1 - I'm not gay (yes this is a chapter title...)

"It's just a new school Daisuke, you'll be fine," Emiko assured her son in a falsely assured voice. His father was on the couch reading the newspaper, his eyes occasionally flicking over to his son at the dining table, a little white rabbit lying in his lap.

"Whatever you say," the red headed boy muttered with his mouth full of toast. He hid exactly how nervous he was from his parents to keep them from meddling in his life too much.

This time he'd have to get to school by foot every morning. Not that he disliked walking – quite the contrary – but it was quite far and he was born lacking any kind of punctuality whatsoever. The new school he would be attending had high standards and, apparently, were strict with late students. Daisuke wouldn't mind being sent home but…he knew he'd never get anywhere by running away all the time.

Daisuke got off the chair and picked up his heavy schoolbag gloomily. His father waved him off before returning to his newspaper. He could hear his mother crying out behind him as he left, her voice shrill and pushy as ever.

"And don't forget, no matter what anyone says, you're not weird!"

Daisuke froze just outside the house, his face turning red from embarrassment. How could his mother possibly have so little tact? Plus, she'd yelled it so loud everyone in the neighbourhood probably now knew that he'd been labelled, amongst other things, weird at school before. Shaking it off, Daisuke ran from his house at full speed, not caring that people were gazing weirdly at him through their windows. He panted as pain shot up his body, forcing him into a walk as he approached the school gates.

The first thing he saw of his new school were two girls leaning nonchalantly against the gates, their skirts flying upwards a little too much under the wind. The first one had long brown hair and a high, girly voice as she talked. The other girl had shorter hair and had somewhat of a more athletic body and spoke in a more casual, neutral tone. When his gaze crossed the girls', they seemed curious and didn't look away.

When Daisuke passed the two girls, he heard them talk to each other in hushed voices.

"Who is that? He seems…nervous," the long-haired girl whispered with uncertainty.

"New student. He did seem shy, didn't he?" the other one pointed out, "He'd better snap out of it quick or he won't be enjoying this year much."

Daisuke shivered as he walked too far to be able to hear them anymore. What had the girl meant when she said that? He got the ominous feeling that there was something he should know.

The inside of the school was immaculately clean and swarmed with students tall and small alike. The floors were made of smooth wood and there were wide windows everywhere. Students passed Daisuke without taking any notice of him as they continued to chatter and gossip before the bell rang; he felt lost and overwhelmed in this new and hostile environment. He'd lived long enough to know that, in general, people did not like him because at first glance he was weird and different. His hair and eyes were red and, as if that wasn't weird enough, he had a small, lithe frame and clumsy demeanour.

The first bell rang; with a start, Daisuke clutched his schoolbag with his hands and ran around the school, looking for his chemistry class. Of course no one had bothered to tell him where to go. He only had a small, hand-written schedule sent to him by the receptionist that didn't include a map or pointers. Some students – mostly male - sniggered as he passed them at a run, some even going as far as sticking out their legs to try and trip him. By some miracle he managed to avoid them that morning and find the classroom a second before the bell rang. What wasn't so fortunate, though, was that everyone had fallen silent and turned to stare at him. And no one seemed very friendly.

He waved shyly, failing to notice the teacher pointing to an empty chair impatiently. Everyone laughed under their breath as the teacher strode to the new student, face red with anger.

"Being rude already on our first day, Mr. Niwa? Well then, I had a nice seat reserved for you next to this nice boy," he pointed to a glasses-wearing boy who was looking back at them with a smile, "but I just might put you somewhere else. RISA HARADA!" he burst out suddenly. The long-haired girl Daisuke had spotted that morning jumped and turned around to face the teacher.

"Y-yes?" she laughed awkwardly, hiding her irritation.

"You go sit next to Hatori and Niwa can get acquaintance with Mousy," he grinned evilly, "I'm sure you'll all love your new partners."

Daisuke, his face now tomato-red, sulked over to his new spot. Risa Harada shot him a murderous glare as she passed him, flipping her hair coolly in his face. He choked and spat out some of the brown strands. The schoolbag slipped off his shoulder slowly and he let it fall down next to his seat, looking down at his feet; he was scared to look at the person named "Mousy". The teacher's evil smile had led him to think that this person would make him sweat.

"Great, now why don't we learn something about our partners, hmmm?" the teacher chirped brightly while setting down a pile of papers onto his desk, "You'll have five minutes to exchange information and then you can all present your partner to the rest of the class. Sounds fun doesn't it?"

