A/N: Yo Yo peoples everywhere who actually clicked on the link to read this story :D Its Thee Slushee yet again with another chapter of Face the Music. Now, I know, my overdue update is completely inexcusable… well, schools out for the year here so its time to…u guessed it, BUM!!! (lol u were expecting party aye? HAHA :P) but I have 3 major obstacles:
1. Hibeki has let me borrow her copy of Kingdom Hearts 1…and I'm playing it OBSESSIVELY!!! Shall suck up to my friends for KH2 when I'm done…
2. My bro playing Maple Story (some MMORPG) 24/7!
3. You guessed it, my unsurpassable laziness
Well, now I've droned on long enough…to the 2nd chapter of Face the Music!
Chapter 2: A new friend
The steady, monotone beeping of her alarm clock penetrated the realm of sleep for Xiaoyu. She groaned in annoyance and lazily silenced the alarm clock with a simple tap on the top. Xiaoyu reluctantly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She pulled off her pink duvet and rested her feet on the yellow carpet, resisting the morning chill. She stood up, wearing a pink sleeveless Panda top with matching satin pants, letting out a big yawn and stretching her arms. As she became more aware of where she was, a thought came to her. Do I have to start going to school today? Where's my uniform? Xiaoyu opened a door with the full sized mirror fixed on it to reveal a walk-in wardrobe. She hadn't put any of her clothes in it yet but the closet wasn't empty. Dangling on a clothes hanger was a navy blue sailor style top with a bright blue bow and white sleeves with an emblem on each one. On another clothes hanger next to it was a pleated pinstripe skirt that was neatly folded over the clothes hanger. Below the two items of clothing were dark brown school shoes.
Xiaoyu took the hangers and the shoes and placed them neatly on her bed. Wonder if I need any socks? Well, I guess I'm supposed to…and that must mean that they must be hiding around here somewhere. Xiaoyu scanned her room for possible hiding places. Her eyes rested on the vanity table. She approached it and pulled open one of the drawers. Surely enough, there were long white socks that were neatly folded in rows in the drawer. Xiaoyu took a pair and tossed them on her bed. She examined her uniform critically. Not bad…and I have matching hair ties and bangles!
After Xiaoyu brushed her teeth in the bathroom, she stepped back into her room and donned her uniform. After tying her hair in her traditional two pigtail style and fixing on her big, green bangles, she stood in front of the full sized mirror. She clapped her hands in satisfaction and rummaged through her suitcase for her school folder. Xiaoyu glanced at the time on her alarm clock: 7:50 AM. Ok, time to go down for breakfast. With that, Xiaoyu exited her room and walked down one corridor, admiring the numerous pieces of artwork hung on the wall. Eventually, she came to a staircase. She caught sight of Jin halfway down the staircase. He was wearing pinstriped pants (like her skirt), a purple sweater with the school emblem emblazoned on it with the collar of the school shirt over the top and brown school shoes. Hey, this could be the perfect opportunity to get rid of the awkwardness of last night and have a proper introduction, Xiaoyu thought to herself. She skipped down the stairs, catching up to him in no time.
"Jin," Xiaoyu called out to him, causing him to turn around.
"I think our first conversation went a little weirdly so let's start things over," Xiaoyu said, looking up at him. She stood in front of him, causing him to stop walking.
"Hi, I'm Ling Xiaoyu," Xiaoyu held out a hand. Jin stared at her hand then back at Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu wore an eager smile on her face, which started to fade the longer Jin left her hanging. His response to Xiaoyu's effort was a push passed her to the dining hall. Xiaoyu stared after him with a look of utter shock, as if she's just been slapped. She placed her hands on her hips and pouted. The nerve of that guy! What's with him anyway?!? Its like he doesn't want to have anything to do with me!, Xiaoyu thought angrily. She sighed and proceeded towards the dining hall. Upon entering, a long dining table that stretched for 6 meters seemed to be the only thing that filled the room. The man that brought her here, Heihachi Mishima, was reading the newspaper at the very end of the dining table to her left. Jin had taken a seat directly in front of her. Xiaoyu walked to the right and sat in a seat one chair away from Jin.
