A Fresh Start (Open for 1)

[gagonthis]

James sighed as he stared out the window of the 747. The city lights could be seen fading away as the plane streaked up high to the cloud cover. It would be a long last leg of his flight. He'd been in the air for well over six hours now, flying from New York to Atlanta and then onto Seattle. And that was just the first leg of the flight.

He thanked the flight attendant as she brought him a plastic cup of water, the ice cubes dancing with the vibrations of the plane's engine as they soared through the air, exploiting a loophole in physics to carry James across the pacific ocean to the place he would soon be calling home.

He'd done his best to make peace with the fact that he was being transplanted. He had been used to it, growing up an army brat had meant never staying in one place for very long, but at least when he'd moved he'd stayed in America. That was changing though, and James was forced to make peace with it quickly. He had just begun his senior year, finally begun to make plans for his future when it had happened. The accident.

His eyes watered a little as he stared into the darkness, remembering how peaceful his mother had looked in the casket, a stark comparison to how he knew she must have looked when that eighteen wheeler jack knifed across the freeway after hitting a patch of black ice. He'd never gotten to say goodbye. Neither had dad. James fell into depression, but he battled through it. The same wasn't true for his dad. Barbara had been his one joy, when he lost her Richard just lost himself at the bottom of a bottle, and when the Army offered him a position in Tokyo he gladly accepted, dragging his son into a new world.

James continued to stare into the darkened sky, yawning slightly as he lost himself within his thoughts. Finally he passed out, the flight attendant waking him only when the meal was served. Finally the seatbelt light came back on and James stirred, sitting up straight and once more looking out the window, this time greeted by the breath taking sight of Japan's largest city lighting up the night sky. It was the start of a new life for him.

He waited patiently while others debarked the plane before heading into the terminal. He looked around half-heartedly for his father, not really believing he'd be there. He'd been given directions to give a cab driver and some extra cash. With a heavy sigh he looked around at all the foreign writing, finally making his way to the baggage terminal. He grabbed his bag and headed to the curb, hailing a cab.

Sometime later he found himself in the very small apartment his father rented, hearing the heavy snores coming from the bedroom his father had somehow found. James considered waking him but decided against it. He entered his own room, distressed by how little room there was. He ran his hand through his brown hair, looking at the small platform bed, hoping it would be big enough for his six foot one frame.

He checked the time, frowning as he realized he hadn't estimated the time zone changes properly. He knew he had his first day of school the next day, and if the clock was correct he wouldn't get much more than five hours of sleep. He muttered angrily as he pulled his shirt off and flopped down onto the bed. He was asleep in minutes.

___________________________________________________

Looking for one writer to take the role of a classmate or other role in a thread about a guy recovering from tragedy in his life while dealing with a completely new situation for him.

[monique_minx]

"キャリーまで待つ！どこに行くのですか?! - Cally wait up! Where are you going?!" Sakiko called as she raced down the hall.

Cally flipped her long black hair as she turned, she was grinning from ear to ear at her somewhat dumpy best friend who was gasping for breath.

"私はジャンク食べるのをやめるんだ! - I told you to stop eating all that junk!" Cally taunted.

It was mid afternoon and the halls of the Temple University were bustling with students as they moved onto their next class, made for the library or shuffled off to other extra curricular activities. Students in Japan learned early on that hard work was a non stop 16 hour day at the very least. Temple University was more relaxed about it as half the students were foreign but even then they found the 'relaxed approach' difficult.

Cally was an exception because while she appeared to be a foreigner; she was actually born and raised in Tokyo. Her mother was Spanish and her father English, her mother had fallen in love with Japan and Cally's father at the same time and they decided to stay. Cally inherited her mother's gorgeous figure and dark hair but her blue eyes were all her dad's. As a result of her parent's decision to stay in Japan and their heritage; Cally was both multi-lingual and culturally well-rounded, she spoke fluent English, Spanish and Japanese, she also taught Spanish dance classes five afternoons a week.

"オものとカランドリア! - Oh stuff it Calandria!" Sakiko retorted.

"あなたが私の完全な名前は気に入らないが知っている! - You know I hate my full name!" Cally groaned; she never told anyone her real name anymore; bloody parents!

"あなたが生きられる! どこに行くのですか? - You'll live! Where are you going?" Sakiko grumbled as she started to walk with her friend.

"ので、私は今日は早く入手する必要がありますあなたは私のダンスを教える、我々はゲストのパフォーマンスがわかっている. - You know I teach dance, we're having a guest performance so I have to get there early today."

"ああいくつかのホットマッチョな男? - Oh, some hot macho man?" Sakiko grinned.

"場合は、ガターのあなたの心を得る必要がある! - You need to get your mind out of the gutter!" Cally rolled her eyes but Sakiko kept grinning "probably." Cally reverted to English; the only other language Sakiko could also understand.

"Oh I'm so coming!"

Cally looked her friend up and down, she was wearing a blue blazer and matching plaid skirt with white knee high socks and black shoes. Hardly dressed for dancing!

"Please tell me you have something to change into?!"

Sakiko shook her head "what you see is what you get."

Calandria groaned, she didn't looked much better, she wore a white blouse and a black knee length skirt with a pair of lowset black heels. But it was okay cause Cally had something to change into if they ever reached the campus gym!

"Gawd! I hate this walk!" Sakiko complained.

Even Cally who walked it everyday had to agree, it was tedious having the gym at the far end but she'd never admit it to Sakiko.

"Suck it up Saki!" Cally grinned; calling Sakiko by the affection nickname she had given her when they first tasted alcohol.

