Chapter One

Recca Hanabishi walked through the halls of Mizuho High Academy against the massive crowds of students on the first day back on the school grounds. Everyone was walking from the opening ceremony and they were on their way to the courtyard to go and find out which dorm hall and room number they were in. Recca already knew his dorm number, though, because he had skipped the opening ceremony and wandered aimlessly around the school halls. He skipped the ceremony because he already heard the same speech twice, so he figured that he wouldn't need to hear it a third time. But just in case he was caught, he had been picking up litter and throwing it trash bins so that the teachers wouldn't complain about him ditching the ceremony.

As he thought about it, he realized that he had done a good deed that day. That, in his mind, made it okay to cause Cruxis some trouble later on, especially to their leader, Mithos Yggdrasill, whom Recca considered his enemy.

During his freshman year, he had heard about the death of Martel, the older sister of Yggdrasill, in which she was killed in a drive-by shooting by an unknown gang. This happened before she and Mithos were going to enter school and when it did happen, it devastated him. As soon as he did enter Mizuho High Academy, however, he created Cruxis, a gang of half-elves and one human, and unto this day has ruled and terrorized both humans, elves, and any opposition within the school.

Recca was quite bothered with this, though. "Why would you become what took the life of someone dear to you?" he often thought, this fact making no sense to him at all. It also bothered him because that Mithos had assumed the killer to be human or elf, because of all the bad rumors about half-elf mistreatment by both races. However, Recca knew that such assumptions would later leave Mithos in a rut he could not get out of.

However, Martel's death and Mithos' actions weren't the reason why Recca hated Mithos. It was their first encounter that set his hatred for Mithos in place, although why the hatred was caused was never clear. On their first day upon entering the school grounds, both freshmen had engaged in a showdown…yet it was the most peaceful one. The two boys came face-to-face at the entrance of the school and immediately caught sight of one another, staring each other down and emitting vibes of hatred towards each other. Mithos and Recca didn't stop glaring daggers at each other for a while until Kratos urged Yggdrasill to move along and find some seats for the opening ceremony. Reluctantly, both students stopped glaring and parted their separate ways, causing the immobile crowds of intimidated students that were watching the spectacle with apprehension to move again.

That day started a rivalry between this human and half-elf that lasted for two school years and continues today. These encounters out of the classroom were not violent, except for the constant beat down of Cruxis members by Recca, and were mostly stare downs with clever, bitter insults being exchanged between these two. No one ever got between these two, for fear of injury from Cruxis or Recca himself. Either way, the aura within the close radius that these two students emitted was intense and suffocating, causing every other student to stop in fear or curiosity.

In a classroom environment, it was a different story. Mithos and Recca would both try to outdo one another in grades. Everyone in the class wouldn't even try to outdo them (except for Kratos, but he didn't need to try to). These situations, however, were the only times one could see Recca actually working hard.

One class, though, is where these two rivals could physically hurt each other and not get in trouble: Sword Fencing Class. Almost always during fifth period, the two would choose each other as sparring partners, just for the sole purpose of beating the crap of out of one another. Each time they fought was an epic battle that would be left unfinished, but only because the class period bell rang, signaling for the students to move on to the next class. At this point, Professor Auron would interfere at last and stop them so they would go to their next class. The other students wondered why Professor Auron never tried to stop them while they were trying to kill each other, in which he replied that they were the most dedicated students to swordsmanship he has ever seen. He said that their movements were swift and strong, each slash was perfectly planned, and all of their strength was mustered in each blow. He also knew that the two wouldn't try to actually kill each other because the two had no intention of death for one another, just pure hatred. Their fights, even though stopped for the moment, always continued the next class. But for how long would these fights ensue was what everyone wondered.

Recca suddenly stopped, feeling the familiar waves of hatred he'd always feel when he sensed Yggdrasill was near. Sure enough, his archrival was in front of him; however, Yggdrasill did not seem to sense Recca's presence. Instead, his focus was on a small, petite girl with a round face, a button nose, long, trailing black hair, and hazel, wide almond-shaped eyes covered by half-crescent glasses. The scene that Recca saw between the two was that Yggdrasill was bullying the girl, in which his face was contorted with rage and malice, and it seemed that it was up to Recca to save her. However, it didn't look like she needed to be saved. In fact, she looked like she was defending herself pretty well.

"Humph…why do you stand your ground, you inferior being?!" Yggdrasill spat, trying his hardest to intimidate her. It didn't seem to faze her, though, because she was smiling as if he just gave her a compliment. At least, it seemed like it didn't because Recca could see her shaking a bit from the possible stress she was having because of this confrontation. The girl was still silent, however, and looked as though she was pondering about how to smartly retort back.

"Well, I suppose…" she began slowly, choosing her words wisely, "that I wouldn't want to be seen as a spineless person. Wouldn't you agree that no one would?"

Yggdrasill clenched his fists; his face began contorting with rage. He soon, however, regained his calmness, smirking at the small female. In a fierce tone he said, "Spunky wench, aren't you? You'll lose that spunk after…this."

