Akira Shinsato's Story

"Listen here, young Ieharu."

At the mentioning of his name, Ieharu's ears perked up, but he didn't turn to look at the source. He was too busy playing his video game, torso hunched to the side, shoulders scrunched in concentration, the clicks and clacks of his controller nearly as deafening as the sound of gunfire emanating from the massive flat screen before him. This wasn't the first time he had to multitask while an adult was talking.

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this–in fact I shouldn't be, but I believe honorable men like myself should show some good charity toward the families of their targets."

Ieharu's eyes narrowed slightly, but his concentration on his game didn't falter for a second. Though he was only halfway paying attention, he did recognize the voice. Male. Upbeat. Sanguine, but with a hint of danger. It was Godot, though his twin brother Ieyoshi always called the man "their new nanny".

"You might not believe me–I get it, it's a little sudden–but I am an assassin sent by an anonymous payer of mine to knock off an heir of the Vongola family."

From where he stood in the room, Godot took a few steps closer. Ieharu didn't notice, nor did he respond. On the TV, a rival's body exploded in a plume of blood and body parts. Presumably the boy's doing, because he snickered softly.

"Namely, that would be you, Ieharu Sawada." Outside, thunder boomed, ravaging the skies. It was several moments before Ieharu reacted, but then it was as if he'd been physically slapped. The clicking and clacking from the controller ceased immediately as he slowly turned his head, looking over his shoulder at the man who had just threatened his life in no uncertain terms. He was standing pretty close, too. Eyes wide, Ieharu moved his lips as if to form words, but nothing came out.

"Indeed," Godot continued, shrugging as if it were none of his business, his attitude cavalier. "Your Daddy-o's quite an important guy, and there are certain people who are quite concerned as to who takes his nice leather-padded throne."

Ieharu dropped the controller. The sound of an explosion erupted from the TV soon after, the flat screen flashing wildly before going black. There were only two words on the screen now: Game Over.

It was then that Ieharu found his voice, high pitched and wracked with incredulity. "Wait... what?!"

"I don't think you'd be all too interested in the details, seeing as you're going to die anyway." Godot took another step closer. He was within arm's reach of the boy now. "But just think of this as my diagnosis for you."

While gaming, Ieharu had been seated on the edge of a particularly comfortable reclining chair. Having closed the distance between them, Godot leaned on the chair's back, causing it to shift and Ieharu to slide backwards. Slowly. They were practically face to face now.

"I've decided that it's going to happen tomorrow." He said, matter-of-factly. "I can't delay it any further, please understand that I really wish I could."

Ieharu simply stared in horror, the weight of Godot's words imprinting themselves onto his psyche. Could it be true? Is he serious? He sounded pretty serious. Looked dead serious, in fact. But his father would never put an assassin so close, right? ... but what if he didn't, or he made a mistake? What if it was all part of the plan? What if he was going to die?!

"I've grown to like you, young Ieharu, so this is about all I can do for you."

"But—!"

"You've got one day to live, or at least until the next time I see you. I'm giving you the opportunity to clear up whatever remaining regrets you might have. It really hurts my conscience to think about good men dying with regrets..."

As Godot spoke, Ieharu brought his hands to the sides of his face, a sound like that of a dying animal escaping his lips. One day?! It wasn't fair! He had a math test tomorrow that he'd already studied for. He had so many people to meet... so many friends to make... all of it for nothing. His hands traversed his head, moving from the sides of his face to his forehead. Tears came to his eyes at his next thought.

I'm still a virgin!

"Regardless, that doesn't stop me from doing what I'm paid to, I just like to get an extra minute of sleep later on. So, I suggest spending the night to give it some thought, just make sure you sleep good, alright?" Ieharu didn't respond, his hands still plastered to his forehead. "... Oh, and make sure you don't tell anybody like your brother or something. You don't want to get your family involved, else I'll be forced to... Well, I'm sure your a smart kid–in fact, I know you are." Again, Ieharu didn't even respond. Didn't move. Didn't dare to. Never in his life was he so intimidated by the presence of another.

After a momentary silence, Godot turned, releasing the chair and nearly causing Ieharu to fly off it as it snapped forward. "Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow." Almost as an afterthought, he added: "Oh, and good luck on the quadratics test."

**

"Yoh, I'm not kidding. I'm serious." Ieharu threw his hands up, a gesture meant to implore. "Didn't you hear me?! He's going to murder us all!"

The boy was sitting atop his bed, covers wrapped around himself like a burrito. Only his face and hands were exposed. He looked like an Eskimo, wrapped in his layers. Standing across from him was literally his mirror image save for their hair color. It was his twin brother, the self-proclaimed "older brother" Ieyoshi, casually slipping on a T-shirt while laughing his head off. When it came to someone as eternally relaxed and laid back as Ieyoshi, "laughing your head off" meant a few soft, curt chuckles. If you weren't actively listening for it, you might even miss it.

"Pfft. Murder you, maybe." Ieyoshi's voice was gruff, his tone sober, his face stoic. It was as if someone had turned his "energy" dial way down and then broke it off. "He did say only one of us would be offed, right?" He turned from sizing himself up in the mirror to look at his brother, who hadn't yet responded. "Right, Haku?"

Ieharu sighed, his big brunette bushel of hair poking out from under the covers. "Right," he mumbled, dejected. He cast his eyes downward before speaking again, this time in a hushed whisper. "You'd save me, right?"

The response was immediate.

SLAP!

Almost instantly, Ieharu brought both hands to his left cheek, where Ieyoshi has unceremoniously slapped him, a look of surprise and anger fresh upon his face. "Yoh! What the fuck?!"

Ieyoshi took a stance, leaning to the side, hand gripping lightly the base of his skull, a somewhat exasperated expression overcoming his otherwise neutral countenance. Ieharu recognized it as his brother's lecturing pose. He'd seen it a million times before. "Look," his brother began, pointing at Ieharu's face. "He's obviously not going to kill you. Think about it." Ieyoshi brought his hands together, marking off his points by counting his fingers. "A, that no-good Tsuna might be stupid, but do you think he's stupid enough to bring a killer into the house? To sleep in our beds? Eat our food?"

"Hey!" Ieharu interrupted, his voice shrill. "Dad's not no-good!" He said, referring to their father, Tsunayoshi.

Ieyoshi shrugged, continuing, his voice as low and monotonous as a boring college professor's. "Whatever. B, the guy's been here for, like, two weeks already. If he wanted to kill you, why not get it over with quickly? Why play buddy buddy with us for nearly a month? C, we don't have time for this. Get up. We have that math test, remember?"

Though he nodded at a couple of his brother's well-articulated points, when Ieyoshi told him to get up, he responded by pulling the covers over his head and rolling back into bed. "I think I'm gonna be sick..." He mumbled, peeking out from under the sheets after a moment.

Ieyoshi sighed, grabbing his backpack by the strap and swinging it onto his shoulder in one smooth fluid motion. He then sauntered out of the room as if the universe owed him a favor. Sauntering seemed to be his natural form of locomotion. From his mannerisms and personality to the way he picked up his bag and walked out of a room, in Ieharu's eyes, his brother was the pinnacle of cool.

After hearing the customary slam of the downstairs door, there were several moments of blissful uninterrupted peace, with Ieharu nearly falling back asleep. Before he could drift fully into unconsciousness, however, he heard someone at the window. He could tell without looking that it was Ieyoshi. Reluctantly, Ieharu rolled out of bed, the frigid air biting into his exposed skin. Slowly but surely he made his way to the window. After a moment, he opened it.

"Ieharu." Ieyoshi was standing on the grass outside of their home, looking up at their shared bedroom window. Their bedroom was on the second floor.

"What? I said I'm not going."

"Yeah, I know. I just remembered something."

Ieharu raised an eyebrow. Ieyoshi had that look on his face again. The one he always got several dozen turns before he won at Monopoly.

Ieyoshi's lips morphed into a slight grin. In response, Ieharu gulped involuntarily. That grin was never a good sign.

"I know something you think I don't know. And it'll make you come to class, too."

Ieharu ducked down so that only his eyes shown over the windowsill, as if his brother were going to start hurling rocks. "Wh... what are you talking about?!"

There was a moment of silence before Ieyoshi responded, but when he did, his brother's eyes grew wide with fright. "I know who Ieharu likes."

Ieharu shot up, his upper body practically leaning out the window at this point. "W-What are you talking about?! I don't l-like anyone!"
"Yes you do."
"No I don't!"
"Then you should have nothing to worry about when I confess to them on your behalf... unless you can catch me, of course."

And with that, Ieyoshi turned and began walking away with that slow measured pace of his.

"Wait! Yoh! Don't! Stop!" Ieharu pleaded, but if his brother heard his protests, he didn't act like it. His fears of being assassinated evaporated instantaneously, replaced instead by the terror of complete social doom at the hands of his brother. Ieharu brought his hands to his face. Unlike his brother, he didn't think of himself as very cool, or smart, or anything. He didn't have many friends. No one respected him, but at least they left him alone. If Ieyoshi was serious about telling, and he's always serious...

Well, he'd never be able to show his face at that school again.

Like a hurricane, Ieharu threw on whatever clothes were lying around. He and his brother shared a room, and they were the same in size and height, so they shared apparel too. In roughly eight minutes time, Ieharu had gone from half naked to mostly ready for school. Brushing his teeth would have only slowed him down anyway. As he rushed towards the door, open book bag swinging off his shoulder, it began to dawn on him that, even if he were to run his very hardest, his brother had an insurmountable lead. Immediately, he began to regret not stopping his brother while he had the chance. Still, maybe there was hop—

Upon bursting through his front door, Ieharu tripped over his own feet and face-planted on the stairs outside. Slowly but surely, he raised himself up off the ground, propping himself up with one arm and holding his injured face with the other. He was trying his very hardest to resist the urge to cry, but it was yet another fight he just wasn't winning. That same bitter thought that always hobbled him reared its ugly head once more: the loser Ieharu has failed.

Little did he know, a shadow slowly crept up behind his unprotected back.

"Buongiorno, young Ieharu," his terrifying home tutor greeted him as casually as ever, his hands buried in the pockets of his jacket, "I didn't think you'd be so eager to go to school today, especially on such a terrible day like this." Godot looked up toward the sky, of which was blanketed in thick clouds. The air was moist from the remains of the previous night's downpour, and water glistened on the soaked grass and wet concrete. For his part, Ieharu yelped audibly at the sound of his name being called. Godot's pleasant demeanor would have eased the boy, had their last conversation not ended so terribly. Instead, his stomach did a backflip and his chest turned to ice. Gradually, he turned his head, once again looking over his shoulder. The feeling of deja vu was practically nauseating. The man always seemed to approach from his blind spot.

"M-mi-uh-G-g-g-godot... h-hi..." He managed to stutter his tutor's name, eyes wide with fear as he suddenly remembered: he was going to die today.

"Oh, by the way, about our little agreement last night... I got word from my client that there's been a change of plans." Again, there was that peaceful smile, as if all was right in the world. "It's sort of exciting, I suppose."

Iehari inhaled sharply. Deep in the recesses of his gut sparked the faintest glimmer of hope. "A change?" The pitch of his voice inflected as he spoke, making his question come out as more of a plea.

Godot nodded. "Yes," he replied, "a pretty big change. You see, I'm not going to kill you later." At that very statement, in one swift motion, Godot brought his hand out of his pocket, a black pistol in hand. All so suddenly, Ieharu found himself staring down the barrel of Godot's Beretta. That flicker of hope in his gut disappeared just as swiftly. Too scared to move, too scared to even think, Ieharu did what came natural.

He screwed his eyes shut.

There was a delay, however. Godot hesitated, although he smirked when he did so. "Seeing as you've accepted your fate already," he said, "I guess that must mean you don't have any more regrets. There's no special person in your life? No unfinished business with somebody close, not even your family? Nothing, eh?"

After several moments of silence devoid of a bullet to the face, Ieharu gathered that the question hadn't been rhetorical. Still, he didn't dare open his eyes. Maybe this way, he still had the chance to wake up from this nightmare.

From under his breath, the boy mumbled something.

"Speak up, boy," Godot demanded, "You're only getting one chance to say it, so spit it out!"

Somewhat startled at the command, Ieharu repeated himself, this time with a bit more volume. His kept his eyes closed. "W-why do you care about what I regret, M-mr. Godot?" Ieharu could almost swear he heard Godot chuckle.

"You'll understand if you die." With that cryptic statement, Godot rotated his wrist sideways and squeezed the pistol's trigger.

And that was it. A loud pop!. A flash of pain. Pressure around his forehead. And then nothing. Ieharu Sawada, son of Tsunayoshi Sawada and Kyoko Sawada, brother to Ieyoshi, friend to few, and most of all, still a virgin, died at that moment.

However, while dying, Ieharu regretted. He regretted parting with the world. He regretted what a waste his life had been. He regretted spending the time studying for a math test he'd never take. But there was one thing he regretted more than anything else. One thing that, even as the bullet pierced his skull and robbed him of life, he wished he had accomplished with all his heart.

