A/N: This is a very long chapter. Let me know if I should cut it in half. ^.^ Enjoy! Oh, and if you see any typos, let me know, too!

Chapter One: “I Had the Strangest Night . . .”

If there was one person that I, Fujiwara Ayumi, Korean-born and Japanese-raised, hated the most, it was my self-named arch nemesis: Daisuke Hirata. He was one of those boys that huddled in groups around a certain lunch table, or lurked in dark alleyways for the sheer intention of frightening pedestrians. He was merely an upsetting, manner less boy. He lacked the general sense of honor that all normal boys possessed—the burning need to protect helpless girls whenever the need arose. In fact, he did the exact opposite when it came to girls.

Ever since elementary school, it seemed that Daisuke’s only purpose in life was making mine Hell! If it wasn’t one of his dense friends sticking chewing gum on the back of my exposed neck, it was him sticking his long leg out into my path and tripping me up, or him teasing me about the outfit I’d chosen for Casual Friday at school. One would think that now that we were eleventh graders in high school, he’d have grown out of his bullying phase, but once we’d hit ninth grade, his hatred for me only seemed to have intensified. He’d gone to ignoring me and treating me as if I didn’t even exist. Whenever we were forced to work together on something in any classes, I wordlessly did all of the work, and we ignored each other. Not that I minded, though.

I did have to admit, though. Even thought I hated Daisuke’s personality, he was quite handsome. Gorgeous, actually. He was one of the most liked boys in the school, and every single girl wanted to be with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a fan club; he was that cute.

I just wished that he wasn’t such a bastard.

[x]

The night seemed stiflingly dark as I made my way home from my geisha practice. I was eagerly learning the arts of the geisha so as to help my father forge a business relationship with a prestigious hotel chain in Korea. Even though Korea wasn’t on the greatest terms with Japan, my father hoped to better things by building as many Japanese business associations in Seoul as possible. And so my younger sister and I were to become geisha in order to prove to the Koreans that Japan wasn't out to get them; that we truly were a hospitable, polite, and humble country, despite what the war had stated. My younger sister’s lessons had ended earlier since I was farther along than she, hence the reason for me walking alone that humid, shadowy night.

My boyfriend of one year, Hong-Ki was supposed to meet me halfway, but he’d called me to say he had some “business to attend to.” Sure, this pissed me off, but what was I supposed to do? I loved him more than life itself; I didn’t want to lose him by being a whiny, controlling girlfriend who wrote it down every time I called him, or demanded a schedule of all the places he’d be during the day.

I kept my head down and hands folded into the sleeves of my kimono as I strolled purposefully toward home. The elbow-length strands of my layered, jet-black hair had already begun to fall loosely out of the tight bun that sat on the top of my head, making me appear ruffled and messy. I didn’t mind; I only wanted to get home, and fast.

All Japanese people knew the stories by the time they were five. The stories of terrible creatures attacking innocent people at night in the alleyways of Tokyo. The stories of the police finding mangled, bloodied bodies of teenagers on street corners, near said alleyways. The stories of the shadows simply rearing up and covering one’s body, mauling it until there was nothing left but the scalp.

I didn’t believe these stories to be true. Honestly, I thought that they were all a load of absurdity. There were no such thing as ‘dark creatures’ and ‘shadows that ate people’. The stories were merely dark tales to scare children into doing what they were told to do.

What I did believe in, however, was that there were murderers and rapists lurking in those frighteningly dark alleyways. I knew what they preyed upon—young women—and I wasn’t about to be one of those unlucky women. I was determined to stay pure and alive for as long as I possibly could.

So I walked quickly; so quickly that I was pretty much running.

Thankfully, I had my mp3 player with me, so I wasn’t just running and listening to myself breathe. I played F.T. Island’s ‘Soyogi’ so loudly that I couldn’t even hear myself think and I sang along quietly under my breath. Reaching up, I pulled my hair out of its bun and it tumbled smoothly down my back, kinked slightly at the ends from the rubber band.

I slowed until I was walking at a normal pace, my hands clasped to my chest, and singing aloud with all of my heart. I let the words flow sweetly out into the air, the dulcet melody piercing the heavy silence and shattering it.

Suddenly, I felt something soft rush up the inky-black tresses of my hair. I stopped abruptly, every hair on my body standing up straight. Something—or someone—was behind me. I held my hands in fists at my sides, my whole body trembling with fear.

The song changed on my mp3 player and I hurriedly turned it off.

“K-Konnichiwa (Hello)?” I stammered.

“Konbanwa (Good evening),” came the deep, rumbling reply.

I turned around quickly, my eyes wide with terror. Terror quickly turned to irritation as I saw the tall, thin boy that I despised. He was alone.

“What do you want?” I snarled to Daisuke.

“Can’t a guy say hellothese days?” Daisuke laughed mirthlessly, running his fingers backward through his ebony hair. It was cut in choppy, messy layers, the jagged tips just touching his shoulders. His bangs fell unevenly across his forehead, hiding his eyes. He tossed his head to move them aside, and I got a flash of his eyes. For a second, I thought I saw the irises flash a different color, but then the familiar hazel returned, and I dismissed the thought.

“This isn’t kokkei na (funny),” I spat. “You really scared me!”

“Then I did my job correctly, didn’t I?” he snapped back sarcastically.

“Well . . . I’d love to stay and chat,” I said slowly. “But I don’t want to. So . . . Soredewa nochi hodo (See you later).”

Daisuke grabbed my upper arm before I could go, turning me forcefully so that I was about a centimeter away from his body.

“Hey!” I cried angrily.

Daisuke tensed up and glared over my head at the darkness surrounding us.

“Damaru (Shut up),” he whispered, wrapping his arms around me.

“Nani wo shite imasu ka (What are you doing?)! Te wo hanasu (Let go)!” I yelled angrily, fighting against him and struggling in his strong grip. It was unnatural how strong he was. It was like fighting a mountain! My heart was pounding fiercely in my chest. What did he have planned?

“Shinken ni (Seriously),” he growled angrily, pressing my face into his uniform shirt. “If you don’t shut up, you’ll get us both killed!”

That shut me up. I froze and breathed in the scent of his natural musk; he smelled like lavender. Strange scent for a teenage boy . . . The seconds passed by agonizingly slowly until I finally got fed up with waiting for—apparently—nothing to happen.

“Look, I don’t have all night to be messing around. I have to . . .” I whispered, lifting my chin so that I was looking into his lime-green eyes. Upon seeing the brightly-colored irises, I trailed off mid-speech. Normal people didn’t have lime-green eyes. Normal people had brown and green and blue eyes; not lime-green!

“What happened to your eyes?!” I shrieked in horror.

