RenRen! Chapter One

Prologue

         Yotsuba Public High. You could say it's a normal high school. The building is white, as if it were scrubbed by hand with bleach. The inside is just as white as the outside, if not more. The uniforms are simple black and white. Girls wear white blouses with ribbons and black plaid skirts. Boys wear white dress shirts with black ties and black slacks. Rvrn though this school seems average, there is an intriguing story taking place behind the scenes. For that story, you will have to visit the first year class of 1-B.

Chapter one

         In the minutes before homeroom, students are sitting on desks, talking and running around the room playing tag. An older gentleman opens the door and begins to address the class.
         "Excuse me. Quiet down."
         The students were nearly silent.
         "Homeroom will be delayed a bit today. Your regular teacher, Asami-sensei, has decided to finally take maternity leave. We were having a bit of trouble finding a replacement on such short notice, however, it's now resolved." The gentleman stepped aside and called towards the door.
         In walked a young woman, wearing black jeans and a black pin-striped blouse, sleeves rolled up halfway on her arms. Her bobbed orange hair bounced as she walked. She turned to face the class and a strand of hair fell over her eyes. The woman made no move to push it back. Slate gray eyes with an uncaring expression.
         The man walked out of the room and clsed the door behind him. Instantly the students erupted in chatter.
         "Hey..." called the woman.
         The kids were oblivious.
         "Quiet down..." she called again, this time with a hint of anger in her voice.
         Still oblivious, paying no attention.
         The woman teacher took a deep breath.
         "LISTEN UP YOU PUNKS! SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP SO WE CAN GET THROUGH THIS! I DONT WANT TO BE HERE ANY LONGER THAN I HAVE TO, TRYING TO TEACH LITTLE BRATS LIKE YOU!"
         The class stared at her in disbelief. They were frightnened but obeyed her orders. A lone girl skipped forward, out of the rest of her peers.
         "Nice to meet you." the girl said calmly "My name is Eri. I am the class represenative." She bowed politely.
         "Oh, uh..." The woman was taken aback. Call me Ren... Ren-sensei. I-"
         Before the woman called Ren could finish her sentence, another woman barged through the door, in an unmistakable rage. Her light brown hair was done tightly up in a bun on her head. Her reading glasses reflected the lights of the classroom.
         "I heard you were new, so you may not know. My name is Ms. Madoka-sensei, from class 1 - C. Here in Yotsuba High we do not tolerate disruptions and noisy conduct! If I were you..." Ms. Madoka trailed off and set her eyes upon Eri, instead of Ren-sensei. The look on her face turned from rage, to disgust, to rage again. "YOU!" She pointed a shaky finger at Eri. "You... Your hair!"
         Eri's hair was an insane shade of red, which was parted to the side. Everytime she turned or moved her head, her flame-red hair would shine brilliantly in the light.
         "It's against school rules to dye your hair, especially that ridiculous color! I will not hesitate to take you down to the office and send home to wash that mess out of your hair!"
         "But ma'am..." Eri began.
         "Don't talk back to me!" Ms. Madoka barked. "I am your teacher!"
         "Ma'am, it's my natural color! I swear!" Tears were welling up in Eri's eyes.
         Ms. Madoka grabbed Eri by the wrist and started pulling her toward the door.
         "HEY!" Ren looked at the two angrily. "Madoka that is my student last time I checked, not yours.You have no right to interfere with my class. If she says that's her natural color, then we should just believe her. It's not doing any harm either. I myself have orange hair. Now, I suggest you let go of my student and quietly leave." Ren glared fiercely.
         Ms. Madoka stood frozen for a second, stiffly pushed her glasses back up on her nose, and left.
         "Now..." Ren began.
         "OMIGOD Sensei! That was totally amazing!" screamed a small girl with bleach-blonde hair and blue eyes. "No one has done that for Eri before! Well, except for me of course, because I'm just so..." The girl started babbling.
         The teacher narrowed her eyes at the overly-excited student. "Do I know you?"
         Already out of her seat, the girl stood before Ren and opened her mouth. "Yes! I'm Sol! I'm 5'1" and 110 pounds! My blood type is A and I'm a Sagittarius! My mother is Japanese, My father is German, so that makes me Germanese! I like curry the best and my ultimate favorite color is pink! Nice to meet you sensei!" The girl, Sol, saluted Ren instead of politely bowing, and smiled.
         "Great." Said Ren "Another loud one."



