Dark Flame: Ok guys. Here we go. My first attempt at writing other peoples characters. For those of you who have characters don't be shy about telling me if you feel I'm not portraying them correctly. For those who submitted characters, even if they weren't accepted, thank you. I hope everyone enjoys the ride.

Disclaimer: Obviously, the few plot devices I'm borrowing from Code Lyoko do not belong to me. Nor do a vast majority of the main characters.

Chapter 1: When It Reins…

The door to room 21-B flew open with a resounding crash; shattering the silence that had permeated the halls of Andarius Academy. From within the classroom a rather pretty teenage girl stormed out and headed down the hallway; pausing only to slam the door shut again to drown out the shouts of her teacher. Reinforce Yukimura huffed indignantly as she brushed a strand of her ebony black hair away from her crimson eyes. The entire thing was just too infuriating to bear. It wasn't like it was her fault that her chemistry class was so boring that she fell asleep. Then again it wasn't just chemistry. It was almost every class she had. Rein never considered herself stupid, quite the contrary she prided herself on her intelligence, but classes and classrooms were never her forte. Hence the reason she ended up skipping most of her classes. But today, and even now she had no idea what had gotten into her, she actually felt inclined to go to class. She had attended all of her morning classes; and even had the grace to show up on time, which earned a couple of raised eyebrows from her instructors and peers. Lunch had gone off without a hitch. And, for once, Rein thought she might have a day that wouldn't suck. Then; chemistry came along to slap her in the face. In her defense she had really tried to stay awake. But as her teachers droning voice filled her ears; she could just feel her eyelids getting heavy. Before passing out; Rein was able to dimly acknowledge the fact that if they actually did some chemistry the subject might be mildly interesting. Then she was being shaken roughly awake by her teacher who asked her sternly if his class was boring. The question was rhetorical; but that didn't stop her from answering anyway, it never did.

In retrospect; Rein probably shouldn't have been so blunt with him. What had resulted was the shouting match that now had her headed to her current destination; the headmaster's office. Rein sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. The walk to the headmaster's office was always a long one; she should know. This was far from the first time she had taken the trip. It was especially long in the case of Andarius which had a huge campus. Rein sighed again and decided to take a slight detour before going to face the music. Rein's favorite place on the entire Andarius campus was the courtyard. It was a beautiful garden right in the middle of the school building. Its own oasis for all intents and purposes. It was a peaceful place; very disconnected from the hustle and bustle of the academy. Rein would go there, usually en route to the headmaster's office, to blow off steam. Quickening her pace she reached the door to the courtyard and pushed it open.

Rein could tell as soon as she entered the courtyard that she was the only one there, which suited her just fine. The black haired girl made a beeline for her favorite spot; an oak tree in the far corner. She let out a long breath as she backed against the gnarled bark and slowly lowered herself until she was seated in the grass. As Rein rested her head against the tree she could hear squirrels rustling the leaves in the branches above her. She closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself down; going to see the headmaster with an attitude wouldn't do her any favors. They were on bad enough terms already. As Rein sat underneath that tree she could finally feel her anger ebbing away. Maybe she could salvage the rest of the day if she could just grin and bear whatever lecture she was in for. Unfortunately the universe apparently did not want her calm in any sense of the word.

Rein was completely oblivious to anything happening around her; which was why she was completely unprepared for a very chipper voice to suddenly exclaim: "Hiya, Rein!"

Rein's eyes snapped open and she scrambled about five feet away from the tree with a yelp of surprise. She stayed on her hands and knees, breathing heavily, and feeling her heart racing for it seemed the voice had originated from the oak. The voice was breaking into peals of laughter now and Rein could feel her face begin to heat up from anger and embarrassment. She knew that cackling laugh anywhere. The girl whipped around and fixed a venomous glare upon the solitary figure hanging upside down from one of the oaks branches directly above where she had been sitting.

"Zhane! You god damn moron! You nearly gave me a heart attack." Rein spat at the offender. Unfortunately her exclamation only served to elicit more laughter from the boy. Rein huffed and turned her back on him.