“There you are,” I felt a chilling, menacing voice whisper into my ear. I screamed shrilly as I was yanked backward by my thin, lengthy hair. I continued to scream while unseen hands grabbed at my pink flowered kimono and my face, scratching and biting. Everything hurt and I couldn’t see or breathe.

“Let her go. Ima sugu (Now).” I heard Daisuke threaten. The tone of his voice was murderous; not a tone I ever expected to hear coming out of his mouth, especially not for me.

“Or what?” the ominous voice called out; it was mocking. “You’ll bite me and suck out all my blood?”

“Iie (No),” Daisuke spat. “I’ll do worse.”

“A (Oh), I’m so kowagatta (frightened).”

Suddenly, everything stopped and there was a blinding flash of light, followed by a deafening explosion. I expected to feel the rock of the alley walls smashing into my petite body, but it didn’t happen. There was only another earsplitting detonation and as a result, I screamed with pain. I fell to my knees, holding my hands over my ears to protect them from the vociferous sound. I had no clue what was going on, but I did know that I was terrified and confused.

The light faded to a dim yellowish glow and I was left staring upon only two boys—Daisuke and an even taller young man. I looked around wildly, wondering where all of the hands that had grabbed at me had gone. Who did they belong to? I began to quake with trepidation and I spotted my mp3 player on the ground a ways away, right next to a rusty, metal towel rack. I crawled quickly to the potential weapon.

Daisuke was breathing heavily, his eyes flashing with rage. Strangely, he was hissing like a cat, crouched low to the ground and watching the unknown man’s every move.

“Your little exploding trick didn’t work, boy. You’re gonna have to do better than that if you want to do your duty,” the unnamed man said. His voice was terrifying. It promised death, pain, and suffering. It scorched the air around us like fire and pressed images of blood and torture into my imagination. I was very aware of feeling as if everything around me were melting. It was extremely hot—so hot that I was struggling for each breath. Who was this man, and what was he doing to me?

“And what duty is that?” Daisuke murmured, still crouched low. His voice had lowered to a derisive whisper. He was, in a way, mocking the frightening man for some unapparent reason.

“Protecting your mate,” the other man said, slipping his hand coolly into the pocket of his slightly baggy skinny jeans. He wore a green sweatshirt with the brand name Pleasure Swedish stretched across the front and had a jet-black mop of messy hair. There was a pair of big, white-rimmed sunglasses on his face, obscuring his eyes.

In the next moment, Daisuke sent a blast of shimmering blue light crackling its way toward the man. In the same moment, the man sent bolts of white-hot lightning crashing down to the Earth, narrowly missing Daisuke as he dodged them all. The blue light faltered, hitting the brick wall of the alley behind me.

I stifled a gasp of surprise, for the man had yet to notice that I was nearby. How had the two of them harnessed those powers? That was pure electricity that they had called upon, and it had sprung unbidden to their fingertips! How was that even possible? I wanted desperately to scream and wake up from the nightmare that I was obviously experiencing.

I gripped the towel rack tightly, prepared to defend myself if need be.

“Getting soft in your old age, are you, Ichirouta-san?” Daisuke said, panting slightly. “I dodged those almost too easily.”

“Maybe I wanted you to,” Ichirouta said, casually putting his hands back into his pockets. “Maybe you’re the one who’s losing his touch.”

“I highly fucking doubt that.” Daisuke spat.

Ichirouta’s face glanced at me and then toward Daisuke. “You’re not a very good Guardian. If I wanted to, I could have her ripped to shreds in a matter of moments.”

As he spoke, I could hear whispers surrounding me. Tendrils of shadow appeared, seeping up from the ground and reaching for my feet. I shrieked in terror and backed up to the wall, brandishing my towel rack like a sword. I felt silly because I knew the rack would do nothing against things made of darkness and shadow, but it comforted me to hope.

“Back. Off,” Daisuke growled through clenched teeth, causing my heart to skip a beat. He was shaking with unbridled rage, the sparkling blue energy appearing at his fingertips. There was a high-pitched keening sound around us in the air, most likely due to the amount of power Daisuke was drawing upon.

“Hit a nerve, have I?” Ichirouta said. Then, he waved his hand before him and Daisuke slammed back against the wall with a loud thunk! Daisuke let out a scream of pain as Ichirouta waved his other arm downward. His legs jerked uncontrollably and I knew that Ichirouta had hit Daisuke’s nervous system somehow, in some magical way.

I couldn’t stand the sound of Daisuke’s agonized screaming, even though I despised him. After all, he’d attempted to save me from this wretched man by pulling me into the shadows. It was pitiful, hearing a guy that I saw in my mind as tough reduced as such. I jumped to my feet and rushed forward, whacking Ichirouta in the back with the towel rack as hard as I possibly could.

It didn’t have the effect I desired.

Ichirouta cracked his neck, pulling his head from left to right. He didn’t scream from pain, nor did he fall to his knees and pass out. He didn’t even flinch.

Backing away slowly, I dropped the towel rack as fear gripped me in its icy hands. It clanged against the pavement, startling me as the sound echoed.

“Maybe I oughta do my duty before things get too nasty,” Ichirouta snarled, turning to look at me.

“Iie (No),” I whispered as soon as I felt his hand grip my arm. I tried to shake myself away, but to no avail. My hair swirled about my body as I twisted and turned in his grip.

His skin felt like liquid fire. Honestly, I thought I was going to die. Hell, I wanted to die. If only to make the pain stop.

I spat into Ichirouta’s face, unprepared for the terrible consequences. As soon as my saliva splashed Ichirouta’s nose, pain exploded in the recesses of my mind, filling my brain and chasing away all rational thought. I was left writhing in anguish on the ground, thinking of nothing but the agony pulsing throughout my body.

By Ichirouta paying attention to me, Daisuke was allowed the freedom to move around. He used that freedom and grabbed the towel rack that I had dropped. I had no clue how he’d walked so far in so little time, but I wasn’t exactly worrying about that too much at the moment

And then the pain ceased. Immediately. It slid away, leaving me cold and feeling somewhat empty. I heard nothing but the sounds of Daisuke’s and my rapid breathing as I sat up quickly. There was dirt in my hair, streaking through my white geisha make-up, but I didn’t mind. I was just glad that I was okay.

Daisuke was lying in a crumpled heap on the concrete, the towel rack still held in his slack grasp. Ichirouta . . . Was nowhere in sight.

“Daisuke-kun?” I whispered, falling to my knees and pillowing his head in my lap. I brushed his bangs out of his closed eyes and murmured his name again and again. I briefly noted the fact that his canines were longer and sharper than any human’s canines, as his mouth was slightly open. After what I’d seen tonight, though, it didn’t shock me as much as it should have. I was rapidly developing numbness to all of the magic and weirdness. I didn’t think it was a dream; no, I knew this was real, but I did know that the best way to handle the shock was to raise my expectations.

