Only Skin Deep
A/N- this story is completely A/U, so there will be some differences from the show. I would, like to copyright my story because of some difficulties that I have had in the past with plagiarism, thank you all.
Dawn crept slowly, almost softly into the small sleepy town on the coast of Japan. The town seemed little different from any other small town on the face of the planet but to its inhabitants it was the most beautiful pace on Earth. With a population of a little over 1,000 it barely caused a small blip on the map, but with its fresh sea air and sweeping hills it was a magnificent contrast to practically the rest of Japan. The town slept on throughout the soft tints of pink and red just beginning to grace the town with its presence. Slowly and steadily, the light grew stronger and brighter taking on a force over the sky giving the town the hope and promise of a new day to be welcomed in. Unfortunately not everyone felt this way, in one particular house this was undoubtedly the case. A tall, lanky boy of sixteen sprawled comfortable on a messy futon. His raven-haired head was under the mounds of pillows that were too sprawled across the bed and floor. His hard wood floor was practically invisible under the mounds of papers, clothing, CD's, and books. Sunlight began to dance lightly off the blue-painted walls those in addition, where nearly invisible to see because of all of the posters, pictures, and medals that adorned its walls.
" Van, honey its 7:00, time to wake up!" called a sweet voice from somewhere else in the house.
"Mmmmmhhhhppppp." The boy replied grumpily, opening his eyes just enough to make sure he did not roll off the futon, he flipped onto his other side and fell back asleep.
"VAN! Why aren't you up YET? I called you a good half-hour ago! You have to pick up Merle and Folken in fifteen minutes! Look at you, your not even dressed and I'm assuming you haven't taken your shower yet either." Scolded the voice from before, but now she stood at the foot of the bed, her sweet voiced masked with a slight hint of anger. She was tall, and slim, she had soft brown eyes and long jet-black hair that was currently pulled back in a long braid. She wore a dark blue T-shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans.
"Mom? What are ya doing in here " the boy stared blankly up at his mother, slowly beginning to comprehend what was telling him.
"Honey, its time to get up. You don't want to miss school now do you?" His mother asked kindly, moving from her spot at the foot of her sons futon she makes her way to the window drawing back the blinds to let in the natural light.
"Sure, I don't" muttered Van sarcastically, rolling out of futon. Standing up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He shivered lightly from the cold, because he had only slept in a pair of dark green bowers and a white muscle shirt, which showed of his well-toned body, which he had developed from years of playing sports. With his stubbornness and his strongly competitive side, he excelled at most sports. Sports had given him his only claim to fame in his school and he would never give that up. Stretching he sauntered slowly over to the bathroom making sure to slam the door shut before starting the shower.
Van ran down the street, his hair still wet and un-brushed since his shower. His school uniform was rumpled from spending the night on his bedroom floor, he would lose several points in inspection today but he could live with that, as long as he wasn't late picking up Merle and Folken. They his two best and practically only friends at school, when he had been small they had all lived in the same low rent apartment building, however when he was six his family had moved because his father had gotten a well paying job. Running up to his old apartment building, he tore through the lobby and up the stairs. When he reached the second floor banged loudly on the door third door from the right, Merle's apartment, Merle hated her home life and Van couldn't blame her. Her mother had gotten pregnant at age seven-teen and had been forced to marry the father; both had never finished high school.
"I'm COMING!" shrieked the voice of a girl around his age.
"Well hurry up then!" he called back in response to the common morning greeting from his friend.
"Here!" Merle said loudly banging the door with a thud. She had deep blue eyes and deeply tanned skin from spending the most part of her summer at the beach. Her hair was cut a little past her shoulders and was dyed a vibrant pink. She wore a silver pentagram pendant around her neck, Merle was a very strong self proclaimed Wiccan and defended her faith. And army boots along with the traditional sailor suit style school uniform which was in midnight blue on her hands she wore black leather biker gloves almost all of which would get her in a lot of trouble with the headmaster. She had on her headphones and was swaying her head along to the beat of the song.
"What are you listening to, Merle?" Van asked, mainly wanting to know if it was the C.D he had lent her a month ago and she had "lost" not one week after borrowing it.
"If Love is Blind' by Hitomi Kanzaki" Merle replied, Hitomi Kanzaki was one the biggest singers in the world, she was around sixteen like Merle and Van but she sang very different music than what Van listened to.
"Really? How can you stomach that overly emotional girly crap she sings? I thought you had better taste then that!" Van muttered, he hated that kind of music, give him heavy metal and punk and he was happy.
