Author's Note: Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a good time! Unfortunately, finals are coming up for me and I'm literally scared to death! Mostly biology and math are what I'm worrying about. Anyway, I was going to finish this chapter of Snow Princess today, but since my dad's computer was fixed, it came out all weird so I decided to remake it. The dialogue and writing is still the same though. I finally finished that anime movie called One Stormy Night! Anyway, I better get working! Heeeere's chapter 3 of Snow Princess! Read and review nicely please! NO FLAMES!!! Happy reading! By the way, this chapter marks the beginning of the spring chapter!

PAGE 3: Spring Chapter I

The ash grey sky, the pure white snow, everything remained the same. In a small, hidden world, nothing changes. The seasons don't pass. Only in the outside world, they do. The white girl inhabiting the world kept everything the same, only changing some little details from time to time. The snow began to fall from the ash grey skies. Little tiny specs of white snow fell gently onto the pristine white ground. Was it spring here? Or was it not?

In her world, seasons don't change
Only the girl can make them change
Only as she wants them to.
The falling snow kept falling,
The sky continued kept being grey and dark,
The frozen trees began to melt,
The faceless snow men began to be gone.
The girl had changed her world.

The trees had pink flowers on them now,
regardless of the dark sky and white snow.
The pink flowers were beautiful.
They made the little land just a bit prettier.
A small ray of light shone through the clouds,
making the world a bit more happier.
The girl changed her world...just a little bit,
To adjust to the outside world.
To make her new friend happy.

Tuesday, April 1, 2009

Today was the beginning of spring. Spring enveloped the island of Hokkaido. The sun was emitting it's yellow, radiant light onto the towns, giving them bright effulgence. The vast greenery shone along with the sun's light. The flowers in the little towns began to bloom beautifully. The time of spring was a good time for everyone. Though the air was still a bit cold, it was warmer than winter, and this was good. The winter snow and ash grey skies disappeared and it was time for bright, sunny days, flowers blooming, and most of all, children beginning a new grade in school.

That was what Izumi Towa knew about Spring.

She is 10 years old. She was to begin the 6th grade starting on April 2nd in Eien Middle School. She has light brown hair which is short and the ends were kind of wavy along with having oceanic eyes that seemed to match the blue spring sky. The girl was located in a big park which was shortly away from the school. There were a lot of children playing and the trees were full of lush, pink, and lucid cherry blossoms completely in bloom. She had a somewhat love-hate relationship with spring. She loves it because of the pink cherry blossoms and the cool weather, since she likes pink. But she hates it because school begins and she's going to be in the 6th grade. She doesn't like school, but she tries her best to get good grades and be a good student. She mostly hates it because of some classmates who pick on her.

Currently, she and her parents, Sasami and Yukihiro, are in the park viewing the cherry blossoms and plum blossoms. They sat on a red and white quilt which was laid on top of the lush, green grass. Towa is currently wearing a short-sleeved, light blue shirt that went to her waist like a dress along with darker blue capris. She also wore a light blue ribbon in her hair and white shoes. She had an angel imp plush sitting next to her. Her parents were having a picnic. Sasami presented some o bento boxes for everyone in the family, including herself. She handed one black box to Towa.

"Here you go, sweetie" Sasami said.

"Thank you, mama" Towa replied in a soft, cute, childish voice. She opened the black box and it revealed some little octopuses, nikudango, little flower-shaped candies, and tamagoyaki. Towa picked up her small, pink, plastic fork. All three Izumi family members opened their bentos and clasped their hands together.

"Itadakimasu(1)!" The Izumi family members proclaimed, and they began eating. But Towa didn't. She looked around a little, feeling a bit curious. She had barely been to the park before. She stood up, while closing her bento box, and turned to her mother.

"Mama. I'm gonna go walk around a bit. Do you mind?" Towa asked innocently.

"I don't mind. Don't go too far and don't stay away for too long, okay?" Sasami told her daughter. Towa nodded quickly and walked away from the picnic and her family.

Towa began looking around curiously. There were many cherry trees and plum trees around her. She saw children playing in the green grass and flowers blooming. She looked at the flowers, which were various colors like blue, purple, red, pink, yellow, and white. There was a colorful atmosphere around her yet, even though she was part of it, she didn't seem like she was. She wandered around the big, evergreen place. She knew this park from the back of her head, even though she's been there so rarely. She and her family sometimes went to it beginning from when Towa was just a young girl learning how to talk. Of course, she rarely remembered this place, only during the spring when it was lively and beautiful.

She remembered the Christmas she had. The Christmas where everything seemed to fall into place. She had gotten lost in the mall and a young teenager had helped her find her mother. She became curious about him and wanted to see him again, but she barely knew anything about him: where he lived, who he was, where he went to school, and many other things. It wasn't until Christmas day that she saw him again. Talk about a Christmas present. That Christmas was very strange, yet enlightening and lucid, to Towa. The second mysterious thing that happened was that she received a music box for Christmas, but the person who gave it to her didn't write their name on it. Towa assumed that Santa Claus got it for her secretly. This was normal for children to believe they got presents from old Saint Nick.

Towa was enveloped by the colorful atmosphere of the park. Children's happy faces. Beautiful flowers. Cherry Blossoms. A pleasantly blue sky. A fresh breeze. Spring seemed to have bloomed. But Towa felt like she was a "grey area". She didn't consider herself part of the colorful and cheerful atmosphere. She felt left out, isolated, immured. Then she saw a small gazebo about 2 meters away from where she was. The gazebo was white and gray, as if the sun had shown it's opalescence by blessing it with it's golden rays. Some small rays of light were shown inside of it, but what Towa was curious about was that she saw a black figure inside of it. Towa slowly krept up to the gazebo and tried to see who was inside of it.

The white girl saw the black shadow
Inside a pristine white house, called an igloo
The girl was curious
She looked at it with her blue eyes
She wanted to see who it was.
Who was in the white igloo?
Who was the black shadow?

