New Beginnings

Foreword: A special thanks to Please! without whose inspiration (read 'hard work and passion') this story and these characters would not exhist. You and your compatriots have my gratitude. Please note, this story is not meant to fit into either the manga or the anime.

Synopsis: Kei and Mizuho find themselves in a situation where their world is at stake after Ichigo suffers a bout of curiosity.

Chapter One - Summer's End

Mizuho watched as Herikawa leaned over Kei's desk in that obvious way of hers. The girl's breasts were almost falling out of her top, quite on purpose Mizuho bristled. The girl simply wouldn't give up. And Kei just sat there, talking to her as if he didn't notice that he was being hit on. Mizuho's eyes narrowed as judgment set angrily into her shoulders. 'Why doesn't he say something?' she thought. 'Just tell her to back off' she gritted her teeth, 'Or something!'

Mizuho kneaded her hands atop her desk. It was class-time and she wasn't allowed to eat a snack that she knew would calm her. 'It was a bad example for the students,' she reminded herself, and breathed out a long, exasperated sigh. 'Yeah, like it matters.'

"Sensei," a small, even voice pried. Then again, "Kazami-sensei."

"Hmm?" Mizuho answered wittily, and cursed herself. She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't been paying attention. 'Wonderful example, Mizuho,' she cursed herself. "Yes, Ms. Morino. What is it?" she replied, her plastered smile cracking only slightly. She could see Herikawa leaning closer to her Kei out of the corner of her eye. 'MY Kei?' she thought at the back of her mind and gave in slightly to those emotions that rankled in her. 'Yes, MY Kei.' Her eyes darted to the pair for only an instant.

Ichigo paused only briefly. "The assignment, Kazami-sensei. I've finished it," she said, handing over the sheaf of papers. She followed the older woman's gaze to the pair at the outside center of the class inconspicuously. "Is anything the matter, Kazami-sensei?"

Mizuho laughed nervously. "No, no, of course not. Just a little preoccupied. I apologize."

Ichigo smiled slightly, her eyes narrowing. She felt she'd learned something important, she just wasn't sure what it was yet. "No need, Kazami-sensei," she replied with a slight bow and went to her desk.

As she sat she eyed the three of them surreptitiously. Kei was defending the invisible barrier that was always about him, as usual. Koishi was busy trying to invade by the force of her desires. And Sensei, tall, slender, single Sensei, was stealing glances at the two of them looking more possessive and resentful with each passing moment.

Ichigo's eyes widened. Realization bubbled up in her mind as Koishi walked away and Kei smiled apologetically to his teacher. Something was happening, and Ichigo was determined to find out what that something was.

Her eyes narrowed and a plan began to form in her mind. She grinned as the stratagem came, fully formed, into her thoughts. It was simple, and almost elegant. It required almost no effort at all. The cast was already available right here in the classroom. She decided to implement the ruse immediately.

At lunch Matagu was sitting alone scribbling in his notebook. He was that odd sort of boy who gave the girls in the class the willies. Looking at him one could tell he permanently had sex on the brain. Ichigo had known him long enough to understand that it was his nerves that did it to him. He couldn't control his reaction around women, and that made him seem maniacal when he was basically sweet. At that thought she almost felt bad for what she was about to do. Almost.

"Oi, Matagu," she said simply as she sat in the empty chair next to him.

He looked up from his doodling and instinctively covered it with his hands. Ichigo knew what it was; what it must be. He was infatuated, no, enthralled with Kazami-sensei. And as such, he spent most of his time daydreaming and doodling about sleeping with her. It was rather cute in a way, she thought, even if a little creepy. But to a boy his age, she reminded herself, that's what love was. "Ah," he laughed nervously, closing his notebook in such a way as to hide its contents completely, "Ichigo-chan. You startled me."

The pained expression made her grin in spite of herself. A blush had risen to his cheeks giving him a slight cherub-like appearance. He was sort of cute when caught unawares.

"Why aren't you eating?" she asked.

