The dull orange-pink haired female managed to land on her hands and flipped herself over to land on her feet. She had a look of sheer determination as well as pride. "Grandfather, can't you see I've gotten better?"

"Yes," the deep grey haired older man said, chuckling softly. "Very good indeed. But you are too cocky."

The female raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, grandfather?"

Suddenly, the old man raised the bamboo staff into the air and then down to the ground underneath the female's feet, knocking her over. He stood before her, a smile across his wise-looking face. "You must keep your guard up at all times, grand-daughter."

The female groaned, her gold and pink eyes shifting to the side. "Thanks for the tip." She flipped herself up and looked over to the clock to the right side of the wooden floored and walled room. "Oh! It's time for my cooking lesson with grandmother! I'll see you later, gramps! Bye!" She spun around on her heels and pulled up the leggings of her Gi so she wouldn't trip and pulled open one of the wooden sliding doors. She turned around, bowed, shut the door and ran down the hallway to her room. She pulled off her Gi and opened her wooden closet door, grabbing some random clothes. She threw on a pair of grey baggy cotton pants and a ratted black cotton tank top; cooking with grandmother could get very messy.

The female nodded her head and raced out of her room, her bare feet making a thumping sound on the smooth wooden floor.

I bet you're wondering who I am, right? My name is Nox Akayama; my first name means 'night' and my last name means 'red mountain' while in full, my name means 'The Red Night Mountain'. My first name, Nox, isn't even Japanese but considering that these are my father's parents and my mother's parents were from America, it doesn't seem to matter. I'm seventeen years old, 166cm tall, and I weight about 93 pounds. I go to an exclusive Tokyo School of Athletics and Academics while I live outside Tokyo on my grandparent's Temple. The Akayama Temple; I got my last name from the mountain the Temple is in front of. I was born on April 18th, making me an Aries and I have a B blood type. My grandfather is a master at the martial arts so he teaches while my grandmother is quite the warrior herself but she teaches me things like cooking and a couple other interesting things. I have no other siblings and I'm very good at academics while I am extremely good in athletics, being very flexible and strong and fast. People knew me at my school for my martial arts training and my brains; girls don't really take martial arts these days. Women are expected to be the mothers; the caretakers of the children. But I don't expect to get married. I'm different and that's why guys look at me a lot.

Nox came to a squeaking halt on the floor, a braid from her hair moving frantically in the wind. Her hair was a dull orange-pink with a few dark orange highlights and it was tied back in a high ponytail, with pieces falling on top of her forehead and the back of her head. Her ponytail elastic was a silvery blue. She had two fairly thin braids on the sides of her head behind her ears that reached down just below her elbows with a strange charm tied at the end of each. Her bangs reached just below her ears but they were parted in the middle to the sides, making them somewhat look like an 'X' (only including her bangs). The right side of her bangs had three clips, all crossing and all black. She winced as she grabbed hold of the wooden door and pulled it open, appearing to her grandmother. She quickly shut it and ran over to her. "Hi!"

Her grandmother was standing by the fire place, a pot hanging over it. She was wearing a brown dress with a white apron tied around her waist. "Hello dear," she said with a soft smile across her face. She had soft grey hair with gentle blue eyes and a kind smile. "I don't think we have time for a lesson this morning. If you stay to learn what I'm making right now, you'll be late for school. We don't want that to happen, now do we?"

Nox shook her head slowly. "So it was pointless for me to come down here?"

Her grandmother chuckled softly, shaking her head. "No dear. I have breakfast for you; you can eat it while you get ready." She walked from the fire and over to the wooden counter, grabbing a plate. She walked back over to Nox and held it out to her. "A piece of bread and an apple. I have your lunch down here so once you've gotten ready, come back to pick up your lunch."

Nox took the plate and smiled, running to the wooden door and opened it. "Thanks!" She shut the wooden door quickly when she walked through and ran down the hallway to her room, shutting the door. She placed the plate down on her bed, stuffing the bread into her mouth as she grabbed her school uniform. She quickly undressed and put on her school uniform. The skirt was dark grey, which reached down just to her knees, while she had a long sleeved black shirt with three grey buttons down on the left side. The collar was dark grey with dark purple stripes and a purple bow hung from the collar. She bounced around with the bread sticking out of her mouth, trying to put on her socks. She managed to swallow the bread and get her socks on, throwing her black slip-on shoes on and grabbed the apple. As with the bread, she stuffed the apple into her mouth. She grabbed her bag, rushing out of the room into the bathroom where she grabbed her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth as she checked herself in the mirror. Everything looked fine today. She nodded to herself, washed out her mouth with water, spit it out, and rushed down the hallway. She went back to the kitchen where she grabbed her lunch, kissed her grandmother goodbye, and left the Temple with a rush. She walked to school every morning.'

