Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg Mall
Sunday, August 11, 1996
11:59 AM

It wasn’t that unusual to see three teenage boys goofing off in the middle of the mall, but when it was three boys with unusual hair, it was. Jennie walked behind the three with her eyes on Rem.

He seemed to be happy with his friends. Although when he was near her, he would appear to hate every moment of it.

Gazing at his playful nature, she found him to be like any other guy she knew in high school. And again she couldn’t help to find him a bit attractive when he wasn’t yelling or smacking her.

"Well, Jennie?"

"What?" Jennie asked as she found Mirage staring at her.

"I asked what you wanted to eat," he said as Jennie blinked.

"Oh, sorry, I was in my own world," she said with a small laugh. She stepped up to the group as they walked into the area of the food court.

"I think I'll just have some cheese fries from the hotdog stand and a slice of pizza from the Italian shop."

"Sounds good," Janiston said with a smile, "I'll go get those for you if you want to have a seat. What about the rest of you?"

"Whatever," Rem said.

"I'll come with you," Mirage replied, stepping up to Janiston, "you two can sit down and talk a little."

"Don't leave..." Jennie looked to Janiston as he walked away. She slowly turned her head to Rem and peered up at him with a weak smile.

"Hi."

Rem's eyes burned into hers as he walked off suddenly, taking a seat at a nearby table. "Well, get over here and quit looking for an exit."

"Sorry," she said, following.

"Oh! I didn't tell Janiston what kind of pizza I wanted!" She was about ready to jump up and run after him, but Rem caught her arm.

"What kind do you want?" he asked.

"Pepperoni," she whispered.

"He knows," Rem said back, "take a seat and let's talk."

"Talk? About what?" she asked, feeling a heaviness around her shoulders.

"I..." He paused in his words as he looked to the table. "Well, it's more about..."

He hesitated again as he looked up at her with soft eyes. "I have a job to do and it means that I have to look after you. I can't let anything happen to you or else my dad is going to..."

"Don't worry," Jennie replied. "If something happens to me, it wasn't your fault. It was just fate's fault." She shook her head.

"I learned when I was little to expect the unexpected, so if I get caught up in an odd situation, then I just accept it for what it is."

“That’s why…” She looked down at the table with a distant gaze. “…I seem so indifferent about what happened to my parents. I’m so used to it by now. So…I just move forward with it.”

She glanced up for a brief moment and was caught up in his eyes. Rem’s gaze was intense and seemed to be searching her for questions.

"It's good to hear you say that," he finally said, "but even if you expect something to happen or not happen, the shock of it can still be overwhelming."

"I know," Jennie said, sighing to herself, "but I can adjust."

"If that's the case," Rem said, sitting up straight, "then I can tell you everything without worrying about what you'll think or what may happen."

"Tell me what?" she asked, feeling a lump in the pit of her stomach, "is it about my parents?"

"No, it's about you," Rem said, leaning forward.

"Here you go!" A plate of pepperoni pizza flopped down in front of Jennie while a container of cheese fries was placed to the side of the pizza.

"Thanks," Jennie said, looking up to find Janiston staring at her with a sober stare, "how did you know to get me pepperoni?"

"I have my sources," he replied.

"Okay…” She looked down at her food then peered up at Janiston again.

“I was wondering," Jennie said, "why you are wearing a long-sleeved shirt in the middle of summer? Do you get cold easily?"

"No," Janiston said with a laugh. "I have my reasons."

Picking up a fry from the pile, she was about ready to place it into her mouth when something caught her attention from behind Rem's head. A group of three men were walking together and talking amongst themselves, but the one in the middle caught her attention.

"I've never seen hair so red before," she said out loud as everyone's attentions turned to who she was staring at.

"Shit," Mirage mumbled, taking his seat at the table, "now was a bad time to run into them."

"Just shut your fucking mouth," Rem growled as his eyes narrowed.

"What's going on?" Jennie questioned.

"Archrivals," Janiston muttered, "the one you are looking at is Rowen Aramaki."

"Rowen Aramaki?" Jennie repeated, staring at her plate of food, "that's an odd name."

"Rem and Rowen have had it out for each other since Rem started high school," Janiston said. "The two tend to get into fights more often than the average person and are always sent to detention."

Staring at the young man with the blood red hair, Jennie couldn't see how someone with such a beautiful face could be so nasty. "He has a feminine look to him," she said as the three guys she was sitting with looked to her with questioning eyes.

"That's a good one," Mirage laughed loudly, "you got to remember that one, eh, Rem?"

"Yeah," Rem mumbled.

"Didn't expect to you see you three here," the red head said as he stepped up to them. His hands were buried deep into the pockets of his black jeans, "and with a girl at that."

"Must have bribed her," another said, stepping up beside Rowen.

To her relief the boy had dark brown hair much like her own. It felt good to finally see someone remotely normal, but the last person in the group had hair that was as white as snow.

"No need to fight today," the man with the pale hair stated as he shook his head, "we're not here for that."

"Who are you?" Rowen asked, giving Jennie a hard look.

"What' s it to you?" she asked.

"Ooo, she has bite," Rowen said with a smirk, "Rem must like that kind of woman."

"Where are your manners?" the white haired man said, pushing Rowen lightly, "you should introduce yourself before asking a lady her name."

"Introduce myself? What the fuck is your problem?" Rowen said.

"I'm Kwahu Omawnakw," the white haired man said, "and this is Rowen Aramaki and Diver Oyate."