When they reached the gym; Cally headed straight for the locker room so she could change while Sakiko sat on the bleachers watching the boys practising basketball. The Temple Owls hadn't exactly had a great run in the last few years and as Sakiko looked on she realized this wasn't going to be their triumphant comeback year, was it possible they were worse?

Sakiko realized the boys had stopped playing and were frozen in place, mouths gaping and Saki followed their gazes to the locker room door where her own jaw dropped. Cally stood in the door frame, her blouse and knee length skirt replaced by a sheer black halter that finished above her belly button and a long skirt with a slit up to her hip on one side, it clung to her body beautifully and accentuated her exotic features.

Cally rolled her eyes "男の子に、是非、私は今では当確ジムを取得！ - Come on boys, I get the gym now so shoo!"

The boys finally found the ability to move and headed for the locker room to shower and change. Sakiko also discovered motion and stepped off the bleachers.

"Do you always dress like that?!" She asked.

"No, I told you we have a guest from Barcelona today, I'm doing a demonstration for my class."

"Creo que te refieres a mí? - I think you're referring to me?"

Cally turned at the sound of a man speaking Spanish, she'd spoken to him over the phone but she'd had no idea he would be so...handsome. He wore tight black pants and an open white shirt, traditional dress for dance in Spain. He had black hair and only the slightest stubble on his chin, Sakiko was drooling on Cally's arm.

"Alejandro? Estoy Cally. - Alejandro? I'm Cally."

"Sí, lo sé. - Yes I know." He walked over slowly "Calandria no es así? - Calandria is it not?"

Cally almost winced at his use of her name, she silently cursed her parents as she nodded "Eso es. - That's right."

"Nosotros bailamos el tango para su clase de hoy, no voy a molestar con otra cosa. Usted es capaz, ¿sí? - We dance the tango for your class today, I won't bother with anything else. You are able, yes?"

Cally had originally thought him to be charming, now she had to keep her anger under control as his arrogance made its appearance.

"Sí, estoy más que capaces. - Yes I'm more than capable."

"What's he saying?" Sakiko whispered to Cally.

Alejandro circled Cally like a vulture, she frowned and thanked God as her students arrived. She set up the music and briefly introduced Alejandro before she nodded to Saki to play the CD, she wanted to get this over with!

Alejandro took her hand and spun her like she hadn't been in years, she had to work extra hard to keep up with him but the end result was beautiful, her students were inspired to dance, Sakiko was inspired to date...Alejandro and Calandria was exhausted but feeling very accomplished when her mother picked her up. Alejandro told her he was staying in Tokyo for a while and he'd keep coming to her dance class while he was in town. Wonderful, she'd replied all the while wondering if she could fake sick for however many weeks he would be there.

"How was class dear?" Her mother asked as she got into the car.

"Oh mum don't ask!" Cally slumped in the seat.

[gagonthis]

James woke up the follow morning, wanting nothing more than to block the stream of sunlight into his tiny box of a room, groaning loudly as he threw his pillow over his head, trying to block the encroaching morning from his mind. He was surprised that any sunlight could find its way into the small apartment, surrounded as they were on all sides by large buildings. It was quite the change for James, who had grown up on army bases, short buildings spread out across a long stretch of land. It was just one of the changes James would have to get used to in his new life.

He muttered angrily as he gave up trying to go back to sleep, checking his clock to see that he would have to have gotten up in fifteen minutes regardless. Part of him was very interested to explore his huge city, from what he'd seen on the cab ride over and the plane ride in it was enormous! He'd never even been to New York City, so this was quite overwhelming to him. His exploration would have to wait however, he had to get to school. A grumble of protest escaped his stomach as he rose out of the bed, stretching and nearly knocking his six foot frame on the ceiling of the small room as he did. He sighed once more, already missing his nice bedroom back home.

Squeezing himself into the small bathroom he would be sharing with his father James breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it contained a westernized toilet. He had heard rumblings from people that it could be very hit or miss on that account and James was just glad his father hadn't gone too 'local' as it were. He turned the shower on, maneuvering himself so he could wash himself while not smacking his body against the small wash basin within. He ran some soap over his darkened skin, a tan acquired from years of outdoor play, something he was sure he'd miss in this large city. Washing his light brown hair he closed his green eyes and sighed as he let the warm water wash away some of his worries.

"Ahhh!" He yelled out as the water changed from warm to cold, causing him to nearly trip over the toilet as he hopped away from the stream, cursing loudly. He hated this place already. Muttering angrily he walked into the tiny living area, seeing a note on the table. He picked it up, frowning as he read it. "Went out. Left you some lunch money. Don't be late. Love, Dad." He read out loud with slight derision in his voice as he dropped the note on the ground, heading back to his bedroom. At least his dad had managed to pick up one school uniform for him, so he wasn't an UTTER failure as a father figure, just mostly one. He'd been in town for an evening and a morning and still hadn't seen his dad, things were already getting off to a great start.

At least he left directions to the school he thought with a sigh as he scarfed down some breakfast quickly before grabbing his book bag, adjusting the vest of the school uniform with a frown. He looked like a total geek he thought with yet another drawn out sigh. Finding the school took the better part of the extra time he'd bought himself with his hurried preparations at home, and he found himself running late as he found the administrative section of the school, praying that someone there spoke English. Luckily they did, as they were expecting him, and he was directed to a classroom with a note written in Japanese. Following signs that made no sense to him he found the classroom, poking his head in and immediately catching the stares from the collected students, mostly Japanese. The teacher glanced at him, his eyebrow raised and pointed to an open seat, which James sheepishly slid into, trying to sink himself into the ground.

