The Girls of Yusai, Chapter 1

by Nyarly

Somewhat scared, Shiori stood before the school grounds. She was accepted at the prestigious Yusai girl's school and was quite excited to come here, but now she was quite intimidated. It was bigger than she expected and she wondered if she could ever fit in here.

She stood there for a while, unsure if she even should be here, when another girl passed by and stopped.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you the new student?"

Shiori looked at the girl. She seemed to be a bit older than her and was very pretty. She had long black hair, that she wore in a hime cut, and brown eyes. She wore a black school uniform in sailor style. Shiori remembered that it was the uniform of the Yusai.

"Y-Yes," Shiori answered shyly. "I just arrived here."

The girl smiled. "Then you are lucky. I got the order to lead you around. You are Shiori Izumi, right?"

"Yes," she simply said, unsure how she should approach her.

"My name is Ayako Minase. Don't be so shy, we may come mostly from rich families, but we are friendly here. Now come, we will first go to the dorm. You can drop your belongings there."

With that she grabbed Shiori's hand and led her to the dorm. Shiori blushed at that. She certainly didn't expect her to be so... close. But it was better than being distant.

Ayako led her up to Shiori's room. Since there were classes at the moment, they didn't encounter any other girls. The older girl held the door open and Shiori entered the room that would be her home for next years. It was pretty big, obviously made for two persons, with two beds on opposites ends. Other than that, there were a pair of dressers, bookcases and desks.

"Wow!" She shouted as she saw it. "It's so big! It's bigger than my room at home."

Ayako giggled a bit. "Of course, it is. After all, you won't live here alone."

"I know that. Still, I never lived in such a big room."

"Is it the first time, you living away from your home?"

"Yes...," Shiori felt a bit said, when she remembered that she won't see her parents for while.

"Don't feel bad! You can go home over weekends, so it's not like you will be gone for long. And we will make sure that you won't get homesick. But let's go now. There is still much, I have to show you."

Shiori nodded and dropped her bags in her room for now. Then Ayako led her out and showed her the school grounds. First they went to the sports field, whose sight impressed Shiori. It was quite large and had many different fields for different sports. A couple of students were playing volleyball at the moment.

"Wow, it's so big!" Shiori said. "Does that all belong to the school?"

"Yes. It's pretty impressive, huh? Even for a rich school like this, it's very big. If I'm not mistaken then you will be in the class that is playing here at the moment. You are in the fourth grade, aren't you? "

"Yes, I just got into it."

"Well, the school year just started. It's pretty rare than a new student comes here so soon after it."

"There were some complications..."

Ayako knew what Shiori was talking about. Being a high-class school, the Yusai Elementary School normally only takes students from rich families. Sometimes, they take scholarship students from middle-class families, like Shiori, but they don't make it easy for them to enter the school. And there were people, who thought that they don't belong here at all...

"The most important thing is, that it worked," Ayako said. "But... Wait a minute. Maeda-san!"

She called one of the students, who was resting at the moment. As she noticed it, she went to the two girls. The girl was quite short, and had short green hair, with two pigtails, which hang in front of her ears. Her eyes had the same color. She wore a typical gym uniform, consisting of a white shirt, on which the name "Akari Maeda" was printed, and dark blue bloomers.

"Good day, Minase-sama! Is that the new... the new..."

As she took a closer look at Shiori, she came to a halt and stared strangely at her. Shiori felt quite uncomfortable. The girl went around her, looking intently at her. She gently touched her long pink hair and stared into her blue eyes, which didn't made Shiori feel better. Then she turned to Ayako again.

"So...," she began calmly. "Is this the new girl? The scholarship student, who will start her tomorrow?"

"Yes," Ayako simply said.

"Yes!" The strange girl suddenly shouted. "Akari, you are such a lucky girl, I can't believe it!"

Shiori stared at her dumbfounded. Just what was with that girl?

Ayako sighed. "Well, Izumi-san, may I introduce you to Akari Maeda? She will be your roommate."

"My roommate?" She didn't know what to think of that.

"Yes. As you surely noticed, she is quite... eccentric. She is a good girl, but sometimes a bit too enthusiastic."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She is in the sewing club and one of the best there. She can really create impressive clothes. And she loves to see other girls wearing the. Judging from her reaction, you should be careful not to end up as her dress-up doll."

"This... isn't reassuring."

"Don't worry. Maeda-san is a nice girl, I'm sure you two will get along. She is also pretty smart. She skipped a class and is now in the fourth grade, even though she is just eight years old."

"Even younger than me..."

Akari grabbed her hands and smiled at her. "No worries, Shiori-chan, your name is Shiori, right? I will take good care of you. And your wardrobe and your..."

"I think that's enough, Maeda-san," Ayako interrupted her. "We should go, there is still much to see."

She took Shiori's hand and went off. Akari stayed behind and frantically waved her arm. "See you later, my cute, little Shiori-chan!"

A shiver went down Shiori's spine. Her roommate seemed nice enough, but...

"Maeda-san is scary," She blurted out without thinking.

"You think so?"

"Maybe not scary, not really, but she is a bit too... close. I mean, we don't really know each other, but still she called me by my first name. And then even with '-chan'..."

"Well, when you find her scary already..."

"What do you mean?"

Ayako shook her head. "Nothing important. We should continue our tour."

The two girls went over the entire ground and Ayako showed Shiori everything. She wasn't sure if she could remember everything so easily, but the older girl reassured her that she will get used to it with time. Finally, they went to the main building.

"Here most of the classes take place," Ayako explained. "Also most of the club rooms are here, like the sewing club. And... Oh, no..."

"What is? Did something happen?" Shiori asked.

"It seems like we got unpleasant company..."

In front of the school building stood three girls. Two of them were apparently roughly the same age as Shiori. But the other girl seemed a bit older.

"Good day, Ichijo-sama," Ayako greeted the older girl. "To what do we owe the honor of your presence?" While she seemed to be nice and respectful, there was a certain bitterness in her voice.

The girl was a bit taller than Ayako. She had a somewhat western look to her, with her long, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. There was an air of authority around her. Shiori felt quite uncomfortable in her presence.

"Now, now, there is no need for any hostility, as subtle as it may be. You see, it came to my ears that a new student arrived here. You understand that I there was no way that I couldn't personally welcome her."

"Sure, I do..." The bitter undertone in her voice got stronger.

Ignoring her, the girl turned to Shiori. "You are Shiori Izumi-san, right? I'm Mayumi Ichijo, eleven years old, fifth grade. And I should tell you right away, that I have a certain authority at this school. Even the teachers have nothing but utmost respect for me. But of course I'm not her to brag. You see, there are some people, who thing that girls from lower classes don't belong her. But I'm not one of them. I think it is great when some fresh, young blood comes here. And a person like you may make things more interesting around here." She went closer to her, making Shiori back away a bit, and gently caresses her cheek. "I'm sure we will get along well together. Very well..."

Despite her nice demeanor, Shiori was frightened. There was something uncomfortable about her and there seemed to be a hidden meaning in her words, which Shiori couldn't grasp. Not knowing what to say, she just answered: "Y-Yes, I hope so, Ichijo-sama."

Mayumi just smiled. "Very well. Then I will take my leave. I still have duties to fulfill. I look forward to our next encounter, Izumi-san." With that she went back to the school, followed by the other two girls.

"Stay away from her," Ayako firmly said.

"What?"

"Take my advice. This girl means nothing but trouble."

Sorrowful, Shiori looked after Mayumi. Just what was that supposed to mean...?