...
So…she was there. Finally, she was standing outside of Seigaku Middle School and felt completely lost on what to do next. Hari hadn't really thought about this part yet. Something, she realised, was kind of a large flaw in her plan. Just…how was she supposed to find Ryoma in this school? While not as impressive looking as Hogwarts (but then again which school would stand a chance against a magic castle in the Scottish High Lands?), Seigaku looked like a good school that was reasonable rich and well off. She had certainly seen worse schools back in Surrey. At least Seigaku looked like a school without death-traps.
Anyway, the problem at hand was how to find Ryoma and then explain why she suddenly showed up after years without contact and not answering his letters. He was probably angry at her for that, Hari frowned. She bit down on her lip as she tried to think and figure out what to do. She was not sure how long she had been standing there in front of the school, but she was sure it was a while.
She glanced at her bag that was thrown over her shoulders and smiled as she thought about the magazine she had bought at the airport. It was a sports magazine and they'd had a piece about Ryoma in it, which was the reason she had bought it.
Deciding to just enter the school ground and hope to find Ryoma that way she started to walk and lugged her suitcase behind her as she did. She looked around curiously as she walked around the school. It was much larger than she had first thought and she was briefly wondering how she was supposed to find her way inside of this place. It was like a maze! So annoying she frowned as she suddenly was at the gate again. Just how did she get back there!
Annoyed she turned and walked to the left and walked and walked and walked some more. Just how large was this place? And why did she suddenly find herself inside? She hadn't meant to walk into the school, but she had thought she could use a shortcut and get out on the other side somehow.
It was like being back at Hogwarts and always getting lost. Only this place wasn't even as big or had any staircases that moved, so really, she didn't have much of an excuse. Not that she would ever admit that.
Finally, she found the door leading out and she saw a dirt path and she decided to follow it, soon she saw large wire fences that looked like cages or something and she smiled in triumph when she saw the tennis courts. There! She found it! But…did it has to be that many? And…these looked empty.
Sighing as she started to doubt that she would find Ryoma this way she continued to walk until she saw a girl up ahead swinging a racket. Hari paused and tilted her head slightly as she observed the girl; she had long brown hair that was in two ponytails that were braided and a sweatband around her head.
"Oi, oi, oi," the girl said as she swung the racket.
Hari could tell she was a beginner and not very good, but the determination was there so Hari found herself smiling slightly as she watched her. But…did she really think that practising tennis in a short skirt was the best idea?
Hari shrugged and started to walk again.
"You're not bending your knees enough," Hari said in English just because she felt like saying it, but like her dad and godfather, she did have some mischief in her.
"Eh?" The girl blinked stopping mid-strike and stared at Hari shocked. "What did you say?"
Hari just smiled at the girl.
"Um…sor-sorry, don't…um,… know?" the girl stumbled clearly not very good in English.
"I see, you're determination is good but your swing is lacking in power," Hari continued. "Bye!"
Hari waved and continued to walk chuckling quietly to herself as she walked the direction she thought she should go. She heard the girl call her, but she wanted to find Ryoma so she didn't stop.
...
"Hm," Hari hummed as she blinked as she found herself staring at a wall. "How did that get there?"
She thought she had found the tennis courts, so why did she suddenly stare at a wall? Sighing she turned and walked back the way she came and found the cages again, she looked to see that the girl from earlier was gone. She should have asked where the tennis club where instead of pretending that she didn't know Japanese. Oh, well… it had been funny to pretend that she didn't understand her.
She continued straight ahead and soon noises could be heard and she spotted a crows standing at the side of a cage. She smiled to herself as she quickened her steps slightly.
She paused behind a group of what looked like freshmen and she recognised the girl from earlier but now she was with another girl and three boys. Hari looked away from them and at the tennis court where a game seemed to be going on.
Her eyes widened and she smiled.
"I found you," she grinned as she had indeed found Ryoma. He was standing on one side of the court with a red racket in his hand. It was clear that he was in the middle of a game and he wasn't the only one. Several of the courts were occupied by games.
