Unedited

"M-May I sit here, please?" 

Akane Smith asked the brunette in front of her, tucking her red hair swiftly behind her ears. She was apparently the last to enter the class 1-6, getting lost in the giant school. Nekoma wasn't as big as her school back in the UK, but it was big enough.

Surrounded by an unfamiliar atmosphere without any friends made her uncomfortable. She hadn't been able to make any friends after shifting to Japan last year, all her time spent in catching up with the portions and curriculum the new country followed. 

She studied her ass off to not be ridiculed, to fit into the atmosphere and lurk behind others who took the spotlight. She didn't want to be the spotlight anymore. 

Yet...

Yet...

It happened again, and again, and again.

She hated her parents sometimes, for falling in love with each other and giving birth to her. Her father, a British man with stunning looks and her mother was a traditional Japanese beauty - small nose, small eyes, a small waist and a breathtaking yet rare smile.

Then as disgust recoiled within her for thinking such vile thoughts, Akane hated herself. It was tough to have interracial marriages and her parents fought against both their families to get married. Her mother was ostracized by hers,  but her father's side of the family begrudgingly accepted and blessed their union as long as they'd shift to the UK. 

They were so very loving towards her; they gave her everything she wanted or needed and this was how she'd react. 

In the quiet, sad hours of the night, she'd stare at her phone listlessly scrolling through Instagram posts. 

It was almost ironic, she thought liking a post regarding friendship, how she didn't have any real friends beside her.

The only way she could truly grasp the feeling was through her feed and the comments which had friends tagging each other. It tugged at her heartstrings, and she closed her phone before going to sleep.

She didn't want the spotlight, but she was lonely.

Japan offered her escape from the melancholy grey skies and the rainy weather her city provided. She'd visited Japan only once in her life before just because her mother missed the country. And then, within a few months her parents told her they were shifting.

Akane didn't mind. She had no friends to say goodbye to, although she would miss the mailman who she'd greet regularly and the lady next door who owned a cat with her sweet husband. Akane wasn't even sure why she didn't have friends.  

She'd tried her hardest at making everyone around her happy and even watched the same sitcoms the others did. But that wasn't enough. She didn't fit well in with the group's dynamics, they told her with a frown before saying sorry and running away. 

Gradually, she supposed she gave up. And for a while, the comfort of books momentarily stopped her loneliness as she got lost in the stories of old London, within the pages of old mythology, sci-fi adventures and cheesy love stories.

All Akane wanted a friend... she just didn't want the beauty from her parents which attracted looks wherever she went. Girls envied her, boys lusted after her and the last thing she wanted to do was break a friendship.

She didn't want the spotlight.

She wanted to stand right beside her friends as they went shopping together, taking a photo at the arcade with aloof expressions on their faces and post stupid stuff online which no one could care about. No more of being the extra, the disposable, the background character just because she wasn't accepted because of her beauty.

Society was judgmental; she knew that. Yet, she didn't hold any permanent bitterness towards it. It is what it is and hating the inevitable wouldn't help anyone.

The moment she stepped into Tokyo, the warm air hit her face gently, almost in a caressing manner and she gasped at the clear sky free from dark, gloomy clouds. It was surreal, and for once she felt hopeful of her life. Akane was excited to go to Nekoma High. It was her mother's Alma Mater, and her mother had told her stories regarding the school. 

She couldn't afford to be left behind in her curriculum, it being so very different from British curriculum. Luckily for her, the level of mathematics taught was same throughout the world. Her Japanese wasn't the best, but she could talk, write and read well enough since her mother forced her to learn the language when she was young.

In hindsight, that was actually a smart thing to do. While Akane hated the language when she was young, at present she was secretly glad that she didn't have to learn it; she'd never admit it out loud to her mother though. Japanese was a difficult language with three different scripts and she already had problems in learning history and geography, her weakest subjects. 

But then like an utter klutz, she got lost in her first day of school. She'd received looks throughout the school - looks she was used to. But ten minutes later, the hallways were almost empty save a few students. Storing her pride aside, she tapped a boy on the shoulder nearby.

It was embarrassing to say the least, how the first thing which she thought of when the boy turned around, was how cute he was. 

"My is Akane Smith name." She stammered out in broken Japanese.

The boy tilted his head to the side, his dark yet soft brown eyes furrowing in confusion. He had light hair, and under the the sun his light brown hair glowed. He was her height and the features of his face were soft. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you just said." 

