"Haku, are you listening?"

"Y-yeah." Haku's head snapped up from her desk and pointed towards her questioning teacher.

"Would you solve this question then?" The instructor anxiously tapped her ruler against the whiteboard, well aware that her student was previously dozing off. Her eyes pierced through Haku, making her more nervous and rising her anxieties. "Please pay more attention, finals are scheduled for next week!" The entire class let out groan at the mention of their upcoming exams, most already worn out from coffee fueled nights of studying. Haku sighed before placing her head back on the wood of the desk and gazing out the open window. Even through the endless nights of problem solving, she knew her scores couldn't compare to the rest of her class. She focused on a large tree behind the chain link fence, mentally following its root systems that poked through the ground and entangled with one another. The unexpected ring of the bell echoed through the classroom, startling Haku and causing her to fall off her seat, sending her crashing into the person standing behind her. She shook her head and opened her eyes, nearly yelping when greeted with a hand held out in her direction.

"You need a little help there?" The voice addressing her was deep and startled her even more, causing her to keep her gaze glued to the floor. She scooped up her papers and shoved them into her sketchbook, hoping the person knew to walk away. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just leave me alone, okay?" Haku unconsciously raised her voice as she stood up, half-realizing the burning in her cheeks. She pressed her notebooks to her chest and set her crimson eyes back onto the floor, her white bangs falling in front of them. "I'm sorry. . ." The stranger knelt down and picked up the sketchpad that slid under a desk and held it out to Haku without a word. She lightly grabbed it and stacked it on top of her books before rushing towards the open doorway and disappearing into the crowded hallways. Conversations overlapped one another as she silently walked through the groups of people huddled around lockers and classroom entrances. The snow-haired girl shuffled around the popular group of girls that stationed near the bathrooms and nudged on the door, allowing herself to find solace inside a small stall. She dropped her notebooks onto the tile and set her body next to them, letting out a long exhale as she hit the cold floor. I can't believe I did that. . . Why am I so damn awkward?

"-Asked me to prom too! It's so hard to pick between them, they're both so hot!" The three girls giggled amongst each other as they stood in front of the mirror, applying various shades and varieties of makeup.

"I think you and Kaito would look the cutest, not that Len isn't hot too."

"I'll take him off your hands then, I'll show him a good time for you, Miku~" Haku felt her heart drop further into her stomach as the familiar voices carried on their pointless chatter.

"Hey look, someone's in there." Her white locks were spread across the floor, peeking out beneath the stall. Haku deeply gulped as she pressed her legs against her harshly throbbing chest, hoping something would become of better interest to them than her. Her fears were immediately granted as she felt a pair of hands lace into her hair and forcefully tug, causing her to let out small yelps of pain as small tears began to prick the corners of her eyes.

"S-stop it! Let go!" Haku pleaded with the laughing girls, knowing her cries only fueled their amusement towards the situation. Surprisingly, the pressure in her head stopped and their noises slowly hushed.

"Hey, Miku, I'm in the mood for a little fun, how about you~?" The husky female voice followed her sentence with a low snicker as a pair of tan boots positioned themselves in front of the locked stall door. A pair of black boots slid behind Haku as another opened the conjoining stall and disappeared by stepping onto the toilet. A girl with bright red hair popped over the wall with a devious smirk spread onto her face and hung her hands over the stall.

"Awh, girls, she looks scared. Let's comfort her, shall we?" Cul vaulted her body over the opening, landing on the porcelain bowl and stepping directly on Haku's notebooks. She gripped her fingers over the shoulders of the weeping girl, stood her upright and flipped the lock keeping them inside. The door was pressed and held open by a senior girl, her eyes hungrily attacking Haku as she was pushed against the matching tile walls. "She hasn't fought back a bit, this girl truly is pathetic." The snow-haired girl closed her eyes as they circled around her, trapping her between them and the wall.

"P-please just leave me a-alone. . ."

"Oh, so she does speak! Perfect. . ." The pink-haired senior cupped a hand underneath Haku's chin and dug her nails into her skin, causing a fresh set of tears to well up in her crimson eyes.

"Be careful with her, Luka! She looks oh so fragile." Cul pressed her body tightly against Haku's and began pawing at the zipper on her sweatshirt, a smile plastered on her face once more. She playfully pulled the zipper downwards as Luka lowered her face in, both girls savoring the fear in their Haku's face. Haku let out a whimper as a set of hands wrapped beneath her chin and forced her face towards Miku's.

"I'll be careful with her as long as she doesn't give us too much trouble." Luka pressed her cheek against Haku's and began running her fingertips lightly over her collarbone.

"Hey come on, have a little fun, Miku! She won't tell, I'll make sure of that." The aquamarine haired girl shook her head as she crossed her arms and leaned carelessly against the stone sink.

"You two can do whatever you want, I'm not in the mood for anything like this." Cul's smile diminished until she reached into her own pocket and pulled out a camera phone, throwing it at her younger friend.