Deciding that she shouldn't interrupt she turned toward a group of trees and put her suitcase underneath it and climbed up to settle on a branch because it would give her a great overview of the games and she would be hidden from view. She didn't want Ryoma to become distracted by seeing her before he was done.
Besides…this gave her time to watch him play.
She hadn't really watched tennis in a while so she enjoyed getting the chance to watch it again. Even if she hadn't watched or played in a while she could clearly see that the one Ryoma was playing wasn't one of the best and that Ryoma was holding back as he easily won.
"Ryoma-sama! Ryoma-sama! Ryoma-sama!"
The loud cheers made her wince and rub her ears as she turned her green eyes to the girl with pigtails jumping up and down holding some sort of pink banner and in Hari's opinion just being annoying and loud.
She noticed that two grown-ups had joined the girls and the woman with short reddish-brown hair had a camera around her neck while the man with brown hair and yellow shirt had a bag over his shoulders. They must be journalist or something, Hari guessed before turning her attention back to the game. Which had just finished…
Hari smiled as she observed Ryoma who had taken a seat on the bench and she noticed that he didn't even sweat or look tired as he pulled at the sweatband around his left wrist. She arched a brow as she recognised it and swallowed as she suddenly felt rather emotional. It was the wristband she had given him before he left England… She couldn't believe that he was still wearing it.
She yawned as the matches seemed to end and they all took a break for lunch and Hari settled back on her branch and closed her eyes feeling tired. She smiled as she remembered the way Ryoma played, she wished he would face a stronger opponent so that they could see what he really could do.
A loud sound startled Hari enough to wake her from her slumber and she had to grip the branch to prevent herself from falling down. She turned her eyes to one of the courts and arched a brow when she saw the boy with spiky black hair jump into the air and for a moment she almost thought he was flying before he smashed the ball to the opponent's side so hard that it was impossible for the other boy to return it.
"Ooooh…" Hari hummed as she looked closer at the boy. He was good, she thought.
She kept watching as the boy talked to two other boys who were standing just outside of the wire fence before walking to the bench and putting on a blue and white jacket. Now that she thought about it he also had on a white and blue t-shirt the same as the other two boys behind the fence, but the one he had played had only worn a blue training suit and a white t-shirt. Did the white and blue t-shirt mean something special perhaps?
A smile spread as she saw Ryoma enter the court and chuckled as he walked passed the boy she had just watched smash the ball seemingly with his eyes closed. Just what was he doing? Anyway, they talked for a bit and it seemed like Ryoma found some of what the older boy said interesting because his eyes opened and he turned toward him.
...
It was time for Ryoma to play again and Hari pushed herself up more on the branch knowing that she wanted to watch him play. She saw the crowd had grown for this match and it was clear that it meant more to them than the others. She also saw that the player (he looked kind of scary, but she supposed that it didn't really mean he was scary…just look at Hagrid) that Ryoma was facing was wearing that white and blue t-shirt. It had to mean something. But…what was with the way he walked? He looked like he was slouching and his arms seemed to be dangling lazily as he walked.
The match started and Ryoma had the serve. Hari watched as he served and the other player, bandana she would call him since she didn't know his name, returned it. It continued like that for a little while until bandana-guy failed to return a ball.
15-0 – Ryoma in the lead. Since she couldn't hear what the referee said she had to count the scores herself.
They started again and it continued like before, back and forth for a while until it looked like Ryoma had managed to get the ball past bandana-guy…but…what was with that stance? She frowned confused.
Hari felt her eyebrows rise as he actually reached the ball and returned it. Her eyes followed the ball and she felt them widen in shock as she saw the way it twisted and turned in the air, changing direction and putting Ryoma out of place.
15-15.
That was unexpected, Hari thought, leaning back at the branch as she looked at the two. She saw the shock in Ryoma and wondered if he would show them more of what he could do now.
