Author's Note - This chapter is posted as-is. No edits, no clean-ups. This was this story's biggest chapter yet, and I unfortunately just don't have the energy to go through it all with a fine-tooth comb like I usually do, sorry ^^
Hope you all still enjoy it =3
"Mikoto, stay still will ya. I'm trying to straighten your uniform," Nao said in exasperation, as she tugged down lightly on the blue sailor-skirt that the amber-eyed young girl now wore. Mikoto twirled a bit, laughing happily as she admired her new school uniform. Nao threw up her hands in defeat and stalked away to the kitchen, where Saeko was making lunches for them all. Natsuki considered herself way too old to have lunches made for her, and preferred to either eat at the school cafeteria, or go out for a quick bite to eat at one of her favourite lunch spots. Saeko however was having a grand 'ol time preparing healthy, nutritious meals for all her 'children' and she gently chided Natsuki to bring a lunch with her to school for the first week at least, just so Shizuru and the other girls would feel a bit more comfortable.
Natsuki had heaved a deep sigh but agreed to her mother's wishes, and so now she sat on a stool at the large kitchen counter, watching her mother finish up making everyone's lunches.
Shizuru stood beside Saeko, helping the older woman pack everyone's lunches up. Natsuki covertly admired how the smooth, light-grey skirt and form-fitting orange and white top of the school uniform fit Shizuru's body.
"Ugh, Mikoto is too excited to stand still. I suggest we get this show on the road, and head out to this Fuuka Academy and get this day started," Nao said, as she slipped onto the stool next to Natsuki and surreptitiously took a bright, plump strawberry from the counter and popped it into her mouth.
"Hmm...these are so good," Nao moaned slightly, as her hand reached out for another tasty strawberry. But when her hand encountered nothing but air where the bowl of strawberries had been, Nao looked up with a small pout at Saeko, who was tilting her finger back and forth in a 'uh-uh' motion.
"No more strawberries for you young lady until it's lunch time at school," Saeko said with a slightly-amused smile, as she watched Nao pout a bit more.
"Aww, okay then I'm taking some of yours at lunch, Natsuki," Nao said with a smirk as she turned to the cobalt-haired girl.
Natsuki tucked a loose strand of her indigo-coloured hair behind her ear, as she turned and returned Nao's smirk.
"Fat chance of that happening. I'm giving my strawberries to Shizuru," Natsuki said matter-of-factually but then she seemed to realize what she had just said, and her face turned an interesting shade of red as she turned her face away from the lightly-giggling Shizuru.
Saeko smiled indulgently at all her children, and then told them to gather up their lunch bags. Mikoto had wandered in during the conversation, and she was the first to grab her lunch bag and run out to the large front door. There was a long table leaning against the creamy-white wall by the door, and all four of the girls had their school bags laid out on the table's surface. Mikoto grabbed her brand-new school bag, and raced out the front door to the waiting black limo outside.
Natsuki, Shizuru, and Nao followed at a more sedate but-no-less-excited pace, and once they had also gathered up their belongings, they followed Mikoto out the front door and towards the waiting car.
Shizuru paused briefly before stepping down the front steps leading to the richly-cobbled walkway, and turned to give a surprised Saeko a quick kiss on the cheek. Shizuru then gave Saeko a shy smile and wave, and hurriedly made her way out to the waiting car and slipped inside it. Saeko slowly raised a hand to her cheek, and gently touched the spot Shizuru had just kissed.
Tears came to her emerald-green eyes as she looked up at the clear, cloudless sky and softly whispered, I never met you, but I just want you to know that your little girl Shizuru, has grown into a beautiful, sweet, kind, and amazing young woman who cares deeply for all those around her. You would be so proud of her...
~o~o~o~
"We're here, we're here!" Mikoto cried out excitedly, as she bounced happily up and down on the plush, leather seat in the back of the limo. The black car had pulled up to the wide-open gates of the school and Nao, Shizuru and Mikoto looked out through the car's tinted windows to stare in amazement at the sprawling, gorgeous campus.
Natsuki just watched her 'family' who were also now her close friends with a small smirk, at how excited they were for their first day of school.
"Well, let's get out there then and start your first day," Natsuki said, as she reached out to open the car door. She needn't have bothered as the driver had already come around, and was now opening the car door for her. The original driver who had unintentionally hit Shizuru, had been fired the very next day by Ichiro Kuga. He had told his wife on a long-distance call from Mumbai that he couldn't have incompetent, imbecilic people like that driver working for him.
