Anime Wars: Where the Blood Rose Grows

"I'm really no good with children."

"We really need you for this one though."

"I'm not sure I'm exactly qualified for this assignment."

"I thought you'd say that. My counter, triple your usual."

"There are some things in life that are more important than money," Jacky said with an intimidating grin. "Nothing I can think of though."

"Please reconsider, this is really something only you can do."

Jacky brushed the hair out of his face. He stared at the director's eyes. The light hazel irises were surprisingly soft for someone with Jacky's appearance.

"Make it five times my normal and I might reconsider." He picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulder. The sound of rustling papers could be heard.

The director shivered. "He's really scary when he smiles like that," he thought to himself. "We will definitely take you up on that offer."

Jacky stopped in front of the doorway to straighten out his tie. The recently pressed dress coat seemed out of place in such a bleak room. He pushed down his hair and turned around. "Send the details to my cell, and I'll know where to go from there." He walked out the door and headed down a narrow hallway. The door at the end automatically swished open, and after walking down two flights of stairs, Jacky was in the parking lot of a tall skyscraper. "What a nuisance."

Suddenly Jacky felt something vibrate in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a long, slim phone. He slowly walked up to a small red car and got into the drivers seat. Jacky stared at his phone. "If I don't check it until later, I can have a few hours to myself," he thought.

The phone slide up, revealing a number pad. The narrow LCD screen shined brightly. "Let's see what I have to do…"

He pressed a few buttons, and opened up the e-mail that was supposed to brief him on his assignment.

Jacky let out a big sigh. "The target is a woman…" he said in a somber tone. He threw his phone into the passenger seat. His back slid down the leather seat as he stared out the window. "What have I gotten myself into…" Jacky sat up and started his car and turned on the radio. His body seemed to freeze. Slowly, he reached for his phone.

"Am I sinister enough to raise a gun to… a mother?" The car backed out of the parking lot and turned left onto the road. "We'll see how this plays out…"

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa it's Itou-kunnnnnnnn." A swarm of girls surrounded the school entrance, all pushing and shoving to get the attention of the approaching guy. He walked in smiling and waving at everyone and disappeared behind the doors.

"Ahh Riki-chan, he didn't even look this way…"

"Geez Ari this is the last time I'm coming along with you when you're in fan-girl mode…"

"Riki, don't be so mean… I know you like him too. Deep down inside, you want to be a screaming fan-girl too." Ari walked up and took Riki's hand. "Now let's go to homeroom together."

Riki responded by shrugging. He slowly picked up his bag and followed Ari through the school doors.

"Riki look! There's a bunch of people in our homeroom today. I wonder what's up." They walked in together and stood behind a mob of girls deep in discussion.

"Kyaaaa, a new student. We haven't had any new 'contestants' for a while," said a tall girl.

"Saya-sama, you make it sound like there's some kind of competition going on," the other girls replied.

"Poor naïve girls, all upperclassmen are automatically locked in battle to become The Top Guy. It's just the competitive nature of males. They want to have the best car, the best girl, and the most popularity. All so they can show it off.
"Our job as the girls of this school is to help feed their hunger for superiority. It's as simple as that…"

Riki and Ari slowly joined the group and listened.

"We'll see how well this newbie plays the game," Saya said with a smirk. "Moko, did you take his student files?'

"Y-yes," Moko said timidly.

"Well tell us a little about him…"

"Uhmm, well his name is Hu, Jacky. He's 182.9cm and 63.5kg, his birthday is February 16th, 1991. And that's all his file says about him."

"What?!" Saya grabbed the file from Moko. "It doesn't say anything about his pervious schools or his grades. How peculiar."

The bell rang and the mob of girls dispersed. The students slowly took their seats.

"Ari, let's sit in the front," said Riki.

"Good morning Kurunoma Sensei." A woman wearing a dark purple blouse and black skirt walked to the front of the class.

"Hoho, Kurunoma Sensei is wearing that skirt again," one of the students whispered to his friend.

Her slender legs drew the attention of everyone in the class.

"Gah, even I wouldn't have the confidence to dress like that," Ari whispered to Riki.

"She's trying way too hard Ari. You're fine just the way you are." Riki slowly turned around and faced the new student. "Hi, I'm Riki. If you have any questions you can come to me."

Jacky looked up and saw Riki's face. Riki had a delicate smile and glowing eyes. "Thank you for offer. I will come to you if I need any help." Jacky shot back a smile equally as radiant. "But I think I pretty much have everything under control now."

