Chapter One: New Kids on the Block

 

      * Was the first day supposed to be the worst? He had never been able to figure it out. He and his friends sat in desks in the back of the classroom and watched as the regular students filed in, one after another. One by one, he sized them up, carefully picking out those who would cause problems and those who would stay out of the way. What did it even matter anymore. It wasn’t like this was a mission. It was just a constructive waste of time. The bell rang, and just as the blood-curdling screech stopped, a girl huffed and puffed her way into the classroom. He couldn’t see her face because of the heavy powder blue hood pulled up over her head, but for some reason, he kept staring. When she took the seat right in front of him, he stopped straining his eyes and, keeping his ever-present emotional mask, he closed his eyes and pretended to lose interest in the world around him.

      That, did not, however, mean that Hiiro Yui stopped paying attention. If anything, he was more alert than ever. Out of slits in the bottom of his eyes, he watched the teacher, Ms. Haruna, stack, restack and shuffle her papers as she cleared her throat and got ready for the morning lesson.

      “Students, today we have five new additions to our class. I would like to all give a warm welcome to them. Boys, please come up here and say your name, for the benefit of the rest of your class.” The tall red headed teacher beckoned them forward and Hiiro was the last in the line of his friends to stand and walk to the front of the room.

      “Hello. My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. It’s nice to meet you all.” Serena just stared at the new boys. The one who had just introduced himself was cute, innocent, but cute. His blonde hair was combed and neatly placed upon his head and warm sky blue eyes quickly scanned the crowd to see what he was in for for the rest of the year.

      “I’m Maxwell, Duo Maxwell! There is an ice cream store around, right?” Serena cracked a large grin at this one. He had a goofy sense of humor, but it fit him. He had a long brown braid hanging and swinging behind his back, and his violet eyes shone with laughter and happiness. Just like Quatre, he scanned the room, searching for a sign of what the rest of the school year would be like for him.

      “The name’s Trowa Barton.” Was what the next one said. Serena had to give him a second glance. He had said his name with only slight emotion. Through his reddish brown hair and long bangs, she could only see one dark forest green eye, but it was enough to let her know that this was the serious one in the group.

      “I’m Chang Wufei.” Came the next quick introduction. He had almost snapped his name in half the way he said it so quickly with so much force. Serena passed the tone off as annoyance at the braided boy, she had seen him taunting Wufei earlier. Looking him over, she discovered Wufei had dark features placed on light skin. Black eyes and black hair pulled into a tight low ponytail, plus a heavy dark expression that showed he had seen much in his few years.

      “Hiiro Yui.” Was all the last of the five boys said. Serena almost gasped when she saw him. It wasn’t his messy chocolate brown hair, or his piercing prussian blues that stole her breath away, however. It was the fact that his eyes, his face, his entire soul held nothing. No emotion what so ever flashed over his young face, he seemed void of all feeling and reaction. She brushed it aside, though, when his eyes met hers. It was strange. Not, uncomfortable, but unnerving all at the same time. Serena struggled to find a name, any name, for the emotion she was feeling, but for some strange reason, her extensive vocabulary had vacated her mind within mere seconds of eye contact.

      As Hiiro surveyed the classroom form the teacher’s perspective, he heard his friends each introducing themselves. As they said their names aloud to the class, Hiiro’s eyes  fell on the petit girl that had nearly escaped being late this morning. With her hood still up, all he could see were her azure blue eyes that had caught a glint of the light, highlighting them, making them seem almost ghostly. When it was his turn to introduce himself, he brushed it aside, quickly saying his own name, then going back to watching the girl, who, this time, was watching him as well.

      His eyes met hers and a whirlwind of fire melted every nerve ending in his functioning brain. Her eyes held him steady and in a seep trance until he was lightly nudged by Wufei , who had just been pushed by Duo. It was a good thing, too. If Wufei hadn’t knocked into him, he never would have been able to tear his eyes away from hers.  Heading back to his seat behind her, the teacher began to speak again.

      “Well now that we’ve all finished with that, please take out your history notes, and I’ll come around and check to see that you’ve done them. And, oh, Serena, may I please see you after class?” Hiiro watched as the girl in front of him nodded. So that was her name. Serena. Hmm.

 A mad scramble of students quickly raised their hands. “Yes, Jim, what?” Asked the teacher. Hiiro could practically see her head begin to pound as she rubbed her temples.

      “Ms. Haruna, that homework you gave us last night was way too much. None of us could do it.” Answered a big boy in the back row.

      “ None of you?” She sighed. This whole class was trying. “Very well. Open to page thirty and we’ll read it allowed in class.” Hiiro grunted mentally as he whipped out the History book he had purchased only the day before. This was going to be an extremely easy year.

>>>)(<<<

      “Ms. H., you wanted to see me?” Serena asked as she approached the teacher’s desk, four pages of binder paper covered in writing front and back. She smiled brightly at the five new boys who stood by it as well.

      “ Yes. I wanted you to show the new boys around, and I didn’t think you would mind, seeing as how you usually volunteer for the job any way…”

      “Of course, I’d love to show them around Ms. H.!” Serena beamed at her teacher from underneath her warm hood. It had been raining extremely hard outside that morning, and her whole face was still cold. That and, she had some heavy make-up on today to cover up her bruises, and unless she had to, she really didn’t feel like explaining the excess amount.

