Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Author's Note: I really shouldn't be starting a new story _ but I can't help it. I NEED MAH FIX MAN!

Anyway, the female character is basically Takeo Dariru from my other story, I Dream of the Ocean and I See Myself Die, but I tweeked her up a bit based on the environment/culture. Which is, you guessed it, modern day! So she'll be a silly high-schooler :p

And Canon character's ages will be messed with for story purposes. Sorry if that gets your knickers in a twist.

Reviews are loved and appreciated~

And I don't know about you guys, but the chicken nuggets at my school were always DELICIOUS! They were like, the one thing I always looked forward to on Wednesday!

Summary: Out of all the things that have happened, a new school did not bother Dariru in the slightest. But she'll soon discover that the students here are far from ordinary. Something she can relate to. KisameXOC

Chapter One: New School...Oh Joy

In a circle of friends, there's always one person who everyone goes to when they need a shoulder to cry on. That's me. No matter how hard or angry my friends cry, I always give them a pat on the back and say, "It'll be okay," or "Everything's going to turn out fine, you'll see.". But when it was time for me to cry on a shoulder, my friends were too far away for me to receive any real comfort.

I'm not saying that they're bad friends, they're wonderful really, it's just that bad events had to happen when Mom and I had just got done moving into our new house.

Of course, this event was mentally traumatic for me, so if you don't mind, I'd rather not delve into it right now.

Anyway, this new neighborhood we just moved into is pretty nice. Very suburban and experienced all fours seasons in a year. We've been here for about a week and I was lucky enough to have landed a job at the local video game store just fifteen minutes away. Mom was closer to her job now too.

My first day of school starts tomorrow. Honestly, I was pretty excited about it. Even though I had heard the classes were challenging, I was happy to be taking them. All the work would keep my mind occupied from other thoughts.

I'm not being sarcastic, honest! Right now my mind is a frightening place to be. I have been having thoughts of mass homicide and torture. Even the occasional suicidal thought has crossed my mind which, believe me, is a rarity and it frightens me.

I've been frightening myself so much lately.

Thank God for violent video games. They're the only way I can relieve myself of such thoughts before I see the psychiatrist. The last thing I want is to tell her how I really feel. If she ever found out what really went on in my maniacal head, I'd be getting a prescription for a pill that I know I don't need.

Two hours before bed. I was in my temporarily clean room, sitting comfortably on my bed with my laptop's open screen illuminating the darkness. Posters of my favorite video games and movies almost completely covered the white walls. Two of my cats, Stanley and Shadow, rested on either side of me while I chatted with my friend via MSN.

Chocolate Bear: You excited for your first day at your new school? :)

White Guuuurl: Honestly, yeah I am :3 Though, I'm gonna miss you lots D:

Chocolate Bear: I already miss you! DX But, you'll do great! You're a smart cookie!

White Guuuurl: Whatever you say XD

Chocolate Bear: I've gotta go to bed now girlie XP I'll tell everybody how you're doing!

White Guuuurl: Aw, okay. I'll talk to ya tomorrow, okay? Love ya!

Chocolate Bear: 3 u 2!

Chocolate Bear appears to be offline. Messages you send will be delivered when they sign in.

Shayla, or Chocolate Bear, was the closest thing to a sister that I had. Except she didn't come with the bad side-effects that a few sisters tend to come with.

It had been hard to say good-bye to her out of all of my friends.

I closed my laptop and placed it gently on my bed. After getting the two aggravated cats out of my room, I moved the electronic device to the wooden floor carefully before going to bed. I made sure my alarm was set for the proper time and that the sound was turned up all the way. I had to adjust my crowbar so that I did not feel uncomfortable with it being under my pillow before falling to sleep.

Tomorrow was a new day for a new life.

My alarm awoke me from one of my favorite dreams. I had been flying in my dream and I could feel everything. I had felt the cold wind whip around my body and even felt my stomach rise up into my throat when I dove down for a landing. It had been such a beautiful feeling that it made me wish I had my own pair of wings.

Sadly, it was just an impossible dream and that buzzing alarm had to remind me of it.

Sitting up suddenly, I smacked the alarm off before jumping out of bed for a shower. Whenever it was the first day of school, I was always full of energy for the entire day. Strange? Yes. Did I care? Not really. As long as I was able to get there on time, I didn't care.

I won't go into detail about how I got ready for school. You already know how it goes.

Even though I had my driver's license, I still took the bus. It was free transportation and I did not want to pay that ridiculous price for gas anymore than I have to. Plus, it was a high school. There are bound to be retarded drivers and I'd rather not pay for damages done to my car.

