Episode Four: Opening Ceremony by: Miku wasn't exactly sure how she had ended up back at the apartment that was now her home, but she had a feeling that Mr. Morris had something to do with it. She glanced around the lecture hall to see if she could spot him from her seat among her class. She knew she should've been paying attention to the opening ceremony but her mind kept wandering back to the events from the night before. Just then an announcement was made about just that, namely the mess that was left behind by the paranormal chaos. The destruction wasn't being attributed to that though. Surely it had to be the work of vandals or at least that's what the faculty would rather have the student body believe. Even though she knew no one would have suspected her involvement, Miku couldn't help but slide down a little in her seat, looking at the papers in her lap and pretending to read them. * Mr. Yashimoree walked into his son's room as the alarm clock went off for the15th time. He knew that his son had a habit of dodging school, and when he actually did make it he always seemed to wind up in some sort of trouble but somehow he always managed to get himself out of it. "Come on, Matt. You don't want to miss your first day of school do you?" "Yeah, I do." Came a weak and groggy reply from under the covers. "I'm not in the mood to put up with the stuff that I'll get from the other students." "Tell ya what I'll make a bet with you. 700 dollars US currency says that you won't have the same problems at this school that you did in Hiroshima." The youth rolled over and looked at his dad through squinted eyes. "You'll lose that bet but I need the money. I'll be late but I'll take care of it." He said as he got out of bed and staggered to his dresser to grab a school uniform. "You know I heard that your school has a history of hauntings." "I heard." He commented trying to hide the fact that he not only knew about it but he was involved in it. The teen made his way to the bathroom for a long hot shower and then put on his uniform for school. 30 minutes later he pulled up to the school the engine of his T-bird purred like a kitten as he braked and put the car in park a few feet down from the school's gates. He shut off the car and quickly wrote up a short message on a blank doctor's excuse. It read "Please excuse Matt Yashimoree's tardiness, he had an emergency appointment to get his ribs x-rayed." with a signature at the bottom. The excuse was the best he could come up with, and figured he could get it to work considering he didn't have the energy left to heal the ribs the possibly broke during the events of last night. It was only 10 minutes into the opening ceremony when he entered the school, he showed his excuse to the teacher standing by the door and was told to sit in the only empty seat there was. He quietly made his way down the aisle, and took his seat as the announcement of last night's vandalism was made. "That's bullshit." He commented making sure to be quiet enough to make sure not too many people heard him. "... Discipline and proper respect for public property is highly important in order for us to function as a society. I am aware that -some- of us have a very clear idea about what went on last evening: now is the time to own up and make a public apology, or I assure you, worse punishment will follow when we find out who is responsible!" It was almost as if he'd heard Matt. The balding man looked around the hall, pointedly at a few students, including the gaijin boy. Especially him... and quickly diverted his eyes. There was a not-so soft snicker in front of Matt. "Students, you realise this is a very serious concern of the school and if the persons responsible do not own up, we will have to take serious measures against the entire student body until we have found the culprits and surely you must be aware of the delays that would cause in your curriculum and all the trouble it will bring to everyone..." The occupant of the seat before Matt tossed a ponytail back with an elegant hand. She tipped her head to him somewhat, but not so much that he could see her face. The hair was good enough recognition. There was only one person he knew that had a tip job like that and he didn't even know her name. "If we were so public-spirited we wouldn't be busting up the school now, would we, barbarian." * Shou woke up extra early today. His transportation's rear wheel was busted, he will have to make do with walking. His grandfather had been silent and as he was walking, he had the last bits of memory last night recalled. The sword, the people that was in the shrine last night. It was pretty void. After asking his gramps about last night during breakfast, he only was told to look after the school as he was told. Questions in his mind ran randomly, about last night, about his grandfather and the oni. Finding himself on the school's front yard, he realised the building was a complete mess. It was five minutes before the bell and he had to hurry to attend the opening ceremonies. In the ceremonies, the dean spoke telling about the current situation of the classrooms with broken windows. A shuffle of voices were heard, students were reacting to this so-called vandals that were told to be a group of students who just want to wreak havoc. "Oniisama...there's something strange..." Shou's spectral friend pointed at the room's corridor. Shou felt a residual presence, very faint, not even his grandfather could detect. His 'gift' had enabled him to be as sharp as a spirit that could sense another. * She lifted her head slightly as her eyes scanned the room to see if anyone from last night had stood up. Maybe they weren't there and even if they were, they shouldn't have to take the blame and be punished for something they hadn't caused. Neither should the entire student body... The scrape of the chair as Miku rose drew any attention that her action had not. She ignored the murmurs or any possible snickering or finger-pointing. Since she was unsure of what she had to do next, the young girl simply stood there, head lowered, waiting for whatever ensued. Matt watched Miku like a hawk as she stood up. "What the hell is she doing?" He commented under his breath. "Could she be trying to take the heat for what happened last night?" He thought. "I can't let her do this alone, at least I know that if I can't talk us out of letting us get off the hook, and the school makes anybody pay for the damages I can afford it." He said to no one in particular. He raised to his feet, his posture didn't seem to show the shame and regret that Miku's did instead it showed confidence and that he KNEW that the school board was trying to hide something. He wouldn't make any waves here and now but he would speak up to anybody concerned