And she jolted back to real life, smiling nervously and trying to get herself back together.

"My name is Smith Akane," she spoke normally. "I'm in class 1-6. Could you help me find it?"

"Ah sure," the boy smiled. "My name's Yaku Morisuke. I'm in your neighboring class, 1-5." 

Yaku Morisuke..

She made sure to remember the boy's name carefully. He didn't even flush the slightest when he looked at her. A little surprised, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

Reaching her room and waving Yaku a bye, Akane opened the door almost wildly in fear of being late, and winced as all the kids turned to her with a startled expression. 

Oh right, Akane thought to herself with a grimace, Japanese people are very polite and soft spoken in nature. This is the opposite of being soft.

The stares never left her and she could feel sweat making it's way down her forehead. She supposed it looked unattractive, but Japan was hot compared to the weather back in her old city and the scrutinizing gazes weren't making her situation any better.

She eyed the room, looking for an empty seat and found one right behind a brunette. Making her way there, the conversations started resuming in the class and she mentally breathed a sigh of relief as the attention slowly reduced.

Clearing her throat, she tapped the brunette on her shoulder, hoping that she hadn't reserved the seat behind her for a friend or something.

"M-May I sit here, please?" 

The girl in question turned her head once, eyeing Akane up and down with a disgruntled expression on her face before looking away without a word. The ginger considered that to be a yes and took a seat behind her. 

Aren't Japanese people polite? What was with that look? Was it because I came late? Well, they are very punctual people. Maybe she's just really iffy about time. Ah, I'll apologize for coming late and banging the sliding door. That must be it. I've done nothing wrong otherwise.

"Excuse me," Akane tapped on the brunette's shoulder, gasping a little as the girl shot her a nasty glare and flipped her off. 

"Fuck off."

That-... maybe she woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I'll try again, later. 

She wasn't gonna back down so easily. Her only objective for this year was to make true friends, and there was no way she was gonna give up now. The first place to start was with the people next to her. Having friendly neighbors as your friends would be incredibly beneficial for her.

(Especially during tests, but she'll cross that bridge later.)

The homeroom teacher entered the class and smiled warmly, introducing herself by writing her name on the board. From there, she asked the students to get up one by one and introduce themselves to the rest of their classmates, starting with their names, hobbies, where they're from and the likes. 

It was an ice breaker of sorts, yet Akane felt nervous at the thought of introducing herself to her classmates. What if she messed up like she did while talking to Yaku-san? That was mortifying, and the very thought made her want to cover her face and die.

Focus on being positive, Akane took a deep breath to remind herself. Learn their names and just be friendly. Be yourself.

She had only one rule and that was to never change herself to fit others. Sure, she could try and understand adapt to certain situations when it arose, but at the core.. she'd be the same.

Hopefully.

Akane payed attention carefully, watching a boy introduce himself jovially. He had a bright grin on his face and gave off the vibe that he was easily approachable. His name was Akira Keisuke, but he preferred to being called by his last name only. Apparently, he didn't like his first name. 

Oh, he was definitely going to be popular. Many students were already grinning at his cheerful demeanor and the way he presented himself towards them. Akira had that aura which just attracted people to him. With black hair and light brown eyes, his dimpled cheeks and that smile which promised trouble, Akane could see why some of the girls were gazing at him dreamily.

Then, it was finally the brunette's turn to speak. Akane made sure to pay special attention to her. Maybe she'd find out her hobbies.

"The name's Oikawa Hayami," she spoke coolly. "I'm from Miyagi and my hobbies are none of your concern. Any questions?"

That was the driest introduction Akane had ever heard in her life, and she gaped at her unashamedly as Hayami ignored the hands in the air and sat down. However, the teacher didn't seem to care. Whispers broke out around class, talking about the girl and Akane timidly stood up in her seat to introduce herself.

Oikawa-san was gonna be popular whether she liked it or not, Akane mentally sighed. That introduction is gonna have people keep a closer eye on her actions. For someone so cold, she isn't really smart, is she?

Akane didn't have to do much to capture attention, honestly. Her features were distinctly Asian, but her red hair gave it away that she was a foreigner. She cleared her throat and began her introduction.

The brunette in front of her didn't react to her introduction at all.

