...!~

Unknown

Interlocked Eyes

Soft flakes of white, shining snow sent their greetings to the already frozen air. A white Christmas. That what it would be if the snow agreed to visit the earth a month later from that moment. It usually falls during the year but the opportunity of having white Christmas was not certain. Nothing in life was certain and snow was part of the nature's phenomenon. Unpredicted and sudden even in a cold city like Sapporo.

Deep blue eyes looked at the sky and examined the amazing shapes the snow was disguised in. They willed their owner to forget the meaning of time and the snow that touched his pale cheeks every now and then.

It was strange to feel too lost in the whiteness around him, for he wasn't the most natural guy there. The nature was something that deserves appreciation but he was too busy to give his precious attention to such simple aspects of life yet the snow's scent was different as if whispering an unknown message to him. Weird. He felt as if the snow wasn't sure of the message's content itself.

His blessed silence was cut short when hurried footsteps ran towards him before the one who was running panted tiredly. An exclamation that turned into confused complaint followed the pants seconds later. 'It is snowing again. They said it is goanna be clear today!'

Momentarily silence joined the peaceful atmosphere before the same guy stabbed it mercilessly and addressed the blue-eyed teen in a failed scolding manner, 'We will be late, Kouji. It is not the time to watch snow.'

The addressed, Minamoto Kouji, scowled. 'Wasn't it your fault, baka? You woke up later than usual.'

The other boy pushed the snow from his own shoulders and replied sheepishly, 'The alarm clock wasn't working. I depended on you to wake me up.'

Kouji crossed his arms against his chest and rolled his eyes. 'I am not your roommate, Takuya. Beside weren't you the one who insisted to have breakfast before going to class?'

'Hey! You need to eat to survive! You wouldn't have your breakfast if it wasn't me who dragged you to the cafeteria.'

'Who asked for your help?'

'You don't have to thank me, buddy.' answered Kanabara Takuya in his famous an ear to ear grin, ignoring his friend's rhetorical question and receiving a deep scowl in return.

Kouji sighed and said hopelessly, 'I can't believe you turned fourteen, Takuya. You are really immature.'

Takuya giggled for no good reason. 'You wouldn't find a better friend, bandana boy.'

If Kouji wasn't pushed to his limits then the last comment would surely drove him mad. What was wrong in wearing bandana? It was cool but the adults didn't feel like understanding its importance to him. In fact, he didn't even remember who gave it to him but he was too attached to it since he forgot when. Not that he dared to express being attached to something. Not to that goggle-head at least.

'Guys…?'

The young voice brought them out of their small chit-chatting morning quarrel.

Takuya turned to the approaching figure, immediately recognizing the light brown haired kid. The boy's hair was several shades lighter than his own. He was wearing a white sleeved shirt with deep blue pants; the sports' uniform. A basket ball rested under his right arm. He blinked at the other two elder boys before muttering innocently. 'Half the first period had passed by now, Takuya-nii.'

Takuya cursed at the reminder, receiving a glare from Kouji that indicated that cursing in front of a kid wasn't allowed. Not that their young friend was a kid anymore but he had always been the gang's baby.

'I overslept…' he paused at the too-familiar understanding look from their young friend and added to defend himself. 'But it wasn't my fault, Tomoki. Kouji overslept too. He always comes to wake me up when I oversleep but today he came too late.'

'And is it my fault now?'

'I am trying to defend myself here.' Takuya shoot back desperately.

'The dorms are ten minutes far from the school building.' Himi Tomoki muttered to himself before adding in a pure questioning voice. 'But shouldn't you go to class…now? You will get detention for the whole week if you came in the last few minutes.'

Kouji could swear that Tomoki was more mature than Takuya. He buried his hands in his grey pants' pockets and sighed. A whole detention week with Takuya wasn't something he was looking for beside they both have to hand the English essay two days from now and a three hour-detention after the end of school wouldn't give them a chance to finish it. Why should he be paired with Takuya of all people? Ah, yes because if he worked with a girl, she wouldn't be able to utter a word in front of him and if it was another boy, they would end up killing each other. Boys were already jealous of how girls were crazy over him. Was it his fault that he was a good looking boy?

'Let's go, Kouji. We will be late.'

Kouji gritted his teeth threateningly yet he allowed his friend to drag him towards the school building. And now Takuya is acting too responsible.