"Finally," Hari smiled as she saw Ryoma change the racket from his right hand to his left. This was only the beginning.
The match continued and it went back and forth seemingly pretty tight as they won one game each setting the score 1-1. Hari had no trouble seeing that they both were serious now and studying the other as they stared at each other. She couldn't help the smile on her face or the feeling of peace and happiness that filled her as she watched her first friend play.
He didn't even know she was there, but right now that she was watching him play she didn't really care. It was enough right now to just get to watch him play tennis again, something she had missed more than she thought. It was so long since she had played tennis herself, Quidditch had taken her time at Hogwarts and besides, it wasn't like many there even knew what tennis was, something else that the magical world missed out on, all of the wonderful muggle sports.
Hari grimaced as she thought that those shoots from bandana-guy reminded her of a snake and she couldn't help remembering the basilisk. Ugh, that wasn't something she wanted to think about at all.
Ryoma sure was running a lot, Hari thought a little worried. She was sure that it was in the bandana-guy's plan and she had to admit that it was a good one. She worried her lip slightly as she kept watching. Yet, as Ryoma ran and ran his shots never wavered and he returned enough to keep the score even and bandana-guy was starting to look worried.
Hari suddenly saw Ryoma smile as he said something and she smirked lightly as she realised that Ryoma had turned the situation around. While he looked like he was sweating a lot as well, but the bandana-guy was also sweating and Hari could tell he was looking shocked like it had suddenly snuck up on him.
The match continued like this with them winning a game every other time and a real endurance match took place. Hari wondered who would last the longest as she sat on her branch watching them curiously. Her eyes widened when she saw Ryoma suddenly use one of the bandana-guys moves against him, the one looking like a snake. That had to be a blow to bandana-guy's confidence, Hari thought taking note of the shocked expression on the guys face as he turned to look at the ball that had just gotten passed him. She also noticed that the audience also looked shocked seeing the move and seemed to look at Ryoma with something like respect in their eyes.
Ryoma won and he didn't even smile. So stoic he was, Hari thought fondly. He had smiled more when he was in Surrey. Why didn't he smile more? Well, the rest of the freshmen looked happy and soon the boys that looked to be his age ran to the court and surrounded him while he looked on with a blank face. The girls from earlier, braided-twin-tails and pigtails, was jumping up and down cheering looking like he had just won Nationals or something.
Hari furrowed her brows in worry when she noticed that bandana-guy was hitting his knees with his racket pretty harshly, even drawing blood. She winced as she stared at him. Why would he do that? He had his face away from where she was sitting so she couldn't make out his expression before he turned and she saw the angry scowl on his face and the pain hidden there.
She watched as he refused to shake hands with Ryoma and walked, no stalked, off the court passed the other boys with the white and blue t-shirt that was standing watching at the side. She was so busy watching that she didn't notice that she had gained some attention there she sat.
"EH! WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU SITTING UP THERE?"
Hari blinked and looked down to see the two freshmen girls (braid-girl and pigtails-girl) and also the two (whom she guessed were) journalists staring up at her with wide eyes. She sighed inwardly as she stared down at them without revealing what she was thinking or that she had understood what they said.
Hari also noticed that the girl's loud voice had gained the attention of the remaining players on the court, Ryoma and the white-and-blue-guys being some of them as well as the freshmen boys. Oh, she really should learn their names because giving them these nicknames wouldn't work in the long run. Well, whatever.
She looked back at the girls and stared at them as they stared at her though she was aware that the others were moving closer and coming up behind them.
"Oh, there really is a girl in the tree, nya," a red-haired white and blue t-shirt-guy said cheerfully as he stared up at her.
"Who are you?!" pigtails demanded. "Why are you here? Are you spying on Ryoma-sama? I'm the president of his fan-club so you have to go through me before you're allowed to do that!"
Hari tilted her head slightly as she blinked at the over-enthusiastic girl. Just who was she and did she have to be so loud all the time?