"What's with this guy, he seems so cold," Riki thought. Riki turned back around and listened to the morning announcements.

"Don't forget to attend today's basketball game. It's the Wednesday faculty face off, where the teachers play against the boys' basketball team. Show up and watch the team get beaten by Kurunoma Sensei!"

The speakers went quiet, and Kurunoma Sensei stood up. "Alright class, as you noticed already, we have a new student joining us today." She walked up to Jacky's desk and pulled him to the front of the class. "Please introduce yourself."

"Good morning everyone. My name is Hu, Jacky and I just moved here from Hong Kong." Jacky stood up tall and smiled, then headed back to his seat.

"Is that all you're going to tell us?" Kurunoma Sensei asked. She looked at Jacky with disappointed eyes.

"Nobody really needs to know anything more about me," Jacky replied, giving Kurunoma a cold glare.

Kurunoma froze. "His eyes, are the same as my own…" She felt her body grow heavy. "The stare that has… death written all over it."

The class continued to chat without paying much attention.

"What a troublesome kid," Kurunoma thought. "Going that far to receive attention." She retaliated with a wide smile. "Ok, I wont force you to tell us anymore."

"Hu-san, do you mind showing me your schedule?" asked Riki.

"Sure thing," Jacky said cheerfully. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Riki.

"Whoa, you have all the same classes as Ari."

"Really?" said Ari. "That makes it easier for you I guess. I can show you how to get everywhere."

Jacky smiled and took Ari's hand. "Please take care of me." He stood up and headed for the door.

"Jacky, the three of us have Literature Studies together 2nd period. I'll see you then." Riki said, as he ran ahead of Jacky.

"He's usually not this energetic," Ari said to Jacky. "I guess he's just excited that you're here."

"I see, well I don't see why he would like me."

"Don't say that," Ari said with a smile. "You're good looking, tall, and well built. You will have no problem making friends."

"Aren't you worried about Riki though?" Jacky said in an eerie tone.

"W-why are you asking that so suddenly?" Ari looked up and Jacky with a puzzled face.

"Well I'm just wondering, how everyone will react when they find out that he's gay." Jacky didn't even face her when he said this. He just kept walking and looking down on the floor. Ari felt like he was stomping down on her with every step he took.

"H-how did you find out?" Ari asked. She rushed in front of Jacky and looked at him with serious eyes.

Jacky grinned and pushed Ari aside. He kept walking without looking back once.

"This is bad, Riki is not ready for people to know yet…" Ari clenched her fist and dashed at full speed. "How much will it take for you to keep quiet."

Jacky didn't show any reaction and continued to ignore her.

"Please…"

Jacky continued to strut away.

Ari finally stopped pursuing him. She stood still with her head hung low.

"I'm not the kind of guy who would spread other people's personal information," Jacky said, suddenly popping up behind Ari. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a look of reassurance. "C'mon, we'll be late for class."

"Sorry we're late Sensei, I got lost on the other side of school and Ari-san helped me get here." Jacky gave a polite bow and headed towards one of the empty desks.

"It's ok, I wont hold it against you during your first week at school, but don't make it a habit." The teacher walked up to the board and began her lesson.

At the end of class, the students stood up and left. Jacky waited at the door for Ari and they headed out together.

"This way," she pointed. Jacky followed behind, not saying a word the whole way. They arrived in the classroom to find Riki in the back with two desks saved.

Ari gave a big smile. "Are these for us?"

"Pshh no they're for my two friends…"

Jacky ignored him and took a seat in the front row next to a girl reading a book.

"Hey Hu-san, I was kidding. This seat is yours." Riki yelled. The whole class turned around to see what all the commotion was.

Jacky turned around to see Riki and Ari waving at him. "I guess I have no choice," Jacky thought. He thought back to the instructions on his assignment.

Blend in with the class and do not draw any unnecessary

attention. Your top priority is watching for any suspicious

activity around Tatina Kurunoma. You have until the end

of the term to get rid of her, which is approximately three

weeks. After three weeks, you will be leaving the school.

"Such poorly written instructions," Jacky thought while staring out the window. "How am I supposed to follow along when the statements are so vague?"

"Pssst Jacky, whatcha lookin' at?" Riki said, poking his shoulder.

Jacky snapped out of his thought. "It's nothing important." Jacky remembered the most important part of the e-mail.

"When you're in school, you're just a normal teenager. Don't be yourself, and use this time to live the teenage life you never had."

