.Intro.

"Ten minutes," he said softly, a predator-like grin already spreading across his face. "Let the show begin in ten minutes."

The school, living up to its reputation, was indeed one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen.

It looked just like the brochure that had come in the mail a few months prior – neat rows of rosebushes, the white marble library, cobblestone pathway leading past the iron gates and to a small square that featured a fountain spewing silver water, the clock tower where doves nested, large brass bells. And of course behind all that, the castle-like, grandiose building itself that rose above the treetops and leered down at her in all its glory.

Momo clenched her hands together in the nervous habit she had picked up as a child, staring at the sights around her warily. The small crowd of scholarship students that stood with her were also openly gaping and pointing, although unlike her, there was also an excitement that went along with their astonished amazement. They were all part of the lucky group, after all. Not many from the middle-class were ever able to even step foot into the Souyama schools, that were normally and traditionally reserved only for the wealthy, top percent of society. That's why a special program had been introduced a couple years ago that selected a handful of scholarship students from a pool of applicants, allowing those that did not have the money or status the rare opportunity to attend. In short, they were lucky. She was lucky. But then why didn't she feel happy about the situation?

"Here at Souyama, we particularly stress intelligence, dignity, and grace. I assure you that those who fail to meet our expectations will quickly find themselves falling behind…"

The sempai at the head of the group paused in front of the fountain, where she began wrapping up the morning tour. She was what a true Souyama student was meant to look like, wearing the crisp grey and white uniform with her chin lifted and her dark gaze surveying them with confidence and just the slightest hint of disdain. The red necktie at her throat further distinguished her from the rest of them, who wore black neckties in order to symbolize their… unique position at the school. Whenever someone raised their hand to voice a question, she would respond so severely that after a while, people stopped asking.

And that's when it hit Momo, the full reason for the uneasiness that had been unsettling her stomach ever since she'd opened that acceptance letter welcoming her to the Souyama high school campus. While she realized how fortunate she was to be here, she was perceptive enough – or perhaps pessimistic enough – to foresee how the presence of the scholarship students might not exactly be welcomed with open arms and warmth. This was the place for the heirs and heiresses, the children of aristocrats, the ones overflowing with talent and riches. Another world. It was obvious that none of them actually belonged here and the Souyama students probably knew that too.

A girl with kind eyes and orange hair glanced over and seemed to read the anxiety on Momo's pale face. She turned and gave her a reassuring smile, which Momo returned shyly after a surprised moment of hesitation.

"I'm Orihime Inoue," she said in a voice a few notches above a murmur. "Nice to meet you." Momo glanced at the sempai who had begun to lecture them about adhering to the Souyama rules strictly. A few other people were also talking though and they were standing at the back, so as long as they spoke quietly, no one would hear them.

"Hinamori Momo. Nice to meet you."

"I heard that the fountain over there grants wishes. I also heard," Inoue added with a sparkle in her eyes, "that if two people kiss in front of it during the first snowy night of the season, their love will last for the rest of their lives."

"Really? That sounds romantic." Momo imagined couples at Souyama watching the windows, waiting for the first hint of snowflakes falling from the sky. It was rather difficult to picture the cool and no-nonsense sempai in front of them now believing in such a thing, much less sneaking off in the middle of the night to fulfill the legend.

"Doesn't it?" Inoue sighed. "I'm so happy that I got in! I never thought I would when I applied…"

"Me neither," said Momo honestly. Because although she had often made the top ten at her old school, she was by no means an exceptional student, nor was she particularly athletic. Actually, she was terrible at any sport that involved a ball.

"What made you want to apply?"

"Well actually my parents made me apply, so I just thought it wouldn't hurt to try."

"I bet your parents were really happy, huh? Now that you're on the Ladder," Inoue said, referring to how graduates from Souyama high school had instant access to Souyama University where everyone knew that graduating from pretty much guaranteed nothing short of success in the future.

"Yes, they were. Are."

Inoue nodded. "I'm sure Onee-san would be for me too."

Before Momo could reply, the sempai fixed them both with such a cold stare that it caused them and a couple other people to stop talking at once.

"Anyways, as I was saying," she continued pointedly. "It'll be lunch time soon which will mark the end of this tour. Those of you who had the… means… of paying the lunch fee will come with me to the cafeteria. And those of you who brought lunch from home can eat anywhere you'd like, as long as it does not disturb any of the faculty. Any questions?" There was no sound but the chirping of birds somewhere from the groves of trees around the square. No one had missed her deliberate pause.

