Rumi and Hayzil walked in five minutes late for Professor Kirchoff's psychology class. Even though they tried to sneak by the Professor's ever watching eye, they couldn't pass.

"Meez Moto! Meez Banton! Ekssplain your selves!" bellowed Professor Kirchoff in a thick Bulgarian accent.

"Well, uh, you see, Sensei..."

"I vould like a strrraight answer, Meez Moto! You see class, here is a purrfect ekssample of vat I vas discoosing befoor I vas so roodly interrrrupted. If a strraight answer you arr not given, you must asoome off the insecooretes off the soobject. Insecurity is a symbol off...."

Rumi's face went as red as possible under her darker Asian skin as she tuned out the professor. "Shimatta, Hayzil-san! I'm not sure if I can put up with him all year. And they said the Headmistress was tough..."

"You'll do fine, Rumi. After all, he's a shrink. People of their profession always analyze others like that."

"Yes, but..."

"But nothing! There is no need to worry!"

"BUT what is a 'shrink'?"

Hayzil let out a quiet chuckle, realizing that the Japanese girl had no idea what the slang term meant. "I'll tell you later, Rumi, but I think we should sit down before Proffesorr here decides to use me as an example for a psych problem!" The girls gave a nervous giggle and sat down to listen to Professor Kirchoff rave about teenage bullying.

*****

"Gods, do I hate calculus!" exclaimed Kana, as she sat down next to Nathalie. "All this work for something we'll never use in our lives! It makes me wonder."

"Oh well, Kana. At least we have extra time to think about last night, especially with this space case professor." And Nathalie was right. Professor Hutchinson hadn't even realized that Kana and Nathalie had walked in five minutes late. She seemed to be in her own little math world, discussing basic parabolic equations with the teacher's pets in the front. She didn't even seem to realize she was teaching a class. Most of the students were using this as a bonus study hall, probably because the smart discussion sounded like (x+4²)+(y-3²)=25. Kana and Nathalie followed their lead.

"So, do you think it was real?"

"Huh?" said Kana, a bemused look on her face.

"Last night," said Nathalie, looking slightly cross. "Do you think what happened last night was real?"

"I'm not sure. I just know Hayzil looks really different with her hair down like that!"

Nathalie looked at her skeptically.

"Okay, okay. I'm not sure what to think. But if those necklaces can do that, then I think we should try to go back tonight."

"Are you serious? Who knows what could happen in there?" Nathalie looked rather timid just thinking about it.

"Well, you heard what Hayzil said. We can't die if we're dreaming. Plus, if anyone knows more about this, it's that Oleander guy. We should see what he has to tell us."

"I don't know, Kana, it sounds really risky..."

"We'll discuss it with the girls tonight, don't worry," said Kana reassuringly. "This could be our only chance to do something cool at this academy!"

"But... but...,"

"But nothing Nathalie-san! We've got to take a chance sometime in our lives, why not now?"

*****

"Come on, Alelei! We're going to be even later if you don't hurry up!" Alelei and Melyssa raced down hallway four, trying not to be too late for their biology class. This was the one class they'd been looking forward to all day, because the 5th hour biology class was the only one that was shared with the boys from the nearby Katana Private Academy.  The girls dashed into the classroom.

"Excuse us for being so late profes....." They stopped when they realized that there wasn't a teacher in the room.

"Who teaches here?" said Alelei.

A voice in the back of the class spoke up. "Professor Ishiyama. He's having one of his 3 week sicknesses again. Obviously someone didn't tell the Headmistress. Their loss." The tall boy who had spoken stood. His face bore a cheeky half smile that would cause the entire female population to melt into a giant puddle. His eyes were radiant sapphires of hue, and his dark mottled hair slightly brushed his eyebrows.

"My name is Masashi Kishinara. You, I assume, are Alelei Kahana? A pleasure to meet you."

Alelei could have sworn she was melting, right on that very spot. He was so beautiful, standing there like a tsunami could have blown the school apart at that very moment and he wouldn't care. She certainly wouldn't notice.

"A pleasure," She managed to stutter out. The class was now invisible to her. Nothing else mattered but the beautiful blue orbs staring back at her with a ferocity and inner gentleness that she adored. But her analyzing gaze was broken by Melyssa's startled declaration.

"Hey, you're that guy from the registration booth!" Alelei looked closely at Masashi. Melyssa was right! It was the same boy; the one from the booth, and...

"Oleander," she murmured with astonishment. This was the boy from the dream. The dream that the girls had shared. This was the boy that was to help them.

"And you must be Alelei's friend, Melyssa Rhinebeck? Allow me to introduce my good friend, Kasuke Daiatashi. "Melyssa was instantly smitten with the muscular blonde boy, and vice-versa, it seemed. She immediately lost whatever interest she had in Alelei and Masashi's conversation. Alelei wondered why the possibly most attractive boys in the two-school system had picked Melyssa and herself to possibly be attracted to.

"Stop it, Alelei!" she thought to herself. "Why are you filling your head with possibilities?" Alelei was frustrated at herself for acting like this. Where was her flirtatious personality? Where was her intimidating smile? All those tricks became foreign to her as she dove deeper into Masashi's fixating cerulean eyes. Nothing could stop her. Somehow, she felt different about him than any other boy she had met in her lifetime. She wanted him, needed him, desired him even. Masashi spoke again, his voice captivating her like the roar of the current underwater.

"Where are you from, Alelei?"

"Hawaii."

"I've seen you before. Are you the one that visited my workroom in Domin?" Masashi was sitting now, along with Alelei, and their voices grew hushed as they discussed the previous night's happenings.

"Yes, with my friends. Yes."

"You are beautiful, you know."

"Thank you," said Alelei, somewhat surprised. Where had that come from?

"You're welcome. Are you busy tomorrow night?"

"No." Alelei didn't even know if she was busy or not. It didn't matter. Whatever plans she had were insignificant to Masashi's offer.

"Meet me at the Hokage place, then. See you tommorow!" He flashed her a unbalancing smile as he walked out the door. To Alelei's astonishment, she realized that class was over. With a start, she stood up, grabbed Melyssa's arm, and raced towards the door before they were five minutes late for her next class. But her mind was elsewhere the rest of the day.