Samurai Champloo Fan Fiction ❯ High School Hell ❯ High School is a Necessary Hell ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo beyond what copyright allows me to own, that is DVDs, mangas and other such merchandise.

 

 

Chapter 1: High School is a Necessary Hell

 

A young girl in a pink “Powerpuff Girls” t-shirt and jean shorts groaned as a bell rang from the nearby school building. Picking up her school bag she pushed off from the shady tree that she had been leaning on and proceeded towards her doom at a measured pace.

 

“High school is a necessary Hell.” She told herself, “just grin and bear it girl. Soon you'll be far away from all these jerk offs.”

 

She passed by clumps of students chattering away, oblivious to the sound of the bell signaling the first hour of classes as she walked through the quad. She glanced at each group in turn noting the lines of division and territory claimed by each clique.

 

There were the Goths occupying the benches around the sorry, dead dogwood tree that smelled like a rotting carcass during spring semester. They sprawled about looking like a black, bleak landscape of the heart. They were neither animated nor stationary as she could see them switch positions while their unheard conversation evolved. On the perimeter of their territory, tolerated but not completely accepted, the Emo-kids no doubt conversed about their latest sessions with their beloved therapists.

 

On the other side of the quad the Jocks and their Cheerleader girlfriends held court in a colorful assortment of varsity jackets and pleated skirts. They were surrounded by their loyal subjects, also known as the junior varsity and cheerleader wannabes. The Jocks regaled the junior varsity with stories of their latest and greatest physically taxing exploits while the Cheerleaders sat at a round stone table and painted their nails while they gushed about how great last week's pep rally had gone.

 

There were many other cliques that made up the school population: socials, hip-hoppers, band-nerds, drama-nerds, nerd-nerds. And then there were The Outcasts. They were the one group that terrified her the most, the group that contained HIM. And they were dead-ahead.

 

Why The Outcasts had chosen the territory closest to the entrance of the building that housed her locker was beyond her. But she had to pass them every school day and endure their taunts and rude comments. Of a surety she wasn't the only object of derision, everyone who had to get into that building was subject to victimization, but sometimes it seemed as though she got it the worst.

 

Maybe it was because she wasn't associated with another clique and was afforded none of the protection that a group received. She was a loner who floated through her classes and got the best grades in her class level. She had no friends to protect her. Her sister sometimes stood up for her but that usually did more harm than good as the taunts would be twice as bad as before. She'd endured this for two years and her reluctance to stand up for herself had made it easier for them to pick on her.

 

She forged ahead with her head down, her shoulder length brown hair hiding her face, hiding her anxious expression, hiding her pain for surely if she showed them that they had affected her it would fuel the flames. As she neared them she steeled herself for the comments about to come her way.

 

The Outcasts were comprised of a motley crew of rockers: alternative, punk, heavy metal, and hard core. Their sub-cliques were labeled as mods, straight-edgers, skaters and all around misfits. And then there was HIM. He was in a league of His own. He was the worst. He was a juvenile delinquent who was one step away from being tried as an adult for being an all around asshole. He was tall, lanky and had a mouth to rival any truck driver that had ever roamed the country. He had dark hair that looked like it had never met the business end of a comb, dark eyes devoid of any recognizable human emotion and a dark, dusky complexion that would have been attractive on someone with a heart. He was the leader of The Outcasts and the bane of her existence.

 

Today He was wearing blue board shorts that went down to his knees and a red button up shirt that was unbuttoned all the way. Under the red shirt he wore a white wife-beater. He was sitting on the railing in front of the building being supported by two skanky girls with unnaturally large breasts straining their spaghetti strap shirts and skirts that would have put any proud prostitute to shame. He was laughing like a hyena at some joke that he had told and his shaking might have caused some brain damage to his giggling support if their heads hadn't been empty to begin with. HIS name was Mugen.

 

And her name was Fuu. As every step led her closer to the building it felt as though her legs had turned into lead and that time stood still. Every sound faded until she could only focus on the sound of the danger ahead of her. His guffaws were getting louder as she neared and she could also hear the high pitched cackle of the witches that surrounded him. What those girls saw in a man so cruel she would never comprehend. Her brain buzzed with angry words as she cursed their existence silently. She did not understand why they had to make her life a living hell. They had no right to make her feel so small and insignificant.

 

Her thoughts gave her the inner strength needed to cross the next few feet and the next few feet after that. Before long she was passing them by and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard nothing directed at her. Perhaps they had finally tired of their game. But as she reached for the door handle she heard his voice ringing clearly behind her.