"Ok! Ok! Sorry Rein, I couldn't resist." Zhane said apologetically as he dropped out of the tree. Rein turned her head so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

Zhane Falls was a unique kid by any measure you could imagine. Not the least of which being his appearance. He was of medium height and thin of frame. Natural silver hair cascaded around his head in a messy mop. His bangs ended just short of his dark golden eyes; which were presently shining with a repressed mirth. He wore a black t shirt with a stainless steel chain around his neck. His belt was studded with several small iron crosses and looped into a baggy pair of cargo pants. He completed his ensemble with a pair of black combat boots. But it was his personality that was most baffling to Rein. He always seemed so cheerful and optimistic. That in of itself wasn't unique; there were a lot of people like that. It was what Zhane didn't show that caught her attention. Perhaps it was because of having grown up in a hard knocks situation; but Rein had a good sense of reading people. And she could see that the happy-go-lucky face that Zhane projected was just a façade. An act. He was damn good at it too. She had met him more than a year ago yet had only seen his true self a sparse few times. They had met at the student orientation last year. Rein had shown up late, as usual, so she just picked the first open seat she saw and plopped down into it. Which happened to be right next to Zhane. He had made some smart ass remark about her being late. Naturally she fired right back at him with an insult of her own. This lead to the two spending the remainder of the orientation jabbing at each other with sarcastic quips of increasing ridiculousness as each tried to outdo the other. The contest ended up being a draw. But as they left the orientation Zhane surprised her by asking her name and complimenting her wit. After that they just started talking to each other. Looking back on it Rein had to admit that some kind of idiotic friendship had formed that day. Up to this point Rein had refrained from referring to Zhane as her friend. But at this point they were far past acquaintances.

But, friend or no, Rein wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. She spun on her heel so that she was facing Zhane again. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "So did you follow me out here?" Rein asked sharply.

Zhane shook his head; his silver hair glinting in the afternoon sunlight as it moved from side to side. "No. Happy coincidence is all" he replied with a cheeky grin. He then lowered himself so that he was sitting cross-legged in the grass. "I've been sitting in that tree for most of this period" he added as he did so.

Rein stared at him: completely nonplussed. "You've been sitting in that tree the entire period?!" she questioned "Don't you have class?" Unlike her Zhane was a good student and got decent grades.

The obnoxious shit-eating grin on Zhane's face grew wider. "Of course I do. But unlike someone I know I can afford to play hooky once in a while."

Despite the open invitation to banter; Rein decided that responding to Zhane's bait simply wasn't worth the effort at the moment. Especially since she still had to go see the headmaster. Which, now that she thought about it, she should probably get back to. "Anyway, I should really get going. See you around Zhane." Rein said; fixing him with a flat stare. Ignoring his look of confusion; she turned on her heel and departed the courtyard. She made it as far as getting back in the hallway when she noticed, to her slight amusement and mild irritation that not only had Zhane followed her; he had fallen into step beside her.

"Okay. What's up with you? The Rein I know would never pass on an opportunity to grill me." Zhane asked. Rein was surprised to see that he actually looked concerned.

Rein half shrugged in response. She really wasn't in the mood to rehash the story.

Zhane waited for a few moments for a reply. When one wasn't forthcoming he decided to switch subjects. "How's Athena?" he asked quietly, casting a glance around to make sure they were alone.

For the first time since they had met in the courtyard; Rein's expression brightened. Or at least she looked less inclined to punch him in the face. "Better." she replied. "The scratches look like they're healing and her paw is on the mend."

