"Mei-san! Mei-san!"
A voice called out from behind a door followed by a few knocks.
Mei slowly opened her eyes and frowned towards the door, she just wanted to sleep in, why was someone bothering her?
"Mei-san! You'll be late for school if you stay in bed!"
Oh crap!
Mei shot up out of bed and scrambled to check her phone, it was already the next week and she couldn't be late to impress everyone at her new school. She needed to make a good first impression and show everyone how naturally amazing she was.
"I'm up now!" She called as she quickly went over to her closet, her school uniforms had a section on their own. She grabbed the clothing and went into her bathroom to change. After a while, she was ready and checked herself out for a moment.
The crisp white button-down fit nicely and the navy skirt was mid-thigh length, she paired these with white thigh-high socks, Once she was happy with her clothes she applied a red lipstick that greatly complemented her complexion. Afterward, she brushed through her now straighten dark brown hair and took a step back, she was perfect!
Mei gathered her phone and bag from her room and made her way down the stairs. She was a bit late but she went to the kitchen and a maid turned to her, motioning towards the dining table. "Mei-san, I put out some breakfast for you, be sure to eat enough." She said with a smile.
Nodding, Mei walked over to the floor table in the dining room and sat down, her breakfast spread consisted of rice, miso soup, salted salmon, and pickled cabbage. It looked way better than some of her breakfasts in America. She quickly and quietly ate her meal and once she was done she got up and headed to the door, as she sat to put her shoes on her mother came down the stairs and smiled warmly at her. "Mei! Have a good day at school! You'll be picked up later on, I will be accompanying your father to work today as he has some legal matters he'd like me to go over with his staff."
Mei stood after putting on her shoes and smiled back at her mother. "Alright mom, I'll see you later." She said as she headed out the door. A driver waited for her outside and once she got into the car they headed off to her new school.
As they pulled into the school grounds, Mei thanked the driver and grabbed her belongings before exiting the car. The schoolyard was pretty big and had 3 large buildings, the administrative building sat between the 2 other buildings where students had their classes. She began to walk when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind causing her to turn around and raise her hand to attack the person.
"Let go!" she said as she slapped the person but then she gasped as she saw that it was only Setsuya. "Setsu! I'm sorry!" she said as she went to rub the girl's cheek. Then she frowned at her and crossed her arms. "Serves you right for sneaking up on me! Now bow and beg for forgiveness."
Setsuya smiled and rolled her eyes "Only you would wound someone and then make them ask you for forgiveness."
Mei smirked at this "It's a blessing to be touched by me."
Setsuya laughed and bowed "My apologies Mei-chan, will you forgive me?"
"Of course Setsu, you know I'm only joking with you. I favor you above most people after all."
The girls laughed and Setsuya crossed her arms "Do you know what class you'll be in?"
Mei shook her head. "No, would you mind showing me around?"
"Sure, sure." Setsuya said before walking towards the administrative building. Once inside she led Mei up a flight of stairs and down a hallway towards an office. "This is where the registrar's office is, they can help you find what class you'll be a part of. I'll wait for you out here."
Mei nodded and entered the room, walking over to the desk she smiled at the worker who quickly greeted her and offered a slight bow from her sitting position. "What can I help you with?"
"I'm a new student here, I came to find out what my class was."
"I can do that, what's your name please?"
"Mei Tetsuo."
The worker's eyes lit up and she smiled wider "Tetsuo?! You're Akihito Tetsuo's daughter?"
Mei smirked and flicked her hair back, closing her eyes and holding her head high "Of course I am!"
"It's an honor to meet you! Your father is an amazing businessman and has had a great impact on the automotive industry here! And your mother! She's so inspiring and hardworking! I know you'll fit in perfectly here!"
Mei enjoyed hearing the woman praise her and her family, it added to her already massive ego.
"I think you'll be a good fit in Class A, they have many students from outstanding families there so you'll fit right in. Here, let me write down the room number for you, it's in building C to the right of us." She said as she wrote down some information on a small card and handed it to Mei.
"Thank you." Mei said, the worker gave another small bow and waved to her "Have a nice day!"
Mei exited the room and found Setsuya talking with a boy. He was tall and handsome and had short, messy, reddish-brown hair. As she got closer he took notice of her, his friendly green eyes taking her off guard.
"And who is this cutie?" He said playfully which caused Setsuya to turn and smile toward Mei.
"Call me cute again and I'll make you a slave to me for the rest of your life." Mei said snobbishly, causing the boy's eyes to light up with a mischievous glint and he raised his hands in defense.