The white girl decided to go inside.
She couldn't wait to see.
What she found, was a sight to delight.
It was her "friend"
The friend she made
When her world was ash grey and pure white
The "light" that shone in her heart
His evergreen eyes like shimmering trees in spring
His pure black hair like a raven
His bright smile like a sunflower
His white skin like snow
His kind heart...like cherry blossoms in the wind

"Hikaru-san!"

She called out the name of the boy in the gazebo. He turned towards her.

"Oh...Towa-san..."

Ikuma Hikaru was the young boy who helped Towa in the mall before Christmas. He is about 15-16 years of age. He has raven black hair that goes to his chin which is part down the middle, showing his forehead. His eyes are a bright emerald green which shine like evergreen trees and grass in spring. His skin is very pale and quite white like snow, though he is absolutely nowhere in the description of albino. He is currently wearing a cream-colored sweater that has a picture of some plants or flowers on it, like red tulips or violets. He is also wearing dark brown jeans along with black shoes. Towa came out here and into the gazebo just to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Towa asked innocently, walking into the gazebo and toward the young teenager.

"I...I was feeling a bit nervous since I'm beginning school tomorrow, so I felt I could seek refuge here, under the cherry blossoms" Hikaru explained shyly.

"Ohh! I see. My parents and I are having a picnic and viewing the blossoms. But I wanted to look around and wander a bit...and here you are!" Towa explained. Hikaru smiled a bit, then noticed the the small black box clenched in Towa's hands.

"Is that your lunch?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah. Want some?" Towa replied. The two sat down on the benches in the gazebo and began eating. Hikaru decided to have some of Towa's lunch. They both didn't have chopsticks, so Hikaru took them with his hands. He ate a piece of Towa's tamagoyaki while Towa ate one herself along with a little octopus.

"Do you come here a lot, Hikaru-san?" Towa asked.

"I do. This is where I'd hide when I didn't want to be seen. My...parents and I often came to this park to view the cherry blossoms as they're in full bloom" Hikaru explained quietly. Towa had sensitive hearing, so she was able to hear what he said.

"My family and I come here too, but probably not as often as you do" Towa said when she ate another octopus, then paused. Her expression changed and she looked a bit sad. She remembered a time when she and Hikaru went to a friend's house and Hikaru defended her from her friend's grandmother, who was very disapproving of their friendship. She remembered what he had said.

"I am the son of Ikuma Nonoko, the pianist, and Ikuma Takuma, the violinist"

Towa then perked up a bit, then turned to Hikaru.

"Ummm...were your parents musicians?" Towa asked innocently. Hikaru turned toward her as he heard her question. He then put his white hand into his left pants pocket and pulled out a small picture. He held it in front of Towa. Towa noticed it and she slowly took it.

The small photo had a picure of a man and a woman in it. The woman looked to be in her early 30's. She had long, dark brown hair like chocolate and dark green eyes, the same as Hikaru's eyes, purely evergreen like spring greenery (a pun, anyone?). The woman was wearing a light purple kimono that had pictures of pink cherry blossoms and had brown sandals on along with white tabi socks. The man next to her looked to be in his mid-30's. He had black hair, just like Hikaru's raven black hair, that was quite flat and round along with sapphire blue eyes, just like Towa's eyes. He was wearing a white tuxedo with a white tie, white shoes, and everything else. He was holding a violin in his hands. Towa was surprised.

"Your mom is really pretty. Your dad is cool" Towa exclaimed. She was awestruck by the picture.

"Yes. My mother was a kind, gentle, and beautiful young woman. Ikuma Nonoko is her name. She was quite popular with men. She loved that purple kimono. It belonged to my grandmother. But she wasn't a very good cook and she cried easily" Hikaru explained gently. Towa was surprised.

"I'm not that good at cooking either, and I cry easy too" Towa said. Hikaru smiled.

"My father, Ikuma Takuma, was a young man of very few words. He didn't talk much. He only spoke when he wanted to. But he was equally kind and attractive. He was a gifted violinist and cooked very well. He was popular with women, but he preferred my mother over some women who wanted to marry him" Hikaru explained.

"Like I mentioned before at Karin's house, both of them attended Nishijou Music Academy. That's where they first met. They were both 15 when they first met" Hikaru said.

"You have your mom's eyes and your dad's hair" Towa exclaimed. Hikaru smiled again.

"Yes. Yes I do" Hikaru replied. Towa became more curious.

"So...where are they now? Are they living with you?" Towa asked innocently. But this question made Hikaru's smiling face turn distraught and sad. He looked down at his white hands, white as a sheep's coat. Towa noticed this, and she became a bit sad herself.

"They...they...died"

Hikaru's reply was quiet and soft, but Towa heard it clearly. She became sad.

"Gah! I-I-I'm so sorry! I...I shouldn't have asked!" Towa cried out, regretting asking her question. But Hikaru gently placed a hand on Towa's head of hair and rubbed it. He smiled a little bit.

"I know you mean no harm. Besides, I never really told anyone about it. It makes me sad, but I always wanted to have a conversation like this with someone. I never told anyone about how they died" Hikaru told her softly. Towa calmed down a bit and sat back on the bench. Hikaru began to tell his story.

"My parents...were talented musicians, even in school. They were so popular that they became a sensation. They always performed at famous recitals and concerts. They even performed abroad too. Everyone loved their music. I always went to their recitals and concerts. It was my own way of showing my affection towards them. I didn't want them to think that I didn't love them. I always showed my support. So did their fans. But...not everyone liked their music"

Towa was surprised. His parents were famous. Even overseas they were famous. Ikuma Nonoko, the pianist, and Ikuma Takuma, the violinist. They were a dynamic duo in music. They played in many recitals and concerts and were instantly popular. There wasn't one person who didn't know their names. But not everyone liked their music.

