継続は力なり

"Amelie... You okay?", spoke Takeru, Amelie's little brother. They were all sitting at the dinner table together that night; Amelie, Takeru, and their father.
"...I'm fine...", she mumbled.

"Really, Ame..?", asked their father. He spoke with concern for his eldest child.

"Didja have a bad day already??", Takeru interrupted. A piece of chicken flew out of his mouth as he spoke.

Gross...

"Can't we just speak English here at home...?", Amelie spoke up in an effort to change the conversation. She eyed the piece of chicken in disgust; slightly chewed... mushy...

"No. You need as much practice as you can get. You did have a bad day, didn't you...?", their father asked. His brow was furrowed with concern and sympathy.

"Yeah.. um... Just some... Idiot... Apparently, he thinks I owe him 20,000 yen for his stupid boots. He also knocked me down this morning...", she muttered, stabbing her chicken with the chopsticks in her left hand. "Eh?? Really?!", Takeru blurted out.

Their father gave him the look.

"Don't start causing trouble, Ame... You said you wouldn't fight anymore, remember?", he spoke softly, grabbing another piece of chicken off of the plate with his chopsticks. Amelie only ignored the warning.

"Yeah." she muttered, looking at Takeru. "Some dumb ass with a girl's haircut."

"Don't say things like that, Amelie...", their father said with a stern look.

"Yes, yes...", she whispered, lowering her head. "But it's true..." Takeru laughed loudly. "What, was he wearing a skirt too~?", his older sister couldn't help but giggle with her response. "It probably would have suited him better, but unfortunately not~"

The father listened to his two children carry on, and shook his head. Amelie continued speaking. "He also said that he was my 'worst nightmare'~", she added, cracking up. "He tried to say 'worst' in English too!! 'Waaasuto'~", she sang out in delight. Her little brother couldn't help but chuckle.

"Such an idiot, right?", she grinned.

"Completely!", Takeru cried.

"Ame-chan, if you're finished eating, clean up.... Quickly now!", their father was at his limit with hearing the two speak so thoughtlessly. "You too, Take-chan!"

"Yes~!", Takeru called out, eating the last of the chicken on his plate.

"Yeah..", Amelie muttered, finally getting to her feet. "This is gonna take a lot of getting used to..."

"How will you ever get used to it if you don't do it..?", their father asked, then turned to his son. "Help your sister!"

"Yes, sir..", Takeru sighed, grabbing the drinking glasses at the table.

"Who the hell would own boots that expensive, anyways??", Amelie thought aloud.

"I dunno...", Takeru answered. "Oh! Ame-chan!"

"Yes..?", she asked.

"Guess what I got today~?", Takeru sang with a grin.

"What?"

"Hold on, 'kay?", the boy said, setting down the glasses and running out of the kitchen.

"Yeah... Yeah...", Amelie sighed. It took Takeru several minutes to come back into the kitchen; most of the dishes were cleaned before he set foot back in the room.

"Look who made the cover!! Your idol!", he gushed with a beaming smile.

"Yep! Totally unsurprising~", Amelie sang. The girl on the front of the magazine was none other than Ishihara Reina; Amelie's very favorite model and recently, actress.

"I bet you didn't know she goes to your school...", Takeru added. Amelie turned and looked at him in disbelief. "Ehhh?!! Really?!?!"

"Yep, yep! You're so lucky...!", he said with a dreamy sigh. The blonde girl couldn't help but smirk. "Are you crushing on her these days, Takeru~??",

"Don't wanna talk about it...", he muttered, blushing slightly at his cheeks.

"It's fine.. She's beautiful, isn't she? I understand~", the girl replied.

"Yeah, but you were surprised too, right? Maybe you could get her autograph, ne?",Takeru's eyes lit up with his words.

"I suppose I could... Would make school a little more bearable...", she stated, looking extra deep in thought.

"Thank goodness~", Takeru sang.

