Hedgesville, West Virginia
Harbinger Academy
Wednesday, August 21, 1996
6:47AM

Taking a seat in the classroom, Jennie placed her backpack to the ground then looked to Kasei as he sat down beside her in the neighboring desk. Her eyes drifted over the different students in the room.
Near the window of the room stood two boys who seemed involved in a conversation over a magazine. One had pale blond hair that reached his shoulders and the other had dark pink hair that was cut short and seemed to be ruffled back into a stylish fashion. At first she seemed to overlook the fact they had tipped ears, but Jennie detected the elfish characteristics.
“They‘re both elves,” Kasei said as Jennie nodded.
Turning her attention toward the back of the room, Jennie found three girls sitting together and talking amongst themselves. She felt insecure when they would look at her then quickly look away.
The girl with the long, black hair and dark skin stole another glance at her then nudged the female beside her with short, dark purple hair and tanned skin. Both giggled together before leaning forward to speak to the girl in front of them with the wavy, light purple hair.
“They’re amused that there’s a human in the class,” Kasei mumbled as his cat ears twitched, “but don’t worry about it.”
“Sure,” Jennie whispered, leaning back in her chair, “they’re not making fun of you…”
Her eyes settled on a small girl with pale blonde hair that was tied up in a fancy knot. It seemed that the student could careless that she was in the classroom and was more interested in the book that she was reading.
“Why’s there’s a kid in the classroom?”
The comment caused Jennie to turn around to see two boys sitting in another corner of the room. Both had darkened skin, but one had light orange hair that hung in his face and other with white hair that was cut into a ruggedly and protruded wildly in the air.
“Kid?!” Kasei shouted as Jennie whipped around and grabbed a hold of his arm.
“Not now,” she hissed, “we don’t need any more attention…”
“But…”
“Kasei, no,” she pleaded while eyes scanned past him. Her lips pierced together as her heart shuddered. “Nevermind…”
“Huh?” Kasei asked, blinking confusedly.
Standing in the doorway was the redhead that Jennie was hoping not to run into. Planted between his lips was a smoking cigarette and around his neck was a taunt, black leather collar that contained a chain that dangled down the front of his school uniform.
The uniform itself was in a disarray. The jacket was left open and the undershirt seemed to be missing, leaving his chest exposed.
“What‘s wrong with that guy?” Jennie asked as Kasei shrugged. “Half-naked and smoking in school…?”
“What should I do?” Kasei asked as Jennie shrugged. “Great...”
Both stiffened when they noticed Rowen pluck the cigarette from his lips, blow a stream of smoke into the air, then head toward them. From behind Jennie, she could hear the girls cooing over the visitor while the boys who had belittled Kasei were questioning why the junior was in their classroom.
“Morning,” Rowen said as he stepped between Jennie and Kasei‘s desks. He turned his back to Kasei and leaned down to face Jennie with a smirk. “See you’re wearing your mother’s ring.”
Reaching out his hand that held the cigarette between his fingers, he touched the ring on her finger with his pinky. “Aren’t you sweet.”
“Get away from me,” Jennie snapped as she flicked his hand away.
“Aww, you don’t mean that,” he said as he grinned. His yellow eyes gleamed as he drew his cigarette to his lips then reached to her neck, touching her flesh lightly. “Your mouth says no, but your body says yes.”
“What?” Jennie asked in a shrill voice.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Rowen said as he leaned his face closer to hers. “The way you push your hips to me. The way you grow weak and quiver when I touch you.”
Jennie’s face twisted in disgust as she shook her head. “What the hell are you talking about?” she asked as she backed away from Rowen. The way his lips pressed together over the cigarette sent chills down her spine. Or maybe it wasn’t chills. Fear rushed through her as she bit her lower lip in horror.
“Biting your lip in lust, I see,” Rowen said with a hint of humor.
“Leave her alone,” Kasei said in anger as he stood up.
“Sit down, small man, you don’t match me in physical prowess or testicle fortitude,” Rowen said, shoving out his left hand and pushing the boy back into the desk.
“Leave him alone!” Jennie screamed, standing up abruptly and grabbing Rowen’s shoulder.
