Hidan had the foulest mouth of anyone Katsusaki Mo had ever met in her entire life.
He swore at every chance he got. Every sentence was punctuated with curse words. It was like he used them in place of commas. He was restless, and seemed to have a constant need to move and to talk.
As they walked down the hallway toward Ms. Yuhi's Myths and Legends class in room A8, Hidan chatted idly about how Konan was a weight on his back and a constant pest, but that they kept her around because Nagato was in love with her, which he also claimed to be 'bullshit.'
"Love doesn't fuckin exist," Hidan scoffed, running his hand through his pale hair. Katsusaki bit her tongue. She was a hopeless romantic, but she wasn't about to give Hidan any more ammo against her. "It's lust, dammit. He just needs to fuck her and then he'll be over it." He waved his hand dismissively and Kastu blushed a deep red.
Zetsu hadn't chimed in at all. He read his book quietly as he walked through the hallway. Katsusaki was worried about him running into somebody at first, but it quickly became clear that it wasn't an issue. The other students parted for the Akatsuki club members like the red sea.
Katsusaki found herself breathing a sigh of relief as they arrived at classroom A8.
It was pleasant and bright in there. Posters of ancient mythological characters were hung up on the walls, from Egyptian murals to photos of Greek statues. A motherly looking woman with dark hair sat at the desk in the front of the room, typing away at her computer. She looked up as they entered, her surprising red eyes narrowing in on Hidan.
"You're surprisingly early today," she remarked. Her eyes swept over Katsusaki, and she raised her eyebrows. "And you're escorting our new student Ms. Outoya? Are you feeling well?"
"Why doesn't anyone think I can't be fucking civil? I'm not some fucking wild animal. My parents raised me to be a goddamn decent human being," Hidan replied, crossing his arms. Zetsu moonily made his way into the classroom and to what must have been his seat, never taking his eyes off of his book.
"Shut your mouth, Hidan, before I wash it out with soap." The woman gave Hidan a narrow look before turning back to Katsu. "Ms. Outoya, it's a pleasure. I won't embarrass you by making you speak in front of class. Have a seat where you like."
"This way, Shrimp," Hidan barked, gesturing Katsusaki to follow him. He lead her to a seat in the back, near Zetsu, and plopped down into the seat beside her. "Now where the fuck was I?"
"Hidan, I swear to God-"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry Ms. Yuhi," Hidan rolled his eyes. Ms. Yuhi shot him one more look from around her computer screen. "Like I was saying, I don't get why we're making some exception for you. What makes you so special, huh?"
His pale violet eyes pierced through her. Katsusaki gulped. Nothing. She was pretty sure she wasn't special at all. She wasn't sure why Konan chose her to join the club. In fact, she wasn't even sure why it was such a big deal. It was just a club, anyway. What even was the club about?
"I don't know." She shrugged, looking down at her hands. She fiddled with a loose string on her skirt. Great, she wore it one day and it was already falling apart.
Hidan snorted and leaned back in his seat.
"So fucking nothing, right?" Katsusaki stayed quiet. "That's what I thought."
At that point the rest of the students had filed into the room, chattering loudly with one another, full from lunch and ready for the rest of the day.
Katsusaki didn't look over at Hidan again. Her ego had been absolutely crushed.
What was so special about her? Everyone had something special about them, right? Something that made them interesting?
She guessed she didn't have anything like that. She was just plain, old, boring Katsusaki Mo. That's all there was to it.
Her last class of the day was Orchestra.
She played the cello. She wasn't great at it, but she wasn't bad. She had started classes on a whim once when she was young, and even though she got bored of it quickly, and cried and begged her mom to let her quit, she made her persevere. Katsusaki was thankful for that.
There was something different about Orchestra kids. They tended to keep to themselves. They were quiet, hard working, focused people. They weren't necessarily kind, nor were they mean. In the Orchestra room, she felt the most peace.
At least, she had.
"Hello students!" An uproarious man in a bright green jump suit entered the room, flashing a dazzling smile and a thumbs up. "Welcome to another wonderful day!"
She flinched. He was so loud! How could someone possibly be that loud?
"Today class, we have a new student!" He announced. He yelled everything! "Ms. Katsusaki Mo Outoya, introduce yourself to your classmates and show them the glorious power of youth!"
Glorious… power… of youth?
Katsusaki forced herself out of her daze and slowly stood up. She waved at the other classmates, who thankfully looked just about as tired of Mr. Guy as she was starting to feel.
"Wonderful job, Katsusaki! Everyone, give her a round of applause!" The rest of the class began to clap pathetically. "Now, prepare your bow strings, my wonderful students! Today will begin a most youthful piece, a ballad to make strong women proud everywhere! 'Wonder Woman!'"
The students chattered somewhat excitedly, and Katsusaki sat back down, finding herself feeling the general mood. Maybe Mr. Guy wasn't so bad, after all.
