"Not yet. They told me to pick it up this morning along with my locker assignment."
Yuki nodded. "As Student Council President, I'd be more than happy to show you around the school."
"Thank you, Yuki-kun. You can start by showing me where the guidance office is again."
Kaibara High had been the easiest solution to her academic problem. Public, close to home, and inexpensive—three things that had Samantha nearly giddy. Tohru was probably more excited about her attending Kaibara than Samantha was herself. When Kyou found out, his face had turned a brighter shade of red than ever thought possible. The ever polite, nearly emotionless Yuki had offered to take her in early so she could get her things and find her way around.
Now that she was here, suddenly she was scared. She had flown thousands of miles with only enough yen to maybe get her through a couple weeks and a plan so thin she was lucky the Sohmas were so generous with no worries at all. But walking into a high school had her hands shaking, her palms sweaty and her stomach all in knots.
Her trip to the guidance office didn't help her nerves any. Her councilor informed her that while her scores were better than average, she would benefit from second year classes. More than a little disappointed that she would be a year behind her new friends, she followed Yuki to the locker room. Because she was starting in the middle of the year, her locker was on the back side of the beyond and on the very bottom row.
Seeing her tremble slightly as she twisted the combination on her locker, Yuki tried to reassure her, offering to help her catch up in her classes and study for the upcoming midterms. Samantha didn't trust her voice so she smiled thinly and nodded. As they stepped out, they ran into Tohru .
"Samantha-chan, are you all right? You look pale," Tohru asked, checking Samantha's forehead for a fever.
"I'm just really nervous," Samantha replied. Students were beginning to arrive now and so too were the strange looks. She grimaced.
"The first day is so exciting!" Tohru cried happily. "You can start all over with a clean slate! I think you're especially lucky, Samantha-chan."
Samantha looked at her strangely. "How do you figure? My hands are sweaty and I'm so nauseas it's a wonder last Monday's breakfast hasn't come back to pay me a visit. I just want to go home."
"No one knows you here. You have a chance to just be yourself...no one knows what to expect from you!"
Yuki touched her arm reassuringly. "Honda-san is right. Just take a deep breath and you'll be fine. I promise."
She closed her eyes and took several steadying breaths. She could walk blindfolded over a make shift rope bridge across a thirty foot drop and not break a sweat. Why in the world was this bothering her so badly?
"What's your class?" Yuki asked as the bell rang.
"2-D," she replied, glancing at the half sheet of paper with her schedule on it.
"Oh that's wonderful! That's Momiji and Hatsuharu's class!" Tohru cried brightly.
Yuki smiled at her tenderly. Samantha chuckled silently. So, the rat has a crush on Tohru-chan. And she doesn't have a clue... A small smile began tugging at her lips as a plan began to formulate in her brain.
"You'd better get to class, Honda-san. I'll be there as soon as I walk Samantha-chan to her classroom. Please apologize to sensei for me."
Tohru nodded and headed off to class, promising to see Samantha at lunch.
"Who are Hatsuharu and Momiji? Are they friends of yours?"
"No, unfortunately, they are family."
The walk to her classroom was short. Before she was ready, she stood in front of the door of her first class.
"You'll be fine, Samantha-san. Just remember to be yourself. If you have any questions, you can ask Haru and Momiji. I'm sure Hatori has told them about you."
"How will I know which ones are your cousins?" Samantha asked as Yuki turned to leave.
He smiled over his shoulder. "Oh, I think you'll be able to figure it out."
Taking a few moments to attempt to steady her nerves, Samantha tried to picture what the mystery Sohmas would look like. She had met four of the thirteen and Shigure had assured her that none of them were as devastatingly handsome as he was. That remark had earned him two exasperated stares and a giggle from Tohru.
Better get this over with, she thought, sliding the door open.
"...multiply by the reciprocal and divide by two...Can I help you?"
Samantha bowed respectfully. "Konnichiwa, sensei. I'm Samantha Hart."
The man at the chalkboard frowned at her sternly. "Class begins at 8, Samantha-kun. You can have the empty desk behind Hatsuharu." He waved in the general direction of her seat.
She blushed, nervously. There were several empty seats and it was obvious her instructor wasn't going to be any help.
"Haru's the one with the white hair and the blank expression," some one whispered.
Samantha looked down to see a smiling blonde with large brown eyes sitting in the desk nearest the door. She returned his smile gratefully. "Arigatou," she whispered and went to her seat.
White Hair? His teachers allow that? And check out the jewelry...he's got bad ass written all over him. She nodded a small greeting which he returned almost imperceptibly. As she sat down, she noticed that the hair at the nape of his neck was solid black. They must let him wear his hair like this because Yuki is Student Council President, she mused. When the bell rang an hour later, Samantha was grateful she was placed a year behind. They weren't kidding when they said I'd probably have a rough go at it...my brain hurts just thinking about it. Gathering her things, she noted that she felt much more at ease now that the first class was out of the way.
"Samantha-chan, is true? Are like us? Are you cursed too?" her blonde rescuer asked.
A touch startled by both the question and by the sudden appearance of the bright eyed boy, Samantha could only blink.
"You'll have to excuse Momiji," Haru said quietly, his voice soft and soothing. "He gets too excited and forgets where he's at."
"Don't pretend like you aren't curious too, Haru-kun," Momiji said, his bright smile never wavering. Without warning, he launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around her middle. She let out a panicked squeak before she realized two things: she wasn't standing there as a cow and Momiji was wearing a girl's uniform. Both thoughts had her sort of numb with shock.
"You must be part of the Zodiac! We didn't change!" Momiji cried happily. He released her from his tight embrace and took her hand. "I'll take you to our next class. C'mon, Haru-kun! We don't want to be late!"
She let the cheery youth drag her from class to class. He introduced her to her instructors who, in turn, made sure she sat next to either him or Haru so they could help her catch up.
When the bell rang for lunch, Samantha felt like cheering. While her nerves had finally settled, she was still feeling incredibly overwhelmed by how behind she was in all her classes.
"Gomen, Samantha-chan, but I promised Takeo-kun that I would help him with his English homework at lunch, so I won't be able to eat lunch with you," Momiji informed her sadly. "But don't worry! Haru can show you to the cafeteria and I'll see you next period, okay?"
Before Samantha could respond, the usagi-boy was running down the hall toward the library.
"What's he eat for breakfast?" Samantha asked in amazement.
Haru chuckled. "Come on. Let's get some lunch."