Almost of them started when the sound of bells began to vibrate throughout the campus grounds signaling the beginning of lunch. The clock tower above them read one o'clock. But instead of ringing once, the bell rang two, three, four times, and then stopped abruptly, leaving her ears ringing in the sudden silence.

"Oh, the Princes are early," the sempai said with a small frown creasing her brows. "No matter. This is the end of the tour. You're all dismissed for lunch."

One moment Momo was considering asking Inoue if they wanted to have lunch together on one of the wooden benches at the square (she suspected that no one among the scholarship students would pay the ridiculously high lunch fee when they could just bring a bento from home). And the next moment, students in red neckties were pouring out of the front doors of the school and forming a loose but menacing circle around the bewildered scholarship students. The sempai cast them one last smirk and slinked back until she disappeared into the crowd.

Momo had always been a fast thinker, a fast reactor. She saw their intentions well before anyone else did. Perhaps she had seen them even from the beginning, before school had started and she was reading her Souyama acceptance letter at the kitchen counter over and over again, feeling the dread fill her stomach.

She grabbed Inoue's hand and screamed "Run!" while tugging on her arm hard for good measure. The Souyama students were armed with eggs meant to be thrown and smash open on the victims, flour meant to cover them afterwards, and strength in numbers. Luckily she and Inoue managed to push through the crowd before the bullies had assembled themselves fully and were off running towards the forest before anyone could bother to stop them. The other scholarship students barely had time to put two and two together before they were being pelted without relent and utter chaos broke out.

Four teenagers watched the scene unfold from the flickering laptop monitor in front of them, all with varying degrees of interest. The one at the center – a smirking boy with a 69 tattoo on his cheek – was clearly the most amused, his long fingers interlocked below his chin as his dark gaze watched the screen intently. Next to him, a redhead leaned back in his chair with a cigarette dangling between his teeth in the lazy manner of someone watching his favorite football team pummel their much less skilled opponents. The other two appeared to be more on the bored side; the one with bright orange locks staring out the window through glazed eyes and the deadpan boy with blazing white hair watching students turn into a sticky floury mess with as much interest as he might direct towards a fruit fly in his kitchen. After a while, he sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Happy, Hisagi? That's our third year of purging, finished. Now can we go back to school?" he said flatly. "Our absences can't be overlooked forever."

"Oh come now Toshirou. It's out last night until we fly back to Japan, we might as well enjoy it right?"

Renji blew smoke into the air as he tapped the white stub into the ashtray beside his elbow. "It's not like the school can do anything about it anyways. At least not directly. You know that as much as we do, so don't get your panties in a bunch, Toshirou."

This was a bold move, even for the redhead. Toshirou's eyes, a blue-green in the dim light of the hotel room, cast him an icy glare, and despite himself, Renji averted his gaze quickly as he busied himself with lighting a fresh cigarette."Yes, Abarai. It's good to know that you don't exploit your position of power and wealth at all," Toshirou retorted, though he knew as much as anyone in the room that they all tended to bend the rules as they liked. When one could get away with almost anything, it was rather difficult not to abuse that privilege from time to time. Or always.

At that moment, Ichigo began to cough as the amount of smoke in the general area increased. "Smoking indoors again, damn you Renji," he growled as he finally tore his eyes away from the window in irritation. "How many times do I havta tell you to take it outsideuntil it finally penetrates your thick head?"

"Hmm. How many times do I have to ignore you until you finally realize that I ain't listening to you?" Renji said, dropping the mocking tone at the end and taking on his more familiar sneer instead.

"Say that again, tomato-head!"

"You heard me the first time, cheeseball!"

"You bastard –!" Ichigo snarled.

And they both began to stand up from their chairs when Shuuhei cut in. "Children, children," he said with a wave of his hands, which was frankly something only Shuuhei could do without promptly getting his limbs torn off by the hot-tempered duo. "Must we resort to all that nasty name-calling? Renji, I don't think one room can handle your entire pack of cigarettes so if you could do it on the balcony instead. And Ichigo, don't provoke him." He smirked, brushing his bangs from his eyes. "I think your fighting's making Toshirou's headache worse."

Ichigo and Renji sat down slowly, still glaring daggers at each other.

