Chapter 00: Prologue

Yuzuki Ohayashi was just your average high school girl, perhaps even a bit dull, as some would say. And truly, there wasn't much about her that stood out. The only thing worth mentioning, was her intellect, something that seemed to grow with each day, even though it was something she tried to hide. After all, why show off when it was already hard enough to fit in, she thought.

She still tried to do well in her classes though, if only to make her parents happy. In truth, however, she didn't much like attending classes, where she would often be picked on or just ignored. She still went though, every single day. Rain or shine(or sometimes even snow) she was there, trying her best to pass her classes without seeming like a terrible know it all(because even though she was somewhat naive, she knew that wasn't a good thing). And there was one good reason for her dedication.

It had been in her first year of high school that she had met him. At the time, she had been a skinny little teenager(not that much had changed for her in that area), worrying about grades and tests and how she would help her mother with dinner that night when she got home. The thought that she was one of the few girls to not have a boyfriend was starting to break into those mundane thoughts, but she usually pushed them back.

Why did she need a boyfriend anyway, she always thought. Love(or what passed for love amongst teens), dates and crushes, those were the sorts of things that would only distract her. She didn't need those things, didn't need to go out on dates, feeling nervous and insecure, didn't need the heartbreak and frustration and the constant struggle to just make things work. No, Yuzuki was perfectly fine with the way things were.

She had kept thinking that up until she was attacked by right as she was walking down the hall of the school, ready to go home after a long and tiring day. It had been sudden, with no warning at all, just a blur of black and the feeling of something heavy hitting her, and then she fell. And there was something furry on top of her. Yuzuki tried not to scream, really she did, but she had never been too fond of cats, not after she had been attacked by one when she was only four(though actually she had only gotten a small scratch on her cheek after pulling the poor animal's tail, but she was young enough to be traumatized by the incident). Now, there sat a cat, right on top of her with it's big yellow eyes staring straight at her, it's tongue flickered out and it licked it's mouth, as if it had just caught a particularly delicious bird. It almost looked ready to pounce, and Yuzuki was frozen in place by her fear of cats(often described as irrational).

And then she was rescued.

"Damn it, get off you furball!"

The cat was pulled off of her bu the scruff of it's neck, hissing and baring it's sharp little teeth at it's captor. Yuzuki looked at the man who had helped her, intent on thanking him, and couldn't help but stare. here were two men standing by, one that she recognized as Kairos-sensei, the slightly insane but likeable art teacher. He took the cat from the other man, petting it and shielding it as if it was the one in danger, which was possible, given his companion's glare.

"Are you okay?" the other man asked nonchalantly, holding out his hand to help her up.

Yuzuki blinked, staring at the man's eyes, a very pretty green tone, like clovers. For a moment, she couldn't really say anything, so she nodded, and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up and back onto her feet. And she didn't really want to let go of his hand, but Yuzuki really didn't need the added awkwardness either.

"I'm sorry! Noir is just a bit hyper today," Kairos-sensei explained, an apologetic look on his face, and Yuzuki couldn't help but forgive him because he was just too nice sometimes.

"I-it's okay," she finally managed to stutter out.

Instantly, Kairos brightened at having been forgiven.

"Oh good, see, Noir was just exited that I brought him along to visit Hadwin-kun!" he explained, holding the cat closer.

"That's Hadwin-sensei at school," the other man grumbled.

"Right, right," Kairos said dismissively, waiving away the other man's concerns.

The other man just scowled and ran a hand through his blond hair. Clearly, he was a foreigner, like Kairos and that teacher from the history department. Then again, her school had quite a few teachers from other countries, all working there to gain practice and learn more about the local culture. In exchange, the students also learned about other cultures and expanded their sights, with many graduates finishing their studies abroad. Yuzuki had never really thought much about the whole thing, not caring either way, after all, she read enough to know about other places outside of Japan. Now though, looking at the handsome blonde standing before her(currently bickering with the other teacher) she was quite grateful for it.

Yuzuki still remembered that day clearly, not so much the walk back home though. She had been too dazed to even remember how she had gotten there in the first place, her last real memory of the whole event being Hadwin-sensei telling her to head back home before it got too late. What she was sure of, was that she liked the teacher, maybe even had a crush on him, but Yuzuki couldn't accept that. It was irrational, she told herself. It was pointless and it wouldn't end well.