"Well then make yourself useful and take some pictures, I'm sure Luka here will love some for herself later~" At the mention of her name, Luka pushed her open palms at Cul's chest in protest, her mouth spread into a smile. The two girls lightly battled back and forth, momentarily forgetting about the frightened girl huddled against the wall. Taking matters in her own hands Haku flung both of her arms out, striking the girls and pushing them aside. She raced for the door and frantically pulled on the metal handle, bursting out in a victory cry as she sprinted down the hallways. Haku burrowed her hands into her chest as she mindlessly headed for the school's back exit, her heart beating furiously against her cupped hands. She gave a heavy sigh of relief as the hollow creak of the school's metal door echoed through the lifeless hallways, signaling her escape was successful. As she rested against the cool tan brick of the school, her heart dropped as she realized she had left her books behind in all the chaos.

"Godamnit. . ." Haku swore to herself under her breath as she wandered away from the school, knowing her materials were already rummaged through and trashed. She pushed her arms into her stomach and sharply pushed out a breath of annoyance before falling onto the ground. "Why does this shit always happen to me-?" She flung her head back to the clouds and forced down a hard mouthful of air before screaming into the sky. "Fuck!"

"Hey now, it isn't proper for a lady to curse." Haku pulled herself away from her mild breakdown and tilted her chin forward to focus her eyes on the boy ahead of her. His eyes were as deep a red as her own and his posture was as carefree as the snow white hair that stuck out in many odd places. The boy had an unexplained grin on his face and a freshly lit cigarette hanging between them.

"You shouldn't be smoking here, a teacher is going to see you. . ." The boy simply shrugged his shoulders and gave a low laugh before sitting down into the short cut grass.

"As far as I know, it's only illegal if you get caught by someone." A dull silence followed the end of his sentence as he took a sickeningly long drag off the rolled tobacco. "What're you doing over here all alone anyways? It's not exactly common to see anyone back here after schools let out."

"If its so uncommon, then what are you doing back here?" The boy smiled lightly and lifted his hands in protest.

"Alright, alright, you've got me!" He flicked the smoking bud of his cigarette aside and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm actually waiting for a friend, you mind if I keep you company for now?" Haku thickly swallowed before nodding, grabbing a fistful of emerald colored grass and throwing it in the air. The silent wind carried it a short distance before it drifted back down onto the earth below it. She continued to uproot several handfuls of grass, the silence between them making her increasingly nervous. The boy took a chance to break the silence but it didn't last long, both of them unsure of how to approach the other. Empty minutes seemed to take hours as they both secretly observed the other. Haku dug into her pockets to find a distraction, her stomach twisting when proved vacant.

"Hey, do you uh- have the time? I'm waiting for my mom and she doesn't like when I'm late." Dell's face turned almost instantly as he shoved his hands into his pockets and retrieved a small flip phone, adorned with a panda bear charm. He held it out towards the girl and gave a dorky grin again.

"You dropped this earlier. . . You ran off before I could return it to you." Haku nodded and returned his gentle smile, before reaching out and taking hold of her phone, jolting her hand back as the two made slight contact. She blushed and snapped the small device open, sighing to herself at it as it read a quarter past four. Her bare message box mocked her as she opened the application to send a reminder message to her mother. "So your name's Haku, huh? That's quite a unique name to be honest." The boy gently chuckled and laid back onto the grass as Haku's face turned to one of embarrassment.

"How'd you know that? Hardly anyone in this damn school knows me, let alone my name."

"It's carved on the back of your phone." He paused between his words and smiled again. "Even without that, I've known your name since freshman year at least." Haku's face delved deeper into its already dark shade as she ran her thumb over the poorly carved name etched in the plastic.

"You seem way too high up on the popularity chain to know my name. . . Why do you anyways?" The boy winked toward her, keeping that smile of his plastered onto his pale face.

"I know everybody's name. I believe that everyone at least deserves to be recognized for their name and not just another face in the halls." He dropped his happy expression and looked up into the cloudless sky, picking out the few wisps that remained. "I know what it's like to just be another person among everyone else. . . It's not fair to be known as anything that isn't your name." Haku dropped her guard a little as he spoke, the pain of something deep laced into his words. She ignored the urgent buzzing of her phone and scoffed a little towards the boy.

"Well it isn't fair for you to know my name and me not know yours as well, now is it?" The snowy haired boy broke out in yet another smile and laughed out loud a little. He lifted his hands from his chest in defeat once more and continued his now hearty laughter.

"Alright, alright! You got me again, Miss Yowane. You're a lot more stubborn than I imagined you would be." The boy's laughter diminished and he sat up, his hands supporting him from behind. "Honne. Dell, Honne." He held his hand out towards her and cocked his head a little. "Nice to finally meet you." Haku nervously took his hand and shook it, her heart skipping one in its cycle as their handshake remained longer than intended. Dell slowly pulled his hand away and placed it back onto the warm ground.

"Likewise, Mister Honne." Haku delivered a rare, genuine smile towards him as she giggled.


AWH~! The romance is beginning-! Now that Dell has introduced himself to Haku, what will become of their new friendship-? Hopefully lots of hugs and kisses~! I hope to pick up on putting chapters up, I know I'm a little slow with these things but I currently don't own a computer of my own so I'm using what the school can offer me o: I hope you like this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it so far. See you in the next chapter~! Feed my creativity Om-Nom by reviewing or even just reading my story is fine~