Act One

" From one to ten, everything is one level above
Even if we crazily run on sand, we're still so agile
Because the sky is blue enough,
Don't ask any questions, just feel it - feel who I am "

- BINGBANG; Fantastic Baby.

Jump at the sound of your heartbeat til this comes to an end.

Setting; Kyoto, Japan, January of 2012

' So, ' she said, ' then bring me back a rose, father. '

Riding the subway, usually packed with pedestrians, was one of the more not so peaceful areas to begin such a book. To her at least. A girl-age seventeen-had hidden herself away in a nearly empty car of the train in the early morning. It was cold outside, almost below freezing. Thick snow coated the ground outside, left over from the night before when they had experienced a cold front moving across the area. Trying to rid her legs of the frosty chill lingering inside the train, Tsukiko rubbed them together.

That was her name; Tsukiko.

She continued to read the book held in her gloved hands, despite fighting the urge to stop because of the temperature. Whenever it got really cold like it was, she would get sleepy and not want to do anything at all. Not even go to school. Ever since she was a elementary student her parents would have to force her away from their space heater in the morning and rush her to get ready for school. She was still like that, even as a high school student.

High school. The thought rang in her mind multiple times. Today was her first day at a school called Hakuouki High; an all boys' school that had just started accepting female students. She was one of them. How many other girls had been accepted there, she thought. Or would she be the only one? With the entire campus's eyes on her, Tsukiko didn't know if she would be able to handle that.

She sighed anxiously, clamping her book shut and placing it inside her dark brown schoolbag. There was still fifteen minutes left until she would reach the next train stop, the stop where her new school was located. She felt butterflies suddenly swirl around inside her stomach. Then she adjusted her winter coat and scarf; they had suddenly become uncomfortable.

' This apprehension is going to be the death of me ' she thought as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the window.

By the time she had reached the snow covered street that the school was located on, the sun had come out from behind it's blanket of clouds. She was glad that it did. It made her body less cold. Though, she still kept her arms crossed as she made strides to reach the building in time for the new year ceremony. She was just ready to get out of this freezing weather, even though she enjoyed it, and into the hopefully warm atmosphere of the school building.

Many students, presumptuously all male, were strolling down the same street as her towards towards Hakuouki High. Most were accompanied by friends, some on their own, some even walking and texting on their cell phones at the same time. Every few minutes Tsukiko noticed she would get the occasional glance from the boys as she walked past them, noting her similar school uniform. However, it made her worry a little. She had yet to see another female student.

Maybe she was going to be on her own after all.

Further down the street, three students were rushing to make it to the school in time. They were running late. Among them was a young girl, donning a school uniform-underneath a winter jacket and scarf-that consisted of a black blazer and a grey plaid skirt with a thin, white petticoat underneath. Tied around the collar of her blazer was a red ribbon, representing her second year status. She wore white stockings and a pair of street sneakers. She would later change into black heels once she reached school. Her dark brown hair was kept neatly to the side, fastened by a beaded hair tie. She was ready for this day.

The two males next to her wore similar uniforms underneath their winter ware; they too wore black blazers and with black slacks. One boy had a red tie with a white dress shirt while the other had on a blue and grey v-line sweater. One had a disheveled look to himself as if he just woke up from bed, his hair a stylist worst nightmare. The other, calm and collected, wearing a mischievous smile, like he found it amusing that they were going to be late to school on the first day. One was tall and the other the same height as their female friend.

Their names were Chizuru Yukimura, Heisuke Tōdō, and Sōji Okita.

Out of all of them, Sōji was the oldest. He was a third year, hence his blue attire under his school blazer. Following him, Heisuke and Chizuru were of the same year, but Chizuru was a few months younger than her friend.

It was her first time attending Hakouki High, but Heisuke-Chizuru's childhood friend-and Sōji had been attending since they entered their high school years. She was excited to finally be going to school with him, of course. But then again, she often felt guilty for turning down offers from her other friend, Sen, to attend Shimabara Girls' School together. Chizuru looked to Heisuke ahead of her and smiled, but that smile did not last for long.

" Ah! "

In a moment's notice, Chizuru was running to avoid being late on her first day at her new school. Then in the next, she was on her hands and knees in the icy snow; she had slipped. Her face cringed as pain radiated up from her bruised knees and burning hands.

" Chizuru! Hey, you okay? "

Heisuke had turned around the moment he heard his friend yelp in shock, rushing to her side at once. Chizuru looked up at with a solemn face and nodded slightly. She then accepted the hand held out in front of her, helping lift herself to her feet. Stable again, she dusted her knees off, relieving them of the cold snow.

" Sheesh, be a little more careful next time, okay? " Heisuke added, his face turning a concerned grin. Chizuru looked up at him with chocolate brown eyes.

" Sorry, Heisuke. It's kind of hard to judge where the slippery spots are. Go figure it'd turn out like this before the first day of school " she commented, looking around at her surroundings.

" No joke. That snow storm last night was a killer. It knocked out our power last night, but luckily it came back on when we were sleeping. "

Chizuru nodded in agreement.