"Ano, I don't think she understands you, Tomo-chan," braid-girl said nervously. "She spoke English earlier…"
The other girl, Tomo-chan, blinked and looked at her.
"Who are you?" she tried in very accented English. "What are doing here?"
Hari sighed and swung her legs off the branch and jumped down ignoring the shocked exclamations from the others as she did and landed perfectly on her feet and straightened up to look at them.
"Ah," a familiar voice said and Hari looked passed the girls and to Ryoma who was standing in the back having been uncaring about the whole thing but now his hazel-coloured eyes had widened and his mouth was slightly opened in shock.
"Oh, do you know her, Echizen?" one of the loud freshmen boys asked.
"Hello, Ryo-chan," Hari greeted with a smile in English. It was too much fun to keep her ruse up. "I'm sorry to drop in on you like this. It's been a while, huh?"
Ryoma seemed to pull out of his surprise and moved closer to her and his eyes shone in something she couldn't name. He stopped in front of her and narrowed his eyes.
"A while?!" he repeated. "You haven't returned any of my letters! Why are you here?"
Hari frowned slightly and looked down before looking back at him worrying her lip as she did. She hated to show weakness but she felt unsure and guilty by the hurt look in his eyes as he stared at her. She had hurt him even if she hadn't known…
"I'm sorry, Ryo-chan," Hari said quietly. "I never meant… I never received your letters. My aunt and uncle never gave them to me. I'm sorry. I only saw one letter a couple of weeks ago and I asked my aunt and she admitted that they had hidden your letters."
He frowned but he didn't look angry anymore.
"Why would they do that?" he asked.
Hari shrugged.
"Ano, Echizen, who's this?" the dunk-guy asked and up close Hari noticed that he had purple eyes.
Ryoma turned to look at them his face blank again and Hari turned to look at them as well. Ryoma looked at her and then back at the other tennis players plus fangirls.
"She's my friend, Hari Potter," Ryoma said.
"Where did you meet, nya?" the red-head from earlier asked bouncing up and down causing the one standing next to him (with short black hair that was shaved on the lower-half of his head) to reach out to calm him down.
"England;" Ryoma said.
"Hello! I'm…Kikumaru Eiji, nya," the boy gave her a peace sign as he introduced himself in broken English. "Yoroshiku!"
"Momoshiro Takeshi," the dunk-guy said, "call me Momo-chan!"
"Oishi Shuichiro," the one who had calmed Kikumaru down smiled kindly at her.
Hari nodded back to him and the others before they continued to state their names and some came with a broken English greeting, it was clear that English wasn't their best subject and she almost smiled as she watched how they struggled to find the right words.
"Fuji Shusuke," A smiling boy with closed eyes finished the introduction round and Hari felt he was someone she should look out for. It was something with his aura that had her wary.
"When did you arrive, Hari?" Ryoma asked turning back to their conversation.
"Today," Hari shrugged and gestured to the suitcase under the tree. "I didn't know where you lived so I came here looking for you, Ryo-chan."
Ryoma nodded and smiled slightly, "alright. You're coming home with me, then."
Hari smiled and nodded.
...
Hari helped Ryoma clean up the court unaware of the clear blue eyes that were watching them from the shadows as she and Ryoma talked as they cleaned up the court in English as normal but she was aware that the freshmen were watching them closely.
When they finished she waited for him to get changed before they could start on their way back to his place. As they walked she got more and more nervous as she thought about what his parents would say. It was one thing to meet Ryoma again; she knew he wouldn't ask too many questions. He never did and she had counted on that he was still like that. But his parents…they would ask and Hari was not sure what to say.
Ryoma was glancing at her and she knew he was curious, but she smiled and he shrugged giving her a small smile back. He told her about one of the tennis matches he had played back in America before they moved to Japan and Hari listened closely.
"Here we are," Ryoma said.
"Sugoi," Hari said as she stared up at the house after entering the yard that was hidden behind a wall. "It's perfect."
