It was his new day in a new high school. ‘Issues’ back home forced him and his family to North America, out into the middle of a forested area no one seems to have heard about. Not only that, but his new school was apparently a co-ed, boarding school so he was now stuck with people he doesn’t know for the next three years. Yeah, his new school year was starting to look great.
Let’s see here, His thoughts started as he continued to hike down the forest trail. Luggage? He looked down to the bag in his left hand. Check. Books and school supplies? He looked down at the small shopping bag in his right hand. Check. Sanity? Left it back in Japan. Okay, we’re good to go!...
He grumbled incoherent words as he continued down the endless forest trail. “I’ve been walking down this hiking trail for the past twenty minutes. Why is it taking so long to find?!” His voice was slightly high for a male, but others usually waved that off as nothing.
It wasn’t like he wasn’t use to this kind of thing. In fact, he grew up in an area much like this one, meditating outdoors and taking in the scenery. No, what was bothering him was the fact that the map (drawn on a paper napkin no less) showed him the way to his new school, telling him it would take him, at the most, five minutes to get there.
He was already fifteen minutes overdue.
“If I don’t find it within the next ten minutes, I’m heading back,” Deep green eyes glared ahead at the beaten path as he continued to trudge along. He sighed, his face softening as his gaze glazed over while zoning out. I wonder what my new school is like to have to be all the way out here. Dad said something about it being ‘special’, but didn’t get much farther then that. Does this have to do with ‘that incident’? He used a tanned hand to slick back short, fern green hair, the small pony tail in the back was kept together by the small, white rubber band.
He placed his hands back into the long sleeves of his steel blue gi’s *uwagi; the tail being overlapped by a black belt with a white strip down the middle. The legs of his pants (same color as the jacket) almost overlapped his **geta. The large, black, digital watch around his left wrist seemed out of place.
… Yes. This is his casual wear.
Boom!
A large explosion coming from his left caused him to almost trip over a rock, “W-what the?!” He quickly glanced around in alarm, trying to pin point exactly where he heard the explosion come from when he suddenly found himself listening to nearby shuffling.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the bush rustle about, slowly dropping his bags so his hands were free of obstacles. He then slowly moved his right foot back and moved into a fighting stance.
Rustle. Rustle… Pop!
Wait, ‘pop’?
“Hiya!” The first thing he saw was a big, goofy grin was on the newcomer’s face as she looked right at him. Granted, the leaves and small twigs in her hair were quite the distraction, but still.
“’H-Hiya’?” Green eyes blinked in confusion as he looked at the older girl.
“S’what I said. Don’t wear out my words,” The girl continued to grin as she stepped out of the bush. Long, slender fingers ran through silky, straight black hair as she started to take out the foliage that had accumulated within it. She reached the end of her hair, around her waist and moved back up to the… cowlick of her hair, the resilient piece that didn’t seem to want to fall (The words ‘anime hair’ kept popping into his mind for some reason.), continuing her work.
“Um? Who’re you?” He asked plainly as he continued to watch the girl prune herself. He observed the girl further as she was distracted: Her right eye was golden and the other had a weird shaped (it looked like a pair of sunglasses, but vertical) eye-patch over her right eye. A sleeveless, black bolero covered a white tanktop; black, baggy cargo pants almost with this the view over her black Vans; black, fingerless gloves adorned her hands and she also had a pair of large stereo headphones around her neck.
Nice clothes… The boy thought sarcastically, as if he was really one to talk.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” The girl asked. “You’re the one wandering around the forest alone.”
The boy frowned, Said the person who popped out of a bush from nowhere. “--! Hey, wait!” He glared at the girl, “You’re accusing me of wandering out alone when you’re doing the exact same thing!”
“Well, duh. But I get to use that excuse on you because I said it first. So there.” The girl crossed her arms under her chest and stuck out her tongue defiantly.
The boy’s left eyebrow twitched in frustration. God, this woman is weird. Whatever, I’ll just tell her and be on my way. “Kane Ruth.”
“Huh. That name sounds familiar…” She stared off into space for a second or so before snapping back into what appeared to be an infinitely cheerful disposition. “Well, whatever!” She started to walk over toward Kane with her hand held out to greet him, “Nice to meet ya, Ka—ahh!” She tripped over a rock and her outstretched hand reached out to grab at the nearest thing in its reach as she fell: Kane’s pants.