I should have stopped Ieharu from confessing for me... from saying something stupid... I could have stopped him...

His body was cold before it even hit the ground.

... with a dying will.

On the other side of the street, several passersby screamed in horror. One was even so bold as to yell, finger pointing in violent accusation: "That thug just shot that kid!"

Ieharu's body slumped on the ground, blood pooling under his head. One second, he was certainly dead. But then in the next...

"REBORN!!!"

Ieharu literally exploded, most of his clothes burning away to ashes, his then-dead body springing to life like round two in any good video game's boss battle. Though he was still scrawny and mostly naked, he sported a look that'd never crossed his face before. His eyes were wide and full of determination, his pupils dilated, his irises practically glowing. He was grinding his teeth in seething rage. Most noticeable was the massive orange flame located smack dab in the middle of his forehead, the blaze shifting and pulsing to some unknown rhythm.

His sudden re-emergence from death and accompanying roar of rebirth startled everyone in the area, excluding Godot. One of them—an old woman—fainted where she stood.

"I'M GOING TO STOP IEYOSHI FROM SAYING SOMETHING STUPID!" He shouted at the air. "WITH MY DYING WILL!"

And with that, Ieharu sped off, his feet carrying him as fast as an Olympic athlete as he raced with all his might towards Ieyoshi and Namimori High.

Godot watched as the half-naked boy sped off like hell on wheels, and so did the rest of the neighborhood. People looked at Godot, flabbergasted at what they had just witnessed. Godot smiled at them affably.

"Things are going to be a lot more interesting around here from now on."

Akira had entered the school earlier than usual today, storing his bike away before heading to his classroom to eat the breakfast he'd brought with him. He yawned, covering his mouth with a hand. He'd been helping his uncle out with his night shows for the past couple of weeks, and that meant he'd been getting less sleep then usual. Who knew that juggling school and night time showbiz could be so tough? It was pretty hard too, trying to learn the ropes for holding public shows. Next time, he'd hold a show during the afternoon instead of evening or night.

But it'd be worth it! Akira grinned tiredly as he remembered what he'd learnt and the applause, the thrill of performing a good trick correctly. He'd learnt a lot, and now that his uncle didn't need his help anymore he could go back to normal sleeping hours. Finishing his bun, he threw the wrapper into the bin and headed out to the toilets. He did his business, washed and wiped his hands, and was coming back when he spotted a guy kneeling on the ground and reaching his hand out like he'd been overwhelmed.

Huh? Akira paused at the sight, curious. The guy was getting up like nothing had happened, but... he approached the guy, smiling nice and friendly. "Hey, do you need help?"

Cross looked at the school map intently. Coincidentally, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings when he walked over, so he didn't know exactly where he was on the map. "Seriously. Why don't they have a you are here on this crap map?" He raised his hand inches away from his chest, holding them as if it were a demonic claw, only to lower it as he remembered there were people around him. He didn't want to get in trouble this early on for vandalizing property. Plus, on top of that he'd basically be putting a spot light on himself.

He contemplated just giving up for the day and trying again the next. It wasn't like he wanted to be in a school where they have fights early in the morning. Life was too short for petty squabbles. However, Cross had a lot of things riding on this job. If anything, quitting now would result in a very bad ending for him down the line. All he had to do was go to school and watch some people. It wasn't hard. So, why was he trying to make it so hard. Not finding an answer for himself, he hashed it up to first day of school jitters.

He heard someone ask someone if they needed help and instantly thought about how embarrassing it would be if someone approached him like that. It was all denial for the presence next to him was undeniable. He gave a quick sigh and returned the smile. "Yeah. I've been out sick since the beginning of the year and need to find my class, but it seems that even the school map is no help at a time like this....." His last words trailed off as his phone rung. "Oh. Please excuse me for a moment..... Hello."

"Do you're job or you don't get paid." *Click*

His smile stayed on his face, but his his eyes widened and he was visibly a little irritated. "Hm. Well, seems like my mom won't be able to pick me up from school because she'll be coming home late like always. Anyway, do you know where the principles office is. I'm going to have to find out which one of these second year rooms I'll be in and get a schedule...... Maybe even a better map." He placed his hand on his chin trying to think of the matter at hand. For he did consider this doing his job. It wasn't like he'd be able to find the two kids anyway with a jumbled mess of the crowds. At least he thought as the crowd seemed to open up to a half naked kid, this time wearing different boxers.... No, looking past him there was another he looked just like him. In fact....... 'Ohhhhhh. I see now.'

Cross noted his mistake. Honest as it was, he couldn't let a little sleep deprivation and sunlight get the best of his senses. He glanced at the boy as he passed by, but decided since someone was obviously watching, he didn't need to worry about it. He would do his job, not that much would come from it. Though to have a fight that dragged in that much of a crowd, he wondered if they were popular. If they were, then could his client be someone who was bullied..... Was it a teacher? He didn't care until he was threatened. No one ever called to threaten him or rushed him when it came to work before. He'd definitely have to handle this in some way. He couldn't have creepy people calling him at their leisure. For now, he stepped around the boy who offered to help him trying to get out of view from any open space. "Thank's for offering to help mate. Name's Crostoph. I usually go by cross for short. What's your name?"

Been out till sick, huh? That sucked. Akira waited patiently as the new guy answered his phone, idly noting out of the corner of his eye the way his face changed expression from what seemed like normal to somewhat annoyed. In the courtyard, the crowd was pretty rowdy, and Akira wondered what was going on. A fight, maybe? His eyebrows rose as an object blurred over the fence and landed with a crash, followed almost immediately by the sound of a siren wailing in the distance. Then Crostoph hung up, and Akira turned his focus back on him.

As he introduced himself with the name Crostoph, the instigators - a pair of boys with the same face and state of undress - appeared out of the crowd. Akira ignored them, although he briefly wondered what had happened. A fight didn't quite explain losing ones pants (although the underwear was pretty cool), so what had happened?

"Oh, I'm a second year too," he responded, surprised. A smile spread on his face like cards fanning out to be picked, and as Crostoph moved Akira took it as a sign that he wanted to go to the office straight away and began walking himself, leading Crostoph past a staircase at the right. "Great! Maybe we'll be in the same class together. Don't worry about the maps, they're like five years outdated, but you're suppose to head towards the principals office to get your schedule. I'll lead you there," he decided, turning around. "C'mon, lets go!"

Akira knew the path towards the place so well that his mind wasn't really on the route. Instead, he chattered to Crostoph, introducing himself and pointing out which staircases lead to what and other tidbits of information like what was in each level, which should be useful to someone new to the area.

"... And that's why if you want to escape to the back of the school quickly, its best to do it from the chemistry lab," He explained, turning left into the halls almost on automatic. "We're almost the- oof," he said, bumping into someone. He moved back a bit and looked up, spying long blonde hair and light blue hair, "Ah, sorry," He apologised, a sheepish expression on his face. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Luka merely shook his head at the show the Sawadas put on so early in the morning. In the end, nothing serious seemed to have happened and he lost interest quickly once he was sure the twins weren't in any immediate danger. The flame on Haku's head did raise some questions in his head but now wasn't the time to dwell on it for too long. The corner of his lips twitched up into a slight grin when Ieyoshi took of his pants so boldly and offered it to his twin brother. They certainly were a unique pair. Shaking his head, Luka continued towards the school building.

Kumo leaped off his shoulder in one graceful movement, meowing up at him before rubbing against his leg as if to say goodbye for the time being. "Stay out of trouble," he reminding, crouching down to give the cat a quick scratch behind its ears. With another small meow, the feline was off to go about his own business. Luka stood up to head into the building when he noticed movement upstairs by the window. He jerked his head up, just in time to catch sight of long black hair.

"Yume nee-san?" Luka was well aware Yume had taken a leave from school for a while now but he hadn't really heard anything about her returning. It's been quite some time he had seen her so he hurried into the building and up the steps in hopes to catch her before class started. At the least, he wanted to welcome her back.

"Nee-san," he called out from down the hall.

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Luka nearly jumped when he heard a voice coming from behind him. He turned around and blinked down at the pretty looking blonde then offered a small smile. While he spoke fluent Japanese, he was happy to hear the language he was most familiar with: Italian. It had only been a week since he came to Japan but he still missed the place he was supposedly raised in. "Why yes. Today happen to be my first day here and I'm at a loss of where to go. Can you perhaps direct me to the principal's office," he replied back in Italian. There was a momentary pause before he spoke again, "Ah, my name is Hiroshi," he said introducing himself. This time he spoke in Japanese, hoping the girl understood the language. But given that she was here at Namimori High School, he would assume she did know or at the least understand Japanese.

Before he could say any more, he stumbled forward clumsily when he felt someone bump into him. "O-Oh, it's alright..." Was he blocking the hallway by any chance...? He looked at the pair of males, one with bright red hair and the other with brown hair. He looked to the one who he presumed bumped into him.

"You're not hurt, are you?" It wasn't like the two of them fell or their collision was severe enough for either one of them to get hurt but he felt like it was polite to ask anyway.

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"The relationships you build shall be your foundation for your sanity."

There was a voice a familiar one calling for her, with that of a familial title. A hint of recognition flashed deep inside and a series of faces appeared in her thoughts, until it stopped to one. Her steps came to a halt as she looked over her shoulder as her body was now in an angular position. Eyes of gentle moon reflected the same image of whom she had welcomed to her circle of family as a younger brother. There he was at a distance as her eyes crinkled in delight of a reunion. "Luka-kun..." She called out in return as it held the sense of a cheerful surprise. At that point, she fully faced him with a smile adorning her lips. Her hair much like that of an abyss fall around her like night's curtain, contrasting nicely with her natural white skin.

She was indeed a vision that most of the students could not help but have a moment to contemplate about her existence.

"This is a wonderful surprise." Instead of walking towards her classroom, she went to the path leading back to Luka, a student of her father, whom she had met when they were younger. The meeting was at best uneventful as her father made it out to be, but it was a surprise and a good one, if she would describe it. She had been shown that her father was not as distant to people as she had initially thought. But, she had been told by Uncle Tetsu that this only came to be when he married the Himemiya Priestees, her mother. Truly, she had wondered what kind of relationship her parents hold, because even if they had not seen each other, they still hold such trust and respect. In any case, being far sociable than that of her father and brother, she had engaged Luka in a more amiable manner and became an older sister to him which she was fond of to be look at that in such a way.

Reaching him, she stopped before him, while assessing him in a polite manner. Those eyes of silver lit with such joy. "You have grown into a fine young man when I was not looking, Luka-kun." It had been a long time since she had seen him. As she grew up, her social interactions with others had become limited due to her training of becoming a fitting heir to the Himemiya Clan. It is why she could not see him or the other children of her father's famiglia as much as possible unless it was deemed as an official matter. That is why she was also not aware that Luka is apparently studying here as well which she could tell from the uniform he wears. She had believed that he was still in the company of her father and Uncle Tetsu, but that was not the case. It was also a given that she had taken a leave of absence in her attendance to this school which contributed to her ignorance of him being here.

"How long has it been since I last saw you?" The sound of fondness clearly heard on her voice. "Are you doing well? Enjoying your time here as a student?" She asked in smooth succession much like how a doting sister would do towards her little brother. "I am really glad to see you, Luka-kun." Her hand then was elegantly placed on his head, a gesture she had done to him to show her appreciation and indicative of her familial affection. She patted his head with a gentle and warm smile shown upon her face. "I hoped Ani did not cause trouble to you in any sort of manner." The hand on his head was removed as it returned to her side and that eyes of hers held a degree of concern meshed with a hint of melancholy. "Do kindly forgive him if so."

For in the end, there was no denying especially towards to Luka that the relationship between the Hibari twins are not ideal.

---

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It was a mighty fine morning! That much he could tell when he woke up earlier and prepared everything needed for school. This was his vision as he roamed around the hallways of Namimori High, doing his usual patrols of sorts. He spotted a ruckus at the main entrance. As a dutiful teacher, Zenith Lucci traversed the stairways to reach it in hopes preventing students getting hurt. However, the obstacles were enormous in the image of the large-bodied (from a sumo-wrestler lineage) vice principal who asked him about the latest drama shows.

It only ended when the ever-manic obsessed History teacher confused him to be a sort of Babylonian God. He was lucky to find an opportunity to slip through, by literally slipping as he took a step back. He rolled through the staircase but managed to make it look like an acrobatic act, it does help when one watches cirque du soleil, but his epic landed him in a puddle, and also a lot of muscle cramps. He was simply getting too old for this. Through it all, the students who witnessed and knew him could not help but laugh at their teacher's antics. He welcomed it with a smile though, he was down when the seemingly trouble he spotted earlier had now dispersed. He got wet and back pains for nothing. Taking a deep breath, he proceeded to enter the building once more. He would need a spare change of clothes as he took of his coat and twisted it hard as water came out of it in volumes.

"Lucci-sensei! Don't wet the hallways!" He awkwardly laughed and apologized before excusing himself from the elderly janitor. There was a couple of students out there in the hallway, new faces, a blue hair, blonde girl, a brown hair. "Good morning, children! How are you all this fine morning? Don't mind my appearance, there's a good reason behind it. I assure you."

