~*The New Friend*~
Miyako arrived at Jounji High School just in time. A group of people gathered around the tree. The sound of laughter was only torture to her. Truly, she had no friends. She once had before but ever since her parents' death, she seemed to be more distant. Kids used her for homework and projects.
The bell rang as Miyako made her way inside the school building and up the stairs. As usual, she was the first to be in class. Taking a seat in the back row, she took in the nice view outside the window. Soon, the class started to fill with other students. No one sat by her.
"Class," Mr. Marukawa called out. "We have a new student joining us today," he then turned to the door. "Come now, don't be shy."
Slowly, a shy looking boy stepped in, his white hair ruffled as it seemed to stand out from the black uniform. He noticed some of the girls gushing over him, looking at him with awe.
Miyako looked up seeing him. She felt like she was struck by lightning. He seemed so damn cute. Maybe her wish did come true after all. But then again, maybe it didn't, seeing how all the other girls gushed over him.
"So," Mr. Marukawa sat on his desk. "Just tell us about yourself."
"Well," the young boy ran his fingers through his hair. "My name is Ryou Mizuno. My family and I moved from Kyoto a few weeks back ever since my father got a new job."
"All right Ryou," the teacher smiled. "Pick out a seat, any seat."
"Hey Ryou," one of the girls called out. "Sit with me." She patted on the empty desk.
Ryou smiled at the girl but shifted his gaze towards Miyako, smiling at her. He then made his way towards the back row, taking the desk next to Miyako's. Some of the girls looked at him muttering, "Why's he sitting there?"
"Yo Ryou," one of the boys in the front row turned around and called out. "Why are you sitting there?"
"Yeah Ryou," another girl faced him. "Don't you know she's a freak? Nobody really likes her." The whole class laughed. Ryou looked up at Miyako seeing her tense up, her fists clenching tightly.
"Class," the teacher was obviously pissed. "That is definitely cruel. You know what that means?" he took out buckets of water placing them on his desk.
"See now Michirei." One of the boys yelled out as most of the students got up, taking two buckets each and going out the classroom.
"It's not only me." Michirei picked up the two buckets. "Junko gets half the credit."
"Enough talk." The teacher barked. "All of you out of the classroom." He then looked down seeing Ryou, as if he was waiting for the buckets. "No, not you Ryou. You and Miyako just stay and do some work." He then handed him a worksheet. "Right now, we're writing an essay about the Pearl Harbor. You use all your basic Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Think you can handle it?"
Ryou nodded. "Yes sir."
"Good," the teacher smiled, taking out a yardstick. The essay will be due in a week." He then left the classroom.
Ryou looked at the worksheet for a moment before shifting his gaze towards Miyako who faced the window, her head tilting down on the floor. His lips curled into a dark grin. Well child, you'll get your wish all right. He then made his way towards his desk, placing the worksheet on his desk before making his way towards her. Looking her over, he noticed she was crying.
"Do they always treat you this way?"
The crying suddenly died down, as Miyako looked up, her face red and tear-stained, her eyes swollen. "Why? Why does it matter to you? You're just like them."
Ryou reached into his pocket taking out a small towel, handing it to her. She took it eagerly, wiping her eyes and blowing into the rag. Miyako managed to calm herself down, looking back up at him. He took her hand gently and held it in his. Miyako had the urge to yank it away but somehow, that urge went away.
"Your hands…they're cold as ice."
"Yes…" Ryou tried to think up a lie. "I've had this condition which my body is like ice, like I'm one of the dead." He laughed softly at his own lie. He then looked at her with deep concern. "Why do they hate you so?"
"I'm not so sure." Miyako looked out the window before turning her gaze back to the floor. "Rumors started to go around saying I'm a witch, that I've killed them."
"Do you believe that you are some sort of witch?"
"I believe that we all have a bit of witchery inside. We just don't tend on showing it."
"And your parents? What became of them?"
"My uncle tells me they both died in an accident. But I know much better. These days, I don't have much friends. My uncle is real nice and so are his friends," her voice started to shake as well as her hands. "I hate it! I'm always by myself. I talk to myself just to keep myself entertained. Nobody wants to be my friend. And even if I had friends, they'd only use me and treat me like dirt." She could no longer control her tears, burying her face in her hands.