"What is the life of a teenager like…" Jacky thought.

"Hey, what's wrong Jacky? You don't look so well," said Riki.

"Oh, it's nothing. I've just been having headaches ever since last week."

Riki reached out his hand and felt Jacky's forehead. "Hmm it does feel a bit warm." He felt it again, "Want me to take you to the nurse?"

"No I'm fine…"

"Jacky, don't push yourself on the first day, go," said Ari.

"I guess so," said Jacky. Riki stood up and grabbed Jacky by the shoulder.

"Sensei, I'm going to take Jacky to the nurse ok?"

They walked out of the classroom. "Thanks for helping me Riki."

"No problem, I told you, if you ever need help, come to me." He smiled and directed Jacky through a series of hallways.

"So this is what it feels like to have friends," Jacky thought. "People who aren't your lover or your family, that care about you…"

They walked into a large room and were greeted by a woman wearing a white blouse and skirt. "What's the problem?"

"My friend here is feeling unwell, I think he has a slight fever."

Jacky stood up tall and looked down at the nurse. Rather than focusing on the nurse, he glanced around the room.

"He says he's had a bunch of headaches lately."

The nurse reached her hand out and felt Jacky's forehead. "He doesn't have a fever… I think you're just overworked son…"

Jacky thought back to what he's done in the past month. "8 quick assignments traveling all over the globe," he thought to himself.

"I think you just need some rest, you can sleep here for a while."

"Oh, I don't want to burden you," Jacky replied.

"Don't worry dear, it's my job," the nurse said with a smile.

"Ok I'll come and see how you're doing later ok, bye Jacky." Riki dashed out of the room and disappeared behind the door.

"Don't worry," the nurse said. "You can rest here, it's no problem."

Jacky walked over to one of the beds and rested his head on the clean white pillow. "This is… surprisingly comfortable," he thought. Slowly he closed his eyes and thought of his plans. "I have to… watch Kurunoma… and… kill her."

"Jacky, wake up. Jacky! Hellooooo." Ari walked up to the sleeping Jacky and shook him lightly. "Jacky, it's the end of the day…"

"Let me try Ari. Jacky, wake up. You've slept through the whole day."

The voices finally reached him. Jacky bolted up and looked around. "Where am I," he thought.

"Oh yay, you're awake!" said Ari. "You slept through all of your classes."

"I came by to see how you were doing, but you were fast asleep and snoring," said Riki. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"I wonder when was the last time I slept so well," Jacky thought.

"Anyways, we'll see you tomorrow ok?" Riki and Ari both waved. "Bye!"

Jacky turned on his phone and checked his voice messages.

"Hmm, 10 missed calls from Director…" Jacky stood up and left the nurse's office. "How annoying," he thought.

He brought the phone up to his ear, and listened to 10 messages of Director Tsunda asking for the progress on his assignment.

"Hello, Director?"

"Jacky, how are things going?"

"No progress so far…"

"Well we weren't expecting results after the first day. Speaking of first days, how was your first day of school?"

"Don't worry, I can get this done…"

"We are not doubting your skills. However, we would like to give you some assistance. How do you feel about having a partner?"

There was a long pause.

"Director, you know that I'm solitary. A partner would just hold me back, or get in my way."

"We thought you'd say that. But we have already decided to give you a partner on this assignment. She may be of some help, or not…"

"A female partner… is this some kind of test to see if I can succeed even while being distracted?"

"I'll explain more to you later ok Jacky." The Director hung up.

"I hate partners…" Jacky said. He headed towards the student parking lot to his car. "This… might be fun."

"Good morning Riki." Ari was leaning against her locker.

"Good morning Ari." Riki waved and looked around. "You see Jacky anywhere?"

"No, I haven't…" "You think he'll show up today?"

"I dunno, he looked pretty sick yesterday."

Moko suddenly came running down the hallway. "Saya-sama!!!! I have the files you asked for."

"What… again?"

"Let's go see what this is about…" Riki grabbed Ari and they ran after Moko.

"Saya-sama! I have the files!!" Moko finally stopped in Kurunoma's homeroom again.

"Thank you Moko, now hand them over."

"What's this all about," one of the girls asked.

"Well, we apparently have another new student," said Saya. "It's a girl this time, apparently her name is Ai Minako. She's 168cm and 46kg."

"WHAT?!!"

"That's the name of Sailor Venus," one of the girls yelled out.

"How dumb, she must be like obsessed with anime or something," said another girl.

