An Ocean Away: Chapter 1

Written by: Diamond Sakura Li

Edited by: Lillie Frost

Several small birds sat outside of the opened window chirping in the morning air. All of a sudden a loud beeping broke through the serene feeling and the birds took off in fright. A loud groan and a hand emerged from the covers as it groped for the noisy alarm. Finally turning it off, a tousled head poked its way from under the sea of blankets to stare owlishly at the bright red digital numbers displaying the time, six o'clock in the morning. That was enough to set off another loud moan from the tired girl as she struggled to get out of bed.

Usually Hikari, the tired girl now muttering to herself about manipulative alarm clocks, had no problem getting up early. She actually would wake up before her alarm clock went off, but ever since her sleep had begun to be plagued with nightmares Hikari now found getting up a real chore. Getting to her feet, Hikari stumbled towards her closet. Grabbing her school uniform and a fresh set of unmentionables, she blindly made her way to the bathroom while still conscious of not making too much noise lest she wake up the other inhabitants of the household.

After taking a quick shower, brushing her teeth and getting dressed, Hikari emerged from the bathroom looking much more awake. The only evidence of her restless night that remained was her tousled hair and the light shadows underneath her eyes. She tiptoed back to her room and shut the door. As she made her bed, Hikari's mind wandered back to her nightmare and its mysterious meaning. Tucking in the sheets, she made her way to the mirror grabbing a brush and her hair ribbons in the process. Brushing her sleek, mid-back length hair, Hikari watched her brush as it traveled up and down over her oddly colored locks. Her hair from birth had been a beautiful blue color, the doctors had been baffled since neither of her parents had had blue hair. Her eyes were also blue, a deep ocean blue that glinted whenever she smiled.

'Not that I've had any reason to smile.' She thought sarcastically. Hikari tied half of her hair back and braided it, ending the braid by tying two small ribbons one sky blue and the other silver in a bow. Walking over to her desk, she gathered her homework and placed it in her knapsack when she noticed her notebook on the floor. Stooping to pick it up Hikari briefly wondered how in the world it had gotten there. After stuffing the book into her bag, she walked over to the mirror once again and straightened out her skirt as well as her top before walking out of her bedroom making certain that she locked it and placed the key around her neck.

Passing the bathroom on her way down the stairs she suppressed a laugh as she saw three people banging on the door demanding that the occupant hurry up. Hikari made her way into the kitchen and prepared herself a bowl of cereal as the rest of the household regulars slowly entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Hikari." A woman greeted with a strained smile clearly evident

"Good morning Lucinda." Hikari murmured in response.

Hikari watched out of the corner of her eye as Lucinda nudged her husband in suggestion and glanced her way.

He sighed"Good morning Hikari."

"Good morning Roger." She rolled her eyes at his lame attempt to be courteous, it was plain knowledge that none of them liked her.

A girl in her twenties waltzed into the kitchen looking as though she had just stepped out of one of those teenage magazines. Designer clothes, makeup, and accessories in all.

"Good morning family" she gushed, but her expression turned sour when she turned to Hikari. "Good morning, Hikari."

Hikari's anger flared up for a moment when she said that, but she forced it down and nodded slightly in acknowledgement before turning back to her cereal. The way that girl said her name, made her sound like some type of tree! Getting up to put her dishes into the sink, someone stuck their foot out in an attempt to trip her, which she easily evaded.

" 'Morning Hikari." A boy of seventeen smirked.

"Good morning, David." Hikari managed. How she and that boy could even be the same age was a complete mystery to her.

She made her way to the front hall and knelt to put on her shoes, when she straightened out again Hikari happened to glance at the calendar. May 22nd. Her eyes widened in understanding at why they had made the effort to try and be civil to her this morning.

'The social worker is coming today isn't she? Well no wonder.' Hikari mused. Reaching out to grab her knapsack, she took one last glance at her foster family eating their breakfast in the kitchen before heading out the door and closing it with a resounding 'click'.

As she made her way to school, Hikari watched another bunch of early birds make their way across the street to the front courtyard. She had never really had any friends ever since she was adopted. The fact that she looked different (her hair mainly) and she liked books over people didn't really help the matter. Sighing loudly Hikari entered the school grounds and opened the doors to the main entrance. Once again, she was at least forty-five minutes early for class. Taking her seat and pulling out the book she was currently reading, Hikari's mind wandered to last week when they had gotten their final exam results back. As usual she had been the top of her class with perfect in all subjects. In addition to that her homeroom teacher had received her I.Q. scores back. Shockingly enough her I.Q. level was far above the normal numbers for a girl her age, although she would never think of herself as a genius.

Students began to file into the classroom slowly, the peacefulness of the moment was shattered as the talking and noisemaking began. Nobody paid any attention to her as the teacher began the roll call.

"Mizuno, Hikari"

Hikari looked up"Present." Many of the students began to snicker, but she ignored them.

"Myerson, David? Myerson, David" The teacher called, everybody looked around in search of one of the school's most popular people. Up front the teacher looked at Hikari in question, she just shrugged and returned to reading her book. Just then the door opened and in sauntered her foster brother David. He winked at the girls and gave some of the other boys a high five before slouching into the seat beside her. Hikari rolled her eyes at his actions and paid no attention to the teacher's rant about tardiness seeing as how he was always late.

After the assignments had been handed out, the teacher left the room seeing as the principal had called her to the office. Most of the students began to mill around, not paying any mind to the work. A large crowd gathered around David who had leaned his chair back, clearly enjoying the attention when he turned his gaze on Hikari.

"Hey Hickory" he called

Hikari struggled to stay calm and focused her energy on the math problems in front of her. 'Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him…'

"Hey Hickory, I heard you screaming last night." He smirked"What a sissy, scared of a little dream. I bet you even wet the bed" David laughed loudly as everyone within earshot began to laugh as well. Hikari continued to pay him no attention as she finished up the math problems. Turning her gaze to the window beside her, she began to daydream. Not used to being ignored, David fired a spitball at her head. To his shock and the shock of everyone around him Hikari's ruler shot up and blocked the flying wad of paper. Placing her ruler back on the desk Hikari returned to looking out of the window.

"Humph. Fluke." David turned his attention away from her and began to socialize. Hikari sighed in relief when he stopped pestering her. A large oak tree near the local park caught her attention as she smiled mysteriously.

'I can't wait until after school.'

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully for Hikari as she rushed out of the building as soon as the bell had rung. Her long legs carried her to the oak tree that she had been watching that morning. Panting, she made her way to the other side of the tree away from peering eyes. There she saw it. Hidden by some bushes was a large red glowing circle about her size. When she thrust her hand through the circle, her hand disappeared. Pulling it back out again Hikari checked to see if the coast was clear before stepping through it. The circle disappeared as soon as she passed through, it was as if it had never been there. Hikari was gone.

A.N: Okay here is the first chapter, I'm sorry that it focuses on Hikari mostly but after the second chapter the SM part of the fic will emerge. Just to clear some things up, for her hair think of Setsuna's hairstyle only instead of a bun she had a braid it to end it off. The two ribbons are tied at the same time so instead of one ordinary bow you have one bow with four loops and four ends. Her school uniform made up of a pleated, multi-tonal dark blue plaid skirt that ended a bit above her knees. She also wears a navy blue button up jacket, almost like a suit jacket, with her school crest on the left side over a white blouse and thin red bowtie. Navy blue knee-high socks and simple brown shoes finish it off. If you have any other questions about what you just read, put it in your review. Remember to review of course and as always no flames, only constructive criticism. Thanks! 'Til next time, ja ne!

Diamond Sakura Li

.:Lillie Frost:.