Disclaimer: I don't own Deadman Wonderland.

Deadman Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" muttered Shiro through a mouthful of melon bread. She struggled to swallow it all down without choking while running quickly down the street. She breathed a sigh of relief as she finally swallowed the bread, her distress at running late to school overwhelming her usual enjoyment of the bread. It was just like grandpa to not wake her up in the morning on time. He was way too lax in life, and it caused her no end of trouble. Well, she figured it wasn't too bad that he always kept the house well stocked with her favorite sweets. That was a pretty nice thing.

Shiro was just a regular old teenage girl, or at least she thought she was. She wasn't quite self-aware enough to realize that her white hair and red eyes stuck out in the general public. She wore a regular school uniform, buttoned shirt and skirt, but with the addition of a pair of track pants below the skirt, fingerless gloves covering her hands and a plain black leather collar around her neck. Just your regular, average high school girl.

Focused on running Shiro completely missed it as someone came around the next corner and she barreled straight into them. Shiro barely managed to stay standing but the other person was knocked hard to the ground, a piece of bread with a bite mark in it landing on the ground next to them.

"Ow," muttered the person. Shiro looked down and saw that they were a teenage boy, probably her age, and wearing her school uniform. The boy's version of course. He was rather wimpy looking, not very tall or muscled, with messy, short black hair. Shiro seriously considered just continuing to run to school and ignoring the boy but in the end her conscience got the better of her and she extended a gloved hand towards the boy.

"Here," insisted Shiro, her mind already running through the severe lecture she was going to get for being late again. She figured her only chance at arriving on time was on helping the boy up quickly and running to school faster than she ever had before. She could hop the front gate easily, avoiding the teacher guarding it as she did so. Then she could get someone to let her into class through the window. Luckily her classroom was on the first floor and everyone in her class was used to her doing so. She just needed to get there before her teacher walked through the door…

"Thanks," said the boy, taking her hand. She helped him up quickly and let go. His eyes widened as he finally got a good look at her. Before he even knew what was happening she was running down the street again. "I've got to go! Sorry for knocking you over!"

Unknown to Shiro the boy watched her in stunned silence for a moment before a broad smile appeared on his face. "Shiro…"

Shiro somehow managed to get into her classroom and sitting down before her teacher arrived. She smiled in triumph, several of the students laughing at her last minute antics and disheveled appearance. She was surprised when several more minutes passed and their teacher didn't show. He was usually a stickler for being on time. The students continued to chat loudly with each other as they waited for Hitara-Sensei to arrive. One of Shiro's friends, Minatusuki, approached while they waited. She leaned on Shiro's desk and gave an exaggerated sigh. "I've been told by Peacock-Sensei that she still wants you to star as sleeping beauty in the school play. You want me to tell her no again?" asked Minatsuki, referring to the drama teacher, Sukegawa-Sensei, by her nickname.

"I don't have time to be in a play!" complained Shiro.

Minatsuki shot her a skeptical look. "You come over almost every day to play video games, even when I'm stuck in the drama club. What part of that is busy?"

"Busy!" repeated Shiro insistently. Minatsuki gave a loud sigh, no doubt about to make some sarcastic comment or cutting remark like usual, but the door to the classroom opened and Hitara walked in. His grey hair had been grown out long into dreadlocks but his perfectly pressed suit, cold gaze and tinted glasses countered any impression anyone might have of him being easy going. Shiro had never seen nor heard of him smiling. She'd heard that the only reason his hair was like that was because her daughter cut his hair and apparently liked the style.

"Attention," said Hitara, gathering the attention of the class without even needing to raise his voice. He looked out blankly across the sea of faces, his gaze finally settling on Shiro. That was never a good thing. "Shiro, you're late and will be marked as such. Please remember to get to class on time. If need be, wake up earlier."

Shiro stood up, feigning innocence and outrage. "You don't have proof!"

Hitara did something then that caused a collective gasp from the class and chilled Shiro. He smiled very slightly. "I actually do. You see, there aren't many young, white haired girls with red eyes in Tokyo, and you were seen. Now, why don't you come in and introduce yourself to the class Igarashi-san."

Shiro felt her jaw drop as a familiar face walked nervously into the classroom. "You!" yelled Shiro, pointing to the boy.

The boy looked out at her and gave a shy smile and wave. "Uh, hello again."

Hitara gave out a sigh. "Please sit down Shiro." She did so grudgingly. Hitara turned back to the boy. "Go ahead."

"Yes sir," said the boy. He turned to face the class. "My name is Ganta Igarashi, and I just moved into the area. I hope we can all get along well."

"Unlikely," muttered Shiro to herself. She took time out of her day to help him up and she snitched on him? How was that fair?! She purposely chose to ignore the fact that it was technically her fault.

"Very good," complimented Hitara. "Go take a seat in the back row next to Azami." Ganta did so, walking right past Shiro. She puffed up her cheeks in indignation and turned away from him, ignoring him. She missed the amused smile that crossed his face once again.

