Chapter 1
"Hey Zami, do you plan on getting out of the car anytime soon, or are you going to continue staring out the windscreen for the next half an hour?" my father's voice right next to my ear causes me to jump. I slowly turn my head to see him watching me with his dark green eyes, eyes that have always had the power to look into my soul and know what I'm thinking, making it near impossible for me to hide anything from him.
"Yes" I say, not distinguishing what I'm answering to. Gently pushing him aside, I quickly get out so I can get away from his piercing gaze.
While I had stared out the windscreen he and Mum had unpacked the boot of all my luggage. Not that there was a lot of it, a grand total of three bags. Two of them standard clothes bags and the third a hard-back travel case. What a dismal display, my life summed up in three bags. Behind the luggage stand the two black, massive, wrought iron gates that secure the entrance to the prestigious Cross Academy.
"Aren't they just beautiful?" comes Mum's voice from over at the gates, gently running her fingers along the iron work. Picking up the travel case as I pass, I go up and join Mum looking at the intricate workings.
"Yeah" I agree with her unenthusiastically. They are beautiful but I can't make myself feel happy to be here.
"Aww, don't be like that Zami. You know it's for the best." Yeah the best for you and Dad maybe, but not for me.
Looking back over my shoulder to see Dad picking up the remaining two bags, I head through the gates only to stop half way through. This place is bigger than I imagined it. The path from the gate to what appears in the main school building appears to be 500 metre long if not more. On either sides of the path there are beautiful gardens, trees and lush green lawns. If the rest of the grounds are like this, this school could be considered a work of art. I stare with my mouth agape.
"See I told you it was beautiful, didn't I?" Mum comes up behind me. Finally having regained control of my mouth I manage to shut it before anyone sees and set off down the path again.
Under one of the trees sit some girls, talking and laughing. They all have on the required uniform of a white blouse open at the neck, a black jacket with light grey detailing and a short pleated black skirt that reaches mid to upper thigh. Finishing the outfit is a loosely tied red bow under the collar of their jackets, above the knee black socks and dark brown lace up shoes. Overall a pretty good uniform to wear except the skirt is a bit short for my liking. Once they notice us their loud laughter turns into quite whispers. The same response occurs with similar groups we pass.
"Hello" we hear a female voice call. Scanning I see a petit brunette heading our way. Her hair is straight shoulder length the turns in slightly towards her face. As she gets closer I can see that her hair really a combination of chocolate-brown, dark bronze and Venetian red, that when they are all mixed together like hers is, creates a really beautiful brunette shade. She has on the same uniform as the others, but with the addition of a wide white arm band with the Cross Academy crest in red.
"I'm Yuki Cross" she introduces. "I'm a part of the disciplinary committee here at Cross Academy" she reaches up and straightens the arm band. Oh so that's what it means. "Along with Zero Kiryu" she turns and gestures to a tall silver-haired boy with pale lavender eyes leaning against a tree. I lock eyes with him for only a moment, as his piecing gaze studies me, before he turns and stalks off toward the school.
"Never mind Zero, he is always like that" Yuki says, also noticing his quick departure.
"Pleasure to meet you Cross-san. I'm Yasuo Hikari and this is my wife Etsu and our daughter Azami" Dad says gesturing to us. "We spoke to the Chairman a few weeks ago about Azami attending school here and that we would be arriving this afternoon." Not only am I required to go here, but we have to arrive a few days late.
"Aah yes, I remember the Chairman mentioning that you would be arriving today, just not what time. I'll take you to him now if that's okay with you?"
"Yes, it will be good to finally meet the Chairman" Dad replied.
Yuki heads off up the path in the same direction that Zero went. As soon as we start moving towards the school I hear the people who were eavesdropping on our conversation start whispering. Only catching a few words, the gist of their conversation quickly becomes clear. Me. Just what I need. Blocking the chatter out I follow Yuki.
