Umeko Nakano's Story

Her heart pounded and she couldn't help but tremble as she looked upon the large stone building of her new school. She's never been to one of these before and she was terrified. Could she really do this? Was she ready? Can she handle it? The questions raced through her mind making her feeling more scared than she had before. Her father said she needed to get outside for things other than work. Was he right? Umeko felt that she would rather stab herself before step a single foot inside those gigantic doors.

Her legs were frozen in place and all she could do was stare. What was she doing? She should just put on a smile and walk right in. Umeko just rolled her eyes at herself. She was the most nervous person in the world and there was nothing she could od about it. Just thinking about going in and facing her new life had her shivering.

"Will I even make any friends? Or will I be the loser everyone bullys?" She murmured shakily to herself, her large eyes opened wide but her feet didn't move. Her mind flashed the images that the books and novels she read had put in her mind about new students getting picked on and harrassed.

Umeko started hyperventalating, her eyes still fixed on the building

The sudden voice scared her and she shrieked, leaping back. When she just saw it was a small boy, she started calming down. He looked about her age, just a little short. Then she looked at him, really looked at him. He seemed nice. But the blood.

"Oh! I'm sorry I screamed. I'm just so nervous. Are you alright?" her concern for the boy was making her dear go away. She rummaged into her bag. She always had a first aid kit on her ever since her father was diagnosed with hemophilia. "Here," She handed him a fist full of expensive bandages. They would do the trick though. Then Umeko took a deep breath to gain a bit of courage.

"This is my first day at a regular public school, c-could you help me around? I d-don't want to sit a-a-alone at lunch..."

"Good answer!" Umeko smiled at Akio admiringly. "Of course, Only I can decide what or who I am," The girl looked down at her feet.
"I'm at this school because my father said that it would be good for me, You seem smart for your age. I guess I am too. I loved teaching myself the human anatomy. One day I'm going to become a surgeon. I know every single vein and artery, muscle and bone. It's quite wonderous." Then her face darkened. Not a single doctor could save her mother, from what she learned after hours of studying, her father wasn't going to last long either.

"Well, shall we go in?" Umeko asked taking a deep breath.

"Thanks," Umeko smiled warmly at her new friend. "I'll try to stay calm but that isn't my best trait."
She walked in quickly, recognizing discomfort when she saw it. Why was he so hurt anyway? Then she gasped quietly, her eyes grazing the tall ceiling of the school and the large windows. "It's huge..."

"I'm in class 2-A, do you know where that is?" Umeko asked while studying her map. It was so confusing and there were so many class rooms, How would she survive a day in this school?

Akio smiled. "You're in the same class as me. Yay," he exclaimed, though softly, and his 'yay' was in the form of an almost cute whisper. "This way," he said, gently grabbing her free hand to walk towards the classroom.

"I wonder if we'll meet any new friends today, Miss Nakano." The Ryuuji boy said. While being considered prince of the school, because of his delicate nature and his seemingly fragile speaking, a girl walked by and had hearts in her eyes.

"That's so adorable!" She squeaked, thinking Akio was Umeko's girlfriend. The boy continued walking, blushing a bit. "I-Ignore her," he stuttered quietly, while some of his long locks swayed to the side rather violently as he turned a sharp corner to follow the hallway to the classroom. He studied that map nearly all night, so he has is practically carved into his head.

Umeko smiled. Akio seemed really nice. Maybe she would survive school after all. It was so cute it made her blush when he said 'yay'. She let herself be led by him to their new classroom.

"I hope so, Akio-kun," She answered him. Umeko looked around curiously at the architecture as they walked. It was quite amazing how a building could be so big. There must be so many people attending here.

She glanced at the girl that had squeaked at them, wondering what that was about. It kind of made her uncomfortable but she heeded Akio's advice and just ignored her.

Akio let go when he walked too fast and tripped on the glass-like floor, since his shoe soles rather stuck to the ground, and he landed on his chest. "Kyah," he muttered, feeling a wound stab him. "Ow."

The boy sat up and gripped the wall to help himself up. "I'm okay," he said softly, walking back to her and kind of leaning on her a bit, but not too much. "Sorry. It's just, that really hurt." Akio pointed, and began walking again as they were closer to the classroom. A sign appeared saying "2-A", and he opened the door.

"Here we are."

Umeko looked at him with concern, when she heard his mumur of pain. But she didn't say anything, but just let him lean on her as much as he wanted. She was bigger, she could handle his weight. She rummaged in her bag when he let go of her to open the door. Ahah, pain reliever.

She slipped it into his hand as he spoke. She hoped it would help.

Akio blinked and looked down, his gaze shifting towards Umeko again. "Thanks," he whispered, and popped it in his mouth. "How come you're acting so concerned about me? I'm fine," he murmured as he began walking towards a desk to throw his stuff down. The boy pulled out cat ears from one of his bags, and girls in the classroom along with guys stopped to look at him. Well, the girls came swarming over. The boys, well, they just stared at Akio as if he was some kind of crazy cat lover.