[monique_minx]

Cally woke up that morning feeling oddly refreshed, she glanced at her clock and quickly realized why "7:30?!" She yelped and jumped out of bed.

Her alarm had failed to go off obviously, did I forget to set it? Cally wondered as she brushed her hair quickly; no time for a shower now damn! She usually got up at 6 so she could do her usual exercise, have breakfast, check her work and in general prepare so she could be out the door by 7:45. That plan was completely out the window and she threw books into her bag, slid out of her nightie and pulled on her crumpled blouse and skirt; no time to iron either!

Cally pulled her low heels on and shoved her six inch dance ones into her bag followed by the red number she'd wear later, usually she wouldn't wear such revealing outfits but if she was dancing with a professional she didn't want to be caught out on anything. Calandria grabbed her purse, pulled her bag onto her shoulder and rushed out the door, she locked it quickly and ran down the street, thanking God when she made it to the bus stop just as the bus pulled up.

When Cally got to school; she was greeted by Sakiko and her other bestie Natsuko, both were grinning from ear to ear at her and she guessed what they'd been discussing.

"You filthy dirty whore! Where was my invite to this hottie-fest?" Natsuko grinned, playfully slapping Cally.

Natsuko was also fluent in English, it paid to be lifelong friends with Cally, you learned new skills.

"Hey come on, he wasn't that hot..." Cally mumbled.

"Were you blind yesterday? There was attraction coming off that guy in waves! Alejandro...even his name is dreamy!" Sakiko sighed.

This caused Cally to overload, she burst out laughing and mimed vomiting all over the ground, Natsuko could barely contain her laughter at this.

"I think you're in love Saki and it's disgusting!" Cally managed to get out through her laughter.

Sakiko screwed up her face at the pair of them and they all made their way to their first class of the day. Natsuko split off, Saki and Cally had mostly the same classes so they headed to their own stating that they'd meet Nat at break.

Cally took her usual seat in the third row with Saki on her left, this was their favourite class; history. Their teacher didn't just talk about wars which the girls always found boring but he often referred to ancient civilisation which intrigued both Saki and Cally. The professor had a way of gaining his class' attention like no other teacher.

Cally watched the new guy enter and take the seat directly in front of her, poor bloke probably got lost on his way here. The majority of the students in her history class were Japanese, they didn't speak to any of the foreigners as they preferred to speak their own language and most of them were in cliques; it just wouldn't be acceptable to walk up to an American and say hi, their popularity would plummet. Cally had tried to get some of her fellow Japanese students to warm up to the overwrought foreigners but they merely said to her 'while we love you Cally, they can't even speak Japanese!' This was a huge point of argument for them, some of them hated the fact that they had to learn English for this class while English speaking students could get interpretors, others didn't mind the chance to learn a new language. Cally even helped both sides, those learning English and Japanese. Bridging the gap was something she had given up on a while back, popularity was still a huge deal even in University it seemed and now she felt sorry for the new guy as whispers went around the room.

Saki leaned over and whispered to her "Ooh new guy, bit dorky isn't he?"

Cally rolled her eyes "Oh hush, don't be so mean. You didn't exactly find it all that easy when you first started" she whispered back.

Sakiko shook her head, she was always surprised by how nice Cally could be when she usually showed herself to be somewhat of a tough bitch.

The teacher - Mr Ducagney cleared his throat "Something to share girls?"

He always taught in English so it was a requirement of his class that you either spoke the language or you learned it before you took his course.

Cally shook her head "No Sir, we're just painfully interested in Cleopatra."

Muffled laughter could be heard from several students including Sakiko.

Mr Ducagney grinned "But of course you are Calandria and I'm sure you and Sakiko wouldn't mind helping me grade papers for my English class this afternoon would you?"

Sakiko stopped laughing as others started, there was less and less attempts to muffle their sounds.

Cally stiffled a groan; damn! "No Sir, we wouldn't be adverse to that idea."

Saki snorted "Speak for yourself!"

Mr. Ducagney raised a brow, his grin widened "Oh? Am I to take it that you object Sakiko?"

Saki nodded "Strongly object Sir."

The teacher walked over and leaned against his desk "I see, in that case I shall be gracious and offer you a choice Sakiko; you can grade papers this afternoon or you can grade papers every afternoon for the rest of the year. What'll it be?"

Saki swallowed "See you at 6 Sir."

"Splendid. Now if you don't mind I'll get back to my lesson?"

"At your leisure Sir" Cally said smiling as she kicked Sakiko under the table.

"Ow!" Saki whispered.

Cally gave her a meaningful stare and returned her attention to Mr Ducagney, her gaze shifted from him to the new guy and over to Sakiko now and then. Saki was clearly bored already as Mr Ducagney started going over some of Julius Caeser's exploits of the age, Sakiko started fiddling with her pencil, rolling it back and forth over her desk. Cally shook her head and returned her attention to the teacher, she started taking notes as he informed them they would need this information for their exams.

[gagonthis]

James did his best to hide his face, blushing slightly at all the attention he was receiving just for being the new kid in class. He wished he had his textbook already so he could just bury his face in that, but unfortunately he had nothing but a slim notebook to focus his attention on. He knew he should be paying attention to what the teacher was saying, wondering if all his teachers would be teaching in English. Knowing his father he'd set up no such thing and James would find himself completely lost in his next couple of classes.