"Thank you," Natsuki said with a polite smile, as she stepped from the back of the car and straightened her uniform. She then reached back into the car and held up her hand for Shizuru to take, and helped the honey-haired girl from out of the car. Mikoto came spilling out from the backseat next, just a bundle of excited energy, with Nao stepping lightly from the back of the vehicle last.
The three formerly and essentially homeless girls looked admiringly around at the beautifully manicured, and wide open spaces of the school. There were towering buildings that housed the main campus itself, plus three separate library buildings, two Olympic-sized pools, numerous tennis courts, lacrosse and archery fields, and even a wide open area where students dressed in riding gear were riding horses.
Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto had never seen a school like this before. In fact they have never seen any place that looked like this before. And the fact that it was just a place for students like they were now, to come and learn amazed the three girls even more.
"Come on, let's go inside and get you three your class schedules," Natsuki said with a small grin, as she began leading her three friends towards the biggest building on the campus.
As the four girls walked along it became obvious to Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto that Natsuki was a bit of a celebrity on campus. Girls and guys all whispered and pointed as they walked along, some giggling and blushing. Mostly the girls blushed as they shyly batted their eyelashes at Natsuki, or openly ogled her. The guys mainly tried to look suave and cool, and then looked defeated and deflated when Natsuki walked right passed them without even a brief look.
Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto were all getting their fair share of looks too. However the whispers they were hearing directed towards them, were anything but flowery and sweet as they had been towards Natsuki. The three young girls heard things like, "that's the tramp who wormed her way into the Kuga household." Or "I bet she threw herself in front of that car on purpose, somehow knowing Natsuki was inside." And "do you see those other two street tramps with the red-eyed bimbo? I heard they were all living on the streets before, and somehow convinced Mr. Kuga to let them stay in his house. My Daddy works with Mr. Kuga, and he knows all the details."
The whispering and pointing continued, as the four girls made their way up the gleaming-white steps leading into the main building, and they all stepped into the cool environment of the building.
Nao was visibly shaking with rage at what all those people outside were saying about them, but Shizuru was lightly holding her hand and gently shaking her head 'no' at her. Natsuki was frowning deeply, incredibly unhappy with all that had been said about her new family, but she knew that in this school that rumours had to run their course. There was no use in trying to argue or fight with all the people spreading the wild rumours and lies, as that would only make things worse for the other three girls.
That didn't mean she had to like it though.
"Hey, Natsuki! You're here, and you finally brought the new gang to school with you! Welcome!" Chie cried out from down the hall, as she and Mai hurried over to the four girls.
Natsuki breathed a huge sigh of relief as she waved back to her two friends, and quickly introduced Mai and Chie to the other three girls.
"Mai, Chie this is Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto. These two are my best friends here at the school," Natsuki said with a grin, as she introduced everyone to each other.
Shizuru smiled gratefully as she shook both Mai and Chie's hands. At least there were some people at this school who weren't judging her on false rumours and lies, and who seemed to genuinely want to meet her. But of course they were Natsuki's friends, and Natsuki would never associate with people who were false or just blame idiots, Shizuru thought to herself as she watched with amusement as Mikoto ran up to Mai, and gave her a huge snuggly hug instead of the handshake the orange-haired girl had expected.
Mai blinked in surprise as she looked down at Mikoto's dark-hired head resting happily on her chest, and she let out a slightly-embarrassed giggle as Chie pulled out a cellphone from seemingly nowhere, and began snapping photos of the hugging pair.
"Well, well, well don't you all look so happy and cozy together already," a new voice that was practically dripping with sarcasm said, as a girl Natsuki's age came up and stood before the small group.
"Tomoe," Natsuki all but growled out, as she eyed the teal-haired girl before her with disdain.
"Natsukiii..." Tomoe purred as she sidled up beside Natsuki, getting right into her personal space. Natsuki took a step back with a scowl, and quickly grabbed Tomoe's hands as the tried to connect with her body.
Tomoe raised a eyebrow at Natsuki's blatant rejection of her advances, but she smiled that smile that always set Natsuki's skin crawling, and stepped back out from Natsuki's personal space.
"So, I see that the rumours of you taking in three strays are true, Natsuki dear. How...unfortunate," Tomoe drawled out, as she looked Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto over with barely-concealed contempt. "Though I must admit this one has something about her that I do kind of...like," Tomoe bit off the last word almost as if she could taste it, as she looked Shizuru up and down with a sly and interested look in her eye. Shizuru did her best to try to hide a shiver, as she moved a bit closer to Natsuki.
