Book I: Ushio's Story

"What's your name? Would you tell Fuko? Let's be friends and play together. The fun is only about to begin."

~*1*~

- The New Recruits -

It was around 3:10 pm on a warm Wednesday afternoon when Ushio Okazaki was walking towards the school club rooms. She stood at 5'6 with chestnut coloured eyes and brunette hair that flowed down to her lower back. Ushio had a gentle look to her, giving off a warm and kindly impression. Her face was rather slender in shape, as was the rest of her. Ushio wore her usual school uniform made up of a yellow blazer with a white collar and turned up cuffs that revealed a red stripe on each wrist. Beneath she wore a blue skirt, settling just above her knees. Gleefully strolling along, she passed through the long hallway, scanning each door as she went by. She stopped at one; 'Music Clubroom'. It wasn't the room she was looking for but what made her stop was the noise coming from the other side. Muffled voices sounded as if they were shouting at each other. Being naturally curious, she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear and pressed it against the wooden door, trying to listen in. Suddenly the door swung open. As she darted out of the way something flew past her, crashing towards the ground with a hard thud. It was a boy with messy black hair and deep brown eyes. He also sported the same yellow uniform, but his blazer was quite plain, as was his pair of dark trousers. The door came to a close as he leapt towards it, banging his fists on the hard-wood panels. "Let me back in! I promise I won't mess around anymore!" He cried.

"Get out of here Sakumoto! You're a bum!" An angry voice replied.

"Come on Saburou! I need this credit!"

"Well you should have thought of that before you disrespected us!" The voice shouted. The boy dropped to the floor and leant his head on the door; defeated. He rested there for a moment until he realised that he wasn't alone. When he noticed a girl had witnessed this event, he jumped to his feet and let out a nervous laugh.

"How long have you been there?" He asked, rather uneasy. Ushio studied him for a moment. He was rather broad, standing half a head taller than Ushio. His uniform was scuffed up and slightly torn. His hair was unkempt and shaggy. Yet, despite his rough appearance, she found him to be rather attractive.

"Not long," Ushio replied in a soft, gentle voice.

"What did you see?" The boy wondered as he peered down at her.

"Nothing, aside from you being kicked out of this club." She laughed.

"I see." He let out a sigh, "am I in your way?" He asked, leaning against the large, wooden door behind him.

"No. I was just looking for the drama club," Ushio said, smiling.

"Oh, it's over this way." He motioned for her to follow, she did. "Bit of a coincidence, it is next on my list after all."

"Your list?"

"Nothing," He said in his attempt to brush her off. They came to a halt at the end of the hallway. In front of them sat another large door. It appeared to be older than the others, with several splits running down the wood grain. A piece of paper was stuck to it with 'Drama Clubroom – Newcomers welcome!' written on it. "Here we are!" The boy said with a grin. Ushio stood there staring at the paper sign. "Aren't you gonna knock?" He asked.

"I'm just a little nervous," Ushio replied anxiously.

"Why?" The boy asked, somewhat confused.

"It's nothing." Pulling a determined face, Ushio knocked on the door.

"Come on in!" A voice replied. With a forceful pull, Ushio managed to slide the door open and the two of them walked into the room. There wasn't much to it. The room was empty apart from a table, several chairs and a dozen boxes containing what looked to be props. On the opposite wall a row of large windows ran down it, allowing the sunlight to settle on the dusty room. On the wall to the right of Ushio, a large chalkboard was screwed in place; several names were written on it. In the centre of it all sat a girl. She had a tress of violet hair with a fringe that lightly kissed her forehead. Her face was slim and fierce, yet she was very pretty. She was wearing the same outfit as Ushio. The girl's deep, blue eyes lit up as she looked over to Ushio and her companion. "Hello, were you wanting t-" as soon as her eyes met the boy, she stopped speaking. She began to shake her head. "No, no not you!" she shouted.