Whispers circulated around the classroom and every time James raised his head he realized it was just people staring at him. He was starting to get more and more uncomfortable when the teacher cleared his throat. James let his pencil fall to the desk, thinking the teacher had noticed that he was drawing instead of paying any attention to what was going on. History was one of the more interesting subjects to him, but James was feeling too scatterbrained and lost to concentrate on the class.

Luckily for him he wasn't the target of the teacher's attentions. James turned his gaze to see who he was talking to, eyes brightening slightly as he locked gazes momentarily with the dark haired girl before quickly lowering his eyes. He was having a hard time figuring out if the teacher was seriously upset at them, or if it was some sort of game he was playing. It was hard to pick up on subtleties when English was not a first language. He figured he was serious about them being in some trouble, but at the same time the whole exchange seemed to amuse the teacher and the students both. An odd exchange for sure. He glanced back at the two girls again. They didn't look as amused as they had a moment ago. Grading papers obviously wasn't something they were looking forward to doing.

James lowered his head again, picking up his pencil and sketching some more in his notepad. He tried to make himself write down the information that the teacher said would be important to the exam, but he was already so behind on what was going on he knew he would need more than a couple hastily scribbled notes to understand what was going on in this classroom. People kept looking at him and he kept trying to disappear into the background, just waiting for some sign that class was over. Finally the bell rang and James practically leaped out of his seat, not hanging around to have to answer any questions that might be forthcoming from his new classmates. He had to get to his locked. They had assigned him one that morning and he just thanked god that numbers looked the same no matter what language you were working with.

It took him a couple minutes but he managed to find where his was, spinning the combination in once and popping the locker open, the hinges replying with a low metallic groan of protest. James really had nothing to store, this being his first day and having no idea what we would need for school he hadn't brought much in the way of supplies, just a notepad and a pencil. Still he threw his jacket inside, glancing around to see people coming and going, some pointing towards him and talking to each other in Japanese, giggling at him, causing him to want to climb into his locker and disappear. He was trying to find a way to delay going into another crowded classroom with more staring eyes. He closed the door of the locker and turned back to the stream of students, noting with some interest that the girls from his class before were headed right towards him.

[monique_minx]

Cally breathed a sigh of relief as the bell rang and she started packing up her books. The new guy practically raced out of the room, Cally frowned and shook her head at his behaviour which wasn't a very uncommon sight on campus. Cally was about to follow Sakiko out when she noticed a few of the 'popular' Japanese boys in deep conversation. She grabbed her books and slowly walked past them, she kept her head down and prayed that the ring leader Hiroshi didn't notice her. She caught enough of their conversation to know what they were talking about.

"だから、彼がフィールドを歩くは、男煙霧があります. - So we'll haze that guy when he walks out to the field." Hiroshi said wickedly.

"どのようにフィールドに出ていって、新しいやつ知っているのですか? - How do you know new guy will go out to the field?" Kaemon asked, he was Hiroshi's best friend and right hand man.

"強制的なスポーツをばかみたい! - Compulsory sports you idiot!" Hiroshi replied.

Cally had heard enough and she hurried out the door to catch up to Saki who was already in deep conversation with Natsuko.

"Hey girl, what's wrong?" Natsuko asked as she saw the grave look on Cally's face.

"Hiroshi is what's wrong." Cally frowned and folded her arms with her books.

"Oh my God, did he-?"

"No!" Cally cut Saki off "No it's not that, come on." Cally started off down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Saki asked with the slightest complaint in her voice.

"To find the new guy, I overheard Hiroshi say to his buddies that they were going to haze him if he went out to the field and we all know what that means."

Sakiko and Natsuko nodded in understanding and quickened their pace, the break between first and second class was only fifteen minutes so they had to hurry. Nat and Saki both had Arts next while Cally had a spare, she usually chose to assist a teacher during this time and she didn't know what class the new guy had next. Cally finally found him at his locker and slowed her pace, Nat was on her left and Saki on her right.

"あなたキャリーこれを行うにしてもよろしいですか？あなたがもし彼があなたを妨害検出浩...親切にすることはありません知っている. - Are you sure you want to do this Cally? You know Hiroshi will...not be kind if he finds out you interfered." Saki warned.

"Yes I want to do this." Cally said softly as they got closer to him "Hi I'm Cally" She said; smiling warmly.

"Sakiko" Saki raised her hand and smiled.

"Natsuko" Nat nodded her head and smiled when Cally subtly elbowed her in the ribs.

"You're from America right? What's your name?" Cally asked, she didn't want to scare the guy but time was running short...

[gagonthis]

James lowered his gaze once again, figured that one of the girls from his class must have a locker near here or something, and he didn't want to be caught staring, especially since having an awkward moment with someone he'd have to be in close proximity to for quite some time would not be the best way to start a school year in a strange new country.

He sighed again at that thought, wishing his dad had just allowed him to stay in America, had coughed up the cash for him to go to a boarding school or even just put him up for adoption! Anything but dragging him across the world so he could run from his mom's death. James missed her too, but his dad had gone mental, it was horseshit, it was as much his life as it had been his father's... he took a deep breath, realizing he was getting himself worked up.

The three girls were still heading right towards him and he tried to hurry to get himself in order so he could get out of there before they stopped to get their stuff. He knew he should be trying to get to know people, and the girl... Calandria? Hadn't that been what their teacher had called her? She looked like the type of person James would enjoy getting to know. But he was too out of sorts to even think about making friends, besides no one liked new kids at a new place. He sighed, wishing he could stop being so down on himself for a moment.