During that stupid dramatic pause, he had snapped his fingers and several Cruxis half-elves stepped out of the crowd. They surrounded her and all sneered at her maliciously. The girl, though, continued smiling pleasantly and this unnerved Yggdrasill greatly.

"What's so damn funny?!" he shouted angrily at her, practically spitting in her face.

"Nothing at all!" she exclaimed merrily, flashing a radiant smile to her aggressors as to throw them off guard, "By the way…your hair looks as though it is getting in the way. Do you want me to put it up?"

If that smile of hers didn't hinder them, then that last inquiry probably did. In fact, it probably threw everyone off, including Yggdrasill. The face he was wearing was priceless; his mouth was gaping widely in disbelief and his eyes were as wide as teacup saucers. It took him several minutes to register what was happening and regain himself, but he couldn't find any words to say back to the peculiar female. The girl, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do.

"Well, I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said while taking a scrunchie from her bag and walked over to Yggdrasill. She stood behind him and carefully pulled his blonde hair back, tying all of it with the scrunchie when she was finished. Yggdrasill did not protest her actions at all. It seemed, for the most part, that he was either shocked or intensely repulsed by the whole ordeal. In Recca's opinion, Mithos probably enjoyed that. Either way, everyone within the perimeter appeared to be stunned by the girl's abnormal behavior. From what Recca could tell, however, was that this girl was obviously new to Mizuho Academy.

The lively female nodded approvingly of the work she had just performed. She told Yggdrasill, "There! Better, right? Don't worry, I don't need that back. Anyways, it looks good on you. You should wear it like that more often!"

She glanced to her right at the clock above the hideous light blue lockers and her face fell. She suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my! Is that the time already? I must find my guide! Ah, it was a pleasure, bye!"

She took off down the hall, waving her hand to exhibit her farewell. Everybody, still paused in awe, stared down the hall where she had taken her exit.

"What a peculiar girl…" Recca thought, "I wonder if there are more people like her this year. It would be…quite interesting if so…"

Meanwhile, the crowd that was watching the spectacle began to move, but Yggdrasill stood his place. The shock probably was still with him, but because of the state he was in, Recca was tempted to bring him from this blissful moment. Recca stealthily crept up behind Mithos and whispered very close to his ear, "Nice scrunchie."

Yggdrasill jumped in alarm, whipping around to see who had startled him. As soon as he realized it was Recca, however, he immediately retorted, "Shut up, you dog!"

Suddenly, both rivals watched a classroom door swing open and saw Kratos Aurion, one of the only humans Mithos trusted, came out. For that moment, the two's attentions were off each other as Kratos walked toward them. But as soon as he spotted his leader's hair, he paused for a moment before inquiring, "Should I…?"

"No!" Yggdrasill snapped, beckoning Kratos with his hand to follow him, "Come, we have many things to attend to!"

Kratos silently obeyed his leader's orders and followed right behind him. As Kratos strides past Recca, the two make eye contact and nod toward each other, acknowledging each other's presence. Recca, who never really liked Cruxis, liked Kratos because he had more sense and control over his leader that nobody actually had. But if that was so, then why didn't he tell off Mithos for creating a horrid organization like Cruxis that tortured his fellow race?
While Recca was thinking, a skeptical female voice remarked among the chatter, saying, "Man, what a prick! Acting all high and mighty, as though he owned the school!"

Recca was curious about who said such a thing and turned around, spotting another petite girl. This one, however, was a bit taller than the other girl who stood up against Yggdrasill and had short, chestnut-colored hair. Her eyes were a lightless, dark brown color, making it look as though she had no soul within her. But her mouth was slanted in a smirk that gave a mischievous look to them, cancelling that effect. Right now, though, Recca was more concentrated on the girl's comment, which made it seem as though she were another new student.

"You're new here, aren't you?" he found himself asking her.

"Hm? Yeah, so?" she replied in a bored tone, shrugging, "Transferred directly from Meltokio Private Academy. But why would you want to know that?"

"Because, "he began to explain, "You're indifferent to Yggdrasill's reign over the school."

"Yggdrasill?" she said in a perplexed tone, "That crude, uptight blonde swine that got showed up by that little gal? What's so great about him?"

"I'd be careful about what you say about him," Recca replied warningly, "He leads the largest, most violent uncontrollable gang in our school: Cruxis. Because of this, he controls the entire school with an iron fist and no one, not even our headmaster, can stop him."

The girl cocked her head at him and said, "Wow, for real? That must suck, but I don't care. I can take care of myself. But hey, has anyone tried stopping him?"

"Well, I try… but not to gain glory or anything, "he answered quietly, thinking about the girl's overconfident demeanor, "And nothing really has come out of my encounters. In a way, I'm more of a rival of his."

"Mmm-hm…" the girl murmured, obviously not interested at this point, "Hey…that reminds me, who're you again? I don't think we've introduce ourselves yet. I'm Aerion. Aerion Ishikawa."

"…me? I'm…Recca Hanabishi," he replied reluctantly as he scratched his head. He didn't like giving his name to others, because either way they would find out within several days because of the rumors of his rivalry with Mithos. This, however, was a different case in his opinion because he felt as though he could trust this girl…which was a first for him.