The red haired boy introduced himself as, Akira. Cross didn't mind Akira. He wasn't talking much about studies and when his conversation went into school survival and escape points Cross even noted a feeling of interest towards him. He definitely wasn't a bad first contact to have. As he was walking on his tour of the school, Cross threw exclamations of amazement at the scenery. As they were walking, they suddenly bumped into another pair of students. Cross tripped on his own feet as he tried not crash into them, falling on the floor, slamming on his side.

He was regretting his decision not to push whoever was in front of him over until he looked up and got a good look at them. He quickly sprung to his feet and began brushing dust off of his pants. 'Not cool at all.' He felt lucky that Akira quick to start apologizing. Once he did, Cross just bowed and played the silent role. He didn't want to say the wrong thing to these students and didn't want them to think he was weird. He couldn't risk putting himself in a bad situation. After the his display of clumsiness, he began to doubt it was even necessary to care about these two. He'd just have to hope they weren't one of those gossip type of people. It was kind of irritating. School was the greatest of all evils compared to places you could be in life to him. At least on the street he wasn't forced to sit in a class room full of the same people everyday. That meant everyday he'd have to act a certain way, watching every single move of his, less he gets put in a position where other people of interest might be involved. Which made him think, 'This is exactly why I hate lying. Too many things you have to keep up with.' Though he knew the world din't care what he favored. It was going to keep spinning regardless.

He looked back and forth between the guy and the girl, looking the girl up and down a few times to get a better look at her figure. It only too a second, one that he counted in his head. IT was better to count he learned, because if a girl looked good enough one could spend about a good second too many on one area. He spent that second on the hole frame. It was gift to be able to look at someone that fast if you asked him. He wondered if the rest of the girls in his class were going to be as cute as her. Though he noted she looked like she wasn't interested in the event at all. Maybe that was just her face or maybe school really bored her. He was actually about to ask her about it before seeing an adult who looked like he just got quick hosed came up to them. He gave them the normal adult to children in school greeting that Cross expected to here. It was good and everything, but Cross was getting impatient. He'd feel a lot more comfortable if he knew where his class was. "Sensei," he said, hoping that this guy was at least someone who worked in the building.... for the children s sake. "I don't know what class I'm in. Do you know where I can find a class roster?"

"Oh, I'm alright! No worries," Akira said to the blue-haired student. He smiled and took a step back, smoothing down his school jacket with a sweep of an arm that looked like a bow. "It was just a bump, nothing damaged," he said reassuringly, eyes automatically scanning the blue-haired student. Nothing seemed bad to his eye, but that was to be expected. The blue-haired student looked a bit older than Akira, so maybe a third year? There was a girl with blonde hair beside him too, and Akira wondered if they knew each other.

I wonder what they're doing here when class is about to start... Maybe they were on a date and we interrupted them? Nah. Though, maybe they're both new like Crostoph...

"My name's Shinsato Akira, you can call me Akira. Or you can call me Aki! That works too." Akira introduced himself. "That guy over there is Crostoph," he continued, gesturing towards the brown-haired boy. Somewhere outside the hallway, a janitor yelled. "I'm showing him the way to the principals office, so if the two of you are going there I could show you guys the way-"

Behind him, a green-haired man dripping with water appeared and called out to them.

"-Or we could just ask Zens- Zenith Sensei," Akira continued without pause, smiling brightly. In his head, Akira always called him Zensei (Zenith Sensei to Zen-Sensei to Zensei, it was cool!), but never out loud. What if the teacher reacted badly? Akira really didn't want detention. He turned and gave a wave to Zensei. "Zenith Sensei, good morning! Do you need a towel? The nurses office should have one I think."

As Crostoph asked Zensei about the schedules, he turned back to the two other students and added "We'd better hurry though, class is about to start."

Florence was pleasantly surprised that the boy spoke Italian too. It gave her some time to think of her response, as he explained his predicament. They seemed to have the same problem, so it was probably for the best that they find the office together, if watching horror films had taught her anything. However, the next sentence he spoke was in Japanese, causing her to frown ever so slightly, tilting her head to the side as her mind sped to interpret it. Clearing her throat softly, trying to think of the words before she spoke.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hiroshi. My name is Florence, Florence Sterling.” Florence struggled with the vowels slightly, but she was able to get the statement out clearly enough to understand. Her grasp on Japanese was still a little vague for her liking, but she could understand most basic phrases despite having a little trouble pronouncing them. That was when Hiroshi suddenly stumbled forward, causing Florence to take a quick step backward in case he bumped into her. Leaning slightly to the side, she heard an apology coming from a boy with fiery red hair seeing yet another boy with brown hair and green eyes fall down on his side.

Ice blue eyes studied the two individuals quickly, scanning them in a split second without lingering for too long. Judging from their looks alone, their ages were about the same as hers. Are they going to be in the same class as her? They looked rather harmless, but looks can be deceiving. Thankfully, another voice saved her from the need to speak the accursed foreign language of Japanese again. Her clumsy pronunciation wasn't the best way to form first impressions, so Florence would rather not try before she was completely sure she had it mastered.

The boy with red hair introduced himself as Akira and introduced the brown haired student as well, before offering to guide them to the principal's office if they needed. Florence gave them a small nod in acknowledgement. It was fortunate that she had met a person that can help in their predicament at least, but before she could say anything the four of them were greeted by what she would assume was the teacher with shocking bright green hair, his clothes dripping wet. This was what an educator looks like in Japan? She was used to being home schooled most of her younger years, so this was completely new to her.

Curiosity aside, the boy with brown hair and green eyes questioned the teacher figure for a class roster and Florence wondered vaguely if that was something more important than going to the principal’s office to get properly registered. The right process was only getting confusing at this rate, so she chose to step back and observe. The question has been raised after all, and she saw no need for herself to add an imput. However, urgency hit her as Akira mentioned that classes were going to start soon. She didn't want to be late for her first day of school, as much as she didn't choose to care much about it.
((Will post for Chester once he has more to respond to probably.))

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Luka smiled when Yume turned to face him and lightly jogged up to the female Hibari. As usual, Yume was as beautiful as ever. While Mamoru resembled more of Hibari Kyouya, Yume was a splitting image of her mother. Not to mention, she had been kind enough to accept Luka as a younger brother. Perhaps it was thanks to the young princess that Luka had felt a little more welcomed in the Hibari family when he was young. To him, it was nice knowing he had someone to call a family despite not sharing a single drop of blood. Of course it was hard to tell what Mamoru thought but the male didn't express complete hatred towards him. Then again, the two never had a full conversation to begin with so Luka wasn't sure of anything concerning Mamoru at the moment.

"I just grew a bit taller, Nee-san," he chuckled, "I didn't think it was possible for you to get any prettier but I guess I was wrong. Ahhh, there's gonna be a bunch of perverts trying to go after you," he grinned, his tone light in a jesting manner. No but seriously, he wouldn't be surprised if he saw the male students crowding around her. "How long?" Luka looked up at the ceiling as he gave it a thought, trying to count the number of years. "I'm not sure. But it definitely feels like it's been ages since I've seen you." He blinked at the string of questions and let out a small laugh, "I'm doing fine. More than fine, actually. School is kinda boring but..." Luka trailed off towards the end of his sentence, remembering the scene he witnessed this morning. Surely Yume had seen it too. He ducked his head a little when the pale hand gently ruffled his hair, returning the affectionate gesture with a soft smile.

"--Uh, Mamoru-nii?" Right... The older of the twin had managed to make a reputation for himself but he hadn't done anything Luka... yet. Possibly because Luka had been smart enough to avoid making Mamoru angry. "He never troubles me but I think the number of patients in the hospitals increased lately because of him. There was a momentary pause before he spoke again. "Hey, Nee-san. Don't worry about him too much." He was sure Yume had other important matters to be concerned about.

"Anyway, I didn't hear anything about you returning." Which might be a given since he's sure the Vongola was busy. Ever since Luka decided to go off and live alone here in Namimori, he hadn't have much contact with the man who raised him. It was Tetsuya who often sent him messages of how they were doing. "It really is a pleasant surprise." Though he's not too sure if Mamoru will find the news exciting. "And... I wasn't really going to ask but have you seen the Sawada twins this morning? Haku had a flame on his head. I might be thinking too much of it but I can't help shake off this feeling, you know? Do you think there's something going on?" Luka cared about the Vongola just as much as he cared about the Hibari Family.

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From the corner of his eyes, Hiroshi witnessed the brunette falling but didn't have the chance to ask if the other was okay--especially since the redhead got right into introducing himself. "My name is Akamatsu Hiroshi. It's fine if you just call me Hiroshi," he replied. His eyes flickered between the two males then back to the blonde standing beside him. It was now confirmed that she wasn't a fluent speaker of Japanese as he assumed she was. This told him she was most likely a transfer student just like him. "Is that so? Actually, I was just asking Florence here if she could help me. Though, it seems she's new here as well. It'll be great if you can show us the way--"

The sound of the janitor's voice interrupted the four students, which was quickly followed by a tall green-haired male greeting them all. Hiroshi took a small step away from the drenched male, his lips twitching into an awkward smile, as he wasn't sure what the make of this situation he was currently in. "Zenith-sensei...?" He repeated after Akira, looking back over at the redhead once more. Ah, so this man was a teacher at this school. He certainly seemed like an... interesting individual.

"Good morning, sensei," he finally greeted, being as polite as possible. "Oh, I am also in need of a class roster. And preferably as soon as possible... please." It wouldn't be good to be late on the first day, right? Despite the fact that he was just thrust into this situation this morning.

Hiroshi's first impression of the school wasn't great but it also wasn't bad. Except, he had no idea what the say about the duo who were missing parts of their clothing earlier this morning. Aside from that and the wet teacher in front of them, this school seemed like a normal high school. Or at least he hoped.

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"Remember, you must never get involve. Your role will always be to watch, child."

It was always wonderful to be in the presence of Luka. Yume could not help but have the seemingly perpetual joy attached to her demeanor. "You did not only grow taller than me. You have become quite handsome." There was not an odd tone in her voice that could be related to deceit or the equivocal appreciation due to a bond. It was simply her honest assessment. "The girls must be fawning all over you." She noted as a fun afterthought and then gave a light laughter with an elegant cover of her mouth with the hand. "You also became quite the flatterer, Luka-kun." That was largely true of course, however, she was much as humble as that of a turtle when it comes to her physical attributes.

She settled down her chuckle when Luka described the school was a bit boring. That was understandable especially to someone like him who had grown to the lifestyle of a mafioso. At the same time, she knew who his father truly is. Then again, it does not make who he is, that can only be determined by his actions. It was the same for her and her twin. Their father and their mothers are separate entities and they are different from them, even if she was going to be taking the position of her mother. As for her brother, Luka said that Mamoru had not caused him trouble, though, it was not the same for others. The Principal's words sounded as an exaggeration to her before, but now, it might not be so, with hospital cases.

She could not help but released a sigh in which Luka advised her not to worry about Mamoru too much. Her little brother even not by blood was endearing in every sense. She gathered her negativity into a box and hid it away for now. "Thank you, Luka-kun." Then, the conversation shifted towards about her return to school. That is right, it had been abrupt which was by her own doing actually. "Ah yes, I was not scheduled to return until next week. However, I wanted to come back as soon as possible." She looked at Luka apologetically for not informing him, but she could not do so, for she had no idea he was even here. As for Uncle Tetsuya, the information should just be known to him about now. "That is probably why no one has been made aware. I apologize."

Luka then said that it was a pleasant surprise which made her appreciate this little brother of hers, he was adorable. The moment soon passed as he asked about what had occurred at the grounds which was related to the Sawada Twins. She was well-aware that Luka cared about the Vongola and it was the same for her. She does care for them greatly. "From this point on, it will be their decision." She gazed out through the windows beside them. She recalled the many spectrum she had seen, not only with the twins but also to the people around them. She was certain that nothing truly is merely a coincidence. "Luka-kun, watch over them as much as you can. " Her eyes then returned to Luka as those silver pools reflected a sense of understanding and trust.

"They will face trials and plenty of it. Like their predecessor, it will groom them to what they could be, that is yet to be known of course." She stopped there and changed the subject to another. "However, before all of that. It is time for class. We cannot be late for it. Shall we go?" She turned her back at him and begins to make her way to where her classroom is, but after a few steps, she looked over her shoulder as her eyes landed on him once more. "School will probably be not boring as you think it would be." She then focused ahead of her path, but there was a certain melancholy to her eyes that disappeared instantly.

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Zenith was 199% sure that he looked completely a mess, and was not really the poster image of well-bred educator. The janitor in the background was the first proof of that and also how one of his students, the one who is Shinsato, Akira asked if he was fine. It was good sentiment, but was rather demeaning. though he really appreciated the care. "Ah, yeah I would need those towels, but maybe later! I would need to help these fine new students! But thanks, Shinsato-san!" Never a frown and never an air of anything but affability on his part.