James was turning to head towards his next classroom when the girl in the middle made eye contact with him, smiling at him, causing a small blush to form on his cheeks.

"Hi I'm Cally" she said to him, catching James off guard, he looked around for a split second before realizing she was talking to him.

"Sakiko." the girl on the left said, raising her hand.

"Natsuko" the girl on the right said, looking none to pleased to be talking to him, though she favored him with a begrudging smile as her friend elbowed her.

He was about to introduce himself when Cally started talking again, asking him where he was from and who he was.

"Oh, yeah, I'm from America... ummm Oregon actually... I've only been over here for like a day... I'm James by the way." He said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair again, wondering why these three girls were suddenly taking an interest in him. James had never been much good when it came to the opposite sex. Moving around a bunch as an army brat had never done much to instill confidence in him, as he never had a chance to make any sort of lasting relationship with any girl. It wasn't like he was such a nerd that he'd never missed a girl or anything, he just knew he wasn't very good at interacting with them in a way that didn't make him seem incredibly awkward. "Ummm... you girls are in my history class right? Are... are all the classes here in English and Japanese? I'm a little concerned about how quickly I'll get lost otherwise..."

[monique_minx]

Cally smiled sweetly at his obviously nervous posture and questions, she had been told her smile could put people at ease so she hoped it rang true now.

"It's nice to meet you James. Yes we're in your history class; except for Natsuko here and no, most of the classes are in Japanese but you should've been assigned an interpretor if you need one, did you put in a request?" Cally was being as patient as she could given the urgency of the problem she had required to come to him with.

Natsuko whispered in Cally's ear "Saki and I have to go, the Arts building is on the other side of the campus. Will you be okay here?"

Cally nodded and spoke so James could hear, she'd looked at him and obviously he thought they were whispering about him "yeah you two go go to class, I'll be fine."

Natsuko nodded and turned to leave when Saki paused and said to Cally " 注意してください、もし浩知った...あの子がどうするか知っている... - Be careful, if Hiroshi finds out...you know what he'll do..."

"I'll be right" Cally returned Saki's warning with a grave look, she knew the risks but she didn't care and it was clear that Saki was being rude.

"See you later James!" Saki smiled at him.

Natsuko turned at this, rolled her eyes and also realized she had been rude "Yeah it was nice to meet you James, sorry we have to rush off but our class is on the other side of the campus. Bye!"

The girls hurried off down the hall, they had to get their books before their class began.

"Sorry about them, they don't mean to be rude, they just don't know any better." Cally smiled "So umm what do you have next anyway?"

Cally figured the sooner she got to her point; the better! Hiroshi meant business and poor James didn't even know who he was to keep an eye out for him!

Kaemon walked down the hall heading in the same direction Sakiko and Natsuko had come from, Cally saw him coming and attempted to subtly hide her face but it was too late. Kaemon grinned at her horribly at first but once he saw who she was with it twisted into something of flitting interest and devilish intentions. Calandria looked at him nervously, almost silently begging him not to tell Hiroshi but Kaemon didn't seem to be in a forgiving mood, he kept walking right on past her and she sighed as he disappeared. She smacked her hand to her head in a 'stupid' motion, fuck!

[gagonthis]

James was practically staring at his shuffling feet. Why did this have to be so rough for him? Talking to a girl shouldn't cause him to feel the need to wipe sweat off his brow or work a knock in his stomach. Yet it always did, he stumbled over his words and inevitably said something quite stupid that made him look like a simpleton.

Still Cally didn't seem to notice terribly, she was rushing words out in a hurry too, and James wondered what she was wanting to tell him. She seemed in a hurry, but James wasn't about to tell her to just get to the point. His spirits sank slightly when she mentioned the fact that most of the classes would be taught in Japanese and that he would have to put in a request for an interpreter.

"No... I never got around to doing that I guess... or rather my dad didn't..." he said softly, his answer to her question overshadowed by her friend leaning in to whisper something into her ear that James wasn't quite able to hear. Were they setting him up for something? James felt slightly more paranoid now, and was only slightly alleviated when she said goodbye, tell her friends to go ahead and go to class. Having one girl around would make him feel slightly less awkward, even if it was only a fraction or so.

Her other friend turned and said something in Japanese to Cally with a grave face that made James even more curious to know what the heck was going on. His instincts told him that she was too nice a girl to be in on any sort of cruel prank, but he'd been wrong about stuff like that before, the memory of his first kiss coming back to him, bringing a shameful blush to his cheeks. Cally's answer to her friend did nothing to make James less concerned, the look on her face telling him that something serious must be going on.

James raised his hand halfheartedly in a return wave to Sakiko as she bid him goodbye, a frown touching his face at the way Cally's other friend reacted to him. "Did... did I do something to your Natsuko friend?" He asked, concern in his voice.

He was incredibly lost by everything that was going on. Cally seemed like she wanted to tell him something, but he had no idea what it could be. "Oh my next class is.... ummm... it looks like math." He said, quickly checking her schedule. "Ummm if you don't mind me asking why are you talki...." He cut off his question as one of his fellow male students came striding down the hallway, Cally practically ducking behind him in an effort to not be seen by him. The boy noticed though, an evil grin coming to his face as he trotted past. Cally smacked herself in the forward and James looked around in complete bewilderment. "Ok... what the heck is going on?" He finally asked, completely flabbergasted by everything that was transpiring.

[monique_minx]

Cally grimaced, how could I be so stupid?! I just looked immensely guilty...still I am talking to another guy no matter who it is...you're a total moron Cally! You really are!