Someone's cellphone began to beep, and the tattooed boy reached over and flipped it open without taking his eyes off of the monitor. "Yeah?"

"It's Fujiwari. Are you guys getting the live stream okay? Is it showing alright?"

"Yup. It's clear as crystal."

"Okay. That's good. Just making sure." The one named Fujiwari sounded nervous, cautious as he spoke over the other end, as though he were talking to someone he desperately wanted to please and desperately feared displeasing at the same time. "L-Looks like this year's purging is going well," he added rather hesitantly.

"Almost too well," Shuuhei sighed. "Last year's bunch was way more rebellious. Compared to them, this lot's pathetic."

"Yeah I know!" said Renji. "I had so many things planned too – hoses, trash falling from windows, set fire to their gym uniforms… this isn't any fun. I mean look at them all just running away!"

Indeed by now, many of the scholarship students on the laptop had run from the scene and out the iron gates, presumably never to return. There was one girl who was sobbing on the ground with a commoner boy bravely trying to get the bullies to back off of her, but the thick grey wall of native Souyama students were unrelenting. Taunts of "Go back into your cardboard box!" and "You're not even close to our league, you commoner" were being shouted from various points in the crowd.

It was clear from their expressions that they considered this act as nothing more than a sport to partake in and maybe laugh about over the next couple days. It was clear from the commoners' expressions that this was a nightmare and they regretted ever stepping foot inside Souyama at all. An egg flew from the crowd's midst and landed square on his mouth, causing the boy to howl.

They all watched silently as the boy stumbled back to the ground, holding his bleeding lip. Then someone emitted a low whistle.

"Ouch," said Renji. "I think that one was hard-boiled."

The girls headed deep into the trees and along the dirt path as fast as their feet could take them. They didn't stop running until the sounds of shouting and shrieks and cruel laugher had faded into the background. Finally they reached a shimmering lake and they bent over, panting, fighting to catch their breath.

"What – happened?" Inoue gasped, both hands on her thighs and her orange locks slightly disheveled. "It happened – so fast! So suddenly."

Momo shook her head, feeling the adrenaline that allowed her to reach for Inoue and make a run for it begin to leech from her body. It was so sudden. Or maybe not. Momo's dark brown eyes narrowed as she recalled the bells, the sempai's odd remark about some sort of Prince (or was it Princes? More than one?) and realized that that must have been some kind of signal. This had been planned from the beginning for who knew how long.

"It was planned," she croaked out, voicing her thoughts aloud. She wished the lake water were clean enough to drink from, it looked so cool in the heat.

Inoue looked perplexed. "Why would they do that?"

"Because," Momo said, then stopped because she wasn't sure whether saying 'Because they think we're not good enough to be here' would hurt this gentle girl's feelings. "Because we're different than they are," was what she finally decided on after a moment's hesitation.

"But how are we different? We're all… oh." The truth dawned on Inoue's face and the corners of her lips pulled down slightly.

They were both quiet for a minute as their breaths returned to them and their chests lost the ache formed from running. After this, I guess I'll have to leave Souyama and attend a normal public school… Momo thought, at first with relief, then with a renewed sense of dread of a completely different nature as she fully realized what that would mean.

With a large sigh, Momo sank down on the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. After a moment Inoue joined her on the soft green grass.

Her parents would be crushed if she left Souyama. They had been so happy, so excited for her when she had been accepted that they had gone around bragging to people from co-workers to friends to random strangers standing in front of them at the grocery store. They had worked overtime to cover the extra fees not covered by the scholarship. If she left, even though she was being forced, no doubt they would be hurt and disappointed.

"Hinamori-san…"

"Hmm? Yes?" Momo said absentmindedly as she slowly began to pluck at the grass.

"I think we should make a bargain," Inoue said quietly. So quietly that Momo almost didn't catch what she said until suddenly the words sank in, and her hands stilled over the ground with fists still full of grass. Momo turned towards her, waiting for an explanation.

"A bargain. Like the ones in the movies. We could reason with them into letting at least a couple of us stay, to mop the floors or do their homework and whatever," she added somewhat bitterly. "I think it could work if we word it right."

Momo considered the idea for a minute or two, biting her lower lip. It was definitely a gamble but it couldn't hurt to try, right? The worst that could come out of it would be getting pelted by a couple of eggs before being chased out of the school anyway. And if it worked not only would they be able to stay in Souyama but maybe some other scholarship students would also be able to stay. And her parents…

"Alright," she said. "What do you have in mind?"

