Chapter 1

The name's Mikala-- average wallflower/ ninja at heart, American girl. School? Why, yes, I do go there. High school to be exact. Anyhow, call me Mik-chan. Why? I like Japanese things, sue me! But I digress, let's steer back to the point that I'm writing for, shall we? Well, this is my love story.

I tap my fingers on my desk with a bored attitude. The teacher's trying to get organized. Apparently, and this is sad, he's gotten lost in where we are. I sigh and turn to watch him fumble around for papers.

A knock sounds from the classroom door. I turn to look a second after everyone else. By this time, the teacher has run, tripping as he goes, to the door. He wrenches it open in his fluster and three boys are standing in an almost posed way. Suddenly, my curiosity is struck.

I place my glasses on my nose and shrink down in my seat to observe. One is tall with elegantly styled blood red hair. His eyes are a dazzling green, like a forest, or emerald. The one in the middle makes me raise an eyebrow. His hair is a gelled back dark brown. He's fairly good looking, but I have the urge to mess up his hair. He would look much better like that, I can tell. The one on the other side of the hazel eyed boy is the tallest of all. My already raised eyebrow shoots up behind my bangs. He has elvis style orange hair. He's grinning, probably trying to dazzle the girls in my class with his large, white teeth.

"Konichiwah!" The one in the middle greets the teacher.

I smile to myself. They're Japanese. I like that.

The teacher, I have to start feeling bad for him, is on his last thread of sanity. He's way too stressed. And now, exchange students? Poor guy.

"Oh, yes. Class, these are our new foreign exchange students from Japan. Introduce yourselves please." He seems out of breath as slumps into his seat and rubs his temples.

The three males walk into the room and grin, well, except for the red head. He just smiles.

"My name's Yusuke Urameshi!" The middle one proclaims. A dozen girls giggle. I roll my eyes at their behavior. Shameful, really shameful.

The oafish one suddenly stands in front of Yusuke, "And I am Kazuma Kuwabara! Please, no flash photography." Only silence greets him. Actually, I think I hear a cricket.

The red head steps forward. He's beautiful, really. I can see this. He smiles, "Hello. I'm Shuichi Minimino. Pleased to meet you." All the rest of the girls in the class squeal and giggle almost violently.

The term 'Man-hor' pops into my head. I snigger and push the thought away.

Yusuke steps up again, "And this Hiei." He gestures to behind him. No one's there. I raise an eyebrow again.

Shuichi cleared his throat and whispered something in Yusuke's ear. He gapes and turns to the red head. "Where'd he go?" Yusuke swishes around looking for something, or someone? Who's Hiei, anyway?

I see Yusuke pull something out of his pocket. I can only catch a glimpse of it, but I swear it's a whistle. He turns and does something. I'm guessing he's blowing the whistle, but I can't hear anything. It only takes about five seconds for a large snapping sound to crash against the window. I jump and fall out of my seat. Everyone stares at me as I stand back up and look out the window. I almost fall back down when I see a boy standing on the ledge. I hear the teacher cry out in the background and faint. Poor, poor man.

The boy is short--about my height or an inch taller at the most. His eyes are large and entrancing. They're dark brown. I swear there's an undertone of red, but that's not the strangest thing about him. That honor would go to his hair, which defies gravity. It reminds me of a black flame, except there's a burst of white reaching around his bangs and tipping them with its light color. He looks severely irritated. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to kill someone. He wears a yellow shirt and blue jeans, I notice vaguely.

I open the window to let him in. In the time it takes me to blink, he's standing in front of Yusuke, glaring at him. I shrink into my seat, glad that the attention's off me.

"Yusuke, if you ever use that contraption again…" He didn't even have to finish the threat to have Yusuke rubbing the back of his head and scooting away slightly.

"Aw, come on Hiei! You ran off, what else was I supposed to do?"

I piece it together suddenly. Yusuke had called that boy—he had introduced him as Hiei earlier—with the whistle. I snort. What is he, a dog?

As if knowing my thoughts, Hiei looks over his shoulder and glares at me. I freak out mentally that suddenly, everyone in the room is staring at us. Strangely enough, I'm not scared of him, though everyone else seems to be. I glare back at him. He knits his eyebrows together, keeping his dark and dreadful glare in his irises. I turn and look the opposite way as if I don't care.

That was how it began.