"My apologies Neko-chan," he said with a smile.
'Neko-chan?? Who does this guy think he is?!' She thought with a frown as her cheeked turned red.
Setsuya laughed and wrapped her arm around the boy, her dark blue eyes looking over Mei "Neko -chan? Why haven't I thought of calling her that before."
Mei's cheeks burned "Setsu! Don't you dare!" She wasn't supposed to be getting flustered this easily. She cleared her throat and folded her arms "You boy," she said "Don't dare call me that ridiculous name! I am Mei Tetsuo, don't make me call my father!"
The boy chuckled and looked over at Setsuya "I didn't know she was Mr. Tetsuo's daughter, who would've known he was hiding such a cutie back home."
Mei's cheeks lit up once again and Setsuya laughed "Okay Fukagu, let's not upset Mei-chan. You wouldn't like to see her angry."
Mei huffed and turned her back on the two and started to walk away when she accidentally bumped into someone.
"Watch yourself!" She scolded, looking angrily at the boy in front of her.
Turning around he stared down at her with slight annoyance in his icy lilac eyes. Mei suddenly felt lost as she stared into his eyes, he was so handsome it caught her completely off guard. He was tall and had cold eyes and a sharp jawline, his eyes had faint dark circles under them which made him look a bit intimidating. His medium-length black hair was pulled messily into a half bun and when he turned fully to face her she noticed a grayish scar on his right cheek that ran down to his jaw. His uniform made him look even more attractive, as he was a bit muscular and the sleeves of his white button-down hugged his biceps.
"Can you hear?" He spoke and her heart fluttered at the sound of his voice, he sounded annoyed but his voice was enchanting to her. "Hello? I'm talking to you."
She shook her head and took a step back "Who are you?"
The boy pulled his thin lips into a straight line "You're the one who bumped into me. Did your parents not teach you any manners?"
"How dare you! Do you know who I am?" Mei exclaimed.
"I don't care." He said matter-of-factly and went to walk around her, sticking his hands in the pockets of his navy uniform pants. She was taken aback for a moment before she turned to face him.
"Get back here! You can't just walk away from me!" She shouted.
Setsuya and Fukagu walked over, Setsuya went over to Mei and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Mei-chan, Aito didn't mean that, right?"
Aito turned again to look down at Mei with a condescending look "No." he spoke rashly.
Before Mei could respond Fugaku took hold of Aito's shoulder and started to walk away with him "Okay Setsuya! We'll be going!" He paused and turned to blow a kiss at Mei "See you Neko-chan!"
"Hey!" Mei shouted. She had never encountered such rude people before and was completely flustered. Setsuya grabbed her hand and led her out of the building.
"What class are you in Mei-chan?" she asked as they exited.
Mei huffed and flicked her hair "Class A in building C." as she said this Setsuya gave a nervous laugh before walking in the direction. 'Oh boy.' She thought to herself. "Okay, follow me, we're in the same class together."
The two girls entered the C building and climbed a set of stairs before heading down a hall. Opening the door to the class Mei lifted her head high as a few students looked over to her with warm smiles. "Is that the new girl? She's so pretty!" she heard a few people say. Her pride was restored from dealing with those two annoying boys.
"Are you going to stand in the way all day?" A voice sounded from behind her causing her to jump. It was Aito, and Fukagu smiled slyly at her behind him.
"Neko-chan you're in Class A too?"
Good grief. She folded her arms and decided to ignore them, Setsuya laughed sheepishly and began to walk over to a set of seats, the class was organized into groups of 4 since they often had group projects. Aito and Fukagu followed behind, taking seats on the opposite side of the girls, Aito's seat was directly in front of Mei's and Fukagu's directly in front of Setsuya's. 'This couldn't get any worse.' Mei thought to herself, as she sat down she turned her head away from Aito, who wasn't even phased by the girl, and just looked out the window, waiting for class to begin.
The teacher finally arrived and walked up to the front of the class. "Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a great break, I know you all have noticed that we now have a new student!" The teacher smiled warmly in Mei's direction and motioned for her to come to the front.
Mei got up from her seat and strode over with confidence and pride in her walk. Once at the front of the classroom she gave a cute smile.
"Everyone this is Mei Tetsuo, she will be joining our class this year, please be kind to her as this is our last year together! Make her feel at home." the teacher said.
Mei bowed slightly and spoke in a cute voice "I hope we can all work together in the future."