Ichigo was fighting to stifle a yawn. "It looks like it's done now," he said.

There was no real enthusiasm in his voice like Shuuhei or even Renji, only a detached observation. Like Toshirou, he had known them since they were only children sitting stiffly in trousers and suits while their mothers gossiped in someone's garden patio, and was quite comfortably accustomed to their many antics. After all, the purging was all Shuuhei's idea…

"Yes I believe so."

In response, Ichigo lay his head down on the large oak table and closed his eyes, apparently deciding to take a nap on the spot. Toshirou had gotten up and was standing next to the large window, gazing at the sunset jadedly as his features were bathed in the glow of faint orange and pink.

The two commoner girls appeared on the screen so fast, that at first they were mistaken them for victims of the Souyama students. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were clean and unharmed, though nervous, and marching up to the head of the crowd with a fixed determination. One of them went straight to the boy on the ground and examined his bleeding lip, while the other stood over them clutching her hands in undisguised anxiety and fear. The Souyama students were obviously so taken aback that they only stared at her, eggs and other weapons hanging by their sides. In hotel room the little pause of disbelief mirrored exactly the one that was occurring at their school at that moment.

"Damn," said Fujiwari on the phone.

The girls appeared to be speaking to the crowd now, and Shuuhei sharply ordered, "Fujiwari, do a zoom-in and turn the volume up. Also, an identity check please."

Clumsily the camera zoomed in to the orange-haired and the brunette before blurring and then snapping into focus. A moment later a voice came from the speakers, holding a slight tremor but at the same time keeping calm and firm. The brunette seemed to be doing most of the talking while the other tended to her fellow commoners who also seemed too stunned to react.

" – and we're willing to do anything you tell us to do," the girl was saying. "Like mopping the hallways and other chores. No one likes to do classroom duty… and it's fitting isn't it? To keep us around serving you, making us continuously miserable instead of only temporarily." The last words held a little bit of biting grimness, but none of the Souyama students seemed to notice as they exchanged glances and murmured amongst each other.

Toshirou, who had previously lost all interest in the laptop monitor, was now watching the girls with unreadable, hooded eyes. For the first time, he faced the live stream before them with something more than apathetic detachment. Renji's eyes had narrowed as the smoke curled from his lips. Shuuhei's face was also unreadable, though there was a thoughtful quality to it. Ichigo had fallen fast asleep with his head in his arms, snoring softly.

"The Princes will never agree!" a blonde burst out from the crowd. "Shut your mouth, rat!"

It appeared to take a lot of effort, but the girl took a deep breath and tried to reason again. "Would you like to at least relate our proposal to these… Princes? Please consider it?"

"You can't tell me what to do! And a little commoner like you trying to make contact with our Princes? Crazy bitch." An egg was hurled from the crowd and landed somewhere near the brunette, who flinched as it shattered beside her feet.

"Yeah! We need to put her in her place!"

By now the crowd seemed to be recovering their stances and sneers, beginning to converge on the pitiful group of scholarship students that were left. Although the commoner girl braced herself before them standing her ground, another close-up showed that her hands were shaking quite badly. She was either unwilling to run away and leave behind everyone who couldn't, or she was too frightened to move from where she stood, frozen.

There was a rustling sound as Fujiwari returned. "Shuuhei-san. I've completed the identity check."

"Good," said Shuuhei without taking his eyes off from the screen. "What are the results?"

"Orihime Inoue. Age sixteen. Her older brother raised her until he died and after that she lived by herself in Karakura Town. She's the one the lighter hair. The other one…" Fujiwari paused. "…Her name is Hinamori Momo. Also age sixteen. Father works at a company. Mother is an elementary school teacher. Average, average, very average blah blah. But get this; she wasn't supposed to be accepted at Souyama. Her name didn't appear on the scholarship list until the last possible minute, roughly about last December."

Shuuhei let the information sink in and his eyes narrowed slightly. "I see…"

"Well, then good riddance." Renji shook his head. "It sounds like the idiot was trying to deal her way out of being harassed out of school. Hah, like that's going to work. We have janitors to mop the hallway and nerds to do our homework. We don't need stupid commoners –"

"Fujiwari," said Shuuhei suddenly leaning forward. "Stop them. Tell everyone that the four commoners present can stay at Souyama."

