Disclaimer:
Kasumi: Hi! It's your favorite Protagonist here! Um, Nicole's passed out on the floor because she did too much physical exertion in Fencing Team practice, so I'm here to remind you all that she doesn't own Persona, only me. …Wait… does that make me a slave?
Chapter 5
June 19th
The gates of what would be my prison for the next eight or so hours loomed ominously before me, reminding me like a knife in the chest that there was no escape from this sentence. I fidgeted uncomfortably with my skirt, wishing I could add just a few inches to the hemline. Seeing as it was still summer, I only wore a white button-down shirt, but even then it felt too crisp and official. I had ditched the gaudy red bow, too. Across my torso was my ever-trusty messenger bag. I hadn't a clue what to bring, so that morning, I had literally just thrown a few notebooks, pens, and pencils inside, praying that would be enough. My first fear had been that I'd stick out with my purple hair, but then remembered Mitsuru, Minato, Akihiko, and Fuuka all had unusual hair colors.
Is that one of the requirements to join SEES? I wondered, still stalling for time before I'd have to enter my own version of Hell.
"Hey, Kasumi!" A feminine voice called. I turned around to see Yukari and Fuuka approaching. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to go in?" The brunette asked.
"Umm…. Is just standing here an option?"
Fuuka giggled. "It's not bad here. You'll like it."
Together, we fought our way through the crowd of students, into the main building. Inside, my first impression was that this place was unnaturally clean. Bright walls and spotless floors gleamed in a way that made me feel as if I needed sunglasses. It was the same with the outside: way too clean.
"Okay, we're going to head for our classes." Yukari turned to me. "You should probably go to the faculty office. Just go down that hallway to your left and it's the first door on your right. See ya later!"
"Bye." The two girls took off, heading up the stairs.
"I feel so alone…" I sighed to myself. Shaking off my feelings of despair, I started walking in the direction Yukari had pointed me. The faculty office was small and cluttered. Several teachers flitted around. I guess they were trying to get ready for a busy school day.
"Hello…?" I called when it seemed no one was going to acknowledge my presence. Not one of the teachers turned around.
"Hey, you with the face!" That got their attention. One in particular, a man with brown-gray hair and stern brown eyes, seemed especially miffed.
"Can I help you, young lady?" He asked.
"Hi, um… Mr...?"
"Ekoda. I'm the Classic Literature teacher here. And you wouldn't happen to be the transfer student? I was given your file yesterday. It was a last minute move arranged by Miss Kirijo, so I haven't had time to read it. Just know you're in my class, 2-E."
"Aw, well I feel loved. Don't even know my name…" A person of less maturity than I possessed might have stuck her tongue out. I had trouble resisting the urge to do just that, and settled instead for a disapproving noise.
"Just get to class." Mr. Ekoda snapped. "You can follow me. I'm headed there now."
"Yes, Sir!" I saluted him stiffly, marching outside like a soldier. I didn't need to turn around to know the teacher had rolled his eyes at me. It may be my fault if all the teachers here hate me, but I can't help if I naturally react with sarcasm when faced with authority figures.
Up a flight of stairs, we had arrived at our destination; Class room 2-E, or so the sign above the door proclaimed.
Please let someone I know be in here. Please, please, please, please. I silently chanted as Ekoda pulled open the door.
"Quiet down, everyone! Take your seats!" There was a flutter of movement as the doors opened. Students from every corner jumped off of other's desks, springing for their own in a desperate attempt to not be the subject of their most feared teacher's wrath. One familiar teal head caught my eye and I sighed. I had Fuuka, at least.
"Students, I should introduce our new transfer student." It was awkward to say the least to stand in front of the entire class to be scrutinized like a piece of meat. Mr. Ekoda pulled out my file, flipping through it in an almost bored manor. "Her name is… Let's see… Kasumi Shirogane?"
"Yep, that's me! Nice to meet you all!" I bowed.
"Shirogane… Shirogane… That's the family of-" Before he could go on, I interrupted.
"That's right! I come from a long line of Yo-Yo makers. Can I sit down now?" Yes, Yo-Yo maker was the first thing that popped into my head. No, I don't regret saying it.
"Oh, err… right. There's a seat open there, right next to Miss Yamagishi." I guess I was on a lucky streak. Either that, or some sort of deity was smiling down upon me. Either way, I wasn't about to object to sitting next to sitting by the only person I knew in the room. My seat happened, also, to be right next to the window. This meant I was free to daydream all I wanted if the lesson bored me or if I knew the material. As I slid into my uncomfortable desk, Fuuka grinned up at me timidly.