"Put the ears on! You'll look so cute!"
"Your petite appearance makes it look even cuter!"
"Let me put the ears on!"

Blushing, Akio stood in his place as girls tried to force a cat ear headband on his head. "Why do you want me to put this on?" He asked quietly, and winced as girls were all over his small body.

"Come on wittle pipsqueak! Put 'em on!"
"I'm not a pipsqueak."
"I'll love you forever!"
"Um.."

Soon, girls finally got the cat ears on him, and the headband was the same color as his hair. An idea popped into his head: how about play along, as Mr. Dramatic, eh? Forcing blush onto his face, his eyes watered and sparkles surrounded his face, bordered with roses: it was one of those anime-type illusions. "Oh, dear. Do I really look that cute with cat ears on?" Akio brought his hands to his chest, turned his hands downwards, and made his cheeks blush even harder.
"Nyah...nyah?" He squeaked, and his gaze darted to Umeko, as if he was saying this to her. Quickly, it shifted back to the girls, and he was engulfed with hugging first years. This wasn't good for his wounds. Struggling, one of his bandages ripped, and his sleeve went upwards, revealing his bruised and cut arm. Panicking, he shoved the sleeve down and stared at the girls. Ignoring the fact that he accidentally revealed his wounds, he was still hugged and called "cute" and "adorable" and "kawaii".

Akio's eyes shifted, and lipsynced his mouth as if to say "help me" to Umeko.

Umeko couldn't beleive her eyes. The girls were molesting her new friend. Her disgust for them made her act past her fear and march straight up them,

"What do you think you're doing?" Umeko pushed her way through to Akio. "What kind of behavior is this? Are you freaks or what?"

She gently pulled him out of their skinny arms and started marching him away. She had never even imagined that girls could even act like that. It made her shudder. Umeko pulled out her large first aid kit and handed it to Akio. "Use whatever you like, I have a bunch of these kits at home."

Then she was pulled away. Her eyes bugged out in surprise and she glanced at Akio with shock.

"A new girl huh?" The one that pulled her was smirking at her, his black hair fell over one eyes and the one blue eyes looked down at her. "And one that actually seems to have a brain."

"What's your name?" a guy next to him asked. He flashed unnaturally white teeth at her and she started breathing really hard. Girls she could deal with.. but strange guys? No. Absolutely not. "You're kinda pretty,"

"U-U-Umeko," She stammered out as a hand touched her pale face. Her skin was turning red from her panic.

"How about you ditch that girly boy and come hang with us?"

"Yeah, we'll show you a good time for sure,"

Umeko's sight blurred.

Akio was fiddling with the aid kit when Umeko was taken away. Looking down the hall, he saw the idiots. "Hey! Let her go!" He growled, ignoring the pain running through his body. The boy ripped off the cat ears, running down the hallway and pushing Umeko out of the way, grabbing the males hand and digging his nails into his skin. The real Akio was appearing. The scary one.

The Akio you don't want to mess with.

The Akio whom is apathetic, and could care less about you.

Akio looked up at the male, his eyes cold. "I could care less what you do to me. I'm in pain all the time, so I'm used to it. I could care less what you say to me. But, sir, you do not touch that girl. That girl is Umeko Nakano. She's nervous enough, and the fact that you're freaking her out more, is sickening. You make my stomach churn just looking at you. Your appearance isn't what is making me sick."

Akio started hyperventilating, one of his asthma attacks coming on. "Your..personality.." he breathed. "makes me..want to..kill you," he gasped and reached for his pocket, swiping out an inhalor and breathing in insanely, panic filling his own eyes. The boy pulled it away from his mouth, breathing in gasps of breath as his heart raced 5,000 miles per hour.

He coughed into his sleeve, and then looked back up at the male. "I know alchemy, and I know how to put curses on you." He said. "Test me one more time. I'll freeze a piece of paper with your name on it." His mouth twitched into a demonic grin, as he pulled up his fingers to do the italian devil horns. Getting hot in his heavy jacket, since the heat was making him hyperventilate, he threw it off of his body and only had a sweater on now. The boy stepped back a bit, standing infront of Umeko.

"I'll protect her." He said, his voice cold and monotone.

Umeko leaned against the wall. People were so scary sometimes. Those were the guys that her father had told her to watch out for. She watched Akio with awe through half lidded eyes. He looked like he was in pain.

"Akio-kun, I'm sure they didn't mean any harm," She put a shaking hand on his shoulder to pull him away. The guys that he was talking to really were scared and nervous though they tried not to show it. She leaned down a bit to whisper in his ear. "Thank you," She said gratefully. Then she pulled him back over to the first aid kit. She took his wrist firmly and started wrapping the bleeding cuts tightly after dribbling in some disinfecting ointment. She wondered where he had gotten such wounds. They looked fairly recent.

"I don't know how you got so hurt, but please, next time, try to be more careful. Your skin is very delicate, Akio-kun." She smiled to herself, feeling comfortable with this, since she's been taking care of her frail father the exact same way. Her panic subsided and she began to tie a little knot in the bandage.

