Spring was just setting into the winter sky, spreading its pale blue around them as the birds began to chitter and whistle on their branches, already sprouting tiny white buds, or green buds, in some cases. Several trees already had leaves, and others were just gaining them, clothing themselves in summer's garb.
Shi wasn't noticing the fresh spring morning, however, he was busy staring up at the announcement sign in front of the school. "Welcome Mr. Carter!" it proclaimed, and he fought not to wince and puke. He hated unnecessary exclamation points. Too fucking perky.
Quietly he entered the eerily quiet building, nearly empty of all students and teachers save for those who came in the early, early morning. They didn't even lock the doors here, two hours before school started. He wanted to laugh. Calmly sauntering down the halls, he paused for a moment, hearing noises, and slunk into the hollow near one of the classroom doors as two students drifted past, talking animatedly about the new line of Prada shoes just out.
They didn't even notice him, but he waited until they were around the corner before slinking off. He hadn't expected anyone to see him; after all, his full-fade black catsuit and mask shifted the gaze away from anyone who cared to look directly at him. Not the best in the way of camouflage, but an easy way to be unnoticed. If one couldn't be seen, then one probably couldn't be caught. It made fighting an opponent easier, anyways. He wasn't too worried about the security cameras on the walls, either—they weren't working too well, as he had tampered with them the day before, and that model always was shifty. Right now they were staticky and no one would notice a man in black walking down the halls through all that snow.
Reaching the main office, he sank down before entering, too low for anyone to see. He was more worried about people catching movement out of the corner of their eye than being seen full on. No one was in the office, and he smirked slightly. Rubes. These people were complete rubes. All the better in getting what he wanted. Or rather, what his boss wanted.
Slipping inside—again, the door wasn't even locked—he walked silently to the principal's office and tried the door. The lock was easily picked without a single scuffle to indicate forced entry, and he was inside.
Awards and framed pictures of a short man in grey suit lined the walls and a bronzed apple paperweight sat on the desk amid the piles of paper and computer, but he first went to the metal file cabinet, scanning down the rows until he got to the P's. Opening it, he pursed his lips, slightly disappointed to find that the girl he was looking for was not listed in the "troublemaker section." Then again, since she was a 4.0 student and the captain of the cheerleading squad it was only to be expected that she was perfect.
Sitting down in the principal's chair, it was easy matter to hack into the school computer and access the student files. He only paused once, after hearing the secretary enter the main office and start up her computer. He ducked behind the desk as she walked passed the principal's office to get a file or something from the back room, not even bothering the check her boss's office door. It wouldn't have mattered: it was locked. Once she was back at her desk, Shi went back to his typing, and found the files he wanted. Indeed, the girl was a fucking goody-goody two shoe, and he was more than slightly disappointed as he downloaded her file onto a blank disk and slipped it into his pocket. He had hoped for someone more interesting and challenging to be the arch-nemesis of his current boss, but then, the man was a weenie. He didn't even rank the higher insults Shi tended to give people he didn't much care for.
Turning off the computer and slipping out the door like a black ghost, he went out the back door of the office, slinking past the secretary without her even noticing. The principal entered the office just as he walked out the back door, and kids were arriving for school. Reaching the cool outside, he saw a group of kids walking towards him; his boss's target one of them. Startled, he moved quickly to one of the bushes in front of the school, crouching low near the roots and freezing, his breath coming slowly.
"Did you see that?" she asked, staring at the place he had just been.
"See what?" the boy asked, tripping over his own two feet. "Aw, man! Always when I'm walking. What were you saying, K.P.?" he asked as he pulled himself up.
"Uh, nothing. I must have been seeing things," she replied, and walked inside the building, Shi staring after her. She had a slight resemblance to his old partner, with her red hair that was darker than normal red hair. She also had green eyes, bright green eyes, not the pale jade of Chandre's. She was shorter and tanner than Chandre, and younger by several years, but he was still unnerved. She moved like his old partner. Not as flowing or graceful, but the way she had caught his quick movement was uncanny. No one should even have seen a glimpse of him.
Once she was gone and the bell had rung, the late students scurrying inside, he stood up and walked away, staying to the shadows of the trees. Middleton High School was just too boring for him to even contemplate anymore.