"What?" the voice on the phone and Renji cried out simultaneously, Fujiwari shocked and Renji outraged. "Oi Shuuhei you bastard, what do you think you're doing?" Renji added furiously. "We can't keep commoners around our school!"

"Goodnight Fujiwari. We'll see you when we get back."

"O-Okay."

Shuuhei switched off his cellphone, set it down on the table, and then calmly began to pour himself a glass of red wine from the half-empty bottle that had been placed within his reach. He took a small sip and swirled the liquid around in a well-practiced manner.

"Damn you, Shuuhei. Don't ignore me!" Renji yelled. He slammed his fist on the table to emphasize his anger, a few inches away from Ichigo's nose, causing his eyes to blink open bewilderedly.

"What's goin' on?" Ichigo mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, not much," said Renji in a voice dripping sarcasm. "Just Shuuhei deciding to act upon a sudden change of heart and break all precedent by letting a couple freaking commoners stick around. I'm sure his decision will be very well-received."

"What?"

"I think you're all just overreacting," Shuuhei told them. He poured another glass of wine and handed it to Renji, who still looked ruffled but accepted the drink. "I'm 'letting' the commoners stay because I think that'll be way more fun than chasing them all out the first day. Why not let them entertain us a little longer before they can't handle the pressure anymore and leave?"

In other words, he was merely increasing their life span for a couple more months until it inevitably ran out. Shuuhei was reckless and spontaneous; it was often difficult to predict his next move with any confidence. But if there was anything that remained constant, it was that all of his decisions had an outcome of some benefit to himself. This tradition of kicking out all the scholarship students at the beginning of the year had been started by none other than Shuuhei himself almost the moment he had strolled into the school. He had claimed he was bored, and this was true. For when one was handsome and rich and charming, it just took more to satisfy.

Now he was shaking things up in his usual careless manner simply for the sake of shaking things up. And it was because this was so Shuuhei of him and they were all quite used to it that his friends seemed to accept the decision without further question.

"Ah, whatever. I guess I don't really care either way," Renji grumbled as he stood up. "I've had enough of stupid commoners. I'm going to go take a shower."

Ichigo turned to his hotel roommate. "I'm gonna go back to our room. You coming, Toshirou?"

"Good night you all," Shuuhei said as they all dispersed from the room. Ichigo waved goodnight without looking back but Toshirou was out the door and out of sight before the door had finished closing shut. "Git," he called after him almost affectionately.

He reached out to shut off the laptop monitor but paused when his gaze fell on the live stream. The Souyama students had disappeared from view, most likely after Fujiwari had passed on his orders, leaving behind a disgruntled, catastrophic mess of egg yolk and egg shells and flour all over the square. There was no one there save for the brunette commoner – Hinamori Momo, he recalled – who was steadily trying to clean up the aftermath with nothing but a broom and sweep. She'd already begun her side of the bargain.

As he watched, she stopped sweeping for a moment and looked from left to right to see if anyone was there. Then digging into her pockets, she pulled out something circular and small as she walked toward the fountain. A coin. It was obvious what she was doing.

Shuuhei found himself leaning forward and scrutinizing the scene with far more interest than he would have liked to admit; he recognized the commoner tradition of tossing the coin into a fountain and making a wish. He had done the same a handful of times when he was a child after all, before he realized that he had been born with everything someone could wish for and had no time for such childish nonsense anyways. Commoner habits were so strange… Or maybe she was the one that was strange, making a wish at a school like this.

The girl held the coin to her chest for a moment with her head bowed as though she were concentrating hard on her wish. After a moment, the coin was flying in a graceful silver arc and landing somewhere on the top layer of the fountain.

It stayed like that for a couple of minutes – the girl watching the fountain take in her wish, and the tattooed boy watching the girl closely from hundreds of miles away on a laptop screen. Then an orange-haired girl appeared on the screen with an armful of wet towels, and the brunette seemed to shake herself of her stupor. Shuuhei shut off his laptop and closed the top.

Slowly, his handsome face reflected back at him on the black monitor, his mouth bent into a faint smirk.

AU: So... this story has been gathering dust in my head for FOUR years, and I finally I decided, like, what the hell. I'll just post it! Because I'll probably never be satisfied and would just keep changing it forever and ever x_x

But now here it is! And please tell me what you think ^.^;