Chapter one: Encounter

Tori Dahke looked at her watch, biking down the hill. Her leather gloves were worn, her skin underneath sweating from her constant gripping of the bike handles. The road was gravelly, leaving a cloud of dust trailing behind her. From where she was, she could see her mailbox in the distance. The red flag was up. She grinned and biked faster, stopping abruptly with a screech of her tires in front of the mailbox, coughing from the dust cloud. "Now let's see what we have here." she said. She opened the mailbox and shuffled through the stack of mail.

"Bill, bill, subscription, bank, newspaper, school.. I can't believe it." She looked at the large envelope from Seisyu Academy, unable to take in the news. "I got accepted! She ripped open the envelope and skimmed the letter. " you are forms."

The school gates opened, letting in the limousines. All of the students looked on in wonder at the big commotion, wondering which important person had arrived. Even though most of them were used to limousines, there were just so many of them entering. Behind the big parade of cars was an awkward scene of a girl, biking her way to school. She groaned and halted to a stop, walking her bike the rest of the way to school.

Ryu looked outside through the tinted glass with disinterest at the school. Seisyu Private Academy. Just another one to add to his long list of schools that wouldn't suit him. Another wards, he didn't plan on staying here for much longer. He noticed a disturbance occurring behind his car. Students were backing away from something. He craned his neck to see what all of this was about, but couldn't see anything. All he heard were murmuring voices. He couldn't make out the words.

"EW! Who the heck let you through the gates?" a girl shrieked.
"Nice to meet you too," Tori said. She was covered from head to toe in dust and mountain-biking gear. She wore her own clothes. It was just a plain white tee with baggy gray pants.

"Who's he? I've never seen him before."

She looked down at her bike and sighed. Mistaken. "Where the heck am I supposed to park? Damn cars." She looked at the long line of limos again and said out loud, "What loser needs an escort of a gazillion guys? Sheesh. What a waste too. Spoiled rich kids."

"Get out of the way!" a teacher told her. He dragged her by the arm and said, "You shouldn't walk too close to the prime minister's son like that. It's shameful in the name of our school. Who are you to come to this school in what is not our school uniform? You're filthy too! Go to the nurse's office now!"

Tori almost laughed in the old geezer's face but figuring that it was no time to make any enemies, she nodded and set her bike down. "If anyone steals you then they'll regret it. A lot."

She set off into the school. Students looked on at her, more shocked than disgusted. Tori looked at the posted map directory in the hall and scanned it. Two stories up. Leaving sandy prints on the floor, she ran up the stairs by twos and threes. "301, 301, 301." she repeated to herself.

The school was so big. It was so different from home. Seisyu had lots of money behind it, making its architecture a real piece of art. It looked more like a castle or a gigantic mansion more than a high school. Students roamed around doing nothing but socializing, most not even bothering to go to first period.

Tori spotted 301 and walked in. She saw a guy there resting on what looked like a pretty comfortable chair. He had on a white robe too. On his nametag was Mr. Kitagama. "You the nurse baldy was talking about?" she asked, jerking the guy up from his nap. She slouched down on a chair across from him, looking bored. "I didn't think that Seisyu would have a guy nurse. I guess they aren't as old fashioned as I thought they were."

"Wh-who are you?" he asked. She didn't seem like a regular. She looked definitely out of place too.

"Your patient," she said vaguely, waving her hand in the air.

"Well, yeah, obviously, ?" he squeaked. He looked at her closer, his jaw dropping. "You're dirty! Get out! You're making my room filthy!"

"Please don't use the F word with me again. What's so wrong with a little dirt anyways?" she asked, smiling down at the dust on her clothes.

The nurse looked at her again, thinking. She was definitely different. The way she dressed and walked spoke louder than words. Different from all of the other students.

"F word? I did not say that. When did I say that?" he asked, confused.

"Filthy. It's not a word I like to hear." She dusted off her pants and said, "Better?"

He moaned and said, "Why are you up here anyways? Are you even a student?" He reached out onto his nose and fixed his glasses.
She rolled her eyes and pointed to her clothes. "F word is what a teacher called me and supposedly, this isn't my school uniform, yet I'm wearing my school uniform."

"No, you're not. What you're wearing is clothes that need a good washing from all that disgusting grime."

"For your information, I am wearing my school uniform, no matter how ugly it is. It just happens to be under my clothes. I read the rulebook and it said nothing about wearing clothes over your school uniform," she said calmly.

"It doesn't matter if it's not in the rulebook. If I send you to your classroom, your teacher will send you to the headmaster. They appreciate well-groomed students, as do I."

Tori looked at him and frowned. She felt like she looked fine. Same as per usual anyways. "Let me guess. You want me to wash up."

He nodded. "Do feel free to use the bathroom for as long as you like. Don't you just love the feeling of cleanliness?" he beamed.

"Hey nurse boy? You're an odd one. Be right back." Tori went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Dirt here and there. Guess I better wash it off." She took off her gloves and grabbed the washcloth on the rack and ran it under the water. Dirt from her hands ran brown down the sink. She took the washcloth and wiped her face. "Clean is better? Only if you want to be a wet fish all your life. Prepare to be amazed, Mr. Nurse."

As the nurse span around in his chair, he noticed something on his desk. It was the file folders of newly enlisted students. There were a couple of files in there. He looked through the first one: it was a picture of a typical guy that would drive the girls wild every time they saw him. He looked at the name. Ryu Sakamoto. "SAKAMOTO!? The Sakamoto Prime Minister, Sakamoto? His son is named Ryu. So to believe but Seisyu is a school for the gifted," he said proudly.

"Sir, I'm finished now. Is this decent?" she asked in her most mannerly fashion.