"Hello there!" He waved at them with such energy. "The name is Lucci, Zenith and I'm a teacher here despite what I look like. You can call me Zenith-sensei like this cool guy here did!" He pointed with his thumb towards Akira with a bright smile. "Okay as for the rosters..." He began to look inside his suit, hoping that somewhere inside was still dry."I think I have a spare here... Just wait a second..."

He then finally broke into a wide smile as he unearthed from his suit the said class rosters. "Ah ha! Found it!" He broke into such an infectious cheer like that of a child and then he handed it to the two students who asked for it. ""Here you can have this. Just look for your names and the room should be there!"" He then looked around. "Upstairs would be the room for the freshmen and the juniors. You can read them in room, like 1-A, 1-B, and I-C so on. For juniors, it is number 2 and seniors 3 where the rooms are at the 3rd floor." Then he tilted his head to the side, to wonder if he forgot something. "You should get to your classes! It would start soon and if you need the Principal. he just left so, maybe some other time? Now go go! Time is best use for learning!"

Akira went over to Cross, a smile on his face. "Hey, what class are you in?" he asked, leaning over Cross's shoulder to see the schedule. "I'm in class 2-A, I'll show you around if we're in the same class. Or even if we aren't in the same class, we'll just have to meet up during break then."

Cross looked at the roster which was divided by name order, just as he thought. He also couldn't help thinking it was kind of cliche how classes were set up, but thought nothing of it. It was only homeroom and from there he would learn where his elected classes were. Still, if they were all the same it'd mean seeing the same people. Akira being in every class would be cool, but he didn't want the same set of girls to look at. Girls got boring the more he was around them he found. A lot of things did. "Same, same." He replied. "After Home I have the math's. Where's that at?" Cross glared at his paper and the line up he was given. All of the classes sounded the same as the ones he took years before, but with numbers and extensions.

"We are? Cool. Hold on let me see you're schedule." Akira reached over and took the schedule, glancing through it. "Oh, that's Kichiki-Sensei's class. Classroom 32, blk 4 level 5. I'll show you were later, we're in the same class for nearly everything." He handed the schedule back to Cross. "Weird coincidence, huh?" He said, somewhat wryly.

"You're telling me," the brown haired boy replied while stuffing the roster into his bag. A mischievous smile appeared on Crostoph's face as they walked away. "So.... We have any female teachers?"

"A lot," Akira answered promptly. He walked off together with Cross, waving a cheerful goodbye towards the other two students and a polite bow to sensei. "Minnochi-Sensei teaches english, Azanari-sensei teaches science for the first years, Senzunbori-Sensei teaches history for the third years... there are more male teachers though, I think. Oh yeah!" His voice turned suspiciously innocent. "Our Homeroom has Marizuni-Sensei, she's pretty young... and cool about things."

"I do like things..." Cross was caught up daydreaming about things that set his mind at ease. He felt that as long as the classes he didn't have his newfound friend in had cute women around him he'd be okay. He just hoped none of the delinquent ones were around. Really killed his mood."You know when lunch is? I skipped breakfast because I heard they serve lunch here."

Akira frowned thoughtfully. "At twelve, I think." he turned right and headed into the building. "I'm not too sure, I kind of forgot," he admitted sheepishly.

Cross cursed himself for skipping breakfast. "Guess I'm out of luck until we get to homeroom. I can sneak something. I'll give you a cookie to keep watch." He put up his index and middle finger in a peace sign.

"Deal," Akira answered, walking into the building. He looked up thoughtfully, running the schedule through his mind. "Homeroom first period." He muttered decisively, walking towards the lift. He smiled. "Leon might have some food with him, I'll ask him."

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The lunch bell rang, and Akira stood up with a stretch. "C'mon, I'll show you the cafeteria." he said to Cross. He slipped out of his seat and waved goodbye to Megumi, who was already tucking into her bento. A smaller empty box lay at the corner of the table, lid open. It used to contain brownies she'd made, but she'd been quite willing to share once she heard Cross hadn't eaten breakfast. The girl from earlier - she'd introduced herself as Florence Sterling - was in their class too, but she hadn't really responded to anyone and disappeared by herself for lunch. Akira hoped she knew where it was.

Cross waved along with Akira and followed him. "I'm glad it's lunch time. I'm hungry again. I just hope we don't get the prison food they served the last time I went to a school. It'd be a shame for me not to get a good meal in a school so big. While walking it seemed other students were lining up for something. "What's that over there? We have amusement park rides here?"

"I wish," Akira laughed lightly, following Cross's view. [color=#FF0000]"That's the breadshop, currently runned by Lilith. She's really pretty, and the bread's delicious too..." Akira brought his wrist up, checking his bluescreen. [color=#FF0000]"One more day till the bread wars, huh..." he muttered to himself, looking at the date. Looking back at Cross, he smiled and said [color=#FF0000]"You might want to avoid the breadshop tomorrow, though, its going to be a bloodbath."

[color=indigo]"Oh really? What's the bread wars? Do I get to hit people with Italian rolls?" Cross thought the whole idea was fun. He was sure if he got to be part in it he'd find a way to take it to a higher level. "Yeah, we should probably watch before we act. The precious awaits. This school has everything huh? Except for a magician with a magic hat."

So Cross had overheard him, huh? Akira wasn't sure how he'd react to the Bread Wars, but more importantly... "Did someone say magician?"

Out of nowhere, Akira smiled mischievously and produced a white top hat with a wide red band near the brim. He showed the hat's inside to Cross, who saw that absolutely nothing was inside, then twirled it and placed it on top of his head with a flourish. There was a muffled coo from inside the hat, and when Akira took it off with a flourish there was a confused looking white pigeon sitting on his head. Cross looked in awe at the pigeon and clapped his hands together on impulse as Akira bowed, the pigeon fluttering off his head to land on his outstretched arm. Straightening up, Akira smiled at Cross teasingly. "You were saying?"

"Where did the pigeon come from." he asked eye balling the bird as if it were a science project. "Is it a real bird or one of those crazy mechanical ones?"

"Torizallo? Oh, he's definitely real." The pigeon cooed and flew to his shoulder as if on cue, where it fluffed its feathers and eyeballed Cross back. Akira stroke a finger across its feathers affectionately as he dug into his pocket for a treat. "I got him from my uncle a few years ago, he's really nice. As for where he came from..." Akira gave a small smile and put a finger to his lips. "Trade secret!"

They continued to walk towards the cafeteria. "Do you wanna pet him?" Akira asked Cross as part apology, part friendly. He fished up the treat and handed it to Torizallo, who took it with a satisfied sounding coo, "He won't mind, he's really docile."

"Sure I'd like to pet.... Er... Uh... I'ma just call it Pidgy. Torizallo or whatever it is, is too hard to pronounce." Cross stuck his tongue out. He then motioned to Torizallo. "We need some food to wash down the linguistic torture I've just been put through by repeating such a foriegn name. You should eat something too. I hear when things are said in different languages over in countries with people who don't speak the language you can summon the Octonon. So I've been told."
Cross put his hand on his chin. "Though that guy did have a little too much make up on his nose when he told me. Still, you can't judge a book by its cover when it comes to things. Let's chow!!!"

Cross was from a different country? Well, it wasn't really his problem, although Akira did make a note to see if he needed help with linguistics. "Sure! Hey, we're here," He said instead, opening the door. Shigashina fluttered to the top of his head. The sight was so familiar that pretty much no one but a few of the third years and most of the first years would blink an eye to it any more. "I'll tell you about the Bread Wars while we eat. Just make sure to avoid the Mashed Potatoes, those things are as hard as rocks..."

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Florence pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a small sigh. She didn't anticipate that the jet lag would get to her in class of all times. The different language the teachers used while teaching didn't help with keeping her attention on them either, and she struggled with the growing feeling of drowsiness until she finally succumbed to sleep in the last period. Thankfully, it didn't seem like anyone noticed, and if anyone did they didn't bother to wake her up. Rubbing her eyes, Florence cast her gaze around the classroom, mostly empty except for two more sleeping students. The two students she had just met today, no less, Akira and Crostoph. "I should probably wake them up...?" Florence muttered to herself under her breath as she inspected the clock, showing that hours have passed from the end of school. She made her way over to the closest desk from her and shook the shoulder of the red haired student gently. "I'm sorry to disturb your sleep, but school's over hours ago."

Akira let out a muffled sounding groan. "Mmmmwha....?" Blearily, he lifted his head up from where it had been resting on his arms to look up at the student he'd seen outside the central office. The time spent helping his uncle with work had finally taken its toll during last period, and he'd fallen asleep halfway through the lesson. Her words failed to penetrate through the fog of sleepiness clouding his brain, although she looked vaguely familiar. Umm, what was her name again..? Florise? Flourese? "Whazzut?"

"School has ended hours ago." Florence reiterated her point calmly, raising the volume of her voice slightly. At least he woke up, if not completely. "You should want to leave now, unless you choose to spend the night in the classroom. Your parents will be worried."

Akira rubbed away the sleep from his eyes with his hands, still half asleep. Hearing the question but not quite awake enough to filter it, he answered without thinking, voice slightly slurred with sleep. "My parents aren't around anymore, so I don't think they will..." He yawned and stretched, not realising what he had said. Then his brain registered what he'd said and he froze midstretch. "Um." he said uncomfortably, very much awake now. "I mean, my uncle's overseas at the moment on business, so I don't think he'll notice if I'm back late." he backtracked hastily, giving her a bright smile.

"Oh. Um..." For once Florence seemed a little lost for words. "My deepest condolences, I didn't know that." Akira didn't seem too bothered, but she still felt that she shouldn't have neared such a sensitive subject. Who would have thought? Were all schools littered with students with tragic backgrounds? Perhaps she should watch her words the next time she spoke. "Do you not have a place to go to? Is sleeping in the classroom an activity you always do?"

Whoops. Backtracking hadn't worked. Still, Akira relaxed and gave her his best comforting, I don't mind really smile. It wasn't like the subject bothered him too much, it had happened years ago and he'd gotten over it, mostly. "Nah, No worries." It wasn't like she'd known after all. He finished his stretch and placed his hands back on the table. "I was tired after helping my uncle out with work last night. Didn't get much sleep, haha." He scratched his neck sheepishly. "That's why I fell asleep last period and didn't wake up till now. Otherwise, I would've gone back home after showing Cross around."

"I see." Florence offered one of her rare smiles in return. "Are you returning now? If it's you don't mind, would you mind showing me around as well?" She asked politely, taking note of the fact that it was possibly too late to be looking for her brother. That would have to wait until tomorrow, but right now knowing the school was important for better navigation the next day. Florence didn't want to get lost in the school grounds like she did today.

"Sure, why not?" Akira smiled. He didn't really mind, and it'd be nice to make a new friend. "I'll show you the bread shop tomorrow," he promised, getting out of his seat. "It's one of the seven wonders of our school, and I already promised to show Cross there tomorrow. I don't think he'll mind if an extra person comes along." And if he did, then Akira would just show her around anyway. He walked over to his friend's desk and gently shook Cross's shoulder. "C'mon, Cross, wake up," he said, 'It's like almost sundown, I don't think you want to stay in school longer than you have to."

For some reason it was dark and the only sound he could hear was the sound of dripping water. Every drip was an echo lasting longer than the last and he was sure he knew exactly where he was. It wasn't as if he would have had a hard time remembering such a place, just that he'd rather not have the memory to begin with. Was this a dream? He hoped so. Between the vibrations that he could feel under his cold bare feet and the humidity of the air around him, he was feeling his heart beating slightly faster and faster as his time there went on. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid. There wasn't nothing to fear from the dark. Was there? "I'LL BREAK THROUGH THE DARKNESS!!!"

Cross leaped out of his desk, surprised by his newfound site. He quickly remembered he was in school, but found himself at a loss to why. That was, until he saw his newfound pal landing on the floor with a yelp and... past acquaintance. 'Damn.' Totally not cool. What if he was talking in his sleep? He was sure Akira wasn't going to say anything, but girls talked a lot. There was only one thing to do. Looking over at the time he saw that it was well after school hours which was perfect for the occasion. "Hahahahahahaaa!!! You startled me. I was thinking about purification rituals for the demon clan." It wasn't the best way to make up for his abrupt awakening, but it would have to do. "Ahem. So, uh.... Hi." He smiled and through a small peace salute to the white haired girl. He wasn't going to ask her name for that would also be embarrassing. He was it was given after his trip, but he was too embarrassed to listen.

Quickly changing over topics he gave a great stretch, yawning and curling his hand to caress his cheek like a cat. "That was a great nap. That makes..... four successful naps today. Who would think school would be so easy?" He looked over at the girl and then back to Akira. Given the time, it was about time he let the school grounds, but he wondered about them. "So, what are you too going to do now? No use sitting here twiddling thumbs right?"

"Sounds like the rituals were failing from the way you jumped," Akira said jokingly from where he had fallen on the floor. He picked himself up and dusted himself off, adding somewhat seriously, "Did you try salt circles? I think those work. Throw salt and then draw a circle, and poof!" Akira drew his hands wide like he was gesturing for an explosion. "They're trapped."