about what REALLY happened last night in private. "Sit down girl, I'm not letting you get in trouble over something you had little if anything to do with." His comment was directed to Miku, then he turned to the collective school board assembled on stage. "You, and I all know the truth about what happened last night. I was there and I have witnesses, but if you want to keep talkin' this bullshit than that's just fine. I don't give a shit what you try to do to me, I have enough to use to kick your collective asses in whatever little pissing contest you want to start over this." "Ee?" Shou and other students looked toward the girl first. Somehow, he boy felt something familiar about that girl. "Now where have I seen her before?" Shou's head bowed and thought for a while. She seemed to me in the first year. Wearing a ribbon around her collar rather than a tie was enough to explain what year level she was. Soon after, everyone's eyes turned to the guy who seemed to be a foreigner but not quite. That guy's voice stretched across the room saying about something about the faculty's secrecy. His clothes suggested he was in the upper years. What struck Shou's spectral friend the most was the student's amulet that was slightly exposed, there was something about it. "Oniisama..." "Not now Yukari, I'm trying to think" Shou ignored Yukari as she was to point out something again. The pressure was building up in the hall as students wait for the faculty's reply. The Shinkan boy was trying to put things in his mind in place, but the current environment did not permit him to do so. "Fools..." "Boy, I have no idea what you are talking about..." The disciplinary head was startled by Matt's outburst. He started to tell Matt and Miku to meet him at his office. Something made Matt look down, and when he did, he saw the girl from last night looking up at him, leaning over the back of her chair. "Glorious destinies bring glorious deaths." She stated matter-of-factly in near-perfect English. "Everybody dies, but everybody dies for what they believe in or what they know is right." He replied then paused a second. "Besides barbarian or not, I can figure my way out of anything. But for plan B to work first thing's first..." He pulled out a cell phone and discretely handed it to the girl. "I don't know you, but I trust you. Could you get a hold of my dad and tell him that I need him here now, as in five minutes ago, now? His cell phone number is the first one on my speed dial list, just highlight it and hit send." He looked back up at the disciplinary head. "You know what I'm talking about, and don't try to deny it. I'm giving you the choice it can go public, or it can remain our little secret." * "Sit down girl, I'm not letting you get in trouble over something you had little if anything to do with." Miku looked up at the order directed towards her from the young man she had met just last night. However, she did not comply. Instead, she shook her head and mouthed the words, "No. It's ok. You sit down." But he missed her response since he had turned back around so quickly. While Matt was being distracted by Yui, one of the faculty members escorted Miku out of the hall and to the disciplinary head's office. She sat down and waited for him to finish speaking to the remaining students at the opening ceremony. She knew that news of the vandalism might anger her father, but maybe it would get him there sooner. That wasn't the reason she was willing to take the blame but the thought had crossed her mind as she fidgeted a bit in the chair. She hoped that they would not ask for a reason why she would destroy school property since she wasn't sure what she could tell them. She did know she would not mention any one else's involvement, least of all Mr. Morris'. She would also have to find a way to convince the head disciplinary that Matt had nothing to do with it despite the commotion he had caused. * "Oh my God, he's connected to Tenrou-senpai!" students murmured as the guy interacted with that terrible, terrible girl. More voices echoed as that happened. Rumours of Yui and the guy's involvement on last night's scenario started to spread. Shou, together with some other students watched as the other culprit was taken away from the hall. Perhaps the residual presence and the guy's outburst had some connection. "Yukari, can you follow that girl?" Shou spoke to his familiar. She nodded as she also knew what was in his big brother's mind. "Talking to yourself again?" Rika smiled while she spoke. "Um...er...y...yeah..." "We talked about this before, no wonder some people think your a weirdo" Shou sighed and added a fake laughter. Then he saw Sakura fix her glasses and prepared her pencil and paper. This could only mean one thing: by recess or lunch time, she had gathered enough information about the new faces. Being a member of the journalism club for two years, gathering info on people had become so easy. * "Looks like I won't need you to do that favour after all." He said taking his phone back from Yui, and without further comment he walked out of the auditorium and towards the disciplinary office. Halfway to the office he dialled his father on his cell phone and waited for an answer. "Dad you know that history that the school has? Well there was some unexplainable vandalism last night that I think might have to do with it. I just walked past the place that got tore up and got those weird vibes that grandpa and I both get when there's something VERY different or just plain wrong about something. Anyway the school is looking to place blame wherever they can, and a cute girl and I are the targets. Problem is neither of us have anything to get us out of this other than we were together last night in the park until I drove her home. So basically I need a little help here." The teen leaned against a wall and waited for a reply. "You will?" He asked a few seconds later. "Great thanks dad! See ya." He said then hung up and hid his phone in his coat. As he stepped through the door to the discipline office he had a mischievous grin on his face and his manner made it obvious that he had something up his sleeve that couldn't fail. "Don't even know your name, just met ya yesterday and it already seems that I'm always bailing you out of trouble." He said half jokingly as he sat next to Miku. "But seriously girl, I gotta know, why didn't you just sit your cute butt back down in that chair? I know that you don't know me, but hang around me long enough and you'll learn that there's nobody more cunning, or better at making it seem that I was innocent even if I was caught red handed." * Miku straightened up in her seat at the sound of someone in the hallway. She couldn't really make out what was being said but heard only one voice. "Maybe