It looked like a mix between a traditional and modern house, something she couldn't help but think fit this family really well. She noticed Ryoma looked at her with a raised brow and she blinked at him.
"You said that in Japanese," Ryoma said when he found his voice again.
"Oh, yeah," Hari smiled at him. "I taught myself Japanese so I could talk to you in your language."
He looked a little surprised before he smiled wider, "honto?"
Hari nodded and he laughed.
"And you pretended not to understand the others back at school?" he asked amused.
"Well, it's funny to hear what they say when they believe you can't understand you," Hari shrugged but a mischievous look was in her eyes.
"Great," he said and started to walk up to the house again.
She followed and swallowed the nerves as she did and entered the house.
"Tadaima," Ryoma called out.
"Okaeri," a female voice answered before they saw a young woman with long dark blue hair and purple eyes came into the hallway from what Hari guessed to be the kitchen or living room. The girl was slender and rather tall, taller than Hari anyhow, and she looked surprised when she saw Hari behind Ryoma. "Oh, did you bring a friend with you home today, Ryoma-kun?"
Ryoma glanced at Hari before looking back at the girl.
"Hai," Ryoma simply said. "Where's Oyaji and okaa-san?"
The young woman blinked and looked away from Hari and over at Ryoma again who was looking at her.
"Oba-san and Oji-san are out," the girl said. "Oba-san should be back soon."
Ryoma nodded and turned to Hari who stood a little unsurely just inside the door.
"Hello, I'm Meino Nanako," the girl, no Nanako, smiled kindly at Hari. "I'm Ryoma's cousin."
"Hi," Hari smiled nervously back. "I'm Hari Potter. Nice to meet you."
She saw the surprised in Nanako's eyes when Hari spoke in good Japanese, but she didn't ask anything as she just smiled and turned to go back to the kitchen.
"Come on, Hari," Ryoma said and lifted the suitcase to place it on the wall. "Let's go up to my room while we wait."
"Ok," Hari nodded and followed him up the stairs and to the room that was obviously his. It wasn't very large, but a good size and a bed were in the corner and a desk on the opposite wall with a bookshelf next to it. She saw several tennis balls lying around the room and a tennis racket was standing leaned against the bookshelf. She saw schoolbooks on the desk suggesting that he was currently working on some homework for class.
Hari wasn't aware that Ryoma was watching her as she looked around the room. She sat down in the office chair and spun back and forth softly as she turned her eyes toward her friend.
"You've grown since last time I saw you," Hari said.
"Che," he said and walked to the bed. "So have you."
She smiled, "I suppose I have."
...
"Ryoma-kun!" Nanako called up the stairs and Hari blinked tiredly as she realized that she had drifted off a little. She felt guilty about it, but Ryoma didn't look annoyed as she met his eyes. He smiled slightly and pushed himself up from the bed and she got up to follow him.
"Hai!" Ryoma called back.
"Oba-san and Oji-san are back," she called.
Hari inhaled deeply pushing the doubt, the worry away from her mind the best she could and followed her friend down the stairs.
Hari heard the voices coming from the room behind the door and she briefly wondered why she was so worried, she had always liked Ryoma's parents before…but she was worried. What if they didn't let her stay? What if they sent her back? What if they got angry and prevented Ryoma from seeing her?
Before she was ready they had entered the kitchen and Hari saw the girl from before and Ryoma's parents. They hadn't changed much from the last time she'd seen them, Rinko was still slender with brown hair and brown eyes. She looked elegant and nice, Hari thought just like she had when she was a kid.
Nanjiro…well, he looked like Nanjiro, Hari supposed only now he was in what she thought looked like monk-clothes (though it looked rather ruffled) and his black-brown hair was messy, Hari also noticed that he had the same eyes as Ryoma, the hazel-coloured ones.
"Ah, Nanako-chan," Nanjiro was whining as he sat on the chair leaning back almost tipping it too far so he would fall off it. "Who's with the brat?"