"During her time at Nishijou Academy, my mother was often the target of bullying and verbal abuse. She was better at the piano than anyone in her class. Of course, she didn't be good at it to make them look bad. She just played at her heart's desire. But there was one group of girls who didn't like her talent and often harassed her about it. My mother tried to stand up to them, but they kept doing bad things to her, to make her feel less confident about her skills and to make her feel ugly. But on one of the occassions, that's where my father first met her. He witnessed the bullies trying to make my mother drink from a beaker that was full of worms, but he knocked the beaker out of their hands and saved her. That's when they began dating and making love. Sometimes the bullies would even physically hurt her. They would punch her, kick her, hit her repeatedly, and other things. But she always reported it, no matter how much they tried to make her not tell anyone. They got in trouble for picking on my mother"

Towa was surprised again. Even his own parents were targets of bullying. Towa was a target herself, so she knew how it felt. But there was never an occassion where someone tried to make her eat worms from a glass beaker. She was just a target of insults and inappropriate comments by some mean boys. But she was never physically hurt by anyone.

"I...I'm often picked on too. I think I know how she feels" Towa said. Hikaru finally decided to go for the depressing part: The day his parents died.

"It was about a year ago. I was in high school. I requested to leave early so I could attend my parents' recent concert. I wanted to be there so I could see them play their version of "Pavane for a Dead Princess(2)". I managed to get admissioned and I got to see them play. It was a long walk, but I managed to get there before all the seats were taken. Their version was absolutely beautiful. Beyond words. I was captivated. I wanted so badly to watch them play it, just once. I got a seat in the middle, but I was able to see them. They knew I was there. They could see me. I was just happy, seeing the smiles on their faces as they placed their music, to captivate the hearts of the audience and to make them happy. It was just about to end when...it happened"

Towa was captivated by the story. Hikaru had left classes early so he could watch his parents play at their concert. He didn't want them to think he didn't show them his support. His parents were happy just to see him there. Towa was confused. What was "it"? Hikaru was just about to say what it was.

"I went backstage after their performance ended. I ran to them, gave them big hugs, and congratulated them. But as we were about to leave...gunshots rang out. The lights were blown out. It was dark. People began screaming. A gunman was invading the stage. He carried...a large, black rifle that was full of bullets. He killed a lot of people. Blood was spilt. My father, he...tried to knock him down, knock the gun out of his hand...but he was unsuccessful. He...Ikuma Takuma...took a bullet to the chest and fell backward. I...I tried to escape with mother by my side, but a harp was knocked over and it fell on my leg. I tried to remove it, but it was too heavy. The man...he approached me and pointed his gun at me. He took me at gunpoint. I...I was scared. I saw the little black hole right in front of me. I...I thought I was going to be gone from the world forever. But..."

Hikaru explained his story. His face looked very sad and distraught, and he looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment, but he tried hard to hold them back. A certain woman's voice rang in his head.

"Don't kill my son!!"

A gunshot rang out in his head.

BANG!

"...Ikuma Nonoko ran in to save me. She defended me from the man, but...she took a bullet to the head and she fell on me. I was being embraced by the corpse of my mother. I...I couldn't understand what had happened. I...I never understood why it had to happen to my parents, Nonoko and Takuma, the famous Ikuma family musicians. My mother died in the instant. I never understood why she did it, but I realized the outcome. I couldn't stop crying. My leg was broken. But...my father didn't give up. He...he knocked the hooded person out cold by hitting him with his violin. My father used the last of his strength to stop the killer from making more of a bloodbath than he or she already had. But he wasn't unconscious for too long. The police came too late. The killer escaped shortly after the police arrived on the scene. It was then that I realized...I was alone...both my parents were taken from me..."

Hikaru was finally finished his story. Towa, completely heartbroken and saddened by the story, cried and hugged Hikaru.

"H-Hi-Hikaru!! I...I can't believe that happened to you!!" Towa cried as she hugged the young boy. Tears were streaming down her peach colored cheeks spontaneously. But Hikaru's face perked up a bit and he rubbed Towa's head again. He then smiled.

"Towa-san...please don't cry. I...I feel better now. I finally got it off of my chest. You...are the first person I ever had a discussion about this with" Hikaru told the crying girl. Towa tried to dry herself off, so she stood up and got off of the bench. Hikaru followed suit. He kneeled down to the girl's level, held his white hand up to her face, and gently slid his soft finger under her blue eyes to remove the crystaline water drops from her face.

"Young girls don't look good in tears. A smile is her best quality" Hikaru told the girl in a soft, gentle tone. He didn't want to scare her. Towa dried herself off, but she didn't smile.

"Sorry. I'm not good at smiling" Towa told him shyly. She began to blush a little bit. She tried to look away from him, trying not to make eye contact. She clung to her little angel imp plush as she tried to look away. Hikaru saw this, but he then smiled and slowly removed his hand from Towa's face. He then slowly krept his hands up into Towa's shirt and gently put his bare hands on her ribs. Her navel was exposed obviously. Hikaru then slowly yet very gently began to move his fingers onto Towa's abdomen. Towa felt the very light, gentle, and soft sensation on her stomach. She saw what Hikaru was doing, but didn't try to force him off. Towa watched as she saw Hikaru's long, smooth fingers dance across her peach colored abdomen. she smiled a little bit and unknowingly let out a small giggle.

"Hi-Hikaru...are you...?" Towa tried to ask him, but she couldn't find the right words. Then, Hikaru stopped and withdrew his hands from her. He held onto her hand and decided to take her out of the gazebo and into the lush green grass and lucid pink cherry blossoms.

"Wouldn't it be better if we played in this beautiful scenery?" Hikaru asked. Towa was a little confused, but she went along with it.

"I guess it would" Towa said. Hikaru and Towa sat on the grass and watched the cherry blossom petals fly with the wind blowing them in their directions. Hikaru turned toward the little girl who was staring at the pink trees.

Hikaru smiled a little bit and he slowly krept up to her. He then crawled in front of her. He then clenched his hand onto Towa's wrist and put his hand on her shoulder. He slowly but gently pushed her onto the green grass. Towa became confused.

"Wh-What are you..." Towa tried to ask, but Hikaru put a finger on her mouth to keep her quiet.