"This is the main school building where all the classes are held, the teachers office's as well as the Chairman's office." Opening the main doors we enter the building. Looking at the building it almost takes my breath away, the architecture is so beautiful, I wonder if the rest of the building is as magnificent as this entryway? Turning down the left corridor we stop in front of the first door we come across and Yuki proceeds to knock on it.
"Come in" a high voice answers from the other side. Pushing the door open, I follow Yuki into the room. "Oh it's you Yuki and the Hikari family as well!" a tall sandy coloured haired man practically dances from behind his large wooden desk. "Welcome to Cross Academy, Kiryu-kun said you were here" he shoots a glance to the silver-haired boy on the right side of the room. "I'm Kaien Cross, Chairman of the Academy." I wonder if he and Yuki are related.
Glancing around the room my gaze strays to Zero only to see him glaring back at me. Yuki must have seen the glare as "Zero" she admonishes. Having no idea what I could have possibly done to make him react that way toward me, I turn back to the Chairman as Dad finishes introducing himself and Mum. So as to not seem rude…
"I'm Azami Hikari. Thank you for accepting me into your school, Chairman"
"You're very welcome. I hope you have a great year here." Unlikely, but I can try, well at least I promised my parents I would try.
"Yeah" I say, trying to paste a genuine looking smile on my face. I must have been at least somewhat successful as he returned it.
Turning away from me he headed to a large cupboard, opening the doors to show that it is full of uniforms. There were the same uniforms as what Zero and Yuki are wearing but also the opposite with the jacket, skirt and pants being white and the blouses being black.
"Who are the white uniforms for?" Mum pipes up also noticing the other set of uniforms.
"Oh these? They are for my wonderful Night class students" he carefully smooths the closest one.
"Night Class?"
"Yes, they are an elite group of students that study here after the Day class has finished." Grabbing three of the Day class girl's uniform, he hands them to me. Searching his pockets he pulls out a slip of paper. "This is your class schedule" giving me the paper. "Yuki and Kiryu-kun can you please help Hikari to her dorm room, while we finalise the paperwork" looking over at the pair.
"Sure" Yuki looks willingly at the Chairman "But what room is she in and what about the key?"
"I nearly forgot that, thanks Yuki!" he rushes back to his desk, frantically searching the draws. The faint movement of Zero shaking his head slowly as if the way the Chairman is acting is a regular occurrence. "Aah I've got it" the Chairman pops back up from under his desk, his hair slightly ruffled. "Your room is 263. It's a double room but there is no one else living there at the moment, so you have it all to yourself" he says excitedly.
Taking the key from his out stretched hand, I slip both it and the schedule into my jeans pocket. Having moved from the wall Yuki and Zero come forward to each take one of the bags Dad had.
"Are you right to go Hikari?" Yuki calls from the door.
"Yes" picking up the travel case I head toward the door. Before exiting I turn back to my parents "I'll see you before you leave, right?"
"Of course, we'll meet you back here in a little while Azami" Mum replies with a small smile.
"Okay" I quickly catch up to where Yuki and Zero are waiting, Zero somewhat impatiently. "Sorry" I say. Ignoring my apology he turns left at the entryway to exit out into an inner courtyard garden with a few large trees and benches underneath them for class breaks. Looking over at Yuki with my bag I feel bad, it looks too big for her to be carrying.
"Here you don't need to be carrying my bag for me" I try to take it.
"No No" she shakes her head while stepping out of my reach. "It's fine, I'm stronger than I look" she says with a faint laugh. "Besides that looks pretty heavy already" she nods towards the travel case in my right hand. It is but I'm not going to tell her that.
"It's not too bad'' I lie, draping the uniforms over my shoulder and switching the case to my left hand.
"Okay" she says unconvinced.