Blood trickled steadily out of a wound in his side and I forced myself not to panic. Gulping, I ran my fingers backward through my own hair. Just because I hated the guy didn’t mean I wanted to see him die.

Then, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing the unnerving lime-green color of his irises. He groaned and shifted positions so that he was sitting up. Magically, his wound had healed.

“Ayumi-chan?” he muttered, rubbing his eyes and then mussing up his shoulder-length, layered hair.

“Are you okay?” I asked, biting my bottom lip with concern for his well being. “You have a wound in your side.”
“Daijoobu desu (I’m all right),” he answered, studying me quietly. I noted that he was no longer bleeding; his wound had miraculously healed.

We sat in silence, staring at each other for a long moment before Daisuke got to his feet and dusted himself off.

“We’d better get out of here, just in case Ichirouta-san comes back,” he said. His voice seemed dead; void of all emotion.

“Nani (What), no smartass remark?” I joked with a somewhat shaky voice, struggling to rise in my now-soiled, yet tightly wrapped kimono. I could see the mirth twinkling in his lime-green eyes as they slid easily back to their normal, bright hazel color. I chose not to say anything about it.

Daisuke silently offered me one hand.

I stared at it for a long moment, remembering how he’d summoned the power of electricity right to his hands.

“Arigatoo (Thanks),” I said quietly, finally taking the hand he offered. I slipped my arms into the long sleeves of my kimono and turned to go without saying good-bye. I knelt down and picked up my mp3 player, turned it on, and slipped the earphones into my ears. I hoped that the music would help to wash the ordeal of that night from the recesses of my mind.

It wasn’t until about five songs later that I realized that Daisuke was walking alongside me. Before I said anything, I began to think about the fact that Daisuke had come out of the alleyway’s darkness before Ichirouta had attacked. I frowned, wondering what the chances were that he’d be in that exact alleyway at the exact same time that I was. Had he been following me? If so, why?

Things stayed silent while I thought to myself and listened to the calming sounds of ‘Celebrate’ by Utada Hikaru, one of my favorite Japanese singers. We walked side-by-side, about a foot apart, as we crossed crosswalks and strolled down streets. When we came upon one of the more suburban roads, with some of the only two-story American-style houses in Zushi City, which was located in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Tokyo, he finally spoke.

“So . . . Are you okay?”

I pressed pause and looked up at him as we walked.

“What? Oh, yeah, Um . . . Genki desu (I’m fine),” I said quietly.

“Yoroshii (Good).”

A few more steps, and then we were at the gate that led up to my porch. I stood facing him, very aware that he was staring at me quite hard. So hard, in fact, that I seriously thought he was going to try and kiss me.

“Oyasuminasai (Good night),” I said softly, reaching up and tucking a strand of my long hair behind my ears.

Oh, this was awkward.

Daisuke nodded once and I went to my gate. I turned back to thank him for walking me home, but he was already walking away.

“That’s just like you,” I murmured under my breath.

He raised one arm and flashed me the peace sign without even glancing over his shoulder. My eyebrows shot up. Had he heard what I’d said?

Shaking my head, I closed the gate and went into my house.

[x]

Today I had many different things planned. It was Casual Friday at school, I had rehearsal for the Spring Chorus Festival after my last class of the day, and there was going to be a new teacher in my math class. I wore my favorite outfit: A pair of tight black skinny jeans, a black tank top with pink lace on the hem, and a black jacket with white fur on the hood. I slipped on a pair of lacy black flats and hurried into the bathroom to do my hair and make-up.

While I ran the flatiron over my long, silken strands of hair, my mind wandered to the night before. I had so many questions that needed to be asked.

Who was Ichirouta, and why did he and Daisuke have special powers?

Why did Daisuke have fangs and lime-green eyes that changed color when he wanted them to?

How did Ichirouta’s voice have the ability to make me feel as if I was living in a nightmare?

Where did they even come from? Transyl-freaking-vania?!

There were many more unanswered inquiries, and I felt completely confused.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I smiled, flashing a set of pretty, white teeth. My hair fell in straight, choppy layers to my elbows, the jaggedly cut bangs falling across my face and hanging into my eyes. Everyone around me insisted that my petite body, short stature, and heart-shaped face made me “cute” and “adorable.” Fortunately for me, I was one of the lucky Asians—my sparkling lilac-colored eyes were big and exotic; the almond shapes were almost perfect. Those coupled with my thin lips were what make me cute, I guessed. I liked to wear fake eyelashes, too, so my eyes looked even bigger.

I used the curling iron and made my hair fall in relaxed curls and waves all over my head, allowing my bangs to fall prettily across my face.

Leaning over the sink in order to get closer to the mirror, I applied mascara and the fake lashes, liquid eyeliner, and pink lip-gloss. As I did so, I thought about the conversation Daisuke and Ichirouta had had during their battle.

“Your little exploding trick didn’t work. You’re gonna have to do better than that if you want to do your duty,” Ichirouta had said.

“And what duty is that?” had been Daisuke’s reply.

“‘Protecting your mate’,” I whispered, quoting the evil man that had caused me immeasurable amounts of pain in less than fifteen minutes.

I leaned back away from the mirror and twisted the lid on my lip gloss bottle shut. I stared at my pretty reflection, not truly looking at myself.

What had he meant by ‘mate’? Was there something that I was missing? I bit my bottom lip, tasting the tangy cherry flavor of my lip-gloss. There was no way in Hell I’d been having sex with Daisuke or anyone else for that matter; not even my boyfriend.

“More questions,” I groaned, throwing my lip-gloss back into the drawer and leaving the bathroom.

“Ayumi-chan!” I heard my mother call from the kitchen, downstairs. “Come and get some friend melon!”

“Melon for breakfast?” I whispered to myself eagerly. “Yummy!”

I grabbed my messenger bag, stuffed my books and homework inside, and ran down the stairs. I could smell the aroma of cooked rice and fried watermelon. It was an odd dish, but it was a recipe that had been passed down through my mother’s family for ages.

“Ohayoo (Morning). How were classes yesterday?” my mother asked as she set a steaming plate of food in front of me.

“Which ones? Geisha or regular school?” I questioned, taking a bite of watermelon dipped in the rice.

“Geisha,” she asked, sitting down across from me at the table.