"Oyaji," Ryoma snapped annoyed and Nanjiro's head snapped toward them and he smirked at Ryoma before his eyes landed on Hari and she saw how he blinked and fell forward on his chair snapping into place in his shock.
"Ryoma…" Rinko turned from the kitchen counter where she had been working on dinner, but she too trailed off when she saw Hari.
"Domo," Hari said nervously.
"Eh? Hari-chan?!" Nanjiro asked before he smiled and got to his feet. "Is it really little Hari-chan?"
"Dear," Rinko smiled as she came forward and Hari blinked once before she found herself hugged by the older woman. Hari stiffened at first not used to the hugs (even if Hermione and Mrs Weasley hugged her from time to time) before she relaxed and let the older woman hug her.
"Oh, sorry, Hari-chan," Rinko suddenly said pulling back and looked at Hari's flushed yet confused face, "we forgot and spoke Japanese to you."
"Oh, that's ok," Hari smiled at her and saw her eyes widening, "I learned more Japanese after you left."
"That's really impressive," Rinko smiled at her. "You're very good."
"Arigatou," Hari said shyly.
"You've gotten so big, Hari-chan," Nanjiro grinned a little creepily, but Hari smiled at him. "Such a beautiful young lady."
"Oyaji," Ryoma glared at his father who laughed.
...
"I didn't know you were coming, Hari-chan," Rinko said when they had eaten dinner and was seated in the living room.
"I…I didn't know how to call and I kind of just decided to go," Hari said looking down missing the look from the others.
"Ryoma has been very worried about you when he never received a letter from you, Hari-chan," Nanjiro said looking at her even as he had his newspaper open and looked like he was reading it.
Hari looked down feeling guilty and sad again.
"I know," Hari said quietly. "I…never got the letters."
"Eh?" Rinko asked confused yet her eyes narrowed as she looked at Hari.
"My aunt and uncle never gave me his letters," Hari said looking at them. "I only saw the last one by mistake when I got the mail. I think Aunt Petunia forgot about it."
"They…hid his letters from you?" Nanako asked shocked.
Hari shrugged and looked away from them. She could feel them watching her and knew Ryoma was frowning.
"Ano, why would they do that?" Nanako asked.
Hari felt the anger boil in her gut as she heard the question and burning hate and anger, yet also hurt and pain filled her as she thought about her old Headmaster who seemed to think he had the right to manipulate her and take away her only good memory from her childhood in Surrey.
"Apparently an old coot decided that I shouldn't have friends outside how his school," Hari spat turning her burning eyes toward the others and she saw the startled looks as they saw her.
"Hari-chan?" Rinko asked and Hari calmed down a little.
"Gomen ne," Hari mumbled.
"What did you mean, Hari-chan?" Nanjiro asked his newspaper forgotten.
Hari sighed. How was she going to explain this without revealing magic to them? How was she going to make this believable? Yet another thing she hadn't really thought about…
"Ano…I guess a lot has happened since I saw you last," Hari said looking up at them feeling tired and so, so exhausted. Why was her life such a drama-zone? Why couldn't she just have a normal uneventful life like everyone else?
"Hari?" Ryoma looked worried even if he tried to hide it behind a stoic mask.
"It started when I turned 11 and got accepted to my parent's old boarding school in Scotland," Hari said and saw the arched brow from Rinko. "I never knew anything about my parents, not until Hagrid…a gamekeeper at the boarding school came to explain everything to me. Apparently, my parents were…rather well-known and had been killed by a terrorist that had plagued Britain back then."
"Oh, my… how old were you when they died?" Rinko asked looking on verge of tears but there was strength in her eyes as well. Hari looked down; she didn't like the look of tears in Rinko's eyes. She didn't want her pity.
"I was fifteen months," Hari said a haunted look in her eyes as she remembered the Dementors and her mother's scream. "I was the only survivor when he attacked. Mum and dad both died to protect me (she remembered her dad calling her mum to take her and run) and…he failed killing me when he tried."
Hari looked at her hand to avoid looking at them and getting to lost in her memories to register the silence that filled the room when she took a break from talking.