"Wha- What have I done now?" The boy asked. The girl hopped off her seat as she moved over to the pair.

"Kaito," she began, pointing a finger in the boy's face. "All you do is slack off; I'm not letting you join this club!" The girl hissed.

"Who said I was going to join?!" He retorted, swiping her hand away.

"Um- hello." Ushio's voice sprung up between the two colliding forces. The girl's eyes darted towards Ushio.

"Oh hi! Are you here to join?"

"That's right," Ushio smiled.

"Brilliant! I'm Yumi Koharu." She said, with hands on her hips in a strong stance, she was taller than Ushio, of similar height to the boy next to the them. "It's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Ushio Okazaki and it's nice to meet you too!" Ushio replied as Yumi gave her a warm smile.

"Take a seat," Yumi commanded. Ushio did as she was asked. "Tell me, do you know much about drama?" Yumi questioned, looking down at Ushio with folded arms.

"Well, I've only just started getting into it but I'm really eager to learn," Ushio assured her, somewhat intimidated.

"That's good to know," Yumi nodded. She gave a smile as she sat down next to Ushio. The two began to get into a conversation, discussing the club and what they would be getting up to when, suddenly, a voice spoke out of the corner of the room.

"Where are the other members?" It asked, it was the boy from earlier.

"Oh, Kaito ... I forgot you were here." Yumi sneered. The boy gave her a sharp look.

"Well?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

"Well what?"

"Where are the other members?" He repeated.

"There aren't any others," Yumi muttered.

"You're the only member?" Ushio asked; a little worried.

"I am, the only other members were seniors from last year. Since I'm a senior now, I was left to take over the club, but I've had a lot of trouble getting people to join. No one seems to be interested this year, well apart from you and Kaito," Yumi sighed as the boy began to speak again.

"Wait, I still haven't said I'-"

"Then if you're the only member how have you kept the club open for the last semester?" Ushio interrupted.

"Well, I begged the student council and they gave me until the end of this semester. I don't have long left to recruit." Yumi shrugged her shoulders with a sad look on her face.

"How many people do you need?"

"Including me?" Yumi asked, Ushio nodded "At least three."

"Then I'm in!" Ushio declared, determined to see it through.

"Well, that's great!" Yumi said joyfully.

"Guess I'll give it a go too," The boy added, joining the two girls by the table. Yumi stared at him for a moment.

"Why should I let you join? I've heard you've been kicked out of three clubs already." Yumi said with a tut. "I'm guessing it's four now?" Yumi wondered. Ushio looked over to the boy. He stared back at her, rather embarrassed by Yumi's words. Ushio could see he was uncomfortable, so she gave him a smile, encouraging him to speak.

"People give me a hard time because of rumours. It's not my fault." He said. Yumi remained silent. "What? Do I have to beg?" He added.

"It may help." Yumi grinned. The boy let out a sigh.

"Fine." He got down on his knees, placed his hands together and lifted them above his head in an exaggerated manner. "Please Yumi Koharu, leader of class 3-A; I need this credit to help maintain my attendance. If I can't get into a club to make it up, it'll drop, and I could get kicked out of school … besides, Miyagi-Sensei said I have to." There was a slight pause. "How was that?" He said as he gave an uneasy laugh. Ushio studied him for a moment trying to make sense of what was going on. She felt like she knew this boy but of course she had never met him before today.

"That'll do fine," Yumi gave him a pat on the head. The boy groaned and the three of them sat down as they began chatting about the club activities.

Soon the clock reached 4:15 pm. "Well, that's a wrap for our first meeting I guess." Yumi said with a smile. "We have meetings at 3:15 every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday".

"Three days a week?!" The boy cried. "God does this get any worse," He moaned placing his head between his hands.

"Just remember how nice I was to you," Yumi preached, patting herself on the back.

"Yeah, that was a first." The boy scoffed.

"This was really fun, but I have to get going now," Ushio said, trying to defuse the tension.

