The last class finishes when the clock strikes 4:30 PM, Himawari signs as she gathers her books into the school bag. Her first day at school is fine…maybe…? Besides the fact that Chloe kept picking on her and the brunette sitting at the back gave her a cold stare, everything was fine…
Alya suggests that she and Marinette can walk her home but Himawari turns down the offer. Her aunt just moves into a new house and she doesn't want to be a bad host by not having enough space for her friends to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea.
"I need to help her arrange the furniture, maybe next time."
"You and your aunt? Do you need more help? It's faster with more people!" Marinette states "We can help you if you want."
"It's okay, I can handle it. Thank you for your offer."
With that, she says goodbye to her friends and takes her to leave. It's nice to walk home with a few friends but auntie will not pleased with her bringing friends over without telling anyone.
Her aunt, Cecile Yamada, is a young woman with a passion for writing. She's the author of several romantic fictions about Paris and Tokyo, two places where she has spent most of her life living and studying. Unlike her sister, Cecile moves to France after graduating high school and studied Language and Literature major at the University of Paris before establishing herself as a writer in recent years. A kind-hearted yet very mature woman, Cecile has taken Himawari under her wings, providing her niece a place to stay while studying in Paris and taking on the role of mother while her family is still in Japan.
"Hello auntie!"
"Himawari, my dear! How's your first day at school?" the young woman smiles kindly at her "Did you make any friends? Did anyone bully you? If they bully you, tell me and I'll have a serious conversation with your Principal."
"I'm fine, auntie. Everything was nice and refreshing, except for a few caveats here and there…"
"What?" the blond woman looks at her "Say that again, my dear?"
"Well, a girl in my class doesn't seem to like me, but it's okay." she smiles "I'm not taking any of her words seriously…"
Cecile looks at her niece, not pleased with what she just heard but Himawari has reassured her that everything is fine and she can handle it herself, so…
"I'll help you with the cleaning, auntie."
"It's fine, my dear Himawari. I've finished unpackaging and storing away everything in the moving boxes. Your stuff is in your room, I don't know how you want to decorate your room so I leave it there instead."
"Auntie, you should wait for me to come home and help you."Himawari responds with a pout "What if you got hurt while doing everything alone?"
Cecile laughs at her comments, her sweet little niece seems to forget the fact that she has lived alone in Paris for more than 10 years and she can do everything by herself back then when she lived in her small apartment. With Himawari joining her small family, Cecile wants to expand her space, which is why she purchased this house for both of them to live in. She's very excited to live here because she has decorated the interior so it matches her parents' house in Japan, with a full kotatsu table and many more.
This, of course, makes Himawari very happy. She loves the Japanese vibe inside the house with a touch of modern Paris, the vibe that she's been familiar with ever since she was born. Not to mention, her house is very close to a Japanese supermarket, where she can go and buy all the ingredients she needs to make a full Japanese meal. It's simply amazing that her aunt knows this and tries her best to offer her everything she wants so that she won't be homesick for Japan.
"Okay, auntie! I'll make dinner tonight. What do you want to eat?"
"Hm…Curry with Fried Pork Cutlet, I'm craving some curry today."
"Got it. I'll go to the supermarket then."
She doesn't have that much homework for today so Himawari has more than enough time to cook dinner, decorate her room and do all her homework tonight. The raven head hurries to the nearby supermarket, not only to buy the ingredients for tonight's dinner but also for her lunch box for tomorrow.
There's a reason why she loves Japanese culture, especially the education system. Yes, it's difficult but at the same time, they taught her many things like cooking, sewing and many other aspects of life that she will eventually encounter later on. Himawari loves the home economics classes, she enjoys the class picnics and trips, etc. because she learns a lot from them. And thanks to all of her studies in Japan, she's now able to help her aunt with many things like house chores, cooking, and many more. Cecile has provided her with many financial benefits, so these are the least she can do to show her appreciation.
When Himawari finishes her grocery shopping, she returns back to her house, only to find herself in a tough situation. Some guys on the road have started to catcall her, which she tries to ignore completely. The sky hasn't turned dark yet and they already try to do these things to a young lady, how rude…
"Hey lovely, where are you going by yourself?"
"Yeah, let us help you with those heavy bags."
Himawari signs as she picks up her pace, trying her best to mind her own business while avoiding the guys. There's a big main road in front of her, as soon as she gets to it, they'll leave her alone. But the guys aren't having it, they follow her and grab her grocery bags.
"Hey, let me go!"
"Aw, come on, sweet one! Let us help you!"
"No thank you, please let go or I'll call for help."
"You're no fun. Come with us, we'll show you the true meaning of 'fun'!"
Ah…this is bad…
Himawari has been taught about this kind of scenario, and how these guys will take her away if she doesn't listen. She needs to act fast, either leave all the groceries behind or scream out loud for help. But there's a guy who holds a paper-knife, which is very dangerous, as she imagines a scenario where he will harm her with that thing.
What to do…? What can I do…?
"Come now, sweet one!" this time, a guy grabs onto her hand and pulls her.
"NO!"
Juleka and Luka are on the way back to their houseboat on the Seine river, they were just passed by Marinette's bakery to get some baguettes for dinner tonight. Juleka smiles at her brother and comments on how she wishes she can be like him, kind, courageous and outspoken. It's no surprise to anyone that she looks up to her brother, who wouldn't be? Luka Couffaine is popular in the school due to his calm and collected yet friendly attitude, even Chloe who has constantly bullied Juleka has to tone down her voice while facing him.
