Chapter III " I want to feel something, to be something...I want to find one thing that was mine and leave this behind..." "Untitled" by Fuel "...So I told him that if he was really good and wouldn't bug me for the day, I'd buy him ice cream!" Mina laughed with Amy and Lita as she finished her story." And he hasn't bugged me at all this morning, he just sat on his pillow and watched me!" Lita laughed at the thought." Poor Artemis-and you actually got up on time, too!" " I know!" Mina laughed." Wish Raye was here, she'd crack up!" " She would," Amy agreed. Fussing with her school skirt, she clutched her books against her chest and wished for the millionth time school was closer to her home-but she sort of liked the exercise, though. " Where's Serena?" Lita suddenly asked. Mina and Amy paused to look at their tall friend. She stared back down at them with wide, curious green eyes." She said she'd come early today so I could help her study for that history test first hour." Mina snorted." Right. She's probably still catching up on her Zz's, I wouldn't plan any more early morning study sessions, Lita." " Mina's right," Amy nodded, looking a little regretful at the crestfallen look on Lita's face." Serena means well, but..." she shrugged helplessly, once again a little ashamed that Serena couldn't bring herself to getting up a little earlier, or at least sleeping in earlier, to allow a friend to help her. But then again, Serena wasn't exactly happy about the news that Darien was going away to medical school in America. The girl sighed. It was gonna be a long day. * * * " I think I see the school from here!" Mandi strained on her tiptoes to see through the trees, jumping slightly to get a better view. Bri rolled her eyes. She wasn't even going to try to see, being about three to four inches shorter than her friend. She didn't really have an interest to see the building, the trees surrounding them captivated her-pink sakura petals clustered the trees beautifully-big bushels of pink hearts." I'm sure the school building's nice, Mandi. But look at these trees! They're so beautiful!" Mandi paused to notice them, smiling a little." Yeah, they are pretty." She plucked one, twirled it around her finger." I love the pink color." Bryony nodded, pink and yellow being her favorite colors. She looked ahead, noticing the school coming closer over the hill. She pursed her lips. It looked okay. Oh, jeez, Bri, she thought to herself, admit it: you don't have nerves of steel like Amanda does! God, I've never been this scared of starting school before in my life! What if they don't like me, what if I look too foreign or something? She gnawed on her lower lip anxiously- And was plowed to the ground. " YAH!" She flung her arms wide, trying to catch herself as someone else's hands clutched her shoulders and pushed her down. She fell on her stomach with an 'Oomphf!', added to the weight of the girl on her back. Mandi gaped at the two, taken by total surprise at the onslaught. The girl on top jumped up immediately after, streaming out "I'm sorry" over and over again as she helped Bryony up. " Oh, God, I'm so sorry," she wailed, brushing off Bri's blue shirt and khaki pants frantically, looking for any dirt. Much to the girl's utter surprise, she fixed her hair a little and put her cross on right so it lay on her chest, all the while repeating " I'm so sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I? Are you okay?" " I'm fine," Bryony replied, with a half smile at the comical situation. The girl smiled in reply ( she's pretty when she's not frantic, Bri thought) and bowed in respect, shouting about being late and rushing down the street before the two could get another word in. They stared at each other, blue and gold eyes wide. " Well that was the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Mandi broke in. Bri blinked, and stared down the sidewalk that the girl had teared down to reach the highschool in time. There was something about her. Something about her aura...I can't place it. Her eyes narrowed as she caught the last glimpse of the girl's long, trailing pigtails. She shook her head slightly, frowning as she tried to place it. Faintly, she heard a bell ring. I hope she made it." Yeah, and about the weirdest hair style I've ever seen." Mandi giggled as they walked on." Yeah! Looked like two meatballs on top of her head! Doesn't that tell ya what kinda day we're gonna have?" * * * " I HATE this school!" Bryony punched the locker was assigned, ready to cry at any moment." Why are they making us START today?! We just got our friggin' uniforms! They're crazy! Plus it's second hour, couldn't they have waited 'til tomorrow?!" Mandi grinned and pulled the shirt over the tank top she already wore." You're just nervous about meeting new people and new...guys," she winked. " Damn right I am," Bri grumbled, heading for the bathroom to change. The blonde chuckled as she followed her to change and get ready for their second hour: World History. * * * " Hey," Mina sat down swiftly in the seat next to Amy and in front of Lita. Her long blonde hair swung out and settled at the movement while she grinned at her friends." I heard we're getting new classmates." Amy's ears pricked up." Oh, really? Foreign exchange students?" " Not quite, least that's not what Serena told me," Mina replied, checking her makeup in the compact mirror she had before class started. Satisifed, she snapped it shut and put it away, then turned to Amy, all smiles." Apparently, Ser saw a big moving truck pull up in the drive of the house across the street the Kizuna's used to live in-the old couple?