City Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Hamutaro/Hamtaro.

Notes: I will be using their english names. Yes, they are human, and I still use Hamutaro and Roko-chan/Hiroko (Laura's Jap. name). Hamutaro's supposed to act a bit...sad. All of them are fifteen, except Boss and Maxwell, whom are sixteen. Yes, this was from my old writing account. I won't tell which.

Reviews: Thanks for reviwing, Ham-Kelly. You deserve a hug!

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Chapter One - First Day

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"Hamutaro-kun!" I faintly heard Auntie calling me. I lifted my head and checked my digital clock. 6:28. Time to get up. This was already my fourth day of living here, but I still didn't feel at home. It was cold. I knew immediately when I moved my heavy quilt off of me. I was aware of my body shivering on its own. I quickly got up and rummaged through my closet, pulling out a loose orange and white short-sleeve. I put it over my lean body, along with some flaccid jeans, then I hurried into the bathroom across my room. I was more of a morning person than most people. I looked around the bathroom; it looked great! Auntie must have decorated it yesterday.

My toothbrush was stuck in one of those painted pots with the holes. I put a glob of paste on it and started brushing. Then I spit, cleaned my face, and brushed my hair thoroughly. But it was still messy. I parted the orange side and the white side evenly and headed downstairs. But I stopped by my room. I forgot. Roko-chan! I hurried to her cage and found her snoozing inside her house. I filled her feed-bowl with sunflower seeds, along with some dried bananas, then I rushed down.

"Oh, you're up," I saw Auntie at the stove, cooking up some breakfast. "Sit, sit. You know, Oxnard offered to walk you to school today."

I parked myself on one of the chairs. "That would be great, Auntie!" She came and set down a platter of flapjacks in front of me, pouring warm, golden syrup over them. "Thanks."

"You can go wait for Oxnard when you're done, all right?" Auntie chuckled as Hamutaro dug into the pancakes hungrily. "Your school things are in the corner over there, so just grab it and go."

"Thanks," I repeated with mouthful of pancake. I gulped it down, and checked the clock on the wall. "I should get going, Auntie. I don't want to be late." I shrugged on my bag and headed towards the door.My aunt smiled.

"I'll see you after school, dear," she said, mopping up the counter with a rag. "Have a good day. Oh, and here," she put a crumpled five dollar bill inmy hand. "I think it's enough for two days of lunch." I smiled and pocketed it.

"Bye!"

Now I was on the street, chilled by the drafty morning air. The sky was cloudy and gray, as it was still early, and I could see small dew drops sliding down the crisp blades of grass. I stared at them before I heard someone calling, "Hamutaro!" I looked up and saw Oxnard waving at me. It seemed like the large boy's fear had ebbed away, and was friendly now. I grinned at him. "Come on! Let's go!" Hamutaro smiled, and turned back. I saw Auntie looking at me through the window. She smiled, so I ran off towards Oxnard.

"Hey, Oxnard," I caught up with him, a bit out of breath. "What grade are you in?"

"Oh, I'm going into tenth grade," he responded, looking at him with his deep gray eyes. "You?"

"The same," Hamutaro grinned. "Is this the first day?"

"Yeah. If we're lucky, we'll have the same classes...what's your homeroom?" he asked suddenly. Hamutaro dug into his pocket for the letter he recieved from the principal. "Er...Mrs.Viv?"

"Whoa! You have the same as me! You follow me, and you'll learn where everything is." He gave Hamutaro a goofy smile. "She's really nice. She tells us to call her 'Auntie Viv' and she's really energetic for an old lady. She even teaches P.E., along with eleventh grade English!" Hamutaro laughed at the last part.

In no time, they reached a large building. It was a solid shade of gray and perfectly furnished. I saw all these other kids there, and I got nervous. Really nervous. At my old house, I had no trouble making friends, but that was because I didn't worry about people calling me a freak and staring at me.

"Here, it's about 10 minutes until class starts. Let's just go into homeroom, okay?" he pulled my arm and led me into the building. I noticed a boy staring at us. He had black hair that was a bit faded, and gray goggles pushed up against his forehead. But I noticed that he had a really nice look in his face. He smiled at me as he headed towards us.

"Hey, Oxnard, who's this?" he asked in a really pleasant voice. I couldn't help smiling.

"Oh, hey Panda," he greeted. "This is Hamutaro. He just moved here."

"Hi, Hamutaro," Panda shook my hand. "Are you in Viv's homeroom?"

"Yeah."

"Good, maybe we could sit together, all three of us." Panda nodded. "But I have to take care of some things first. See you." he drifted off, and we went on.

"Panda's one of the nicest guys in this school. And he can build anything that he wants." Oxnard added. He could? Maybe I could ask him to make me something...

"Oh, hey Dexter...Howdy..." Oxnard told two guys coming our way. The left one looked smart; his glasses were perched on his nose perfectly, and a neat red bowtie was tied near his collarbone. His dark-gray hair was neat, and so was his sweater vest and slacks. The other was more loose looking. His hair was a solid brown and more messy, and his eyes were a tad squinty. He wore a loose red shirt, and looked simple. I noticed his front tooth was a bit larger than the others.

"Oh, hello, Oxnard," the left one raised a hand in greeting. I guessed he was Dexter. "Who's this?" he looked at me. I grinned nervously.