Tomoe didn't miss the movement though, and a frown quickly creased her lips, and she lowered a smoldering-glare at Shizuru.
"You're entirely too close to my Natsuki. Step back. Now," Tomoe growled beneath her breath.
"That's it! I've had it with all these crazy idiots! You're going to be the first one I pummel," Nao exclaimed angrily, as she pulled back her fist to nail this annoying Tomoe bitch in her face. And even as everyone else around her was crying out 'no!', Nao's fist was already rushing forward. However the skin that it impacted on didn't feel like a scum-sucking female's face, and Nao focused her angry green eyes on what she had actually hit.
"Now now, no fighting in the hallways ladies. You know the rules, Natsuki. You should be sure to tell these...lovely lady friends of yours the rules of our school," a smooth male voice interjected, as Nao dropped her fist which had impacted with the palm of the stranger now standing before her.
"Reito," Natsuki said with slight disgust, as she continued to stand before Shizuru in an almost protective stance.
"That's President Reito now, Natsuki dear. Be sure to remember that," the dark-haired young man replied, as he leveled a smile at Shizuru that usually made most females swoon on the spot. "And who is this beautiful flower we have standing right here?" Reito continued as he swiftly moved over to Shizuru's side, and took the startled girl's hand into his own, gently kissing the back of it. Reito completely ignored Natsuki's outraged cry, and just looked deeply into Shizuru's wine-red eyes.
"My dear, you have the most startling yet intriguing pair of eyes I've ever seen. Please, tell me your name so that I may know what to call such a beautiful flower," Reito said as he leaned his head closer to Shizuru's, his voice dripping with sickeningly-sweet charm.
"You mean weed not flower," Tomoe scuffed in annoyance, just as Natsuki pushed her way in between Shizuru and Reito, effectively creating a shield for her honey-haired friend.
"Back. Off. Now, Kanzaki," Natsuki's voice had lowered to a level that Shizuru had never heard before, and she raised her hand to lightly grip onto the back of Natsuki's uniform top.
Reito still had a smile on his face, but Natsuki could see the annoyance that flashed behind his golden eyes, as he did what she said and stepped back.
"Why the hell are so many of you delenquents standing around here!" a new voice cried out, and Natsuki had the sudden urge to rub her forehead tiredly. She had just wanted to get Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto their class schedules so that they could start their school day. It seemed that the Universe was conspiring with Fate and Destiny to make her morning a living hell, and she could almost hear the three cackling to themselves, as they looked down upon the mayhem they had made of her morning.
"Ahh Haruka, I believe you meant 'delinquents' and they actually aren't that...hi Natsuki," a mousy, brown-haired girl said as she pushed up her small glasses on her nose and waved at Natsuki.
Natsuki let out a deep sigh as she waved back.
"Yo, Yukino," she replied.
"Hey, hey! No chatting it up with Yukino. You all need to stop whatever nonsense you're all doing here and get to class!" a fiery, lavender-eyed blond exclaimed loudly, as she stood beside Yukino with her hands fisted on her hips. "And you 'President' Reito. I'm shocked to see you here in the middle of all this. Just shopped," Haruka continued her tirade, as she raised one hand and pointed angrily at Reito's face.
"I think you had the word 'shocked' right the first time," Nao snickered, which instantly earned her a deep scowl from Haruka.
Reito just flashed Haruka one of his patented smiles, which of course never had any effect on the blond.
"Vice-President Haruka. Secretary Yukino. Always a pleasure. I'll see you both at the Student Council meeting later. Good day everyone," Reito said as he turned to Shizuru once more with one of his most dashing smiles. "My dear beautiful flower, I do hope that we shall have a chance to speak again sometime soon, without all of these...ruffians around," Reito said in his trademark smooth voice, before he turned on his heel and slipped away.
"I just do...not...like that guy. How the hell he ever became President over me is a mystery," Haruka grumbled under her breath, as she watched Reito slink away.
"It was the number of his fangirls that pushed his vote up, Haruka," Yukino answered, as she pushed her always-slipping glasses up her nose again.
Haruka grumbled to herself briefly about slimy, smarmy guys with too many fangirls with cotton candy for brains, before she once again turned her eyes on the group before her. "You! You have detention after school for almost punching another student. Good job on your first day," Haruka exclaimed, as she pointed a finger at Nao's face.