"Good luck getting in this class, I suppose." I whispered. She nodded, right before Mr. Ekoda launched into his lecture.
"Miss Shirogane chose an excellent day to join our class, because today is the day we start reading Romeo and Juliet. I know it's not Japanese, but it is a classic, and it is my firm belief that everyone should have basic knowledge of this fantastic love story."
"More like a story of two teenagers who couldn't control their hormones…" I muttered to myself.
"Excuse me, did you have something you wanted to say on the subject?" The stern teacher asked me. "If so, please share."
"Okay." I stood up. "In my opinion, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is completely ridiculous and we really don't need to waste our time reading through it. I can summarize it in a few words, if you'd like. Those words would be, 'Two kids fall in love hours after meeting and marry each other. Some people die, Juliet fakes her own death, and they both end up committing suicide. This all happens in the course of a couple days.' So, I stand by my statement that it is a retarded play."
"Is that so? Well I-"
"But of course, some believe that there was 'never a story of more woe then this of Juliet and her Romeo.' I find them both to be morons." I think at this point, Mr. Ekoda stopped paying attention to me. He cleared his throat and instructed the class to turn in their books to page three hundred and ninety four. I sat down with a huff, tuning out the rest of the class. I had read and hated the play once, and didn't really feel like re-living the experience. Instead, I rested my head in my arms, falling into a fitful doze.
"Worst. Play. Ever." I announced, slamming my annotated copy of the Works of William Shakespeare closed.
"Which one?" Naoto glanced up from her newest detective novel. "I hope you're not talking about Hamlet." She couldn't spare me any more attention and returned to whatever riveting tail that was unfolding before her.
"No, not that. Romeo and Juliet."
This time, my sister didn't bother looking up. "Oh yeah. I didn't like that one, either."
"'Oh, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name! Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I will no longer be a Capulet!" Reciting with an abundance of dramatic flair, I skipped over to where the aspiring detective was reading. As I spoke the last line, I got down on one knee, clasping her hand in my own. She giggled and played along just as I wanted her to. Instead of saying something mushy as I imagine Romeo might, she yanked her hand away in mock disgust.
"What on Earth are you talking about? I met you two hours ago, and you're professing your love? Are you insane? No, I'm not going to give up my very powerful family's name for someone I just met, and I think YOU should get real!" Naoto said in a male pitch she had perfected.
I was going to rebuttal with a line of my own, but found myself doubled over in laughing. After I had recovered my breath, I cleared my throat. "And with that, the lovesick Juliet realized she was being ridiculous, they went their separate ways, and Shakespeare saw that he no longer had a driving plot-line. With that, generations of young people were saved the torture of reading an idiotic love story. Queue curtain."
"I much prefer our version of the play, don't you?" She asked me, laughing quite as hard as I was. "Normally I wouldn't condone the slander of classic literature, but there's just something about that opening line, 'Two households, both alike in dignity,' that just makes me cringe."
"USE SMALLER WORDS!" I begged at the feet of the blue haired girl.
"Get a bigger vocabulary!" She retorted.
"I'm twelve! I DON'T NEED A VOCABULARY! Hey, speaking of, wasn't Juliet, like, thirteen in the original version of the play?"
"Hmm…" Naoto mused. "Ya know, Kas, I honestly don't remember."
I faked shock, falling over onto my back. "THE GREAT ELEVEN YEAR OLD WONDER DOESN'T REMEMBER SOMETHING! THE END IS NIGH!"
"Shut up before I hit you with this book."
"…Which book?"
"The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes."
"…I'll be quiet…"
"Kasumi-chan… You need to wake up… It's lunch time." I was shaken out of my dream by a soft prod on my arm. I opened my eyes groggily to see Fuuka standing next to me, a worried look on her face.
"Ngh… Did I just sleep through two whole class periods?"
"You did. You missed the rest of Classic Lit. and History."
"Somehow I'll go on… So, what's for lunch?"
"You can buy one in the cafeteria if you'd like. I was going to go see Yukari-chan, Junpei-kun, and Minato-kun, too." The teal haired girl informed me.
I yawned, standing up and stretching dramatically. "Sounds like a plan! Let's go find the one who never talks and the people who follow him!" Together, we left the classroom. I demanded we make a pit stop at the place that makes magical potions, and then we went on an epic quest, battling evil dragons, ogres, and warlocks to rescue the maiden and the two handsome knights from the clutches of the giant cannibal.