Tomoki chuckled softly at the familiar scene and ran to the sports' hall, hoping the teacher wouldn't be angry at him for being late himself.

They ran frantically towards the classroom in the third floor. Before reaching the targeted room, Kouji calmed his running and started walking normally but in a fast pace unlike Takuya who was like a horse that forgot its brakes. Takuya rushed into the room without knocking the door and bowed in a light speed, leaning till he felt that he would lose his balance along with the disobedient goggles on his head. He cried out in an exaggerating apologizing manner that looked like a whine. 'Gomen nasai, Aisaka-sensei. I wouldn't be late again. Please, don't give me detention till the end of the year!'

Silence. Then the sounds of uncontrollable laughs and giggles exploded around him as if abnormally humorous jock had been told. Just then, Takuya realized that the room was noisier than normal. Before he could raise his head to see the reason of the laughter, a thick book was about to smash his skull but it reduced its power to knocking him to the ground. A feminine embarrassed voice appeared between the laughs. 'Seriously, Takuya, think before you act for once.'

He blinked before turning his head to the voice's owner and the first and currently most important thing he realized was that the teacher was nowhere to be seen.

The blonde girl that was still clutching the book firmly yet was unable to abandon the small smirk on her lips sighed in exasperation. She was wearing the same uniform he and Kouji were wearing but instead of the gray pants, she had a short gray skirt with long black soaks that reached her knees, a white blazer was underneath the black sleeved jacket with a neat red tie. She placed the book on the third desk in the middle raw where she sat silently. She pushed her long golden hair behind her ear and crossed her arms just like how Kouji did once he entered the classroom.

Glaring playfully at the baffled brunette, she chuckled. 'Believe it or not. The teacher didn't come yet.'

The class had forgotten them and returned to their respective work that included playing cards, chatting, hand wrestling, or even climbing the desk for a better vision from the windows. It was a bit shameful to see such behaviors from students in a boarding school. But kids will remain kids or even teenagers will simply act like teenagers.

Takuya returned to his place in the left side of the blonde and pouted cutely. 'That wasn't nice, Izumi. How could I know she isn't here?'

'By simply listening to the noises in the class or the way the students were acting. Heck, didn't you notice how the class was upside down?' Kouji murmured and sat in front of Takuya's disk.

'Shut up, Kouji. I was trying to save us from detention.'

'As I remember you didn't even mention me in your apology.'

'Well…you don't like me talking instead of you.'

'Because you will ruin everything.'

'So what the heck are you blaming me for now?

Izumi sighed again and brought another book that matched the first one in its heaviness and glared at them. 'If you don't shut up, I will hit you both. And material arts won't help you a bit, Kouji neither your soccer training, Takuya.'

The two boys looked at each other with deadly glares before looking the other way in a clearly childish way. So Izumi did the logical thing then: sighing and muttering in irritation. 'Boys!'

How she could go along with them, she would never know. Not that she would ever ask for better friends. The two bickering children and the sweet Tomoki along with their eldest friend who had informed her in the morning that their teacher might not come. Shibayama Junpei was in the student council and once he had heard about a new student that would join their class, he predicted that the first period would be a mess. The boarding school wasn't used to accept students in the middle of the semester which meant the new kid's family has such great influence and that he would need some help from the class home teacher which was fortunately for them Aisaka-sensei.

Damn it! Takuya and Kouji were too late so that she weren't able to tell them about the new kid's news. But part of her wanted to punish them for being idiots simply by not telling them. Still, they were always late but not this late. Usually, Kouji would continue knocking on Takuya's dorm room, forcing him to wake up no matter how stubborn his sleepiness was. So, them being late meant that Kouji himself was a bit late and it was too much unlike him. Her green eyes moved around the room to notice that Kouji was completely ignoring Takuya's pen pocking on his back as he continued gazing softly and a bit distantly at the falling snow. She loved snow but it was quite uncomfortable to live in the numb whiteness around her. She liked snow much better in Italy. It was a little bit similar to Shibuya's snow but Sapporo was known by its cold snow.