a faculty member is escorting him too and he's still ranting..." she speculated. She looked towards the door as the teen entered, wondering what he was grinning about. She was just about to introduce herself but stopped short at the next words that left his lips. "My wha..?" He had caught her off guard with his remarks and his attitude, a slight pinkish tint to her cheeks. She pushed past her shyness to defend her actions. "Because it's not right for the whole school to pay for what happened. Why didn't YOU sit back down? They already had someone to pin the blame on." She turned in her seat to face him. "How exactly are you going to get out of this after we've both pretty much confessed? You could still get out of it since I was the one that stood up first. Like you were trying to defend me for some reason... or something like that.. It could be my way of paying you back for 'always bailing me out'... and it's Miku, Miku Namue, or I suppose Namue Miku is the correct way to say it here." * When the two students left the hall, all was dead silent. It was maybe the enigma of that boy's outburst to the faculty or the fact that both were new faces. "What a morning, eh, Shou" Kuki said as his hand pat Shou's head, a gesture of friendship rather than a gesture of teasing the vertically challenged. Shou couldn't help it but think about what he had found today and with Yukari not back, he's still in the dark. Yukari followed the girl to the disciplinary office as her brother had told her. She was then followed by that guy with the strange amulet. Though she didn't really know if she should follow him too, she entered the office with the two people. The two talked about some bailing, Yukari didn't really take note of what they were saying but she felt an eerie aura from the guy's accessory. She tried to play a game. One in which she could tell if there's something extra-ordinary about an individual. She crossed her legs and sat while floating in front of the girl. Of course she wasn't seen. The spectre lifted her index finger, laid it upon her forehead and let the girl feel it. Nothing really happened, just a slight reaction. "Well, she IS normal" Yukari reacted, "How 'bout this guy". She did the same thing but his amulet... * "Alright, alright! What do you want me to do??" Students jumped out of the way in the corridor, not chancing a second look where Tenrou raged her way through to the disciplinary office. "Geez! I'm going! I'm going! Get off my case already! Geez!" She walked past some teachers going to class, but was unchallenged, through Yukari, ignoring Matt and Miku, and went straight to kick on the door to the inner room, the actual office. She wasn't very polite about it, either. "Oi, old man!" * As soon as Yukari's finger touched Matt he looked exactly where her eyes were, then leaned forward and whispered so only she could here. "Is there something I can help you with? If not, than stop poking me." Matt then leaned back in his seat. "Listen Miku, I'm sorry I'm coming off like a jerk, I just have a big problem with people taking the heat when they really didn't do anything to deserve it, even if they are trying to help me. My dad is on his way here he's already got an airtight alibi together for us, he knows to make sure to think something up that keeps anybody else in school from getting into trouble." He paused briefly. "I'm Yashimoree Matt." A few moments later Yui came charging through and kicked the door in, just as Mr. Yashimoree came walking through the door. "Where the hell do you get off accusing my son and his friends of something like this!" Matt's dad shouted as he quickly covered Yui's mouth before she could incriminate herself. "They were all hanging out at my house late last night, until I drove these two girls home. But I can tell you that when I passed the school I saw a couple guys, I'd say they were probably in their late 20s, running off of school property. One of them had a sledge hammer in his hand. Now if you don't drop these false accusations against these kids than there WILL be a lawsuit." * Yukari blinked as the boy in front of her reacted. Was it because of the amulet or is he just able to see through things. "Ne, onii-chan--" the spectre was about to speak when she was ignored by the student when he sat down and spoke to the girl beside him. "Mou!!!" she was kind of insulted but then again she thought she was just misunderstood. A charging girl went through Yukari literally, "Huh!? What's SHE doing here?". She followed her to the office anyway. "What's she got to do with that?" Shou reacted as Yui's escape from the auditorium passed his mind on their journey back to the classroom. If Yui's involved, there must be something up, big time. Past meetings with her was enigmatic. But thanks to her, Shou wasn't much in the dark as the days before their encounters. * Miku brushed at her forehead as if a fly were there, murmuring, "Shoo..." under her breath. She listened to what the boy had to say, waiting until he had finished to respond. "Ok...Matt, I'll go along with it so long as no one gets in trouble." The two teens were interrupted by Yui's sudden appearance followed by Mr. Yashimoree's. She listened to his "alibi" for the three students and glanced towards Matt while his father spoke. She gave a little nod to show that she would support the story if the need arose. For now she remained silent, awaiting the disciplinary head's reaction. Yui's jaw dropped, only for a second, then burst out snickering behind Mr Yashimoree's hand, escaping his grip by ducking under. "Sure, ruin my reputation, why don'tcha." The teacher stood up, ready to challenge the man who had the gall to come charging in undermining his authority. He was the disciplinary head and this man was only a parent. It would be perhaps a different matter if he was some high-ranking government official or a big public personality around town. But he wasn't. Just a parent. He wasn't about to let himself be intimidated by one. He stood up, attempting to draw himself up to his full height (which isn't much to speak of). "Look here, sir, I don't know who you think you are, but I am responsible for the discipline in this school. Now I am about to conduct a full investigation into this matter and these children have volunteered to assist me, I... don't... see... uh... if you say so, sir......" The last was a high-pitched squeak. It probably has to do with the maliciously feral look in a certain pair of lilac eyes. Or maybe it's the determined air of Matt's father. Yui quickly shoved the man out of the office and pulled the door shut with a slam of finality. Shaking her head at the other three, she walked past them with a rather ungrateful mutter. "Yare yare... it's the Season of Fools or something." There was genuine amusement in her expression. "Whatever." Matt and his dad commented at the same time. "Looks like I lost that bet dad, how about just taking out of my allowance this week? The kids here aren't just different they're weird." Matt stated. "Tell ya what, double or nothing, if you find out just how different they are." His dad replied. "Huh?" The teen was puzzled at the comment. ~Listen, I already know that to say the least you would love to get the chance to go out with that girl beside you. I'm trying to tell you just look cute and GO FOR IT.