"Isn't that supposed to be bad luck? Or was it pepper?" Cross was thinking about which one had a certain taste to it. He was pretty sure salt was something that made people sneeze. Or was that epsom salt? "It's okay. I'll figure it out. Demons must be handled by those who do the duty of quelling them."

"Nah, that's when you throw them over your shoulder." Akira said cheerfully, walking back to his desk to take his bag. He gave a soft, high-pitched whistle that sounded almost like a birdcall, and Torizallo fluttered through the window to land on his head. He grabbed his bag and turned, facing the two of them. "Florence, meet Torizallo, also known as Pidgy." He gestured at the white pigeon on his head, his tone turning almost business-like, although still friendly. "Torizallo, Florence."

He turned to Cross and gestured to Florence, keeping the same business-like friendly tone. "Cross, she's Florence Sterling, a new student like you. remember her from earlier at the principals office? I'm showing her around too, she'll be coming with us for the Bread Wars." He turned to Florence. "Florence, this is Cross." He smiled brightly at the two. "Hope we get along!"

Demon clan? What in the world were Japanese schools nowadays? Florence had no idea where the supernatural factored into their situation now, but she watched as the two boys went on about throwing salt and other activities to fend off demons. "Is that yours?" She only spoke as the pigeon flew in at the tone of Akira's whistle, her love of birds factoring into her curiosity about the pigeon. Akira must have trained it somehow... her hand reached out involuntarily to stroke it's soft feathers, only looking up when she was introduced to Crosstoph once again. "It's nice to meet you Cross. I'm sure we will."

Cross grinned. "You betcha," he said, looking as Chesire as ever. He was happy to finally have a posey on the school grounds. An extra set of eyes and ears. "So you'd be Judgment?.... Chariot?.... Hmmm. Sterling sounds like a nice name. Do you come from a heritage of kings?" His eyes opened wide as he grew interested. "In that case, you'd be the queen card. Akira. Is there a queen card?"

"Probably. If there's a king, a queen would turn up somewhere in the mix for sure." Akira glanced at Florence's outstretched fingers and a small smile crossed over his face, almost mischievous. "Stay still," he advised her, and gave another whistle that sounded sharper but lower that lasted only a few seconds.

Torizallo flew towards Florence and landed on her shoulder, a light but warm weight that was somewhat ticklish thanks to the feathers. Florence tensed up instinctively, and Akira smiled at her. "Don't worry, Torizallo won't bite." He paused. "Or peck, since he doesn't have teeth."

So the pidgeon's name was Torizallo? It's name was rather unconventional. She reached a hand out tentatively to pet it once again, a small smile crossing her face for a second. "Thank you, Torizallo's adorable."

Cross tossed his books into his bag. "So Flo, what do you usually do after school? Kinda thinking there should be a napping club." He then turned to Akira and tapped Torizallo's beak. "We should work on doing that Aki."

"I'm not sure a napping club exists yet, but we could always ask," Akira said, shrugging. He grinned, taking the lead as they walked out of the classroom. "I don't think I'd be able to join though, since I've got work." He paused thoguhtfully. "Hey, maybe I could be a honourary member, that could work!"

They walked on like any trio of normal students heading home after club activities, chattering about nothing in particular. Akira waved goodbye to a few classmates and friends and told Florence and Cross a few stories about them, and he was trying to act out a scene where Torizallo had scared the crap out of everyone (long story short, they had been holding a ghost story contest during homeroom and Torizallo had fluttered towards the flashlights just as they'd finished hearing about a bird who ate humans for breakfast) and was failing miserably when they caught sight of what looked like two first years duking it out like a showdown at the O-K corral and an annoyed looking brown-haired kid talking to a third-year that had a jagged lightning-like scar coming down the left side of his face.

They paused to watch, interested. Akira's eyebrows rose in surprise at seeing a fight happening outside the breadshop instead of in it. Florence stopped abruptely once she caught sight of it, tilting her head in curiosity at the commotion, Cross looked over at one of kids eying each of them over. Biting his bottom lip, he clenched his fist and pumped them in the air slightly as if he were cheering the boys on. Torizallo cooed loudly like he agreed with Cross, fluttering to the top of Akira's head and nestling there, turned his head to watch, beady black eyes looking assessively at the weird quartet just as someone brushed past them and headed straight for the two brown-haired students talking together.

---

Collaborative post between Alle9009, moahi and Damoia for Akira, Florence and Crostoph.

Cross was watching until some kid showed up and told the other kids that some other person was in trouble. He noticed the name and thought that was enough info for one day. Any more and someone would have to pay him up front before the week was through. "Well, that was weird. I guess people do have woes in this school," he said, playing with one of his bangs. "Watching those guys made me hungry. We should get something to eat."

Akira tore his eyes away from the fight, which had stopped when the brown-haired kid with a serious look on his face ran with the other brown haired student - oh hey, it was Aobane! Akira wondered what was up for him to have that look on his face—it was probably something bad—and looked at the scene curiously, wondering what was going on. Maybe he should ask?

Well, it wasn't any of his business. Plus, Akira didn't think they'd be pleased if a complete stranger followed them. He watched neutrally as the blonde boy blocked the white-haired boy's kick and yell something that stopped the white-haired first year mid-punch, causing him to cock his head to the side like a confused bird. He wasn't close enough to hear what the blonde kid said, but evidently it had been serious enough to stop the fight, since the white-haired student dropped his fighting stance to run after him as the blonde-haired guy chased after Aobane and the brown-haired first year.

"Schools aren't normally like this, yeah," Akira said wryly. The third year flailed and followed the first years as he turned to face the two of them, face thoughtful. He was getting hungry, and eating alone at home was unappealing when compared with eating with his new found friends. "That reminds me, I guess there's a place we could stop by for dinner - oh, hi Luka!"

"Yo." Luka gave them a lazy wave from where he was, walking towards the gates. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Akira shrugged. A thought occurred to him, and he smiled. "Hey, wanna come join us for dinner? We're going to the cafe. To scout out the lay of the land. Before the battle begins."

It wasn't often that Luka went out to eat; he often enjoyed having his meals alone at home. But having company once in a while wasn't too bad, he supposed. Besides, Akira can be a pretty persistent guy sometimes. He was off from work today anyway, so... "Why not?" Luka decided, shrugging. He could leave the "lay of the land' thing to Akira. He turned, waiting for them to catch up. "You can introduce me to your friends while we're walking. It'd be pretty rude if I just called them "new guys", after all," he teased, flashing a small grin at them.

Florence has yet to consider the thought of dinner, but eating out was probably better than whipping something up for herself. Making a mental note to go shopping soon, she followed Akira, Luka and Cross into the cafe. It was larger than she had expected, with several chairs and round tables in its interior. There was a stall there, with a menu board on top tilted slightly to make it easier to see. It seemed to be offering a variety of pastries, from muffins to croissants. Coffee was sold too, as well as several other varieties of soft drinks.

"Wow," a girl's voice exclaimed, "You're a genius, Rosa!" At a table in the middle of the cafe were a group of five girls, with their purses to their sides and a bunch of schoolwork on the table, as well as several beverages and muffins. In a clockwise order, they were Tomoe Tachibana, Rosa Kuromaku, Lala Wakahisa, Erin Saito and an unfamiliar third year student. Looking at Erin and the third year, one would have to wonder if they were all girls. They were in the process of doing their homework, or at least Tomoe was. All the other girls were pretty much finished (with the exception of Erin, who didn't seem too enthusiastic about her work) and Rosa was assisting Tomoe with some rather challenging math problems—only that Rosa was merely answering all the questions Tomoe would get stuck on, which was at least half of them, and wasn't doing anything to actually help Tomoe understand what she was doing. Tomoe wouldn't stop showering her with praise every time Rosa answered a question merely by glancing at it.

"Well, this stuff is really quite simple," Rosa told her, spreading her fingers and touching her own chest, "or at least they're rather simple for me. I just happen to have a gift for math." Rosa happened to have a gift for a lot of things, it seemed, and Rosa definitely wasn't humble about these 'gifts' either. Rosa talked a big talk, but no one could ever remember a time when Rosa didn't just meet expectations, but surpassed them.

"You need only remember the formulas." The third year - Neri Montavani - said, flicking a lock of wavy pink hair behind his shoulder. It fluttered down to rest against his back, ending at his waist. The teen was dressed in drag again, this time in the girl's school uniform. The only difference was that there was a smooth grey vest underneath the jacket, that flattered his lithe figure and gave it a more elegant look. He looked at Tomoe seriously, sipping a cup of black coffee. "It isn't hard, so long as you focus in class."

Tomoe pouted. "Yeah, but y'know, sometimes I just can't focus! Like, y'know when you have something on the tip of your tongue, but it's not something you're saying but it's something your thinking, but it's not all that important to you, but you can't help but think about it?" Tomoe received silence from every direction. "Well," she reiterated, "I was thinking about those boys in their underwear." Erin gave a sudden, curt chuckle. "You know," Tomoe continued "Those boys that ruined Rosa's clothes, and her phone!" An air of uneasiness had suddenly swept over the table as many eyes looked toward Rosa to see how she'd react. Rosa acted as if she didn't hear it, however. Tomoe leaned forward and asked Lala, "By the way, Lala, are you keeping those clothes?"

"Hmm..." Lala looked at Tomoe thoughtfully and then looked at the uniform she was wearing which is technically Rosa's. It's very notable to the eyes as well, though not in the manner of a fashion statement. More of, it was making a bold declaration due to the mud and dirt stains splattered about. At the very least, it was a good thing that it was dry now. "I don't think so. They're not mine to begin with. I'll just grab my gym clothes later and get changed." Lala added with a smile and then took a sip of her bottled water, before showcasing a slight pout on her lips due to remembering about Math, because of Tomoe asking about it to Rosa. Numbers do not mix well with Lala and that is simply that. "It would be best if Math just didn't exist..." Lala sighed after that as she knew that it was just wishful thinking in the end.

Rosa glanced at Lala. Then, with an air of dignity, she told her, "Perhaps you should return those clothes to me on the weekend. Clean, I'd expect. For now, I'll give you permission to keep them. Just treat them with the utmost care." Rosa brushed her hands through her hair as her eyes were shut, giving her a sort of aloof look as she was speaking to Lala. Rosa then gave a light smile. "Possibly, if you aren't busy," she offered, "you could stay over for a little bit when you return them." Tomoe seemed rather intrigued. Erin sucked loudly through her straw where there used to be an iced coffee. It wasn't often that Rosa invited her friends to her house.

Lala looked at Rosa with a bright smile on her face and somehow, it felt like there are invisible sparkles around her. "Of course, I'll return your clothes in pristine condition." Lala nodded her head visibly energetic to serve as assurance. It was already a given that Lala would return the uniform, but she did not expect the offer of staying at Rosa's house. Lala was aware that Rosa was not the kind to readily invite anyone to her abode, even them. Lala did not doubt Rosa of course, for she knew it was a nice gesture extended. To Lala, Rosa was a nice person and that was it. "That would be lovely indeed." Lala answered with that small yet gentle smile before glancing at Tomoe and Erin. There was something up and about, and Lala was about to speak of an idea to Rosa when Neri took her moment which she was not offended at all.

"Allow me to visit then." Everyone stared at him. Even if he looked convincingly like a girl, everyone around the table knew he was male, and the idea of him staying at Rosa's place for a sleepover, painting nails and talking about boys, was disturbing. Neri raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at them, placing his now empty cup of coffee back on the table with a sharp click. "Not for a sleepover," he said in disgust, as if he knew what they were thinking. He saw no point in joining in on girly activities. "I've made that dress you asked for last week, as well as a shirt for Lala. Going to your home to check on the both of you will allow me to save time. I do not think there will be any misjudgements in my measurements, but it is better to be safe than sorry."

"Oh! You made me a shirt, Neri-kun?" Lala asked with those eyes of hers twinkling in excitement, similar to the precious rubies found in jewels. "I can't wait to try it on! You always make very beautiful and cute pieces!" She clapped both of her hands before looking at Rosa. "Don't you think so, Rosa-chan? It would be nice. We can try Neri-kun's clothes."

Rosa glanced at Neri while stirring the last of her cappuccino at the bottom of the cup with her straw. With a slight pause beforehand, Rosa answered, "Fine, as long as it doesn't take as long as last time. Also, those measurements better be perfect this time." Rosa had a strange tendency to pause before answering people, as if she were either considering how to answer them or was reluctant to. It was this sort of aloofness, this lack of overfriendliness, that somehow attracted others toward her instead of repelled them. Many female students, both her age and younger, aspired to be as talented and mature as the glamorous idol Rosa was.

"Please," Neri's voice was full of contempt and distaste from the memory. He sat back against the chair, reaching up to tuck his hair neatly behind his ear. "I do not take as long as other tailors do. The only reason it even went that long was because you wouldn't let me near-"

The doors swung open with an extreme force. A silhouette of a figure carrying an umbrella stood at the door breathing a bit heavily. "Finally!" Lyn yelled being a tad loud compared to the fairly quiet coffee shop. She gazed around swinging her head left and right to scan the room. "Bingo!" she said out loud. Rosa was in her sights sitting next to Neri and the others. She walked over a bit fast in a silly manner still a bit tired. She approached the table, grabbed a chair from a different one and eased her way in. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late! You see, there was this guy that said girls can't play football so I put down my umbrella and," she continued her highly detailed story and how Lyn ended up performing better than the star players of the team. "..And then I headed here! Pretty fun day overall!"