"How do you like your stay here, Xiaoyu?" Heihachi asked from one of the top seats, lowering his newspaper to see her.
"It's all really nice, Mr. Mishima. It's definitely more than I could ever ask for," Xiaoyu replied politely, looking down at her breakfast, which was a bacon and egg croissant with a glass of milk. Instead of spending nearly ten minutes deciding which of the many forks and knives to use, Xiaoyu picked up the croissant and took a bite out of it. She looked over at Jin, who seemed to be scoffing down his breakfast, as if he was in a hurry. Within two minutes, the scraping sound of Jin's chair rubbing against the floor was heard as he was getting up and leaving. Woah, he's a fast eater, Xiaoyu thought, as she wasn't even nearly halfway through her breakfast. After a few minutes, Xiaoyu sculled down the glass of milk and stood up.
"Well, I guess I'll be heading to school now. Bye," Xiaoyu said, getting up to leave. She gave a brief wave before exiting the dining hall. Jin was seen waiting by the door for her. A smile of relief washed over Xiaoyu's features. Maybe there's some hope for him after all.
"Thanks for waiting," Xiaoyu thanked. Jin immediately left for the limo without a second look at Xiaoyu, causing her to scowl. Or NOT! After they clambered into the limo, silence fell in between the two.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a quick tour around the school so you won't get lost," Jin finally spoke out, which surprised Xiaoyu.
"Uh, thanks. That would help me a lot," Xiaoyu said. Silence fell once again, causing Xiaoyu to stare out the window at all the passing structures of Tokyo city. Jin and Xiaoyu got out of the limo when it finally arrived at school. The gate was pulled back, revealing a large building with a vast amount of ground.
"Mishima High School," Xiaoyu recited the words on a plaque outside the gate. Xiaoyu jogged to catch up with Jin and just stuck as close to him as possible, feeling like an outsider in this environment. Many dumbfounded stares were directed at her and Jin, and many glares from nearly all of the female students, causing Xiaoyu to cringe behind Jin in fear.
"Gym is at the back, areas A and B are on the bottom floor, C in the middle, D and G the floor after that and H at the top." Jin said in a monotone voice, vaguely waving his arms in random direction in front of a confused Xiaoyu.
"Meet here after school." With that, Jin walked off in a completely random direction, leaving Xiaoyu stranded in the middle of the school grounds.
"That was the quick tour?" Xiaoyu said to herself in disbelief. I can't believe that guy! What IS his deal anyway? Xiaoyu slowly inched herself towards the massive building, ignoring stares from the other students. As soon as Xiaoyu stepped into the building, she felt like a fish out of water. Everything seem so unfamiliar to her. Her hand casually brushed the side of her skirt and she felt something rough along the side. She realized that there was a zip on the side of the skirt. She opened the zip to find a small piece of paper inside, which happened to be her new timetable. Well, I guess what Jin told me can be put to some use, Xiaoyu read the form class she was going to be in, which was B12, and followed through the corridors of classes until she finally came to her one. She took a deep breath and entered the classroom. A lot of the people had stopped what they were doing, and stared at Xiaoyu.
"Uh," Xiaoyu cleared her throat. "Hi…I'm new here." Xiaoyu said, before taking a couple of steps into the class. A few eyes followed her every move while some just returned to their casual conversations. Xiaoyu took a seat at a desk near the front next to the window and she allowed herself to stare mindlessly out of it. After a few minutes, she felt something prod her shoulder, causing her to turn around.
"I've been trying to call you for a while now," A Japanese girl with short auburn hair and almond eyes greeted her.
"Sorry about that…just kinda zoned out for a second," Xiaoyu apologized.
"Well, I'm Miharu. And you must be…?" She left it purposely unfinished for Xiaoyu to answer. A bright smile came to Xiaoyu's features. I guess this won't be so bad.
"Xiaoyu…Ling Xiaoyu."
…..Lunch….
"So Xiao, how do you like school so far?" Miharu asked as the two sat outside the massive school building on a concrete wall that ran along the side.