By the time break rolled around, a bunch of girls had already surrounded the ginger. Outwardly, she held a polite expression and listened to everyone speak, but inside her mind she was mentally screeching and congratulating herself on the back with harsh slaps saying well done.

They weren't her friends... yet. But at least she had someone to sit with and eat. Back where she lived, Akane spent her time in the lonely classroom with only a book to keep her company. She didn't mind it, not at all. Books were easy to understand. They didn't have emotions and most of all, they couldn't judge her.

However, her blank and lonely gaze as she looked out of the window and eyed her classmates playing cricket, spoke otherwise.

"Smi-chan — is it fine if I call you that? Your name is a little difficult to pronounce." 

"O-oh, no problem at all!"

Who is she again? Gosh, I hate forgetting names so easily.

"So what do you do in your free time?"

"I usually read books..."

"How was Manchester like? That was where you lived, right?"

"It was cold and rainy, like a lot during autumn and winter. But there were days when the sun would be visible clearly and those days were the best. Spring and summer was hot, but not as much, compared to Japan."

The girls asked more questions and finally, the conversation diverted from Akane's background to common interests among themselves. They didn't move from Akane's place however, and much to the ginger's delight, they dragged their chairs towards her seat.

There were four girls surrounding her, and Akane could barely remember anyone's name. Being too afraid to ask, she simply sat quietly and listened to their conversation. It was only the first day of school. She'll learn everyone's names eventually. 

Boys and girls were divided in the class, both genders too shy to approach each other. Akane eyed the rest of the class and not much to her surprise, Akira had already gained a lot of friends as he sat down on the table of his desk and began cracking jokes. 

"You can speak Japanese pretty well for a foreigner, Smi-chan!"

Akane laughed. "I'm actually half Japanese and half British. I was forced to learn Japanese as a child and occasionally kept in touch with the subject."

"That's cool, right Yagi-chan?"

The girl named Yagi nodded once before leaning in closer towards the group. She had brown hair and was shaped into a pixie cut with black eyes. Her face was small and round. The baby fat hadn't completely left her yet, Akane noted. 

"Hey, what did you guys think of that girl? Oikawa Hayami, was it?"

Uchino hummed in agreement. "She was really cold to you in the morning, Smi-chan."

"Oh," Akane's face burned in embarrassment. "You saw that?"

"Everyone did," she replied back as she folded her arms against her chest. "Dunno, that was pretty rude of her. I don't like her already." 

Mae rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. I hate girls like her. They think they're stuck up and we're beneath them all."

Akane hesitated. "Really? She might just be upset today for some reason." 

"At what?" Yagi snorted, her volume rising upwards purposefully. "Is she sad and grumpy because her mommy left her alone in school? Country bumpkins see a new world when they come to cities. She must be scared."

Uchino giggled. "Miyagi, was it? I've never heard of it/

Mae chuckled loudly as Akane smiled awkwardly. That wasn't particularly funny in her opinion.

Hayami didn't react a bit to Yagi's taunts. Her hand flipped another page of the book she was reading and the breeze coming through the open window shifted her hair slightly to show the ginger that she was reading a book. Akane had an itch to see the title and discuss the contents of the book with her.

Funai raised an eyebrow warningly. "Yagi-chan, watch it. She's our classmate and we should make her feel welcome."

"Funai," she groaned, "why do you have to ruin the fun?"

"It's not fun," Funai said patiently. "It's harassment."

Uchino wrapped her arm around the bespectacled brunette. "Funai-chan, you haven't changed from middle school at all. Chill out, will ya?"

"I agree with Funai-san," Akane smiled. "Maybe she needs to get used to the atmosphere. I'll talk to her now and invite her to join us."

Mae shrugged. "It's your wish, Smith. But I would strongly advise against it."

Alright, here goes nothing.

"Oikawa-san," she tapped Hayami's shoulders. She removed her earbuds, blaring with loud music before turning around to fix them with a glare.

"The hell you want, tosser?"

"I—what?!" she sputtered out. "Did you just call me a tosser?!"

"Well, yes." Hayami tilted her head to the side innocently. "You're from Manchester, aren't you? I suppose a Brit would've known their own slangs. Seems like I was mistaken."

Uchino narrowed her eyes at the conversation before turning to a gaping Akane. "Hey, what'd she call you?"

"Was that a slur?" Yagi scowled. "It sounded like one."