After three years of being friends in a public school, they ended in the same boarding school and it was their second year in Sekai boarding school. Her parents thought it would be better if she moved into a more sophisticated boarding school. Takuya got a soccer scholarship to the same school. Kouji didn't like the idea of staying behind after his father's second marriage so he joined them. She didn't try to interfere in Kouji's personal life but she knew that Kouji was here to escape his new family. Their youngest friend came to the same school as a family tradition. His eldest brother who was studying in Tokyo's college now was a student in this school and Junpei preferred attending the school to get a better learning in addition to the opportunity of joining his , they ended up attending the same school

Excuses. All the reasons they joined the school for were fake triggers. The main reason was to stay away. Their parents wanted them to stay away because it was safer…

She lent on her chair, studying the students' aimless behaviors to release the buried energy inside them.

"The Army's Defense Forces managed to foil the insurgents' latest terrorist attacks in Okinawa…"

A couple of girls were listening to the news via one of their cell phones radios.

Nothing had changed. Those who were trying to distant themselves from the outer world's conflict had long realized that it was the same. The war-if they could call it that- became more intense every second and no one knew who was right and who was wrong anymore. Those who claimed that their aim is protecting the weak and the poor from the government's clawed laws and unfair control and others who confidently declared that they are the people's represented authority who fight for their happiness and development used power to make the change while innocent people suffer along the way. The normal people preferred not to understand and to stay away as much as possible. Their parents' golden chance to save them was by sending them here to the far North. At least, they would make sure that they were far away from any future conflict in the main districts like Tokyo.

The news had evaporated and listed as old, useless news by most of the kids who acted as if the world was more peaceful than they could ever ask.

A panting kid entered the room hurriedly, slamming the door behind him in panic. Silence smirked as the scared dirty blonde haired boy announced in frantic breathes. 'Aisaka-sensei and the headmaster are coming here. There is a new kid too...'

An abnormal mess spread in the classroom as each student returned to his or her respective seat. Kouji and Takuya exchanged confused glances before looking at Orimoto Izumi who shrugged. 'I wanted to tell you but you didn't give me a chance. A new student will attend our class. Junpei told me this morning.'

Takuya scratched his chin with his fingertips, murmuring to himself. 'I won't accept a new roommate.'

'Shut up, Baka! Who said he will become your roommate? Are you even sure he is a he?'

'Well, he is a boy. That is the only thing I am sure about regarding him.' Izumi interfered.

'So the possibility of him sharing a room with me is high. How many rooms you know that doesn't include two anyway?'

It was rather strange and quite relieving not to have a roommate and in Takuya's opinion, the worst thing in a boarding school was a roommate you have to fight with for every single little detail regarding the room and its manners like sleeping, eating and even the bathroom usage. He was glad to be alone in his dorm. Kouji's roommate was a year older than him and he was barely in the room. All the time either studying with his friends or visiting the library. Kouji didn't even know his first name despite sharing a room with him for more than a year. That guy was the kind of guys that you don't even feel their presence and Kouji was glad for that. A roommate like Takuya would certainly drive him crazy in no time.

Then the door opened in a swiftly manner, showing their dark-haired teacher who smiled at them warmly but firmly. Her bright brown eyes that matched the formal suit she was wearing shifted between students gently but allowed them to read the hidden threat for what they did in her absence. Their voices had been loud enough to show her their respectful behaviors. Beside her, the headmaster stood calmly. He was a short, fat man in his fifties, known by his loyalty to the government. During the schools ceremonies, he kept guiding his students to follow the government path, calling the rebels a bunch of rats.

Her warm smile lasted a little longer. 'I assume you were behaving well in my absence.'

Nervous glances told her the answer but she kept her nerve-racking smile. 'So, today we will greet a new student in our class. Be sure to make him very welcome...'

She moved to stand beside the headmaster, exchanging few words with him. Her movement allowed the hidden new kid to appear.

The lack of the uniform shook them. The school was a very strict one that didn't allow students, even the new ones, to attend classes without wearing the united uniform. Blackness gave the first impression of him. Black tight jeans, large, silver belt joined his pants with the tight-collared blank dark blouse. Unbuttoned leather, deep grey sleeveless jacket with metal buttons around its collar. The jacket's hood covered most of his messy dark bluish hair that framed his elf-like features to reach his shoulders. Kouji had to wonder about the reason beyond the administration agreement that allowed the other to wear what looked like an emo outfit. Strangely enough, the boy seemed quite different from his outfit as if he was... forced to fit into them despite how perfectly they matched him. It was just a feeling but for an unknown reason Kouji believed it. The boy's slender fingers removed the hood calmly, allowing the pale skin that matched his dark hair to give them a strong reminder of the snow-white princess' description in a western story. His eyes were closed against the whispers and the girls' loud squealing about how cute he was. Slowly as if debating to respond to their comments, he opened his eyes.