"Ok... what the heck is going on?"

"I don't know how to explain...it's Hiroshi...you don't know him but he's in our history class...I overheard him talking to his buddies about you. They said that if you went out to the field they were gonna haze you...I came here to warn you but now that's all shot to hell cause I let Kaemon see me and he'll tell Hiroshi." Cally babbled managing to get the main points out.

Cally was ashamed, she had possibly put James in more danger now and she felt incredibly guilty. Hiroshi was infamous for his bullying tactics and was the most popular guy in their year.

They'd tried to mix the University in with the senior highschool thinking that it would instill some kind of maturity into the out-of-control seniors but all it had done was give them new ideas and a new playground. Cally, Hiroshi, Saki, James and Nat were all in their senior year of highschool and while the academic stakes were high; no one could forget the most important stakes - popularity. Everything is a contest in high school and popularity is the forerunner.

"They're karate students; Hiroshi, Kaemon and their crew. They don't play fair, they're just a bunch of bullies that hide behind the old Japanese honour system, they know nothing about honour!" Cally said angrily, her fists were balled as though she was not just making a simple explanation but was having a memory of seeing something the boys had done.

"You will find few friends among the Japanese students and less among the foreigners, I figured you wouldn't have anyone to help you and Hiroshi runs with a crew of 7 including himself. You don't have a chance, no one does..." Cally finished muttering and looking down at her feet.

She was trying to do the right thing so why did it always seem to come back and bite her in the ass?! She bit her lip and looked up; wondering if James thought she was completely crazy yet cause hell even she thought she'd sounded a little crazed.

"I'll help you with your maths if you like..." Cally tried to make a peace offering for doing this to him...she had no wish to scare him.

[gagonthis]

James listened in silence as she told him that one of the boys in school already had it out for him. James heart sank as she went on, a frown coming to his face. Why did this always seem to happen to him. Every time he had started at a new school, which had been way too often, someone always found a way to make him feel unwelcome, whether by just being completely unfriendly or through bullying like Cally was mentioning. He thought maybe things would be different over here, but clearly things were going to be business as usual.

James let out a heavy sigh. "So that guy was Kaemon I'm guessing?" He asked with an indication to the boy who was striding away from them. He didn't really need her to tell him that it was, but part of him hoped that maybe he wasn't understanding everything perfectly. So a group of kids wanted to kick his ass just because he was new. He had no friends to fall back on and as such would be easy prey.

"Karate students? Are you serious?" He said, his eyes widening slightly. Great, not just bullies, but vicious trained bullies. James wasn't sure this day could get any worse, but he was sure that the cosmic forces at work to screw his life up would figure something out. "I can't avoid them forever... maybe.. maybe..." but he had no ideas, nothing he could think of that would end with him not being victimized. He could fight back against one or two, but a whole gang? He didn't have much of a chance. The anger in Cally's eyes told him that they would be vicious too, but what choices did he have? Stop coming to school? Not very likely, his father would find out and despite his increased apathy he would surely make James go back to school.

"Thanks for trying to warn me... and it was nice to meet you Cally." James said dejectedly as he heard one of the bells ring. "But I guess I should be getting to class..." He sighed slightly. "I have gym after this next period... I guess that's when I'll have to be on my guard." He shrugged his shoulders slightly as he hefted his bookbag back over his shoulder, throwing a sad smile to Cally as he began walking towards his next class.

[monique_minx]

Cally nodded in response to his questions, she knew it wasn't fair on him; he had done nothing to deserve this but neither had any of Hiroshi's victims. As James started to walk off to his class; Cally felt inexplicably guilty as though she was responsible for that sad look on his face, it grew from the seed of guilt; that she was actually responsible for Hiroshi's vicious nature.

"Wait James!" She trotted to catch up "Listen Sensai Nakamura doesn't teach in English and I have a spare so if you like I'll be your interpretor...?"

Cally quickly calculated in her head that after his maths class there was an hour break between 2nd and 3rd period, she had to figure something out by then. Maybe if I just talk to Hiro... Cally shot the idea down, you'll make things worse, you'll just piss him off more... Kaemon was a no go zone either but Cally had to speak to one of them or else...James was gym mince!

The thought that Nat or Saki could speak to them left her mind as quickly as it entered, Hiroshi would take offence to me speaking through friends. There was nothing for it, she would have to speak to him herself; Cally had to put immense self control into not shuddering at the thought. She considered telling James but figured she'd done enough to him by now, if it doesn't work out James won't be lying when he says he had no idea....while they're beating the shit out of him! Great...just what I needed today...intensive pressure situations!

"How bout it? You're not going to understand a word otherwise." Cally smiled to show she was joking, it was true but she wasn't trying to make him feel bad; she merely wanted him to accept her offer so then she could keep an eye out without offending his pride, she'd dealt with enough male egos to know what not to say!

[gagonthis]

James was staring at his feet as he walked away, feeling completely down in the dumps. What a shitty start to a school year, surrounded by people who couldn't give two shits about him, in a foreign city that threatened to crush his spirit, the only person he knew his worthless father.

He was debating not going to class at all, maybe he could just go to the nurse and get sent home, it wouldn't be terribly hard to convince anyone he wasn't feel great. His stomach was doing circles and he did kind of feel like throwing up. But if he let himself be bullied then it would never stop. He sighed slightly, he couldn't win for losing. Story of his life.

