Never Stand Down
Fraction 2: Enter Yumi
"Yusuke, you JERK!" Keiko was furious at Yusuke, who had let her down...again. She sat herself down on the curb in front of the theater, on the verge of tears, and yelled again. "You STUPID JERK!" She was so wrapped up emotionally that she really didn't care if people on the street were beginning to stop and stare at her.
"Hey, Sweetheart," she jumped at the voice that sounded low but female. Keiko turned her head. Short sandy hair, blue eyes, jeans and a t-shirt...
"Um...Yes?" Keiko asked, unsure of the girl behind her.
"What the hell are you screaming over?" this new girl asked her with a friendly smile to show that she meant nothing by her language.
Keiko turned her head back to the street. "Oh, that." Keiko wanted to say something to tell this new girl how much of a jerk Yusuke was sometimes.
The girl sat down next to her in a relaxed position with her straight legs crossed in the street and her arms propping the rest of her body up. "Talk to me, Sweetheart." Keiko didn't understand the concept of on girl calling another girl "Sweetheart", but she just took it as a friendly gesture.
"Well, you see, there's this boy..."
"Oh, it's a boy is it!" the new girl laughed a warm laugh. "And you're in front of this theater all by your lonesome!" She leaned closer. "Bastard stood you up, didn't he?"
Keiko was shocked. This girl just came out of nowhere and started chatting like they were old friends, like she went to school with this girl everyday.
"I'm sorry, I never got your name," Keiko said politely.
"It's Roxanne." She smiled. "And you are?"
"Keiko Yukimura. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hey! Roxanne!" Keiko and Roxanne both turned at the voice. A girl only a few inches taller than Rocky was running down the sidewalk in long strides, waist-long, chestnut hair flowing behind her, glistening, green eyes gazing ahead of her. She was dressed in a pair of jeans much cleaner looking than the ones Roxanne was wearing and a tan sweater with flower patterns down the sleeves. She stopped beside Roxanne and rested her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
"I've been looking all over for you!" she said with a heavy foreign accent.
"So?" Roxanne answered back, crossing her legs more tightly.
"You were supposed to be home an hour ago!" the girl shouted, clearly frustrated.
"Oh, that. Sorry, my bad."
"And you didn't come to school today, either!"
Roxanne just smiled and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Let's go!" She grabbed Roxanne by her arms and pulled her to her feet roughly. She then proceeded to drag her down the sidewalk.
Roxanne looked back over her shoulder and yelled, "See ya later, Sweetheart!"
Keiko stood up from the curb, her anger for Yusuke somewhat forgotten as she watched the two turn a corner.
"Keiko!"
She turned to the sound of the voice she knew all too well coming from the opposite direction that the girls had just left in. Any anger that had left had returned at an alarming rate. She crossed her arms and began to walk away.
"Keiko! Wait a minute! C'mon!"
Running footsteps came up behind her, slowing to a walking pace when they reached her.
"C'mon, Keiko! It wasn't my fault!"
Keiko swirled around and glared directly at the owner of those footsteps. "Sure, Yusuke, it's never your fault."
"But Keiko! There was this girl!" the distressed Yusuke tried to reason.
Keiko's eyes narrowed. "So it was a GIRL? Yusuke!" She raised her hand high in the air and brought it down in a violent slap against Yusuke's cheek. Yusuke fell back a few steps, a glowing red handprint present on his face. Keiko turned and stormed away, yelling "Yusuke, you're so hopeless!"
Now a few blocks away, Roxanne and the girl who had dragged her away began to talk. The girl with the heavy foreign accent spoke first.
"Please tell me you did that on purpose," she said, tightening her sweater around her.
Roxanne just stretched and asked casually, "Did what on purpose?"
The girl stopped and turned to Roxanne. "Do you have any clue who that was?"
Roxanne just yawned and shook her head, staring lazily down the street, looking like she wasn't paying any attention at all.
"Roxanne, this is serious!"
Roxanne waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. Everything's always serious with you, Richelle." She stuffed her hands into her jean pockets and started walking down the sidewalk again.
The girl named Richelle started after her, throwing her hands into the air. "You're so careless! You need to pay more attention to who you decide to socialize with."
Roxanne shrugged. "She said her name was Keiko something. What the hell does it matter?"
Richelle didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally, she spoke, "Well, off the topic, why were you absent from school today?"
Roxanne smiled. "I was having lunch with a celebrity."
"Really? Who?"
"Yusuke Urameshi."
Richelle stopped dead in her tracks and looked as though she would faint. "You did WHAT!"
"Well, actually, I stole lunch from him. Then, I sat around the city all day. Then I ran into the Keiko girl who was sitting on the curb screaming about something. I don't know what. I wasn't really paying attention."
Richelle laughed to herself.
"What's so funny?"
