Peach Girl Fan Fiction ❯ The Beating of Sae ❯ Old Friends... enter stage left... ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 6 - Old Friends… Enter Stage Left…

Oh wait; was I thinking that the day was going to get better? Momo thought dejectedly as a pea whizzed passed her ear to land on the table in front of her. She heard snickers from the tables a row away and sighed heavily. Will this day… no year… ever end?
Kiley flicked the pea off the table and glared at the table that had thrown it. “Morons,” he murmured, turning back to Momo. “Don't worry Momo, I'll stick by you, regardless of what anyone says. I know the truth.”
Momo looked into Kiley's eyes and then turned away when she saw the resolve and love in them. She blushed a faint pink and then noticed that the cafeteria had suddenly grown quiet.
Thinking that it had something to do with her, again… she turned around and saw that everyone was staring at two girls that had just walked through the main doors.
She strained to see who they were and why people were staring but couldn't find a reason. She turned back to Kiley and whispered, “Hey, what's going on, do you know?”
Kiley shrugged and craned his neck.
The girls began to walk toward the middle of the cafeteria and everyone went back to what they were doing.

Some people still glanced back at them but most were “busy with their food.”
After a minute or two of staring, Kiley's eyes widened and a big grin spread on his face. “Hey! It's the candy striper!”
Momo looked at him and then at the girls again. “Candy striper?” she asked a little bewildered. “What candy striper?”
He looked back at her and blinked a few times. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you…” and proceeded to fill her in on his little run in with the redheaded candy striper at the hospital.

Miraki Houshin and her cousin Rinshai Soryu glanced around the cafeteria a bit warily.
Miraki leaned over and whispered to her cousin, “Why do I get the feeling that we caused this little… lapse in conversation?”
Rinshai looked around, raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “How the hell am I supposed to know, I came in with you, remember?” she whispered back.
They both turned back and began walking cautiously to the back of the cafeteria, towards the open patio.

After a moment, everyone in the cafeteria turned back toward their food and left them alone.
Miraki sighed in relief. “Okay, well, they're back to their… uh… normal? states I suppose.”
Rinshai shrugged again. “Whatever.”
As they came close to one table in particular, the boy sitting at it caught Miraki's eye. She stopped and grabbed Rinshai's arm to show her what she was looking at. “That boy, I ran into him… literally, at the hospital last Friday,” she paused and looked across from him at the girl he was talking to. She had blonde hair, a deep tan and looked awfully familiar. Now, where do I know her from? She wondered, scratching her head. She shrugged, to no one in particular, and they continued on their way.

When the girls passed by the table, Momo glanced up to see their faces. Hmmm, Momo thought as they continued. I know them from somewhere, I just know it.
Kiley looked at Momo's furrowed brow and just had to ask, "Uh, Momo, what are you thinking about? You look really deep in thought."
Momo blinked a few times and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "Huh?" She shook her head. "Oh! Nothing, I just thought that I knew them from somewhere but I can't seem to remember where."
Kiley looked back at the girls as they sat down on an open spot in the patio. He supposed that he had guessed the reason that people were staring at them when they had entered. The redhead, who was almost as tanned as Momo, was wearing a pair of hip hugger jeans and a spaghetti strap shirt, which showed a bit of her cleavage. The other girl, who had black medium length curly hair, was wearing a tight pair of black pants and a low-cut, short- sleeved shirt and was as tanned as her companion. Kiley figured that they weren't originally from Japan, or if they were, had lived somewhere else for a while. They were obviously new to the school, as he had never seen them before.
School uniforms were the norm, although people were allowed to wear other clothes, just not what they were wearing. He half wondered, while turning back to Momo, if they had been seen by any of the administration yet.
Momo shrugged and they both finished their meals in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