      “Oh, and Ms. H.?”

      “Yes, Serena?” Asked the teacher darkly. The whole class had been pure chaos, and by now she was in the worst mood possible.

      “I did the history homework last night, so if you wanted to look at it, here it is. Or I could just keep it and…”

      “Serena! Thank you!” The teacher’s head suddenly shot up and her arms encircled the small girl. “You just made my day! Of course I’ll look at it!” She cried as she whipped the papers from her student’s small icy hands. Flipping through the pages, her smile actually got larger, if that was even possible. “Serena! This is exemplary work! No wonder you’re acing every class. Where do you find the time? Thank you so much. Now, why don’t you show the new boys around?”

      “Of course Ms. H. Come on guys, I’ll show you where everything is. Just follow me!” She giggled slightly.

>>>)(<<<

      As the group of six walked down the nearly deserted hallway, Serena stopped at a locker and began to unpack and repack her books.

      “Well, first off, I think you probably already guessed, but I’m Serena.”

      “Nice to meet you babe.” Said Duo.

      “Not ‘babe’.  Serena. Or Sere. Whichever is cool with me. Just not babe.” She slightly giggled at his antics.

      “Well, what’s you’re last name then, Sere?” Duo hounded her.

      “ Tsukino. Serena Usagi Tsukino. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. I remember your names from class. Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Hiiro, right?” She asked as she pointed to each of the boys as she said their name.

      “That’s right Serena. Thank you for taking the time to show us around. Are you sure we’re not interrupting any of your classes?” Asked Quatre with a broad grin.

      “Yeah, don’t worry, I have a free now. Well, usually I go work out, but I always make an exception when there’s new students around.”

      “Onna, you work out?” Wufei asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

      “Not onna.  Serena, and yeah, I do. I have to. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rest of the squad.”

      “Squad?” Spat Wufei.

      “Yeah.” Serena said, beaming. She loved the squad. All of her friends were on it, and she always found the physical push to be exhilarating. Oh, and she was the captain. She had to love it; it was part of the job description.

      “Onna, you are weak. I have no words for the weak.” Wufei gave her an evil eye, the turned and leaned against the lockers with his eyes closed and arms crossed in front of his chest. Serena decided to ignore him and work on building friendships with the other four boys instead. She wouldn’t get through to that chauvinistic pig anytime soon, she was sure of that.

      “Yeah, well. So, what did you guys want to see? Cafeteria? Gym? Football field? Bathrooms?” She cracked a smile when she said ‘bathrooms’, and watched as a slow red blush tinted Quatre’s face.

      “Where’s the computer lab?” Asked Trowa.

      “Oh, it’s this way, come on. I’m in there all the time.”

      “Wait, you’re a girl, and you know how to use a computer? I missed something here.” Said Duo as he casually put his arm around her waist. She let him, but kept a good distance as well.

      “Yeah. I’m one of those brainy types of girls who’ve come to take over the world Duo.” At her comment, even Hiiro and Trowa had to smirk. Duo looked stunned and stopped in the middle of his path, stopping Wufei in turn, who had been walking behind him.

      “Braided baka! Injustice! Watch where you’re headed!”

      “I’m sorry Wu-man! I didn’t mean it, honest!” Duo cried, pleading with Wufei for forgiveness. It had no effect what so ever.

      “Kisama! Don’t call me Wu-man!” With that, Wufei whipped out a katana and began chasing Duo around the halls until the two were out of the other’s sight.

      “Huh?” Serena asked, confused as well as amused.

      “Don’t mind them. Those two are always at it. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day Wufei caught him and the next day Duo came to school without a braid.” Quatre joked lightly.

      “I get it. A love-hate relationship, ne? I have one or two of those myself. But, I don’t think they would cause me any emotional damage.”

      “What do you mean, emotional damage?” Asked Trowa.

      “Well, if I were Duo, and I had my braid chopped off, I’d be bawling my eyes out for a week! None of my friends is that harsh.” She laughed, and soon the others, well, Quatre, joined in. Trowa and Hiiro stood looking just as impassive as they had two minutes ago. Serena frowned. What was with these guys? What a tough crowd to please.

      Hiiro inwardly thought Serena’s jokes were cute. Not funny per say, but they added a certain ‘spice’ to an otherwise dull and mundane moment. He looked at her again, trying to see underneath the hood without actually appearing to be interested. Damn. It was not his day. It seemed like her face was just hidden within the dark blue shadow of her hood. He could see the rest of her, however. Starting from her feet up, he saw long, shapely legs under a blue pleated skirt, the uniform. She had a slight strip of skin in-between her shirt and skirt, which conveniently flaunted her belly button, and to top it all of, that same powder blue sweatshirt that hid her face. Suddenly, the bell rang, shocking him out of his deep reverie. He came back to life just as the hallway was filled with students, all pushing and shoving and crowding each other to get to lunch as fast as humanly possible in a sea of never ending people. He tried to move, but his legs felt like they were solid lead.

      “Hiiro?” Trowa asked when Hiiro didn’t follow Quatre, him, and Serena.

      “Hnn.” Hiiro finally sent the message to his brain that he wanted to move, and his legs began functioning normally. Why weren’t they the first time? *