this game often?"
"Oh yes."
"Do you answer the right way?"
"Not at first. but now I know all of the answers."
"You play with the same answers?"
"Mostly the same. See," Chihiro froze, then looked up. "you don't know how to play the game?"
"Chihiro," she said, reaching out and gently cupping Chihiro's cheek. "in games, you're not supposed to get punished if you lose."
"You're not?"
"No. that's bad."
"Bad?"
"Yes. Bad."
"Then... what do you do if you lose?"
"You go home with a lesson learned." Sensei paused and frowned at Chihiro, who quickly ducked her head again. "what kind of punishment?" she asked. Chihiro shrugged slightly, scared of her growing tone.
"Just... nothing bad," she murmured.
"How bad?"
"Not bad."
"Painful?"
"......... Uh," how was she supposed to answer that? "No. of course not."
"Do the punishments leave marks?"
Chihiro buried her hands deeper into her shirt. "Sometimes."
"What kind of marks? Red ones? Purple, blue, black ones?"
"...Sometimes."
"Do the marks hurt?"
Trick QUESTION! Chihiro had been ready for that. "No." she lied.
"Are you lying?"
"No." she lied. She paused. "Why are you so interested? It's not like my family abuses me or anything." Chihiro thought after that.
Abuse? Was Hiroshi abusing her? She thought back, casting about her mind for an explanation. Finally, she found one. No. she was a bad girl.
The bell rang, and the halls filled, and the class room filled. "Thank you, Sensei," Chihiro whispered as she went back to the front of the class.
Chihiro managed to keep quiet the rest of the day, and avoid all others. When Hiroshi picked her up, he had her change back to her other clothes, then dropped her off at the house with just a little verbal communications. Immediately, Chihiro set off for the forest.
She needed her friends.
Her best friend.
Kohaku River.
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A/N: okay, I'm not sure if that's good or not. *Scratches head* heh. Oh well.