Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Chapter 34

Disclaimer: OC-heavy as it is, it's still a fanfiction.

*April*

"…Great. Kuwata-san's still in Class B," Hanna said bitterly, seeing the class assignments.

"Big deal. Let him be the Class 2-B rep. You've got bigger fish to fry."

"…Eh?"

"Hanna-chan, surely you aren't content to settle for such a low-level position, are you? You've got to set yourself up to be student council president next year," Katsura said.

"You're not suggesting…"

"Student council vice-president? I most certainly am. Suki—Sempai's going to talk to Hida-sempai about supporting you, and I'm sure you'll be plenty popular."

"I wasn't even able to beat out Kuwata-san for class rep last year. What makes you think I'll be able to win over the entire school?"

"Because you've grown since then."

"What?" Hanna suddenly noticed where Katsura's eyes were. "…Oh."

"It certainly can't hurt."

"I'm not going to exploit sex appeal to get votes."

"You don't have to. Just don't actively downplay it."

"I don't know…"

"Well, you'll have your supporters on the council. I might even run for class rep myself, though I doubt I'd get it. Still, the best alternative would be just as good."

"I beg your pardon?"

Katsura nearly facefaulted. "Don't tell me you were so preoccupied with seeing if your rival was still in your class that you failed to notice that your two best friends aren't?"

"Wha… I could've sworn I saw your name…" She double-checked the class 2-B list. "You're not there…"

"You must've accidentally looked over one column when you thought you saw us. See, Aoba-chan and I are both in class 2-C this year. I'd be happy to serve on the council with you, but…I don't know if I'm really cut out for it."

"As a good friend, I really should tell you that of course you are…but you're right; it doesn't seem like you."

"So you don't mind? Good; I think I'll throw my support behind Aoba-chan, then."

"…I'm going to miss having you in class with me. Mayu-chan, too, but at the same time, it'll be nice to see her get a chance to shine without overachievers like Kuwata-san and me overshadowing her."

"So then you agree that she deserves to be class rep more than I do."

"…Yes."

"Class 2-A looks…exactly like Class 1-A did," Kanna remarked. "Guess you'll be class rep again?"

"Probably. Unless the new guy really wins everyone over."

"New guy?"

"Were you only looking to see if anyone who was in Class 1-A wasn't in Class 2-A? Yeah, everyone's back, but we've got 21 students this year, when last year we only had 20."

"Katakana…wait, how is that pronounced? …You're sure that's a male name?"

"Pretty sure. Why, do you think it's female?"

"No clue. It just sounds foreign to me." (CCX: Surprisingly, I had more trouble coming up with a last name for this American character than I am for the Japanese ones. Which is weird because America's such a melting pot that any name could work. But, hey, at least I still managed to throw in a "k"!) Just then a blonde boy came up to them and asked, in slightly stilted Japanese, how to get to Class 2-A. "I guess you were right, Suzu-chan."

"J-just follow me," Suzuka said, "that's my class too. You must be, um…" she tried to say this very carefully, as it contained some sounds that she wasn't used to saying, "Keith-san."

"It's—oh, uh, yes, I guess that's right." "I forgot that calling someone by their first name is something reserved for close friends and family members here!"

"You forgot your name?" Kanna teased. Suzuka tried not to get angry at her.

"N-no, just…in America, people usually call each other by their first—their given names"—he mentally reminded himself that the family name did come first in Japanese names—"so I thought she'd gotten my name switched around. Which…sometimes happened anyway, because my last name's a first name as well."

"So would you rather I call you 'Diran'?" Kanna asked, not bothering to take the same care that Suzuka had.

"…Dylan. It's pronounced 'Dylan'."

"Isn't that what I said?"

