Hey everyone, I've had a load of ideas for fanfics to write and I'm only getting round to them now that I have to revise for exams.

But hey, I use them as a good break from revision (and only sometimes as a distraction technique).

I hope you enjoy this, I'm rating it M now as this story does include mention of abuse and will definitely move into lemons so the rating has been increased.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to drop me a review if you feel like it, I love getting any feedback you care to give me.

Disclaimer

I don't own and of the characters in this story, all characters belong to the people who created them. Also some characters will be a bit OOC as it has been a while since I have seen Mai Hime and I need to tweak some deliberately to make the characters work.

My life changed when I was very young.

I have always sat on the side-lines. Tried to blend in. Remain unnoticed.

Unfortunately I seem to always attract unwanted attention.

There's a group of 'popular girls' in our school that don't seem to like me. I have never done anything bad to them, I don't even talk to them, yet they seem to hate me.

Maybe it's my cargo pants, baggy hoodie and battered converse or the fact that I don't have any friends? I don't know.

I'm always the victim of some cruel pranks and today was no exception.

I was gathering my soaked notes from the school fountain when I got a shove in the back from the girls I thought had finally left.

I heard giggles as I went head first into the shallow fountain, scraping my head on the rough bottom.

I came up startled with a bloody cut above my right eye where I'd hit.

I turned to face them but they had run. I realised the bell signalling the end of lunch must have gone if the time on the old school clock tower was anything to go by.

All I could do was gather the rest of my notes and head off to class.

I made sure to cover my cut with my long fringe before I entered the class room.

I was welcomed to class with a detention slip for being half an hour late before the teacher noticed my soaked clothes. I hoped he may feel sorry for me but no. I was frog marched to the head's office to discuss my little swim.

The head gave me a final warning that should I feel the need to disobey rules regarding the use of school property again, I'd be suspended.

I had given up protesting when I discovered my tormentor was the head's daughter and he couldn't see anything but the best in her.

He told me that his little angel would never hurt anyone and left no room for discussion. All I had wanted to say was that she was more like a fallen angel but I knew not to push the head.

I was upset by this though. If I got suspended I wouldn't be allowed back to school ever again due to my situation at home.

I couldn't let that happen and I knew she would try with all she had to make it happen. The fucking princess of the school would make sure that she, Tomoe Marguerite, would be the end of me.

I wanted a better future than what would be waiting for me if I left this school early.

I wanted to make something of my life.

I apologised and promised not to repeat my mistakes.

I figured it was too late to return to class now as there was only five minutes left so I made straight for the detention room.

There were only two others in the room. The supervising teacher, who was already half asleep and only acknowledged my arrival with a grunt, and a boy who I swore spent more time in detention than in lessons.

I took the seat next to him.

He seemed to be focused on the work he was doing as I set about separating my sodden notes to dry. I thanked my luck stars I wrote in biro so the writing hadn't smudged too badly. I was happy to know I wouldn't need to copy them up again.

The boy had sat back looking proudly at the sheet in front of him before he passed it over to me.

I took it then gave him an annoyed look as I realised it was a caricature of the sleeping teacher whose head was now back, giving us the most unpleasant view up his nose.

I quickly handed it back to his obvious annoyance. I wasn't in the mood to fuel his trouble making and I didn't need any more myself today.

I lay forward then, resting on my folded arms, facing away from him though I could feel his eyes on my back.

I had learnt to keep my distance from others a while ago because all I ever got was trouble.

The final bell went, startling the teacher, who jumped so violently he ended up on the floor.

The boy burst into hysterics at the sight as I moved to help the teacher up.

He waved me back, straightened himself out and then dismissed us both.

I quickly gathered my stuff and made my way out of school only for the boy to run up beside me.

He gave me a grin that just screamed trouble.

"I'm Nagi Homura. I can't believe you kept a straight face back there".

I just wanted him to leave me alone.

"How could I laugh at someone else's misfortune?"

I've had more than my fair share of misfortune so I never took joy from others.

I continued on, leaving him quite taken aback by my blunt reply.

"Did I mention my name was Nagi? What did you say yours was?"

"I didn't" I deadpanned, hoping he'd take the hint to fuck off.

He didn't. I quickened my pace only for him to jog up beside me and start telling me of all the pranks he had pulled that day.

I didn't think it was possible to talk as fast as he was for as long as he carried on for.

I realised he wasn't leaving anytime soon. I couldn't let him see where I lived. I'd never hear the end of it if Tomoe got hold of that information.

I turned around and broke into a sprint.

He shouted after me before he took up the chase.

I ran towards the park, launching myself at the chain-link fence before expertly scaling it and landing in a neat roll on the other side.

I was instantly back on my feet as I carried on running. I knew I'd lost him but I wanted to be sure.

By the time he'd scaled the fence or gone round to the gate, I'd be long gone.

I knew these streets better than most and that included many who lived on them.

I'd taken to wandering the streets to avoid returning home, challenging the 5:00pm curfew. This was why I'd learnt to run. I often met unsavoury types in the backstreets and I had to teach myself how to run to survive.

I could sprint for near two hours before showing any signs of strain now as I began to push myself for fun, taking a liking to learning the rat runs in the backstreets.

I decided to head back after making sure I hadn't picked up any further attention.

I slowed to a walk before turning a corner to face the shit-hole I and the other orphans of the district called home.

We were the kids that hadn't found homes as babies or toddlers, the trouble children shoved into the backstreets to be kept watch on until we were 18 and on our own.

Most of the kids turned to drink and drugs early, we often ended up in gangs or whore houses if not the gutter. Our futures weren't pretty.

We were all rough, you had to be. We learnt to fight early to survive the gangs and street scum.

You wouldn't want to mess with any of us and that was probably what created the dark aura surrounding the orphanage. It was also probably the reason no-one ever came to foster or adopt any of us.

This dump was the reason I wanted to make something out of my life. I hated the gangs and the thought of selling my body to strangers disgusted me. I had no plans to end up in the gutter either.

I walked through the door to face the house mistress.

I could tell she was pissed off at me and she was drunk. Not a good combination.

Her cane swung up and cracked me across the face. I felt a fresh trickle of blood run down my face as I realised she must have re-opened my scrape.

"I've told you enough times about being late for curfew you little bitch. I don't take kindly to being ignored. Another night without food may set you straight yet."

I sighed. I was facing my fourth day without food. My lunch money had been stolen as usual by Tomoe at the beginning of the week and the old house hag didn't think it was worth wasting her money on orphans' breakfast.

My stomach growled in desperate protest as I made my way up to the cupboard that was my room. It was just big enough for me to stand and change in and my bed comprised of a thin mattress on lower of two shelves. The upper self was too weak to support a person so my few belongings lived there. I hid my precious belongings long ago on the streets, knowing they'd come to harm at the orphanage.

I didn't complain about the living arrangements though, I was one of few in cupboards who actually got any privacy. I was also one of even fewer who had locks. I had developed a way to lock the bolt from the outside so I could leave my extra clothes safely.

I worked through my homework until I'd done it all. One less thing to worry about later I figured so I always did any homework the night it was set. I then set about replacing all my now-dry notes in the correct order, thanking my habit of numbering all the pages in my file in case something like this happened.

Then, as the old witch went through the house calling for lights out, I settled into another hungry night.