“I learned a new sensu odori (fan dance),” I told her just as my younger sister, Kyoko, came stumbling down the stairs. She wore a pair of tight skinny jeans with a dark wash, a studded belt, and a hot pink tee shirt with a black heart on the chest. Her waist-length hair was pulled up into an intricate ponytail with her bangs clipped back into a small pouf. She looked adorable, but in her eyes, she seemed lost.

“Kyoko? Doo shimashita ka (What’s wrong)?” my mother asked, sitting up straight in her seat. A look of worry was plastered to her beautiful face.

Kyoko plopped down into the seat next me at the table. She dropped her backpack onto the floor and placed a hand to her forehead.

“Genki desu (I’m fine),” Kyoko said quietly, blinking a couple of times. “Just a little dizzy this morning.”

I laughed. “You just about toppled headfirst down the stairway!”

She giggled and looked to our mother, asking for food. My mother got up and left the table, closing the door to the kitchen behind her. The phone rang and we both heard her answer it.

“What’s really wrong?” I asked my sixteen-year-oldsister in a muted tone. I knew her so well that I could see right through her façade; something else was up.

Kyoko grimaced. “Can’t get anything past you, can I?”

“Iie (No). Now spill it,” I smirked, taking another bite of the deliciously fried watermelon.

“Well, you’re probably not gonna believe this, but . . .” She smiled brightly. “You know Chong Jin, the Chinese boy who always sits at the back of the gym during assemblies and sleeps?”

I nodded. “Hai (Yes).”

“Well,” she said, sticking her tongue in-between her teeth. “We had a deeto (date)last night and now he's my boyfriend!”

“Really?” I squealed happily.

She nodded. “Hai (Yes), I know! It’s so exciting, isn’t it?”

“Hai, soo desu (Yes, it is),” I smiled, “but that’s not all, is it?”

Kyoko’s smile fell away from her face as if she had peeled it off like a sticker. She looked down at the tabletop and turned to me.

“You have to promise that you won’t tell anyone—not even Liu Mei-chan, wakarimasu ka (Do you understand?).”

I nodded quickly. “Hai, wakarimasu (Yes, I understand). Tell me!”

“Last night, we . . . Well, let me just tell you the whole story on the way to school, okay? Okaasan (Mother) might come back in at any moment.”

“It’s not warui (bad), is it?” I asked, lowering my voice considerably.

She shook her head furtively. “We didn’t do anything together. I mean, we kind-of did, but I guess it all depends on how you look at the jookyoo (situation).”

I acquiesced and finished my meal. I wondered faintly if what had happened between Jin and Kyoko had anything to do with a set of fangs and an odd thirst for blood.

[x]

“ . . . And the next thing I knew, he was all over me, biting me in the neck. My mind’s fuzzy after that, but I have a feeling he like, drank my chi (blood)or something!” Kyoko was saying to me as we walked to school.

Before I knew it, the events of the night before spilled out of my mouth. I left nothing to the imagination—from the way Ichirouta’s voice had made me feel to Daisuke having walked me home. I could tell Kyoko believed my story before I had even finished.

“That explains everything,” she said slowly, scoffing in realization.

“This is so kimyoo na (weird),” I said, grasping her hand tightly in mine. “I can’t believe that this is all happening to us.”

“What do you think it all means? I mean, what’s all that stuff about you being a Hirata-san’s mate? And about Daisuke’s ‘duty’?” Kyoko replied, more to herself than to me.

“I don’t know the answers to any of the questions, Kyoko,” I said, shaking my head. “All I can say is that I hope everything plays out all right in the end. The best thing to do would be to go on living our normal lives, I guess.”

“But what if Jin-kun tries to like, bite me and drink my bloodagain? And what if Ichirouta-san finds you and Daisuke-san? What’s gonna happen to us?”

“Once again: I have no answers, Kyoko,” I replied sadly. “Only more questions.”

She heaved a sigh and then straightened her back. “Well then. I guess we have lives to live, don’t we? We have boyfriends to get to now.”

I laughed and squeezed her hand before letting it go.

Once we arrived at school, I went to the courtyard where my best friend Liu Mei and I always sat before school began. She had moved here from China two years ago, and we’d been best friends pretty much since she set foot in my high school.

“I had the strangest yuugata (night),” I said casually to Liu Mei as I sat down beside her in the grass under the large maple tree we favored.

Liu Mei brushed her chin-length bangs out of her emerald-colored eyes and frowned.

“What do you mean? Did something happen at geisha school?”

I shook my head. “Iie (No). It happened while I was walking home from geisha school last night.”

“And I’d advise you not to tell her what exactly happened, Ayumi-chan.”

Liu Mei and I jumped at the sound of Daisuke’s soft voice and we both turned to stare up at him. He was wearing his uniform all wrong—as usual—with the jacket off and tie undone. He’d even gone so far as to buckle his uniform slacks extremely low on his hips with a bright studded belt. I wondered why he hadn’t been reprimanded, and why he couldn’t be normal like the rest of us.

Then I remembered that he had fangs.

I glanced up at him and studied his face, trying to understand what it was about him that was just so damn hot.

His olive-toned, creamy, pale skin contrasted shockingly with the mess of shiny jet-black hair that grew out of his scalp. The layered charcoal strands jutted out in untidiness, the pointed tips grazing the tops of his shoulders. His hair held a wispy, downy consistency, and his choppily cut bangs skimmed attractively across his face, starting above his right eyebrow and gradually lengthening to his chin.

Just beneath that wondrous, perfect head of hair was one of the most unearthly, beautiful faces that I had ever laid eyes upon. A swift, sparing look thrown his way could confuse the wisest man as to whether or not Daisuke was truly a boy . . . Or a girl. His general veneer could undoubtedly be considered that of a female, what with his smooth jawbone, rounded chin, high cheekbones, and somewhat glowing, clear complexion. The fact that he was so slender and lithe that he almost had an hourglass figure from the back view didn’t help to make matters any better. However, his deep, scratchy voice, lack of breasts attached to his broad expanse of chest, and slightly muscular arms proved that he was indeed male.

As if to add to the ingredients for the recipe for the hottest Japanese boy alive, God had bestowed upon Daisuke the most dazzling set of almond-shaped hazel eyes. It was almost impossible for me to look away from those gleaming irises. Daisuke’s eyes seemed to have a special power about them, and they never failed to pull me in.

“Doshite (Why?).” I asked. I shivered involuntarily for it was a windy day.

“Here,” Daisuke said just before something warm hit me in the face.

“Kore wa nan desu ka (What is this?),” I questioned before holding the object up in front of Liu Mei and I.

It was his uniform jacket.

“It’s why I came over here. They told me you looked cold,” Daisuke remarked indifferently, his hands slipped into his pockets. He jerked his heart-shaped face in the direction of the courtyard doors where I could see his friends hanging out, waiting for him.

