Sitting at a desk in high school could be so trivial for her sometimes. Kaoru knew she could pass the tests anyway, and there just wasn't a challenge in it anymore. She had decided to attend one of the most prestigious schools in the country, where mostly rich kids attended. There were some kids that received a scholarship for a free ride as long as they kept their grades up. Kaoru knew she was part of the latter, and her family was depending on her.

This was a constant source of stress for Kaoru. It was barely nine in the morning and already she wanted to skip school. She would much rather be at her family's dojo practicing kendo. That was how she spent most of her time when she wasn't in school. She could hear the rhythmic tap of her bokken now. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Kamiya, we are waiting." Her teacher continued to tap the open book on Kaoru's desk repeatedly.

Kaoru snapped her head up to see her teacher standing right in front of her. Oh shit! How the hell did I miss her get right in front of me? What are we even talking about?

The entire class had been staring at her for only the gods knew how long. Kaoru didn't like this sort of attention as she could feel their looks. They were wondering if she would be able to pull it off because it was apparent she hadn't been paying attention.

She looked quickly to the board and back to the teacher's face. She answered, "The square root of 3." Kaoru's teacher made a face that was almost exasperated, straightened up, and walked back to the front of the class. Once again she was right.

Kaoru didn't know how she was able to do the seemingly impossible of knowing what the answer was all the time. The knowledge came from out of nowhere. Her teachers had not been able to find a weak spot in her abilities. This particular teacher seemed to try her best to catch her off guard.

As Kaoru made her way down the hall to her next class in a daze, she didn't notice all the stares as everyone backed out of her way. This was the norm for her, and she had learned to ignore it altogether.

"Oowww!" Kaoru had been so deep in thought she had accidentally bumped into her friend as they were headed into their advanced Physics class.

"What's up Kaoru? Did you hear about the dance we are going to have in two months? I wonder who I am going with? I mean, I know it will be fun and I am going to look great. We should do a double date or a group thing. That would be so much fun. Are you coming over this weekend?" Misao started talking as they both walked into the class and headed to the back.

Kaoru tried to keep up with her fast talking friend that never seemed to tire. Misao Mackimachi was the best friend that Kaoru had made on her first day of school her freshmen year. They were both sophomores now and were ranked top of their class. Everyone knew it. Some students respected them and others resented them.

"The usual. I'm bored and want to be anywhere other than this place. I saw some posters about the dance and heard some freshmen girls talking about it." Kaoru paused to place her books on her lab table. She smiled big as she turned to her friend and said, "Well, you know I am looking forward to seeing these rich kids' faces when we tear up the dance floor."

Misao's eyes lit up as a mischievous smile formed on her face, and both girls giggled. Before Kaoru could say anything else, the bell rang. Kaoru stayed in her seat at a table in the back of the class by herself, and Misao walked back towards the front of the room to have a seat in a chair next to her partner. The teacher had placed Misao with a struggling student and Kaoru was left without a partner.

The teacher walked in smelling strongly of cigarette smoke, and pointed his index finger at the board. The entire class was quiet and alert as they read the board. Professor Saito was extremely strict and had a very sharp tongue. His students knew better than to trifle with him. This was his first year teaching at their school, but he had already made quite a name for himself as the most feared professor. He sat down at his desk and leaned back in his chair.

A moment later Kaoru felt something strong pull her thoughts from her textbook. It was a strange feeling that she had never felt before as if gravity was pulling her in the direction of the classroom door. Kaoru would have felt alarmed, but it felt like she was gaining something she didn't know she had been missing until now. She looked expectantly towards the door to see what was the cause of this feeling. A guy wearing the school uniform everyone else donned walked in the door. He had bright, red hair and a beautiful hue of violet eyes. Kaoru knew better than to stare but she couldn't help the emotions that she was suddenly feeling.