The first thing Vash saw when he entered his new high school was a distasteful abstract painting that stood out between all the school-related portraits and photographs, the big wooden doors, arched windows, and the long, old-fashioned carpet on the floor. It appeared that someone had hung up this attempt at art to conceal a piece of writing - vandalism - on the wall, but the painting was hung too far to the right and the beginning of the sentence was still visible: "I AM A". A human being? A friend of nature? A master fighter? A bastard child? No one would ever know.

"Don't worry," his sister had said with a smile when she had turned to the left, heading towards the junior high school building. "I will be happy."

She probably would be. They hadn't been separated in years, but he knew that she could cope with this. He knew that she could take care of herself when it was really necessary, and could even find happiness. After all, she was pretty good with social interactions. True, she didn't talk much, but when she did, she always managed to befriend people. Vash on the other hand... He didn't need such a thing as friendship. He would just sit in the middle of the classroom and listen to the teacher. Perhaps count his pocket money if the subject being explained was already well known to him.

So there he sat, moments later. As he could have guessed, a large part of his class consisted of idiots. Behind him, someone was talking about pasta. To the right, someone was talking about manga to an older-looking student (must have stayed back) who appeared to be asleep. In the back corner, he could vaguely distinguish some sort of discussion about whether or not it was physically possible for vampires to be fat. Another student somewhere in the classroom was speaking so loudly that it was unclear where the noise originated, and thus Vash could not detect the exact location of the speaker. He looked to the left, but quickly looked away again. Just what he needed: Roderich Edelstein was in this class.

A group of three girls and a boy came into the classroom just in time for the bell. The girls were engaged in a vivid conversation that seemed to contain "juicy gossip". The boy - unusually tall, yet not the tallest in the class, as he had seen an even taller guy walk towards the back - sat down in front of him, followed immediately by one of the girls, who sat down by his side. She had dark blonde shoulder-length hair, green eyes and a hairband, and Vash frowned when he recognized her as Emma.

He didn't usually bother to form an opinion on many topics, including people, who often seemed all the same to him. All of them annoyed him; all of them had flaws; all made mistakes. When he witnessed a fight, he would simply ignore it, or at the most, help the loser bandage up when it was over. He never picked a side; never told a tale. He minded his own business and hoped other people would do the same. He didn't want to be a part of their useless games, and he thought he gave off that sign especially well. Most people seemed to understand the message.

Emma, on the other hand, did not. She invited him to every party, every movie night, every project he was not interested in; and then the next day, would reprimand him for never showing up. She must know, thought Vash, that he did not care for such activities. And so her invitations must either be a sign that she was purposefully annoying him, or else that she was under some strange belief that every person could and should befriend every other person, without exceptions.

She seemed to be a schemer: always acting as if she were shy, modest and obedient, yet behind, yet behind this mask he knew there must be a much bossier and more selfish personality, for she always seemed to get her way and her many friends - if friends they truly were - seemed to bow down before her popularity and concealed leadership. Vash, on the contrary, had never felt the need to give in to Emma's wishes. It didn't matter how much she prodded him: he did not, and never would, want to join her ever-growing clique of superficial friendships.

He wasn't sure whether he disliked her for this constant prodding, or for her false personality, or whether it was simply because she claimed that she made better chocolate than he could, and that her brother made better cheese. (He never knew, when she said this, whether she was referring to the brother with the scar on his forehead, who was sitting next to her, or to her half-brother Francis, who was one of the professors, but he was of the opinion that neither of their cheeses could compete with his own, and since he did not have an opinion about many things, he trusted that the ones he did have must be correct.)

"... and I've heard rumors of people disappearing in the school! I mean, like, what if the school was, like, haunted? That would be totally cool!"

With these words, one of the other two girls plopped down in front of Emma and her brother, swinging back and forth on her chair and leaning back over her shoulder towards the two siblings. The remaining girl, a tall brunette, was still standing, looking around with a worried expression, as if she couldn't decide where to sit. Now that Vash was able to see her a bit better after the others had sat down, he realized that it was, in fact, another boy: he just had longish hair, longer than Vash's own. The hyper girl in front of Emma was wildly signaling for him to sit with her, but a voice sounded from the very back of the class.

"Toris, why don't you sit with me, da?" It was the tall guy he had noticed before, taller than Emma's brother. His face looked friendly and he had a sunflower pinned to his uniform, but his voice sounded slightly threatening. Toris quickly ran to sit with this bigger guy, much to Emma and the other girl's dismay.

"Toris, that's so mean! Like totally unfa- WAAAAH!"

"Feliks, be careful!" She had fallen off her chair.

Feliks, thought Vash. Apparently, she was a boy as well, which made Emma the only girl in that clique of four. This surprised him a little - he would have expected someone like her to hang out with other girls, but then again, there were hardly any girls in the class, so statistically it made a lot more sense for her friends to be male.

When Feliks had gotten back onto his seat, rubbing his behind, Emma continued the conversation they were having when they came in.

"Anyway, it's not haunted, Feliks. One student disappeared last year - only one - and I don't believe the school would have anything to do with it..."

"He probably ran away," her brother added. It was the first time he had said anything.

"Aww, but that would be so boring!" Feliks seemed like he would never calm down. "What if he died and his soul is like haunting the school?! Or what if he was kidnapped!"

"He probably ran away," Emma's brother repeated. "He was in senior year. He was not weak. He wouldn't get himself kidnapped."

Feliks pouted. "So if there's no ghosts, what is there to see at this school? Like, are there ponies?"

"In the school gardens, there is a meadow, sometimes with cows or ponies." Feliks rejoiced at hearing Emma's information. "There are also lovely trees, and the cafeteria has some delicious goodies, though it could always be better..."

"What else?!" It appeared that Feliks, like him, must be new in this class, but unlike himself, he was bustling with excitement, unable to contain himself.

"Well," Emma continued, "there are flowers, and little shops, and there's a music room where you can play... Oh, and I wouldn't recommend it, but in the hallway there's a vending- "

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" boomed a voice close behind him.

"Thank you, Ludwig," said the teacher. "Now class can begin."