“Arigatoo (Thanks),” I said quietly, refusing to look him or Liu Mei in the eye. Instead, I chose to stare at the grassy ground underfoot.

“Doo itashimashite (You’re welcome),” Daisuke said before he walked away.

Everything was silent between Liu Mei and I as we watched him walk back to his friends, his lithe legs moving one in front of the other.

“What just happened?” Liu Mei breathed, her eyebrows raised up and her hands tangled in her long, black hair.

“It had to do with last night.”

“Did you two have sex?!” Liu Mei gasped, smacking me on the arm. “Ayumi-chan! With him?”

“Gross!” I hissed. “With Daisuke-kun?! Yuck! He’s just . . .”

“He just what?” Liu Mei whispered eagerly.

I hunched closer to her, clutching Daisuke’s jacket to my chest and lowering my voice as I revealed to her the events of the night before. I didn’t feel any obligation towards Daisuke to heed his request, so I told her everything that there was to be said.

When my tale had been told, Liu Mei reacted in a way different from what I had expected. I had expected her to gasp and squeal and gossip like the schoolgirl she was, however she just looked sick to her stomach. She bit her bottom lip and looked at me, her hair falling into her eyes.

“Liu Mei-chan?” I questioned. “Doo shimashita ka (What’s the matter?).”

“Watakushi wa (I) . . .” she started, her voice shaking slightly. “Nevermind. It’s nothing. I have to get to class. Jaa ne (See you)!”

She paused and then turned to say, “You should wear the jacket, Ayumi-chan. Daisuke-kun’s only trying to help.”

I sighed, “Shitte imasu (I know). Soredewa nochi hodo (See you later)then.”

After Liu Mei had disappeared into the main building, I stared down at the jacket in my lap. I knew very well what putting the jacket on would say to my fellow classmates. It would pretty much scream that Daisuke and I were dating when were, in fact, not! I wondered if Daisuke knew that or if he was just ignoring the small fact that I had a boyfriend.

I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to decide whether or not to put the thing on. Yes, it was freezing cold and there were goosebumps all over my legs. Yes, the jacket was big and lined with fleece. Yes, he was only trying to help. All of these things I knew very well.

Did I really want to make such a statement about Daisuke and I? After all, we weren’t dating and we both knew that. But did I want the rest of the school thinking the exact opposite? Did I want the whole school thinking that I was cheating on my boyfriend?

An icy cold gust of wind whipping through my layered hair made up my mind.

[x]

“The jaketto (jacket)is too big,” I whispered as I passed by Daisuke’s desk on my way to my own seat in the back. I was wearing it anyway, though.

He stared at me briefly just before our Creative Writing teacher Mr. Yuu rose from his computer desk and walked to the front of the class.

“Ohayo gozaimasu (Good morning),” he said cheerfully, sipping some coffee from a thermos.

“Ohayo gozaimasu, Yuu-sensei (Good morning, Mr. Yuu),” we all chanted back dutifully.

“Today I’m going to introduce a new assignment to you. It’ll be a two-part project in which you all write a short story of your choice, and after you turn it in, you’ll be matched up with a partner to write a short story together,” Mr. Yuu said.

A student lifted up his hand. “Will this be the main project for second quarter?” he asked curiously.

Mr. Yuu nodded, and a hearty cheer rose up to the ceiling.

“Don’t get too excited,” Mr. Yuu laughed. “I’m going to be choosing your partners.”

The cheer quickly turned into a groan.

Mr. Yuu smirked. “After you each write your own short story, I will be matching you up according to the writing styles that compliment each other. Like, if I read a student’s story and it happens to be a fantasy story, then I will pair that student up with another student, who happens to have written a story that falls under the category of adventure. This way, when you get together with your partner to write the final story, something amazing will be created,” he explained.

I liked the idea. This was partly because I liked to write romance stories and my boyfriend, Hong-Ki, liked to write things that were categorized as dramatic. Drama/Romance stories were common, so we’d have it easy. I was confident that we’d be partnered together.

I glanced over at him and he gave me a knowing smile, the mischief twinkling in his cobalt-blue eyes. His dyed-silver hair, of which the sides were longer than the spiked-out back, fell into his gaze, adding to his mysterious look.

Mr. Yuu said, “Get out your pencils and paper. I want your short stories to be at least four pages of notebook paper long—front and back, and filled completely. You have until the end of the period to complete these. Hajimeru (Begin).”

I formulated a story of a girl whose mother had just died of cancer. Her father killed himself about a month later, unable to bear the weight of the financial stress and grief at once. The girl was left alone, abandoned on the street. She called her best friend, who just so happened to be a boy, and went to live with him. Five months later, they were in love, and the rest . . . Was history. It was a pretty standard story for me, but I knew it would be the best choice to help Mr. Yuu decide my partner, which would most likely be Hong-Ki.

I was done before everybody else. I flipped my paper over and set down my pencil. Glancing over, I could see that Daisuke was right behind me. His pencil soared across the paper, the words flowing out like a beautiful, golden song. From what I could see, he was one of the best writers in the classroom. Did that scare me? A little. However, he was still like dirt underneath my shoe and I loathed him with my very being. It didn’t matter that he’d saved my life the night before. He was a bastard.

[x]

I met up with Liu Mei for lunch in front of our Pottery class. She had already set up a place for us to eat in the grass just outside the Arts building, so I slipped into the classroom to put my stuff down.

As I did so, I noticed a crimson-feathered bird perched just outside the window. I frowned, not knowing of any birds like that in Japan. It looked tropical.

“Ayumi-chan! Are you coming?” Liu Mei cried.

I jumped, startled at the way her voice echoed in the rather large room, then followed her and some of our other girlfriends out onto the lawn.

“What are everybody’s favorite ongaku (music)videos?” one girl said. Her name was Ji-Won, one of my father's Korean business associates' daughters; she was more of a friend to Liu Mei than to me, to tell the truth, but I still considered her close.

“Ooh, I like ‘Tell Me’. You know, of the Korean group Wonder Girls?” I said, wriggling happily in my spot on the grass.

They all nodded their agreement. Then, things started to get hectic as we all started throwing in our suggestion for the best music videos of 21st century Korea and Japan.

“What about ‘Paparazzi’ by AJOO? Youhna’s in that one!”

“That one’s good, but I like ‘Thunder’ by F.T. Island. Won Bin is so kawaii (cute)!”

“F.T. Island? They’re good, but I’m a fan of SS501. ‘A Song Calling For You’ is a subarashii (great)video!”

We all laughed in remembrance of the video, in which the five members of the group had been accepted and then unceremoniously rejected by a beautiful woman. Their dancing had been adorable and hilarious, all at the same time.