Amelie nodded in agreement, but muttered to herself.

"Yeah, thank goodness..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What the hell is that supposed to be..?", Amelie thought aloud as she opened her shoe locker the next morning at school. A black slip, with the silver marker written words "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED." was taped to the top. She wouldn't have been able to miss such a thing even a kilometer away.

"Hmm~? What is that~?", a girlish voice teased from behind the blonde. Amelie turned around to find the source; it was one of the girls that gave her a hard time... The shortest one, Kairi.

"What.. is this..?", she asked, tearing the black note away from the locker shelf.

"It looks like someone declared war on the gaijin, ne~?", another girly voice said. Emi.. The self-proclaimed leader of the three.

"Un.", the tallest girl from before, Ayane, smirked. "You're done for now..."

"Who would do something like that..?", Amelie asked. She didn't even realize she spoke aloud.

"Madao-sama, probably~", the medium height girl placed her hand to her mouth and cackled."OHOHOHO~ EVERYONE~ LOOKS LIKE THE GAIJIN GOT THE BLACK SLIP~~!!"

"What a horrible laugh...". Amelie muttered.

"Hmm? Did you say something, gaijin?", the tallest girl pushed Amelie into the shoe locker.

"I really thought I was done with this...", she spoke lowly, glaring up at Ayane.

"Oi, gaijin, you're in Japan now, speak Japanese!!", Emi exclaimed, shoving the girl once more.

"Go back to Germany, France... Wherever you're from!!", Kairi added, crossing her arms.

"I'll speak whatever language I damned well please...", the girl spoke, glaring at the three.

"Idiot!!", Ayane screeched. "Do you understand that??"

"You wanna fight?!!", the blonde quickly spat out.

"Oh, oh?? Still think you're so tough? Well, we can fix that~ Let's go!", Amelie felt a tug at her long hair, she winced in pain, but tried to walk the opposite direction. The taller girl gripped her other braid tightly, so that she couldn't get any leverage to get loose.They dragged the girl off, kicking and screaming, by both of her braids.

-

"I can't believe you... Really...?", Marshy whispered loudly toward Madao. The three were sitting at the table. Madao had a smirk plastered across his face like he had pulled off the best crime in the century.

"Stop.. You know it won't do any good..." Musa spoke, looking at Madao's face carefully. Scarily pleased... If Madao was smirking like that, someone in the world had to be suffering.

"Where are they..?", the Rude One questioned to himself, looking at his Rolex watch.

"Damn...", sighed Musa. He was completely sure there would be no trouble that year between Madao and anyone. A very shrill voice cut through his thoughts.

"Ouch!! Dammit I knew these braids weren't a good idea!!", Amelie cried out, still being tugged into the room by her braids.

"Is this really necessary..?", asked Marshy. He was cut off by a shrill female voice:

"Madao-sama~~ We brought the foreigner~!", Emi called out.

"The hell..?", Amelie muttered.

"Speak Japanese, gaijin!!"

"Good work....", Madao commented, causing lovesick smiles from both Emi and Kairi. "Get it yet, gaijin?", Madao said with a smirk still plastered across his face.

"What the hell?! What right do you have to do this to me?!!", Amelie screamed.

"Her Japanese is horrible, ne~?", one of the three girls giggled. Madao smirked. "I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself. I'm Madao, leader of the Tokyo High Black'."

"...Tokyo hai... burakku..?" the blonde winced. "What's so special about that.... ... Madau..?" The boy's face reddened with anger once more. "MADAO!!", he fumed. "IDIOT!! Your Japanese is completely horrible!!"

"What do you expect..? I'm gaijin, after all.", she spoke calmly, prying the tallest girl's hand off her braid. "What is this..?", she asked, holding up the black note with the silver writing. One of the three girls spoke of out turn:

"That means you won't last the week here~"

"It's one thing for a guy to get that note, but a girl...?", Musa commented. Marshy nodded in agreement and crossed his arms.