"Ah, another person at the table?" Lilith said a bit sarcastically. "You need anything?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Good to see you coffee lady!" Lyn happily replied.

"Good to see you also," she responded with a grin on her face.

Lala perked up in seeing Lyn as she smiled and spoke her welcome, "Hello Lyn-chan!" She even offered a small wave to emphasize her greeting before looking back at Erin, recalling her need to say that idea of hers, yet again the moment was taken, this time by Erin.

"How about a water, lady," Erin spoke up, sitting up from her slouched position, "Glass'a water, that is, if that's, uh, alright." Although Erin was never allowed to wear her black leather jacket in class, she sure enjoyed wearing it over her uniform everywhere else. Erin glanced at Rosa, who's gaze was fixed elsewhere. Erin called to her, "What's up, Rosa?" Erin looked in the direction Rosa seemed to be interested in, a quartet of students who entered the cafe recently. Erin recognized one of the students. "Hey, that's the new guy," she mentioned, "In my homeroom, he's, uh, new... Come to think of it, I think that girl's new too."

"New students, hmm?" Rosa seemed very interested in them. Understandably so. New students weren't completely familiar with the social order of the school, after all. Rosa had to make sure they knew who were the right friends to make and who were the wrong ones. "Lala, Lyn," Rosa ordered, "I think it would be best if we gave them a warm welcome to the school. What do you girls think?"

"Of course! It's wonderful to meet and have new friends! I'm up for it!" Lala said with a rather cheery smile on her face, and was sincerely concluding nothing but good intentions in what Rosa meant as warm. Her eyes looked towards the direction of the new students. Lala had a thoughtful look while biting her lower lip. There was something odd about those two new students. It was something she can't put into words, but it won't be nice to avoid them because of such a bias. Then, Lala had a flash of recognition when she recognized Akira. "Oh, Akira-kun is there! We should go and say hi."

"If you do, pass this to Shinsato." Neri said, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a brown paper package and passed It to Lala,. "It contains the outfit he asked me to make for him. I had intended to pass it to him tomorrow, but since he is here, I might as well hand it over now. Thank you."

Lala looked at the package on her hands thoughtfully before giving a enthusiastic nod. "No problem, Neri-kun! I'll give it to him!" She ended that with a smile and a thumb's up to prove the positivity of her answer and also the confidence that it will be done.

"I love giving warm welcomes! Hmm, but like...what if it's too hot today? Should we give them a cold one?" Lyn said as she began pondering. She placed her hand to the side of her face in a thinking pose. "That really would be a problem with this rising temperature with weather. How would we go about this," she continued rambling to herself in deep thought.

By this time, Lilith had already come back with the glass of water for Erin and the rest of the requested items. Lilith was pretty entertained by their commentary since they all had distinct personalities to say the least. Out of all of them, Lilith found Rosa the most interesting. As the coffee lady at school, she's heard countless stories about her influence, bullying, and rule over the school. Certainly doesn't effect Lilith though seeing as she isn't a student, but it was one of those things she's found intriguing.

Luka gave a yawn as they entered, covering his mouth with his hand. The place was alive with chatter, and both Akira and Luka noticed Rosa's crew as the source. The duo simultaneously chose to ignore them and look at the menu instead. Rosa and her 'minions' didn't target anyone who wasn't disrupting the peace or on their blacklist, but it was best to not attract their attention. Akira did shoot a friendly smile Towards Lala, Lynn and Neri before they took their seats around an empty table, though it was brief.

"Hmm..." Akira hummed under his breath thoughtfully, flipping through the menu. The chocolate milkshake was delicious, but the set meal A served fruit tea and would make a proper meal instead of just a drink. Well, he could always get the shake later. He turned to the others, an easy smile on his face as he rested his elbows against the table. "Alright, decided! Set meal A, passion fruit tea. What about you guys?"

"I'll get the same." Florence said after a brief study of the menu. She didn't know what the food here will taste like, not that it'd matter much to her supposed skewed sense of taste. Flavor was not something very important, as long as the meal was enough to fill her stomach she'd be fine with pretty much anything.

"Set B for me," Luka said lazily, closing the menu and placing it down on the table. He relaxed back against his chair, placing his hands behind his head. He had been about to declare the same set meal Akira and Florence had chosen until he'd spotted the drink choice for set B. It was a no-brainer after that. "Strawberry milkshake for the drink, please."

Staring at the menu intensely, Cross placed his fingers on line to read the smaller printing more easily. He was having a tough time trying to figure out who's idea it was not to put pictures on this menu, though the reason it was something he aimed for was unknown. "I'll get meals A through C. Ooooh, and maybe a side of the rich coffee."

"Great decision," Lilith said smiling. She memorizes the orders instead of jotting them down for practice on memorizing details of a heist. Doing these type of orders are child's play.

Meals A through C? “You can eat all that?” This guy must have an endless pit for a stomach. Luka leaned back against his seat when he caught movement from the corner of his eyes. He made the mistake of turning his head to look, a single brow rising when he saw that Rosa was walking towards their table. Wonderful…

"Why, hello guys," Rosa greeted with a grin. She tried her best to make her tone seem friendly, but she just managed to make herself sound somewhat sinister and vaguely condescending. "I wasn't interrupting anything was I?"

"Not much, really," Akira replied cordially, turning to face the girls. "We're just waiting for our meal, that's all." he smiled politely at Rosa, shooting a more friendly one towards Lyndis and Lala. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I've just heard that we had a few new students come to school," Rosa continued, glancing at Florence and Cross consecutively, "and I just thought that it was absolutely vital to introduce myself—ourselves—to them." No matter how hard Rosa was trying to give the impression that she was being friendly, she could never lose her hubris no matter how hard she tried. She looked at Florence. "My name," she put her spread fingertips on her chest, "is Kurokmaku, Rosa Kuromaku. Of course, you can always call me Rosa. I don't need formalities when speaking with friends, after all." Once again, Rosa's tone and her intentions were mismatched in her voice. "Of course, these girls," she gestured to Lyn and Lala on either side of her, "are my friends," her tone made her sound possessive of them, "Lala Wakahisa and Lyndis Kyori." 'Can't you see what pretty friends I have?' is what she might have will been saying with her pose.

"Yep yep! We're good ole friends," Lyn said reacting to Rosa's sudden kindness.

Lala smiled warmly at the group. "Hello there! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" She then looked at Akira. "Akira-kun! Here! Neri-kun wanted you to have this!" She handed the bag which contained the outfit. "I bet you would look good in it for sure." She made a thumb's up at that.

"Thanks. Lala! Sweet," Akira grinned, the appreciation at the gesture clear on his face as he took the package from her, placing it inside his bag gently. "I asked him to mend my stage clothes," he explained, turning back around to face them again. "They had a tear in them from one of the swords in the box that night. I had a spare, but I asked Neri to help me mend it since he does it for free."

"Glad to be some help! I can't wait to see you in it." There was not an ounce of insincerity in Lala's words as she truly believes that Akira would look good and the fact Neri makes wonderful ensembles.

Cross looked over his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had seen some things throughout the day, but this confirmed it. Truthfully, he was more phased by the fact that it took him that long to realize, but he glad he did. No, he was glad he mad the choice to start talking to Akira. Boy, was he a pimp. He waited for Akira to get his shirt back, then nudged him and winked, giving him his proper kudos. He was relieved too. At first when those girls came out of nowhere he thought they had wanted something, especially when the one who seemed to be the main talker referred to them as "friends". However, he imagined that if they were cool with Akira then they were alright. When she finally finished talking, he looked over at her friends that she seemed to be presenting. More and more this was starting to look like a street affair even though he was sure these girls went to the same school that he did. He tossed it up to everyone having there types of people. Usually he wouldn't go for the floozy types, but he figured they'd be okay since they were dressed well.

Lala felt something nagging at the back of her head. It was not that idea which she had yet to say, but more of an instinct telling her to pull Rosa away. It was all due to her sights landing on one of the new students, specifically, the male one. "Ah... Rosa-chan, we -" Her sentence was not completed as once again, her best efforts were thwarted by the said new boy who did what was her gut feeling was probably warning her about.

Without a moments hesitation, Cross stood up and wrapped an arm around the girl who called herself Rosa. "Nice to meet you, Rosa," he said slyly. "My name's Cross. How about we get out of here and get something to drink eh?"

A girl approached them? "It is a pleasure to meet you, Rosa, Lala, Lyndis." Florence's eyes rested on Rosa disinterestedly as she introduced herself and her friends, not feigning her boredom one bit. She wasn't too interesting as far as Florence was concerned, they were new students, sure, but Florence saw no need to reply. All she wanted to do was to get her dinner, anything else was a slight hindrance. However, her interest was piqued when Cross wrapped his arm around the girl that seemed like she was the 'leader'. A mixture of surprise and amusement filled her eyes for a second as her mouth quirked into a half smile that faded as soon as it came. This was definitely something else. Was Cross trying to flirt with another girl? Her eyes looked a little confused as she turned to Akira, tilting her head as if in a question of what to do next.

Akira stared, eyes wide as Cross hugged Rosa, Queen of the school and its dictator, around the waist. His jaw dropped with shock, and only his stage training prevented him from dragging Cross to hide with him under the table or laughing at the colossal, massive blunder Cross had just made. The urge to laugh maniacally out of the sheer impact of Cross's social life ending on his first day (first day man, first day!) was suddenly overwhelming, and Akira made sure that any hint of even a smile was off his face and stuffed into a locked box into a closet where it would never see the light of day. If he laughed, it'd make things even worse for Cross than it was already, and Akira didn't want that. Distantly, Akira knew that he should be dragging Cross into apologizing so that Cross might get off Rosa's blacklist, but he was too stunned to do anything other than stare and gap like people who had seen his magic shows for the first time, only with the feeling of rapidly arriving doom instead of wonder.

With his chin resting against the palm of his hand, Luka watched with mild interest until Cross hugged Rosa. His eyes flickered over to look at Rosa’s face, just to see what kind of face expression the Queen will have. “Pfft—“ Oops. Luka cleared his throat and managed to hold back his laughter; but the smile on lips still lingered.

Rosa cried "Bletch!" It almost sounded as if she were giving a violent scold to a delinquent child. In that instant, whatever she called a friendly attitude turned into one of complete hostility as in one swift motion, Rosa swung around and smacked the boy, Cross, with the back of her hand. It was beyond audible and could be heard throughout the small cafe. Cross's face followed through with the smack, leaving his face turn to the side. He rubbed his cheek as if he were a boy who had just been smacked by his mother. "Wow. Here I thought we were being friendly," he grinned. "Either that or you're just a tease." He was beginning to think that maybe everyone was like this in school. Hard to understand by what they say, so he decided to be more focused on what he sees and not hears.

"Akira? Is this... normal greetings in Japanese Schools?" Florence was genuinely curious. Akira didn't seem too disturbed, so it must have been something commonly seen, right? Perhaps it was the norm in this country, to flirt with someone as a first meeting. Maybe Cross was more learned than her on that subject, and she's been doing things wrong ever since she got there. So many possibilities.

"...No, Florence, it's not." Akira said, speech suddenly coming back to him. Ahaha shit. Akira had a sinking feeling that Rosa wouldn't let this slide even if Cross apologized a thousand times. He shook himself back into closing his mouth before any flies got in and quickly made sure that the expression on his face was a neutral one that showed no emotion on what he was feeling - namely, the urge to laugh and never stop, which suddenly became a lot easier when Rosa slapped Cross. It was nice knowing you, Cross. See you in the afterlife... if Rosa or Akako doesn't eat your soul, that is.

But maybe the slap was all there would be to it. "Uh, dude," He said uneasily, getting up from his seat. "Sorry about him, he doesn't have much manners." he said apologetically to Rosa, pulling Cross away from her by the arm. He smiled at her, all charm and goodwill. He shot a meaningful look at Cross that said Don't talk and let me handle this, and continued to turn up the charm, hoping to defuse the situation, "Rosa, this is Cross, its his first day here. He's also not from Japan, so he doesn't really know the culture. What did you come here to talk about?"

"Rosa-chan, may be we should just leave it at that, okay?" Lala looked at Rosa with concern and then back at the group. "They're new and they're about to have dinner. We should let them have it, right, Lyn-chan?" Lala turned to Lyn to at least dissuade the tension she could definitely feel rising. It's unexplainable, but Lala knew that something from this point would only escalate into a bigger scene which she really didn't want to happen. "I bet Tomoe-chan needs help in math and you know, I'm no good at that. Okay, Rosa-chan?" The problem was... Rosa was set on her sights.

