Thursday, 12 April 2012

05:59 Local Time

Someone's POV

~~~

I woke up from my sleep, feeling refreshed after a long night's rest. I sat up on top of my bed, looking around my room before noticing that I've beaten the alarm clock yet again for 5th time in a row.

"Ha! I've beaten you again, Mr. Alarm Clock!" I muttered as I turned off my alarm clock before it went off in less than a minute.

If you haven't known me yet, my name is Tokugawa Suzume (Surname then first name), or I usually go by with Suzume "Suzy" Tokugawa-Williams. It's a long name I admit, but it's not really a problem in my book.

As I placed back my alarm clock, I realized at the time that today was my first day at my new school. Yeah, I got transferred to this middle school right next to Tokyo's largest river after moving back to Japan from the United Kingdom.

I jumped out from my bed, humming my favourite song as I stretched my muscles in my body. After that, I grabbed my new school uniform that hung on my wardrobe's door handle and went for a shower.

Not long after, I checked up on my pets that I've kept inside the room next to my room. In that room, there were 4 different kinds of snakes that I've been keeping since I was 8 years old. Not only that, in the same room, there were also spiders, and some reptiles like Iguanas and Lizards.

After finishing my pet-keeping tasks, I went downstairs to get myself some breakfast.

Sliding open the Shoji door that led to the dining room, my dearest mom and my sister greeted me.

"Suzy! Good morning, dear!" She greeted me from the kitchen.

"Good morning, mom!" I replied, "Where's dad?"

"Oh, he went to work earlier. So unfortunately, he's not having breakfast together with us this morning."

"Ah, I see..." I replied. "Hey, Nanami... Are you excited for the first day of school!" I asked my younger sister that was also transferred to a school called Suimei Elementary School.

"Yeah! I can't wait to make new friends, nee-chan!" She exclaimed.

"I'm glad that you are, Nanami! I can't wait to make new friends too!" I said, sitting right next to my sister. "Did you know that yesterday I've met with some of the students in my new school?"

"Really?"

"Yes! They were so nice! I hope I can see them once I got formally transferred into that school!" I exclaimed.

As I was talking, my older brother Kaito entered the dining room, with a fresh and renewed vigour under that pair of uniforms. Really, today is the first day of school for all of us, so everyone was in renewed spirits.

My brother was a second year High School student. He got transferred into a private school in the north of the city.

"Good morning, Onii-chan!" I greeted my brother after my mom had greeted him before.

"Morning, Suzy! Morning, Nana!" He replied, sitting down right in front of me. "You are not going on a morning jog, Suzy?"

"Oh no, I'm trying to keep my morning as simple as possible today. I will slowly adjust my morning schedule." I spoke.

"I see" He replied.

Then our mom came into the room, bringing 3 plates full of our wonderful English breakfast. "Here you go, kids! I've put on extra bacon and sausages for you, Kaito!"

"Oh, thank you!" My older brother replied with glee.

And, we ate our breakfast just like other day but without our father.

When the time's come for us to go to school, our mom prepared herself to go to work while both Nanami and my brother, Kaito were in the hands of our family's personal driver. A real kind 58-year-old man called Mr. Wakayama.

What about me? Well, I prefer using my bicycle which's been mended by my brother so that the brakes wouldn't fail again. Honestly, because the bike hasn't been used for a long time, it was really on its last legs right now – no thanks to that lizard-faced Suneo!

I set off after waving goodbye to my mom, starting my very first journey to school alone.

Meanwhile, a few hundred metres away

Nobita's First-Person Perspective

Today, I woke up a little earlier than I usually did. Apparently, Suneo and Gian wanted to invite me to go to school together.

How nice of them to ask me such things, usually they would go first and laugh their heads off once I arrived late. Meh, they might just try to change their tone in middle school I suspect.

But anyways, I left the house right before 7.30 in the morning, in which Suneo and Gian were already waiting in front of my house. I'm not taking my bicycle today, because... well... Gian wanted me to walk with them.

"Morning, Nobita... have you prepared everything?" Suneo asked.

"Yeah, I am... Today we're bringing out our PE uniforms, right?"

"Yup." Suneo nodded. "let's go, Nobita..."

"Alright!"

We started our journey as a trio, after a millennium of not doing such things when we're going to school. We traded jokes and talked about the school, in which we then arrived at one subject which caught our attention.

"Nobita, have you heard that there's going to be a new student in our school?"

"Nope... Haven't heard about it." I replied, "Where did you know about that?"

"Class Rep Non-chan told me about it yesterday. The principal asked her about an empty seat right beside Shizuka's seat and she got the information that there's going to be a new student that moved in from United Kingdom."

"A foreign student?" Gian asked, "Oh man, how will I interact with him if he's going to speak English all the time?"

"I do share the same concerns with him, Suneo..." I added. "However, if this new student is gonna be a girl... I'm hoping she's a keeper."