Nox arrived at school just five minutes before the bell rang and got to her first class in time with all her books. The morning went by fairly quickly with math, science, and economics. She then ate her lunch quickly, finishing off an assignment and was off for the afternoon with three more subjects: music class, physical education, and language. She gave a sigh as the bell rang and stood up from her desk, gathering her papers she had due the next day.

Today was Thursday and it meant not a good day for Nox. But her day had been good so far; she got a test back in math which she scored 100 percent on and she did excellent on a physical education test today. She gave a sigh of relief as she had everything with her and walked down the loud hallway to the exit of the school. She reached out to push open the door but was stopped by a body standing in front of her. She pulled back, glaring at the figure. "What do you want, Yukio?"

The short azure haired young man stared down at her with a grin along his seemingly perfect face. "Hey there, Nox. How are you doing today? I see you're still free, huh?"

Nox waved a hand in his face. "Go away, Yukio. For your information, I am free but I'm not interested. You're the last person I'd ever want to go on a date with. Leave me alone, all right?" She brushed by him, ignoring his comments as she walked down the stairs and off in the direction of the City Limits towards her home: The Akayama Temple. It didn't take her long to get home and she soon realized her grandparents were out shopping for herbs and such. Nox gave a sigh of relief and made to her room. She got changed into an old plain dress, the only one she really ever wore, and completed her homework in two hours. By then, the time was seven o'clock.

Nox stood up and left her room. She went down to where her grandfather trained and took out a bamboo sword to train herself out of pure anger. The other students at her school never really tried to ever become her friend or get to know her; no one ever tried. Not a single person. Yukio was always bugging her about being single or anything else that came to mind. She gave a final cry of frustration after a long time of training and slammed the bamboo stick down on her knee. She winced, watching the bamboo rip through her skirt and show blood trickle down her leg. She sighed and placed the bamboo sword away, going back to her room. She grabbed her two towels and made for the bathroom. She took a long hot bath, washed her hair, and got out. She placed one towel around her hair and another around her body; she had her hair down but her braids were still and always would be the same. She cleaned up the bathroom and sighed heavily, taking a quick glance at her face in the mirror. Almost perfect. The time now was almost eleven o'clock, she couldn't believe she had spent that long training and taking a bath, and she could hear soft talking from outside. Her grandparents were home. She rushed out of the bathroom and into her bathroom, sliding the door softly shut.

Nox sat down on her bed on her knees and looked out her large window. The moon was almost high in the sky as the stars were sparkling. She shut her eyes, placing her hands in front of her face just below her head with her palms and fingers pressed together tightly. "To the Sky God, Earth God, and Water God I pray. It is I, Nox, of the Akayama Temple and I have two wishes for myself tonight. I just wish everyone would be nicer to me but not extremely nice. Like having them notice me and saying hello or sitting with me at lunch." She paused for a moment. "But in all, I wish for a boyfriend. Someone who I could love and for that someone to love me. A love-love relationship where we understand each other. He shouldn't be perfect, with his own little interesting faults. Don't make him horrid but don't make him extremely handsome; make him like me. Average. Oh Gods of Sky, Earth, and Water, please grant me my two little wishes. I thank you for everything thus far. Good night."

There was a knock on her wooden door. "Good night, Nox," her grandmother said softly. "Have a nice dream. Grandfather says good night as well."

"Tell him I said good night," she replied, getting off her knees. "Good night, grandmother." She listened as her grandmother walked away and then started to clean the blood from her brown sheets. She grumbled and got changed into her white bed dress and flipped all the hair from her ponytail over her head and got under the covers. "Two little wishes...make them come true."

"As you wish, princess..."

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Yay! The first chapter is up and running finally! Well, it's more of an introduction kind of thing but whatever. *shrugs* Wow, it was sure long and descriptive ^_~ *is happy* It admit it says Humor/Romance but in the next chapters, it'll have humor and romance. Nox's dream will come true, note the last comment at the end, but you won't believe who comes ^_^ And it's just not one person. Her dream of a perfect boyfriend (in her mind) can't come true...yet...*is evil* Find out who(s) gets sent to Nox! Boo ha ha ha!

~Aphy the Almighty (I wish)