Most stories talk about how 'sometimes, things don't turn out the way you wanted them to', su? Erm... sorry, cancel that, make that 'right'? Anyway, that's not true, it's not just 'sometimes', it's 'always'. Sure, you might say 'everything's coming my way', but what you're seeing is you being set up, built up, and then everything comes crashing down. Then, you pick up the pieces and think 'everything's gonna be alright'.

This is my story, a story of forgetting and remembering. A story of me becoming something that thousands - no, millions - of children want to be, but I didn't want it, never ever. And it's also a story of how someone I loved fell in love with two different people, but to me, and me alone, they were the same person.

If you're reading this, you're probably wondering why I don't want to be what I am, what you are, what we all are. Because only 'people' like me can read this, only humans who wanted this became and become what we are. An unwilling AoD? Who ever heard of that?!

Oh, whoops. These records are supposed to start off with our names, su? Damn, I can't get anything right. Don't see why they just don't chuck me out. Er. yeah, my name, yes, that's right. It's Fleance - nah, just kidding, this isn't Macbeth, it's Cloud 9, man. Sweet, dude - ahem, my name is Kuro Ikiri. The 'Kuro' (black in Japanese) is just something all of us Noir (black in French) take on as our surnames. The 'Ikiri'? No idea, think my mother was still fuzzed out from the endorphins and drugs in her system. Maybe it was supposed to be 'Hilary' or something like that.

Anyway, now you know my name. I'm sure most of you would are really wanting to close this record, but I'm supposing most of you are reading this to find out more about the greatest AoD of time. Okay, I'm exaggerating there.

This story, my story, starts on the surface of Earth, the Degenerate States of Amer- er. I mean the United States of America, California, San Francisco. Even though the official record says everything about any AoD starts off in the Hall, this is my story, and since I'm telling it, it starts off in San Francisco, 'kay?

Ikiri Carson woke up in semi-darkness, the shutters outside her window muffling the noise of early morning traffic. Even though she couldn't see outside, she knew from the amount of noise outside that there would already be a haze of smog - one major reason why her window didn't actually open, it was merely a rectangle of glass in the wall. The shutters, of course, were electronically operated from inside.

'Ikiri, dear, wake up!' Her mother, Mary - what a boring name! - called 'from without' (i.e. outside) and opened the door without warning.

'Mom! I could have been changing!' she sputtered indignantly.

Mary smiled. 'Of course not dear, you're never awake and ready at this time. Hurry up now, or you'll miss the bus.' With that, her mother swept away to her own bedroom. Ikiri sighed and, grumbling, clambered down awkwardly from her loft bed. In their apartment, there was no room for a normal bed and a table, something which Ikiri lamented every morning she banged her head on the roof. She was sure the apartment above had a lump which protruded upward from the floor.

Half an hour later, Ikiri sprinted down the street, where the school bus was waiting. Panting slightly, she clambered on board, and smiled in relief as she saw her friend, Gretchen, stalling the bus driver by repeatedly giving him the wrong change for a certain ticket, then changing her mind and asking for a different ticket.

'Thanks, Gretchen.' Ikiri whispered as she checked her card against the machine. She didn't see Gretchen's dazzling smile, as she had already swept past. Plonking herself down into the empty seat next to another friend, Kerry, Ikiri grinned and finally began to get her breath back.

Gretchen frowned slightly but then contented herself by sitting behind Ikiri after she had passed the exasperated driver. 'You know, one of these days I should stop covering your ass, Ikiri.' She muttered. Ikiri smirked. 'You wouldn't dare, would 'ya? Come on, you know the only reason why I manage to get to school is because of you.' Kerry turned her face and looked out the window, while Gretchen shook her head as if entirely worn out with Ikiri's utter stubbornness against getting up earlier.

Inside, she gloated, having gained another true compliment out of the normally cynical Ikiri whose main way of talking to others and making them feel appreciated was to 'insult' them whilst grinning and laughing. It was a wonder that she had friends, but friends she had, and true ones at that. Perhaps that was why she did what she did; her brash exterior was to weed out the bottom-feeders.

