Chapter 1: New at School

The hallway was unusually clean compared to her old school. That was the first thing she noticed. The bluish white tiles on the floor sparkled in a strange way that she hasn't seen too often before; but she was sure the slippery ground had been stepped on by just about a couple million times. It still shined, although little sunlight actually went through the windows...perhaps the light. The tiles were a strange thing to puzzle over, especially as a first impression, but that was just how she liked to think.

And then the lockers. They were just as clean and shimmery, but gray…Which was a peculiar color for lockers in her opinion. She always thought they should be black. But when she actually thinks about it, which I'm sure she won't any time too soon, she thinks everything should be black.

Or just the darkest shade of gray imaginable. But the lockers were light gray.

Unfortunately, the girl didn't have a particular fondness for light colors. It hurt her eyes. Well, eye…unless she could somehow see through that eye patch of hers. But that's highly doubtable because if that left eye of hers could see through the black fabric, then it would almost defeat the entire purpose of wearing it. Almost...being the key word, of course.

And small things like clean hallways and gray lockers were just about the main reason why she didn't like transferring to a new school. She wasn't a very adjustable person, to tell the truth.

Fujisaki Mori was a girl, as I the writer, am sure that you, the readers, all know by now. If not, please note the usage of female words such as "she" and "her." And if you still don't get it, check a grammar book. Or an online encyclopedia. Those are highly recommendable.

Of course, the school was not to know that she was of the female gender. Because that would invite unwanted attention from members of her own sex. And if that happened, well, that would defeat the entire purpose of wearing the boys' version of Namimori Junior High's school uniform.

Mori didn't like girls. She was polite enough to them, but she certainly did not like them. Much less being one of them.

Anyhow, the poor girl disguised as a boy was currently trying to find her rather elusive new homeroom. Somehow, the compass she brought along wasn't helping at all. "Why is the north hand pointing at a brick wall?" She blankly looked at said wall about twenty yards away from her. "At least, I don't think that my classroom is in a brick wall." She thought for a moment. "Maybe it's like Harry Potter?"

She liked that movie. The death was quite entertaining.

Just for good measure, she tried it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work as well as she had expected. Which was saying something because even she couldn't have expected much from a movie which was derived from a book, which came from an author, who is a person. No matter how strange her mind may be structured. The outcome was rather strange and best not to be revealed to public.

Five minutes later, after walking in seemingly random directions, Mori found herself standing in front of a door. But wasn't just any door; it was the reception room of Namimori Junior High. At least, that was what the label said. Somehow, she completely failed to grasp the importance of a reception room. Except that there might be teachers in it. And teachers means help! Unless said teachers were also new and didn't know shit where her room was.

Curiosity killed the cat. I seen no reason as to why it was show her any more mercy.

From impulse of the moment, Mori opened the door, which I might add was prettier than the other ones and was made of a really polished kind of wood with a pleasant reddish brown shade in it. The carvings were quite nice.

There was a boy inside. A very, really attractive one too…in her opinion. Which kind of kills the statement because it's her opinion after all. Mori's opinion. As in completely different from anyone else's.

Anyways, the cute boy was apparently reading a book when she came in. Of course, when someone's reading an intriguing plotline in an intriguing book and some random person just barges in rudely, it's not likely that he'll ignore that…right?

So the boy looked her with a rather annoyed look. Which is a shame, because he'd probably look better with a smile. But that probably won't be possible. Mori simply looks back at the glare and blinks in a strange way; similar to that of an owl.

"What do you want?" The question must have came out in a wrong fashion, because it was more of a demand that an interrogative statement. He wouldn't do that to a person he just met, right? That would just be rude.

She cocked her head to the side, her own sign of curiosity, before answering that question which she assumed was not meant to be in a rude tone. "Mm…I'm lost." Which was a half lie, because she knew that she was in the reception room. But she just didn't know where the reception room was located in the school. That posed a problem.

The boy frowned a bit more than he already was and set his book down before getting up from the couch he was sitting on. It was black, by the way. A lovely color.

At least she was sure she was talking to a boy; you never know with girls these days, especially cross dressers. His voice had a semi deep tone that a girl could never possibly imitate correctly.

"You're a new student?"

Mori nodded, smiling that airy smile which had been stuck on her lips the entire day just to ward off other, not new students; particularly the girls. See, about her devious plan to avoid females…she never knew she was that attractive as a boy. It was like that Viola girl in "Twelfth Night…or what you will…" by Shakespeare. She really loved that play. "I don't know where my classroom is."

"What is it?" He said impatiently, obvious not interested in dealing with a girl that he thought was a boy.

"What's what?"

"You're classroom number." He sounded really calm, but Mori could tell he was getting more irritated by the second.

She thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean the slip of paper that the administrator gave me?" She reached into her bag (black, of course) and produced a pink sheet with a few scrawlings on it. "Mm…3-B…?"

"You're a third year?" He arched an eyebrow, obviously doubting it. Well, nobody could blame him. She was a short for a boy; and further more…she was thirteen. Not fifteen or whatever people are in 9th grade, but thirteen. For reasons that will not be explained right now.

"Hai." When she said that, Mori suddenly became aware that her voice was too soft for a boy's. Which is going to pose as a problem that she'll have to deal with later. She won't just deepen it because that'll just sound dumb.

There was a moment of silence as he tried to think of an easy way to give her the directions to her room. While he did so, Mori noticed something about the guy. He was dead creepy. There was just something about him that sucked every bit of warmth out of the place. And the sun was quite bright here too. Not that she cared. Cold wasn't that terribly horrible.

