Chippie: So, finally I am revealing the origin of Chipmunk, Inc. If you’ll notice, it’s told in third person. That’s because I want to use more than one point of view so as to give my readers a fuller and more accurate version of the story. I’m sure y’all appreciate that, right? Besides, I’m a horrible narrator. So I actually went around with notepad and pen journalism major style and interviewed the majority of those involved, except for those, of course, who are no longer available cough and those whose opinions don’t matter anyway.

Ichigo-sama: That hardly creates an accurate account, Chip.

Aoi-chan: For our purposes, it does.

Annie: Where’s the popcorn?

Pocky: Does anyone have candy?

Chippie: Well then, let’s get started!

CHIPMUNK Inc. proudly presents…

A Random Beginning

---

Chipmunk sat up halfway and reached for the alarm clock, knocking several items off the top of her cluttered dresser, then gave up. She figured she could stand to sleep with the Sailor Moon theme blasting from wherever she had hidden its chibified form.

A few seconds later, however, she groaned and stumbled through her covers over to the desk drawer.

“Chipmunk, for god’s sakes, get up and turn that thing off!”

“Mom, having to find it makes me have to think in the morning. I’m telling you, it works!” The annoyingly happy tune didn’t stop until thirty seconds after she remembered her lock combination.

With that unpleasant routine out of the way, Chippie half-heartedly changed into a pair of jeans and her favorite Rurouni Kenshin t-shirt, which showed Kenshin running away from Kaoru with a terrified Yahiko at his heels. Holding a black hair-tie in her mouth, she brushed her long, dark-purple hair into a high ponytail and left her ruffled bangs to hang in her eyes. She had quite a childish look for one going on sixteen, a heart-shaped face framed by two clumps of chin-length hair on either side, large purple eyes, and a playful disposition to match. When she was fully awake, she loved to distract herself from actual work in any way possible, choosing to finish at the last minute. The only, only, only exception to this was when she was writing a story.

“Chippie!” Mrs. Naguchi, her long black hair in a low ponytail, entered the room ready to leave for work. She wasn’t really Chipmunk’s mother. She and her husband had adopted Chipmunk when she was seven, a tiny little girl with amnesia and abilities no one wanted anything to do with. The government had kidnapped her for testing, and that’s when the Naguchis, who researched paranormality, found her and took her in. But still that didn’t mean that anyone else had accepted her.

“Are you ready?”

“Hai.”

---

Mrs. Naguchi pulled up in front of the high school, pondering about the gold, black, and red-lettered sign that read “Chicken and Ketchup High School of the Arts” and the subscript “Cannibals Welcome.” Outside in the courtyard, groups were already beginning to form in what were soon to be their “designated hang-outs.” About half a dozen guys with letter jackets surrounded the soda machine, their attentions focused on several girls in pink mini-skirts who had claimed one of the patio tables under a giant oak tree. A few Goths hovered in a depressed cloud around a bench on the tree's other side.

The school itself had a bit more distinctiveness: red, yellow, and orange brick, with a south-western theme for the floor and roof tiles. The office building sat in front, flanked on either side by the two main buildings, which ran parallel towards the river in back. Perpendicular to these, and closest to the crumbling seawall, the arts building rose an entire story above the rest.

“It’s kind of depressing,” said Chippie, staring at her new school, “that I’m doomed to entire high school only just before my sixteenth birthday.”

“Your friends will understand.”

“How do I know I’ll find the right kinds of friends here?”

“You said yourself during the audition that you were destined to go here.”

Nodding, the purple-haired girl pulled on a smile, grabbed her book bag, and timidly stepped out of the car. As her guardian pulled away, she spent a few more minutes in awe of the place, hoping that if nothing else, the first day at least could go right.

The bell rang.

“Aw, shoot!!” She made a dash for the doors, determined not to loose sight of all the other people who somehow seemed to be walking faster than she was running. All of a sudden she felt someone hit her side and let out an “oh!” as both tumbled back down the front steps.

“Owww…”

“Baka! Osoi da na?!”

“G-gomen ne…”

Chippie blinked, as did the blonde-haired girl sitting sprawled across from her, at the Japanese. She was a few inches taller than Chipmunk and had golden-green, almond-shaped eyes and shoulder-length corn silk hair. When the initial shock wore off she stood, dusted off the pleats of her carnation-pink knee-length skirt, and bowed. “Sorry. I’m Murasaki Ichigo. Hajimemashite.”

Chipmunk stood as well and made sure her Hiei key chain was still attached to her belt loop before saying, “Chipmunk desu. Hajimemashite.”

“Demo… Americajin deshou?”

“Yes, but my adoptive parents are Japanese.” They were now the only ones left in the courtyard. Chipmunk helped the girl pick up her things before they headed slowly for the main entrance. “Your name is Strawberry?”

“Yup! I’m the queen of the cannibalistic strawberries!”

Chipmunk laughed.

“What’s so funny?! I really am!”

“Really?”

“Of course, they only obey me when I’m in my chibi form, which is kind of funny…” Now she began laughing too. “So, are you a freshman?”

“Uh, yeah. Creative Writing major.”

