Badges Of Honor
Chapter One: Girl Anachronism- Dresden Dolls
By: Seraph-Anaesthesia
"Oh my God. I can't believe I just did that. He staring at me! Oh crap..." She turned to her best friend Millerna with a very, very panicked expression. Her green eyes were shining with emerald green, the epitome of innocence. Yeah, right.
"Well, it's YOUR fault that you flicked that rubber band at his head. I'd be mad too, y'know." Millerna grinned with a wicked vixen look. She ran a hand through her blonde curls and patted Hitomi lightly on the shoulder. "Don't worry, he won't even speak to you." 'Hopefully,' Millerna thought with a bitter sweet taste it her mouth. 'He won't even look at you. You've had one too many heartaches.' Looking at Hitomi again, she stood up as the bell rang.
Hitomi was just rushing back and forth, looking at Van and then Millerna with very scared and peeved expressions. What was she supposed to do? It's not like she was aiming for him, but more towards the teacher, Mr. Clark. Oh well. If she died, she'd give all of her good clothes to Celena, and all of her shiny stones to Millerna. Even her pink one that looked like a dragon's eye. Yup, if only she died.
"You know, Miss Kanzaki," A voice startled her from behind as she whipped around to face the obvious male that was taunting her. He said her name with a clear accent of some foreign place that could never be described. "You would be a lot smarter if you paid attention to the video that Mr. Clark was showing instead of practicing your already horrible aim." Hitomi could just feel the mocking laughter that he was desperately trying to hold in. She got mad.
"Shut up, Fanel. You're just as stupid, you were the one scribbling worms or something all over the back of your binder. Don't blame me just because you have a short attention span." Hitomi sniffed with "dignity" as she later on proclaimed it and grabbed her books. Walking out the door with her head held high into the air with pride, Van grinned.
"They weren't worms, they were wings." He was smiling wide, and whispering to her retreating back with an easy façade that came natural to the young boy. He was glad to be back from Fanelia, this school was going to be a helluva lot more fun and...interesting. Van Fanel took one last look at Hitomi as she walked out, his eyes lit up with an unnamed emotion.
Hitomi ran in to the band room about...half an hour or so late. You could tell that the guys and girls in the musical band weren't exactly please with her, but they smiled when she apologized. They had gotten used to it by then, because after Hitomi's dad went away, she was always late or worried about something. Or always mischievous. With her dad gone, Hitomi decided to take off too and steal away to college. She was still in good contact with her mother though. That was the least she could do.
Hitomi's hair had grown a little past her ears, giving her a tomboy look as they now clung to the sides of her face from the long run in the rain to the studio. Her eyes were aglow with another slight worry, her voice called out a strained, "Sorry!" to Millerna, Allen, and Celena. They just grinned while Dryden played a little skit on the drums.
"S'all right, 'Tomi, we all know you're just tooooo busy to come practice the songs that you wrote and pay people to sponsor us for. Yup, we're just fine with it." Millerna once again gave her witch grin, blue eyes twinkling with a mischief only a perfect girl could have. Allen just smiled while Celena pretended to file her nails with an imaginary emery board and ignore the world behind her smirk.
"Shall we get started then?" Hitomi grinned even wider than Millerna as she got up onto the huge oak stage to the microphone. Millerna took her place as the back-up vocals and bass guitar as Celena got in position to play the keyboard that was situated in from of her. Allen was just about ready to crank up the volume on his electric guitar, and Hitomi as proud lead singer while Dryden played the drums. Closing her eyes, she made a small motion with her hands to let the band know what they were playing and when to start.
That was the odd thing about Hitomi though, she could not hear the song, just look at the lyrics and watch the band play it. She would have many doubts that she could actually try and sing it, but when it came out it sounded perfect. Hitomi's voice had matured over the years in high school and so many days practicing with her mother's old piano. She had started her own band called "Paranoia." Nobody really knew about the band though, except a select few.
Hitomi's mind kept wandering off to Van Fanel, whom she had known since the second grade when he told her that her sweater was three sizes too big for her. She had stomped on his foot so hard that he went home screaming bloody murder at her. For a second grader, he sure had an advanced vocabulary. But then again, he was the most secretive little boy she knew. It had taken the incident from today for Hitomi to realize that he wasn't just a little boy anymore. He had matured quite nicely, and Hitomi was wistful for a second.
Then he walked into the studio, an instrument case swung over his shoulder and his raven hair falling carelessly right into his face. She almost wanted to call off the whole rehearsal, but Hitomi just looked at him with a brave and confident smile. He just stared in awe as she put one hand on her hip and grabbed the microphone from the stand, her clear voice ringing out through the entire room as the band began too. Hitomi stared at him straight on, emerald meeting maroon in a clash of a wondrous song that it seemed she was directing towards him.
"You can tell
From the scars on my arms
And cracks in my hips
And the dents in my car
And the blisters on my lips
That I'm not the care fullest of girls
You can tell
From the glass on the floor
And the strings that are breaking
And I keep on breaking more
And it looks like I am shaking
But it's just the temperature
And then again
If it were any colder I could disengage
If I were any older I would act my age
But I don't think that you'd believe me
It's not the way I'm meant to be
It's just the way the operation made me
And you can tell
From the state of my room
That they let me out too soon
And the pills that I ate
Came a couple years too late
And I've got some issues to work through
There I go again
Pretending to be you
Make-believing
That I have a soul beneath the surface
Trying to convince you
It was accidentally on purpose
I am not so serious
This passion is a plagiarism
I might join your century
But only on a rare occasion
I was taken out
Before the labor pains set in and now
Behold the world's worst accident
I am the girl anachronism
And you can tell
By the red in my eyes
And the bruises on my thighs
And the knots in my hair
And the bathtub full of flies
That I'm not right now at all
There I go again
Pretending that I'll fall
Don't call the doctors
Cause they've seen it all before
They'll say just let her crash and burn she'll learn
The attention just encourages her
And you can tell
From the full-body cast
That YOUR sorry that YOU asked
Though you did everything you could
(Like any decent person would)
But i might be catching so don't touch
You'll start believing you're immune to gravity and stuff
Don't get me wet
Because the bandages will all come off
And you can tell
From the smoke at the stake
That the current state is critical
Well it is the little things, for instance:
In the time it takes to break it she can make up ten excuses:
Please excuse her for the day, its just the way the medication makes her...
I don't necessarily believe there is a cure for this
So i might join your century but only as a doubtful guest
I was too precarious removed as a caesarean
Behold the worlds worst accident
I AM THE GIRL ANACHRONISM!"
Ending her song with a loud ring of her voice and a grin, Hitomi hopped off of the stage with more pride than she had held herself with in her entire life. Van was staring as she came near him, but carefully rearranged his face to smile. His maroon eyes were dancing with secrets and tales of untold mischief. "So, what did you think?" Hitomi allowed a small smirk to play on her lips as she poked him in the chest.
"Verrryyy nice, Ms. Kanzaki." Van got up in her face and clapped his hands as if he was instructing a retarded kid. "The talent competition is coming up at the community "center," want to sign up?" He grinned and slapped a flyer into her hands as he walked into the back room to put up his violin.
"If I show up...will you be there to watch?"
Hitomi's voice rang out to him, though it was just a whisper. He smiled despite the violin cases that had almost fallen on top of his head.
What do you think? Review and I'll continue. Pleasie? 3 Don't worry, all of the other "evil" plots and characters will be in their original spiffyness, just not yet! Sorry if everyone was little OOC...but this IS an AU fic, mind the summary. . Please PLEASE review. I'll give a cookie!