Kouji was sure that he had never seen someone so…different like the other. He was taken aback by the stranger aura that the boy's eyes radiated. The dark ocean-like eyes that looked eerily like his own were calm, asleep and in a manner…dead. He felt his own soul being reflected in the boy's captivating eyes. Faint whispers had stopped suddenly except for a girl's comment with "Scary…"

To be honest, the boy's eyes were certainly scary as if they were able to swallow the soul of whoever tries to unveil their story. Kouji's breath grow heavier against his well. He felt the cold sweat dripping from his forehead yet that didn't stop his eyes from seeping in the other's blank ones. They were emptier than how his own eyes had been before meeting his friends. He could feel the students' nervous glances and continuous stares at every inch of the new kid's body. For a moment there, the boy looked like a broken Chinese doll, which doesn't have any other mission except tempting people to stare at. Their teacher swallowed in nervousness and whispered gently to the boy whose eyes kept wondering between the students' eyes in what could look like examination. Her words went unnoticed as the strange kid's eyes locked with Kouji's.

How long had their meeting continued, Kouji didn't know but that mutual stare forced his heart to sink deeper than he had ever experienced. He had never thought much about whoever appear in his life. It was strange and even a bit ridiculous to feel quite different about the new kid's eyes. Something in them…was calling him. And the world looked as if it had vanished around him, leaving both of them alone. The new boy's eyes kept looking at him while Kouji's couldn't stop. The boy's stare was uncertain, lost yet firm enough to prevent him from looking away.

Their teacher called the strange boy's surname hesitantly. Her words brought Kouji to reality despite not being able to recognize the surname. He felt his body shivering for no reason. Izumi and Takuya gazed at their friend worriedly but he seemed as if he didn't even feel their concern. His eyes shifted instantly to the wooden empty desk table.

Takuya couldn't understand whatever had happened. The transfer student development? He couldn't help but wonder at the phrase, he was too used to hear while watching anime. A new student in the middle of the year with a powerful charisma. He snickered mentally, wondering whether this boy was an alien from the outer space or a highly programmed robot that happened to look like his best friend. He could understand now why a transfer student means trouble in anime. Something about the new boy sent him to his edge. Aside from the bluish hair, the pale skin, the boy's eyes terrified him. He didn't want to admit the impact of the boy's strange look at all of them but he felt that the short raven haired teen's gaze at him and Izumi were quite longer than his gaze at the others as if he was calculating something. Yet, the eye contact he made with Kouji was the most prominent one. Some girls had looked between the two of them in confusion and maybe that was the moment when Takuya recognized the somewhat similar features. Was this the reason behind Kouji's clear tension? He had never seen his cold friend so confused before. Confusion wasn't the only thing that described Kouji's reaction when the boy appeared. Something about this new student was challenging. Why would a new kid challenge them anyway?

Stressed silence forced the teacher to clarify her throat patiently. 'So you see here. I'd like to introduce our new student myself…'

'Oshiro Kouichi.' The sealed lips parted slightly. Izumi couldn't put a finger on the way the other had spoken with. It was monotonous and low but mechanical enough to force all heads to look at him. Oshiro? She was sure that she had heard that surname before but she couldn't remember where.

He bowed slightly as if unsure whether it was appropriate or not after few minutes of silent staring at them. It is surely uncomfortable, Izumi thought. The boy didn't even say the normal greeting of "Nice to meet you and I depend on your care". She exchanged a worried look with Takuya before turning to Kouji who was so deep in his thoughts to recognize their stares. What happened to him anyway? Since when did he notice anyone? But they noticed Oshiro-kun as well. She had to wonder if it was coincidence that the other's face looked like her friend. Even their names were slightly similar. No wonder Kouji didn't look like himself then.

Fuzzy atmosphere sipped in the introduction's following silence. The teacher asked a girl in the desk beside Kouji to retreat to another desk. The girl obeyed nervously but the students kept gawking at the boy who sat silently in his chair. Kouji's breaths turned from being shallow to calm monotonous breaths.