"Now now girls, we can't judge someone before we meet them," Saya said with a smirk. "We won't be able to truly make fun of her until we see how much of a loser she is." All the girls started laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny," said a girl, as she was walking into the room. She had long chestnut colored hair.

"Excuse me, are you part of this conversation," one of the girls yelled out.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to butt in." The girl took a seat in the front.

"Who is that girl anyways?" asked Saya.

"Probably just some nameless loser."

"Anyways, to be courteous, we won't make fun of the new girl, until we meet her," said Saya.

Riki and Ari walked into homeroom. "Hmm, Hu-san isn't in homeroom yet," said Riki. "Maybe we should look for him elsewhere?"

"No, if he's coming to school today, he'll definitely show up in homeroom."

Kurunoma walked in and said hello to the class. "The bell is going to ring in 6 minutes, everyone should be heading to their seats soon."

The girl with chestnut hair approached Kurunoma. "Uhmm, I'm Ai Minako, the new student. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm doing fine so far."

"OH right! They told me I was getting another new student yesterday. I'm happy you could join us this semester. If you have any questions, you can basically ask any student in the school."

"Ok Sensei, thank you."

Riki and Ari sat down. They stared at the clock. "Two minutes until the beginning of homeroom."

"Good morning Hu-san," said one of Saya's minions. The whole group dispersed and formed around Jacky.

"Kyaaa he's so cute," one of them screamed.

"Hu-san, how are you?"

"Will you go out with me please?"

Jacky felt someone pull his shirt sleeve. He looked to his right and found Ari and Riki tugging him out of the mob.

"Good morning Hu-san," said Ari and Riki. "We thought you might not show up today." They took their seats and continued talking.

"We're glad you came," said Ari.

The bell rang and homeroom began. Kurunoma stood up and went to the front of the class.

"Hello class, today we have another new student, come introduce yourself,"

Minako stood up and pranced to the front of the class. "Hello, my name is Ai Minako, and I'm like totally excited to be here with you guys! I like eating pancakes and waffles and drinking orange juice." Minako smiled and then took her seat.

"Ok well now that we're finished with that, let's just sit tight and wait for the announcements," said Kurunoma.

When the bell rang again, everyone left to their first period class.

"Ari, Riki, I have to go to my locker. Go on without me ok?" said Jacky.

"Sure…"

Jacky walked down to his locker and entered in his combination.

"Are you even trying to complete your assignment," said a voice from behind him,

Jacky turned around and saw nobody.

"Hehehe fooled ya."

Jacky turned back around and found Minako standing in front of his locker.

"They sent you to be my partner?"

"Yep, we're gonna have TONS of fun!" Minako reached out her arms and hugged Jacky. "We're gonna become best friends. I just know it."

Jacky turned around and continued to open up his locker.

"You're mean…" Minako groaned.

"I have one rule," said Jacky. "And that's don't get in my way…" He pulled out three books from his locker then shut the door. "If you follow that rule, we'll have no problems."

Jacky turned around and strutted away.

"Stop right there mister," said Minako. Suddenly she dashed up and grabbed him by the throat. Her expression turned deadly. "Don't expect me to be some minion that follows your every order and worships you…" She dug her nails into the sides of his throat. "If I don't agree with you, I'll do what I feel is best, so don't expect to be callin' all the shots here."

She released her grasp on Jacky's throat. "Impressive… you didn't even flinch, and managed to keep a straight face the whole time," Minako said. "Maybe this wont be a worthless partnership after all."

"Well don't expect me to give a damn about anything you say, you got that?" Jacky pushed Minako aside and headed down the hallway. "We should be getting to class…" said Jacky. "We don't want to draw any attention remember."

Jacky walked into class 12 minutes late.

"Sorry, I forgot how to open my locker." He bowed and then took his seat next to Ari.

"I knew I should've went with you…" said Ari.

When the class ended, Jacky walked out to find Minako waiting for him. "Hey, come with me." Minako grabbed Jacky's arm and pulled him through many hallways. "I need to talk to you," she said, as they were running.

They finally stopped in front of a large red door. "Make this quick, we have class now…" said Jacky. He looked at Minako impatiently. "Well??"

"Oh shut up Jacky. Lucky for you, I found out where Kurunoma lives," she said with a smile. "We can finally move forward in this operation."

"Good job Minako. But I could've done that myself. I didn't want to rush this assignment…"

"Yeah yeah yeah…"

"Ok now let's get back to class," said Jacky.