"What!" Nao exclaimed as she took a step towards the blond, who was really beginning to piss her off now. But Mikoto who had let go of Mai, now jumped onto Nao's back and held the angry red-head back.
Haruka just raised a golden eyebrow at Nao, and then summarily dismissed her as she continued on with what she was saying. "Natsuki and Tomoe, you both also have detention for being a part of all of...whatever the hell all of this was so early in the morning," Haruka said, as she nodded in satisfaction at having handed out so many detentions before lunchtime. Her only regret was that she couldn't hit Reito with one as well, unfortunately he was the Student Council President.
"W-W-What!" Natsuki sputtered out, while Tomoe turned red with rage. The teal-haired girl quickly spun on her heels, and marched off in a angry huff.
"Ahh...excuse me, Vice-President Haruka..." a soft voice caught Haruka's attention, and she focused in on the scarlet-eyed, sandy-haired girl who had stepped up before her.
"Please, don't punish Nao and Natsuki. All of this was just one big misunderstanding. This is...our first time in a school like this, and things just got so out of hand so quickly. We didn't mean to cause any trouble on our first day here. We're terribly sorry," here Shizuru gently pulled Nao over, and lightly tugged the red-head down to bow slightly to the Student Council Vice-President. Nao scowled fiercely at having to do this but she always followed Shizuru, so though it hurt her pride, Nao bowed in apology to Haruka.
Haruka felt her eyebrow twitch heavily at the bowed heads before her. She then threw her hands up in the air, and cried out with a loud huff, "fine fine, no detention for you or Natsuki! Just quit bowing to me already! You're making me uncomfortable." Haruka then mumbled under her breath about crazy new students, doing crazy things like bowing down to her, which caused Yukino to giggle softly beside her.
Shizuru quickly straightened back up and hit Haruka with a smile so dazzling, that the blond realized with a small gulp that this new girl would probably soon have a legion of fangirls herself. Which meant more headaches and paperwork for the blond. Haruka grumped and muttered to herself about infatuated teens leaving a mess with love-notes and rejected, discarded boxes of chocolate as she turned around and stomped off, with Yukino following closely behind. Yukino paused briefly to wave at them all, before she hurried to catch back up with Haruka, who had called back for Yukino to hurry up.
A brief silence filled the air as Natsuki, Shizuru, Mikoto, Nao, Mai and Chie all looked at each other, before they all burst out into tension-relieving laughter. It had been a crazy morning, and the day had just begun.
And so as the group of newly-formed friends began making their way down the hallways to their respective classes, they all wandered what the rest of the day would bring.
~o~o~o~
Shizuru's back impacted hard against a brick wall and she slid down its surface slowly, holding her cheek where a hard slap had just hit it, causing her to whimper softly in pain.
"And you'll get more of the same if you continue to act so 'cozy' around our Natsuki. Isn't that right, Miya and Yayoi?" Tomoe asked her two lackeys as they stood in a small semi-circle around Shizuru, where they had managed to corner the chestnut-haired girl behind the gym building after school, where Shizuru was leaving after her last new class of the day.
"Just remember, cupcake. You're pretty cute yourself, and someday I may decide to take a taste of you myself. But I've had my eye on Natsuki Kuga for a very long time now. Once you're in with a Kuga, you're set for life. And I'm not about to let some street urchin just stroll in, and take what I've already claimed as mine. So remember what I said and watch...your...back," Tomoe purred into Shizuru's ear as she took the tawny-haired girl's face into her hand, and lightly rubbed her cheek against Shizuru's.
Then almost as soon as they had appeared and ambushed her, Tomoe and her two lackeys moved back and walked away, the sound of their fading laughter filling the air around the brunette. Shizuru pulled herself up onto wobbling legs, using the wall as a brace. She whimpered softly again as the mark on her cheek, which she was sure would bruise soon, sent a small spasm of hurt across her face.
"Shizuru!" the chestnut-haired girl heard someone call out her name, and a number of running feet coming towards her. Shizuru allowed herself to fall crying into Natsuki's protective embrace, hearing the emerald-green eyed girl growl out in anger, wanting to know what had happened.
Shizuru could only close her eyes and cling tightly to Natsuki, as she felt Nao place a hand on her back and gently rub it. She could practically feel the anger radiating off of the redhead in waves, and she heard Mikoto sniffling softly in worry behind her.
Her first day at school had not gone anything like how Shizuru had imagined it would, and she wondered how she was going to survive the next day.