"Oh, this is Hamutaro," Oxnard told him. "He's new."

"Howdy, Hamutaro!" Howdy chuckled. "Now tell me, did you see my darling Pashmina today?"

"Who?"

"Howdy, you're forgetting he's new," Dexter raised his eyebrows at Howdy. "Not thatI expected anything more of you."

"What are you saying!" Howdy asked angrily.Soon, they were squabbling, and we had moved on. "Who's Pashmina?" I asked Oxnard as we moved along. I noticed people staring at me, so I looked away.

"She's only one of the most popular girls here," Oxnard informed him. "She's really pretty, and she always wears this pink scarf, no matter the weather. Everyone likes her, and she has a stream of boys worshipping her. Mostly Howdy and Dexter. They argue about her a lot, but I always have a feeling that they're still close friends."

"Do you like her?" I asked curiously. He shook his head. I didn't press the subject any harder.

"Well, here we are," he opened the door, and found the class half full. They immediately looked up to see who came, and seeing the unfamiliar student, continued to stare. I smiled nervously.

"Oh, hello, Oxnard, dear," the teacher looked up. Her white hair was curled to her neck, and she placed a strawberry hat on top of it. She had wrinkles, but other than that, her spirit didn't seem old at all. "Oh, who's this?" She saw me. I smiled.

"I'm Hamutaro," I handed her a slip, and she signed it, handing it back to me. "Welcome, Hamutaro. You seem like a good student, so be one...hey! No cell phones in class, Jack! Don't make me take it and sell it on Ebay!" she joked. The lean boy smiled and put it away. "Well, boys," she turned to me and Oxnard again. "We have about five minutes left, so talk as loudly as you want. The rest of the class already did." She rolled her eyes, and a smile tugged my face. She was really nice.

"Here, let's take a seat in the middle row..." Oxnard pulled me to a desk where three people could sit. I guess Panda would sit here, too. Sure enough, he came to us when he entered. "Hey, Hamutaro, Oxnard." He sat down. "Isn't Auntie Viv cool, Hamutaro?" he asked suddenly. I nodded.

"She is. She's so friendly," I admitted. Oxnard grinned. "She can beat anyone in her P.E. classes at racing. She's a cloud of dust when she runs."

"Whoa." That was weird for an old woman. Suddenly, I heard whispers behind me. I automatically looked back and saw three girls.

The first one was very...white. In a non-racial way of course. Her hair was so bright, it looked white. Maybe it was. But her hair was tied in a ponytai with a large blue ribbon. Her clothes were very clean and looked expensive. Her skin was a normal peach, and she hadlarge emerald eyes. Her mouth was in a perfect 'o'. Probably after seeing me staring.

The next girl was really nice looking...like Panda. Her lips were curved in a soft smile, and her solid green eyes twinkled. Her hair was long and thick, and was a very orangey-blonde color. She wore a light magenta shirt, and had a pink scarf on. Was this Pashmina?

Finally, the third girl didn't seem like the other two. She looked more rough, athletic. Her tan hair was only grown to her neck area, and her front bangs were brown. Her mouth was in a friendly smile, her energetic green eyes were mischevious. She seemed more like a guy: her baggy brown pants visible from under the table, her large black sweater that had bubbly yellow letters forming: I love Cheese on it...yes, she was a tomboy.

So they were staring at me. My mind suddenly had gone blank, I did the only thing I could. I smiled at the first girl, then spun around again. Idiot.

"Hey, Panda...who are those girls behind us?" I whispered to my left. Panda grinned. "Oh, those are three of the most popular girls in school. The one with the ribbons is Bijou, the one with the scarf is Pashmina, and the last one is Sandy. I knew Sandy since pre-k. She's really nice, but she's pretty rough, sometimes."

"Hey, Hamu-" I heard Oxnard whisper to me, but he got interrupted by the irritating sound of the bell. I saw Auntie Viv stand up. "Hey, kids!" She clapped her hands. "Stay in school, keep cell phones in, don't kill anyone, don't get lost, and that much covers that," she finished. "Now you have nine minutes and fourty two seconds of free time! Go on!" She sat back down and opened a magazine. Seconds later, the regular buzzing of the students returned.

"Hamutaro? Did you have any pets back in your farm?" Oxnard asked me. I thought for a bit.

"Well, a couple of years ago, my aunt did consider getting a bird, but we didn't. But I have my hamster, Hiroko." I thought of Roko-chan running on her wheel endlessly, taking small breaks to chew on her treats.

"What?" Panda interrupted next to me. "You have a hamster?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked him curiously. Why was he so surprised?

"Oh, it's just...I have one too..." he turned a shade of red. "Her name's Mimi."

"I have one, too, Hamutaro," Oxnard added. "Her name is Kana. Weird coincedince." He grinned. "Panda's brother, Cappy has two."

"Whoa." Maybe I was going to fit in with this city after all. Soon, Auntie Vivhanded us our schedules, andI found out that I had all my classeswith Oxnard, and four with Panda (Science, English, Math, and Art). Luckyday.

Maybe this will be a good year, I thought, as I exited the room with Oxnard. Maybe.

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A/N: Sorry if it was a bit dull. I'll try to update soon.