"I'm sorry about Shinamori-san's behavior, Keith-san. She's really a good person, she just…lacks tact." Suzuka wasn't exactly the epitome of politeness herself at the moment—among other things, her gaze was a good foot short of making eye contact with Dylan. She suddenly jolted up as she realized one of those other things. "I'm sorry about my behavior, too. Normally I'd have introduced myself right away… I'm Tsukimura Suzuka. Um…i-if you're more comfortable with given names, y-you're free to call me 'Suzuka'. I-I wouldn't be offended." By this point she'd already started to turn away again, knowing there was no way she'd be able to say that without blushing. Also, they were just about at their classroom.

"Ah, Tsukimura-san. Is this our new transfer student?"

"Yes, sensei," Suzuka replied, bowing to Nitamura. "He just happened to ask the right person how to get to his class."

"…You feeling okay? Some of your classmates, I wouldn't be surprised if they were reckless over break and caught a cold or something, but you don't seem like the type."

"I'm fine, sensei."

"Kanna-chan?"

"Yes, Arisa-san. Suzuka-chan probably won't be joining us today. Though I'm sure you two spent plenty of time together over break," she added under her breath, so only Arisa could hear. Arisa nodded in confirmation. "She's showing the new transfer student in our class around."

"New transfer student?"

"Yep. I'm sure the other girls in our class would've been more than happy to do it as well, but of course Sensei would allow Suzuka that right if she wanted it."

"…Is this something I should be worried about?"

"Don't know. But it definitely throws a wrench in the idea that she's been deluding herself all this time."

"Are you sure I'm allowed at this table? There don't seem to be a lot of boys here."

"Or maybe she will be joining us."

"[Ah, so you're Suzuka's new…friend,]" Arisa said, immediately realizing that English would be a better choice to talk to him.

"[Your English is very good, though I can't place that accent. Yes, I'm new here; my name's Dylan Keith.]"

"[Arisa Bannings. And you can't place my accent because I'm not an exchange student.]"

"[Arisa? Not Alisa?]"

Arisa shook her head. "[Like I said, I'm Japanese, born and raised. But, yes, my parents did intentionally choose a name that could easily be Americanized if we ever went back to my father's native country.]"

"[Your—oh. American father, Japanese mother?]" Arisa nodded. (CCX: With an American-sounding last name, this is the only thing that makes sense. Well, actually, whether Arisa is even half-Japanese or not isn't really mentioned in canon…I'm just going with this.)

"Ah, maybe you'd be more comfortable with Arisa showing you around, since she's fluent in English," Suzuka suggested.

"That's okay. My Japanese isn't going to get any better if I'm not forced to practice it," Dylan replied. "And she's not in our class."

Arisa tried not to giggle. "[I think she's happy you said that.]"

"Arisa!" Arisa turned to Suzuka. "[I may not be as good as you, but I've learned more than enough English to understand that.]"

"[Your English is quite good as well, Tsukimura-san,]" Dylan said. "[It was nice meeting you, Bannings-san.]" They left.

"He seems to have gotten the whole 'family name' thing down. This morning he got confused when Suzu-chan asked if he was 'Keith-san'."

"[Yeah, I can imagine…]"

"Arisa? The English speakers are gone now. Please switch back to Japanese."

"…Sorry."

"Honestly, I barely understood any of that conversation…"

"English not your best subject?"

"My absolute worst."

"…Shouldn't you be a bit more possessive of Tsukimura-san?"

"I'm not worried."

"Can you be? Please?"

Arisa giggled. "You want him for yourself, Kaburagi-san?" She nodded sheepishly.

CCX: Yes, Kaburagi is still here, even though her last line prior to this was back in Chapter 17, though I will confirm that she was at least present in Chapter 18's outing to the beach.

Also, since the US is my home country, I thought I should figure out exactly where Dylan is from. I figure it's probably kind of Midwest-ish, but further east than "Flyover Country", and maybe with just the slightest hint of Southern. So…well, you'll see soon enough.

"It's hard to believe that some of these people are only a year younger than we are," Dylan said as they left the cafeteria. "Oops, was that rude?"

