“Hey, faggot!”

“The fuck did you just say?!” Chann snarled.  He whipped around and got right up in White’s face.  Selene was hanging on his arm as usual, gazing up at him with a painful adoration, while Taylor and Shaw towered haughtily behind him.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Brit Boy,” White corrected loftily.  “I’m talking to your emo boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, not that that’s any business of yours,” Chann growled.  “It’s the first day of school and classes haven’t even started.  Haven’t you anything better to do than pick on Mirai?”

“Actually, he’s a constant source of entertainment.  We kick the shit out of him, and no matter how much you bitch to admin, we never get in trouble!”

“You’re sickening, y’know that?  Why can’t you save for your prejudice for the 30th of February?”

White laughed and swapped looks with Shaw and Taylor.  “30th of February, huh?  Looks like you’ve lost your balls, Tomlinson.”

“I’ve plenty of balls; you’re just not worth my time.  But, yeah:  he’s yours on the 30th of February.”

White rolled his eyes and stalked off, Selene sashaying at his side and Shaw and Taylor glaring disdainfully over their shoulders as they followed.  Rolling his eyes, Chann rejoined me, and I struggled not to smile.  I wished I could be there when White figured out that there was no 30th of February, but that probably wouldn’t happen.  He was slower than a parked car.  All of our clever insults and wordplay went straight over their heads, to the point where it almost wasn’t worth it.  Almost.

“What a way to start the school year,” Chann muttered.  “That blighter doesn’t have a decent bone in his body.  You okay?”

I nodded.  We continued to walk laps around the school until we came across a boy we’d never seen before.  He was leaning against a wall, running a hand through his blonde hair with an agitated, helpless look on his face.  Selene, now with her posse, completely ignored him when he tried to speak to her.

“Oof,” Chann winced.  “Blondie must be new, if he’s tryna talk to Selene.  I’m gonna go help him.  Do you wanna come with or hang here?”

I squeezed his arm and smiled.

“Alright, then.  Oi, blondie!  You look lost.  Can we help?”

“Oh!”  Relief melted over the boy’s face.  “Yes, I do.  I am a new student and I am lost.  Where is room 514?”

“What a coincidence:  we’re headed there ourselves!  Come walk with us.”

As the boy approached, I felt my heart begin to beat a little faster.  He was tallish and handsome with fine features.  His eyes were bluer than the sky and deeper than the ocean.  His hair was as golden as the sun and amusingly messy; it looked like he’d put a lot of effort into taming it, only for it to continually fall back into his face.  His peach skin was slightly paler than Chann’s, quite different from my own honey-olive.  He looked sweet, intelligent, nervous, and somehow out of place.  He met my gaze and I felt my knees go weak, but not in the lack-of-strength way.  I looked at the floor then back up at him; he smiled gently and waved ‘hello’.  I ducked behind Chann with a squeak, feeling smaller and jumpier than usual, which was an impressive achievement.

“You’re okay,” Chann whispered so quietly that only I could hear.  “He seems friendly.  My name’s Chann, by the way, and this is my best mate, Mirai,” he continued in a louder voice.  “What’s yours?”

“Sasuke.”

I tilted my head slightly to the side.  He had a Japanese name, but he spoke with an Italian accent and was the epitome of Eurocentric beauty.  He fell in on Chann’s other side and I let out the breath I’d been holding.  I dared to risk another glance at the boy.  He was gazing around at the halls, seemingly trying to memorize where he was.  He noticed me staring and smiled, not at all deterred.  I pulled my hood over my head to try and hide my hot blush.  Chann chuckled and affectionately bumped his hip against mine.  I hip-checked him, much harder than he bumped me, and he noticeably stumbled.  He regained his composure, blew a raspberry at me, then turned to Sasuke before I could react.

“So, Sasuke, I hear you've an Italian accent.  That where you're from?”

“Yes, I am from Italy.  I moved here two weeks ago with my family.”

“Whoa, big move.  You ever been to the States before?”

“No.  Things are so…  different here.”

“Yeah, I get it.  I was born in Merry Old England but I grew up here, although I do spend my summers there.  I know it’s weird, adjusting to a new country – I always need a few days to get used to England and the States each time I come back after a while – but it all works out in the end.”

“Thank you, Chann.”  Sasuke looked at me again and I buried my face in the small of Chann’s back.  “You are Mirai, right?”

He was talking to me.  I grabbed onto Chann’s t-shirt, trying to make sense of the strange surge of emotions within me.  Even if I could speak to him, I wouldn’t know what to say.  I’d never felt like this before.

“Yeah, he’s Mirai.  He’s just a bit shy.”

I felt like a child clinging to his parent’s leg on the first day of preschool, too scared and pathetic to talk to anyone.  The silence was damning.  I peeked at Sasuke and I was once again startled by how easily he met my gaze.

“Your name is pretty, Mirai.  It is Japanese, right?”

I still felt frozen.  Chann laid a comforting hand on my shoulder and rubbed slowly, trying to work away my anxiety.  It didn’t help much.

Such kindness from a stranger was too much for me.

“I have to use the bathroom,” I signed.

“Alright.  We’ll meet you at the library in, say, five minutes?”

I nodded.  Without looking at Sasuke, I slipped off, my heart hammering with fear and…  excitement?