When school finally ends, I wander through the halls, trying not to touch people. I look up through my glasses and bangs and see Houston staring at me from the other end of the hall. I gasp. No, not him! I turn around immediately, although my bus ride home is on the other side of the school. I run through the school, trying to get away.

I feel like I'm playing a high stake game of hide and seek as I try and find a good hiding place. Houston and I used to go out, but it was brief so I wouldn't even call him my ex. He drove us to a highway on the outskirts of town on our second date, I broke up with him then. He's been after me ever since, trying to get what I didn't give him before. He's the reason I'm so scared of males.

I run through the halls. All the students have flocked out of school by now. The echoing of my feet reminds me of the many days that this has happened. I can only think of getting away.

My shoulder hits someone else's. I fall to the ground and roll so I can look and see who it was. Hiei looks down at me. Frustration is in his eyes, but I'm so panicked that he's just a blur.

"Sorry!" I yell too loudly. I look down the hall and see Houston is much too close. Oh, please don't let this be the day he catches me! I scramble up and fly down the hall as fast as I can. Unfortunately, I've always been athletically challenged.

His foot steps keep getting nearer and nearer. The sound is ten times as loud as it should be. He doesn't say anything, he doesn't need to. He dives to snatch my hand. I turn my body, so he misses. That was too close. I run further down the hall.

My heart falls into my stomach as I realize that in my terror, I had ran down the Science corridor that's under construction. It's abandoned…

… and a dead end.

I turn around slowly. Houston is standing about a yard away from me. He's smirking. There's something dark and vengeful in his eyes.

"Now, Mikayla…" He pins my hands above my head as I thrash around desperately, "… its time to finish what we started.

"You tried to start something, I stopped it!" I yell.

He smothers my lips with his own. I close my eyes tightly, struggling still. He pulls back to grin darkly at me, "You really have to be quieter."

"NO!" I scream.

He slams his lips against me, prying my lips open with his tongue and thrusting it into my mouth. I gag and try to turn my head away. I don't want this. He's too close. My worst nightmare is being realized. No. NO!

Suddenly, I'm released. I cough and spit his saliva out my mouth. I look up to see a dark figure separating him from me. I don't know who he is from my position, but my heart's exploding with relief. The person move forward like lighting, throwing Houston against the opposite wall and pinning him there with his arm. Whoever he is shorter than Houston is, but, apparently, much stronger.

Wait a minute. That strange hair is so familiar.

"What exactly…" He began to tremble. The air became hot. "…did you think you were going to do?" His voice was deep and somewhat familiar. He's hoarse, as if restraining himself.

He lifts his shirt with his other hand and I gasped. There's a sheath holding a sword. He takes it out. I find it to be a samurai sword. It shines in the dim light that escapes from the broken window. He puts the blade against Houston's neck. The air becomes sweltering. I feel my eyes widen as fear and anger fill Houston's black eyes.

"What were you up to?" He asks again, deadly vehemence at the core of every word.

Houston can't talk. If he even gulps, the sword is sure to cut his throat.

"You sicken me." The person hisses.

In a blinding moment, he releases the sword from Houston's neck and punches him in the side of the face. Houston goes sprawling into the dead end wall. As he turns, I find the identity of my wrath brimmed savior.

Hiei's eyes are defiantly red now.

He leaps onto Houston, grabbing his head and slamming it repeatedly into the floor, "I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED!" He roars, picking him up and hurling him across the linoleum floors and into the plaster walls.

I watch, petrified.

He takes out the sword again as he pins Houston's head to the broken window ledge. He slices him across the cheek at such velocity that he falls to the left as he lets go of his head.

Hiei's eyes are scaring me. They're bloody thirsty as they gaze at Houston.

I never thought I would do this. But, as I look at Houston's bruised and bloodied head; at his purpled eyes and broken fingers…

"STOP!" I scream.

Hiei freezes. He looks at me. His eyes are still threatening, thirsting for Houston's blood and death. I shudder and cringe.

"Please. Just… stop." I whisper.

I don't even know why he listens to me, but he does. He sheathes his sword, not even taking a second look at Houston. He walks to me. I look up at him. I'm still on the floor. He kneels down, looking into my eyes. It's just gotten so much harder to breath.

He only nods, and takes my shoulders gently. He helps me up.

Hiei walks me out of the school, and stays with me for the trek home.