'O-oshiro? A-as in Oshiro Tak…Takeshi?' a girl in the first raw gasped suddenly in fear as if she as mentioning a name of a devil. The teacher looked at her in deep worry.

Whispers ran in the class like hay in fire . And Kouji understood why suddenly as the name hit him hard. The Rikugun Taishō Oshiro Takeshi was the name of the Minister of Defense. It was the name of the one who was leading the governmental current operations in Okinawa. The one who didn't hesitate to erase a whole region in Nagasaki two years ago because of the possibility of the terrorist existence there. It was the proud operation that gave him the rank of a minister. He had even appeared in the news later, expressing how sorry he felt about what happened in Nagasaki but it had to be done. People might die so other could live. The girl who screamed had lost her elder sister who had been studying in Nagasaki when the government operation took place. The shocked Nihawa Airi stormed out of the room, tears streaming down her face. She had completely ignored the teacher's calls after her. The headmaster cleared his voice after shooting the girl a scorning look. The noise calmed down instantly.

'Oshiro Kouichi-kun will join your class. I hope that I wouldn't hear any disturbing news about your treatment to him. And you should be proud to have the son of the army's strongest man in your class. Remember that the lack of respectful behaviors won't only hurt you but those who sent you to study here.'

The threat silenced them completely. He left the class, neglecting the scared stares that substituted the admiration ones minutes ago. The kid who looked like a dark angle when he stepped into the class turned into a devil even in the eyes of the girls who had seemed ready to form a fan club for him.

The teacher started her class, certain that it was useless to present anything in the last twenty minutes. The new student's eyes didn't leave the table in front of him. The hating eyes kept consuming him. They looked at him as a pawn to the government to destroy their peaceful lives. They had always tried to distance their lives from the conflict yet it was so much unlikely to ignore the threat that Oshiro formed.

Kouji didn't know how he was supposed to feel. Yet he was sure that he couldn't feel any kind of hatred towards the new boy. Something about him didn't give the impression of someone who was proud of his father's work. The other's avoidance of the class's stares when Nihawa ran out of the class wasn't a characteristic of a proud villain. Takuya tried to attract his attention by the same annoying pocking but Kouji skillfully avoided him. He didn't know why but Takuya and Izumi's stares at him weren't purely concern. There was something that triggered their attention in Oshiro Kouichi. Strange, Kouji noticed. He hated that man, Oshiro Takeshi. Heck, he ended up breaking the TV's remote control when the other's speech about feeling sorry for the victims was aired. Till now, he wasn't sure what had possessed him then to form such a reaction.

His wondering eyes gazed at the snowing sky from the closed window longingly. He felt as if the snow had warned him from today's events. Yet he simply ignored that pure, pointless warning. Hands sank in his bag, seizing his blue small headphones. No need to listen to the lesson anyway. He'd better lose himself in another world. Something that can take him away from the present, the ambiguous future and the nightmarish past. The past that was stubborn enough to stay sealed from his consciousness.

He kept gazing at the pure snow, feeling sorry for it deep down. It was going to get smeared with humans' sins eventually. His eyelids closed his eyes gate, taking him far away from the whole world.

To Be Continued...!~

Author's Note

I am gonna write the author note in the end of the chapter for this story. *Finally*I was dying to finish this chapter. Wooow, It has been a year and a week since I joined fanfiction. Omedetōgozaimasu Myself Hehe. A lot of things happened since then...!

Oh well, I have done a lot of research for the names and information for the district they are in now. According to Japanese climate sources, Sapporo is the coldest part of Japan and the capital of Hokkaido. It is the youngest major city in Japan.

I guess, this is the first time, I intended to concentrate on all the characters. So yes, this story will try to give all the gang their chance to appear and won't only focus on the "twins". Most of this chapter was introduction. Anyway, feel free to tell me your opinions please.

Ah, I was wondering, would you like me to separate the perspective by a certain symbol like !~... or sth like that? Personally, I think it is not confusing to shift perspectives as long as I am showing it clearly but it depends on you guys. I will separate the scenes with a line but I am not sure about the perspectives especially that paragraphs and parts might end up kinda short this way...

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OSHIRO

Means "big castle". There were once five Okinawa kingdoms, and the Oshiros were the big castles.

TAKESHI
Means "military, warrior" in Japanese.

Rikugun Taishō: General.