"I'm going to make you smile, even if I have to force it out of you" Hikaru told her gently. He then removed his hand from Towa's mouth and slowly pulled her blue shirt up, just a little bit. He only stopped to where her abdomen and navel were completely shown. He took extra care not to pull it up too high (Don't worry, Hikaru's NOT going to do bad stuff to her). Hikaru's hand clenched onto Towa's wrist, pinning her to the grass and he didn't try to restrain her other hand. He slowly placed his hand onto Towa's peach colored stomach. His fingers slowly walked across it, ever so gently and softly. Towa was witnessing this, yet she ended up throwing up a giggle or two. Soon, she ended up in a giggle fit.

"Hi-Hikaru!" Towa yelped to make him stop, but he wasn't giving up. He let out a somewhat mischevious smile.

"You're cute when you laugh. Whenever I would be sad, mother and father would often give me a tickle or two. So in their honor, I'm going to do the same with you!" Hikaru exclaimed with his smile and he now had both of his hands on her abdomen. Both sets of his long, smooth, thin fingers playfully walked across Towa's stomach gently. Towa ended up in a laughing fit, not being able to throw off the gentle yet happy sensation. Yet she didn't even bother to push Hikaru off of her. She just playfully laughed and laughed. Hikaru smiled as he watched the girl laugh because of what he was doing.

"H-Hikaru! P-Please stop! Th-that tickles! N-N-Nyaaaahaha!!"

Towa was defenseless and helpless to Hikaru's playful gesture. She was obviously helpless and fell victim to his tickle treatment. But both of them smiled and laughed happily and playfully while under the cherry blossoms.

The boy and girl played happily
Under the beautiful pink blossoms
Their smiles were bright like sunflowers
Their play made the grey and white world
Just a little bit happier.
Their play made the grey and white world
A little less sad and lonely.
The boy and girl played together
Under the falling cherry blossom petals.
A yellow ray of light shone on the two
As their play gave a little happiness
To the white and grey world...
And to themselves...

About a few minutes passed. Hikaru and Towa were finally done their tickle fight and were gazing at the pink flowers on the trees.

"They're so pretty..." Towa said. She was lying on the grass while Hikaru held his knees to his chest. He then turned to Towa.

"Towa-san. May I ask a question?" Hikaru said. Towa was confused, but she nodded anyway.

"Is it true that you have autism?" Hikaru asked. Towa felt a little sad hearing that question. She put her legs in a pretzel.

"Yes...I am" Towa replied as she began to blush. This is true. Towa has Asperger Syndrome, or a mild form of autism, which is a developmental disorder that affects the brain. There are many symptoms and signs. It affects communication and an individual's ability to socialize. Of course, Towa was of the high-functioning range and can do many things.

"I want you to know something, Towa-san" Hikaru told her. Towa became curious and decided to hear what Hikaru had to say.

"Both of my parents...they were autistic too!"

Towa was in shock.

"WHAAAAAT?!?"

Hikaru's deceased parents, Nonoko and Takuma, both had autism as well! She was utterly surprised.

"I...I...I never thought there'd be people like me! Let alone adults!" Towa cried out, surprised and shocked by what Hikaru mentioned.

"There are lots of people in the world who are autistic. You didn't know that?" Hikaru told her. Towa began thinking about Hikaru's heritage. Since both of his parents were autistic...she suddenly had a thought in her head.

"Ummm...since both your mom and dad are autistic, then...are you autistic too!?" Towa finally cried out her question. Hikaru let out a giggle.

"No. It's not a genetic disorder. Nobody knows if it can be inheritted or not. So I'm not autistic like you or my parents. Sorry" Hikaru replied. Towa finally calmed down and decided to stare at the flowers again.

"I see" Towa said, feeling a little down when she heard voices.

"Towa-chaaaaan!! Where are youuuuu!?"

It was the voice of her mother, Sasami. Towa immediately stood up.

"That's my mama! Sorry Hikaru, but I have to go. I'm glad I got to see you again. I'll see you later! Bye-bye!" Towa exclaimed as she waved to Hikaru and trotted of to her parents. Hikaru stood up and smiled at the girl, but his expression quickly changed to a frown. He was sad again.

'Such a kind girl...why is it that those on the autistic spectrum are rejected by the world around them? Why can't they not be so judgemental for once? What did we ever do to them in the first place?' thought Hikaru. He gazed at the cherry blossom petals flying across the wind with great strength. His evergreen eyes gazed upon the pure blue sky.

'Towa is such a kind girl, and yet she is suffering...just like me...Why? Why does it have to be this way? Why is it that our kind is always looked down upon? My parents achieved great things and were praised by everyone...and yet there are those who hated them...including me' Hikaru was reminiscing and at the same time thinking about Towa and his parents. He suddenly began hearing voices in his head. Voices from the past. Voices...

'What are you doing here!? You're not allowed here! Get out you idiot!!'

'Nobody wants you here! You're not like us! You're not normal!'

'We cannot accept your kind in this establishment'

'Do you really think we allow idiots like you in our club!? Fat chance!'

'We don't take retards!'

'You can't stay here! You're retarded!'

'You think you're so special? Let me tell you something, you're NOT special! Your kind should be dead!'

'Nobody wants to be friends with an abnormal person like you! You're worth nothing!'

'You ain't got no worth! Go somewhere and die or something!'

'We don't like your kind!'

Hateful, atrocious, and discriminatory voices and comments rang in Hikaru's head. Voices from the past. A single tear drop fell from his evergreen eye and onto his white cheek.

"Why...? Why is this world so judgemental?" Hikaru asked himself. He was alone under the pink cherry blossoms.

The black shadow...
Under the pink cherry blossoms
Stands alone in the field
Looking at the blue sky
With his eyes, green as a forest

The black shadow...
The white girl...
Are both rejected by the outside.
Told that they're not special
Told that they're not important
Told that they have no worth.
Told that they should be dead.
Can these two spirits...
Prove those people wrong?

One day later...

Wednesday, April 2, 2009

It was time for school.