"Okay, I need to stay here and sort a few things out, so I'll see you Friday. As for you," she smirked, pointing to the boy. "I'll see you tomorrow, in class, Kaito." She gave him a wink.

"Oh boy, I look forward to that."

"Uhuh, see you later." Yumi replied, ignoring what was just said. Ushio and the boy left the room and headed down the empty hallway.

"You two are in the same class then?" Ushio asked him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah we have homeroom together, among other things." An uncomfortable silence followed as they both tried to think of something to say. Suddenly, both chirped up.

"Why were yo-"/"What were th-" They both fell silent.

"You first," The boy said with a smile.

"If you don't mind me asking ... What were the rumours about you?" The boy hung his head when this was asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Ushio empathized. He brought his head back up with a grin.

"Did you ever hear about the time when the principle was hit from the rooftop with a giant water balloon?" He laughed.

"That was you?" Ushio asked.

"Well, since I'm such a nice guy I took the heat for my friend, Takeshi. He was already looking at a suspension from school. I got in a lot of trouble for it though. I think it was because the principle just didn't like me to begin with that my punishment was so harsh." Ushio wondered what the punishment was but felt like it would be rude to dig deeper. "So yeah, I've got a slight reputation for being a delinquent I guess ... Which is why I was kicked out of three, well, four clubs now." He shrugged, "people don't like having me around much. It's also why I need to stay in this one. I need to keep my attendance up and my homeroom teacher is making me take extra activities for me to show my dedication. If I don't do as he says I'll end up being kicked out and I won't graduate," He let out a sigh. "I can't wait to get out of here." Ushio wondered why he was telling her so much. She decided to brush it off for now.

"So, what were you going to ask me?" She said.

"Oh ... I was just wondering why you were so nervous before going into the club room."

"Well, I've only really decided to do drama because of my mom."

"Your mom?" The boy asked.

"Yup!" Ushio smiled. "She loved it when she was young, but she couldn't do much of it because she would often get ill. So, I thought I'd try it out and she could come and watch me. I just don't want to disappoint her," Ushio explained.

"I see. Well, I'm sure you won't," He gave her a smile, one that she returned. They reached the exit of the school grounds and stood outside by the large gates.

"I'm off this way" Ushio said, pointing down a road to the left.

"I'm this way," The boy said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you later." Ushio uttered.

"Yeah, sure," The boy replied. He began to walk off as Ushio called out to him.

"Wait a second!"

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I just remembered. We haven't been properly introduced yet" she laughed, "I'm Ushio Okazaki," she stated as she put out her hand. The boy looked her up and down as he smiled.

"Well, Okazaki. I'm Kaito Sakumoto." He shook her hand. She gave him a little nod, said farewell and set off home. Kaito stood there watching her walk off into the distance. His phone gave a buzz as he picked it out of his pocket. A text on his phone read: 'Where you bean? Come to the courts and have a game.' It was from his friend, Takeshi. Bean? He thought to himself, what an idiot. Kaito replied to the text and placed the phone back in his pocket. He stood there looking at the spot where Ushio had been standing before. Then he turned around and headed off to meet his friend.

About 15 minutes later Kaito made it to the local park. It wasn't much, simply a large patch of grass with some trees and the odd bench. A few tennis and basketball courts lay at the far end. He headed over to them. As he was approaching the furthest court, he could make out two figures, two boys wearing school uniforms. One was beneath the hoop bouncing a ball, the other sat up straight on the grassy banking to the side. The boy on the court was called Takeshi Fujimoto. He was rather tall, almost lanky. He had straight, fair hair with bright green eyes. The other boy was Junichiro Akimoto. He was shorter than the other two and had slightly shorter red hair; he also had green eyes. Kaito walked up to them. "Hey Juni," He called.

"Hello," Junichiro replied in a quiet voice. The other boy, Takeshi, didn't seem to notice his friend had arrived.

