The Reluctant protagonist

The 'Curse'

***

"Now I need you to push one more time!" 

The doctor spoke calmly to the expectant mother on the bed. Her husband squeezed her hand reassuringly before she gripped it tightly and did as the doctor bid.

"Great job!" The doctor exclaimed, pulling a small form from the bed and preparing to cut the umbilical cord "Congratulations! You have a little girl!"

The whole room seemed to be filled with happiness and the exhausted mother sank down into the bed in relief

"Would you like to do the honours?" The doctor asked the proud new father who eagerly agreed and cut the cord.

It was then that the doctor noticed the problem with the baby.

"I'm so sorry..."

***

On the day I was born my parents knew I was 'cursed', how could they not with such obvious signs, you see I was born with pink hair and big blue eyes and everyone knows what that means...

My name is Tomoyo Koumori and I am destined to be a protagonist (or at least a main character).

"Dad! Breakfast is ready!" I called out, stripping off the frilly apron I had been wearing and placing various dishes on the table.

"Oooh, smells lovely honey!" Dad said sniffing the air appreciatively before taking his seat.

"I wish you would let me give you your mother's cookbook, I'm sure she would have wanted you to have it. She wouldn't have left it behind otherwise"

"You know I can't, if I did I would then use her recipes to go to some fancy cooking school and meet hot guys or find joy in feeding people my dishes filled with love!"

"What's so bad about that though? That seems like a nice story to me?"

"Because I don't want a story forced on me, I want to make my own destiny, my own story"

"I know honey but sometimes we don't have a choice in the way our lives will turn out, so it might be good for you to choose a life that is safer than some of the other stories you might get stuck in"

"I know dad and it's great that I will always have mum's cookbook to fall back on if I get caught in a bad genre but for now I want to find my own path"

I kissed dad on the head and headed to school, it was earlier then I usually allowed myself to go but I didn't want to have this talk with dad again. On the way it was creepily clear, I didn't almost bump into anyone around any corners, no cats or small children ran into traffic, I didn't spot any foreign objects on the ground and I didn't stumble across anyone being bullied.

Something terrible is going to happen, I just know it...

As I entered the school grounds I finally saw the hook, the sakura trees were in bloom

it's freaking winter! Why are you blooming!

If I walked under them I just knew I would encounter someone, most likely a love interest of some sort.

Damn it! Why did I have to become a teenager! Now I'm going to have to dodge all the romance hooks.

I went the long way round avoiding the sakura trees. One good thing about being a potential protagonist is that I am oddly athletic and it was easy enough to climb the back wall, though I had to make sure not to jump it lest I land on someone. Once in the classroom I set up my defenses, I sat in the very middle of class, checked my desk for any secret notes and pulled out my headphones. For some reason avoiding people by reading a book just drew more people to me but headphones somehow repelled them.