~ Mr. Yashimoree replied using his weak telepathic ability. "Oh." Matt said with a smile, there were times that his dad's ability came in handy. Being able to talk about people in front of them without them knowing it was one of the advantages. "Ok, see ya dad." Then he looked over at Miku paling with nervousness at the idea. He was used to being beaten just because of his skin colour and now he was going to make the attempt to get 10 words out of his mouth that he never said together before. "Miku, would you like to go out with me sometime?" He said barely managing to keep smiling through his nervousness. * "What a jerk!" Yukari slapped her forehead as he heard the dean's nervous voice. The Yui and Matt's father closed the office's door. Though she wasn't able to get information the way she planned to get it, she might as well report back to Shou. But before she could, she wanted herself appear to that idiot dean at least once. She bloated her cheeks, stuck her tongue out and pulled down one of her lower eyelids "Baaaaaka." She disappeared into nothingness after her small gesture. It left the dean with a weird yet insulting feeling. Shou's eyelids were getting heavy by the minute. Every word that came out of the teacher's tongue became long elongated sounds. "Yamazaki-san!" the educator spoke, trying to wake the boy in a strong loud voice. "H..ha.hai..." the boy's drowsy voice replied. Waking extra early did him good in terms of attendance but his internal clock wasn't working well. "Do you want to wash your face in the washroom?" "Arigato sensei, I think I really need a wash." Shou stood up slowly and went to the designated location. As he stepped out the room and met up with Yukari. She wore sad face as she did not get any info on the oni or anything related to that. She only knew that Matt had something extraordinary about him. As Shou was on his way to the washroom, he remembered that washrooms on the second and third floors were out of order and he had go down to the first floor. "Just great!" he dragged his feet forwards to go down. "Ichi, ni, ichi, ni..." the boy chanted to wake himself up while going down the stairs. Suddenly..."Tenrou-senpai?" a familiar feeling enveloped Shou's senses. Surprised by the sudden appearance of her presence, he lost balance on the stairs and had no choice but go with fate. His face skid the ground from the stairs to the first floor's floor "Ittatatatatata...ta...t...a" Shou looked up and saw the two culprits from this morning standing upright and him below them, it seemed that they were from the dean's office. A breeze from the window pushed Miku's skirt toward Matt's direction allowing the Shinkan apprentice to see a for a half a second what he wasn't supposed to see. He quickly rose up, fixed himself and look away from the two people as his head turned to one big red tomato. "Ko... kono... sono... an... ano" the boy scratched his head while thinking of what to say. Yukari turned her face toward Shou with angry eyes "Che, hentai!" she looked away in embarrassment for her brother. Now his whole face was completely red, he stepped aside and bowed down "Gommenasai for interrupting, it was an accident, you may continue walking now. Very sorry!!!" Shou planned to ask them about last night but in this circumstance, he felt that if he asked the girl a big, 'hentai' in katakana characters may appear on his forehead. On the other hand, the guy didn't look approachable, it's a risk to ask such a question to someone you hardly even now, and he was very tall (compared to him), he didn't want to upset him. Besides, his entrance was not quite the one you'd want new students to see. He looked the hallway behind the two people and saw a man who seemed to be a parent visitor and Yui. He was right. She still had her sharp lilac eyes that could strip your ego naked. "Tenrou-senpai..." he whispered to himself. Asking her was something to think about. * Miku pursed her lips together, trying to suppress a giggle at the disciplinary behaviour. She wondered who Matt's father was that he could get a reaction like this out of the bumbling man. The young girl watched Yui leave and shrugged. As the father and son spoke, she turned slightly, trying not to listen, a bit puzzled at what filtered through. As she heard Matt say goodbye to Mr. Yashimoree, she turned back to them. "Goodbye Mr. Yashimoree. Thank you." She bowed slightly then looked towards Matt just as he said something that took her completely by surprise. This was the first time she had been asked this question and she was unsure of how to respond. Thoughts zipped through her mind. 'What if this is some sort of joke? Maybe he's setting me up... but he's been nice enough so far..' "Go out?... with you?..." Her babbling was cut short by a boy that came tumbling down the stairs and landed right in front of them. "Oh dear! Are you ok?" Miku attempted to help him up but he was already on his feet. "Maybe you should go see the nurse." When Shou just looked past them, she glanced at Matt then back again. "Are you trying to find someone or something?" "Aaa...iya." the boy just stood nervously there with his head bowed down. He was too embarrassed to look at them. At least now his red bloated head was residing. He asked himself if the girl knew what just happened, it looked like she didn't. A sigh of relief followed by a small jerk of pain. He felt something warm crawl from inside his nose. He quickly covered it but when he did he felt a pinch of pain. He realised he had cut his nose during the fall. "Shiii..." Shou's nose was bleeding and he had a cut just above it. Yukari looked back as Shou was trying to keep his condition under control. She couldn't help but laugh at the moment. He looked like small boy that hurt his face really bad. "Oh God, I'm really sorry. (ouch!...jeeez!) um, will you guys excuse me." Shou was still embarrassed of what happened, he tried to keep a straight face and smiled to keep the Matt and Miku know that he was fine. Not looking where he was going, he slammed to wall rather painfully "I... I... I'm okay...." followed by a small "....ouch!" He was on his way to the clinic, fortunately located in the first floor. He should ask them another