Little Tiger

First day of school

I did manage to fall asleep eventually, and woke up the next morning for school. I had gotten a measly two hours of sleep. I was always exhausted. One of the maids had retrieved my school uniform from the dry cleaners. It was now hanging on my wardrobe, still in its plastic sleeve. I stared at it for a while in the silence of my room with the dawn light peeking through my curtains. It was too early and my uniform was too ugly. I hated it all. 

I took a shower to try and wake myself up. Fortunately, it did the trick. With more energy and the sleepiness out of my eyes, I was able to muster up the courage to put on my uniform. I did so and watched it in the mirror as if I was waiting for it to move or something. The skirt was too long which made my legs look stubby, the vest was quite roomy on me (my chest didn't do a very good job at filling out shirts), my collared shirt was itchy around my neck, and my hair was still wet which was the last thing I needed. Akari knocked on my door. I knew it was him because he was the only person who visited my room, let alone knocked, anymore. 

"Come in," I called. You could tell it was the first time I had used my voice that morning. I cleared my throat. 

Akari slid the door open and poked his head inside. "I got you something for your first day back," he explained matter-of-factly. 

I faced him with a surprised look on my face. "Why would you do that?" 

He shrugged and opened the door further so that he could slide in. He had his arms behind his back and a sneaky grin on his face. 

"Because I found it and thought that it would be perfect for you." He slid the door closed with his foot, refusing to use his hands and spoil my surprise. 

He instructed me to put out my hand and close my eyes then gently placed something in my palm. 

"Alright---open them," he told me. 

I looked down at my hand. It was a keychain. There was a bunny on it with a yellow bow over its ear that was shaped as a star. It took everything in me not to curl up my face in disgust. 

"Isn't it cute?" he asked with the hint of a proud, fatherly smile. "I've seen other girls about your age with these things and I thought maybe you would want one too. Kagura and Rin collect them as well," he added, letting me know that he had done a generous amount of research before buying this. 

I looked up at him, forcing a smile. "It's very cute," I replied. "Thank you, Akari." I meant that part. 

Akari beamed at me. "You're more than welcome, Koharu." His eyebrow twitched as he pulled something out of his pocket. "I also got another one." He placed an identical bunny in my hand, but this one's star was pink. "You can give one to your friend so you will be matching!" 

I could not hide the frown on my face. Who would want to match with me? I didn't have any friends. 

"That's great, thank you," I told him, placing both of the keychains in my school bag.

Kureno and Ritsu were already in the car. My interaction with Akari made me late; Ritsu was sitting nervously in the backseat with his hands on his knees, seemingly mumbling something to himself. 

I opened the door and sat beside him. 

"You're late, Koharu," Kureno told me. 

"Sorry," I said, not very genuinely, and placed my school bag on my lap. 

The driver took off down the road. 

"Kureno, could you tell me again what high school is like?" Ritsu asked, his voice rising and falling anxiously.