"Are you a vampire?" She asked. He looked at her.

"What?" There was that demanding tone again.

"I'm just wondering, because you seem creepy for a normal person. So I thought you might be something like a vampire." She said. Her tone was plain and without any sarcasm. Because…she said these words with a real conviction.

"You're classroom's down the hallway on the left." He said, ignoring her words. "Now get out…or I'll bite you to death." There was a flash of silver in his hands.

"Bite to death...then you are a vampire?" she said brightly, not even registering the glares she was being treated to. "Ok, arigato. Vampire san. But really…" She leaned closer to the boy's face. He automatically stepped back two inches. "Mm…you're mouth's closed right now, but when you were talking…um…you're teeth really aren't that sharp. Oh well, ja ne."

And before the boy could say anything, she slid through the pretty door and out the hallway before heading towards her new classroom. She didn't notice that a tonfa had crashed straight into the spot where she was standing a few seconds ago. It split the wood of the pretty door. No!

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Mori was a celebrity in class. All the girls wanted to talk to her (poor delusional suckers), all the guys wanted to know what the hell happened to her poor left eye.

"Nothing." She said when asked. "Nothing at all."

They tried to ask again, of course. They'd never give up. But Mori was used to this. She wasn't going to give into petty whining. Hell, people from her old school actually bribed her to tell them and she still didn't. That's just how tough she was. Unless…they gave her cookies. But nobody knew that little tidbit.

Just then, that boy she had met previously entered the room.

"Ah! It's Vampire san!" She pointed rather rudely. Hey, it was payback for using that tone for a question. Even if it was on accident. "Um…you're in this class too?" No wonder it didn't take him long to give her the directions.

There was silence. Utter silence. The students who were previously talking to her gulped and backed away…slowly…Mori looked around ignorantly. "Eh? Did I say something?"

The labeled vampire boy walked to the desk adjacent to hers and set his things down.

"Mm…I have a vampire seating partner." Mori blinked that owl blink.

It was kind of a bad idea to provoke him…of all people…

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"Fujisaki kun."

"H…Hai?" Mori looked up from her book. "Did I do something?"

Her teacher shook his head. "I'm assigning projects at the moment, so will you please pay attention?" He sounded a bit exasperated.

"Ma, Sensei. Don't sound too angry. This is only my first time not paying attention, right?" The hard look she was given told her that was not the case. In fact, her teacher lost count in exactly how many times he had to call her attention back over and over again.

"Anyways, Fujisaki kun. You know who your partner for this project is, right?"

She thought for a moment. "Sensei said…the person next to you?"

"Correct."

"Then…" she looked to her left. "Mm…I'm working with Vampire san?" She asked. The guy shot her an angry glance.

"Vampire san?" The teacher repeated confusedly. "You're seating partner is Hibari Kyouya. You'll be working with him on a project that deals with reproduction."

"Reproduction?"

"yes."

"Ok." She didn't seemed bothered at all that she had to do a project on reproduction with a vampire. "Ano, Sensei?" There was one small thing that puzzled her. Just a small thing; it wasn't like it was going to affect anything about her project, right? Of course not. She's not that stupid, right?

"Yes, Fujisaki kun?"

"What's reproduction?"

…never mind…she was that stupid after all.

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"So…reproduction is…when women get pregnant and have children?" Mori asked, flipping through the many pages of the encyclopedia. "They have a lot of graphics here. I wonder what the pictures about talking about? I always thought women had kids when they get married."

It was the day after they were assigned the project. Mori found out just how violent her "Vampire san" was. The hard way. It was really hard writing with a broken right arm. Especially since she was right handed. And a messed up head. Well, her head was already screwed beyond help. But that hit from the guy's tonfa was not going to help it. Especially with that bandage around her head which was currently squeezing the living hell out of her mind. Or whatever's in there.

Kyouya, now properly identified, got up from his comfy seat on his couch and went to a bookshelf, which I might mention, was just about exploding with books of all colors and sizes. They were in his house, by the way. Mori would never keep that many books, even if they were all scattered across her house. Conveniently, the two buildings were right next to each other. Vampire neighbor, huh? Anyways, he removed a thick hardcover book from the shelf. He flipped through a few pages, just to check that it was the right one.

"Should I draw these? But I don't know what the colors are-meep!" She yelped as the boy slammed the heavy book right in front of her. "W…what did I do?"

"Read it." He said tonelessly before returning to his couch. She looked at the cover. "Analysis of the human body?"

Five minutes later…"So…" Mori looked very disturbed. "Reproduction is…"

"Yes…"

"Then it's all that…."

"Yes…"

"When a girl and boy…"

"…" He was getting tired of this little game.

"I think I need to go throw up. Hibari kun, where's the bathroom?"

Kun?

Surely he must've heard wrong.

"I don't feel good!"

He was still hooked on the "kun" part. What is with the person? Does (he) have a death wish? Apparently so.

"Gah!!" Mori was poor person. Even after she threw up…on an undesirable spot that is unfortunately not the toilet, wastebasket, or sink, she still had to deal with a very, very pissed off vampire.

(Hibari kun? Uh…don't be so mad! I'll clean it up…um…please don't give me that vampire look. It's very terrifying. Ack!)

A while later.

"You're too sensitive." Kyouya said coolly as he flipped through the book she was just looking at.

"But…that's talking about…" She still looked a bit sick.

"Get used to it. I'll kill you if you throw up in the classroom."

Somehow she sensed it was not an empty threat. "Fine." She said gloomily. "And I always thought I was the insane one." She was…just not in the same category.