At the other side of the courtyard there's a large archway, which I can see the path on the other side split off in two directions. At this intersection Yuki stops. Stopping with her, I place the case on the ground. Looking at my fingers, they have deep white marks where the handle has cut in. Flexing my fingers to try to regain some circulation, I look to Yuki to see why we stopped, not that I'm not grateful.
"This is where the two dorms separate. Over there" she points to the right "Is the Moon dorm where the Night class lives and this way" gesturing to the left "Is the Sun dorm, where you and the rest of the Day class lives. Neither class is allowed in the others dorm" she says in full disciplinary committee member mode.
"Okay" I answer as she starts down the left path. About to retrieve the case, I wish I got one with wheels, a pale male hand flashes out and takes it before I can.
"Hey!" I say indignantly, looking up to is lavender eyes "I'm able to carry it"
"Barely" he muttered dryly, continuing down the path after Yuki.
Running after him, I can feel my cheeks heating up in annoyance. Who does he think he is, just taking my case like that, just because he's on the disciplinary committee? Jumping in front of him to make him stop…
"Give my case back, I can carry it"
"No. The way you were leaning looked as if you'd fall over any second, and the pace you were going… I do want to get there before dinner. Besides I have more important things to do than to be a guide to a student who can't even arrive at school on time." He answered rudely.
"Zero" Yuki reprimands disbelievingly. I can feel my previously hot face drain of all its colour as I stare in shock at Zero. Never have I been spoken to so rudely before. Continuing to glower at me, I move out of his way before managing to squeak out.
"Okay, but please be careful with it"
Continuing up the path with my eyes downcast, I feel a small hand on my shoulder causing me to stop. Slowly bringing my gaze up to Yuki I see her rueful expression.
"I'm sorry Hikari, Zero can be rude but he's not usually that rude" she apologises.
"No it's okay, you don't have to apologise, I understand that it's a burden to have to show me around and that you have more important things to do" I say, keeping my face and voice neutral.
"No you're not, I'm happy to help, besides it gets me out of maths homework" she tries to joke. Forcing a small smile on my lips I nod at her.
…..
Having not noticed anything on rest of the way to the dorm except the path beneath my feet, Yuki's light touch makes me flinch. Looking up I see we have stopped a few metres away from two building joined at the front.
"The girl's dorm is on the left and boy's the right" she says before turning left to enter the girl's dorm. "What was your room number again?" a slight glint returning to her gaze. Pulling the key out of my pocket…
"Room 263"
"That's on the top floor, let's go" she walks to the stairwell smiling. Reaching the top floor I notice that it's too quiet. Looking around…
"Where is everyone?" surely there should be some noise other than just our footsteps.
"It's always empty this time of day. All the girl's are already waiting outside that moon dorm entrance, even though it's over an hour before the switch over."
"What's so special about the Night Class that everyone wastes so much time waiting for them" I ask incredulously, curiosity getting the better of my sour mood.
"Don't worry" laughter colouring her tone, "You'll understand when you see them." I see she's regained her happy mood, why can't she give me a straight answer.
Looking back down the corridor, my eye's land on the only other person in the dorm, leaning against a door frame. Seeing the number 263, I walk past him and insert the key, turning it until I hear the click. Pushing the door inwards, I take in my surroundings. On either side of the room are two made up single beds with wooden frames. At the ends of each bed is a large study desk and chair, and up beside the head of the beds are bedside draws with a lamp on top. Behind the desks are built in wardrobes. Turning around, to the right of the door as you enter was an old two-seater sofa facing out to the balcony.
"Where do you want your bags?" Having momentarily forgotten they were there, Yuki's question brought me back.
"Where ever" dumping the uniforms on the bed I walk towards the glass balcony doors. Out there is an outdoor table and two chair set. Images swirling in my mind of what I could do with the room, looking over my shoulder hopefully at Yuki "Is it okay if I rearrange the room a bit?"
"That should be okay, but you'll have to put it back if you get a roommate"
"Thank you" giving her the first genuine smile I've had for a few days. Looking back out the balcony doors I hear Zero quietly ask so as for me not to hear.