time, he thought. A small voice echoed through the hallway "OW!!! dammit!" "Hey look out for that..." Matt trailed off when he realised it was too late and the boy walked into the wall anyway. "...wall. He must not be the sharpest knife in the drawer." He looked back to Miku. "Well, if you don't want to it's cool but I will be disappointed about it." She flinched in sympathy as she watched the injured student walk away. "Oohh...I hope he'll be alright." Miku turned her attention back to Matt when he spoke to her. "You will? ...why? I mean, I didn't say I didn't want to. I just... wasn't expecting you to ask." She paused a moment then looked straight at him, into his blue eyes, and slowly nodded. "Ok..." thinking to herself, 'If this isn't a joke, then yes...', "I would like to, thank you." Matt's smile got bigger at the acceptance to his request. "Great!" He paused a second as he realised that he didn't know his work schedule for the week yet. "I'm not really sure what hours I work this week, is there a number I can reach you at when I find out when I have off?" "A number? Oh... um... one second..." Miku shuffled through the papers that had become a bit crinkled in her hand. Her eyes scanned the pages for the information she needed. "Ah, there's the address..." She tilted the page so Matt could read it as well. The address indicted that she lived at the Ryuukawa Condominiums. Her finger pointed to the line just below it. "And there is the phone number. I...I guess I should memorise it...." The tone in her voice and her facial expression changed, a hint of sadness in both as she trailed off. * The Shinkan boy soon found himself inside the classroom with a band aide above his nose. The teacher looked puzzled when she saw Shou. Unable to disrupt her current discussion, which was going so well, she decided not to question him. "Whoa Shou, what happened to your nose?" Rika, who sat behind him, whispered. "A long story." Shou picked up his pencil that he left on the table and spun it around using his fingers. The boy sighed as he thought of the scenarios that happened earlier. He looked around the classroom while thinking hard. His memory flashed back to what happened last night. The rain was pouring down, he held the setsuna tight in his hands, faces and presence were seen and felt, then darkness consumed his sight. Now that he remembered, that girl he saw kind of looked like... "kuso..." a pinch of pain on his thumb ached and sent the pencil that he spun spiralling toward the ground. "Is there something wrong Yamazaki-san?" the teacher expressed her concern. "No... nothing ma'am" Shou leaned forward and got his pencil from the floor. It seemed that not only did he cut his nose, he also managed to sprain his thumb. He overlapped Miku's face and that girl's face, he saw last night, in his mind. "So it was her!" realising that he had totally made quite an entrance to her this morning, maybe she already knew or identified who he was. "Okay, bring out a whole sheet of pad paper, I think you already know enough for a short quiz." the teacher had spoken, students were complaining. "Class, let's have a quiz while the information's still fresh in your head." Shou's face turned dark, he didn't hear the whole discussion nor did he pass the first two quizzes. He could use Yukari, but that would leave him the guilt of cheating. * Matt looked up from the paper to Miku, and put his arm around her shoulder to try to comfort her. "What's wrong? I mean I know it's been a long couple of days with last night's incident and today's almost getting busted for vandalism, but you got out of both safely and that stuff is done with. If that's what you're worried about I can make the attempt to help you understand what happened last night a little better, but my knowledge of the subject isn't as vast as my grandpa's was. My dad knows a lot about the subject too, but he's a little sceptical." He paused trying to think of what else it might be. "If it's friends and or family that you miss from where you moved from you can always keep in touch with them, and you've already met a guy who feel head over heels for you when he first saw you, and would be willing to help you with anything you need." He continued, while making the assumption that she just moved here since she didn't have her phone number memorised. She looked up at him, listening to his words, but they seemed to blur together after he said she could always keep in touch. Her lower lip began to tremble, her eyes welled up with tears. "No I ca... I'm... I'm sorry..." Her voice broke as she began to run down the hallway, not knowing where she was going. The papers slipped from Miku's hand, leaving a trail behind her. She turned down a corridor, stopping when she reached the end of it. The troubled young girl slid down a wall into the corner as she sobbed into her hands. At length a wad of toilet paper waving in front of her face got her reluctant, partial attention. "Gee. So that's why I get no luck with the guys." Some cool breeze cooled itself against Miku's cheeks. It was Tenrou. "What are...*sob* you t-talking...*sob* about?" She accepted what Tenrou had offered her, a soft murmur of thanks escaping her lips. Miku tilted her head to look towards the girl, bleary-eyed as she wiped her nose with the paper. Her expression could only be described as dead- pan. She shrugged and stood to leave, took two steps, and realised that Miku wasn't following, tilted her head back at her and clucked a little snappishly. "Well, come on, get washed up and I need to talk to you." * The boy stood stunned for a moment than he shook himself out of his slightly frozen state and put on a pair of sunglasses to cover the glow that his eyes quickly developed. He took off using his powers to get his running speed over his usual maximum, which he didn't realise meant that he might as well be a car with no brakes. As he flew down the hall after Miku he picked up the papers that she dropped. The loud screeching sounds of Matt trying to stop himself filled the corridor that Miku and Yui were in as the teen tried to stop his sprint, but failed and instead smacked straight into a wall with the side of his body that had the possibly cracked ribs. "Fu..." He bit back a curse as he grabbed his injured side. "Figured you might need these." He said while holding out the papers that the girl dropped, and removing the sunglasses as the glow began o fade. "Miku, are you alright? I didn't mean to say anything to upset you, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" She took a deep breath to try and calm herself enough to speak. "Would you mind if we talked later please? I..." Miku stopped mid-sentence as she heard Matt approaching, turning her head just in time to see him hit the wall. "Oh