"Didn't ask you.", Amelie spat out, glaring at the shortest girl. She then turned her sights back on Madao. "Oi, what the hell is this?!!", the height-challenged idiot smirked.

"I think I'll let your fellow classmates demonstrate it's meaning..."

Amelie turned her head all around the room, noticing that each student had a carton of eggs in their respective grips.

"Eggs..?"

"No... "Tamago"~", Kairi smirked as she smashed an egg into the poor girl's blonde hair. She shrieked in outrage, but it was short-lived. "Ta~ Ma~ Go~, understand, gaijin??", another girl giggled, smashing another egg into her hair from the front. The yolk dripped down the girl's face, prompting the rest of the students to throw their own.

"S-stop!!", Amelie cried, trying to shield herself from the wall of what felt like stones. "Please!!", she begged.

Madao was looking particularly pleased with himself. "Understand, gaijin..?", he smirked.

"Pathetic...", Marshy muttered to himself. Musa looked away from what was happening.

"Understood. Girl.", Amelie spoke with her head down.

Emi shoved her, hard. "Speak Japanese or don't even bother!!", she cried in frustration. Amelie lifted her head up slightly to meet Madao's glare, and returned it back. "Understood, GIRL!!"

The other two in black stared at each other in utter disbelief.

"I'm not a girl!!", the rude one seethed. "Just for that, I'll show you no mercy!!" Getting to her feet, Amelie dusted off her once perfectly pressed uniform.

"Oh, is that so?! And just for this...", she yelled, mak‌ing her voice louder than the rude one's. "I WON'T SHOW YOU ANY MERCY EITHER!!"

"The gaijin still doesn't know her place yet, Madao-sama~", the shortest girl in the trio giggled.

"She just doesn't get it, does she? Shut up!" A cold shower of water drenched Amelie's face. The empty bucket was in Ayane's hands.

"I'm so sorry!!", Amelie fumed. "I'm a gaijin, understand?! I can't help the fact that I was born here!!", she yelled, stamping her foot like a child.

"Oh yes, but you do have a choice on leaving~", Emi shoved Amelie so hard that she landed on her backside.

"I. AM. NOT. LEAVING. UNDERSTAND?!", she yelled, rambling off in Japanese with her fury. "I'm American! Strong, cool , and... .. and... um.. I'm not giving up without a fight!!" The platinum blonde got to her feet at once. A moment later, she saw only white as an entire flour sack was dumped onto her head. "Whoops~", a voice admitted. Amelie looked down at her hands, caked with flour. "You think you'll send me on my way with this?? I'm sorry, but.. Your efforts are in v--"

"STOP!!"

"Who..?", Amelie looked around. Someone had cut her off. She noticed that everyone in the room looked toward the front double doors. Her eyes widened; It was Yasu.

"What the hell are you doing?!", he spat out, looking all around the faces in the cafeteria at that moment. Pushing through the crowd toward whatever they were surrounding, he looked down at Amelie.

"...Yo, Yasu.", Madao greeted him, as if there was nothing odd about the situation.

"What the hell is going on in here?!", the blond male yelled. Most of the students were taken aback by the sudden change, from the calmness of his usual demeanor to .. this.

"It's nothing... Yasu..." Amelie muttered, carefully getting to her feet. "Don't worry about it..."

Two of the three girls thought it would be best to answer for Amelie. "We're trying to teach the gaijin her place here, Yasu-san! Don't worry~"

"Yes~ She obviously wants to learn the hard way, ne~?", Kairi giggled, tossing her curls over her shoulder.

"Here, Yasu...", Marshy said, reaching out to pick up the black slip of paper on the ground and handing it to the blond male. He turned away, not even offering to touch the threat of a note.

He muttered, dragging the pathetic mess of a girl out of the cafeteria, to the crowd of students' astonishment:

"Let's go."