"He's certainly unenlightened," Rosa muttered with great contempt, "a typical woman-hungering creature, an inferior kind of a human, a man." The trio of guys frowned at that, displeased. Rosa shifted her glare away from the boy and looked toward the girl, who hadn't yet introduced herself. Rosa chuckled sardonically as she examined her own fingernails. "I'm sure you understand," she told the girl without addressing her, "how very unfortunate it is that somebody like yourself ended up with a crowd like this. Honestly, girl, I feel for you," Rosa grabbed Lyn's hand to examine her fingernails, "You're new, after all, so I suppose you don't really understand... how things work. You're deserving of better friends, ones that will teach you how things actually work." She let go of Lyn's hand to examine Lala's fingernails. Rosa then offered her hand out to Florence, in order to check her fingernails. "What do you say, girl...?"

Grab the hand girl, Rosa thought, and pledge your allegiance to your Queen. Offering to check Florence's nails may have been a way for them to be able to touch hands, a sign of friendship and trust, but Rosa's true intention was a different sort of bond. In having the girls allow Rosa to check their nails, a very small and insignificant gesture on its own, was a way to display that not only they were her friends, but that they were submissive to her and would bend to her will without Rosa having to say anything. They were her property, which like any curator of treasures or shepherd of a flock, she examined carefully to make sure they were in check. In a seemingly harmless gesture to check Florence's nails, without saying a single word, Rosa was checking to see if Florence wasn't only trusting of her as a friend, but was also ready to bend to her will, without a single word needed.

Florence observed the exchange with feelings mixed with confusion and amusement. That girl, Rosa checked their nails? It was perhaps some sort of ritual unknown to her, and as a hand was extended presumably to check her own Florence glanced at her hand before looking back to Akira, Cross and Luka quizzically. She never did like making decisions all by herself, this was a troublesome matter. However, she didn't agree to Rosa's words. "Firstly, I will not offer any excuse to your first statement for Cross, but Akira appears to be quite different from my observations. Secondly, I am certain that the friends I have now will teach me the ropes, or at least, I do not need anyone else to tell me which crowds I should stay with, or which friends I should make. And lastly... It's Florence. Florence Sterling. A pleasure to meet you as always, but I'd appreciate it if you could stay out of my business."

This made Lala worry. She wasn't offended by Florence's words. The new girl had the right to speak her mind, but it was a different matter when it comes to Rosa. Her ruby red eyes filled with trepidation as she reached out to Rosa by placing a hand on the shoulder. "Rosa-chan, we should just go. It's their first day after all. We can come back and talk to them, next time." Lala was doing her best to appease Rosa for she knew what was to follow. Her instincts were telling her that without fault. "Ro---" She was unable to continue her next words as Rosa, much like panther jumping on its prey, grabbed hold of Florence. This was bad!

There were hundreds of things you didn't do to Rosa, but no matter what Cross had done or could have done in that cafe to Rosa would have compared to the sort of action Florence had just preformed. Florence directly defied her. Many students had done things to displease or attempt to disgrace Rosa in the past, but not a single person was ever stupid enough to defy her, and speak up against her at that! Florence may have been careful with her words, but her tone said it all. You aren't the boss of me. Oh how little this naive little upstart even knew. Now, sure, accidentally defying her may have been slightly excusable because she was new, but Florence didn't even take her hand. One didn't refuse the hand of a Queen as if it was a dirty beggar's fingers. Rosa's face shifted into a look of sheer disappointment, one that made anybody want to shrivel up in shame, as she stared directly into Florence's eyes, her hand resting right in front of her, palm down. Did this girl even care? Then, with a sudden, violent jolt, Rosa snatched at Florence's wrist, like a toddler's. "Listen–!" Rosa caught herself suddenly as somebody approached, releasing Florence's wrist and holding her own elbow.

"Excuse me." It appears that she had offended Rosa for whatever convoluted reason. How was Florence to know why? She was just considering her options when the grip on her wrist loosened.

The clicking sound from plates and the refreshing smell of fresh food began to fill the area. The meals are ready accompanied by the drinks requested from the table. Lilith held it easily with one hand walking towards the table, then stopped right between Rosa and Florence. "Your food is ready," she directed towards the table. "But before you guys dig in, I have one thing to say," she paused for a brief moment as her face shifted to one with dire seriousness. The pleasant aura around her changed as she said, "This shop prides itself on having a peaceful atmosphere so if you're not willing to cooperate, then I'll have to ask or force you guys to leave. With that being said," she regained her waitresses smile, "please enjoy you meal!"[/color][/b] Her last line was said with almost an award winning actresses smile. She shifted to a complete different persona. She walked off and began to tend to other tables.

"A-Ah, thanks. Sorry," Akira turned around jerkily, his heart beating fast in his chest.The serious look that appeared on his face when Rosa grabbed Florence faded away into a thankful smile. The tension receded, and he reached out to help distribute the meals to their respective buyers, mentally bracing himself for impact. The tension was still there, and the wide-eyed stare of excitement and curiosity Cross had been shooting at Rosa like he'd been expecting a catfight had morphed into a frown after the waitress Lilith warned them, like the one he and Luka had (nd which Luka still had) only seconds ago.

"Ah, such a nice lady," Lyn replied misunderstanding the situation. She may have not pieced together that Rosa and Florence were arguing. "Florence and Cross seem pretty nice also, just weird." Forgetting they were right in front of her.

Lala felt that a big bone was pried out of her chest when the waitress entered the scene. The disaster was averted and she was really grateful for that. "Yes, she is really a nice lady, Lyn-chan." Lala agreed on that statement but on a different context than what Lyn was commenting about. "Lyn-chan, please it's not nice to say they're weird in front of them." Lala glanced at Lyn before looking back att the group. "Uhm, please enjoy your meals." She noted before looking back at Rosa.

Rosa was somewhat caught off guard by the sudden, stern warning the woman had, although she didn't show it. She waited untill the waitress had left before she gave off an indignant huff. She turned toward her girls, Lala and Lyn and looked at them up and down, as if she were trying to figure out what to do next. Rosa looked back at Florence, biting her lip, and then at Akira. "You understand," Rosa told him cryptically, "don't you? What happens them now, that is." Rosa sighed and turned her back toward the table. "Come on, girls," she declared, "we have no reason to associate with those two. We have things to chat about."

Lyn picks up her umbrella as she gets up from the table. She opens it elegantly and does a random spin. "Goodbye guys," she says with a wink. She does a slight bow with her right hand pulling up her dress only slightly as a formal farewell. "May we meet again," she says as she's quoting some movie she saw about the history of Japan culture. She began following Rosa as she skipped along.

Lala nodded at Rosa's words and then looked back at Akira and his companions. "Have a nice nice day, everyone." Her eyes landed on Akira as she silently mouthed an apology made of one word. 'Sorry...' Akira's lips twitched into a minuscule smile that meant it was okay, and she then smiled at all of them kindly. "I hope you do not close your doors for all of us being friends. Because you'll never know when that person after all will become a big part in you life, right?" She asked and the quickly added. "That is what Lucci-sensei said earlier. Well, I'll see you around!" She waved at them before turning her back at them going to where Rosa and the others are.

"Mm?" Florence sipped at her tea slowly, her mind already forgetting what events had just conspired. In her mind she had done nothing that notable, Rosa had tried to tell her to reconsider her choices, and Florence just disagreed. Why she had offended the other girl was frankly not a matter of interest to her at that point of time. Not to say that she wasn't curious to know more about Rosa, but it was none of her business what she does anyway, so as long that it didn't concern her.

"Well," Cross said as the ladies left the area. "That was sure something wasn't it? Not everyday you have some girls talk to you for no reason." He looked over at Akira and nudged and winked at him again. "I suppose that's what happens when you hang around someone with pick up skills like you, eh Aki?"

"Dude!" Akira said, sounding both scandalized and amused. Luka snickered as Akira shoved Cross away lightly, his cheeks pink tinted a faint pink at the implication. "I'm not a pimp man, look for someone else." He leaning back against his chair with a shudder, trying not to laugh himself. The idea of Rosa dating someone was both funny and disturbing, and now that the tension had died down Akira had the sudden urge to laugh with relief. "Especially not for them, I want to live a long life, thank you very much."

Cross nodded. "I see what you mean. Marrying someone who likes to play rough might breed for a short life."

"More like playing till their limbs break off instead of rough." Akira sighed, humor receding back into seriousness. The situation was really bad now that the two of them had gotten into Rosa's shitlist. On their first day too, what were the odds? Akira grabbed his cup and took a sip of the tea, wetting his lips. He had to explain what was going to happen next, and that wasn't something he liked doing. "They're not all that bad, but I guess I should start at the beginning. Luka, help me if I get anything wrong." Luka nodded as he drank his milkshake through a straw, and Akira leaned forward, resting his head on against his hands. "That girl Cross hugged just now was Rosa, and..."

"Hey Rosa!" Erin spoked up slightly above indoor voice. "Spot-on with that hit! I would have punched him in the mouth if I were you, or twisted his finger, maybe." Rosa gave Erin a wordless glare, which caused Erin to slink back a bit, looking to her side as she slurped away at her water. Tomoe fought the urge to snicker and just stared at her textbook like it was spilled milk. Rosa merely sat back down wordlessly, giving a sort of uneasy silence to the table. Erin broke it. "So, uh, I guess we're not talking with those two anymore, huh?"

"I personally don't care about the womanizer, Cross," Rosa said truthfully, "but the girl, Florence, is a moron." Rosa examined her own fingernails again. "She's also quite vicious, a person of the wicked sort. Perhaps we should tell people to avoid her, for their own good of course. Somebody text Akako."

"Yeah, uh," Tomoe spoke up, having given up on the homework, "Where's A-ko again?" Tomoe squinted, before lighting up in realization. "...Oh yeah! I remember. She's with those club boys, huh, doing you know what." Tomoe giggled at that while Erin clicked her tongue. "You know, just giving those twins a bit of a scare. They're not actually hurting them, right?" Rosa didn't answer. "And do we have to do anything about them as well?"

"No, not really," Rosa responded surprisingly suddenly, "we don't have to worry about those two upstarts, at least not anymore. The boys will have dealt with them and those two will be out of our hair. They will have learned their lesson. If they haven't, well, Akako is supposed to bring us their underwear." Tomoe giggled as she unwrapped her BluScreen from her wrist and began idly browsing. Erin chuckled before giving her water one big gulp to finish it. "Although, to be perfectly honest, I don't care too much about those boys anymore. They weren't really much of a threat anyway. Honestly, they probably don't even deserve whatever's coming to them, but whatever." Rosa glanced around the cafe and saw the clock. "Besides, they should be finishing up soon anyhow, so we should as well."

"Uh, Rosie?" Tomoe was reading text messages when she spoke up. "I think you should see this."

---

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Collaborative post between Lloyd999, Alle9009, moahi, Pandora's Melancholy, taigaxx and KumoriKitsune.

The loud chatter of the cafeteria filled the room. The cafe was spacious and contained more than enough space for every student in the school as if they planned for another incoming class. Although it seemed like a normal day, there was a bit of 'tension' floating around in the air. It was Thursday, but not your average one. More specifically it was Godbread Thursday, the day where boys become men.

"Only a few more minutes to go," Lilith said watching the oven. She was still waiting to produce the gift from heaven and bring it to life on earth. The Godbread. Perfectly seasoned, buttered, and prepared with love. The ultimate bread that for today, was only one eighth of the regular price. Typically, only fully grown adults with a well-paying job could afford such a delicacy or a few students that came from rich families, but this special was made with the students in mind; however, there was a large catch with this. Only five were being made. In the spirit of competition, each Godbread will be placed separated and equal distance from the opposite side of the coffee shop. Whoever brings it to Lilith's cashier stand in the small coffee shop section located in the cafe, gets the sale. Once the Godbread container was handed to Lilith, then it is considered safe and no longer eligible for anyone to take. This was the honor rule in placed for all those who battle for it. This was a monthly affair and allows students to release any stress they have built up through school along with the chance to be blessed by the Godbread.

Today marked the second Godbread Thursday of the school year which tends to be the more popular one. By now, the nicknames of those who have participated have been given and more people would have garnered strategies in preparation for war. The first war was interesting to say the least. There five winners were the Hokage, the angry Mad Hatter, the Ghost, the Doll Queen, and the Still Reaper. This time, the fight will be more rigorous since more students have prepared their own strategies in preparation. You could see among the students that some have matching shirts to represent their factions, others have sat in certain positions closer to the Godbread locations where they would be placed. "This'll be a good show," Lilith said to herself. This was one of the few things that gave Lilith a slight rush other than stealing valuables. "I guess I'll check what's on TV then," she said as she motioned towards the remote. There was a slightly large television used to create ambiance with background music while the store ran. *Click* She flipped to the first channel, hah the news.

"This is AMAZING," the reporter obnoxiously yelled. "Tempest! From Blast of Tempest is rumored to be coming to Namimori to perform, SOON!" Her excitement was very apparent accompanied by the fans standing behind her trying to get their five seconds of fame. "I love you Tempest!" one of the teenagers shouted from behind the reporter. "Oh yeah! We love you Tempest," another fan shouted. "But that's not all folks!" the reporter could barely contain her excitement, "But Kunyo! Kunyo the model! He'll be accompanying her! Both of these idols together!"

