Prologue
"Oh my god…that new student is really hot." Girls whispered as a new classmate stepped into the classroom.
"Girls and boys, this is the transfer student. Go ahead and introduce yourself, then."
"My name is Yuu Kanda. You can call me Kanda." The new student announced to the class in a voice cold and emotionless. He flicked his long blue hair, then turned to glare at the teacher.
Slightly unnerved, the teacher pointed at a seat next to the window, "You can sit there, Kanda."
Kanda calmly walked to his seat, ignoring all the stares and whispers, and dumped his bag on the floor. Pulling out his chair, he sat down and sent a glare at everyone in the room, so ferocious that all of them immediately looked away. Except for one red-haired boy.
Before long, it was lunchtime. Kanda tossed his books under his table and made his way to the door. However, he was intercepted by that red-haired boy who wouldn't stop staring. With a cheerful grin, the boy introduced himself, "Hey there. I'm Lavi Bookman."
"I don't care." Kanda replied as he swept his way past Lavi.
"Aww, don't be like that, Yuu!" Lavi exclaimed, swinging his arm over Kanda's shoulder.
Kanda spun around, "What did you just call me?" His tone was laced with anger, but Lavi took no heed.
"Yuu. That's your name, isn't it?"
Without warning, Kanda grabbed Lavi by the throat and shoved him against the wall, "Never call me that. Do you hear me? Never." He breathed deeply, his fingers digging into Lavi's throat. Then he released him and strode away.
Lavi was unperturbed, and he just called out, "See you later!"
Kanda's new class was said to be one of the worst in the entire school. The majority of the students were either troublemakers, or they had horrible grades, or they were wimpy kids who always got bullied, or the bullies,.
An example of the first category was Lavi, and, as often as not, Lenalee and Allen (they were actually pretty good students, but they always got dragged along by Lavi). The second category consisted of students like Suman Dark, Cross Marian and Winter Sokalo, who spent their time loafing around and not working hard at all. The third category consisted mainly of people too weak to stand up for themselves, namely Miranda Lotto, Arystar Krory, Johnny and a few others.
The last category was the worst. They intentionally caused trouble for their classmates, their teachers and basically everyone they met. They were a gang, and they called themselves the Noahs.
Everyone was curious to see which category Yuu Kanda would end up in. But as it turned out, he fit into none of them at all.
"All right class. This fieldtrip is for you guys to learn more about the environment around you. So I expect you all to be actually studying your environment, and not fooling around." The teacher announced, beaming widely at the entire class, but hardly any of them were listening to him.
Nearly an hour later, the class was well on their way to their destination, in a bus. Kanda sat alone, staring silently out of a window. He did not notice as Lavi slipped into the seat beside him, watching him. Then, in his trademark cheerful voice, Lavi asked, "What're you staring at, Yuu?"
Kanda's head slowly turned to face Lavi, "What did you just call me?"
"Yuu." Lavi answered, grinning widely.
Kanda spun in his seat, grabbing Lavi and hurling him down to the ground. He lunged and clutched Lavi by the throat, hissing, "Didn't I tell you never to call me that?" For once, Lavi looked truly alarmed at the blue-haired teen's ferocity.
A hand caught hold of Kanda's, pulling him back. "Don't touch my friend like that!" a voice said sharply. Kanda looked up, only to see a youngish looking teen with snow-white hair and deep gray eyes.
Kanda snatched his hand away and muttered, "Mind your own business."
The white-haired teen frowned. Lavi, massaging his throat, said to the teen, "It's alright, Allen. I'm fine."
Another teen, a girl this time, looked at Lavi worriedly from her seat, "Are you sure?"
Lavi nodded reassuringly, "Yeah. Don't you worry, Lenalee."
With a final glare at Kanda, the teen called Allen slid back into his seat next to Lenalee, and Lavi returned to his seat behind the duo. The four of them sat in silence for a few moments. Then Lavi suddenly started to sniff, "What's that weird smell?"
Allen and Lenalee turned to stare at him. Then they began to sniff the air as well, noticing the smell but not recognizing it. The other occupants displayed similar behavior. All but Kanda.
"Don't you smell it?" Allen asked Kanda pointedly.
Kanda continued to stare out of the window, "Yes. It's coming."
"What's coming?" Lenalee demanded.
Just at that moment, they all heard a shriek from Miranda. She was pointing at the back of the bus, where smoke was emanating from in thick bellows.
Kanda allowed himself a small smile. At last.
"Is it a fire?" Allen asked out loud, trying to peer through the thick fumes.
Lavi shook his head, seeing no flames. Then, as he started to feel giddy, realization hit him. It was a mist to make them all sleep! He tried to scramble out of his seat, but it was too late. Everything went dark. With a groan, Lavi Bookman hit the ground hard.