 

“Hey ugly! I almost missed you passing by. God forbid I don't get a chance to see your nasty face and . . . “

 

She snapped. Before she knew what she was doing, Fuu turned away from the door where she had frozen at the sound of his voice and marched over to him. Her expression was a mixture of fury and craze as she lifted her hand and struck him with two years of pent up frustration. “You asshole. Why can't you just leave me alone!”

 

Everyone around them froze and stared at the mouse who had dared raise her hand to the lion. Mugen stared at her as though she had grown a second head. And when she realized what she had done the crazed light left her eyes and the offending hand flew to her mouth. She looked at Mugen's eyes and saw the growing understanding in them. If she did not leave soon there would be hell to pay. She turned on her heel and fled the scene.

 

Mugen stared after the girl's retreating form. Two years they had goaded her and him most of all because she never fought back. Two years and she had never once turned back to see him as he called her names and made fun of her physique. He was surprised to say the least. He looked around at his crew and saw the shocked expressions all around. Time to save face. “Fucking bitch. I'm gonna kill her.”

 

He hopped down off the railing and walked toward the building entrance. Once he found the girl he was going to show her what she got for standing up to him and making a fool of him in front of his crew. But he never found her. There were two floors to the building and by the time he finished searching the first floor the last bell for the first hour had rung. He hurried to his first class determined to find her sooner or later and beat her to a pulp.

 

He sidled into his class just as the teacher called his name for roll and sat down in his preferred seat in the back of the room. He put his feet on the seat in front of him and leaned back for a nap. But his repose was short lived as the teacher came up to him and tapped him on the head.

 

“Hmmm Whats up teach?” He said insolently with only one eye open.

 

“Mugen, your grades are terrible and you never pay attention in class. This is the last straw. I want you to go to your counselor's office and hand them this paper. Then I want you back in this class fully awake and with your textbook.” The teacher handed Mugen an official looking document and marched back to the front of the room.

 

Mugen didn't even bother glancing at the paper. Anything to get him out of class, even if he did have to talk to a school counselor was fine by him. Picking up his pathetically light bag he got up and left the classroom.

 

He knew where he was going, he'd been sent to his counselor's office so many times that all of the receptionists knew him by sight. He nodded an acknowledgment to the woman behind the desk and took a seat to wait. Soon he was ushered into a closet of an office that contained one desk covered in papers and family photos and dominated by a large computer screen, two chairs and two overflowing file cabinets. He knew that one of those cabinets was exclusively for him because she had told him so the last time he had been sent to her office. The walls were covered in school spirit memorabilia and certificates.

 

“What's new Mrs. Yatsuha? And may I say that you look especially FINE today.” He took a seat opposite her and draped one arm on the back as though he didn't have a care in the world. He looked at her with hungry eyes and if she hadn't been hardened by six years as a high school counselors in the large urban city, she may have quailed under such intense scrutiny.

 

“Mugen, what did you do this time?” was all that she said in response.

 

“Teach told me to give ya this.” he said handing her the paper. She glanced at it and smirked. He sat straighter in his chair wishing that he had examined it before giving it to her. “Hey, what's so funny? What's the damn thing say?”

 

Her expression sobered as she raised her eyes to meet his though she couldn't help that the corners of her mouth were tugged up by an inescapable smile. “Mugen, your teachers have all signed a petition saying that you need to get a tutor.”

 

“A what! Are they fucking nuts.” He grabbed the paper from her and glanced at the paragraph and glanced at the twenty or so signatures at the bottom. “Hey some of these bozos aren't even my teachers. I'm not taking that many classes What the hell is going on?”

 

“Mugen, watch your language. I need to take this seriously and if you'll just wait a moment in here I'll see who is available to tutor you in all of your subjects because it seems as though you are failing all of them.” She got up to leave and glanced at the boy in her office. How he had ever gone through elementary and middle school was a mystery but his grades were appalling and his social skills were non-existent. She shook her head as she made her exit.

 

Mugen stared at the paper in his hands and tried to calm himself down. But shame and rage threatened to tear him in two. Who the hell do they think they are and what the fuck do they think they're gonna get for doing this shit? I've hidden this secret for a long fucking time and gotten by fine and now they wanna pull this crap. Goddamn it. He raised his head when Mrs. Yatsuha re-entered the office and sat down in her chair. She reached over her desk and he couldn't help but sneak a peak at her cleaveage when she did. She plucked the paper from his hand and placed it in her overflowing inbox.