-she heard they're two teenage girls, and they're not on a foreign exchange deal, at least I don't think so. Anyway, she told me this a few minutes ago on the hall, I really hope we get to meet them!" " Me, too," Lita agreed, leaning over her desk to poke a pencil on Mina's ear." We've got a test in about five seconds, I hope you studied!" " Eek!" Mina screeched, frantically whipping up her history book." Nobody told me it was today!" Lita rolled her eyes." I mentioned it this morning." Amy giggled as Mina grumbled and moaned about not studying enough when- Serena ran in the moment the bell rang. " Ms. Tuskino!" The sensei strolled up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Serena immediately stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut." So glad of you to come. Why are you late, to second hour?" She sniffed." I was in the bathroom." Laughter erupted, and the sensei rolled his eyes." Take your seat, Serena." As she did, he walked to the front of the room, turning to watch the students watch him." As you know, there's a test today-" he raised his eyebrow at the audible sqeuak of dismay coming from Serena's direction-" about World War II and its affects on everyone around the globe, so I suggest you all take out your pencils, and-" Rap rap rap. Everyone turned toward the door. Frowning, the sensei walked over to the door and opened it ever so slightly." Yes?" " Think it's the new students?" Mina asked breathlessly. " I don't know," Amy replied, taking out a pencil and lending her extra to a friend behind her. The sensei came back in the room, smiling-as he brought in the two new students. " Everyone, I would like you to meet Amanda Son and Bryony Akim." Hey! Previous anxieties forgotten, Serena sat up straight in the chair as the two walked in. Her blue eyes went wide. Those are the girls I saw earlier today! And that's the one...she blushed a little. That I ran in to. " Wow, they're pretty!" Mina whispered to Amy and Lita, who nodded back. The one on the left had nearly white-blonde hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders, and eyes so blue they could have been mistaken for the sky-she was taller than the other one, with a wide smile on her face and mischief in her eyes that told Mina she was probably an outgoing, nice person who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Her friend was a few inches shorter, with light brown hair pulled up in a bun in the back except for two chin-length strands framing either side of her face. Pretty, Mina thought. Her eyes made her smile; innocent, nervous honey-colored eyes that scanned the class with a flicker of new-student-jitters. She had fairer skin than her friend, and clutched her books tighter to her chest-the only jewelry on her was the gold cross and a cute gold charm bracelet on one of her wrists. Mina chuckled to herself. She looks like a little schoolgirl in the playground with no one to talk to or play with. She decided they would make great friends. Hey, there's the girl who ran in to me! Bryony thought, focusing on the young girl in the back of the room, blue eyes wide with recognition with a faint blush on her cheeks-couldn't mistake the pigtails, now could she? And she couldn't help but notice the other blonde in the classroom, up front, staring at her and Mandi. Bri blushed a little. She was really gorgeous!' Gee, makes me feel kinda ugly- like Mandi does sometimes when she seems to draw ALL the male attention in the room to herself.' " Miss Akim?" " Huh?" She snapped back to reality, and turned to look at the sensei, who smiled at her." Yes, sensei?" " Would you care to tell the class a little bit about yourself and your friend, here?" ' Oh, no! Please don't make me do this!!' Bri bit her lip nervously, scanning the room again after looking into the irritatingly calm smile of Mandi that hinted a trace of mockery in it. ' Remind me to kill you later, Mandi'. She took a deep breath, grateful for the few understanding smiles some of the students shot at her. " Well..." she cleared her throat.' God, Bri, it's not a test, he's just asking you to tell them why you're here!!'" I'm Bryony...Um...Mandi and I," she gestured toward Amanda, speaking in fluent Japanese," are from America, California to be exact, which is on the West Coast-"' Duh, Bri, 'course they know that!!'-" and we moved in today, in the east suburbs of Tokyo..." she cleared her throat again." We've been best friends since we were ten, and this is a big step for us, so we hope we'll like it here and make new... friends..." She blew out a sigh of relief when the students clapped. The sensei nodded his approval." The students are taking a history test right now, but I'll give the two of you a slightly different one to see where you stand with the class, okay?" They nodded." Mandi, why don't you take a seat behind Keyla there, who's behind Amy in the blue, and Bryony, why don't you sit across from her, behind Lita, the other brunette?" They nodded. Bri had never felt more like a circus freak, which she would gladly tell Mandi after this was done. Why were they all staring? And the guys that were staring (all the guys in the class) made her especially nervous. Hadn't they ever seen a foreign student before? Mandi and Bri took their seats, the former settling in elegantly and the latter plopping down with relief, glad the stars weren't on her anymore. Lita turned in her seat real quick, and gave her a warm smile." You did real good up there!" she winked, and extended her hand." I couldn't have done better. My name's Lita Kino." Bryony smiled her first real smile, and shook her hand gladly. Oddly, the minute their hands touched, both felt a spark of something.' What was that??' both thought. Bri shook her head a little.' She's got such an odd, powerful aura. Like that girl. Who is she?' Smiling in a little confusion, she answered," Hi, pleased to meet you, Lita." ' Whoa, this chick's got a shitload of power!' Lita thought in a daze. It made her dizzy-where did a young girl get as much power as...what felt like an outer senshi?' I'm gonna have to ask Amy to look her up.'" Let me see your schedule so I know if we have any classes together!" Bri nodded, and dug in her pocket for it." I know it's in here somewhere." Lita giggled while she pulled out receipts, papers, and finally her schedule amongst the pile of junk from her pockets." Here you go." She spared a glance at Mandi, and rolled her eyes at the sight of her best friend turning around to chat with a guy, as usual, as the quizzes were passed out. " Cool, we've got math, science and lunch together!" Bryony smiled back as the sensei placed the tests on their desks and handed her and Mandi pencils. It seemed like she would be making friends, after all.