Chapter 3
Yuka fluttered her eyelids open when the first sign of morning came. She turned her gaze to the calendar by her bedroom door. First day at the Academy. Adrenaline came rushing through her small frame. She quickly got up and went about her cleaning ritual and changed her outfit, and then went downstairs.
"Mom? Dad?" She paused halfway the stairs as she looked around the house. Sensing none of their presence, she went to the kitchen to grab a quick snack before heading out to the Academy. As she passed by the fridge, she noticed a note. She didn't even bother to read it as the presence of the note itself there was already an explanation for their absence.
'I wonder how long it'll be this time.' A question she asks most of the time there was a note left for her. She quietly thought as she packed a lunch for herself. Before leaving, she paused by the door and took a good look around for the last time. 'Wish me luck.'
It only took Yuka a matter of minutes jumping, or rather hoping from roof to roof to reach the Academy. There were hardly a number of people present outside the Academy, given that there's still an hour or so at least before the classes officially starts. She picked one particularly shady tree nearby and sat underneath by a rock. She lazily watched as more and more children, accompanied by their parents came and crowded about by the front door. Yuka couldn't quite figure out what everyone was busy fussing about as they were drowned by the sounds of their own voices. Well, save for some little girls of Yuka's age that started talking about her as if she was out of the hearing range.
"Have you heard about the news?" A girl with a blonde hair started. "The weird-looking girl will also be with us?"
"Yeah me too." One with a brown hair replied. "She's scary. With those two-colored eyes of hers..."
"My mother said she's not human. Her eyes are not for normal people like us." Said by another.
The blonde girl turned her gaze to Yuka and purposely raised her voice. "She's a freak."
'Yeah right.' Yuka just stared back blankly at the girl, sending her a quiet reply of 'I don't give a damn care.'
Getting no expected response from Yuka made the blonde furious. Her cheeks blushed madly from embarrassment to her friends. One of the things Yuka had learned from this kind of kids who likes to pick fights with her using her appearance is to simply ignore them. Starting out a fight with girls like this is a complete waste of time.
'Really... what a brat she is.' She began humming to herself as she continued a silent war of glares to the blonde. 'Tch. She just wants some attention for herself.'
The blonde got angrier by the second and stomped on her feet. She let out an irritated grunt and then picked up a stone. Yuka just let out a sigh, and otherwise, continued staring back at the girl with one hand propped under her chin as support. 'I am so loving this.' With her free hand, she raised a finger and wiggled it back and forth, challenging the girl to continue with whatever she's planning to do.
"You freak!" the blonde squeaked angrily with a high-pitched tone as she hurled the stone towards Yuka.
The stone was stopped by a hand, inches away from Yuka's face. The girls gasped and hurriedly scurried away. Yuka, though surprised to what just happened, maintained a calm and lazy face.
"Thanks." She spoke to whoever owned the hand. "I could've dodged it anyway."
The owner of the hand whom she spoke to was a boy, and on her calculations, probably about her age and might as well be attending the Academy. He had long, raven hair, enough to be tied at the back, save for some several strands that fell on his face. His eyes appeared to be sleepy yet it held such strong spirit and so much emotion she can't quite think of how it happened to be. Her attention was then caught by the symbol drawn at the back of his shirt. A blue and red fan-shaped emblem… the Uchiha clan.
"Hn." Was his short reply to her as he dropped the stone and tucked both of his hands inside his pockets.
Black orbs met her blue and green ones. Neither of them spoke, they simply stared at one another, probably already deducing each other's capability and whatsoever. Whatever it was, it was broken with a sudden burst of excited squeals as the doors of the Academy swung open.
"Better go ahead." Yuka spoke, breaking the air of silence between them. "You heard them right? You don't want to be branded as someone associating with a 'freak'."
He nodded and looked away, as if hesitating to leave at first but then suddenly made a turn and left.
'I think I may finally find a friend after all.' Yuka spoke silently to herself as he watched him walking away.
Unknown to Yuka, the boy, as soon as he turned his back on her, smiled a little.
'I think I just found someone who could be my match.'