Ryou helped her up, pulling her close, letting her cry on him. "If it isn't much, perhaps I could be your friend." And in the end, you'll be mine for good but this'll do for now. Imagine your best friend actually being your father.
"You really mean that?" Miyako slowly looked up.
"Well, sure. You're lonely and I'm just a new student. We're two lonely people in a solitary room. Notice that I perform magic tricks." A small grin played his lips. He took the rag she used and held out his free hand. Holding the rag in front of his hand, he shook it slightly before pulling it away only to reveal a cup of water.
"How did you do that?" Miyako took the cup of water, drinking it down.
Ryou smiled going back to his seat. "My father is a magician. An illusionist. My mother is his assistant. They travel all around the world. I wanted to go with them but my mother insisted on staying here and go to school."
"You mean you live by yourself?"
"Oh no," Ryou laughed, taking out a pice of paper. "I live with my older sister Shizuka."**
"That's nice." Miyako smiled.
"There you go," Ryou smiled back. "You look cute when you smile."
Miyako blushed as he said this. "Thanks."
"I haven't gotten the chance to learn your name."
"Oh…it's…it's Miyako."
"Miyako. That's a beautiful name."
"You really think so?"
Ryou nodded. "It kinda matches with you."
Miyako took out her binder and the two started working on their essay quietly. Soon, all the students came back into the room, groaning from their punishment. Mr. Marukawa followed from behind. "Let that be a lesson to you little punks." He then looked up at Ryou and Miyako. "You two stand up."
The two looked up seeing the teacher and the whole class standing in the front of the room. They then gazed at each other for a slight second. Miyako shrugged before they slowly stood up beside their desk, facing their teacher.
"Now class, you're gonna learn first hand on how to be nice people because one day, you're gonna need it." He turned to Ryou. "Ryou, what have you learned about Miyako?"
"Well," Ryou shifted his gaze towards Miyako. "She likes Harry Potter books."
"Harry Potter?" one of the guys started to laugh. "That's for babies."
"On the contrary," Ryou grinned, reaching into his bag pulling out Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. "I happen to like Harry Potter as well."
"Whoa," most of the class looked up at the boy who laughed about Harry Potter.
"How did you know I like Harry Potter?" Miyako whispered.
"I saw it in your bag earlier." Ryou replied.
"All right Miyako, what do you know about Ryou?"
"Well…" she scratched her head slightly. "His father is a magician."
"Now that's interesting. See class, these two barely know each other yet they found a way to get along. I suggest you do the same. All right, everyone take out your calligraphy paper."
The clock striked three as school finally finished. Students filled the hallways and out the school. Miyako decided to use the bathroom before going home. A bunch of girls gather in the corner looking up at her as she entered.
"Well, well, well, I see the whore decided to grace us with her presence."
Miyako slowly looked up recognizing some of her classmates. "Who the hell are you calling a whore?"
"We saw what that new kid did to you."
"Why would he be interested in you is what I would like to know." Another girl glared at Miyako.
"How dare you try to take him away from us!"
"Michirei, he's just a friend." Miyako's voice shook with fear. "We didn't do anything serious."
"Bitch!!" Michirei grabbed Miyako, slamming her onto the wall. The two started fighting, pinning each other onto the ground. While the other two girls held Miyako by the arms, Michirei continued kicking Miyako right on the stomach. Minutes slowly ticked by as Miyako laid there battered, bruised, and bleeding from the lip.
"Maybe we're just getting even for the buckets we had to carry."
"Let that be a lesson to you Miyako."
"Hey," Michirei smirked. "We should give her a good place to rest."
"You mean…?"
"That's right." Michirei dragged Miyako's body "Remember the days when we used to do this to Reichel?"
"Yeah." The girls opened the last stall of the room dunking Miyako's head into the toiled seat. Laughing, they flushed the toilet once and left the bathroom.
"Let's see her get out of this one."
** Shizuka in this story is not Serenity even though that's her name in Japanese. This is the name Ishizu uses to cover her true identity.
~*To Be Continued*~