"N-No," Akane hurriedly shushed them. "It wasn't a slur. It just... took me by surprise, that's all. I haven't heard that word in a long time."

Funai raised an eyebrow at her distrustingly. "I somehow doubt that. I'm not sure why you're protecting her."

Hayami smirked, listening to the conversation. "Oh? Looks like the princess made some friends to protect her. Did I hurt your feelings?"

Mae scowled at Hayami. "What the hell is your problem?! Smith was being nice to you and you're insulting her!"

Akane cowered at the attention of the class and the narrowed gaze of the judgmental girl in front of her. Hayami laughed coldly. "Well, I did tell her to fuck off earlier. It's her problem."

"Why you—" Yagi took a step forward threateningly, but Hayami raised her eyebrows in mock amusement before folding her arms and sitting on the edge of the desk; the book was abandoned behind her.

"Aww, are you trying to scare me, pimple-face?"

"P-Pimple face?!" Her voice rose by two pitches as the rest of the class snickered.

"I'm sorry," Hayami's eyes glinted. "Those don't look like beauty marks to me or are you blind to the giant one right next to your nose?"

She faltered a bit, her eyes watering as the self conscious part of her took over. Uchino took over, seeing her friend's tears and hissing at Hayami. "Too bad you can't Photoshop your ugly personality! You're so insensitive!"

"Sorry, that was insensitive," she snickered. "I asked you to stop being stupid without considering how incredibly difficult that must be for you."

"Both of you," Funai grumbled. "Stop it! It's the first day of school and everyone is arguing."

"She started it!" Mae pointed a finger at her.

Hayami raised her hands in the hair bemusedly. "Well, I can't argue with that."

"Oikawa-san, please apologize to them."

"Funai-san, was it?" Hayami smiled. "I didn't say one thing about my personality before, but I'll say it now." Her expression turned serious and Akane gulped. "Don't fucking talk to me unless we have projects together. You girls... disgust me, acting as if you're perfect."

"I still think you should apologize, Oikawa-san. We won't bother you again." Funai replied boldly, not backing down.

"Hm? What if I don't want to?"

"Hey, I think we should just.. separate ourselves for a while, shouldn't we?" A male's voice cut in and Akane saw the cheeky grin and neatly combed black hair. 

Akira Keisuke

He turned to look meaningfully at Hayami and gave her a soft smile. "Please don't insult them any further. I'm not sure how much damage they can take."

She sat back down without a word and put her earbuds back in, the book back in her hands. Akira turned towards them and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Uh, well just stay away from her. She's got a sharp tongue to her." 

"Oh don't worry," Funai sniffed, pushing up her spectacles. "We will."

Nodding softly, he walked away without a second glance. Akane's posture instantly relaxed, hearing the bell ring for the classes to begin. As the class slowly started to return to normal, she spoke in a very soft voice.

"I-I'm sorry I involved you guys," she whispered. "I wasn't aware Oikawa-san was like that."

Uchino sighed tiredly. "Just.. listen to us next time, okay? Don't talk to her."

"Yagi-san, are you okay? You do know that no one cares about the pimples right?" Akane frowned. 

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You're upset," Mae sighed. "It's fine to be upset. If anyone glances at you weirdly, we'll take care of it don't worry. She's just a bitch."

"Thanks you guys."

"Did—" Funai hesitated slightly —"Did anyone of you feel slightly unnerved?"

"What do you mean, Funai-chan?" Uchino raised an eyebrow.

"It was like, I don't know." She fumbled. "Oikawa-san was cold but the way she stared right into my eyes made me shiver. It was like - like she was trying to find out something about us by observation."

"You watch too many movies," Mae teased. "You're acting as if she read our minds or something. I didn't feel unnerved at all! There's nothing scary about that bitch."

Uchino laughed. "Don't be dramatic. You weren't scared, were you Smi-chan?"

"Oh, of course not!"

None of them could deny the fear which coursed through their body when Hayami made eye contact with them. It was as if she looked into their very soul, saw what made them insecure and brought it out in the open.. as if she knew their weakness.

Wow, I'm writing this at 12:30 am. I have college today and I'm 100% sure I'm going to die in class due to lack of sleep.

The flashbacks will continue for two chapters more, I guess. Or maybe three. It's an entire chain of events, you see.

To all of you who have stuck with me so far, thank you! <3

~Blue