“What's with all the Korean groups? What about Utada Hikaru? And Tamaki Nami?”

“Oh my goodness, Nami-chan is so sugoi (cool)! Her song 'Brightdown' is my favorite.”

“Tamaki Nami? She makes me think of Amuro Namie and her song 'WoWa'.”

“That's a freaking hella good song.”

“Yeah, totally. You guys know the club Momi Michi (First Street)?”

“Hai (Yeah), the one with the bouncer that always lets us in even though we're not 18?”

“Yep. Well, I was there last night and they played 'WoWa', and I swear I almost cheated on Ichiro-kun.”

Giggling and laughing, our conversation about music died down a bit.

“Aa (Oh), Ayumi-chan, look. You’ve got something in your hair,” another girl, Matsuri, said.

“By the way, I like your hair today,” Ji-Won said. “The waves are like, perfect. The curls fall prettily around your arms, but in a relaxed sort-of way. Jeez, you’re so cute!”

I giggled. “Arigatoo (Thanks)!”

“What’s your secret, Ayumi-chan?” the other of my group of friends, Ryuka, sighed happily. She was lying on her stomach in the lush grass, her own rather limp curls hanging down to the ground.

“Hai (Yes),” Ji-Won said wistfully. “Tell us.”

I blushed involuntarily, not used to so many compliments at once. The truth was that I didn’t have a secret. The women in my family just seemed to be blessed with youthful looks until they were very old. I told them so, and protests rang out.

“Yeah, right, Ayumi-chan!” Ji-Won scowled. “Your hair is so kanpeki na (perfect). That’s got to be some sort-of of conditioner.”

“What creams are you using for your face?” Matsuri snorted.

“I’m not using anything, you guys!” I objected. “I chikau (swear)!”

“Do you swear it on your grandmother’s grave, rest her soul?” Liu Mei asked, grabbing my hand and placing it over my heart. There was a smile in her eyes and laughter was all around us from our friends.

“Yakusoku (Promise),” I said, unable to stop my giggling along with them.

Over the next fifteen minutes, we ate, talked, and laughed like we did every day. We discussed the latest Japanese street fashions, where we were going to start looking for our first jobs, new types of make-up, and concert performances that we had seen on TV. Thankfully, Liu Mei never once brought up the ordeal I had experienced with Daisuke, nor did she mention his name at all. She allowed things to be casual and normal, and for that I made a mental note to hug her once we were in Pottery class.

Although, I did admit to thinking about Daisuke the entire time we were eating lunch. I kept expecting him to come strolling up. After all, he and his friends usually bothered my friends and I at lunch every day, sitting amongst us and eating our food. In fact, it was quite odd that he always seemed to be there. All of my classes were near his or with him; no matter where I was at school, I could expect to see him out of the corner of my eyes. One would think that my boyfriend would be stalking me, but it didn’t seem like it. Hong-Ki went off with his friends at lunch. The only time I ever really saw him was after school and whenever we set dates.

I closed my eyes and hugged myself. I was wearing his jacket still. It smelled of lavender, like he had the night before.

I heard a bird chirping and I looked up. I smiled when I once again saw the bright, red creature balanced upon the branch of a nearby tree. It was looking right at me, almost as if it had been staring before me.

“Hey, guys, look at the tori (bird) over there,” I said, my voice interrupting the mini-conversations that had broken out. I pointed to the red bird and their gazes followed my hand.

“Kimyoo na (Weird),” Ji-Won said, smiling slowly. “I’ve never seen such a pretty tori (bird).”

“Chinpu na desu nee (It’s cute!),” Liu Mei gasped.

“It’s so adorable,” Matsuri squealed. “I love birdies!”

“You love everything in general, Matsuri-chan,” Ryuka chortled.

We all laughed and turned our attentions away from the strange bird. I leaned back on my elbows and tilted my face up to the sun, closing my eyes. Even though it was chilly out today, the sun had decided to peek its warm rays around the clouds at various points in time.

“Daisuke-kun and his friends haven’t shown up yet today,” Liu Mei remarked, following my example and lying out to sunbathe her face.

My eyes snapped open and I shot her a warning look. Her eyebrows raised and she smirked.

“Shitte imasu (I know),” Ji-Won frowned. “We actually got to eat all of our food today.”

Ryuka laughed. “I hope he comes around. He’s so gorgeous. Ooh, and I hope he brings that Tae-Ho guy! He’s even more handsome!”

Matsuri nodded her agreement. “Korean boys are so much prettier than Japanese boys.”

“I’m so glad I moved here!” Ryuka cried, stretching out her arms and falling backward.

“Are you insulting my boyfriend?” Ji-Won smiled, speaking of Ichiro. Then, she lay back on her elbows to sunbathe, too.

“Everyone’s copying me!” I whined before laughing.

“Will it help us to get your youthful skin, Ayumi-chan?” Liu Mei joked.

“It’ll help,” I said, smiling.

“Then copy you we shall!” she yelled, throwing her arms up above her body and pointing dramatically at nothing in particular in the sky.

We basked in silence, the only sound being that of me singing ‘Kane wo Narashite’ by a Japanese singer named BONNIE PINK quietly.

“Your voice is so subarashii (wonderful),” Matsuri drawled.

“I wish I could utau (sing) like that,” Ryuka added lazily.

“Mm-hm,” Liu Mei nodded.

“Amen to that,” Ji-Won snickered.

Suddenly, I heard Ji-Won scream and I sat up quickly. I heaved a sigh of irritation when I saw that it was just Daisuke and his friends. Daisuke’s best friend and Ji-Won's boyfriend Ichiro had thrown wads of grass on Ji-Won’s face.

“You’re such a baka (idiot)!” Ji-Won cried, chasing Ichiro around in circles before jumping onto his back and demanding a piggyback ride.

“What took you so long?” Liu Mei asked, not moving an inch from her spot.

“We were caught up in other things,” Daisuke said. There was a slight smirk playing about his lips; his hands were shoved deep into his uniform pockets. He looked at me and I blushed, finding that I had been staring.

“What . . . What kinds of things?” I asked, my voice catching in the middle of the sentence.

“I thought you said my jacket didn’t fit,” Daisuke shot back. “It looks to me like it fits just fine. And if it didn’t fit, why are you wearing it?”

All of the color drained from my face as Matsuri, Ji-Won, and Ryuka looked at me with their mouths hanging clear down to the ground in shock.

“Ayumi-chan!” Ji-Won cried from her position on Ichiro’s back as he skidded to a halt beside Daisuke’s other Korean friend, Tae-Ho, and his Chinese friend Jung.

She went on to say, “Did you get a new boyfriend and not tell your best friends?! What happened to Hong-Ki-kun?!”