She turned to Roxanne smiling. "You still don't know who that was, do you?"
Rocky still didn't seem to understand. "And I still don't get why it's important."
"That, my friend, was Keiko Yukimura."
"And?"
"She's Yusuke's beloved girlfriend."
The American teen turned to her friend, smirked, and said with amusement, "Oh, really?"
XXX
"Class, sit down," Mr. Iwamoto commanded his class as he walked into the room. All in the room fell silent on the teacher's command, as they scrambled into their seats. Yusuke, as usual, was not among them. Of course, Keiko, the teachers, and the rest of the class were all used to it by now. He was never a well off student anyway, so most thought that it was better that he chose not to show up. The students retrieved their textbooks from their school bags and the lesson began slowly. As Mr. Iwamoto spoke, the door opened with the smallest of noises. At first, Keiko thought it might be Yusuke strolling in with his mouth gaping in a yawn, arms reached over his head in a stretch. She was surprised to see a girl walk in slowly instead of the raven-haired teen. Her frame was tiny, barely reaching five feet, and her skin was a pale, almost sickly and ghastly, shade of white. Long and straight strands of jet black hair fall to her waist and framed her delicate face with shortly cut bangs. The newcomer blinked and Keiko noticed her eyes, almost too large for her head, were a shimmering shade of blue. The first words out of her mouth came in such a small and innocent voice that most of the class missed what she said.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly with a small bow. She righted herself and held out a small slip of paper. "Could you please tell me if I'm in the correct class?" Mr. Iwamoto took the slip slowly, sweeping his eyes across her face, looking for any sign of some sort of fear. He wasn't looking for a pure fear, but the kind of fear that let's a student make a mistake once and only once, the kind of fear that keeps a student in line and under control. His eyes moved from her porcelin face to the paper and he nodded.
"Well..." He paused, scanning the paper once more. "...Miss Matsui, sit down." She took one of the few empty seats in the room and reached into her bag to get her textbook as the rest of the class had done. As she was opening it, Mr. Iwamoto spoke again, "And Miss Matsui,".
"Yes, sir?"
"Don't let it happen again."
"Oh, of course."
The class progressed at a slow and rather boring pace. It dragged on, moving from subject to subject until the students, bored to tears, were given their lunch break. Keiko stook and walked over to the new girl, who hadn't spoke since she had promised never to be late for class again. The girl sat eating a small luch and reading with chopsticks in one hand and a book in the other. Keiko, the wonderfully nice girl that she was, walked over and said a quick hello.
"Oh, hello," the girl said as she looked up, still somewhat engrossed in her reading. "I'm sorry, you surprised me is all."
"I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to welcome you to our class." Keiko smiled warmly and sat down in the desk next to her. "I'm Keiko Yukimura. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Yumi Matsui." The crystal blue-eyed girl introduced herself. "My family just moved here, so I haven't quite adjusted to the move yet." She shifted slightly in her seat and continued eating in small bites, giving Keiko a turn to speak.
"What's your family like?" Keiko brought forth her lunch from her leather schoolbag and began eating her meal just as Yumi was.
"Well," Yumi paused and leaned back in her chair. "my mother, my sister, and I live in a house across town with some...friends, if that's what you want to call them. Don't get me wrong, they're wonderful people to live with for the most part." She finished the last little bit of her lunch and set the empty container aside.
"What about your father?" Keiko immediately wanted to retract the question as soon as she asked it. Her face became worried, afraid she would offend the fragile-looking girl.
Yumi simply laughed lightly at Keiko's expression. "Don't look so worried. It was just a curious question." She shifted again in her seat and folded her hands neatly on her lap. "My father passed away when I was very young. Neither my sister or I can remember him."
"I'm so sorry." Now, Keiko did regret asking the question, but Yumi's calm expression reassured her.
"It's quite alright." She closed her hands over her mouth and coughed weakly. Before Keiko could ask if she was all right, Yumi continued, "So, what about your family?"
"My family?" Keiko thought momentarily. There really wasn't much to tell. "I live with my mother and father in their ramen shop."
Before they realized it, the bell signalling the end of lunch chimed, and it was time to return to their studies. The afternoon wasn't much more interesting. Textbooks and long pages of notes that seemed to go on for days instead of hours filled everyone's time. By the time the last bell rang, everyone was more than ready to go home and either continue their studies there or head off to cram school for what was left of the day.
At the school's front gate, Keiko and Yumi met one last time for that day.
"Ja matte, Yumi." Keiko smiled, waving.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Keiko."
And the two parted, both heading home in opposing directions.
XXX
Wow...It took me a REALLY long time to get that updated. I'm really sorry about that, guys. I promise I'll try to update more in these coming weeks. Anyway, reviews would be really great, even if you don't like the story. Remember, constructive criticism, because flames are for the idiotic.
Love and Peace, you freaks