Some of the students were in awe of her, while some were jealous. One girl with blonde hair and brown eyes scoffed and turned away from her. "She's nothing, just some rich girl wannabe." She sneered and looked back at Mei with a challenge in her voice "It takes more than just good looks to pass this class, and we're in our last year so you need to make sure you don't fail." Some of the other girls laughed with her.
Mei remained smiling and cooly said "If I were you, I'd worry about myself," she made her way near to the girl and her smiling not wavering. "Jealousy is ugly. Don't shorten your life with it."
The girl gasped and shifted her body away from Mei and looked at her with disgust. "Are you threatening me? My father works in the Tet company, don't mess with me!"
Mei laughed and pulled back from the girl. "Hun, my father owns that company. Be careful not to make your family poor."
"Alrighty alright," the teacher said nervously "Let's have fun this year and be friends okay?"
Mei perked up and smiled down at the girl "Yes, let's be friends!"
The girl huffed and turned away from her, her cheeks burning red from embarrassment.
Mei went back to her seat and held her head high in victory. Aito glanced over at her from the corner of his eye. 'Tetsuo huh...' He thought, turning his gaze back to the window.
Fukagu turned to Mei with a devilish grin "You're so scary Neko-chan! Let me not get on your bad side." Hearing this she immediately blush and frowned.
"Stop calling me that!"
Setsuya laughed "Fugaku stop teasing her. She may be short but she doesn't pull punches."
Fukagu pretended to be shocked "What?! Guess I'd better be careful then."
Mei pouted and narrowed her eyes at the two. Aito looked back over at her, seeing her plump red lips he sighed. "You guys. Shut up." His voice laced with annoyance.
"You got it, boss." Fukagu teased "Let's not anger the bear."
Mei turned her stare to Aito. 'Who does he think he is telling me what to do?!' She thought.
"You are so rude!" she said, crossing her arms.
Aito rolled his eyes and sat up giving her a dirty smile. "What are you going to do?" He kept his voice low and enticing, causing Mei to blush profusely as she turned her head away from him in embarrassment. He sighed once again and sat back in his seat, going back to looking out the window.
'This was going to be a long school year.' she thought.
*****
After the class ended everyone started packing up, some students left the room chatting. Mei got out of her chair and stretched, raising her arms above her head, Fugaku noticed and a devilish grin crossed his face. "Wow Neko-chan, are you flirting with me?"
Hearing this, Mei's face burst into a deep blush and she crossed her arms over her chest "Ugh! You're so gross!"
Aito slowly packed up his things but glanced over at Mei, she was attractive, but he didn't have time to worry about stuff like that. Mei saw him look over at her and she turned away from them, "Don't be a pervert." she stated, trying to put on a bold front.
Fugaku laughed and nudged Aito with his elbow "She's a beauty right? Who knew Mr.Tetsuo's daughter was so cute."
Aito looked up at Mei and shrugged his shoulders "She's alright."
'What!' Mei had never heard someone say something like that before, she turned quickly to face the boy but he was already standing in front of her. He was standing pretty close so she was overwhelmed by his scent, he smelled like frankincense and he looked down at her. She didnt know what to say and just stood there In front of him, her heart racing.
"So, are you going to stand in the way all year long then?" He asked causing her to get even more flustered.
Mei scoffed and tilted her head up away from him "Maybe I will, if I don't want to move no one can make me."
"Oh?"
Suddenly she felt his hand on her arm, his grip firm as he pulled her out of the way and walked past her out of the door. She was stunned and could only stand there in shock. Setsuya shook her head and laughed at the girl. "That's Aito for you." She said, getting up out of her seat and pulling her bag over her shoulder. Fugaku laughed and patted Mei's shoulder
"Don't mind him." he said, heading towards the door.
Mei huffed and grabbed her belongings, turning to Setsuya "Let's get out of here." she said in a hurried tone. She was ready to go home.
Setsuya nodded and the two girls left the classroom. Walking down the hall the went back down the stairs and were about to head out the door when they saw Aito and the blonde girl from class. She was looking up at him, batting her lashes at him seductively while he was busy taking things from his locker. "Aito.. Are you busy after school?" she asked shyly.
He closed the locker and looked down at the girl "Yes." Was all he said to her before he turned and walked towards the door. He noticed Mei and Setsuya heading for the door and he looked down at Mei before opening the door to leave. Mei frowned and followed after him. "Is there a problem?" she asked once they got outside.
Aito sighed and kept walking, he didnt want to be bothered by someone who didnt even reach his collarbone.
"How rude is he!" He heard the girl say and a smirk flashed across his lips.