'Come on Kerry, cheer up mate. We know it's the first day of school, but it's not too bad, is it?' Ikiri paused, then burst out laughing at Kerry's incredulous look. 'Okay, so maybe it is that bad, but at least you're not sitting around at home doing nothing, right?'

''Doing nothing'?! I don't do 'nothing' during the holidays! In fact, I do lots of productive things during the holidays!' Kerry was indignant, while Gretchen tried to smother her giggles.

Ikiri smirked. 'Yeah, right, we believe you. Like what? What is it you do that's 'productive'?'

Kerry narrowed her eyes and pouted. Ikiri and Gretchen laughed, and continued to playfully tease Kerry the rest of the way to school.

'.like you all to give Stephanie Olivia Steckavoy a warm welcome to our school community.' the Head of Year continued to warble on at the lectern, and concentration levels were going down.

'Hey, her initials! It's S.O.S.! Save our souls!' One of the students whispered to his friends, and a burst of laughter from them caused the teachers to glare at them, accompanied by a few shushes. It was a Year 10 assembly, and the only possible student who could be Stephanie was a girl sitting a few seats behind and across from Ikiri, as she was the only unfamiliar face there. She merely grinned when the comment had been voiced, and had not ducked her head down when the Head had introduced her. This was something new, and many of the students were speculating that she was either stuck-up or brave or couldn't care less. Either way, they'd all find out by the end of the first block of lessons.

Ikiri found her timetable in her form class' folder, and found her first lesson was.

'Damn it, I've got Double Chem with the Gorgon! What have you two got?' Ikiri complained.

'I've got Art, thank God. Aww. poor child, you have Chemistry with him?!' Kerry chuckled.

'Well, I have Chem too, but not with Mr Jordan like you have, Iki. I have Ms Carter. Ah well, tell us about it at recess, 'kay?'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever. If I survive, that is. oh Lord, what did I do to deserve this.?' Ikiri spun the dial on her locker with practised fingers, and stuffed her Chemistry books into her book bag.

'Um.' a soft voice interrupted Ikiri's mental tirade about how on Earth Mr Jordan still had his job.

'Oh, Stephanie, isn't it?' Ikiri slammed her locker shut and clicked the lock closed. 'Something I can help you with?'

'Umm. I don't know the way to my chemistry class. I uh. heard you saying you have Mr Jordan, and so do I. I was wondering if.' Stephanie's voice trailed off hopefully. Ikiri smiled at her.

'Sure. You're in 2C10, right?' Stephanie nodded.

'Okay. Just a tip, the first number is the level, the letter is the block, and the last two numbers are the room number. We're currently on level 4, see our lockers?' Ikiri tapped one of the lockers, which read 4-15. 'The first number on these is the level, the last two are the locker number. You have your books?'

'Yeah, thanks um. I didn't quite catch your name?'

'I'm Ikiri. Don't ask, my mother probably wanted to call me Hickory or something strange. It sounds Japanese, but the only Japanese I know is stuff I get from anime.'

'You watch anime?' Stephanie's eyes brightened up at the mention of the topic.

'Yeah, I do. I've watched a load, and to say it plainly, anime r0x0rz. You seen any good anime?' Ikiri asked as the descended the stairs.

'Yeah, I've seen a few. Read or Die is my favourite one. How about you?'

'Oh, it depends. For music, my favourite is RahXephon. For the drawing style, I think Hikaru no Go is the best. For storyline. I think Neon Genesis: Evangelion was the best. So, you saw RoD, hey? Did you see the dub or the original?'

'I saw the dub. I don't really know any Japanese, so yeah.' Stephanie stopped at Ikiri's incredulous stare.

'You could've gotten one with subtitles, or watched the fansubs! The originals are always way better than dubs, just as the manga is normally better than the anime! Oh my God, I so have to get you the fansub of RoD!' Ikiri stepped out of the stairwell into the main hallway, and led Stephanie to their classroom, where about twenty other students chattered away outside, waiting for their teacher.