no!" she gasped. Before she could ask if he was ok, he held the papers out to her. She took them and set them on the ground beside her. "It's ok, it's not your fault, you didn't know... you couldn't have..." She said with a sniffle, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Matt sensed another onslaught of tears coming on, and perhaps another run that might result in him slamming his already cracked ribs into a wall again. He quickly wrapped his arms around her in a hug in both an attempt to comfort her and an attempt to avoid bouncing off every wall in the school. "It'll be okay. You can let it out, I'll... We'll be here for you." He corrected himself as he remembered seeing Yui holding out a wad of toilet paper as he rounded the corner. "And if you want to talk about whatever it is I'm willing to sit here as long as you want me to listen." "Hey, look..." Whatever sharp remark she had up her sleeve was quickly bit off by unknown forces. From the corner of his eye, Matt could see the other girl scowl, turn on her heels and huff off, cursing and swiping at thin air in an unself- conscious display that was none too sane to the on-looker. Miku found herself clinging to this young man who offered her comfort. It was the first time anyone had tried to console her since that night... and she was grateful, even if he didn't know why just yet. She cried into Matt's shoulder, trying to tell him but most of what she said was unintelligible. The few words that could be understood were "mother" "really gone..." and "...without her?" Matt continued to hold the girl as she cried and tried to tell him what was going on. It took the second for him to realise what was going on with the small parts of her story that filtered through. "Your mother's passed on?" He asked with a great deal of sadness in his voice. He felt what he thought was a nod against his shoulder. "I'm sorry... I'm not trying to take away from your pain, or say that mine was greater than yours but it wasn't that long ago that my grandpa died. He was the most important person in my life, he taught me almost everything I know, and he was the only person that I could always count on. I realise that you probably feel a big empty spot in you that can't be filled, but she's in a much better place now and she probably wouldn't want you to let her passing to run or ruin your life. If you need a shoulder to cry on, somebody to talk to, or anything else I promise that I'll always be there for you." "Young lady would you stop your whining you're disturbing my class!" A teacher stepped into the hall and demanded. Matt glared over to the old man. "SHUT THE UP ASSHOLE! If what happened to her happened to you you'd be crying too, so why don't up shut your mouth and step back into that class room before I make you wish that you did?" "Young man! Who do you think you are to speak to a teacher with such disrespect! Who is your class tutor?" The teacher, though correctly called old, was still tough and formidable-looking. He twacked Matt over the head with a rolled up textbook. "Why aren't the two of you in class! Get going! Before I report you to the Principal!" Matt grabbed the text book and ripped it half. "I don't THINK I'm anybody, I know exactly who I am. And trust me pal, if you ever hit me with anything again I swear I'll make you wish that I killed you. Now you might as well get back in that classroom because I'm NOT going anywhere until I know she's okay." "N-no..it's..I'm...I'm sorry I disturbed your class Sir. We'll be going now." Miku said to the man as she slowly rose, holding onto Matt's arms both for support and to bring him up with her. She lightly tugged him along by the sleeve of his uniform. As they began to walk away from the teacher, she hoarsely whispered, "I don't want you to get into any more trouble on account of me today." Matt walked backwards so he could face the teacher as she tugged him along. "Fine, but I take that knock over the head with the book as a slap in the face, and a huge insult." He said through grit teeth as he glared at the door that the teacher went back into. Finally, half way through the hall he turned around and returned to his normal self. "Thank you for stopping me before I did something that I would of regretted, I can't afford to get expelled. I'd lose my job, and my dad would kill me. Besides that I cracked a couple ribs in last night's excitement, and wouldn't be able to put up as much of a fight as I usually can." "What?" She stopped and turned to face him again. "Your ribs are cracked? You... you should go to the hospital, or at least see the nurse. Oh... and hitting that wall made it even worse didn't it." She sighed softly and dabbed at her eyes with an unused part of the tissue paper. "I'd think you'd want to get as far away from me as fast as you could considering how many problems I've caused you in the short time we've known each other." Miku gently placed her hand on his chest to try and determine the location of the fracture. "Where does it hurt exactly? You should at least have a sling for it until someone else can look at it." "The hospital isn't going to do anything except take x-rays, say I was right, and then give me a roll of bandages to put over it. Same thing with the nurse, and if I go to either it's going to lead to prying questions. Hitting the wall didn't do them any good, definitely felt it when I had my little crash back there." Matt replied, then he looked her in the eyes. "Miku, you should realise that none of what happened to me is your fault. Nobody forced me to get involved in any of that, I put myself into the middle of it all. Why would I want to turn tail and run from somebody who I already know is sweet, caring, compassionate, and cute just because of a few bad times?" He paused and gently placed his hand on the one of hers that was on his chest, then guided it down to about 6 inches under his shoulder on his left side, and slightly towards the back. "That's where, I can feel it a little when I breathe." "A little? How can you only feel it a little after all that's happened to you? Or is that part of what you're going to explain to me later?" She looked at the spot that was covered by both of their hands. "I could have used that roll of bandages... Maybe I can get something from the nurse. Since you don't want to see her, I'll go and ask while you stay here. Alright?" She slowly began to move her hand away from his chest. "Yeah, only a little. I guess I could through in an explanation of that later if you want, it's not really all that important." Matt replied. "The nurse?" He didn't like the idea but he would go along with it to make her happy. "Ok, I'll be here." "I'll be right back then," she said with a nod as she began to walk away. "Try to keep still until I return." Miku went in the direction she saw the injured boy head towards earlier. When she entered the clinic, she found the nurse busy with another student behind a screen. Instead of bothering them and possibly bringing up any probing questions, she decided to borrow one of the first aid kits she spotted on the counter. On the way back to Matt, she made a quick stop in the girl's room to wash her face. Matt was there leaning against a wall just like he said he would be. He looked over to the right as something caught his attention. It was the disciplinary head, he turned the corner and entered a broom closet gently pulling Miku with him to avoid having either of them caught. 