"Maybe a little, but Ichirei-san's response was ruder. Seriously, Miki-chan?"

"You know how sensitive I am about my height, Suzuka-san." She and Izei were just entering, as they had the second lunch period.

"Well, could you take out your aggression on someone whose babies I don't want to have?" Suzuka took care to say this in a way that someone less than fluent in Japanese wouldn't understand.

"Did…did you seriously just say that?"

"Uuh…did she just say what?"

"[Nothing you need to know,]" Suzuka replied pointedly.

"Ah. Sneaky, using complex words to get stuff by a foreigner." Suzuka smiled at Miki's evaluation. "Good luck."

"Figured it would help if I put things in terms you'd understand."

Miki bristled. "I'm not…do you really see me that way?!"

Suzuka laughed. "I'm just teasing you."

"So I take it she's not a first-year?"

"Second-year, same as us. She's a good friend, actually; she's just… a bit sensitive." "About more things than one…"

*later that day—after school*

"And here's where you'll go if you want to join one of the sports teams."

"Oh? Have you gotten us a new recruit, Tsukimura-san?"

"…Who are you again?"

Watagami facefaulted. "Watagami. Watagami Atsuya."

"Oh, right, Watagami-chan's brother."

"She remembers my sister, but not me?"

"I doubt I'll be doing much here," Dylan said. "You don't have American football in Japan, do you?"

"You can just call it 'football'; Japan's not one of those countries that calls soccer 'football'. But, no, we don't have a football team; the sport's just too niche here. Ever play hockey?"

"Don't you need ice for that?"

Watagami laughed. "Not ice hockey. Field hockey. Second-most popular team sport in the world, behind soccer."

"…Is it really?" (CCX: Yes, it is. Learned that while watching the Olympics this past year.) "In America, it's mainly known as being pretty much the only girls' sport—besides cheerleading—that is played in skirts." Watagami was trying his damnedest not to picture some of his teammates in skirts after hearing this. "I guess maybe baseball would be a good idea. I always preferred football, but where I'm from, baseball's kind of in the blood."

"You mean America?" Suzuka asked.

"I mean the Louisville metro. Baseball and horses. Basketball's kind of big in Kentucky, too, but Louisville's always been a baseball-and-horses city." (CCX: He's not from the city proper, but if I were to choose a town, it would be essentially random, so I won't bother. Suffice it to say that he is from Jefferson County.)

"Ah, well. Too bad," Watagami said. "It would've been nice to have a big strong American on the team."

CCX: Uh-oh, time to explain away another inconsistency…

"So, Watagami-chan, you weren't even part of Student Council last year, and now you want to step up and take Iruko-kun's place?"

"I, well, this wasn't exactly my idea, but…yes, I suppose so. It was petty of me to not even bother being on the Student Council after losing out on being class rep, but…Kuwata-san just really gets on my nerves."

"…A fair enough reason." Hida Arika smiled. "I do seem to remember that the Class 1-B representative last year was a bit insufferable. But I wonder how the student body would take the idea of a neophyte just sliding into such an important role."

"It was a bit stunning to hear that Iruko-san was going to be leaving. I heard his father got a new job and he had to transfer?"

"Yeah… Anyway, you certainly seem like a good student, and Makimaro-chan had nice things to say about you."

"Sempai really is generous, isn't she?" Hanna allowed her mind to wander. "I wonder if she'll be as popular with this year's first-years as she was with my year."

Hida smiled again. "Who knows. Although it'll be hard for anyone to top your friend Himiya-chan."

"Yeah, Katsura can be a real piece of work…but I'll stand by her through thick and thin."

"Loyalty. I like it. You've got my vote."

"Thank you."

CCX: I'm not going to bother elucidating this subplot further; naturally Hanna becomes the vice president. CCX, signing off.

Also, behold the wonders of Translation Convention, such that I have to specifically note when something is actually being said in the language that the fanfic is written in.