A car drove in front of Eien Middle School. Towa jumped out of the car and onto the sidewalk. Towa was now wearing a short-sleeved, light yellow shirt that has long white sleeves along with black capris and white shoes. The yellow shirt had a picture of a blue number 10 on it. She also had a small light pink ribbon in her hair. Sasami and Towa said their goodbyes and Sasami drove away from the school. Towa clutched her small, red purse and her pink rolling bag and looked around. There were many kids running around the blacktop. Towa felt very nervous...until she heard a voice echo into the air.

"Towa-chaaan!"

A young girl ran toward Towa. Towa recognized the girl and smiled.

"Karin-chan!"

Himemiya Karin is Towa's best friend. She is about a year older than Towa and has light brown hair that goes to her upper back which is tied up into a long bunchy ponytail supported by a purple flower hair ornament along with having matching amber eyes. She is wearing a long sleeved orange shirt with a white ribbon on the chest part along with a long, white skirt that has purple flowers on the bottom part. She is also wearing puce/maroon shoes. Towa noticed another girl right next to her.

"Hotaru-chan!"

The other girl, Usui Hotaru, is Karin's friend and partially Towa's friend. She has black hair that goes slightly above her shoulders along with dark gold eyes like goldenrod. In her hair is a red ladybug hair accessory which is holding her bangs up a bit. She is wearing a long-sleeved cream-colored shirt with a picture of red tulips on it along with a blue skirt that goes slightly above the knees. She is also wearing black shoes and white socks. Her expression seems very quiet and indifferent.

"Hotaru-chan, did your hair grow longer?" Towa asked.

"Yes. It did" Hotaru replied in a quiet but polite tone of voice. Karin became excited.

"Hey hey Towa-chan! I hear we're having new students in our class this year!" Karin exclaimed excitedly.

"Really?" Towa asked.

"Yeah! Both of them are girls! I heard Maeda-sensei and Tamase-sensei talking this morning in the main office!" Karin cried out with a smile. Hotaru stayed quiet. Towa began daydreaming a little bit.

"I wonder what they'll be like? I hope they're not mean..." Towa said, beginning to feel a little doubtful. Karin put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"It's alright. We'll never know until we see them" Karin told her reassuringly. Hotaru then decided to speak up.

"I'm not sure, but I believe I saw one of the new students earlier. She was blonde and had purple eyes" Hotaru said quietly.

"You saw one of them? Lucky!" Towa exclaimed.

"I don't know for sure, so I can't confirm it myself until I find accurate proof. Oh, by the way, we're in the same homeroom again" Hotaru replied, when suddenly...

riiiiiiing

The bell rang. It is now time to go inside. Karin, Towa, and Hotaru quickly ran into the building along with the many other children and went to their homeroom...which was the same one they had before. They have started the 6th grade, even though Towa hasn't turned 11 yet. She is the youngest out of her entire class. The girls came into homeroom and sat in their assigned seats. But as Towa looked at the door, she grimaced painfully as a boy walked into the room.

'Oh no! Hiroaki is in here again!? Seriously, doesn't he ever give up!?' thought Towa as she watched in fear as the boy, whom Towa called Hiroaki, walked into the room along with two other boys. Then, the teacher, Mrs. Maeda Kawako, walked into the room. She didn't have a very happy expression on her face.

"Hey everyone. It seems I'm stuck with you all again this year. Anyway, we're having two new students joining our class today" Mrs. Maeda announced sternly, sounding somewhat irritated. The door opened...and two girls walked into the room.

One girl looked to be about the same age as everyone. She had semi-long, dark brown hair that went down to her upper back with her bangs being held up with a pink and yellow flower accessory. She also had slightly lighter brown eyes. She was wearing a short-sleeved, yellow dress with the skirt part having frilly white layers along with red shoes and white socks that had strawberries on them. She was the first to appear in front of the class.

"Gooood morning one and all! I am best known as Nawa Kaori, but I prefer that all you commoners call me Kaori-sama! Thank you for your attention!" The new girl, Nawa Kaori, exclaimed with a high-pitched, girly voice with a somewhat arrogant tone to it. Towa, Karin, and Hotaru seem kinda nervous.

"...she thinks she's a superstar or something" Towa whispered quietly.

"I agree. She acts like she's all high and mighty...and the center of attention" Hotaru whispered back while Karin didn't say anything at all. Meanwhile, another girl walked into the room.

This girl also looked to be the same age as everyone. She had short, blonde hair which was bowl-cut, making her look a bit like a boy and she has light violet purple eyes. She is wearing a short-sleeved, tan shirt with a collar and buttons on the chest part along with dark blue jean pants and white shoes. She also had a black ribbon in her hair. Towa was looking at her while being a bit surprised.

'Ohh! She's quite cute!' Towa thought with gleam.

"G-Good morning. I-I'm...Alisa. I'm from...America..." The girl, Alisa, replied in a soft, girl voice, but she was quite shy and her face was turning a little red.

"As you can see, Alisa Willis is a foreign exchange student from North America. Now you two, you can take your seats. Nawa-san, you can sit next to Hidaka-san over there. While you, Miss Willis, you sit near Usui-san over there" Mrs. Maeda told the two girls. Both girls were seated strangely far away from each other. Alisa dutifully took her seat while Kaori was shocked at the chair she was sitting in.

"Whaaaa!? Now why would you make me, the noble and beautiful Kaori-sama, sit in the back of the room!? I am a lady and I deserve to be seated in the front, where all eyes shall be focused on me and me only!" Kaori cried out irritatingly. Mrs. Maeda herself was getting irritated.

"Sorry, Nawa. That's the only seat we got for you. All the ones in the front are taken. Please, take your seat now!" Mrs. Maeda replied as she was beginning to get mad. Speechless, Kaori decided to give in and go to the seat in the back. The strange thing was, Alisa was sitting right next to Hotaru.