" Same here. "

" Hey! "

Chizuru and Heisuke turned around to see Sōji in the distance, running backwards and waving at them.

" If you two lovey dovey birds don't hurry it up, we'll miss the ceremony! " he shouted at them. Heisuke's jaw dropped, insulted that Sōji had called him and Chizuru lovers, when it was-in fact-not true. They were just childhood friends after all. He lifted a fist into the air, put his free hand next to his mouth and yelled back at his older friend.

" Stop calling us that, you asshole! "

As Chizuru laughed at their brotherly quarrel, she noticed something in the distance behind Sōji and it was approaching him fast. It was another female student like herself. Chizuru's eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen.

" Sōji! Behind you! "

BAM.

She was too late.

The ignorant third year had ran into and toppled over the unsuspecting girl while still running backwards. Both of them let out cries of surprise as their bodies plummeted to the snowy ground, Sōji landing on top of the girl's back. Heisuke and Chizuru watched on in terror, as there was nothing they could do to prevent this from happening. Sōji was Sōji, they had come to accept that, but he feigned ignorance. As Sōji laid there, he let out a groan and rubbed the back of his head where their skulls had impacted one another. He barely even noticed that he had been laying on top of a female student all this time.

" Is this what they call Karma? " he asked himself in a quiet voice as he opened one cringed eye, gazing toward the clear sky.

" Get up, you idiot! You're laying on top of someone! " Heisuke yelled as he and Chizuru ran up to him and the other poor girl.

" Hm? "

Curiously, Sōji sat up and did notice he had fallen on something quite lumpy. He took one look under himself and saw a pair of bent, feminine legs that were coated with black stockings. Whoever they were, they were wearing light pink, two inch heels. Sōji cocked an eyebrow.

" Who the hell wears high heels in a foot of snow? " he chuckled out loud with a grin on his face. He suddenly felt the body underneath him move.

" I do... " a faint and timid voice said. Sōji spun his head around to see waves of blonde hair scattered about the ground, a arm lifted out from underneath. Blonde hair, now that was something he hadn't seen every day. Sōji wondered if he had the luck of running into a foreign girl.

Before he could stand up himself, Sōji felt the tug and pull of his winter jacket, lifting him to his feet.

" Damn it, Sōji, you stupid ass! You probably crushed her to death! "

It was Heisuke.

Nonchalantly, Sōji followed his friend's que. While doing so, Chizuru kept her eye on the unfortunate girl Sōji had plowed over, ready to help her up. But when their friend got back on his feet, they were given an unpleasant sight. Looking down, Chizuru let out a gasp as she quickly covered her mouth with her hands. When Heisuke gave a glance, his jaw fell and his cheeks turned bright red. Then, lastly came Sōji. He noticed his two friends gawking at the girl behind him.

" What are you two eyeballing? " he asked as he slowly turned him around. What he saw was the girl getting up on her hands and knees, but that wasn't all. His lips formed a devious grin and his eyes lit up, taking in the scandalous sight before him.

The girl's skirt had gotten stuck in a strange position, showing the world her lacy pink underwear in broad daylight. She had wondered why she felt such a chill on her bottom, and then it hit her.

" Well, " Sōji began with amusement, " you know what they say. When in doubt, wear pink. "

" Eh?! " was what both Chizuru and the girl shouted, the later immediately knowing what he was talking about. With the speed of a demon, she quickly fixed her unruly skirt and then clamored to get onto her feet. Once stable, she quickly took off in a hurry, not even bothering to dust the snow off the front of her body. She just desperately wanted to get away from that horrifying situation.

Heisuke immediately gave his taller friend a good and hardy punch in the shoulder for his crudeness. Sōji grabbed his arm in mock pain.

" Ow, Heisuke! You're so violent! " he whimpered. Heisuke only glared at him.

" That's for being a perv! And it's when in doubt, wear red, not pink! Get it right, moron! "

" Wait, please! " Chizuru called after the poor girl. She wanted to make sure she was alright and most importantly, apologize for Sōji's boorish behavior. The other female student tried to heed Chizuru no mind, she was just too horribly embarrassed to face her. Chizuru ran in front of the girl and it was like roots had quickly sprouted out of the ground and coiled around her legs. What she saw was abnormal. The girl had bright, thulian pink eyes. They were almost piercing to the soul. But then again, they were sad as well.

" Please, stop! I'm sorry about my friend! He's a bit..uhm..well... " Chizuru tried to explain, stumbling over her words to describe Sōji without sounding too terribly offensive. The girl just looked away, her cheeks still flushed. As they stood there in silence, Chizuru took notice that the girl was wearing the same uniform as she was, albeit she had a blue ribbon around her neck under her scarf, instead of red or green. She decided to quickly change the subject.

" Hey, you and I are wearing the same uniform! Does that mean you're going to Hakuouki too? " she asked. The girl looked at Chizuru, her eyes perked up now at the mention of the uniforms. She completely forgot that she was in the presence of another female. Trying to put the mortifying event that just happened behind her, the girl gave a shy smile and nodded.