30 seconds later he poked his head back out into the hallway to see that the man was gone. "Okay it's clear, you get what you need?" The youth asked as he stepped back out of the closet. Miku almost blurted something aloud when Matt took her into the closet but quickly covered her mouth when she realised why he had done it. A few seconds later she joined him back out in the hallway. "Yes, I got a first aid kit, the nurse was preoccupied anyway." She crouched down and set it on the ground to open and retrieve the necessary items. "I guess this will have to be outside your uniform since you'll be going to class now right?" "I'm not going to class." Matt answered rather matter of factly. "And besides I catch enough grief just for being half white, now I'm going to have to do it for being half white and wearing bandages on the outside of my uniform? No, I think I'll just sleep in that closet until the end of the day." "You make it sound like you're the only one," she said as she stood back up. "I'm half and half too you know. Or maybe you don't. But either way, I am. Am I going to 'catch grief' for it also?" Miku peeked back into the closet. "Maybe I should take a nap in there too then." "When I lived in Hiroshima I had to fight everyday, and almost got killed many times because of racists. I never did anything to those rich punks, they were just pissed off that I was born 'tainted'. The girls weren't as bad as the guys, just confusing and weird, they'd be nice, try to be my friends, and say I was cute among other things until one of the guys showed up then they acted completely different and started to ridicule me like everybody else. I don't think I'll ever figure them out." Matt replied. "I'm parking my butt in this closet for the next few hours until school lets out. If you want to go to class don't let me stop you, but if not than I wouldn't mind the company." "I'm sorry to hear that. Girls can be just as cruel, trust me..." She sighed and shuddered before shaking her head a little to clear the memories. "Well, I don't know about the rest of the students here but I do know I won't act any differently towards you like those girls did." Miku repacked and closed the first aid kit. "I was kind of hoping you'd change your mind and go to class but... we have missed most of the day already," she said as she glanced at her watch. "I've never skipped before. At least not in the short time I've actually attended a school." "You had a bit of trouble where you're from too?" He asked. "I'm glad that there's at least one person who's willing to look past my blood and to who I am before deciding that I'm a loser." Matt replied. "Is your dad in the military, or a businessman?" He asked knowing that those two professions would often cause people to move around a lot. "And I'm not going to decide that because you are not a loser Matt." She nodded when he asked about her father. "He's a business man but that's not the reason for my school situation, well not directly as you might think. Nothing he's done that concerns me has been direct since I was five years old. I had a tutor most of the time and only recently went back, before I came here, it was an all girls school... I didn't really even want to go but she was so proud when I got accepted... I never told her what it was really like there. I didn't want her to worry about me. I just wanted her to get better and stay that way... She was doing so well... I-I'm sorry" Miku quickly wiped the tear from her cheek. Matt hugged Miku. "There's no need to apologise, it's not good to hold back emotions. It may not be any consolation but at least you know that she's not suffering any more." She hugged him back appreciatively. "Suffering? What do you... actually, I don't know even know if she did suffer or not... they just said she was in a horrible accident. Everyone was so closed mouth about the details, all in a rush to get me from there to here." * The quiz was over. Shou stretched his arms upward, his brain completely drained. "That was easy." Kuki smiled. Now Shou really did it, a friend with an IQ lower than his found the test easy. Shou allowed a small smile in response to his friend's remark. This was now the third time he had failed an ordinary quiz. He swore he'd get the long test right. "Class is over, see you later." the teacher bowed as the class rep ordered the students to bow back in respect. Suddenly, a strong noise was heard. The top floor's windows broke almost like big simultaneous explosions of glass. Shou dropped to his knees and held his mouth. Strong energies were coming from above and it almost made him hurl. The emergency bell was rung, all students from each classroom lined up and was readied to leave the building's premises. Shou's class also did the same. "Okay class, do it like this was a drill" the class rep made sure the students were calm. "Um, I gotta go to the washroom, I'll catch up, okay." Shou told Kuki. "What the hell are you thinking, we all know the washrooms on the second and third floors are--..." Before Kuki can continue, the Shinkan had already gone. Amidst the pool of students lining up, he managed to climb up. As he pulled himself up from the flight of stairs to the topmost floor's hallway, he was pushed backward by a strong force "khhgg..." the boy's sprained thumb was one of the first ones to slide the floor. "It's coming from the roof." the boy ran from the buildings topmost floor which contained the AV rooms and the computer labs, fortunately no one was there, except a janitor who was completely decimated. It almost made Yukari puke at the sight. The corpse was butchered from the neck down. The Shinkan held on to the last bits of his courage and went up to the roof and opened the door. As the wind was sucked into the building, a dark monstrous figure appeared in front of him. It stared with glowing crimson eyes as if it saw something in the boy. His eyes just stared back. His trance remained unbroken as a vice, thin grip locked painfully around his delicate wrist and as the rushing currents took on a life of its own to