"Her music is alright, but Kunyo is pretty attractive. Not my type though," Lilith muttered while changing to the next channel. Another news jingle came on again, "Oh great, more news."

A male reporter with a larger build stood there with a serious demeanor. "This is scary news folks. Last week, we went from covering the mysterious gamer N1E5—pronounced Nies— and his many achievements, but this week we have a notorious hacker attack...in NAMIMORI." "This man sounds like the conspiracy theorist that are on television....oh wait," she stopped midway realizing this in fact is the news. "But alas, we have hope! We have another hacker on our side!”

"Conspiracy, conspiracy, next," she clicked the remote again.

"Here we are live with the famous Wushu Master, Alois!" The reporter shifted the mic while the camera focused on Alois. "Hello Alois, I've heard you're coming to Namimori soon, why is that?" She continued to ask him probing questions on and on.

"Eh, that's cool I guess." *DING DING DING* The oven continuously beeped. It's time. Lilith pressed the power button on the remote to shut off the annoying news reporters. As she walked towards the oven, she could notice the shift in atmosphere in the cafeteria. The voices slowly began to fade as she went to open the oven. She grabbed her Namimori cafe specialized mittens with Bertha's image holding a coffee mug, then opened the oven. The irresistible aroma overwhelmed the cafe and overtook Lilith for a moment. The smell started to spread even further into the cafeteria causing an eerie silence to fill the area. "The God bread," one student muttered quietly, "Praise the gods. "The Pastry Goddess has finished the ritual," another student said while beginning to kneeling down in respect. Lilith somehow earned the title of Pastry Goddess as the legends of God Bread Thursdays began. The nicknames and different factions of students were always interesting to say the least.

Lilith pulled out the long strip of Godbread out of the oven and already prepped five durable sturdy containers out on a table. She carefully divided them up, spread butter, a bit more seasons, and finally completed the legendary God Bread by placing them in the containers. "It's time," she said while holding each container stacked on top of each other like a professional waitress. She walked slowly towards the first pedestal on the opposite side of the cafeteria. The pedestal was white and in the form of ancient Greek god. The five gods that had a pedestal design were Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares, and Apollo and it is said that whichever bread you receive will cause you to earn a different blessing from the respective god. Each pedestal god held their hand out as if they were holding something up which conveniently could be filled with a God Bread. All five god pedestals that lie equal distance from each other while they all stand on the opposite side of the cafe. As Lilith placed the final God Bread, she began walking back like a model in all her beauty. She lived up to her title as the Pastry Goddess because as she slowly walked, her hair flew which helped show her natural allure. By this point, the entire cafeteria population was silent and watching Lilith head back to the cafe. The war doesn't start until she says those magic words. Students sat there with their fist clenched and ready.

The sound of running footsteps began near the Zeus Godbread statue. Someone tried to get a false start ahead of everything. "Sorry love," Lilith said as she quickly turned around. She reached for a small yen coin from her pocket, held it with two fingers with her left hand, and prepared her right hand to flick it. She closed one eye, then released the flick. The yen flew at a terrifying speed directly toward the student. BAM! It hit the child bulls eye on the back of the head. He fell down temporarily knocked out from the impact. Some students shook their heads, knowing that you should never try to get an early start. The Pastry Goddess is beautiful but merciless. Without saying any further words, Lilith turned around and continued walking towards the cafe. She finally reached the cashier with her back facing the wall opposite of the students and the Godbread. The tension in the air was more evident since it was about to be that time. She quickly turned around with the 'coffee lady girl' persona and smile and said, "Welcome to Namimori Cafe! We are Now Open!"

"To the Godbread!" "Ahhhh!" I'll get it!" A multitude of students had begun yelling while chasing their respective god pedestal. This was the beginning of the second bread wars.

Cain walked on the long path to school whistling with a bounce to his step. He was on complete autopilot, focused more on the fact that he was getting used to being called Cross and wondering if he should just ditch his real name completely. He liked his alias name. It worked in any place. He could be Cross to appease the peasants and Crostoph to cater to the nobles. It was truly a good alias, but it would probably work better as an alias, if only for the fact that he could use it anywhere.

He was abruptly snapped back into manual movement when he bumped into what seemed like an ox or some type of cattle of some kind. Taking a few steps back he realized that it was a back of a man... a student!? When the giant of a teenager turned around,it was apparent that he was hunched over, having a few more inches to offer to his already tall stature. Cross was beginning to laugh, struggling to stop when he saw the pissed off face the guy had and the soda stain on his shirt.

"Wha?! You think this is funny," The hulkish student interrogated.

"I don't know, but it sure triggered something. Sorry about your shirt." Cross gave a generous smile, trying to look as humble and friendly as he could to avoid a problem. It wasn't because he was actually sorry, but he didn't want to cause a scene so close to the school.

"Shut up.Look at you and your chicken feather arms. You know I can snap your joints like twigs."

Cross noticed some smaller, muscle heads behind the monarch of them all. He realized they were trying to bully him immediately and looked at the bigger boy who was standing way to close to his face.

"You know who we are? We're the five time bread wars winners of the senior weight lifting club," the larger male said. "We need all the bread we can get to carb up. Carbs are energy. Energy is mass. Mass means your swole."

"Swole!!!" The boys behind him cheered while flexing their arms, muscles bulging like hard lumps growing at lightspeed.

"Yeah.That's right. So you better watch out. We'll settle this later at the bread wars chump." The bigger lad shoved Cross to the ground and the three boys laughed and walked off.

He had avoided a fight and a scene, but found he was left with the taste of defeat in his mouth. It made him anxious for lunch to come. Then he would show those boys that he wasn't the person to start bullying. Sometimes you had to lose a few battles to win a war.

Once he was in class he sat in his chair and pulled out his cell phone. The message number was the same as his answering machine at home. He always checked his messages on anold answering machine, but that was because he didn't like talking too much on cellular devices. It was always good to count though.

"Cross, morning." Akira waved perkily from his seat, a pencil in his other hand. He looked entirely different to what Cross felt about mornings - cheerful, completely awake and ready to greet the rising sun with a smile and the large, gigantic cup of coffee currently resting on his table. Or anything caffeinated, really. Akira wasn't too picky. "Ready for the bread wars?"

Cross glared at Akira before dropping his guard for a sigh. "You bet I am. There will be no survivors," he said while thinking about those so called bullies. "Even if I have to burn all the bread. Hehehehe." Laughing it off he took comfort in the presence of his friend. Not only was his cheerful aura good to be around, but he could answer more of Cross's questions. "So. The bread wars.... What exactly do we do? Are we just going to beat up on the other students?"

"If you burn the Godbread, I'll burn you to ashes," Akira said pleasantly, but even though he was smiling his eyes promised terrible, terrible things if Cross actually did produce a lighter in presence of the bread. It would practically be a mercy kill compared to if others found out that someone wanted to destroy the Bread, anyway. "Nobody will ever find your remains, it'll be the greatest disappearing trick I've ever done. I'll do the same trick if you need help hiding the bodies though. Jokes aside!" He said brightly, sitting up straight in his chair. "Here's what's going on..."

The short version of it, Akira explained between sips of coffee, was this - there were five Godbreads, only one bread could be taken by one person, who would have to be able to defeat the free-for-all taking place for said bread and make it to the counter of the breadshop without it getting stolen or out of his hands, which would be when he paid for the bread to Lilith, the cashier lady and Pricing God. No weapons were allowed, and there'd be a group of announcers near the side talking about what's going on and the center was normally where the normal students who didn't want to participate ate lunch in peace, and finally and most importantly the winners of the bread tend to get names given to them. "Like with the Hokage, Mad Hatter and Ghost. They won the Godbread last battle, so they got nicknames." Akira paused and stroked his chin, frowning thoughtfully. "And we want to get the bread for ourselves by any means possible that doesn't involve breaking the rules or we'll receive a coinflick to the forehead that feels like a truck hitting you in the face. Not a fun thing." Akira shuddered as if he was remembering it taking place, then got back to reality. "And as for the plan... We'll stick to the one we came up with yesterday. That's about it, I guess. Anything else you'd like to know?"

"No. That explanation will suffice." A quiet voice came from behind Akira as Florence seemed to appear out of nowhere. Akira made a squeak of surprise and whirled around in his seat, hand gripping the back of his seat as he tried to see how Florence was behind him. There was no telling how Long she had been there all along, but it was Long enough for her to get a gist of the competition. "It's nice to meet you again, Akira, Cross. Home room is starting soon, we should discuss later."

As if on cue, the teacher came in. "Oi, you guys, class is starting," He called out, and the trio hurriedly returned to their seats.

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The girl was silent, calm, deadly as she danced her way through battle, her long legs lashing out as she kicked her opponents away. She was not beautiful, but she was pretty in a faded way, like an old photograph, her long green hair flowing behind her as she weaved her way through the other students, battling with grace that could belong to only a dancer. She was from no group, and had no title, but that did not matter to her - nothing did, except for the Bread and the chance to test her mettle against her fellow students.

Camaraderie? Grouping up to take the Bread? Dogs, the lot of them. And she was not a dog. She was a wolf, lonesome and deadly, like an assassin in the night. She was not one of those foolish pack dogs who followed their leaders and got only scraps of the Bread as reward. She was not that weak. If - When she won the Bread, it would be by her hands alone, and the victory of winning would make it all the more sweeter.

And if she was not able to get the Bread, then she would not make it easy for the others. There were many groups and fellow battlers to take her ire out on, in those times.

Everyone around her was fighting. Picking off a few stragglers, the girl wandered closer and closer to the center, flitting here and there for an opponent until she spotted a group of three in the center of the chaos.

A redhead, a brunette with a baguette in his hands, a blonde girl. The redhead was talking animatedly to the other two, although she could not hear them over the din her fellow combatants were making. The girl smiled to herself, secretive and pleased as she silently made her way towards them, ducking out of sight and using the other combatants as coverage.

"ALRIGHT GUYS, REMEMBER THE PLAN!" The redhead was yelling, once she had gotten close enough to hear. The Judo captain a few feet behind him grabbed a third year student and flung the student sky high, and the redhead ducked as the student flew inches above his head with a high pitched scream that continued until he landed against a group of other people with a thump. They fell over with screams and thuds like a pack of skittles, but the girl paid them no attention, her gaze sharpening on her targets.

The redhead, she thought decisively, nodding to herself. He looked the weakest out of them all, scuttling closer to the other two as he looked around warily for any other attacks. He was also too busy talking like an idiot to actually notice her. She ducked behind a couple running to the Artemis statue, then creeped steadily towards the redhead, slowly but surely approaching his back, If anyone saw her, they would have felt a similarity to a snake sneaking up on a small, harmless bunny, hungry for prey.

The boy failed to notice her, fool that he was. He had his back turned towards the girl as he talked with his other teammates, huddling in closer to them as if they could help ward off any attacks. Inwardly, the girl scoffed - foolish! If they were weak enough for the need to group in order to get the Bread, then why join at all? - but outwardly her face remained stoic. She was close enough to hear the red headed student over the din as he spoke his next words. "WE - I mean we're gonna get the Bread! Herabread and Apollobread is gone and Zeusbread is guarded by two fighters" - it seemed that the boy had been keeping track of what the announcers had been saying - "But we've still got two more!"

She had to act fast, before they noticed her. The boy was already finishing sharing his plan, and she had wasted enough time getting close to them. Silently sneaking through the remaining distance, she approached the redhead hummingbird fast as he concluded with, "You guys get them while I find Luka, ok?!"

He was already half turning around, crimson eyes growing wide as he noticed the shadow she casted as the girl swung her long leg in a vicious arc against his head, but it was too late. The girl felt a faint smile appear on her face. Victory was hers -

There wasn't a pause as Florence blocked the kick with one of her own, catching the girl by her middle with the arc of her leg and kicking her back into the crowd. It wasn't a particularly harsh one, Florence kept herself in check for violence in public. "Be careful Akira." She reminded him before nodding at his instructions. Scanning the crowd with her blue eyes, Florence spotted the pedestal that held the bread. Most of them were surrounded by hordes of desperate students, fighting each other to get closer to the statue. She subconsciously reached for the knives, before remembering the rules Akira briefed them about. Instead, her hand pulled out a few chopsticks from the inner pocket of her jacket. They weren't as sharp as she liked, but they would have to do for now. A student charged at her as Florence tried to dive in to the crowd, but was greeted with a swift and brutal kick to the stomach. Florence glided on by calmly, hardly fazed by the attack.

"Thanks Flo! Got it!" Akira continued to rush onwards as the trio split into groups, dodging and avoiding the other fighters. He dove into the melee with his eyes wide, dodging and weaving around the other battlers with keen eyes. Ducking as a student dressed in towels flew over his head with a bloodcurdling yell towards another student holding a tray, Akira kept his eyes opened for Luka. Spotting someone with familiar black hair, he darted forwards and tapped his classmate on the shoulder. "Luka!" he yelled over the din, a harried grin spreading on his face. "Found you! We're gonna go find the other bread, would that be ok?"