Chapter 1

Ichimoku Ren. 24. High School Teacher.

Well, at least the first two are true. Ren liked to think his being a teacher was something that only made sense on paper, on some days, also in the classroom. But in general, the profession was nothing he chose for himself. Although the truth was, there were a thousand other things readily available to him; he just couldn't bring himself to care that much to choose. For if there was one thing that could be said about Ichimoku Ren, it was that he was indifferent. To everything.

Maybe it was because he'd been on his own for most of his life. Maybe it was because he despised the fact that caring complicated things more than it made them easier. Or maybe it was just because he found no reason, no justification to take things into his own hands and find something that would make him want to live right. It was all futile, from his point of view.

Effort was just not necessary.

So he took what he could get, what was in front of him. He moved into the city because his dead grandfather left him an apartment. He went into college because he was eligible for a scholarship. And he became a teacher because he lived next door to a school. As far as Ren was concerned, life was a tedious process of waiting for your death. It's what you have to pass the time. And by all means, he wanted to pass his time quietly, at his own pace, with no complications of any kind.

Yes, Ichimoku Ren was indeed indifferent.

But psychic, he was not.

"Answer pages 42 and 43, exercises A and B. Pass it on Monday."

A hand was raised. He sighed.

"Yes?"

"Are we supposed to write it on yellow legal pad or white legal pad?"

Ren's hand itched for a book to throw but his lips automatically curved into a smile. "Either is fine, Kurokawa-kun. Any more questions? None? All right, see you tomorrow." He stacked his books carefully on top of one another, as the class filed out of the room, the sound of chairs scraping on the linoleum floor assailing his senses.

Finally, it was lunch.

"Dismissed your class early again, Ichimoku-sensei?"

Ren turned around to find the elderly principal in the hallway, smiling at him with crinkly eyes.

"Ah, Wanyuudo-kouchou," he greeted, sliding the classroom door shut beside him. "Konnichiwa."

The principal's face smile widened. "Is that manga any good?" His eyes fell on the comic book tucked under Ren's arm.

"Oh, this." said Ren, "I confiscated it from one of the boys." Truth be told, Ren didn't bother with rules but if he wanted to keep his job, he had to pretend he gave a damn. He returned the principal's smile. "Anything you'd like to talk about?"

"Well I was hoping you could accompany me to lunch-"

"Lunch? Well I have an appointment with Nurse Hone today-"

"It won't take more than five minutes." the older man insisted.

Ren pretended to think about it before nodding in assent. "Very well. I'll just drop this off at the faculty room."

Wanyuudo patted his shoulder once before turning away without a word.

Ren had always disliked that man. He was a bother, he was weird, and he always smiled at him like he knew something he didn't, which was probably the case. What he disliked most about the old man was that he thought Ren was an exemplary teacher, and since expectations like these went completely against Ren's vow of indifference, it made every day a little harder to get by without him having to put up a believable front. And Ren hated working hard to hide the fact that he really wasn't.

When Ren got to the school cafeteria, it was packed with rowdy students who couldn't seem to digest their food without making a ruckus first. He squeezed his way along the benches of gossiping girls and meandering boys before he reached the semi-solitude of the faculty area, separated from the din by four thin walls and a malfunctioning sliding door.

There by the corner, surrounded by his colleagues hoping for a raise, sat the principal. He motioned to Ren when he saw him, and he took his seat by his side. Ren bowed politely to the others on the table, but did not miss the derisive looks they threw his way.

"Where's your bento?" asked Wanyuudo.

"Ah well you said we'd only take five minutes so I didn't bother bringing my pack."

"Do you always hold such reverence to my word, Ichimoku-sensei?"

Ren simply gave a smile and pretended he didn't hear 2-C's Wakata-sensei snort.

"All right, let's get to business since I don't want to keep you long." He set his chopsticks down beside the little plate of wasabi. "I just wanted to talk to you about your student, Enma Ai."

Ren furrowed his brow. "Enma? Enma Ai?"

"Yes."

"Is she a third year?"

"First year. B."

Ren mentally scanned the names and faces of his students but couldn't remember anyone by that name. "Uh. I don't profess to know all of my students but I don't think there's an Enma Ai in 1-B..."

"None yet." Wanyuudo-kouchou reached for a glass of water and took a sip, the light from the window bouncing off his bald scalp and into the glass. "She's a transfer student. She'll be starting tomorrow."

"Oh. And?"

"This girl, she's a very special child," he explained, looking at Ren straight in the eye.

Ren wondered if that was like some kind of euphemism for mental retardation but did not dare ask.

"What would you like me to do, Wanyuudo-kouchou?"

The principal smiled again. "Just look after her. You may find that it is to your... advantage."

He then tried to offer Ren a piece of sushi, which Ren politely declined. He waited for the other man to expound on his words but Wanyuudo picked up his chopsticks and went on merrily eating his bento. Ren guessed it meant that they were done. So he took his leave and got up from the orange plastic chair, happy that he could get out of the room that smelled of unmasked envy.