"I agree..." Suneo said.

"Now that you mention it, that reminds me of a girl whom we met long time ago. She lived right next to Suneo's home if I remember correctly." Nobita said, sparking Gian's memory of it. However, Suneo knew who Nobita referred to, his eyes just widened up but he refuses to respond to what Nobita had said

"Ah yeah! It was Suzy-chan! I wonder how the 'introduction' session goes, Suneo..." He said, giving Suneo a smug face he was well known of

"Don't ask me about it... That keeps giving me trauma every time I try to recall that event happening." Suneo replied.

"Haha! Too bad that she left for the UK before we had more fun with her." Gian replied, "I wonder where she is right now!"

"Haha yeah, she might be living her life back in England." Nobita added, looking up to the morning sky with a thin blanket of clouds covering it.

As Nobita and Gian obliviously referred to the girl, Suneo knew that he had met with her again recently. He kept this a secret though, to avoid further repercussion that was caused by it.

Long story short, they had finally arrived at the school, 15 minutes before the bell rang and the earliest Nobita has ever arrived since the first day of school.

As they entered the classroom, they were greeted by Shizuka and Nonko who had already arrived in the school. However, both seemed to be intrigued by something they had been discussing with Dekisugi before the trio came in.

"So, have you heard about the new transfer student?" Shizuka asked, while both Suneo and Nobita came into the group with Gian coming a few seconds after.

"Yeah, she got transferred from a school in United Kingdom, right?" Suneo replied, "Is it going to be a girl or a boy?"

"A girl, one of our classmates actually caught a glimpse of her this morning." Nonko replied, "In fact, they have said that she had a blonde hair. In which resembles the look of the girl that Shizuka and I met in front of the principal office on Tuesday."

"I can't wait to meet her in person!" Shizuka added. "I hope that she is going to be the girl that we stumbled across last Tuesday!"

"Yeah, she is a nice girl, you know." Nonko responded as the bell rang behind them, marking the start of the lesson.

Of course, they were expecting the science teacher to enter the room, as it was scheduled that the first lesson, they were going to have was Science.

Instead, their homeroom teacher came into the room, carrying his folder between his arms. Most of the students in that classroom had already known the reason why he entered the room, but to some... It was pretty baffling for the homeroom teacher to enter their classroom outside his lesson (Mathematics) and the homeroom session.

"Good morning, students!" He greeted.

"Good morning, sensei!" They replied.

"Today, I'm going to introduce you to a transfer student that got transferred from a school in United Kingdom. She is going to be your new classmate for a year or more." He explained, before gesturing at the front door. "Alright, Tokugawa-san! Come in!"

"Haii~" A girl by the family name of 'Tokugawa' replied from outside the classroom.

Immediately, the whole gang embraced themselves. Shizuka and Nonko immediately recognized this voice and oddly, so did Suneo, Gian and Nobita. Nobita stared closely at the door, waiting for this girl to come into the room to confirm his initial suspicion.

And finally, girl that was as tall as Suneo, hoarding a ponytailed blonde hair and a blue ribbon entered the room. Her pale blue eyes looked at the intrigued classroom and gave them a smile in which made most of the boys' swoon from her beauty.

Her smile widened after seeing Shizuka and Nonko, the girl whom she had met last Tuesday, albeit in an accident.

She stepped in front of the class to introduce herself to her new classmates. "Good morning, guys!"

"Good morning!!!" The whole class replied, the boys being the loudest.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Tokugawa-Williams Suzume!! I got transferred from United Kingdom soon after graduating elementary school in the UK when my father moved back to Japan!"

She held both of her palms in front of her chest. "I'm looking forward to being friends with all of you!!"

"Thank you, Tokugawa-san!" Mr. Sugiyama commended, "You can take a seat right next to Minamoto-san right at the back."

"Alright, sensei! Thank you for the hospitality!" Suzume said, proceeding to walk towards the back of the classroom.

When she did though, she noticed other 3 familiar figures. Nobita, Gian and at the last, Suneo. However, she didn't greet Nobita and Gian as spectacular as she did with Suneo, because of a very obvious reason.

She was in fact the one who struck and confronted the fox-headed teen back on Monday, or his first day of school. The sheer bitterness in his heart because she hasn't apologized for the damage she had done to him was on par with a sudden surge of bitterness within her heart that has grown since.

"E-eh?? Suneku-kun!?!??!" She exclaimed, pointing her hand at the fox headed kid.

Suneo, who was equally surprised replied back, "You again!!?"

This sudden burst of words caught the whole classroom off guard, including the homeroom teacher who was still standing in front of the class, preparing his notes.

They could all feel the cold, sinister atmosphere that materialized in-between these two the moment they 'greeted' each other.

They argued as hard as they could, as if the world around them had faded out and it was just between those two in a dark void.