A few minutes later, the teacher began taking attendance while the children began talking and playing. Towa, Karin, and Hotaru were in their seats talking. Towa turned around and noticed that Alisa was still in her seat...and reading a book. Towa looked at the book and discovered that it was volume one of the Digi Charat(3) manga! Towa was surprised. She didn't think the new students were into anime or manga like she herself was.

'Whoa! She has Digi Charat! I love that anime! I wonder if...I should talk to her? I have a manga with me, so maybe I can...get along with her? But what if she doesn't like me?...Grr! Like Karin-chan said, I'll never know if I don't try! I'm going to do it!' Towa thought to herself. She finally decided to stand up and start walking. Towa had her red purse on her shoulder, which contained a manga that she was planning to read. She finally walked up to Alisa's seat. But none of them spoke yet. Towa decided to speak.

"Ummm...hello" Towa said finally. Alisa turned around and saw her next to her. Alisa froze up. She was beginning to become fearful. Of course, Towa noticed this.

"Uhh...uh...I-I'm sorry! I...I'm not trying to scare you! I...I just noticed your book..." Towa tried to say, but she was having a bit of trouble communicating herself, since she herself was shy. Alisa did, however, understand what she was saying.

"My...book?" Alisa asked. Towa managed to calm herself down and began to speak.

"Yeah. Uh...I like that stuff too. In fact, I have one with me right now!" Towa said as she pulled out her red purse, opened it up, and pulled out a manga volume of Kitchen Princess(4). Alisa was surprised.

"Wow! I love Kitchen Princess! I have all the books!" Alisa exclaimed with a smile for the first time. Towa was quite surprised. She didn't think she'd be able to make a friend so quickly. Towa smiled a bit and continued to carry on with the conversation.

"Cool! We're both anime fans! Oh! You're Alisa-san, right? I'm Towa" Towa replied.

"You can call me Alisa-chan. Hello, Towa-chan!" Alisa proclaimed and the two were becoming newfound friends. Karin and Hotaru noticed this and smiled a bit. They decided to join in on the two's newborn friendship. Towa saw the two and decided to speak.

"Alisa-chan, these are my friends Himemiya Karin-chan and Usui Hotaru-chan!" Towa said as she introduced her two friends to Alisa. Alisa was a little shy as she didn't speak. The two girls bowed politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alisa-san" The two girls said. Karin was the first to speak.

"So...if you're from America, why are you in Japan? And how are you able to speak our language?" Karin asked, feeling curious.

"Well, America's kinda been having some problems, so my dad thought it'd be better to go to Japan since it has less problems. And I'm very good at learning new languages. In fact, I can speak French, Italian, German, Spanish, and a bit of Mandarin" Alisa replied.

"So...you're billingual then?" Hotaru asked quietly.

"Yes, I am" Alisa replied. Towa was confused.

"What's billingual?" Towa asked, confused.

"That means you can speak a lot of languages" Karin told her.

"Oh, I see" Towa said. Hotaru looked at the clock and it read 8:46 AM.

"We should probably get ready. The bell might ring in a few minutes" Hotaru told the three girls. Karin, Alisa, and Towa decide to pack their things up and get ready to go to their next class.

About a few hours later...

It was time for math class, which was 4th period for Towa. She, Karin, and Alisa have the same math class. This was Towa's least favorite class because she's not necessarily good at math. Not only that, Hiroaki, the boy she hates, is in the same class with her...and sitting a few seats away. The class was working on a worksheet given to them by Mrs. Maeda. Towa was half done because the new math lesson was about square roots, and she's very good at those. She dutifully wrote her work on the green sheet of paper that was given. Mrs. Maeda would angrily reprimand anyone who didn't show their work, because if they didn't show any work, Mrs. Maeda wouldn't know how they got the answer.

Unfortunately, Kaori was in the class as well. And sitting 2 seats away from Towa. The seat between the two was empty because one student is absent today. But as Towa turned around to look at Kaori, she saw that Kaori had a cell phone in her hand...and was texting at that! Towa knew that using a cell phone in school was prohibited on school grounds, but she was surprised nobody was doing anything about it. Towa also saw that Kaori hadn't even started on her worksheet! And it was already 11:09 AM right now...and the period started about 15 minutes ago! She saw that there wasn't a piece of writing on that single worksheet.

Kaori then closed her cell phone and put it on the desk that was empty and began working on the worksheet finally. Towa saw this as a good opportunity to report it to Mrs. Maeda, who was in her desk at the back of the room. Of course, to some people, this would be considered tattletailing. But Towa didn't want the school's rules to be broken. So she very gently took the cell phone from the desk and hid it in her shirt. She looked around to see if anyone saw it. Thankfully, nobody did, so she decided to go back to her worksheet. She was done a few minutes later, so she picked up her worksheet and decided to give it to Mrs. Maeda. She walked to the back of the room and showed her worksheet to Mrs. Maeda.

"I'm finished, Maeda-sensei" Towa said quietly. Mrs. Maeda took the worksheet blatantly.

"Thanks" Mrs. Maeda said when she noticed Towa gently place Kaori's orange cell phone in front of her. Mrs. Maeda was confused.

"What's this?" Mrs. Maeda asked. Towa kneeled down and began to whisper.

"I caught Nawa-san texting earlier. It's wrong to use a cell phone on school grounds, so I took it and wanted to report it to you. I know stealing is wrong, but using a cell phone in class is bad" Towa whispered. Mrs. Maeda was quite surprised, but she kept herself quiet.

"Thanks, Izumi. I'll talk to her. I guess I underestimated you a bit. Now go to your seat please. There's still people working" Mrs. Maeda told her. Towa bowed politely and decided to skedaddle back to her seat. She picked out her book from her red purse and began reading. About 10 minutes later, some of the students were done, including Karin and Alisa. Alisa was the only one sitting near Towa. Alisa saw Towa whispering to Mrs. Maeda and kneeled to reach Towa's seat.

"Why were you talking to Maeda-sensei earlier?" Alisa asked softly and quietly. Towa kneeled down and began whispering back.