Actually…
No…
We just got some food at the school cafeteria before finding the other second years. I just wanted to make it seem more exciting then it actually was.
"Hey, Fuuka-chan, Kasumi-chan!" Junpei was the first to spot us approaching where they were sitting in the courtyard. "How's your first day going so far?"
"I wouldn't know. I told the teacher that our reading assignment was retarded and proceeded to sleep until about five minutes ago." I explained, sitting next to the blue haired boy.
"Really? Wow, you're shaping up to be another Minato." Yukari remarked. Thoughtfully, I glanced to the aforementioned boy. "Hmm… Not sure whether I should be offended."
"You shouldn't be." He didn't look up from scrolling through his MP3 player, but I was impressed that he answered at all.
"Yeah, 'cause all the ladies think you're amazing." Junpei said.
"Was that sarcasm?" I asked. "Minato… Are you a player?"
"Define player."
"Um… someone who is very good at making girls think he's into them, then proceeds to break their hearts…"
Junpei laughed, "Yep! That's Minato!"
"And slash or an Asshole." I tacked on as an after-thought. "Minato, this gentleman says you're a player. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"…"
"Ah, so the player admits it!" Yukari joined me in my fun.
"When did I…?" He still hadn't said more than tree words per sentence, but he was conversing.
"You didn't deny it! Therefore, you admit it! Minato Arisato's a player! Minato Arisato's a player!"
"Minato Arisato's a player!" The brunette took over when I couldn't continue due to the overwhelming laughing fit that had seized me.
"…Whatever you say…" The 'player' returned to his music.
"Fuuka, Junpei! You two must help us! We must get him to say more words!" I ordered the two who had been pretty quiet for a good portion of this conversation.
Fuuka blinked, looking flustered. "Oh, no, I, um…"
Junpei just shrugged. "Man, it's no use. Gettin' him to talk is harder than getting Yuka-tan to go out with you."
"Excuse me," 'Yuka-tan' snapped. "Just what do you mean by that, Stupei?"
"I mean you wouldn't go out with someone unless they were the most charismatic man on the planet."
And so lunch continued like that. Junpei and Yukari bickered. I attempted to annoy Minato, and Fuuka… Well, Fuuka kind of just watched. She'd interject occasionally, but other than that, was silent. Every once in a while, someone – and by someone, I mean half of the female student body - would approach our little group and ask Minato if he was busy that afternoon. He gave half answers to everyone, and every time this would happen, I would take up my chant of 'Minato Arisato's a player.' That just attracted weird looks, but I didn't care. I knew I was going to be a black sheep here. I was merely embracing my inner social outcast.
The rest of the day, however, wasn't nearly as entertaining as lunch. I didn't fall asleep again; luckily, the classes were slightly more engaging then my before-lunch ones. Even so, I was stuck in a stifling classroom for an abnormal amount of hours. Finally, finally, the last bell rang, and I was practically sprinting for home. I reached the front gates when the rest of SEES caught up with me.
"Good afternoon," The Student Council President and the person who sentenced me to suffer in this horrible place known as school greeted me. "If it isn't too much trouble, we were wondering if you'd be willing to move into the dorm today. Originally, we were going to wait until Sunday, but the Chairman will be coming back tomorrow… We thought it would be easier for all involved."
"No problem… Um, I think I have some cardboard boxes tucked away somewhere…"
"That won't be a problem. We've enlisted the help of a moving company to aid in the transport of your things. Any furniture you have will be taken to storage, and we'll pack up the rest of your things."
I blinked. "Right, you come from an insanely rich family. How do I keep forgetting that?" I led the group of teenager to my tiny house. It looked a lot bigger on the outside, because it connected to another, slightly bigger house, where an obnoxious family of three lived. Big or not, it wasn't an impressive sight, and some let their opinions known.
"You live here?" Junpei asked, incredulous.
"It didn't look this rundown at night…" The boy of unnaturally white hair muttered.
"Thank you for being mean to my house that I paid for with my blood, sweat, and tears." I snapped.
"Oh, right… Sorry."
"It's not a big deal. I'm sorry Minato had to turn down so many dates with so many pretty girls just for this, though." I said in a teasing tone. The blue haired boy snorted.
"Don't start that again."
"AH, FOUR WORDS! That's a new record!"
"Can we please get to work? The truck will be here any moment now." The Kirijo prompted us into movement, and with that, we got cracking.
It didn't take long to pack up the few miscellaneous objects I had collected, along with my miniscule wardrobe into a few boxes. We had the boys lift my few items of furniture into the truck Mitsuru hired. On occasion, someone would make a comment on something they'd found.