 

“Well, there's only one tutor available Mugen and she's very smart. I think that you'll learn a lot from her. To make sure that you actually attend the sessions they are being held in the empty office next to mine. Your homeroom teacher has agreed to let you come here during that hour to study with her. So I'll expect you here after lunch.”

 

“Yeah whatever.” He got up and stormed out of the office. The last thing he needed was to get into trouble again so he headed back to his first hour class.

 

After lunch he walked into the counselor's office with a plan. Yatsuha had said that the tutor was female so he'd just seduce her into doing all his work for him. He nodded to the receptionist and walked into the empty office. What he saw threw his plans right out the window.

 

“YOU!”

 

Fuu looked up at his exclamation and paled. “Wha? But. . You can't be serious.” she groaned.

 

“Oh hell no you aren't my tutor. How the hell am I supposed to seduce an ugly ass girl like you into doing my work.” He paced the office agitatedly while she stared at him.

 

“Excuse me? Seduce me into doing your work? I don't think so pal. I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last living organism on earth.” She put her hands on her hips and gave him her best don't mess with me look.

 

Mugen stopped his pacing and regarded the girl. Was this the same girl who for the past two years had taken his insults and walked away. Now she was glaring at him and talking back. “You know you're way more fun when you talk back. It's nice to know you finally grew a backbone. For a while there I didn't think you could talk.”

 

Was that his idea of a compliment? She tried her best to gather her composure and sat down on one end of the desk. She motioned for him to take the other seat and watched as he plunked down in front of her. She cleared her throat and said. “Um Mugen. I was told that I had to tutor you on several subjects so I uh guess we'd better get started. Why do you think you're having problems?”

 

“Hmph... I don't have any damn problems okay. These classes suck ass.” He leaned across the desk and smirked when she leaned away from him. “Look, here's how it's gonna go. You do all my work and I'll make sure no one bothers you okay?”

 

“What?”

“They said you were smart and you can't even understand that? I'm offering you my protection if you do all my work for me. We'll meet here ever day so that I can give you my assignments and you give them back to me the next day finished, but don't do too good a job cuz they'll know I didn't do it. That's all you have to do and I'll keep everyone off your back.”

 

She gave the deal some thought. It would be nice not to be made fun of anymore. But this was cheating wasn't it? Oh hell who cares, you won't have to deal with him and his friends anymore. Her inner voice told her.

 

“Okay deal. Tell me what your assignments are.” She took out a pen and paper and prepared to write down what he told her.” She stared at the sheets of paper that he handed her. “What's all this?”

 

“They're my assignments. I have my friends write down what my teacher tells them so that I can sleep in class.”

 

“I can't read your friends handwriting so can you just read them off to me so that I can write them down myself.” She sat with her pen poised above the paper and waited for him to say something. When nothing seemed forthcoming she looked up. He was squinting at the paper in front of him holding it at arm's length his face. He looked like he was concentrating a lot. She put her pen down and took the paper from him. Then she looked at Mugen and tried not to smile. “I think I know what your problem is Mugen.”

 

His pale and terrified face was very satisfying and she did smile.

 

“So if you uh think you know smart-ass. Then tell me huh, what's my problem.” He looked around the room to see if anyone was around.

 

“Well judging by the way you held that paper, I would guess that you can't see it. You need glasses don't you?” She screamed when he lunged across the desk and grabbed her by the front of her shirt.

 

“Don't you dare tell anyone you little bitch. No one knows my secret.”

 

“What's the big deal anyway? They're just glasses.”

 

“Only nerds wear glasses. I'm not a nerd, I'm a badass. How would it look, me wearin glasses. I'd get laughed at. I'll do whatever you want, as long as you don't tell anyone.”

 

“Look Mugen, I just want you guys to stop making fun of me all the time.” She extricated herself from his grasp and warily watched him get off of the desk. “I'll keep tutoring you and I'll help you with your homework but in light of this new info I'm not gonna do it all for you. You need to get glasses. You don't have to wear them all the time, just whenever your in here with me doing work. Okay?”

 

“Whatever. Look I need to get going. I'll see ya tomorrow and if you don't tell anyone about the glasses we wont make fun of ya.” He turned and walked out of the door.

 

She stood there with a bemused smile on her face. After so long she'd get some peace and all she'd have to do was keep a little secret. But God it was Mugen, this was gonna be harder than it seemed.

 

 

(A/N: Okay if I get a good response about this chapter then I'll continue. I didn't really want this to be so dark seeming but I'll try to get the mood lighter in any future chapters that may or may not come. Read and Review and tell me if I should continue. Neko out)