"I caught Nawa-san using her cell phone earlier, so when she wasn't looking, I took it and showed it to Maeda-sensei. It's bad to use cell phones in school" Towa told her quietly. Alisa was surprised, but she tried to keep herself quiet.

"I see" Alisa said. She and Towa decide to get back to reading. About a few more minutes later, a lot of kids were done their worksheets. Mrs. Maeda stood up in front of the class.

"Since everyone is done their worksheets, we'll take some notes in a few minutes. In the mean time..." Mrs. Maeda announced when she began walking the middle row of seats, the one which Kaori and Towa were in. Mrs. Maeda then walked in front of Kaori.

"Nawa-san, may I see you in the hallway please?" Mrs. Maeda asked sternly with a strict tone of voice.

"Oh? You wish for an autograph? Or is it to give me a bonus? Why I'd love to see you in private!" Kaori exclaimed.

"Don't get too cocky, Nawa. I've got a bone to pick with you" Mrs. Maeda said and took Kaori outside of the room. Towa and Alisa stared at each other with a bit of fear. Mrs. Maeda stood outside of the room with the door closed and began talking to Kaori.

"I don't know what you're up to young lady, but you're not setting a good impression of yourself" Mrs. Maeda told her. Kaori became a bit confused.

"Well, what do you mean by that? You don't want an autograph?" Kaori asked innocently. She didn't know that Mrs. Maeda was not in the mood to receive an autograph.

"Do you know that mobile phones and electronic devices are prohibited on school grounds?" Mrs. Maeda asked sternly. She was becoming very strict and irritated. Kaori was flabbergasted to the question. She brushed it off by flicking her dark brown hair a bit.

"I don't have anything like that" Kaori replied.

"Oh really? Then why does this orange cell phone's strap have the words 'Lady Nawa Kaori-sama' written on it in red pen?" Mrs. Maeda asked as she showed the phone to Kaori. Kaori was flabbergasted, she recognized it as her own cell phone. She was nervous.

"Uhh...that? Oh! I...I found it on the floor...?" Kaori said, but Mrs. Maeda was serious.

"Don't deny it! Don't play dumb! This is your cell phone, isn't it!? One of my students told me that she saw you texting during class! And cell phone use in class is not allowed!" Mrs. Maeda yelled out angrily. This made Kaori quite mad.

"Don't be silly! Besides, it fell out when I came here! I wasn't using it!" Kaori yelled back.

"Don't talk back to me!! It's a good thing Izumi reported this earlier, because until you learm that mobile electronics are forbidden in school, I'm keeping this cell phone and confiscating it!" Mrs. Maeda yelled angrily. She managed to scold Kaori quite well. Of course, Kaori was speechless. Mrs. Maeda stomped back into the room with Kaori behind her and stood in front of the class.

"Alright everyone! Get your notebooks out and start writing! We'll be learning about converting square roots with variables today!" Mrs. Maeda proclaimed to the class loudly.

About 45 minutes later...

It was now time for lunch. Towa, Karin, Alisa, and Hotaru decided to sit at the same table today. Karin and Towa were sitting next to each other on one side while Hotaru and Alisa were sitting on the other side. All of them had their own lunch brought with them today. Karin had just chewed off a piece of a sandwich and swallowed it as she turned to Towa.

"Hey Towa-chan, have you ever seen that boy lately?" Karin asked, feeling curious. Towa was confused.

"What boy?" Towa asked.

"You know, that one called Hikaru. The one who stood up for you against my grandmother in January?" Karin replied. Towa knew who she was talking about.

"Ohhhh! Yeah, I've seen him. Yesterday to be exact. We hung out at that gazebo that was in the park while my parents and I were there having a picnic" Towa explained.

"You have a boyfriend?" Alisa asked. This made Towa surprised.

"N-No! We're just friends, he and I!" Towa replied.

"He sure was nice. And I'm a fan of his parents' work! I have some of their demo CDs too! My sister's a fan too. I think that's why she's going to Nishijou Music Academy later on" Karin explained.

"Nishijou Academy? That fancy music school with actual composers and musicians as teachers?" Hotaru asked blatantly.

"Yeah!" Karin replied. Towa drank her bottle of tea, ate some animal gummies and proceeded to eat her strawberry mochi cake. But then Hotaru turned around and saw Kaori talking to another student. Hiroaki to be exact. Hotaru became curious and decided to eavesdrop, even though the lunch room was booming with sound, she was able to hear what they were saying.

"Excuse me, but do you know where a student named Izumi-san is?" Kaori asked with pride.

"She's over there. The one with the messy brown hair and the girly pink bow" Hiroaki replied even though he was talking with food in his mouth. Hotaru heard this and turned back to face Towa.

"Towa. Incoming" Hotaru told Towa. Towa was confused, then turned to see Kaori right next to her. Kaori had her hands on her hips and was staring down at Towa with a proud and irritated look.

"Is your name Izumi Towa?" Kaori asked. Towa became a bit jittery.

"Uhhh...yeah. Why?" Towa replied softly though feeling a bit scared. Kaori then let out a slightly evil smirk, then out of nowhere...

SLAP!

Kaori forcefully and violently hit Towa in the face! Everyone, including Karin, Alisa and Hotaru, gasped a big amount of air in shock. Towa was knocked right off of her seat! A red mark was seen on her face.

"Who do you think you are, stealing my cell phone and showing it to the teacher!? I'll have you know that the all bright and beautiful Nawa Kaori-sama hates sneaky little commoners like you!!" Kaori screamed at Towa loudly. Towa covered her ears with her hands. Alisa and Karin quickly run to Towa and try to help her up. Towa stood up with Karin and Alisa by her side.

"Nawa-san...it's true that I showed your cell phone to the teacher, but using cell phones in school isn't allowed! You're not supposed to use a cell--" Towa explained when Kaori got angry and cut her off.