"Hey, Kasumi…" Yukari was holding a small frame. It was one that held three pictures side by side. Three pictures I held near and dear to my heart, that is. "Is this your family?" I put down the jacket I was folding and crossed the room to examine it.
The first picture was a beautiful young woman holding a crying baby with a shock of purple fuzz on her head. A man with almost black, almost blue hair leaned over her shoulder. They were both smiling at the camera, looking very happy. "That's my mom and dad when I was born. Wasn't I a cute baby?"
"Aww, you were! What about these two?"
The next picture contained a ten-year-old girl with shoulder length blue hair and a girl a year older than her, whose violet hair completely obscured her eyes from view. The younger girl was frowning in exasperation at the other, who beamed radiantly. "That's my sister and I. I had just given myself a haircut… I was only eleven, so… it didn't end very well."
Yukari laughed. "I can tell. And this one? Who's he?"
An eleven-year-old Naoto, Grandpa's infamous blue newsboy hat perched on her small head, was giving the camera holder (AKA, me, with my new camera) a small smile as she looked up from the picture I had attempted to draw for her birthday. Of course, I had no artistic talent and had failed miserable, but she had hung it up on her wall.
"Ah, that's Naoto…" I wasn't sure what to say without revealing her real gender. Even at eleven, she still looked like a boy in her getup. "He's a family friend of ours…"
"He's adorable." Yukari commented, and soon we were back to packing up my stuff.
"Okay, that's the last box." I announced as our favorite silent high school student carried out the fifth cardboard box we had packed. "I am officially moved out! We should totally go get pizza to celebrate!"
"Um… We… don't have a pizza shop anywhere near here…" Fuuka said apologetically. "You might have to go to America to find that.
"NOOOOOOO!" Falling to my knees in mock horror, I let out an ear-piercing yell. The rest of SEES filed out of my house, leaving me to mope on the floor.
I finally stood up and dusted off my skirt. It finally hit me then that I was leaving this place that had been my home for three years behind. I closed my hand around my metal key.
"I can always come back."
"This'll be your room!" Yukari lead me to a room on the third floor, right at the end of the hallway. "We'll leave you to get packed."
My evening consisted of unpacking boxes I had just packed, which sucks, incase you're wondering, and staring at my new ceiling on my new bed. I hadn't bothered to change out of my school uniform – I was too exhausted.
Right as I was going to sleep, preparing to rest for another day of Hel- Erm, school, my phone vibrated to signal I had a text message. I reached over groggily in the darkness to my nightstand. Finding the bulky silver device, I flipped it open.
Naoto Shirogane: 1 message.
Think I know the nxt target. Txt me tomorrow. We need to tlk.
I keyed in the response: Learn proper grammar. Learn that people don't like to be woken up when they're tired. This better not be a waste of time. Or else… Muahaha!
Soon after, I received this: Is this proper enough for you? It's not. I'm most likely right about this. Talk to you tomorrow, OK? We're going to catch a serial killer.
~~Author's Note~~
I'm trying to get off ending my chapters with Kas falling asleep. I'm just not creative, I guess. And maybe one day, I'll have more than a single day in one chapter… Otherwise, this story'll take a while…
A quick word about my update schedule; I don't have one. I usually start work on my next chapter as soon as I post another, then I post that one whenever it's ready. I promise I won't forget about you.
I REALLY, REALLY like this chapter. You get a sibling moment between Nao and Kas, even if it is just a flashback/dream/thing. AND you get a good bit of SEES interaction there in the lunch bit. This is also my longest chapter to date, but I guess it's making up for the fact that my last one was my shortest. Oh, and I really don't like Romeo and Juliet. I don't hate it like Kasumi, but I don't like it. And YES, an eleven year old read it. These are the Shirogane Sisters here. They spend their childhood reading in the library, remember?
Kasumi: Hey, Nicole…
What, subconscious mind?
Kasumi: Like 500 people have read this story, but only nine people (Give or take a few) have liked it enough to favorite/alert. Do people really hate us that much? *Bows head and looks up through lashes in a blatantly obvious maneuver to guilt trip the readers into reviewing.*
There, there. It'll be okay…
Kasumi: We don't say this often, but…
Please review… It saves lives.
Kasumi: Are we done making them feel bad?
Please… For the children.
Yeah, think we're done.
Kasumi: Good, I'm gonna go bug Minato some more. Minato Arisato's a player!