"It's personal," he murmured as he sat down and took care of him. "I'm sorry, Miss Nakano, for making you go through all this trouble. I'm really sorry, you having to spend time with an oblivious idiot like me, doing reckless actions." Akio sighed. "I also have asthma, so that adds on a lot of more stress. You never know when I might start hyperventilating. I really hate it," he said quietly as he leaned on her shoulder a bit, trying to relax and not flinch from the sudden drop of cold ointment.

"Yeah. My skin is thin, that's why," he murmured.

"I'm spending time with you because you aren't an idiot like them, I'm talking to you because I actaully think you're pretty decent," She smiled at him.

"Asthman is pretty awful," Umeko nodded knowingly. "Just try to stay calm. Your lungs will relax, you just have to get rid of your panic. Of course, the inhaler will work too. I wonder where the teacher is, shouldn't he or she be here by now?"

"Dunno. But I can feel it coming again," he said unfortunately as his chest rose softly. "Gosh. I look even tinier without my trench coat and scarf on." Akio inhaled a bit violently, pulling out the inhaler again and sucking in. Though, he blushed, and pulled it out of his mouth to look at her. "Yeah. I hate asthma. That's why I can't really run for long," he said, his gaze shifting towards the ground as he frowned.

"If those idiots every mess with you again, just yell my name." He said with a nod, flopping down on the ground and trying to relax. He rolled on his side and hugged her leg. "I hate asthma a lot, considering you get really scared when you have an attack. Also, the teacher? I dunno. Most teachers these days are idiots whom drink coffee all day in a stupid office," he said in the form of a joke. He chuckled for a moment, letting go of her leg. "Also, sorry if I tend to touch you a lot. Whenever I have friends, I've no idea why, but I constantly touch them. Just tell me if you get uncomfortable, Miss Nakano." The boy said as he sat up and shuddered.

"Ah?, Sure. Ms. Mitsukida, Wanna Eat With me on Lunch Break?" Kyosuke Smiled at Hare. As They Walked Through The Hallways,
Kyosuke Saw a Black-Haired Guy and a Lavender-Haired Girl, He Got Interested so He Asked For Their Names and Invited Them To Eat Lunch Together on The Rooftop. "Hey!, Guys, What's Your Name? I'm Kyosuke Shishido! Class 2-C!, Wanna Join Me For Lunch?" He Asked Excitedly.

"Kh. Hngh," he mumbled, surprised at the sudden speech of a male. He looked up, and noticed he was even smaller than the male. He was like...a midget, per se. Standing up, his wounds complaining violently but soon stopped when he was standing, he looked up at the male. "Hello. I am Akio Ryuuji of class 2-A," he said calmly. "This is my friend, Miss Nakan- I mean, Umeko Nakano." He corrected himself, which was quite hard and he was very reluctant. Tugging at the collar of his sweater a bit nervously, his gaze shifted up and down to take in the full appearance of the male.

"Nice to meet you, Mister Shishido." He said softly, and that's when his gaze shifted to see a girl with multicolored hair and different shaded eyes, but they were, infact, the same general color blue, but shaded differently.

"How different," he complimented with a smile. "It makes you whom you truly are. You're very unique." Akio nodded, and then cocked his head to the side. "Who are you, Miss?"

He was rather interrupted by a rushing girl from the other class, whom was a first year, with an origami heart in her hands. Well, atleast she wasn't one of the girls who tramped him.

"I made you this, Akio," she said with a smile. Akio turned his head to look at her, then turned his whole body to face her. "Thank you, Miss," he said, taking it. She ran off towards her classroom nearly jumping with joy, and he sighed dramatically. "I hate this. Being your first day here, and you're already getting hugged by girls. I just want to be ignored, and only have my friends. I'm happy then," he muttered. The boy was planning on throwing the origami heart away later.

"Shishido-kun, it's a pleasure to meet you, We would love to sit with you for lunch, wouldn't we Akio-kun?" Umeko smiled a little bashfully. He walked with a certain air around him. He seemed elegant and powerful and he was expensively dressed. She felt so plain under his gaze but she shook it away. He seemed quite nice. The girl next to him was another matter all together though. Only money could have made her look the way she was and she didn't look exactly nice but Umeko wasn't one to judge so quickly.

"Wow, you're beautiful," Umeko couldn't help but whisper. Her eyes went round as she took in the adorable clothes and the multi colored hair. Then she turned to Akio,

"How sweet," She smiled and took the heart from his hands. "You should hang this up in your locker, Akio-kun. That girl must have put a lot of effort into making this for you,"

Akio blinked, and then chuckled and smiled. "Of course, Miss Nakano." Well, now he's gonna hang it in his locker. He'd change his mind when it came to this girl. Umeko was so sweet and cute. Wait. Cute? Blushing from that thought, Akio smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I'll hang it in my locker." He said happily. "Yes. I'd like to eat on the roof," he said, and then muttered under his breath.

"if I can get up there." Maybe he might just have to get Umeko or Kyosuke to carry him, due to his injuries and very severe asthma. On the bright side, he'd get some good food!