“Of course not; Iie (No)!” I hollered in defiance, balling my fists up angrily. They were all forgetting that I despised Daisuke with my entire being. “I was cold; he gave me his jacket to keep warm. That doesn’t mean that I broke up with Hong-Ki-kun.”

“Then where is he?” Tae-Ho asked, crouching down beside me. He had extremely long black hair that was always pulled up into a high ponytail. Pulling it back helped to show off his sparkling grey eyes.

“With . . . With his friends. What does it matter? He can do whatever he wants! I’m not worried.”

“You should be,” Matsuri snorted. “That guy is a player.”

“Yeah,” Ryuka agreed. “Ayumi-chan’s relationship with him has lasted longer than any of his others.”

“I don’t really trust him. He freaks me out,” Liu Mei agreed, her eyes still closed against the sun.

“You guys are terrible friends,” I muttered, folding my arms over my chest.

Granted, Hong-Ki had a vicious temper and he tended to treat his family and friends badly, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a tender heart. He had never once gotten mad at me or laid a hand on my body. We loved each other; that was all that mattered. I didn’t ever want to lose him.

“And you have a terrible attitude,” Tae-Ho whispered into my ear, sending involuntary chills down my spine. I turned to look at him and tell him to back away, but when my head swiveled to the left, his closeness stopped me. He was looking at me in the same way that Hong-Ki looked at me whenever we kissed. I definitely wasn’t going to be kissing Tae-Ho.

“Yaa (Hey)!” Daisuke said suddenly, the unbridled fury in his voice showing plainly. Everybody turned to stare at him, including me. While his voice betrayed him his anger, his posture portrayed nothing but calmness and tranquility.

Tae-Ho stood up, backing away from me quickly. He laughed and went to mess around with Ryuka.

I glared up at Daisuke, but said nothing. What right did he have to mandate who was allowed to come near me? Was he not clear on the fact that we were not dating?

“Dude, look at the bird!” Tae-Ho suddenly said, pointing to the red bird.

I glanced over at it, frowning.

Liu Mei sat up. “Why is that bird still there?”

“And why is it still staring at you, Ayumi-chan?” Ji-Won asked, frowning and sliding off of Ichiro’s back.

I shrugged. “Shirimasen (I don’t know).”

Daisuke stayed silent as he watched the bird. It seemed as if they were having a staring contest—one that didn’t look like it would ever end. His hands were still in his pockets and he looked as relaxed as ever.

Tae-Ho frowned, looking at the tree the bird was in. His mouth hung open in disbelief. “Is that a peach tree?! A fucking peach tree?!”

Ryuka giggled and popped a grape into his open mouth.

“How did that even get here?” Tae-Ho continued whilst chewing the grape.

I informed them all, “One of the old principals had them planted on the grounds back when the school was first made.”

“Do peach trees even grow in Japan?” Jung suddenly spoke up. It startled us all, for he wasn't one to talk a lot, much less have a sense of humor. He ran his fingers downward through his unruly and spiky, yet defined, black hair, smiling the biggest smile I'd ever seen him smile as everyone erupted with laughter around him.

“We heard you singing earlier, by the way, Ayumi-chan,” Ichiro said, sitting down and pulling Ji-Won down next to him.

“You have a really good voice,” Tae-Ho agreed around a mouthful of grapes that the tittering Ryuka was feeding him.

“Rivals the ages, it does,” Ichiro added, wrapping an arm around Ji-Won’s shoulders.

I chortled nervously and ran my fingers through my silken hair. I really just wasn’t used to compliments. Not to be vain or anything, but I knew I had a good voice, good hair, and good looks. I knew all of these things; I just didn’t like being told them again and again.

“Walk with me,” Daisuke said, his hands still in his pockets.

I glanced up at him; he jerked his head in the direction of the tree that the red bird was sitting in. There was a look in his eyes that was telling me that it was important.

“All right,” I agreed, ignoring the whoops and hollers from my friends.

As I followed Daisuke, I realized that my feelings were mixed about him. I still didn't much like him, but at the same time, I did. Many of the things I'd thought about him were turning out to be untrue. I'd once thought that he could care less for the safety of others—especially women—but the night before had proved different. Daisuke had fought for me—not against me. He also was generous, what with him giving me his jacket despite how cold it was. I'd also discovered that he actually knew how to smile in a non-derisive manner.

I mentally cursed him for his ability to start erasing about ten years of hatred in just one night.

“Were you meaning to shake your fist at me, or are you just having a seizure?” Daisuke asked without turning around.

I flushed bright red when I realized that I was indeed shaking my fist in his direction angrily. It was almost comical, too.

I quickly put my hand back down at my hips and stared up at the red bird.

I ignored the fact that he had somehow known that I was gesturing to him without even glancing behind him.

“Do you have a thought as to whose bird that is?” I asked in a slightly muted tone.

“I have a thought; I’m just afraid of the person it might belong to,” he replied.

A gentle breeze then blew in from the South, bringing with it the scent of the nearby ocean. I inhaled lightly, reminiscing my childhood in Korea. I had lived inland, so I had never had the chance to be near an ocean. In reality, I still hadn’t gone to the ocean, for I’d been too shy to ask any of my new friends to take me.

I told all of this to Daisuke in a quiet voice, not really realizing that I was confiding in him. I told him about how my mother had met my father on a Korean beach and how she'd given up her claim to an abundant inheritance just to marry him. I also told him about how they'd saved up so that they could move to Japan, and were now trying to fulfill their dream of Korea and Japan being united.

I looked over my shoulder at him.

“That my okaasan (mother)would do that for my otoosan (father)is a beautiful thing. Their love is a love that is just beautiful,” I whispered, shaking my head slowly.

The rustling of the peach trees above us seemed to play a soothing melody of Spring. Peach blossoms rained down on us and before I could help myself, I twirled about beneath the shower of floral ecstasy. My curled hair whipped out like a fan all around my small body, catching blossoms within its strands like netting. I tilted my face up to the sunlight that threaded through the branches of the trees, enjoying the warmth on my skin.

I stopped twirling when a peach blossom landed directly on the tip of my nose. I giggled and pulled it off, turning to Daisuke and throwing it at his face. It landed on his nose. He had had his hands in his pockets and his back had been slightly hunched. His face had been completely void of emotion. He'd been a statue, but when I flung the blossom at him, he'd risen an eyebrow.

I giggled, placing a hand over my mouth in a futile attempt to hide my smile. I may have hated him, but he was a funny guy. In fact, I was beginning to find more and more reasons to like this boy . . . And less and less reasons not to.

The fact that he was as hot as the freaking sun wasn’t helping, either.