James stopped himself as Cally called after him. He turned to see her hustling up towards him. Well at least someone was interested in his well being, or at least talking to him. Her offer kind of surprised him. James could tell she was feeling guilty about something, but he was still a little too lost to understand what she should feel bad about, but he wasn't going to turn down her offer. "Oh, that'd be awesome.... ummm thanks a lot." He said with a slight blush and a smile. "I guess we ought to hurry, don't wanna be late... errr could you help me find the room?" He was babbling a little bit, he tended to do that when he got nervous.

They walked down the halls, James sneaking glances over and her every now and then. She was a pretty girl, the type that James never really associated with back in the states. He kept trying to think of things to say, some sort of small talk or something, but his brain just refused to accommodate him. He ran a hand through his brown hair, mussing it slightly as they arrived at his next class. "Ahh Ohaiyogozaimasu James Lennon." The teacher said as he entered and James stared at him in blank confusion, Cally responding to the teacher for him. She seemed quite easily able to explain to the teacher what was going on and James was seated with Cally next to him in short order, other students still filing into the classroom. "Thanks again so much..." He said to her as he fished the math text out of his shoulder bag.

[monique_minx]

Cally nodded and began leading him through the maze of halls, doorways and staircases that made up the University until they finally came to classroom 401.

"ああ、新しい男の子である必要がありますジェームズレノン - Ah you must be the new boy James Lennon." Mrs. Nakamura stated.

Cally smiled sweetly as she looked at James, he looked so hopelessly lost and she intervened.

"はい彼は夫人中村ですしかし、彼が私は私は予備があると彼は通訳している彼のために翻訳することを決定したが日本語を話す。- Yes he is Mrs. Nakamura however he speaks no Japanese so I've decided to translate for him as I have a spare and he has no interpreter."

Mrs. Nakamura nodded and waved them off, Cally followed James to his seat and took the one on his right as was the norm for interpreters, and she moved her seat closer so he wouldn't have trouble hearing her.

"Thanks again so much..."

"It's no problem, though these people may forget; everyone was new once. It's not easy to adjust to a new school let alone a new country so believe me I understand." She smiled at him and watched the other students file in.

"Fuck!" Cally swore under her breath as Hiroshi entered the room, she'd completely forgotten he was in this math class!

Hiroshi looked around only to find his usual seat had been taken - by Cally. He looked at her in surprise, his hazel eyes piercing her's as it seemed he didn't know whether to be angry or delighted. He soon chose as he spotted James sitting next to her and scowled, he wandered over to her inconspicuously all the while Cally was swearing under her breath - fuck, fuck fuck!

Hiroshi walked up to Cally and whispered in her ear "まあ、まあキャリー聞こえるを参照するが、その後私は忙しかったようですね期待していなかった. - Well, well Cally didn't expect to see you hear but then I guess you've been busy." Hiroshi gestured to James subtly.

"あなたが何かヒロ? - Something for you Hiro?" Cally said clearly.

Hiroshi pulled back from her as she turned to him and scowled at his grinning face.

"いいえキャリーが、それ以降私はあなたのために何があるでしょう. - No Cally but later I'll have something for you." Hiroshi grinned evilly and walked over to sit at a desk on the far side of the room, none of his pals were in this class thankfully.

Cally tried to look at the teacher but every now and then she found herself glancing at Hiroshi, it was like he'd dropped a bomb inside her brain and was waiting to set it off. Hiroshi never looked at her once, he didn't have to; their history would replay soon enough.

[gagonthis]

James' eyes roamed over the text book he had been given, thankful to see that at least it was an English version. If nothing else he'd be able to pick up what he needed out of the book and not worry about whether or not he took enough away from the class lecture. Not an ideal situation, but at least he had someone next to him who could potentially make some sense out of what was happening around him.

Her response to his thanks brought another smile to his face. "Yeah I'm kind of used to being the new guy... I moved around a lot as a kid... just not used to being the new guy in a place this foreign." He sighed slightly as he looked around the room. There were a few people who clearly weren't Japanese, but they were all speaking a language completely foreign to James. He was sure some of them were talking about him, the way they kept glancing over at him. Curse of being the new guy. A constant source of curiosity, but very few options to make friends.

James looked up with alarm as Cally suddenly swore loudly, his eyes looking around for what had caused such a loud reaction. A rather large looking Japanese kid entered the room, his eyes narrowing as he noticed Cally, and turning a very sour look to James. He must be one of the guys Cally was trying to warn him about. The sneer he gave James made him sure of it. Great, that guy looked pretty intimidating. James was no slouch in a fight, but he definitely didn't think that he'd be able to stand up to a gang led by a guy like that.

James broke eye contact with the guy as he wandered over towards the two of them. He wouldn't do anything to him in class, but James didn't want to provoke him. Cally seemed quite perturbed by what he was saying and James wondered if maybe he should step in and say something in her defense. Not that he'd know what to say since they were speaking Japanese at each other and he'd have no idea what would be the proper thing to say. Plus he didn't even know if this guy spoke English. So he contented himself with frowning at the boy.

Finally he turned and left, walking to the other side of the room to take a seat, glaring at the two of them continually as class wore on. Finally there was a lull in the lecture and James leaned over to Cally, "What was going with that guy? He didn't look especially happy to see me..." James knew he was one of the bullies she had told him about, but maybe she'd be willing to give him a little background on why exactly these guys had it out for him so bad.

[monique_minx]

Cally sighed, this would require a decent bit of explanation and she really hated talking about Hiroshi due to their sordid history. He was anything but honourable...