Slipping his right arm around her waist and pulling her into his body, he flashed her a perfect smile then whispered, “You ready to get this started?”
“No!” Jennie screamed, trying to pull free of his grasp.
From behind Rowen, a hand abruptly grabbed at the base of his neck and squeezed. A few more times, the hand tried its attacked without any success.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Rowen questioned as he turned his head to the side, finding Kasei had started an assault.
“Down, damn you, down!” Kasei screamed.
Releasing Jennie with a push, Rowen turned his attention to the cat demon. Rowen grabbed a hold of the hand that Kasei had on his neck, twisting and breaking the bones of his hand and wrist while his other hand thrust out, grabbing Kasei’s neck. With a push up into the air, Rowen let the boy’s legs dangle then tossed him backward into the group of gossiping girls.
Turning back to Jennie, Rowen found his captive had disappeared during Kasei’s intervention. “You can run all you like, bitch, I’ll get ya in the end.”
“We’re not done,” Kasei growled, getting to his feet. His broken hand hung limply. “You’re not going to touch her. She’s mine.”
“Yours?” Rowen asked with a laugh. “What are you going to do with her? Braid her hair? Play with dollies?”
“I’m not the pansified, pretty boy that you are,” Kasei stated firmly as he grinned. His green eyes flared while he moved into a fighting position. “I’d give it to her proper.”
“Would you now?” Rowen asked. He cocked his head to the side as one of the corners of his mouth curled devilishly. “She even feel it?”
Kasei’s face twisted into a look of annoyance. “Are you going to fight or just yap your jaw off.”
“Come on, pussy,” Rowen said as he beckoned Kasei to fight.
The girls Kasei had landed amongst had scattered. While the black haired girl had ran out of the classroom to call for the teachers, the others stayed behind to watch.
Kasei pushed off with his left foot, propelling him forward. Without much thought to his condition, he rammed his head into Rowen’s stomach, slamming the redhead to the floor.
Rowen’s body crashed into the tiling and slid into the teacher‘s desk. Rage formed on his face as he looked at the young boy who already positioned himself into another stance.
“You fucking cat,” Rowen growled, standing up slowly.
“Come on!” Kasei screamed. His eyes flashed wildly when he noticed Rowen moved forward with his clawed hand ready to strike.
Body tensed, heart pounded, and all Kasei could do was wait for the moment that Rowen was close enough to dodge the hit. Just as Rowen’s hand was about ready to cut into his flesh, the cat demon pushed himself off the ground into a backward flip and landed a few feet away.
“Fucker!” Rowen shouted as Kasei fumed.
Kasei’s eyes fell upon Jennie who had hidden behind the teacher’s desk during the fight. His eyes narrowed when he realized she had to have heard what he said about her to Rowen. His mind was a fury of emotions as he evaded another strike from Rowen.
“Get the hell away from him!”
A shout from the classroom door caused both Rowen and Kasei to stop dead in their tracks and look back to a young woman who was wearing the teacher‘s uniform. Her eyes were large and a deep brown that seemed filled with severe annoyance.
“Fighting already?! The first bell hasn’t even sounded yet! Rowen Aramaki, you better get your ass back to your own classroom before I give you detention.”
Standing up straight and fixing his uniform in place slightly, Rowen mumbled his curses under his breath, flicked off Kasei, then headed back to the doorway. His eyes fell upon the short woman who glared back up at him with hate.
“Mrs. Dashiell, you really shouldn’t harass your students,” Rowen said.
“I’m not harassing you, Rowen,” the teacher said as she press a firm hand on the redhead’s back and pushed him out of the classroom. “How many times do you always start these ridiculous fights? And I thought it was always with Rem. Decided to get yourself a new play toy?”
“You know me,” Rowen said with a shrug as stepped away from the woman and faced her. “Rem was boring me, so I figured...”
“So you figure you’d pick on a twelve year old kid?” the teacher asked with amusement. “Lowering your standards a bit, aren‘t you?”
Snatching up a handful of the teacher’s bluish hair, Rowen tugged her forward and help her up slightly. “I don’t lower my standards, woman. A Scion is a Scion despite age. And they’re all my enemies.”