"Why does she have a sofa in her room? None of the others do"
"How am I supposed to know, maybe it was left by old students. Anyway the Chairman picked this room for her even though there are other students who don't have a roommate, so just leave it" she stated exasperated.
"Fine" Pretending not to have heard them, I go and check the travel case
"I didn't damage it if that's what you're looking for" he stated with irritation.
"Okay, I was just checking" finally looking straight at him "Thank you Kiryu, you can tell the Chairman you helped so you can get back to your important things now" I say stoically, turning before seeing his expression. Grabbing one of the bags I drop it in the bottom of the wardrobe. Turning back Zero has already left, with Yuki looking unsure.
"Sorry to rush you Hikari, but I have to supervise the switchover soon and there are still a few things I have to show you."
"Okay, I'll come with you now," walking out the door and locking it behind me.
"There is a bathroom on each level, they are locked at 10.30 each night and reopen at 6am but the restroom is always open" Yuki led me to the end of the hall. Returning to the stairs we proceed down to the dining room, which has the meal times stuck on the door and a board with specials written next to it, before heading out the door back toward the school.
After exiting the sun dorm grounds all you can hear is young girl's squealing and shouting. Shooting Yuki a questioning look…
"Yes to what you are thinking, they're always like this for the Night class. Are you coming to see about what I mentioned before?"
"Aah, I think I'll invest in a pair of ear plugs first" looking in the direction of the noise.
"Good idea, get me a pair while you're there" she said laughing. "Okay, I'm going to see if I can get them settled down a bit before the switch"
"Good luck with that" I say sceptically.
"Yeah" she starts to turn "Just make sure you're back at the dorm by curfew at 8. Bye" she waves before running off toward the noise. I wonder how she's not deaf already.
…
Back at the Chairman's office I knock on the door. Waiting for an answer I look out the window to see the sun slowly going down. It must be getting close to 8. Looking back, about to knock again when the door opens.
"Oh it's you Hikari, I hope you got settled in the dorm alright" the Chairman looks down at me with huge smile plastered on his face.
"Yes thank you Chairman, are my parents still in there with you?" I try to peer around him without moving.
"That's good and no they just went outside to wait for you. I'll take you to them" he says, pulling the door shut behind him.
"Thank you." Following the Chairman out the front entrance I see my parent's waiting at the bottom of the stairs. About to go to them the Chairman's hand on my shoulder stops me. Looking up at him I see his face has turned serious.
"Hikari, it's nearly 8 o'clock so don't take too long. I need you back at the dorm by curfew. Do you understand?" his light hazel eyes staring into mine.
"Yes Chairman, I'll be a quick as possible"
"Good, go now" the joyful attitude once again showing on his face.
Taking his advice I rush down the stairs to my parents, who quickly turn at the sound of my approach.
"Zami!" they say in unison wrapping me in a hug. I know I should be angry that they are about to leave me here but I can't, I'm going to miss them too much. Letting me go we start toward the main gate. I can feel the tears starting to well in my eyes again but this time I can't stop them from falling.
"I'm going to miss you" the tears making my voice choke up.
"We're going to miss you to Honey, please don't cry" Mum says gently wiping the tears away, only to be replaced with fresh ones.
"We're not going to be away forever remember, we'll see you at Christmas" Dad draws me into another hug trying to make me feel better.
"I know, but that's so far away" my voice muffled by his now tear-stained shirt.
"It seems that way now" he says rubbing my head before releasing me but keeping his hands on my shoulders. "Please try to enjoy yourself and make some friends" looking straight into my eyes.
"I said I would try didn't I?" I growl jerking out of his grasp.
"I know" he said kindly reaching out to me. Stepping back away from him I turn to Mum. Embracing me in a hug…
"We only want what's best for you." Her lip curving upward slightly "Be careful and" leaning forward to whisper in my ear "Make sure no one ever find out the truth" she says so quietly I can barely hear her.