'Our teacher's called the Gorgon, 'cos he picks on everybody and anybody. If you get something wrong, you have to fix it without any help or he ridicules you, and yeah. you'll get what I mean when you've had a class. Even the teachers' pets can't get him to soften up, it's awful.'

Suddenly, the students went silent, and the clack-clack of Mr Jordan's shoes on the vinyl could be heard. They parted to let him through to the door, which he unlocked and walked into the classroom. In silence, the students filed in and sat down.

Mr Jordan smiled expansively, and with a jovial voice said: 'Welcome back to Chemistry! I hope you all have a fantastic time this year, as we will be- ' The students exchanged glances with each other. Had the teacher had a personality change?

The teacher smiled again - that freaky smile that showed all of his white teeth! - this time it was specifically pointed at Stephanie, and the thought clicked into everyone's head. Stephanie had long dull blonde hair, which was so long that even braided it reached her waistline. She was tall and slim, with grey eyes and fine features. To all the students, there could only be one thought going through Mr Jordan's head, and it didn't please them at all.

After he had finished trying to look 'cool', he passed out sheets informing them as to this year's topics.

'The Mole - Avogadro's Number, Acid-Base Reactions, Gas Laws. Holy mother of. is he trying to frigging kill us?!'

'Maxwell, no talking while I'm talking. As I was saying, this year you will be learning the basics of Chemistry, to better prepare you for the Year 11 and 12 syllabi.' Mr Jordan droned on, and by the time he'd started lecturing - not teaching, lecturing - about the mole, most of the class dearly wanted to put their heads on their arms but didn't dare to.

'Kerry, Gretchen, this is Stephanie. Stephanie, this is Kerry and Gretchen.' Recess was a simple affair, with all of them talking about how their first class had been. Ikiri lay down on the grass - in most schools, they didn't have 'grass', they had weeds and patches of dirt. At Kennedy High, they really had grass - and listened to Kerry, Gretchen and Stephanie babble on. She closed her eyes and smiled at the sensation of basking in the sun, a cool wind blowing through the trees.

'Ikiri?'

Ikiri's eyes snapped open and she was greeted with Stephanie's smiling face. Groaning slightly, she sat up and dusted her back of grass. 'What? Is recess over or something?' She looked around. 'Where's Kerry and Gretchen?'

'Oh, they went off to talk to their boyfriends. You've been asleep for the last ten minutes, and I really don't think going into your next class whilst slightly sleepy is a good idea, you know?'

Ikiri shook her head to clear it of sleep-induced fog. 'That'll be Damien and Tarrance, then, their boyfriends.' She elaborated for Stephanie's benefit and then something occurred to her. 'Hey, do you have a boyfriend?' She paused for a moment and then added 'Or girlfriend?' At that, Stephanie jumped and her head whirled around so fast that Ikiri jerked backwards.

'Err. umm. I only said that 'cos that's not too uncommon round here, you know. There's a lot of people around here who swing that way. and umm.' Ikiri forcibly stopped herself from babbling and shifted uncomfortably in the silence.

Stephanie sighed. 'It's. it's okay. I just thought for a moment. that.' She sighed again and her eyes glazed over for a moment, as if she were remembering something. But then she shook her head and looked Ikiri. 'No, I don't have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, either.' She added.

Ikiri cast about for something less controversial to talk about. 'Where'd you transfer from? From out of state or some other school?'

'Another school in San Francisco. pretty crap school, come to think of it. We didn't have grass like we have here, just a great dustbowl.' It seemed she also wanted to steer the conversation far, far away from the previous topic, and so Ikiri let her talk about her past, about her older sister who was in college, about her parents and why she'd transferred. '.they thought that with this school's name, I might get into an Ivy League college more easily or something like that. Even though my sister got into Yale easily enough, I think they don't believe I'm as intelligent as her.' her voice trailed off, and Ikiri sympathised.

'Yeah, my parents are like that too. My sister, she's got the best marks in every subject and graduated out of here as dux. Now, all the teachers expect the same thing of me, and so do my parents, but well. it's not to their expectations, apparently.' Ikiri sighed. 'Let's talk about something less depressing, shall we? Have you read any Terry Pratchett books? Yes? Which ones?'

