Some Kind of Wonderful: Part 1

She confidently flicked her long, black hair, as she gracefully walked towards the Seishun Gakuen campus. The place was new to her, the people looked all the same yet they seemed just a little bit different compared to her. Pangs of insecurity and frustration started creeping in, until she realized that someone was actually calling her name.

"-san!" A rather cheerful voice called from behind. She turned around and saw a tall, young boy trying to catch up on her.

"Ah, Oishi-san. Good morning." The girl called slightly bowed upon seeing who the person was. She let out a small smile.

"Good morning! You should have told me that you're going to attend this school, we could have walked together, you know." Oishi Syuichirou greeted, as the two started walking together inside the school grounds.

gave the boy a soft smile, and proceeded to put her attention on to where she was going. It had been two months since she moved in from the States, and it was already the middle of the first semester. She felt lost. She deserved to feel that way, but for some reason, she thinks that she cannot handle all the pressure that she was feeling that moment.

"Oishi!"

Both Oishi and looked back, and saw a small group of young males (she thinks that they are all around 14 to 15 years old) approaching them. What caught her attention were the two tallest boys on the bunch, the raven-haired one wears dark-rimmed glasses, almost the same as the one that she was wearing, only that his seemed to hide his eyes. The other one looked meek and quiet, someone who was probably easy to befriend, at least, in her opinion.

"Ah, minna." Oishi smiled and waved at them. Both Oishi and stopped in their tracks and waited for the group to come near them.

"I would like to introduce my neighbor, . She just moved her from the United States with her mother." Oishi began. The boys smiled at her, their looks (aside from the one wearing thin-framed glasses) urged her to introduce herself.

"My name is , pleased to meet you." She said in Japanese, her voice filled with both confidence and nervousness. "I'll be completing my junior high school here at Seigaku. Please take care of me..."

"Iya, such a cute girl, -chan! Which class are you attending?" A cheerful-looking boy asked her.

"Uh, I still have to go to the principal's office for that one, but hopefully I'll get to see you again." smiled.

"Your Japanese is very good, -san. Were you born here or in the US?" The guy with the dark glasses asked while adjusting his spectacles.

"Oh, I was born here! We speak Japanese and English at home, but my mother urged me to take language classes too, just in case."

"Speaking of classes, we should all go to our rooms now. -san, I hope you enjoy your stay here! Ah, Oishi, are you going to stay with her?" The red-head asked.

Oishi nodded. "Yeah, I have to help her find the principal's office and her classroom, too. I will see you guys at lunch. Shall we go now, -san?"

nodded in agreement, and bowed slightly to the boys before following Oishi. Before they even went further, she looked back again and stole a glance at the tall and shy guy of the bunch and gave him a small smile. She felt herself blush when he saw the guy gave her a timid wave.

**********

Lunchtime. Instead of spending a huge amount of time getting seats inside the cafeteria, found herself in the company of Oishi and the boys that she saw earlier. She just realized that the group was actually the regulars of the boys' tennis team.

She was carefully chewing her meal as she was observing how the boys are eating and talking. The cheerful one, called Kikumaru Eiji, still wore the same bright smile that she saw on him that morning. Inui Sadaharu's eyeglasses really did look like hers, and Kikumaru teased that Inui could be her twin brother. Oishi was sitting beside Fuji Syuusuke, which she just saw that lunch, and Tezuka Kunimitsu, the one who greeted her earlier with a slight nod. She also met three more members of the team, a small freshman called Echizen Ryoma, which she recognized right away, surprisingly, as they used to live in the same street in the U.S., and two sophomore students, Momoshiro Takeshi and Kaidou Kaoru, who were really shy around her. They also looked as if they did not get along very well.

What really caught her attention was the guy called Kawamura Takashi. He was tall, as tall as she was, and is very quiet. He seemed to be the big-brother-type, just like Oishi, for he tended to remind the two sophomores to stop fighting, especially in front of her. She thought that the boys around her had very strong personalities, but Kawamura... She thought of him differently.

She was thinking about him that much that she didn't realize Oishi had been calling her again.

"-san?"

"O-oh. Ah, yes. Yes?" She said, looking confused.

"Fuji is asking if you are already enrolled in a language school." Oishi asked.

"Oh, no, not yet. I am planning to look for one today. Do you guys know a good school nearby?" asked, trying to compose herself.

"There's a language school near Taka-san's restaurant, am I right?" Kikumaru asked, and then turned to Kawamura for answer.

The boy gave a soft smile and then nodded. "Yes, it's just a two blocks away from our shop, so it's pretty convenient place. I can walk you there if you want."

was surprised upon hearing Kawamura's words. Walk? Together? After school? She started to panic, as she didn't know if she was supposed to feel happy or uncomfortable.

"That sounds like a pretty good idea, Taka-san. That way, you can also drop by their shop and taste Taka-san's father's sushi! It's one of the best sushi I've tasted." Momoshiro answered.

"I-is that so? T-then I would like to try some. I like sushi." She smiled.

**********

"So... have you adjusted here in Japan?" These are the words that heard from Kawamura as they were walking away from school. Since they did not have any practice that day, most of the boys already went home early. Kawamura then waited for as he promised her to take her to the Japanese language school near his father's sushi shop.

looked at the boy beside him and thought for a while. "I don't think so. I still get nervous when I'm alone. I was brought up in the United States, and even though that deep down I know I am Japanese, I feel like I'm American too, you know? And I am worried how I am supposed to fit in here."

Kawamura just nodded at her. It seemed that he did not want to say anything, but the thought that he was listening to her made her feel at ease.

"I guess I talk a lot, huh?" She chuckled. Kawamura smiled too, and replied. "No, no. It's all good, -san."

There was a short silence as they proceeded to their destination. While walking, could not help but look at the guy beside him once in a while. By some twist of faith, the moment she tried stealing a glance of his profile, he looked to the side where she was walking. They both stopped from walking and stood in the middle of the sidewalk.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?"

looked down, embarrassed. "Uh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"I'm sorry?"

"Uh, no, sorry, I was kind of staring at you."

"No, no. That's..."

"This is getting nowhere." said, and before she knew it, she was smiling again, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

"There is nothing to feel sorry for, -san. You know what? It suits you more if you smile more often. I do not know you that much, but I think you're a good person, -san. I hope that we will become friends."

"How about being friends now?" asked. She smiled at Kawamura and looked at him. She extended her hand for a handshake, which he took. She felt his hands were pretty strong.

"Friends?"

"Friends!" Kawamura chimed in, amusingly, in English.

Unknown to the two, a tall, bespectacled guy was hiding behind the post where the two just passed by, happily scribbling notes about them.

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April 14, 2007
Written by: Megane-ko
Edited by: linchpin
A/N: This is just the first part! :D Please look forward to the continuation.