"What about the things I can't hide?" I ask desperately.
"Worry about that when it becomes an issue. And you can email me and we can work out an excuse" she says reassuringly, but it does everything but reassure.
"So basically I'm on my own" I say, extracting myself from her arms.
"No Azami," she sighs exasperated. "Please don't fight with us now, we aren't going to see each other for a while and I don't want to leave with you still angry with us."
"I'm not" I'm more sad than angry. Giving them one last hug, they both get in the car. Mum winding down the window
"We love you Honey and we'll see you soon" she yells hanging out the window. "Bye" she waves. Waving back until I can no longer see the car.
Dropping to the ground, the tears running continuously down my face now, the vibration of my phone in my pocket makes me flinch. Pulling it out to see a message from Mum Miss you already Honey. Love Mum & Dad. Closing the message I glimpse the time. 8.05 pm. Crap, I completely forgot about the time.
Jumping up, I run toward the school, only seeing the path under my feet. I wonder if the Chairman is still in his office, better not risk going through the school, he'll be mad if he sees me still out here. Taking a quick right to run alongside the front of the school I realise it's a lot larger than I thought it was. Finally reaching the corner I sprint along that side too, I'm glad I have my joggers on.
Coming up to the last corner I realise that it would be shorter to run straight from the corner to the path rather than following the building. Looking up quickly to make sure there are no trees in my direct path I look down again only viewing a metre in front of me, making sure I don't trip over any non moving objects. Dodging and jumping over garden beds, I can see the edge of the path, feeling the change of texture under my feet I start to pick up my pace again…
Bang! I feel myself crash into something solid, knocking it down with me. Feeling something hard under me, I push up onto my hands and knee, I see an arm clothed in a night class uniform. Following the arm up, I see a beautiful, slender male with maroon hair. Jumping up quickly, I move back so he can get up.
"I'm so sorry" I say. Looking him up and down I can't see any injuries but, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" his voice showing no emotion. Looking at his face shows the same amount of emotion as his voice. None. Not even his light blue eyes showing anything. Having to trust him on his word that he's not hurt…
"Okay, sorry again" turning away from him, I start to run toward the dorm again. What an idiot running straight into someone like that, I guess that's what happens when you don't pay attention to where you're going. I hope he really is okay and not lying. I can feel my wrists beginning to ache and a stinging in both of my hands, forearms and knees, looking at my hands I can see their grazed pretty badly. I bet my arms and knees a in a similar shape.
"Hey wait!" a male voice calls. Slowing to a stop I turn to see a tall, light blonde haired boy with bright green eyes running up to me. Just as beautiful as the other night class boy, only his face holds a radiant glow to it.
"Yes?" I ask as he stops in front of me. What could he possibly want, maybe he's angry that I knocked his friend over or something. No that's not it, he looks too friendly, as if he never gets angry.
"Gee you sure can run fast" he says with laughter in his eyes, but quickly turns kind "Are you alright?"
"Aah, yes I'm fine, just a scratch" I answer in confusion, clenching my fists. Owwww. I shouldn't have done that.
"Are you sure? The way you came out of the garden, running as if the devil was chasing you, with tears running down your face, then you ran right into Shiki, landing pretty hard on the ground…" Aah I hadn't even thought of what I looked like, I must look pretty bad. Looking up and down my body, dirt covers the knees of my jeans, grazes cover my forearms and hands, my eyes feel all puffy so I'm assuming their red from the tears I can feel drying on my checks. Pushing a few loose strand of hair out of my eyes, I even feel a few twigs in my hair. Geez I must look like a mad wild woman. Feeling my face heat up I turn away from the beautiful boy.
"No I'm fine, I just have to get back to the dorm" I start to leave.