"Well, I can't complain…it's been alright so far. Thanks so much for sticking with me though Mi," Xiaoyu said gratefully.
"Anytime…uh, Xiao? You okay?" Miharu asked with slight concern, because Xiaoyu seemed to be looking around in every direction, as if searching for something…or someone. Xiaoyu's attention immediately snapped back to her new friend.
"Oh nothing. I was just looking for someone, that's all." Xiaoyu's eyes casually drifted from Miharu to over her shoulder and there, she found what she was looking for. Leaning on the concrete wall that ran along the other side of the school building, underneath a Sakura tree, was Jin Kazama.
There he is! Why is he all by himself? As Xiaoyu pondered this, her head cocked to one side in thought automatically. Miharu looked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at and she instantly turned back to Xiaoyu.
"Isn't he just the hottest guy you've ever seen?" Miharu said, more as a statement than a question.
"What? No," Xiaoyu said.
"Have you seen hotter?" Miharu asked, raising an eyebrow. Xiaoyu stared at her friend in confusion.
"No, I just – I just don't look at him in that way," Xiaoyu explained.
"Really? Well you're probably the only girl in this school who doesn't see him in that way," Miharu stated.
"Really?" Xiaoyu asked incredulously.
"Of course! Every girl pretty much drools whenever he glances at them. He even has his own little fan club. Every guy also respects him because of his martial arts skills. He's the most popular guy in school!" Miharu informed. She looked over her shoulder to stare at Jin.
"I used to have this major crush on him as well. Would melt whenever I saw him," She chuckled at how she used to be. Miharu turned back to Xiaoyu.
"Now it's not as major as that but there's no denying he's good looking."
"If he's the most popular guy in school, why is he all by himself?" Xiaoyu could feel a sense of sympathy building up inside her as she saw Jin by himself.
"Trust me, there have been many attempts to get even the slightest acquaintance with him…but he always turns them away. It's like he prefers to be alone. Conversations with him have never gone past 'Hi, how are you?'" Miharu explained. Xiaoyu listened to everything she said and looked back at Jin.
"Well, serves him right. I tried to be friends with him earlier but he pushed me away too…but I can't help but feel a little sorry for him…" Xiaoyu said.
"I want to try and be friends with him…maybe he'll stop pushing me away," Xiaoyu thought aloud, causing Miharu to shake her head.
"It's been done before, Xiaoyu. A lot of people only dream of being considered as a friend of Jin Kazama's." Miharu said but it didn't shake Xiaoyu's determination.
"Well, the fact that I live with him should help out – "
"You live with him?!" Miharu said incredulously, interrupting Xiaoyu.
"Yeah…is that a problem?" Xiaoyu asked.
"Okay, this kinda thing is gonna get around the school fast," Miharu started.
"I'm thinking that half the school already heard it from your sudden outburst," Xiaoyu stated, receiving a short glare from Miharu.
"Anyway, you'll either instantly be a best friend or a worst enemy to a lot of girls here," Miharu explained.
"Hey! They can't judge me just because I live with Jin!" Xiaoyu said in annoyance, placing her hands on her hips.
"No, no no…they're not really judging you. Some people are gonna see you as a connection to Jin, so they're gonna majorly suck up to you to pass things onto Jin. Others will see you as a threat, since you might get closer to Jin than they want you to," Miharu explained. Xiaoyu dismissed the thought with the wave of her hand.
"Oh please, nothing like that will ever happen between me and Jin; even if we do live in the same house," Xiaoyu said casually.
"You can't be too sure, Xiao…sometimes things can happen," Miharu warned, causing Xiaoyu to stare at her friend.
"These 'things' won't happen," Xiaoyu stated.
A/N: Well, that ends the chapter! Wow, I've spent soooo long making this chapter!!! Well, I hope u like it. It took me AAAAGGGGEEESSS but its finally up! Hopefully I would be able to update I believe and Face the Music much more frequently than I used to…where did my daily updates go? Alritey, hope u liked this chapter. Review and tell me what u think!