“Uh-oh…” With a malicious grin Ichigo pointed to herself. “We’re rivals. I’m a Journalism major. I am taking Creative Writing one, though --”

“TEACHERS, IF ANY STUDENTS ARE WANDERING THE HALLS, PLEASE SEND THEM TO THE MAIN OFFICE. STUDENTS, YOU SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR HOMEROOM CLASS.”

The sound of several door handles turning chibified the girls. “I’ll see you later then!” Ichigo called, dashing at full speed down the hall. Then she turned around. “Hey, do you wanna eat lunch --” But where Chipmunk had been there remained only a faint purple mist. The strawberry blinked and dashed around the corner just in time to not be seen.

---

“I’m sorry I’m late, sir. First-day-of-school traffic is always hard to navigate.”

The homeroom teacher, Mr. Moto, was cute, Japanese, and very, very kind. “I understand. As it happens, I was several minutes late myself. Your name?”

“Chipmunk.”

“Squirrel?” asked a small redhead in the front row. “Squirrel, squirrel-squirrel?”

“Go back to sleep, Annie,” Mr. Moto said.

“Okies…” She promptly began snoring.

Chipmunk sat down in the back corner with relief, then blinked and looked to her left. Beside her, in the row closest to the windows, sat a blue-haired girl with a bored expression. Swirling around her head to the sea foam green tips of her hair was a dark aura. “Anou…”

The girl turned her head and looked at Chippie curiously. “Hai?”

“Oh, you speak Japanese too!”

“Yes. I’m from Japan.”

“Oh!" Chipmunk laughed. "You don’t look it. But, um,” she lowered her voice just a tad, “Are you in a bad mood or something? I mean, you just look bored but you have -- I-I... get the feeling something’s wrong.”

“Eh?”

“Er… never mind. Ignore me, I’m weird!” Chipmunk waved her hand around dismissively, smiling in an embarrassed manner.

The girl smiled, amused. For a few seconds, it looked as though she was struggling not to laugh, but then she gave in. The aura disappeared at once. “Trust me, you’re not the only one who's weird!” she disclosed. Chipmunk sweat-dropped. “My name is Aoi Sakura. Just my first name.”

“A blue cherry blossom.”

“Yep.”

“I’m Chipmunk.”

“I’m Annie!!” A small figure landed on top of Chippie’s desk in a sitting position, her booted feet dangling quite a bit off the classroom floor. “I’m a human, what are you?”

“What?” said Aoi Sakura, raising an eyebrow and giving a classic yet sophisticated look of perplexity.

“Hey, Annie, what’s up?” asked Chipmunk.

Annie shrugged and turned to Aoi Sakura. “So, what are you?”

Aoi Sakura looked to Chippie in confusion. Chipmunk smiled, and pointedly said, “I’m a mage. You look could be a… fairy or something.”

“A fairy...?”

“Well, yeah... the hair and all.... What’s wrong?”

The dark aura seemed to be returning for a moment -- just a tiny bit of haze was appearing around the girl’s head. But then she seemed to realize the game, her expression brightened, and the aura disappeared again. “Oh,” she said, “Nothing. Um, no… I’m... a youkai.”

“All right, go youkai!!” With that last remark Annie hopped off the desk to go and glomp some guy across the room.

Pocky skipped around the room, hugging her classmates at random and explaining, “Hi, I’m Pocky. I like to hug people. HUG!!”

Giving them just enough time to blink in empty-headed confusion before she moved on to her next victim.

In the corner near the windows, two girls with odd-colored hair sat talking in what sounded like Japanese. With an evil smirk on her face Pocky stepped up quietly behind the blue-haired one, signaling with a finger to her lips for the other not to give her away.

Three...

Two...

One --

"Don't even think about it Pocky," Aoi Sakura growled before said huggler could pounce. Pocky had already attacked her outside when she noticed her hair.

Aoi-chan got a huggle anyway.

"Aw, but you're so fun to hug!" Pocky released her then and slid over her desk to Chipmunk. "And I don't know you, but you look even more fun to hug!"

Chippie's face momentarily matched her hair, but she smiled anyway and breathed in deeply when she was finally released.

"Yup, you are!" said Pocky, all smiles.

"Hi. I'm Chipmunk."

"I'm Pocky!" There was a moment of silence. "Not the food, the person."

"Oh."

With that cleared up, she joyfully hugged Chippie again.

---

She watched it all, never opening her eyes, ignoring the sting of the wind on her bare arms as she frowned at her visions.

Chipmunk... as well as the others... they are all afraid yet to reveal themselves to one another. But they are definitely what we need -- yes, they are the only ones suited to this job. It is their destiny.

Suddenly she dropped her well-practiced expression, baring her teeth at the sudden chill and wrapping her arms around her.

It's too freaking cold!!

With a single flash of movement she leapt into the air and disappeared.

---

CHIPMUNK: Hope ya like so far. This'll be divided up into maybe four parts, but it's really not a chapter story. I understand people sometimes can't read a lot in one sitting.(in other words, I'm evil and want reviews.)Anyway, I'll update soon depending on free time. If you plan to flame me, please try to at least sound intelligent, ne? Ja mata!