Mei watched the boy with a frown until he turned a corner. Setsuya smiled at her and took her arm "Come on Mei-chan, I'm sure your driver is waiting for you." She said, leading the girl to the pickup line.
'The nerve of that guy. Whats his problem?' Mei thought to herself, her thoughts were interrupted as they got to the pickup line. Her driver took notice of her and quickly opened the car door. Setsuya turned to Mei and hugged her "See you tomorrow!" She said cheerfully.
"See you." Was all Mei said, as she got into the car she relaxed in the seat and let out a sigh. The driver looked up at her through the mirror "Is everything alright?" He asked.
Mei looked out of the window "Yea, I'm fine." She spoke softly, she definitely needed a long bath tonight.
Once they arrived back home she went inside and slid off her shoes and adopted her plush sandals. A maid hurried over to her with a smile "Welcome back Mei-san, dinner will be ready soon. Would you like anything first?"
Mei shook her head "I just want a bath first." The maid nodded and headed off to run the bath. Mei slowly made her way up the stairs after dropping off her school bag near the front door. Once she got to her room she saw the maid in the bathroom preparing her bath, so she decided to sit on her bed and wait. She took out her phone and checked her messages. For whatever reason Setsuya made a group chat with her, Fugaku and Aito and she grumbled at this. The boys were annoying enough at school and now she would have to deal with them after school as well.
Fugaku was cheerfully chatting away with Setsuya in the group chat when Mei decided to send s text.
M: 'You guys could've kept a private message with each other instead of doing all of this.'
F: 'Neko-chan! Don't be like that, I'm sure you're also glad especially since you now have Aito's number.'
Mei's face lit up at his words and she frowned.
M: 'I don't know what you're talking about, leave me alone.'
F: 'I saw how you kept blushing at him, you already have a crush on him don't you.'
A: 'Shut up, I'm trying to study. Just text each other separately.'
Mei closed her phone and rolled her eyes in annoyance, how could she have a crush on anyone? She barely knew the guy, of course she didnt like him already. He just kept teasing her that's all.
Breaking her thoughts her maid came out of the bathroom. "Mei-chan the bath is ready."
"Alright. Thank you."
Once the maid left Mei got up and headed into the bathroom, after taking her clothes off she slowly lowered herself in the tub and let out a happy sigh. The water was just right and soothed her body. Mei closed her eyes and leaned back in the tub, unintentionally drifting off to sleep.
Mei awoke to the sound of knocking, the water was now cold and she shot up in realization, quickly getting out of the bath and wrapping a towel around herself before answering the door. Her mother greeted her with a smile "Mei! Are you ever going to come down for dinner? We've been waiting for you."
Mei smiled back and rubbed her neck "Sorry, I fell asleep in the tub."
Her mother gasped and looked worried suddenly "Mei that's dangerous! Be careful of doing that my dear."
Mei laughed "I'm sorry, I wont do it again."
"And please make sure to dry your hair, you'll catch a cold." Her mom said before giving her a soft look. "I'll wait for you downstairs."
Mei nodded and closed the door, going to put on a t-shirt and baggy pants she took a towel and dried her hair, her curls springing back. "Welp so much for straightening it." She said before she checked her phone again. Aito and Fugaku were arguing about something but she tossed her phone aside and headed down to dinner.
Once she got down the the dining room her father smiled at her "Finally, we were gonna start without you."
Mei smirked as she sat down. "Sure you were"
He laughed and started eating.
"How was school Mei?" Her mother asked, smiling over at the girl.
"It was alright." She said, blushing as she remembered the day.
Her mother took notice of this and smirked at her "Just alright? Meet any cute boys?"
"Mom!" Mei groaned, causing her mother to laugh.
"Don't worry dove," her father said, "You'll have plenty of time to think about that stuff."
Mei rolled her eyes "I'm too good for everyone there, no one is worthy of even being in the same room as me."
Her mother laughed at her "My girl is a pearl, she deserves someone from a high class family."
"Exactly" Mei said smugly.
The family continued to chat for a while until they finished their dinners.
"Alright Mei, get to bed early tonight so you can be early to school tomorrow." Her mother said.
"Alright alright. I'll see you guys." Mei said as she stood. She gave her parents a smile before she headed up to her room. Once inside she saw her phone light up, it was only a text from the group chat so she decided to mute it. 'I don't feel like hearing my phone buzz all night.' She thought as she set her phone on her nightstand and plugged it in to charge.
Tomorrow she wouldn't let Aito or Fugaku tease her. She would just ignore them.
Mei slid under the blanket and curled up as her body relaxed, slowly drifting off to sleep.