He scrubbed the back of his head with a hand and sighed aloud. "I forgot my lunch today. It's okay though, I don't really feel like eating," he continued embarrassedly, an obvious lie.

She smiled and pushed her own bento closer to him and opened it. "You can share mine. I'd hate for you to go hungry."

"Thanks, but…" he paused, unsure of what to say.

"Go on," she replied smoothly. "I'm not very hungry today anyway. All I want is some white rice and a juice from the vending machine."

He smiled coyly and took a bite. "Thanks, it's good," he said around a mouthful. She grimaced at the sight. She hated it when people spoke with food in their mouth.

She decided on the direct approach. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

His response was a dumbfounded silence. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Guilt rose up in her and she squashed it down mentally. There were more important things at stake here.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said finally, bending forward to cover the incriminating notebook even more.

"Don't be silly," she replied. "It's obvious that you like Kazami-sensei. You swoon every time she calls your name and you draw dirty pictures of her in your notebook."

He stopped eating rather suddenly. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said quietly.

Ichigo breathed out evenly, and started in again. "She was looking at you today, you know. It was a little appalling to be honest. Like she wanted something from you." She let that statement hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "Besides, you're not going to get anywhere pining for someone like her. She needs a real man," she said, gauging his reaction. "She needs someone who's firm and can make strong decisions," she continued, tearing him down a bit to build him up again. "You can tell by looking at her. She's the type that will follow you anywhere if you show her some confidence in your decisions."

"What do you mean?" he inquired, obviously on the hook.

Ichigo sighed aloud. "She needs to be shown how you feel strongly, and without doubt. You can't just tell a woman like that you love her. You have to make it immediate and passionate and firm," she said, choosing her words carefully to convey a slightly sexual overtone to spur him on and get his imagination working against him. "You have to take her and show her you love her in front of as many people as possible to tell her you really do care about her so much that you don't care what anyone thinks. That's how you get her attention. That's how you get her to fall in love with you."

He blinked, staring out into space. After a silent moment passed, he turned to her and almost pleaded. "What do you mean?"

Ichigo cleared her throat, to move her ruse past the slight twinge of guilt that swelled momentarily. It had been all too easy.

Matagu was nervous when class again began. He grew ever more so as the afternoon drained away. There was only a little time left, and Ichigo too felt the tension as he looked to her with that same question in his eyes that had been there since the end of lunch. Ichigo drew him to their teacher with her eyes pointedly, and Matagu turned.

Ichigo had begun to suspect that her strategy would fail when she saw him begin to breathe deeply to calm his nerves. Slowly, with his head down, his back grew straighter and his chest grew wider. In that moment she knew he would do it. She immediately felt both proud and ashamed. There was something else as well. Something illicit and disconcerting deep down where she couldn't quite see it. It was electric when he stood up. He looked sure, confident, and awe-inspiring. A stray thought ran through her. 'If only… if only someone would do that for me.' She shied away from that convulsively before the sadness set in. There was no time.

Matagu marched through the class evenly, his steps sure and strong. In but a moment he stood before his befuddled teacher, his face a rock.

"Matagu? Matagu, what is it? Please take your seat," Mizuho responded dully.

Ichigo was on the edge of her seat, as the rest of the class began to perch, waiting for something to happen. Matagu looked as if he were a statue, hewn of one solid chunk of marble. When he broke he took her in his arms and kissed her firmly on the mouth. She struggled and Kei was up out of his chair and across the room like a shot.

Ichigo was so entranced she almost didn't catch Kei's headlong dive towards the two. As Mizuho pushed him away, Matagu began to say something. A fist cut him short, striking arrogantly across his eye.

But Kei's bellow was severe and immediate. There was no mistaking it. "Get your hands off my wife!"

Kei stood over Matagu panting, his breath heavy with a lust for blood. It was Mizuho who noticed the aura of the room change first. The mood was thick and surreal. In that moment everything changed.

And so ends the first chapter of this mini-series. A warning to those who don't know my work. This one is going to be dramatic, passionate, desperate, and sultry. ;D