The bus arrived early but we all had to pile out anyway. I could see the stereotypes and they all looked strange to me. At first I figured a few people would look at me weird for being the new kid; as if they could just smell the newbie scent amongst the familiar crowd. Very few even glanced in my direction.

It's not like I was expecting people to flock to me because I was new; but it just felt so odd to not know anyone here. No one was waiting for me in a classroom to chat about what had happened yesterday or to talk about the latest movies that were coming out.

This is the part where you'd expect someone in my situation to say something along the lines of, "No one would even notice me if I left. No one would care. Nobody does care."

But I'm an optimistic person. Granted I've been less optimistic lately, but I still have my hopes. The school day was not over yet! There was bound to be at least one person I would be able to talk to.

I stared at my schedule, trying to figure out what my locker number was. Because I wasn't paying attention I bumped shoulders with someone. The boy shot me a glare and snarled like a dog, "Watch where you're going!"

As he continued on his way, he left behind a girl who looked torn between following him or staying behind. The poor thing started nibbling at her lip and poking her two index fingers together. I felt sorry for her; she looked like the type of girl who got stuck in abusive relationships and was too terrified to speak out against her boyfriend.

Mustering up some courage, I walked up to her and asked, "Are you okay?"

She seemed to jump at the sound of my voice. "U-u-uh...y-yes. Um..." Her eyes followed the boy that I had bumped into before saying, "E-excuse me!" She darted off after him, weaving gracefully around the crowds of students that cluttered the area.

I shrugged, hoping that boy hadn't been her boyfriend, and continued to search for my locker.

Lunch came and I still had been unable to talk to anyone long enough to be considered an acquaintance. So after buying my lunch, I went to the end of a half-full table.

Now my hopes were starting to drop. Sure I could just ask a group of kids if I could sit with them, but that would be too damn awkward. What would really be embarrassing is if they rejected me. I just hoped that there was some kind soul out there that would at least sit near me.

Lo-and-behold, there was. Just as I was starting to eat a chicken nugget, a girl came up to me.

She was a cute and simple girl. Her olive skin looked smooth and her brown eyes held kindness and toughness all at once, which reminded me of Shayla. The outfit she wore was adorable, and the fact that her hair had been tied up into two buns made it even cuter.

"Do you mind if me and my friends sit with you?" She asked kindly.

I gave her a smile. She has no idea how much this has made my day. "Go right ahead!"

She gave me a smile before sitting across from me. "I'm TenTen," she greeted. "Are you a Freshman?"

I shook my head and swallowed a mouthful of juicy chicken meat. "Junior. But, I just moved here. What grade are you in?"

"Sophomore. Where'd you move from?" She took a large bite out of an apple.

"Kiri," I answered just as two boys walked up behind TenTen.

One boy had long brown hair and reminded me of the girl I had seen in the hall this morning. They both had the same lavender, pupil-less eyes and pale skin. Instead of looking timid, however, this boy looked like serious business.

The second boy was a strange sight to behold. Not only were his bushy eyebrows hidden beneath his bowl-cut hair, but he worse a green jumpsuit. I'm not kidding! I thought for sure it violated a dress code of some sort.

"Who's your new friend TenTen?" The boy in the jumpsuit asked a bit too excitedly as he sat down next to me.

TenTen opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when she realized that I had yet to reveal my name. "I...don't know. What was your name again?"

"Oh, I'm Dariru," I chuckled a little in embarrassment. "So, who are you guys?" I looked at the boys.

Again, the jumpsuit boy was the first to speak up. "I'm Rock Lee! And I'm going to be the best athlete this school has ever seen!" He sounded fired up as he expressed his dream. It was funny, considering he didn't look like the athletic type. He looked more like the type who would watch weird hentai in his mother's basement.

Then again, I'm sure I looked like a total dyke to these people. Better not judge a book by its cover from now on.

"Alright," I turned to the serious boy, who had taken a seat next to TenTen. "And you?"

The boy did not even look up at me let alone answer my question.

"Okay," I mumbled, "Never mind then." There was always one person like this. I just didn't expect to be meeting that person.

TenTen rolled her eyes at the boy next to her. "Don't mind Neji here. He's always grumpy."

The boy, Neji apparently, shot her a glare for revealing his name. The girl ignored it and crunched on her apple happily.

I gave TenTen a small smile and soon I was having idle conversation with her and Lee. The only time Neji participated was when he would either roll his eyes, glare, or even, yes ladies and gentlemen, chuckle. The supposedly serious business Sophomore had a sense of humor!

Of course, as soon as the bell rang we had to depart. With them being Sophomores and I a Junior, it was highly unlikely that we would have any classes together. But I didn't mind so much. At least I had talked to two people instead of just one. It was a start and that was good enough for me on the first day of school.