" Yeah. "

" Oh, how great! " Chizuru exclaimed. " I thought I might have been the only girl who had applied to this school. I'm Chizuru Yukimura! "

She bowed gently and politely to the other girl. After letting out an embarrassed and short chuckle, the other one replied in a quiet voice, fitting for such a girl of her demeanor.

" Tsukiko. Tsukiko Katsura. "

She returned the bow in a respectful manner.

" Ah, Tsukiko~ Such a pretty name " Chizuru hummed, but then quickly remembering what just happened. She bowed again. " Oh, but I digress I truly am sorry for Sōji's actions. "

" Sōji? You mean...? "

" Oh, um, yes. My friend who ran into you... " Chizuru replied timidly, softly scratching her cheek. She felt honestly awful for what Sōji had done to the poor girl. A silence drifted into the air and the two stood awkwardly for a moment, before Tsukiko chimed in her thoughts.

" Well, I think we should get going. Don't want to be late. "

" Ah, right... "

Chizuru's face fell. She was hoping to get to know Tsukiko a bit more, but that would have to wait for another time. Would when she see her again, she thought. Tsukiko was a third year after all, like Sōji.

' Room 3 - E...Where are you? ' Tsukiko thought as she wander the halls, schoolbag in tow.

The school had become like a bee hive after the beginning ceremony had come to a close. Students milling around, trying to find friends, homerooms, and club rooms. The ceremony itself was nothing too exciting, just the formal welcomes from the principal, staff members and even some speeches from current students that were with the student council. Tsukiko had noticed during the event that there were barely any girls within the auditorium, something she expected, but none the less sunk her hopes. If anything, all the girls were sporadic through the grades. Some were first years, some were second and some were third. There was one girl in particular that caught Tsukiko's eye; she sat only a few rows away from her.

She was tall for someone of Japanese descent and her hair was long, in a shade of dark blue. Tsukiko didn't managed to get a good look at her face, but she did notice that the girl wore a blue ribbon around her neck, meaning she was in the same year. She wondered if the girl or any other third year girl she saw would be in her homeroom.

Whilst caught up in her own thoughts, Tsukiko almost missed the tag on the wall that indicated which room was which. So, she backtracked a little and saw it.

3 - E.

This was it. The moment of truth was here.

Tsukiko stopped aside from the door, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her anxiety was rising again, but she had no time to get it under control. The bell was about to sound any minute and she had to get inside and find a seat before the teacher came. Just as a group of boys piled into the classroom in front of her, she followed. She immediately scanned the room for any sign of another girl.

And then she saw him.

Him.

Sōji, the name Chizuru called him. The older boy who humiliated her in such a way that struck her deep down. He was there, sitting at a desk that was adjacent to the windows. Sitting there, just gazing outside like there was nothing in the world that could bother him. He and Tsukiko would be sharing the same homeroom for the rest of their high school career. All of a sudden, she found it hard to breath, her chest tightening up and a frog jamming itself in her throat.

But she couldn't just stand there like an idiot. She made her way to the closest empty seat and sat down, hanging her schoolbag on the side of the desk. Her gaze bore into the oak wood, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. She didn't even care anymore if there were another girl in the class. She just wanted out and in another homeroom.

The bell suddenly went off, startling her a bit. A split second afterwards, a teacher walked in. Tsukiko looked up from her desk and saw the man was dressed up in a nice blazer with a dress shirt underneath. He had short black hair and gleaming indigo eyes; she figured he was in his late twenties, but he easily be mistaken for a twenty year old. His glaze was stern as he looked over the students in the classroom.

He began by introducing himself; his name was Toshizō Hijikata, but they were to refer to him as Mr. Hijikata. Never Toshi or anything else. Then, he made all the students, one by one, stand from their desk and introduce themselves to the classroom. Tsukiko was still locked away in her own world when it was another girl's turn to introduce herself. And when it came to Tsukiko's turn, she didn't even notice the teacher instructing her to stand up. It was only that a poke to the shoulder from a boy behind her that broke her away from her reverie. It was then she realized what was going on. She bolted up from her seat and introduced herself.

" Ah! I'm sorry, Mr. Hijikata! Uhm, " Tsukiko began, looking up to see the entire classroom gazing at her. It was now she noticed the same girl from the auditorium was sitting at the front row, her steel violet eyes kindly looking at Tsukiko. " My name is Tsukiko Katsura. I'm seventeen years old and I recently just moved here from South Korea. Please take care of me! "

And then she bowed. Many whispers from boys started to fill the air about her nationality. Her sudden introduction also caught the eye of Sōji, who was peering at her from a distance. His usual twisted smirk crept upon his lips as he watched her, musing to himself.

' Hmph. Finally, someone interesting. '

Afterthought:

So, I accidently saved over the first chapter of my other story. FML. I don't know when I'll start writing it up again. So, in the meanwhile please enjoy this Hakuouki series based on the SSL OVA.