“No Sanction-Scions fights in school,” the teacher curtly stated. “And if you don’t want my husband or brother after your ass, you better release me,”
With a flick of his hand, he released the teacher. A look of disgust formed on his face.
“In the end, Mrs. Dashiell, they’ll never be able to protect you from me.” His golden eyes were cold as he turned and walked away.
Jennie had watched the scene in bewilderment as she cautiously headed to the teacher’s side once Rowen was out of sight. “You okay?” she asked as the teacher looked to the younger girl with curious eyes.
“I’m fine,” the teacher said with a smile. “There’s nothing Rowen can do to me. That little punk has always been a handful since he first came here. So you’re one of my new students this year?”
“Suppose so,” Jennie mumbled.
“Schaffer, right?” the teacher asked, walking into the classroom. “That’s what it said on the roster. I get the only human in the school. Suppose that means we’ll be seeing more of Rowen.”
Standing beside the teacher, Jennie watched her for a moment then looked over to Kasei who stood on the other side of the woman, cradling his hand. “Kasei, are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he muttered. “It just needs to heal.”
“Kasei Hidaka,” the teacher said, pointing to the boy. When he nodded, she smirked. “Wow, you look just like your mother. But I see a little of your father in you, too.”
“You...knew my parents? Were you their teacher, too?” Kasei asked with large, childlike eyes. It was easy to see that he was interested in knowing what his parents were once like.
“Hardly,” Mrs. Dashiell said with a laugh as she placed a hand over her mouth to surpress further laughter. “We were classmates.”
“Oh,” Kasei whispered.
“Let’s see,” Mrs. Dashiell whispered. “Masato was a senior by the time Nick, Natsumi, and I made into high school”
“Nick?” Jennie asked abruptly. “As in Nick Caspian?”
“Yep.”
“What was Nick like?” Jennie asked with amusement.
“A real punk,” Mrs. Dashiell said with a chuckle, waving her hand about. “My brother had a hard time handling him. Thank the heavens the guy settled down.”
“Who’s your brother?” Jennie asked.
“Morey Byrant,” Mrs. Dashiell said as Jennie’s jaw dropped. “Go ahead and take your seats. Class is about to start. We can talk another time.”
“Wow,” Jennie whispered, heading back to her seat. “Everyone is somehow connected to someone else. It’s like one big family.”
Just as she sat down the bell sounded. She watched as the last two students hurried into the classroom. One was familiar. Ashlee rushed in with her hair swaying from the sides of her head while her uniform was accessorized with various bracelets, necklaces, and other odd frills.
The other was a thin boy with short, purple hair that was wore his uniform rather shabbily. He held an air of brashness.
“Ooo,” the teacher said, pointing to Ashlee. “Just because you’re my niece doesn’t mean you can come in late. Do you want me to talk to your daddy about this?”
“No,” Ashlee whispered as she took a seat on the opposite side of the room. “It’s his fault I’m late anyway. Got a call from work or something. Said it was urgent.”
“Sure, sure,” Mrs. Dashiell said. “And the prince shouldn’t be late either.”
“Whatever,” the other late student said as he took a seat on the other side of Jennie.
“There are some new rules for freshmen this year, so bare with me as I go over them. Freshmen will stay in teams, meaning you’ll be with be the same people in every class. Get used to each other since you’ll be together till the end of the year. There are an equal number of boys to girls, so you will be paired up boy-girl for certain events, so I will assign you all to someone else.”
There were groans of disapproval as Mrs. Dashiell smirked. “I could always have you draw from a hat?” she asked as the students gave her a harsh stare. “Hey, I didn’t make the rules. I’m just here to instruct.”
“Can’t we at least pick who we want?” Ashlee asked, waving her arm around.
“That wouldn’t be fair,” Mrs. Dashiell said as she flipped through her assignment book.
“Allard!” Ashlee whined as Mrs. Dashiell looked at the girl with annoyance.
“You aren’t to call me that in class. I am Mrs. Dashiell,” the teacher said as Ashlee puffed out her bottom lip and slammed her head into the desk. “Now I will decided who gets who.”