"Okay I'll walk you to the gate" he walks up beside me
"No, it's okay, anyway don't you have class?"
"It won't matter if I'm a few minutes late" he smiles at me.
"Okay then" we walk in silence for a few moments. Why would he be interested with if I'm okay or not, maybe it's concern for the other students and he's just checking to make sure I'm not some random off the street.
"I'm Takuma Ichijo by the way. May I know your name?"
"Azami Hikari" I look at him warily from the corner of my eye.
"Nice to meet you Hikari" he says with a smile that crinkles his eyes.
"You as well Ichijo-senpai" forcing my lips to curve upwards. He's being so nice I have to at least be polite.
"Please just Ichijo" Having reached the gate we stop.
"Thank you Ichijo" I say with my cheeks still burning from embarrassment.
"No problem, Bye Hikari" he waves, heading back to school
"Bye"
…
Managing to get back into the dorm without anyone seeing me, I race up to my room. Hearing chatter behind the door's I pass, it feels a lot more like a dorm than before. Once entering my room all the built up adrenaline leaves my body. Sliding down the door the tears restart where they left off. What is wrong with me, I never let people see me cry, never. Not even when…, not only that the entire night class saw me running and looking like a mad woman, and that boy, how could I have run straight into him. Ahhh.
Getting up I walk over to the wardrobe with a full length mirror, looking at my reflection from the head down. My venetian red hair, similar to the Derwent studio pencil colour, is barely staying in the bun with a few twigs caught in the loose stands. My normally clear eyes with dark terracotta red with flecks of dark red coloured irises are puffy and red, from the tears still running down my cheeks. There are dirty smudges from where I have wiped the tears away with my dirty hands. My once pale green tee-shirt is covered in dirt and dried blood from where my arms have touched it while running. My forearms and hands are shredded. My jeans are in similar shape as the shirt only the dirt is focused on my knees and I can see speckles of blood seeping through. My jogger still look reasonable, coming out of the incident fairly unscaved. Overall I'm a complete mess.
Checking the time 8.45pm, the bathrooms still open. Slipping my joggers and socks off, I grab fresh underwear and my pyjamas I head to the bathroom. Grabbing a towel and shower supplies at the door I hear talking inside.
"Did you hear about the male night class student walking some girl back to the dorm after curfew?" one girl said, her voice sounding smug that she had gained a juicy piece of gossip.
"What? No! When? Who?" another girl asks her voice getting higher with each question
"No idea, I couldn't see properly, but they left the gate in opposite directions disappearing into the dark away from the path, no more than 20 minutes ago"
"I wonder if she's gotten back in yet or if the prefects caught her?"
"Don't know, I guess we'll hear about it soon enough if they have" I hear the sound of two showers starting up.
Pushing open the door I head to the shower cubical furthest away from the girls. I really hope they don't tell anyone else about what she saw, but I guess that's unlikely, she sounded so smug when revealing it to her friend. I bet the whole day class knows by tomorrow morning, with at least 10 different versions. I'm just glad that I decided to not to follow the path, otherwise they would know who I am.
Slowly removing my jeans, which have stuck to my knees from the dried blood, my guess is proven right. My knees are in a similar condition as my hand, just with extra bruising beginning to show. The hot water over the grazes stings like you wouldn't believe, as if someone is slicing me with razor blades. Finally being clean all over and dressed in my green and white pyjamas, I look at the angry grazes, still sticky from the shower. Seeing no one as I look out the shower door, I rush to the first aid cabinet on the wall and grab enough dressings and bandages to cover the worst areas, as well as a few spares before heading back to my room.
Only lasting long enough to cover the grazes and set the alarm clock, I collapse into bed falling asleep almost instantly.
A/N: Thanks for reading. This chapter might feel slow to some, but i feel most stories need an introduction chapter, to get to know the character a bit and set the scene first, before any major action occurs. The story becomes more interesting as it goes. I hope you continue with it.
Salexa