"I am an overly emotional girl, you dork! C'mon on we're running late, and we still have to pick up Folken." With that she turned up the volume on her disc-man and began to sing along to the music off key. "People say that you're no good for me. People say it constantly. I hear it said so much. I repeat it in my sleep. Maybe I am just a fool for you. Maybe you're no angel too. But all that talk is cheap. When I'm alone with you."
Yanking Van by his sleeve, Merle pulled him down the hall to apartment thirty-four that belonged to Folken's family. Van reached out and knocked on the chipped white door. Two minutes later Mrs. Lacoeur opened the door.
"Why hello kids, Folkie will out in a second, just as soon as he finishes his breakfast." Folken's mother puffed, she had short silvery blond hair, and deep brown eyes. Her clothes were old because she couldn't afford new ones. Unlike most of the other kids at school, Merle and Folken were very poor. In Folken's case it was because his dad had split when he was a small child, his mother had to look after him and her self on her job as a waitress.
"Mom!" Folken growled from behind his mother angrily, he hated his nickname especially around his friends. Folken was tall and very lanky giving him the appearance of a gawky teenager. His hair was short and was the same color as his mother's as well as his eyes. His uniform unlike his friends was perfectly clean. His dark blue blazer and black tie were neat, clean and straight. He wore black dress pants and a white shirt both perfectly ironed. Pushing past his mother he grabbed his two friends and headed for the stairs.
"Sorry, sweetie" His mother sang at him as he left the apartment quickly.
Walking up to the large stone building that was their high school, Van and his friends could hear the usual snickers that followed them. It was common knowledge among the student body of Hokkaido Koukou that Van, Merle, and Folken where three of the biggest freaks on the campus.
"Oh look if it isn't the wicked witch of the west" A tall girl in a cheerleader uniform, lashed out at Merle from her seat on the stairs with the rest of the cheerleaders, when Merle and her friends passed. Millerna calmly and carefully extended one leg managing to trip Folken, which sent him flying face first onto the ground sprawling his books everywhere. She shook her long blond curls laughing; her pale blue eyes shone with a hidden malice.
"Millerna you are such a bitch!" Merle screamed at the girl.
"Oh, did I do that? I really should be more careful, I wouldn't want you to put a curse on me" Millerna jarred, smiling sweetly the whole time. She looked like she was going to say something more when the bell rang, gathering her books she stood up gracefully and made her way toward the assembly hall for the "surprise assembly" they had been informed yesterday they would be attending. She left the group humming along to another Kanzaki Hitomi song.
"You see, that's the kind of person who listens to that crap." Van muttered just loud enough for Merle to hear him. Extending his arm he pulled Folken to his feet, then the two boys began to walk toward the assembly hall causing Merle to run after them to catch up.
"Hey Van, its not like she can pick her fans you know!" Merle called after him, defending one of her favorite artists.
"Yeah, but I bet she's just like Millerna and the rest of her friends." He retorted, settling down himself down in his seat, turning his attention toward the stage where Coach Balgus was ordering the students to stop talking so their head master, Mr. Sato could begin the assembly.
"Students, I have several announcements before we begin with the assembly." Squeaked out the headmaster nervously, he was extremely short, reaching a top height of five two, he looked every day of fifty, and he was fat and balding. He wore a simple gray suit that he only wore when some one from the board of education came and he wanted to impress. This tactic never worked the way he planned because the jacket would no longer close and his shirt and pants were too tight, it did however get three consecutive raises because the trusties thought he could not afford new clothes.
"Firstly I would like to remind you that "Hazing" as you call it, of new students will not be permitted, if you are caught doing so you will be suspended, I hope you all understand this." He said with more confidence, as he said this he glared down at the front row where the "Dragon Slayers" who were the closest thing the school had to a gang sat.
"Secondly, we are improving our security measures to fit the standards of two new students who I will introduce after the announcements, the measures will include regular locker searches and several new security guards to held out Kengi with his job." He added, then he returned to trying to settle the excitement his new announcement had caused. Never had anyone in their small town every needed security and the students were instantly fascinated.
A/N: Hiya folks this is my fic, if you haven't noticed things are a little different from the show. That's all I would like to say for now except I love input from people! I actually like flames so feel free to do so just as long as you do review I'm happy, I also like the truth so if you like it or hate it I want to know! I'm also thinking that I might change the name of the title so any help on that will be appreciated. Please correct me on anything I mess up on like grammar or spelling. Characters will be different and I'll explain any major differences in the story itself.
Disclaimer: I don't own escaflowne, or the song that Hitomi supposedly sang, that Merle sang along to its actually called "If love is so Blind" and was originally sung by Tiffany, so check it out it's a good song.
I do own- Mrs. Lacoeur and Mr. Sato, I own em' and my story!