"I was known as the Girl-Who-Lived because of that…and most in the same circle as my parents remember that" Hari said frowning. "When I first started the school I loved it and thought it was the best place in the world. I got new friends and a place that seemingly wanted me and welcomed me…a place where I didn't appear to be a burden."
"Hari-chan…" Nanjiro blinked.
"But it's not really that great," Hari continued. "The professors mostly see James and Lily's daughter, they don't really see me. They all expect me to live up to how they were at school, good or bad…"
Take Snape for an example, Hari thought bitterly and his smug face from when she was suspended flashed through her mind. He hated her because of her dad, not because of something she had done, but because he hated her dad.
Even Professor McGonagall was guilty of seeing her parents and not her when she looked at her. The flying incident where she should have gotten detention but was put on the Quidditch team instead was one example, or when she and Hermione were caught out of bed in their first year. They were punished too harshly back then, Hari could see that now. She knew McGonagall did it to try to prevent Hari from developing the same disregards of rules as her dad…again not seeing Hari and punishing her for her faults.
"Etoo," Hari paused thinking. "Anyway, I'm kind of rich, I suppose. Many want to control me and have these ideas of how I should be or do. My old headmaster is one of those…He wants me to be the ideal my parents died for…"
Hari trailed off not able to say anything else as hurt filled her again. Why did he do that? She had thought he was like her grandfather or something. She had thought he cared. She was so stupid…
"That's sick," Ryoma scoffed breaking the silence that had filled the room.
Hari snapped her head up and looked at him. He looked angry and she felt a little warmer over the fact that he was angry at her.
"Then, what now?" Rinko asked.
"Why aren't you at your school, Hari-san?" Nanako asked.
Hari worried her lip for a little while before she sighed.
"I was suspended for the remainder of the year," Hari admitted quietly. "My friends weren't, but I was and was sent back to the Dursley's. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon weren't happy about it and I…couldn't stay there."
"You ran away?" Rinko asked.
"Why were you suspended?" Nanjiro asked at the same time.
Hari looked away and she fisted her hands against her thigh.
"There was an incident at school and…I was blamed for it," Hari said quietly. "My friends and I were blamed, but only I was suspended. They had parents that protested the suspension. I think they wanted to make a statement, and I'm a good scapegoat."
Rinko frowned but Hari was pleased when she didn't press the issue, right now she wasn't sure she felt like talking about it.
"And I didn't run away," Hari said. "Well, not exactly. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon gave me permission to go in the hope that I won't be back."
...
AN: Ok, so I'm new here. I told you in the first chapter. Meaning that I'm trying (and failing) to format the chapters so I'm happy with the way they look. I'm used to how it is at AO3, so this is taking some getting used to.
I forgot (sorry) to add this in the first chapter. So, I'm talking about it now. I haven't decided on a pairing just yet. I keep making it harder for myself to decide because I like so many. My candidates are:
A)Hari/Fuji S.
B)Hari/Sanada G.
C)Hari/Yukimura
I did also have Atobe as a possibility, but I don't think I will pair Hari with him. If you have any wishes I do take it into consideration. Let me know in the reviews if you have a opionion. Though, I do chose the one I like the best in the end.
I have 3 more chapters to put up before I'm caught up to where I am at AO3, but they will probably not be up until tomorrow or the weekend. It depends on various things.
Thank you for reading and hope you'll let me know what you think in the reviews. I would appreciate it if you have anything to criticise that you make it constructive criticism. I can handle that well enough and use it to improve :)
...
Japanese words used:
Yoroshiku - Nice to meet you
Sugoi - Amazing
Honto - Really?
Tadaima - I'm home
Okaeri - Welcome back
Oyaji - Old man/ dad
okaa-san - Mum
Oba-san - aunt
Oji-san - uncle
Domo - thanks, hello, nice to meet you
Arigatou - thank you
Ano - filler phrase
Gomen ne - Sorry
