"The orange haired boy is Sohma Kyo-san and the other boy is Prince Yuki Sohma," Jina quickly and quietly explained, "The girl next to them is Honda Tohru-san, and is the only reason those two would sit anywhere near each other," I nodded, noting the glares I was getting fir simply glancing at the delicate looking Yuki Sohma.
"The 'Prince' wouldn't happen to have fan girls would he?" I asked warily meeting the eyes of a few of them, matching their glare with one of my own. Jina nodded, coughing a few times a Tokinowa sensei began the lesson.
The day passed by quickly up to lunch and Jina and I sat outside enjoying the late spring sunshine. That's when I met Tohru Honda.
"Hi, I'm Honda Tohru," Honda-san said happily, next to me, "This is Sohma's Kyo and Yuki," She introduced the two boys, not realizing that I had already been told their names. Yuki sat next to Tohru and Kyo Sat directly across from her. Jina glanced up and looked down quickly, blushing and going into another small coughing fit. Yuki looked worried for a moment and Kyo looked annoyed, and judging from what I had seen of him, it was his normal behavior. Two girls from my class came and sat down opposite of us, a girl with long blonde hair and a long skirt sat down next to Kyo, increasing his annoyance, a girl with long black hair and strange eyes that sent shivers up and down my spine sat on the other side of the blonde girl.
"What's up Orange-Top?" The blonde one asked, causing Kyo to twitch slightly, but her didn't say anything, "Oh hey, I'm Uotani Arisa, one of Tohru's friends, Rotsu-san, right?" I nodded, glad to be meet so many people so quickly.
"But please, just call me Miri," I said, watching as the two girls opened a bento box and split it between the two of them, and Tohru, Yuki and Kyo all opened ones of their own.
"I'm another one of Tohru-san's friends, Hanajima Saki, but please, call me Hana," The strange eyed girl sitting next Arisa-san said.
"Yeah, you can call me Uo," Uo-san said, "Hey aren't you going to eat anything?" She looked concerned, as if she thought I was going to starve to death.
"I had a really big breakfast and stuff so…" I said awkwardly, even though I had only picked at the food, I wasn't feeling well still, it was the first day of school in a completely different country than where I was raised, so I was a bit nervous and didn't want to be sick.
"Please just eat something Miri-san," Jina's quiet, slightly raspy voice said to me, as she handed me a pair of chopsticks and opened a large elaborate bento box, "Actually everyone can have a bit if they want, my mother always makes too much,"
"Wow, you're mom made all of this, Wasatabi-san?" Tohru asked amazed, "She must be an amazing cook!" Jina nodded modestly, coughing a bit and blushing.
"Thank you, Jina-san," I said, picking up some miniature vegetables and popping them into my mouth, glad at my average abilities when it came to using chopsticks, but when I glanced at Jina-san to ask what kinds of onigiri she had she stared coughing, at first I though it was just another coughing fit, until she was coughing so hard the she fell off of the picnic table and didn't stop coughing.
"Wasatabi-san?" Uo-san asked worriedly, even as Yuki and Tohru ran to get help, Hana-san had taken Jina's glasses off as Jina-san kept coughing and coughing, Uo placed Jina's head in her lap removing pieces of hair from Jina-san's already sweat-soaked face, I quickly sat down next to her, even as another fit of coughs left her gasping for air, I grabbed her cold, clammy hands, my heart pounding.
"Don't worry too much Rotsu-san, this has happened to Jina-san before," Hana-san comforted me, even as Kyo simply stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do, "The only thing to do is what for it to pass,"
"Reminds me of that damn Yuki when he was younger, always coughing and hacking," Kyo scowled, earning a deathly glare from Uo-san.
"Be nice Kyo, or you're going to regret you ever met me," Uo warned softly, as Jina whimpered and the coughing stopped, but she just sat there, breathing shallowly, but hard as if the air refused to enter her lungs.
"Is she okay?" Tokinowa-sensei asked worriedly, rushing over, followed by Yuki and Tohru.
"Yes, the coughing has stopped but she needs to go home," Uo said, evenly meeting Tokinowa-sensei's eyes with a calm but cold stare, Hana-san nodded, causing Tokinowa-sensei to flinch slightly, as if he was scared of her. Tohru frowned when she saw the reaction, but Hana didn't seem to notice.