Kane’s face was flushed from embarrassment, his whole face turning red as he was stunned- frozen in place.
The girl groaned in pain slightly, her face slowly lifting up to the boy’s. “I’m sorry about that, I guess the forest floor is a lot more slippery then-- bear panties…” A yellow eye stared at a cartoon bear face that started back at her, “… Pff! Aww!” She gushed, a playful smirk on her face. “There’s even a little itty-bitty paw on each side!”
“Sh-shut up and let go of my pants!” Kane’s booming voice resonated throughout the forest from yelling so loud.
“Yes, yes,” The older girl still had a smirk on her face as she let go and got up, brushing her pants off. She looked away from Kane, putting her gloved hands behind her head and gazing up to the canopy of the pine trees, “So…” She started after clearing her throat with a cough.
“What?” And irritated response came from behind her.
The girl shuffled her feet against the dead pine needles on the ground,
“You’re a girl?” She asked bluntly.
“Yeah,” Kane growled, “What of it?”
“Oh, nothin’, nothin’…” A silence fell between the two before the eye-patched girl couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Pfft!... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH—“ She gripped her stomach tightly as she doubled over, laughing hysterically. Tears fell from her eye as she continued to laugh, showing no signs of letting up any time soon.
“Quiet you!” Kane yelled at the hysterical teen, trying to regain any shred of dignity she could. “It’s not funny!”
“You’re right,” The girl stopped for a split second to look at Kane through a tear-filled eye, “It’s hilarious: some cool, suave-aired guy walks through the forest wearing a martial arts get-up and he turns out of be some guy-looking-girl that wears bear print panties!”
Kane quickly covered the area in question out of embarrassment, her face once again going red, “Hey! This happens to be my favorite pair!—…“ Kane blinked, That... wasn’t supposed to come out…
The laughing died down and the girl breathed heavily, “Ah, I thought I was going to die of laughter.” She said breathlessly before smiling contently, her eye closed, standing strait up once more.
Kane Ruth, mustering up her calm anger, glared at the girl, “Hey, you better not tell anyone about this, you hear?”
“Hm?” The raven-haired girl opened her golden eye and looked at the tan martial artist, curious about the sudden mood swing. What she saw was a glare that could send chills down a person’s spine. Of course, this girl, being as ‘weird’ as she was, didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. In fact, a coy smile found its way onto her face, visibly confusing Kane.
Kane dropped the glare as stared at the taller girl, her gaze silently asking what was with the sly grin.
“This ‘not telling anyone about this’ seems to be important to you, nah?” Kane slowly nodded. “While I don’t deal kindly to threats, what I do deal with regularly are deals or bribes,” She smirked. “How’s about we make a little deal? This for that; tit for tat; quid pro quo?”
Kane frowned a little in her suspicion, but was intrigued. “Go on.”
The smirk on the older girl’s face widened slightly as she once again moved toward Kane. “In exchange for me keeping your girly-ness a secrete…” She raised her hand and pulled Kane’s face so it was leaning upwards and slowly leaned her own face downwards. “… and in return, you…” She lightly tugged one Kane’s face until she could feel their breaths mixing, “… become my ‘boyfriend’.”
Their lips touched for a second or two in a chaste kiss before Kane gasped, her eyes widening as she pulled away, stumbling backwards, onto her bottom in her stupor.
The girl smiled brightly as if nothing had just happened, “God, you don’t know how to kiss!” She teased, snickering before she ran off in a direction. “Hey, just in case you’re wondering, the school’s this way!” The girl called back as an after-thought before disappearing into the forest view.
“Wh… wh… what the hell just happened?!” Kane yelled, cupping her head with her hands as she sat on the ground, trying in vain to ease a rising headache.
And thus starts the story of not only Kane Ruth’s first kiss, but the start of her next three years in high school.
“Ugh, I’m going to take some aspirin for this headache when I get to my new school…” Kane’s voice trailed off as she slowly got up, picked up her bags, and trudged off reluctantly in her new school’s direction.