"What was that, you little shit?!"

"Hah? This ain't got nothin' to do with you! Get outta the way!"

"She said no, fuckwad!"

"Eh? Why's it matter to you? You jealous?"

"Asswipe!"

Just then, with that final remark, a small fist connected with the jaw of an upperclassman. The fist in question belonged to a second year middle school student. A young girl, with fiery reddish brown hair and golden eyes.

"Kitsuna! Don't, you'll get in trouble in the first week!," a girl standing behind her chided her actions. She was a little taller, and thinner. And far more timid, making her the complete opposite of the girl now engaged in a knock out brawl.

…

"Daichi! She's fighting again!"

"Huh?," a young boy looked up at his name being called. He was in the middle of his notes, and extremely irritated at the interruption. His dark hair and eyes made his scowl utterly terrifying to behold, so the student that got his attention just pointed in the direction of the fight.

Daichi walked down the hall, noticing the number of students gathered up in bunches getting larger and larger as he headed outside and around the corner of the building. That's when he got a full view, pushing past the crowd. His two friends, Yui and Kitsuna. Yui spotted him and rushed over, tears in her eyes, sputtering incoherently. Daichi tapped her shoulder, then rolled up his sleeves and dove into the fray.

"That's why no one likes your lanky ass!," the boy, fairly beat up, spouted out.

"Hah?!," Kitsuna wound up for another mega punch, but her arm got caught on something. Or rather, in something. She looked up at a familiar arm, and froze in place for a moment.

"Hey, let me go Daichi!," she shouted while struggling against him. Despite his tough build, he was struggling with her. He dragged her back, sending a cut through the crowd with his glare. A teacher called out from the window, and the girl deflated.

"Shit, busted," Kitsuna muttered. Yui rushed over to where Daichi dragged her, and the other boy collapsed once his friends ran out to him.

"Kitsuna! I told you not to start that! But, thanks too. Here, you're bleeding!," Yui gave that confusing message and reached out with a handkerchief. She dabbed the blood that dripped from Kitsuna's nose, frowning at the bruise that was forming on her cheek.

"You three! Office! Now!," a teacher shouted at them. Kitsuna's homeroom teacher, who was well tired of her antics after her first year. Kitsuna stood up on her own, trailing behind the other two on the way to the principal's office.

"Sorry," she pouted. Daichi sighed, along with Yui, and patted her on the back before they entered.

"You, again!," the principal spat at Kitsuna.

"Ah! This time it was m-!"

"I don't care what the reason was, this is enough!," the old man cut Yui off before she could try to defend her friend. "You two, I'll talk to you later! Go wait outside."

They did as they were told, and Kitsuna's nerves took over. She had a record of fights built up from the previous year. An impressive record, all told. But that had earned her the ire of pretty much all the school staff by now.

"Sorry," she looked down at her hands, at the bruises forming on her knuckles. There were old ones, too. Cuts and scrapes lined her arms and legs, and she felt her face swelling on one side.

"You're being suspended."

"Huh? Wait-"

It was too late. The phone was in the principal's hand, and he pulled it to his ear with a finger over his mouth. A signal to be silent until he was finished. She started to sweat, despite the chill from the air conditioning. Any remaining fury dissipated in an instant, replaced with an unbearable fear. Don't answer, don't answer. Please don't answer-shit. Her mind raced as the man talked on the phone. Her thoughts drowned out his words, even as he lectured her while waiting for someone to arrive at the school to pick her up.

…

"Do you think she'll be okay?," Yui asked Daichi. Both sat on some chairs outside the door, worried about their friend inside.

"She's got the best grades of anyone here, even records on mock exams. But," he glanced back at the door. He was worried, just as Yui was. But he knew there was far worse than whatever the school doled out. He tried to smile at the woman coming down the hall, a woman with frazzled red hair just like his friend's. Tried, and failed along with Yui beside him. They both knew what it meant for her to be here. And what it would mean once she got home and her dad heard about the fighting. They sat in silence while the woman entered, and they heard her shouting inside. Then the door opened again after what felt like an eternity, and Daichi chanced a glance at Kitsuna.

Shit. Her face was completely blank. Empty. Her eyes didn't even meet his, they were fixed on the floor ahead of her. He gulped, and Yui reached out for his hand. They both flinched when they were called into the office, stealing a final glance at their friend as she walked down the hall like a ghost.

"You know what this means."

"Yeah," Kitsuna replied to her mom, in the car, without any real feeling. She noticed her long sleeved shirt, and the way her hands shook with the keys. But said nothing as the engine revved up and they started down the road.

"Seriously. Fighting? Are you crazy? Just like he used to," the woman rambled on.

Kitsuna hated when she was compared to her father the most. A new hate boiled in her veins, and once again her cloudy thoughts drowned out what her mother was saying. No sound made it in. Not the voice beside her. Not the tires screeching. Not the screams or metal crunching and glass breaking. Nothing. And then her vision faded too, and she felt the heat of burning hot flames over her legs.