"I understand that Uotani-san, but I can not get a hold of her parents so she is going to wait in the infirmary," Mr. Tokinowa ordered sternly, "But I will need someone to carry her to the infirmary, I'm getting old," He added, half-jokingly, but Uo-san was dead serious as she picked up tiny Jina-san and carried her silently to the infirmary, followed by Mr. Tokinowa, who glanced back at those of us remaining, "please get your lunch picked up and head back to class, or else you will be late,"
"Yes Sensei," I murmured, "What about Jina-san's things?" I asked even as Yuki-san neatened up the bento box and gave it to sensei, "Oh, I guess that works," I had been a bit hungry and my stomach growled rather loudly causing Yuki to hand me a rice ball, "Thank you Sohma-san," I muttered nervously, blushing a bit.
"It is your first day here, so you must be quite stressed, Rotsu-san," Yuki said kindly, as I bit into the salmon flavored rice ball, "And I'm sure that a bit of food will do you some good," I couldn't say a word, somehow he had effectively disarmed me of my ability to speak, so I walked back to the class room in silence, sensing the glares coming from behind me.
"Not them again," Kyo muttered sourly, "What do they see in you anyway?" He scowled as I glanced back to see a few members of Yuki's fan club stalking us.
"Ugh," I muttered, finally able to speak, "This is so stupid, they are insane, do they honestly just stalk Yuki-san all day?" I had also noticed them glaring at us during lunch, but one look from Hana-san sent them scuttling away. I was a bit worried how far these girls would go to get Yuki.
"Don't worry about them Miri-san," Tohru said cheerfully, "They're scared of Hana-san's Denpa Waves,"
"Denpa Waves?" I asked confusedly, Tohru nodded, missing how confused I was, but Hana-san didn't miss a beat.
"I can sense people's 'auras, as well as sending 'poison waves' out," Hana-san explained, and I nodded, still worried about Jina, but Tohru started talking before I could drift off into my own little world.
"So why did you move to Japan from America Rotsu-san?" She asked curiously, and even though I had a whole story weaved to tell to cover the truth, I found it hard to lie to sweet looking Tohru.
"My step-mom and I don't really get along, and my real mom went missing a few years ago, so I thought that I would stay with my real mom's family," I started and found my self unable to stop talking, "My real mom disappeared a few years ago, and no one knows what happened to her,"
"I think I can understand how you feel Rotsu-san, my mother died about a year ago," Tohru said softly, patting my shoulder, Hana-san and the two Sohma's nodded solemnly and I even saw a glimmer of sympathy- or something in Kyo's eyes.
"Rotsu-san, I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you staying with?" Yuki-san said softly, "It's just, you look familiar, that's all,"
"My aunt, Kiyaki Kayako, she owns the Kiyaki Bookstore," I replied, willing myself not to look into Yuki's royal purple eyes, "But she and my mom's three other sisters went on a 6-month-long cruise, so my cousin Makato is running the store while she's gone."
"Oh, that's why, you have the same eyes," Hana-san said, looking directly into my blue-grey-green eyes.
"Uh, thank you?" I replied awkwardly, trying to repress my blush at people actually noticing and paying attention to me whereas, back at my dad's house, my two step-brothers, Seth and Jake and my real sister, Rini, avoided me as much as possible, mainly to avoid the wrath of my step-mother, which I don't blame them for doing, but it still stings a little.
"You know, I need to buy a few books," Tohru-san said thoughtfully, glancing at Yuki and Kyo, "Is it okay if I walk to the store with you after school Rotsu-san, seeing as I don't have to work today, it would be a perfect time to get to know better!" She exclaimed happily.
"It's fine with me, you probably know the way to my place better than I do anyway," I said, caught off-guard by Tohru's random decision, and still wondering if I wanted her to know me better, "I only hop you don't find me dull company. Honda-san,"
"I'm afraid I can't go with you," Hana-san said, "I have…other duties I must attend to,"
"I guess that I'll walk with you as well, seeing as someone is going to have to walk you back," Kyo muttered, sounding annoyed as usual but I couldn't help but think I heard a hint of protectiveness in his voice, maybe it was just me though.
"And what could a stupid cat like you do to protect Honda-san, Kyo?" Yuki-san snickered, causing Yuki to start yelling at him and both of them started arguing.
"Do you live with them, Honda-san?" I asked curiously, "I'm not meaning to intrude or anything, I'm just curious,"
"Yes I do," Tohru replied, simply leaving it at that, and I understood that there was more to the story, but just as I had my secrets, I understood that she had her own.
"Well, as long as you're happy, I guess it doesn't matter how," I sighed, dazing off into my own world. I was looking back both my mother's and my own struggle to simply finds our 'happy place' but then as it often does, the fact that my mother, Emiko, may have died just when she found that place wormed into my mind, and I walked into the classroom with that thought weighing heavy on my mind.