"Hey, you still owe me an apology! Both for the bicycle crash and when you threw me into a room full of snakes!!" Suneo exclaimed, "You trying to brew up something new here instead of brewing up your famous tea?!"

Of course, Suzume won't give up her ground to Suneo just like that, she fought back with her own fire. "I refuse!! I definitely won't replace that PSP that I broke because you acted so rude to me back then!" She replied in defense, "And that remark is not so nice... you know..."

"I don't care!"

"Look, you freaking bean sprout! Arguing with a girl that has just been transferred to this school? I wonder how low you'll stoop before they dig you up and put you in a museum!" Suzume replied. "Now, shut your runaway mouth before I tape your mouth shut and make sure you're ancient history!"

"Alright, fair enough. You can get back to your throne, your highness..." Suneo exclaimed.

This argument was of course, being watched by the whole class and, of course, their homeroom teacher, who was equally as intrigued of what has just unfolded in front of their very eyes.

The homeroom teacher though, was having none of it, especially Suneo's insult towards his new transfer classmate.

"Honekawa-kun!" He exclaimed unequivocally, "What's that again?"

Suneo calmed down a bit, while Suzume sat down in her seat, smirked. "Uh... N-no?"

"Where is your respect towards her?! That insult was unacceptable!! Meet me at the teacher office after school, Honekawa-kun!" Mr. Sugiyama scolded, "Understand?"

"Y-yes, I understand, S-sensei!" Suneo stammered

"Good..." The homeroom teacher sighed, "Anyways, that's all from me... You guys will continue with the next lesson."

After Sensei Sugiyama left the classroom, the science teacher entered the class soon after, starting the lesson just like usual. Suzume has settled in her new seat and quickly socialized with her seating neighbours, which were Nonko (in the front), Shizuka (on her left), and another girl on her right.

Suzume got along with her seat neighbour quick, especially towards Nonko and Shizuka.

It was her first day of school and she barely prepared for any lessons. As a result, she didn't have any notebooks and pencils with her that day. But thankfully, Shizuka lent Suzume her unused ballpoint pen in which she could use to write notes with. Nonko also gave her a couple scrap pieces of paper to write those notes in.

Soon, the trio's relationship strengthened. They went to the cafeteria together and talked about bunch of things that they possibly known about.

The boys, who were having lunch in their class, eating their homemade bento sets that each of their moms had made for them. Nobita and Gian brought up the fact that it was in fact Suzume.

"S-Suneo... that is actually Suzy-chan, right?" Nobita said.

"Yeah..." Suneo sighed, "She was also the one who got involved in the bicycle accident last Monday."

"Oh, it was her all along?" Nobita asked,

"She had changed a lot, doesn't she? The last time I met her, she was still cherished, happy, and gleeful." Gian remarked, "Not sure what caused her to be so hostile towards Suneo."

"I think I know already..." Nobita said, "If you remember, she led Suneo to a room that she used to keep all of her snakes."

"Ah yeah, I remember!" Gian replied, "I guess, the 'date on a cruise ship' won't be happening anytime soon, right?" Gian said, making fun of Suneo's past daydream about her.

"Stop reminding me about that!! You're making me cringe!" Suneo begged with a rather red cheek.

Nobita and Gian were reduced to tearful laughter.

Soon, the trio of the girls returned to the classroom, looking as happy as ever.

"Oh, here comes... I can feel that a storm is coming..." Nobita remarked, "Prepare yourself, Gian!"

"Alright!" Gian replied.

Sure enough, as the trio approached the other trio, Suzume eyes landed right on to the fox headed boy and vice versa. Sparks of lightning were visible in between their glares as Suzume's grin slowly turned into a look of disdain.

"What'cha lookin' at, bean sprout?" She said,

"I wanted to ask you the same thing, uhh... umm... blonde Bornean Gorilla!" Suneo retorted, using an insult so bad that it caused the gang to facepalm. They expected Suzume to take this as a mundane insult and laughed it off.

They were surprised to find that Suzume took the 'insult' as an offense, "What did you say to me?!" She exclaimed,

"...Blonde Bornean Gorilla!" Suneo emphasized, "Gorillas are mad if you poke fun at them! And guess what? It resembles you!"

As they were arguing, Shizuka nudged Nobita's arm to ask what happened in between them.

"Nobita-san... What happened between them a few years ago?" She asked,

"It's complicated... But basically, when Suneo wanted to introduce himself to her, she invited him to go to a room where she kept all her snakes in. It was all because she misunderstood his name from 'Suneo' to 'Suneku'..." Nobita explained.

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know, go ask her what happened..." Nobita replied. "Doubt she even has that room anymore, anyways."

"Huh, okay..." Shizuka said, despite not understanding anything that he had said, nor does anything to do with the beef between Suzume and Suneo.

One thing is for sure though, the fact that Suzume always picked a fight with Suneo despite nothing happening between them clearly shows that she had 'something' with Suneo. Perhaps, it was something unexpected?