"He likes to pick on people, he's like an adult bully basically. We used to date which is why I'm afraid I've put you in more danger. He's very jealous...and he's never quite been able to let go of me. But he was going to beat you up whether or not I interfered...I just wanted you to have half a chance."

Calandria looked guilty, she glanced over at Hiroshi briefly and then back at James. She remembered how sweet Hiro had been when they first started dating...then he'd fallen in with Kaemon and the rest of the in-crowd and became a completely different person.

Hiroshi had never been interested in sex and then suddenly began demanding it of her, Cally wasn't ready and when she tried to tell him...he'd grown furious with her. Calandria had become afraid of Hiroshi and Hiroshi had become obsessed with her. Cally broke it off but still he refused to let her go, refused to give her up and everytime Cally tried to talk to another man, Hiro would see that the man in question never spoke to her again. He and his buddies would beat the man until he gave up on Cally, she wasn't worth the pain; not that Calandria held it against them but it made life extremely difficult for her.

She couldn't even be friends with another male without Hiroshi's fury falling on that male so she stopped trying...until now...

"I'm sorry, I've caused you so much grief...I'm just sick of Hiroshi acting like he owns everything...especially me. It's not your battle to fight and if he hadn't already had plans to beat you up, I wouldn't even be talking to you cause then he'd be making plans to beat you up..." Cally rambled, she was nervous and a flush came up in her cheeks.

[gagonthis]

James listened to her story, pursing his lips in thought as she continued. He was glad they were far enough towards the back of the classroom that the teacher wouldn't notice them chatting. But then again since James couldn't understand a single word that was being said anyway he wasn't terribly concerned about missing the lecture.

"Sounds like a typical bully type... I've had to deal with them a lot since I was younger." He whispered back, his eyes moving over towards Hiroshi again as he spoke. "I've learned that it's best not to give into them and what not. If you don't respond they get sick of messing with you eventually, or else you just learn to deal with it." He flexed his hands into fists momentarily before relaxing them.

He was guessing there was more to the story than she was telling him, but he didn't press the details any further. She clearly had a complicated history with the guy, and she seemed fairly skittish and unhappy around him. James didn't want to make things worse on Cally than they already would be, but she had come to him, and he did appreciate it.

"Don't worry about me..." He said with a sad smile. "Like you said, the guy was planning on making trouble for me already. I don't really think that you talking to me is going to make it too much worse. I can look out for myself and honestly, it's nice to have a friendly warning for once." Another smile touched his lips. "And anyway, I hope you would be talking to me in either case." He blushed slightly as he said that, looking away, catching Hiroshi's eyes again on accident. He stared back at James with undisguised hatred and James let out a heavy sigh again. It was going to be a long year that was for sure. "I'm serious though, thanks for the kind words." He said before turning back forward to focus on the teacher who had just begun writing equations up on the board.

The rest of the class past fairly quickly considering the dread in his stomach. He gathered his stuff and rose, offering to walk Cally to her next classroom since she had just sacrificed her free period to help him out. As they made their way down the hallway James stopped short as he noticed the guy who had spotted them in the hallway from before his last class leaning up against a locker, an evil smile on his face. James glanced around and then realized two other students and Hiroshi were coming up behind him. "Ugh, this isn't good..." He whispered to himself as they approached, drawing up short, encircling James and Cally.

A harsh exchange followed in Japanese between Cally and Hiroshi, none of which James caught, but he could read body language well enough. Finally Hiroshi turned his hard glare to James and pointed a finger at him, speaking in broken English. "You going down hard Cowboy!" He snarled, and James had to use every scrap of willpower to keep from flinching away from the guy. "Fucking tough guy!" Hiroshi yelled, this time coming forward, fist leading the way in a heavy jab aimed square at James nose. Moving his head swiftly aside James caught a grazing hit to the cheek. Stumbling backwards a pair of hands shoved him back forward and James ducked another heavy blow. He wasn't going to win this fight and he knew it.

A loud voice called out in Japanese and James turned to see one of the teachers down the hall, hustling forward. "We get you next time Cowboy!" Hiroshi snarled, venom in his voice as his group tore off away from the scene, leaving James to try and collect himself.

[monique_minx]

Cally exited the classroom in relief but as she spotted Hiroshi, Kaemon and a few of the other's coming together she soon became wary. When they walked her way, she became afraid; not for herself but for James.

She inched closer to him a little; almost protectively so and only moved away when Hiroshi approached her first.

"あなたは彼とキャリーエイ元気ですか？ - What are you doing with him aye Cally?" Hiroshi asked her.

"彼は私の友人宏、あなたのすべての私は誰かに話すたびに、嫉妬を取得する必要はありません！ - He's my friend Hiroshi, you don't have to get all jealous every time I speak to someone else!"

"私は、小さな男根好きではない! - I don't like the little fucker!"

"がうまくいけば我々にしていると、ここ何ヶ月になりましたので、既に行くようにしてきた原因ヒロ彼のようにする必要はありません！私に行こう！ - Well you don't have to like him Hiro cause we're over and we've been over for months now so let it go already! Let me go!" Cally screamed at him.

Hiroshi turned away from her and made to punch James, Calandria had no time to react and was grateful that at least James could think on his feet. Cally was waving at Mrs. Nakamura who sprinted their way, the other boys bolted and Cally went to James' aid.

"Oh my god, are you alright? I am so sorry!" Cally said sympathetically.

Mrs. Nakamura had turned away as the boys bolted, she seemed determined to catch them. Cally put her arm around James; worried for his well being.

"Maybe we should go to the school nurse?" Cally asked as she noticed his cheek starting to swell slightly.