It made him badly want a cigarette.

Ren briskwalked his way to the school clinic, all the while avoiding the giggly girls greeting him a good afternoon. When he got to the clinic, the sign said closed but the voices coming from the room told him otherwise. He slid the door open and went in.

"But it hurts."

"Of course, it hurts. You hit your head on a metal railing."

The nurse, Hone Onna, was bent over a second year boy and held an ice pack to his forehead.

"Just keep that on for the next hour and it'll abate the swelling." When she turned her head and saw Ren, she straightened up. "Gimme two minutes," she said. She then helped the student on his feet and accompanied him to the door.

"Take the pills I gave you after you've had lunch, and you'll be fine." She patted the students back.

"Can I go back tomorrow?" The student asked hopefully. Too hopefully. Ren smirked.

"Whenever you feel like it," Onna smiled. The second the door closed, Ren pulled the cigarette pack from his pocket, opened it, and handed a stick to the nurse.

"You look like you need it."

"You have no idea." Onne slumped down on her chair, massaging her temples. "Teenagers."

"They're all lost causes," Ren agreed, leaning over the lab table.

"Nah. Nothing a sight of my cleavage can't fix."

Ren snorted. That was true. Most of the students who frequented the clinic were hormonal boys who wanted to take a good look at Onna's breasts. She had a very fine pair that went well with her staggering looks, making her the closest the kids could get to a real porn star. Well, at least at their age. Even Ren couldn't deny the fact that she was attractive. She was his ex-girlfriend, after all.

"Anything new on your front?" asked Onna, lighting her stick with the syringe-shaped lighter Ren got her for her birthday.

"Wanyuudo said something weird to me."

"That isn't much of a headline," teased Onna. She tossed her the lighter so he could light his cig. Within seconds, the clinic was filled with smoke.

"He wanted me to "look after" a transfer student, of all things." Ren rolled the cigarette between his fingers. "That's not part of my work description."

"You're a teacher, Ren."

"Exactly."

Onna smirked. "It does go with the job." Ren watched her cross her legs, the short white uniform tantalizingly hugging her thighs.

"It's not in my contract."

"Who says it has to be?"

Ren shook his head. Perhaps that was the biggest difference between him and her. She absolutely lived for her job. Maybe if she had even an ounce of his cynicism, they wouldn't have broken up. Ren almost smiled at the thought.

"He said she was special."

"What kind of special?"

"I don't know." He took a long drag, making sure all the nicotine went into his body and straight to his nerves. "Whatever it is, I don't give a fuck."

Ren thought 8:30 was an inhumanely early time to be up. It was too early to think, much more teach. But because he had no choice, he was already on his way to his first class. Algebra. 1-B.

The noise from the corridors had transferred to the rooms. The jeers and cheers of the students clashed together and made his brain ache. Somehow, they were particularly loud that day.

The classroom automatically hushed when the door creaked open and Ren went in. He dumped his things on the teacher's table with a dull thud.

"Ohayou," he mumbled.

"Ohayou, Sensei," chanted the female half of the class.

"Please turn your books to page 80. If I remember correctly, we were discussing factorization of polynomials-"

The sound of someone clearing his throat punctured his words.

Ren looked up but nobody said anything. "Any questions?" No answer. "All right then, we can start with the exercises from-"

There it was again.

Sighing, Ren put his book down. "I thought you didn't have any questions."

"That's not it, Sensei," said a girl on the second row, twirling her pigtails in anxiety.

"Then what is it?"

The entire class swiveled their heads to look at the very back of the room, where a girl with long, raven hair sat still. So still that it was like time stopped where she was.

Ren pulled his records from between his books and tried to look for the girl's name in the files. He had found the seating chart but it said that a Kobe Shuichiro should be occupying that chair. He didn't keep track of his students but he was pretty sure Kobe had moved to a new school two weeks ago. He looked at her again. The girl didn't budge but merely observed him with huge, caramel eyes. Or were they red?

"Enma? Enma Ai?"

Ever so slowly, the girl raised a thin, pale arm in the air. "Here," she whispered.

Apparently, she was the special student Wanyuudo had told him about. Ren raked his eyes over her small face. It was as pale as her arm. Her lips were pressed together. And again, her eyes. A strange, clear red. They must be contacts.

"Everyone, we have a new student. Her name is Enma Ai."

Ren gave her his most convincing perfunctory smile. After all, Wanyuudo had told him to play nice with the new girl. But when she didn't even move her gaze from his face, a voice in his head told him nice was the least he should be towards her.

A/N: I was supposed to publish this months ago but it was forgotten, along with many other things. I know multi-chaptered fics and I never had a stable relationship, but here's giving it another try. Please review if you think it's worth the effort. J