draw him in, quicker still were the arms that caged and twisted, pining Shou to the wall in what was thus far the most compromising position he has ever been in his short life. It might have been a pleasant experience if it hadn't been an angular person pushing him against the wall and digging elbows into his sides. He couldn't see her face where it was arched over his shoulder. He could barely catch the words she seemed to be chanting and he missed the twin streaks of assaulting currents that broke free, untamed, that slammed the door shut and the violet glyph that flashed once as if etched into the door. Beyond, the noises died slowly and painfully. The stair-well fell into silence, save for the faint gasping behind his ear. Before it fully registered, the encounter was ver and Shou was once again alone on the stairs. The boy opened the door once more, the creature was gone, whatever it was. He looked behind him. "Tenrou-senpai!" he leaned on the wall, tired. The scenarios were too fast, given the disturbing images then that, it was no wonder he just sat down there on the stairs with his back hurting from its slamming on the wall reorganising his thoughts. Hearing the noises outside, it was clear that the students were out of the building. As he went down the stairs, strange men carried out the dismembered body out. They were talking about an explosion of the AC generator on the top level as the reason for the janitor's death and explosion but it was clear that the body was eviscerated. "Who goes there!!!" one of the men looked back. Shou hid himself in a small storage area for buckets and mops, fortunately empty and the girl he was with had somehow disappeared, if not, she hid pretty well. Being small of height had its advantages. "Nuthin' here!" a deep voice confirmed. The boy gulped down as the cold sweat on his brow continued to travel down his neck. "Okay! From now on this floor is closed! Off-limits to students!" "Sure boss." "C'mon let's get out of here." "Where the hell's that idiot!" Kuki scanned the whole building from the outside, "Jeeeeez!" * Matt fell asleep in the closet after apologising for making the wrong assumption about the passing of Miku's mother. With all that talk about 'doing so well' he figured that the most likely possibility was that her mother died of sickness, or some other medical related problem. By the time he woke up it was final bell. "You need a ride home?" He asked hoping it was Miku but with as blurry as his eyes always were when he woke up he knew that it could also be a mop. "Hmm?" Miku stifled a yawn and stretched. "Oh, um, well if you don't mind. I mean I can walk if you need to go somewhere else." She responded rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them and to help get focused. "I wonder how much we missed today. I guess we'll find out tomorrow. You are going to attend classes tomorrow right?" * The scent of freshly brewed coffee invaded the faculty lounge as Edward Morris slumped low in his chair. He was spared from drifting off to sleep again as one of the Phys Ed teachers grinned and passed him a mug. "Oi, Eddie-san. Drink up." Eddie smiled and nodded wanly as he drained the mug halfway, letting the drink clear his senses and keep him from dozing off. He'd awakened that morning from another nightmare of Lizzie. It had looked like the way it always did. She floating in cold empty space screaming his name, him running and battling endless shadows in his way and trying to save her, a dark shape consuming her and her scream growing until it was lost forever. Only this time, Lizzie had had purple hair and eyes, and had a glass shard embedded deep in her hand. Horrible nightmare. He vaguely remembered bringing Miku home last night. He'd entered through the fire escape and tucked her into bed. Her father wasn't home yet at the time, so he'd been lucky. After last night's events, they were indeed lucky to be alive. Around him, majority of the other teachers chatted about last night's act of 'vandalism'. Load of bull. No vandal could be as accurate as ryou and it would take more than a handful of young punks to cause that much damage. Just a few minutes ago, he'd watched the disciplinary head's altercation with Matt and Miku. He'd been all prepared with his own story that could very possibly save them all, when one of the supervisors had shooed him and the other teachers into the faculty lounge. Eddie had almost resisted, when he saw the terrible grin on that supervisor's face. It was Fujiko the shapeshifter. The Belmont understood then that he was the only real threat to the demon chameleon and whoever her cohorts were. She must have known that the words of a popular teacher would carry more weight than a mere student's statement. She had figured that once she got him out of the way, silencing the involved students would be a simple matter. Except that he'd seen Tenrou Yui barge onto the scene right before he'd entered the lounge. Eddie chuckled. Perhaps he didn't have to worry after all. He leaned back and crossed his arms. He figured he'd be talking with the three students of last night privately. Somehow, he felt it would do well if they knew at least one member of the faculty was with them and not conspiring against them the way the others did. Tenrou Yui was smart. She'd find a way to get to him before he did her. Yashimoree Matt might take a little longer. And he'd been surprised and delighted to learn Namue Miku was in his club. He truly looked forward to seeing her again, though he didn't really know why. Miku, her room, the trust she'd given to him last night. It reminded him all too much of someone with a big place in his heart. He shook his head to clear it. Best he get moving now. The detective picked up his things for his first class and stood up to go. He'd also settle with Fujiko if he got the chance. As he left the room, his eyes caught the jutting end of a newspaper. It was on the horoscope section, and he couldn't help but look at Scorpio. "The clouds begin to expand and darken your sky. You should consider banding with those in the same predicament as you." * The school ended as fast as it began. The scenarios today were undeniably horrifying. For the Shinkan boy, it dug a deep hole in his heart in terms of his responsibilities as a Nagai. Tenrou-senpai was never seen in the school after the incident. Though Shou would like to tell her his appreciation in saving his life, he knew she may not take it seriously. Who else would be that fast, who else would emanate the same auras he felt when he was around her. At least now he knew she was not that kind of person, a person who everyone had feared. After saying farewells to his friends, he took a step forward away from the school as he faces another dilemma. **End**