"So, where's your dorm room?" Aerion asked casually, as though the two of them knew each other for a long time, "I'm in Dorm Hall C."

"Wow, me too…" he responded with surprise, "but that's the only co-ed Dorm Hall out of the three here on campus. Do you…think we share a dorm room?"

"From what I've heard," she began explaining, "There was a rumor circulating that the first floor would be all girls and the second all boys. Except for the last room on the second floor, where it looks like a girl would be stuck with three boys. Otherwise, everything's alright."

"Well, I pity the girl who gets that room, " Recca remarked, "and I hope she's stuck with…civilized men. But anyways, which room are you?"

"Room 106," she answered while shifting, "Do you wanna' go there now? Which one are you in?"

Recca nodded to her suggestion and started to walk in the direction of Dorm Hall C. Aerion followed suit and while they were heading towards the east exit of the school building, he said, "I think I'm in Room…220? Yeah, that should be about right."

"Ah, that's the last room, right? I wonder if you're stuck with that girl then?" she replied thoughtfully.

"I…hope not," Recca replied with apprehension. If that were to happen, Yggdrasill would have something to talk about all year. But in his heart, he felt as though the words that just came out of Aerion's mouth would be the truth.

Recca opened the doors that lead to the luncheon quad, where several upper-class students were hanging out. The day was just perfect; the sky was a deep blue, the sun was shining, it was warm, and the wind was blowing peacefully across the blades of grass of the lawn. Aerion stretched her arms behind her and put her arms back parallel against her sides, grinning widely. She thought cheerfully to herself, "Perfect weather! Just perfect…" She felt herself getting drowsy, but she got excited just thinking about this new school and stayed awake, which was surprising because she hated school.

"Hey," she said while she and Recca were nearing Dorm Hall C, "is this a good school?"

"Well…if you exclude Cruxis…then yes, I'd say it's a pretty charming school, "Recca answered back. When he finished his sentence, they were already at the front door of the Dorm Hall. Recca pushed on the 'In' door and heard the grating roar of chatter greet his ears. Several of the freshmen were already moving all their belongings into their rooms, even though they didn't need to. This was because they would have a boatload of time left when they were finished because dinner wasn't until 7 at night and they would be forced to walk aimlessly around school until that time. This was the first mistake each year most of the freshmen made on their first day, so it was ok and nobody bothered to tell them.

Aerion immediately spotted her luggage and her room along with it, ran up to it and said, "Well, this is my stop! Thanks for leading me here. Let's see each other at dinner, 'k?"

"Um…sure…"he responded, nodding his farewell as he left her to unload her belongings. He turned around and headed to the staircase, having great difficulty going through the bags of luggage strewn across the floor. He reached the staircase, now struggling against the massive crowds of students coming down the steps. Along the way, he caught a small group of sophomores saying, "Yeah, I heard" "About Yuan and Kratos?" "Yup, they're at the last room." "I suppose…"

Recca froze for a moment. Yuan and Kratos?! What if…? He ran the rest of the steps and sprinted down the hallway, almost knocking over every stray piece of luggage aside. Immediately, he spotted his black suitcases at the end of the hall with several others of his roommates that were hopefully not Kratos' or Yuan's. Skidding to a halt at his door, Recca stood up and grabbed his chest and tried to gather his breath as he read the sign on his dorm door. He spotted his name in the middle of the sign, but the two names above it made his heart sink. It was Kratos' and Yuan's name. He groaned loudly, but soon looked at the sign again because there was another name that was below his. However, looking at it made matters worse. His third roommate was Setsuna Ferdinand, a girl's name, and Recca proceeded to whack his head against the door.

"This is going to be a long year, "he though abruptly to himself after he stopped hitting his head against the door. He moped for a while, earning the stares of several students as they glanced at him, before he decided on opening the door. Inside was a blue colored room with one window, a bunk bed against the right wall, a twin-sized bed against the left wall, and a futon in the middle of the floor. There was an extra small hall leading to their private bathroom. Recca, however, immediately saw that they would have problems with this. He knew that the futon would not be very well-liked and they would probably have to compromise with the person who was stuck with it. Recca, though, was not going to be the one sleeping on the futon because he preferred sleeping in a bed than on the floor. He didn't like bunk beds either, though, so he decided to claim the bed against the left wall in the only way he could: by sleeping on it.

Recca walked over to the bed, which had a white pillow and blue covers covering the white lining that was visible from the bottom edge of the bed. He jumped on the bed and laid down immediately, finding out that it was quite comfy. He put his left leg on his upright kneecap and placed his hands casually behind his head, looking straight up at the ceiling. Recca turned his head to see what time it was, seeing it was only 2:00 in the afternoon. He realized that he had plenty of time to spare and decided to use it by taking a nap.

As the sun beat down on his head from the wide window with no curtains to block it, he thought of all the things this year could bring, hoping that all would end well. Then he dozed off from the intoxicating warmth he felt within him, which he really hadn't felt in a while.