"What does that have to do with chemistry?" a boy asked gruffly.

"Well who knows, maybe love will blossom! Chemistry…get it…? It's a word game."

"…" the boy had nothing else to say as he turned to his partner, shaking his head.

Daisuke, his face still a little red, turned over to his partner. The boy sitting next to him was tall and had the oddest color of hair: purple. He was slouched in his chair, his handsome hair slipping over his facial features, paying no attention to his partner. Upon closer inspection, Daisuke realized that the boy was fast asleep. He reached out hesitantly with one hand and placed it on the boy's shoulder, shaking his body slightly.

A pair of beautiful, intimidating amethyst eyes shot open and slapped his hand off.

"Who are you? What happened to fan girl number One?" he looked around the classroom and spotted the girl arguing heartedly with a stricken-looking Hatori. He shook his head and sat up in his chair somewhat.

"I'm Daisuke Niwa, nice to meet you," he introduced himself cheerfully. This Mousy boy didn't seem so bad.

Mousy looked over the boy with his eyes before sighing and rubbing sleep from his eyes with his hand.

"I don't know who the fuck you are but I'm Dark Mousy. I don't mind Risa being shooed off but…," he hesitated, "you look gay. You gay? Ugh, stay away from me you hear? I don't want you to infect me," he shrieked in mock horror. The boy behind him, a dark-skinned, malicious looking boy, laughed out. Daisuke felt his blood run cold and the need to run away and hide took over his dazed mind.

"I…I'm not g-," he began, only to be cut off by the purple-haired teenager.

"I'm sorry, I'm not your boyfriend; tell your crap to someone else."

Then he turned around to the dark-skinned boy and didn't say another word to the young redhead. The other witnesses to the scene giggled discretely with their partners. Daisuke's head fell down and he spent the next two minutes staring emptily at his shoes.

"Alright, I'm sure you're all smitten with your partner by now," the teacher called out sarcastically, "Risa Harada, you can start."

The dark-haired girl stood up with a sweet smile, smoothing her red skirt down with her elegant hands. Her sister, sitting behind her, shook her head and sighed as if predicting a disaster. Everyone held their breath as they waited for Mousy Number One Fan Girl to make her speech.

"After much consideration and pondering," Risa's sister laughed in the background, "I have realized that Hatori is a boring person who reads all the time and is still a virgin. I don't want to be friends with him."

Hatori was watching Risa with hatred-filled eyes as the class laughed in their sleeves. Daisuke stared at Hatori, feeling sorry for him. How could that girl do that to him for no reason? Mousy was laughing the hardest, giving Risa a thumbs up. The girl puffed up with pride from Dark's praise.

Hatori politely declined his turn to talk and so one by one the students described their partners. It was finally our turn and I realized I knew nothing of Dark yet. What would I say!? Luckily the teacher asked Dark to go first so everyone could learn more about the new student. Dark stood up and cleared his throat dramatically while the dark-shinned boy leered at Daisuke.

"Well my partner here, Dasiki Nowa," Daisuke opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Dark, "loved men, especially tall, muscular ones. He enjoys anal sex and strawberry smoothies when it's hot. No need to ask him what he thinks of me; what he says might not be kept G-rated."

And so, in a matter of seconds, Daisuke Niwa lost any chance at a favourable reputation at that school. Everyone believed Dark about him being gay and sneered at him. Even the teacher shook his head in disgust and didn't want him to say a word about his laughing partner. When the bell finally rung, Daisuke was drilled on the spot and couldn't find the courage to move.

"Hey look Argentine, the queer boy looks like he's about to faint," Dark ranted to the blonde, dark-skinned boy standing next to him. Both boys left the classroom in laughter. When they were gone, there was no one else in the classroom except a blue-haired boy who was busy putting away his books. Daisuke watched him pack up for he knew not what else to do. When the boy caught his eye he sat up and strode over to the redhead.

"Do you need help with something?"

The boy waited a few seconds for an answer; he got none.

"You should just forget what Dark said. He doesn't have a heart; it's not because he's undeniably popular that you should envy him or take what he says into consideration. Come on, I'll walk you to your next class."

The boy – he introduced himself as Satoshi – did as he had promised and walked Daisuke over to his next class. Daisuke watched the blue-haired boy walk away with a pang, realizing that he was alone again and that Dark was in this class as well. He took a long, deep breath, summed up some courage and went into the classroom.