Daisuke grabbed the blossom and examined it closely, as if he were some sort-of scientist. Then, he flicked it away and smirked at me.

Another light wind wafted in from the same direction, and a rather large pile of peach blossoms plopped themselves down on top of my head. I felt them tickling my scalp as they slid down the long lengths of my hair. I gave a silly laugh and started to do a strange hop-skip dance with the flowers cascading down around me.

I stopped when I felt Daisuke’s presence behind me. I stood up straight, feeling his hands picking the flowers out of my hair for me. I hid a smile, my heart beat racing a mile a minute. This act definitely mixed up my feelings about Daisuke. I remained immobile and hushed, not really knowing what to do. Would moving make me happy? Would staying make Hong-Ki unhappy?

He surprised me when he put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around. He held up a peach blossom, eyebrows raised. He tucked it behind my ear so that it seemed to sprout out from my hair prettily.

“Now can we get serious here for a second?” Daisuke asked, still smirking.

“Yorokonde (With pleasure),” I replied with a smile. “What did you need to talk about?”

He looked back up at the bird and then surprised me by placing his hands low on my hips and bringing his lips down to my face. I gasped, expecting to feel the brush of his soft skin on mine, but instead, he placed his mouth next to my ear.

“Nani wo shite imasu ka (What are you doing?),” I hissed, my eyes wide with alarm. I was well aware of all of our friends watching us from their spot a few yards away. “I have a boyfriend, remember? A boyfriend that will kick your ass if he hears about this!”

Truthfully, Daisuke was more powerful than five thousand of Hong-Ki put together. If he wanted to, he could kill Hong-Ki with a blink of his eyes. It was a hollow threat, to say the least.

“Meet me after school so we can talk,” he whispered.

“Dooshite (Why?),” I asked, frowning.

He said abruptly, “It's not safe here.”

I watched him walk back to our friends, a puzzled look spread across my pretty features. What had Daisuke meant by 'it's not safe'? What the Hell was the point in bringing me over to the peach tree to talk, and then not talking to me? Frowning, I then realized that Daisuke had failed to mention the place where we would be meeting at, nor did he know that I had a Chorus rehearsal after school.

I smirked, knowing that he would, in fact, be meeting with nobody after school.

“Sayoonara (Good-bye),” I said to the red bird up in the tree, flashing it the peace sign and pressing my tongue in-between my teeth as I smiled.

It gave a melodic chirp, and then fluttered away.

[x]

At the end of the school day, I got the bad news that the principal had cancelled all after-school meetings because of some teachers' conference. A chorus friend of mine and I had been on my way to the auditorium for the rehearsal when Principal Park's voice had sounded out through the intercom.

“That sucks,” my Chorus friend groaned. “Well, I guess I'll catch you later, Ayumi-san. Sayoonara (Good-bye)!”

“Sayoonara (Good-bye),” I said quietly, waving to her as she rushed down the hall. Realization dawned on me. I really was going to have to meet up with Daisuke. I stomped my feet and whined. Hong-Ki had already left and wouldn’t be seeing me until dinner that night, at my house.

“Chikushoo (Damn it),” I muttered.

“Found yourself in quite a predicament, haven't you?”

Ichiro stepped out from around a corner, followed by Jung, Tae-Ho, and Daisuke. The grin plastered to all of their handsome faces made me want to smack them all the way over to America.

“What do you want?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

“That depends,” Tae-Ho said lazily, raising his eyebrows mischievously. “What do you want?”

I threw my arms up in exasperation. “I don't have time for this. I have to go to my locker and get my stuff.” I turned tail and walked away, feeling a bit self-conscious seeing as four really good-looking boys were watching me go. Women couldn't exactly stop their hips from shaking side-to-side as they walked, now could they?

Abruptly, they were walking beside me. I stopped and looked behind me in confusion, wondering how I hadn't heard them run up to me. Shaking my head, I continued on my way to my locker.

“See, we have to talk to you,” Daisuke said.

“And it's important,” Ichiro added.

“It involves all of us,” Jung went on to say.

“Including Liu Mei-chan, Jin-san, and your imootosan (younger sister), Kyoko-san,” Tae-Ho trilled joyfully, running backwards in front of me so that I couldn't escape his twinkling eyes. “And what happened to Daisuke-kun and you last night.”

I stopped for a moment, regarding him quietly and suspiciously. “How does last night have anything to do with Kyoko-chan?”

“Well, she's dating Jin-san, isn't she?” Tae-Ho questioned.

I nodded.

“Then she's in on it, because there's no way he hasn't already bit—”

“Tae-Ho-kun!” Ichiro barked, smacking him upside the head.

Tae-Ho cried out in pain, but instantly fell silent.

My eyes traveled from one secretive boy to the other. What had Tae-Ho been about to say? I sighed and started walking again. It obviously hadn't been that important if Tae-Ho wasn't falling head over heels in his attempt to tell me.

By the time we got to my locker, I wanted to shoot them all in the heads.

“Do you guys ever stop talking?!” I hissed, turning the combination on my locker.

“IIE (NO)!” they all hollered simultaneously, causing me to jump out of my skin in surprise.

“Okay, okay! Jeez. I was just—” A bloodcurdling scream was ripped from my throat as the red bird I'd seen at lunch came flying out of my locker, blowing crimson feathers everywhere and chirping like mad. I fell backward in an attempt to escape its razor-sharp beak. Daisuke caught me in his arms before I hit the floor.

I quickly righted myself, blushing as we watched the bird flit down the hallway and out an open window.

“Whoa,” Jung laughed. “Wasn't that bird at lunch?”

Daisuke nodded. “That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Ayumi-chan.”

I ignored him, wrapped up in myself trying to find an explanation for the bird being inside my locker. Then, I got it.

“It had to be Ji-Won-chan and Liu Mei-chan,” I said quietly, smirking. “Yeah, that's right. Those meanies.” I stomped my foot angrily.

“I hate to break it to you, Ayumi-chan, but it wasn't either of them,” Tae-Ho laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and tittering nervously.

I glared around at them all. “Was it you?”

“Iie, iie, iie (No, no, no),” they said quickly, shaking their heads and their hands in front of them.

“Then who was it?” I asked, unfairly expecting them to know.

They exchanged glances.

Daisuke suddenly pushed me up against my open locker and turned around to stare down the empty hallway. All of his friends immediately looked in the direction he was, crouched low in strange positions. I cried out in protest, but my pleas fell upon deaf ears. I tried to push Daisuke away from me, but I could swear he'd turned to stone. His entire body was icy and cold; I began to shiver.

What was going on?

Chapter One: End

A/N: Ehhhhh? Review if you liked, review if you didn't like. =D