         Three rings by the bell marked the start of lunch time. Trays were bought, bento boxes were unwrapped. In the teacher's lounge was Ren, buying a fruit flavored water drink. On her way out she noticed a small figure sitting underneath a sakura tree. 'That's strange' Ren thought 'Don't punks this age have friends to sit with or something?' She opened the window with a little force, put her foot carefully on the edge, and jumped off. Only a soft thud could be heard as Ren landed gracefully on her feet. No one seemed to notice that she had made a perfect jump from the second story.
         Indeed, sitting beneath the sakura tree was a little boy, all alone and without a lunch. He turned toward Ren and she could see herself reflected in his lavender eyes. He gave a boyish grin.
         "You're all alone, aren't ya kid?"
         "Not really..." The boy replied, sadness evident in his voice.
         Ren flopped down next to the child. It was obvious he was lonely.
         "You have a name or should I make one up for you?"
         "..."
         "Fork!"
         "Uh... what?" She was slightly confused. "Are you saying your name's Fork?"
         "Yes! Fork is Fork!" The boy jumped
         "Well Fork, aren't you a little young to be playing on the high school campus?"
         "Fork is here. This Fork's school!"
         More confusion. "You're telling me you're a high school student?"
         Fork nodded. He wasn't wearing a uniform, but Ren decided not to call him out on his lie. He was only a kid after all.
         "Tell me, Fork," She played along "What's a high school student such as yourself is doing here, sitting under a tree all alone? Not to mention, without a lunch."
         "Fork is waiting."
         "Waiting?"
         "And thinking. Fork is thinking too!"
         "..."
         "About what?"
         Fork hesitated, then said "Spells. Curses. Magic."
         'Occult?' Ren thought. 'That's probably why he has no friends. Weird kid.'
         A shadow blocked out the sun for a brief second and startled them. A boy with blue hair in a small ponytail approached the two. Ren turned to Fork to ask him of he knew the guy, but stopped when she saw the expression on Fork's face.
         Fork's lavender eyes sparkled with happiness. His mouth contorted into the biggest smile Ren had ever seen on a child that size. He stared up to the boy as if he was trying to control himself. Then Fork jumped up and flung his arms around the motionless boy.
         "Rannk!" Fork squealed in a childish voice.
         Ren stood up to face the two.
         "This is Rannk, Fork's bestest friend!"
         The boy described as Rannk stood still, making no move to push the little boy away. His face was blank and expressionless. Amber eyes staring apathetically ahead.
         Fork turned Rannk in a circle before dragging him off into the unknown depths of the school. "Thanks for talking with Fork, Ren-sensei!" Fork called over his shoulder.
         A gust of wind ruffled Ren's hair. "Huh?" she wondered aloud. "Did I tell him my name?"



         A chalk board eraser greeted sensei when she opened the door to her class. Dust spread out around her face.
         "Ah, Sensei!" Sol cried "S-sorry!"
         Ren stood motionless.
         "Hiro! This is all your fault!" Sol yelled "You made me throw the eraser! You should've just let it hit you!"
         A boy looked out from behind Ren. His messy brown hair was unkempt and swayed. He stuck his tongue out and laughed "If you would just let me play with your hair a bit, you wouldn't have needed to throw the eraser in the first place."
         "Like hell I'm gonna let you touch me! This hair is far too delicate for your clumsy fingers."
         Hiro darted toward Sol, but was quickly knocked down by Ren.
         "You're the problem here, aren't you?" growled the angry teacher. Hiro was stunned.
         "Are you taking her side?!?!"
         "YOU BET YOUR ASS I AM!"
         A quiet knock interrupted the feuding class.
         "Um, excuse me. This is class 1- B, right?" A young man peeked out from the side of the door. He wore stylish glasses, and his long black hair was tied back with two pieces framing his face. He smiled gentley at Ren. "My name is Jin. I'm here to teach English."

~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES:
         -Classes in Japan are catagorized by number and letter. The number represents what year the class is, and the letter is to distinguish the multiple classes in that year.
         -Teachers are usually referred to as "sensei". We call Madoka "Ms. Madoka" instead of "Madoka-sensei" because, well, we just don't like her.
         -Some schools make regulations to force students not to have colored hair. They think the only colors "appropriate" is black or brown. However, there are special exceptions for foreigners if they have blonde hair (like in Sol's case) or if they have red hair. Unfortunately, Eri's hair color isn't accepted even though it is red. It's just too wild.
         -When Sol introduces herself to Ren, it is common to state one's height, sign, and blood type, however, Sol just goes over the top and is like a runaway train.
         -A Bento Box is like a lunch box, but it's usually wrapped in cloth.
         -A sakura tree is a cherry blossom tree. They're very pretty in spring.
         -Yes, Fork talks in third person. We know. Yes, Fork is a weird name. Live with it.

THANK YOU FOR READING. It's not very good, but I'm just an ameteur doing this for fun in my free time. I'll try to get chapter 2 up soon. I like to type these sorts of things while my character on Mabi is fishing. =D