Tori looked at the nurse and almost laughed at the look on his face. She had changed into her uniform alright. Her hair was put into braids in the typical schoolgirl way and she was wearing large, ugly glasses that hid her whole face. She had a slim body but she crouched over so that she would seem like a hunchback almost.

"What happened to you? Is that really you? No way!" he said. She looked so different. Before, there was this confident girl with street clothes and dirt all over her and now in front of him stood a girl impeccably clean but with a powerless tone of voice. Obedient, almost.

"What class must I attend to, Sir?" Tori asked.

The nurse shrugged. "Are you new?" He figured she must be but no one could be for certain.

"Yes, sir. My name is Tori Dahke. I am a junior here."

"Tori Dahke? Hold on a sec. What's your ID number?" he asked.

"1225."

He typed the number into his computer and waited while it came up with the findings. Tori's schedule came up. "Your classroom is in room 246. Do you know where that classroom is?" For some reason, he felt less fidgety around this unconfident girl. She didn't seem as strong anymore. Was it an act?

"I don't wish to trouble you sir. Thank you anyways though."

"No problem. Come talk to me anytime. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dahke." He watched her go, amazed and confused. It was as if there were two completely different people here. The dirty one with confidence and the clean one without. Was it a coincidence?

Tori knocked on the door tentatively. A girl answered the door. As it opened, she found herself looking at the ground.

"Another new student? What a day this is! Welcome! Welcome!" said the teacher enthusiastically. "You must be Tori. Come in. Come on, don't be shy now."

Tori looked up at her new classmates. They were looking at her carefully, assessing which clique she would end up in. Her odds at ending up with a popular clique were slim.

Another student was at the front of the room. 'He must be the other student,' Tori thought. The students looked at the both of them. They were opposites. Where the boy would succeed in getting attention, Tori would succeed in getting none of their flattery. Did she even have a company to stand behind?

The boy went first. "My name is Ryu Sakamoto. I've just transferred here from Tokyo's Kirato Private School."

Tori looked straight at the floor. 'Kirato? That sounds familiar,' she thought.

"Tori? What about you?" the teacher asked.

"Tori Dahke. Home school," she whispered.

"Dahke? As in Dahke Co.?" the teacher asked. The students suddenly craned in, wanting to hear her response.

"Just Dahke." Tori didn't supply any more information. The teacher was obviously interested but Tori changed the subject by saying, "Sakamoto. Isn't that the prime minister's name?"

"Why yes. We're so honored to have the son of the prime minister with us. He is such a wonderful man. Isn't he, Ryu?"

Ryu nodded and said, "Wonderful." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice that Tori caught. She doubted it if anyone else did. She looked to her teacher and asked, "Teacher, where do I sit?"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't have one sent in for you yet. I didn't know you would arrive so soon. I'm so sorry." She smiled sweetly but Tori could tell she didn't really care. The teacher was looking at Ryu and formally presented him his desk. It was made of a special mahogany that one could tell was expensive. Tori smiled, trying to hide her frustrations when Ryu said, "I don't feel kind to have a seat while Dahke here gets nothing. She can have my seat." All eyes peered at Tori but she shook her head.

"No thank you," she politely said. She sounded scared that everyone was paying attention to her but really she was seething inside. "I can manage for a day or two. It's really alright." She waited for an answer and heard the sound of a desk moving. The door opened as Ryu set the desk outside of the classroom.

With an edge to his voice, he looked to the teacher and said, "I would like to have a desk tomorrow also. One like Dahke's, I presume?" he commanded, more than asked.

"Of course Mr. Sakamoto. It can be arranged. Where shall you sit for today though?" the teacher asked.

"With Miss Dahke I suppose. We can share books. I didn't bring mine."

The teacher nodded and finally began starting class. "Open your books to page 25." Tori didn't look over at Ryu but instead went into her backpack and pulled out a dusty copy of the book and opened to page 25, pushing the book over to Ryu.

Ryu knew that he was getting special treatment. It made him sick every time it happened. The way that people cowered in your presence. For some reason though, Tori Dahke didn't seem to be affected by him. She acted the same. Although her character seemed to be of one that cowered a lot, she didn't cower even more around him. It was a strange type of logic but it still confused him. She was just some nerdy kid with thick glasses. When she opened her book bag, there was this dusty smell coming from it. When he looked at the book, there was a layer of dust on it. The kind of dust from sand on a road. 'Were her books thrown on the ground? Did she have bullies?' Yet, he didn't really care because if she couldn't deal with bullies then it was her problem. But he still wondered.

At lunchtime, Tori picked up her books and put them in her locker. She took a book and instead of sitting at a table to eat lunch, she went outside and looked around for her bike. The tree. It was lying against a tree, where she left it. She blew it a kiss and found a bench to sit on, where she could guard her bike. She opened her book to where she last left it and started reading.

"Reading?" Tori didn't look up. It was Ryu. She could tell from his voice. "What book?"

Tori continued reading, as if Ryu wasn't even there. She turned her page. She turned it again.

"You're pretty fast at reading, Tori."

She got up and closed her book, walking back to the school.

Ryu was really confused. Girls weren't supposed to just ignore him. They were supposed to care that he was there and that he actually gave them the time of day. When he saw Tori go outside, he decided to follow her for some reason. When he walked through the cafeteria doors, he was interrupted. "Ryu! Over here!" It was Juri, a pretty girl that was in his class. She was surrounded by her gang of fashionable beauties and the school jocks. The ones with the big money. An elite group that fit a person like Ryu. He walked over and smiled at Juri, forgetting all about Tori. "Where were you? I was looking all over for you, pretty boy."

Tori stood behind a column and said, "I guess I was right about you." She took her book and smirked. "Prime minister's son, eh? That explains it all."