Miraki and Rinshai had the class right after lunch together. They walked into the partially full class and went over to the teacher.
Rinshai bowed and gave a smile to the old lady. “Hello. My name is Rinshai, Rinshai Soryu.” She motioned her head at her cousin. “And this is my cousin Miraki Houshin. We just transferred here from America. I hope they gave you the papers?”
The old teacher smiled warmly at the girls. “Yes, yes, they gave me all the information. By the way, my name is Ms. Kurimotori.” She leaned in and motioned for both girls to do the same. “But let me tell you, be careful with what you wear around here, I know your uniforms are being made right now so I won't hold it against you, but the students have a problem with tanned girls wearing skimpy clothing for some reason.”
The two girls stood up and blushed while looking down at their clothing.
Miraki started laughing and scratched the back of her head. “Heh, heh.”
Rinshai bowed to the teacher. “Woops, heh, we'll remember that next time, this just happened to be the only clothing we had at the moment, or at least, the only clothing that was clean.” She turned toward the desks. “Um, so where should we sit? Just anywhere?”
Ms. Kurimotori nodded. “Yes, go ahead and sit anywhere you want, there is not really an order at the moment.”
The dark haired girl nodded and they chose seats near the front of the class. The bell rang and everyone sat down. The teacher was about to stand up when the door opened and a girl walked in.
Miraki looked over and her eyes widened. Hey! It's the girl from lunch. I know I know her from somewhere. She thought back to before she left to the United States with Rinshai and her family. There was only one girl that she could remember that had blonde hair. And now, come to think of it, the girl was always tanned… just like this… She looked at the girl again and snapped her fingers. “Momo! Momo Adachi! I knew it!”
Everyone looked at her strangely and the girl froze in her tracks and turned pink. “Yes?”
Rinshai made a face at her cousin and shook her head. Dummy, speaking out loud again.
Miraki saw her face and shrugged and then looked around the class and got dirty looks from some people. She glared them all down, turned back to Momo and mouthed, “We'll talk later.”
Momo nodded slightly, unsure of what was happening. She turned to Ms. Kurimotori. “I'm sorry I'm late. I was just finishing up my lunch,” she lied, hoping her face wasn't red. She hadn't really wanted to come to this class because she knew that some of the people knew Sae personally but Kiley had convinced her that she couldn't let idiots get in the way of her life.
The teacher looked at her a moment and laughed quietly. “That's all right. Come on Ms. Adachi, please sit down.”
Momo bowed and sat down in a seat near Rinshai.
She looked over at Momo and tilted her head in thought. She's right, it is Momo. Wow, I haven't seen her in years. She hasn't changed a bit since we left, she's still pretty and still tanned. She smiled. Wonder if she still has problems because of it.
At the end of class, Miraki and Rinshai stood up to leave. They saw that Momo hadn't gotten up from her seat yet. In fact, she was just sitting with her head bowed as if ashamed of something.
One girl in particular leaned over and whispered something in her ear and Momo dropped her head even lower.
Miraki intercepted the girl before she could leave. “Hey.”
The girl looked at her with a “what-the-hell-do-you-want?” face that Miraki didn't like at all. She had dark brown hair that was cut short and she had entirely too much make up on, in Miraki's eyes. “Yeah?”
Miraki tossed her long red hair over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “What's your problem? Did she do something to you?”
The girl looked at her as if she were the dumbest creature on Earth. “Don't you know… oh wait,” she leaned back and looked at the redhead smugly, “Tanned whores all stick up for each other don't they, regardless of what they do?”
Rinshai's eyes widened and her fists clenched.
Miraki was not as subtle. She raised an eyebrow and grabbed the girl's hair faster than anyone could blink. There were gasps from the girls friends who were standing near the door. The teacher had left the classroom for a minute so no one was there to stop her.
“Hey, let go of me, bitch!” The girl tried to wiggle out of Miraki's grasp but the redhead was too strong.
“First of all, you got the second one right. Bitch yes, whore no.” She moved in closer so that the girl was the only one who heard. “If you say one more unkind word to Momo Adachi, or anyone that I know again, you will regret the day you decided to stop and call me a whore. Do I make myself clear?” The girl nodded in fear. Miraki tightened her grip on her hair. “Good. Now get the hell out of here.” She let go of the girl's hair so abruptly that the girl nearly lost her balance and toppled over.
Putting a hand to her head, the girl ran out of the classroom with her friends in tow, looking like scared rabbits.
Miraki breathed out deeply and shook her head. “Jeez, I hate having to be rough with people but it's the only way these damn fools learn.” She turned back to Momo who had witnessed the whole thing.
“I… that was… uh… thanks, I mean,” Momo started and then stood up. “You really didn't have to do that you know. They'll just start rumors about you too. I don't want to drag anyone else in this with me.”
Rinshai shrugged and rolled her eyes. “That's the way Mira is Momo. You know that. Remember back in Hokurishan Elementary when those big kids were picking on me and she ran over and beat them up? She's been like this ever since she was little. She can't help but defend people.” She looked over at her cousin. “It's in her nature.”
Momo looked at her a moment before recognition finally rang a bell in her head. “Rin… Rinshai… uh… Rinshai Soryu?”
Rinshai nodded and smiled. “Yup! You guessed correctly.”
Momo looked at Miraki. “And, you're… uh… Mira… no, Miraki…uh…”
The red head stuck her tongue out and laughed. “Well, one out of two ain't bad… I think. Miraki Houshin. Remember, we left about eight years ago for the U.S. Rin's parents transferred over there for their new job.”
The blonde blinked a few times, finally remembering that they were all very good friends at that time. She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I remember now. What brings you guys back here?”
Rinshai shrugged. “It's nice over there but we wanted to come back home. We just got in last week but had to get jobs before anything.” She looked down at her clothes. “As you can tell, these aren't exactly the uniforms but while ours are being made, these were the only clothes we had at the moment.”
Miraki waved her hand dramatically in the air. “It seems that we have stirred a lot of attention with our outfits,” she pinched her arm lightly, “and our skins.” She looked at Momo. “So, are you still having trouble because you tan easily?”
Momo looked at them both and took a deep breath. “Yeah.” She looked at the clock. “We better get going, don't wanna be late to class. Come on, I'll tell you all about it while we walk.”