"Keshi ... Yo Keshi!" Kaito shouted. The boy bouncing the ball turned around.

"Oh hey man!" He gave his friend a big grin. "Where've you been? We've been waiting for ages."

"I joined a cl-"

"Check out my 3 pointer!" Takeshi interrupted. He stepped back and launched the ball at the hoop. The other two watched in anticipation as the ball hit the front of the rim and went flying back at Takeshi. He ducked under quick enough for Kaito to catch the ball.

"Nice 3 pointer," Kaito laughed. Takeshi gave him a dig in the ribs. "Cheap shot man!" Kaito shouted.

"You deserved it." Takeshi replied, showing Kaito his middle finger.

"Come on guys ... get along?" Junichiro suggested with an uneasy laugh.

"Fine," Kaito said, rather blunt. Takeshi gave him a nod.

"Where were you then?" Takeshi asked again. Kaito looked at his friends. He knew what was about to happen. "Well?"

"I joined the drama club." Kaito declared, folding his arms and looking away. He looked back to Takeshi, his upper lip was quivering. Kaito looked towards Junichiro who was bewildered. His gaze returned to Takeshi. His lip was uncontrollable at this point. "What the hell is so funny?!"

"You ... in the drama club. Good one, Mr. Sa-ku-mo-to" Takeshi laughed sarcastically while emphasising the syllables.

"Whatever man, let's just play. Come on Juni," he gestured to his friend who still looked puzzled. "Juni!" Kaito shouted. His friend looked up. "Let's play!" Kaito said giving a thumbs up.

"Yeah sure," Junichiro said, walking over to join the other two on the court.

An hour passed and the boys decided to give up and head for home. As they were walking down the road, away from the park, Takeshi began to speak. "You guys still up for Friday?"

"What is it again?" Junichiro asked.

"Duh, I got a new console. My house after school," Takeshi yawned, stretching his arms up.

"Sure," Junichiro replied.

"Kaito, you coming?" Takeshi asked. Kaito was about to speak when Junichiro cut in.

"He can't."

"Huh, why not?"

"He's ... well he's in the drama club and all clubs meet on Fridays," Junichiro muttered.

"You dumbass, that was a joke!" Takeshi laughed. Kaito gave him a funny look.

"No it wasn't," Kaito said bluntly.

"What?" Takeshi's mouth dropped. "I thought you were messing with us!" He shouted, coming to a stop on the road.

"You have weird reactions to things," Kaito said as he began walking off without him. Junichiro followed him, leaving their friend behind.

"Hey!" Takeshi cried. Kaito turned around.

"What now?" He asked, getting rather annoyed.

"Why the hell would you join a club? Let alone the drama club! I mean, Yumi's in there!" He hissed as he gave a shudder at the thought of the girl. "Besides, you hate those kind of things!" He added.

"Yeah, well I have to. Miyagi-Sensei said I have to do some extra activities to balance out my attendance." Kaito said, shrugging his shoulders.

"That sucks man," Takeshi sighed.

"Why are you so bothered?" Junichiro asked him.

"Well ... now I'm the only delinquent out of us three. I mean you're a math whizz Juni," Takeshi said, patting his friend on the back as Junichiro laughed, a little embarrassed. "Me and Kaito; we're detention buddies. Now I'm alone!" Takeshi began to cry dramatically. Neither of the two had noticed that Kaito had given them the slip. "Hey! Where did Kaito go?" Takeshi asked while wiping a fake tear off his cheek.

"I guess you were annoying him ... no offence," Junichiro said quietly.

"Tsk! Forget him! Come on man let's go I've got stuff to do at home!" Takeshi groaned. Junichiro shrugged and followed. The two continued on as Kaito watched them from behind a tree. He made sure the coast was clear and continued to walk down the road, counting the steps as he made his way to that lonely place he called his home.

~*1*~

Thank you for reading!

Please be considerate with reviews and place a spoiler warning when necessary.

- Samuel ^_^