"Wait… shouldn't we at least start thinking of a plan?" Minako sat down on the floor and pulled a pen and notepad from her bag.

"Leave that to me… you don't need to worry about anything. You just have to stay out of the way."

"So you just plan out jumping out and shooting her?" Minako gave him a playful smile. "That's so typical cowardly villain…"

Jacky walked in front of Minako and stared down at her. "I'm not a villain," he said in a cold tone. "You can say, I'm the bad guy for the good guys…"

"Yeah, you can cut the whole anti-assassin crap. A hired assassin is a hired assassin, no matter how you look at it."

"I only kill bad guys, while people like Kurunoma kill anyone as long as they're paid decently."

"Whatever… but in the end, you're still a killer." Minako smiled and stood up. "Weren't you going to head to class?"

Jacky looked at his watch. "Crap… you made me 45 minutes late for class…" He turned around and ran down the hallways. "Dammit… by the time I get there, class will be almost over."

Finally he walked into the room, hoping he'd be unnoticed.

"Thanks for showing up Hu-san…" said the Teacher. "You too Minako…"

"I'm sorry sensei, we were talking and we lost track of time…" Jacky bowed and walked over to an empty table.

"Well it was better than being in this stupid class," said Minako. "I'm glad we missed most of it."

Minako took the seat next to Jacky. She took out a piece of paper and a pen and looked up. "So are you going to continue your lesson or what?"

The teacher's face turned red with anger. "We were actually doing an experiment, which you two can do after school during detention."

"What a waste of time," said Minako.

"Yes sensei, we'll be there." Jacky looked over at Minako and glared at her with his heavy eyes. His expression seemed to read "Shut up or you'll be dead before you know it."

"Sorry Sensei, we'll be there," Minako said.

"Minako, you better be coming with me to detention," said Jacky. "You're doing a pretty poor job not standing out and drawing attention instead. If we fail it'll be because of you."

"Fine whatever, I promise I'll behave from now on." Minako tied up her hair and grabbed Jacky's hand. "Let's go…"

Jacky and Minako walked in to find sensei waiting for them with the lab materials.

"In this lab, you'll be figuring out the relationship between how much of the sample you put in, and the reaction time. Please work diligently," said the teacher.

Jacky slipped on his goggles and gloves and got the two containers ready. "We should start off small and work our way up."

"I don't get why you're taking this so seriously," said Minako. "In three weeks, we'll be gone, and we probably won't ever be back."

"This is my first time being in high school, and I don't want to screw it up."

"Well you didn't miss much in high school. It was pretty boring…"

"I wanna see for myself."

"Well I'll speed this up for you." Minako grabbed a handful of the sample and tossed it into the acid. "Was that small enough?"

Jacky ignored her and observed the reaction. "God, I can't see anything through these dirty goggles," said Jacky. He pulled them off his head and continued to observe the acid.

"What a dumb experiment," said Minako. "Nothing seems to be happening."

Suddenly there was a huge bubble, and the acid flew everywhere.

"Crap, I think I got it in my left eye… it stings a lot." Jacky ran to the sink to wash his eye.

"What are you talking about," said Minako. "The acid didn't even pop up that high, no way it could've have gotten in your eye."

"Well something did, it hurts a lot," said Jacky. He slowly walked up to Minako. "Can you check to see if anything is in there?" Jacky opened his left eye.

Minako turned around and fell out of her chair. "Your whole eye is red…" She stood up and took another look. "What the hell is this, it's red…"

"Well of course it's red, it's bloodshot from being irritated," Jacky tried to look around for a mirror.
"Dude, I'm talking about your iris. Your whole friggin iris is red." Minako pulled a small mirror from her pocket. "Take a look."

Jacky grabbed the mirror and took a look. "What the hell…" Minako was right, his whole iris was crimson red, with a pink squiggle horizontally across the center.

"Jacky…," Minako said in a quiet voice. "I remember what it is."

"You mean you've seen this before?" asked Jacky.

"Yes I have… well not really, but… yeah I have." Minako took another look at his eye. "It's called Geass, as in a power from the anime Code Geass…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Geass is a power that varies from person to person. It usually has something to do with the mind and perception and what not… like the main character Lelouch, he could do mind control, and his dad Charles could like erase people's memories, and implant memories into people it was pretty sick, and this other guy Rolo… oh my god he was adorable. He could freeze people…"

"Minako, could you stop talking for just a moment. I don't want to hear your voice… I'm trying to make sense of what's happening right now."

"Speak up I can't--" Minako froze, "What the hell, I can't talk…" Minako screamed.