But why did everyone in Akatsuki High have to be so weird!?
Katsusaki breathed in deeply as she stepped out of the school.
The people all around her were laughing and talking loudly, moving toward the buses in groups and pairs. She didn't feel as intimidated as she had at the beginning of the day. In fact, she felt mostly exhausted. A surprising amount had happened, and to think it was only her first day.
She examined the cars that were parked along the street, wondering if any of them were her moms. None of them looked familiar. She didn't know which bus to take, and before she really had time to think about how she might even take one to get home, they were pulling away from the curb.
Steadily, the crowd of students thinned until she was one of the few left behind, waiting for late parents on their own.
Katsusaki bounced on the balls of her feet, watching the street eagerly. It had been nearly forty-five minutes and her mom was nowhere to be found. Did she forget about her?
"Hey, Shrimp."
Katsusaki jumped. She would recognize that voice anywhere. She turned to find Kisame striding toward her, his usual grin on his face and his arm thrown up in a casual wave.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Waiting for my mom to show up." Katsusaki winced at how childish she sounded. She sounded like a whiny kid.
"She's still not here, huh?" Kisame asked, coming to stand next to her. Katsusaki sighed.
"She probably got hung up at work."
"Did you try calling her?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pocket. He towered over her, and in the setting autumn sun his shadow outgrew hers by a long distance.
"I don't have a phone." Katsusaki glanced away sheepishly. She was fifteen and still didn't have a cell-phone. It was kind of embarrassing. She was hardly an official teenager.
"Oh." Kisame frowned. It looked odd on his face. Then he grinned again. "Well, do you mind if I wait with you?" Before Katsusaki could answer, he had plopped himself down in the grass next to her.
"Uh, I guess not," she replied, considering whether she should sit down next to him. With one last glance at the street, she decided why not. Her feet were starting to hurt from standing still for so long.
"So, how was your first day?" Kisame asked, propping his elbows on his knees. His body was so long and lanky. Even propped up, his legs stretched out far in front of him, and his arms seemed to go on for miles.
"Oh," Katsusaki smiled. "Not so bad."
"Right. You move around a lot, you must be used to it by now."
Katsusaki ran her hands through the grass. "Not really."
"Hm?" Kisame cocked his head to the side.
"The first day at a new school still scares me. I get nervous about meeting new people, and if I will make any friends." Katsusaki frowned. "Sometimes it's easier not to, you know? Because usually I end up leaving them again. So I try not to get attached." A confused look crossed her face, and then a blush spread across her cheeks. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all this."
Kisame laughed. "It's ok. I've been told I'm pretty easy to talk to. I don't mind." He scratched the back of his head. "I must get it from hanging out with Itachi. He's like easiest guy to talk to that I know."
"Oh, right." Katsusaki recalled that they seemed like really good friends. "He is pretty quiet."
"You are, too, you know."
Katsusaki shot him a questioning look. Kisame laughed.
"Don't look at me like that! You've barely said anything to anyone during the club. And you ran off pretty fast this morning. You're kind of skittish, aren't you?"
"Well, I-I-" Katsusaki spluttered, looking aghast.
"You are! You seem so nervous. You really need to relax. The rest of them," he waved his hand vaguely, referring to the rest of the people in the Akatsuki club. "They're all harmless. Even Hidan. You'll figure it out, once you get to know them."
"Well what about you!?" Katsusaki exclaimed, her cheeks turning red. She was disturbed at how he had seemed to read her mind.
"Me?" Kisame gave her a shark-like grin. "I am down-right deadly. So you better watch out."
At that moment, her mothers car pulled up to the car. Katsusaki stared at Kisame for a moment, unsure how to respond, and a little-too taken aback to think that she could. He stood, then, and stretched his back.
"Well, that must be your mom." Kisame tilted his head in the cars direction. She could see her mom waving at her through the rolled down window. "You'd better get going, before she gets the wrong idea." He gave her a wink, and turned to stride off toward the parking lot.
Katsusaki shot to her feet. "What about you?" She shouted at his back.
"I've got my car. I'll see you tomorrow!"
She stared after him, her eyes wide with bewilderment. She was surprised that he wasn't waiting for his own ride, and a little touched that he had decided to stay just to keep her company.
Her expression melted into a smile. The people at Alatsuki High sure were weird, but they weren't all that bad.
Her mom honked the horn and she jumped, before taking off toward her. She cast one more glance Kisame's way before getting into the vehicle.
A/N III'M BAAAAaaack!
It's been years!
I stopped writing fanfictions for a while, but I've found that I suddenly have more time and I'm on a mission to finish some of these fan favorites.
I seriously feel like I'm rising from the grave!
So, it's a short chapter, but I couldn't think of a better way to end it. I don't know if the chapters from here on out will be short or not. Expect updates to be irregular. Hopefully, however, it wont take me too much time to finish this. That is, if I don't get stuck again.
Enjoy!