"Okay," Jennie said as she continued to watch Rowen as a cold sensation rushed through her body.

"Who are you then?" Rowen asked abruptly, "Huh? I asked you a fucking question."

"Jennie Schaffer," she replied in a small voice. She could barely find her voice to answer. There was something about the man that frightened her. A familiar sensation that she sure was a fear.

The three men stood, staring down at her with calm eyes. "I know you," Rowen said as his eyes narrowed.

"Good for you," Jennie muttered, looking away.

"Do you mind?" Rem asked, "we're trying to eat."

"We‘re not stopping you," Rowen said with narrowed eyes. He flicked up his middle finger at Rem then walked off as Diver and Kwahu followed behind him.

"He had an accent," Jennie said suddenly.

"Yeah, he tends to get women with that voice of his," Mirage said with annoyance, "he cheats."

Sitting quietly, Jennie watched as Rem, Mirage, and Janiston talked amongst themselves while eating. She sighed to herself then went back to eating her own lunch.

"Weird," she mumbled.

Plopping the last cheese fry into her mouth, she crumbled up her paper plate and box. "Where to next?" she asked, getting to her feet and throwing her trash away.

"Arcade!" Mirage shouted as he bounded from his chair and stomped a foot onto the table. "Where we can play shooter and fighting games all day long!"

"Get your foot off the table," Rem stated, grabbing Mirage's foot and flipping the boy backward onto the floor, "let's go."

Following behind the three, Jennie stared at the ground as they walked into the arcade. Lights flashed around her as electronic sounds of video games drowned out all other noises in the area. She watched as the three boys went into different directions, leaving her behind.

"Now what?" she asked, searching her pockets for change, "I don't have anything to play a game with." She stood silently in the middle of the arcade.

"Come back here!"

Jennie looked up swiftly at the voice to find a young man with long blue hair that was tied back into a slim ponytail. She watched in awe as he was chasing after a younger boy who resembled the older.

"You need to behave yourself, haisha," the older boy said, shaking the younger, "didn't Obaasan teach you anything?"

"Aratamete!" the younger shouted loudly, "I won’t let you win!" The smaller boy flailed his arms about as the older continued his merciless shaking.

"Stop it!" Jennie suddenly shouted as she rushed up to the two boys and grabbed a hold of the older boy's shoulder, "let him go!"

The older boy looked to Jennie then pushed the boy to the ground. Orange eyes that had pupils like a cats stared down at her as she held her breath and looked away.

"Sorry," she said as she backed away slowly, "I didn’t mean to jump in."

"I could've handled him!" the younger boy suddenly spouted out as he flipped to his feet in effortless ease. He brushed off his pants then adjusted the baseball cap on his head.

Raising his hand into the air and waving it around wildly, he shouted out, "I'm Kasei Hidaka!"

"This is my oniisan, Reikoku!" Kasei shouted, pointing to the older boy, "we’ve come from Nippon to visit Amerika!"

"Ahou, stop talking so much," Reikoku said abruptly.

Watching the two argue, Jennie gave them a confused look. "He's your o-knee-son?" she asked abruptly, breaking the two's argument.

"Ahou," Reikoku muttered to his younger brother, "you've got to stop speaking Japanese in front of foreigners. She's not going to understand you."

"Oh!" Jennie shouted, pointing a finger at the two suddenly, "you're Japanese!" Something in the back of her mind clicked when she realized the two held an Asian appearance to them.

"Yeah, we are," Reikoku stated with annoyance, "what he said earlier was that I'm his older brother."

"Oh, okay," Jennie said with a laugh. She looked to the older brother then to the younger, feeling that she had offended taller boy, “I hope I didn’t…”

"What's your name?!" Kasei interrupted, gazing at Jennie with vibrant green eyes that had the same cat-eyed pupils. His long, blue hair was hanging out of the back of his hat and reached his shoulders.

"I'm Jennie Schaffer," she said, leaning into a small bow as she’d seen in Japanese films.

"Schaffer?" Reikoku asked quietly as she nodded.

"Jennie?"

With another nod, she found Reikoku dropping abruptly to the ground into a kneeling position. He hung his head while long strands of his hair fell into his face, hiding his eyes from her sight.

Thrusting out a fist and planting on the ground, Reikoku peered up at her with a stern expression. “I am Reikoku Hidaka, the second eldest son to the Hitoshirezo Kuran.”

Jennie’s face twisted in to a look of distraught at the boy’s sudden exclamation. She blinked then looked to Kasei who only smiled.

“The Hidden Clan,” Kasei translated.

“Okay,” Jennie mumbled as her eyes fell upon Reikoku again.

“My brother and I traveled overseas in order to find the young woman who we are destined to follow,” Reikoku said, looking Jennie directly in the eyes, “and when we find her, we will pledge our undying loyalty to her. She will be the only woman in which we will think about until the day we return home.”

“That means we’re yours,” Kasei said with a toothy grin.

"What?" Jennie asked with confusion in her voice. She watched as Kasei kneeled in the same manner as his older brother. Looking around wildly, she scanned the arcade for her new friends.

“You are the woman we were searching for,” Reikoku said, “we are at your disposal.”

“HUH?!” Jennie exclaimed loudly while her eyes widened in horror.

“What’s going on?”

Turning her gaze to the arcade, Jennie was grateful to see Rem walking toward her. His eyes appeared to be callous as he neared while his hands were buried deep inside the pockets of his pants.