A New Chapter

A New Chapter

A Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction by Sir Psycho Sexy

A/N: Muti-chaptered fic ahoy. This was inspired by Mitarai's fate-blurb in the manga: he becomes an exchange student in high school and later joins the Peace Corps.

I fully believe that the reason Mitarai was bullied so much is because he is only half-Japanese. (Just my fanon, though.) I decided to make him half-German because it would confer an extra amount of angst upon watching Chapter Black, as well as my own personal interest in German culture. (I learned German for Papa Goethe and Rammstein, not Hitler, before you say anything, because in a lot of people's minds, interest in GermanyGodwin's.)

I hope you enjoy this fic! (There are going to be plenty of OC's ahoy, given the fic takes place outside of Japan, and I hope that they are nowhere near Sue/Stu's.)

-SPS


Prologue: The Call

Mitarai Kiyoshi had been working diligently over the past year at Meioh High in order to qualify for the school's study abroad programs. Not only did he work on the homework that was given to him, but he spent time writing and re-writing his entry essays. The Meioh programs, as were to be expected of a top-notch private school, were very selective; however, Mitarai figured he had an advantage over the other students who were going for the Germany program: he had known German since he first learned to talk, thanks to his mother.

As he endured working his way up to the top, the ordeal with Sensui still nagged at his mind. He was amazed that he had overcome such an adverse situation with nothing but the power of his own will; after he met Yusuke and friends, he had grown the intestinal fortitude needed to do what was right. He was still writing letters back and forth with Kuwabara, and he described to him what he was going through, and Kuwabara respected him, as he himself was working hard to get through Gai Tech High School and make something of himself after his junior-high days as a punk. They compared notes often in their letters, and often had a good laugh or two at each other's expense- like the times Kuwabara would arbitrarily slip up on doing trigonometry (the difference between sine and cosine bugged the hell out of him), and the times Mitarai would goof up in English class by speaking an equivalent sentence in German, much to the chagrin of his classmates, who, oddly, despite this behavior, treated Mitarai comparatively well compared to his junior-high classmates.

Maybe, Mitarai thought, it was because some of them were trying to learn German as a third language in order to improve their chances of getting into Tokyo University, and it was best to get on the good side of a native speaker. Or maybe it was because, for the first time in his life, his schoolmates were truly his peers.

He tried to shove all of these thoughts out of his head as he concentrated on his homework before homeroom started. Maybe, if he worked just a little harder, he'd get noticed…

Then Kimura-sensei, the homeroom teacher, walked in, and called attention to the chaotic class. They did the standard bowing and roll call, and then she told Mitarai, along with his classmate Nagano Ikuko, one of the girls who he tutored in German (and she tutored him in English in return) that the principal wanted to see him in his office.

A few boys at the back of the class snickered, but the others figured that, if they knew Mitarai and/or Nagano, they were getting called to the principal for a good thing. Mitarai heard the boys snickering at him, felt his stomach drop to his knees, took a deep breath and reminded himself of his experiences of Yusuke and Kuwabara, and left class confidently to see the principal, marching after Ikuko.

Principal Higashi welcomed Kiyoshi and Ikuko warmly into his office. Even though Mitarai felt his heart pound and his palms get sweaty, he went in and sat down.

However, Ikuko was too ecstatic to see her boyfriend from Class 1-C, Yamada Renji, n the office with her.

"You two!" yelled the principal. "Sit down already! Your public display of affection is quite unnecessary!"

Renji and Ikuko stopped dead in their tracks, bowed, and sat down. "Yes, sir."

"Now…where were we? Ah, yes. The three of you have been chosen, out of all of Meioh High School's first-year students, to spend your second year of high school abroad. Your foreign-language scores are good enough to qualify, and your essays were top-notch."

Mitarai felt a wave of relief that bordered on joy.

"Nagano-kun, Yamada-kun," the principal continued, "you two have been selected to study at the Washington Irving Academy in New York City. I hope you realize that this program is very competitive, as Washington Irving only takes a certain number of foreign exchange students per year, and is also one of the top high schools in the United States."

Renji and Ikuko nodded curtly.

"And Mitarai-kun…I have managed to get you a spot in the program at the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-Gymnasium in Berlin. This is a very rare honor for a Meioh student, as few students ever achieve fluency in German; the last student I sent there was four years ago. Plus I thought your background would be most appropriate. Also, your essay was very heartfelt and well-written."

Mitarai nodded. "I will do my best in Germany."

"So, congratulations, everyone," Principal Higashi continued. "Please remember that you will be representatives of Meioh and Japan as a whole, and act accordingly."

They got up and bowed, and then Kiyoshi, Ikuko, and Renji went back to their respective classrooms.

When Mitarai came home from school, he did not hesitate to tell his mother the news.

His mother was busy chopping up carrots and potatoes to put into curry rice, but was still listening intently. "I knew you could do it. I'm going to have to call your Uncle Till to make some arrangements to stay with him and his family."

She stopped chopping the vegetables and stooped to give her son a hug. Kiyoshi was a little embarrassed, but he felt proud of himself nonetheless.

He went up to his room to study in order to keep his grades up between now and the time he'd be at Goethe-Gymnasium, hoping that his mother would understand and bring some curry rice up to his room.

END PROLOGUE