"Oh, so I'm a bad girl!? I'm allowed to do whatever I want! Nobody can defy the beautiful lady Kaori-sama! You think you're such a goody two shoes, but listen up, commoner! Nobody tells ME what to do! Nobody! I stand above all of these commoners! While you on the other hand, since you tried to make me feel like a bad girl, you'll be the lowest of the low! You're just a dirty, filthy rat!" Kaori yelled, then she suddenly began verbally abusing Towa. After that, she grabbed Towa by the shirt.

"Do you know what happens to filthy rats who try to make the beautiful and popular ones into bad people? I'll make you pay you little loser freak!" Kaori told her when Alisa forcefully pushed Kaori away from Towa.

"Stop it right now! You're acting all high and mighty and thinking you're a superstar! School is a learning facility, not a fancy wancy social party where everyone can act all proud and arrogant because they have money! There's rules you have to follow! You can't just do what you want willy-nilly!" Alisa rebuked loudly.

"Pfft! I guess you're one of the filthy rats too! Hmph! Looks like you'll have your just desserts (did I spell that right?)!" Kaori cut Alisa off and then grabbed someone's lunch. She then proceeded to smear someone's spinach on part of her dress.

"Yeeeek!"

Kaori screamed loudly. This grabbed the attention of one girl.

"Hey! What's all the commotion about!?" A girl with dark blue/blackish hair in two short braids along with pink eyes yelled out. Kaori began sniveling and sobbing.

"Are you the hall monitor? That mean girl Izumi walked up to me and spilled this person's lunch on me! How cruel!" Kaori whimpered. This made Karin angry.

"Those are all lies! That girl hit Towa-chan and began verbally abusing her for reporting Nawa-san's usage of a cell phone during class!" Karin rebuked loudly. The blue haired girl looked at Kaori and Towa for a few minutes, then pulled out a notepad and a pencil and began writing on it.

"Well, I suppose that some disciplinary action can be taken against Nawa-san here, but since she is a new student, I, Tabata Megumi, the hall monitor, will have to lessen her punishment to one D-ticket and a report to the teacher about this incident" The hall monitor, Megumi, said. Alisa was confused.

"What's a D-ticket?" Alisa asked.

"Discipline ticket. It's Tabata-san's way of giving people a warning about the consequences they get into if they get into trouble. That's her way of doing it. She's a weird hall monitor" Hotaru explained. Kaori became mad.

"How could you!? It's this little freak's fault for spilling this kid's lunch on me! How could you do this to a noble lady!?" Kaori yelled and whined like she was a younger child. Towa covered her ears. Megumi then walked up to Towa.

"Izumi Towa. Did you or did you not spill lunch on this girl?" Megumi asked.

"No, no I didn't. But it's true that I caught her texting on her cell phone during math class. And cell phones aren't supposed to be used in class, right?" Towa explained. Megumi looked at Kaori for a bit, then turned back to Towa.

"I'll believe you this time, but I should give you some advice. You need to handle these situations on your own instead of relying on others. All you're doing is being a burden on them by asking them to help you with something that even you can do by yourself. I really hate wimps" Megumi retorted. This made Karin mad.

"How can you criticize Towa-chan for being who she is!? How can you decide who should and shouldn't do what around here!?" Karin yelled angrily.

"I'm Tabata Megumi, the hall monitor, that's why! Talk back to me again and I'll give you a D-ticket too! Everyone, get back to shoving food down your throats!" Megumi yelled. Karin and Alisa escorted Towa back to her seat while Kaori sat back in her own. Towa was almost on the brink of tears.

"Towa-chan, are you okay?" Alisa asked, with her expression and tone getting increasingly worried. Towa was beginning to sniffle a bit. Karin decided to speak.

"Why don't we go down to Tamase-sensei's office and eat? Is that okay?" Karin asked gently. Towa nodded and began packing her unfinished lunch. She decided to leave. Alisa, Karin, and Hotaru followed suit.

As Alisa, Hotaru, Karin, and Towa were walking down the stairs, Alisa began thinking about something. Hotaru noticed this and became curious.

"Is something the matter, Willis-san?" Hotaru asked.

"That girl named Megumi...is she always so critical of people? Helping them while criticizing them about things they can and can't do? That just doesn't seem right" Alisa replied.

"Tabata-san is just that kind of girl. Like Nawa-san, she's also a bit proud and arrogant and takes pride in her hall monitor skills, but I personally think she's letting this position go to her head. I think they should've picked a different hall monitor this year instead of her again" Hotaru replied. Alisa became worried.

"I kinda know how Towa feels about being criticized and bullied. I've often experienced it too, since I'm autistic and all--" Alisa explained when Towa suddenly stopped cold. She stood at the base of the stairs, frozen with shock. Towa then turned to Alisa...

Then she suddenly screamed.

"YOU'RE AUTISTIC TOO?!?"

Towa was shocked. She discovered that Alisa also has Asperger syndrome! Karin and Alisa were surprised.

"Yeah, I am. Why? Does it bother you?" Alisa asked, confused.

"No. It's just that Towa-chan is autistic too!" Karin exclaimed. This made Alisa shocked.

"Whaaaaaa!? I don't believe it! I've my first friend who's exactly like me!" Alisa exclaimed loudly, but then became happy. Then Towa became happy herself despite the incident earlier and decided to walk with Alisa to the counselor's office.

Meanwhile, outside of Eien Middle School, the teenager Towa met with before, Ikuma Hikaru, stood outside of the school and gazed listlessly at it with a somewhat emotionless look.

Author's Note: Finally! I finished Snow Princess chapter 3! This took a long time to do and re-do, but I finally did it! But it isn't over yet! There's still more to come! Towa has made a new friend! I might not update much because finals are coming up, but I'll do the best I can! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Read and review nicely please! NO FLAMES!!! I gotta go now. I have to work on my biology review. Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Itadakimasu - thanks for the food.

2. Pavane for a Dead Princess is a musical piece composed in 1899 by a French composer named Maurice Ravel.

3. Digi Charat is a famous manga created by Koge-Donbo.

4. Kitchen Princess is a famous manga illustrated by Natsumi Ando and created by Kobayashi Miyuki.