"Why are you screaming?" Jacky said, with an annoyed look on his face.

Minako suddenly turned around and threw the glass beaker onto the ground. It shattered into many pieces.

"What the hell, I couldn't hear that. I can't hear myself talk!" Minako yelled out. "I think it's because of your geass."

"My… geass?" Jacky said hesitantly. "Why can you still hear my voice then?"

"I dunno, all geass had different rules. Lelouch couldn't control someone more than once, and Rolo had a time limit to his freezing ability," Minako yelled.

"First of all, stop yelling. Secondly, what good is this power if someone can still hear me…"

"I guess you got unlucky when it came to receiving geass."

"I don't see how this is happening," said Jacky. "Do you have any idea how this is happening?"

"What the hell!" yelled Minako. "Now I can't see either…"

"Minako, you must be playing some kind of joke on me. It's not funny."

"B-but, I can… still see you. But only you. Everything else is dark."

"Minako… you seriously can stop acting now. I already saw through your little joke. Now let's get back to work."

"Do I look like I'm fucking joking here?" "Wait… hearing, sight. You seem to be able to remove people's senses."

"Ok, I'm gonna leave now Minako. I have to figure out what's wrong with my eye."

"No, I'm not joking you've got to believe me."

"Fine fine I'll play along, just because I'm bored." Jacky stood up and walked over to Minako. "Ok I'm gonna take away your sense of touch now," Jacky said with a grin. "Don't feel anything…"

Jacky raised his hand and slapped Minako right across the face. "Did you feel that."

A stream of tears fell from Minako's eyes. "Noo," Minako whispered. "I can't feel my limbs, or my face. I don't even feel my lips moving, I don't even know if I'm talking." Minako screamed. "Make it stop please…" Minako raised her arm and flailed it around. "I don't even know if I'm moving," Minako said with teary eyes.

"Interesting…" Jacky reached out and grabbed Minako's hand. He pinched her arm until it started bleeding. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"This might be useful after all," Jacky said with a wide grin.

"Try closing your eyes for a long time," Minako struggled to say.

"What will that do to my geass?"

"It should make it stop… please, make it stop. I beg you."

Jacky closed his eyes and waited. Suddenly he felt a slap right across his face.

"Don't you ever do that to me again. Or I will kill you."

The sound of footsteps approaching the door grew louder and louder. The door flew open, and the teacher stepped in.

"You guys broke a beaker… you know that you will have to pay to replace it."

Jacky placed his hand over his left eye and pretended to write something down on a piece of paper. "We're sorry Sensei, it won't happen again."

"How far have you gotten in the lab?" The teacher walked up and picked up Jacky's paper. "You guys have done nothing! I'm surprised. You guys might want to clean up your act if you intend to stay in this school, you understand?"

"Yes Sensei, we're sorry." Jacky bent over and began to pick up the glass. "Who does he think he is, talking to me like that," Jacky thought. "Do teachers really have this much authority?"

"Look, mister, we'll get the lab done in the next 15 minutes don't worry," Minako said. "We're not as hopeless as we look," she said with a smirk.

"You're acting pretty big for someone who doesn't know what she's talking about," the teacher said with a smile. "I'll be expecting quality work from you guys then." The teacher walked out of the room and closed the door.

Jacky tossed the glass into the trashcan and sat back down at the table. "What was that all about?" He filled the beaker with acid again and began to organize the samples on the table. "We won't be able to finish it time."

"You know what? You need to shut up ok Jacky. I told you… high school is boring, it's all the same." Minako took out a pen from her bag and began to draw a table. Then she took out a calculator and began writing numbers down. "This stuff is easy once you do it once…"

Jacky took the paper from Minako. It had numbers and symbols written all over it with a neat table across the top. "How did you do this?"

"I've taken this class before… how else would I know?" Minako packed up her stuff and started putting the lab equipment away. "You can finally get your first A," she said mockingly.

"You know that I do not respect you anymore than I did when I first met you…" Jacky said coldly. "Just because you know chemistry, don't expect me to suddenly find some sort of value in having you as a partner." Jacky placed the paper onto to teacher's desk. "Now let's go visit Kurunoma…"

"I think that's the first good idea I've heard from you." Minako reached out her hand towards Jacky.

"What are you doing?"

"Lead the way my prince," said Mianko. Jacky took her hand and pulled her through the door into the student parking lot. The sky was darkening, and the winds were picking up. Sand and leaves were blowing all throughout the air.