:INnOceNCe cAN kiLL:

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:Chapter 1:

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Yuu Watase's plot or characters. She is much too brilliant for the likes of me. So don't rub it in, or you'll regret it.

"Alice, are you sure you turned in that assignment?"

Alice nodded her head emphatically, her shoulder-length dark hair sweeping into her face.

Her teacher sighed, once again flicking his gaze to the names on the papers in front of him. "Well… are you sure you couldn't check to see if it's in you binder, or something? Because I have everyone else's papers here."

Inwardly sighing, Alice forced a weary smile, and proceeded to head back to her seat.

"Alice."

She turned back around, trying not to let her impatience show. This teacher really irked her, in more ways than one.

"If you don't turn it in, you know I will have to give you an incomplete on your report card, right?"

Once again nodding, Alice turned away so he couldn't get another word in edgewise. Sitting back in her seat, she pretended to be shuffling through papers. Instead, she let her mind wander.

Suddenly, the bell rang. Alice jumped, caught up in her own thoughts, and quickly started stuffing papers in her bag. She didn't want to be cornered by the teacher on her way out. Hopefully, if she were one of the first ones, he would leave her alone.

No such luck.

"Miss Seno. May I speak with you a moment?"

Sighing inwardly, Alice hugged her books to her chest and walked over to him. He was still at his desk, grading papers. She knew what he was going to ask her: if she had found that stupid English assignment. She had handed it in, but he had somehow managed to misplace it. Inwardly, she wondered if it really had been an accident.

After a moment, he looked up. "Did you happen to find your paper?"

Alice shook her head, averting her gaze. The teacher sighed once again, rubbing his temples. As if any of this were her fault. She was suddenly overcome with the urge to slap him; he was annoying, and he was wasting her time.

For a second, she felt a strange kind of fury rise inside of her. Noticing what she was doing, she jumped a bit. Now where did that come from? she wondered, bringing a hand to her forehead. She had never had openly hostile thoughts to teachers, even particularly annoying ones such as Mr. Haven.

"Well… look for it tonight. After tomorrow, I can no longer give you any credit. Okay? Oh, by the way, are you doing anything right now?"

Alice wanted to groan, but she forced herself to shake her head. Right now was not a good time to offend the teacher.

He smiled briefly, then handed her a slip of paper. "Can you run down to the library and check the entries that students submitted to the Writing Contest? If there are any entries, please collect them and put them on my desk. I can drive you home."

Alice nodded, though he was no longer watching her, and turned on her heel. She kept her head ducked in the hallways, pretending to be fascinated with the books she was holding.

Which is why she collided with something very solid. She seemed to fall backwards in slow motion, landing on her butt with a small thump!

In her line of vision, a hand slowly stretched out toward her. She looked up to see who the owner was. He was a tall boy with black hair and kind dark eyes. His body was muscular, and she thought she recognized him from the Archery Club. Alice's sister, Mayura, also belonged to that club. Alice made a mental note to ask her about him later.

It must have been him that she had bumped into. Alice felt her cheeks flush. Embarrassed, she hesitantly accepted his hand as he helped to pull her up.

"Thank you…" she said quietly, not trusting herself to look up.

"No problem. My name is Kyo."

He obviously wanted to know her name. Just say it.

But I can't.

Just do it!

But she couldn't. She nodded politely and walked away, her departure greeted with loud laughter and a confused Kyo, still standing in the middle of the hallway.

A/N: Revised: 8-22-05

Just finished revising some of this chapter. :3 And no, I haven't left. I suddenly was inspired yesterday with a new idea for the fic.

Though I'm not sure the readers are going to like it very much... it doesn't exactly have a happy ending. xP

I hope to get the next chapter up soon!

-Essence of Reality