"Ponyo, Sosuke, wake up!" Lisa called from the kitchen, glancing at the clock. It was almost time for school to start. Hopefully they wouldn't be late. Sosuke had been exhausted last night after waking up so early to set up Ponyo's surprise party, and was dead on his feet by the time bedtime rolled around. Ponyo, on the other hand, was still a big ball of pent up energy like always. Lisa wondered where the slight girl had room to store it all. "You're going to be late to school!" She called when no one replied to her first call.

A few seconds later a sleepy face peeped around the doorframe. It was Sosuke, his hair a mess and his eyes still half closed. He looked at her for a moment before nodding slightly and turning around to go back in his room, shutting the door behind him. Ponyo was next. She bounced into the room wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. She grabbed her lunch from the counter and her bookbag from the couch before giving Lisa a big hug. Her unruly red hair was like a cloud and Lisa couldn't tell if it had been brushed. Ponyo forgot to do things like brushing her hair sometimes, even though it had been nine years now since she had turned into a human.

"Grab a hair brush and let me brush your hair, sweet." She said, returning the hug. She watched Ponyo nod and bound back to her room, passing a sluggish Sosuke who was dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans. He gave Lisa a hug too, before grabbing his things. By this time Ponyo was already back, handing Lisa a hair brush.

"I did brush my hair this morning, honest. It just doesn't like staying flat." She said, turning and allowing Lisa to pull the brush through her hair. It took a few minutes and a bit of pulling, but soon Ponyo's hair was smooth. It fell in gentle curls down her back, neat and tidy for the time being. Lisa laughed, grabbing Sosuke and Ponyo's breakfasts from the counter.

"Sorry, there wasn't much left in the fridge, so you two will have to make do with sandwiches for breakfast." Lisa said, handing both adolescents sandwiches wrapped in foil. "Eat in the car, or we'll be late." She herded the two of them out to the car, calling out to her husband as she did, "Bye Honey, I'll be home late tonight, I have to stop by the grocery store after work."

When everyone was settled in the car, Ponyo unwrapped her breakfast. "Ham!" She said excitedly, peeking between the slices of bread. She still loved ham, the first human food she had ever eaten. Lisa chuckled as Ponyo gobbled down the sandwich in a matter of seconds. She licked her fingers when she was done, and leaned closer to Sosuke. "Hey, are you gonna eat that?" She asked, eyeing his sandwich, which he had just started unwrapping.

"You can have the ham." Sosuke said, dismantling the sandwich and giving Ponyo the meat. He was used to giving up things like that for Ponyo, she required a great deal of maintenance. He ate his cheese and lettuce sandwich slowly, looking out the window and not saying anything. He was very tired after waking up hours earlier than he usually would on a Sunday for Ponyo, then having to get up early again the next day for school.

Ponyo was chattering aimlessly, telling the other two occupants of the car about a fish she had seen the other day, and a shell she had found, and too many other things that Sosuke couldn't keep track of. He'd learned that Ponyo didn't really need anyone to listen to the things she said, she just needed to say them and get the words out of her system.

Sosuke and Ponyo made it to school with mere seconds to spare. They had just made it to homeroom when the late bell rang. Gasping and panting the two took the last empty seats, Sosuke the one in the front and Ponyo one three rows behind Sosuke. Ponyo ran her hands through her unruly red hair a few times, trying to get it to lay flat, and Sosuke leaned back, trying to catch his breath. The gentle hum of adolescents talking was making his eyelids droop, but he was saved from falling asleep by the boy behind him.

"Sosuke, wake up, Ms. Sumire is coming." The boy said, poking Sosuke in the shoulder. The boy had bright green eyes, auburn-red hair, and an excessive spattering of freckles on his face, neck and arms. He was wearing a red t-shirt that clashed with his hair, but he didn't seem to mind that he had made a fashion error.

"Thanks Yori." Sosuke said, straightening and blinking tiredness from his eyes as the teacher burst through the door. She was a severe looking woman with honey-blonde hair wrapped in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, a white blouse and a grey jacket with a matching pencil skirt. He icy blue eyes scanned the class as she sat down at her desk.

"Good morning class." She said in her strange accent. She was from England, so her Japanese didn't sound right. All heads turned towards her, and everyone straightened in their seat. Her actual name was Ms. Violet, the English equivalent of Ms. Sumire.

"Good morning." We all coursed back. The usual start to a usual day. Then we all stood and Ms. Sumire called roll and we preformed all our other morning rituals. No one expected anything different than the usual trudging from class to class, attempting to stay awake and trying vainly to take notes.

When the bell rang, everyone stood and started trudging to the door. Kumiko through the group to get to Sosuke, smoothing her dress and her hair as she did so. "Hi Sosuke." She said, reaching out to touch his upper arm.

"Hi Kumiko." Sosuke said over his shoulder, more intent on finding Ponyo that talking to his one time friend. This made Kumiko frown. She did not like being ignored. Especially by this boy.

"My birthday party is tomorrow after school and I was wondering if you'd like to come?" She asked, smoothing her dress again. Sosuke paused for a second in looking at Ponyo to stare at Kumiko. He hadn't been invited to one of her birthday parties since kindergarten. What was with the sudden change?

"Sure." He said, slightly confused. Kumiko smiled largely and skipped off to her next class, her bookbag swinging at her side. Sosuke watched her go, the confused look still on his face. Ponyo finally managed to get through the crowd of people trudging to their next class to stand next to Sosuke.

"What was that about?" She asked him, tipping her head to one side.