'It's just a crush, it'll pass,' she reassured herself.

Unfortunately for her, she was wrong. It didn't pass, and maybe it even got worse, because suddenly, she couldn't help but blush when she saw the man and sometimes she would even hide to avoid embarrassing herself. She began to notice more about him, like the way he always looked so calm(at least when Kairos wasn't around), or how he would often read during breaks in the library(the only place Kairos wasn't allowed without an actual reason). They were little things, things she only knew because she would run into him walking down the hall, or when studying with a classmate, and she wished she could know more, even against her better judgment.

She could remember the feeling of anticipation that rose inside her on the first day of school, knowing she would see him again, because that was all she could really do, catch glimpses of him as they went on with their lives. And maybe that was the really tragic thing, at least to her. They each lived in their own world, so different and separate, even if they were so close, and there was a barrier that couldn't - or shouldn't - be crossed. Yuzuki understood that, she didn't like it, but she understood it, and she made her peace with it. At least that was what she told so, the first year of her high school career passed, and she moved on to her second and still she felt something for the man.

This year she would often hear him talk, his voice deep and calming to her ears. His accented words were easy to discern even through the sea of chattering students. Sometimes, she would hear him talking in his mother tongue, English, and she would listen with a smile, never before having realized how much she liked the language. Most of these times, he would be speaking with Saito-sensei, who taught English, even though they didn't really do so often, since they weren't particularly close. Those times were the times when she wished she could talk to him, if only for a moment, but there was no reason for her to do so, not when she didn't even have his class.

By the time her third year began she was determined to get rid of her crush on the man. She refused to spend another year thinking of someone that she would never be able to be with. Yuzuki would not pay attention to the man, she would push him out of her mind. Her third year would be hers to enjoy and when she left, Hadwin-sensei would be just a silly crush, like any other.

Life, however, had other plans for her.

"Good afternoon, you may call me Hadwin-sensei. I expect you all to behave and follow all of my instructions, which I won't even bother going over seeing as you should know them by now. I will not tolerate any fooling around in this class so do not give me a reason to fail you."

The class was completely silent by the time the man finished his rather blunt introduction. Everyone knew the horror stories about Hadwin-sensei, the only teacher actually more evil than Saito-sensei. He was strict, quick to anger, and sometimes, just downright mean. As smart as the man was - and as good a class as he taught - the general student body dreaded his lessons. Yuzuki, however, was the only one not panicking because of that. No she was panicking for a whole different reason.

Hadwin was her teacher now, her teacher. Meaning, she would be stuck in the same room with him everyday for the rest of the year. And suddenly, she couldn't help but panic, making her face flush, no doubt. Yuzuki was very glad when class ended, because now she could go home and wonder if it was possible for her to be home , she thought, that was a good plan. But she wouldn't go through with it, even if her parents approved, because that damned crush of hers was just about dancing around mockingly, strutting around to show her it was still there. And Yuzuki was a little bit glad for that, because now she had a reason to speak to Hadwin, and maybe - or more like surely - she would be too shy to actually use that, but it still made her happy.

And so, her third year of high school began, and it promised to be an interesting one.

xxxxxxx

Yep, I started yet another story, and I have plans to write even more, even though I haven't finished the others, but I really can't help it. I'm being attacked by plot were-bunnies here! Ahem, anyways, as some of you might be able to tell, this is a spinoff of my other story "Detention" which is still in progress(and no, I haven't abandoned it, I just lost my inspiration). So, I've been reading an insane amount of shoujou manga, I've also watched cheesy dramas, bad romances, etc. all in the hopes of getting my inspiration back. And it kind of worked, as I did get a new idea for a story in the same universe. And it features Hadwin! The loveable but evil science teacher from hell! I love him, he amuses me with all his sarcasm and overall rudeness.

So, for those of you reading "Detention" I will get to it eventually! So please don't kill/maim/threaten me, I fear you. Also, as you can tell, there are no real page breaks, because my Doc. Manager is being evil and refuses to work properly. This means I can't edit anything so sorry about any typos. I will try to update this soon, and please review if you get the chance. Thanks to all of you for reading. Until next time!