They chatted on about empty topics, and returned inside for their next classes when the buzzer rang.

'How was school today, dear?'

'It was fine, mom. There's a new girl in my form group, Stephanie Steckavoy. Oh and yeah, there's a dance on next month. Please, can I go, mom?'

'Sure, honey.' Ikiri blinked. Her mother wasn't really paying attention, which was probably why she'd agreed so readily. Normally, it took hours of wheedling and bargaining until she was allowed to go to a dance.

'Hey, Ikiri, did you hear? Mark asked Steph out!' Gretchen bounced up and down happily, her arms wrapped around Ikiri's neck. For some reason, Ikiri felt as if something was going terribly wrong.

'Really? And? Did she say yes?' Kerry grabbed Gretchen mid-bounce and forced her to stay still.

'She did!' As Gretchen elaborated, Ikiri felt a surge of anger, jealousy, and a twinge of loss. She shook her head. What was she thinking? Steph had never been 'hers', and that would be highly unlikely, since it seemed that Steph liked guys and well. Ikiri really had some body image problems to deal with first before she would ask out a girl she liked.

'Hey, Ikiri, are you going with anyone to the dance?' Gretchen peered at Ikiri.

'Hmm? Oh, no, I'm not.'

'But you are coming, right?'

'Yeah. I'm coming, that's right.'

'Fantastic! Then we can set you up with a guy there!' Kerry paused. 'Scratch that, I meant 'girl'.'

Ikiri gaped. 'What.? What're you talking about.?!' she spluttered. Kerry smiled and Gretchen waved a finger in front of Ikiri's nose.

'Now, don't you deny it anymore. We've known for ages, and we've been waiting for you tell us!'

Ikiri sighed. 'What is it that I do that makes you two think I'm gay?'

Kerry and Gretchen exchanged conspirational looks. 'One, you don't even look at guys. Two, you aren't totally fan-obsessed with any male in a movie- '

'That's not fair! There's lots of people who aren't fan-obsessed with anyone!'

Gretchen waves the outburst away with a hand. 'Whatever. Three, when we point out a really hot guy on the street or on TV or in a magazine or anything, you just glance at it then go back to whatever you were doing while saying 'That's nice' or something like that! And also, the only pictures you have on your computer are all of female characters from anime or movies or bands or whatever, with a few exceptions, of course.'

'WHAT?! You looked through my computer? When? How?' Ikiri was indignant.

'When you were getting us lunch that time we were doing that SOSE assignment.' Kerry explained matter-of-factly. 'Too bad we didn't find any lesbian erotica, or we would have confronted you earlier.' She sighed wistfully at an opportunity lost.

'There is no porn on my computer, and there never will be.' Ikiri sniffed huffily.

'What are you three talking about?' Stephanie appeared beside Ikiri, who yelped and jumped two feet in the air.

'Don't do that!' she gasped, hands held over her heart. 'You scared me! It's bad for the heart!' Kerry and Gretchen laughed, while Stephanie shook her head sadly.

Kerry glanced at her watch and yelped. 'We're gonna be late, Gretchen! Damien and Tarrance are probably waiting outside!' With that, the two of them raced off, leaving Stephanie and Ikiri behind.

'Where are those two going?'

'Oh, they have a double date for a movie. Although the only point of the movie is to give them a dark room where no-one can see them.' Ikiri sighed. 'I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow night. What's the betting they'll just spend the entire night making-out?'

Stephanie smiled. 'You want to come over to my house tomorrow night? Before the dance? We can go over what we're wearing and give opinions on each other's outfits. and well.' she trailed off.

'I have to ask my mom first before I can go anywhere. But she'll probably say yes.' Ikiri added. 'Mind you, I normally dress like a skater boy.' When Stephanie looked quizzically at her, Ikiri elaborated. 'You know, baggy cargos or three-quarters, baggy shirt with logo across the front, gun-chain hanging from waist. stuff like that.'

Stephanie tilted her head slightly as if imagining Ikiri in such a state of dress. 'Whatever. It's fine with me. It's only a dance, nothing too big.'