"Raaaah!" yelled Shiro, spiking the volleyball into the ground. The other team groaned as she scored yet another point on them. Her own team let out a cheer, smiling broadly at their ace. Minatsuki prepared to serve the ball and spared a glance at Shiro.

"What's your problem?" asked Minatsuki. She threw the ball in the air and knocked it over the net to the other side.

"That transfer student!" grumbled Shiro. "I can't believe he snitched on me!" Shiro managed to catch the ball before it hit the ground, hitting it back up into the air.

Azami knocked the ball to the other side where the other team once again intercepted it. She looked over at Shiro. "Weren't you the one who knocked him over on your way to school? That's why he was late."

Shiro glared at Azami. "Where'd you hear that?" she asked.

"Ganta told me," replied Azami simply.

"You were talking to him?!" replied Shiro, horrified.

"Of course. We sit next to each other and he doesn't have his text books yet."

"Traitor!"

"I'm not a traitor! I'm just being a good neighbor!"

"Trait-"

"Just shut up and focus on the game!" snapped Minatsuki, knocking the ball up into the air for Shiro. Shiro once again leapt up into the air and spiked the ball down. She'd been distracted by anger though, so the angle was weird. The ball flew out of the court and as Shiro watched, horrified in slow motion, the ball struck Ganta in the face, knocking him over.

"Aw crap!" yelled Shiro.

"Wow, you hit him hard," admired Minatsuki. "Nice shot."

"Dead Center!" came the booming voice of the physical education teacher, Senji-Sensei. He walked over to Ganta with a smile on his face, made scary by the fact that he had a tattoo above his right eye, which was covered by an eyepatch. Or maybe it was just the bloodlust he showed in everything he did that was scary, despite his extreme friendliness. He looked over at Shiro. "Nice shot! Now, get over here and get this kid to the nurse's office. Now!"

Shiro obeyed immediately, once again helping Ganta to his feet. His face was covered in blood from a bloody nose. She helped him out of the gym, down the hall and to the nurse's office. She groaned as she saw the sign on the door that said that Nurse Karako was out to lunch and would be back later. "Is she ever actually here," complained Shiro.

"What do we do now?" asked Ganta, still leaning heavily on her. His voice was muffled and almost unintelligible due to the blood in his nose and the fact that he was using his now ruined gym shirt to stop more from leaking everywhere.

Shiro thought for a moment, annoyed that the nurse was away. All she wanted to do was dump Ganta on her so that she could go back to not having to think about how she kept messing up this boy's life all day. Finally, she made a decision and just opened the Nurse Office's door, unsurprised to find it wasn't locked. She occasionally snuck in and took naps on the beds when it was too hot outside. She never saw the nurse during those times either. She led Ganta to a bed and practically threw him down onto the bed. Then she went searching through the cabinets for something to use. Maybe bandages for his face. What did someone use for a bloody nose anyways? She got on her knees as she searched through the bottom drawers, unsure of what system Karako even used to sort things, assuming she even did so.

"Shiro…," came the soft call. Shiro stopped rummaging in the cabinets and turned around to look at Ganta. Since his shirt was raised to his face to stifle the bleeding part of his chest was revealed. She was surprised to notice that has was surprisingly muscular underneath his clothes. But what was really surprising was the way he was looking at her. It was a surprisingly loving look, one Shiro had seen directed by couples at each other, and not one she'd ever expected to see directed to herself. Her heart skipped a beat when he once again spoke her name. "Shiro…"

"Uh…" stuttered Shiro, unsure of what was going on or how to respond. She turned back around to face the cabinet, searching absently for something for his face. "Do you, uh, need something?"

"You don't remember me, do you?" asked Ganta.

"From this morning? Uh yeah, I'm sorry for knocking you over or whatever…"

"No, not from this morning," replied Ganta. "From before. We met before. We were friends."

There was hurt in his voice and when Shiro turned back around she saw his eyes were slightly misty with tears. She felt her heart skip a beat at the sight, while simultaneously feeling guilty for forgetting this boy who seemed to hold her in high regard.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you from before." She really did feel sorry. She didn't often regret her actions, but when it came to Ganta, she did now. She just kept hurting him. It was all on accident, but it had to sting him none the less.

Ganta surprised her by wiping away his tears, and lowering his bloody shirt to reveal a smile on his face. "That's fine. We can just make new memories together. Hopefully slightly less physically painful memories from now on."

Shiro laughed at that. "I can't promise that. I've been messing up all day after all."

Ganta stood up and walked over to her. He kneeled down next to her and stared right into her eyes. "How about we make a good memory then?" Then he leaned over and kissed her and her world exploded...

Shiro came to consciousness slowly. Her eyes opened up and she saw an unfamiliar, white tiled ceiling above her. She then became aware of a beeping noise and turning her head she saw a medical machine displaying her pulse and other medical information. A tube came out from the machine and went back towards her. She lifted up her arm and saw the IV attached to it. Sitting up she realized she was wearing a loose, low cut hospital gown. A new noise caught her attention and she looked over to see a window with bars over it. A woodpecker was knocking on the window, curious. It looked right at her and then took flight, leaving behind a feather. Shiro felt a large smile grow on her face. "Ganta…"