Athena was the name Rein had given to a small kitten she had found a month before. Andarius had a strict policy regarding animals on the campus. They weren't allowed. But Rein couldn't bring herself to leave the kitten in the state she had found her in. On one of her frequent sojourns of the Andarius campus Rein had happened upon a group laughing teenagers huddled in an alley. She wouldn't have paid them a second thought if she hadn't happened to catch a small frightened mew coming from their huddle. When she stopped to look one of the group shifted slightly to the side so that she could see the center. They had huddled around a small kitten, obviously hurt and even more obviously scared out of its wits, and were taking turns prodding it with a piece of pipe. Rein lost it. Animal cruelty was very very high on her shit list. Casting her glance around for something she could use to help the poor thing Rein grabbed the first thing she saw. This happened to be a garbage can. Without thinking; she grabbed the aluminum heap and heaved it at the backs of the group. They were understandably disoriented when the thing nailed them across the back of the head. Rein took full advantage of the fact by jumping over the crumpled forms on the ground she scooped up the kitten in her arms and took off. She made one stop at the pet store to get some food for it before heading back to Andarius. When she got back to her dorm room she noticed, as she fed the kitten, that the kitten's right front paw seemed hurt. The small cat seemed to favor it and was reluctant to put weight on it. She didn't have many options and she didn't want to just leave it. So she went to see Zhane. It definitely wasn't her first choice but Zhane had told her a story about how he helped a vet set a broken leg on one of his dogs back home. He was the only one on hand that knew anything about veterinary science. And, to be honest, she was desperate. So she left the kitten eating on her bed and went downstairs to the boy dorms. It was 7:00 at night and most everybody was at dinner she hoped Zhane was in his room. As it turned out he was. Rein got the impression that Zhane was surprised to see her there. After all she had never visited him before. She quickly explained what had happened and asked for his help. She had thought that Zhane would ask a whole bunch of questions but he didn't. He just stepped out of his room, shut the door, and gave her a look that said "lead the way". They quickly made their way back to Rein's dorm room where the kitten was still on her bed; waiting for them. Zhane kneeled down next to the bed and the kitten approached him curiously. He lightly reached out and took the cat's right front paw and gave it a gentle squeeze. The kitten gave a reedy mewl of pain.

Rein gave him a sharp look of protest but Zhane looked relieved. "It's not broken." he announced. "Just a bad sprain. These scratches look really shallow too." He then turned to Rein. "Do you have your first aid kit?" he asked. She had completely forgotten about it. Andarius had basic first aid kits in every dorm room. Just things for taking care of minor injuries. She nodded and retrieved the case from her cupboard. He unraveled a strip of gauze and secured it tightly around the kittens paw. The kitten did not care of this new accessory at all. But at least it could walk on the paw now.

Ever since then Zhane would ask about the kitten's progress from time to time. "Speaking of which, mind if I swing by after dinner and see her?" he asked.

"I guess." Rein replied. "Just…" she trailed off. They had arrived at the main office.

Zhane glanced at the office and then back at Rein. That obnoxious grin was back on his face. "Home sweet home; eh Rein?" he quipped.

As she entered the office Rein took the opportunity to give Zhane a punch on the arm for being a smartass.

x.o.x.o.x.o.x.o.x.o.

Zhane bid farewell to Rein as she entered the office. As he turned to head back to his dorm he rubbed his stinging arm ruefully. He figured that the last class of the day was almost over so there was really no point in going there. He still had a few hours to kill after last period ended and dinner began. So he was going to have to figure out something to do. Coming up with nothing he quickly made his way back to the dormitory. Andarius had a large dorm. There were four floors. Girls were on the top two and boys on the lower two. Zhane's room was on the second floor. Room 125.

As Zhane reached his door he paused and listened hard. He could swear he heard something coming from inside. It sounded like… music? He listened harder. Sure enough; heavy rocked was sounding, muffled, through the door. Zhane was a bit confused; he didn't think that he'd left his stereo on this morning. Then, suddenly rising above the music, he heard a shout come from within.

x.o.x.o.x.o.x.o.x.o.

Dark-Flame: Sorry if it seems like this is a really slow way to start things off. But I need to introduce our protagonists first. Don't worry though the action is not far off at all. As a reminder to those who have OC's in the story tell me if I'm getting them wrong. And be sure to harass me if you think I'm taking to long with updates. So anyway. Read and review.