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"Just about got most of this flour off... Ugh... I can't believe this!! Having to wash my hair in the bathroom sink of all places... Damn it's cold!!" Amelie shut the water faucet off quickly.

"I guess it isn't that bad, though...", she sighed, turning her thoughts on her knight in shining armor. She looked into the mirror, and was drawn back to reality. "I shouldn't look too far into his kindness, anyways...", she resolved, walking out of the bathroom.

"Yes... Yes... I understand. No, I will try again later. Yes, thank you~", Yasu spoke into his cell phone, flipping it closed quickly and sighing.

"Bad news?", asked Amelie. She tilted her head in a subconscious attempt to look cute. A futile attempt, considering the state of her hair...

"Oh, no. Just... Trying to get a hold of... someone. Finished?", Yasu asked, quickly changing the subject.

"...Yes...", Amelie responded, "Yasu-san.. You're kind...", the girl said, with a slight blush at her cheeks. "Should we go?" Yasu nodded and walked off quickly in front of Amelie.

"Oi.. Do you..."

"Yes?", she asked quickly.

"Do you know the time difference between Paris and Tokyo?", he asked.

"No... Why?" , she asked. 'And what does that have to do with anything?'

"Oh... Never mind...", he muttered. "Here's your class. Later.", he gave a small wave and walked off down the hallway, disappearing around the corner.

"Odd... Oh well....", Amelie thought, slipping into her own classroom.

---------------------------------

Musa dabbled a bit in the night club scene, and that night was no exception. The remaining members of the "Tokyo High Black" went out with different hopes; Marshy just to have fun, Musa to do a bit of business, and Madao to try to forget about the nail that just wouldn't be hammered down.

"Oi, you okay over there, Ma-kun?", Marshy asked. Madao looked particularly deep in thought on this night. The VIP room was shrouded in a feeling of uneasiness about it.

"I'm... Fine...", he stated slowly. He sipped his drink contemplatively.

"Oh? Well, why the long face then~?", Musa asked, twirling one of the women next to him's auburn curls on his finger. The girl on the other side pouted slightly and nudged his arm, wanting her own turn.

"Yes~ Second thoughts on the black note~?", Marshy asked, sipping from his own drink.

"Wrong! That gaijin deserves what she gets! First, she calls me a girl, then she ruins my new shoes?? Unacceptable!", the shortest one fumed.

"They weren't that new, you've worn them at least twice...", Marshy chuckled. The blonde-haired woman next to him giggled along as he pulled her closer.

"Mhmm... And now Yasu is upset as well.", Musa said with a sigh. He let go of the auburn strand in his hand.

"He didn't even acknowledge us earlier...", added Marshy. His eyes were locked on the woman next to him; he was deep in thought trying to remember what she had told him her name was, but to no avail.

"I don't care! Stupid gaijin woman..... Why would he defend her anyway?! I don't understand!!", the short one fumed.

"Who knows... Maybe he thinks it's a good opportunity to practice his English?", Marshy offered. Musa shook his head. "Isn't that why he has Rei-chan?"

Madao rolled his eyes at the sound of the name.

"Yes.. But.. Why else, ne? She isn't even cute..", Marshy commented.

"I see ..Hmmmm... ", Musa said, looking deep in thought. "Oh! Speaking of which, any ideas for the party?"

"Ah... ... ... ... .... No...", Marshy admitted. What was her name..? He knew it a moment ago...

"I see...", Musa commented, turning his attention to the other woman at his side.

"... I'm leaving.", Madao muttered, grabbing his jacket. As the other two muttered their goodbyes, the Louis Vuitton pouch at Madao's side gave Marshy an idea.

"Paris theme.. good enough?", he asked after the self-proclaimed leader left.

"Good. Just about two weeks then. Let's do our best.", Musa muttered, playing with the dark-haired woman's hair.

"Mhmm~ We shall do our best~", Marshy said, leaning back to enjoy the attention of the honey-blonde woman at his side.

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