"Luka, I just wish that I can be like you…"
"Don't say that, you are very unique Juleka, just because not many people say that doesn't mean you're not special."
"You just say that to make me happy…" she signs, grabbing onto her own bang "I will never be like you, or Rose, or Marinette. I'll always be that girl who got lost in the crowd…"
"Juleka…" he signs "Don't look down on yourself like that. No one asks you to change anything. You're perfect, just the way you are…"
Juleka looks at her brother, and a small smile forms on her lips. At least her great brother believes in her…
"NO!"
A loud scream erupts causing both siblings to startle, they look onto their sides, only to see Juleka's new friend is being surrounded by a couple of guys who don't seem to take 'no' for an answer. She gasps, watching them pulling and grabbing Himawari's hand while she's struggling to break free.
"Brother…that's my new classmate, Himawari."
"Stay here, Juleka."
Luka tells his sister before stepping closer to the scene. This girl is the one he helped at lunchtime, right? The one who got into Chloe's blacklist. He approaches them, clearly seeing how her amethyst eyes light up upon seeing him.
"Let her go!"
"And who the hell are you?"
"I'm someone who you guys should not mess around with." he spats out "Let her go!"
The guys are obviously not having any of his words but when they turn to him, they are completely frozen. His eyes, the aqua-blue orbs, are intense and venomous, like a snake in an attack position. Himawari stares at him, unable to move. For some reason, she can't take her eyes off him, not because of how attractive he is but how dangerous he's presenting himself to be.
Luka is not having any of this, especially when someone can treat a lady in such an impolite way and Himawari's worried expression has said it all. She's clearly not comfortable with them, let alone being forced to come with the guys. The tall boy steps closer, aqua orbs cast an icy look at them, a fair warning before things can get worse. The guys look at each other, not willing to let go but at the same time, not wanting to take any risk.
Whoever this guy is, he's dangerous…
They finally let go of her and Himawari immediately grabs all her bags and run towards him. The gang 'tsks' loudly before fleeing the scene without daring to look back. She signs in relief, finally…
"You're okay? They're not hurting you?"
"No…" she shakes her head "Thank you, again…"
"Don't mind it."
He smiles kindly at her and waves at his sister to come over. Juleka goes to him and turns to Himawari to give her a small nod of acknowledgment, and the raven head returns it with a smile. Juleka blushes a bit at her beaming face and she looks at her brother, only to realize the look he has on his face. Aqua eyes widen a bit as Luka is caught off guard at her appearance. At lunchtime, he wasn't able to look at her properly and only remember the soft smile formed on her face, but now…
"Thank you, for saving me again."
"It's fine. You don't have to say thank you all the time." said Luka "You're going somewhere?"
"I was heading back home to cook dinner but got into this mess…"
"Hm…Juleka, you bring the baguettes back to our house. I'll escort Himawari back to her house."
"Oh, you don't have to…ah…"
Before she can say no, Luka grabs onto her grocery bag and nods at his sister, who simply waves at him and turns in the other direction to go back to their house. Himawari looks at Juleka and turns to him, not sure if he really wants to let his sister goes back alone like that.
"It's okay, our house is right around the corner." sensing her worries, Luka turns to her "And where is your place?"
"Ah, just a few blocks away from here. I'm sorry for the trouble…"
Lowering her head, Himawari bits her bottom lips as a habit to ignore the invisible pressure aura around her. Luka is holding her grocery bags and they look kinda heavy, to be honest. She's fine with holding all of that herself, but having someone do it for her makes the raven head feels very uncomfortable. She doesn't want to trouble him for a small matter like this.
"Uhm, is it heavy? I can hold it if you want."
"It's fine. But you bought a lot of things at the…Japanese supermarket?"
"Yes, I'm making dinner tonight." she smiles.
"You're making dinner? How nice…" he replies "I bet your food is very good."
"Ah… -
Himawari blushes at the compliment. She has never felt this way before, yet now…
"You seem to be a good friend of Marinette's gang."
"I guess so… She and Alya are my deskmates, but I find her very nice and kind towards everyone."
"It's her personality to make people happy. She's friendly, idealistic, very creative and cares a lot for her friends." Luka smiles and Himawari immediately picks up his signal "She's just that amazing…"
The raven head looks at him, realizing the message behind his words.
Oh…he likes her…
Luka likes Marinette…
She frows a bit, feeling a bit jealous that the bluenette can grab his attention so easily. Marinette may fall head over heels for Adrien Agreste but she clearly doesn't see how her personality charms both the blond boy and Luka, something that Himawari knows for sure that she can never pull off.
"Oh, we're here…" tries to form a smile on her lips, Himawari turns to him "Thank you again, for helping me."
"No problem, I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Okay, have a great night, Luka."
For the rest of the evening, Himawari can't think of anything else but Luka's compliment for her friend. Marinette, of course, everyone loves her. She's kind, sweet and such a bubbly girl with a dream for fashion, even Himawari likes her. But the thought of Luka liking the bluenette causes her heart to clench a bit…
Luka Couffaine…
Tall, lean with beautiful aqua-colored eyes. Just looking at those eyes brings such calmness to her mind and his maturity makes her heart skips a beat. Himawari has never thought that coming to Paris to face this kind of situation, back in Japan, although hearing from her friends that many guys had their eyes on her but the raven head never really took any interest, but now…